Beth is vegetarian. she never talks to the meat-vendors. Some of my other characters do, though.

I've seen the khajiit camp at other towns. Not ever at Windhelm yet, though. Beth hasn't spent tons of time here yet. I like those khajiits They always make me smile.

I've been fooling around with a new character. The dual axe wielding orc that we talked about in some ideas thread, I forget where. Only it turns out that he is a guy.

Duralekh gro-Bulsakh was born in an orc stronghold, it doesn’t matter which one. Celibacy did not appeal to him, and becoming the chief sounded like too much work. He left.

So far he has been enormous fun. (And not just making the children laugh when they say his name.) He hasn’t used any of his found or bought healing potions yet, preferring to let his wounds heal naturally. He did use the starter healing spell once when death was nearly upon him. (Seven bandits plus a Chief. Luckily they fought out in the open, so he had room to move.) He loves to hunt by chasing down the elk and hacking them with his axes. Keeps the herd healthy. Most of them get away, but if one lets him draw blood he will chase it the whole way across the tundra rather than let it live.

He’s spending some time in Whiterun picking up contracts and hopefully some single women. Although his habit seems to be to go on a job, return victorious, get a room at the Bannered Mare, drink all of the ale and mead in his inventory, and then sleep for 24 hours. Not very social. Still, Adrianne and Ulfberth War-Bear are surprisingly fond of him. The last time he stopped in their shop, they simultaneously gifted him with… a hat.

Oh, and here’s a picture of Duralekh at White River Watch at night.





Added an update:

Duralekh had a little misunderstanding with Ysolda. After he ran an errand for her, she made it clear that he was welcome in her house and in her bed. Nice. Then when he attempted to “borrow” a key after she fell asleep, the silly wench screamed bloody murder.

Big D went outside to clear things up with the authorities and found Uthgerd (who was waiting patiently in the market square) preparing to go to war with the entire Whiterun Guard on his behalf. A hasty sack of gold later all was calm again. The two of them hauled tail out to the volcanic tundra where he accepted the blessing of the Atronach stone. Now they’re questing in the Rift.

Uthgerd may be a little hard to look at, but her loyalty can’t be improved upon. Also she can really take a punch. Ysolda may be easy, but… well, that’s really her best feature. And at least she doesn’t remind him of his sisters.


This post has been edited by Grits: May 9 2012, 08:05 PM

Duralekh gro-Bulsakh. Lol that is a funny name. I like the "only heals naturally" part, too. See, that's where the auto-regen health comes into play.

Congrats on your new big green Bulsakh! It sounds like you are having a ton of fun with him already.

I found a pic of Bulsakh in action

This post has been edited by SubRosa: May 9 2012, 10:09 PM

Tremendous! He is in shirtless fur armor, so that's perfect!!


Duralekh gro-Bulsakh is back in Whiterun. He had a quiet afternoon and a mildly confusing night. Here’s how it went.

Gro-Bulsakh and Uthgerd parted ways as soon as they passed through the gate, as is their habit. The orc had some ore and hides to deal with, and the Nord had to catch up on her sitting and drinking. The Bulsakh learned some more about Uthgerd on this trip. She definitely has an anger management issue. But he is not one to judge. He had considered taking the Companions up on their offer, but if they won’t have Uthgerd then he won’t be a brother to them.

Evening fell with its usual breathtaking splendor. This might have been a good time to go for a walk around the market with Ysolda and perhaps join her for drinks and a meal at the Bannered Mare. Or at least bathe after all of those hours at the forge. Instead he went to Uthgerd’s for some mead and a four hour nap. There is a lot that Big D does not know about human ways.

When he woke up he guessed that Ysolda was probably home from the Bannered Mare, so he headed over to break into her house, in a friendly way of course. She was home, still awake, and happy to see him. He hopped into her bed for an hour, score. Then when he got up she said, and I still can’t believe this, “Goodbye. And if you happen to see Mikael, tell him I was asking about him.” She promptly went to sleep.

