Acadian: There are lots of dungeons in FO3. But they are not the ones we are used to seeing in the ES games is all. Usually they are office buildings, factory floors, maintenance tunnels, sewers, and the like. But one in a while there is also a plain, good old fashion cave, just like we are used to in Oblivion. They even reused the Wisp Stalk plants and put them in a lot of places, just colored green to look mutated. Unfortunately you cannot pick them. There is no alchemy or poisoning your weapons in FO3.

The katana is actually much better for Hidie. Her Melee Weapons is at 100, where her Big Guns skill is down in the 20s or so. She carves most things into sushi with one hit, tougher things with two, and the baddest bads with three or four hits.

Hidie has literally explored half the FO3 map. Surviving is what she is good at. Too good unfortunately, as now the biggest big bad in the game is a pushover for her. So that means time to roll a new toon to beat the game with.


Meet Cailleach, my Winter Soldier

Cailleach decided to Aid the Outcasts, and go through the Anchorage Simulation for them

Cailleach has gone back in time (in simulation) to fight the Great War along the Alaska Pipeline

A bad day to be a commie!

Cailleach now has a big girl gun (the gauss rifle - Magneto would be so pleased)

Eat magnetically accelerated bullet!

The Guns of Anchorage

Planning the next attack

Cailleach looks over the new powered armor while she takes a Nuka break.

Hacking a Chinese computer

Paving the way for the final assault

A sniper doing what she does best

The simulation completed, Cailleach takes her reward from the unlocked pre-war arsenal, a real life Gauss Rifle and suit of T-51 Powered Armor

I was never that thrilled with the look of the T-51, so I swapped it out for a T-45 with modded Winter Camo

Welcome to Cailleach!

That is an interesting hairstyle she’s sporting. Is it influenced by the high radiation environment? That’s a great shot of her running along the top of the pipeline. Neat stealth effect as she’s taking down that commie. A small blonde with a big sniper weapon always warms my heart! Guns of Anchorage is a magnificent shot. Pouring and plotting over the map with a cup of. . . something. Luvs the shot of her aiming in through the window. I like Cailleach’s armor, but she’s too pretty for a helmet.

Do I understand that the Alaska campaign is a DLC for FO3?

Acadian: I used that half-mohawk hairstyle once before with Dot/The Antagonizer. But once she became Anty, she always had her helmet on, so we never saw it. That is why I decided to use it again. I never really did get much mileage.

Operation Anchorage is indeed once of the DLCs for Fallout 3. It is neat in that it lets you go back in time 200 years earlier (through a computer simulation), and fight in the Great War. I also love the winter environment. Snow is not something you ever see in a Fallout game! The only thing I don't like about it is that it is very FPS like, in that you cannot pick up anything, or even carry around stimpacks (the equivalent to healing potions). You heal up by clicking on glowing red Health Dispensers, get more ammo by clicking on Ammo Dispensers, etc... So I modded it to make the health dispensers give you stimpacks. That way it feels less like playing Doom or Quake, and more like a Bethesda game.

Callie is indeed too pretty for a helmet! I decided not to use either powered armor suit, and instead stuck with the winter camo combat armor she wore in the simulation. I never really did like powered armor in FO3.

200 years since Anchorage, and Cailleach realizes that war, war never changes...

Back in action against the Chinese Army once more, as Callie takes on a Chinese Remnant sniper at Mama Dolce's

One shot, one kill

Flyyyyiiiiinnnn, Cailleach is flyiiiin soooo hiiiiigh!

From the trenches of Anchorage, to the trenches of DC

Big Ugly

House of Cards

Nice.

Callie is very pretty! I like the sniper pictures best.

Yay! More shots of the Queen of Winter!

War never changes is a beautifully poignant shot.

I'm with Grits; I love her sniper shots as she aims in and fires. Back in the trenches is a terrifying display of what it looks like to be on the business end of that big gun she carries.

House of cards – Yup, looks like the Capital has seen better days.

Grits: From the moment I saw the capitol dome I was looking for Kevin Spacey...

I actually had to make a mod to take those sniper pictures. If you have a gun with a scope, when go into Third Person view and then click on your aim button, it brings up the sniper scope, rather than showing your character with their weapon raised. So I had to remove the scope from the weapon with a mod. Then I have to turn that on whenever I want to take a pic like that, and turn it off again afterward so I have a sniper scope.

Acadian: War never changes was a shot I spent a lot of time trying to get right. In the end it all finally came together.

Back in the trenches reminded me so much of the final battle of Anchorage, which starts out with a long trench sweep, that I had to take a pic to contrast the two.



With a little help from a mod and a Vertibird, Cailleach has returned to Anchorage, in the real world.

