No worries; Lothran won't take anything from a fellow Guild member



Edit: I got reply #3000!

Lothran has now made his final preparations and tomorrow he will depart the Imperial City and go to Aleswell which is his stop on the way to Bruma. He will stay there for about a week and enjoy the landscape and also talk to the invisible wizard. Come Friday, he will finally travel to the northern town to spend the winter.


Man, after ten years I still love this bit..!

We just know it is not time for winter till Lothie heads for Bruma!

It's as much a tradition for you guys now, I imagine


Lothran is now in Aleswell and he did a quick skirmish into Fingerbowl Cave. Some undead turning fullydead whilst giving away some gold but except the initial rooms not much else was re-explored. Checked the local sheep and yes; they are still there all of them safely inside their pen.

Then the Dunmer decided to get some sleep and it's now early morning and I suspect a trip to Ancotar is in order

Noooo!

That seems really weird. It seems like he just left Bruma. Maybe it's because you haven't been as active about writing with him this season, now that the old Beth forums are closed, and you've also been locked away in your cabin or whatever.

I know what you mean, Renee. I feel the same way

I haven't been writing much this year as you said, that's part of it. Haven't felt like there was much to say and although I have been gaming, I haven't gamed as much due to being mostly in the woods. So you're right on all accounts. There was also the issue of my graphics card crashing and it took a few weeks (if not months) to fully get it sorted.

I've had things going on in my life and thus I haven't felt inclined to game a lot, haven't had the inspiration. But Oblivion is still my game and I keep business as usual. And this is my favourite part; going to Bruma!

As day turned to evening, Lothran and I checked up on a nearby Ayleid ruin and sure enough, we'd been there before so no further delving ensued. A lone soldier on watch rode by with his torch lit - all while Masser and Secunda made their way across the night sky and the local sheep settled in.

All was quiet - Cyrodiil was preparing for winter. And so was Lothran; not many days left now before the journey up north. We've had this routine for a good number of years now but I can still sum it up with one word; anticipation.

As you describe that beautiful Cyrodiilic evening, I can clearly hear the strains of Oblivion's fabulous background music playing.

Aww. Hey, that was touching, mirocu. Beautifully written. Nice job.

I think that most of us, forumites, also anticipate Lothran's trip to Bruma every winter.

Which ruin was that? The one east of Aleswell?

Thanks! I'm glad my writing could bring you the joys of Cyrodiil once again, if only in a small dose


Thanks Renee, that was a nice thing to say! I know I'm not a scribe like you guys and it wasn't much, but I had the inspiration when I wrote that and I'm glad it came across


Actually the one to the west, Pinkunda I think is its name, or similar


---------------
Aleswell, early morning.



Lothran left this little hamlet just when the sun has started to rise. A slight breeze and the sounds of the forest followed him as he walked down the road eastward. When he got to the Ayleid ruin he had to help a guard get rid of two bandits; one Orc and one Argonian. Mundane stuff, business as usual.

Business not as usual; turning north at the intersection! Climbing that hill produces the same kind of butterflies that dear Buffy always chases when she sees them. Well, almost the same kind anyway. Only two obstacles on the way; one Ogre and one Minotaur Lord. Supposed to be one bandit as well but a Forrester got the better of that one. Lothran healed him as thanks as he had taken some damage.

As morning turned to day, the Nordic Dunmer reached his goal; Bruma! First order of business; checking up on the house. Thankfully, everything seemed to be in order. (I could almost sense the smell of a log cabin not having been aired out!) Then a walk around town to take it all in. No snowfall yet but it looked like it wasn't far away. Soon, it would begin to fall and the true feeling of Winter would set in, and everything would fall into place.


Lothran was home!

Welcome home Lothran!

Wow, three paragraphs from mirocu plus the opening and closing sentence - what's happening here? Is it magic?

I liked the part when you mention that you could sense the smell of a log cabin. No doubt if you spend a lot of time in the cabin yourself.

Mirocu, your writing style is just fine! In fact you have a nice way with descriptions when you choose to use enough words to do so. The real reason you captivate your readers though is because you tell the story of a character that several of us have come to know and love over the years. To the point of literally setting our calendars by his migration schedule.

