Oblivion:Bosmer

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The Bosmer are the various barbarian Elven clan-folk of Valenwood, a forested province in southwestern Tamriel. In the Empire, they are often collectively referred to as Wood Elves, but "Bosmer", or "the Tree-Sap People", is what they call themselves. "Tree-Sap" suggests the wild vitality and youthful energy of Wood Elves, in contrast with their more dour cousins, the Altmer and Dunmer. Bosmer reject the stiff, formal traditions of Aldmeri high culture, preferring a romantic, simple existence in harmony with the land, its wild beauty and wild creatures. These country cousins of the High Elves and Dark Elves are nimble and quick in body and wit, and because of their curious natures and natural agility, Bosmer are especially suitable as scouts, and thieves. But most of all, the Bosmer are known for their skills with bows; there are no finer archers in all of Tamriel. Their ability to command simple-minded creatures is also well known. As part of their Green Pact, they are religiously carnivorous and cannibalistic, but do not destroy trees or plant life, though they are not averse to using wooden or plant-derived products created by others.

The elves of Valenwood have always been involved in political arguments between the other races of Tamriel, but have never waged war with other nations, only defended their lands countless times, from the Khajiits of Elsweyr and the High Elves of the Summerset Isle. One of these skirmishes with the Khajiits formed the basis of the book Mixed Unit Tactics.

They have never been truly allied with other nations. Mistrust has been engendered by the ritual cannibalism that they practice in accord with their Green Pact. The specifics of other Bosmeri beliefs and traditions makes them uncomfortable with the "dour" city life lived by other races. In addition, the many invasions of Valenwood have probably not helped, nor the depredations of the Camoran Usurper in the Colovian Highlands and other provinces.

Contents 1 Attributes 2 Skills 3 Traits 4 In-Game Description 5 Gameplay 6 Notes 7 Race-specific Dialogue

[edit] Attributes

Male

• +10 Agility and Speed
• -10 Strength, Willpower, and Personality

Female

• +10 Agility and Speed
• -10 Strength, Willpower, and Endurance

[edit] Skills

• +10 Alchemy, Marksman, and Sneak
• +5 Acrobatics, Alteration, and Light Armor

[edit] Traits

• Beast Tongue greater power (FormID 00047AE9): Command Creature up to level 5 (20 points) for 60 seconds on Target, once per day
• Wood Elf Disease Resistance ability (FormID 00047AE8): Resist Disease 75% on Self, constant

[edit] In-Game Description

The Wood Elves are the various barbarian Elven clanfolk of the Western Valenwood forests. These country cousins of the High Elves and Dark Elves are nimble and quick in body and wit, and because of their curious natures and natural agility, Wood Elves are especially suitable as scouts, agents, and thieves. But most of all, the Wood Elves are known for their skills with bows; there are no finer archers in all of Tamriel.

[edit] Gameplay

The nimble Bosmer are strongly suited for a thief character, an alchemist, a woodsman, bandit or something to that effect. They are less talented at magic than about half of the races in Tamriel, but the magic they do know integrates well with what they do. They are great users of Alchemy and Alteration which helps them with the gameplay strategy of "carefully teasing their rewards" out of the world. They don't bother much with Destruction, Conjuration, or Restoration, all of which are essentially Battlemage type disciplines.

In combat, Bosmer are heavily focused on archery, in which they are generally understood to be the single best amongst the Tamriel races. They start out with a nice bonus in Marksman and are well-suited to use it, since they have very high Agility and Speed attributes. They are excellent in sneak abilities, so they can often get a sneak attack bonus. They don't use weapons that tax their Strength and Endurance a lot, since they don't have quite as much as other races. They almost always use light armor. They are small and cannot carry lots of heavy armor, as it weighs them down dramatically. Often with higher levels of heavy armor you will find that they simply cannot wear it at all. The +5 Light Armor bonus helps sway players to stick with light armor for Wood Elves.

Their greater power will prove very handy at lower levels, but will eventually become less useful as the player levels up.

Bosmer are probably one of the better choices for an alchemist, since poisons created with Alchemy benefit their archery.

Enemy Bosmer will generally be encountered as Bandit Bowmen, clad in light armor and archery equipment. Among the vampires, the Acrobats, Archers, and Thieves are Bosmer.

[edit] Notes

• A list of all the Bosmer in Cyrodiil can be found here.

[edit] Race-specific Dialogue

Greetings

"What do you want, treehugger?" (if disposition is between 20 and 30)

"Greetings, Bosmer" (if disposition is 30+)

"Greetings, (brother/sister) Bosmer" (if disposition is 30+ and the target NPC is also a Bosmer)

Friendly greetings (if disposition is 70+)

"If there is anything I can do, I am humbly at your service."

"I have a feeling that you and I are about to become very close."

"Greetings and salutations."

"This is a wondrous encounter. Welcome."

"I'm so happy to see you, I could burst!"

Neutral Greetings (if disposition is between 30 and 70)

"Interesting, go on."

"From where do you hail?"

"I don't know if I can help you, but I'll try."

"Do you want something from me?"

Brusque Greetings (if disposition is below 30)

"I don't like you much."

"Can't you find someone else to bother?"

"Can't you see I wish to be left alone!"

"You annoy even me."

"I really don't want you around me."

In combat

"You're outmatched, Elf!"

"Puny Elf! I'll pick my teeth with your spine!" (if the target NPC is an Orc)

"You're a traitor to your own race!" (if the combatant is a fellow elf)

"You Elves are all the same! All flash and no fury!" (if the combatant is not an elf)

Races in Oblivion
Playable:	Altmer | Argonian | Bosmer | Breton | Dunmer | Imperial | Khajiit | Nord | Orc | Redguard
Other:	Ayleid | Dark Seducer | Dremora | Golden Saint | Sheogorath