Looking out over the old battlefield

She found herself up against Enclave Snow Troops

And of course her old adversaries from China

Nice to see a tiltrotor! And looks like someone finally did build that Alaskan Pipeline! What a great shot. . . of everything here. Especially Cailleach.

Looking over the battlefield is a great frozen panorama. Is that Bruma in the background? Nah.

Still takin’ out armored snow dudes and her old Chinese pals. . . war never changes.

Sorry I’ve been away, just been really busy with school lately. Almost done though!

I love the way this character looks. Her armor is great looking on her. Looks like a retex of the ‘combat armor.’

Those Enclave troops look just like the BoS! Regardless, that is a neat picture. I like the light shining from the laser pistol.

Acadian: In the Fallout Universe, the Alaska Pipeline was the focal point of the Great War. China invaded Alaska to take the pipeline and its oil, and since it was almost the last oil left on the planet, the US naturally wanted it back. When America finally retook Alaska the Chinese were sore losers, and turned loose the nukes. Two hours later, the world was destroyed.


King Coin: Cailleach's armor is the Winterized Combat Armor, so it is a just a winter camo version of the regular combat armor. The Helmet comes with a full face mask, presumably to protect against the cold.

The guy who made that Back to Anchorage mod just used the Winterized T-51 armor from Operation Anchorage for the Enclave troopers, instead of creating a new texture, or using the regular Enclave armor. I have an alternate high res texture I use for the Winterized T-51 armor, so that is what you actually see. All in all the mod was kind of disappointing. The Enclave troopers all had laser pistols, which made them too weak. Plus there were not enough of them or the Chinese ghouls to really make it interesting.


Caille's new hair color seems to be a big hit with the guys...

A gauss shot to the face

A close up of the magnetically accelerated effect


Because Grits and Ghastley twisted my arm, I fired up some Skyrim to play an unarmored two-handed fighter.

Meet my revised version of Inanna (I never played the original much in the past)

Sneaking into Embershard Mine

Inanna thinks Lucan needs to clean better

Warming her hands by the fire

Ward and Flames make a good backup combo for an unarmored longsworder

Thanks for the info on Alaskan FO. Nice to see Cailleach again - even if she turned into a non-blonde.

Skyrim looks really pretty with Inanna in it!

She looks fun. I join you in quite liking the idea/concept of 'ward' spells.

Acadian: I changed Caille's hair to go more with her armor and the rest of her look. Besides, all of the Raiders are loaded with hair dye, so she might as well put some to use!

Inanna was a fun challenge, an unarmored two-handed fighter. But playing her made me hanker for another two-hander, so I started up Persephone's game from where I left off.

Liar!

Bad day to be a troll

Magic duel with a necromancer

In disguise

Wow, that M’aiq sure gets around! And he looks awfully good for his age. What is he? 250 years old or so?

Purse-phone is really hacking up that troll. I’m guessing she has asked the bear for some help? What is the reddish magical effect?

I love the dueling shot of her ‘warding’ off the black robe.

Woot! P-9 in a fur-kini!

"M'aiq's father was also called M'aiq. As was M'aiq's father's father. At least, that's what his father said."

Inanna looks great. Her robe and sword look really nice together. I love her hair! The sunset shot by Helgen brings out her autumn coloring.

The magic duel is my favorite. A leggy mage with a great big sword.

Yay, Persephone redux! I thought she was in real trouble with the troll until I realized that the bears were on her side!

Magic duel is my favorite again. The Ward and the other mage’s frost effect look awesome in the dark.

What a fun pose with M’aiq. I love how he has his hands on his hips and Persephone is pointing at him.

I doubt that Persephone will replace her plates with feathers and fur, but who can resist trying it on?

Acadian: Maiq is everywhere! He is a lot easier to find in Skyrim, as he is not always running across the province at lightspeed.

Those two bears in that pic were a pleasant surprise. I heard the sound of troll in my headphones, turned, and saw it coming up behind Persephone. So she pulled out her sword and went to it. Then the two bears joined in to help her. She has the Wildling Standing Stone power (which I modded of course), which makes all animals friendly to her. Mainly it is just so she does not have to kill every animal she comes across. But from time to time she gets a friendly assist as well.

That red effect is the absorb health enchantment on her sword. She has switched to her other greatsword now though, that has a frost enchantment instead (the chill of the grave).


ghastley: That is of course, if you believe what Maiq says!


Grits: Inanna's colors were red and orange, so she revolves around that motif. That is why I picked that robe (it was an unenchanted version to start with), the dwemer sword, even her hair color and eyeshadow. I love bringing a character's look together.

I just cannot resist Persephone it seems. I always come back to her. To make it more interesting, I ditched her old armor and smithed up a new set, but did not improve it. Afterward I noticed that she still had the same armor rating! Those points and perks in Light Armor really do pay off, since the armor only has the stats of Elven. I only enchanted the chest piece, to help her magicka regen. The rest of it is all unenchanted to make the game more challenging.