As Lopov mentioned, nice touch about the smell of the cabin after a summer of nonuse. Many of us forget to include the smells and sounds in our writing that can add much.

And it was an excited elf who, while reading of Lothie's trip, saw a delightful mention of herself! Butterflies...

With Lothie settling into his winter place - soon to be patrolling Bruma and sharing drinks at Olav's - we are all ready to settle in for another winter.

I seriously almost fell out of my chair just now!

Reading that just reminded me of my first time visiting Bruma. Probably with the original Renee Gade (the non-RP version) in 2008. I remember it seemed like ages getting up that hill. I had no idea what was at its very top. Once I got to Bruma and began exploring, I got lost! Can you imagine?

Well hopefully there will be some more Lothran updates.

I hope you sat down before you started to read?


I love that smell and I have sensed it many times before in my life. Every time we get to Bruma for the winter and enter the house and I see it all again, my brain remembers the smell and gives me a whiff of it


Thanks for breaking it down like this, Acadian. I don't write so much simply because after ten years the inspiration for that is not so strong. Lothran and I have been everywhere and done everything so many times it's hard to justify repeating it. But this, going to Bruma for the winter, is something I still have enough passion for I simply cannot resist writing about it.

I'm glad Buffy liked her shoutout btw...


You and me both! I remember reading the guide to Bruma after coming there for the first time. The book says that Bruma is "compact and quickly explored" and I was like no it isn't! Now I can see that it is, but back then the size of Bruma felt overwhelming, despite being the smallest in Cyrodiil.

I also remember when I got to the intersection where you can either go west towards Bruma, or east towards Dragonclaw Rock. I hadn't even reached the town and I was already presented with another road further into the mountains? How will I ever have time to explore everything in this game??

Well, it's ten years later and I think I have the answer now..


There will be, I love Bruma and the Jeralls more than any place in Cyrodiil so finding inspiration to write will be much easier. Especially since I don't spend so much time in the woods this time of year.


And thanks to all for reading and commenting when I finally do manage to put pen to paper. Or something...

Well that is very good to hear, Mirokugun. Makes me happy.

Was just gaming with Joan of Arkay and now I switched to RG3. I don't have a date for Joan's game, but I last saw her at Fort Alessia. She's headed slowly toward the Imperial City, making plenty of stops along the way to raid bandit & marauder locations so she can earn enough money to buy additions for Battlehorn Castle, her home.

Battlehorn Castle, eh? That's one place Lothran has never encountered in his travels


Speaking of whom, today has been all about putting brought things into the right containers. Ingredients in the ingredients barrel, gems and jewels in the treasure chest and various weapons accordingly. Most noteworthy item this year; The Great Welkynd Stone! It's actually not in the treasure chest but rather it's floating above it while producing its ghostly glow.
Other items have been sold and some ingredients bought. And yes; snowfall has begun so the season has officially kicked off for realz!

We look forward to some peace and quiet in town, trekkings through the mountains and most of all; the annual Christmas ogre hunt in Pale Pass!

Picture?

I wish, but imgur doesn't upload from my computer anymore. Dunno why.


-------


First goblin hunt for the season! Raided Plundered Mine and we went in torch blazin'! Yes, no more sneaking about; HERE WE COME, BABY!


*hrrm*


*cough*


So, yeah. Lothran used a Light spell and in he went with his Spriggan friend. She and her bear took care of most of the goblins and the rest was all Lothran's to play with. He likes to use potions here and bring out his heaviest attack spells. Particularly useful with crowds is the one which paralyzes everything within 20ft or so plus absorb life energy for 10 secs I think. It drains almost all his Magicka but thanks to the potions it's back up again in no time.

Right now the Dunmer is sitting in the horse pen, watching Humilis Nonius twitch about (yeah, Glitchy McGee )

It's because they updated it to work with Windows 10 / newer browsers, that's why. It's annoying, right? I had the same problem. If you have the latest version of Firefox it'll take care of this problem. That's what I had to do. Now go take care of this so we can see some pictures!

