I wonder who the dead fella in the robes was? My first thought runs to Vigilant of Stendarr, but I do not see gauntlets on his hands.

Abiene is a messenger of love? Given her own romantic situation, that sounds more than little ironic. But then irony can be pretty ironic at times...

I have to agree with Abiene. I would pay that chick to not sing as well. Not to mention to put some real clothes on.

I recognize Blavatsky rocking out in the crowd though! I guess some Witches have no appreciation for fine music!

Renee: Well, fair enough. But I may well make a character with a name like Noah Haaf-Messures in the future in his honour

Enjoyed the update from Abienne, and the bit about Jerric being in good spirits after killing the bandits, thief and frost troll made snort with laughter. Oh you...

Man, Dawnstar's taven is packed! Is that a mod to make it more populated, or have I just never visited during hours?

All of these adventures makes me want to pop in Skyrim and play with Kayla.

That ... is quite an honor, sire.



Yes, you should do so. We all think you should.

I am going to post some random stuff about Lord Haaf-Mersey. I don't feel like writing it all up in story form, so I'll just post random snippets about his adventuring.

He's headed to Solitude before going to confront Harkon the Vampire, but before going there, he's stopping by all his favorite places, in his attempt to make 'wayward souls see the Light of the Nine'. So instead of going to Solitude, he is currently headed to Fort Snowhawk. Mages! Conjurers!

He has 444 days under his belt (pprobably a record for my longest-lasting ES character) has found 222,201 gold, 184 locations, and has 'cleared' 109 dungeons. He has only been jailed once, but under "Days Jailed" is says 0 for some reason. His Largest Bounty as 2,040, which I think he got because some Tribal Orcs attacked him (he wandered innocently into their territory). He has crafted 98 armor pieces and 26 weapons, and has improved 96 items. He knows 26 spells. Mostly Alteration, Restoration, and a handful of Illusion spells.

On his way to Harkon, he carries the following.

Dwarven Helmet of Magicka (EPIC) +30 magicka
Necklace of Regeneration: +40% faster Health Regeneration
Orcish Gauntlets of Eminent Wielding: (+30% 1-handed damage)
Ring of Major Wielding (+25% 1-handed damage)
Shield of Solitude (+30% Magicka Resistance, +35% blocking with shield).
Steel Plate Armor of the Knight (+15% Heavy Armor skill)
Steel Plate Boots of Shock Suppression (EXQUISITE) (+50% shock resistance)

He carries one weapon at a time usually, and since he's going to be facing vampires, he's got an Iron Sword of Flames (+5% Fire damage) which he's smithed up to the Exquisite level. +5% may not sound like much, but there should be some extra damage involved since he's dealing with vamps. Still, if he happens to find a more powerful fire sword before the Big Fight, he'll perhaps use that one instead.

This post has been edited by Renee Gade IV: Dec 31 2013, 12:24 AM

I love this bit!

Acadian, you’re so right about Lil. The Nord tavern scene is not for her. In fact this has not been her most fun trip. When they get back to Aravi Manor Jerric is going to taking her camping, somewhere where the trees are green!

That crowd has NPCs added by Inconsequential NPCs and Expanded Towns and Cities: Dawnstar, plus the Redguard lady in the black robes is Blavatsky from SubRosa’s wonderful Nature Summoning mod. I almost caught a picture of Blavatsky standing on a bar stool rocking out, but she hopped down before I could move the camera! She must have gotten pushed up there by the folks behind her, but it looked like she was going to stage dive or something. It was awesome.

The dead guy was a Vigilant, but I’m mystified by his lack of gauntlets. Some time ago I had a mod issue that accidentally produced naked Vigilants, so I guess it could have been worse! It was a bit of an RP dilemma, because with the right gear or a hostile flame atronach nearby they would have recognized him as a Vigilant which would have produced a side-trip. As it was he just looked like a dead mage who also thought their shortcut was a good idea. His mace was on the ground on the other side of Jerric, you just can’t see it in this picture.

Renee, LHM must look very knightly in his steel plate with the Shield of Solitude. He has made quite an impact in his Skyrim, bringing and/or sending wayward souls to the Nine!


The Dawnstar-Morthal leg of this trip wrecked my nerves. Abiene fared a little better.


From Abiene’s Skyrim Journal

30 Evening Star, The Moorside Inn, Morthal, eleven bells of the evening watch

I speak little of the Nordic tongue and understand even less, but after today there is one word that I could translate without consulting a reference. “Hjaalmarch” can only mean “Big Spiders.”

We were set upon nearly every other step between Dawnstar and Morthal. Frostbite spiders, wolves fighting frostbite spiders and then turning on us, even frostbite spiders battling each other over a wrapped and desiccated corpse. They scuttled forth spitting venom from forest grove and Dwarven ruin, their spider feet making the most horrific…

But I am giving myself that creeping feeling all over again. I shall move on.

