MM hmm, I dumped some points into Personality. Because he's already physically strong, but it's not like he trains or fights much. He's already fast. He doesn't use magic. I like the idea that he's (at least) somewhat better at talking to people, after all this time especially. So yeah, Personality makes sense!

It does! After all this time playing parts and whatnot, he should be a real smooth-talker

Nice update and what a surprise that the bandit stayed on the isle for so long. While Kahreem evaded many dangers like imps, wolfs, guards and bandits, it seems like he won't be able to evade Hieronymus Lex.

Welcome to Cyrodiil, ms Phimm

So that's the mysterious t00n - Sarah Phimm!

I wonder who her aunt is. Looking forward to her adventures "down here where it's warm".

Lopov: did you notice about the waffles?

thank you mirocu. I'm really excited about Sarah; there's something about when I make a brand-new character, and everything just seems to go right, and feels perfect: her looks, her stats, her (minimal) backsotory, and the mods which will support her world. That's how it is with Sarah.

Yeah, I noticed but forgot to mention it in my reply. I also noticed skeltons in Snaat's story the other day.

Well hey, at least uni never showed up. And nobody's horse got killed by a nuisance creature.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sundas, Evening Star 10

Snaat Rayag the skooma dealer was feeling a little blue. He had wanted to meet up with the whores of Anvil on better terms than he did. He hadn't wanted to fight them. He hadn't wanted to kill them. But because of the politics of the situation, he had wound up at Gweden's farm cottage on unpleasant terms. He had been forced to fight, then kill them.

Actually, not entirely true. One of them survived. The cat-lady, whose name is Tsarrina. Snaaty had thought she had been killed, but then he had seen her milling about after the fight was over. She had told him the other harlots had forced her to be a part of their scheme, and when the Redguard guards showed up (the "man" and "wife" who had their precious ring stolen), they seemed to believe Tsarrina's story too. While they cleaned up the fight, Snaaty had given the Khajiit 30 gold, then persuaded her to follow him downstairs, where he hoped they could talk business.

Once downstairs, Snaaty had offered Tsarrina some skooma, but she had declined. Which was good. Snaaty's sudden plan for Gweden (and Tsarrina's plan for Snaaty) would probably not work, if Tsarrina was sucking on skooma all day.

Tsarrina had said, "well, I can't o it all on my own. See, if you can recruit some ladies to help me with the "work" that goes on here. One lady of each race would be good. Just send them here when you find them, and I'll do the rest."

"Sounds grand to me."

... and so began the relationship between Snaat Rayag the skooma dealer, and Tsarrina the cat-house cat-lady.

Won't be long and Snaaty will control the entire underground of Cyrodiil. Maybe he should cooperate with Kahreem too if he already doesn't - maybe Snaaty is his skooma dealer.

One quest started, thirty-something to go.

Well maybe that many.

I don't know if you intend Snaaty to do all the vanilla quest-lines, but there are bonus quests if he does, A lot of them are for the CoC, and I don't get the impression he's going that way (yet?)

Up to speed with Kahreem now, you know that really reads well as a single narrative, not just episodes, Renee. Maybe once Kahreem has the Grey Cowl of Nocturnal (I hate to think what he'll do with it!), fix the whole lot up as a single document? Could make it a download.

I really like touches like:



I love a bit of metafiction, me...

Lopov: Snaaty's going to be the pimp daddy, mac daddy, and maybe also a daddy, all rolled into one.

ghastly: Hey thanks for all your work with Gweden Brothel, I'm pretty excited about my dealer's adventures. So far he hasn't found anybody in Anvil yet, but that's the beauty of it. We'll have to try to find these ladies.

tegeus-Cromis: Whoa! Welcome here! So glad you joined Chorrol! It is much quieter here, but in a way it's nice to get away from the crowds, right?

... Kahreem is based on a cousin of mine from when I was a kid / teen. This cousin was a pathological liar, but also a hell of a lot of fun to be around. So that's my inspiration with Kahreem.

Ah, that probably explains the appeal of the character for me too. Makes me think of an old friend in London much like your cousin and Kahreem, total liar and very light-fingered too. But lots of charm, never aggressive - and somehow everyone forgave him in the end. Well, except the law (just like in Cyrodiil) - he did flee the country in the end, last I know of him. Think we could still have a good laugh over a bottle of ***Cheap Wine*** even now, though, in spite of him ripping off all the money from my gas meter a little while before he split...

Wow, that sounds terrible! He fled the country? What for, specifically?

