“Good morning, girls.” Superian stood next to Lothran’s mare, Aetherius, and both horses softly nickered their welcome as I entered the stable’s barn and closed the door behind me. After producing a pair of brown sugar cubes from one of the pouches at my waist, I gave one to each horse. “Here, these are from Jerric and his friends.” I had cried when Selena at the mages guildhall presented me with such a wonderfully thoughtful and generous bag of gifts sent by my friends who had spent Saturalia in Solitude - snowberry lip balm, a bottle of Tamika's, wheel of Skingrad cheese and even an enchanted journal book!

“I can’t stay long this morning – but I’ll be back soon. J’skar’s making fresh sweet rolls and they should be ready just in time for me to bring some to Lothran. After a late night of guard duty, I can think of no nicer way to wake him that with the smell of hot, freshly baked sweet rolls.” Even though she didn’t need it, my fingers absently groomed imaginary tangles from Superian’s luxuriant white mane. “Like many of his race, J’kar seems gifted when it comes to preparing anything sweet. And Lothran will need his energy, for he said we could go for a ride in the Jeralls today. Judging by the look of the morning sky outside, I bet we’ll get some more snow today.” I smiled. One of my cherished memories was of snow dancing in Lothran’s white hair while riding in these very Jeralls years ago. Hopefully, I would get to see that again today.

Buffy's gif! WOOOOOOT !!!

She is, but Lothran rarely visit her. They don´t have much to talk about

--------------------

A newly baked sweetroll? Well, if that doesn´t wake up a Dunmer, I don´t know what will!

After six days on the watch it was nice to finally get some time off, and what better way to spend it but with a good friend? Riding out into the mountains was a good way to relax so Lothran looked forward to it. The area around Bruma was almost always clear of riffraff so it should be safe, but both Superian and Aetherius were quick and could easily leave most foes behind scratching their heads if needed. That is, if the two elves didn´t decide to play "fetch the arrow with your body" with them...

It turned indeed out to be a nice day. Snow fell gently to the ground as did peace. The mountains sure was a nice place to be with its crisp, clear air. After some time, Buffy spotted something through the falling snow and asked Lothran to look where she pointed. It was a horse, but whose could it be? There wasn´t anyone around.

-Well, it´s either a Legionnaire´s horse or... No, it must be Honmund´s. He´s often in this area, but why would he leave his horse out here?

The two elves went to look for Honmund. Maybe he was in trouble, or perhaps lost? Or maybe he had simply forgotten about his horse and gone back to Bruma without it? He could get distracted so it was possible. While Buffy rode back to town to go look for Honmund, Lothran took care of the horse and lead it back to the stables.

And sure enough, Homund was in town. He had completely had forgotten about his horse standing out in the wild, unprotected! It must have felt awkward being stared down at by someone much shorter, but if there was something Buffy cared about, it was horses..

Hee hee hee poor horse. Too bad you couldn't rein it back to safety. It'll be alright though. As you say, enemies can be rather sparse in that area Honmund goes hunting.

8:44 AM, Last Seed 24, 4th Era 5
Lady Saga is back in the Imperial City. No luck with Ayleid statues #9 and 10, but she is going to visit Order of the Virtuous Blood, which means I believe she's about to become a bona-fide vampire hunter.

She also got to Level 13, far beyond most of my PS3 and Xbox characters. I put +5 into Willpower, +3 into Agility, and +1 into Endurance.

mALX - Thanks again for the wonderful little picture of Buffy you made!

Renee - In some ways, it would be nice if Saga never finds that last statue - that way she can search and adventure forever in a neverending story.

*



The morning turned out wonderfully as Lothran, I and the horses enjoyed a pleasant ride. The Jeralls accommodated us with an almost perfect day of gently falling snow.

When we encountered an unattended horse, Lothran recognized it and suspected the owner, Honmund, had simply become distracted picking mushrooms and wandered back to town without his horse! I realize that not many can summon, unsummon and teleport their horse like I can, but how could one simply forget about and abandon such a beautiful animal? With a sparkle of mirth in his red eyes to counter the fury in my blue ones, Lothran suggested I ride ahead back to town and look for Honmund. He said he would search the immediate area before escorting the Nord’s horse back to the stable.

Sure enough, I found the big Nord in Olav’s Tap and Tack with a bag, likely filled with mushrooms, under his bar stool. With courage supplied by a paralyze spell ready in one hand, I gave him a piece of my mind! Happily, his reaction wasn't hostile and I concluded that Lothran had been right – Honmund was easily distracted; perhaps from being hit on the head too many times by ogres or eating too many mushrooms.

