Lopov � Aard�s been busy! Seems like he may have found his calling though. Sorry about Meeko.

Grits � Nice to see Varia the bard! Seems like playing a bard would be great fun. I know I simply love the area and many of the NPCs in Solitude. If Varia�s going dungeon diving, I hope this Coda fellow knows how to fight. . . since we know that Meeko generally fairs poorly.

Aard is certainly a minimalist! Too bad about Meeko. That is why I never use animals companions. They always end up getting killed. Or like other companions, just getting in the way.

Varia makes me think of Varina Davis. Although I am guessing you named her after Aria, with a V in front? She is cute.

Lopov: "He knew that orders weren't meant to be questioned but he couldn't help but wonder why would someone want such a man killed by the Dark Brotherhood" Uh oh, Aard is considering his own actions?

Sorry to hear about Meeko. Aard really needs a German shepherd? instead of a terrier mutt though.

"Aard's knife struck once and the divorced miner became the dead miner" Yeah, I'd say his 'career' could be "promising", indeed.

Grrrrits: Cool, you have a bard, too? Sweet!

I also love the "Become a" mods. Become a beggar is really fun, too. There is a mod I found called Bard's College Redux? which adds a bed for the PC to sleep in, but it's right in the middle of everything, so it's not like she'd have her own room. ... I would ... really like that cubicle.

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12:40 PM, Heartfire 18, 4E 201

"Now I'll show you to your quarters, apprentice. You'll be sharing your new residence with your fellow guildmates."

The man with the white beard, who had come to Skyrim with a group of others, other common foragers and beggars, stands completely stunned.

"My .... my quarters?"

Apparently so. Just like that, his status has elevated from common beggar to ... 'Apprentice'.

It had taken a few hours of begging, asking for coin, and then coming up with a sob story if people turned him down. But he had done it. He had managed to gain enough gold to (1) afford a room down at the Frozen Hearth the previous night, and (2) afford to buy the filrebolt spell offered by Faralda, the elf he had encountered on the bridge before the college. Faralda had claimed that due to problems with the local Nords, she had been posted at the bridge to keep certain people out, only accepting those who might be trustworthy.

"This is where you'll be staying. This is your bed and desk..." the lady named Mirabelle was saying, but the bearded man was not paying full attention. Bed ... and DESK? ... Maybe the college was desperate for new students, or even old ones such as himself. Why else would they just accept a stranger (and a poorly-dressed one) such as he? ... He noticed the college was not exactly packed with inhabitants, so far. So maybe they were, in fact, really needing some new people here.

Mirabelle leaves the room, asking for him to follow her, but he can't just do so yet. He looks around his new room. When was the last time I even slept within a stone building? He is much more used to sleeping wherever he could--usually some bedroll right under the sky. Or a shack with a leaky roof, if he was lucky.

Void salts! ... and the dust of vampires!

... He notices these items strewn casually aside, upon one of the room's small tables. I can sell these for easy coin! he thinks, then realizes that maybe he can (instead) actually make these items into something worthwhile, especially now that he is (apparently) an Apprentice of the Mage's College. Would his begging days now be over?

Also within his new room is a bottle of common white wine, a goblet to drink it out of, more barrels (one of them containing some spoiled meat), lots of clothes, mostly nice clothes, some robes, some stray gold pieces. This gold gets snatched up so quickly by him, it's as if it was never there.

Mirabelle is probably waiting. He decides he'll change his clothes....which would only be appropriate. She had given him some magical robes, and a hood and boots, as well.

"I cannot believe my luck!"

He tosses his former, ragged clothes aside. No more miserable begging? And goes to rejoin Mirabelle.

When I first saw the name Mirabelle, I thought of Mirabelle Monet, and was wondering if the WW had become a sailor!

I think the WW needs to get himself an app for his staff, so he can record his journal.

Well, at least it wasn't just me that saw that!

Aria! I didn�t think of that, but I�m sure that�s what put Varia into my mind. I wanted my bard�s name to sound like �very velvet,� lol. Coda�s actual mod-given name is Coda, so when she met him he had to be in her band!

Varia has been fun to play in short sessions when I�m involved with projects and don�t want to get drawn in to a complicated character�s story. She has the simple goal of becoming famous, which means she just travels and plays. Still, in her mere 22 hours since I made her last December she has been memorable. She is an Imperial who seems to have a fondness for large, dark-haired Nord men. She fell for Orgnar immediately and hung around the Riverwood/Whiterun area for a while developing her bardly reputation. During this time she met and hired two mercenaries (from different mods) who look like twins, Coda and �Mercenary� who I renamed Hallan the Red Hand. That�s where the trouble started.

A series of mod conflicts resulted in Hallan losing his dialog options completely, so he would follow her around and fight for her but had no prompt at all for interaction. So he sort of became a protective stalker. There was an event inside the Sleeping Giant which caused Coda and/or Hallan to kill Orgnar, and then the town of Riverwood went to war with Varia. Even her Voice of the Emperor and Illusion spells couldn�t stop the carnage. She fled. Now Riverwood is hostile territory for her.

Once Hallan showed up out of the blue in the depths of Frostflow Lighthouse�s dungeon, right when she had decided that she was the biggest idiot in the realm for trying to save that poor family. I was sure she was going to die, but Hallan popped up and saved her. Then I figured out the mod conflict, resulting in Hallan and his horse walking away still with no dialog options. If she survives her next adventure I might reinstall his mod so that she could eventually meet him again some day. I�m not sure where he goes, so it will be a surprise if she sees him.