Yes, that's how my cousin was: most people forgave him in the end, although there were some incidents, like this one time he stole great handfuls of my mom's jewelry, and when HIS mom found all this jewelry in his room, he bold-face lied and said he had no idea how it got there. He also went around for awhile saying that Carl Lewis (famous Olympiad sprinter) had shown up at his school, and they had wound up foot-racing against each other, and my cousin won.

... and that was one of those things. You hear him say this, you KNOW he's lying about it. You love the guy though. *shrug*

I'm not sure what happened to my cousin. He just sort of vanished. Last I saw him was probably 1990. He was riding around in a beat up Mustang. He showed up to my folks' place, asking for money (again). That's it. Nobody in my family knows where he is. One of these days I think I'll finally join Facecrook, just to see if he's on there, like everybody else who seems to have vanished.

You've hooked me up to Sarah's story, Renee, I'm curious to find more about her aunt and why did she invite her niece to Cyrodiil? And the fact that the Summitmist manor is involved, makes it even more mysterious.

You know what I like most about your new character, Renee? It´s that after all these years and hours, despite the fact you know so much about the game, you still find the inspiration to create new characters to let loose around the cyrodiilic countryside and just like that it´s all new and fresh again


It´s something I can´t do. I can´t find it in my heart to abandon Lothran, even for just awhile. But I´m fine with it; he´s my longest lasting character in any game ever and that thought alone is what gives me inspiration

That's what we wondered. TBH, a lot of us figured that he might have simply annoyed some people given to exacting, shall we say, extrajudicial retribution. But who knows..?

(As seems to keep happening to Kahreem, of course...)

mirocu: Such kind words. You have and Lopov will see what's to come, she's got quite a story.

t-C: Ha ha you noticed, eh? Yah, he's quite a lot of trouble, Kahreem is. The basic rule with him is: if I get that urge like I should reload his game (because of some blunder he's fallen into) I know it'll be a good story! Rule #2: NEVER reload if he screws up.

He reminds me a lot of a character from Fritz Lieber's Grey Mouser/Fafhrd stories (Swords of Lankhmar being one of the most famous) - picaresque tales, rather than the epic/heroic like Tolkien or Howard. Lieber, incidentally, is regarded as one of the biggest influences on early table-top gaming - and eventually, straight through that to RPGs like Oblivion - so here we are... (I don't know how widely read he is now, but I can certainly see his influence in, for example, Game of Thrones too, GRRM will be well acquainted with his work.)

Game of Thrones, one of my friends raves about this show. If I wasn't so busy with other things, I'd have time to check it out. I will have to see if I can find some of Lieber's stuff at my local bookstore too.

I read the books (A Song of Ice and Fire) - well those that were out at the time - first. I think they mesh more with Lieber (and with Oblivion, one lot of gods in GoT are 'The Seven') than the TV show, though that is terrific in its own way. Anyway, I just found that WP has a separate entry on Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and, no, I did not realise he came up with the characters back in 1936. Well, the stories were not published as collections until the 60s/70s, so not surprising, I guess.

Relevant here:

@Renee - good job with describing Sarah's despair in Skingrad. And once again...she's really cute.

Thanks Lopov. I shall post her next story tomorrow. For now, here's a Snaaty Snippet.

Tirdas, Evening Star 18, 434

"How could the Nine let this happen? Are they angry with us?"

"It's possible, but maybe she got out, and is looking for you too."

Snaat Rayag walks silently through the encampment below Kvatch. For nearly a year now, these folks had not been able to return to their former town. The daedra had been long gone, but a force of bandits had taken over the place, and organized to the point that it would take an army to beat them down. Snaaty doesn't care about any of this though. He is here to locate somebody, anybody who might be of 'service'.

And it isn't long until he sees her. A Redguard who hadn't been here the week before, when he passed through this same encampment. Her hair is a brassy-blond. Easily-spotted.

"How could the Nine let this happen?"

"I feel your misfortune, and your pain. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Snaat Rayag. I am from Anvil. I have come to perhaps offer you something of gain."

"What do you want?"

"You are from Kvatch? I haven't seen you here before."

"Yes. I am from Kvatch. And I feel totally lost now that Kvatch is ruined. I try to help around the camp, but it's not enough. This is no place for me to do business."

"Business, eh? And what sort of 'business' might that be?"

"I used to be a prostitute in Kvatch, but here in this camp there's no privacy, and I don't even have my own tent. ... I'd really like to get back to my old trade, but where would I go to get started again? I can't afford rent, let alone a house of my own."

