It is so fun to read Trey’s adventures while they are happening this time!

I was chuckling at the image of Wulff bristling with Ebony death and hunched over a scrap of parchment, trying to think of a rhyme for “orange.” Rowan has a bunch of spare souls and not enough words. Wish we could swap.




Rowan’s attempt to drop off some crap in Markarth resulted in a bunch of new items on her to-do list. Don’t know if I mentioned it, but a little while ago Rowan finally had enough of Lydia’s lip. She sent her back to Whiterun to get some carling done at the house. Whatever that is. She can cool her heels there until she has a better attitude when Rowan is giving her some more damn healing potions. Anyway, after that Rowan picked up Sven.

Sven has the endearing habit of occasionally whipping out his flute during quiet moments. He is a bard, after all. The road to Markarth was full of Foresworn, sabercats, and bandits. Sven spent a lot of time on his knees near death. It was quite worrisome. I’m guessing there might be an issue with companion leveling.

While they were fighting off Foresworn and trying to get a dragon to land, Sven had an epiphany. He was born to be a Blade. Rowan helped him get that done. His first act at the fortress was to claim a bed and get some sleep. Rowan realized that he had been watching her back day and night. Oops.

Now Rowan is rolling with the ultra-hot Vorstag. She upgraded his gear. Hopefully he will be a little more durable than Sven.

Markarth is beautiful. Rowan is going to do some questing in the area before she gets back to Esbern’s chores. The Reach is so different from the rest of Skyrim. Makes me want to visit High Rock.



.

I have to say Grits, I loved reading about J’Shanji.
I'm kind of sorry that he's dead is dead because with Skyrim, sh-t happens very easily.


Aravi's been very busy. She completed the Companions questline and saved a tree in Whiterun, though the expense of that quest was, in Aravi's opinion, too high for the stupid tree. She's also been working on the main quest lately.

And while on the road Aravi spotted a dog sitting on the side of the road. It darted into the woods nearby and Aravi followed. Hello Meeko.

Just to add, I went through the list of Dragon Shouts...And between all the words that I've collected and the ones I get given from the quests...

You ready for this?...

In order to charge them all...

42 Dragons...

*Wails*...

And that's not all the shouts...*Shudders*...


Edit...Markath is the most beautiful city I've ever seen in a game...I'm glad it's my home...

Trey got a bounty on a giant from Dragonsreach Palace. He needed the money to finish furnishing the house. Minor detail left out of the bounty- there were TWO giants. Climbed rocks and sniped. Bloodthirsty Lydia decided to dance around amongst their legs. I have a feeling she (and her snarky attitude about the dwarven armor Trey GIFTED her) may not last long.

Back in Whiterun he accidentally mentioned the Dark Brotherhood incident where a guard could hear. Guard got all excited- “Did you say ASTRID!? She is the leader of the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim! You need to go tell Commander Maro at Dragon Bridge right away!”

(Grumble grumble- all the way back to blinking Solitude).

Commander Maro- “Did you really? I have had my eye on Astrid for some time- just waiting for the time to strike.”

Yeah right- and I have some land on Masser to sell you.

Maro- “But now- YOU can finish them off while they are disorganized.”

Right- a group who makes their living doing assassinations is going to fall apart when their leader dies. They would NEVER have contingencies for that. Oh- and I am supposed to help out the Imperial Legion- the people who wanted to CUT OFF MY HEAD- all because I was just trying to get home to Skyrim. (Author’s note- this is a different Trey- a Nord rather than a Breton. However, the attitude is remarkably similar).

Instead, Trey heard about a shrine to Meridia nearby. Since he had dispatched quite a few draugr, perhaps the old girl would be pleased with him…. Yeah, right.

:Retrieve my beacon, mortal. My temple has been defiled. YOU will cleanse it.:

Um- can I just help out the Imperial Legion instead?

