Ok, I thought it was just me... But when I look at the many screenshots from so many people using Oblivion Reloaded and praising it as the pinnacle of Oblivion graphics... when I look at them, I invariably conclude that there's something wrong with my perception because I actually prefer vanilla...

The problem with many graphical overhauls is that the individual textures don't play nicely together. You can see it in the screenshots. Shadows that are too stark in strange places. Straight lines where none exist in vanilla. Sharp texture transitions. And that just ruins everything for me. I think it is very difficult to make a successful graphics overhaul because not only do you need to edit every texture, but you also need to test all the different combinations of textures and see how they play out.

And this is assuming you've got the hardware that can actually display those advanced graphics. My old PC could not, for example, and I got zebra striped snow instead of gradual texture transitions that were meant to appear. Having spent days and days trying to get the textures as they were intended by the creators, having lost the sky, the water, the land and almost all of my patience, I finally concluded that my hardware couldn't do it. No more graphics overhauls for me, thanks. I still haven't had the heart to try it again on the new computer with better hardware.

Sure, I get what you're saying there, Miss Wolf.

I never delved into changing graphics much myself because just going from consoles to PC was enough of an "upgrade" for me. Just going from 30 frames per second to 60 potential fps still makes my jaw drop.



Thank you.

EDIT: Today I copy/pasted ALL of my old stories to my new computer! ... Well, all the old stories in this Spoilers thread. They were all originally on my old computer (whose hard drive fried a few months ago) all organized neatly into folders as .txt files, and so it's been my goal to get them all over to my new one as well.

Anyway, it's DONE! Took about 6 hours to manually copy each one, and paste it over.

20220626 Drive Rock

It was necessary to spend some time repairing critical equipment before making the treacherous trek from Mafreseli to the campsite below. One false step on the precarious icy slope and it’s a long drop to valley below.

“So this is dive Rock,” I said.

Sliding close Kaleah whispered, “Kind of takes your breath away, if you know what I mean.”

“Nature shows her beauty for all to see,” Elenya said as she peered over the edge.

Caught up in the rapture of the natural beauty of the valley below, Pym stepped precariously close to the precipice.

What is it about this place that affects them so?

Fearing for my Ladies' safety, I tossed little Pym over my shoulder, grabbed Elenya by the hand, and dragged them both back to the tent away from the edge of Drive Rock. Depositing the two in the tent I went back for Kaleah. She didn’t respond when I called her, I grabbed her by the tail and pulled her back to the tent. That took some doing, Kaleah can be quite the immovable force when she wants to be.

With my Ladies cooling down in the tent I sat down by the fire and began reading a book I found next to the campfire. Agnar the Unwavering, writes how he, the of Chieftain of Thirsk, and his advisor/wife, the beautiful Svenja Snow-Song, have tracked a fearsome monster known as the Uderfrykte Matron to Dive Rock. A few days after pitching camp Agnar and Svenja spotted the Horror of Dive Rock. In deep snow Agnar and Svenja trudged down the mountain side to give the creature its due.

Like a blowing blizzard the beast wavered and shimmered in the cold. Agnar described it as the feral form of winter itself!

Their frost enchanted and mundane steel weapons were completely useless. Svenja was killed instantly, consumed by the beast nearly whole in just one bite! Agnar fled back to the safety of the campfire to jot down the last few lines of his journal. Then with that done Agnar cinched tightly the belt of his pants, took up his axe and with grim determination returned to what he knew would be his final battle.

Agnar’s final written words were, “I take comfort in knowing I will soon rejoin my beautiful bride in the gilded halls of Sovngarde.”

A dreadful blood curdling scream broke the silence. Instantly my Ladies and I gathered our weapons and raced down the mountain in the direction of the scream. We saw the Nord fall to a frozen swirling mist. What kind of beast is this? It’s like a cloud of frost come to life.

Whatever it is it was no match for out flame enchanted weapons. Slowed down by Kaleah’s fiery arrows the Horror of Dive Rock (the green and silver cloud near the big rock in the picture) was unable evade the Light of Dawn. One slash and Light of Dawn’s fiery blade opened Uderfrykte Matron from left shoulder to right hip nearly cutting it in two. As it fell to the ground body parts of what we could only assume to be that of Svenja spilled out on the snow.

Svenja, the beauty that Agnar described was hardly recognized. Handling Svenja’s corpse with great care my Ladies reverently laid the couple together on the frozen slope. Taking the portable shrine we gathered together to beseech the goddess to grant safe passage for that the doomed couple in the afterlife.

Wonder of wonders! The mountain shook, Agnar’s left hand sought out to touch Svenja’s right hand as their heads turn to gaze into each other’s eyes.

Elenya went wild with excitement. “The goddess, she, she… she woke the mountain! He’s taken the couple under his protection. Oh, he’s prepared a resting place for Agnar and Svenja.”

“Was it Nir or maybe the lost deity Luminai that woke the mountain fae?”

“Can’t tell,” Kaleah said. “Something moved them and it was neither Daedra nor Aedra. That I can tell.”

A deep hole suitable for a burial opened up on the rocky mountain slope. There in the site the mountain prepared for us we gently laid Agnar and Svenya to rest. With the internment complete, the mountain sealed itself up leaving no trace of the gravesite. Only the corpse of the Uderfrykte Matron remained to tell the tale of Agnar and Svenja.

"The spirit of the mountain has returned to its slumber," Elenya sadly announced. "I was hoping we could talk to it for awhile."

We paid our last respects and headed south by southwest down the mountain to the green valley below.

I'm going up the country
Baby, don't you wanna go?
I'm going to some place
Where I've never been before
I'm going, I'm going
Where the water tastes like wine
…
We can jump in the water
Stay drunk all the time.

Ah man, so that is Dive Rock? Never been there, with any of mine. And there is an Ayleid ruin up there too???? Ah man, my breath is taken.

Too bad the Adoring Fan is not part of Jandaga's group.

Do you ever get afraid of heights, macole? Even in videogames, I used to get afraid, especially while playing Tomb Raider. But over the years playing ES games, walking right to the edge doesn't bother me as much (meanwhile, it barely bothers most of my characters).

Whoa, that's crazy. So the graves that opened closed themselves up?

South by southwest, huh? I never been to Austin. Always wanted to go.

Today's set of verses sounds like Creedence, though it can't be them. As usual it's ringing a bell though.

I am confused about the location of Mafreseli (I haven't looked into that mod yet). You said previously that it interfered with HESU Skyrim Temple, but that is no where near Dive Rock. HESU Skyrim Temple is to the West of the Temple of Ancestor Moths, unless you have a different version from mine?

Pretty impressive magic with that tomb opening and closing and stuff. Which mod is this?

I know, right?

Canned Heat?

YESS!!!!!!!

What a neat story at Dive Rock! Nicely done. Time to head for warm sands or at least someplace with no snow!

Breakdown;

Canned Heat, the hippie’s anthem, is correct!

The supposed Ayleid ruin which isn’t so ruined is from the mod Mafreseli.

Once I’m on top, looking out over the landscape, heights don’t bother me much. Now bees and wasps buzzing around will send me into an uncontrollable panic. (Sat on a yellow jacket nest when about 8 or 9.)

Previously I had said that I was afraid Mafreseli would interfere with HESU Skyrim Temple. Not knowing exactly where things are, I made an error when reading the hex grid map. Wonder how HESU Dive Rock would work?

Other than a texture change for the Uderfrykte Matron there are no mods included here, just my imagination running wild. The funeral service and burial at the end is just me role playing my aelf character. Faerie is his chosen language in Daggerfall, you know.

The Uderfrykte Matron texture didn’t quite do it for me. I was looking for something more unique and a heck of a lot more fearsome than a giant troll for the Matron. Maybe next time.

Yes, it is time to head somewhere warm. We’re leaving for Orlando, Florida via Atlanta. Be back in a couple weeks, hopefully. Uunless I find magic gourd named Xanth, then who knows.

