NPCpedia: M'aiq the Liar

[@Ghostcharm]

Thanks so much for watching everybody. This video was an absolute beast to create, and I sincerely hope you enjoy it. Believe it or not... I missed ONE lie. I will break it down here. From Skyrim. "Once M'aiq got in trouble in Riften, and fled to Windhelm. It is good that nobody there cared." If you are a mischievous player you already understand this one. You can kill a ton of people, commit bank fraud and rack up a huge bounty on your head in one hold, then just go over to the next one and no one gives a shit. You could have killed some random guard’s cousin, Rolf, but because it ain't his precinct he could care less. Kind of a goofy mechanic. PS: Many of my videos unfortunately get demonetized for one reason or another. If you would like to support the channel directly, you can join me on Patreon www.patreon.com/ghostcharm Feel no pressure to become a patron. You watching this video is more than enough. Love you all.

[@MagnusMage]

Also onto the multiplayer reference, There is actual multiplayer in morrowind now through openmw

[@akalichamp7030]

Hey Ghostcharm, just found your channel, absolute gem. Might I suggest a video on Champion/Iudex Gundyr from Dark Souls 3? His lore is incredible, some of my favorite from the soulsborne series, he was basically a chosen undead, just like the player, but he was too late to make it to the shrine, so he dedicated himself to challenging all those who came after him, to prove that they were worthy for the path ahead. Though, by the time you, the player, fight him, he's incredibly weakened and corrupted by a Pus of Man. You fight him again later on, as I'm sure you know. You travel back in time to when he was in his prime, and goddamn is he tough. But, the lore implications around this fight seem huge, as it seems to take place in an age of dark, meaning he has (possibly?) survived entire fucking ages. Now consider the fact that he never made it to the bonfire before it went out, and you realize... He canonically did all of this at SL1.

[@notstardream]

what do you mean no quest markers in oblivion? there are quest markers

[@notstardream]

im not talking about the ones on the map, theres ones on the compass too

[@notstardream]

39:45 also they are sent the soul cairn, not the gem

[@lnmgc]

I always found his greeting funny "M'aiq wishes you well" right next to "M'aiq the liar" made me feel like I was annoying him with my presence

[@leyrua]

IKR?!

[@realzachfluke1]

Holy shit, that's a great point lmfao. I've never made that specific connection before 😂

[@microwavemicrowave7648]

when i first encountered him i heard him say that and was like "oh thank you" and then immediately saw his name and out loud said "HEY SCREW YOU"

[@realzachfluke1]

@@microwavemicrowave7648 that is freaking _awesome_ lol

[@stoopidapples1596]

to be fair, maiq has never verifiably lied before. he's only said opinions (which could be true to him) or things which are unverified.

[@Nindeer]

We named our cat M'aiq. He wakes me up in the morning to give him food, which I do and go back to sleep. He then eats all of the food so the bowl is empty, wakes my sister up and pretends that no one has fed him yet and he's absolutely starving. He doesn't do it too often but enough times that we're certain the name and title for him absolutely fits

[@nolen_ix]

thats amazing haha

[@batguy39]

PEAK 🥺

[@bigmango202]

M'aiq hongry

[@Nindeer]

@@bigmango202 M'aiq is done talking... but not done eating

[@gratuitouslurking8610]

Ma'iq has found the owner tired now, so he went and bothered somebody else.

[@RoleCrow]

M´aiq on Elder Scrolls 6: "M´aiq knows many things, he enjoys the sand of Hamerfell it has sixteen times the detail..."

[@megakillerx]

“M’aiq once saw a dragon and a bear fight to the death. He did not stick around to see who won.”

[@RoleCrow]

@@megakillerx that one is good!

[@professorhaystacks6606]

"M'aiq has heard of these things called 'pho-anes' but does not posess one."

[@lgchamp1999]

Maiq knows that Nords are good with their thumbs.

[@daedalus6433]

"M'aiq has been to Vvardenfell. But of that place, he has no words for you."

[@BarbyQMan1]

You should audition for a Khajit voice-acting role in the future. Your M'aiq voice is top notch. You've got talent, king.

[@BullySMaguire]

You should've thought of that earlier.

[@packlesswolf1]

He used an AI.

[@wungomungo6177]

​@@packlesswolf1Straight up lie. Didn't even watch the video

[@lukaspumo3498]

I mean I thought It was legit I didn't know it was him until I rewound it to see ma'iq in Morrowind form

[@Raven_Bones]

​@@packlesswolf1Mai'q? Is that you?

[@jamesk2325]

My favorite homage to maiq is found in the Better Vampires mod for Skyrim. An optional sidequest added by the mod gives permanent passice buffs for feeding off various fanous NPCs - Harkon inproves vampire magic, Ulfric improves shouts, etc. Maiq? Why, he improves your load times by 33%, of course!

[@lifeonlockdown7818]

"...or perhaps it was -33%?" (This is a joke btw)

[@ArchonZach]

M'aiq is just Todd Howard's fursona

[@charliecharliewhiskey9403]

Doubtful, M'aiq is a rogue, and Todd Howard is only smart enough to play a barbarian.

[@evail7392]

The canon rumor from a "trustworthy" source...

[@AgniFirePunch]

Broootal

[@MxchiefMaykr]

Thanks, I hate it

[@thewildcat7972]

Yes ,, M'aiq is the sleeping god

[@Wolf-sc6jg]

Your M'aiq impression is genuinely really good I kept thinking it was his actual voice and i now accept it as morrowinds canon voice for him

[@rabidporcupine0]

Dunno about M'aiq, but he's a goddamn dead ringer for Inigo from the skyrim mod.

[@peteycrypto2135]

I just figured thats what the Morrowind M'aiq sounded like, since I never played that one.