Little detail Meridia did not mention- such things being beneath the notice of Daedra Princes and all- the “beacon” was held by some bloody Forsworn- INCLUDING a “Briarheart.” Explanations to Lydia about why just rushing in and laying about with swords seemed futile- finally had to take her out of the cavern and say firmly-

“Sit. Stay. Good housecarl.”

Using Sam’s present was quite helpful, and Trey rather appreciated the humor, although he imagined that was a quality in which Meridia is lacking. That done, beacon restored- “Oh gosh, look at the time- got to go…”

Nope- lifted up into the sky high over the mountains and TOLD-

:You will be my Champion and cleanse my temple. I will reward you. Retrieve Dawnbreaker and kill the bad person in my temple. Guide my light into the darkness and I will open the way for you. :

GULP. “Um- okay, but could you… put me down now? Please?”

Mission accomplished- Dawnbreaker given. Trey wisely refrained from saying- “Nice sword, but I could make a better one at the forge.”

This is one of the problems I have with Skyrim. In Oblivion you start out in prison too, but the Empire - in the form of its friggin Emperor hisself - goes out of its way to nice to you after that. No, she's no assassin, he says, she's on our side. Then he asks your starsign (got to be the oldest pickup line in the book), and gives you some jewelry. Sure, he's a lech, but at least he's nice, and he believes in you. It gives you a reason to not hold a grudge, and to actually have some good feelings toward the Empire in return.

Even in Morrowind, you start out in prison ship, but they at least let you go right at the start, give you some money, and don't mind that you've stolen everything in the fetching census office on the way out! Talk about some extremely polite people.

But in Skyrim, its the Red Queen: "Off with her head!" No matter that you are not on their silly list of people to execute. Let's just kill the refugee anyhow. After all, that's what the new Empire is all about right, murdering innocent people? How are you supposed to do the mental gymnastics of going from that to actually wanting to help these bloodthirsty maniacs who want to kill you?

*Shrug*...All I wanted to do was help the Legion when it was coming out...The instant I saw them looking like Caesar's Legion in New Vegas, that was it - Stormcloaks a-go-go...Whether this was as they were always meant to look being a Legion and all...No way am I helping them...

Aaamywho...Wulff Olfsson, Bard (Available for weddings, children's parties and all your skull-crushing needs...) offered to find a nice old lady's son that had been held prisoner by the Imperials...Turns out the Thalmor had him in some fort...So Wulff went off and recruited his Khajiiht chum J'Zargo to help out...Having first forged him a full-set of Legendary Glass Armour-y stuff, y'know, armour-gauntlets-boots-shield-sword and an Ebony bow...Which he looks well-hard in ...Off we went to said fort to smack some Thalmor!!...Finally!!!!...Freed said son and all was happy!!...Even wound up with one of them swanky robes the Thals wear...Ooooh Wulff looks sooo good in that!!...Even did meself one of them "Beauty" save pictures of Wulff stood facing the camera with Be-Glassed J'Zargo behind and Falkreath behind him...Ooooh it were reeet nice... ...

So now Wulff 'nd J'Zargo are off to sort out the college of Winterhold...

Agreed. The post-tutorial dialog 'recruitment' for the Stormcloak is how we've seen the true face of the Empire. While the Imperial's is how 'those dangerous rebels have a dragon now!'. At least he acknowledges that you might not be eager to join the group that was so eager to give you a close haircut.

Rowan and Vorstag have pissed off quite a few people in Markarth, but the big fun was in the non-quest adventures after they returned to Whiterun Hold.

First, a frost dragon swooped down and attacked some bandits in the cliffs above the road where they were. That led to an up-and-down cliffside scramble dragon fight. Eventually Rowan drew it across the river to enlist the aid of the Whiterun Guard archers in bringing it to the ground. In the back-slapping aftermath she noticed something. No Vorstag. Another frantic scramble up the cliff checking bodies as she went, and there was Vorstag standing by the entrance of a bandit hideout. Yessss!!

These bandits have been a hassle since level 1, Rowan has to kill a couple of them every time she goes down that road. It was not only satisfying to take them out without anyone even asking her, but it was also a really neat hideout with some unexpected things that I will not spoil here. Also they found gauntlets to finish off Vorstag’s steel plate killing outfit.

