Glad to see a new character in the works, CT. You must have gotten the deluxe edition of Oblivion. The cheap edition that mirocu and I got only lets us make one character without buying a new disc I think.

*

Buffy was clearing Haunted Mine as a favor for the Innkeeper of the nearby Drunken Dragon. Well, the goblin slaying was going fine till she got to the bottom of the mine and encountered a pit with half a dozen rats in it. They had apparently killed their goblin rat farmer and were into the large supply of lettuce, corn and carrots. Well, Buffy is always in the market for carrots (for Superian). . . .

Now, she never underestimates rats. They weigh fully a quarter of what she does, are hard to hit, fast, can leap, and attack quickly. She was a bit concerned about using command or frenzy spells because the darn rats are so fast to target her. So. . . she decided to try a different type of spell. It does 3 fire damage for 1 second on target in a 100 foot area. Normally, she casts that to bring foes out from behind corners etc into a clear area where she can bring her bow or illusion spells to bear. She figured that 2 casts of the weak fire spell would kill all the rats.

Well, the elf was right, but overlooked the basic effect of havoc physics and fire spells. After she rippled the spell twice into the pit, she was showered by ears of corn, heads of lettuce, carrots and even a couple of flying rat carcasses.

She spent a good part of her evening at the Drunken Dragon getting bits of lettuce out of her outfit and hair. To top things off, her precious mare was not impressed with cooked carrots.

No wonder Buffy’s an illusionist.

I would have loved to see everything go flying!

Another disc is not enough, you need the deluxe edition


I´m surprised she didn´t fly backwards from the force released from her fingertips Lesson learned here: Don´t send a Buffy to do a Lothran job!

-Hope you can make yourself a nice character, Callidus!

The benefits of the console version versus the PC version



I am going to have to try a spell like that at some point, sounds too funny to pass up.

And I'm now stuck with the mental image of a pile of corn, lettuce, and carrots, with just a pair of Bosmer ears sticking out the top.



I'm just hoping I can make one with a little more survivablility. He'll be turning up later, I'll probably edit an update about him into this post. I was going to take him through the tutorial, but ended up writing an intro sort of thing for him.

Buffy made rat stew without the pot! Oh my, the flying crispy rat carcasses would have gotten a squeak out of Lildereth. They're big enough to clobber a wood elf. What an image!

Telindil has just staggered out of the Imperial City Sewers.

He's a bit odd for a Spellsword. He's born under the Thief and wears light armour.

And here's a couple of pics: 1 2(This one's a bit blurry)

They're not great, and his eyebrows came out darker than I expected, not sure what happened there, but overall I'm happy with the look.

Telindil looks like a handsome fellow! I imagine a Spellsword will be fun to play.

He looks good, Callidus Is he Imperial?

Nope, he's an Altmer. But the camera on my phone doesn't like light skin on my characters, or anything light on the screen in general. Maybe I should've made his skin darker.

That was actually my first thought. His face looks like an Altmer but his hair made my mind drift to an Imperial

Hope you´ll have a long-lasting character with him

Well the hair is something that annoys me. I find that with Altmer and Dunmer(and possibly Bosmer too, though I've never played one) many of the shorter hairstyles seem to leave gaps between the head and the hair, which drives me mad. So he gets stuck with longer hair.

In any case, he looks like an interesting fellow to me I´ll be interested to know what he´s like.

------

Come weekend Lothran has been assigned active duty. He is to guard the north gate at night and during the day he´s meant to patrol the town. His shift will last two-three days, that is his privilege to decide as an honorary guard. Regular breaks are of course scheduled

At least the north gate is quieter than the east gate. Be safe, Lothran!


Buffy finished some business with the Leyawiin mages. Then guild business took her west to Corinthe and north to Riverhold. She's finally back in Cyrodiil near Pells Gate. A conjuror outside Fort Roebeck has just caught her eye.

It is quieter yes, but the reason he´s been posted there is because the east gate already has two guards at all times. The north gate should be equally guarded but the majority of the guards are needed on patrol and the rest are on their breaks. It´s only thanks to Lothran they can properly guard the north gate

So Buffy is way down south, or rather has been. I hope she hasn´t forgotten about her panic button if she plans to raid that conjurdude place and something goes wrong

Samara is playing "The Floor is Lava" on the crates by The Guilded Carafe to get her Athletics up.

Sounds like a laugh!

That got me giggling.

It´s a very cold day and Lothran is standing guard by the brazier at Hammer and Axe after having been on patrol around town. He´s had one break already and will have another soon before he´s off to guard the north gate during the night.

Liz - Crate hopping sounds fun!

mirocu - I hope Lothie gets a chance to warm up and grab a nap during his breaks. I hope his nose doesn't turn blue from the cold - oh. . . wait, it's supposed to be blue!


Buffy spent the night visiting the reclusive old mage who lives in Frostcrag Spire. He assigned a fire atronach to the elf to follow her around, warming things up for the thin-blooded Bosmer. And, of course Superian came inside out of the cold and got to nibble on the alchemy garden.

