Why hasn't he picked those Nirnroots? Isn't he curious about ... OH I don't know. Just curious about them? I mean, does Lothie ever pick any ingredients? If so, why would he pick them, and not the singing roots?

Just messing with ya, as usual.

Anyway, I switched to RG3's game last week, need a break from Saga. Was pleasantly surprised that no CTD-on-launch occurred. Each one of them has a different set of mods, different .ini file settings, and so on, so usually something goes wrong. Anyway, looking forward to some RG3 & gurl gang action pretty soon.

Mordas, mid-afternoon, Rain's Hand 8, 3rd Era 435: Joan of Arkay is supposed to be on her way to Malada, where she'll discover the secrets of the High Fane the Ayleids wrought, whatever that may be.

... but she's gotten sidetracked. Made a wrong turn and began to head south. Long story short, she found Mingo Cave, a place I am sure none of my others have ever found. Oops. Never mind. Lady Saga has been here before. I keep a notepad file of every place Saga's ever been.

Anyway, Joan just managed to find a Shield of Vindication, a leather shield which reflects 7% of damage, which is PERFECT for her since she uses shields. Only prob is that it's leather. She prefers iron or steel. She might keep this shield for awhile though, definitely add it to her collection.

Why is it that some of the best loot is found in creature caves?

I remember Mingo Cave and know exactly where it is. I think I've discovered it for the first time in Falador's game which means I discovered it quite late. He was waiting there for Lucien to come after he had killed Rufio.

Turdas 6:26 pm, Rain's Hand 11, 3rd Era Year 435: By now, the Oblivion Crisis has ended in Joan of Arkay's gameworld. Even though she never did the Main Quest, I like to think my Grey Wizard character has done this by now.

As for Joan herself, she is on her way to Malada. To seek the High Fane, whatever that is. And right now she is in the Fighters Guild hall of Cheydinhal. She walks in, and has a seat at the guild's food table. Begins nibbling upon some dried mutton and cheese.

"Greetings Breton" says Ohtimbar, sitting down across from her. As he sits, he bangs into a metal plate, which flies across the room and ricochets off the nearby wall. "How goes it?"

"Might you have reckoning towards the Nine here in Cheydinhal, elf?" Joan asks. She had recently begun re-reading Ten Commands: Nine Divines, a book she had first appreciated long ago when she lived in Morrowind. Though normally she might find such a personal question to a relative stranger rather rude, Joan had for some reason felt a flutter within her heart. Might this high elf also appreciate the 'reckoning toward the Nine?'

"I worked the Arena in the Imperial City for a while," Ohtimbar answers plainly. "Got up to Gadiator, then took a powder. A guy can get hurt you know?"

Joan puzzles over this. Ohtimbar did not seem to think her question was rude, but he hadn't exactly answered it, either. "Oh, the Arena," she replies. "Gladiating for the masses, rather than boasting your self toward the forces that be. I suppose I do have understanding. On the subject of hurtfulness: Might you term to be more selfless and willing? For the Nine can ease your pains through acts of Restoration."

"Poor Tivela," Ohtimbar says, seeming to sidestep the issue of the spirits. "I hear she is turning Cheydinhal inside out looking for her husband, Rythe. I hope nothing has happened to him."

Joan does not reply. Merely continues to nibble her meal. This meal is the first real one she's had in two days.

"Go to it!" Ohtimbar urges.

"If such is to be," Joan answers solemnly.

I do not think I have ever talked to Ohtimbar in all my years of gaming. It is probably the fact that I have never had a character that trusted any Altmer that is in the fighters guild. They are slimy people at the best of times and belong under a tree trunk in the pits of Blackmarsh. lol.

'A brush with death' is also a quest I have never done. Very odd. I do remember a friend of mine at work telling me to do it eight years ago, but for some reason I have never got around to it. Not to mention that the Cheydinhal Castle must have a whole bunch of quests I have never seen....

Thanks, Renee, for reminding me that I need to pay it a visit. I will just avoid all the grumpy orcs.

I only had one character that stepped inside the Cheydinhal FG, that was Eldar the Nose, who was also a member of the guild. But he didn't like the Orc in charge and his attitude annoyed him to the point that he punched the Orc and got expeled from the guild as a result. That was my only experience with the Cheydinhal FG.

Wolf you MUST do Brush with Death. My gosh, that quest is so weird. You'll totally flip if it's your first time.

Lopov, yeah, as soon as Ohtimbar sat down and then that plate went flying I got all inspired to make a quickie update. Joan goes in the FG just for the (imagined) banter and maybe due-paying, whatever it is that real guilds do. She does not do any FG quests though, she's just a member there. So she doesn't have to deal with the orc (the one with green skin, by the way).