Then they found a genuine treasure map, also non-quest and a complete surprise. Vorstag has been commenting lately that he would like to find a chest full of gold. Well, they followed the map and found one. Happy day.





Edit: Argh! Spelling.

Treasure maps were an awesome addition. I've found four across my games so far. Up to Treasure Map X.

That's why I followed Ralof ...no other reason, just that. Anger at those Imperials...

I just had a VERY hairy tussle: me and two Hagravens for a Word of Power. Together, they were much too strong for me to fight, so I had to get creative, because I was not leaving without that Word. In the end, I managed to lure them away long enough for me to sneak into their lair, learn the Word, and loot their valuables. Afterwards, I made a very dramatic escape by using my Become Ethereal shout (the word I received was the second word for it) and jumping off the top of a 50-foot waterfall.

Good times! Gooood times!!!

Those are the hagravens that tossed Maxical off that island and into the water - she couldn't climb back up the steep sides of it. They followed, bashing her head under the water constantly till I was sure she would drown. She finally gave up trying to zap them and instead whipped out an axe. That ended the fight, but they gave her Brainrot in the melee. Urk !!

So far she has discovered over 200 locations, has 3 Dragon Priest masks, and probably about 12 shout words. She found a raft of Dwemer stuff that is weighing her down, it may be time to check out how safe the storage is in her room at the college, lol.

Here are some thoughts from J’Shanji:


Rumors abound of dragons in the sky, taking livestock and burning villages. Folk speak of war, despair, and the hope that a hero will rise to save them. J’Shanji turns things he has learned through his mind.

Many heard the thunder that day on the tundra outside Whiterun. The guards also felt the tremor that drove J’Shanji to his knees. But few heard the voices moaning on the wind, Dovahkiin.

They were calling him, J’Shanji knows. It is what others say that bothers him.

Some say the Dragonborn must carry Septim blood. J’Shanji holds no ill will toward man or mer. But the thought that a furless flat-face may have sired one of his line churns the stomach. The alternative is worse. Born with a dragon’s soul, others say. J’Shanji is Khajiit. How could the gods give him the soul of a lesser creature?

The Greybeards have the answers. J’Shanji knows where to go, when he is ready.

For now, J’Shanji wants the wind in his mane and the prey running before him. The Bosmer Faendal wants the same. Today they will hunt, and leave troublesome thoughts for tomorrow.

That's one of those questions that will have to remain a mystery - like how was Mankar Camoran able to wear the Amulet of Kings. What I want to know is why we can't form a treaty between the Imperials and Stormcloaks to mass together and boot out the Thalmer.

After waking from an odd dream where she was ruthlessly overpowered by eye-less goblins and their pet bugs. (Eeeewwwwww *shivers*) Cameron resumed her studies in the Collage of Mages, not quite noticing her increased interest in Illusion spells. ((Was getting insanely trounced by Falmer despite several battle plan change ups, realized Cameron's perks were too spread out to make her effective, reloaded a level 4 save and replayed.))

While she gets along well with Brelyna through a series of misadventures when running some class assignments and some extra credit for the Library though Cameron is not going to let her Dunmer friend get near any more Alteration spells while she was close.

The Breton's scholastic endeavors have recently gone through something of a hiccup following a dragon attack at the Collage itself. The lizard, however, was apparently only the tip of the ice burg as the Thalmar 'adviser' to the Arch-Mage did something stupid.

The Collage in a panic, Mirabelle and Tolfdir have sent their two favorite students to the ruins of Labyrinthian in a last ditch attempt to stave off disaster.

All-in-all, Cameron thought, not the best time to ask Brelyna to marry her.

Don't let a little thing like a dragon, a Thalmer, and your future bride turning you into a cow stop you from asking, Cameron!

After resolving some minor issues of an undead frost dragon followed by an undead Dragon Priest, Cameron and Brelyna went back to stop the end of the world as they knew it. Those matters behind her, Cameron faced a real challenge in asking her dear friend to marry her. Thankfully she agreed.