[@Mycotography]

yeah i had to do a double take to notice

[@crptpyr]

@@peteycrypto2135 Morrowind isn't voice acted (with a few exceptions, all characters have generic lines and greetings but those are shared across whole races so it's just a handful of lines per voice actor), it has an approximate shit-ton of dialogue and fitting all of that audio file space into that game would've been nuts On top of that, bethesda wasn't doing so well at the time and Morrowind is basically what saved the studio. They wouldn't have the money to pay for voice acting for every line in the game. Personally I like it, because I can read at my own pace. I effectively do that in other elder scrolls games but having to just skip a line halfway through a word and read one line at a time does kind of suck. Plus it makes it more impactful when some characters do have a little more voice acting, Dagoth Ur's lines to the player are absolutely iconic and I think it helps to make them more memorable that he's one of very few characters that have specific voice lines all to themselves.

[@oat-mel]

someone should mod it

[@godless_comedian6667]

I always thought of Maiq as a bringer of doom. As every time he shows up to a province basically Armageddon is happening.

[@JacoDeltaco]

that killing the cat to stop the plague kind of logic

[@godless_comedian6667]

@@JacoDeltaco I mean fair enough man 🤷 as I said I just thought it was too coincidental from a world or story perspective.

[@JacoDeltaco]

@@godless_comedian6667 there was a man in japan that survive the two nuclear bomb clearly it not a coincidence the amrican where aiming for him

[@thatdognotthepuppy5809]

@@JacoDeltaco That's quite different from someone showing up to a particular area across several centuries. That guy happened to be in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, an unfortunate coincidence- Maiq turns up to wherever the apocalypse is coming over the span of hundreds of years, that's stretching the point of a coincidence.

[@JacoDeltaco]

@@thatdognotthepuppy5809 look up how many people have the same name as you

[@SovietSpectre]

Was watching this as i was playing skyrim, while you were at the part where maiq talks about horses, i saw a shadowy figure in the bushes, i approached the figure, only to be delighted with who i found. It was M'aiq! And as i was talkin to him, the headless horseman ghost passed by while the video was talking about horses not being available in morrowind. The timing is incredible. This was the first time i encountered him which was insane since i tried for hours exploring just so i could encounter him, eventually i gave up and just watched this video as a substitute while playing.

[@phylippezimmermannpaquin2062]

Ohoh someone is becoming lucid in the dream

[@IronFreakV]

Maybe it was a coincidence - or maybe it wasn't. Ma'iq knows many things others do not, after all....

[@rockyfalldownstairs]

You just know the Elder Scrolls 6 will have a M'aiq line about how long we've waited for the game.

[@TwizslurD]

M'aiq saying that dragons are "invisible and very quiet" can _actually_ be taken very literally. Dragons, up to the events of Skyrim, are not technically dead. You can "kill" the body, yes. But it's not the body of the dragon that is "alive", it's the soul. And their souls are quite literally "invisible and very quiet", only seen/heard/interacted by other dragons or dragonborn. I love M'aiq _so_ much!

[@TwizslurD]

@@whatsallthebrouhaha interesting, I've never heard of Jills, though I'm also nowhere near an expert on ES lore. Just more reason to love M'aiq.

[@prometheanrebel3838]

That could also be a jab at how they just literally drop on you out of nowhere sometimes, and without warning.

[@ornitorrincoc1borgue767]

I like to imagine he meant that for the Dragonborn itself, as he is basically a living dragon, in the body of a human. Basically hiding in plain sight

[@Joe-nv4pn]

Oh fair, I more so took that line literally. Like everyone in Skyrim say dragons have been dead for hundreds of years but we know that’s not true since Parthunaax has been hidden (invisible) and quiet a top the throat of the world. There also other examples of dragons not being extinct but more so hidden

[@sommerblume9671]

@@Joe-nv4pn They were also called "invisible" in the Morrowind entry. So further evidence they were hidden for ages. Idk why people only think of Skyrim referencing dragons.

[@saintjiubtheeradicator]

There is a book in Skyrim called "Confessions of a Khajit Fur Trader" it's a dark twisted tail of a Khajit bandit who lost his brother after a robbery gone wrong, he didn't want to leave his brother behind so he did the most logical thing he could do, he skinned him. Yada yada yada, anyway a random bozo wanted to buy his brothers fur pelt because of the quality, it sickened him so much selling his brothers flesh to a random person. But it got him thinking, and soon he was running an empire of illegal für and hide trading, selling not only Khajit Fur, but Argonian hide. The book doesn't end there but if you want to know the ending then it can be found in the loot room at fort Dawnguard, in the cave next to the fort

[@davidec.4021]

Bro. Thanks that’s so cool

[@saintjiubtheeradicator]

@@davidec.4021 Don't worry about it

[@AndroidNoir-L06k]

Oh boy I read about that before cuz that book is so secluded in the cave with a contraption so I though there must be something juicy in the book and reading that book was a ride.

[@saintjiubtheeradicator]

@@AndroidNoir-L06k I was so surprised about how interesting that book was, like I've passed by that book for 5 years and the moment I read it I instantly knew I had to start reading some of the in-game books more and I wish I did this before

[@Shuroii]

@@saintjiubtheeradicator I really recommend the audiobooks of Skyrim mod. I really enjoy cave raiding --hunting for more books-- whilst having a book read to me in the background

[@MonkehMike]

About the «fur» quote… it is absolutely understandable that M’aiq is nervous about the fur armours in Skyrim. There is a quote you hear a lot as a Khajiit, and that is “You’ll make a fine rug, cat!” (._.)

[@samakiraroyjanssen6326]

And a book in Skyrim talks of a Khajiit fur trader… a Khajiit Khajiit fur trader.

[@NIgHTMaReFortyTwo]

A 'Waiting Room' server that goes up when the actual game goes down for maintenance would be cool in an MMO. It could be a smaller worldspace like a tavern or small town map which would put players together in a space where they can hang out and chat and take in the old school MMO roleplaying vibe. Maybe the only things you can do are like walk around, sit down, chat, emote, buy drinks from the barkeep etc.