Well it is Middas, Rain's Hand 17, 3rd Era 435 in Joan of Arkay's world. She is just south of Malada, traveling on her armored paint horse. Yes, I've got Horse Armor in her game. Joan is out of her element right now, being so far away from civilization. She's running low on food, for instance; she's not like Lady Saga, who can live off the land. She also anticipates her armor's going to get pretty beat up by whatever happens in Malada.

May the Nine be with her.

Brush with Death is one of my favorite quests. Not for the faint of heart though, since it involves trolls. Be ready to fight.

OH my gosh ... the spoilers. You folks are going to leave nothing left for Mister Wolfie. x(

Oops. I will make sure not to spoil any more.

Lothran is now approaching Cheydinhal from the south. He opted to go straight through the wood instead of following the road this time and instead use that on the way to Imperial City.

Yah good to hear! I like that area, it gets tricky because of all the wood hills.

Did he stop in any forts? Pretty sure there are a couple forts to plunder in those woods.

No he didn't but yes, plenty of plunder opportunities in that area.


He just wants to get to Cheydinhal now. In fact most of his plundering days are over, it's just not tickling his funnybone much any more. Except when up north, obviously

Ohmygosh, really? That is sort of shocking to me.

I get it though. Not all characters are interested in dungeoneering. Still though, I love going into lairs and dealing with enemies. If I had just one guy and he lost interest, I'd have to roll somebody else to fulfill my delving needs!

Happy Cheydinhalling to Lothie!

Renee, Buffy's with you. Though she loves shopping, hunting, fishing, chasing butterflies, playing in waterfalls, etc, she is voracious about delving into dungeons. That is when she is most alive. Happily, ESO has more dungeons than the little elf could ever begin to count.

"Nine of the morning's watch and aaall's well!"


The Cheydinhal guard greated Lothran as he made his way up to the castle. He didn't have any specific order of business with the Count, just wanted to say hello to the friendly Khajiit who resides there as well as check up on the prison's most noted guest.

There was also time to go outside for some hunting afterwards. Usually Lothran encounters an ogre and by the nearby mine some tough goblins. This trip was a letdown; a Khajiit bandit and two weak goblins who actually died from Lothran's scout spell, and that is one weak spell!

Nothing more to detail other than a brief visit to the Thorn Lodge and Rythe Lythandas. Both places were not so welcoming though, so now Lothran rests on the bench outside the Mages Guild. We'll try Lythanda's house again later and see if it's more friendly. We'd love to check out some paintings

Lothran really is more about goblins and monsters, right? It's funny how our characters sometimes go after one specific type of enemy, or in the case of Kahreem avoid most enemies altogether as much as possible.

Those Knights of the Thorn (whatever they're called) are pretty unfriendly, I agree. Where does your elf prefer to stay? What does that Scout spell do?

Yeah, he likes to get rid of them when he sees them. But fighting bandits is more fun (sorry, Kahreem!)



Ususally the FIghters Guild when he's in a town where he doesn't have a home. They often have a single bed somewhere.


Lothran uses it to, as the name suggests, scout for enemies. It does a meager 5pts of damage but it stretches for 100ft, if I recall correctly. So those goblins must have been very weak indeed if they died from it


The elf did get to visit the famous painter later in the day, and he was most welcome to look at the unfinished paintings in the studio

Today and yesterday Lothran went through Fort Farragut for I think a second time ever. Got another batch of those apples for his collection. It was fun, I do enjoy a good fort and we haven't dungeon dived for quite awhile now.

Did he shout "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" while he did it?

I don'[t know what that even means but it made me laugh!

I did some gaming with RG3 last night but ran into some mod problems. My material too! Just goes to show how far I've come. I never though I'd be making stuff, and then bug-testing it! But heck, if tonight I can't figure out how to fix it, looks like I'll be gaming on Xbox for my 10th anniversary.

Neither do I but the answer is still no, he didn't

Admiral Farragut - Damn the Torpedoes!

Well, no such order from Lothran who just now visited Morcant in her cottage. Some random battles occurred along the way and currently the Dark Elf rests in Roxey Inn. Tomorrow he will head to the Imperial City; it's time to make preparations for his Bruma stay!

Morcant is one of characters which I've never came across with any of my characters. But I will...someday.

Holy [censored] [censored], that's right! He's "already" headed for Bruma since winter is coming! Time really flies.

Tirdas 9:57 am, Sun's Dawn 11, 4th Era 22 Renee Gade III awakes in the Tiber Septim Hotel, where she just gained a level! Up to 23 now. I dropped +2 into Intelligence, +2 in Endurance, and +3 into Personality. Today she is going to mosey around the Imperial City. There are some "donors" she is supposed to locate, because the Order cannot afford to keep paying her 100 gold per vampire dust, and also money for all the vampires she's slain over the past in-game year.

