In the Elder Scrolls universe, I have many characters I am obsessed with, mostly for very shallow reasons e.g. they look absolutely gorgeous, have amazing voice actors, have super good follower potential. However, if I have to pick one single character that I like, it has to be this obscure feline, M'aiq the Liar.
I know that M'aiq the Liar exists in Elder Scrolls Online, but as every single fan of the Elder Scrolls series with a working brain, I will attempt to ignore the existence of that atrocity. I think if you want to understand why ESO is that bad, just watch this video from Angry Joe. He may be biased and slightly exaggerated but the points he brings up are all relevant.
Angry Joe's Review of Elder Scrolls Online
ESO does not have the immersiveness of a single-player Elder Scrolls game, because it's not meant to be, but at the same time, it isn't good enough to stand out as an MMO. It is by no means bad, but it isn't good. It's lacklustre and doesn't live up to the hype. It has fans of the series (those that aren't blinded by the Elder Scrolls title) wishing that instead of spending time creating this horrific abomination, we would have gotten a new Fallout already, or even Elder Scrolls VI!
Anyway, that is completely irrelevant here, since I'm here to talk about M'aiq the Liar, Bethesda's own little easter egg character. He appears in Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim.
1. Morrowind
In Morrowind, M'aiq the Liar appears as a Khajiit rogue who can be found on a small island Southeast of Dagon Fel in the Sheogorad Region. Much of M'aiq's dialogue refers to many requested or anticipated features of Morrowind, which were not included in the final release of the game.
If anyone hasn't played Morrowind, I think it is fair to mention at this time that the game does NOT have a fast travel system. The only things that come close are the Silt Striders and Boats, which can only bring you to certain locations based on where you take these "vehicles". Therefore, before the age of gaming on the Internet, there were many who have never met M'aiq the Liar, because, well, I personally have not explored the surrounding areas of Dagon Fel that much. He was a very obscure character.
M'aiq the Liar in Morrowind provides easter eggs in the form of conversation options. True to his name, he can also be asked for information regarding people/locations in the game, but he will always lie about it, although not in a very direct manner. His words contain only some elements of truth and he does not directly lie to you.
I have yet to meet M'aiq in my games, because I have little use for him and it's a pain getting to Dagon Fel in the first place. As a player who usually becomes a member of House Hlaalu or House Redoran, I'm usually loitering near Balmora or Ald-Ruhn respectively. My "Mark" spell is placed in the Ghostgate so you can tell that I don't go near Sheogorad Region that often.
2. Oblivion
Oh yes, my favourite game in the series, probably because the character I have the most emotional attachment to is in this game. That particular character's death in the game had me crying for days.
In Oblivion, M'aiq is a Khajiit savant who gives the player opinions about the game. All of his comments are arguably serious responses to various issues in the game; however, the majority are dismissing people who point out issues in the game as stupid, unlike his earlier appearance in Morrowind where most of his statements were lies or farcical comments that did not quite address the topic in the way you would have expected.
He starts the game just outside of Anvil (western most city in Cyrodiil) and thereafter runs back and forth between Leyawiin and Anvil. Sometimes when you leave Leyawiin or Anvil, he will be standing at the entrance or near the stables. At noon, no matter where he is, he stops and looks for calipers for about 5 hours unless he has already collected at least 20 of them. He cannot be killed because he is an Essential Character, but he is not related to any quests.
His only topic of conversation is rumours. He will give you a different rumour each time you meet him, but he only discusses that one during the encounter. After every chat, M'aiq will run away from you along road, usually much faster than you can run (his Speed and Athletics are 100). When he runs, he follows the road South for a while and then reaches the shore. There, he zigzags along near the beach and always ends up at the Strid River. At that point, he crosses into Valenwood and you, the player, obviously cannot follow him further.
M'aiq the Liar Quotes in Oblivion
1. "M'aiq prefers to adventure alone. Others just get in the way. And they talk, talk, talk."