Oh, Varia named her horse Melody.

Renee, I put Varia�s sleeping spot up on the Nexus: Bards College Sleeping Cube. It doesn�t have a door, but it has a screen and is down in the dorm area.

I love TWW�s delight at having his own place with free stuff under a real roof. Most of my spoiled magelings keep looking around for that desk that Mirabelle promised them! (So I made a little mod for that, lol.) I�m really rooting for this guy!

So Varia is one itinerant minstrel and wandering wastrel, at your service. Has she ever had a jam session with Talsgar yet? He is my favorite of all Skyrim's bards.


For a moment I thought that was her bad reputation.

Her horse is Melody Pond? Does that mean her next follower will be River Song?

Wow, that is a convoluted course of events. I think I would have just reloaded my previous save after one of my followers killed an NPC (well, one I didn't want dead) and sent the town into an uproar.

Renee � The WW really looks like he fits right in at the College. He sort of has that whole Tolfdirian wizardiness going on. Love how you portray him being struck by his good fortune.

Grits � The Perils of Varia! I think I�m with SubRosa and would likely have waved the reload wand a couple times for the poor girl. I hope she gets her tall dark stalkers sorted out. Oh, never to be able to visit Riverwood again!

@Grits - Good to see another bard on board, and a much more successful one than Shala! I like it that playing for Jarls can get her some jewelry instead of septims. I think that soldiers will appreciate Varia's singing for them.

@Renee - good job with portraying TWW's surprise and joy of getting his own quarters and new clothes. I laughed when Mirabelle had to wait for him. I think that containers in his quarters respawn, so be careful if storing anything inside.

That's really neat Varia hired some mercenaries. That's a really good idea, definitely. That is rather immer-- .... immersive that Varia got ousted from Riverwood, and it wasn't even her fault! One of those moments when you might say "wow, did that just really happen?"

Yeah, The White Wizard needs an staff-app.



YES! A bit of a twist on the typical Gandalf.

I was thinking of ditching his beggar mod, but I think he might still revert to begging from time to time, especially if he finds himself in a situation during which he wants to really blend in somewhere.

Another fun little incident. I ran into a stray dog (Barbas) outside Falkreath, and decided to clear the quest from the journal by completing it.

Where the path to Rimerock Burrow leaves the road, I met a stray dog (not Barbas) and they both followed me for the rest of the quest

I hope they're not Daedric fleas!

So when I get back to Clavicus Vile's shrine, I have to return the axe, as I have no idea which dog to kill.

Oh, that one's Barbas!

I'm not sure I need the Masque, but I can leave it on a Mannequin somewhere.

Ha ha ha daedric fleas!

Claire Voyance bought Breezehome, after taking a 5,000 gold loan from Whiterun's local bank (mod). She's now going to have to repay this loan, over a month of time, so it's good she's doing some random travelling, finally. You don't make much gold during Civil War quests.

I'm going to advance some of Dawnguard in her game, since I've already done these quests with Haaf-Mersey. I don't feel like doing the whole Serana thing over again. I want to get to the point that Serana is in the DG castle, and a certain amount of NPCs are also there, this way Claire can have her pick of NPC followers. 'Cause Hadvar (for some reason) doesn't want to follow Claire any more, and neither does Farkas. Idolf Battle-Born wound up dying. Claire has Aela with her almost constantly, but my cleric works best while doing the Power Trio thing.

Ghastley � That�s funny that another stray dog joined your character and Barbas. Oddly, I�ve never done that quest in either Oblivion or Skyrim.

Renee � Congrats to the Clairevoyadventuress on buying Breezehome. That bank loan mod sounds perfect for her. As a cleric, I can certainly see why she�d want two other followers � more helpers to fight for her so she can focus on healing.

There was a Barbas quest in Oblivion? Was it a higher-level quest? Must have been. I haven't had a character get high into the teens in that game since 2008.

Yes, that's how she works best: healing others while they do the fighting, but occasionally stepping in to some combat herself. I have no idea what happened to Farkas and Hadvar. Pretty sure Hadvar got scripted 'off the grid' with Civil War stuff, while Farkas....I don't know what's up with Farkas. Some sort of conflict between CSR and the base game, methinks.

Well now it's time for some White Wizard. In this tale, he is preparing to go to Saarthal, I think. I wrote this a few weeks ago. Doncha love it when you write something, and then forget entirely what you wrote, so it's actually fresh to you as well as anyone else?



Turdas, 21st of Last Seed, 4th Era 201

"Why hullo, little girl. Not much to do here in Winterhold, is there?"

"The mages don't let us go in the college. They said it's not safe in there."

The man who would someday be known throughout all of Skyrim pauses, and scratches his white beard. Now dressed in College robes (rather than rags), he still can't help but fear that he will soon be asked to leave, because of who he really is. Not really a mage, but a scrounger who just happens to have a few magical talents. But the girl before him does not criticize and mock, like some others would have down in Cyrodiil. Matter of fact, neither does anybody else in the Frozen Hearth.

He smiles. He likes his new college robes: green and gold they are, with a hood to match. On his feet are some tall boots, definitely the nicest boots he'd ever worn in his adult life. And although he can't be accused of being rich, he has even managed to earn a small amount of money, 117 gold, after brewing up and selling a few poisons and potions. The College had made it easy for him to do this--all the equipment was sitting right there, in an anteroom, for anybody to use..