"Well, let me...." Snaaty starts, but she interrupts him.

"Besides, I haven't seen Garanil since the daedra came. He ran off immediately in the direction of Salted Mine, though I have no idea why?"

"Well allow me to make you an offer then. I can set you off to a place, a sort of cottage by the seaside. Picturesque. And you can work there, indeed."

But the Redguard lady just stares at him. And speaks no further.

"Ah, I see, you want me to go find this ... um.. 'Garahil', is that it? Very well, I shall do so. For I have a sort of vision for the way I'd like to set up in Anvil, and you fit this vision perfectly. Heh heh heh.... I can offer you some thing nice, by the way, but not until we're away from these others. You shall see."

"Bye."

Snaat Rayag's business career about to get started.

Fortunately for him the blond Redguard didn't offer her services to bandits occupying Kvatch else he'd have to rescue her.

Something about this woman seems familiar...

Except that she's been waiting in that camp a lot longer than I'd expected!

This next part is crucial in Snaaty's game. He's supposed to go in a cave with a name I've never heard of, and he's not really that good of a fighter. He can wield a bow, he carries a mace, he can summon skeltons (while dancing the dance of death), and he can a daedric cuirass, but all of these abilities are defensive. He's a merchant, after all. He uses all those tactics only if he has to, and usually to get out of trouble.

So what's he to do? ... Well, he's got a lot of bandits that like him, and a few conjurers (he's part of their faction). This depends though. Some of them (those added by MMM or some other mod) won't recognize the faction he's a part of, and these folks WILL attack him. I like to think they know he's got a lot of pocket change, being a skooma dealer and all.

But he got lucky. He went to the mine that's just west of Skingrad, and nobody was hostile to him in there. So he managed to recruit a bandit ringleader, a bandit hedge wizard, and a big, dumb bandit with a huge axe. He's on his way to Salted Camp right now. It's almost like he's part of a Cyrodiilic street gang.

She really has a special affection towards fire, doesn't she?

I like the part when the guard says that the manor has been locked for years and Sarah wonders whether her aunt even sent her the letter.

Renee, Snaaty’s story has really taken off! Good luck to him in Salted Camp. I love that he was able to recruit some lowlifes to help him find the Redguard lady’s friend.

Poor Sarah in the rain. Skingrad is a great place for a flower-picker, if she can tear herself away from the flames. I have my fingers crossed for her.

Yes, Snaaty's game went from zero to fun again! We did go into Salted Mine; Snaat Rayag nearly got killed in there by the way. Luckily, he had his gang of hooligans with him. I'm not sure what happened to them, there was this huge fracas in Salted Mine, and Snaaty's health was low, so he had to run outside. Well, one of the bandits came out there with him, but I have no clue what happened to the rest of them. We didn't find their corpses when we went back in there later on. Must have something to do with their "No Low Level Processing" deal.

Since this is the spoiler's forum, I can also add that Salted Mine is full of vampires. :evil: And there's no way WE would have been able to finish this quest if it weren't for the fact that I've got Maskar's Oblivion Overhaul, and I've got the "Vampires burn in Sunlight" feature checked on. Maybe it's cheating, but this is a dead-is-dead game. Snaaty's getting his ass handed to him, so he runs outside. If he had chosen to go into Salted after nightfall, he would have been killed, but because it was day, he got lucky because the main vampire guy (and a few other generic NPCs) wound up dying as they burned in the sun.

I will post Sarah's next update tomorrow, I think. I'm gaming with her right now. There isn't much to it. I've never spent so much time in one establishment, watching people come and go, but I don't want to spoil what's been happening, so .... tomorrow.

Well, picking grapes on a rainy day probably won't attract many people.

You're right about that!

Seems like Sarah finally found some sort of a job and an interesting one at that, it must keep her quite busy with the inn being in disarray.

I wonder where will her fire-passion bring her...but I have a feeling that it won't be something good, it's like something sinister can be "found" in Sarah, hidden somewhere deep inside her. Hard to explain but I guess you know what I mean.

ha heh, it's going to be awesome, Lopov!

Morndas, 5:18 pm, Morning Star 28, 3rd Era 434

Kahreem awakes. For once, he knows where he is: somewhere deep within the Marie Elena, in one of its many beds. The ship's wooden structures creak all around. The air is damp. It always is, inside his ship.