The Bard's Leap

Another Angle

In mid air

Rising from the waves

Pausing on the road

I hear that you and Morcant have worked some of the same animal witchcraft that you so wonderfully did in Oblivion.

Yikes! You threw Persephone over the falls! Luckily, I think she’s kind of immune to dying, as I believe she’s already been there, done that, got the tee shirt armor. Whew, glad she’s okay though and I bet the cold water didn’t even bother her. She looks quite spooky rising out of the depths.

You’re back in Skyrim!

Liar’s such a nice shot. Her armor is awesome by the way.

Bad day took me a moment to figure out what was happening. Yep, very bad day indeed.

Magic duel is an excellent action shot! Those wards sure put on a light show.

Hehe, I like that disguise picture.

Bard’s leap: All your characters are insane! Aravi would not take that jump. Those are some cool mid-leap shots though.

Some of mine went over Bard's Leap, some didn't. Since you just got the shout, it separates the "have to test this" types from the ones who just trust it (or don't intend to use it). I was really disappointed there's no animation set up for that dive, though. It really needs a Lara Croft swan dive, or a proper cannonball splash!

I never remember to start Fraps when I'm doing anything worth catching like that anyway.

I tend to just run Fraps when I play Skyrim. In a pinch, Steam can be used to capture screens as well. I believe that's F12.

Acadian: Morcant has indeed moved north, to the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun. Or maybe it is her granddaughter's granddaughter. At least that is what Morcant's mother said...

Persephone is only my second character to leap over the falls, Eris being the only other one with the stones for it. It may have even gotten Persephone's dead heart pounding again, even if just for a fraction of a second. Of course Le Chevalier D'Eon gets an honorable mention for her the leap inside Arkngthamz.


King Coin: Back to Sky after my visit to the Wastelands. But I plan to get back to Caille in the Capital Wasteland sometime. I would still like to visit Point Lookout, and she might be a good character to do that. We might see Lady Saga there after all!


ghastley: There is a shout by the falls? I never use them, and have all the word walls disabled in fact. So I never even think about them anymore. It would be great to have a swan dive head first down into the water! I have only recorded one leap over the falls, the first time I ever found it with Eris. Like Coin, I use Fraps. Turning on the video recording is just a single keypress away.


Red Dead Redemption

In shadow and light

Tag team

Follow that ghost!

Alas poor Yorickenor!

Waterfalls

Red Dead is a neat display of her life stealing magic.

Shadow and light indeed. Both undead.

The centurions are always more intimidating than they are strong. Aravi always appreciates a hand when dealing with them as well.

Who’s the ghost? He doesn’t look familiar.

Waterfalls is pretty!

Red Dead is such a cool picture. I love how the little blue lights are coming from that dude’s eyes.

Shadow and light – just a couple undead chicks hangin’ out together.

Tag team – they do seem to make a good team though.

Follow that ghost – Heh, is that a relative of Purse-Phone?

Yorickenor – Sorry, I know you’re undead but you need a body to join our gang.

Waterfalls – Aww, what a nice shot.

What a neat group of pictures! I really like Persephone.

Redemption is a great picture and a great concept. Taking undead energy to fuel Persephone’s unlife. The draugr’s eye beams look particularly cool!

Shadow and Light is also very well put together. Two women who have no interest in those sweets on the table.

Tag team is my favorite. What an awesome shot!

I’ve seen that ghost! He’s too fast for most of my characters, though. I like that he’s not hostile, just up to his own ghostly business.

Yorickenor, lol. Even Serana’s expression is perfect, looking at the floating skull out of the corner of her eye while turning toward Persephone.

Waterfall is pretty. Persephone looks quite comfortable on her cold rock. Serana looks like she’s thinking, Let’s get indoors. The sun is not good for my skin.

King Coin: I just loved all that red light in Red Dead. So I instantly hit the screenshot button.

I spent a lot of time in Castle Dawnguard trying to get that one pic. It wasn't easy to get it just right.

That ghost is a fella I discovered at the Kjenstag Ruins, near Morthal. I have been there many times with different characters, but this was the first time after dark. He came running out as soon as Persephone got there. She followed him to a little tomb on a hill to the north east, which normally has a locked grate. This time it was open, and had a couple of bandits there looting it. It was a really neat little encounter.


Acadian: I am sure that by now you have noticed the glowy blue eyes that the draugr have. It is one of the neat effects they have that really make them come 'alive'.

That is one of the few times that Serana did not shoot Persephone in the back! Seriously, it seems that Persephone is picking one or two ice bolts out of her back after every fight.

Alas poor Yorick. His head was just floating there in midair. A funny glitch that I just had to get a picture of.