Although he did not exactly have much formal training with alchemy, and had probably botched more potions than he had brewed, the man with the white beard had had plenty of time to kill. Dozens of ingredients were just lying around in one room, on shelves, and in barrels. And nobody was bothering him! So he had spent hours getting to know the college's alchemy equipment: grinding up raw ingredients, stuffing them into a funny-looking glass device. Lighting some magical fire underneath this device. Boiling down mixtures from pulps to fluids. It had all added up to a dozen or so potions, hours and hours later.

Had he been asked to stop using this equipment, he certainly would have done so. But people had walked by, and merely nodded a greeting, or ignored him altogether.

"If there's anything you need, just let me know."

"Something to eat. What have you?"

Already, the man with the white beard knows that the day in front of him is going to be one of the most important of his life, so he does not hesitate to buy some food and drink. Apparently, he was supposed to meet some others from the college at a place called Saarthal. He had heard of this place before, long ago down in Cyrodiil. But of course he had never been there. Apparently, there was some sort of important finding in this old Nordic barrow, and for some reason, they had decided to ask the 'new guy' to come along.

"Good day."

The man with the white beard leaves the Frozen Hearth, hoping to find the others. Although he only has three spells within his spellbook, certainly his talents might come in handy?

@Renee, I loved the part when you describe TWW's practicing alchemy. So he's off to Saarthal then? Time to begin the adventure!

Regarding Barbas - it's Clavicus Vile's quest where you are asked to kill Umbra. Barbas is stuck in your inventory as a permanent item until you finish the quest. He comments on your actions from time to time.

If you have problems with followers, I suggest using Amazing Follower Tweaks which allows you to recruit anyone and is according to my experience free of major bugs. The only thing to remember is to manually move the mod to the bottom of load order (as the author says), in my case all auto-sorting mod programs put it higher and then it doesn't work but if placed at the bottom, it works flawlessly.

The latest De Fault sister, having adopted Uzi, went off to Winterhold for some Alteration training from Tolfdir, as she wants (needs) to use mage armor spells along with her two-handed skill. But first we all troop off to Saarthal. She's level 16, has Stoneflesh and a Superior Steel greatsword, and she's just encountered a Draugr Deathlord (level 30) with an Ebony greatsword and Unrelenting Force and Disarm shouts.

We're dying a lot here. Tried running round in circles hurling lightning bolts, but she runs out of magicka too quickly, even in Apprentice robes for extra regen, and one hit from the Deathlord will kill her. She can go toe-to-toe for about three swings of her greatsword before she runs out of stamina, and the draugr can retaliate. Then it's a one-hit kill again. If it gets its disarm shout in, then it's time to turn and run anyway.

I'd hoped that she'd raise a level or two in destruction, so she could halve the cost of the lightning, but that's a bit to far off for the short time she has to live. Her other spells let the draugr get too close.

I may have to load an earlier save, and hope for a lesser opponent.

Renee - Nice to see someone older than Tolfdir. I wonder how this pair of seasoned citizens will do in the bowels of Saarthal. Speaking of which. . .

Ghastley - Condolences on difficulties your Orc is having. Given her skills at the moment, I'm not quite sure what her best course is. Too bad Tolfdir isn't of much more help.

ghastley: what difficulty are you using? Not that you should change it or anything (I wouldn't) but I'm just curious.

Lopov & Acadian: MMM hmm, I already wrote up Saarthal awhile back. Again I have no idea what I wrote. I love this sort of surprise.

I�m sure the stray dog appreciated your caution!

Renee, sorry to hear about Idolaf. That�s great that he got to go out like a true Nord and didn�t just keel over in a tavern one day while complaining about his neighbors. Congrats to the new homeowner! I love Breezehome. It�s humble and homey. Best of luck to TWW in Saarthal. I love his caution as he prepares for the big day.

ghastley, is the Deathlord at that spot where you enter the room and there is a double staircase? That room has been the scene of many deaths for me. I think you can backtrack and slam down one of those gates to recover. Does she summon any critters? I seem to remember Achille (no armor conjuror/illusionist) casting his flame atronachs through gates in a few of those draugr dungeons. His Illusion spells were pretty useless. He spent a lot of time backtracking to safety and using the dungeon�s gates for protection.

I never touch the difficulty slider, so rolling a Deathlord for that location is just bad luck.

She did finally run it to death, using her lightning bolt spell whenever it stopped, and discovered that it wasn't the ebony greatsword she'd hoped for, just a honed ancient nordic one, which is equivalent to the one she has (base damage 20), so not an upgrade until tempered. She wasn't wrong about it being a deathlord, who get 1000 hitpoints to grind down. She has only 200, as she's spread her upgrades across health and magicka, with a few in stamina to support her greatsword habit. Plus a few more now, as that battle leveled her up again. She did a one-hit kill on Jyric after that!

However, it looks like she has to wait until she's fetched the books from Fellglow Keep before she gets to train her alteration with Tolfdir. She'll probably have earned a mage armour perk or two by the time she gets back, and not need it. She's only really doing these to kill time while Falk Firebeard decides to send her a letter about Potema. I want to test out moving Uzi from Greenspring to Proudspire.

---

Oh, and she's a Breton, not an Orc. I created Fred De Fault long back as a base character at the Helgen exit, with only some base mods (such as RaceMenu and Apaachi hair) that I'd need for character adjustment. I made him a Breton to match the name. Fred has done the Greenspring build, too, but once he'd made the mead barrels in the basement, I couldn't get him back out of there!

