I like the way that mod was done, it doesn't just clean up the mess but lets the Player do it - really nice roleplay mod, and Arthmoor knows his stuff so it shouldn't have any issues whatsoever.

That battle sounds Awesome! I wish you'd caught that in a vid, it would be great to see it!

Actually, it would have made a terrible video, as the screen was obscured by the teleport effect all the time - a swirl of purple as used for conjurations. That's the main reason she was finding it so hard to fight him, because we couldn't see him to target him.

The one with the bow was really Serana versus Orchendor, with Mellewen getting a few shots in when she could.

I fought one Dragon Priest that was like that - kept disappearing and popping up in a different place - really fast, too.

Ghastley, I am trying to make a collection of 10 items (totems) that (once all 10 are gathered and placed together) it triggers a change in them from dormant to the ability to activate them for a purpose of the Player's choice:

1) use like a soul gem to recharge an enchanted weapon
2) use (on a one time use only basis) to summon a dragon to fight by your side
or:
3) use all 10 totems at once in a ceremonial fire to create on permanent friendly dragon (pet type).

Is any of this possible? Can it be done without a script or must have one? Is a quest necessary? And do I need to make the totems activators? (etc).

Do you have any advice for me?

That picture / story is really fun to read, h.e.r ! Great shots, as well.

haute, I love the picture of Alise with the Elder Scroll. The one with Paarthurnax is my second favorite. Clear Skies makes a gorgeous day at the Throat of the World. Yikes, what a close call (and marvelous photo catch!) with that glass arrow!

ghastley, thanks for Mellewen’s report on cleaning up Castle Volkihar. I’ve looked at that mod for Captain Zanimal if he makes it far enough to be in charge there, and it’s nice to know what it does and doesn’t do with Serana and her mom. Good luck with the statue hunt! I think Mellewen’s possible idea is a good one, since Dibella certainly blessed her with legs!


It’s a good thing that newlyweds Valdi Knight of the Dawnguard and Erik the (Vampire) Slayer are insatiable undead hunters, because between all of the killing they’re sweet enough to give me a cavity. Erik kept his dialog (whew!) so he’s still his old self even after the wedding. He is a star with the home-cooked meals no matter where they are camped, and they pick some disgusting hovels to hole up in. Still he always seems to feel like cooking. Also due to a glitch with their tent he sleeps right on top of Valdi so you can just see her fluffy hair and skinny feet sticking out, which if memory serves is a pretty accurate representation of getting used to sharing real estate on the marital bed(roll). I’m sure the spacing will get fixed eventually, but in the meantime it makes me giggle.

They spent the rest of their honeymoon helping the rebuilt town of Helgen gets its affairs in order, which included a long and very rewarding hunt through a huge and complicated barrow. The place was pitch dark in places and packed with skeletons and draugr. Valdi led them through casting Mage Lights occasionally since her Detect spells use too much magicka. Once Erik sneaked in front of her as she cast, and she hit him right in the back. He said, “Oh! I don’t feel any different. What did you do?” I had never heard that comment before.

Valdi got a surprise during their midnight ambush of a slavers’ camp on the north coast. Someone started using a red drain spell during the fight. At first Valdi thought there was a random roaming vampire joining in the fun, but then she heard a familiar voice. Serana! Afterward Valdi found her in the dark and asked how she was doing.

Serana seemed to be thriving in her renewed mortal life. She said, “It’s like the world is alive again. Just like me.”

And yet she still uses Vampiric Drain. Valdi would have suspected that she was being played if she had not visited Serana at Fort Dawnguard not long ago to check on her/ verify that she had followed through with her plan to turn in her Daughter of Cold Harbor card and be a true child of Kyne again. At the time Serana seemed happy with her situation, though she did not look entirely healthy with those jaundiced eyes. Perhaps switching to solid foods takes a toll.

Anyway Valdi considered asking Serana to join them, but she hesitated because she and Erik were about to do a really dangerous thing. She knew Erik was not afraid to hear Sovngarde’s drums and neither was she, but Serana could probably stand a little more time in the mortal realm before someone got her killed on a crazy rescue someone who might already be dead/kill the slavers/oh by the way also kill some Thalmor mission.