This is centipedes for me. They just creep me out. Spiders are okay. But a centipede bit my sister on the toe when we were kids.

It’s hard coming back from a vacation and trying to get back into the gaming groove. Where were we… oh yeah, we had just left Dive Rock. We had just left Dive Rock and were making our way south through the Valus Mountains.

20220721 Rebuilding Kvatch

It was getting late in the day when we saw Cheydinhal. Shining like a beacon in the sun the polished white marbled Chapel of Arkay stood out against the dark stone of the city walls, inviting all who see to come worship at the …

“SHOPS!”

Well I know they’re not the best shops ever but the Ladies didn’t have the patience to be choosey. They’ve been on the road for weeks you see and beside…

You can get anything you want at Dervera’s Newlands Lodge
You can get anything you want at Dervera’s Newlands Lodge
Walk right in go around the back
Just a half a mile from a smuggler’s track
You can get anything you want at Dervera’s Newlands Lodge
Except for Dervera

Cheydinhal may not have the best shops in Cyrodiil but after days on the road the thought of a shop of any kind was enough to send my Ladies into a shopping frenzy. How could I resist the fluttering eyelashes, veiled promises, and the dire warning of what will happen if we don’t go to town this very minute!

Ah, the richness of the garden city. One of my favorite places in all of Cyrodriil is sitting along the banks of the Corobolo River tributary that runs through the city. Two things keep me from moving here permanently.One is the obnoxious singing of Aldos Othran. Cliff racers of all things. The other? Well, let’s just say that Arkay and the dragon spirit residing in my armor have philosophical differences, which they have been arguing over for ages

We spent a quiet night at our Cheydinhal Manor. Favas Andas the resident OVB chapter house leader caught us up on OVB news. Vampire activity has been greatly reduced. No major organized vampire activity of note, just a random attack easily taken care of by new recruits.

The whole of the next day was spent shopping and celebrating. Whatever was gained selling our accumulated loot was quickly blown away at the shops and various inns in Cheydinhal. Our final stop of the night was Newlands Lodge.

Late the next day when my dear Ladies and Favas finally woke up they were beginning to feel ill. At first we thought it was the pickled kwama eggs or maybe the matze had gone skunky or way too much of both, but when their symptoms persisted I consulted with Deetsan and Eilonwy at the Mages Guild. After a quick examination the two mages prescribed a potion and ordered my Ladies into quarantine for ten days.

“There’s a bug going around,” Deetsan explained. “We could use a good doctor to help with making more effective potions. Sad part is the medical skill has fallen into decline ever since the Warp in the West, oh well. Your companions’ symptoms, being who they are, should be relatively mild. A full recovery is expected within a few days. But, they should isolate for at least ten days just to be safe.”

Whatever bug the Ladies picked up it didn’t bother me at all, thankfully. I looked forward to spending some leisure time sitting on the banks of the river. That didn’t happen. Instead I spent the first few days tending to a house full of sick and spoiled children.

It was around the fourth day of the 10-day confinement when my little band of field hippies began to feel better. As time allowed I took to taking short leisurely walks along the banks of the Little Corobolo River. It was during one such walk, as I was basking in the idyllic river setting near the docks, Ignar the Kvatch messenger suddenly appeared with a message from Procis Douarus, Chief Architect of Kvatch. It seems that Procis requires my assistance again. Something about a flower garden I think Ignar said.

Sounds easy enough. Elenya has taught me a lot about flowers and plants. She says I have a natural green
thumb. She must have seen my Morrowind picture.

With my Ladies improving and no longer in need of a fulltime nanny I seized the opportunity, quickly packed my bags, put on traveling clothes, and fled.

Not really. I couldn’t leave without many hugs and tearful good-byes. I promised to return within two weeks. Really, it shouldn’t take that long. How hard could it be to plant some flowers.

It was just past dinner time when I reached Skingrad. Not a bad place to stop for dinner and a glass or two of wine. Got to keep tabs on the competition you know. I left Skingrad after breakfast the next morning and by noon I finally reached Kvatch.

Wow, the place is really coming along!

Procis was on the third floor of the one completed build that was being used to house the still homeless refugees. He gave me a dumbfounded “what are you doing here?” kind of look.

“Did you get my letter?”

“Yes.”

“Did you read it?”

“Err, um, no…“ Reads letter. “Oh.

It was all in the letter which I hadn’t read. Procis is looking for a City Gardner. A genius of a garden designer named Godras has retired and lives just outside Anvil, Procis would like me to convince him to come out of retirement long enough to help beautify Kvatch.

Well the stop at Kvatch wasn’t a complete waste of time. I had lunch and took a tour of the construction site. It was early evening when I reached Anvil. First stop Benirus Manor for dinner.

Welcome back from your Florida trip. Hope you enjoyed!

*

’How could I resist the fluttering eyelashes, veiled promises, and the dire warning of what will happen if we don’t go to town this very minute!’
- - After noting the first picture and reading the above, I wonder if that warning included a threat to roll the Jandaga down the hill all the way to Cheydinhal! “Let’s see if he bounces!”

Sorry to hear the Ladies somehow got the wog. Ayleid flu perhaps?

Hmm, a solo mission to Kvatch is it?

’It was just past dinner time when I reached Cheydinhal.’
Given the context here, I suspect you meant Skingrad?

Haha, must read the instructions on your quest letter! Oh well, Kvatch is on the way to Anvil anyway.

You are right about that. I should change it.

The vacarion wwas one of the worst trips i've ever been on. On the drive down, two fiery crashes closed I-75 over night while they repalaced the asphalt. Instead of making it to Macon GA we pulled in at Calhoun north of Atlanta. Next day, it was slow driving through southern GA, heavy rain and several more accidents delayed driving time by more than 4 hours. During our stay in Orlando my Nikon camera broke down in the middle of the week. Lost my wedding band while swimming. The drive back was constant hesvy rain through Georgia and Alabama. It was when we got to my brother-in-law's house in Memphis that we began to learn that four out of the five people who went on the trip tested positive for covid. I'm the only one who has not.
My post kind of reflects some of that.

Gosh, this sounds like the worst trip ever... I had the feeling your post was reflecting that - you had already mentioned covid before. Sorry to hear about the lost wedding band, but I bet the enchantment is still there, even if the ring itself is gone. It's the enchantment that counts.

Ha they start off going shopping, first thing back from your vacation. Classic.

I would love to get a gander at your field hippies.

Wow, look at Kvatch. Edit: just saw your later post, and wow, what a mess. Glad you are okay, macole. Could've been worse, I guess.

Len Wolf: the enchantment lives

20220731 Rebuilding Kvatch Falling Flowers

It is good to be back in Benirus Manor to see Yesmin, Claire and Rosiland the teenaged Breton housekeeper again. Is it my imagination or has Phoebe, the little black cat, grown to nearly the size of the Mystical Unicorn.

Just in time for a quiet dinner at home but, no. As soon as I walked in Yesmin and Claire whisked me away to the Count’s Arms. After that it was off to the Black Flag Inn (Better Cities). From there I vaguely remember going somewhere but I can’t recall the name. Anyways it doesn’t matter, the second moon was rising as we staggered arm-in-arm down the street. Holding each other up and singing loudly we passed by a city guard as we approached Benirus Manor

The officer of the Night Watch gave a long stare and shook his head.

“I’ve heard better singing in a barnyard,” the night watch called out. “Better get yourself in before I haul you in for disturbing the peace!”

“Yeth thir!” I shouted and gave him a sharp salute.

Claire and Yesmin giggled but the guard was not impressed. Reaching for his truncheon he took a step forward. Faster than scared rabbits we dove through the front door of the manor shutting the door behind us. Collapsing on the floor we lay there laughing until we fell asleep.

The smell of onion, garlic, and bacon wafting in the air woke us and pulled us to the table. Frittatas tasted as good as they smelled and the coffee was smooth with a hint of vanilla. Excellent, where did Rosiland, my teenage Breton housekeeper, learn to cook like this?