Day after returning to the Collage, however, there was a small matter to take care of. Growing irritated at the constant disruptions in studying, Cameron and her wife started heading to High Hrothgar, hopefully the Greybeards will have some idea what is up with the dragons around Skyrim.

Glad to hear about it liliandra! Aravi helped her with her spells and ran away very quickly.


Aravi entered Windhelm today and actually looked around the town. While in the dark elf run bar, Aravi unexpectedly ran into a familiar face. Apparently he had been hiding in this bar for a couple of days because a Thalmor assassin was after him. Because this person had been very helpful in the past, and feeling sympathy for him, Aravi went out and looked for this assassin. He had better cover than expected, but she found him and killed him. Back at the bar Aravi sent her friend on his way, and probably will never see him again since he said his destination was Morrowind.

Lydia has been getting on Aravi's nerves. Aravi just can't enjoy herself when Lydia's always standing around with a severe expression. She's about to get sent back to Whiterun. Anybody know of a follower that's a bit more easy going?

Not sure on any details on personalities, but there's a pretty good list here of followers and how to get them.

Techically yesterday in Skyrim, Arch-mage Wulff Olfsson, Bard (An education in poetic Death-maim-kill!!!...), saved the college of Winterhold from getting it's collective wands shoved somewhere by the Thalmor and ambled many miles with J'Zargo to recover the Staff of Magnus...Which Wulff then used to beat over the head of Ancano...

For his efforts, the remaining wizards decided to promote this slightly smelly giant Nord to Arch-Mage over people eminently more qualified, that had been working in the college for many many years previously...As you do...*Shrug*...

Afterwards, Wulff decided that it would probably be best if J'Zargo had some Legendary Ebony-Death Armour...'Cause someone found out that one of J'Zargo's major skills is Heavy Armour...Duh...So currently they are in Markath raiding Wulff's stash of Ebony Ingots...

EDIT!!...

Like this...Nice one... ...

Faendal and Vorstag both have great attitudes. None of the eye-rolling you get from Lydia. Vorstag has been particularly funny lately. He wanted to stop and start a fire in the middle of an ice cave, then he talked himself out of it. Real dialog, not me making stuff up.

Both of them look pretty grim sometimes, though.

Was it Quaranir? I ran into him in a bar too !! (and got some screens of him with Maxical).





I think the women in Skyrim are all glaring all the time - maybe because they can't find a clean man. But there are some very nice "working ladies" in one of the inns, I would have taken any one of them as a follower because they were so sweet and friendly - and no glaring.

GAAAH !! I need ebony ingots, where did you find them? I got one in a cave, but need more to improve my one Ebony sword.

I just bought some from Bits and Pieces in Solitude. Now I'm looking for the darn Castle Dour blacksmith. Where is he?! Argh.

Rowan is taking a lot of abuse for her outfit in Solitude. And I think the mean mage at the Blue Palace just tried to send her to her death. We'll see.

The blacksmith is right next to the archery shop if that helps. I went right past it so many times while I was hunting for it.

Oh thank you !!! Er...what outfit is she wearing? I heard you have to buy a dress at a shop and "go show it to her" to see if it meets her approval...wait, was that in Markarth or Solitude? Can't remember.

Maxical is wearing the Forsaken outfit, so far no one has noticed. One thing I loved about Fallout 3 was that you could "fool" factions into thinking you were one of them by donning their armor. Doesn't work in Skyrim, lol.

KC, awesome, thanks! I can’t believe how many times I walked right by it. D’oh!




That must be the Radiant Raiment attire I saw for sale. I’ll bet the snotty woman would approve of that one!

Rowan was wearing one of those blue dresses with the brown corset when she got the comment. Now she’s wearing the sluttiest thing she could find at that Altmer’s friend’s store. Hah! Take that, nasty Altmer... woman. It’s the tavern wench dress, only in blue.

She also picked up a couple of nice enchanted things there.

