Ill Met By Moonlight Makes No Sense

[OgamiGoro]

From a lore point of view, this quest is nonsensical. It starts out promising enough: Poor schmuck is a werewolf and hates it. He desperately seeks the Ring of Hircine hoping for some measure of control, but the ring is cursed and now he transforms randomly...(which is somehow different from his previous state) and apparently does so in a frenzied state. This results in the death of a little girl. He feels very bad about it, and accepts his execution as a just punishment. His last hope is that someone removes the curse from the ring so that others don't suffer from his mistake.

So far so great!

Then suddenly the ring, which he couldn't remove, leaps onto your finger, and now you can't remove it. And then, he instantly transforms himself and escapes prison. Then the next time you meet him, he's still in werewolf form but not only is he in full control of his mind, but he can even speak in his human voice!

Either he's a spectacular liar with a much larger backstory than what is apparent in game, who was working you the entire time...OR this quest was dreamed up before the werewolf mechanics were actually finalized. I'm guessing it's the latter, since, as a werewolf, you suffer from no such loss of mind or control, and can indeed transform at will by default (once per 24 hours).

Yes, I'm sure there are mods out there that can make being a werewolf much more of a curse than a boon...but in vanilla Skyrim, Sinding's entire situation shouldn't even be possible.

I took great joy in killing, skinning, and eating him.

[fauxpas]

There is a disconnect between the werewolf mechanics and the werewolf lore in the game; so what?


However if one were to try to make the two mesh I would start with the fact that Aela mentions that not everyone is able to control their beast side (which is probably the REAL reason U wasn't allowed to join the Companions after losing control and killing her sparring partner; she'd never have the self control to not turn feral as a wolf).


Its entirely possible that the man's lack of control was in part because he was attempting to deny the beast portion of his soul; and that he is able to fidn peace as he accepts it. (Or that when the quest passed on to a soul strong enough to finish it, Hircine lifted an unmentioned curse.)


The ring is easy to explain; Hircine did it.

[Alaskan Glitch]

I am in complete aggreement with the OP. The fact that he was in full control of his mind while in werewolf form convinced me that he was a liar and murdered that girl intentionally. I also had no problem killing and skinning him. Hircine's ring now adorns the mantel at my Lakeview manor. The girl has been avenged!

[fauxpas]

Sure; because we have zero instances in lore of Daedra Lords being capable of influencing the lives of mortals.

[alexander_dougherty]

Originally posted by fauxpas:

Sure; because we have zero instances in lore of Daedra Lords being capable of influencing the lives of mortals.

This^, once a daedra is influencing events the rules go out the window, and the ring is directly under Hircines control.

[Dracon]

Right? The dude STOLE the ring from Hircine. His life is royaly F'd lol If you played Morrowind Bloodmoon, you know the dudes not a forgiving guy lol

[MysticMalevolence]

I had assumed the companion's lycanthropy was different, as it is an accepted state rather than an inflicted one, hence why the companions are in control of their transformations.

Perhaps he stole the ring as a means of contolling the transformation itself, but always retained his mind until cursed.

[_ALuX_]

Its probably game mechanics. Take shouting for instance. The cooldown is simply a game mechanic to keep you from breaking the game while in lore you can shout as much as you wish.

[fauxpas]

Originally posted by _ALuX_:

Its probably game mechanics. Take shouting for instance. The cooldown is simply a game mechanic to keep you from breaking the game while in lore you can shout as much as you wish.

Is that actual lore?

[_ALuX_]

Originally posted by fauxpas:

Originally posted by _ALuX_:

Its probably game mechanics. Take shouting for instance. The cooldown is simply a game mechanic to keep you from breaking the game while in lore you can shout as much as you wish.

Is that actual lore?

Gameplay mechanics as lore? Who are you an emissary of Hermaeus Mora?

All sarcasm aside, I can't seem to find the source at the moment but I'll check back with you if I can.

[fauxpas]

Originally posted by _ALuX_:

Originally posted by fauxpas:

Is that actual lore?

Gameplay mechanics as lore? Who are you an emissary of Hermaeus Mora?

All sarcasm aside, I can't seem to find the source at the moment but I'll check back with you if I can.

Kay thanks; I just always assumed that the CDs were because of the stress of using your voice to rewrite reality itself ( balance reasons too of course ).

[_ALuX_]

Originally posted by fauxpas:

Originally posted by _ALuX_:

Gameplay mechanics as lore? Who are you an emissary of Hermaeus Mora?

All sarcasm aside, I can't seem to find the source at the moment but I'll check back with you if I can.

Kay thanks; I just always assumed that the CDs were because of the stress of using your voice to rewrite reality itself ( balance reasons too of course ).

Now that I think of it, that is a very good point. Who is to say a mortal body can handle the constant stress from shouting? No wonder the Greybeards never speak!

[Visi]

Well, in Morrowind, you were forced to transform every single night and had to kill someone each night, and this was on Solstheim, so the werewolves can't be all that different. I imagine that mechanic was removed because of how incredibly inconvenient it is. So, the game mechanics vs lore idea is the main issue, I think. Or maybe the other guy is right and the lycanthropy you receive from the Companions is different somehow, with the bearers of Hircine's blessing retaining more control. Sinding being a murdering liar is the least likely explanation IMO.