I wonder who the dead fella in the robes was? My first thought runs to Vigilant of Stendarr, but I do not see gauntlets on his hands.

Abiene is a messenger of love? Given her own romantic situation, that sounds more than little ironic. But then irony can be pretty ironic at times...

I have to agree with Abiene. I would pay that chick to not sing as well. Not to mention to put some real clothes on.

I recognize Blavatsky rocking out in the crowd though! I guess some Witches have no appreciation for fine music!

Renee: Well, fair enough. But I may well make a character with a name like Noah Haaf-Messures in the future in his honour

Enjoyed the update from Abienne, and the bit about Jerric being in good spirits after killing the bandits, thief and frost troll made snort with laughter. Oh you...

Man, Dawnstar's taven is packed! Is that a mod to make it more populated, or have I just never visited during hours?

All of these adventures makes me want to pop in Skyrim and play with Kayla.

That ... is quite an honor, sire.



Yes, you should do so. We all think you should.

I am going to post some random stuff about Lord Haaf-Mersey. I don't feel like writing it all up in story form, so I'll just post random snippets about his adventuring.

He's headed to Solitude before going to confront Harkon the Vampire, but before going there, he's stopping by all his favorite places, in his attempt to make 'wayward souls see the Light of the Nine'. So instead of going to Solitude, he is currently headed to Fort Snowhawk. Mages! Conjurers!

He has 444 days under his belt (pprobably a record for my longest-lasting ES character) has found 222,201 gold, 184 locations, and has 'cleared' 109 dungeons. He has only been jailed once, but under "Days Jailed" is says 0 for some reason. His Largest Bounty as 2,040, which I think he got because some Tribal Orcs attacked him (he wandered innocently into their territory). He has crafted 98 armor pieces and 26 weapons, and has improved 96 items. He knows 26 spells. Mostly Alteration, Restoration, and a handful of Illusion spells.

On his way to Harkon, he carries the following.

Dwarven Helmet of Magicka (EPIC) +30 magicka
Necklace of Regeneration: +40% faster Health Regeneration
Orcish Gauntlets of Eminent Wielding: (+30% 1-handed damage)
Ring of Major Wielding (+25% 1-handed damage)
Shield of Solitude (+30% Magicka Resistance, +35% blocking with shield).
Steel Plate Armor of the Knight (+15% Heavy Armor skill)
Steel Plate Boots of Shock Suppression (EXQUISITE) (+50% shock resistance)

He carries one weapon at a time usually, and since he's going to be facing vampires, he's got an Iron Sword of Flames (+5% Fire damage) which he's smithed up to the Exquisite level. +5% may not sound like much, but there should be some extra damage involved since he's dealing with vamps. Still, if he happens to find a more powerful fire sword before the Big Fight, he'll perhaps use that one instead.

I love this bit!

Acadian, you’re so right about Lil. The Nord tavern scene is not for her. In fact this has not been her most fun trip. When they get back to Aravi Manor Jerric is going to taking her camping, somewhere where the trees are green!

That crowd has NPCs added by Inconsequential NPCs and Expanded Towns and Cities: Dawnstar, plus the Redguard lady in the black robes is Blavatsky from SubRosa’s wonderful Nature Summoning mod. I almost caught a picture of Blavatsky standing on a bar stool rocking out, but she hopped down before I could move the camera! She must have gotten pushed up there by the folks behind her, but it looked like she was going to stage dive or something. It was awesome.

The dead guy was a Vigilant, but I’m mystified by his lack of gauntlets. Some time ago I had a mod issue that accidentally produced naked Vigilants, so I guess it could have been worse! It was a bit of an RP dilemma, because with the right gear or a hostile flame atronach nearby they would have recognized him as a Vigilant which would have produced a side-trip. As it was he just looked like a dead mage who also thought their shortcut was a good idea. His mace was on the ground on the other side of Jerric, you just can’t see it in this picture.

Renee, LHM must look very knightly in his steel plate with the Shield of Solitude. He has made quite an impact in his Skyrim, bringing and/or sending wayward souls to the Nine!


The Dawnstar-Morthal leg of this trip wrecked my nerves. Abiene fared a little better.


