About two weeks have passed since Eilidh acquired her new home and she has in that time been busy, I can tell you.

The first few days were spent rooting around in the various rooms and caves and nooks and crannies that doted the old manor house. She uncovered all sorts of secrets and items simply left where they had been dropped or thrown into storage. Many of these things were to prove useful...

Bathing in the underground pool proved hazardous owing to the presence of a pair of Slaughterfish. She dispatched these but had by then discovered in the vast attic space a fine old bath and some rather lovely bathing screens. The bath looked as though it had never been used. Quite what the previous occupant had done for cleanliness she couldn't imagine. Presumably they had used the pool.

She spent some little time roughing out on a sheet of parchment just exactly what changes she required and so armed travelled the relatively small distance to Weye to hire the local fisherman, the closest man she could think of.
He did not speak her language, nor she his, but fortunately they both spoke Money.
Using 1000 gold of her 5000 savings she contracted him to clear out a fair amount of junk for her and went with him to the Imperial City to sell it at market, for a good price as it turned out.

Aelwin - (the fisherman) - then assisted her in the tracking down of several burly subjects who were keen both on coin and interior design, again, for a cheap price.
One just has to know how to manage commoners. If you are used to money, it does not really matter if you don't have much, because the fact that you have had it shows through. You just need enough to ensure one person's loyalty.

The fisherman proved so good and <ahem> loyal, that she hired him on the spot as steward, albeit on a part time basis. He was amenable to this, particularly since 1000 gold coins was considerably more than he had earned in the last 2 or 3 seasons of fishing. His first recommendation to her was to hire his daughter Elabyth to teach her the common tongue.
It seemed a good plan.

So it was that the big house was filled with the sounds of carpentry, cleaning and the moving of furniture.
Elabyth began to teach Eilidh the common tongue, fixed meals and became - virtually - chambermaid, whilst her father bestrode the workmen, Orcs and burly Nords, like some administrative colossus.
"Oi din't know moi farther 'ad it in 'im!" Remarked Elabyth to one of the workmen one morning.
The Nord chewed thoughtfully on the strip of jerky that was his morning meal.
"Well, she's paid 'im ain't she? More'n us too. 'sides, way he looks at 'er, alls she 'as to do is flutter them eyes of 'ers." He grinned and they both stopped to watch as Eilidh sashayed past, dress swishing on the rugs, her coppery hair reflecting the sunlight as it streamed once again through the freshly cleaned windows.
The workman nudged the young chambermaid.
"I would." He said, raising an eyebrow. "I wonders if she's blue all over...?"
Elabyth tutted and poked him with an elbow.

During all of this Eilidh herself had not been idle. She had found maps and books, and was spending her time planning out her next moves, reading up - (with Elabyth's help) - about the empire, what made it tick, who - and what - lived in it.
She knew though that in order to really get to know the place, she would have to immerse herself in it.
Yes it was partly what her father wanted, but it would be on her terms, and not his.
There was also the issue of money; there was plenty to be had it seemed, she just needed to figure out how to get it; some contacts were in order, she felt.

Yes, it was a busy time all round and she knew she should also not forget the Fighter's Guild; much as they were a bit amateurish, they had influence and should she rise to the top well then, so would she...

In the back of her mind though was the constant realisation that she had limited time. Eilidh knew her father and she knew that she could could provide him with the moon on a stick but if she did so one moment too late, well then it would all be for naught.
The days were moving on apace and she must not waste them.

Damned if I know. It just turns up when I start playing, and for some reason the inside moves as he turns.

I've no idea what it's for though, so I just ignore it

CT - Nice shot of Drinks of Milk Magic!

Phon - I see Elly's experiencing the 'joys' of home ownership.

It's a piece of electrical tape, with a dynamic texture mod.

Third night is over and Lothran´s shift is done for this time. Nothing to report from patrols and now he´s at home, trying to get some warmth back into his body before going out to do his waiting errands.

I love that you're doing this.
You and Decrepit should team up!

It is rather interesting that they´re both working as guardsmen...

And they have teamed up! Lothran takes care of Bruma and the roads in the Jeralls, and Decrepit´s avatar takes the rest!

:

I just laughed so hard it HURT!