The sisters just change the gender, and hairstyle, and sometimes nose and mouth, then get an "F" name. I used to change race, too, as Orcs can skip a step on the favour circuit, but doing the Forgemaster's Fingers helps advance the character level, and you need 9 for the Cursed Tribe, so now I leave them as Bretons.

Now I've released the Orc Hearthfires mod, the current character has continued play to do more with Uzi. She'll eventually own all the possible homes, and move the family to each of them in turn, and back to Greenspring in between.

Yesterday in Skyrim Molly Hatchet found herself plucked from her home in Megaton and deposited into the back of an Imperial prison wagon. She escaped with the help of Ralof and a giant radscorpion that could also fly and breathe fire (if she had not already killed Dr. Lesko, she would be certain he was responsible for that thing). She made it to Riverwood, and is amazed by the land of milk-drinkers and honey she has found herself in. There are these big green things, trees the locals call them. And more green stuff all over the ground, apparently something called grass. Even more amazing, the food does not slowly kill you with radiation, and all the water in the world has been purified!

Molly is thankful that in spite of such a paradise the land is, there is still a lot of killing that needs to be done. Now that Molly has a new hatchet she is ready to get started. First up will be Embershard Mine. She and Ralof passed it on the way into Riverwood. People in town said that it is a den of Raiders. Well, Molly knows just what to do with those...

Molly spent the day knocking around Riverton, Rivetwood, Riverwood. She encountered several strange mutants. One in Riverwood looked pretty normal, except for the pointed ears and sort of elongated face. She later found another blue grey one, that was ugly enough to be a feral ghoul. That one she killed right off. From the skull on his robe, and all the skeletons around him, she doesn't think he'll be missed. But the weirdest one looked like a giant cat that walked on two legs and talked. He called himself Maiq, and Molly is pretty sure he's a liar. She is also wondering if someone had slipped some pyscho or med-x into her lunch at the Sleeping Giant earlier that day.

She's gone to town on some of the local Raiders too, and piled up quite a bit of loot to sell. They call their caps gold, and Molly is not sure how they would fit on top of a nuka cola bottle. But money is money, no matter how strange it looks. The local trader seems a lot more normal than Moira at Craterside Supply. Then again, he's not nearly as fun to be around either. Well, at least he didn't ask Molly to irradiate herself, or suffer a crippling injury. At least not until he asked her to go to Bleak Falls Barrow and get back a golden claw that had been stolen from him. Molly has the feeling that this is going to work out a lot like those wild missions of Moira's. Just without a book following it all. But Molly is always ready to put her hatchet to work. She was born for it.

What a neat twist to see Skyrim through Molly�s eyes. While so many characters think they have landed in a harsh environment, Molly is relaxing in the luxury of not having her food, drink, and air try to kill her! And she knows very well what to do with her axe.


I started a new character to try out the Immersive Speechcraft mod. Chases the Fish is an Argonian pyromancer, more specifically a heavy armor shield mage. His occupation is itinerant alchemist and occasional thug. This mod is supposed to let you mug people so we�ll see. He�s a loner so no followers. I�m using SubRosa�s awesome elemental summoning mod for fire-themed summonings. He�s going to perk Destruction, Block, and HA. No weapon skills. He sells most of the potions and all of the poisons that he makes.

He�s presently wearing armor that he got off a dead bandit chief. He has no problem wearing clothes that someone died in, stains and all. There was a group of four bandits cutting across the plains by Whiterun�s Western Watchtower. Chases the Fish kept his head down and followed them to the city outskirts where there was a fight. He sold their stuff to the Khajiit caravan. Score! He has some jobs to do for Lucan and the Whiterun Jarl, but he�s considering finding another buyer once he retrieves their stuff. In the meantime he�s looking for some folks to rob.

Chases the Fish�s first day as a Skyrim highwayman did not go well. He cornered Alfhild Battle-Born outside the Honningbrew Meadery while the guards weren�t looking, but she completely ignored his threatening stance and just complained about her family. (Turns out the mod�s conversation options only appear when the NPC has a follower voice set.)

Then he spied a Khajiiti drug dealer and thought he had hit the jackpot. He spent the whole walk up the hill planning how he was going to steal the cat�s supply, hide some of it to sell later, then get baked on the rest and sleep at the bottom of Lake Ilinalta. Except the Khajiit had CLAWS even bigger than Argonian claws, so Chases got his ass handed to him. He managed to run away back toward the guards at the crossroads and was spared the humiliation of begging them for help (another mod-added option) because after a short distance the Khajiit let him go.

By then it was dusk. Chases slunk back past the Khajiit on his way to the Sleeping Giant and spent the night there. Tomorrow he heads up to the barrow.

Hopefully there will not be any Khajiiti draugr in there.

SubRosa - It is a great idea to 'transplant' a character from a completely different environment. I remember years ago, talking with you about transplanting a modern US Marine into Oblivion and the fun that could be had viewing things through his eyes. Molly's situation reminds me of that.

Grits - What a neat idea that Chases the Fish would consider sleeping at the bottom of Lake Illinalta as a comfortable and safe place. He sounds fun. Perhaps he can meet a nice Argonian lass named Lifts her Tail?