I spent the afternoon wrapped in a bear pelt and serenaded by Lothran's cracking fireplace as he and I shared tales of the adventures that had filled our time apart.

Lothran was well familiar with the dangers of Pale Pass of course, and wondered about my journey from Skyrim. Although elusive in my reply, I assured him that I did not transit Pale Pass. In fact my method of travel was not overland at all. When the subject of my return to Skyrim came up, I replied, “I must leave day after the morrow.” I had tasks awaiting in the northern province and, as gracious a host as he was, I knew Lothran enjoyed his solitude and hardly needed a little chatterbox with pointed ears hanging around for too long.

That evening, we went to the Tap and Tack for dinner. Olav added quite the embellishments as he told Lothran how I had 'dressed down' a Nord three times my size because of a horse. I was, in fact, nervous about running into the victim of my ire again, but my mind was set at ease when Honmund cheerfully tipped his mug at me from across the tavern. Olav then went on to lament that the bard who normally sang for his patrons was out sick. . . so I volunteered to fill in for the evening!

Buffy has a wonderful singing voice!

"Buffy... sings? That was a new one!" thought the Dunmer to himself. It didn´t sound bad by any means, only... surprising!


The next day was all spent in the shops of Bruma. Buffy needed to stock up on supplies before the long trip back to Skyrim and Lothran helped her carry whatever she bought; new clothes from Skjorta, warm pelts and torches from Suurootan, some food from Olav and Hafid, and of course some potions from Selena at the Mages Guild. Lothran wondered how Superian was supposed to carry all that but Buffy assured him it wasn´t a problem. Saddlebags combined with magic and Buffy could store almost as much as she wanted!


Back in Lothran´s cabin they both helped out to prepare a nice dinner. "We must fill your belly before tomorrow!", Lothran exclaimed with a grin on his face. And what a feast! The finest mutton together with slices of roasted potato and a salad made from the finest heads of lettuce, corn and tomato. All that washed down with some wine from Tamika and for dessert; sweetrolls from Salmo and a freshly made apple pie from Alga!


"Maybe Superian can carry all the things you´ve bought, Buffy. But are you sure she can she carry you..?"

I'm loving the back-and-forth dialog, it's awesome!

What Renee said, you two are telling a great story of Lothran's and Buffy's friendship! I feel almost sad that she has to return to Skyrim because it's nice to read about Lothran in company and they really go along well.

Thanks, guys

Lothran snuck a present into one of the saddlebags on Superian when Buffy wasn´t around. Hopefully it can be of use to her. After all, sometimes we all need to get ahead..

How have I missed the updates in this thread?! What a marvelous glimpse at the friendship between Lothran and Buffy. I enjoyed reading this so much!!

Thank you so much to mALX, Renee, Lopov and Grits for the warm support for Lothran and Buffy. The two have been penpals for several years now and grown quite close as you can tell. They don’t actually get together very often, but when they do it is always a wonderful time.



“Well, Superian won’t be able to carry me if I keep eating like we have this evening!” I then covered my mouth to suppress a gentle burp. “A big part of me doesn’t want to start my return journey tomorrow.”

I smiled sadly and reached out a hand to brush aside an errant white lock that had fallen over one of Lothran’s eyes. “I’ve so enjoyed our time here in your city of Bruma.” I blinked as I felt my own eyes moistening. To break the sadness, I began to tickle the Dark Elf. I realized almost immediately what a mistake that was. Not only was he much stronger than I, he was less ticklish as well. It did break the somber mood though as, before long, I was rolling on the floor giggling so hard I was afraid I might pee!

Lothran relented long enough for me to stop laughing, then finally released me. “My journey to Skyrim,” I said seriously, “is a magical one between the Arcane University and the College of Winterhold. Will you and Aetherius ride part of the way down the Silver Road tomorrow with Superian and I?” I looked at the big pile of shopping Lothran had so patiently watched my buy that day and grinned. “Besides, I could use your help carrying all this out to the stable in the morning.”

Next morning arrived, and Lothran went up to have some breakfast. Not that it was especially needed after the big feast the night before. Still, an elf needs his strength.

After that he went and geared up. Bow & arrows plus his Elemental Mace. All that had to come with him when he went out the gate. He can do well enough with his spells and Snowflake should danger appear, but he never took any chances when someone else´s safety was at stake. Especially when that someone is a very dear friend..

Buffy was all up and about when Lothran entered the Mages Guild. She had also had some breakfast, though not as much as she usually eats.

"Hey, Buffy!", Lothran said with a smile. "Are you able to get up on Superian today, or should we wait until tomorrow?"