Snaat Rayag the dark elf from Morrowind is still alive, and I am rather proud of this because this means he's surviving in a more challenging world than my Xbox characters.

I've been piecing together his backstory slowly. What I know so far is that for the last year, he had been living around the Niben Bay area. He's got some sort of 'cred' amongst all the bandits and marauders in this region, and Snaaty is allowed full access into their lairs. Once he is inside, he doesn't just loot chests like an adventurer, instead he only takes what he needs: a repair hammer here, some food there. How did he get this sort of cred? I am not sure, but I think he may have been dealing skooma.

Bandit and marauder factions are often at war with one another, yet Snaat Rayag is able to slip between these two factions freely. Somehow, he has become a member of the Maruader faction, with the rank of grunt, but I'm not sure if one of the mods in his game introduced this or not.

He got into some sort of trouble with the law in the past, which is why he was in jail at the beginning of the game. His bounty was 999 gold, and though he was pardoned by the Emperor, he's still wanted by the law. His bounty is over 4,500 gp now. His in-game Infamy ranks at 7 already, mostly due to stealing horses! ... Edit: he just served his time, which went from Heartfire 4 to Frostfall 18. Wow, a whole month and a half for all his crimes. Slap on the wrist, really.

He is also a questless character, which means (yes) he is doing absolutely zero quests. He was contacted by the Dark Brotherhood, but has no desire to join them, and I'm okay with this. It's been awhile since I've had a char who doesn't do quests.

Snaat sounds like a true thug! He must have been involved in some pretty serious stuff for all the gangs to respect him...

A month and a half in jail

I mean... Of course, that's not much for him

Questless characters must be much easier with the mods. I don't think I've ever had a character who hasn't completed any quest (excluding the tutorial dungeon one)...

+
Funny thing is I've never been able to have a questless char. in Skyrim (just can't do it for some reason), but I've had two in vanilla Oblivion: first was a Redguard woman named Wanda Bone who only lived in the Imperial City. She was illiterate and therefore could not read any potion bottles, scrolls or books. She was a thief and her goal was to break into every establishment and home inside the I.C. itself. This was cool because there's a few secrets in the I.C. that I learned about while with her.

She had a constant bounty (just like Snaat Rayag) and occasionally had to flee into the sewers to avoid guards. She was so good at running into the sewers that she could actually lose them! Occasionally she would get tired of running and then she'd allow herself to be arrested. She liked this. She was one of my characters who actually LIKED jail.

Wanda was contacted by the Thieves Guild but during the very first quest (the one in which she's supposed to retrieve that book) she gave up. She preferred be freelance. I remember this because at the time I really wanted to start the TG questline, but she had no interest in it. Weird, huh?

My other questless character was Luci Pheria. She was a dark elf witch based upon the Wicked Witch of the West (Wizard of Oz). Her backstory was long and interesting, but one of the things about Luci was she was literally insane. She would grunt and ramble when she spoke, and could not comprehend normal conversations.

Like a true storybook witch, she lived in a run-down cottage out in the woods (Weatherleah) and occasionally would sneak into town to harass and scare the locals! ... She was good with poisons, and would roam the Great Forest & West Weald constantly for ingredients. Again, I believe she had an offer to join the Dark Brotherhood, but because she was insane she had no idea who the man wearing black in her dream was, or what he said to her.

Luci wound up getting killed by a simple, stupid bandit, unfortunately.

Eilidh rode into the Imperial City fairly early in the morning, and took herself to see Umbacano.
She figured she'd wear the full armour, to make a better impression.
Umbacano amused her somewhat because he had even more of a sense of himself than she did of herself, so obviously they rubbed each other up the wrong way!

She must have impressed him though because he gave her some decent gold for what she had on her and even charged her with finding more. Eilidh was actually quite pleased at this. Even during her brief time in Cyrodiil she's gone from hating everything about it to actually being quite impressed with it's scenery and sense of faded grandeur, a task like this will allow her to have a reason to poke about the landscape a little more.
And that's no bad thing.