[@cloroxusthestainlessone4324]

Play cards or shuffle board and a playable piano

[@ZKtheMAN]

Not sure how useful that would be. The whole point of maintenance downtime is to make sure no one's using the services to give you enough time to deploy the new software. If you have a waiting room server, you'll still need networking, authentication, at least one server machine if not more, enough to hold and run the many instances it would take to keep everyone in the waiting room. On top of that the waiting room might need server code that's being upgraded during maintenance so you'd eventually have to bring the _waiting room_ down too. Kinda defeats the point. I know I'm getting super 🤓um acktchually 🤓 about the whole thing so I'll say that if a game _did_ manage to pull something like this off I'd be very impressed.

[@Valentin_126]

​@@ZKtheMAN The waiting room would be a completely separate server available when maintenance for the main server is underway, that means that the waiting room could undergo maintenance at literally any time that the main server is up. This isn't something that's impossible, in fact there is one MMO (which I don't remember the name of) which has two separate servers, the one currently available and the update server, when the current one needs maintenance they just switch the server to the other one which has new bug fixes, content, etc. It's an almost instant change as the player is simply asked to relog and then they're on the new server.

[@KIDCON26]

Warframe? @@Valentin_126

[@MoodCandy79]

Absolutely love wandering in ESO and seeing someone take the time to announce M'aiq is in the area and watching everyone RUSH to him.

[@UlaKapala]

My favourite M'aiq quote is when you meet him in ESO in Coldharbour: "Don't drink water that glows. M'aiq learned that the hard way." (All the water in Coldharbour glows).

[@JonatasAdoM]

I didn't play ESO, so I thought M'aiq had just arrived from a visit to Fallout.

[@theorangegremlin334]

M’aiq is luminescent

[@specialknees6798]

Could also be an anecdote from the New Vegas wastes

[@bioemiliano]

@@theorangegremlin334 We'll have to run him over

[@peterbenson883]

The glowing water is actually a sort of plasma from which the daedra reform once they are sent back to Oblivion after being defeated or destroyed. So drinking it... is a really bad idea.

[@Xvladin]

I particularly like Ma'iqs very very vague description of the Dwemer incident. I think he's saying "You can make up whatever theories about the Dwemer that you want but it's useless because we didn't write an answer, so the answer is whatever you want"

[@crptpyr]

Except, they did? Like you solve the disappearance in a quest in morrowind. The line is more or less a reference to how much of a big mystery it's made up to be in the game despite not really being all that complex.

[@Xvladin]

@@crptpyr so what's the answer then? Where did they go definitively and canonically?

[@stoopidapples1596]

yup, and I don't expect they ever will. it's stuff like this that is better left mysterious. although i think a game about the dwemer mysteriously returning could also be a cool idea.

[@vihaan5511]

@@Xvladin if I remember correctly they messed around with the heart of lorkhan and accidentally ported the entire race into another reality or they just all died because of it

[@vihaan5511]

Probably rather the second one as we can still find dwemer ghosts in their ruins

[@ChickenChunks]

59:00 M'aiq could also be referring to the fact that all the players say the same things to him, because they all have the same dialogue options

[@triplebasic]

"M'aiq knows many things, and many people. Today, M'aiq speaks with a Nord, but tomorrow the same words will be said to a Redguard"

[@LOLWHATBRO]

So y'all don't have to click back to where you were in the video the quote this comment references around the timestamp is, "M'aiq speaks with many in his travels. After a time, they seem to repeat themselves. Strange."

[@raized943]

@@triplebasic Hammerfell foreshadowing.

[@Mick0Mania]

He was the first NPC I came across in Skyrim (after the intro sequence). I had no clue he was this rare. I was a Khajit as well, and was a bit annoyed that he didn't acknowledge this at all. I distinctly remember pickpocketing him to discover the skooma, and then writing him off as delusional. Little did I know his words had such deep meaning.

[@caseyhamm4292]

m’aiq is a truly tolkien-esque character. he’s like tom bombadil if he was good and showed up randomly over and over. also it’s totally blowing my mind that i have been playing oblivion for well over a decade now and i never knew he hunted for calipers until now

[@moeneet7069]

Khajiit lore is crazy. The position of the moons effects how a Khajiit is born so basically in the Elder Scrolls all cats are a form of Khajiit, from house cats and saber cats to people with cat-like features and sentient magic talking lions are all born from Khajiit and can give birth to other forms. I always thought maybe M'aiq is a specific form of Khajiit born on a specific day.

[@I_am_a_cat_]

Even then there'd be plenty of others born on the same day, unless it was one specific day, being the day he was born, that'll never happen again or some shit.

[@kremiteforg928]

He was born on leap day

[@ingavarh]

​@@kremiteforg928the fabled 30th of february

[@thebelgianlemon6815]

⁠@@koolaidman4869 Yes, any khajit can give birth to any other khajit.

[@joshuagaines7349]

Maybe that's why he mentions his birthday in Morrowind

[@user-ov2kx8ql5i]

I just realized why he is called M'aiq the liar. He's a character who breaks 4th wall and knows stuff other people don't know. For them, his knowledge is unbelievable and treats him as a liar.

[@Andres-vc6ew]

Stop lying z

[@rkkzjj32]