I was thinking about the differences between the lands of Skyrim and the Capital/Mojave Wastelands, and wow, what a difference. Skyrim is paradise. Food just laying around, waiting to be eaten, and not two hundred year old salisbury steak that will make your insides glow. You can drink any water you find. The land is green and full of life, etc... Though downside is that every settlement is like Rivet City, with annoying things like laws and security guards. Everyone is so organized. They even have wars. They don't have radio stations either. Though Molly did meet Talsgar The Wanderer, so at least they still have rock stars.

Poor Chases... Whoever would have thought being a mugger would be so difficult!

Molly Hatchet Skyrim Edition! It's interesting how she compares Skyrim to the Capital Wasteland, and refers to bandits as raiders etc...she won't run out of her hatchet business, I'm sure.

Chases the Fish the pyromancer! I like his class description. Very appropriate that he slept in Lake Ilinalta.

--

Such a fine sunny Loredas it was, unusually warm for Frostfall. But warmth wasn't just in the air but also in hearts of Vittoria Vici and Asgeir Snow-Shod, the young couple that were just about to get married in Solitude. On this special Loredas unnecessary family feuds and the ongoing civil war didn't matter, on this day it was time for love and bright future.

But among wedding guests a man dressed in noble clothes was slowly walking, and he didn't come to enjoy a sip of Surilie Brothers Wine or a bite of boiled creme treat. This man felt very uncomfortable in quilted clothes, which he found too tight compared to his black vampire armor, and the stupid hat make him feel like a jester. Like Cicero, for this was the only jester which he knew.

This man didn't come to congratulate neither Vittoria nor Asgeir, this man came to kill the bride. Strictly business, nothing personal. After getting familiar with the place of the wedding and routines of the young couple, the assassin in disguise left the wedding and ascended to walls above the wedding place. He decided to follow a hint of his dark sister Babette, who advised him to push a loose gargoyle statue on the bride.

This assassin, called Aard, had no qualms at all when he pushed the statue on young Vittoria. In his early days in the Dark Brotherhood he might occasionally doubt his actions but now he saw his deeds as business - some chopped wood to survive, others were selling smelly fish to make a living, and he killed to earn his pay.

After the statue "fell" and Asgeir suddenly widowed, chaos erupted at the wedding place. Aard knew that he won't be able to remain unnoticed but he planned his escape route beforehand. He got an unexpected help from his fellow dark brother Veezara, successfully avoided arrows and hits from Solitude guards, and escaped from Solitude by the southern tower, where his loyal horse was waiting for him by the Sea of Ghosts.

As Aard was leaving Solitude behind, he realized that he didn't even take a look at the bride. Was her face pretty? Was she slim or fat? What exactly was she wearing? Was she even worth a look? He didn't know but he found it funny that he didn't take a look at the key person of the wedding. Not that it mattered, of course. He had a new dirty deed on his conscience, but there were so many from the past that he stopped counting sometime ago. He hoped that in the future his contracts would take him to Markarth, for it's been a while since he saw his lover Muiri. The only woman that could make his cold heart melt. Especially when she undressed.

A time for love and bright future? Uh oh, sounds like Aard is going to kill someone!

How fun to use a 'loose' gargoyle statue. That sounds like the DB contract back in Bruma involving a loose minotaur head trophy on the wall. Quite the high profile assassination - both the time/place as well as the victim herself!

Buffy's quietly celebrating her birthday today by clearing a fort of rogue mages. Under hostile control, the fort has been blocking and accosting those seeking to travel one of the main roads. She's pretty sure that either red or blue coats will move in and take credit after she does the hard work.

Ain't that just the way it goes, Buffy? Anything to make themselves look better than the other color!

Oh, and happy birthday, Buffy!

As Londo once said in Babylon 5. It is the quiet ones who change the world. The loudmouths just take the credit...

Happy -day Buffy!

Acadian: Cool, Buffy's an Aries if her birthday is today. A girl of action then, though I suspect she's got some Pisces in some of her personal planets (Merc, Venus, Mars), as well.

Grits: oh neat, a Highwayman! They can be fun to play. My skooma dealer in Oblivion has a Highwayman mod, but the truth is he makes way too much money from skooma sales, so he rarely tries to rob people.

Anyways, sounds like Chases some Fish is having a hard time, eh?

SubRosa: "Skyrim is paradise. Food just laying around, waiting to be eaten, and not two hundred year old salisbury steak that" . -- ha ha yeah, aint that the truth?

Lopov: Cool, I'm glad you wrote that up. I still think it's interesting that Mycharonna completely missed that detail about the gargoyle, and instead went for a much messier situation which attracted all kinds of attention.

I learned another detail about the mod I�m trying with Chases. It seems that Alfhild really did just ignore him, as that can happen with low Speechcraft skill. How embarrassing!

Lopov, nice work with that statue. It was funny to think of Aard hoping he�d get to kill someone in Markarth so that he could get some time with Muiri. He is a dedicated and accomplished assassin!



Added (I had an incident while posting, lol): Acadian, I�m glad Buffy got to spend her birthday relaxing, which for her means giving her bow a workout. Tankards and goblets were raised in her honor!

Aww, thanks all for the kind wishes for Buffy's birthday. Six years and +5600 hours of play time in Tamriel (+4K in OB and +1.6K in Sky).

Grits, thanks for the magnificent waterwalking spells your gang gifted to Buffy! She loves them! I'm also pleased that part of problem with Chases' mod turned out to be an intentional accounting for speechcraft. That means things will just get better for him!

I'm late to the party but hopefully not too late.

Happy birthday, Buffy, have a good one! May you charm us for many more years, and take good care of Acadian.