He gets up, dresses himself with a mishmash of clothes: royal red blouse up top, cheap burlap trousers, and creaky leather shoes. He knows it doesn't matter what he wears, he's going to wind up in the same place, no matter what happens out there.

"Well, time to face the madness."

He gets up, walks down a creaky hallway, wondering if he's going in the right direction. Sometimes, he can get lost in his own home. But he finds the ladder he's looking for. This ladder will lead to ... the rest of his day. Before he climbs it, he decides to go on a hunt for anything to calm his nerves. He quickly finds what he's looking for. Gulps it down quickly, heading up the Captain's ladder.


8:06 pm
....and it doesn't take long, before he is personally greeted by one of the Waterfront's Finest.



"STOP! You violated the law. Since you lack the funds to pay the court, you must now serve out your sentence. Your stolen goods are now forfeit."

"I need to speak to Hieronymus Lex. No, I'm serious."

The guard smiles. Yeah, that'll happen.

"Fine. Let us go to jail then."

"Hope you rot, criminal scum."





10:08 pm
Kahreem also smiles. The chances of him "rotting" in jail are slim. The Imperial City's jail cells are some of the better ones. Tamped floors, well-washed and shined stone walls, ever-burning torches to light (and warm) the space he'd be in. All told, he wouldn't be treated so badly. They'd pretty much leave him alone. The only thing he'd need to fight would be boredom. One second. Ten seconds. One minute. Ten minutes .... The seconds and minutes would pass okay, it was the hours which would be tough to deal with.

"One-thousand and seven. That was my bounty when they caught me. Hah. And the thing, I was about to do them a service. I have an important job to do, for once, if they'd just let me do it. Being a courier's not so bad, come and think of it. Cyrodiil could use some important people like me."

An hour, has it gone by yet? Kahreem has lost count. How many hours would one-thousand and seven gold demand?

"Fokke."



Fredas, 12:04 am, Sun's Dawn 8
He's well into the second month of the year 434 when he is finally released, and actually, his stay hadn't been as dreadfully dull as he'd been expecting. Kahreem had listened to some of the guard's chatter during his stay, turns out that some sort of 'hero' had managed to save the town of Kvatch. The daedric occupation of this town had been ended. This was good news! ... Rumor had it that the Savior of Kvatch was an aging wizard, who had formerly been employed by the Legion to write magical scrolls. Well whatever. As long as the threat was being dealt with by somebody.

He decides to leave the prison district entirely before disrobing and tossing his jail clothes. Then he goes for a walk, all over the Imperial City. Looking for Lex, but also looking for a beggar, to possibly get some information from. He's down to one single lockpick, and has seven gold. Too risky to go on a spree, then. He walks from the Markets to the Elven Gardens District, which oddly did not contain any real gardens. (Lol) Why did they call it the 'Garden' district, then?

"I don't know if I can help you, but I'll try," says a shirtless dark elf.

"Hieronymus Lex."

"Go ahead, please."

"Looking for the man, have you seen him?"

"He is captain of the Imperial Watch. He is pursuing a personal vendetta against the Thieves Guild and the Gray Fox."

"Okay, and ...?"

"I heard the Gray Fox personally humiliated Lex years ago when he tried to arrest Armand Christophe for Theft. Lex has never forgotten this."

"Sure, but do you know where he is? I am actually looking for the man. Yes, me."

"I was in the Thieves Guild," says the shirtless elf, taking on a bit of attitude in his voice. "But I'm out now. I retired. Too old for that foolishness. I don't keep up contacts. You get out? You stay out."

"Whatever. You obviously know who I was, and yes, I was Thieves Guild. Now I'm not. I have found a job as a courier. Curtis the Courier, at your service. In fact, I have this very important letter to deliver to Lex himself. He'll thank me gladly with gold once I find him."

"The Fighters Guild is recruiting again!"

"Forget it. I'm not joining Fighters Guild; haven't you heard? A wizard had taken care of the threat at Kvatch. It's over and done. And I need to do my job," Kahreem says, suddenly thinking of the remaining bottles of Cheap Wine in his ship. "Now, off with you, shirtless dark elf."

"Shadow hide you."

"Whatever."

He knows it doesn't matter what he wears, he's going to wind up in the same place, no matter what happens out there.

Kahreem's days indeed end up as getting arrested or being on the run. Knowing how useful citizens of Cyrodiil can be at times, Kahreem will probably have to track down Mr Lex on his own.

I liked his description of jails in the Imperial City. Maybe he could write a book and compare jails all over Cyrodiil.