Following meeting him and a light lunch at the Tiber Septim, the food isn't quite what she's used to but the Sheep's head broth - (special on that day) - proved a treat, she took herself out into the wilderness surrounding the city on the island. It is a place of ancient ruins and secluded shrines and, apart from the unsavoury odours emanating from the the sewer gratings smells pleasantly of flowers and trees, Oak and Ash and Birch.

It was getting dark when she arrived back at the Talos entrance and she was a little tired and looking forward to getting back to her room at the Septim for a long bath and glass of Surillies - quite palatable as it goes.
Plans were changed however by a petition from one Ralsa Norvalo regarding a meeting that had been set up with her in mind. For obvious reasons this piqued her interest, although not without a certain puzzlement.
With that in mind, she returned to the hotel, ordered a bath and having been bathed by the maid and suitable fed and watered, changed into a decent frock and after having buckled a blade around her slender waist - ( as insurance you understand) - went off to see what was what.

++++

[continues HERE] - spoiler thread

++++

The next morning dawned bright and clear, warm sunlight bathed the marble of city, setting it aglow.
Eilidh awoke at 7 and 30 of the clock, ordered breakfast, and dressed in her armour.
She had planned to journey south along the road orbiting the City, but upon awaking had amended her plans to head north and take a more direct route to a city called Chedynnehal...(?) Anyway there was a thyr there in the Mage's Guild - (this concept still makes her laugh) - who apparently had some work for willing adventurers, it sounded promising and also fitted with her Fighters' Guild ambitions.

She made the most of the maid; breakfast, wash, dress, and a very generous tip of 3 gold. Thus refreshed she headed out to the stables at the head of the causeway and the city defences and reclaimed her horse...

Why did Eilidh go to see Umbacano?

mirocu - Lothran and Hamfat are doing a great job.

Because Umbacano, she has heard, is an avid collector and will pay good money for... collectibles.

It´s interesting that two characters are so devoted to the safety of Cyrodiil


I can relate to that....

--------

Lothran has spent the day clearing out Plundered Mine. He could see the battle between rival goblin tribes outside of it from miles away and that, if nothing else, was his que.

And what riches he found! The mine was full of silver nuggets and valuable weapons to sell back to Fjotreid! This was really a good thing as his coinpurse was quite light and as many Septims will be needed when making new spells at the universaty later.

That's awesome. Silver nuggets (or any kind of nuggets) can be rather rare sometimes. I'm pretty sure they don't respawn, too. Not in the vanilla game.

Snaat Rayag already has a 720 gold bounty. He's a skooma dealer too, just as I suspected. He's made his way slowly south, starting at Fort Nikel and working his way down to Bravil. He's got four skooma bottles on him*, and as he approaches various NPCs there's a 1 in 6 chance he'll get a sale. Yes, I roll dice for this.

A sale means the bandit, marauder, or ordinary citizen has paid Snaat Rayag 100 gold*. So far, he's only made one sale, to a Breton bandit standing outside of that fort near Pell's Gate. It was really cool RP wise because one of the Nords in Pell's Gate got REALLY angry at Snaaty for no apparent reason. He was like "why do you bother me?!" It's as if he already knows Snaat Rayag for his seedy reputation.

He wound up getting attacked in the forest by some rats, and 'his' horse ran away, so right now Snaaty's on foot. He's just outside of Bravil. He's going to try to make it down to Greyland, where (I'm roleplaying) they brew the stuff. Since skooma is actually to be found in Greyland, this is where I will use the console to stick a bunch of skooma for 'sale'. Snaaty will buy these bottles for somewhere between 20 and 50 gold (depends on quality) and then make his way slowly back north.

Right now he is outside of Bravil. He's sneaking in the grass, trying to get inside Anutwyll, where he will stash his current skooma. After he hides it, he's going to allow himself to be arrested. This way he gets to do some more legitimate business when he's released from jail, and I get to see Better Cities/Bravil from the inside.

* added with console

We have freezing rain in Maryland tonight, and I'm pretty sure I won't have to go into work, so I'm giving myself some extra gaming time.

Snaat Rayag is headed north. He just left a fort across the river from Bravil, and I'm forgetting the name of this fort. He managed two skooma sales here, and at some point the next morning was met by an Imperial road patrol who (for whatever reason) pardoned my dark elf of all his crimes, despite the fact that his Infamy is 9!