From Abiene’s Skyrim Journal

30 Evening Star, The Moorside Inn, Morthal, eleven bells of the evening watch

I speak little of the Nordic tongue and understand even less, but after today there is one word that I could translate without consulting a reference. “Hjaalmarch” can only mean “Big Spiders.”

We were set upon nearly every other step between Dawnstar and Morthal. Frostbite spiders, wolves fighting frostbite spiders and then turning on us, even frostbite spiders battling each other over a wrapped and desiccated corpse. They scuttled forth spitting venom from forest grove and Dwarven ruin, their spider feet making the most horrific…

But I am giving myself that creeping feeling all over again. I shall move on.

The trials of the day stretched our group’s composure until it was less than thin. Ulfe began to take exception to someone’s summoned familiar, whether it was Jerric’s or Lildereth’s I shall never know. Darnand’s prolonged contact with his summoned flame atronach made him peevish as well, and more than once an argument erupted among allies after the threats had been eliminated.

At the day’s lowest point I watched open-mouthed as Jerric charged away into the snowy forest uttering curses. I could not see what next transpired, and I dared not follow. A short time later he stalked back to where we stood on the road, his shield bristling with arrows.

Lildereth caught up to us a few moments after Jerric’s return. She said not a word, not even to ask him for her arrows back.

Upon arrival we found the city of Morthal rather dreary. Snow fell through a marsh fog, and the streets were quiet. The Moorside Inn was nearly empty, even through the dinner hour. Thankfully the bard declined to sing.

I did meet one interesting man at the Moorside. I was not surprised to learn that he needed some assistance. Unfortunately none of us could provide the aid he required. I was completely shocked when moments later he declared that I had warmed his heart and offered me an inappropriately generous gift. He gave me a book, an Amulet of Kynareth, and a potion! Though I am not in the habit of taking potions from strangers no matter how attractive they may be, I thanked him just the same.

Our exchange did not go unnoticed by some in our group. I thought it prudent to suggest a postprandial stroll to take the air, even though I had quite enough air walking around all day outside in it. I had a specific destination in mind. A building close by that I had noticed when we first explored the docks of Morthal.

Inside my dear friends spent a moment wondering at the steamy atmosphere and soothing music. Then our hostess appeared and welcomed us to the bathhouse. Good humor was restored to all, and we enjoyed several hours in the scented waters. The other patrons were so relaxed that none objected to Ulfe’s presence paddling through the pool. In my delight I had forgotten that she was still with us. Though to be fair, she is generally cleaner and sheds less than some Nords.

Eyepatch mod. Tell me where you got the eyepatch mod!




...

I just thing eyepatches are badass, m'kay.

That Khajiit is a guy I saw for the first time yesterday, but I have a pretty good idea where he came from. I’ll dig around and see if I can find where the mod author got the eyepatch.



EDIT: That was easier than expected. Here you go: Bandit Eyepatch. Pics please!!

That was cute, the part where it says the bard declined to sing. Master Baytor would agree.

Morthal is a dreadful place, I agree. The only settlement more dreadful in my opinion is Karthwasten, mostly because it's got all those depressed miners lurking around, and there's not even an inn to stay at if we're tired.

Eeep! A bit of friendly fire on the road. I suppose we should not be surprised, given the size of Jerric’s posse, including familiars and critters.

I can only imagine how good a steamy dreamy bath is after hjaalmarching through the snow and spiders all day!

Hey, are you saying about Ulfe, that if you added a few more hairs, you’d have a Nord?

Morthal has a bathouse? I am guessing that is from a mod, since the interior walls are the Whiterun style.

Nice to see Valdi in the Moorside Inn. Is she tagging along with the rest of the Scooby Gang now?

Lord Haaf-Mersey just spent the night at Ford Hraggstad (NW of Solitude, near the coast, kinda). For awhile he was trying to give Serana the vampire some consideration: he would try to travel at night, for instance, since she's always complaining about sunlight. But after spending so much time with him, her charms haven't been working on LHM quite as much. Now that they're on their way to Castle Volkihar, the Crusader from Cyrodiil has decided he won't travel by night anymore.

He has told her she is free to go several times, basically, but she always says "You're not getting rid of me that easily. I'm coming with you."

So fine. She can come with him, but from now on, he's traveling on his terms, not hers. But he has at least given Serana a special green mask to cover her face. This way her skin won't peel.