“The witch Fiona has been visiting,” Yesmin told me. “She says Rosiland has talent. Together with Claire, they’ve been dabbling in recipes from your recipe book. Rosiland has turned into a pretty good cook. She’s almost as good as you are.”

“By talent I hope Fiona meant in the kitchen and not down in Lorgren’s alchemical lab.” I commented.

“Well, they do spend a lot of time downstairs in the necro…” Yesmin began. “Oh! They wouldn’t be reading his books, would they?”

During breakfast I asked where I could find Sapling Manor and Godras.

“Oh, the strange Bosmer,” Claire replied. “His house is just outside the city’s castle gate.”

“I’ve seen him at the market on shopping day,” Rosilane said. “He stands far away from everyone. It’s like he’s afraid of catching the plague or something.”

“For a Bosmer, he’s an odd one for sure,” Yesmin said. “Quiet and keeps his hands to himself.”

After breakfast while storing several artifacts recovered from Mafreseli down in the Lorgren Lab I had a talk with Yesmin, Claire, and Rosiland. Gently I stressed how dangerous the items in this room were. Claire assured me that Rosiland’s interests were in the kitchen not the alchemy table.

Satisfied with that, I left in searching of Sapling Manor. I must have passed by this little house hundreds of times never giving it a second thought as I did. The garden may have once been well maintained but now it was beginning to show signs of neglect.

The door was open when I knocked so I walked on in. Dust and cobwebs resting on aging furnishings was all I found on the first floor. I began to wonder if anyone lived here at all anymore. Continuing upstairs, there sitting in a sparsely furnished room, sat Godras. He stared blankly at me as I told him of Kvatch’s desire to beautify the city with the aid of his extraordinary talents.

Did he here me? It took awhile for Godras to reply then slowly he began to tell his sad tale of why he retired from public life. His wife had died near the lighthouse. Godras blames himself for her death and now suffers from a deep depression that affects his concentration. Unable to concentrate on anything other than his wife Godras has lost the will and desire to work on garden designs.

As I left him there all alone I began to think perhaps there is some way I could help free him from this depression. Deep in thought of Godras and his dilemma I soon found myself walking along the docks. The sound of the ships rocking to and fro, and the dock hands shouting at each other brought my attention to focus. Why not interview a few of the sailors and dockhands, someone may know something.

And someone did. It didn’t take long to learn that a ghost appears by the lighthouse on Sundas. Thing is that it’s only Tirdas. What am I going to do till Sundas?

It’s a beautiful day, a hot summer day. Why not take a short hike through the hills just east of Anvil and north of Gweden? Surely it should be a very safe what with the constant influx of Imperial Guards patrolling the Gweden area.

It’s lonely walking the hills by one’s self. Without a soul insight I aimlessly walked around in circles.

Circling like a river
Over brightly colored stones
Breaking up my soul
And taking part of me home
Leaving the other half
To tumble all alone
Love, love, where did you go?

“You wanted to be alone, remember. So, my beamish young one, you better look over your shoulder.”

That voice, where did it come from? Turning around all I saw were two figures charging up the hill towards me. With weapons drawn it didn’t look like they wanted a friendly chat. Alone and without armor what could I do? I summoned the Sisters of Insanity, of course. The two denizens of the Shivering Isle took care of the situation with an intense passion.

Necromancers by the looks of what was left of my attackers. Why here? Then I saw the gate of Garlas Agea and the answer was obvious.

The Gate of Garlas Agea beckoned and I could not resist.

Now that is a very big cat.

Ha, so Jandaga's singing lowers his Disposition!

Whoa, nice hat.

What quest is this, macole? It sounds neat.

Damn. I really gotta play some Oblivion today. Supposed to rain later. I have no idea where today's song lyrics come from!

I think it had more to do with how much he had to drink (I used to be a fairly good karaoke singer way back when). Too much gives him the power of Inappropriate Speech.


The Falling Flowers quest with Sapling Manor and Godras are part of Kvatch Rebuildt

The teenage maid Rosalind comes from Better Benirus Manor - Helping Hands.
She is just a basic house maid in need of something to look forward to. She reminds me of Emma's Morrowind Breton witch companion. So I thought Rosalind would eventually grow up and practice alchemy.


We’ve had ten inches of rain in two days this week. Terrible flooding, thought I was in Leyawiin.


The answer my friend is written into the story. I’ll let you know tomorrow if you can’t find it.

Yes, that song isn't ringing any bells. Some songs you post, I'll sit there going.. "I know that!" ... but in this case I have no idea.

That Kvatch Rebuilt quest sounds fun. I've got Kvatch Rising in my game (Giskard...) which is also quite neat. Rebuilt sounds more interactive though. Like Arthmoor's Sutch in which we can rebuild the fort. None of mine have ever gotten organized enough to help the ppl of Sutch (they're all too busy with their own agendas) but it's neat to have this sort of things as options.

I love rain, but 10 inches in 2 days...

It was the comma that threw her off. A colon would have given it away.

Jerry Garcia did not play banjo on that album.

to ghastley, enjoy. Great album BTW. Best listened to with headphones and a glass of cheap wine.

It's A Beautiful Day - Hot Summer Day - YouTube

Right about Garcia, although he did sit in on two tracks of the second of the albums, Marrying Maiden. Banjo on, Hoedown, and pedal steel on, It Comes Right Down To You.

Sounds like a fun and boisterous night out on the town in Anvil. The Jandaga is rockin’ that hat!

Reading about the quest involving Godras, I actually recall (vaguely) doing it many years ago while rebuilding Kvatch.

Summons are super handy when you want to roam around unencumbered but still want some back up available. Summoned helpers and summoned weapons too.

Well, several days to wile away and an Ayleid necroden beckoning. . . .

You went for the Cheap Wine, eh? No Surilies or Tamika's for macole!

Well thinking back to those days it was Boonesfarm Strawberryhill or Ripple. Tastes have changed since then.

If the music is REALLY good, the quality of the wine won’t be noticed.

However, if the quality of the headphones is bad …

20220807 Ayleid Steps-wasting time skipping stones

Into the darkness of Garlas Agea I went with only Twinkle to light the way.

“Been a long time since we’ve been alone together in the dark,” I whispered to Twinkle. “Are you ready?”

‘Zzzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt,” Twinkle laughed.

“Alright then let’s go.”

Entering Garlas Agea I could hear voices in the chamber around the first bend. From their conversation they sounded like MOO grave robbers had invaded Garlas Agea and were hunting down necromancers.

The MOO grave robbers and artifact collectors call themselves archeologist but unlike true archeologists of the Archeology Guild this MOO faction care nothing for preserving sites and relics for posterity. They are nothing more than destructive thieves.

Outnumbered and with Twinkle’s light making stealth impossible I summon the usual reinforcements. The Sisters of Insanity with my help made quick work of six grave robbers.

There are three doorways out of this chamber other than the entrance. Taking the western door led to a long hallway. Down the hallway we went until half-a-dozen swinging blade traps blocked the path. Not wanting to run the gauntlet I turned back to look for a safer way.

The eastern door wasn’t much better. It led down to a large chamber filled with poisonous gas. Once again I turned back in search of a safer path.

Blade traps to the left of us, poison gas chamber to the right of us, what lay before us as we enter the center doorway? A balcony of death?

With Twinkle shinning like the brightest star in the heavens, we stood overlooking the southern end of Garlas Agea’s main chamber. Grave robbers down on the floor below spotted Twinkle and it wasn’t long before a tomb raider and an artifact collector met us on the balcony.

After managing to survive the battle Twinkle and I crossed the open balcony. Turning north the balcony became a long dark hallway. An intersection appeared to the right with a flight of stairs leading down to the main chamber, or so I thought. The gas filled rooms I had discovered earlier stopped our progress. Frustrated, we returned to the hallway and continued on.

