More necessity than choice. Neven doesn't have Lothran's coinpouch, couldn't afford to give up 100 septims.

It's much cheaper to give him cold steel instead.

Bruma

"I´ve been waiting for this moment"

The Nordic Dunmer is finally home again! First things first; sort out all the stuff he brought with him. Everything he´s collected all over Cyrodiil this year has to be put into the right drawers. Next, visit his old friend Fjotreid at Hammer and Axe to say hello and increase his stock with a few weapons taken off bandits along the way, for a song of course

Not much else done this day. Lothran is now resting in his house, waiting for night to fall and then it´s off to the Tap and Tack for this winter´s first, but certainly not last, festivities!

There´s simply no place like Bruma!

Aww, welcome home to Lothran!

Neven has now reached Frostcrag Spire, a fairly dull trip. The only events of note were the conjurer added by spell tomes, who dropped a chilling touch tome, and a fight with a bandit hedge wizard which twice came within an inch of killing Neven.

I might well have gotten carried away with this update, and gone over the top. But I honestly don't think I could make any substantial change to it. So, here it is:


It was growing dark as Neven reached Frostcrag Spire. He was tired, his muscles pushed to the limits of their endurance, his bones aching from the last fight, a Breton mage whose lightning bolts had virtually killed him, but he trudged on. In the fading light the tower was beautiful, as was the view of Cyrodiil from this high up in the mountains. It's not until he reaches the door that he thinks anything is amiss. He reaches for the handle, and the door glows as he touches it, a faint metallic click just barely audible from inside the door, which swings open, revealing the antechamber, sealed. Neven's blood turns to ice, in all his life he's only known the antechamber sealed a handful of times, when he and his father were away from the tower. “But why would father leave without telling me?” He asked himself silently, but then he saw it. The hand of a frost atronach, hid father's familiar bound by the Atronach Altar, reaching up from the floor in the centre of the room, a book in it's hand and a rolled up piece of parchment, a sealed letter, atop it. Neven reached for it with shaking hands, a terrible sense of dread suffusing him as he picked it up, broke the seal, and began to read...

*The letter is written in a spidery hand, a hand that was shaking as he wrote*

Neven My dear child

As I write this, it is two and a half weeks after you left, and I know that we will not meet again in this life. I am an old man, and my age has caught up to me, I've been using potions to hide it from you. But there are some things that no magic, no potions can cure, and can only hide for so long. Please, my son, forgive me for sending you away as I did, but there is nothing more painful than watching someone you love die, and I would not willingly put you through that, young as you are. I know, you're no child, but for all your years, by the measure of your race, you are still young, too young to have to go through this. But do not mourn too much for me my son, I have lived a good life, and a long one. And while I sired no child of my blood, I raised one who I could have loved no more if he were. Though not of my blood, you are, in every way that matters, my son, and a truer son no man could wish for.

I must speak to you now as a mentor, not a father, and for that I am sorry. But as I can no longer guide you down the paths arcane, I must advise you where to go from here. I can only hope that the pain at being decieved does not turn you from magic entirely. You must join the Mages Guild, they will teach you now. But allow your old mentor one last lecture, one you know well. Do not place limits on yourself. I know you chose not to delve into the higher magics; mysticism, conjuration, and the advanced aspects of illusion, but you did so blindly. I do not ask that you follow them, I only ask that you learn of them, and then decide anew.

*Here the letter is spotted with tears, blurring the letters a little*

My son, when I took you in that night, from the arms of you mother, I could never have believed how much you would come to mean to me. Know that I am proud of you, and that I love you my son, always. I regret that I cannot tell you these things in person, but I mean them no less for having written them. This tower, once my home, then ours, is now yours. Everything else is detailed in my last entry in my journal.

*This last is written in a hand overwrought with emotion, shaking as it was written, and marred by even more tears*

Goodbye, my son.

Neven's knees grew weak, as the weight of his sorrow fell upon him, and they buckled beneath him, dropping him to his knees in a clatter of plate, the letter still clutched in his hand. Tears ran freely down his face as he wept for his father, dripping off his chin and pattering off his armour. The solid steel that had protected him from so much pain powerless to prevent such a fearsome wound, that struck so deep.


I have got to learn to write shorter updates, longer ones don't really seem to fit with this thread, same thing over at Bethsoft.