P.S.
Thanks for kind comments regarding Aard's evil deed, there's more to come.

Young Gaius Maro, son of Commander Maro, knew that he was being followed. His duty was to visit every major city and ensure that security protocols for the Emperor's visit were at maximum. Right now he was in Whiterun, eating some bread and butter at the Bannered Mare when he saw the same man whom he saw in Dragon's Bridge a few days ago. The middle-aged man with a shaved head and a goatee, wearing black armor.

He noticed him for the first time as soon as he left Dragon's Bridge, slowly following him on his horse. But Gaius Maro wasn't one to be stalked easily, so he managed to trick the man in black. But how was it possible that he was behind his back again, right here in Whiterun? A coincidence? Not very likely.

After he finished his supper, Gaius Maro decided to went for a walk, with an intention to trick his stalker once more. He wasn't even slightly surprised when the man joined him on the streets of Whiterun as soon as he left the Bannered Mare. Maro lit a torch and slowly walked towards the main gate, occasionally looking over his shoulder to make sure that the man in black is still behind him.

However, at some point, when he slightly turned his head around, there was nobody behind. That was odd because he could hear the man's footsteps only a second ago. But suddenly Maro felt something forcefully squeezing his neck. He didn't see anything but he could barely breathe. Invisible! The man must have become invisible!

The truth came too late for Gaius Maro for the last thing which he felt was a powerful strike through his heart and in that moment the man in black became visible again, blood still dripping from his Daedric razor. The deed didn't go unnoticed but Aard didn't care. The assassination was intended to be public and he followed his instructions to the core. Nearby guards attacked him but he got an unexpected help in a bearded mercenary named Coda who either got an arrow intended for Aard or decided to help Aard because he was on his side. Nevertheless, as Coda was busy fighting Whiterun guards, the man in black escaped from Whiterun. Killing the bride was the first step and killing Maro was the second one in a master plan to execute the Emperor of Tamriel.

EDIT: Aard managed to kill Maro from a sneak attack and though guards opened fire, he didn't get a bounty.

Well, after figuring out our mod loadout, Alise and I started playing a new playthrough.

And I think it's time for formal introductions.



Name: Alise Sudmeri

Race: Dunmer

Gender: Female

Age: She won't say.

Sign: Serpent.

Home Country: Cyrodiil - specifically Cheydinhal

Faction and Rank or Guilds(if none, tell us what they do for a living): Formerly a scout, then a miner, now working on her smithing skillz.

Faction Description: No faction right now.

Class: Scout (based on Character Creation Overhaul)

Skills and talents: Smithing, Archery, One-handed, with minors in Block and Destruction.

Physical Appearance

Closeup

Weapons of preference: Currently steel mace, Imperial Bow (recovered off of a dead Imperial), both improved to Fine.

Clothing: Miner's outfit, just crafted Nordic Ranger Armor. I keep putting her into mage's robes, and she keeps selling it.

Magic abilities or powers: Destruction. She is fire resistant, of course, and uses fire a lot here. Susceptible to frost.

Mental Profile/Personality: Taciturn, slow to trust. Willing to work hard for her keep. Hates bandits - after all, they attacked her and left her for dead up in the Jeralls.


Biography/Life History: Still unfolding. Has lived long enough that all of the friends and comrades of her youth are dead. This has made her very wary of forming new friendships, though she isn't necessarily unfriendly.

Lopov, nice work on the Gaius Maro job! I like that Gaius was not a clueless idiot and had an eye out for his stalker, but Aard was just better than him.

haute, it�s great to meet Alise! The Serpent Sign is interesting, and one I�ve never tried. Destruction is a great picture, I love how the fire lights up her face.

Jensa finished the Main Quest for the third and most likely final time. I highly recommend the mod The Paarthurnax Dilemma. Jensa is on good terms with the Blades now after tearing Delphine a new one through the mod�s added dialog. It was pretty much what we imagined that she said on the PS3 and on the Xbox. And when she left Paarthurnax on the Throat of the World, he had some other dragons for company.

Next Jensa has to come up with some new recruits for Delphine to train. She has some candidates in mind, but it�s a big decision for them so she will probably spend some time adventuring with each one before she pops the question. She also has a nagging feeling that she should return to Solstheim.

Jensa ran into some familiar faces in Sovngarde (some whom she sent there), made some new friends, and met some of her ancestors. She wanted to go back into the Hall of Valor and spend some more time with them after the battle, but as Tsun told her first she has to complete her count of days. Not all of the honored dead will be still be there to greet her the next time she walks through the doors, though. One Knight Brother said that he had been waiting to meet her and now he would seek the Dreamsleeve. There are some other souls he wants to find. He also said, and this made me happy and sad and wonder how he managed to finally level up his Speechcraft, �No gloom can hold my heart for long in Shor�s blessed hall, where no shadows lie.�

She was surprised and thrilled when Stenvar ran up to her at the Throat of the World. When they parted on the Dragonsreach porch she told him that she would find him when she returned to Skyrim, but apparently he couldn�t wait. On the way back down the 7,000 steps they camped in the troll hollow for old time�s sake.

There�s only one thing that�s really bothering her now, and it�s not the silly cultists. When Odahviing let her see the world as only a dovah can, he warned her that once she had flown the skies of Keizaal her envy of the dov would only increase. Jensa isn�t going to admit to envy, but she sure would like to fly again.