Hee! Renee, that's not one of the more flattering pictures I've seen of Serana. The mask certainly does nothing for her looks.

That is priceless! At least now she cannot complain about the sun being bad for her skin!

Yes, a small stroke of RPing brilliance.

And also, Harkon has been defeated! Lord Haaf-Mersey has destroyed him. That was epic! Now that he's gone, I already have this sort of feeling, like LHM's day is done. I probably won't be gaming with him much more, which is okay. I'm just glad he made it! ... It feels rather appropriate; it being the first day of the year and all that.

Congrats!

I know what you mean about a character's day being done. To me characters are stories, with a beginning, middle, and ending. Trying to play a character after their story has ended just feels empty, and forced. So when I get to that point, it is time for them to live happily ever after, ride off into the sunset, or spend the rest of their lives drinking mai-tais on the beach. That is why I have so many characters.

So true. I might have one final game where LHM rides his horse back to Proudspire Manor, and here he will retire. He's Thane of Falkreath Hold anyways, so he'll probably become some sort of guard or local mercenary. Who knows?

He didn't take an arrow in the knee did he!

Did he ever find his soulmate?

Have ye not been paying attention!? Motor-Mouth Mjoll!

Recently Ravos, my dunmer ranger, was exploring the south-western reach when he came across Arkingthamz. Having just picked up a new companion from the nearby orc stronghold (Ghorbash the Iron Hand) he decided to check it out. It wasn't quite what they expected...

Upon entering they were greeted by a strange voice, warning them too leave. In the spirit of all wise adventurers they decided to ignore the strange voice and delve further into the ruin. Soon they found the source of this voice: the ghost of a deceased treasure hunter named Katria. Turns out it holds some kind of rare treasure named "Aetherium".

Now with Katria bolstering their numbers Ravos and Ghorbash bravely continued their journey into the ruins, despite warnings of tremors and other dangers. No wonder you don't meet many old adventurers. Oh and in typical follower fashion, Ghorbash falls off a cliff into an area Ravos can't seem to reach without risking his life, rendering The Iron Hand useless. A few dead falmer and flying chaurus thingys later (Chaurus freak me out!) the Ravos and Katria arrive at a strange dwemer "tonal lock". As with all Skyrim puzzles it only took a little bit of looking about to figure out the code.

Now Ravos has an aetherium shard and a quest to find more. Whether or not he will go after these shards is yet to be seen, but the dungeon was goo fun anyway

Welcome to Chorrol, Vital! Ravos sounds fun. I know what you mean about companions - they can be a challenge sometimes.

That was one of the cooler dungeons in Skyrim. I loved the architecture, and all of the earth tremors. Did you take the long way out, or the shortcut?

I advise getting those other Aetherium Shards. The reward is pretty good.

Thanks Yeah they can be "interesting". Ghorbash was particularly bad for me. Found him outside the dungeon and then he died in a bandit raid not long after!


Yeah I found it quite fun, a bit different compared to most. It was the long way for me, unfortunately. I'm playing Dead is dead for this character and at level 33 you get quite connected, makes me into a nervy player.

Yes, charus can freak me out too. Welcome here Vital, you've made a wise choice in coming to Chorrol. From where do'st thou hail? (where are you from?)

I don't know how y'all do "dead is dead." I spend so much time making the character and putting thought and effort into what their motives are. I get attached easily.

I basically grew up playing this way with the tablegames of long ago. We didn't even call it dead is dead, if your character died, that was it. That was the rule. Only exception was if a high-level cleric was nearby, or a very expensive scroll or potion was used, and even then there was a chance of failure.

Yeah, true. Once the Save/checkpoint feature came into gameplay, I was happy, lol

Renee, congrats on LHM’s retirement! It’s great to have a character live past the end of his adventuring career. My orc the Bulsakh is in a similar situation. He’s settled with a family now and unlikely to take risks. I like to think of him going on the occasional bandit raid to stay sharp and keep the neighborhood safe, and I think by now he and his buddy The Slayer can handle it without me.

Welcome, Vital! I love that dungeon. And that’s where you find my favorite bow.