I just got Basic Primary Needs working in Snaaty's game, which is one of those im.. immm.. immersion mods. Food, sleep, thirst, disease, drunkenness from alcohol, this list goes on and on; this mod is it. It's THE mod I've been looking for ever since starting Oblivion 5+ years ago. Snaat Rayag's health is precious, his world feels dangerous at times; and it's the opposite of all my other characters, since they haven't got the option of running to the nearest bandit or marauder lair for safety.

It is crazy how satisfied I've been by the Oblivion experience lately.

I hear you! I love Basic Primary Needs myself. That, Realistic Fatigue and Real Sleep Extended (for the portable bedrolls) are the best immersion mods ever! I also love All Natural for the weather effects, Sounds of Cyrodiil and Slof's Horses (with some kind of horse command mod, currently I'm using Command Mount, which is very basic but all I really need). Those are my non-negotiable mods. COBL is always part of my load order.

One new mod I found that is pretty cool is Skyrimized Water. What I like about it is that it uses the default water shader that comes with Oblivion, but tweaks its parameters so it is much more realistic.

I'm so glad you are having so much fun. I played Oblivion on the console (XBox 360) too, and after about four or five playthroughs I started wishing I could do more. That's what made me bite the bullet and install Win7 on my Mac Pro. Haven't looked back since. So I'm totally sure you will continue to enjoy Oblivion with Snotty and with many other characters as well.

We are using this, it's Awesome!

And for myself I would like to echo Renee's statement.

Phon: I initially had Natural Hunger going for my game, but it's simply not enough for me because it only affects hunger. NH is a cute mod for somebody who doesn't want to be as hardcore, and was a good way to get introduced to this side of gaming, but after awhile I was also wanting to see sleep matter, and other things. Anyways, it's great!

I am liking the sound of Skyrimized water. I don't want water to be exactly like it is in Skyrim, but it would be decent to see something different here. Does this mod introduce water currents?

Slof's Horses or maybe the command mount one also sound very im. Immm.. IMmmersive. SOrry. I have trouble saying that word, immersion is the most over-used word so far as gaming goes, but sometimes you just gotta use it. The Horse Command mod might be good for me, I don't really want to go too over-the-top with horses, but the idea of commanding horses might be cool. I'll have to look into that.

I want to look into HUD Status Bars, which is supposed to be a great compliment to Basic Primary Needs.

That is what I love about the PC and modding. It takes the game you bought and turns it into so much more. That is why I can play the ES games for years, and others only for perhaps a month. I am at the point where I am creating new races and my own custom game starts. I love being able to make the game exactly what I want it to be. It is much better than what Todd Howard wanted to sell us...




Wouldn't the water mod be the most immersive?

The thing about politics and "removing" people is that it's only politics if those in charge do it.
If the lower classes did it, it would be murder.

Eilidh understands this, which is why the "gentleman" in question is going to the dungeons, rather than to Llevana.
The outcome will be the same, for sure, but sometimes you just have to do things Right.

[edited for rubbish grammar and punctyuwaishun. <ahem>]

Phon: I think you just referred to Eilidh as 'he'? Am I missing something?


Lol, you just like seeing me stutter when I try to say.. the "I" word. :tongue:

No, but he missed the 's'

No, the "he" refers to someone else, who is going to the dungeons.
Humblest apologies, I have had a major punctuation malfunction and mucked up my commas!!

Renee, I'm not sure just what you mean by the currents. If you mean does the PC drift downriver with the current as IRL? No. But looking at the water it seems like there is directional flow to the waves. Like the shadows, it likely does not bear up to close scrutiny, but adds to the im- im- immersion.

I've got a few screenies of Lake Rumare at sunrise so you can see what it does to Oblvion's water. One of the most stable mods I've ever used. Love it!

On the dock at Sunrise
Close up of the water
Looking toward the Niben Bridges

Yes, in Skyrim the water will actually pull the character with its current, sometimes it's impossible to swim upstream.


Sweet! Looks great! I only had a brief amount of time to game yesterday, so rather than game I messed with some more mods. Sounds of Cyrodiil seems a bit 'much'. I don't want to just throw all these sound effects into the entire game, but I did find one called Storms and Sounds. This puts lightning, thunder and other weather effects out there, and we can also hear these sounds indoors. Can't wait to see/hear this.