Lothran would do the same but ehm, his house is made of wood so it´s probably not the best idea for him


I can imagine her happiness upon seeing that garden

No need for such extreme measures in Lothie's cozy place. Especially since he got the fireplace fixed. And Buffy knows right where he stores the bear pelt that he keeps on hand for her.

Bruma, north gate, night

"This winter seems unusually cold. I hope the braziers won´t go out, the beggars need them. As do we all right now."

Lothran is not the typical Dunmer who prefers the warmth. On the contrary he thrives in the cold and the snow, but this night really is one of the coldest he´s experienced while on duty. But he doesn´t complain. He´s proud to serve this northern outpost and would do it even if a glacier from Skyrim were to come down on it.
And as the night slowly progresses, not once does the Nordic Dunmer leave his post to warm himself up by the brazier down by Hammer and Axe, or the one by Nord Winds.

His job is to guard the north gate and he will do so. For the safety of all the citizens in Bruma, he will remain at his post.

Awww, Lothran is a brave and noble mer. No one really appreciates the soldier on night patrol until there are trolls or goblins at the gate.

This does not sound like good weather for a Bosmeri visit! I hope he'll let Buffy know when there is a bit of respite in the weather.

Speaking of the elf, he´s off-duty now and took a day in the Jeralls to enjoy his free time. Nothing much happened save from some Milk Thistle seed picking, and now he´s back at Olav´s

-Oh, and he wanted me to give a message to Buffy: Still cold but not like a couple nights ago. More Bosmer-friendly in any case

Tonight Lothran cleared out Plundered Mine again, second time this winter. Nothing special happened or found, but noteworthy is he didn´t do it with Goldbrand or some other high-class, fancy weaponry.

He did it with Snowflake

Today Lothran went on a ogre hunt in Pale Pass. Together with the cavebosses he brought down no less than 17 of them, mostly with his Bow of Blizzards. He was pretty pleased to pull off some pretty long-distance shots as well.

As the year before he has a tent on the top of the broken watch-tower by the ruin which serves as his home away from home

That's so awesome. The way you just said that.

Thanks alot, Renee!

Lothran is pretty impressive, wandering around with Snowflake, Bow of Blizzards and his spells - and he's good with all of them. Keeping Bruma and the northern Jeralls safe in the winter! Sounds like an ogre tooth necklace in the works?

*

Buffy just had a neat encounter on the Green Road just south of the Inn of Ill Omen. 'So and so is unconscious’ (can’t remember the name). As Buffy and Superian drew closer she saw the pink glows whirling around. Some Dunmer woman had gotten into it with a minotaur. She'd get knocked out and the minotaur would wait till she got up, then knock her out again in one head butt.

Buffy dismounted, poisoned an arrow and took down the minotaur from a safe distance. She then ran over to see to the Dunmer and healed her. Naturally, she had already been marked essential by us at some point.

"Lucky for you I happened by. Can I check your gear?”

Well, the Dunmer was in street clothes and completely unarmed. Buffy shook her head and summoned her tack/resupply chest. After gifting the woman with a silver dagger, summon scamp scroll and a pair of strong healing potions, she admonished the Dunmer to be careful and consider hiring an escort to handle martial encounters if she was going to travel so poorly equipped.

ha ha haa that's beautiful, Acadian.

@Acadian - :

Lothran is still in Pale Pass enjoying the surroundings and reminiscing about previous adventures...

Thanks! It turned out to not be the most curious/interesting aspect of our day in Cyrodiil.

From that same area just south of Ill Omen, Buffy decided to ride directly to the small Necrofort on the bank of the Niben (Fort Variela. That meant traversing Harcane Grove – which Buffy does with extreme care so as to not disturb the beautiful unicorn that lives there. As she drew close, she dismounted and used her special power (Corsair’s Intervention) to teleport Superian to safety in the Valley of Horses, where the University maintains Equestria Stables under the bridge in front of the University.

As she then crept alone into the Grove, she was not happy. The three mean old Minotaurs of the Grove were ganged up on and killing a black bear. The bear quickly succumbed before Buffy could intervene. The small Bosmer does not take kindly to the needless killing of Kynareth’s creatures. In fact she got so angry that she cast a command spell into the gang of minotaurs. After a few minutes of the bullish frenzy that followed, only one badly wounded minotaur remained. He fell to the whistling death of a single arrow delivered from stealth.

While zoomed in with her bow, Buffy scanned for the unicorn. To her chagrin, she spotted the carcass of the dead creature nearby. I have no idea how the unicorn died, as it was certainly not involved in the minotaur/bear battle and not even that close. Gravely concerned, Buffy called upon Kynareth to resurrect the magnificent horned horse. The Lady of Sky and Forest answered Buffy’s call.

What to do now? Live unicorn, but silly elf that killed off its guardians?

Buffy demanded that I render the animal essential, which I did. She then mounted the unicorn and, using a long lasting walk on water spell, raced up the Niben to the Valley of Horses. Buffy felt the animal would be safe there, under the watchful eyes of Equestria's stablemaster and the trained imps that patrolled the valley.