A tragic turn of events upon Neven’s return to Frostcrag. A creative and clever beginning of his game that really works with some of the things the game (with a little help) can do.

Unfortunately, to capture nuance and emotion like you did here takes lots of words that intimidate those looking for a quick ‘just the facts’ update. The update version would be: ‘Neven returned to discover his mentor dead and to find himself the new master of Frostcrag Spire.’ What you provided is the fanfic version. If you really want to get deeply into Neven’s tale, then considering his own fanfic thread (although tons of work, joy and heartache) might be a consideration.

Very nicely written, Callidus. Neven really didn´t get the best welcome possible when arriving to the Tower
It is good work indeed, though I agree with Acadian. Much like we use the Everything thread and Coffee thread for different purposes, so do we also have a fanfic section and an update thread for different purposes.

I do hope you´re not discouraged from writing here as well though. You´re a good writer, make no mistake. Maybe just keep it a little more to the point here

And you have to come back here and write updates. I´d like to hear more about Neven and besides, we´re few enough as it is!

Callidus, I hope you’ll keep writing your character updates in a way that pleases you, no matter how many words it takes. I’ve started using the thread in the Hints forum rather than this one. More detailed updates are very welcome there.

Thanks guys. I thought about starting a thread for Neven, but considering the rate I go through characters I really don't think it would be worth it. I'll just have to save the long ones for the hints section, as Grits suggests.


Sal is still trying to make his way to Cheydinhal, and still getting distracted. After raiding Fungerbowl cave he'd made his way back to the capital, and that same afternoon took a short cut across the lake rather than run 'round the Red Ring Road again. He got as far as Fort Urasek, and spotted a goblin outside. After taking it down with a few flares, he decided to go hunting, clearing the ruined fort of goblins. Didn't really gain anything from it, but what can you do?

CT, I hope I didn’t come across as trying to ‘oversell’ the brief updates. Grits is right that there is certainly room for all types of updates here. You bring up a very valid point that frequently changing characters probably does lend itself better to updates than a devoted fanfic thread. And practicing writing in any venue is always a good thing.

Nice so see that Sal(amender) is still hunting – for goblins most recently it seems.


Buffy just cleared a mod-added mine with a respawning tribe of goblins. At her level (19 forever), those goblins can each fill a grand soul gem with the magicka they give off upon death - and that is what Buffy was after: Filled grand gems to supply the Chironasium. It went well. She entered the mine with a full quiver of 20 arrows, fired 13, recovered 12 and emerged with the magic of all 13 gobbies safely captured. Not all her dungeon crawls are so elegant, but this one was pretty good for her. (Our arrow recovery rate is tweaked from the default 50% to 95%.)

You didn't, but like Mirocu said, sort of, different threads for different purposes.

Heh, a fanfic thread started by me would have more resemblance to a graveyard than anything else.



I had the vague idea that he was a hunter before he was made a slave, he seems to have confirmed it. At this point he's hunting everything.

It is dawn, the marbled towers and walls of the ancient Imperial City glisten wetly in the first rays of the rising sun. The early morning clouds, their cargo of rain spent upon the city and the surrounding landscape have drifted apart, lacy shreds dragging this way and that; torn sails of vapour upon a sea of winds.

To the west of the city night's shadows still hold sway, finding a final redoubt against the inevitability of the dawn amongst the rocks and crevices of the city's foundation stones, the clefts and crannies of it's gates and walls.

She's ridden across the causeway bridge from Weye, the looming walls growing closer with every step of her horse's hooves, clopping against the cold stones. Far beneath her the waters of Lake Rumare plash and spatter against the massive supporting columns.
From the causeway she rides up the slope to the gates, past the Chestnut Handy stables; sleepy stablehands, waking from dreams of pastures and free-running horses, turn curious glances towards her as she halts by their gate, dismounting.
Somehow she seems familiar to them, as if someone that they once knew - if only by sight and in passing - has reappeared once again.
The same, but different.

Wordlessly, she hands the reigns to one of the boys along with a small pouch of septims, enough for an extended stay; she has business in the city now, maybe two or three days.
Turning from them, a last glance to her horse, the strange armour she wears hissing and whirring quietly in the still-quiet morning air, she makes her way to the massive wooden gates of the city.

