User:Daric Gaersmith

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User-Daric Gaersmith-profile-pic.png
User-userbox-User Patroller.jpg This user is a Userspace Patroller.
User-userbox-Not Patroller.jpg This user regularly watches the recent changes page, sometimes for hours each day, but is not a recent changes Patroller.
User-userbox-UESPholic 7.png This user scored 17160 points on the UESPholic Test.
LO-map-Tamriel (Oblivion Codex).gif This user is a cartographer.
OB-Img-OreynPainting.jpg This user is an artist.
OB-icon-misc-Quill.png This user writes fanfiction.
User-userbox-Oghma Icon.png This user relishes the fictional origin of all Elder Scrolls lore. Tam! RUGH!
{{?}} This user is a Knight-errant Templater.
User-Daric Gaersmith-profile-popups.png This user uses Navigation popups for a variety of tasks.
User-Daric Gaersmith-profile-wiked.gif This user edits using wikEd.
User-Daric Gaersmith-test wiki logo.png
I am Augurnz on The Test Wiki.
User-userbox-Oblivion.png This user is knowledgeable about Oblivion.
OB-icon-Knights of the Nine.png This user is knowledgeable about Knights of the Nine.
User-userbox-Shivering Isles.png This user is knowledgeable about Shivering Isles.
OB-icon-Wizard's Tower.png This user is knowledgeable about the Wizard's Tower official download.
SR-icon-logo.jpg This user is knowledgeable about Skyrim.
SR-icon-Dawnguard.png This user is knowledgeable about Dawnguard.
SR-icon-Dragonborn.png This user is knowledgeable about Dragonborn.
SR-icon-Hearthfire.png This user is knowledgeable about Hearthfire.
User-userbox-Xbox.png This user plays on the Xbox, but only because someone gave him one for free.
User-userbox-Linux Logo.png This user is learning to mod on Linux.
User-Daric Gaersmith-temple zero society.png
This user is a member of the Temple Zero Society.
Tam! RUGH!
Flag New Zealand.png This user is from New Zealand.
MaleIcon.png This user is male.
User-Daric Gaersmith-aspie-awareness.png This user is proudly an Aspie.
BK-cover-Skyrim Official Game Guide.png This user has a Game Guide.
User-userbox-Morrowind.gif This user owns Morrowind.
User-userbox-Bloodmoon.jpg This user owns Bloodmoon.
User-userbox-Tribunal Logo.png This user owns Tribunal.
User-userbox-Oblivion.png This user owns Oblivion.
User-userbox-Shivering Isles.png This user owns Shivering Isles.
OB-icon-Knights of the Nine.png This user owns Knights of the Nine.
SR-icon-logo.jpg This user owns Skyrim.
SR-icon-Dawnguard.png This user owns Dawnguard.
SR-icon-Dragonborn.png This user owns Dragonborn.
SR-icon-Hearthfire.png This user owns Hearthfire.
Transparent.gif current status  
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Wiki.png This user has been on UESPWiki for 11 years, 3 months, and 13 days.
Wiki.png This user has made a grand total of   1,336 edits in 4121 days.
01:09, 27 May 2014 (GMT): I'm back playing Skyrim once again. I am not in ESO, so please don't ask.
Transparent.gif about me  
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I was playing computer games long before TES Arena was first released (yeah, I'm old) but I never played it, preferring the Alternate Reality series by Datasoft, and the Ultima Series by Origin Systems. I started playing TES when Skyrim was released, quite a latecomer to the world of Tamriel. I have since then also played Oblivion right through, including the Knights of the Nine, Shivering Isles, and Wizard's Tower official expansions. For Skyrim, I have Hearthfire and have built all three houses. I bought the Dragonborn expansion just one day before finally registering my own account here on the UESP Wiki. Since then, I have also downloaded Dawnguard and started playing through it, and have obtained a copy of the First Edition of the Prima Official Game Guide for Skyrim. I have requested a copy of Morrowind GOTY for XBox 360 from my local EB Games store. They tell me it will cost $NZ9.00 when it arrives!

I've relied heavily on UESP during my relatively brief wanderings around Tamriel, and now I have decided to give back to the community, lending my computing skills to this worthy endeavour. Oh yes, please forgive my New Zealand English spelling, and feel free to correct my edits if NZ English reminds you too much of Canadian. Haha. I have skills in graphic design and editing (using GIMP), map editing (using QGIS and *.KML files), and a strong command of English grammar, along with passable wiki editing skills. My experiences with the UESP wiki community to date have not all been positive. I particularly abhor the double-standard crony-ism that allows for inaccurate assumptions in lore articles to remain, while at the same time those same loremasters rail against creating new assumptions and inference. This double-standard has led to my abandoning any effort on my part to improve the wiki, and to just cultivate my own Elder Scrolls fan fiction here instead. I'm still open to helping other editors with templating and javascript issues, and I welcome any enquiries about such matters on my talk page.