Alise thanks you for the warm welcome! The first time we did the MQ, she was pissed by Delphine's request. She shut Delphine down. It didn't matter that they were no longer comrades, she wasn't going to betray someone who had been helping her (and who didn't try to kill her on sight). Alise told me that Delphine can do her own recruiting, never mind how fond I once was of the Blades. She pointed out the truth that the Blades in Skyrim aren't the Blades of honor that Julian and I knew in TESIV. A lot has changed in 200 years . . .

Nevertheless, Alise was happy when I added that mod you mentioned to our first mod loadout. She likes keeping her options open, and that means staying on the good side of as many people as possible.

I love that picture you mentioned for the same reason - it really adds to the character that is Alise.

So Jensa probably won't pursue the MQ anymore. Alise is reluctant to start it this time around - she wants to explore Skyrim without worrying about random dragon encounters. Yet we just found the ruins of Helgen when she was on her way to Riften. She has duly warned the nearby settlement of Riverwood, but told Alvor that she couldn't go to Whiterun. Someone else will have to warn the Jarl there. Right now she's a little busy financing the building of her new homestead (Lakeview).

Lopov � Some high profile contracts! First the Emperor�s cousin, now a member of the Pinocchio Octopus. How fortuitous that Coda happened along to help with the successful getaway from that intentionally public assassination!

Rider � Although we�ve heard you talk of her, it is so nice to learn more about Alise! So far, her nature and skill selections seem quite natural to her race. I can just imagine her painting the floor of a bandit lair with flames, then going to work with her blade. I hope she enjoys Lakeview. And thanks for sharing those great screenshots!

Grits � Congrats to Jensa! I�ve never progressed beyond the embassy quest in the MQ, but that mod sounds ever so needed to �salvage� the Blades and put them on the right track! How wonderful that Stenvar found her � that is so neat! Hmm, sounds like you need a dragonflying mod.

*

Buffy�s on quite a new playthrough. Pretty much the only questing she�s done is is the Sarthaal quest with the College � Buffy style of course. That means she helped the Psijics find their missing giant chaurus egg. The Psijics were going to simply remove it right from Sarthaal, but Tolfdir talked them into simply sucking the mysterious magic out of the egg - you know, mystic egg sucking. That way, Tolfdir can flex his mighty alteration muscle and eventually figure out how to get the empty egg back to the College so he can spend his days trying to decipher the cryptic chaurus glyphs on the outside. When Buffy reported this all to the Arch Mage, he swore Buffy to secrecy about the egg being empty. That way, the Arch Mage figures, it will keep that pesky Thalmor Ancano busy trying to figure out what mysteries the egg holds. So the truth will be held closely among only Buffy, Tolfdir and the Arch Mage. Buffy looks forward to returning to the College after Tolfdir gets the egg there to see Ancano driving himself crazy trying to figure out what mighty magicks the (empty) egg holds.

In her game, this means that Buffy will need to sometime complete the 'Find the Books' quest, but we'll reimagineer that completely away from the chaurus egg. That quest does cue the egg to move to the College though and that is where the College questline will remain frozen.

Seriously, if the Psijics can teleport the egg away like they do at the end of the vanilla questline, why would they not do so when you first find it and save all the drama and trauma to the College?

I've always understood that the Eye wasn't safe to move until the Staff had been used to "calm it down". Naturally the Psijics would like someone else to do that for them.

I think they did it as part of the developer conspiracy to force you to become the head of every guild. I've simply rendered Buffy immune to that silliness.

Trust me. You would not want Buffy in charge of anything.

Lordy this thread's been busy, but it's a GOOD busy.

Scoundrel: Now I remember that quest, the one with Maro. I wonder if he ever goes anywhere other than Whiterun? ... Wait, I think he does, because Mycharonna saw him in Markath, but could not take care of him there for some reason. Or maybe she saw him in Whiterun first, and then got him in Markath. XD I donnn't know...

h.e.r.: That's awesome you've got someone with Scout class. Never played a Scout before. I love CCO mod though, for bringing Classes back. Good luck with Alise.

Gritsy: All these years and I still haven't beaten da game. Are there really 7,000 steps though? What do you think?

Acadian: LOL giant charus egg.


And finally, Claire Voyance is back in Solitude. After 3 weeks of adventuring, she still hasn't got the 5,000 gold necessary to pay back the loan which allowed her to get out of jail. It'll happen though. I think she's up to 4,500 gp.

Why, Alise and I thank you! Though this is our fourth start with the game. According to Steam, we've put in nearly 450 hours since starting this game nearly a year ago.

Once I tried counting those steps, but Alise was in a hurry. She was FREEZING, n'wah! So I looked around, and the best answer I could find is this.

Acadian, �reimagineer� is my new favorite word! I love to think of Tolfdir flexing his alteration muscle. I�m glad Buffy is able to avoid getting hit with Bethesda�s Chosen One hammer.


I think there are enough steps for me not to count them! Kind of like the populations of cities, there are steps to represent the 7,000 but not actually have them all in the game. It�s a decent hike up there but not so tedious to make me want to FT.

How is Claire�s mental state after her incarceration? She�s having to work very hard to pay off a debt that she didn�t deserve. I worry about her turning surly.

My update is long, so I�ll put it in tags for scrolling convenience.


Some screens:

Valdi and Serana discussing Isran�s assault plan.

Valdi and Serana exchanging a mental high-five after surviving Isran�s revised assault plan, which was �You girls go get him.� Erik arrived after the fight.

Serana is looking outstanding, as is the back of Valdi's head!