The dark hallway turned and opened to a balcony on the north side of the chamber. Near the middle of the balcony a light spilled forth from the doorway of a small room. Entering what could only be a necromancer’s operating theater, I discovered evidence of a battle between the original residents, necromancers, and the grave robbers.

Next to the operating table in a pool of her own blood lay the body of a necromancer. A dead grave robber lay nearby. All I could say was that I was glad the necromancers were gone. Grave robbers are so much easier to deal with.

When Twinkle and I finally made it down to the main chamber floor, all was quiet. I guess all of the grave robbers had come out to greet us and there were none left to offer a cup of coffee for stopping by. A search of the main floor yielded some points of interest.

On one side of the dark room sat three Ayleid Steps. I ignored them for the moment and continued to other side of the floor, where I discovered a small campsite. At the campsite a small alcove in the wall hold a statue of Molag Bal. Candles set to light the statue of Molag Bal spread their warm glow over a bed and three bed rolls.

In the quiet darkness I began looting the bodies. Grave robbers and tomb raiders don’t carry much in the way of valuables. The few gold coins from the grave robbers pockets, a handful of Ayleid coins gathered from various Ayleid Reliquaries, and the 12 septims found on the alcove next to the statue of Molag Bal totaled of less than 200 coins

While searching pockets for valuables I noticed something resting on a ledge just below me. From the balcony I eased my way down to the ledge to recover the unique meteoric OOO artifact, the dagger Paras Ecetu.

Tired, I returned to the camp. Out of habit I dug out the straws to draw for the bed when I remembered I’m alone, the bed is mine! With a satisfied grin I climbed in the bed to get some sleep.

You know how it is. You’re exhausted yet your mind is racing, full of questions preventing you from falling asleep,

There’s not much to Garlas Agea, why all the fuss? Were the Ayleids some sort of crazed paranoid peoples? One might think so by looking at the construction of Garlas Agea. From the first chamber if you take the door on the west you run into swinging blade traps. The door on the east leads down to a poison gas chamber. But, the center door puts you on a trap free path that takes you all the way through the main areas of the ruin. It makes no sense at all. There has got to be a reason. What is here that warrants all these traps?

The questions gradually slowed until I finally fell asleep. Morning came and as my eyes opened the answer came to me. The gas chamber, there has to be something there.

Returning to the gas filled rooms I readied myself to walk in the waist high green cloud. Avoiding the gas jets and walking as slowly as possible so as not to disturb the poisonous cloud I managed to explore the gas chamber. In one corner I discovered a stone door.

Anticipating finding an immensely epic artifact I fumbled around in a pouch full of keys until I found one that worked. The Ancient Ayleid Key opened the stone door and I entered Agea Erfinsal (The Ayleid Steps).

So this is the secret of Garlas Agea. It’s a step way station. These things can take you to some dangerous places. I think I’ll leave it be for now and come back later better prepared. Grabbing the 9 welkynd stones that were laying about, I left.

Back at the camp I gathered my things and prepared to leave Garlas Agea. Passing by the three Ayleid steps located in the great chamber a familiar velvety dreamlike voice whispered seductively in my mind.

“It’s just a jump to the left”

“Who said that?”

“And then a step to the right”

With beads of perspiration forming on my brow I resisted.

“With your hands on your hips”

“Stop it!”

“You bring your knees in tight”

Clapping my hand over on my ears I screamed, “No! No! No!”

“But it's the pelvic thrust”

“Aaaagh!”

“That really drives you insane”

I couldn’t take it anymore. Shattering a welkynd stone on the middle stepstone I stepped on it…

The cold damp darkness of Beldaburo Anga greeted me with its silence. An adept conjurer and his gold golem performing some arcane experiment weren’t so quiet. I guess he didn’t want anyone peeking over his shoulder to see what he was brewing. He sent his golem and a conjured minion to attack. The sounds of battle brought three other conjurers to join in the fight.

Countering with my own summoned warriors the skirmish became a contest of will. Whose summoned army will prove the stronger? Well let’s just say it’s hard to beat a Dremora Markynaz and Guardian Angel combo. The conjurers of Beldaburo Anga didn’t stand a chance.

Subduing the conjurers of Beldaburo Anga took more out me than expected. Tired, I looked at three stepstones sitting in a dark corner. Sure, I didn’t want to open the door to Beldaburo proper and fight my way through a horde of unknown monsters to find the exit but trading one unknown for another? Just what was I thinking when I activated the left stone and stepped?

Snow blind and freezing, I knew that I was high up in the mountains. As my eyes slowly adjusted to brightness from where I stood I judged that I somewhere north of Sancre Tor. I also saw that there was only way off of this mountain was the stepstone I was standing on. I activated the stone…

“Why did I do that? I got spells galore that will send me anywhere I would want to go.” I said to myself.

The friendly sights and sounds of the northern edge of the Colovian Highlands hugged me as the warmth of the late afternoon sun pried me away from the mountain’s icy grip.

I know where I am. There’s a little Lakeside Camp just over there. A short ways further there is a dancehall inn. The House of Earthly Delights, what better place to spend the night and rejuvenate the soul.

The pelvic thrust always does it. But only if you're wearing charming undergarments, of course! Otherwise that picture turns into a horror show... Ooooooh...

Those Ayleid steps seem to be fun, though. I might put them in.

Yay, a Twinkle adventure! Heh, Twinkle's not very stealthy for sure. Nice to have those backup summons as well since the Ladies weren't with him this time.

Oh yes, all those traps must be guarding something. . . .

20220814 Ayleid Steps - Lost Nemice and a few other steps
The House of Earthly Delights, what better place to spend the night and rejuvenate the soul. At 500 drakes a night the suite may be the most expensive room in Cyrodiil but the appurtenances are worth the admission.

Maybe not so well rested but feeling pretty good I left Ave’s House of Earthly Delights early in the morning. Could be that I was feeling a little too relaxed for when I passed the Ayleid Step just south of the Lakeside Camp (DwedenBrothel-FalkreathGS_RM) I activated it. The hope was that I’d get closer to Anvil thus saving me from having to walk to whole way.

It worked; I was closer to Anvil, kind of. Maybe a league further south but further west up in some the most difficult mountain trails in Cyrodiil. There I stood on a mountain trail high up in the Colovian Highlands just below the ancient Colovian Cliff Dwellings (Unique Landscapes).

“Remember four years ago when we found the ancient cliff dwelling ruins? Never did find out who lived there, did we?”

“Zzzzt!” Twinkle replied.

“Well, you don’t have to get snippy about it. I’m sorry, I forgot you weren’t with us then.”
Not wanting to climb my way through the mountains again I considered my options. I could cast a spell to teleport to Anvil but what would I do while waiting for Sundas. I activated the stepstone and hoped for the best.

“Twinkle, I don’t like the looks of this place.”

We had found Lost Nemice. Dark and foreboding the place had a bad feeling to it. Thinking of the difficulty we had in Garlas Agea and Beldaburo Anga I thought it best to leave immediately. When I used a welkynd stone to activate the Ayleid Step, it failed.

What went wrong? Inspecting the stepstone I noticed there were bluish spots dotting its surface. Could this tarnish cause sporadic and unpredictable performance?

My first thought was that I could use a teleport spell to get out. That could work. It must have taken me too long to decide between the Midas or Stranded Light spells for the room had become dark. Twinkle had wandered off. I guess that means we are exploring Lost Nemice before we leave.

Twinkle returned at my call. It’s better that we stay together I told her as I led the way through the closest of the two doors. That path quickly ended in a dead end, a remotely locked gate barred our path.

The other door led to a large chamber. It too had a remotely locked gate, only this gate stopped us from crossing a bridge. The bridge led to a second floor balcony on the other side of the room. As we searched for a remote switch to unlock the gate wraiths and zombies constantly harassed us.

Shortly after the last wraith exhaled its ectoplasm we found an Ayleid push block switch with an indecipherable Ayleid tablet placed above it. With a push, the sound of great stones grinding against each other resounded throughout Lost Nemice.