So they parted ways in the dark. Valdi and Erik survived their task and returned eventually to Rorikstead and their new cottage.

Valdi was adorable when she went inside. It’s perfect for her and she loves it. Erik made the furniture so it is not fancy, which makes ex-bandit kid Valdi feel right at home. Abiene ordered some nice rugs for them from Whiterun. Darnand filled the bookshelves and set up a compact little magical crafting station. Lildereth brought in some house plants. And Jerric stocked the mead barrels and gave them a really nice bedroom chair for a wedding present. (Why one would want such a chair in the bedroom is a mystery to mostly innocent Valdi and young Erik, but Jerric is sure that they will eventually figure it out.)

After Valdi settled in they went over to the Frostfruit Inn to have dinner with Mralki and spend one last night in Erik’s room there before they officially move in to their cottage. It was the last night of their honeymoon and the first time Valdi was to greet Mralki as her father-in-law, and she was nervous.

On the way across the road there was a fracas. Three bandits were mixing it up with the guards in the dark. Valdi immediately sprinted up to join her town’s defense wearing her pretty green dress and armed with her Ma’s old axe, since her Dawnguard one was already hanging on the rack in their cottage. After the skirmish they checked the area for casualties and then started walking the rest of the way to the inn. Valdi turned to her man Erik and murmured, “I hate bandits and thieves…”

It is good to hear that Erik finally decided to give up men and try playing with girls! Sounds like if that tent starts a rockin' don't come a knockin'!

Maybe that glow in Serana's eyes is just her happiness to see Valdi? Is that how your vampire eyes normally look? Mine tend be more orangey, but I think I am using a mod/fix for them.

That’s how cured Serena looks on the PS3, so I think that’s her vanilla human look. My game’s vampire eyes are glowing orange again since I gave up the vampire eye mod during my last load order reduction. I’ll probably look for a mod for Serana’s mortal head if Valdi ends up hanging out with her a lot so that she doesn’t look so gross. Otherwise Serana will have to endure lots of Cure Disease spells cast on her by Valdi.

I’m not sure Erik is 100% convinced he made the right move with Valdi, since he does not put out the way married Stenvar and married Vorstag do. (Which is every time their spouses try to rest, no matter the circumstances.) He’s right there with the Comfort in vanilla inns and player homes, though, so Valdi has no idea that something might be amiss. Just sometimes she awakens Well Rested when she’d planned to spend the whole night riding from Whiterun to Ole Rorikstead. Rocky Top cottage could be rocky times ahead for these two. Ah, the joys of a glitchy save and modding an NPC into marrying your character!

None of my characters have ever talked Serana into turning human again. Persephone is the only one I continued playing for any appreciable time after completing the DG questline. The last thing she wanted was to watch Serana grow old and die. Aside from Darryl, Serana is her only friend.

I know the game uses a script to give Serana her vampire powers. So my guess is that it never got turned off, or had the right things turned off in it, when she went to the light side. Given that she was using the absorb health too, that sounds like the case.

Ghastley – Congrats to Mellwin the vampire slayer as she now goes about collecting Dibella Dolls. Hmm, her misadventures with absorb health sound frustrating.

Grits - 'Between the killin’, they’re sweet enough to give you a cavity!' Bedrolling with only her fluffy hair and skinny feet sticking out! Wow, meeting cured Serana sounds like it was quite the surprise.

Mikke of Green River was too brusque with Serana to get the Cure Yourself dialog options from her, so this is my first time seeing her human in my games. I didn’t even know it was an option until I saw The Girl cure her in The Girl’s game. Her character was very sweet to Serana.

I looked around at the various Serana fixes, and of course I would want to change all of them in some way to suit me. So I just tweaked the Serana dialog edit mod that I’m already using to give her human eyes and remove her vampire drain spell. While I was at it I gave her the Soul Cairn conjuration spells and swapped Icy Spear for her Chain Lightning. I figure she isn’t going to forget her Volkihar frost magic, and Chain Lightning didn’t make much sense anyway.

I also gave her a default outfit that will be easy to change. I didn’t touch her hood swapping system due to my inexperience in the CK, but if I give her a pretty circlet I doubt that she will equip her hood. I guess we’ll find out when Valdi goes to see her for real and not just to check my work.