Mikael? The bard?! What the… Duralekh was not pleased with that comment. Why was Ysolda thinking about some skinny Nord? Perhaps she didn’t like the flowers he brought for her (nightshade). Or maybe she didn’t like his other present, the large antlers from an elk he slaughtered out on the tundra. After all, he did knock over some of her silly pots while trying to place them on a shelf. Or maybe she was trying to make him jealous, since he was still wearing the silver and emerald necklace given to him by sweet Sylgja of Shor’s Stone. Now there was a woman. Even with a gimp leg, she could really crack the rock.

Anyway he still had some things to do before he went over to the tavern to give Mikael a beating. First he had to cook some soup and move the rest of his junk into Ysolda’s house. Chores completed, he made two more attempts to snag her key. No and no. Fifty more coins to the guards. Third time he got it. Then she woke up pissed and asked him to leave. Crazy wench. So he went back to crash at Uthgerd’s house until nearly noon. This man loves to sleep.

His plans for after he brawls with Mikael include searching through a dangerous barrow to impress a woman and searching through a dangerous Dwarven ruin to impress a woman. I don’t know if I mentioned, but when D dies, he will be dead. His armor rating is 99, so I’m quite worried about what I know waits underground for him. Plus after the barrow, there be dragons.

Lol so he broke into Ysolda's house, brought her antlers and nightshade, and he wonders why she doesn't want to stick around? The Bulsackh's got a lot to learn about the ladies!

Big D’s personal life continues to exceed my expectations for entertainment.

The last time he had a run-in with the law, they must have taken his key to Ysolda’s house. He discovered this when he smacked his face against her locked door coming back from Redoran's Retreat. No problem, he just let himself in the old-fashioned way. She wasn’t home, so he stretched out on the bed for a nap.

Fourteen hours later she still wasn’t home. He met her coming out of the Bannered Mare at seven of the morning watch. She didn’t have much to say about it. That’s when he remembered his unfinished business with Mikael.

Now, beating up a bard may not be pleasing to Malacath, but the Bulsakh expected it to at least be enjoyable. No such luck. Mikael backed down faster than a Nord chasing a mead wagon. Fetching kitten.

There was nothing left to do but round up Uthgerd and head out to Bleak Falls Barrow. After he got all of his stuff from Ysolda’s house and stashed it back at Uthgerd’s, of course. Except he may have left some dog meat in Ysolda’s bedside table. He’s sure she’ll find it eventually.




Added an Update:


The Bulsakh had no trouble in BFB. I’m sure this is old news, but it seems that the Atronach Stone is helping him ward off diseases. He got those bubbly visual effects from wolves and skeevers on this little jaunt, but no illness. Uthgerd picked up a nice enchanted sword from the dead guy at the end. Big D also gave her a copper and moonstone circlet that he found. She put it on immediately. Not an hour later she swapped it for an Imperial Officer’s Helmet that they looted from a looter. Uthgerd is definitely Big D’s kind of woman. She’s still not interested in him, though. (She won’t give him the Mara Amulet dialog. That’s how we judge these things.)

Back in Riverwood, Lucan was overjoyed to get his dust catcher back. Whatever. Duralekh headed upstairs to see if he could get some thanks from Camilla. She was asleep. The beds at the Lucan house are still marked as owned. That means no action for the Bulsakh. Damn.

So they went home to Whiterun and some business with the Jarl. After a good long rest at Uthgerd’s house, of course. When he woke up, there was news from the Western Watchtower. They geared up and headed out in the rain.










This post has been edited by Grits: May 12 2012, 02:35 PM

Here are some highlights from Duralekh gro-Bulsakh’s latest adventures.

In Markarth he met an orc smith who is also from a stronghold. She gave him that unshakable sister feeling. It seems that he will just never be into orc women. He earned some coin while he was there, mostly for running up and down stairs. As he left town, he walked straight into the meat cart while gawking at Hroki. This guy needs a perk tree for lady skillz.

On the way from Markarth to Whiterun, the Bulsakh and the Bulldog (Uthgerd) had to fight every Stormcloak, Imperial, and Thalmor group they encountered. No one seems to like Uthgerd’s looted Imperial Officer’s Helm. She was on her knees after about one second of conflict with the Thalmor. Big D decided that he would leave her in Whiterun this time. The old girl needs some rest.