Rowan is hauling around the Forsaken armor for when she gets a chance to go back to that hot springs area and hunt. I wonder if she can get Vorstag to wear one. I'll have to see if she can improve it at the workbench. Items required: uh, feathers?

Maxical's forsaken armor and weapons are all improved, making them the best stuff in the game that she can get at her level. They are all lightweight and once improved have great armor ratings!

The rating is 55 for the armor. 19 for boots and gauntlets, 26 for the headress (it looks cute on her, but she wears the scaled helmet instead for a 29 armor rating). She has enchanted the guantlets to increase her one-arm skills. (and maybe the boots too, can't remember).

For some reason the helm and armor would not enchant, or maybe wouldn't with that particular enchantment.



** OH !! I'll bet whatever you are wearing has to have a certain value level to get a good comment. (like that guard in Castle Leyawiin, (Oblivion) - where he won't let you in the dinner party unless your outfit is a certain value?

Wulff's armour rating is 425 altogether...At the mo... ...

And the Ebony Ingots were bought at whatever blacksmith or shop I was near at the time...Before I started raiding it, my stash was 55 Ingots altogether... ...

Today brings sad news.


J’Shanji the Khajiit warrior could take down a dragon, and he could kill a sabre cat. But alas, he could not do both at the same time. As his blood-clouded vision faded to red, he noticed with some satisfaction that at least the sabre cat was on fire, too.

J’Shanji’s last thoughts were of his doomed friend, Faendal. Even as his soul winged toward Aetherius, J’Shanji heard Faendal scream at the dragon, “I’ll see you in pieces!”

That seems unlikely, my friend. Your bones will not rest in Valenwood, nor will this one’s find the warm sands of Elsweyr. (Unless the dragon goes for a long flight after dinner.) No, they will land somewhere near here, entombed in a dragon pellet along with those of the STUPID FETCHING SABRE CAT for all eternity or until the world ends, which is now likely to be pretty damn soon.



Now before anyone hunts me down in vengeance, I must point out that cats have nine lives. J’Shanji’s spirit will no doubt return to inhabit another Khajiit, looking a lot like the first one because I was lazy when I made him and just used a bunch of presets.

I’m done with DiD for now. Skyrim is a crazy place! This weekend Rowan tried to set a record for most deaths in a ten minute period. Then she couldn’t find Vorstag. My nerves can’t take it any more!

GAAAAH !!! Not another !!! I am so glad you have decided to drop the DiD, that is so sad !!! URK !!! I couldn't have played DiD when I first started Oblivion either, but once I got the hang of the game my character lived a lot longer.

Fallout 3 - I used to search for ways to kill my character, so it wouldn't have done me any good to play DiD with her, lol.

Aww, I liked J’Shanji and his crazy bosmeri friend...


I don't think I could do DiD in Skyrim. You never know when something completely random is going to happen and kill your character.

For example, awhile ago Aravi was cutting through a mob of Silverhands as easy as you please. She gets to the last one and starts to swing her swords only for a kill scene to pop up showing the Silverhand put her little iron dagger into Aravi's neck while she was in mid swing.

Aww... poor kitty. Saber cats are nasty if they catch you by surprise. I'm not even thinking of a DiD game for some time yet. Regardless of character I tend get squished/sliced/incinerated/whatevered two or three times a session. Thought Chloe's best at avoiding it, she's still gotten killed quite a bit. Maybe in a month or so I'll give it a try. There've been some times where I don't even see what killed me, just walking then wham.

@mLAX. Only certain enchantments can go on armor peices now. Gloves/boots seem to have skill fortify and resists. Helm and armor for health/stamina/magicka fortify/regen and spell cost decrease.

Today in Skyrim, I got distracted by caves. Again.

Always, always with the damn caves...

GAAAAH! I wonder why they would do that? It's kind of like saying, "look, you can enchant your armor ... but only how we say you can..."

I was wondering why I couldn't put fortify 1handed on a circlet. Annoying. That will be changed soon by mods.