Grits: Persephone seems to be the one character I just cannot put down. She's better than chocolate.

That absorb health is still Persephone's only ranged attack. It helps keep her game interesting, since it has a short range.

I was thinking that about the sweetroll things on the table too! That is normally the torture chamber that you meet Serana and Isran in the first time Serana shows up at Castle Dawnguard. But the mod I use to spruce up the castle makes the place look much more inviting!

Tag team was a tough picture, because of how big the centurion thing is, getting all of it in the picture, and Persephone and Serana was not easy.

Or maybe Serana is thinking "Yes, what did you need?" Gods am I getting tired of hearing that.


Smackdown

On the ice

Taking care of business

Splekt!

Checking the map for directions

Blackreach

Smackdown: Love this one. Timing was perfect.

On the ice: This one looked like she was on the moon for a second. Imagine the ice as rock.

Taking care: Menacing expression. This is probably my favorite.

Map: I don’t think the map will help down there! Who has mapped blackreach?

Blackreach: Very pretty. I can’t wait for Aravi to get down there again. Usually she just wants to leave when we finally get down there though. She’s not a fan of long journeys underground that last for a few days.

Phabulous photos of the dead duo!

I'm so glad you are settling in with Purse-Phone for a time. Someday I'll have to settle into playing just one character.

Love those glowy mushroom tree/things.

The pose/animation of Persephone checking her map is wonderful!

She looks pretty lethal with that great sword.

King Coin: Smackdown was on that log bridge in Eastmarch. I always love fighting the bandit there.

That does look like the moon: grey, barren, and bleak.

Persephone mapped it! She went over every nook and cranny of the place.


Acadian: Maybe you can get used to playing in Skyrim with that one character now!

The glowing mushroom tree things are only found in a few places. It is a shame, because they are really neat.

That animation with the sword turned down is one I have not seen very often until lately. I guess in the past I never had critters that low to the ground to get finishing moves on. Or it might be from the last patch.


Sitting by the Blackreach 'sun'

Taking an elder scroll

Exploring the shipwrecks of Pilgrim's Trench

Persephone found another prospective member for the gang, but Bones did not want to leave his comfy bier.

Darryl has a few choice words for a gargoyle

Here horsie!

Reading Saint Juib's book.

Sun: I have a screen of Aravi right below it. Maybe I’ll get it out sometime. Your gals seemed to find a better spot. Aravi wasn’t as interested in mapping it as she was of getting out!

Scroll: Something Star Wars-y

Shipwrecks: Is that ice!? Aravi’s never going to see that!

Horse: Ha! Aravi chased it too. Again, she was more eager to get out of the Cairn and did not stick around long enough to find the horse or all of Juib’s book.

Great screens, SubRosa! Serana doesn't look very happy there, although she does seem to complement Persephone rather nicely. Wonderful to see Daryl again!

Buffy shot a druglord recently and it went to the kill cam. As his body flew backwards, it left twin blue trails from his eyes. I think I've seen that in some of your shots. Very cool. I mean the guy deserved to die (again); after all, he yelled at Buffy!

Brrr! Swimming under the ice, I'm sure, it doesn't bother Persephone one bit. Very convenient.

Catching up:

Smackdown is a great shot! I love how the frosty effect looks with the blood splashes.

On the ice looks so peaceful. That’s a fun trip for a character who is not worried about freezing to death. Njall the Unliving spent a lot of time on the ice around there.

What an expression in TCB! I don’t remember seeing that killing move. Really neat!

Checking the map, lol. It’s easy to get turned around in there.

Your Blackreach is so pretty. Do you have the lights turned up? I always enjoy Blackreach much more than my characters do.


Oh this is a fabulous group of screens! There’s a lot here that I’ve never seen before.

I love the style of the Blackreach sun. That’s a nice shot of the twosome with the light shining on them.

Elder Scroll is beautiful! I think that’s my favorite.

I didn’t even know Pilgrim’s Trench was there! How neat.

Where did Persephone find Bones? That would be quite the undead crew with a vampire, skeleton, draugr Darryl, and Persephone.

A pink gargoyle! Persephone’s spell makes it look almost cute. Apart from the roaring, gouging, and smashing of course.

Arvak! Did Persephone find his head? He would be the perfect mount for her.

So that’s what happens when you find all of St. Juib’s notes. Maybe someday I’ll have a character who sticks around in the Soul Cairn long enough to find them all. So far they’ve always been preoccupied with getting their soul back.

This was an awesome bunch of shots!

King Coin: There is a little building/tower in the Silent City that has an elevator that takes you up to that high overlook above the "Sun". It is a neat little place.

That is ice indeed floating overhead in the Pilgrim's Trench pic. It is a place up in the Sea of Ghosts, with nearly half a dozen shipwrecks. You can find it just a little west of Ysgarmor's Tomb on the opposite side of a little iceberg. There are a couple of little boats on the surface, and some floating wreckage.