That Morthal bathhouse is from Expanded Towns and Cities. So is the Dragon Bridge bakery in today’s adventure. NPC Valdi tagged along for the rest of this trip, but she’ll be in residence at Lakeview Manor with the rest of the crew whenever I manage to get her there in various games. For now she’s only following Sir Magul while I work on her combat settings. I think Lil and Jerric will probably get the next adventure, but just the two of them. The whole Scooby Gang is a bit ridiculous to actually try to do much with.


From Abiene’s Skyrim Journal

1 Morning Star, the great city of Solitude, two bells of the morning watch

Rain found us on the road to Solitude, but thankfully an early start gave us ample time to stop and wait out the worst of the storm in Dragon Bridge. We entered the first establishment that was open for business in the south part of town. It was a bakery. We stood inside stunned for a few moments by the wonderful smells.

The baker was occupied at her cookpot, so we took our time getting warmed up while we examined her goods. I had the worst time making my selection. With so many tempting offerings, how is one supposed to choose?

Of course not all of us felt that pressure. Once the rest of us had picked out our treats, Jerric simply bought all that remained.

By the time we reached Solitude the rain had turned to snow. Here is a real city! Our first stop was the Winking Skeever just inside the main gate. We procured a room and began to unpack, but Jerric got into a fight before he even changed out of his armor! My Calm spell proved quite useless, and I had to revive the other man once Jerric had struck him down. Then in true Nord fashion they simply walked down to the bar without another word between them.

Our first stop of the afternoon (after shopping of course) was the Bard’s College. We imagined that the bards would throw the kind of Old Life Festival party that might provide material for them to later write about, but we found all quiet within. We paid a call at the Blue Palace next, which was boring but at least Jerric found something to look at.

After we finished at the Jarl’s court the Nords in our party took charge of the evening. Jerric and Valdi demanded food, drink, music, and I suspect they both wished for another fight though neither mentioned it. Valdi was not pleased with the Cyrodiil-style gown I had chosen for her, and she seemed determined to spoil it. That girl takes a punch more gracefully than a compliment.

So we dined and drank at the Winking Skeever and then welcomed the new year under snowy skies in the market district’s plaza.

Back in our chambers my new year began with tenderness, though no promises were made and few words spoken. We have decided to return to Whiterun rather than continuing on to Markarth in the morning. I should like to see the Temple of Dibella and perhaps worship there some day, but at this moment I could not possibly feel any disappointment.

I am certain that young Siobhan awaits her lover’s note, probably standing in the snow at the Whiterun gate where I first met her. I wonder if this year will see them reunited. I wonder what changes the year will bring to me.

I play Dead is "Its time to reload" But that comes from years of playing FPS games where it was normal to die dozens of times during just one day of playing. That also got me accustomed to constantly hitting the Quicksave key...

I have the alarming habit of dying all the time, so I'm in the same school as Subrosa. Otherwise my characters would probably last about an hour before I had to start a new one.

I enjoy dead is dead, but I can easily understand why other's don't. I too get connected to my characters, but I've yet to play a non DiD character in Skyrim. Ravos is the furthest I've gone with any character (does that sound wrong???? ) my average is lifetime is around level 13. Skyrim is a harsh place! But Ravos is basically a resurrection of the character I played in Morrowind and Oblivion, where he was not DiD, so it's tempting to just play dead is reload. Especially now he's deep into the MQ, which I've never done before.

One of the coolest roleplay quirks I have because I play DiD is to roleplay different character's approaches to death. My nord barbarians never runs even in danger (there's been lots of them), while Ravos might back up and take out his bow and Da'Strazaa the thief would bolt. It's just another way for me to breath life into my often short-lived characters.

Your adventures sound fun Grits! . Jerric could only be a Nord ! Luckily Abiene is a little more civilized . Solitude is a fun city, but the group should be careful on the road to whiterun. There's a cave along their that accounts for the end of many characters.

Oh and I'm English but recently moved (back) down under...

Grits - What a desktop-worthy shot ‘bakery’ is – the whole gang completely surrounding those two yummy looking pies. I had to chuckle over ‘choice’ – for its double meaning is deliciously clear. Nor is the innuendo of Jerric simply grabbing all that remained lost. What fabulous sets of finery they are wearing at the Bard’s College! I love Valdi’s pose: “Look at these, Breton!” This has been a delightful slice of holiday winter in Skyrim!