I guess they are trying to keep the player from becoming uber, but it still bothers me.

That does make sense, but yeah, I want to put what I want where.

Me too.

But part of the fun of the Elder Scrolls games is finding all the enchantment combinations that you can use to break the game without using cheats, surely?

Here's another one for you, Colonel.



Rowan and Vorstag went to Shadowgreen Cavern near Solitude on a little errand. I could not believe how pretty it is. It really begs for a mod, or a portable campsite. On the way back to town they found the shortcut up from the river, instead of going all the way around by the stables. Bonus!

Either Rowan has passed a Lockpicking milestone, or the folks of Solitude just don’t like her. Now she’s getting thief remarks from the guards. She does have a small bounty in the Reach, but that’s for accidentally hitting a horse while she was trying to rescue it. Turns out that horses are pretty good at rescuing themselves. And they’re big, so they get in the way of the occasional sword.

Rowan needs a trip home to Whiterun. A long alchemy session is way overdue, and both of them are loaded down with dragon bones. She’s considering letting Vorstag go for awhile, and maybe hiring him back later. They’ve had some rough fights lately, including one where Vorstag fell into a pit and was getting killed by too many bad guys for Rowan to shoot fast enough, so she jumped in after him. That is not healthy behavior.

I wonder if it would be tacky to ask him to give the plate armor back.

It might be, but if she lets him go he may lose the stuff in the process.

Rowan and Vorstag had an interesting cave dive recently. Their first Falmer encounter, their first chaurus hive, and their first Dwemer ruin all at once. They tested one another’s patience throughout.

First, Vorstag decided that the way to deal with a chamber full of blind enemies is to stand up and charge them while shouting. At the end of that debacle he had two of Rowan’s arrows in his back and several Falmer ones in his front. One of Rowan’s had been poisoned.

Then in a very dark cave with some glare on the mist from glowing mushrooms, Rowan viciously and mistakenly attacked Vorstag with a flurry of blades, thinking he was a third chaurus. He responded with a quiet, “Hey.” I guess that armor she improved for him really works.

At the end he kept mentioning a warm fire and a belly full of mead while Rowan was loading him down with a bunch of metal stuff that she had no real reason to take other than, “It’s heavy, so it must be good for something.” They were not of like minds at that point.

After dodging a mysteriously rampaging mammoth during the star-lit walk home, the Whiterun crew spent a cozy night indoors. Lydia upstairs coughing in Rowan’s room, Vorstag downstairs yawning in his chair, and Rowan contentedly mixing potions and fooling around with all of the junk that ends up in the “MISC” endtable. (I wish storage had inventory tabs. Also, Breezehome would not make a comfortable marital dwelling.) It was a very good adventure close to home.

Today in Skyrim, Elovar Drayl, Dragonborn Dunmer, caster of spells, hitter of things with swords and all-round sexy beast was trolled by a dragon.

The giant flying sky-lizard seemed content to merely circle overhead the entire time and flame-breath him, well out of reach of Elovar who couldn't get a good hit in with a single damn fireball. Not seeming to realise that, being a Dark Elf, Elovar was naturally inclined towards being flame retardant and was also quite handy with a healing spell (thus meaning he could heal faster than it could burn him) it spent enough time in the air for our extremely attratcitve hero to call in not one, but two Lightning Storm shouts, both of which failed miserably to do a Benjamin Franklin on the dragon. Finally, the bloody thing deigned to land and battle commenced, which was essentially a short period of furiously whaling on it with power attacks from Elovar's two bound swords. After nearly half an hour of combat (the term used in the loosest possible sense), it landed and swiftly gave up to the fact that Elovar could pause the flow of time itself to instantly replenish health and died.

All in all, it was considered a rather disappointing fight, and the crowd left feeling rather let down.

Both Cameron and Chloe had irritating encounters with dragons themselves.