Skyrim also has ocean waves (at least on Solstheim) but they're extra meshes moving around on top of the flat water surface, so you can be in the strange situation of swimming between the two surfaces. Looks good from the shore, though.

I'm not sure why, but Drinks-of-Magic still refuses to run, even when fighting. As a result he almost got killed by a stunted scamp.

He's currently making his way to Skingrad, but it's so slow, it's actually kind of boring.

How strange?

Some errands were done and plans for busy activity at the University come spring are slowly being prepared. As is the Septim-gathering. Oh, and I am happy to report that the food Lothran provides for the beggars is well appreciated

Yeah, I've had a few like this. If a character is wearing robes for instance it bugs when they have to run. I try to make them walk as much as possible.

That's why I like it when mages get to Journeyman level with Illusion. Now they can cast Invisibility to escape enemies, which means it's rare they actually have to run from anybody. Invisibility makes enemies give up the search almost instantly.

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

1:55 am Last Seed 27, 4E 004

Day: 1

"You have my ear, Citizen" says one guard to the prisoner who emerges from the next room. "Speak", suggests a second guard.

The prisoner does not obey. What has she to say to these iron-suited monsters? .. Nothing. She says nothing. ... But she thinks plenty. 'Twas only my choice to toss rings into a neighboring county's waywardity. I had not vision of the consequences!

The woman walks toward the three Imperial guardsmen nervously, and removes the scroll from the table which stands between them. She reads the scroll slowly.

"Immigration?" she finally speaks.

Now it's the guards who are silent. Of course they are. They are only grunts, after all. They are not the ones in charge. They are not the ones who captured her and brought her to 'justice'.

The woman reads the scroll, and carefully begins filling out the information on the scroll, using a quill to write.

Where am I from? ... Valenwood. Where do I reside? .... Nowhere....

After spending a bit of time filling out the scroll, she places it back on the table. She then walks forward once more, and enters the jail cell at the far end of the room, wondering when (or if) she would ever get her things, her weapons, her items, her jewels back.

She lays upon the straw cot, wondering how long it'll be before she feels the sun, the rain, and the wind again.

Don't worry, Drinks. Buffy doesn't really run much either. If she's traveling, it's astride the fastest horse in Cyrodiil. If it's in a fight, her short legs and lack of endurance would ensure the only foes she could outrun are mudcrabs. Renee is right: Illusion means never having to run.

Nice to see Lothie starting to make plans for the spring already!

And Renee's bringing us a new character! From Valenwood, eh? Can't wait to hear what goes in the 'Name' box for this one. Hmm, must have been a rainy night in Maryland?

Could it be... Lady Saga returns to Cyrodiil, this time on a PC?!

Yup! You get the prize. *ding!*

Um... hold on. .. There ya go, you get a devil weeble with a pitchfork Yes, Saga returned to Cyrodiil. I used the Alternate Start mod, which placed her in a room with 3 guards, and it was really fun because I got to choose all the different stats and stuff without doing the Tutorial. But it felt like a 'mini' tutorial, the way the author made that mod. I was even able to choose whether or not she carries the Amulet of Kings!

Although I don't exactly know why she was in jail, the year is now supposed to be the 4th Era Year 4. I am estimating I'll get the Main Quest done (with a different character) by Year 435 at the least, so I am RPing that Saga's had about 6 years added since she appeared in the PS3 world.

I think it'll be really cool the way it's going to be done because when I last saw her on Xbox, she was about to enter Bravil. She hasn't been there since the Year 434 I think, and she wants to go there first for some reason. When she enters this town, it'll seem very different from the last time she saw it, thanks to Better Cities.

I thought about Saga instantly but I couldn´t see this being her!

Lesson learned: Always trust your initial instinct!

Well, after much tweaking and juggling installs and researching on TESNexus and testing, I finally have a collection of mods that I'm enjoying very much. I now have a stable game that will play for longer than an hour, and I actually have had (knock wood) no CTD's and corrupted saves for four days of gaming now. It is fun once more to spend time in Cyrodiil, and my storytelling juices are going again.