What difficulty do people play at that y'all keep dying over and over? Never mind, that's a good question for
an actual thread!



What? HOw did this happen?



I had one non-DiD in Skyrim, her name was (is) Claire Voyance. I roleplayed that Claire could see into the future (being clairvoyant), and therefore could constantly evade death. If she died in-game, I would RP this as an 'alternate reality' that she saw into, and then avoid.

Pretty tight, eh?

Thank you, Acadian! They all just lined up like that when they came into the bakery, I was grinning like crazy over it. My attempts to pose shots have been complete failures, as they would be with this crew. We had a good time over the holidays.

The fight was a piece of nuttiness delivered by Skyrim’s most annoying NPC “feature.”

On the way out of Morthal Lildereth and Darnand dragged them through the swamp gathering deathbell, giant lichen, and swamp fungal pods. Abiene has no use for these things and felt quite bitchy about it while they were out there, but she didn’t want to complain about it even in her own journal so it didn’t make it into her update. Also they got soaked in a rainstorm because they spent travel time fooling around in the swamp, but she didn’t bring up that sore subject either.

Anyway, when they got to the room at the Winking Skeever Abiene dropped a few flowers and fungi onto the table since Lildereth and Darnand would certainly make a mess in there fooling around with their new plants. Yes, I know they’re NPCs and that’s not part of sandbox behavior, but we pretend. You can see what she dropped on the table in this picture.

So unlike anything that might actually happen in any kind of world, Abiene’s dropping flowers caused Belrand to come upstairs from where he was parked down in the bar and announce that he was keeping it (whatever his AI sensed, it could only have been an alchemy ingredient). Cue NPC Jerric whose aggression is set to Maniac replying with “Like hell you are, that’s mine” or whatever the MaleBrute voice set says in these situations. Draw steel, fight to the death. Over a plant.

Here’s a picture of the aftermath from my Extras folder. You can see Darnand’s flame atronach and Abiene saying “What. The. HECK.” (She does not swear. Not ever.) I guess Darnand got involved when Abiene started throwing Calm spells around. Thankfully Abiene is a powerful healer and an excellent liar, so we quickly “revived” Belrand with the console. No one was any the wiser and NPC Jerric really did stroll away with him once Belrand was on his feet again. Probably because all of the seats in the room were taken, but it was funny just the same.

Oh, the guy in the Legion armor in the first picture is probably from Inconsequential NPCs, and I’m sure he just came upstairs to get a seat, too. He did not participate in the fight.

After Arkingthamz and the loss of Ghorbash in a fight with some bandits, Ravos decided to head back to Lakeview manor, via Falkreath. The trip there was uneventful, but after selling his loot and storing the rest at Lakeview manor, Ravos couldn't resist the urge for more adventure.

Luckily such adventure was practically on his doorstep, in the form of the Shriekwind ruins. Fully stocked on potions, weapons recharged and armor upgraded, Ravos headed into the Northern entrance. The dungeon was inhabited by some skeletons and a few vampires, which he dispatched of with ease. However a fight with the local master vampire provided more challenge. Ravos ended the fight by trapping the vampire in it's own firetrap. The dungeon yielded little loot though, the only real benefit being the word wall.

While in town selling the limited loot from Shriekwind ruins, Ravos decided to further advance in the MQ with another trip to the greybeards, this time to ask about a "dragonrend" shout. Setting out from Falkreath, Ravos found himself nearing Ivarstead when he remembered a bounty on a nearby dragon. Keen for more adventure after the disappointing yield of Shriekwind, Ravos decided to make his way up the hill overlooking the Rift Imperial Camp to what he assumed was the location of the dragon.

When he reached the top of the mountain/hill he was surprised to find he was not at Autumnwatch tower, but instead a nordic temple under the name of Arcwind Depths. Still it was not to disappoint. Out of the mountains came an elder dragon, who proceeded to battle with a draugr deathlord and his army of skeletons. After a lengthy and exciting battle, Ravos finally slew the dragon absorbing its soul and taking its bones. He found himself a word wall as well. But not without having to slay two snow bears, which proved almost as challenging as the dragon. Heading down the hill, sense of adventure satisfied, Ravos came across his initial destination. Autumnwatch Tower, where two dragons resided.