Yeah, you know? Sort of like Lady Mara's pub crawl from a few years ago, only it'll be with jail cell conditions instead of taverns

*To see note, click here*

And so the plot thickens. Writing an actual note is a nice touch, I often did this in Falador's game. Now since her aunt (or whoever wrote that note) will be staying in shadows, maybe Sarah will move on, go towards he fiery destiny.

Yes, that was a HUGE thing for me, making something which I myself can add in-game. I was like holy [censored] it actually worked!

More to come...

Morndas, 5:11 pm, Sun's Dawn 11, 3rd Era 434

Kahreem of Weet

Level: 8
Playtime: 190:18:52

Health: 153
Magicka: 54
Fatigue: 211

Days Passed: 169
Days Jailed: 48




"You look familiar. Do I know you?"

After hours of searching, he cannot believe his eyes. Not just because he has found the man he's looking for, but also because of the way has found him. He cannot believe his eyes, for this man's armor has hurt them. The glint which came off its metal was so bright, Kahreem was momentarily blinded by it!

Their eyes meet.

"How can you know me, sir? For I am new in town. Robbit the Redguard is my name, I'm a courier, and I have something for you. Let's see here--"

"State your business, citizen."

For all his previous hatred, all the times he had scoffed and taunted Katheem in the past, the man in the shiniest armor of all doesn't seem to recognize the Redguard before him. Well good, maybe my ruse has worked, then. "I have something for you. You are Hieronymus Lex, I presume?"

"Yes?"

"Ah, here, I found it. It's a decree, that you shall appear... well, here, you read it."

The man with the shiniest armor in all Cyrodiil's eyes sweep the page quickly, and efficiently. He thinks (at first) that the Redguard's about to hand him information on the latest heist, the latest stolen bust, the latest rumblings about a Waterfront rant. No, these things are not in the nature of what's to come.

"I've been reassigned! This is outrageous! The Gray Fox had a hand in this, I know it."

"The Grey Fox? Are you sure? But this parchment was handed to me by her lady, Countess Umbranox of Anvil, just two days ago. Or maybe three. I know of no 'Grey Fox' sir, and if I did, I'd certainly tell you of his whereabouts."

"I am bound by duty and honor to obey this order. After all these years, he has finally won," Lex says, apparently disbelieving the Redguard with the foppish voice. "Maybe fate will be kind and deliver him to me in Anvil."

"If you say so, sir. However, these things are not of my concern. My job is done here. Shall I escort you right away to Anvil today? She is expecting you. Anvil's got quite a situation going on, you see. Revolts, pickpockets, and thieves. You'll be dancing with slaughterfish, I assure you, sir."

"I'll leave at once for Anvil," answers Hieronymus.

"Sounds fabulous! And I shall join you, as promised. Just let me get my--"

But the man with the shiniest armor in all Cyrodii begins striding away, unconcerned with the words of a lowly courier.

"Hah, well glad that is done! And well now, I believe it's finally time to get my pay."

"What's your story?" asks a fellow Redguard walking by.

"My story, Jair, you fokkinge dip, is my coinpurse. Which is hopefully going to get highly fattened next time I go to Bravil," answers Kahreem. "Oh yes. S'krivva me-furry-lady here I come.'

If Lex's eyes could shoot more than mere glances, Kahreem would be an ash pile by now.

It seems that people of Anvil will be blinded by Lex's shining armor from now on.

Kahreem is making a slow but steady progress. IIRC, the most interesting quests begin after this one so you're in for quite a treat.

So Lex gets the boot to Anvil. Perhaps his shiny armor will help him sneak up on crooks better there than it did in the Imperial City.

Just a word of warning: the next quest is buggy so better save before undertaking it. On PC it wouldn't be problematic but on consoles you can encounter some serious bugs without option to solve them.

I remember when I did the following quest for the 1st time, I didn't know about the console or the UOP and I accidentally triggered a bug in this quest which prevented me from doing further quests. Fortunately I had a save from before so a reload solved all issues.

Heya that's right Acadian. Goodbye Lex! I can't wait to see where this goes.

And yeah, I save a lot Lopov. Actually, my habit is to save almost every time one of mine goes through a door, or opens / closes a gate, and maybe 25% of the time one of mine casts certain magic spells, or at the beginning of a battle. There are key moments when it feels like a good time to save. This goes back to my Tomb Raider days. Remember how the first two games had those blue gem things, and we could only save if we were standing near one of those gems? .... That's sort of how I do it now. Key moments.