Acadian: Darryl has been back more and more lately. Since I made Persephone's Two-Handed Legendary and knocked it down to only 15, the fights have been getting more difficult. Darryl is pretty handy to have around when things get sticky.

So the new Buffy is high enough level now to face Deathlords? They are tough. I love the glowing blue eyes they gave all the Draugr too. It makes them more interesting.

One of the reasons I like Persephone is that she not only does not have to worry about drowning (since breathing is optional for her), but the cold does not bother her either. So she is my go-to character for underwater exploration in Skyrim.


Grits: You should resurrect Njall the Unliving on the PC. There is a lot you can do with mods to make an undead character really come alive adead.

I only just started seeing that kill move lately too. So far it only seems to happen when killing Chaurus Hunters. When they get knocked down to the ground, that downward stab move plays. So it is probably something added by Dawnguard.

That Blackreach pic with the lights turned up is an example of a glitch with the lighting I have often seen in both Sky and Ob. I got it this time because Persephone went from Blackreach to Raldbathr, then turned around and went right back into Blackreach. The weather system got confused, and the game kept the Raldbathr weather (which is just the default Tamriel weather I suspect). It is how I have sometimes gotten not only sunny days in the Deadlands in Oblivion, but even snow. After a while the Blackreach weather reverts though.

Bones was a fun little discovery. He and his bier are west of Azura's Shrine and north of Mt. Anthor. The Sightless Pit is nearby, and if you go through it, you exit from the Abandoned Cave. Bones and his bier are on top of the cliff directly above Abandoned Cave. The first time I went there Bones was standing around and not doing anything. I stopped by there again today, and he was laying on the bier. I think he is supposed to be that way, and maybe it was a glitch that he was walking around the first time? Or maybe he was just tired today...

Persephone did find Arvak's skull, and learned the spell to summon him. Not that I use him much, since I don't really like how Bethesda does horses much.

If you return all ten pages of Jiub's magnum opus, he gives you the first volume of his book. He also gives you a unique locket, which has a fortify to stamina and fortify carry weight. It is handy for scrawny mage characters who cannot carry much. Not to mention folks who like power attacks.

The Boneyard does not look very inviting

Persephone and Darryl meet the welcome wagon

Serana goes boating

I ran across this Dawnguard rider on the road south east of Winterhold, but she wouldn't talk.

Putting down a Falmer Warmonger

I modded in a Grand Necromantic Healing spell, so Persephone can now heal all undead around her

Persephone disarms a pirate

I do like the draugr in Skyrim. They seem very Terminatoresque. And Darryl seems the perfect pal for Persephone. I’m glad she’s enjoying the bit of challenge induced by having her 2H knocked back down.

That is one wicked looking blade old Darryl is wielding in ‘welcome wagon’. Is that a dragon?

Aww, nice picture of Serana.

That grand necrohealing spell seems the perfect thing for Persephone and her undead friends!

Disarming a pirate! Ouch, it seems Persephone is rather the literalist.

Don't let Persephone disorganise anyone!

Disarmed!

It’s great to see Darryl again. Persephone looks awesome running up to smite the undead dragon.

That’s a pretty picture of Serana in Windhelm. I love the blue light.

Grand necromantic Healing is a great idea! I love the look Darryl is giving Persephone.

Acadian: I just finished watching Terminator: Salvation, and I agree 100% about the look of the Draugr!

It has been very challenging with the lower Two-Handed. Persephone even switched to her steel greatsword with the Absorb Health enchantment for the final battle in Castle Volkihar. Though she mostly used Auriel's Bow.

I turned around to find Serana standing there in the boat, and just had to get a picture.


ghastley: Too late! Persephone disinterrs, discombobulates, and dismembers most of the people she meets!


Grits: That was a wonderful bit of luck with timing the screenshot on the disarmed pic.

I like having Darryl a lot more than a regular follower. At least he never shoots Persephone in the back! And he is usually not around long enough to block the doorways. Plus he has a great voice.

Persephone bought the regular Grand Healing spell a little while ago, but the area effect was useless because all of her friends are dead! So I modded in the necro version for her and her undead pals. I have never had a character with Restoration so high. She even has all the perks, except for the one you need 100 points in the skill for. She probably won't bother with that one, sine the only spells it effects are anti-undead ones, that would probably hurt her too!


Guess who's coming to dinner?

Lucia has a pet

Serana gets her dander up

Unto the breach once more

Persephone stands and delivers

Auriel's Bow in action

Final showdown

Light vs Dark

She shoots

Here it comes!

Death of a Vampire Lord

The Champions of Light?

Well, I somehow missed the last one. Time to catch up.

