Oh, Valdi. . . you got it bad. . . .

Yes, I wish her the best with Erik the HoePusher.

That's exactly what happened. How did you know this?

Love this paragraph!
--
The horn of Jurgen Windcaller was taken from its owner’s resting place before us by the innkeeper of the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood. Delphine, that’s her name, wanted to talk to my Thane alone but my Thane didn’t allow it and made me joyful by saying that “my housecarl is always at my side”. Delphine had no choice so we had a short conversation about dragons returning. Whether it was because of my presence or not, Delphine didn’t reveal her motives for her interest in my Thane, instead insisted to go with her to Kynesgrove where my Thane is supposed to “prove”? to her that he is indeed the Dragonborn. My Thane agreed and Delphine wanted to depart immediately but my Thane told her that we will meet her in Kynesgrove in a day. She didn’t like his decision but I certainly did, we walked a long way this day and we needed rest.
The following morning, that is today, we rented a carriage passing through Riverwood, and now we’re traveling to Windhelm from where we’ll continue to Kynesgrove. The carriage rider wanted to chat with us but my Thane is quiet today, no doubt absorbed in his thoughts about the mysterious events that happen to him - to us.

Lydia, on a carriage,

2nd of Frostfall 4€201

So as this carriage is travelling, it travels in real time, right? Do all the random assaults (Thalmor, vampires, etc.) still happen?

It travels in real time but assaults don't happen, they're disabled while you're traveling because you don't have control over your character while sitting on a carriage.

Lopov - Nice update from Lydia. Glad her Thane insisted that she be brought in to Delphine's scheming. The carriage mod sounds very nice. I should imagine it to be very handy for horseless adventurers - but free of the headaches of owning and maintaining a horse. Mara knows how much Buffy's world revolves around her horse!

*

Buffy looked into rumors of someone restarting a gang of vampire hunters at the old Fort Dawnguard. Well, turns out to be true and, for quite some time to come it seems, Buffy now has her very own pet vampire called Serana. During most of the Dawnguard questline, the player is unable to free themselves of Serana via wait/dismiss so it is a notable commitment for the little elf who generally prefers only four legged companions who can be instantly summoned and unsummoned.

Serana is a good sneaker, but absolutely no follower can really keep up with Buffy's favored stealthy dungeon tactics revolving largely around using illusion spells to start fights then fading away. The constant in/out of combat is too much for any follower AI to keep up with, so they typically commit into the fray - forcing Buffy to reveal herself as well to keep the follower alive. Oh well. Simple sniping works well also and Serana does provide some nice back up when Buffy starts sniping into a crowd.

And thanks to Convenient Horses, Serana rides a fire (not blue) version of an Arvak-like summonable horse and wields a flaming blade from the saddle. Very neat!

Good to read about Buffy traveling in a company for a change, even if it means undead. I hope we see some screenies or girls and their horses.

About the carriage mod...yes, it's a nice addition for someone like Lucius who doesn't own a horse. He still prefers to travel by foot and only uses carriages when it's important to get somewhere fast. The good thing about the mod is that you can talk to a carriage driver anytime and:

-change destination but it has to be a nearby town/village,
-exit a carriage anywhere,
-ask a driver to hurry so he travels even faster

OH wow, we can ask the carriage driver to move faster? Neat! I'm getting that mod for sure. nom nom..



Ha ha I remember this! Yeah I can see Buffy getting frustrated by having such a loquacious vampire around, given Buffy's past exploits against vamps. I had to RP that bit heavily with Lord Haaf-Mersey, because he was NOT wanting to have Serana join him, no matter how civilized she seemed.

But over time, he softened to her. At first she had to hypnotize him (to get out of Dimhollow, for instance), but after awhile she explained her side of things. She said: "Hey you spend all this time ridding the world of baddies, and it's okay for you to raid a bandit camp, so why is it not okay for me to feed from bandits?" That's how I RP'd it anyway--she never fed from ordinary citizens, only outlaws. *shrugs*

Another RP bit is my crusader really wanted to rid the world of Skyrim from vampires and vampire attacks, so what better person to consult from than an actual vampire?

Actually Serana never drinks blood at all. Ever.

It's not like she's a vampire or anything... (yes, this is me rolling my eyes at Bethesda )

Luckily mods? fix this too.

Oooh, NPC Vamps can feed? Nice!



I also blame the new vampire culture that's going on in the media for this. Twilight especially.