A reference to the discussion about Oblivion being a multiplayer game, and limits on NPC assistance. Multiplayer is one of M'aiq's recurring topics (another anti-multiplayer easter egg might be the Adoring Fan, the creeper that follows you after you beat the Arena because all he does is get in the way and talk).
2. "M'aiq believes the children are our future. But he doesn't want them ruining all our fun."
A reference to discussion on the forums during development about whether children should be included in Oblivion. One group wanted children to be in to add realism; the other group argued that if children were added, then you would allowed to kill them and the game would be denounced as a child murder simulator. A counter to this would be to make the children invincible, but the opposition countered saying that doing that would ruin any initial realism. This was brought up in the next instalment of Elder Scrolls, Skyrim, where children wander, all of them impossible to kill without mods.
3. "M'aiq longs for a Colovian Fur Helm. Practical, yet stylish. M'aiq is very sad he does not have one."
A reference to the Colovian Fur Helm that M'aiq wore in Morrowind, and the first piece of armour found by many in that game (on Tarhiel's corpse). Logically, a Colovian helm should have been available in Oblivion, as the entirety of Colovia is accessible. Furthermore, the Colovian Fur Helm is not part of a full set of Colovian Fur Armour, there is no such thing - perhaps a sign of why it was left out of Oblivion.
4. "M'aiq is glad he has a compass. Makes it easy to find things. Much better than wandering around like a fool."
A reference to how Oblivion now has Quest Compass objectives. In Morrowind, you were simply given a quest journal and through conversation, you can gain directions to your quest. However, directions are often confusing and many players spend hours just trying to figure their way out to a location that is not even marked on their map.
5. "I don't know why one would want to destroy a building. It takes time to make it. Much time."
A reference to the fact that Oblivion features no destructible environments. M'aiq points out the fact that it would be incredibly time-consuming for the game developers to make buildings destructible. It is also reasonable to assume that destructible environments would have a negative impact on performance.
6. "I have seen dragons. Perhaps you will see a dragon. I won't say where I saw one. Perhaps I did not."
Dragons are idolised at the forums and everyone hoped they would make regular appearances in Oblivion, but they did not. The Avatar of Akatosh counts as a single sighting, but M'aiq prefers not to spoil your game. Of course, M'aiq may say this before the Avatar appears. Dragons exist in Elder Scrolls lore and this could be an allusion to Skyrim.
7. "People always enjoy a good fable. M'aiq has yet to find one, though. Perhaps one day."
Perhaps a reference to how the game Fable was perceived to stack up poorly to its legendary hype. During development, Oblivion was often compared to Fable. While I do think that the first Fable was good, although no where as immersive as Oblivion, the Fable series experiences an obvious downfall, with each one getting easier and less interesting.
8. "Feet are for walking. Hands are for hitting. Or shaking. Or waving. Sometimes for clapping."
A reference to various complaints about limits on the ranges of uses for limbs available to the average adventurer, including the inability to kick. But why would you want to kick a goddamn Daedra? Pull out your sword and fight! Or blast it with magic. Or you could be like me and backstab it for 6x damage.
9. "I do not wish to fight on horseback. It is a good way to ruin a perfectly good horse...which is, to say, a perfectly good dinner."
Before the release of Oblivion, the news that mounted combat would not be possible created considerable controversy in the forums, culminating a petition asking Bethesda to reconsider which included 500+ signatures. Even so, mounted combat was not included in the game. "A perfectly good dinner" is a reference to one of M'aiq's lines in Morrowind, where he states that he likes horses "especially with good cream sauce", which is itself a reference to fan complaints about the lack of horses in Morrowind.
10. "Levitation is for fools. Why would we want to levitate? Once you are up high, there is nowhere to go but down."
