The Many Phases of Khajiit: The Ohmes

((Ohmes was the Khajiit player race of Arena. And all other TES games, if you are playing a Bosmer. ;) ))

You want to know more about the furstocks? This one explains.

You are puzzled this one sees, for you have seen what you thought was a Bosmer, but living in Elsweyr and speaking Khajiit speech. This is a common reaction, this one assures you, for this one now tells you about the Ohmes, and why they walk as they do.

Ohmes are very much like Bosmer in looks, this one admits, but that is only because outlander did not get up close and study the signs. While Bosmer are fine-pelted with little hair except that on their heads, Ohmes are lightly fluffy all over, like newborn kits. Bosmer smell fruity and exotic, like rare summer-bear meat, but Ohmes smell musky and earth-born, very pleasing.

Who knows why Azurah put Ohmes in the moons, except to aid Khajiit against her enemies? For Ohmes make very useful spies, as they did during the Five Years War against Valenwood, pretending to be Bosmer to sniff out their secrets. Now, of course, there is no need for that, but there are some shady Ohmes who still use this confusion to their advantage. When on the run, they tell rumors of both Khajiit and Bosmer being in trouble with the law, sending half their pursuers looking for a Bosmer who does not exist, and the other half looking for a cat's lost fur and paw tracks on the ground. Very clever.

This one imagines it must be a hard temptation, even when not a bent cat, for the Ohmes to not make use of their appearance in some sly way like this. Sometimes when Khajiit very shy or very mischievous, Ohmes will say they are a Bosmer, and pull their worst antics as Bosmer. This one thinks Bosmer not like Khajiit very much for this reason. You see, in this way the Bosmer get reputation of being quirky and odd and antisocial, when really? Perhaps that was a just Ohmes hiding in their skin, cutting their milk-teeth in guise safe from reprisal.

But in Khajiit society, Khajiit see Ohmes very differently than outlanders. An outlander might think Ohmes look most like themselves, no fur and with the fleshy ears, and so many Ohmes work on the border in taverns, inns, or chapels of the Divines, or serve as ambassadors to other provinces, where their familiar faces puts an outlander at ease.

This is silly superstition, this one thinks, but admits it goes the other way ‘round as well. In Elsweyr, Ohmes are thought to understand outlanders the best, having the same paws and heads, and many Khajiit go to an Ohmes for their counsel when dealing with a particularly troublesome outlander.

Some Ohmes think this very rude of course, and will paint their faces and frame their heads with mane-like hair to make it clear what they are. There is no accounting for taste, this one supposes, but she would also say she has never tasted an Ohmes either. No fur to drop in their cooked dishes, you see! They make very good alchemists as well, though as this one has said before, not without the assistant of a good Pahmar or Alfiq-Raht.