Her Ladyship is keeping busy!

Rainy day in Leyawiin today, so Lothran opted to clear out Telepe and get some Black Bows for his collection. Now he's resting in the room of the third floor of the Fighters Guild and tomorrow he will leave Leyawiin county and head for Cheydinhal county instead.

Yes, it is Oblivion season, yes?

Yes indeed! Lothran is now back in full swing so you can expect more or less daily updates from the Dunmer


Like now: Lothran left Leyawiin in a downpour and has just reached the Drunken Dragon Inn to dry up a bit. On the way he sniped a boar and a rat since they can pose a threat to innocent travelers. Nothing else of note happened.

Typical Leyawiin. Rain. Always. No wonder the dragon got on the drink.

Indeed


Yesterday Lothran once again met a friendly bandit; a Redguard. Having seen his buddy being killed just before I guess he opted to talk to Lothran instead, listening to the Dunmer's jokes and whatnot rather than fighting him. However, Lothran killed the bandit anyway upon ending the conversation. Can't risk having a wildcard around and furthermore; it's yet another danger to innocent travellers.

Today, or early morning as it is, the rain is still pouring down and Lothran is now resting in Cropsford. Cheydinhal is still the goal for this journey.

Yesterday Lena and Geralt went exploring the mountains near Riverwood, just over the border in Skyrim. This was a small "off the books" trip - not a part of the main story, done in a parallel time line. Here is a map:


We wanted to find a way (or several ways) through the mountains to connect Riverwood with The Rift. We tried before from the side of The Rift, and were constantly hitting unscalable mountains, but I cannot believe there is no way... Stubborn, you know. Found a mod that allows you to place your own markers, so off they went sticking flags into the ground...

They did get from Riverwood to the other side eventually, come out where there's "The" in The Rift on the map, after wandering all day. Made it to the Greenwall inn by 2am. Ran into a lot of werewolves... A pack of at least a dozen of them! Really. Geralt collected full 40 portions of werewolf meat - they come with 4 portions each - and there were still some bodies they just left there. Here's when you need a witcher with you! Ran into some unfriendly giants as well, and herds and herds of mammoths, but you can tiptoe around those. One mammoth even helped them fight the werewolves.

Today they'll try to find a way back from Greenwall to the Eastern side of the mountains. I don't think there is a proper way, actually, but it seems I won't have to dig a pass completely underground either. Exploration continues.

mirocu-- Pretty soon he'll be headed off to Bruma. How many years has Lothran gone to Bruma? Um... if you started gaming in 2006 then that's a lot of years.

Lena-- The map is not showing on my end but it's okay. You've been hard at work on this project. It's just so wonderful, your dedication.

Me-- I was gaming a bit with Lady Saga before this week. She's in Valenwood now. Last saw, I tried to add a cabin with a simple merchant along a road she was walking, but I got a couple things wrong in the CS, and had to move on.

Lena - I just noticed there's an inn at Pale Pass! If Lothran knew he'd go bonkers!


I started in February 2007 but I think that tradition started in 2008. I remember winter of 2009 was quite special as I tried out a mod then to make Bruma more wintery. It changed too much though so I got shot of it.

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Lothran is now in Cheydinhal and has conducted business in town. Today he will head out eastward to clear the area of riffraff.

Mirocu - the Pale Pass Inn comes from this mod. They call it a home, I say it's an inn! Due North of the Dragonclaw Rock.

I agree, that looks definitely more like an inn than a home.

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Area north of Cheydinhal clear of riffraff. Lothran found three wolves, one imp, one bandit and one goblin. Not a single ogre though which is strange as there's usually at least one present. Now Lothran is again relaxing at the Newlands Lodge as the rain keeps pouring down outside.

"It has rained constantly ever since I left Leyawiin"


Lothran was a bit tired of the weather at this point but he pressed on. The stay in Cheydinhal was short but it was time to head to the Imperial City and settle down for a bit. Preparations for the winter journey need to be done and he couldn't miss out on a bet or two at the Arena, or talking to the good people before he left for Bruma.

Right now he's resting at Roxey Inn, soaking wet as he has been the last few days. The dark night was even darker what with the rain and there was still no end in sight.


Outside, the Imperial Legionnaire and his steed slowly made their way eastward. Come rain or shine, their duty called for them, and they must answer. Lothran knew of this all too well.

As Lothran gets to Bruma, I'll switch summer for winter tires on my car(s), because then I know that the winter season 2021/2022 has officially started.

Lopov is exactly right. Lothie heading to Bruma is a sure sign of winter comin'.

Lena, just so you know what we're talking about, mirocu's character Lothran goes to Bruma every year when it gets close to be winter here on Earth.