I think I’ll also check out Arthmoor’s mod for Valdi’s game. It takes me a while to catch on, but it finally processed that I could use it to install a Dawnguard presence in Castle Volkihar to keep an eye on the Soul Cairn portal and then move Serana there with another mod. I doubt that Valdi will invite vampire Valerica to join them. She intends to offer Valerica the same deal that she would have offered Serana if she had decided to stay a vampire, and she has no expectation that Valerica will choose a mortal life. Valdi’s plan gets pretty grim after that. Young Valdi has gotten interesting.

@SubRosa: So did I! I thought it was a particularly beautiful day to be coming back with the Elder Scroll.

@mALX: In my game, the giants are indeed friendly. I tried SubRosa's Animal Friend mod, but strolling through the wilderness became too boring as the animals just stood there. I also found getting pelts for crafting to be a very expensive proposition, as my PCs are not hunters and won't kill animals unless they are being attacked. So I found a mod called One with Nature, which I liked better, as it lets me set the aggression values for each animal. So I have Giants and Mammoths set as Allies, which means they will come to my aid if I am attacked in their vicinity. The prey animals still flee from me, which is fine, and the wolves still attack me. They're like rabbits, so I have a huge stack of pelts sitting in the smithy at Lakeside. I can go into the MCM menu and turn off their aggression, so now I don't have to keep killing them. Maybe I will! At level 25/26, they're not much of a challenge anymore.

@Acadian, mALX and Grits: the shots with the glass arrow - I didn't take that one (or any of the killcam shots). I found this mod that automatically takes screenshots when the killcam triggers. I have it running with VioLens, which lets me dictate the kind of killcam scenes I want to see (i.e. none of my PC being killed - which is extremely disturbing because of the sudden switch in POV). That shot was scary - when Alise released the arrow, Argis stepped into the kill zone. All we could do was hold our breaths and watch that arrow!

On a further note, Alise has finished the MQ, so we have more screenies waiting in the wings. But I'm having Internet problems, so I want to troubleshoot those first. Let me tell you, though, Alise never did so much sniping as when she was in Skuldafn! This was our fourth visit, and it was just as exhausting at this high level as it was the first time we played it. Even with the Penobscot War Bow and glass arrows, it still took four arrows to take out the higher level draugrs. That was when Alise decided she needed to practice her smithing more, so she could upgrade the bow and move up to ebony arrows. It made a significant improvement to her archery, as we found out on her next foray with Argis.

ghastley, I enjoyed reading about Mellewen, the Mage who isn't part of the Mages Guild. Alise gained entrance in her quest for an Elder Scroll, but she has yet to speak to Mirabelle Ervine. Nope, not when we've got SubRosa's Nature Summonings installed and she can buy a fire atronach from Morcant!

Grits, how adorable Valdi and Erik sound! Cuddly, cuddly, cuddly! Let's hope they get some action soon.

I like the idea of being able to set the aggression levels individually for each species; and being able to use the MCM menu to adjust and tweak it is really great too.

On the other mod - Boy would I like to have a camera that automatically took shots every time battle music was triggered. That way I could finally get some awesome action shots,

Most of my character have felt that Serana's happiest as a vampire and haven't suggested she get cured. The few who did noticed that her eyes don't stay "reset" properly. It appears that the function to change them doesn't persist its results properly, so the mods that work edit her base eyes, and have the vamp ones as the "temporary" override that may not always work.

---

Mellewen's having problems getting enough Dibella statues. Two of them are held by Maven and Mercer Frey, who she doesn't want to deal with, and another is all the way at the end of Brinewater Grotto, which you have to reach through the East Empire warehouse. A Thieves Guild member might get them all, but she hasn't joined. Then there's one that is only enabled when you do a quest that starts in the Midden, and she's not joining the College either. She has both of the others, and I gave her the orcish version, as she seemed disappointed.

We discovered that the one at Broken Tower Redoubt respawns, so we're avoiding that location for a while to let it happen again.

Meanwhile, she's tried on the outfit I made for the priestesses at the Temple. If I add a script that changes their outfits when they're down in the private section, it will make more sense of the Sybil quest. They may not have her legs, but ...

Erik looks gorgeous here, if he looked that good in my game he might be marriage material ... but, does he have ... er ... breasts in this screenshot?