With the (unintentional) assistance of a band of necromancers, a pack of wolves, three cave bears and the full garrsion of the Rift Imperial Camp, Ravos dispatched of both frost dragons and gathered his loot and learnt a new shout from the word wall. Three dragon souls richer and his pack heavy from their bones, Ravos decided to head back to Lakeview, the greybeards could wait. On his way though he did discover a strange dwarven mechanisim with an arrow. It seemed to interact with his Aetherium shard, maybe he would be finding the rest of those.

That master vampire in Shriekwind can be a tough customer if you are a low level character. That might be why they put that fire trap there. Several of my characters have had to use it against him too. Good to hear Ravos made it out alive. Shriekwind is also a great place to get shoes! There is a little closet on the way in that has almost every form of footwear in the game.

The fire trap was definitely a lifesaver, being a dunmer with the atronach stone Ravos could pretty much withstand the damage from it. So while the vampire was burning, he was slashing him with a fire enchanted sword, ancestor power on and the trap to help.

I found all the shoes too. Up until now Ravos pretty much only wore two pairs of shoes, now he's spoilt for choice!

I am loving reading about Ravos's adventures, Vital. Don't you find that writing about your adventures enhances the roleplay, too? I used to write a lot about my characters last year for this very reason.

One question though, how did Ravos manage to do this?

Thankyou I'm really enjoying writing his adventures and it has definitely enhanced roleplay.

With the vampire, in the hall leading towards his room there is a lever that you have to pull to open the gate to get to him. It also sets off a constant spray of fire in the hallway, which isn't really a problem for Ravos having 50% resistance and the atronach stone. I just lured the vampire into the trap and let him take damage from the flames as well as from me.

OH okay I think I know the area you are talking about. Yea, I love getting enemies stuck in their own traps!

Vital, Ravos sounds like tremendous fun. Trapping the vampire in his own fire, awesome!

Lildereth and Jerric are packed and ready for their trip to the forest. They’re mostly bringing butter and salt for cooking their catches plus plenty of mead and ale for pickling the Nord. We’re in Lil’s game and she is extremely quest-averse so I expect they’ll just explore. Probably in Falkreath Hold since that’s the direction they’re headed. They brought their furs, though, just in case. When they see mountains Jerric tends to walk up them to see what’s on the other side. They might end up in Chorrol for all I know.

The new version of A Matter of Time has added some fun. In my Jerric’s world games it’s the same day for all of them no matter what the game calendar says, and we follow our world’s time. And it’s early Fourth Era, not 201+. Now for those games I can show the real-world date in Tamriel terms without the year displayed in my clock widget. It’s a great little link between characters.

Lil has a new top I see! Where did that one come from? I recognize the brown TG boots though. It looks like Jerric is trying to peek down her top from behind!

Thanks, Grits! Lildereth and Jerric sound prepared for plenty of adventure. I love just taking my characters out into the world without any real plans and just getting sidetracked.

Today Ravos travelled from Lakeview to Ivarstead and made the ascent up High Hrothgar. The journey was relatively unremarkable aside from the odd snow bear or frost troll. At this point Ravos is (I am) beginning to get fed up of constantly fighting dragons, as it seems they become more frequent as you progress further into the MQ. Does they stop after the MQ is complete? Before this game I hadn't even been to Dragonsreach, so its the first and probably only time I will have dragons in my game. There's the odd interesting encounter, but most are just a nuisance, especially when you already have about 20 spare souls.


When he arrived at the monastery, Ravos was straight Arngeir, inquiring about a shout known as dragonrend. Apparently it is incredibly powerful against dragons and could be used to defeat Alduin, however the greybeards don't know it and refuse to teach it. Instead they reluctantly granted him the opportunity to speak to their leader, Paarthunax, who resides at the very top of the mountain. Gifting him one last shout, which would clear the skies on the way to the top.


When he arrived he was slightly surprised to discover the greybeard's leader was an ancient dragon. He (I) had sort of expected this, Paarthunaax is a very draconic name and not many people could reside atop the throat of the world for any extended period of time. Still it was a a nice addition and Paarthunax was a good character, for the typical wise and ancient dragon. Even if he does babble on a bit. Anyway, the dragon has sent Ravos to fetch an elder scroll so he can mend a time wound and observe how the ancient nords defeated Alduin and learn their shout. Sounds simple enough...