Ha ha those goblins have had all spring/summer/fall to play around relative peace until Lothran makes his return! Now they're all going into a tailspin--- "treeshh wrilll!" .. which translates to "Oh no, he's back!"

--------

Did some gaming with Renee Gade III yesterday. It is now Last Seed 30 in her game (end of summer basically) which means I've spent just over an in-game year with her, spread out over three real-life years. She finished up a couple quests. One I wrote, and one from Vampire Hunting mod.

The one I wrote had her meeting an NPC who started off in Wawnet Inn. This NPC is (was) a dark elf woman who explained to RG3 that her sister's been kidnapped, and somehow she knows her sister has been taken to Abandoned Mine, which is in the middle of nowhere, east of Imperial Bridge Inn.

It took ages to get out there, because as RG3 travels, she must constantly upkeep the gear of her entire Party of Four. Food, water, weapon / armor upkeep. Finding places to stay, etc. All of this costs money. Finally they all made it to Abandoned Mine, which is full of Conjurers & undead. In the final room, there was the kidnapped sister, but also, the initial sister was there (the one from Wawnet Inn) and turns out, she's a daedra-worshiper!

A big, huge fight ensued. The sisters lost, and RG3 won. The end. Lol.

So dramatic!

Wait, RGIII is already "three years old"? I had a feeling that she was much younger. Time flies really fast.

Oh yes. I got my first computer in 2013 and Snaat Rayag was my first PC character, followed by RG3 in March of 2014.

Short and to the point. This is what I'm talking about!


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

Slow day in Bruma. Lothran takes some strolls around town and some outside but still keeps near. It's nice to walk around not having a specific goal in mind or the need to fight all the time. Enjoying the snow and the mountains is all he wants right now.


But don't worry, that will change in just a short week and a half from now...

Today Lothran got a headstart on the action: Silver Tooth Cave was cleared out



Gold, lockpicks and nuggets, little else.

Has Lothie started his guard shifts yet?

Ogres of the Pale Pass beware! Lothran is back in the Jeralls. I know it's a bit too early but still.

Nope. That doesn't start until after the Pale Pass hunt


It's cool; I'm also a tad excited. I love this hunting trip!

If one would judge by their gossip, mudcrabs were the most fearsome creatures in Cyrodiil, thought Jes as he was getting up from his bed on the upper floor of the Imperial Bridge Inn and couldn’t help but overhear small talk between the Imperial guard and the Altmer mage two floors below.

Yet he knew better as in only two days in Cyrodiil he encountered much more formidable foes, whether humans or creatures. First he met the gang of fur-clad bandits in some mine called Abandoned mine though in fact it wasn’t abandoned. Not far away, in the half-sunken fort by Lake Canulus he ran into necromancers, performing vile acts on unfortunate travelers but at least now, thanks to Jes, the Abandoned mine will be indeed abandoned for a while and necromancers no longer dwelled in the fort. Yet the same night as he was sleeping in some remote camp a distance north of the fort, he was attacked by the hostile conjurer, a Breton like himself, and as such, very-resistant to magic so Jes put him down with his sword. The sword, however, wasn’t enough for the minotaur that came rushing down the hill as the conjurer fell, so Jes had to rely on his destructive magic to bring the ferocious beast down. But in the end it was worth it – an alchemist at heart, Jes knew very well the value of a minotaur’s horn. Not counting the friendly folk at the Imperial Bridge Inn, the only ones that didn’t attack him, were some worshippers at the Daedric shrine by the Silverfish River who seemed frozen in time.

All in all, Jes couldn’t complain – despite some tough battles, he gathered a lot of interesting ingredients, mixed some of them together and concocted potions, some of them he sold to the innkeeper and some he kept as they’ll undoubtedly come handy in fights. Cyrodiil with its lush flora would certainly prove very valuable for a budding alchemist.

Learned quite a bit about Jes here - nice job. Keeping Abandoned Mine abandoned. And I agree, a minotaur trumps even the fearsome Cyrodiilic mudcrab.

That is interesting that he'll crop off a minotaur horn. See, he's a little more dedicated than my Saga is. She will only use larger, heavier ingredients like this if she can purchase them safely within an alchemy shop.