I personally this portion of the quest can just be dealt with quickly, so we can get back to roaming & adventuring, please.

The older Renee gets, the more she's intelligent.

Lothran is enjoying time in the Imperial City. Today he also had some fun with the Necromancers on the nearby island

Crow will you please take a current picture of him? It's been so long!

Well it is Fredas, mid-afternoon, Sun's Dawn 21, 4th Era 422 in Renee Gade III's gameworld, and she's currently about to swim. She and her party will be staying at Aleswell Inn tonight, but after hearing several compliments from Diram, and veiled insults from his two female inn-mates ("Everyone just goes on and on about how you saved us...." ) Renee has had enough. Goes for a stroll with her longtime Nord companion Felrika. Winds up at the bottom of the hill, facing the City. Renee dives in the water while Fel looks on helplessly, because she doesn't like going in water.

Careful when in water, I hear there are nasty Argonians down there.

Trust me; he hasn't changed a bit


But I'll see what I can do. Lothran is no fan of the camera

Speaking of Necromancers (see our last report), Lothran had to do some necroing himself today!

Stantus Varrid seemed to have vanished from the Imperial City as neither Lothran nor I could remember when last seeing him. So, after a small B&E we discovered that yes; he was not in his bed at midnight as he's supposed to be. So we resurrected him using Forbidden Magic™ and then we coronated him, i.e made him essential.

He is supposed to go to Bruma at a certain date but we checked the calender and it was not that date, so this had to be done.


Please refrain from reporting Lothran to the Council of Mages, or indeed to the Watch for the B&E

Good thinking! As long as Lothie's game has been running, he has doubtless had to crown countless NPCs - else his game would be pretty lonely by now!

Yes indeed. One thing Lothran always does at this time of year is checking up on people in the Imperial City to see if they're still there. What he hasn't done is written down who he has coronated and therefore made it harder for me to keep track but hey, who am I to point the finger at the mighty Warlock?


As of now he sits comfortably in the captain's seat onboard the Marie Elena. It's a galleon, I think.

Been slowly getting back into Oblivion as my other game options dry up. Both Elise and Gavin are at the same spot in the main quest but both have different goals atm.

Elise is looking to bump up her spell skills a bit for more powerful yet efficient spellcasting, so finding trainers is her priority. Unfortunately, she'll have to master Restoration alone since Oleta already has a pupil. That'll probably be the last school she'll master. So she's set to tour Cyrodiil a bit before going to the Imperial City.

Gavin on the other hand is, uh, still struggling. That said, he did try to go against two Ancient Vampires with abilities that complemented the other's, but being chased back to Bruma wasn't fun, especially since the Imperial foresters sniped the tanky vampire with a few shots. This was with silver weapons while the guards had steel. Hmmm, so either he needs to get some training himself or double down on finding materials for better weapons and armor. Mostly armor. None of the vendors seem to stock anything better than steel atm. He's headed straight to the IC to buy a house and then see where to go from there.

Exiting from The Merchant's Inn, Lothran found himself in a thick fog engulfing the City. It's dark and almost no one is outside except for the patrolling guards keeping the streets safe. Lothran lights his torch, and begins walking through the night.

While The Merchant's Inn had a couple of guests left, The King and Queen Tavern only had Hundolin, the City's arena gatekeeper, drinking away after a long day's work. No other guests left at this hour and so Lothran continues his walk through the City; through the dark and empty streets. The spark from his torch and fotsteps are the only things that can be heard.

Entering Talos Plaza, Lothran found The Tiber Septim Hotel completely empty save from its hostess, and The All-Saints Inn in the Temple District had only Ida Ottus as its guest. Seems like it sure is way past regular drinking hours at all the taverns, and after a brief conversation with the elusive Jakben, Earl of Imbel, Lothran makes his way out the City gates and towards the Waterfront. His torch barely shining through the thick fog.

After a short stay at his small shack where he offloaded a few trinkets to take to Bruma, the Marie Elena once again had the white-haired Dunmer onboard. Walking through the innards of the ship, Lothran thought to himself that this is indeed right where he should be at this point in time. Not Chorrol with its bright, green trees. Not Skingrad with its vineyards and open areas or Anvil right by the open sea and the endless horizon. No, the Dunmer was right where he should be, alone on this ship, alone with his thoughts.

And soon, quite soon, he will head towards the mountains and Bruma. Then he will once again lay eyes on the beautiful snowy town and light the fire in his cabin. He will once again be home.

Where's that pic, Crowman?

Cripes, he managed to bump into Jakben? ... It also sounds like your Imperial City is even more deserted than what I see on Xbox!