A little solo jaunt on the tundra yielded a vial of pink goo and some interesting information about his ex, Ysolda. Now he has something that she wants. Ha! Of course he gave it up as soon as she asked for it. Even with the Amulet of Zenithar (that he pulled from someone’s severed neck), the Bulsakh is not much of a negotiator.

Still, her gold let him finished his Dragon Kit. Now he has fire resist boots and frost resist boots. That should do it. After BFB we released the dragons, but Duralekh is not the Dragonborn. That means no Shouts. We just pretend that the soul absorb light show is part of what happens to magically resurrected dragons when they die, and never unlock any words that he finds.

Now he needs to go finish some business in Riften, but this orc is no loner. So he jogged back to Rorikstead and hired young Erik the Slayer. They got to fight together right away. A dragon attacked while they were still within sight of town.

The battle went well with no losses on the ground, at least locally. Big D even had time to pull on his anti-frost boots while the dragon sailed around icing everything from Morthal to Old Hroldan, or so it seemed. That one had a real attention issue.

Back on the road they stopped in Whiterun to pick up some better gear for Erik. Duralekh is keeping Smithing to a minimum, which means that shops can be as exciting as treasure chests. Duralekh was overjoyed to find the Khajiit caravan outside the gates. Tremendous luck, they had another pair of fire resist boots for sale. Duralekh used up most of his gold buying them for Erik. Here’s how we interpreted Erik’s failure to equip either the new boots or the ones that the Bulsakh had been wearing.

Duralekh: Here you go, kid. Next dragon might not be a frosty. With these boots you won’t scream as much when you’re on fire.

Erik the Slayer: Thanks, D, but I already have a pair of iron boots.

D: Oh hells, I forgot about that. Right, you can wear my leather ones. They have the same enchantment.

E the S: Ha! Why would I wear unimproved leather boots? You’re funny. I’ll just keep clomping around in these iron boots that my da bought for me, even though I’m more skilled in light armor.

D: Ffffffff—

So now Big D has a reason to do some women’s work at the forge. Maybe when he learns to improve enchanted items, young Erik will wear his new boots, and then D won’t have to smell him burning.

Good to see you having fun with big D.

One thing I have noticed about how companions choose which gear to equip, is that they ignore enchantments. They seem to pick whatever item has the highest base rating, and that is it. If you give one an iron sword that does an extra 20 points of fire damage, but they have an unenchanted steel sword, they will always equip the steel one. Leather boots have an armor value of 7 and iron 10, so an npc will always pick the iron, etc...

This post has been edited by SubRosa: May 13 2012, 08:09 PM

gah, double post!

This post has been edited by SubRosa: May 13 2012, 08:09 PM

grits: I laughed out loud at the part where the Bulsakh walked into a meat cart!

No Crystal Beth updates this weekend. I was with Lady Saga today (Oblivion) exploring the Leyawiin area. Despite what I thought before 11/11/11, Oblivion still has plenty of replay value for me.

Oy. Nobody's here anymore. I feel like Chorrol is a ghost town.

Well I'm still here, and hamster it; I just can't spend too much time over at Bethsoft's Sky forums. So here goes...


Morndas, 8:37 PM, 22nd of First Seed, 4th Era, Year 202

Lately Crystal Beth has been spending lots of time in Solitude. Her house is almost completely decorated up. She's got all the furnishing sets except the Enchanting altar, because, well, she's never enchanted anything.

Her room is decorated with all sort of things: red, blue, and purple mountain flowers, gemstones, and various other pretty things. She's also finally got her books up on the shelves. (Heh, I finally figured out that all you have to do is click on the bookshelf and it automatically organizes all your books in one step!)

The rest of her house is also being decorated. Mostly with cool ingredients (charus thingies, various types of eggs, more flowers, butterfly wings, etc.)

Beth has been getting to know her housecarl: Jordis the Sword-Maiden. Beth was worried Jordis would not be useful for adventuring, after losing a Nord male fighter earlier in the year. But after discussing and getting to know Jordis better (me going on UESP), it's obvious that Jordis is a very strong individual. Matter of fact, after somebody over at Bethsoft did the math for me, it turns out Jordis has over 400 HP, which is a lot. Beth only has 230 herself.

Beth found a really cool item in the Solitude general goods store: a ring which regenerates magic at a +60% rate. This means her magic regen rate is now as fast as a firebolt.