She also won't touch meat. She won't use venison for instance to make Fortify Health, even though this is a rather valuable potion out in the field. She won't spill out an imp's guts to collect its gall bladder. :yuck:

Just wait until Jes gets to the West Weald area, with all its flax flowers. And nightshade. Tons of poisons and Magicka potions can be made from this area. Blackwood is another great area for collecting, though much more dangerous and spooky.

Days are moving and Lothran makes his preparations. Gear is checked, weapons recharged, potions and poisons restocked.



The hunt grows near.

Cool. I've got the popcorn...

With the big day finally having arrived, Lothran set out early in the morning but not before scoffing down some breakfast at Jerall View. It was not a lengthy breakfast though and the Dunmer was soon out of Bruma's gates. He reached Serpent's Trail without having to fight anything, having cleared the area in the days prior.

The cave system revealed to inhabit four Ogre Cavebosses and a shirt with a 7% resistance to normal weapons. Upon entering the legendary pass the slaying of ogres continued (I do not consider this part of the actual hunt as Lothran in this stage only makes his way to the old fort in order to set up camp).

The tent is now in its usual location at the highest platform of Fort Pale Pass. It is currently mid-afternoon and with the snow steadily falling and the light slowly fading away, Lothran stands on top of the broken wall and looks out into the valley.


The hunt can begin.

The annual Pale Pass hunt is on! Stay safe and warm. Oh, you tug at Buffy's heart with talk of snow falling. She imagines loose flakes mingling with Lothie's white hair and it brings back a flood of wonderful memories of when she would sometimes visit him as he wintered in Bruma.

Buffy's visits are sure memories worthy of preserving! But I'm not sure whether or not Lothran ever got back at her for that snowball...


UPDATE:

The annual Christmas ogre hunt in Pale Pass has gone well. And as always, when thinking it is all said and done; BAM!; another ogre is found behind some rocks. In total after counting the teeth trophies collected, 17 ogres have been disposed of, including the four in Serpent's Trail.

I could have sworn we found 18 last year but then again, we are not done in Pale Pass. We will continue to enjoy this secluded area during Christmas and during these days more ogres might come to search for their now lost brothers..

Oh no, those poor ogres. Does nobody feel for those ogres?

Kidding. I am glad all eyes are upon you at the moment Lothran, this way nobody will notice if I take a break from writing this week.

You're doing a great job, Lothran and mirocu. Damn I wish you could get on imgur. Picutres!

Those ogre teeth will make a lovely necklace - well, for a comely orcish lass. Just glad that Lothie's hunt was successful and safe.

Well, it wouldn't be much to see apart from lots of snow. I'm not an action photographer like tmar, Lopov or yourself


Lothran will most likely make poisons out of those teeth as he is no orcish lass


Yes, hunt was safe and after another sweep through the valley it indeed looks like it's all clear for now. Boring for some but not for Lothran and not for me; we both love the tranquility of an empty Pale Pass

@Acadian - with DJs friendly animals mod most mudcrabs in Cyrodiil are non-hostile unless you get very close or unless they're diseased. However, the second most dangerous beings of Cyrodiil - the mighty goblins - still attack on sight.

@Renee - Jes is then the opposite of Saga, he prefers finding ingredients on his own instead of buying them though that doesn't mean he never buys ingredients. Usually he only buys some if he has ingredients with the same effect already in his inventory.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When asked about Bravil, Jes would advise anyone passing through the town, to be wiser than him which means avoiding romances with attractive girls unless absolutely sure of their intentions.

Jes himself was tricked by pretty Yana - what was supposed to be a one-night-stand for him, ended up with Jes being drugged after the lovemaking, and hours later he woke up in nothing but his loincloth in some remote cave west of Bravil. After making his way to the surface, Jes was fortunate enough to run into some bandit and “borrowed” his outfit so he returned to Bravil in something more than his mere loincloth. He promptly made way to Yana’s house but the shrewd girl claimed that they had never even met! Many men would at this point undeniably resort to violence and Jes knew that Yana would be no match for his destructive magic yet he preferred to solve conflicts with words, besides he didn’t attack Yana because he knew very well that he had behaved like a real fool earlier that day. Instead he again made a use of the bandit whose outfit he was wearing, and returned to its corpse to get some lockpicks. With them he managed to break into Yana’s basement where his entire gear was stashed, surely waiting to be sold for lots of septims.

