wow that sucks about glitch, SubRosa. hope you got it figured out. Ralof seems to get stuck in Riverwood. He says he'll "meet Crystal Beth in Windhelm" but seems to just loiter around the house. Maybe if I ever go to Windhelm he just shows up at some point.

Beth currently just got the Golden Claw, but she don't know about going further into Bleak Flats Barrow. she can fell a draugr with her Fire spell, but 3 of them at once? She's thinking the best course of action will be to go back to Riverwood and learn more spells. She just leveled up to 2, by the way.

About the magika regeneration issue: that's where perks and Enchanting items comes in handy! there are also plenty of robes in the game...some of them can regenerate health faster than normal. Beth's Novice robes already have her magic regenerating 50% faster than normal

Very true, but something to keep in mind, as SubRosa said, magicka won't regenerate while you have a spell charged or going so it's only intermittently going when in combat, better to focus on spell cost reductions.

If you're playing a straight up mage, take a good look at Spell Absorption perks.

Specifically, the Atronach Perk (30% spell absorption, constant, passive, Alteration) combined with the Ward Absorb Perk (I think the number is at least 20% spell absorption, but must be actively used to work, Restoration tree) can get you some pretty hefty magicka-recovery in the thick of things.

Oh, and there's a shield that's enchanted to actively Ward you while being used, and it syncs up with Ward Absorb to turn an active shield-block into a spell-sucking drain on your enemies' arcane attacks while still dealing with those annoying things like arrows (especially patella-oriented projectiles), swords, and axes (but my infinite awesomeness allows me to note that my trusty maces and warhammers like to bypass your armor, so there's that).

Send me a PM if you want to know how to make yourself able to survive everything short of a direct application of Sethyas-Velas-to-the-Back-of-the-Neck.

Remember, if you can see Sethyas Velas, Sethyas Velas is watching you watch him. If you can't see Sethyas Velas, you may be only moments away from an application of Something-Nasty-to-the-Back-Your-Neck.

I find this both hilarious and slightly terrifying at the same time... ... ...

I find I don't like this feeling... ...

So I played a bit of Skyrim with my Bounty Hunter Imperial. She's a handful. After reading a bit of "Blood on the Moon" by Trey, I was inspired. I also did "I'll Met by Moonlight." The bloodmoon brought some nostalgia.

****

The Hunt is eternal. His hunger is eternal. For generations the Hounds hunted the night while Nirn twisted and changed. The god of the Hunt is fearsome and hungry. His fierce eyes keen. His spear ready to strike. His mouth aches for the taste of flesh and blood. The stars above flee like sheep from Him, at the full time of His power he rules the nocturnal sky. When the Bloodmoon wanes, the hunt begins. The Hunt will always be. Eternally starving. Eternally hunting.

Vera ripped away her clothes, standing nude in the pine forest under the twin celestial bodies; a full Masser, which sat in the sky next to a crimson Secunda. For centuries she waited for the next hunt. For generations, she anticipated a new dawn. And for a lifetime, she craved the glories of the hunt on Nirn and the promise of an afterlife of the same.

Her senses had exploded; sights, sounds and palate had flooded impossibly quick. In the span of a few seconds passing, she saw a group of parasitic insects swarm into focus. She could smell the traces of plant matter and animal blood on each proboscis. She heard the water in a river become a crashing sound in her ears. And the beating heart of human prey perhaps a mile or two away.

Her mind dragged on at the sensory assault. Vera could feel everything that was happening to her. Her flesh was burning, as if every cell in her body had transformed into a furnace of raging inferno. Her respiration quickened until she was panting like a wolf. The landscape of her brain changed as her mind pumped new thoughts that quickly replaced all trace of human mindset.

Pale hot pain flared in her jaw as her molars shifted forward to give way to the growth of powerful new carnassial teeth, and the fangs and canines became deadlier and more pronounced. Sharp incisors pointed into the sky. Blond hair fell back, tumbling to the dirt as black hairs sprouted from a soon-to-be hairless head and tufted ears.

Vera screamed, but what shook the woods was the growl of an animal. There was no trace of humanity left in that roar. The snarl was so powerful that debris and dirt flew beneath her hot breath, causing the nocturnal vermin to flee into the cracks of the overturned logs. The howl was as loud as all the fury, the anger and the despair in Tamriel. It spread through the forest trees and out into the night sky. It was not the cry of a woman. In that very moment, that very hour, that form of Vera the huntress existed no more.

What remained was a thing that stood up in twisted muscular legs and tore up with monstrous claws. It was no longer human. It was a beast of the oldest of, most ancient of legends. A werewolf. It rose and stood in the cold watch of Masser’s light. And there, under the watchful eye of the Prince of the Hunt, the werewolf threw back it’s head and howled it’s fury at the night.

Jensa the conflicted werewolf has made up her mind about some things. It started when Erik the Slayer went missing in her game. Here’s what she says about it.
*

By the time we heaved the last stone onto the cairn, it was snowing so thick I could barely see Stenvar. I knew what his face would look like, because we’ve buried a fair number of folk together over these last months. This was the first time we buried a whole settlement, though. No one lives at Anga’s Mill now but the chickens. Anyway, Stenvar likes to say a few words over the dead. I straightened up and waited.