Boneyard is an awesome creepy picture.

Welcome: HA! Darryl looks like he’s trying to decide where to hit.

Whoa… Centaur? No that isn’t it. Lol. I like the armor though. We’ll just have to go get Kharjo a set.

The necromantic healing spell… I feel like either frost or a purple mist would look better for it than the golden light does. That just looks too healthy for them.

Dinner: What would Darryl eat? Nevermind I think I don’t want to know.

Whoa, the undead duo adopted a child? I wonder what the home life is like.

Something about Serana and Darth Vader.

Nice shot of her with the bow. Those are hard to get!

Chamions of Light? Quite the unusual crew for it.

‘Guess who’s coming to who we're having for dinner?’ - - Fixed that for the undead crew.

Aww, a snow fox!

Wow, Serana does a pretty good Hulk impersonation!

Dawnguard warriors in the attack!

A dead girl with a big bow! Ariel’s bow looks neat – both the bow and in action, as Persephone and Serana kill that vampire. Oooh! Arrow in flight!

Champions of light – as KC said, unlikely trio indeed!

King Coin: I actually did spend a lot of time looking at different shaders to use for the Grand Necromantic Healing. But I could not find anything that looked good. Most of them didn't seem to do anything at all. Eventually I just gave up and went back to the default healing spell shaders.

It probably isn't what would Darryl eat, but whom? Good thing he only sticks around for a minute at a time. That way he doesn't have time to work up on appetite.

Persephone adopted Lucia and Sofie. They seem to spend most of their time attacking the training dummy with the daggers that Persephone gave them. Or playing with dolls.


Acadian: Don't make Serana angry. You would like her when she's angry...

The final showdown of the Dawnguard questline offers up some very good screenshot opportunities. It makes up for the rather dodgy writing in the first quests you have to do.


The sun also rises upon Persephone

Using Auriel's Bow got me in the mood to roll an archer toon to beat the game with.

Arduina meets the locals

She made camp across from Riverwood

Scratch one necromancer

Persephone:

How funny to see Darryl looking around the front hall of Persphone’s house. She doesn’t live in a barrow!

Snow fox, cute! Since most of my characters don’t have kids, I have to be content with Sammy in the basement.

You captured the last battles so well with your screenshots. My favorite in the charge is the one with Persephone surrounded but not bothered by frost magic.

Light vs Dark is my favorite from the last confrontation. What an awesome shot!

The Champions of Light seem an unlikely trio to carry that title, but they certainly earned it. It was neat to see an undead but not a vampire character go through the Dawnguard quests. The sun also rises is a lovely image to remember until Persephone begins to tickle your imagination again.

New gal:

Arduina is an excellent name for a forest elf! I had to look it up, of course. She looks great. I love her ponytail and face paint.

The picture with the spriggan is my favorite. That’s lovely.

Arduina has wonderful taste in casual attire. Her camp is in a very pretty spot. I wonder if she had some crab legs for dinner.

Arrow to the head! Yikes. I just love archers! It must be fun to play one after Persephone who I believe did very little shooting.

Wow, that is such a perfect icy sunrise shot for Purse-Phone.

And Woot! A woodster with a bow! Arduina looks great, and very much at home in the forest. I'm so glad she's got a portable campsite.

Grits: Darryl definitely does not fit in on the homestead! At least none of the kids never brought home a draugr for a pet.

It was fun doing the DG questline with an undead character, but not a vampire. It is too bad there are no other options to play a living dead character in the vanilla game. It would be neat to have a The Crow 'race' for a PC. But then, that is basically what I created with my Deadwalker Race.

Even after all the names I have used, I still have some left up my sleeve to pull out. Abnoba, Flora, Terra, Antheia, Aranyani, and Feronia were close competitors.

Persephone did no shooting at all until acquiring Auriel's Bow. I suppose that is what got me thinking of an archer again. It is different playing a character who has to dodge attacks (Persephone just put up her ward and shrugged every ranged attack off), not to mention one who eats and sleeps!


Acadian: Buffy was actually one of my inspirations for playing an archer this time around. Her other MOS is Illusion, mostly muffle, frenzy when she is sneaking at a distance, and fear when a baddie gets too close. But Illusion seems a lot less powerful in Skyrim. A lot of creatures are immune to it. Undead dungeons can be really difficult for Arduina.

What is he doing in there?

Slugging it out with a necro

The Sword of Damocles

Ducks and Nirnroots

I’m so pleased that Buffy (and Persephone) helped provide a touch of inspiration for Arduina. Like Grits, I looked up her name and, as ever, you sure can pick ‘em! It's fun to know that Buffy has helped inspire several characters. Just as Buffy has most certainly been influenced in her evolution by Lil, Teresa and several other wonderful archers.