No arguments with that. I recently watched the Underworld movies again, and like Serana, the lead character Selene never feeds off humans. The same is true of almost every other vamp in the films too. We do see the big bad guy Viktor killing a family in a flashback, and at first we are told that it was because he could not help but to gorge himself. But later we find that he killed them because they knew too much, and had to silenced. Other than that, we don't see vampires ever killing people. At least not until the final movie, where humans have found out about vampires and have started a new Inquisition to hunt down and kill them all. So there it is just self-defense.

What I realized about the Underworld franchise is that they are not horror movies. They are super-hero movies. Vampires and werewolves are how they explain people having superhuman powers. All that stuff about having to kill people to survive is just excess baggage when all you really care about is seeing super-powered heroes and villains slugging it out.

I have studiously avoided the teen soft-core vampire porn like Twilight and True Blood. But I imagine that they have much the same reasons. They want ham-fisted 'romance', and it is probably difficult to make young girls sigh over mass murderers who butcher people like cattle.

In the case of Serana specifically though, I think the problem is that Bethesda made the DG questline so you could play as either side, and it forced Serana on you either way. So she has to appeal to the Mr. Goody Two-Shoes like Lord HM, and to the Doctor Evil types. But how do you shoe-horn someone into both categories? The first time I tried playing the DG questline it was with Revansch, who was back from the grave for vengeance after she and her wife were tortured and murdered by vampires. Yes, I know James O'Barr is suing me for stealing the plot to the Crow... Once she met Serana, there was just no way she could let her live. Serana is a vampire, and Revansch's only purpose for existing was to kill vampires. I literally had to stop playing the character.

So because Serana is forced upon you, joining the Dawnguard really does not work if you are a hard-core vampire hunter. Quite the irony. But I found that it works just fine with other characters who are not dyed in the wool with hatred of vamps. For example, Serana was a wonderful companion for Persephone, who is undead herself. In fact, Serana is the nearest thing to a friend that Persephone has outside of her summoned Draugr Darryl. The problem with making friends with the living, is watching them eventually die. Serana and Darryl are eternal, like Persephone is herself.

I’m sure that the adults in Valdi’s life would like to shake some sense into her. Luckily for the peace of the household she does her moping in private.

Lopov, I love that Lucius told Delphine that Lydia would stay with him. He doesn’t talk much, but when he does it’s awesome.

Acadian, taking Serana on as a companion is indeed a big commitment! Best wishes to Buffy the pint-sized knight as she helps out the Dawnguard. That flaming horse has been a point of discussion between Valdi and Serana. Valdi recently hit the horse with one of her Sun Fire spells during a roadside vampire attack. Ouch.

SubRosa, I had forgotten or hadn’t realized that’s what ended Revansch’s game. I do remember her very grim origin story, though.

I find it interesting to see how different characters perceive Serana since the game presents her the same way to both sides. My filthy, blood-soaked, vampire-hating werewolf Mikke was considerably softened by her. Valdi is awed by Serana’s age and experience but realizes that she’s being manipulated. Captain Zanimal sees her as a young pup who was locked away before she could learn what it is to be a vampire. And of course Dame Serafíne found her to be at best an annoying necessity in infiltrating the Volkihar, and in Serafíne’s lowest moments Serana was a revolting reminder of what she herself had become.

Oh, Jerric and Lil just picked Kip up at Katla’s Farm, crossed the frozen marsh, and searched an empty tomb. It’s almost as if some adventurers had been there right before them.


Edit: Found the pic I was looking for.

Or maybe this will?

SubRosa: yeah, kids these days. I at least have taught my daughter the difference between real vampires and soft-core new-age ones. She'll be able to carry the torch when she's my age, and the world is full of folks going 'ewww, why did ppl usedta think vamps shuld drink blud?' before firing up Elder Scrolls XIV: Crenshaw Blvd. on their Microsoft Hollowdecks.

ES XIV will be so dumbed-down that damage will be a thing of the past. So will stat bars, and even perks. In Elder Scrolls XIV: Crenshaw Blvd., it will be one gigantic Godd Mode. The Elder Scrolls universe we know (all that boring lore and messy, complicated perks) will be a thing of the past. All the players of the future will have to do is step inside their Hollowdeck and wave their arms around. This will safely give them the feeling of euphoria and EradiKation (not death....EradiKation...death is also a word from the past) as they GM all the BBPs (Godd Mode all the Bad Boulevard People) they encounter. Yah, like who needs to go to that uh.... Tamreal place when we can just do some ragin on Crenshaw Blvd? Gamers usedta be such nerds!

Sheesh. Where am I? Oh good. Phew, it's 2014.