On a side note, I'm a bit annoyed about this elder scroll quest. Arngier pointed Ravos towards the CoW, probably a wise suggestion, but Ravos can't stand most mages. After a bit of research I discovered you actually have to join as a student to talk to the mages, which I really don't want. I understand why the College is a little more private than the Arcane University in Ob, but surely they could at least let the dragonborn onto the grounds just once. Oh well, I won't be doing the quest for a while anyway, as I seem to progress about 10 minutes into the main quest every 10 hours, so I'll have plenty of time to think of an rp reason to avoid the college.

The way it is impossible to even talk to anyone at the college really annoys me too. You can actually sneak into it through the back door to the Midden (it is out on the iceberg/island in the sea of ghosts that the college itself sits on. It takes some acrobatic jumping to get up there, but it is possible. However, the moment you step on the college grounds you are still automatically enrolled in the college.

Lol, peeking down her top is probably the most innocent thing on his mind. He cannot WAIT to get her somewhere warm. That’s the Hunters Armor from Immersive Armors. It has dead bunnies hanging from the back of the belt, so it’s not for everyone. She’s wearing a mail left sleeve from some other mod under it. (That’s her blocking arm.)

I’ve found that I see dragons a lot more frequently in Jensa’s PC game than on PS3 or Xbox. I know there’s a way to set how frequently you get random dragons, I just haven’t looked it up. Now I see why people sometimes say they’re bothersome. Never understood that before.

Vital, give it a try at the CoW. You do end up as a student which is annoying, but I found the procedure as Dragonborn to be pretty gratifying.

I agree, I just feel so forced into it. It's the way I've felt the whole way through the MQ. It's a decent enough story with fun missions, but it's very rushed and as soon as you've been to Dragonsreach you feel forced into everything you do.



I can't travel any reasonable distance without at least one dragon encounter, and so often when there's one there's more. One of the main reasons I did the MQ is because I wanted to unlock shouting and play all the missions. I don't mind dragon fights, but there's way too many.

Guess I'll have to head to the College. It'll be alright, it's more the principle of having to join every guild and break rp, more than actually having to join to finish the quest. I'll never go there again anyway.

I have two characters presently engaged in the MQ. Both have taken Arngeir’s caution that they focus on their learning to heart. That means asking for Words of Power quests and following up on mysterious notes when they receive them, plus it doesn’t take a scholar to guess there might be a Word Wall in old tombs and ruins. Also Delphine sounds a little too frantic to be sane. Thankfully they both put her tasks aside in favor of their own without really worrying about it. I mean, who made her the boss of them?

Lil ran into a familiar face while stocking up at Dead Man’s Drink. She thought she saw Darnand, but it turned out to be someone else entirely.

Sam: Say, you look like you can hold your—

Lil: OH HELLS NO. I just went through this with the Nord, for Petr’s sake. Forget it!

Jerric: Hey there, ‘Sam.’ How’s it hang—

Lil: *disappears*

Jerric: Catch you later, man. *fist bump* Thanks for the staff.

Ravos is definitely following the greybeards rather than the blades. One of my main goals for this playthrough was to unlock as many shouts as possible, which means plenty of dungeon delving. Also, being a dunmer ranger he follows Kyne/Kynareth, as well as respecting the reclamations, which makes the Greybeard's teachings relevant to him. He respects Esbern but Delphine is too worried about her own personal vendetta with the thalmor for Ravos' liking.

Lil made the right choice regarding Sam's contest, never trust a daedric lord, especially when his sphere is debauchery!

I really enjoy the big tombs. Jensa went through one recently where she helped a ghost. It was neat. Now that she's on a PC I will not hesitate to open faction quest-locked dungeons if it's possible.


One thing about Falkreath Hold, it tends to be very overcast and grey. Lildereth and Jerric wandered around until they found an excellent place to camp next to a waterfall and pool. But this is Skyrim. So first they had to haul off a dead body that was floating around in the pool, and while they were doing that a fugitive ran up to Lil with some stolen goods and a threat. Meanwhile Jerric yelled something and charged off to fight three roaming bandits.

Sigh.

But once they got the locals slaughtered, it was a lovely night.