Repent and follow Jesus my friend! Repenting doesn't mean confessing your sins to others, but to stop doing them altogether. Belief in Messiah alone is not enough to get you into heaven - Matthew 7:21-23, John 3:3, John 3:36 (ESV is the best translation for John 3:36). Contemplate how the Roman empire fulfilled the role of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13. Revelation 17 confirms that it is in fact Rome. From this we can conclude that A) Jesus is the Son of God and can predict the future or make it happen, B) The world leaders/nations/governments etc have been conspiring together for the last 3000+ years to accomplish the religion of the Israelites C) History as we know it is fake. You don't really need to speculate though because you can start a relationship with God and have proof. Call on the name of Jesus and pray for Him to intervene in your life. - Revelation 3:20 Revelation has been unfolding since Jesus died. The Popes have claimed to be equal to God and set themselves in Jesus' place (antichrist(s)). Vatican City (Which is its own nation BTW) have risen up to fulfill the role of the false prophet Regarding the man of lawlessness or antichrist, 2 Thessalonians 2:4 says “Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” The restrainer that the Apostle Paul was referring to in 2 Thessalonians was the Western Roman Emperor, who held back the Popes from taking power. Once the last Western Roman Emperor was removed from power in 476 AD, the Pope was given civil and ecclesiastic authority over Rome; healing the deadly head wound of the beast in Revelation 13, as they took the Emperors title of Pontifex Maximus, leader of the church and state. “We may according to the fullness of our power, dispose of the law and dispense above the law. Those whom the Pope of Rome doth separate, it is not a man that separates them but God. For the Pope holdeth place on earth, not simply of a man but of the true God.” (Source: “Decretals of Gregory IX,” Book 1, chapter 3.) Pope Pius V blasphemed, “The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth.” (Source: Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Cities Petrus Bertanous Chapter XXVII: 218.) Pope Leo XIII declared, “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” (Source: Pope Leo XIII Encyclical Letter, June 20, 1894) The antichrist sea beast of Revelation points to the office of the papacy, the Popes of Rome, who controlled the Roman beast for 1,260 years, from 538-1798 AD. Daniel 7:25 says “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” The Popes of Rome spoke against Elohim and proclaimed to be God. They reigned for 1,260 years, from 538-1798 AD. during which they caused tens of millions of saints to be killed. The Pope’s title is Vicar of Christ, which in Latin is ‘Vicarius Filii Dei’, and equates numerically to the number 666

[@AndroidNoir-L06k]

yeah, stop lying Z

[@timthesnail5927]

Yeah, that's right, stop lying Z

[@liammclin5722]

Yeah, that’s right, lying isn’t good, stop lying z

[@mattbrown5511]

I'm still waiting for M'Aiq to say, "It just works".

[@StateTheSmash]

Maybe in VI?

[@jialin7]

@@StateTheSmash just gotta wait…..

[@drakekingblackheart5481]

i want to puke

[@dianauwu1312]

Maybe in TES6 we can ask him about mountains and get something about "going to any mountain we please and climbing it"

[@whoeverest_the_whateverest]

I've just come up with easter egg phrase that can be said by him or about him: "Be the shit daedra afraids" This stroke my mind right on the phrase "Maiq is in essence a representation of Bethesda themselves". With this, I'm leaving to you all figuring out exactly what easter egg is hidden in the phrase I came up with

[@dhuh6760]

I was playing in Survival Mode, using Alternate Life. I was shipwrecked off the northern coast. I swam, nearly dying in the water, had to sneak through a Falmer-infested cave to stay warm, the first, non-hostile entity I found was M'aiq, on my way towards windhelm, forced to walk because of how cold I was. And then, I froze to death. He comforted me, as I perished in the snow, telling me about how magic + magic = magic.

[@DreamStepper]

Maiq being soul trapped and having his soul transferred to new bodies over the years would explain how he's lived so long. "Dragons were never gone," could be a reference to Parthurnax who hid himself for centuries.

[@mathiasmittge7587]

Ran into an NPC in Skyrim today that mentioned how calipers used to be all over the place in the past, but have now mysteriously disappeared. It just occured to me that this might be M'aig's doing.

[@AndroidNoir-L06k]

Maybe that was just shegorath follower.

[@arcanedoughnut2016]

Nah reference to a quest in the shivering isles where you gather calipers and tongs

[@xScooterAZx]

But M;'aiq is a liar,not a thief.

[@kingt0295]

@@xScooterAZx he’s a khahjit

[@xScooterAZx]

@@kingt0295 That's kinda obvious, I didnt say anything about his race. I just said he was a liar.

[@protein3266]

M’aiq in ESO is S tier. This dude can be in so many different locations, and each time it’s a ‘blow through your nose’ chuckle. In Skyrim you know you can bump into him, with ESO, it’s so massive than when you DO see him you’ll rush over because he goes within 10 minutes and he’s a rare find.

[@Xaderoth]

Ikr! I've probably seen him less than 5 times during my time in ESO. I make sure to spam him when I do see him though XD It always feels good running into him no matter the game.

[@Nereosis16]

I dunno man, ESO M'iaq is boring as f In the other games he is making fun of the game and the players, in ESO he's just saying things.

[@scrithen2836]

What even is ESO? I know its an mmo but is it boring repetitive shit like WOW or is it something else?

[@Nereosis16]

@@scrithen2836 I hate MMOs but my friends who play ESO say it is a very good one.

[@scrithen2836]

@@Nereosis16 i might try it then, ive tried like 5 mmos but they’re all the same boring repetitive gameplay

[@FedoraSpunk]

Having him locate calipers is just a convenient, and exceptionally clever, way to code his behaviour to travel. Some guy must've realized "hey, calipers are in like every location" so they chose these as the key to get him to be found in various places, making him fast just increases his variability.

[@identifiedbyhim6086]

It Also might be a nod to the shivering isle doc bc in that sheogorath send you to find calipers too!!

[@identifiedbyhim6086]

Dlc*

[@echobloom9983]

I was sure it was a refference to the time they had the item calipers in WOW required to make a bunch of items but you had to HAVE calipers in order to MAKE calipers. Creating a problem. It was quickly fixed but it was a fairly big deal if I remember correctly.

[@purplebatdragon]

17:06 This just reminds me of the radiant quest you can get in the Shivering Isles expansion, where a crazy guy says he needs them to create an "air boat". After accepting it, I became hyper aware of how many of the things spawn in containers, and I began hoarding them for the promise of gold. Even if I never actually got around to turning them in.

[@drake713]

I want M'aiq in ES6 to either be the housecat version or the very human version, just to watch people be mad as sht "lying about being a khajiit"

[@oliparkhouse]

My girlfriend ain't gonna be happy I picked this for movie night

[@ModernHolmes]

Noice.