Great! I needed an ESV update after seeing into the future. I love it when 'adventures are right before me'. I sometimes purposely save/quit right before entering such a place, just so I have something really cool to look forward to.

Lord Haaf-Mersey is in Volskyyge; he got to that room in which the puzzle with the fox, snake, bear, and wolf appears. and that's as far as he'll get, methinks. I managed to figure this one in the past with my second character (Thor a'Zaene) who got killed long ago by a draugr death lord in this very lair, but last night LHM could not get this done. It's okay. I'm looking forward to my first PC character anyways.

EDIT: and what's going on in that pic, Gritsy, hmm?

Grits: I told you Erik preferred sausage to fish! Valdi is not the first woman to be smitten by a hot gay man. It is always what we cannot have, that we want most.

Renee: I am rolling over the fact that you taught your daughter about real vampires! Not something like the birds and the bees, but vampires!

Lol. Sandboxing NPCs provide some of my favorite game moments. Though it looks like Darnand managed to marry The Slayer, that bed became unowned when the family bedroom wing was built. In the picture they are both NPCs who chose to share the bed.

Renee, I’m so tickled that you’re getting your Skyrim PC game set up!!

SubRosa, exactly! And longing for someone who is unobtainable is in a way safe. Valdi does not have a healthy history with men, and she was as worried about what would happen if he liked her as upset that he didn’t. (Like some RL teens that I know.) I think deep down she knows she can’t have him. Also I need to show that picture to Jensa! It would ease her mind about her own Slayer fail!


After an overnight in Whiterun, Jerric and Lildereth went to Riverwood to see about a stolen horn. Jerric had an idea about who “A Friend” might be. Delphine did not fool him with her hood when she tried to play mysterious that day at Dragonsreach, and while Jerric is not a student of architecture he has spent enough time on his back in the Sleeping Giant to know that there is no attic room. When they got there he gave Embry some mead and then asked Lildereth to stay outside with the horses since he had an idea that the day might end in a dungeon.

I should point out that Jerric is not a bully, and while he loves a good fight he does not beat up defenseless people of any race or gender including Breton women. However no one who could make their way through Ustengrav to get that horn could be considered in any way defenseless. So when Delphine admitted that she had been jerking him around and then proposed to jerk him around some more, Jerric gave her a few of the smacks that she had so thoroughly earned.

By the way, Delphine pulled a dagger on him and used healing spells throughout their tussle. Jerric accused her of fighting like a Breton. Here is a picture of Jerric’s expression while he was punching her. I’d say he looks pretty happy. That fine was the best 40 Septims spent ever.

After Jerric patched things up with the Whiterun Guard and Orgnar, he and Lil went on the cold ride to return Jorgen’s horn. To Jorgen. It took some console magic but now that horn is resting on its stand in Ustengrav. Jerric and Lil are camping tonight by the waterfall.

Getting pissed off at Delphine provided the clarity that Jerric needed. Jerric has had the honor of serving two Dragonborn Septims. He is not going to allow that title to casually be granted to him. Not by some paranoid innkeeper, and not by some bunch of Nords no matter how grey their beards. Like his Knight Sisters and Knight Brothers in Cyrodiil and all over Tamriel Jerric will get on with things until the next Dragonborn rises.

(Whew!)

(Also I am relieved that Delphine’s dialog didn’t require too much mental mangling to make it work in Jerric’s early 4th Era world. She just sounded like some kind of nut and didn’t mention the Blades at all.)

Yay for Jerric unloading on Delphine a bit for screwing around with her silly games!

And a brilliant outcome to Jurgy's horn.

Absent any further console magic, having Delphine's quest perpetually open means dragons will now only spawn (and respawn) on dragon walls - and generally stay close to them. I call that 'Dragons Lite' and find it my preferred solution.

I remember that this riddle puzzled me in Corcaigh's game. It was the only situation in Skyrim where I was literally stuck. I haven't figured it out but then Corcaigh, furious because he didn't know how to solve the riddle, just started randomly "playing" with the levers and the door somehow opened. Even today, I don't know how to actually solve it, maybe Lucius will stumble upon it some day, then I'll give it some more thought.

@Grits - I love Jerric's "approach" to Delphine, I hoped he punched her good. And I assume he won't continue his Dragonborn career.

@Acadian - I didn't know that dragons don't spawn when Delphine's quest is active, interesting.

I am sure Jerric is not the first character to introduce their fists to Delphine's face! Though I think it usually happens later in the main quest, when she starts making demands.