"...Niamh...?"
She stops.
From her left, a cracked female voice full of hardship and pain: again; "Niamh?"
She turns her head to face the other.

This night I mourn the loss of an old friend. Sal the Argonian met his end in Barren Cave, at the hands of a Vampire Patriach.

Having cleared Fort Urasek of goblins, Sal made his way towards Cheydinhal. But the hour was late, the weather foul, and the constant downpour and the ever deepening night forced him to seek shelter. All that he found was a cave. Even before he entered, he could smell death. Not the sickly, nauseating smell of rotting bodies, but the stale, musty reek of ancient death, of bodies turned to dust with age.

His bow in hand, the shadows draped heavily around him, as if he were swathed in dark velvet, he crept deeper into the cave, until his detect life spell showed him signs of life. All Sal could smell was death, but these did not move like walking corpses. He watched, and waited, until they were a distance apart, facing away from each other. Then, with a single arrow apiece, slew them in quick succession. The sense of unease that had been nagging him since he entered began to fade, as he began to believe he could handle whatever these things were. His blood ran cold when he examined the bodies. Dry skin stretched taut across gaunt features. Fangs protruding over thin lips. And bodies that in part turned to dust when slain. Vampires.

But the darkness and weather outside forced him to press on, and after all, had he not prevailed? Had he not slain two, mere yards apart, before either was aware of his presence. He pressed on, slaying another, a heavily armoured Orc, whose thick armour meant it took three arrows to return him to death. Even that didn't concern him overmuch. But what shattered his confidence was his encounter with a more powerful breed of vampire. Older than the others, it was more powerful, and after shrugging off his first arrow, summoned a scamp. Sal dodged balls of frost from the vampire, and bursts of flame from the scamp, until the vampire ran out of magic. In a berserk rage it charged Sal, and threw punches that an Orc would be hard pressed to match. The Matriach, as he could tell closer up, nearly beat Sal to death before death claimed it, and Sal knew fear. He grew frantic, alone in the dark, scared to light a torch, unable to find his way.

He came across another, and driven by frenzy and the belief that he was nearing a way out, he fired an arrow from the shadows. The vampire staggered at the blow, which rung with the sound of steel being punctured, before drawing a claymore and advancing. Sal was caught by surprise when it began hurling fireballs, narrowly dodging the first but catching a second in the right side of his chest. He cried aloud at the searing pain as his blue robes burned, and with each movement could feel charred and burnt scales flaking away. He could not see properly to flee in the dark tunnels, could not focus through the pain to call forth his flares, and could not fire arrows with enough force to punch cleanly through the steel plate worn by the vampire. His detect life spell wore off, and he could not see his foe anymore. Sal had one brief, crystal clear instant of pure terror, before he felt the vampire's clamore tear through his chest. He fell to the ground, propelled by the blade which tore free at his fall, and marvelled at the lack of pain.

His awareness shrunk, his surroundings too dark too see his vision fade, he simply felt less and less, until he felt no more.

Goodbye, old friend.

Phon - Good to at least see Niamh's armor.

CT - Aww, so sorry to hear about the loss of Sal. Vampires Suck.

Poor Sal

That's now to significant characters I've lost to vampires, Sal and Marcos, an old character of mine. A colossally arrogant Altmer Sorcerer, who was great fun to play and write about. I'm thinking about starting a vampire hunter, getting some revenge.


Neven awoke, cold and stiff, on the floor of Frostcrag Spire, where he'd collapsed the previous night. He couldn't bring himself to step any further into the Spire, and left, making his way to Bruma. There he joined the Mages Guild, and that night all the guildmembers in Bruma joined Neven in saying goodbye to his father. They laughed, they cried, they told stories about him, and many a tankard of ale and goblet of wine was raised to the memory of Serverus Victrix.

As I said at the other place, sorry to hear about your friend, Callidus Maybe Neven, after mourning his father, can become the vampire hunter you search for?

-----------

As for Lothran, he´s taken a day out in the mountains to gather alchemical supplies for a potion that creates light. It will come in handy when fighting battles in caves and mines later on as he can free his Magicka for use on other things than enabling himself to see on the gloom.