Since the tradition started in 2008, and mirocu has only rolled one character during all this time (despite my efforts) that means Lothran has been to and from Bruma for the last 13 years. Which is really incredible.

Glad to know you can use his traditions as guidance to road safety


It is a bit remarkable even to me. But this is truly a tradition I love and I always look forward to following Lothran up to the snowy winterhold by the end of November. Bruma is where Lothran has his real home as this is the only place he's bought because he loved the town and the mountains. The other two houses are just for storage and the occasional overnight stay.

But I promise you this, Renee. I'll roll another t00n in Oblivion whenever Acadian does!

Maybe
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Yes, indeed; winter is coming up! Lothran is now in the Imperial City and has already begun to have fun with the sewer bandits that lurks beneath the Market District. It's one of his favourite pastimes while waiting for stores to open; lots of things to buy but also sell. And then I reckon it's time to visit the Arena again.

Day: 1900
Location: Temple District, The Imperial City
Time: Early morning
Weather: Rain


It just keeps coming down. But on the plusside; the owner of Slash and Smash seems to be back in town. Wonder where he was off to? Lothran will ask him when he goes to see him when all the stores open up. Then he will make another bet at the Arena. Last time was a bust so he needs to make his money back.

As usual though, no new spells or enchantments before heading north. Lothran has no need for any alterations in either department and so what's not broken needs no fixing. The elf has visited the university though, and the Marie Elena, as is customary. It's a galleon I think

Three words: Elder Scrolls Six. Oh yea, I can already here the click of mirocu's cursor on the NEW button. Bring it on baby.

Shouldn't we be able to import our existing characters into it? I think Lothran might fancy it.

I wonder if ES6 will Steam-roll the crow like ES5 did?

mirocu doesn't do Steam-related games. So no Skyrim, no Fallout New Vegas. And probably no Elder Scrolls VI.

Honestly I must say I admire you Crow for sticking to your credo there. I also dislike having to go through Steam, even though I have the Anthology set, which means I've got the game on disc. But I'm too addicted to Elder Scrolls to not play these latter games.

And yah, I know I'm off-topic. It's November, which means I'm switching from Lady Saga to Joan of Arkay (Oblivion). Last I saw Joanie she was in Battlehorn Castle. There, back on topic.

Lothran won at the Arena today! Doesn't mean he's in the black though, really. It just means he won back the 100 gold he bet plus the 100 gold he lost last time. Oh, well.

He also sold off some weapons and armor collected from the Market District sewer bandits as well as visiting the many residents who live in the Imperial City.

Lothran has now arrived in Aleswell where he will spend a week before heading up to Bruma. During this week he will mess with the dangers of Fingerbowl Cave and visit Ancotar at his ruin. Fortunately, no sibling was trapped inside the staircase at the inn this time, as was the case last year when Lothran had to pull a special trick in order to get the sibling out

And the inevitable trek to Bruma is well underway. I'm sure the Bruma guards look forward to Lothran's return.

Personally, I think that Lothran should have left that sibling under the stairs. More peace that way.

Quite possible. Anything to ease the workload!


Nah, he likes being able to talk to people. Plus, that constant foot tapping trying to get out is annoying

After a good night's sleep, Lothran set out in the morning, leaving Aleswell, and took the Red Ring Road to where it intersects with the Silver Road right by the Ayleid ruin Sercen. As usual his Spriggan dispatched a couple of marauders who kindly enough left some valuable stuff for Lothran to pick up and later sell.
Further up the road was a single bandit and past the second to last sign pointing towards Bruma, Lothran bagged no less than two ogres. The very first ones for this winter season.

Entering the East gate, Lothran immediately turned right and walked up to his house. When the door closed softly behind him and the smell of stale air greeted him, he was overwhelmed with the feeling of really being where he's supposed to be.


Lothran was home.

Ahh, Lothran is finally home and winter has arrived. Hope he got that fire going.

Look out goblins. Look out ogres of Pale Pass. Your convoluted days within safe walls are done.

Yup! It once again spreads its warmth throughout Lothran's winter abode


It's open season!

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Besides lighting the fireplace, Lothran has spent some time putting everything he brought with him into its rightful container. We can conclude that no less than fifteen vampires has been slain this year, not too shabby. No Shadowbanish Wine collected though

And of course Snowflake has been retrieved from its drawer and will once again serve as Lothran's sidearm of choice.

As a novice at the time, Buffy was proud of that dagger when she made it. Only later did she fully realize how humble a weapon it is. At least it packs a lot of charges! It has always warmed her heart that Lothran still carries it.

And why wouldn't he?