“Here lie the woodcutters and lumberjacks of Anga’s Mill,” he said. “At least as much as we could find of them. They lived as laborers, but in death they showed their warrior hearts. They took on a dragon armed with daggers and hunks of firewood. Of course the dragon won. But not for long after we showed up. Yonder sits its head.”

I gave Stenvar another minute to collect his thoughts. Sometimes he starts to ramble, but it seemed disrespectful to mention how bad I needed to pee.

“Sovngarde awaits all true Nords,” he finished, looking right at me. That made me want to punch him, run until my legs gave out, and lie down and cry all at once. I didn’t do any of that. Just started walking.

“You going to speak over me when I’m gone?” I asked him. He knows my worries, and I know what he wants me to do. But he won’t say it out loud. It’s a rift between us.

“Kid, I’ll be under the stones at your side.”

That was sweet, but I wanted something to fight about.

The thing that has me still upset is Erik the Slayer. He’s missing, no one knows where. His Da said he stopped getting letters a couple of months ago. Something is really wrong. Erik doesn’t even change his socks without writing home about it.

The last time Stenvar and I went through Rorikstead, I could tell Mralki had given up hope.

“Sovngarde is not for hoe-pushers, Jensa,” Mralki told me. “My boy is in a better place. If I kept him here with me, I’d just have one lifetime. Now he gets to live forever in Shor’s Halls of Valor. You’ll see him there someday. Tell him he made his Da proud.”

I made up my mind by the time Stenvar and I got to the stables outside Windhelm.

“There’s something I have to do,” I said to Stenvar. It was still snowing thick as stew. “I have to go get something in Whiterun, then haul my tail back here to the Sea of Ghosts. There’s no coin in it. I guess we better part ways.”

Stenvar rocked back on his heels a little. “Let’s take the carriage. We can sleep on the way. You do what you need to. I’ll watch your back.” Then he shivered a little. “Damn this cold. I should have dressed more warmly.”

That made me laugh. I teased him about shaving his head and then fussing about the cold. He said he had enough hair on his backside to make up the difference. We got under the furs in the back of the wagon, and he was asleep before we even made the turn onto the road. At least the cold keeps the fleas down.

When I think about what I’m about to give up, I get a cold empty feeling right through my middle. But at least soon I might be able to rest.

Really cool stories here, and thanks Captain Hammer, for the perk advice.

Crystal Bethis about to attempt her 2nd adventure...taking down some bandits at Redoran's Retreat. She's excited and eager for adventure. A true high elf. Right now, her only spells are Oakflesh, Fire (8 pts. per second), Shock (8 pts. per second), Fury and basic Healing. She's got a daggar for a weapon, and several potions & poisons.

She's confident but I'm nervous. She's a dead-is-dead character, you see.

@Grits: Jensa is sweet and coarse at the same time. I'm glad Stenvar is with her, even though he scares Aravi.

@Renee Gade: I wish you and your high elf luck. I know Aravi's been in Redoran's Retreat, but I can't recall what lives there.

CB sounds prepared enough. She has elemental spells for any situation. It is so important to be able to be able to switch between all three, because you never know what you will be facing. Hopefully she will not need that dagger, and they will not get close enough for her Oakflesh to matter...

A Dead is Dead character in Skyrim? I would rethink that if I were you. Most of the time you can skate through this game. But once every two or three days something awful comes out of the woodwork and kills you in two shots. One moment you are walking along, the next you are dead, wondering what the heck was that?

I've already had a couple characters die in Skyrim, actually. One of them (Blade 'n' Bone) only lasted that first weekend, and died on 11/13/11! Obviously, it was easy for me to let him go, since I didn't get too attached to BnB. But my next character Thor a'Zaene? I did get attached to him. It sucked that he died. He got 2-shotted by a draugr overlord I think. Something really wicked.

Claire Voyance is my 3rd character and I am not playing her dead-is-dead, because I figured I wanted to just learn the game for awhile. Since she's clairevoyant, Claire Voyance could always see into alternate realities and avoid the deaths in them, you see. But sadly, her partner (Brelyna) just died.

Claire was pretty attached to Brelyna, and to be honest I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to game without that mage/cleric combination (Brelyna was mage, Claire is a cleric). Claire's game is on hold, until some inspiration strikes for her.


@ Coin: Yup. Bandits. Crystal Beth is breezing right thru them all, but she hasn't encountered the bandit leader yet. Those guys are usually pretty tough. Beth is gonna do a lot of running if she sees a leader.

Clair Voyance...Love it... ...

That's all, sorry to interrupt... ...

Oh, though I will agree with Subrosa about Dead is Dead...My original character, Wulff Olfsson, Bard, who was a tank due to his Heavy Armour skill coupled with Legendary Ebony Armour, would find himself suddenly dead from to his habit of wading into stuff with much abandon and "his" missing his need for potion...(Or Robert's reliance on the kids shouting "HEAL!!!" when needed... ...)...

Would never play Dead is Dead...I get too attached to my characters...Hence why I've only made a few characters down the couple of years we've had Oblivion and Skyrim...