Buffy giggled, but explained she really had to return to the Imperial City so she could be transported back to the College of Winterhold to attend her duties. Lothran nodded in silence. He knew perfectly well what it meant to have duties and promises to keep and even though he would have wanted his friend to stay a little while longer, he would never dream of holding her back.


After saying goodbye to everyone at the Guild, the two elves went out the East gate and opened up the pen where their horses were waiting for them. It was always nice to go out for a ride, but this time it was a bit heavier than usual for both elves..

Along the way they continued to talk about Buffy´s travel arrangements and Lothran was a bit impressed by her means of transportation. Not even he had ever used such means, and he was not one who was new to magic. And to think, Superian could use it too! That was even more astonishing!

After a while Lothran held back Aetherius a little, and Buffy did the same.

"As much as I´d like to join you further, I feel I must ride back", he explained. "I cannot leave County Bruma just yet as I also have things that need attention" Buffy nodded, she knew that very well. She steered her mare closer to Lothran´s to give him a last hug, and then continued down the road. It wasn´t often that Lothran didn´t see her smile or heard her talk, but this was one of those occasions. He understood why because he felt it too; it´s always hard to leave a friend..

As he watched them move slowly down the road, Lothran stretched himself up to shout one last thing to Buffy; "DON´T FORGET TO LOOK IN SUPERIAN´S SADDLEBAGS! THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING THERE YOU CAN USE..!"




-Goodbye for now, dear Buffy and Superian...

Aww. Dang Steam barrier. Well at least the two elves got to spend some time together.

After I exchanged a final hug with Lothran, Superian affectionately gave Aetherius a gentle fairwell nudge. With no discernible cues from me, my mare then turned south toward the University. I wasn’t good at hiding my emotions so I kept my glistening eyes on the road as I whispered to the air ahead of me, “Goodbye for now, my dear friend.”

The remainder of my trip was uneventful and the sun was low as I settled Superian in for a final night in her beloved Valley of the Horses.

That evening, both Boderi Farano and Tar-Meena helped me organize my belongings. I smiled as I slid on the ring Lothran had hidden in Superian’s saddlebags. Sure enough the magic that surged through me rendered me just a bit quicker on my feet.

Before turning in for the night, the Archmage himself dropped by. “I hope your return to Winterhold goes smoothly.” He then directed his attention from me to Boderi. “Palatinus, I take it the College is expecting Buffy’s return at sunrise?”

“Yes, Archmagister,” the elegant Dunmer replied, “and she’ll be ready.”

“Very well.” Turning back to me he added, “Give my regards to the College’s Archmage and tell him to take good care of our small Lamp Knight.”

Even I felt sad when Buffy and Lothran separated. But I'm sure they'll be in touch even when not in the same province.

Great story guys, you are as tuned as the most professional musicians playing a fine concert.

You do me us too much honour...

If you want her, put a ring on her. Sure that's cute. And too short. Hopefully Buffy will return soon, because poor Lothran is hampered by the vast Barrier of Steam

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Joan of Arkay met up with a oddly-befuddled man known as the Grey Wizard just outside of Weynon Priory, and together they delivered the Amulet of Kings to Jauffre. A lot of mysteries got cleared up as Jauffre explained that Uriel Septim bore a child long ago (bla bla bla...not in the spoilers thread here) and so Joan did not feel so awkward being in charge of this incredibly rare relic.

She is not sure if she will go to Kvatch. She might though. Joan decided to go to Chorrol first though. Here, she learned about the guilds, stayed at the Grey Mare (awful place, but cheap), and after spending 9 gold getting her rusty iron helmet repaired, she had absolutely zero Septims. Oh nos!

But she had a lot of lockpicks (40 of them) she's never going to use, so she sold these, and made a small profit of 80 gold. She also kicked some bandit butt down in Cursed Mine, after one of the guards told her they've got a small problem constantly lurking, literally beneath their feet, and they haven't got the go-ahead from the Watch Captain to take them by force themselves.

Poor Joanie nearly got killed twice by these bandits, all of which were Redguard, oddly enough. She carries an iron shortsword, wears mostly heavy armor, does not sneak much, and hasn't got a magical light source, so she would often get attacked, drop her torch, and then have to backtrack to an area which was well-lit to do the actual fighting. The two times she nearly got killed, she had to run outside the mine itself, and then run towards Chorrol's entrance, where the guards could now finally get their fighting fix, without needing to wait for an official 'go-ahead' from their captain.

I thought the Grey Wizard lived a too secluded life to be spotted by someone like Joan of Arkay who does not do magic too much it seems?