And Serana cured is actually more frightening than having a vampire around; what does she have, sickle cell anemia?

That shot would have been perfect for the "Caption This" thread!

Oh my! The one in the foreground with the headband and mini-breasts is our flat-chested Valdi, lol. I wasn’t kidding when I called her skinny! Erik is in the background looking at the rocks and saying that line. Sorry about that! (Anyway I’m sure Erik’s pecs are bigger than Valdi’s!)

Those yellow 'cured' Serana eyes glow a little, too. They had to go!

Well, I thought he looked too good to be a Skyrim man, lol. He had a bit of an 80's David Lee Roth (before the drugs) thing going on or something:





To be honest, I wondered when I saw the breasts; but since the only man in the room was so far away - couldn't believe it could be them talking from that distance. I thought it might be a mod,


I did notice that in the CK you can cue your males to walk like females and vice versa; and was considering bringing my Crassius Curio mod to Skyrim if I could find a way to make him look less hulky than the Skyrim men. The original I made for Oblivion was modeled totally off Freddie Mercury.

Whoa, David Lee Roth is way prettier than poor sweet Valdi! Let’s not show Erik that picture.

I made a Jerric replacer once for one of the female Housecarls but failed to uncheck the Opposite Gender Animations box, so he was mincing around in that steel armor with the cinched-in waist like everything was a bit too tight. Needless to say I went right back to the CK, lol.

I'm glad to know that feature works, if I can ever get his looks right and bring him to Skyrim I'll def use that then. Right now he is modeled off that follower mage in Riften - can't remember the name, but he is an Imperial male who doesn't have the huge body-builder neck/body or massive head with the flat face that most of the Skyrim men have - I really don't like that look, it has kept both Maxical and Misa single, lol.

Young David Lee looks better than a lot of women! Even I might try him out for a night.

And I don't think there is anything wrong with Valdi's twin battery packs in the forward torso compartment. I have always preferred women with smaller packages. Besides, anything more than a mouthful is wasted...

SubRosa, you made Valdi’s day! Like lots of young women, she’s still not sure about what Mara gave her.


ghastley, I saw this on my phone but then forgot to come back and comment on it. I love Mellewen’s Dibella outfit!! I know a Breton who would trade in her sparkly naked temple robe for yours and a wood elf who would love to wear that around camp. Special attire for the private rituals would make good incentive plus a nice reward for trespassing back there.

I really dislike quest-locked locations! In some cases I don’t mind busting through the back door and ruining the associated quests, but sometimes that doesn’t even work.

The way Roth looked then, if he was a woman I might have changed sides, lol. But the small breasts - not for me. I have never wanted a mouthful anyway; but have had enough accidental brushes; falls where I was only able to catch my balance by grabbing the nearest boob; or women who asked me to check theirs out after surgery or something - that I have just got to say - I most def like a handful+ (from a hand much bigger than my own) plus whatever extra within reason.

As far as just looking goes, I don't want to see too small or too large. Having lived on Miami Beach I got to see plenty and of all sizes - there is most def a standard set for perfection, and it is most def more than a mouthful (unless it is Stephen Tyler's mouth maybe).

I was just reading that in one of the Nart Sagas (from the ancient Caucasus Mountains, where the descendants of the Scythians and Sarmatians live today), the hero mocks a young woman for having "breasts like old bouncing pumpkins". Among the nomads, small breasts were desirable, and they were bound up with the predecessors of sports bras.

Heh heh heh! Pretty much the way I feel - my back hurts just to see the big ones on some of the women out there!

Okay, to continue Alise and Argis's adventures . . .

With the truce established, and bandits temporarily cleared from a couple of the main roads, Alise and Argis headed back to Whiterun. After a peaceful night at Breezehome, they met Jarl Balgruuf in Dragonsreach. It was quite chilly, but Alise knew things would get warm pretty fast.

Sure enough, Odahviing came when called. Alise had to stop Argis from fighting the dragon so she could lure the big guy within the trap. It worked!

At first reluctant to trust the captured dragon, Alise finally agreed to free him so he could take them to Alduin's hideout. She was dismayed when the dragon took off without her backup (Argis). But soon enough, she was busy.