An avid Open Source enthusiast, all of my computers at home are running Ubuntu Linux (including my wife's laptop). I'm involved in the Hackerspace / Makerspace movement, and have gotten my hands dirty with Reprap projects in the past. I'm a technology "jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none", in that I can do a bit of programming (C++ and Java mostly), a bit of hardware engineering (although I'm far out of date with this skill now), a bit of networking (anyone still using Windows NT4 Server out there?), a bit of database administration (I set up a PostgreSQL back-end for a student management system that is still in use in a multi-site, nationwide academic institution here in NZ), and a bit of end-user support (I used to have my own business doing PC repairs, upgrades, etc).

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Rpeh, as I have pinched much of his code in the creation of my user page.
Transparent.gif achievements  
Transparent.gif The following is a collection of the XBox achievements I have gained so far in the Elder Scrolls games.
Skyrim
UnboundBleak Falls BarrowThe Way of the VoiceDiplomatic ImmunityAlduin's WallElder KnowledgeThe FallenDragonslayerTake Up ArmsBlood OathGlory of the DeadGatekeeperRevealing the UnseenThe Eye of MagnusTaking Care of BusinessDarkness ReturnsWith Friends Like These...Bound Until DeathHail Sithis!SidewaysHero of the PeopleHard WorkerSnake TongueBlessedStanding StonesCitizenMarriedArtificerGolden TouchDelverSkill MasterExplorerReaderDaedric InfluenceDragon SoulDragon HunterWords Of PowerApprentice (7-Jan-12)Adept (7-Jan-12)Expert (22-Aug-12)Master (3-Sep-12)

Dawnguard

Awakening (21-Dec-12)Beyond Death (5-Mar-13)Kindred Judgement (6-Mar-13)Lost to the Ages (21-Dec-12)Soul Tear (11-May-13)A New You (8-Mar-13)Legend (21-Dec-13)

Hearthfire

Proud Parent (29-Sep-12)Landowner (28-Sep-12)Architect (28-Sep-12)Land Baron (30-Sep-12)Master Architect (1-Oct-12)

Dragonborn

Outlander
Oblivion
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  • TES Fan Fiction Collection — Where I write my own TES fan fiction and review other peoples' work.
  • Cartography — Where I work on creating a vector (scalable) map of Tamriel.
  • Genealogy — Where I work on creating GEDCOM files of TES families.
  • Gallery — Where I display my TES-based artwork.
  • In Game Characters — Where I provide further information about my gameplay style.
  • Modding on the XBox — Where I attempt to mod TES games for the XBox, using Linux.
  • Sandboxes — Where I explain how my "smart sandboxes" work.
  • Templatery — Where I create and house custom wiki templates.
  • To Do List — Things I want to do for the benefit of the wiki as a whole, not just my fan fic, etc.
Transparent.gif sandboxes  
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Pa — working on Alfwyn's map of Solstheim.
Veh — Apocryphal - the language on the Diiv Word Wall.
Ged — adding a referencing stylesheet to the Cite web references.
Gal — Empty or undefined.
Or — Rewriting the proposed "guidelines" for DLC namespaces. See The Silencer's sandbox for more details.
Un — new content for the Geode Vein page.

Transparent.gif about my in-game character  
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I guess it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between an in-game character and a user, especially when the UESP provides such nice userboxes as {{User Race}} and {{User Thane}}, etc.

"This user is the thane of Whiterun."

Umm, no, I'm not. But my in-game character is, sure. When you're a fan-fiction writer, it often gets even more confusing. I like to write about my in-game characters, but the fan-fic character and the in-game character are not exactly the same. My fan-fic character, while having the same name as my main in-game character, is not the Dragonborn, neither will he ever be the Archmage of the College of Winterhold. My fan-fic character will never achieve many of the feats that my in-game character takes for granted. Similarly, my fan-fic character is capable of doing things that my in-game character could never do, because of the limitations of the game engine.

All that notwithstanding, below you will find information about the background of my main in-game character from Skyrim, taken from my fan fiction writing. Doing so gives me some depth of understanding of my own in-game character. The reasoning behind why I should choose some paths in the game and not others. My stance on the Civil War, for instance, or my choice of Deity and Standing Stone, all come from my fan fiction writing. However, in-game, I am not limited to the traits or beliefs of my fan-fiction character. In-game, I've even been known to serve Mehrunes Dagon, something that my fan fiction character would NEVER do.