Nice to see her teaming up with TGW, even if only temporary. I assume that at this point he wasn't the Champion yet.

How creative that she made a profit by selling lockpicks.

Lopov and Renee – Thanks! Lothie and Buffy have a nice connection, and visits such as this one are indeed too rare. They do correspond when not together though. During one visit together at the Arcane University, the two elves put their heads together and made a spell to help stay in touch. The spell summons a white dove that unerringly carries letters between the two. Buffy named the dove Kyne and the bird has no trouble crossing any barriers or finding either Lothran or Buffy.

Nice to see Joan and the Grey Wizard together, even if only briefly. Nice work at Chorrol clearing out those bandits! Lopov is right - selling lockpicks is clever as they have a pretty good weight to value ratio.

First 24 hours done on this second shift. It´s cold but Lothran barely notices it. He´s very proud to be one of those who protect Bruma, and his fellow guard members are a hoot!

Ah, so it's like Buff & Loth have some sort of telepathy going, eh? Heh heh neat. It's always an eyeful coming back to colorful Cyrodiil after the drabness of (most of) Skyrim, right? That's always how I feel.



Awww.

Not really. Though I guess to some extent they never really leave one another, as good friends never do

"Good to see you again ma'am. Shall I escort you upstairs to see my master?"

"If such would be of certainty, this shall be so."

"Very good. Please follow me."

And with these words, Lady Saga then follows Jollring the butler to meet the Dunmer who had so graciously been hosting her campaign here in Cyrodiil for almost a year now. Or.....was it the other way around? In any event, it is rather dark inside of Umbacano's manor today, a raging storm had been brewing outside for hours now. Aerin places a gold necklace around her neck, and is rewarded by glowing light all around.

"Ahhh, the treasure hunter. Please, have a seat-t."

"Many hellos to you, Umbacano."

"Ah, yes,. My treasure-hunting friend. What can I do for you?"

"I have made finding of a very important relic, to add to your collectings of yore."

"Yes. Have you found another stature for me?"

"As such. And here it is."

"You are doing very well in your treasure hunt, my friend," the Altmer says with a grand smile. "Only one more statue remains to be discovered!"

"Many thanks, elf."

"You are very close to earning the reward for completing the set of ten. I urge you to redouble your efforts."

"This shall be done, Lord Umbacano. And am muchly encouraged by the supportings which you have made lending of."

"Bye."

Lady Saga looks to her Breton companion, as Umbacano walks across the room to place Ayleid Statue #9, found in an undead-infested ruin known as Wenyandawik, into his sacred case.

Ooh, Saga´s making progress! Lothran only found three before another quest got the better of said collector..

But he has three of his own that he found after all that, so in total Lothran has found six statues

Only one more to be found? Wow, she's doing a great job with finding these statues. What does spend all her money on?

Lopov: Most of her money goes into the bank, but then occasionally she will need to grab several thousand out, like if she's got some idea for new spells or enchantments, or if she needs to hire some Fighters Guild member. Modryn Oren has been following her around lately.

mirocu: I have a feeling #10 is located somewhere in east Blackwood, but we're in no hurry to get down there.

Life goes on as usual in Bruma. Lothran exercises Aetherius and takes lone walks in the mountains and sometimes spend a day visiting shops and inns.

And just yesterday I had to fix Lothran´s sixth Abomb

Turdas, Heartfire 12, 4th Era 5: Lady Saga found the unicorn! ..

One of my PS3 characters found this mystical steed long ago; I'm guessing back in 2009 or 2010.

mirocu - The report of Lothran going about his normal winter routine in Bruma brings a smile.

Renee - 'Grats to Lady Saga for finding the unicorn!

Thanks Acadian.

This morning I'm gaming with Joan of Xbox, and she also had the same thing happen in her game sort of: she found a black horse fighting a wolf, but the BHC gal was dead. So Joan wound up with a free black horse, just like Kahreem!

Not only that, but she just found Battlehorn Castle. I got this in Xbox a long time ago, but have never been here until now. She came upon an armored knight dude fighting three marauders (and going unconscious over and over) so she was able to help the knight kill these baddies one by one. And the best part is the knight immediately wants to follow her around now.

So she has a free horse, and an eager partner. EDIT: oops, the black horse is still considered property of the BHC lady. The knight didn't like it when she got on this horse. But there are ways around this, at least until she buys her own horse. She can just mount the steed when he's not around, find him, and then tell him to follow her.

Everything goes Joan´s way

Battlehorn isn't a very inspired place. It's just a big castle to put loot in, and occasionally sleep in. Makes me wonder if there are any decorating options to be found....

Sounds like they should have put some more effort into it... Isn´t there anything to do after the quest?