They landed at Skuldafn Temple, where Alise used the landing platform as an excellent vantage point to clear some of the draugr infesting the ruins. Here is where her marksmanship really shone. But when she ventured to cross that first bridge, she was surprised by a frost dragon. The Dragonrend call proved useful to ground him, within reach of Dragonbane. She barely ducked his icy breath, and drove in with the ancient Blades weapon.

Moving closer to the temple, she was surprised again by another enemy, this time a draugr. He nailed her with a frost spear, but she still closed in with her characteristic double whammy (fire spell and glass mace).

Near a small tower to the south of the big courtyard, Alise found some excellent cover among some trees and took a couple more long shots. It took a lot of time and patience, but she was able to clear the walls of the lower level of draugr before venturing inside the temple. Then it was the usual - snipe, fire and mace. It wasn't until she encountered a Word Wall (Strun, the first word of Storm Call) that she really missed Argis.

By the time she exited the lower depths of the temple and reached the second level of Skuldafn's walls, it was growing dark. Alise used the gloom to advantage and finished off the remaining draugr with more sniping.

In the upper level of the temple, Alise found an excellent sniping spot - an elevated platform just to the right of the entrance that gave her a clear shot up a passageway. She turned this into a kill zone and eliminated four draugr without giving away her position.

After a heart-pounding fight with some kind of priest wearing a weird mask, she was able to jump through a portal into Sovngarde. An aurora was in full blast, but the valley between her and the Hall of Valor was obscured by a mist. Alise tried to escort a Stormcloak soul through the mist, but he was winnowed by a certain black dragon before they made it halfway down the path. After a wrong turn, Alise finally found herself approaching the Whalebone Bridge.

Here the hugest barechested Nord to ever walk the soil of Sovngarde stopped her. He introduced himself as Tsun, told her she had to prove her right to enter the Hall of Valor, and proceeded to beat the Oblivion out of her with his humongous battleaxe. Somehow she managed to give as good as she got with her little glass mace, and he let her pass.

The Hall of Valor proved to be as impressive as the aurora borealis, and Alise hesitated to enter. Did she belong here? Or would only Nords be able to enter? Well, Tsun didn't say anything about the place being exclusive to Nords, so Alise took a deep breath and entered.

She was greeted by Ysagramor, then Jurgen Windcaller. They told her that the three greatest heroes of Skyrim - Hakon One-Eye, Felldir the Old and Gormlaith Golden-Hilt were waiting for her. As she wandered the Hall, looking for a place to catch a quick nap (she had been on the go for over 16 hours by this point), she came across - what are those?? - milk! So even milk-drinkers can enter the Hall of Valor? It made her feel a little bit better, but still she was the only Dunmer in a Hall full of Nords, even if they were dead and still welcoming to her.

Finally she found the Terrible Trio, and went back outside with them to confront Alduin, hopefully for the last time. First they had to clear the valley of that terrible mist, then they had to bring Alduin down and attack him all together. But they pulled it off, and he disintegrated in front of them.

Afterwards the sun shone on the most colorful valley Alise had seen since leaving Cyrodiil so many years ago. Tsun was waiting for her, ready to send her back.

Alise found herself at the Throat of the World, blinded by blizzard conditions. Around her dragon voices bugled in their tongue. Between gusts of snow-laden wind, Alise could make out the bulky forms of many dragons, speaking in solo and chorus. Then Paarthurnax spoke. But his final words as he departed made Alise doubt her decision to not kill the dragon as Delphine had requested. Did she just create a bigger, more dreadful tyrant than Alduin had been?

Odahviin remained behind to greet her, and to swear his loyalty to her. He promised to come if she ever called his name.

Then it was time to make her way back to High Hrothgar. Alise was so exhausted and cold, she barely had the strength for the Clear Skies shout, but she managed to reach the huge bonfire in the courtyard of the old temple. Here Argis met her, and brought her inside to the relative warmth. Protectively he growled the Greybeards away long enough for her to sleep. And sleep she did, for twenty hours! When she woke the next morning, still feeling tired, Alise spoke to Arngeir. He congratulated her on her victory, but turned philosophical when she told him that she never absorbed Alduin's soul, and doubted that the old dragon was really dead.