We’re in Windhelm, the cold an unfriendly city of Stormcloaks. It has been a stressful day. In Kynesgrove we witnessed a resurrection of a long-dead dragon by another dragon that my Thane remembered from Helgen. The resurrected dragon whose name was Sahlkonir or Sahloknir, turned out to be a very challenging foe and my Thane, Delphine and I had difficulties bringing the beast down. Nonetheless, with its “death” my Thane absorbed its soul which was enough for secretive Delphine to believe my Thane about his dragonborn heritage.

She revealed herself to be a member of the Blades and we arranged a meeting in Riverwood in two weeks. I don't know much about the Blades except that they were supposed to guard Emperors of Cyrodiil centuries ago so it would be wise if I read some books about them. Delphine said she’ll investigate further into the matter of dragons returning, while we bring the horn the horn of Jurgen Windcaller back to the Greybeards.

For the first time since we’ve been traveling together, my Thane began to tell me a story of his arrival to Skyrim which was not willingly, as I assumed. No, my Thane used to be a commander in the Imperial Legion and was meant to be executed for disobeying orders yet his life was saved by the same black dragon who resurrected Salloknir and whose name was Alduin or Lord Alduin as Salloknir called him. Unfortunately he didn’t finish his story because we spotted not one but two dragons in the distance! One was flying over the geyser field in Eastmarch and the other one was seen west of Windhelm. From an occasional dragon attack here and there, it seems they’re now spread all over Skyrim. Battling one dragon was enough for today so we headed to Windhelm, but neither of us feel comfortable here so we’re leaving after breakfast and are heading to High Hrothgar. Without question we will fight dragons on our journey there.

Lydia, Candlehearth Hall,

3rd of Frostfall 4€201

Oh yeah, she's heard me rant about this a few times. I grew up on Anne Rice and traditional vampire lore. Even cheezy Hollywood vampire movies like Fright Night and Lost Boys are more proper to me than anything I've seen lately.

Lovely story there, Lopov. And it sounds like you have a lot of dragons in your game! I am going to be such a wimp compared to you.

And what a crazy fight there between Jerric and Delphine! What the heck? I guess that is some sort of quest I've not done yet, or am not remembering.

Lopov - I'm enjoying the adventures of Lydia and her Thane and hope they continue with the Main Quest.

Lopov, what a day for dragons! It’s neat that Thane Lucius is opening up and sharing a little of his past with Lydia. And you’re right, Jerric is through with the Main Quest. We’re going with Acadian’s “Dragons Lite” so that they’re in the game but not the main focus. So it’s up to Lucius to stop Alduin!

Renee, the crazy Delphine fight was just Jerric. I’ve had other characters who didn’t like her, but he’s the first one of mine to punch her enough times for her to turn hostile and fight back. I wasn’t exactly sure what would happen other than the inevitable (and familiar) trip to Dragonsreach with the guards. I was surprised that Delphine didn’t summon a Familiar and go spellsword on him with Flames in one hand. She didn’t even grab up one of the swords that was lying around, just whipped out an Elven dagger. That was another chuckle for me. An Elven dagger? Maybe she picked it up from one of the Thalmor who tried to assassinate her. Oh, also Orgnar came downstairs to defend his boss. Thankfully the guards showed up right afterward. Orgnar had an iron mace and Jerric had no beef with Orgnar.

Today is the four year anniversary of Jerric’s Story. He wants to celebrate in a tavern that has a female bard. I can’t think of one, but he remembers that there’s a skanky chick in Falkreath so he and Lildereth are heading in that direction. Lil has no objection, which means she either remembers something that he (and I) have forgotten or she is otherwise up to something. I’m going to park them at Dead Man’s Drink and do some writing.

Hooray for skanky chicks in bars! Erm, I mean for the four year anniversary!

The Stumbling Sabrecat had a skanky chick, last time I went there, but she was armed with a warhammer and hostile.

Though maybe that's the kind Jerric's looking for?

Still, if he's looking for one that sings, avoid Morthal.

Oh my gosh, Grits. Female bard = Lisette at the Winking Skeever in Solitude. Gorgeous, friendly, sings beautifully. . . what's not to love?

Sweet! I always forget my character's birthdays, even though I've got the dates all written down. I need to put reminders in my cell phone or something.



Might I recommend the tavern in Dawnstar next time? That chick's even skankier! Just kidding. I think she's the one who sings like Bette Middler though.

I use Timing is everything so I can adjust their spawning to my liking. A chance for a random dragon appearing is set to 50% for now so they don't always spawn. As they progress through the MQ, I'll increase the chance.