I think the most important lesson I learned this time around is the order in which mods are installed do matter as much as the order in which they are loaded. I found this very informative website and followed the installation guide, and my game has been so much more stable since, and it is also easier to troubleshoot mod-related issues as well.

I thought this might be a good place to share this for everyone, not just Renee.

Favorited that. I'll have to read that at work this week if I can.

I am also at the point where I'm just gaming, after weeks of tweaks. I might add a few more things here and there, but I've got about 70 to 80% of everything I've been wanting with MMM, Basic Primary Needs, Better Cities, and several console commands (slow time, remove starter spells, etc.). My goal was to have about 40 mods in my game, and maybe that'll happen with time, but right now I've only got about 15 going and I'm very satisfied.

So now there´s no turning back, huh? No more Renee-exclusive tape mods...

Kahreem's game will stay vanilla, but yeah other than that, no more tape

That´s too bad. I really enjoyed reading about all your creative ideas for console mods

They'll still be there with Kahreem's game, but even so I still employ my own pretend mods occasionally with modded games as well.


Middas, 10:44 AM, Heartfire V, 4th Era Year 004

"Yes?" asks the proprietor of An Archer's Paradox to the slender, almost feline wood elf who walked into his shop.

"Have you no remembrance of me? It is I. ... Aerin. ... From Valenwood. And you are Daelin, the man whose lifelong intent is to fashion an arrow so perfect, that it has the power to make its flight forever?"

"What can I interest you in?" Daenlin asks, unsure of the blonde-haired Bosmer before him. I accustom a lot of customers in here, especially now that the Oblivion Crisis has ended. Can't remember them all now, can I?..

"My how Cyrodiil has changed," Aerin speaks freely. "The town! .. Bravil! ... has much changed," says Aerin the Ranger from Valenwood. Although Daenlin doesn't seem to recognize her, Aerin cannot help but feel a bit glib and chatty, anyways. After all, Daenlin is one of the only original townspeople from back in the 3rd Era.

"So many people," she continues... "lurking and mucking about. And how foul the stench from the cistern! .. I cannot say it 'tis my earnest opinion that all of such peoples, attracted to Cyrodiil's newfound booming* from all other provinces, have made their dwelling within the town of Bravil of such proper gracing and proper greeting."

At this, Daenlin stands dumbly, unsure of what to say. I am a simple Bosmer trying to make a living, blonde lady-elf! ... he thinks but does not say. Are you going to buy or sell? Let's get this over with!

"Why, do you have knowledge that just two days prior I made entrance into one of the new shops upon the dock there, and that the proprietor of said shop enforced in unwillful conversation upon me, thrusting me with a task I have no befitting or desire to accomplish! ... That such peoples, such outsiders, have not the typical customs of Cyrodil, would you or would you not agree?"

Daenlin finally speaks. "I offer the finest goods and lowest prices in all Cyrodiil," he says, hoping 'blondy' will get the hint.

"YES! .. YES I say! Right down to business. I am in agreement, Daenlin. Here, I have got some magical armors and things to sell. You... you are of the older styling and set, a more original settler to Cyrodiil. And with politeness and properity, you merely wish to assist me, and take my coinage, and that is all. Here, I have got this ... this magical helm upon my head which I dredged up from a cave full of imps. I feel this helm's magic protects the wearer from magical spells a bit. Would you like to have such for your shop?..."

At this moment, Lady Saga feels as if she has made a friend in the "new Cyrodiil", while Daenlin looks forward to buying that magical helmet and pricing it for the masses. It'll be nice to have an edge on all the new competition in town.

RG4, Which better cities mod do you use? I'm looking to experiment with a couple

***

Today Lissa bought herself something she'd been unable to for a while... A PET DOG! She bought A Labrador Retriever from the Cheydinhal Pet Store... She loves him dearly, but has yet to think of a name for him. She's waiting for him to tell her.

Also she purchased a new bow from the elusive Goddess store in the Imperial City. It's lightweight and powerful, perfect for her. She also bought a new wig, a very cute side ponytail!

*As you can tell... I'm making the most of some of the better mods available!