[@draco5991rep]

Your girlfriend should reconsider her life choices then 😌 what could be more important than getting a better understanding of the most precious kitteh in the Elder Scrolls?

[@oliparkhouse]

@@draco5991rep threw her off a bridge mate. I ain't dealing with no back talk about M'aiq senpai.

[@KriticalKoitus]

3 weeks late but play it at 2x speed as a "compromise" 😉

[@oliparkhouse]

@@KriticalKoitus 0.75x speed as a punishment for disrespecting M'aiq

[@reallyman6502]

Your M'aiq impression is almost perfect

[@Ghostcharm]

I'd give it a 6/10

[@gfh110]

I read this in M'aiq's voice

[@BirdGuy-wt5wo]

@@Ghostcharm I give it a 8/10. Great impression man 👍

[@raphael8951]

You should have said purrfect

[@genxlibertarian9656]

Hard agree

[@CalmTempest]

Your M'aiq impression is nothing to be ashamed of. Definitely makes the video more enjoyable

[@GusBDamme]

Honestly the funniest part about Khajit lore is that they can be born basically as a different species of cat just based off the moon meaning there has definitely been a guy with two house sized normal cats, that one day gave birth to a human-baby sized bipedal kitten

[@TheRealDickGrayson]

Except that scenario wouldn't work unless they were slaves, so not really funny at all.

[@intensellylit4100]

House sized cats?

[@zennyblades]

House cats aka regular cats.

[@musicIistener]

44:09 One of my favorite Interesting NPC quests is the one where the anxious khajiit asks you to count the steps because he hates being lied to and if you tell him there’s around 730 he is so shocked how much less than 7,000 that is that he walks away and kills himself 😭

[@cr-nd8qh]

No way

[@Geffro]

That's an interesting mod, adds a lot of role-play dialog options. I also counted the steps for that guy haha

[@alsocharles]

That's from Interesting NPCs, right? Love that mod. It adds a tower that I swear to Leki is the only landmark that helps me find a quick way back from Castle Volkihar without walking all the way back to Solitude while trying not to freeze to death

[@ericpeterson8732]

The thing about calipers, when you ask the royal mage of rifton what's bothering, if you choose the option of using calipers to help the experiment, she will also remark that calipers are ultra rare.

[@TheAcidBunny04]

I don't mean to be "That gal" but you have a spelling error in your comment. The city is spelled "Riften". I don't mean to be rude, it's just my favorite location in Skyrim

[@alexsylling1449]

If I'm remembering right, I believe Sheogorath stole them all. Or some other daedric prince took them. They literally are gone.

[@Reid52]

​@TheAcidBunny04 it's actually spelled rifton in older lore books

[@TheAcidBunny04]

@@Reid52 I didn't know that. Thank you

[@put-tarrahnjahoova-bad718]

@@TheAcidBunny04 LOL i hope they find a cure for autism

[@Gabriell1126]

I only found this channel a few days ago and man can I say it's one of my favorite. The intricacy you take to dissect games/heros/villains/NPCs and so on is something I don't see often. I am happy I have discovered this channel and I plan to be here for the long run!

[@Tim_593]

I love how In-depth he goes, but manages to break any fatigue from long videos with random jokes that hit every time Me: Ah well, this was a pretty long intro Ghostcharm: Morrowind doesnt have full voice acting, so here is my impression of M'aiq And then one minute later there is a Morrowind trap remix playing, its actually brilliant

[@BOKNOKB7]

Well said, I agree and relate to this kewl statement

[@HighLordOfHouseIX]

Exactly this!!!

[@larrydewesse655]

I felt the same way when I found one of his villainpedias binged his videos that entire weekend his souls videos convinced me to buy elden ring I've never been so happily frustrated with a game

[@zarlsalamandersspacemarine302]

I agree on every point, perfect to listen to while painting ^-^

[@emipudans7974]

I enjoyed this a lot because I love M'aiq, such an enigmatic character. When I first heard the "M'aiqs father was also called M'aiq" dialogue, I questioned it. However, I play ESO quite a bit, and there is a Public Dungeon in Stonefalls called Crow's Wood that has a sparkling flute on the ground with an inscription that reads: "A gift from M'aiq to his son, M'aiq." I am now a solid fan of the Many M'aiqs theory.

[@Whitsoxrule1]

I clicked on this thinking I'd watch it for a few minutes or skip around to the fun parts but I watched the whole damn thing and loved every second of it. Great content

[@wepbots1084]

Pretty sure the one on wars at 48:00 is actually referring to Bethesda's huge cut on the Civil War questline. What was supposed to be a huge war-game like campaign with sieges for every major hold ended up being cut down to the barebones (which is why you can liberate the reach or the rift without ever touching the cities themselves). I think this pokes fun at how the civil war is supposed to be a big deal and yet you never really see any huge battles or skirmishes excluding the limited ones in the questline

[@shoemakerx0105]

8:30 he's referencing the fact that a dragon soul lingers in an area until either the dragon is resurrected or a dragonborn absorbs the soul. Which raises the question of how a "mortal" Kahjiit in the second Era would know about the nature of dragon souls, who all died centuries prior. It is my firm belief that the only lie M'aiq tells is about his father also being a wondering Kahjiit named M'aiq, and his father's father too, and that he is actually the Kahjiit version of Shor, Lorkaj.

[@letswaveabook3183]

There are also theories that he is actually Lorkan or Lorkaj

[@MishaFlower]

In skyrim there are very clear burial markings for dragons where they pop out off when you visit them. It's not hard to imagine that someone would've found those burial markings and unearthed a dragon skeleton underneath. And considering how many times to find or trap souls in nirn i wouldn't be surprised if some magician sensed a soul still lingering in the skeletons.

[@DysmasofTailholt]

He can’t be Lorkhan because the player is Lorkhans avatar

[@shoemakerx0105]

@@DysmasofTailholt and why can't an all powerful creator God interact with a shard of themself? does a daedra not interact with dremora, that are in essence an aspect of themselves?