If you wish to find out more about my in-game characters (giving an insight into how I play the game), please have a look here.

Basic Information

Birth

Daric Gaersmith was born in Bruma, northern Cyrodiil, in 4E 171, the year that the Great War between the Second Aldmeri Dominion and the Empire began. He is of Breton descent, although his family had lived in Winterhold, in northern Skyrim, for at least five generations. Daric's father, Rerlas Gaersmith was 42 years old when Daric was born to Evelyssa.

Childhood

Daric's father was an itinerant merchant, as had been his forefathers before him. The family have for many generations peddled their wares as artisans, crafting fine blades and enchanting them themselves. The skills of smithing, enchanting, and mercantile prowess run strong in the Gaersmith family. Daric spent much of his childhood at the foundry in Bruma, and often traveled with his father and his elder sister Sabine to the Imperial City to learn the ways of the merchant. Daric's informal training in the arcane arts began in the College of Whispers during these visits to the Imperial City.

Prime

Family tradition among the male Gaersmith's holds that each generation sends their eldest son to the College of Winterhold to formally study enchanting there for 10 years, from the age of 30 to the age of 40 years old. This family tradition was broken by Daric's grandfather, Andoryan Gaersmith, due to the Great Collapse of Winterhold in 4E 122. Whilst Andoryan began as a novitiate at the College of Winterhold, the Great Collapse interrupted his studies, and he graduated instead from the College of Whispers in Cyrodiil. Andoryan urged his son Rerlas to attend the College of Whispers also for his formal training in the arcane arts, so as to continue building the family coffers while studying. Daric's father Rerlas instead returned to the College of Winterhold. While he was studying there, Rerlas found a small musty tome, written by the Breton Sage, Eraintine in the mid second century of the Third Era. Buried within the pages of this book, Rerlas found mention of a certain Mordastyr Gaersmith of Shornhelm, High Rock, who was a member of the mysterious "War Mages" gladiatorial team, and was a powerful enchanter. Could this be the progenitor of the Gaersmith family?

By 4E 200, Daric was torn between wanting to respect the wishes of his deceased grandfather and to study at the College of Whispers, or seeking further knowledge about his distant ancestors, and the mysterious Mordastyr Gaersmith. Eventually he decided to seek both fortune and knowledge by traveling to the northern reaches of Skyrim. The demesne of Sheor had been uncovered in the late Second Era, when the ruins of Saarthal were located by archaeologists near Winterhold. The bravado of youth and the cultural "quest obsession" led Daric to attempt to snatch wealth from the maw of the "Bad Man", Sheor. His father Rerlas was 71 years old when Daric left for Winterhold. He would be in his 80's when Daric returns, ready to take over the reigns of the family business.

Daric set off from Bruma, to cross the Pale Pass through the Jerall Mountains and into Skyrim, heading towards his destiny at the College of Winterhold. Should he be successful, he will return with his full birthright, the wealth of the merchant clan of Gaersmiths, along with the missing knowledge of his ancestry.


For more of my fan fiction, see my TES Fan Fiction Collection. You may also like to see more about my in-game character of the same name.
Transparent.gif what is gaer?  
Transparent.gif The term Gaer (or Gær) is the Bretonized version of the Ayleid word Gaiar, (or Gaia), meaning "of the land" or "taken from Mundus". Thus a Gær Smith is someone who crafts items from raw materials that they have dug out of the ground themselves. The Gærsmith family of High Rock have for many generations practiced this ancient craft as highly skilled artisans. Not only do they mine specialty metals, smelt them into ingots, and forge them into exquisite weapons, armor, and jewelery, but they also mine their own Soul Gems for enchanting, directly from Geode Veins. The family's fortunes have long been tied in with their mercantile ability to market such highly sought-after, yet pricey, enchanted items.

It is unclear from the family historical archives whether the Gærsmith ancestors located a source of soul gem geodes within High Rock, or whether the family's more recent pilgrimages to Blackreach via Skyrim predate earlier expectations. There is even rumor extant that the Gærsmith ancestors located, from within High Rock itself, an entrance to the vast underground caverns of Blackreach. Were this true though, the fact that the more recent descendants of the Gærsmith clan make use of commonly known entrances, indicates that if any such entrance from High Rock had existed in times gone by, it must by now be obstructed beyond use.

Gaiar meaning "of the land" or "taken from Mundus" and Alata meaning "Ascended", thus Gaiar Alata literally means "from Mundus, ascended", or more simply, "Paradise".
cf    Nenalata — the final resting place of the Last King of the Ayleids, before he ascended (as Ayleids were renown for levitation).