So far I have Companion share and recruit, the pet store, the goddess shop, the rogue outfit, the set essential spell and I'm currently looking for a good better cities mod. I'm quite happy with these mods, so I think I'll stop for now! Haha

I am genuinely uncertain as to what the Princess is up to at the moment.
I believe that she's "overseeing" some further renovation of The Manor prior to setting off west and south to Anvil. She spoke something of her plans to head back through the Imperial City and down to the south east.

She is I know quite excited by the whole artifact search for Umbacano. He's a big noise in the City and she's an Elf who knows what side her bread is buttered on.
I imagine there's to be an element of that increasingly occuring.

I personally would quite like her to head up to the north for a bit, but Eilidh is not a fan of cold weather so I am not sure how or if that will be happening.
Not unless she has to, anyway.

So Elly is off on a scavanger hunt, huh? Didn´t hink she would be anyone´s errand-girl

She isn't, but she also knows which side her bread is buttered on.
Umbacano is a man who can provide her with a way in, but he needs a key to be unlocked...

Loved it, Renee! It´s great that you placed Aerin in the fourth era which would so nicely explain all the newcomers. It was a good read to my tea and sandwiches

I still prefer to linger in the third era though...

I thought I would chime in with my opinions while you are waiting for RG4 to answer.

I've used both Open Cities and Better Cities. Both have pluses and minuses.

Open Cities comes in two flavors: Classic ?and Reborn. Classic just leaves the city layouts untouched, and places the city interiors into the Tamriel Worldspace so that you can actually open the gates and ride your horse into town. Reborn ?is the same concept, but changes the cities in terms of layouts and appearances (new walls, buildings in different locations, etc) except for the Imperial City and Skingrad. Again you just open the gates and walk right in - no loading screens.

Better Cities is more like Classic Open Cities in that it enhances rather than changes the vanilla towns. I find the changes are less dramatic than in Open Cities Reborn (OCR). Better Cities has the option to make them open, in other words they work much like Open Cities with no loading screens, gates that actually open, etc. Also Better Cities is modular, so you can install BC only for those cities you want to enhance, and leave the others alone.

I liked Bruma, Cheydinhal and Anvil in Open Cities Reborn, but I hated Leyawiin in that mod. The layout didn't make that much sense for a harbor town, the geography was altered so much that it no longer fit into the swampy nature of Blackwood, and it just seemed a lot of work to move about town. In Better Cities this was not the case, and what I really liked about Better Cities Leyawiin is that the poor quarter really seemed poor.

You'd have to play around with the different mods and see what you like the best.

Currently I'm playing with none of these mods. I feel that while they enhance the immersive experience and add eye candy to the game, ultimately they do nothing to tell the story of my characters, especially my current one. So I don't have them installed. I find that TIE does more for me than the cities mods. But for a while there those cities mods really made the game like new again.

Rihanae: Holy **** I forgot all about pets. Wow. Lady Saga can have a pet. The thought never even occurred to me til you just mentioned the dog Lissa bought.

Phon: Just realized your new beau and my old beau are going to be doing Umbacano's quests. That'll be interesting.

mirocu: thanks, was really good to finally write a Saga snippet again. It's been since.. geez... October? September? .. and don't worry. I actually have some surprises because not all my PC characters will be 4th era.



Wow, I really agree with this. The thing about BC is not everything about this mod makes cities "Better". There are things I love, and other things I'm scratching my head about, or at least unsure about, or downright disagree with. I can't stand the that goes on for instance, and there are a few really bad glitches I've seen with BC: NPCs walking into walls and stuff like this. But overall I dig this mod and am happy with it.

I actually went to OC Reborn for the Leyawiin remodel, so tastes obviously differ. The Castle's in the right place, with town either side of the river. It's a city that makes sense. Plus I liked the dock layout, allowing ship passage past it, rather than BC's terminal.

I'd have preferred some of the other cities to have stayed the same size as the originals, but modders like to add stuff at the same time as they rebuild. The one thing that stood out was that the identical city walls went away. All the cities have a separate character.

Skingrad caused me a lot of issues with the Gweden mod, as I'd put content out in the streets, that needed cloning for the open city, but that would have happened with any opening up.