They will definitely continue the MQ but they won't rush through it either. Plenty of things to do in Skyrim.

Congratulations to Jerric! And I think that the bard from Falkreath is a perfect company to celebrate.

--

After days of adventuring in Eastmarch and Rift we're now back in my hometown. As I'm writing this, we're at the Bannered Mare and my Thane is already sleeping. But I feel really happy for this is our last night in the inn. Earlier today my Thane purchased Breezehome from Proventus and because he's a wealthy man, he can afford to have the entire house cleaned, polished and furnished by tomorrow! Although it is a Nordic tradition that housecarls live together with their superiors, my Thane who's probably not aware of this custom, asked me to move in, not only as a housecarl, but as a friend. Of course I accepted immediately. The last month has been the most interesting month in my life and my Thane does not regard me merely as someone to fight by his side, but also as an advisor and supporter. I'd write more but some things are better not written down in case my Thane ever reads my diary by accident. I'll pray to Mara instead.

Lydia, the Bannered Mare,

12th of Frostfall 4€201

Lydia gushes forth in her journal! .. I'm glad to see he bought Breezehome, he'll need some sort of place to put all his things.

Lord Haaf-Mersey got about halfway through Volskyyge last I saw, but I'm really getting impatient for Skyrim on PC so he might wind up waiting for me in there for awhile.

The main reason for buying Breezehome was indeed to have a place to store his loot. With time he collected quite some interesting books and it'd be a shame to lose them, two unique dragon priest masks, a semi-rare dragon priest dagger and some other goodies. The secondary reason is to avoid paying a high price for lodging at the Bannered Mare.

Lopov - What a touching journal entry from Lydia. Her nesting instincts are definitely coming through between her lines, even as she tries to be coy about it. And it speaks well of Lucius that he wants his housecarl in his. . . well, house.


Buffy's exploring Forgotten Vale (Dawnguard), and probably going in circles. The vampire trailing along with her doesn't know where she's going, Buffy's clairvoyance spell is of limited help and the map is about as useless here as it is in The Blackreach.

Forgotten Vale is an awesome place but Corcaigh had problems navigating it too. I remember that he missed one of Auriel's shrines and it took us a lot of time to find it. Caves in the Vale can be confusing at times too, particularly if playing with a mod that makes them darker.

My first few times in the Vale were very confusing too. The snowy weather makes it worse, because it is harder to see. But after I modded the weather in my game to be nicer most of the time, I found it a lot easier to get around Forgotten Vale. Or maybe by then I had finally figured out where things were. The only parts that still sometimes confuse me now are where some of the multiple Falmer caves go in and out to. Which is made more difficult by there being some secret passages that take you back to where you started in some cases. The UESP Wiki has a good map, though it can be a little difficult to read.

I don’t like Delphine and neither does my Thane and this is good. But as he says, she’s our only chance to find more about dragons returning. Greybeards may serve as tutors to my Thane yet their knowledge doesn’t help us in investigating dragons. Right now we’re at the Honningbrew Meadery, on our way to Riverwood to meet Delphine. I’ll write more soon.

Delphine told us that Thalmor host a party for important people of Skyrim close to the New Year, and this year the party will be held on the 24th of Evening Star. She can get my Thane to the party, so he’ll be able to find out if Thalmor have actually anything to do with dragons. This is currently our only clue and we will follow it. It is more than two months until the party but I’m looking forward to adventuring with my Thane until then. I am glad we left Delphine behind, I was afraid that she will insist on travelling with us. I doubt that my Thane would allow this. I’ll write more in the evening.

My Thane and I are in Bleak Falls Barrow. We have made a plan for the next few days – first we will drive bandits out of the barrow and put Draugr back to sleep, then we will head to Ilinalta’s Deep to make sure that necromancers no longer inhabit it. From there we shall pass through mountains via the Brittleshin pass and head on to Redoran’s Retreat, where bandits with some cruel chief in charge are rumored to harass citizens. We predict that we will need a pause in Whiterun afterwards and then we will…

“Have you ever been in Bleak Falls Barrow before, Lydia?”

“No…no, my Thane,” said Lydia and stopped writing. “I have been living in its shadow my entire life but I was never actually inside it. Until today, that is.”

“Mhm. I’ve been here before. Once. On a behalf of Valerius, the merchant from Riverwood.”

“You were asked to retrieve the golden claw, were you not?”

“Yes…supposedly it was stolen from him by a Dunmer thief...”