Stairs were rising from the ground floor to a solitary second floor balcony when I returned to the open chamber. Climbing the stairs to the once inaccessible balcony gave us access to a second Ayleid push block. This one opened the locked gate that prevented us from crossing the bridge.

Now that we could cross the bridge we found a stone Ayleid style door on the other side. The door opened to Nemice Cinsel. A long dark hallway took us to a large room. Large rocks and glowing blue fragments of welkynd stone lay strewn about the once elegant room. Evidence of an unstable roof I assumed.

A troll came charging out of the darkness to my left. It didn’t last long against Light of Dawn’s fire. The demented spriggan that followed the troll was of sterner stuff. She too fell to Light of Dawn, just took a little longer.

As the spriggan fell a bullish bellow filled the room. The Minotaur Mochtumbar came charging out of tunnel on the far side.

It is times like these that I wish I hadn’t left my Sylphim enchanted Dragon armor behind in Cheydinhal. Oh you should have seen us dancing. Hopping from rock to rock I managed to stay out of Mochtumbar’s reach as I a strike in now and then. Mochtumbar got a sampling of my favorite fire and lightening spells before I hit him with the paralyzing Midas Prism Ray. Down he went and Light of Dawn gave him the coup de grace.

Checking the big minotaur’s body I found 1127 pounds of loot on Mochtumbar body. There’s no way I could carry all that stuff. Several unique (Alyleid Steps) items stood out; 6 Arceste Pilin, the War Axe of Beguilment, Cuirass of the Assassin, Gauntlets of the Pugilist, and Helmet of Magicka Resistance. The bulk of the stuff on Mochtumbar was Ayleid dinnerware. Six place dinnerware settings in ten different styles. Just what is a minotaur going to do with all those plates?

The captivating thought of a different table setting in each of my houses played in my mind for a moment.

If only Kaleah was here; she would carry it all, I told myself. Then an idea came to me. Midas sells a spell that creates or summons a Chest or as Midas calls it a Hammerspace storage pocket. Using the Midas Astral Gate I was able to pay Midas a visit, learn the Chest spell and return to Nemice Cinsel. Then by casting the Midas Chest spell, I opened the hammerspace storage chest and placed everything into it. Works pretty good, I may never be over-encumbered again.

With the Mida Chest I was able to loot the entire complex. Unfortunately I found no other exit. I returned to the Ayleid stepstone.

“Where’s the adventure in casting a teleport spell?” I asked myself and activated the step..

“I know this place,” I said to myself. “That’s the Old Bridge and the Archeology Guild Hall is just over the rise. Any closer I’d be standing on the doorstep.”

As much as I would have liked to stop in and visit, I knew I’d be inundated with a mountain of paper work. Headmaster duties are never done, best to avoid them altogether. Activating the stepstone to get away didn’t take me far. Just north of Fort Roebeck a pretty little pond full of flowering water plants greeted me.

Tired of all the step skipping I needed a change of pace so I took a few hours to walk to Shadowcrest Vineyard.

The witch Fiona was overjoyed to see me. We spent the night practicing magic and learning new spells.

Phew. Another rainbow.

Also, Unique Landscapes really does a good job. I never installed that. Looks beautiful though. How close is UL to lore? In other words, does it add things which lore says should be in the world, but Beth didn't get round to adding them in?

Is Jandaga by himself? Maybe he needs some "me" time, I know I would after being around all those girls.

Yeah, why does a minotaur need a set of plates? There used to be a thread in the old Beth forums on this very subject. Why might we find a fork inside a mudcrab for instance? Opinions varied. One of them is that we aren't just searching inside the creature, but also including whatever nearby hole they live in. It's a tough explanation to swallow (pun intended).

Whoa. Are we sure "practicing spells" is all the Jandaga did with Witch Fiona?

Lots of lovely pictures in this one! I had to wait to get to a big screen to look at them properly.

Those Colovian Highlands certainly look nice. I was actually looking at that mod just recently, thinking it would be a good one for me too. I don't like to alter my Cyrodiil too much because I already know and love as it is but this is an out of the way area, so that would be nice, I think.



And this is exactly why I don't want to change Cyrodiil too much. Then I won't recognise it. You get used to things.

Why does a minotaur need all those plates? Well, may be he's a collector! What do we know? The real question is where he was keeping it? He is not wearing clothes with large pockets, he doesn't have a backpack... It's easy enough with small things like a single fork inside a mudcrab - it obviously swallowed the fork, dogs do it all the time, so why not mudcrabs. But 1127 pound of loot... That's a lot to swallow! And would you really still want it, covered in stomach juices and all?

Mm hmm, very true. This happened in my case with Snu's Dungeons. Fantastic mod, lots of work went into it, but the first cave we went into (the one under Chorrol with bandits) was waaaaay different! I couldn't "explain" it in the context of the game because many characters of mine have been in there.

And that is also true about some creatures collecting items, especially shinies. 💎 Also, it's not unheard of for critters to find some object (let's say that crab with its fork) and then using the object to dig better, or make its home tougher.

... overall though, some objects in creature inventories are pretty hard to explain...

Whenever needed, there is always the magical “bag of holding”, the small pouch that contains as much as you want to put in it. Once inside, everything becomes weightless, of course.

What never makes sense is why your character empties the bag, but doesn’t take the bag itself. Too dumb?

Acadian and I have both described our characters using them. At one point, I had Brelyna pull a five-foot staff out of a ten-inch square satchel, and then reach her whole arm in to rummage around the bottom.

I'm enjoying the personality that Twinkle is displaying. I didn't realize Twinkle was a she. She's not much good in a fight but lighting the way is pretty important I figure.


What ghastley said.
Buffy uses a mage satchel for unlimited storage. It hangs from her hip just like a normal mage pouch basically eliminating the bulk and weight of anything she puts inside. Some quarters refer to them as thieves bags and they work similarly to a bag of holding. She has tried and appreciates a summonable chest though and I'm sure the Jandaga will find it most helpful.

Oh but that's classic! Even Mary Poppins did that!

Renee
Rainbows are a nice touch. Shooting stars in the night sky are pretty neat also but they happen so quickly it s near impossible to get a picture.

The version of Unique Landscapes that I use is over 4-years old and for the most part only touches the landscape. I think it does a good job of making the mountains more mountainous, the forest more wooded, and the jungle and wetlands more dense and swampy.
Chorrol Hinterlands and Skingrad Outskirts adds houses and farms outside the city walls. Chorrol Hinterlands is really nice while Skingrad Outskirts looks good it is terribly laggy. A look at the latest UL version shows the UL team adding more houses and other features outside Anvil. That may take some getting used to and a newer graphcs card to run it. I don’t use the Unique Landscapes Compilation. I only picked those that i thought would be most compatible and least system taxing (Made a mistake with Slingrad Outskirts);
FallenleafEverglade.esp
ColovianHighlands_EV.esp
BeachesOfCyrodiilLostCoast.esp
AncientYews.esp
PantherRiver.esp
RiverEthe.esp
BrenaRiverRavine.esp
ImperialIsle.esp
CheydinhalFalls.esp
SkingradOutskirts.esp
CliffsOfAnvil.esp
SilverfishRiverValley.esp
ChorrolHinterland-BC6.esp

Yes the Jandaga is adventuring alone with only Twinkle to light the way while the ladies recover from illness. It kind of plays on returning from my vacation. Everyone except me came back with COVID and had to quarantine.

"Practicing Spells" who are they trying to kid? I have no idea what goes on after I power down the PC.
Lumber up, limbo down
The locked embrace, stumble round
I say go, she say yes
Dim the lights, you can guess the rest

Lena Wolf & Renee
Snu’s Dungeons can be overkill. I will also say that after playing Oblivion for a couple of years after its release I put it up while I played Skyrim (9-months the least amount of time I’ve ever spent in one TES game), Arena, Daggerfall and Morrowind. By the time I came back to Oblivion I had forgotten what it looked like. All I remembered was saving rats in Anvil.

ghastley
I haven’t had that problem, my companion Kaleah carries everything we pickup between city stops. She is going be one happy camper now that we have the Midas Chest. On the minus side sshe will miss the Jandaga rummaging through her pockets for stuff.