Yet another feature Morrowind had that Oblivion does not are the levitation spells; jumping height was restricted as well. Oblivion's major cities are in separate cells from the world and the appropriate content (either the inside of the cities, or the wilderness outside) is not loaded if you enter a new cell without using the door. An earlier variation of this concept is found in the Morrowind expansion Tribunal, where levitation is not allowed in Mournhold.
11. "So much easier to get around these days. Not like the old days. Too much walking. Of course, nothing stops M'aiq from walking when he wants."
M'aiq dismisses complaints over Oblivion's Fast Travel system which replaced the myriad transit systems found throughout Morrowind. This helps integrate newer players into Elder Scrolls, the ones used to Fast Travelling, while older players are still allowed to walk everywhere if they choose to do so.
12. "Some people want special bows that take too long to load and need special arrows called bolts. M'aiq thinks they are idiots."
Reference to a heated discussion in the forums that occurred when one of the developers confirmed that neither crossbows nor throwing weapons would be included in the game. While those did add variety in Morrowind, I found them not as necessary since normal Longbows worked fine.
13. "Why would one want to swing a staff? A mace hurts more. Or a sword. Can't shoot a fireball from a sword, though."
Since staves were blunt weapons in Morrowind, some folks didn't like it when they discovered they would only be used as "spell launchers" and not melee weapons anymore. This also applies in reverse, where melee weapons could only have "on strike" enchantments, rather than "on cast" or even "constant effects".
14. "M'aiq thinks his people are beautiful. The Argonian people are beautiful as well. They look better than ever before."
An answer to complaints that the beast races looked better in Morrowind, and to people who do not like the "beast races". How could you like them in Morrowind though? They could not equip boots and they walk all retarded-like.
15. "Some people wish to throw their weapons. That seems foolish to M'aiq. If you hold your weapon, you only need one."
Referring to the lack of throwing knifes, darts and stars in Oblivion.
16. "It is good that people wear clothing. M'aiq wears clothing. Who would want to see M'aiq naked? Sick, sick people. Very sad."
A debate was launched in the forums about if nudity should be in the game or not like it was in Daggerfall -- and in fact, a minor media storm ensued when it was discovered that females Oblivion can go around bare-chested with a special mod. M'aiq also commented about this in Morrowind. It may also refer to the appearance of naked Khajiit and Argonians in Morrowind."
17. "Werewolves? Where? Wolves? Men that are wolves? Many wolves. Everywhere. Many men. That is enough for M'aiq."
Another widely expected feature was were-creatures since werewolves made a stellar appearance in Morrowind's expansion "Bloodmoon". Because of development time related issues, they were not in Oblivion.
18. "M'aiq wishes he had a stick made out of fishies to give you. Sadly, he does not."
This is a reference to the Fishy Stick meme on the official forums.
3. Skyrim
M'aiq the Liar is a Khajiit well-known for his (often humorous) comments on the Elder Scrolls series, as he has also appeared in both Morrowind and Oblivion. He will make witty comments about the game's strong points, smart remarks to common complaints about the game, or just general references to different aspects of the game. A wanderer, M'aiq may be found in a number of random areas, either around cities or roaming the wilderness. When encountered, he may say a multitide of different things. Since he is part of the "random encounters" in the wild, some players may never meet M'aiq if they do not spend time outside cities often or are just plain unlucky.
M'aiq the Liar Quotes in Skyrim
1. "M'aiq once walked to High Hrothgar. So many steps, he lost count!"
A possible to Todd Howard's claim that he would count all 7000 steps to High Hrothgar. Also a hint that there isn't actually 7000 steps to High Hrothgar and the number is in the hundreds.
2. "Once M'aiq got in trouble in Riften, and fled to Windhelm. It is good that nobody there cared."
Refers to crime being tracked separated for each area of Skyrim, and thus guards no longer try to arrest you for a crime you committed in another hold.
3. "It does not matter to M'aiq how strong or smart one is. It only matters what one can do."