Alise and Argis made their way off the mountain for the last time. Upon returning to Ivarstead, Alise was startled to find festive bunting strung across what passed for the village's main street. Fortunately, Argis had brought the horses from Whiterun, so they were able to ride home.

A/N: In those archery screenies (marksmanship, long shots and gloom), if you look close, you can see all three elements - shooter, arrow and target. I think they captured the distances involved at Skuldafn very well.

That is a great picture of the Terminator with the battle axe at Skuldfan. I really loved that pic of the frost dragon surprise though.

I have to admit that colorful Hall of Valor at the end did look like a place Thor would live in.

Well I have always said, “The bigger they are, the farther they fall,” but since I’m on the far left of the boob slider that might sound like sour grapes.

haute, fun pictures of Alise’s adventure at Skuldafn. Jensa went there at night, so it looked very different for me. Plus she used her new Storm Call, so there was a lot of lightning at the second level.

Milk in Shor’s Hall of Valor?! I guess it does a body spirit good. Party in Ivarstead! What was that about? Alduin’s defeat or some other holiday? Congrats to Alise on saving the world! I love the Sovngarde pictures.


Valdi and Erik are about to delve into bandit-infested Mzinchaleft in search of Mjoll the Lioness’s lost blade. Valdi used arrows to lure all of the outside guards into a spot where she could nail them one by one from the ridge. Lildereth would have been proud, though she would have pointed out that Valdi was quite visible to the elven eye against the sky. It’s dusk so they plan to clear the immediate interior and take turns sleeping in there. Eventually.

I had to laugh when they passed through Morthal. They both know that there’s a lovely bathhouse and an inn there, but they just wanted to press on to the ruin. They both would choose cold water and privacy over the bath house situation.

Maybe it is not milk, but koumiss?

Hey, I recognize Jensa's stylin' helmet!

Looks like Valdi makes quite the sniper. Much better than Maxical, that is for sure!

Rider - Great pictures of the demise of Alduin. It's too bad you have no choice about bringing a follower along to Sovngarde. And who would have thought those Nords in the Hall of Valor sit around drinking milk!

Grits - Yay! Turn Mjoll loose with Grimsever and she's a lioness!

I liked the milk, is that a mod?

The colorful one after the battle was my favorite too. I haven't done this quest, of course - but I have seen it done in vids, and was really disappointed by how they rush the Player through to the battle, and as soon as the battle ends the Player doesn't have a minute to let his breath out and savor the victory before they are rousing him back to Tamriel. To me that was a failure on Bethesda's part - why make that huge setup that begs for exploring and then push the Player so hard they can't even look around.

So I was kind of glad you got that nice screenshot to remember the beauty of the place with.

That first shot is spectacular, but the last one is my favorite! Wow, what a trail of bodies, and snow enhances the scene! I don't recognize the dungeon, or you have some graphics enhance/replace and it has made it unrecognizable to me, lol. I can't tell which. Awesome shots!

How did I miss this? OMG, that outfit is gorgeous! I need that for my armor dummies, I think I have them all in Azura's robes or Daedric right now because I can't have any nudity in that mod. Bethesda removed the base clothing from the wooden ones because they kept changing back into that instead of wearing the armor; but since I made my armor dummies into real people that can't be nude - I've got to dress them now. (at least till I pass the class, lol).

Valdi’s thoughts on Serana concerned both her afterlife and the risk to Skyrim should she decide to retain her ‘gift.’ Valdi is no theologian, but her expectation of an afterlife is as real as her expectation of the sun rising in the morning (now that Lord Harkon’s plan was foiled). From what she knows of Coldharbor and of Serana, she believes that her friend would not be happy spending her next unimaginably long life there. Coming to terms with herself opened the world up to Valdi. She saw an opportunity to help Serana become the Serana that she might want to be: a true child of Kyne as is her birthright. All of this is seen through Valdi-vision, of course.

If Serana had chosen to remain a vampire, Valdi would have tried to kill her. She has had time since then to think it through and is extremely relieved that she didn’t do that, because now she knows she doesn’t know enough to make that decision. But now that the prophecy is out there and Auriel’s Bow has been found, any Daughter of Coldharbor is a threat to the whole world. Every time Valdi brings Durnehviir out from the Soul Cairn she worries that Valerica will seize the chance to pop through that portal to check on things and fall into the hands of the next conniving vampire. Valdi does not think she is qualified to judge or strike a deal with Valerica, so she will probably seek advice before she dives back into the Soul Cairn.