As it often happened in conversation, Lucius silenced for a second, like he’s remembering the past events.

“A Dunmer thief?” slowly asked Lydia, curious to find out more.

“What? Ah yes, the Dunmer thief. Arvel, that was his name. He was caught in a spider web when I met him, and when I freed him, he ran deeper into the barrow and was caught and killed by Draugr. Valerius was right, I found the claw in his satchel and wanted to head back to Riverwood but some bandit closed one of the doors behind me and I couldn’t open it from my side. So I had no choice but to venture deeper into the barrow myself.”

“That was how you found the first word wall?”

“Indeed but back then I didn’t know what happened when I absorbed the word. Learned it, actually. It was unexplainable and was causing me a headache. Now I know better. To focus, is of the essence.”

“Will we explore the barrow tomorrow?”

“Yes, we will. I think we have dealt with bandits. But Draugr have probably awakened again and it’s better if we put them back to sleep. They used to serve dragons in the past and with their masters back it’s better to make sure that they will serve them no longer. I know that with time some ancient magic will revive them again, put them nicely back in their resting places and coffins, but at least we can clear the barrow for some time. And make sure they don’t venture outside. And now – let’s eat.”

…proceed north to Ustengrav to seal it. My Thane wants to make sure that the tomb of Jurgen Windcaller will not be desecrated by bandits or warlocks. Tonight we’re sleeping in the barrow, next to a campfire in the entry hall. Thanks to the fire it’s warm and as my Thane says, it seems that we have dealt with bandits, and Draugr are located behind the lever-controlled door, so we shouldn’t expect troubles during the night.

Lydia, Bleak Falls Barrow,

15th of Frostfall 4€201

Good to know that Buffy's not alone in having difficulty navigating in Forgotten Vale. I've been helping her for some time now with the same map that SubRosa linked to. Buffy's mostly been using the 'robotic vacuum' method of navigating - go in a random direction until you bump into something, then spin around and head off in a different direction. She is able to augment that some with detect life and clairvoyance.

It's taken her quite some time to get used to Serana resurrecting their foes, and Buffy's gotten quite good now at spotting the necromantic glow on the 'ally' ones.

Overall, Serana's a liability to Buffy. Although Serana's normal stealth is pretty good, she'll break cover and charge in when Buffy prompts distant foes into a fight via illusion spells - so that primary 'Buffy' tactic is not useful with Serana along. On the other hand, Serana is quick to take on the heat from attacking foes, allowing Buffy to keep shooting.


Lopov - Nice to see you integrating Lucius more directly (via dialogue with Lydia) into his housecarl's tale. They have a busy agenda - places to see, draugr and Thalmor to destroy.

Lopov, what a heartwarming diary entry where Lydia says she will pray to Mara.

Acadian, good luck to Buffy in the Vale! Valdi is a fair distance behind, about to enter Darkfall Cave.

I love when Lucius interrupts Lydia as she writes, and so the story also gets interrupted! Those two have quite a chemistry, it seems.

LOL @ 'robotic vacuum' comment. Yeah I know what you mean about followers ruining stealth moments.

It's a shame there are no voice commands on PC (unless they are modded in). Not that any of you will care, but one of the coolest things about Xbox is I am able to say "Ally Wait" if I want Serana (or any follower) to wait. Then it is possible to call her into battle as the battle is happening by saying Ally Follow. It happens in real-time, so it's like the best of both worlds. It's going to be hard to go back to physically finding the follower, clicking on him or her, then saying "Follow". I hope to somehow fix this for PC.

Renee, the mod Amazing Follower Tweaks (AFT) gives you a power you can use on followers being managed by AFT without the follower being with you. You can remotely direct your followers to relax or summon them for example. There is also a stealth option you can direct that will really tone down their tendency to jump into combat prematurely. Vanilla followers do well with AFT. Serana is quite heavily scripted though, so I don't manage her with AFT. Some mod followers manage well with AFT, others do not - and most follower mods tell you.

AFT has some great features. I just figured out how to use City Outfits. Now NPC Lil doesn’t have to traipse through town in her adventure gear. She hated doing that.

I finally found a bound sword mod for Jerric. It has a neat frost-mist looking effect that you can’t really see in screenshots, but no actual frost enchantment. It works with his story very well.

Jerric and Lil are headed to a ruin outside Rorikstead in the morning. He's on a job for Skjor.

Grits, Jerric’s sword looks great! And how nice that Lil can so easily change clothes when in town now! I can imagine they make a formidable team – Battlemage + Mystic Archer = some serious capability. On a job for Skjor - sounds like you are using the mod you mentioned that slows down the Companions?

