OH okay I think I know the area you are talking about. Yea, I love getting enemies stuck in their own traps!

Vital, Ravos sounds like tremendous fun. Trapping the vampire in his own fire, awesome!

Lildereth and Jerric are packed and ready for their trip to the forest. They’re mostly bringing butter and salt for cooking their catches plus plenty of mead and ale for pickling the Nord. We’re in Lil’s game and she is extremely quest-averse so I expect they’ll just explore. Probably in Falkreath Hold since that’s the direction they’re headed. They brought their furs, though, just in case. When they see mountains Jerric tends to walk up them to see what’s on the other side. They might end up in Chorrol for all I know.

The new version of A Matter of Time has added some fun. In my Jerric’s world games it’s the same day for all of them no matter what the game calendar says, and we follow our world’s time. And it’s early Fourth Era, not 201+. Now for those games I can show the real-world date in Tamriel terms without the year displayed in my clock widget. It’s a great little link between characters.

Lil has a new top I see! Where did that one come from? I recognize the brown TG boots though. It looks like Jerric is trying to peek down her top from behind!

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jan 9 2014, 06:56 PM

Thanks, Grits! Lildereth and Jerric sound prepared for plenty of adventure. I love just taking my characters out into the world without any real plans and just getting sidetracked.

Today Ravos travelled from Lakeview to Ivarstead and made the ascent up High Hrothgar. The journey was relatively unremarkable aside from the odd snow bear or frost troll. At this point Ravos is (I am) beginning to get fed up of constantly fighting dragons, as it seems they become more frequent as you progress further into the MQ. Does they stop after the MQ is complete? Before this game I hadn't even been to Dragonsreach, so its the first and probably only time I will have dragons in my game. There's the odd interesting encounter, but most are just a nuisance, especially when you already have about 20 spare souls.


When he arrived at the monastery, Ravos was straight Arngeir, inquiring about a shout known as dragonrend. Apparently it is incredibly powerful against dragons and could be used to defeat Alduin, however the greybeards don't know it and refuse to teach it. Instead they reluctantly granted him the opportunity to speak to their leader, Paarthunax, who resides at the very top of the mountain. Gifting him one last shout, which would clear the skies on the way to the top.


When he arrived he was slightly surprised to discover the greybeard's leader was an ancient dragon. He (I) had sort of expected this, Paarthunaax is a very draconic name and not many people could reside atop the throat of the world for any extended period of time. Still it was a a nice addition and Paarthunax was a good character, for the typical wise and ancient dragon. Even if he does babble on a bit. Anyway, the dragon has sent Ravos to fetch an elder scroll so he can mend a time wound and observe how the ancient nords defeated Alduin and learn their shout. Sounds simple enough...


On a side note, I'm a bit annoyed about this elder scroll quest. Arngier pointed Ravos towards the CoW, probably a wise suggestion, but Ravos can't stand most mages. After a bit of research I discovered you actually have to join as a student to talk to the mages, which I really don't want. I understand why the College is a little more private than the Arcane University in Ob, but surely they could at least let the dragonborn onto the grounds just once. Oh well, I won't be doing the quest for a while anyway, as I seem to progress about 10 minutes into the main quest every 10 hours, so I'll have plenty of time to think of an rp reason to avoid the college.

The way it is impossible to even talk to anyone at the college really annoys me too. You can actually sneak into it through the back door to the Midden (it is out on the iceberg/island in the sea of ghosts that the college itself sits on. It takes some acrobatic jumping to get up there, but it is possible. However, the moment you step on the college grounds you are still automatically enrolled in the college.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jan 9 2014, 08:12 PM

Lol, peeking down her top is probably the most innocent thing on his mind. He cannot WAIT to get her somewhere warm. That’s the Hunters Armor from Immersive Armors. It has dead bunnies hanging from the back of the belt, so it’s not for everyone. She’s wearing a mail left sleeve from some other mod under it. (That’s her blocking arm.)

I’ve found that I see dragons a lot more frequently in Jensa’s PC game than on PS3 or Xbox. I know there’s a way to set how frequently you get random dragons, I just haven’t looked it up. Now I see why people sometimes say they’re bothersome. Never understood that before.

Vital, give it a try at the CoW. You do end up as a student which is annoying, but I found the procedure as Dragonborn to be pretty gratifying.