Here’s a double update from Chases the Fish, Saxhleel thug and itinerant alchemist, in spoiler tags for scrolling convenience.


A screenie: Chases vs The Thief

Wow, and Argonian mage! Great shot!

Looks like Chases is going to get some payback for a few thousand years of Dunmer slavery. Uh on, pyromancy vs. someone with a resistance to fire is not a good combination. It sounds like Chases needs to branch out into some other elements. It's too bad there isn't any Hydromancy. It would be fun to drown someone, and so appropriate for an Argonian mage!

Uh oh, Thalmor vigilantes are on Chases' tail. Did he check their knees for arrows? Perhaps the Dragonborn converted them into Hold Guards?

Doh! And after all that the real Hold Guards caught up with Chases! Well, maybe he can play cards with Khareem in prison...

Sounds like Valdi and Serana worked out the best solution for them. Valid concerns, all.

For Chases the Fish, that staff of sparks was a good find. As was appropriating his own farm. Aside from that, Chases seemed to have plenty of luck – all bad. Gut you like a fish indeed!

Wonderful screenshot, Grits! Does Chases have blue eyes or is that just light effects from the fight?

That’s just blue light reflecting from his frost spell. Chases has yellowy-green eyes that match his face scales. When I made him I imagined he would look like mud with a bunch of sticks poking up.

Chases thinks of his frost magic as water magic, frozen-north style.

Jerric has been running errands lately getting some mundane details of living sorted out. He has Darnand, Ulfe, and Barbas with him. Their path took them through Rorikstead, so Jerric stopped in at Valdi and Erik’s cottage to drop off a few things that Valdi left at Lakeview Manor. Things like Erik’s old axe and some of Valdi’s clothing including her wedding dress and undergarments. The newlyweds were not at home (they are at the Frostfruit Inn until I finalize the NavMesh), so he just put things away where he guessed they should go.

This was a new experience for Jerric. He is no stranger to lingerie, but he apparently feels way too paternal toward Valdi to not get red-faced while folding up her lacy items. On the way out he made sure the bookshelves were full and put 20,000 Septims in their strongbox. And he took their butter. He and Darnand are going to walk along the river on the way to Dragonbridge, and Jerric plans to cook some mudcrabs for dinner. He figures with a general store across the road and an innkeeper in the family, Valdi and Erik can easily get some more. Or at least Erik can. For the sake of their marriage Jerric hopes that Valdi does not do much of the cooking.

Here’s a screenshot of Jerric vs Spider from a recent adventure.

Lacy things, butter, and crab sounds much better than spiders!

Grits – Nice little update on Jerric. His reflections in Valdi’s cabin are paternal indeed. It also strikes me that they also, for the first time I can recall, begin to reflect his age. I’m reminded of the country song where Waylon Jennings happens to 'look in the mirror in total surprise, at the hair on my shoulders and the age in my eyes’. But aging at a noticeable pace is the way of humans, as Buffy and Lildereth well know.

I love Jerric’s KaSolivatchtude wolf shield! The spider battle reminds me of another quote where Hadvar says during the tutorial in Helgen, "I hate those damn things. Too many eyes, you know?"

Why did he take their butter? Might they try to retaliate the butter-thief?

Urk, I hate those spiders! Great shot though, how on earth did you get a shot from that angle in the middle of a battle? Awesome shot!

The butter is to cook crab legs with. Mmmm tasty.

Mmmmm, now my mouth is watering for mudcrab legs dipped in drawn butter,

I try to put a spider warning on those shots for those who like Hadvar and Farkas are not fond of the crawly ones. I got that screen during a kill-cam. There is a noticeable pause in Jerric’s battered old save when one triggers so I know it’s coming and can hammer the print screen button.

Acadian, I had that thought as well. That Waylon Jennings lyric suits perfectly, thank you for sharing it. Jerric is suddenly surprised at how late it’s getting. If things had gone differently with Sandrine all those years ago his eldest would be about Valdi’s age. Sometimes he thinks about what he’s missed as a result of his choices, and then he looks at Lil and thinks about what he’ll miss after he’s gone. Then he has to go do some Jerric thing to get over all of that thinking.