*

Well, Buffy is Dawnguard complete. She escorted Serana all the way back to Fort Dawnguard to make sure Serana would truly be welcome there. She was delighted to find that they warmly accepted the vampire. I should hope so given how much Serana helped their cause and the price she paid to do so. The Dawnguard has ironically asked Serana to join them and even teach newer vampire hunters the finer points of the trade. Satisfied, Buffy left Serana there.

Although Buffy and Serana became rather close during the significant amount of time they spent together, the elf is overjoyed to now be traveling without other two leggers. In fact, she revels in once again letting her mare freely traverse terrain that no follower could possibly manage. And dungeon diving – solo. She's once again loving the freedom of loosing spells or arrows, then melting into shadow as it suits her without having to be concerned with allies.

She did pick up several texts while traveling with Serana, so her next major destination is to deliver them to the College.

Very neat Ghost Katana that Jerric has. Have you thought of a name for it? I think Redemption might be a good one, or Ancestor.

Congrats to Buffy on saving the world from the fanged menace! I know what you mean about Serana. On one hand she is such an easy person to grow fond of. But on the other hand, it is awfully nice to come out of a fight without one of her ice spikes sticking in the side of your head...

What I wound up doing the last time around with Serana was I found out her id (which of course is dependent upon where Dawnguard is in your load order), and continually used the prid and moveto player command to teleport her to Pesephone whenever she strayed.

Buffy felt quite humbled and worthless during the big castle battles leading up to the final fight. Her bow is her power, but she was frozen almost into inaction by fear of shooting allies in the large-scale, confusing fighting that took place in limited lighting. Part of that was poignant memories of mass melee confusion from the similar castle battle so long ago at Kvatch. Once she and Serana got turned loose (just the two of them) inside the final area to take on the Big Bad, she did fine and was able to fully focus her firepower.

Yep, that mod is the ambitiously titled Enhanced Skyrim Factions - The Companions Guild. I’m using the requirements only version. I haven’t gotten far enough to advance through the questline yet (Jerric is several radiant quests and a couple of game weeks away from his Proving due to my own settings), but so far it is doing what it should. I love having him stroll in and not worry about how soon certain of my favorite NPCs have to die. I think for us the sweet spot will be after Proving Honor. I have the requirements pushed all the way up to prevent The Silver Hand from starting.

Skjor was funny when Jerric asked him for work. He said something like, “Good, I was afraid I was going to have to do this myself.” Then he sent Jerric into a filthy vampire lair.

Congrats to Buffy on finding a new home for Serana! I can imagine how the assault on Castle Volkihar must have felt for her. But then at the end she had a chance to shine. That bow!

SubRosa, you picked some great names! Jerric’s Kvatch-made sword that he picked up on his first trip to the Deadlands is called Redeemer. It’s supposed to absorb magicka, but I dislike the Skyrim visual effect so much that the Skyrim version is just unenchanted but named with the Renamer mod. In Jerric’s world his new ghost katana really is a ghost of the katana once carried by the mighty Blade Alain. They haven’t met yet in his story, but in his Skyrim game all of that is a memory. It was pretty neat to find a mod that would work as a conjured Northwind, especially since it didn’t come packaged with a bunch of other stuff. The vanilla daedric-looking sword was a no-go for Jerric.

When Lildereth gets her shot at a dragon game I’m going to explore the AFT stealth settings on Jerric. That might reduce the number of times she’d like to wring his heavily armored neck. He’s not backup when he starts the fights!

So is Buffy enamored of that Auriel's bow, or is she sticking to her bound one?

I've always wanted to bring Valerica back from the Soul Cairn and leave Serana with her at Volkihar Castle, but the game doesn't give you that option. You get the first part, but not the second, and it's never made sense.

I'm playing Diablita again, to get a few screenshots, and she's picked up Clark (Marcurio renamed) as backup. She may join Lil in neck-wringing practice, for much the same reasons.

Buffy will stick with her mystic bow. The main reason, as always, is that she switches from spell to bow a lot and regular bows disappear into your. . . inventory when you equip a spell instead of going onto your back - after Oblivion, I simply hate that. A summoned bow however solves all that because it is supposed to disappear when when you ready or cast another spell. Plus, I like how the mystic bow emphasizes the mystic part of mystic archer. It also nicely solves why she can walk around town without a bow on her back, yet instantly produce one when needed.