Any weapon can be great when used correctly. With Snowflake, Lothran always utilizes a spell to prep the enemy, making them 100% weak to both Frost and Magic as a whole while also paralyzing them for 3 secs. That makes Snowflake quite good despite the low charge per hit. And as it's a dagger it's very quick to attack with, meaning the enemy takes many hits during those 3 secs which is often enough to bring down a bandit and seriously weaken an ogre or a goblin.


All in all, it's a nice weapon to supplement Lothran's magic abilities with and a strong reminder of a good friend

Wow, I didn't know Snowflake was made by Buffy! Very nice.

It sure is


Lothran has just spent his first evening at Olav's Tap and Tack for the season. As usual, Ongar stole food and got cut down by a guard who right after was shocked about it and gently asked Ongar if he was ok
No sign of Salomon Geonette the composer though. Lothran usually sees him at Olav's when first arriving in Bruma for the season.

Not much more than this happened today other than some visits and generally strolling around town.

It's so nice to be back

Go into the Construction Set and give poor Ongar some food in his inventory. From what I understand, this should help keeping the guy from breaking the lawwww and getting "cut down". :

Might as well give some to City Swimmer and that stable hand who works outside of Skingrad, too.

Nah, Ongar will have to fend for himself


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Lothran has now done his first excursion to the bandit camp on the road east. He also met Honmund on the way and took the opportunity to count the number of Clouded Funnel Caps he had on his person. This will then be checked again when the season is over next March.

Current number: 469

And this is why elves live so long! I bet he ate three times as many.

'shrooms for everyone!

Honmund is not an elf but a Nord. Living with Alga, as it happens

Oh I misunderstood! I thought it was Lothran who as carrying all those mushrooms!

Oh, no. Honmund picks them. And Lothran keeps tab on it for funzies

Lothran has now cleared the road to Azura's shrine as well as Silver Tooth Mine. Having spent a night at the shrine, next session will see the Dunmer back in Bruma for a night at Olav's Tap and Tack.

I love how Lothran's winter routine is steeped in tradition.

It sure is at this point. We're currently planning for the annual Christmas ogre hunt in Pale Pass which is what we both always look forward to


As of now, a nice evening at the Tap and Tack has turned into morning and next trip will be westward towards Rielle.

Oh gosh. The ogre hunt of Pale Pass. Here it comes. Hope those ogres know what they're in for. They must not, since every year they keep coming back.

Second Seed 25, 4th Era Year 22 -- Renee Gade III is in Varsa Baalim, which is deep under the mountain of Sundercliff Watch. All of this is Mehrunes Razor stuff. We are exploring this interesting DLC one and a half decades after it was released.

Lothran enjoys the solitude of Pale Pass and it's the only reason he hunts them, honest

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Interesting that you're doing Razor, Renee. Will you update it here or in the spoilers thread?

I've fallen out of the habit of writing detailed stories for her, unfortunately. But if I do continue small updates I guess I'll only posts in the Spoilers thread if there are actual spoilers. Razor has some sort of unique reward(s), for instance. I won't say what they are here.

Please post a picture or two of Lothran, okay?

After leaving Bruma yesterday morning, Lothran made his way towards the mountains. Eventually he reached the statue and further up the entrance to the old cave known as the Serpent's Trail. The heavy door closed behind him and from this point there was no turning back.

The Trail's occupants were all greeted by the Dunmer's Spriggan friend and her bear and they both quickly dispersed the foes inside, even including a few other Spriggans who didn't seem to like their summoned kin. None of them knew there was someone else in the cave. Someone who from time to time prefers to sit back and enjoy watching the fight rather than fight himself. While hiding in the shadows the treasure chests were picked clean one by one until finally the end of the Trail was reached.

Opening the second door, Lothran was once again standing face to face with the legendary Pale Pass. With the snow falling from the sky and the afternoon darkness slowly descending upon the valley, Lothran readied his bow and began his way down the windy path towards the ancient fort.



Pics in pic thread as per request!

First sweep of the area is complete. A few more ogres were found but as usual most of them were killed on the way to the fort since many of them occupy the road.

It's early afternoon the day after coming to Pale Pass and in the next session Lothran will head out again and see if he can find the treasure chests

Is it that key-in-chest puzzle? Most infuriating, that one.

I reckon it's no spoiler at this point so yes, that's the one. Lothran got it years ago and it's of no use to him, but it is a nice piece of memorabilia

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Update:

Another day in Pale Pass, and quite a peaceful one as the ogres are now taken care of. An oddity from last year replayed itself yesterday where an ogre that after being hit with an arrow, suddenly ignored Lothran and did not attack. Lothran could just stand there and look as the ogre went by him, it didn't even respond to any attempts to initiate a conversation.
It did snap out of its weird state eventually though and began to attack as normal. No ogres today though, merely a serene walk through the valley inspecting the ice patches.