Overall, let's have a "fashion moment" with Beth.

Adept Hood (+50 magicka)

Amulet of Akatosh (+25% magic regen)

Expert Robes of Destruction (+125% magic regen, 20% less to cast Destruction spells)

Elven Gauntlets (she has the first 2 perks of Light Armor)

Boots of Dwindling Shock (40% shock resistance)

Like I said, her magic regnerates so fast. In less than 5 seconds, 100 points of magic are regnerated (I timed this rather unscientifically).

Beth decided to take Jordis along to do the Meridia's Beacon questline, and Jordis passed Beth's test with flying colors. Right now, Beth and Jordis are in some bandit camp near Whiterun. There doesn't seem to be anybody home, though.

I like decorating with ingredients. It's fun to drop stuff and see what it looks like. Some things are huge! I can't imagine eating large antlers to discover their properties.

Trouble is, I'm not playing Skyrim at the mo, I'm flitting between some other games...And my creative's going into my stories, as the KOTN is taking a fair old section of what little there is up there anyways...*Taps*... ...So I don't got none left for journals, plus, right, when I do any Skyrim it's J'Zirlo, who I'd then have to tie-in to t'other story...Ayyy...

But it's nice to be reading what everyone else has been doing... ...

I miss Oblivion meself...

EDIT...Oh yeah last time I put Skyrim on, the BrotherZ got a bounty letter from the Bee and Barb to go kiw de dwaagon at a nearby peak...So there I am, going to kiw de dwaagon...

Then I get killed by this damned frost cannon thing, on the steps leading up to it...

Fortunately, I'd saved before I'd started going up the stairs...

And then it happens again, when I try to see how to deactivate it...The next time, I avoid it, but it takes a fair chunk of health off anyways with a glancing blow...Take potion, Kiw de Dwaaagon!!...Get Word from wall...Jump down mountain to avoid cannon...

Meet Farkas, Athis and Torvar "Wha-hey lads!! See you in Riften!!!"..

Run some, "You made a mistake coming here."

What? Where? Oh fer f-

Dead again...

*Rage Quit*...

Shan't be doing that again for a bit... ...

This post has been edited by McBadgere: May 22 2012, 04:13 AM

You're funny, McB.



Decorating with ingredients is something I discovered relatively late in my Oblivion days. I forget which character really started the trend...probably Lady Saga.

My chars used to throw gems and amulets and rings and keys down. Crystal Beth likes all of that, but she's really into the flower thing most of all.


Fredas, 8;20 PM, 27th of First Seed...

Crystal Beth and her new companion Jordis the Sword-Maiden are now in a place called Fort Fellhammer Mines. They were heading towards wherever the Helm of Winterhold is being stashed, before getting sidetracked with yet another bandit fort. Fighting simple, ignorant bandits never gets old.

Before this, they were both in Whiterun. Beth found a new bow for Jordis, one that causes any NPC under level 10 to flee. Beth also gave Jordis a 1-handed sword she found; this one causes fire damage.

Jordis really is a true tank in combat. Sometimes, Jordis winds up doing all the work, while Beth merely stands behind, casting Calm and Fear on the bandits, and then healing Jordis up when appropriate. It's a really interesting dynamic of gameplay.


This post has been edited by Lady Saga: May 22 2012, 11:20 PM

Duralekh gro-Bulsakh has been through some changes.

The last cave full of spiders was the straw that broke the mammoth’s back. Big D had no trouble with them, but his fears gave every desiccated corpse Sylgja’s face. He went straight back to Riften and bought Honeyside without asking her. He figured it’s close enough to Shor’s Stone that she can visit her friends when she wants. Plus the only other house he could afford is in Ysolda’s neighborhood. He would really like to not have Sylgja meet Ysolda. It’s not that he’s hiding something, but there are some things he’s definitely not mentioning.

So he went back home to convince his wife she should move into a house that’s next to a fishery. “All right,” she said. “I’ll get everything ready and meet you there.” Well, that was easy. D walked her down the road to the new place. She loves it. He can tell because she’s been 100% with the fresh meals and hot Comfort. Also she opened up a shop. Hopefully she’ll buy his Sleeping Tree Sap. Then he won’t have an excuse to go visit Ysolda.