Acadian
Is Twinkle the ignis fatuus (giddy flame) male, female, or nutral? Don’t really know. Twinkle likes the sound ‘she’. It sounds a lot like ‘sidhe’ and it leaves Twinkle feeling much more appreciated than being called an ‘it’. I think she has something like a 1-point or les shock attack,

I do have shooting stars in my Cyrodiil. They do move really fast, but they happen often enough at night that we're able to see a half-dozen or so if we spend enough time outside at night. They actually fly not very high up in the atmosphere. One of my characters had a witch's broom which she could fly on, and one time she flew high enough that she saw a meteor fly under her!

Thank you for the UL list. Yes, they really did a great job, the UL team.

Ohhhh, they are still ill. Damn.



Ha ha exactly!

Oh I know what happens after I power down the PC as far as Buffy goes. When in game, I travel inside her head. When outside game, she travels inside my head. We are quite literally never apart. I guess that is a good thing.

Acadian: I understand what you are saying and i agree it is a good thing.

20220821 Ayleid Steps, Kvatch Rebuilt

Magnus had risen and was shining brightly over the grapes of Shadowcrest Vineyard by the time I awoke got up the next morning. It wasn’t the light shining through the window that woke me. It was a strange dream.

Ayleid Steps were swirling around me. Darting in, as if they were going to hit me, and out of reach, as I tried to catch them. Now and then strange places would appear only to quickly vanish. Then a ghostly person appeared urging me to investigate clues hidden in some book. I got the impression that the ghost had lost something important. The dream ended and I woke up before I learned what I should be looking for..

At first I thought it was the incense that Fiona was burning that had caused the dream. It’s happened before.

Discussing the dream with Fiona during breakfast I came to realize that the dream had something to do with the Alyeid steps. There is a book titled Ayleid Steps that I carry with me. I should take some time to study it.

If I remember correctly we also found the journal of Ervvin Austel. In the journal he described his finding and using the Ayleid step system until his untimely death, trapped in a room when the step system failed. Unfortunately I have this bad feeling that I sold Ervvin Austel’s journal as I can’t find it anywhere. Hopefully the book Ayleid Steps will be sufficient.

Fiona said she’ll see what she could do and began drawing symbols on the table. Then right in the middle of one symbol she popped up saying, “Oh, Nearly forgot!”

“For the trip,” Fiona instructed. Shoving a small sack in my hands she plants a kiss on my mouth and then quickly ushered me out the door.

Caught by surprise, I stood outside the door of Shadowcrest Manor wondering, “What just happened?”

With a giggle Fiona said, “My Jandaga had better get going or he’ll be late ghostly rendezvous.”

Now how did she know that?

So that’s that. As I left Shadowcrest Vineyard I opened the sack Fiona had given me. The smell of Fiona’s savory biscuits warmly greeted me. Unable to resist I took one out and ate it…

Sun turnin' 'round with graceful motion
We're setting off with soft explosion
Bound for a star with fiery oceans
It's so very lonely, you're a hundred light years from home.

Don’t remember much of the journey other than I ran tirelessly the whole way to Anvil while overhead Mangus, chased Masser and Secunda around the sky with a fiery whip.

Sundas morning was such a pleasant sunny day I thought I’d take the Mystical Unicorn (Cute Elves mod) for a walk. Mysty followed along so well that I thought we’d walk over to the lighthouse. Mysty must have thought that would be too much like work and refused to go through Anvil’s gates. I sent Mysty home and continued on alone to the lighthouse.

Arriving at the lighthouse I began to have doubts on finding the ghost of Belwen. Am I too early or late? Where would she be? There she is. I should have known she’d be hiding in a flower bush; I nearly walked right past her.

The ghost of Belwen explained happened on the day she died. The accident was not entirely Godras' fault although Godras has placed all the blame squarely on his shoulders. He may have bumped into her but a sudden gust of wind is what caused her to lose her balance and fall.

Belwen loves Godras and does not blame him for what happened. She had hoped that Godras would come to talk to her so she could tell him so. She knows that Godras blames himself for her death. The ghost of Belwen gave me her wedding day gift from Godras, a pendant. She wants Godras to have the pendant as a sign that she will always be with him. The ghost of Belwen vanished, leaving me to return to Sapling Manor.

Godras was still sitting in his chair when I returned to Sapling Manor. After hearing what the ghost of Belwen had told me, Godras began to remember things clearly. Clasping the pendant close, Godras felt the comfort of Belwen’s love.

Godras accepted the Kvatch contract, saying he feels it will be his finest work. He immediately left for Kvatch.

Woo, I like the blue.

Uh oh. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten that biscuit... ☮

At first I thought "a hundred light years from home" is Moody Blues. That phrase was triggering a memory. I had to Google it! Ah, it's that weird Rolling Stones song, the one which was all trippy & psychedelic. I believe that was the last major tune written by Brian Jones.

Yea, sounds like The Jandaga be trippin'.

Are you able to draw a weapon near this unicorn? Hopefully it's not as cantankerous as the one in Hircine Grove.

Such pretty pictures; it's been really fun joining you and Lena in Cyrodiil again.

Ghost hiding in the bushes... That's so funny! What, is she having a bad hair day?

Wow, your Anvil looks great! Except... what's with the enormous potholes in the streets? The Countess out of cash again?

Some sort of mind altering substance in play here? Skooma? Nah, not enough lethargy. Daril? Nah, generally fatal to those without scales & a tail. Datura perhaps? Probably not. I give up.

Where else but hiding in a flower bush would one expect to find an ghostly wood elven lass?

Looks like Kvatch will be getting some nice gardens.

(Someone wanted to see the Field Hippies. You know who you are. How I could recreate the early ‘70s with its peaceful nights spent under the stars waiting to catch the first rays of the sunrise, Take the next best thing; a mix of late ‘70s, early ’80s disco nights and ‘00s karaoke nights at my sister’s bar. We played a game ‘Roulette Karaoke’. You get called up, spin the big wheel and sing the song. Winner’s bar tab was paid for at end of the night. No one ever left when I was on stage but I never won either, sister’s bar technicality.)

20220827 Vampire Hunting, the Musical - A fantasy trip remembering nights at the karaoke bar

Standing there at the gate to Sapling Manor watching Godras fade into the distance as he began his journey to Kvatch I wondered what do I do now that the Falling Flowers quest was finished. With a shrug I headed back to Benirus Manor.

Sitting down in the library I began to study the book The Ayleid Steps. Hours later I put the book down, no closer to solving the riddle than before I started. The book offered little toward solving the ghost’s dilemma. With little hope of finding Ervvin Austel’s missing journal I became depressed.

Rosalind brought a dinner which I barely touched, leaving it on the library table. The manor was strangely quiet. When I asked Rosalind where Claire and Yesmin were she told me that they didn’t want to disturb me while I studied and had gone out. She didn’t know where they went or when they’d be back. With little else to do I thought I’d take a walk and meditate in Sapling Manor’s garden.

Exiting Anvil’s Castle Gate an insistent heavy bass beat began tugging at me, pulling me towards the docks. A haunting melody coming from far western end of the docks had a frightening familiar feel to it. The seductive call of vampires!

The Black Flag Tavern sat at the far western end of the Anvil Bay docks. Walking along the dock I could feel the heavy bass beat long before I could hear it. It wasn’t long before I realized the error of my paranoid over reaction. It wasn’t vampires seducing their play. It’s free-mike night down at the Black Flag Tavern and there’s a party going on!

Dance, dance, dance the music insisted. Standing outside the Black Flag Tavern captured by the beat, my feet began to move. Finding myself shuffle dancing alone on the boardwalk I couldn’t take it no more and had to go inside.