[@djja8844]

M'aiq must be lorkhan, the wondering ahole cursed to wonder forever. The player character is Ariel or Akatosh, but Akatosh is a made up mix of lorkhan and Ariel, so Akatosh can't really exist.

[@vatoz9694]

10:00 I think the moving corpses is in reference to stealth games where you can hide bodies to not alert other NPCs. Also, your m'aiq is really good and it's hard not to ,but you switch to Ren from Ren and Stimpy at times lol

[@Ghostcharm]

lmao

[@TheHerugrim]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to think this

[@Lunch_Meat]

Would be down to hear M'aiq talk about magic nose goblins. Or even just here him say "jooooy"

[@gurugurukuma]

I will die of laughter if M'aiq will say "It just works" in the next Elder Scrolls game.

[@asiamatron]

Sixteen times the detail.

[@samakiraroyjanssen6326]

“Many people wonder why magic does what it does. M’aiq does not. M’aiq knows that it just works.

[@goosemanVEVO]

M'aiq has the a similar alure as Patches. Both are recurring characters who possess both a capacity to lie, and who also know truths that even wise men in their universes do not.

[@ErrorMessage01]

I like the theory that M’aiq always gives away hints at the next game’s plot and location

[@Hwarming]

Bethesda does that a lot in their games, they put quests or references that might seem throwaway but are actually what the next game is about. There's definitely the plot of ES6 hidden somewhere in Skyrim, we just don't know which one, same with Fallout 4.

[@galaxypanda1288]

@@Hwarming Based on things found around Skyrim I think it definitely hints at a second Great War between the Empire and the Dominion. I think it also hints that the Dragonborn did not actually prevent the end of the world by killing Alduin. Instead the Dragonborn only made it possible. Based on all of I think ESVI will be about the Thalmor attempting to “return to aetherius” by ending the world themselves.

[@GardensAndGames]

Early on in playing Oblivion, I was sneaking behind a hooded figure. I thought it was the Gray Fox. Then... ZOOM! I never knew it was M'aiq. I always wondered if I could increase my speed to catch him.

[@Nerthos]

You definitely can run up to his speed, but you don't gain much from it

[@DiegoAlvarezBeltran1993.]

The fact that this series omitted kicking as an attack but you can do a full on bridging German suplex with / impeccable/ form is well and truly fucking hilarious.

[@Whiteythereaper]

Those animated executions are so good lmao

[@firstnamelastname9237]

M’aik has mastered the art of walking. M’aik can now outwalk death itself. M’aik thinks you underestimate khajit.

[@WhitexFeatherx]

The M'aiq voice when he said "it sucks" reminds me of the villain from Kung pow enter the fist

[@jakeprice146]

The Oblivion M’aiq hunting callipers and hilarious. In the Shivering Isles DLC there is a never ending quest to collect all Callipers in Tamerial. Which also has a lore effect of Skyrim having no callipers. Great stuff.

[@detaildevil6544]

I'll consider M'aiq the dreamer as canon now. That's one of the most interesting theories out there.

[@richardk9968]

The comment about Dragons is a reference to a chapter of the amazing Terry Pratchet book, "The Color of Magic" where dragons become translucent the closer they get to the ground

[@cloroxusthestainlessone4324]

It doubles up with the burial mounds on the ground and the last living dragon Paathanax on the Throat of the world

[@LordMalice6d9]

The character of M'aiq is the reason why I always have at least 1 or 2 save files as a Khajiit character to play as in every Elder Scrolls game.

[@themonsterundermystairs4272]

m’aiq is such an amazing character, i will always exclaim “m’aiq!” out loud and run up to him we i spot him

[@greenhowie]

Calipers are used for measuring holes in things, usually for woodwork or masonry but also for surgery. He's doing that in Oblivion to measure all the "holes" left by cut content.

[@ArachneQueen]

Some where in ESO I found a "tomb of Ma'iq" and it was a simple cave that said "To Maiq from his son Maiq" or something like that. It was a long time ago though.

[@RotSwallower]

It's in a pocket realm of nocturnal owned by the duke of crows, among the offerings or shiny objects they own was an instrument (I think it's an instrument it's been a while) with the letter saying that. If it's true maybe ma'iq comes from a long line of khajit all called ma'iq.

[@vennin7781]

I remember being a kid and finding him in Morrowind. the next ~3 hours of my life were spent flying above the dragon statue in Ebonheart looking for a dragon lmao.

[@herpderpified]

Theory time: Ma'iq DOES actually know how to shout, and it unlocks further context to his quotes of becoming a lich, and invisible dragons. He speaks of the thuum as it is, the voice, but then brushes it of as just like any person shouting. This is his classic misdirection. Thusly when dragons are "quiet and invisible" they are actually just souls, with no mortal form to wield the thuum. Expanding further, needing the tongue of a dragon could be more metaphorical in nature. My idea is that liches need to be able to at least in some way control or at least understand the power of the actual 'dragon toungue' the Thu'um.

[@Whiteythereaper]

It sounds like the Dragon Priests of Skyrim

[@arnaudbourson4108]

"M'aiq carries two weapons to be safe" might also be a reference to a line in The Witcher 2 : Assassins of kings, where many NPC would guess that Geralt carries two swords in case that the main one breaks/

[@twistedvtuber9894]

I want ES6 M'aiq to reference the famous skyrim glitches. Imagine the whiplash of him just casually mentioning using a bucket to walk through walls

[@samwill7259]

Every. Single. Line of dialogue from a character who has been in multiple, dozens of hours RPGS...are...are you feeling alright? Do we need to call somebody?

[@globules804]

I'm glad that you commented on M'aiq's voice. André Sogliuzzo's vocal performance as all the male Khajiits in Skyrim is flawless. Also excellent job, even though its an hour long lore video you somehow manage to keep it from being dry.

[@GrahamJyc1]

The really fun part when you encounter Ma'iq is trying to determine which of his tales are lies and which are truths. Most of the time his stories are outright fictitious but eveeeery so often he says something that is true in the game. :) He has always been my favorite character.