Like kill everyone at Robber’s Gorge with the help of a passing mercenary and then go mudcrab hunting wearing only a shield and sword. Nothing clears the head quite like a 200 pound crab snapping at one’s bait. He’s using his old unenchanted silver sword again but still carrying Redeemer, and of course his KaSolivatchtude wolf shield.

Renee, that’s why he took the butter, to cook the crab legs. I’m sure Erik will not mind since Jerric is very generous with his friends when he’s not helping himself to the contents of their larder. Valdi will just be relieved that he didn’t decorate the porch with her stockings and then stroll into the Frostfruit Inn wearing her panties on his head. They’ll know it was him, since no one else would take food and leave 20,000 gold in the strongbox. Hopefully they’ll pull a prank on him to retaliate. He would love that.

I am so hungry right now from this food talk, argh!

Valdi and Erik returned Grimsever to Mjoll and then rode to Fort Dawnguard in search of Serana. She wasn’t there, so they trained a little with their fellow slayers, cooked some soup for dinner, and then crashed for the night on camp cots in the barracks. Where somehow the formerly shy Erik managed to Comfort his bride, yikes. Valdi is going to be more careful where she lies down in the future.

In the morning they found Serana, who looked very mortal, very beautiful, and very ready to go on an adventure to Solstheim with friends. But first they checked in with Isran because he is the boss. He told them to talk to Florentius, which is never Valdi’s favorite thing because she is not comfortable with Crazy.

Florentius had some distressing news. Dammit, Darnand! Valdi always knew that his fascination with darkness would cause trouble for more than just him. So the three friends raced off to Darnand’s rescue, with Serana mounted on her firey explosive ghost horse and complaining about the sun on the way. Valdi supposes that centuries as a vampire must have taken a toll on her friend even if it doesn’t show, or maybe old habits die hard. Either way Valdi will overlook Serana’s bitching the way Serana overlooks Valdi’s little habits that must annoy her.

Also Valdi would like to get a circlet for Serana. She guesses that Serana doesn’t even remember the last time someone gave her a present. They don’t have time to shop right now, but it’s on her list.

Erik, you sly Nord! Comforting in an open barracks squad bay – does it get more romantic than that?!?

I remember once before when one of your characters got a rescue mission for one of your own gang – how neat that must be. Silly Darnand.

Perfect explanation for why the notavampanymore Serana the Complainer still rides Flame and whines about the sun. Aww, that is really sweet of Valdi to think about gifting a circlet to Serana.

The current screenshot of the month in your signature is fantastic! Gosh, I sure wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that shot. Lil looks simply amazing there – and more than a little deadly.

How did you get it to say Darnand;s name? What quest is this? Awesome!



(And yes, great screenshot of the Midyear!)

When I make my NPCs I put them in the town factions for where they hang out when they’re not following or moved in to a player house. That means they can be picked by the radiant quest system, which is a lot of fun since I have them active even in games where the PC has never met them. So for example Channah got a Companions quest to intimidate Lildereth, and Marius got a Thieves Guild quest to pickpocket something from Jerric.

That rescue quest is a standard one you can get with the Dawnguard DLC. I suspect it pulls from a list of people you are Friends or Allies with, since it refers to the person as your friend. I’m enjoying Valdi’s post-DG questline radiant quests. Florentius starts off saying something like, “Grave news, my friend…” then tells you there’s still hope that your friend could be alive. Not something you want to just ignore!

Thank you for the kind words about our screenie! Lost Knife Hideout is one of Lil’s favorite places to raid. Her Fury spell, a handful of arrows, and one Nord get the job done every time. Lil had extra fun this time through, since this game is still new enough that Jerric can’t summon his frost atronach yet. Though she got quite a scare when he tripped a boulder trap almost on top of her, since this game is also too new for his Light Step perk apparently.

Serana still complains about the sun! I suppose she also constantly bombards you with "Yes, what did you need?" as well.

Oh noes, Darnand is in deadly peril! I would have figured him for having problems with necromancers though, not vampires...

Wow Grits, that's so intense. It's always more serious when it's someone we love.