Since then, Jes never again fell for sweet words of Bravilian maidens and advises everyone to act the same.

I guess she deserved to live since she after all taught Jes a very valuable lesson..

I think so too. Besides, Jes prefers to solve conflicts with words first and weapons second though it doesn't work on most Cyrodiilic bandits, marauders and other scumbags. Except for Lothran whom highwaymen greet instead of eat.


That's because the previous year Lothran plucked out a wisdom tooth of one ogre, so it was 17+1.

Buffy learned long ago that good judgement comes from experience. . . and experience comes from bad judgement.

At least Jes did not wake up in a Hong Kong bathtub missing a kidney!

Lol: SubRosa

That is probably good that Jes did not resort to violence; that would contradict his friendly face, I suppose. Still though, I am glad he managed to get his things back! My gosh.

Saga also prefers to pick ingredients than buy them, she just won't cut out an imp gall, or break an ogre's tooth, or bonemeal from a skelton while in-the-field. Skeleton.


No no, wasn't talking about some action shots, I (we....some of us) just wanted to see Lothran on-location. Because we rarely get to see him. Damn imgur.

Dunno what happened there; can't even log into my account where I have all the pics anymore



Final day in Pale Pass. The hunt is officially over and Lothran will begin his journey back to Bruma tomorrow. It's nice to be in the pass over the holiday but now we both want to come back to the usual evenings at Olav's and watch poor Ongar get mauled by guards for stealing food right in front of everyone

@Acadian - Jes still has a lot to learn but the lesson in Bravil definitely taught him a lot.

@SubRosa -

@Renee - for now Jes cuts imps to collect their gall if only to see what are the magical properties of the said ingredient. But he doesn't go around hacking every imp he comes across.

@mirocu - Ongar probably gets beaten a lot in your game.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The night was rainy but by the morning only a few clouds were scattered across the sky over Bravil. It was a pleasant morning though the stench from the canal was more intense because of the rain.

“What’s going on with you?” Jean-Pierre Lemonds greeted Reenum as they met by Warlock’s Luck.

“Have you heard of some Dunmer priestess trying to summon Mephala?” Sincere concern was in Reenum’s voice.

“Go on.” Jean-Pierre Lemonds crossed his arms, intensely listening to what the Argonian has to say

“Apparently the Divines saw through her scheme and punished her in an unusual way. When the priestess tried to summon Mephala, she was struck by the bolt and kept bloating and bloating until she BURST!”

“It can’t be!” shrieked Jean-Pierre.

"No doubt." nodded Reenum, convinced in rumors that he had heard and as an honest citizen of the Empire, it was his duty to spread them.

Jes, who was just passing the merry duo as they were talking, couldn’t help but chuckle. Perhaps the story was true but that Divines would cause someone to bloat, and then burst, sounded a bit too much. Nonetheless, Jes didn’t feel sorry for the priestess whatever fate struck her.

Perhaps on another occasion he’d ask Reenum more about this priestess but right now he was heading to the Mages Guild, where he promised to help Kud-Ei find her missing friend Henantier.

Heh, a pleasant morning stroll through Bravil to the Mages Guild.

Civic duty to spread rumors!

Oh no way, they're talking about Paralinique!!! Wow, so that's how her story concludes. [censored], Lopov, that's deep. Mephala was not pleased, obviously.

Random question, but since Bravil has a stench in your game, can it be smelled from exactly one square mile away? Are there tons of rubbish floating down the Niben? What about Silverhome-on-the-Water...is it full of unatmospheric skooma smoke?

Being silly. That is pretty drastic what happened to Para during her short stay in Cyrodiil though.

Paralinique went out the same way as the the guy in Big Trouble In Little China!

Lothran is now back in Bruma and has enjoyed an evening at Olav's. And although Ongar did take food he wasn't supposed to, no guard came to maul him.


I guess you can't have it all, eh..?