[@gonzaloantequera8193]

X

[@actuallyken8874]

All it takes to be a memorable npc is the ability to make the protagonist stop and think. Just passing by M'aiq and he gives you the "M'aiq wishes you well" always makes me stop and laugh... then just watch him slow walk away.

[@brendan9868]

42:09 We actually know of at least 1 case of this in Skyrim. Arnbjorn in the Dark Brotherhood upon first meeting him will be telling a story to the other members of defeating a khajit warrior monk and will finish it with “now he’s dead and I have a new loincloth”

[@vexile1239]

Shame you can't turn his wolf skin into a loin cloth

[@John.McMillan]

I always thought that he was either a Avatar or follower of Sheogorath. It makes alot of sense in my opinion, with his family also doing so, the name itself essentially being more of a title than a actual name, hence why they all have the same name. They show up during times of catastrophe, seemingly know things that there is just no reason for anybody to know, while at the same time seeming to take joy in spreading misinformation along with the truth, to drive fans mad trying to decipher it. He is so absolutely mundaine that the only logical conclusion I can reach is that he is a follower or incarnation of the god of madness, Sheogorath.

[@haydnrogan6789]

Maiq says stuff that is dreamlike, when anybody is dreaming, you have moments where you realise you are dreaming and then can fall back into the dream. Perhaps maiq is the dreamer waking up and falling back asleep.

[@jek__]

Thats a neat idea, I think in LOTR the creator is called "the dreamer", as in the one whose mind reality exists inside Also I didnt know people have moments of realizing theyre dreaming, that never happens to me. If I ever realize I'm dreaming it's at the moment I wake up

[@LOLWHATBRO]

@@jek__ you zero out

[@KopperNeoman]

​@@LOLWHATBROYou achieve CHIM. Zero summing is when you immediately use that CHIM to invalidate yourself.

[@Morph8845]

One of my favourite books in the game is 'Confessions of a Khajiit Fur Trader'. Goes into the story of a Khajiit who comes into the trade of dealing other Khajiit's hides for profit. Think this might be the reference at 41:57.

[@calvingaster]

41:52 not to mention the Nordic warcry of "YOU'LL MAKE A FINE RUG, CAT!"

[@TheSlipperyNUwUdle]

I adore M’aiq!!! 😍 I’m a newbie to Elder Scrolls (I started playing Skyrim last year. I’m not much of a gamer outside cozy games) and it’s lore but I’m always excited to see him out in the snowy mountains. I run into him fairly frequently.

[@TikkaQrow]

38:58 iirc Sheogorath's 'beard' in Oblivion was actually his tongue. They retextured it, extended it forward and down, and froze it in place. Quite literally a workaround for something the wasn't included in the prefabs. If you poke inside Sheog's mouth in 4, he has no tongue XD

[@blissfuldj7627]

That's both really cool And really vile Definitely seems like a sheogorath move

[@warlordofbritannia]

Here’s my scorching sands hot take: He’s Tamriel’s equivalent of Tom Bombadil-his origins are intentionally ambiguous, he’s extremely meta, he exists just to troll the main character, wears a funny hat… Edit: lol, you even bring up Tom Bombadil at the end 😂😂

[@sit-insforsithis1568]

Hey doll merry doll

[@hiiipowerbass]

Hoid!!

[@UNSCPILOT]

I read you comment just as he got to that, kinda amusing

[@MarkusManon]

I love a lot of your interpretations of these lines! I always struggled with loving M'aiq because I felt like I was out of the loop with his references, which I'm sure is the intended effect a lot of the time too. You've really given me a new depth of understanding and appreciation for the history of the whole series with this NPCpedia!

[@Esper320]

M'aiq reminds me a lot of The Traveler from the Eberron camapign setting. Kinda sorta a member of the Dark Six but more Chaotic Neutral and the canonical hidden ruler of Eberron but also makes a habit of shapeshifting, spreading gifts/humor/disinformation/chaos as he wants to.

[@georodir6508]

Didnt realize how good your M’aiq voice was until the oblivion voice then you back to back well done!

[@marcus5202]

referencing the butterfly thing, before hearing your perspective on the matter, I immediately thought of a bug that Bethesda faced where the beginning carriage wouldn't spawn right and would flip around and go to heck and also Frick. turned it there was a butterfly knocking the carriage over. if only I thought to make a "bug" pun.

[@jamesgrenier8856]

M'aiq's comment on butterflies was a reference to a bug in Skyrim's development that resulted in the initial carriage ride cutscene flipping out into game breaking results from a butterfly with collision physics interacting with the cart or horse's hitbox

[@Something_Disgusting]

I believe that one was bees, not butterflies.

[@fried0nion503]

@@Something_Disgusting I belive it was any roaming animal, foxes rabbits I think they all would cause it.

[@Something_Disgusting]

@@fried0nion503 I believe it was M'aiq 😳

[@McGriddle69]

I love m’aiq he’s one of my favorite npcs in any game ever. Everytime I see him I say “oh, what’s up m’aiq” out loud lol

[@TheA1ternative]

54:18 M'aiq is in all of the base game zones (no ESO+ subscription required), the only exception is "Northern Elsweyr" and that's it. Plus the achievment tied to M'aiq that gives a dye option for gear only requires you to visit him in base game zones. I don't know shit about elder scrolls lore, I just like ESO and figured I'd share this incase anyone wants to pick up the game and find him! 👍

[@resurgam_b7]

He gives me benevolent Gaunter O'Dimm vibes. A deity in his own right, but not defined by mortal perceptions and persuasions. He's there, he has a purpose or a design all his own and it is so far outside the bounds of Mundus that the best our brains can come up with to understand what our eyes see is a cat telling half truths to anyone who will listen.

[@AAK540]

I always felt that he was the sleeping God. Given the information he talked about that nobody else had any idea about. There have been other characters that have broken the fourth wall, but none know what he knows, you know?