I agree that the illusion mind control spells are harder to work with. I’d happily trade fury, fear and calm for simply the command effect from OB. As far as undead, atronach, automatons etc, the high level illusion perks render those vulnerable. Another thing I found is that dual casting illusion’s mind control spells increases the level of foe they will work on – slightly more than doubling the effective level.

Buffy’s real vulnerability is melee – and she relies on detect life/undead/aura whisper to avoid it and a bow bash/summons to deal if forced into it. And she has to keep shooting to make what hurts her die and stop hurting her.

By focusing on magic resistance (Breton father, Lord stone, alteration perks) and having big bow damage, she can stand off and trade arrows for spells with a mage (or dragon) and come out on the winning side of the exchange. I love when a mage puts up a ward spell; it means their offense is down to one hand and, to an archer, the ward itself mostly serves to nicely illuminate the target.

*

That Imperial stuck in the ground reminds me of the funny places the Legion in Cyrodiil could sometimes find themselves. Oh, I love Arduina's ponytail!

Slugging it out with a necro. I see Arduina seems to be using an alteration shield spell (or is that maybe just the muffle glow)? I’ve found those necros like to reanimate things. Since Buffy’s big on conjuration, she’ll sometimes try to ‘use up’ the dead bodies and deny them as assets for the necros.

Sword of Damocles. So pretty, yet so useless to an archer. I’ve found several weapons ‘hanging’ around like that. Is it just me or does it seem to happen if you come back to an area where the game has cleared out the bodies but not quite finished clearing out the weapons yet?

NirnDucks. Aww, what a nice touch to see ducks. Given how fast most of the rivers move, I chuckle to think of ducks getting zipped along in the white water over the falls. That duck sure looks at home in a quiet pond though.

Like Acadian, I too noticed the little duck. I had just found the cool mod on Skyrim Nexus that adds ducks and swans to the game. They look absolutely stunning, but I wonder if they do more than float?

In case there are those who haven't yet guessed, I loaded up Skyrim on my laptop May 12th and have been playing it pretty intensively since then. It's all vanilla, with a character I played in Oblivion on the XBox. Here is where she really shines. Where Julian of Anvil owns Oblivion, Alise Sudmeri owns Skyrim. So I'm looking at mods, but haven't yet gotten around to loading any yet. All I've done so far was load up the patches for Skyrim and the DLC's.

So I haven't been visiting this too much lately because I want to discover places in-game, not here on chorrol.com! Though I enjoy SubRosa's toons immensely - they always have such great stories.

Sun rises is a pretty good screen. Something about the sun and the moon, the ice, and her eyes.

Arduina is pretty! Though when I saw her name I thought of a computer…
I like archery, though I’ve never tried it without help of swords.

Wow, Tullius lose a bet?

Lol Damocles. There will be times on the road on the site of an old bandit attack that I’ll see a sword and shield just floating around.

A mallard! Is this part of birds of Skyrim now?

Acadian: General Tullius in the ground is a funky side effect of my home made alternate start mod. He was at the same location where he starts the game intro, and he kept trying to mount his horse, which of course was not there, and then after every attempt he fell halfway into the ground. It is the first time I have ever seen him there, even though several other characters have gone back that way. So I fired up my Helgen Starts With Bandits mod and removed him and all the other starting character references, like Hadvar, Ralof, the wagons, etc...

I was using a mod called Possessive Corpses that helps keep the clutter down from things getting killed. It stops people from dropping things when they die. So that way when the game cleans up the corpse on the next cell reset, you don't get their sword still laying there on the ground afterward. It does a lot of other stuff I don't like though. One is that it stops raised zombies from turning into ash piles when you kill them. So it leaves an endless amount of corpses for necromancers to continually reanimate. I killed most of the people in that pic three or four times apiece. After that I modded the mod, and took out all the scripts dealing with ash piles, and cutting down on the number of arrows in a cell (that was driving me crazy too. As an archer I like to recover my arrows. But it was preventing more than 5 arrows from existing loose in a cell).

I got that sword of Damocles after saving, exiting, and then reloading. It was hanging there in mid-air afterward, and impossible to pick up or interact with. I get that a lot in Oblivion and Skyrim in the cases you cited. Leaving a cell and coming back later. Sometimes things get turned into statics for some reason.


haute ecole rider: Welcome to my fashion thread! You found the same ducks. They just float around. You can kill them for duck meat, the same as you can the dragonflies and fish. But I wouldn't want to do that. I am not sure if I am going to keep them or not though. They are pretty, but they don't have any animations at all. So after a while they start to look like a hunter's fake duck decoys, rather than the real thing.

Glad to hear you are having fun in Sky with Alise Sudmeri. Any chance of seeing her sometime soon?