He also provided the inns with venison and wine bottles from the Skingrad vineyards

I don't think Neven has the temperament or the motivation to hunt vampires, not in any dedicated way.

Then again, who knows? I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Samara sought refuge in the rain as she walked around the Imperial City. She pushed open the doors of Vilverin, and after dealing with the bandits inside who attacked her, she's reached the third level.

She´s in for a treat!

She found some sort of statue. Not impressed with it, she's decided to see how much is can sell for.

Lothran spent the late afternoon goblin hunting in Plundered Mine. He had been told their numbers had increased and he was asked to help out with the problem.

He found some gold in chests but little else made it back home. Though he must admit, it was fun getting back in the game again

Neven Victrix is dead, and it's entirely my fault. He got ganked by a marauder battlemage, and I couldn't figure out why his spells, and those of the bandit hedge wizard fought previously, had hit so had.

As it turns out, Neven wasn't born under the Mage, he was born under the Apprentice. Because I screwed up before leaving the tutorial. Here's the thing:

I never pick alteration as a major, it just levels too quickly, and so it's alway one of the majors sacrificed to cap my character's level. But, for those characters who should start skilled in alteration, I exploit the tutorial so that they leave with an alteration skill of 25. But to do this quicker I changed Neven's birthsign to the Apprentice, and forgot to switch it back.

Oops.

What are you doing, Callidus!? Another character dead??

Are you trying to get away from Oblivion or what?

Like I said, I screwed up. This site needs a facepalm emoticon.

Had I known he was Apprentice I would've been more careful.

RIP Neven. We barely got to know you.

Wow, CT, you're hard on characters!

Buffy's never touched a lockpick so she opens almost everything by spell. Since you can't cast ranged spells underwater and can't make touch unlock spells, she makes me use Acadian Magic to open underwater locks for her. She also uses shield and water walking spells alot on her critters. So, since she uses alteration alot, it is a minor skill so we could control her slow leveling up to her cap of 19.

When experimenting with Acadian to learn the game in 2007-2008, I did occasionally take alteration as a major for a 'never touch' spell to control leveling. That works fine if you use lockpicks instead of spells to open stuff. The beauty of starting it as a major (25) is that you never have to level it further to gain access to all the nice utility effects (waterwalk/breathe, elemental & regular shields) at the enchanting altar. That character never ever cast a single alteration spell, but carried an assortment of rings and things enchanted with those effects. It was a nice way of getting some advantage out of a 'never touch' skill in that case.

Speechcraft is always at the top of my 'never touch' list of majors. Finding other 'never touch' skills to choose from for Buffy was easy. All three melee skills (we don't add to Buffy's strength), security, heavy armor. . . .

Well I did say I get through them at a fair rate.

Playing Dead is Dead characters without a Dead is Dead playstyle is a really bad idea.



*Obligatory grumble about the console*



Ugh, speechcraft. I hate that minigame. So how do you get around skill books? Do you just not pick up books that would be read automatically?

Yea, CT is the king of DiD. Didn't Sal the Argonian also die recently?

We need to get Senior Cinco's thread running here at Chorrol.

Skill books can be problematic. We know that all skill books have a value of at least 25, whereas almost all non-skill books are way less than that. So when we encounter an unfamiliar book with such a value, we save the game first - and reload if disappointed upon opening the book. At this point in our saga game however, we pretty much know all the skill books and where they are though. Again, the main cue on skil books though is their value of 25 or more.

Heh, I think it'd be more accurate to say I'm the jester in the court of DiD

I don't think we could do a DiD thread over here, it would just be a graveyard for my characters. After all, I do come up with new ones in less time than it takes for me to get them killed



I'll have to remember that. It bugs me when I pick up a point in one of my "never touch" skills.

Yikes, sympathies on the end of Neven. And Sal.

Samara has discovered that Welkynd and Varla stones are a wonderful source of income. She's been in four Ayleid ruins and ran into a weird armoured woman bybthe name of Umbra. She shot her, thinking she was a bandit, and got chased for ten minutes. She pawned the armor and got a rude awakening when she took a long sleep.

Liz, yup, those varla and welkynd stones bring in some good cash. Too bad they don't respawn, so their numbers are finite.

I can imagine running into Umbra when you weren't expecting it or not familiar with her was quite an exciting time!