Unfortunately, the dumb unicorn began walking back toward Harcane Grove as soon as Buffy dismounted! It was a very unhappy and frustrated elf that remounted the animal and safely rode it all the way back to the Grove. She left it there, having to rely on its essential status and hope that the brutish but protective minotaurs would respawn.

Once clear of the Grove, she magically recalled her own patient mare (Call of Corsair teleport power) from the Valley of Horses and continued on her way to Fort Variela to vent her frustration on the necrodudes therein.

Such troublesome events for the elf Well, at least the unicorn is safe now, thanks to the powerful magics from the School of Essentiality

I wish I could say the same as for Lothran´s version of Cyrodiil, but unfortunately neither him nor me knew any better all those years back in time

Aren't those minotaurs supposed to protect the unicorn?

I've only found the unicorn once (by accident) long ago with Renee Gade II or Dyan.

Oh my goodness! What a dreadful series of events for well-meaning Buffy. I’m sure there will be a stealthy return to that magical grove to see how things have turned out.

I’ve always felt that the minotaurs protect Cyrodiil from the lovely unicorn as well as keeping would-be horn harvesters from the wonderful beast. My single unicorn experience was an ill-informed mishandling of the wild creature that resulted in an aggressive unicorn creating havoc across the province. Thanks to a uesp education I now whisper in my characters’ ears to leave that grove alone!

I'm sure, like you guys, that the minotaurs are there to protect the unicorn. Buffy just couldn't help herself when she saw them killing one of Kyanareth's black bears; after all, some of Buffy's dearest friends are Spriggans. So I have no idea how the unicorn died - that's why it was such a surprise to find it dead. I can't believe the minotaurs killed it. By returning the unicorn to the grove, our hope is that the minotaurs will respawn and protect the horned horse. If not however, they are in for an unpleasant surprise from a now 'essential' unicorn.

*

Buffy is delighted with a new Tinkerbell ornament for her Saturalia tree that now joins the flawless gems, small illuminated glass balls filled with glow dust, and thin strips of buckskin strung with ogre teeth that decorate the tree. Topping the tree is a varla stone, and the skirt that disguises its stand is the robe of a necromancer who no longer needs it.

Her heart is happy and her quiver is full. I hear her whispering, “Acadian, let’s go hunting.”

Joyous Saturalia to all. Peace on Nirn and goodwill to mer.

Early this morning Lothran packed up his tent and journeyed back to Bruma. It was a fine day and when he got back he immediately went up to order a well-roasted slab of boar meat and an apple at Jerall View. Well, perhaps not immediately. Prior to that he recharged his Bow of Blizzards and offloaded his gear

Kahreem is in the Imperial City still, looking forward to stealing a particular staff from the Arch Mage himself. I wanted to get to his game this weekend but got too busy with other things.

If I know Kahreem, he´s not gonna be presented with this task with too much ease

-------
Lothran is enjoying the mountains during his return from mr Mora

A couple ogres were taken down along the way, both awakened with a single poisoned arrow from a fair distance. Didn´t kill them though so they were given the opportunity to have some fun with his pet Spriggan

How does Lothran poison his arrows? Which effects does he go for?

Same as how anyone would do it


It varies. He uses a lot of fire, frost and shock posions. Though if he wants some more time to switch weapons he goes for a poison containing paralyze for 3 secs.

Okay, sorry I asked. Was just curious about the effects he goes for.

Guess we have one of those internet misunderstandings again Did you just mean what effects he goes for or did I miss something..?

I am in the process of researching stuff about Oblivion for PC. I'm not going to make a character tonight, but I think I might at least get everything set up. Get the game installed, and also see if I can get a few programs (like OBMM and/or Wrye Bash) in place. This way, the next time it rains (or snows, hopefully) I'll be able to make my very first OB character.

I've already decided he will be a Dark Elf, and will be sort of a hybrid test/RP. He'll be a test in the sense that I'll be experimenting with his gameworld, but I'm also going to RP him to some extent. He might even be DiD, I am not sure yet.

OH, and his name will be Snaat Rayagg. Um... I'm giving him a silly name because I don't want to get too attached to him. His game will have a mod called Alternate Start which a friend recommended to me, and I might have Snaat show up in Anvil.

I hear that works really well. Like with the way Acadian named a character Buffy...

Thanks, SubRosa. I was just going to say something along those lines. Maybe I should have gone with Barbie or Bambi. Perhaps Tinkerbell?

. . . nah.

Well, Renee, here's hoping for rain in Maryland so you can get started!

Careful, Renee. You might end up with a character you really like

There's a mod that his game is going to have, I forget the name of it. It's one of those 'hardcore' mods though, I've been waiting for this one for years. So chances are if he gets too far away from civilization and runs out of food (nowhere to sleep) ... we'll see what happens.

Well, we´ll be waiting for screenies and updates!

But don´t forget about Kahreem

Kahreem will basically be my very last vanilla game, so no worries. I just want my other really good fan (Lopov) to return from his family crisis before I write his next adventure. There's a chance I'll have to let it go though, dammit.

So ... it's supposed to snow today! School has started up for my young one again, but assuming she's not bogged down with some sort of giant homework project I'm going to try to get my first OB game on PC happening TO-DAY.