Hunding’s Oasis: pt 4, Interior Upstairs

Zells note: The house tour begins with Part 0: Prologue, and continues in Part 1: Entryway, Part 2: Courtyard, Part 3: Interior Downstairs, and Part 5: Back Patio. I will now turn things over to your tour guide, Zellur’ra, except for the picture captions.

Although guests are never allowed upstairs without an escort, you are most fortunate to have come at a time when our lady Nyx is away from the Oasis, which means this one is able to show you the master suite. Follow me upstairs and we’ll explore.

Welcome to Tamriel’s least-private bedroom, lol – I hope Nyx’s house guards are as vigilant as Zellur’ra says they are. 🙂  About lighting: I used flame-based lights as much as possible through the house, b/c the flickering flames provide shadows and movement as well as light, and make the place seem less static and empty.  But there’s more steady lighting in this area, to make it feel calmer and more serene.  I also used more blue lights, b/c Nyx’s colors are Covenant Blue, Ash’abah Grey (ivory), and Coldharbour Ash Black, and I wanted her personal space to be cooler in tone than the rest of the house.  It’s hard to get away from red in Redguard furnishings, however, so there’s still more red than I would like.

Welcome to Nyx’s sitting room. It is one of her favorite places to work and relax when she is at home – it is her office, library, study, and parlor. She takes private business meetings here, as well as socializing with close friends.

The Akatosh sigil is on the top shelf on the right, and the Juliannos one is on the left.  The safebox in the center is from the Safebox Cracker achievement.  Right now the shelves still feel pretty generic; I’m anticipating replacing a lot of the books with new little pretty things, as they become available.  There’s a large “bank key” associated with a thieving achievement that I’ll put on the middle shelf under the safebox, when I get it, etc.

Our lady Nyx is deeply loyal to the Empire, despite its current turmoil. She moved the Imperial banner around the room several times, and finally decided to hang it behind her desk so it would be in view to those doing business with her.  Nyx can be discreet and even sneaky, but one never doubts where her loyalties lie.

One of the first items Nyx stole as a baby thief was a set of dice.  I kept them, found more, and she’s always carried a dice collection in her inventory.  I have always thought of it as a quiet tribute to Nocturnal (more on that later).  So it tickles me greatly that dice are available in the Crown store, and I had to put a couple on her desk.  The Imperial banner is a Bangkor’ai achievement, the bookshelves are “Redguard Bookshelf, Full” and “Redguard Bookshelf, Piled” – the items on those shelves are part of the bookshelves, one item instead of many.  I only added the light sources.

 

On the far left is the Arkay Sigil & Shrine stand from the luxuries vendor; the white cylinder on the chest is the Yokudan Puzzle Column from an Alik’r quest.  I have an ongoing struggle with scale – even with the “preview” add-on there’s no way to judge how large something is.  I thought both the shrines and the column would be much larger than they are.  Related: I really wish we could scale item size up and down by 50%.

And, finally, we arrive at the master bedroom. It is, perhaps, a bit… grandiose for this one, but Nyx quite loves it.

I wanted the bedroom to feel grand and lush, so I decided to put the bed on a platform (Orc design) and filled the area behind it with large plants to continue the Oasis theme. The bed is from the luxury vendor; the “window box” with plants on the right wall is a “Common Trough, Filled”, tilted and sunk into the wall.

There is a lovely view into the downstairs from here as well:

Lastly, please follow Zellur’ra through the door to the bedroom balcony…

The chest on the vanity is a Thieves Guild Treasure Trove, from a TG achievement.

Yes, just so. The evening air is pleasing, is it not?  It is, however, the view this one brought you to see.  Our lady is a devout follower of the Divines, as all good Imperials are, and she has fought mightily to protect Nirn from the evils of the Daedric Princes.  But not all Daedra wish to see our world destroyed, and allies are a welcome thing against the Darkness. Nyx has a… special relationship with three of the Princes, and although she is quiet about it, she honors them here.

Shout-out to Raistlyn for the idea of putting the glowy flowers in the pool. 🙂  The bowl w/blue flame is “Fire of the Wilderking”, from Grahtwood achievements.  Azura statue is from Stormhaven achievements; “Lady of Shadows” is a Thieves Guild achievement item.  Just barely visible on the beach are the anchor from the luxury vendor and a Khajiit “storage tent” serving as a fishing hut. I’ve had a crush on Azura since Arena, and I have a real thing for the Triple Goddess trope, so the way this came together pleases me a lot.

The first of the three honored here is Meridia, Lady of Light, Guardian of the Hollow City – it is one of her Lights that floats above the pool on the left. Zellur’ra is… not ready to share her story, but she was a captive in Coldharbour for many years, until Nyx came and freed her.  This is true for many of the Oasis staff and guards.  It is only by Meridia’s grace that any of us were able to reclaim our souls from Molag Bal. This one cannot abide daedra, but she is most humbly grateful to Meridia.

On the right – can you see it in the dark? – there is an unmarked statue honoring Nocturnal, Lady of Shadows, Mistress of Luck. When this one showed you the Refuge entrances earlier, you knew what she meant, so you must also know who Nocturnal is and what she means to those who work in the shadows.  Nyx does not speak of Nocturnal, as most do not, but she has always carried a pair of dice in her pocket, to honor the Daedric Prince and bring luck.  Many who come to the Oasis quietly leave offerings for the goddess at the edge of the sea until the tide claims them.

And in between the Light and the Shadows, there is, of course, Azura: Lady of Twilight, Goddess of the In-Betweens. Nyx once told Zellur’ra that although she did not set out to align herself with the goddess, she has spent her life travelling place to place, court to court, and belonging to none of them – in truth, Nyx herself is an In-Between, and she was aligned with the Twilight almost as soon as she was born.

Zellur’ra will leave you here a moment, to contemplate the three Princes and offer any prayers you wish. When you are ready, meet this one down by the pool, and we will conclude the tour with the back patio.

Return to Part 0: Prologue
Return to Part 1: Entryway
Return to Part 2: Courtyard
Return to Part 3: Interior Downstairs
Continue on to Part 5: Back Patio

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