That said, she did practice some with Auriel's bow so she was comfortable with it. Then she switched very briefly to it several times fighting the Big Bad because it has the ability to dispel the globe of invulnerability he would cast on himself when badly injured. She'd switch to Auriel's, dispel that globe, then recast her mystic bow.

Funny that Grits mentioned that line Skjor said about not having to do that quest himself. Buffy likes to do radiants for the Companions, College and, now, DG. She just checked in with Vilkas for one last night. She got a quest to go find a stolen axe - and the same comment from Vilkas. What a bunch of milkdrinking snowberries!

Speaking of Companions, Buffy was north of Windhelm en route to the College and encountered a mammoth - quite unusual. Even more so because the mammoth was being attacked by what appeared to be a bandit or hunter. Buffy's in the mammoth faction and is quite protective of her big friends btw. Anyway, Superian quickly closed most of the distance and Buffy loosed an arrow from the saddle. Surprisingly, it only dropped the assailant to her knees. At that point, Buffy recognized the 'mammoth hunter' as Njada Stonearm of the Companions!

Buffy was fuming as she calmed the mammoth, then healed both Njada and the mammoth. Then, despite being more than a head shorter than Njada, Buffy sternly told her the mammoths were her friends long before the Companions were and the Companions would not like the result if she were ever forced to choose between those loyalties. Njada was never really a fan of Buffy, and I don't think that's going to change. . . .

I didn't think Njada was essential, only protected, and Buffy should have been able to finish her. UESP doesn't clear that up, either, but it says she's weak and poorly equipped, so I'm surprised the Mammoth needed help.

I was thinking the same thing. I thought since she was protected, she could actually be killed by the player (but not others). The only thing I can think of is that Buffy's shot did not include extra damage from any stealth multiplier of course. Without that stealth bonus, her arrows normally don't one-shot bandits and such. I did give several of the companions some extra hitpoints back when Buffy was doing their quests, but can't remember if I did so for Njada.

You can change the visual effect easily enough. Just find the Magic Effect - it is probably EnchAbsorbMagickaFFContact - and right in the middle of the window are the visual effects that it uses. Experiment and find what you like.

Yay for Diablita screenshots! *waits hopefully*

Acadian, what an odd meeting with Njada. I wonder if she was out with Aela and got separated from her. I’m imagining Buffy hands on hips and chin up giving Stonearm a talking-to!

SubRosa that is an excellent idea. I didn’t make him a custom sword since the base is from Immersive Weapons (the Riders Blade), but I could just change the effect for the whole enchantment! Woo! Thank you!

Jerric and Lil had a very Jerric couple of days in Whiterun Hold. First they headed toward their job on the other side of Rorikstead, stopping on the way to say hey to Erik. While they were taking a mead break in the tavern Lemkil told Jerric never to have children, so Jerric punched him. This resulted in a 40 Septim ride back to Whiterun with the Guard. On the road back to Rorikstead they stopped to let a giant and his cow pass by them, and Jerric saw the flags by Brittleshin Pass. That reminded him of a treasure note, so they checked it out. Inside they found the treasure, a bow of draining that did magicka damage. That reminded Jerric that the Damage Magicka enchantment looks cool, so he used the nearby enchanter to put a blue sheen on Redeemer. (Which I will soon replace with its actual and useful enchantment, thank you Rosa!)

When they came out on the other side of the ridge Jerric remembered that he hadn’t seen Anise in a while, so he walked over to check on her. She’s still lonely and otherwise fine, but seeing her hut reminded him that he hadn’t gone over there to fix her roof yet. (He’s going to make me do this with a mod.) At some point they played Now Where Did The Elf Go, delivered a message that Jerric found in his pocket to a guy in Helgen, and gave a Nordic enema to a Thalmor wizard. Aravi Manor was empty when they got there for the night (since this is a fairly new game), so they left more wine and ale than they drank. In the morning they rode to Whiterun to make some trades, brew some potions, and check in at Jorrvaskr. Where Vilkas sent Jerric on an urgent rescue mission… to the other side of Rorikstead.

...and for his next magic trick, Jerric produces a ghostly sword from... ewwww?!?

Grits, I was rolling reading about Jerric the Distracted! No worries, Buffy's kind of the same - oh wait. . . is that a butterfly over there?

I loved the shot of Lil hiding right behind Jerric.

Aww, nice to see that Jerric has not . . . liberated Anise's cabin from her.

And it's right back to that mission on the other side of Rorikstead again! Perhaps Jerric will visit Mjoll the Lioness on the way?

Edit: Oh, and that sword and its back story are both beautiful!