Awesome.

I had two dead is dead characters in Skyrim. Had. Very briefly. It will be years before I do that again in this game!

Good hunting, Crystal Beth! Redoran's Retreat is memorable to me as being where two different characters shot Faendal to death. Sigh.

That gives that location a nice little gold star doesn't it?

I wish you luck on a DiD run Renee, I have no intention of trying one for a while yet, though I'm pretty sure I know some ways to do it. Just a matter of living long enough to get the good stuff and staying away from two-handed Druger. Azula's closing in on Master Destruction and there is very little she's encountered that pose a credible threat. Including dragons, 4-5 dual Thunderstrikes and they're down. As long as she says out of melee, she's pretty good.

Must...resist...obvious...answer...to...SubRosa's...question...


That's because you already know what's waiting for you...


Don't bother waiting him out. He's immortal. Lurking in the shadows. Waiting. Waiting for his moment. Because when he strikes...it will be...

Swiftly, And-to-the-Back-of-Your-Neck!

(D@mn, nearly stopped myself from letting it get through! )

Speaking of Azula...

After several weeks in her specially tailored Archmage robes, Az has been convinced that for crawling around ruins and wilderness, it just doesn't impress the undead and beasts quite as much as mortals with a pulse. So she's now in something a bit more sturdy.

In the reality next door, Sinead has done several jobs that required an intimidating presence, with her taste in armor, she shows off that she fits the bill.

Crystal Beth managed to kill the members of Redoran's Retreat. It wasn't easy. Actually, the first fort she showed up at (the one I brought up last nite) was not Redoran's, it was Silent Moon Camp. All the bandits there are wearing hides & fur. Beth took care of them all, no problems. When she got to Redoran's it was a different story.

Those guys were tougher; wearing heavy armors. It took awhile to take them all down one by one, but she did it! There was one scary moment when the bandit cheif showed up. Beth started running from him, and got stuck at some point as she was trying to exit the Retreat. She got outside, healed up a few moments and WHAM, a Hired Thug landed a hit on her, almost killing her! Her health was almost gone!

Luckily, Beth managed to climb up the rocks there. The Thug couldn't get to her. She survived, taking down the Thug and later the Bandit Chief as well.



I grew up with dead is dead in teh 1980's as we played our dice & paper games, although we didnt' call it "dead is dead" back then. Back then, it was something naturally incorporated into the game at all times. You died? Your'e dead. The only possible exceptions were if a high-level cleric or magic-user were nearby who could resurrect, or the party had a VERY expensive potion on hand.



Ahh tanks! I sat there and sat there trying to think of the PERFECT name for my new cleric. I knew it was there, too. All a sudden I think I started thinking about Skyrims' new spells. Like clairvoyance. Clairvoyance Claire Voyance CLAIRE VOYANCE!! YESSS!!!

Those of you who know me at Bethsoft know the name of my character is almost as important (sometimes more important) than his or her backstory!






I think Beth did get something, but I'm forgetting now. On PS3, we get trophies, though, not stars. I'll look it up when I get home.

Lil: The latest pic in your sig makes me think of "Buddy, I'm gonna shoot you in the face!"

She's just like honey on cornbread.

Jensa cured herself of lycanthropy. Then she slept for a day and a night while Stenvar stood watch. That guy is all right. Of course events took a turn again. Here’s what she says about it:

I’ve met a Breton woman who‘s likely to get me killed. Then again, she just might know how to save us from the dragons. She had a job for me that I had to do on my own. I went over to Stenvar to tell him we had to split up for real this time.

“If you say so,” he said. “You know where to find me.” He took my chin in his hand and smiled. “Say, your eyes are blue again! I missed that.” Then he kissed me on the forehead like I was a little kid, and he walked away. If he means to confuse me, he’s done it.

I did the job and got no thanks for it. That crazy Breton took off with most of my gear. I had to get back to Whiterun Hold with no food, no furs, and no coin on my person. No mead, either. And with what I had just done, it was not a good time to hang around town looking for work.

I found some hunters who said I could come along with them, they would keep me warm. They looked all right, so I said yes. After the first night they said they didn’t mind changing their plans, they’d follow me for a while. After the third night I remembered that without my beast blood, these dirty fetchers could give me their diseases. Luckily we found a wayshrine and we all got cured. All things considered, it was worth it.

By the time we got to Labyrinthian the flin had run out and we had tired of one another’s company. I had to face the frost trolls alone. The last time I went through there, I had Stenvar beside me. Of course back then I didn’t know the dragon word for fire. Now the trolls better watch out when they see me coming. I scraped up some troll fat to take with me. If that Breton isn’t quick with an apology, she’s going to get to eat it.

Nice little story there, Grits.

Crystal Beth has just returned to Whiterun, after taking down some bandits at Valkheim Keep (however you spell it). She knows of the College in Winterhold, but is honing her skills and her spells on the simple and stupid bandit camps and forts that lie near Whiterun.

She's basically learning as many spells as she can locally by buying up the ones she wants one by one as she adventures, before making the long and dangerous journey to The College.

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: Mar 1 2012, 12:17 AM