“Ah, just what I need to chase away the blues; a hot band and a hot songstress with a voice of an angel.”

The Black Flag was packed to the gills with rough-and-tumble pirates. I was barely able to squeeze my way in through the door.

“Five gold cover,” demanded a bouncer who was easily twice my size.

“What, but I’m…”

“Now it’s 10-gold, shrimp or I’ll toss you in da bay.”

Geez no one recognizes me without my Dragonspirit armor on.

(Due to the infamous notoriety of some the clientele no pictures were allowed inside The Black Flag Tavern. They confiscated my discworld imp camera, Exposed the imp and spilled all his paints.)

The mosh pit was packed. It popped with energy as the singers sang “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”.

I stood there in amazement watching a room full of tattooed and steel studded giant sized pirates bobbing and weaving as one to the beat. Every time the singers sang “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” the pirates both male and female shouted “Take Me, Take me, Take me!” in reply.

Unable to see over the land of giants I climbed up on a chair so I could see. To my shock and surprise, there prancing on the bar leading the pirates in their overly enthusiastic boogie was… Vila!

She spotted me. Hand signals flew and the next thing I knew I was floating on a sea of hands to be deposited on the bar next to the Pirate Queen. Vilja planted a big kiss on me and said something.

“Can’t hear a thing,” I shouted as loud as I could.

Vilja pointed toward the big fireplace the corner where the performers were. You think seeing Vilja leading the dancing pirates was a shock. A big banner in the corner read, “Introducing: The Field Hippies!”

With Kaleah on the hurdy gurdy the Field Hippies were rockin’ the joint. Before I could react another sea of hands deposited me on the stage with as the song came to an end.

The crowd roared for an encore.

“We’ve been here hours and have gone through our playlist. You got to sing,” Kaleah implored.

“What? I’m not…”

“How about this one?” Claire suggested with a wild look in her eyes. “He’s done it before, plus the energy he puts into the performance drives me wild.”

“This ain’t no cowbell kind of crowd,” cautioned Elenya. “Besides he tends to mess up the chorus and even if he gets it right he’d need a couple drinks to work up to that one.”

“Oh, I can fix that,” cooed Fiona while rummaging through her bag.

“More! More! More!” shouted the crowd growing ever more insistent.

“Time for one more, make it snappy!” shouted the barkeep.

“Please, my Feache?” cooed Kaleah gently dragging her talons up and down my back. “For me?”

Oh, the tingling shivers that ran up and down my spine. Giving in I said, “OK.”

“Yay! It’s a party!” shouted Yesmin. “Let’s do this one. We can all join in and then get outta here.”

Party over, we gathered at Benirus Manor.

Fun loving and mischievous, the Field Hippies in order; Moonshadow elves Claire and Fiona, Cute Elves Elenya, Maeva, and Yesmin, and of course there’s Pym of unknown lineage. Kaleah, in the center, is an honorary member but does not consider herself to be a hippie; she’s too grave. When Kaleah does take a lead role within the group they become, The Sisters of Lord Have Mercy.

“You’re over your quarantine, I see.”

“I never was sick,” Kaleah said sternly as Elenya and Pym pointed and made violent gagging motions behind her back.

Fiona handed me am envelope, “Claire and I got this for you.”

The package contained copies of Ervvin Austel’s journal. “How did you get this?”

“Can’t tell, that would be cheating,” Claire said.

“We do have our ways,” Fiona added seductively.

“Ok, so can you tell me what was going on at the Black Flag? Where did you get that hypnotic music? It had me thinking vampires were on the prowl.”

“Well Rosalind is writing a play based on your vampire hunting journal,” Yesmin started. “She’s seriously talented.”

“We’ll make a piles and piles of gold,” giggled Maeva.

“You write how you hear the vampires singing their seductions,” the battlemage Claire added. “So, Rosalind has expanded on what you wrote and turned it into a play, a musical.”

“Yeah, we were trying some of them out,“ Yesmin said. “Pretty good, don’t cha think?”

“She’s thinking calling it A Bard’s Tale,” said Fiona.

"Absolutely not!"

“How about Jandaga the Vampire Hunting Bard?” asked Elenya, the druid.

“Feache the Vampire Hunting Bard,” insisted Kaleah.

No! and No! and I am not a bard! There are much better singers and dancers than me out there.”

“So says he who sings and dances through dungeons,” chided Kaleah.

“Maybe but none inspire us like you do,” said Fiona. “It’s the synergy of all you do, you know.”

I don’t know if I agree with that but I know I’m not changing any minds here tonight so I said, “Well, just keep it simple. How does A Musical Guide to Vampire Hunting sound?”

Nah, that one is already taken. Translated from Faerish, it means "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". How about "Victor/Victoria"? Very victorious, that one.

20220831 The Ayleid Steps – Retracing the Steps, Lost Ontobel

Ervvin Austel’s journal proved to be an interesting read. He wrote about finding lost ruins filled with Ayleid artifacts, enchanted weapons and armor as he mapped out much of the Step Network.

Ervvin talks of an elf merchant in the city. The elf he calls C. and the city he doesn’t mention but he mentions the Foaming Flask. Ervvin also mentions a little notebook in which he wrote all his notes as he mapped the stepstone network.

The drunken fool lost his notebook in a Gardens District tavern. Maybe this lost notebook is what his ghost is trying to get me to find? I’m thinking the Imperial City Elven Garden District would be a good place to start.

As I sat there contemplating the next move Kaleah came to stand behind me. Massaging my shoulders she leaned in close, her lips brushing my ear, she whispered, “Let’s go explore the Steps together. Just the two of us together facing the unknown, it will be just like old times, adar -o nin –iel.

Leaning back I smiled and said, “Pack your things. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

Shortly after sunrise we used the stepstone located in the foyer to take us to the Imperial City.

(Isn’t it odd; the stepstones described as being built by the Ayleids, unable to be moved or destroyed by human means, yet here they sit inside imperial homes and offices. How?)

Arriving in the Market District we headed straight to the Garden District to thoroughly search the inns of the district.

“My feache, I brought along the BIG steins,” Kaleah crowed. “Never know how long these things take.”

Sadly it didn’t take long at all. At the very first inn, Luther’s Broad’s Boarding House, we noticed a loose board at the end of the bar. Taking care not to attract attention we pried the board open a little wider and pulled out a couple sheets of folded paper. Carefully replacing the board to look like it hadn’t been disturbed we retired to a table in the corner.

A note, we found a note! Excited like a high school boy on his first date with a girl, I unfolded the note. And just like that first date, in the end it came crashing down in utter bewilderment and disappointment. Oh, the notes told everything but using random numbers and fake direction name the instructions to a lost treasure trove it was written in a complicated code.

Hours and steins went by as we tried to decipher the clues. Finally tired after an exhausting day we rented a room for the night. Um, Luther yelled at us, “By the gods get a room and take it upstairs, already!”

Taking Luther’s suggestion, Kaleah got up off my lap and we took our homework upstairs.

Next morning bright-eyed and clear headed, I showed the notebook to Kaleah.

“I think I figured out the first one."In line with colored drink and wolfsound caves between them and east of the towers..." Two caves along the Gold Road, Green Mead and Howling. The towers must be a nearby abandoned Imperial fort. All we have to do now is go find it.”

We left immediately.

‘Praise the Nine they’re gone,” Luther mumbled as he wiped down the bar.

It early evening by the time we reached the Green Mead Cave area. Turning south off the Gold Road we began searching the area until we found two stepstones. Unable to see them clearly in the darkness we laid out a bedroll and eventually fell asleep.

“Look there’s a ruined fort just past those trees,” Kaleah pointed out. “One of these stones must be the right one.”

“Yes but which one?” I questioned. After a brief inspection I made a choice. “This one has a serious crack. The other one looks good, let’s use it.”

We find ourselves in the West Weald near Ra’sava Camp. We activated the second stepstone.