References to the fact that Skyrim characters have no Attributes, such as Strength and Intelligence like all the past games did. Instead, all characters have perk points in different skill trees.
4. "M'aiq does not understand what is so impressive about shouting. M'aiq can shout whenever he wants."
Just a very simple reference to dragon shouts. I like Fire Breath, Aura Whisper and Throw Voice the most.
5. "M'aiq has heard that people of Skyrim are better looking than the ones in Cyrodiil. He has no opinion on the matter. All people are beautiful to him."
Referencing the completely revamped and improved character designs in Skyrim.
6. "Some like taking friends on adventures. M'aiq thinks being alone is better. Less arguing about splitting treasure."
The newest iteration of a classic quip by M'aiq, in which he criticises the popular fan complaints about the lack of multiplayer and cooperative play modes in the Elder Scroll games. Look how well ESO did. M'aiq was right, wasn't he?
7. "Don't try blocking if you have two weapons. You will only get confused. Much better to hit twice anyway."
Reference to the impossibility of blocking while dual-wielding.
8. "Werebears? Where? Bears? Men that are bears?"
A reference to one of M'aiq's lines of dialogue in Oblivion which referenced werewolves. This is also a reference to the presence of werebears in pre-existing Skyrim lore, which led some fans to the hope that players might be able to become werebears in Skyrim. Dragonborn adds hostile werebears as well as the ability to summon one of your own. But come on, being a werewolf is much cooler.
9. "M'aiq was soul trapped once. Not very pleasant. You should think about that once in a while."
Referencing the soul trap spell a player can use to trap a dead enemy's soul in a soul gem.
10. "M'aiq saw a mudcrab the other day. Horrible creatures!"
Probably a reference to criticisms that the NPCs in Oblivion would often have inane conversations about Mud Crabs.
11. "Some say Alduin is Akatosh. Some say M'aiq is a Liar. Don't you believe either of those things."
This refers to the common notion among non-Nords that Alduin is simply the Nordic name for Akatosh, rather than a distinct deity or creature. The second sentence is in reference to how many of the random quips M'aiq has said in the past that have either come true or are easter eggs.
12. "Too much magic can be dangerous. M'aiq once has two spells and burned his sweetroll."
This refers to "Dual Casting", which overcharges double-casted spells. Also, the "sweetroll" is a running gag occurring in many Bethesda games, being mentioned in both Elder Scrolls and Fallout games.
13. "M'aiq carries two weapons, to be safe. What if one break? That would be most unlucky."
Referencing the dual-wielding system introduced in Skyrim. Additionally, he may also be referring to the fact that weapons (and armour) no longer wear down as they did in previous games.
14. "What does it mean to combine magic? Magic plus magic is still magic."
This and the next line reference changes to the magic interface. This refers to pre-release talks that the new dual-wielding system might also include the ability to combine spells, a feature that is not present in the game.
15. "Nords are so serious about beards. So many beards. M'aiq thinks they wish they had glorious manes like Khajiit."
References to the possibility of adding facial hair such as beards to your character, something that was not possible in Oblivion.
16. "M'aiq is always in search of calipers, yet finds none. Where could they have gone?"
In Oblivion, M'aiq would stop whatever he was doing at noon each day to spend five hours lloking for calipers, which do not appear in Skyrim.
17. "M'aiq loves the people of Skyrim. Many interesting things they say to each other."
Reference to Oblivion's lack of different voice actors and diverse and fluent conversations, a major complaint of the community and critics of Oblivion. Skyrim has seen much improvement in this area.
Yeah and there are many more quotes he has. I think he is generally a very interesting character to stumble across and I always get really excited when I see him around. I'll just ignore the dragon flying overhead and get out of sneak mode to see what he has to say this time.
Also, M'aiq is a Khajiit and I like Khajiits a lot, especially in Skyrim. I like making a white tiger or black panther out of my Khajiit characters and they indeed look much better than in Oblivion and Morrowind.
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