There's a quest? Uh oh. Think I missed something. It just seemed like the place is a big, empty shell that eventually gets decorated. There are obvious areas where it looks like stuff should go, but there's nothing there.

Hope I didn´t spoil anything for ya...

Lady Saga is just down the hill from Fort Variela, which is a place full of necromancers. I don't think I've been to this area before. My elf is sidetracked, as usual. She is supposed to be looking for an outlaw khajiit in Pothole Cavern, but she's been to that place twice now, and he's not there. He will show up eventually, though. Maskar of Nexus has promised this.

Joan of Arkay is in jail! Her story now: she was walking back to Chorrol from Battlehorn Castle (the big, mostly empty place she recently found), and she had this knight guy in shiny armor with her. But he got killed already! Killed by a goblin! Joan should have left him back at Battlehorn; turns out he probably didn't have very much health. Then again, neither does Joanie.

The reason she is in jail: apparently it is illegal to mount BHC horses, dangit. The Battlehorn knight saw Joanie mount her new horse, and then telepathically communicated this information to all the guards in 3rd Era Cyrodiil. Joan technically had a bounty, but it was only 250 gold, so the guards left her alone.

She returned to the Fighter's Guild, and changed from armor to clothes in the upper FG tower. There's a non-respawning chest in here, so she keeps all her stuff in this chest. She goes to sleep. Next day, it's Sundas, so she goes to chapel. Tries to pray at the altar, but her bounty prevented this.

So she decides to do the 'right' thing, and finds a guard. She only has like 140 gold, which is not enough to pay her bounty, but it doesn't matter anyway. Even if she had the gold, she would still go to jail. It is the better way to pay for crimes, she thinks.

Poor Joanie!

Today Lothran had some fun with a few goblins in Silver Tooth Cave. His favourite thing to do is sneak in, toss away a lightning bolt that does damage over area and run outside and hop up on a big rock where he can´t be reached. Then he summons his trusty Spriggan friend who in turn summons her trusty bear, and from his spectator position he follows the drama that unfolds. Much more fun than going to the arena!

mirocu, that reminds me of the fun an illusionist can have with command spells! Sit back and watch the fun!

Renee, Battlehorn Castle makes a nice base for a warrior once it’s fully decorated. There is indeed more to it than what you first see.

Poor Joanie! It’s admirable that she would choose to serve her sentence rather than pay off the fine (even if she had enough cash on her).

Lothran has been doing the same as Darnand and Jerric: killing goblins. Though I suspect they got a lot dirtier than Lothran did in their adventure. Darnand had a bad scare at the pit of the goblin dungeon. He came upon a blond Nord man in steel plate battling with Jerric. It turned out to be one of a pair of marauders who just looked like Jerric, but for a time he didn’t know what was happening. It was admittedly confusing with Jerric and the other marauder casting spells in the dark. Interesting to me, Darnand’s first thought was that he had lost his mind. That must be his deepest fear.

Ha ha poor Darnand, sheesh!

Sounds interesting - summoning a summoned being that summons it's own summoned being.

Heh, interesting, I imagine that it must have been confusing for Darnand indeed.

Seems like Saga, Lothran, Jerric & Darnand are doing such a great job with killing goblins in Cyrodiil that they completely exterminated them until the events of Skyrim.

The goblins don´t stand a chance!


But as it happens, next move for Lothran is to sell a few bits and bobs (to sound me a bit British, there..) gathered from said goblin hunts



BUT LOPOV, (I scream energetically) will you evah have another ´blivion character??

Yeah, it's been a long time, I know. Raven was my last character in Cyrodiil and his story finished in October 2013. I will probably come to Cyrodiil but I don't know when so I better don't make any promises.

Grits, I imagine Darnand still vividly recalls the time when Jerric fell under the influence of a command spell. No wonder he was given such a bad scare to see two Jerric's battling it out!

mirocu, I know Lothran is very generous, but I hope he doesn't give all his proceeds to the beggars of Bruma. Trust me, they have loads of new shoes and medicine hidden away, thanks to gullible but generous souls.

Fear not, my two-faced friend! Lothran knows very well the beggars have more coins than the average citizen who sleeps inside his own house every night

Two-faced friend. . . . I was trying to figure out what you meant by that when my avatar cycling from paladin to elf caught my eye.

Oh my gosh look who's talking!

I actually will have another, I've got a really GREAT idea for a new one, just you wait and see. Her game relies on an old mod which I'm not even sure will work, but if it does it'll be amazing. Just waiting for some rain or snow.

Her game will most likely be questless, so she won't interfere with my others too much.