The trials of the day stretched our group’s composure until it was less than thin. Ulfe began to take exception to someone’s summoned familiar, whether it was Jerric’s or Lildereth’s I shall never know. Darnand’s prolonged contact with his summoned flame atronach made him peevish as well, and more than once an argument erupted among allies after the threats had been eliminated.

At the day’s lowest point I watched open-mouthed as Jerric charged away into the snowy forest uttering curses. I could not see what next transpired, and I dared not follow. A short time later he stalked back to where we stood on the road, his shield bristling with arrows.

Lildereth caught up to us a few moments after Jerric’s return. She said not a word, not even to ask him for her arrows back.

Upon arrival we found the city of Morthal rather dreary. Snow fell through a marsh fog, and the streets were quiet. The Moorside Inn was nearly empty, even through the dinner hour. Thankfully the bard declined to sing.

I did meet one interesting man at the Moorside. I was not surprised to learn that he needed some assistance. Unfortunately none of us could provide the aid he required. I was completely shocked when moments later he declared that I had warmed his heart and offered me an inappropriately generous gift. He gave me a book, an Amulet of Kynareth, and a potion! Though I am not in the habit of taking potions from strangers no matter how attractive they may be, I thanked him just the same.

Our exchange did not go unnoticed by some in our group. I thought it prudent to suggest a postprandial stroll to take the air, even though I had quite enough air walking around all day outside in it. I had a specific destination in mind. A building close by that I had noticed when we first explored the docks of Morthal.

Inside my dear friends spent a moment wondering at the steamy atmosphere and soothing music. Then our hostess appeared and welcomed us to the bathhouse. Good humor was restored to all, and we enjoyed several hours in the scented waters. The other patrons were so relaxed that none objected to Ulfe’s presence paddling through the pool. In my delight I had forgotten that she was still with us. Though to be fair, she is generally cleaner and sheds less than some Nords.

Eyepatch mod. Tell me where you got the eyepatch mod!




...

I just thing eyepatches are badass, m'kay.

That Khajiit is a guy I saw for the first time yesterday, but I have a pretty good idea where he came from. I’ll dig around and see if I can find where the mod author got the eyepatch.



EDIT: That was easier than expected. Here you go: Bandit Eyepatch. Pics please!!

This post has been edited by Grits: Dec 31 2013, 04:54 PM

That was cute, the part where it says the bard declined to sing. Master Baytor would agree.

Morthal is a dreadful place, I agree. The only settlement more dreadful in my opinion is Karthwasten, mostly because it's got all those depressed miners lurking around, and there's not even an inn to stay at if we're tired.

Eeep! A bit of friendly fire on the road. I suppose we should not be surprised, given the size of Jerric’s posse, including familiars and critters.

I can only imagine how good a steamy dreamy bath is after hjaalmarching through the snow and spiders all day!

Hey, are you saying about Ulfe, that if you added a few more hairs, you’d have a Nord?

Morthal has a bathouse? I am guessing that is from a mod, since the interior walls are the Whiterun style.

Nice to see Valdi in the Moorside Inn. Is she tagging along with the rest of the Scooby Gang now?

Lord Haaf-Mersey just spent the night at Ford Hraggstad (NW of Solitude, near the coast, kinda). For awhile he was trying to give Serana the vampire some consideration: he would try to travel at night, for instance, since she's always complaining about sunlight. But after spending so much time with him, her charms haven't been working on LHM quite as much. Now that they're on their way to Castle Volkihar, the Crusader from Cyrodiil has decided he won't travel by night anymore.

He has told her she is free to go several times, basically, but she always says "You're not getting rid of me that easily. I'm coming with you."

So fine. She can come with him, but from now on, he's traveling on his terms, not hers. But he has at least given Serana a special green mask to cover her face. This way her skin won't peel.

This post has been edited by Renee Gade IV: Jan 1 2014, 10:07 PM

Hee! Renee, that's not one of the more flattering pictures I've seen of Serana. The mask certainly does nothing for her looks.

That is priceless! At least now she cannot complain about the sun being bad for her skin!

Yes, a small stroke of RPing brilliance.

And also, Harkon has been defeated! Lord Haaf-Mersey has destroyed him. That was epic! Now that he's gone, I already have this sort of feeling, like LHM's day is done. I probably won't be gaming with him much more, which is okay. I'm just glad he made it! ... It feels rather appropriate; it being the first day of the year and all that.

Congrats!

I know what you mean about a character's day being done. To me characters are stories, with a beginning, middle, and ending. Trying to play a character after their story has ended just feels empty, and forced. So when I get to that point, it is time for them to live happily ever after, ride off into the sunset, or spend the rest of their lives drinking mai-tais on the beach. That is why I have so many characters.

So true. I might have one final game where LHM rides his horse back to Proudspire Manor, and here he will retire. He's Thane of Falkreath Hold anyways, so he'll probably become some sort of guard or local mercenary. Who knows?

He didn't take an arrow in the knee did he!

Did he ever find his soulmate?

Have ye not been paying attention!? Motor-Mouth Mjoll!