Cameron, following an older lead from some annoyomus 'friends' went to Autumwatch tower to find a dragon napping at it's sumit. Casting her preperation spells (dual ironskin, dual flame atronach) and gave the beast a simple wake up call (dual flamebolt). A few circles, then the dragon dropped to land... on the other side of the mountain ridge. The next five minutes was spent watching the jerk fly amung the peaks and land on the other side before it finally came close enough for the two mages to 'wamrly' great it.

Chloe, on the other hand, was simply walking south in the Reach with Lydia when a dragon shadow flashed over head, the animal just kept flying in erratic circles and ignoring Chloe. Finally, the wood elf just growled and walked on, returning the favor. The dragon she found later at a torched out tower felt the frustrations of the two women and was trounced in under a minute.

Aravi is still in Windhelm.

She was walking somewhere and happened on a murder scene. Well, nobody else was going to do anything about the murders it seemed like, so Aravi started looking into it. She talked to some people, followed some clues and now the Windhelm dungeon has a new occupant.

This one was kind of confusing because when Aravi found the killer's hideout, she looked at the clues, but left everything undisturbed to not alert the killer that she was in their hideout. After that, she walked around and talked to people and was getting nowhere. She went back and grabbed everything she found of significance. Success!

Now she's in Candlehearth Hall sitting at one of the tables upstairs near the warm fire. It would be really nice and cozy, except a merc for hire is staring at her rather intensely and making her feel uncomfortable...

Maybe he just needs a hug?

Melinoe had the "pleasure" of clearing out a dog wolf fighting pit. It was awful

First they decided to sic the wolves on her. Poor things. Then the bandits came out one by one and each got flames to the face and a dagger to the belly. She had to go hunt down the ring leader, as he was hiding away at the top of the tower.

She was going to call it a day and go back to Riften, but something compelled her to go into the fort itself. Sure enough there was more bandits. She even came across a few betting on the animals and instructing them to tear each other's throats out Melinoe found perverse pleasure in putting the bandits down. After she cleared the cave she worried about the poor dogs, even though she left them plenty to eat...

Oh Aravi cleared that place a while ago, but in reverse. She started at the top and worked her way down. She couldn't fight the ringleader with swords because he was too strong. She instead blew him out of the tower with Unrelenting Force. Gravity took care of the rest.

Chloe had an interesting day. First she found a mine that had been forced closed do to Drugers from an unexpected Nordic ruin they found. While at first tempted to let the miners wait for the Guard, one look at Lydia's raised eyebrow and the wood elf was down the cave. The undead were pathetically easy to down from the shadows, she only had a problem when she found a door that would only open when someone was on a pressure plate, it also made more noise then a dragon. Faced with two charging undead, Chloe was forced to draw her all bu never used sword. She was also very glad she had changed it to Meridia's 'gift' as it made quick work of the undead. Her bolstered confidence took a bit of a hit when finding the central chamber occupied by a Druger Deathlord. The first charge was interrupted when the statues behind it spat firebolts at her.

Chloe was concerned at first until she found that, for some reason, the undead monster was unable to leave the room. At that point, she made a nice pincushion out of his head it perfect safety. She even found a 'new' toy to give to her friend. Lydia liked the Ebony axe so much, she strapped it right to her side.

Back on the road again, 1000 gold heavier in thanks, Chloe found an exceptionally large Forsaken compound. A few long range arrows dropped some of the guards before their mages got involved, along with the unpleasant surprise of two hagravens. Her poor housecarl took quite the beating before the last one fell to her arrows. They stopped for several hours at an Orismer stronghold to recuperate, repair and trade supplies before setting, once again, on the road to Vaulthume. One final surprise was waiting however.

Chloe had encountered the Thalmar once or twice so far, she had stepped off the road and let them pass each time with only a sneer directed at her. Thus it was with considerable surprise that she saw the trio ready weapons and charge. Even more so when finding an execution order for her for interference. 'Interference? Interference in what?'.

Finally, several days after she at first expected to arrive, Chloe stood on the steps to Valthume. This note from her 'friend' was getting to be a lot more trouble then it was worth. She was expecting something equally stupid to be waiting for her inside.