In other news, Mjoll went home and now D is traveling with his drinking buddy Roggi Knot-Beard. Roggi loves mead and Big D is an ale man, so the two of them can drink a place dry without any arguing. I’m not sure how Roggi measures up as a warrior. D had a very tough fight with a vampire in a nearly pitch-black cave. About all I could see through D’s Berserker Rage was red spells and D’s health bar vanishing. No idea what Roggi was doing during the battle, but somehow D didn’t kill him in the dark.

The other close call was D’s first blood dragon on a mountain path with a side of frost troll. At one point he was blinded by the dragon’s frost while the troll was thumping him. He got through that with 5 potions left, three of them only minor healing. He had already Raged once that day. That fight was also absent Roggi.

Now they are headed west to solve some sword puzzle. It was Roggi’s idea. Big D thinks it must be some Nord vs. Reachman thing. Whatever. He’s in it for the fight.

Big D! ha ha ha!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crystal Beth wound up going back to Winterhold, with her new companion Jordis the Sword-Maiden. A couple of the female mages are very jealous of Beth at the moment, because she's got the attention of Arch Mage Aren. They had plans to "deal" with Beth somehow, but they did not plan that Beth would come back to the College with a big Nord fighter lady!

Beth showed Jordis a spare room, two doors down from Beth's own room. As Beth looked in on her stuff, she noticed some of the items she had left behind are missing, or in the wrong recepticle. THIS is why she hates staying in rooms with no doors. She misses Proudspire (her Solitude home) at that moment.

Beth has some additional powers not included in the game: if she has a crystal ball, Crystal Beth can gaze into it for an hour or so, and perform small amounts of "time & distance travel", as she calls it. To us on Earth, this is what we call ESP (extra-sensory perception).

She eventually knows everything. She knows about Mirabelle and her plans to eradicate Beth, or get her ousted from the College. She also knows about their confusion over the sudden appearance of Jordis the Sword-Maiden.

As her time/distance travel visions fade, Beth is suddenly glad Jordis is with her. She gets hungry, and goes looking for some fruit.
.

That's strange, I wonder what's going on with Beth's stuff? Did the surfaces in her room respawn?


The Bulsakh and Roggi are headed west into the Reach. Their departure from Riften was somewhat delayed by a fire-breathing blood dragon. It attacked inside the city while D and Roggi were passing the market area on their way to the gate. It was late afternoon, so pretty much the whole town was outside. Big D has new respect for his neighbors, although he wants to have a strategy session with Balimund before another dragon attacks. That guy has a whole store full of weapons and armor, and he went after the dragon with a dagger. That was more than some folks had, though. It was hard to tell, but it seemed that Brand-Shei was armed only with strong language.

Shockingly, no one died. Maybe because there were so many targets, the dragon didn’t focus too much on any one person. Also D didn’t see Roggi during this fight either. It crossed his mind that the Nord might have ducked into the meadery for one last pint before Sovngarde. He did manage to get at least one of his arrows into the dragon, so D didn’t ask him any questions. When it was over, Duralekh sold the spoils and walked home to Sylgja. She was completely calm and happy see him back so soon. She must have really been involved with her projects downstairs and missed the attack. D and Roggi left for real the next morning. Sylgja announced that while they are gone she’s going to plant a garden. She always wanted one at Shor’s Stone, but the deer kept eating it.

On the road to Ivarstead, D was attacked by another Dark Brotherhood assassin. That made him think. He recently heard a rumor that might help him find them. He would sure like to know who wants him dead. He also made a discovery that I cannot believe I have been missing all of this time. (Not quest related.) They came upon a military encampment while they were cutting through the woods. Big D is an amiable orc, so he wandered over and struck up a conversation. The quartermaster was happy to trade with him. Holy crow, the world is full of merchants that I didn’t even know about!!

Hehheh, no that's rolepay stuff. Beth is writing a book (it's in the fanfic section) and some of the female mages are jealous of her, because she's got Savos Aren's attention. They figured out that Beth had been keepng a large amount of gold in her room, but by the time they searched her room, Beth had already taken this gold. That' how she bought her house in Solitude.

Oh right, I didn't connect the two! I remember now, they searched her room. Sorry!