[@good__person]

isn't the sleeping God is you, the player?

[@AAK540]

@@good__person I don't know honestly 🤷🏻‍♂️😂

[@thesmerelajiah2805]

@@good__person Doubt

[@KopperNeoman]

​@@good__personI think it's actually the computer you're playing the game on. In ESO's (and any multiplayer mod's) case, it would be the server.

[@OnBrandRP]

Dude I love your Maiq voice WAY more than literally any official version.

[@kjamesjr]

M’aiq is Lorkan. His heart cast to Vardenfell, where Red Mountain grew. Vardenfell being where we first meet M’aiq. When Nerevar freed the heart, M’aiq was free to move.

[@ShirleyCurryTheOlderGamer]

I have loved this video about one of my favorite characters. I've also enjoyed the fact that it is such long a video!! Sorry I took 2 years before I finally got to enjoy it!! ❤

[@Ghostcharm]

I’m a huge fan of yours Shirley!! So glad you enjoyed the video

[@Rais-Codex]

1:02:50 Ah, good to see that my favorite collectionist/House/Quest/Guild mod is shown, even if it's just the very iconic Front of the building.

[@MemeLordCthulhu]

My favorite is the tribunal code patch

[@theolaa]

I always figured the well ridden horse potion for lichdom was basically a gag about how if you actually made and drank a potion from those ingredients, you'd become so sick you might as well be a dead man walking. Like there's an implied "This combination is certain to make you undead... you idiot" at the end of it all.

[@ciandaly9575]

That fable quote was FILTHY! Also M'aiq was the first thing I encountered after leaving helgen for the first time, made the game feel strange before bumming it to riverwood

[@Nickel_The_Wise]

Funnily enough, Ghost, as you were closing out on the thoughts and possibilities on curious and informed 'ol M'aiq here, I was reminded of one of my favorite movie characters, even though he was appeared in other forms as well: Karl Fredrich Hieronymus Baron Von Munchausen, specifically from the Terry Gilliam film. This comparison popped into my head because the one thing above all other unbelievable acts and stories he's been a part of, both M'aiq and the Baron have never done one thing: lie. There's a folklore quality to both his reputation and strange awareness of things that borders on godhood, but could also just mean he's a Khajit of particular means and drives, I mean.. _lookit that HAT._ He's a storybook legend that is both part of it and possibly writing it as well, and that kind of character is nearly impossible to write in our own fictions, but M'aiq has pulled it off, even to arrive in the less favorable statuses like in pay-to-play capacities. He's with us every step of the way, and I have BARELY touched any of these games, I just know of your great ability to enthuse and study into characters of both good, evil, and the vast tapestry of gray dyes between these two coloration dynamics. Who knows... perhaps folks are already telling of the mysterious and learned scholar of worlds, Ghostcharm, and might be weaving his deeds into stories of their own. ✨🪙

[@levferno483]

If you did this with more characters, I wouldn’t mind that one bit. A new favorite video.

[@sirthomasfishnchips2477]

This was a great one as always, but can we get one on Fallout 1's Master? He was such a nicely written villain but we don't have any videos on the internet dissecting his character.

[@cubeman22]

Seconding this, The Master is a good villain.

[@chabbab6698]

We have though

[@ronkledonkanusmoncher564]

you got your wish

[@CrookGX]

M'aiq knows much, tells some. Also, your impression of him is spot-on!

[@machuga14]

50:55 I genuinely enjoyed having the durability system in Oblivion, since it added to the immersion quality of looting the enemies you killed. Spend 3 minutes whacking at each other? Well, the loot you pick up is mostly damaged, and in order to sell it to retain some sort of value now requires you to be able to repair it well enough to sell it anyways. Master repairing stuff? Repair it past max durability, and gain a damage buff. Spend too long out in the woods swinging that metal sword around? It gets dull, unless you can get back and repair it somewhere in safety, or if you don't have the skill, trek back to town using spells to keep yourself safe, in order to pay a blacksmith an exorbitant fee to repair it for you. I enjoyed durability in items such as Morrowind, oblivion, fallout, and similar games in similar genres, because it adds to the immersion factor of your experience in the world. That being said, it's not a hill I'd particularly die on, and I won't begrudge the devs making the choice to remove it from the game system as they modernize, but it sadly makes the game series feel increasingly shallow the more they cut down on the complex interweaving systems.

[@gratuitouslurking8610]

One of my big grumbles with Fallout 4 ironically was the removal of durability, mostly because what they added back in- scrap mechanics often lead to an issue where you have a big pile of wood and steel and similar resources after a while, because that is what a lot of things in the game are crafted from. By adding durability in and tweaking it just right you could have had a resource sink and thus more incentive to keep up with the constant back and force of resource mechanics for a settlement. They kind of did that in 76 but also removed just about every other pro with 4's implementation for their weird MMO.

[@MetalFingerzz]

My headcanon is that any line where M’aiq is justifying the removal of a game mechanic was written by Emil Pagliarulo

[@josedanielng604]

I see M'aiq as someone able to read the elder scrolls. But not all that is written comes true to uis own interpretation. So he was labeled as a liar. That's how i like to see him for immersion.

[@aimlesspassions1157]

By far, the most entertaining hour I’ve spent on KZbin in weeks. I watched from start to finish and loved the entire journey. Comparing M’aiq to Tom Bombadil was a stroke of genius. Fantastic video. Subscribed!

[@peteycrypto2135]

Amazing, I first saw him in Oblivion and never knew he was so blinged out in the older one.

[@solidskullz5736]

I like to imagine that M’aiq is some immortal all knowing being who likes to fuck with people. Kind of like a daedra but not really malicious like most daedra area he just finds it fun

[@Tiffany-6910]

So, a cat 🤔

[@gregmark1688]

M'aiq may be the only NPC more iconic and memorable than Harold.

[@Pixiel711]

The little midi of Fleetwood Mac’s “Tell Me Lies” was cheeky, well done