King Coin: That sunrise pic of Persephone was wonderfully symbolic. After completing the DG questline, and becoming Skyrim's champion vampire slayer, Persephone has stopped pretending to be 'normal'. Before she always wore the cloak and hood whenever she was around the living, or a full-faced helm. Now she doesn't try to hide what she is. Undead and proud!

The duck is part of a new mod up on the Nexus, that adds ducks and swans. It should still be on the front page, as it is really popular. Oops, it is not anymore. You can get it here.


This pic has me giving a lot of thought to playing a Forsworn character

"Move along, there are no Forsworn here!" - says the guards

Arduina + Melka = Lots of shiny new eyeballs!

Now where did those cats get to?

Skyrim's version of the stairmaster

Arduina likes the elven armor

I had to laugh out loud at Arduina on the waterwheel. My thought was actually something along the lines of a hamster wheel, but yeah, the exercise benefits are the same!

I have not yet found Melka, though I took Argis the Bulwark and we went through quite a few dungeons in the Reach. I think Alise feels the same way about Dwarven ruins that Julian does about Ayleid ruins - they're too spooky! But we really hated how the Forsworn are more rabid than the bandits wolves bears necros . . . uhh, you get the picture! Otherwise I found the background on the whole Forsworn thing to be quite interesting.

The Forsworn armor (less the headpiece) does look nice and primitive. Too bad the Forsworn are so mean – makes it hard even for a half-Breton elf to feel too sorry for them.

Oh, that’s funny – ‘No Forsworn here.’

Arduina + Melka = Beauty and the beast.

Where’s those Khajiit traders when you need them. I simply love having them in the game.

I really had a laugh seeing Arduina on the hamster wheel!

I think SkyArmor in general is very nicely done – including elven.

haute ecole rider: What is funny is that if you set your speed to walk you can move along the top of the waterwheel at almost perfect speed.

My Nord Hrafngoelir hated the Dwarven ruins. They did not exactly creep her out, so much as made her feel that the Dwemer were profane blasphemers, who turned their backs upon the gods, and tried to make themselves into gods instead. She was quite pleased that their pride came before their fall.

In the previous games they mention the Witchmen of the Western Reach, but didn't go into much detail. Except that all the other races hated them with a passion. From what I gather, their 'Old Gods' are Daedra Lords, though I am not sure exactly which ones. They also worship Hagravens, who are their equivalent to a clergy. The Forsworn seem to have a hatred for nature and animals, given that their idea of decorations is mutilated animal corpses, and the bodies of spriggans. The Hagravens and Spriggans are deadly enemies, and you can get random encounters of them slugging it out with one another. That love to slaughter animals makes me think Hircine is at least one of the gods. Mehrunes Dagon would seem to fit them well too. Being that Dagon is not only about destroying everything, but also overthrowing governments.


Acadian: The Forsworn are almost as bad as the Falmer. At least they are only in the Reach.

I have found the Khajiit traders standing there without their camp before. Now I found the camp without them! I do love how they move around too. It can make for a pleasant surprise to meet them on the road. Plus it gives you some more options to sell your loot. Especially when you are between cities.


Arduina in her Forsworn armor inspired me to roll a Forsworn toon - Morigu

Morigu calls on some otherworldly backup

Witchwoman of the Western Reach

Studying a Reachmen Map

Morigu has made friends with the Orcs

She's no friend of the Forsworn however, she's a forsworn Forsworn

Morigu tries a new facepaint

I bet this guy wishes he hadn't become a courier

Carnage

Morigu has entered Markarth disguised as a common mercenary. "There's no Forsworn here" - says the guard to her.

It’s great fun to see what you’re going to roll next!

I heartily agree that while the ‘close to nature’ and wearing skimpy furs is appealing, the Forsworn's wasteful butchery of critters makes them easy to put on the ‘target’ list. I can see why Morigu turned against them. I must admit that the foes Buffy enjoys killing the most are mammoth poachers – for the same reasons. As you know, Buffy and I ascribe to the way of the plains Indians; if you’re going to kill a buffalo, make sure to honor the animal by using every part of it to sustain your tribe.

Morigu’s story does sound compelling though and I do like the whole Reach area. I’m glad to see her comfortable in the orc strongholds – I really like orcs. I also see you’re having great fun with her trappings and make up! Oooh, and even some secret spy stuff inside Markarth.

LOL! No foresworn indeed.

The Khajiit forgot their camp! D:

How did you get on the waterwheel? And did you actually have to walk?

I like Arduina in elven armor.

Morigu is cool looking. I assume a Breton. Anything else wouldn’t be a forsworn!

I love finding scrolls of summon atronachs. Lets someone like Aravi play with the cool spells once in a while.

She’s changing her face paint a lot. Kind of a neat thing to try messing with. I always found opening the race menu wiped out all of Aravi’s colors and I would have to redo it all.