Yikes, what a mess in that second pic! I hope Erik brought a vacuum cleaner, or at least a shovel...

Renee - Good luck as Claire continues to gradually dig her way out of debt.

Grits - Congrats to Valdi the Knight of Dawnguard! I�m glad she has become friends with Serana. It�s also good that she is maturing into a newfound comfort within her own skin. And more congrats on her nuptials to Erik the Vampire Slayer! Great screenshots. A lovely quiver that Valdi is sporting with Auriel�s bow, and nice capture of that quiet moment with Serana after the big fight.

Well that's a cute update Gritsy, full of insight and humor. cracked me up when you said "everybody is hitting on Valdi". It's true, isn't it? .. And here we have the Skyrim version of eloping, as they did not bother to invite their friends! Ha ha.

Claire is fine, thanks for asking. She is a bit like a soccer mom in modern Earth terms, you know, a go-getter. Nothing knocks her down for long; her over-enthusiastic cheerful demeanor always comes through. ha ha

748 steps, eh? I guess it's sort of like an overexaggeration, you know, the NPCs of Tamriel say "Oh yeah, there's 7,000 steps up to the Greybeards" but nobody ever bothered to actually count them. And 7,000 sounds like a good, round number. *shrugs*

I agree with others, this is a great shot.
Good to see a new Dunmer, there haven't been many around lately.

That's nice that he couldn't wait for her to return. Not even Greybeards could stop him.

Good to hear that the Paarthurnax Dilemma expands the vanilla choices, I have it installed in Lucius' game when he finishes the main quest.

He travels to all major cities and you can steal his schedule in the Penisus Oculatus Outpost in Dragon's Bridge. Killing him in a major town grants you a bonus. Although UESP doesn't mention it, Elder Scrolls Wiki says that if Maro spots you following him, he'll try to get rid of you by changing his route, which usually means straying away from main roads. That's why he left the inn as soon as Aard got behind his back and wanted to leave Whiterun.


Giant chaurus egg! I love the story that revolves around it in Buffy's game and how it will eternally leave Ancano trying to reveal its secrets.


It wasn't just the amulet, it was because of her good looks too. Nice story about dealing with Harkon and the aftermath.

Hearty congratulations to the young couple!

--

When Aard heard that Cicero turned against Astrid and attacked the brotherhood, he wasn't surprised at all. But he sensed that it wasn't just Cicero's fault - Astrid was a self-proclaimed leader who led the Dark Brotherhood by her own rules, ignoring the old ways and the Night Mother. Cicero, on the other hand, was very devout to the Unholy Matron and to Aard because the Night Mother proclaimed him the Listener. It was only a matter of time before the jester and Astrid would end up fighting.

While Aard disliked Cicero at first, and followed Astrid's orders because she paid well, something changed inside him when he heard voices of the Night Mother, telling him that he's the new Listener. That was when Cicero sort of "fell in love" with Aard because he respected the Unholy Matron and her word represented law for him. But at the same time Astrid became distrustful and often remarked that she's in charge, no matter "what voices Aard heard inside his head".

And now Astrid, the impostor, ordered Aard, the Listener, to kill Cicero, the Keeper of the Old Ways. Something didn't feel right here and Aard knew that sooner or later Astrid will have to accept the fact that he's been chosen by the Night Mother and that she should step down as a leader. While riding to the Dawnstar Sanctuary, the supposed hideout of the mad jester, Aard made his final decision about Cicero's fate.

...

A few days later Aard returned to the Falkreth Sanctuary. Astrid's husband Arnjborn returned before him and Astrid was grateful that Aard saved her husband's life. But what happened to the jester? Did he track him down and kill him like a pig? As soon as she saw Aard coming down the steps, she hurried to him:

"Arnbjorn is safe, and for that you have my thanks. But what of the fool? Is Cicero dead?"

"Deader than dead," coldly answered Aard.

"Excellent. Once again, you've proven yourself a born assassin. Tell you what. Why don't you hold onto Shadowmere a while longer? He's a fine steed, and hasn't been ridden nearly as much as he should lately."

"Sure." Astrid expected a more lively response.

"And now that this Cicero mess has been mopped up, we can get back to the matter at hand, hmm?"

"Of course."

"There's just one more target before we strike out at the Emperor. Have you by chance heard of the Gourmet?"

"Occasionally."

"Read his cookbook? It's become quite a phenomenon. "

"No."

"The Gourmet is scheduled to cook for the Emperor at a special dinner. You'll kill him, steal his Writ of Passage, and assume the roll of master chef."

"To cook a dinner to kill?"

"Festus has been spearheading this part of the assassination plan. He's close to uncovering the identity of the Gourmet. You should report to him."

"As you say... Leader."

Astrid winced at the word "leader", because Aard pronounced it in an unusual, almost mocking way. Looks like he was once again trying to let her know that he was named the Listener. This time she overheard the remark.
If she could see Aard's face as he was walking down the stairs, she'd see a pleased smile on his lips. That kind of smile which Aard put on, when he lied to someone and that person blindly believed him.

Festus explained to Aard that the only person that could possibly know the Gourmet's true identity, is a cook named Anton Virane, that serves at the Understone Keep in Markarth. The next day, as he was riding to the old town, Aard felt excited, but not because he would kill some cook, but because he would see his girlfriend Muiri again.

Hmm, some power jockeying within the loving embrace of the dark family it seems. . . . And the galloping gourmet-killer gallops to girlfriendville astride Shadowmere.