Anyway, beautiful write-up. I can just picture the guy walking around through foggy, lonely streets. I need to write stuff up too, but most of the stuff I do nowadays is mod-added (quest-wise) and Joan of Arkay, my main vanilla character, looks as if she's ready to retire. She's found her home, Battlehorn Castle that is, she's decorated most of it, and last time I was with her, she was only interested in being in the Battlehorn / Chorrol area. Going to church on Sundas, and thereabouts.

I didn't even know that Jakben can be encountered outside of his manor!

Renee, maybe Joan and Dyan can now visit chapel at Sundas together.

Coincidentally I just did some research on Jakben at UESP. He does leave his home, but the window of opportunity to catch him out (at night of course) is pretty rare.


I wonder if they even know each other? Probably not. Dyan at that point would probably already be living up in Bruma, and once she moved up there she never really leaves much (in my imagination).

-Eh-hrrm....

*ignores question*


Thanks! It was a very atmospheric session and I'm glad my writing showcased that

Lothran often encounters Jakben when in the City, but only because he knows right where and when to find him. And the streets were only empty because of the hour. Otherwise there's lots of people out and about

Lothran has now left the Imperial City and is currently in Aleswell, as tradition dictates. He left in the early morning and only encountered a Billy at Fort Empire, nothing else worthy of mentioning.

He was glad to see all the sheep are still alive and well in their pen. Lothran locked them up in there years ago to secure their existence, how else would the good people of Cyrodiil get their yarns?


Pics in the pic thread!

Cripes, FINALLY!

Yeah, but now my camera broke down again...


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

Farewell to Aleswell


Lothran left the inn and the Dunmer siblings right after breakfast. He felt the mountains call for him and he's not one to say nay. The sky forewarned about what's coming; heavy clouds and chilly winds spoke of a winter worthy of its name. Better make haste and get a fire going in the cabin.

A lone legionnaire on horse helped disperse of a marauder at Sercen, and while the soldier afterwards went onwards to Roxey Inn, Lothran opted for the road northbound. No turning back now.

After a while he met a formidable foe; a Minotaur Lord. But slow and bulky loses the race while quick and nimble wins and the so-called Lord soon greeted the paved road. A Forester gave Lothran a friendly hello and further up the road, beyond the crossroads Chorrol/Bruma, a female Khajiit bandit patiently listened to what Lothran had to say and when they parted she was both richer in gold and disposition. Yes, Lothran never attacks before giving someone a chance to prove their worth.

Finally, Bruma was in sight. The sign ahead pointed left towards town while the road to the right had no destination marked. Not that Lothran didn't know what was there though and I dare say, he will venture there many a time before winter ends.

Weather was cold, wind was biting, but the people of Bruma was out and about gossiping as they had always done. The trusty guards were making their rounds, lifting their heads and giving away a friendly smile upon seeing the Dunmer. They knew they had just gotten reinforced and even though only from time to time, help is always appreciated.

Lothran brushed the snow off the stairs to his house, his finger reaching for the key. With a click the door was unlocked and he made his way inside. The cabin was cold and dark, proving no one had been there for quite some time. Closing the door behind him, Lothran made his way to the kitchen to start a fire. Winter season was upon him, and he was home again.

Aww, what a wonderful little segment of Lothie's journey to his winter home.

Wonderfully written, mirocu.

Thanks, guys!

I always make small mistakes though, hence the edit. Lack of experience in writing.

Oh, someone's been in there, alright! His name was inspired by a hot breakfast cereal, if ya need a hint. He was in there. Didn't find much of interest. Much more fun stealing silverware from the castle.

Good that breakfast cereal didn't take anything. It costs to steal from a fellow member, you know

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

First evening at Olav's! Lots of people as usual with reinforcement from Salomon Geonette who got to Bruma before Lothran. So did Stantus Varrid, btw, but he prefers Jerall View.

What happened at Olav's tonight, then? Well, Ongar managed to get shot down no less than three times and even Karinnarre who never gets into trouble got hacked down by a guard. Not to mention, other patrons managed to get shot too by the guards who apparently have taken shooting lessons from Stormtroopers.


So to answer the question as to what happened; nothing much. Business as usual

First raid in Plundered Mine for the season!


Lothran went in with bells and whistles as usual, standing back while letting his Spriggan and bear do most of the work. Whatever was left fell to spells and Snowflake. Snowflake might not be powerful in a single blow, but it can be swung very fast and combined with a Paralyze/Weakness to Frost spell, it's devastating.

Down in the groundworks Lothran once again found, or rather accidentally made, two goblins fight each other. I reckon friendly fire on their part. Either way it was more fun than going to the arena, and much more cheap!

Once on the outside, Lothran checked up on the Forester guarding the area where Honmund picks his mushrooms. And yes, he was indeed still guarding the same area and had not wandered off. Honmund's mount was there but no sign of Honmund himself so I reckon he'd forgotten about it and just went home on foot as he sometimes does.