I thought she was further out, up by Bruma, not the Imperial City. And Samara doesn't use a blade, so the sword is useless to her

Lothran spent a nice day in the Jeralls today. He´d been assigned by Selena to bring back some Wormwood leaves and Motherwort sprig. Apparently the mountain version of the Motherwort differs from the rest of Cyrodiil and she wanted to study it.

And as evening fell it was back at Olav´s again!

I can see why Selena would ask Lothie to go get those ingredients. J'skar is too hard to find and Volanaro is so loathe to venture outdoors in the winter. Were there any ogre teeth in Lothran's loot to attest to how Targetfinder (the new mace) is doing? I take it winter travelers don't have to give Plundered Mine such a wide berth with Lothran on the job keeping its resident Three Feather goblin tribe under control?

Buffy's in Skingrad briefly to enjoy the fall harvest, including the season's fresh apple cider and some of Uuras' autumn sheep cheese. And she'll no doubt enjoy a quiet dinner while there with her dear friend Sinderion, punctuated by Tamika's newest vintage. Oh, and of course she'll stock up at Salmo's before continuing on to Kvatch.

Yes, J´skar and Volanaro ain´t the first ones to volunteer when it comes to actual field work


A couple, but Selena didn´t want those, she had plenty in stock. Targetfinder is a good weapon but more of an experiment. The reason for its name is because it lightens up its target on strike, making it easier to find in the dark

I´m sad to learn Buffy is so far away from Bruma but also glad to know she´s in good health and enjoying her time in Skingrad Just don´t let her drink too many bottles of Tamika, Acadian. Her tiny body can´t take too much I reckon before the giggliness overtakes her completely!

Samara has sold a lot of stolen loot, and reached over 800 septims. She's also aiming to learn charm spells to offset the mean looks she gets.

Currently she's near Chorrol, exploring the Great Forest. She bought a house on the Waterfront, since the Homestead was overrun by bandits when she got back from Bruma.

Is Samara in any Guild yet?

I hope Samara enjoys the Waterfront house. I think it is a great place. Nice central location, a waterfront view of great sunset/sunrises, close to shopping. The neighbors are pretty good - certainly better than the Fort Homestead gang.

She's in the Thieves Guild, currently working towards avenging the Waterfront people on getting charged for Taxes. She's having issues finding an invisiblity potion.

She loves her home, Acadian! She has all of her loot in the chest, her stolen loot in a false bottom in one dresser, and her clothes in another dresser. She's currently working on collecting books.

Well, got another new character running. I've never managed a game as a pure mage; I tried first as a Breton born under the mage, who was too tough, and then an Altmer apprentice, who was the opposite side of the scale. So now I'm taking a crack at it with a Dunmer born under the mage, hoping for a sort of middle ground.

His name's Balamus Theryon, he's fresh in from Morrowind. He got tired of the petty squabbling between House Telvanni and the Mage's Guild, so he left House Telvanni and came to Cyrodiil.

Currently in Chorrol, about to start his recommendation quest.

A Dunmer born under the Mages sign who´s moved from Morrowind because of politics?

You´re making Lothran 2.0!

It gets worse. He'll probably end up in Frostcrag Spire.

Lothran didn't start as a pure mage though, did he?

You can't be a "pure" mage and carry the weapon collection he does.

Not really. He´s always been using magic but his focus in the beginning as far as Guilds go was the Thieves Guild. His focus on magic came later.

Lothran has just come home from a re-exploration of Rielle. Minor loot was acquired (gold and lockpicks mainly) and in the early morning he once again breathed fresh air from the mountains

How did Lothran like the 'light himself up and charge in' approach? And how did that new Targetfinder mace do?

Not nearly as fun as sneaking through the shadows for the first time but he thought as a Warlock he´d at least try it a couple of times. It worked better in Plundered Mine and I think he´s gonna do his usual routine in the ruins from now on


Well, the potions nullified its light effect of course but otherwise it works fine. It´s a little underpowered but that is because he wanted more strikes per charge. Curse those small 1600 Grand gems!

Hmm, looks like I'll be back in the tutorial dungeon sometime tomorrow morning, with a new character. An Altmer Spellsword(custom) by the name of Telindil. Or maybe I'll start him up this evening...

That's great, Callidus! I look forward to hearing about him.