With the Kvatch Cliff at our back we are looking east over the West Weald. Is this all that this is going to be, just bouncing from one step to another? Kaleah agreed when I suggested to give it one more try and if we don’t find treasure call it quits for the day.

Activating the third stepstone we had to act quickly or drown as we were deposited at the bottom of Anvil Bay. With massive ships bobbing dangerously close overhead I did the first thing I could think of… activate the step.

Once our eyes adjusted to the darkness we realized we had arrived at our destination, the Lost Ontobel Ayleid ruin.

Our first glimpse of Lost Ontobel wasn’t very inviting. Mummies were prowling about and where there are mummies there’s bound to be ghosts, wraiths, skeletons, and a lich or two. It wasn’t too difficult fighting our way through Ontobel. Lost Ontobel wasn’t a very big complex either. After passing through a couple of large rooms we came to a dead end. The corridor which I had assumed would lead to the surface exit was blocked by a cave-in. The only way out would be to use one of the stepstones where we entered.

Ervvin may not have mentioned the score of undead prowling about but by the amount of enchanted items we found Ontobel surely was one of the lost Ayleid ruins Ervvin had written about.

Most unusual for an Ayleid ruin, we only encountered one deadly trap. A room near the cave-in held a gas jet flooding the room with poison gas protecting two reliquary with very hard locks. It was well worth the effort to unlock the two Ayleid containers.

Finding a stepstone in the gas chamber our first thought was it must lead to somewhere important to warrant being placed in the gas chamber. Activating it we found ourselves returned to the grassy hills of the Colovian Highlands just east of Trumbe.

It’s late and we’re too exhausted to make it all the back to Anvil. We settled for finding a nearby camp. It was midnight when after a brief negotiation over tent rights, we settled down for the night at Bodean Camp.

20220904 The Ayleid Steps – Retracing the Steps, Lost Qualum

After the morning devotions and a light breakfast, we reviewed the discovery of Ontobel. Organizing our notes I file them away until they could be sent to Sova at the Archeology Guild Hall. She will find this very interesting, I’m sure.

So what do we do now?

“This one is easy,” Kaleah pointed out. “The house above this basement faces two guild halls behind a tree... This has to be Francois Motierre’s house in Chorrol.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But figuring out the others is going to take some time. How about we take the puzzles to Anvil and have everyone look them while we run off to Chorrol. When we get back hopefully the puzzles will be solved saving us a lot of work.”

Leaving Bodean Camp, it was late in the day when we arrived at Benirus Manor. Calling a meeting of the Ladies we gathered around the altar of The Darkness, the smoky dark crystal ball. Explaining the plan to solve the riddles and retrace the Stepstones according to Ervvin’s notes. My Ladies eagerly accepted the challenge. Off they went, each one vowing to solve more riddles than anyone else.

With the riddle solving assured Kaleah and I traveled to my home in Chorrol. Over a late dinner we discussed plans for getting to the basement of Motierre’s house.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever met Motierre,” I told Kaleah. “Never have seen him walking around town, have you?”

“No, come to think of it,” Kaleah replied. “I haven’t.”

We waited until dusk when fading light created confusing shadows, to break into Motierre’s house. Our timing couldn’t have been worse. In the gloom, we nearly knocked Francois Motierre down as we search for the basement door. He turned white as a sheet like he had seen the face of Mephala herself.

“Please, don't kill me!” he screamed as he bolted up the stairs. “You can take anything you like, then just leave! I won't call the guards, I swear!"

Well that was strange but we didn’t waste any time thinking about it. Making our way down to the basement we easily found the stepstone. Strange place for an Ayleid stepstone but there it is.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, yes I’m ready.”

Using a welkynd stone to activate the stepstone we stepped. Instantly we were transported directly to Lost Qualum.

“It’s quiet just like Ontobel,” Kaleah said in a hushed voice. “Let’s hope it’s as easy.”

It wasn’t.

The heavy cloud of dust in the first chamber hid Qualum’s dangers from us. The one saving grace was that it also hid us from them but not for long. Even though we stepped very cautiously and as quietly as possible the silent hiss of our boots shifting settled dust attracted attention. It only took a couple of steps away from the stepstone before a wraith slowly turned its baleful gaze toward our direction.

The wraith raised its arms and with a wail mounds laying ion the dusty floor began to rise. Soon the far end of the chamber was alive with those that had no business being alive. Zombies and mummies shambled in silence toward us. A call for the Sisters of Insanity and the fight was on.

How many cuts with a fiery sword does it take to kill a mummy? One… ten times.

That’s the trouble with mummies and zombies. Minutes after you kill them they get back up and you got to do it again.

“Persistent raggedy little buggers, aren’t they?”

Kaleah just laugh.

Qualum turned out to be a rather large complex of multilevel hallways crisscrossing over and under each other. Mummies were the most prevalent danger. The monstrous creatures weren’t too difficult to deal with until we met a group of mummy priests, a mummy king (pharaoh?), and a lich. That’s when I call for the Midas Angel. Her flaming white hot sword would not be denied.

It took some time but eventually we prevailed. Looting the Ayleid ruin netted nearly twoa score welkynd stones along with gold and many enchanted items. Finding no other available exit we left Lost Qualum the same way we arrived, by using the only stepstone available.

Magnus’ warm gaze was shining brightly when we reappeared in the Colovian Highlands somewhere north of Lipsand Tarn.

Clasping Kaleah in a great hug I said, “That was fun.”

Kaleah laughed and replied , “Killing is my business and business is good.”

“Let’s see if we can get closer to Anvil,” I said. Kaleah agreed and using another welkynd we stepped. Instantly we arrived at a location just north of Gottsaw Inn.

“Gottsaw is right down there ,” I told Kaleah. “If we walk fast we could make it to Anvil tonight or…”

“We could take a room for the night, hmmm,” Kaleah finished with a sly smile and twinkle in her eye.

“Dinner at Gottsaw it is then. Hope Foroch has it ready.”

Holy sugar, my elf is at Bodean Camp as we speak!

Oh wow, looks like they're doing a Dark Brotherhood quest. Francois Motierre is a name which triggered some memory for me.



Oh no, don't tell me you've got no option to toggle this off! Undead Rise Return is a feature of MMM too. It'd be cool (in a horror movie sort of way) if we could burn them up with fire, and this causes them to be permanently dead. Doesn't work this way, unfortunately.

Probably have asked this before, but how did you get their really cool armor? Especially in this pic?

Well there is a DB quest associated with Motierre but this time we're just there to find an Ayleid Step. The Jandaga is not a DB kind of guy.


That would be nice wouldn't it. I think I saw a mod once that would disable bodies after you looted the corpse.


The ever seductive Kaleah is looking good as she traipses through dungeons in her;
split-skirt = R18PN Mina Armor There are two versions for download. I use the old Mina armor only version.
cuirass = Black Luster_ExnemsBody_Weapons_and_Armor (There is a BBB version which is totally wrong. Metal armor should not bend that way!)
boots & shield = NexonsArmory At times Kaleah will wear the robe which is highly distracting to mortal males not so much so to the undead. Also this mod has some very wicked staves.

The Jandaga is in his Dragonspirit armor Drake_Knight_Armor_and_Weapons by Jojjo. Out of the box this armor is very bright. Too bright for for the ancient armor that it is supposed to be in my game. Using GIMP I made an effort to darken it to my liking. There may be a mod does a better job.

Awesome, especially the Drake Knight Armor. I've got this idea for a typical Dark Knight, a guy with no emotion, and nobody knows what he looks like. He'll be my guy who will finish Dark Brotherhood, assuming I ever roll the guy.

See, my original gal who tried to do DB couldn't do the Purification part. She loved her guildmates too much to just kill them all. Even the Khajiit merchant who always insults us; Kate grew to love the guy, and even looked forwards to his insults after a while! She tried to kill Lucien instead, but this was not possible.

Edit: I agree, the original Drake armor is too shiny.