I agree, I just feel so forced into it. It's the way I've felt the whole way through the MQ. It's a decent enough story with fun missions, but it's very rushed and as soon as you've been to Dragonsreach you feel forced into everything you do.



I can't travel any reasonable distance without at least one dragon encounter, and so often when there's one there's more. One of the main reasons I did the MQ is because I wanted to unlock shouting and play all the missions. I don't mind dragon fights, but there's way too many.

Guess I'll have to head to the College. It'll be alright, it's more the principle of having to join every guild and break rp, more than actually having to join to finish the quest. I'll never go there again anyway.

I have two characters presently engaged in the MQ. Both have taken Arngeir’s caution that they focus on their learning to heart. That means asking for Words of Power quests and following up on mysterious notes when they receive them, plus it doesn’t take a scholar to guess there might be a Word Wall in old tombs and ruins. Also Delphine sounds a little too frantic to be sane. Thankfully they both put her tasks aside in favor of their own without really worrying about it. I mean, who made her the boss of them?

Lil ran into a familiar face while stocking up at Dead Man’s Drink. She thought she saw Darnand, but it turned out to be someone else entirely.

Sam: Say, you look like you can hold your—

Lil: OH HELLS NO. I just went through this with the Nord, for Petr’s sake. Forget it!

Jerric: Hey there, ‘Sam.’ How’s it hang—

Lil: *disappears*

Jerric: Catch you later, man. *fist bump* Thanks for the staff.



This post has been edited by Grits: Jan 9 2014, 11:44 PM

Ravos is definitely following the greybeards rather than the blades. One of my main goals for this playthrough was to unlock as many shouts as possible, which means plenty of dungeon delving. Also, being a dunmer ranger he follows Kyne/Kynareth, as well as respecting the reclamations, which makes the Greybeard's teachings relevant to him. He respects Esbern but Delphine is too worried about her own personal vendetta with the thalmor for Ravos' liking.

Lil made the right choice regarding Sam's contest, never trust a daedric lord, especially when his sphere is debauchery!

I really enjoy the big tombs. Jensa went through one recently where she helped a ghost. It was neat. Now that she's on a PC I will not hesitate to open faction quest-locked dungeons if it's possible.


One thing about Falkreath Hold, it tends to be very overcast and grey. Lildereth and Jerric wandered around until they found an excellent place to camp next to a waterfall and pool. But this is Skyrim. So first they had to haul off a dead body that was floating around in the pool, and while they were doing that a fugitive ran up to Lil with some stolen goods and a threat. Meanwhile Jerric yelled something and charged off to fight three roaming bandits.

Sigh.

But once they got the locals slaughtered, it was a lovely night.

With Ravos I was hoping to collect all the dragon masks and learn all shouts as a sort of secondary goal, but with console I'm not sure how possible that is without joining and finishing different factions questlines. None of the factions in Skyrim suit Ravos for various rp reasons.

I know what you're saying about Falkreath. Ravos spends a lot of time there hunting and relaxing, not to mention he lives in Lakeview Manor. It rains a lot and the skies are grey more often than not. Skyrim can be rather depressing at times, can't it? It's all doom and gloom when compared with Oblivion.

Lildereth and Jerric look great in their gear, perfectly suited for the outdoors. Their camping setup looks good too, I'm guessing that you put that down using a mod. Glad they finally got to relax, sometimes you have to bash in a few heads before you can get some rest in Skyrim.

This post has been edited by Vital: Jan 10 2014, 02:38 AM

I'm thinking about rehashing Kayla's game sans dragon shouts.

Do it!

I've been thinking of resetting Aravi once again.

I think the lower levels are the most fun.

Elisabeth, would you just have no Shouts in Kayla's game, or no dragons at all? I like playing non-Dovahkiin characters who still have to figure out how to deal with dragons. It's the main thing that keeps me starting new ones.

Vital, thanks, I use Althir's Camping Tools for the campsite stuff. The cookpot works. They had venison chops for dinner.



ETA: Finding the final mask was Jensa’s last task in her PS3 game. She went to fight the Ebony Warrior, but he greeted her as a friend. I raced to the uesp to see if it was a bug, but that’s how he is. You have to attack him.

Jensa was having none of that. She wished him well and went home.

That was kind of a turning point for her. She was despondent over her role in the Dragonborn MQ, and this snapped her out of it.

Also I’m really glad she didn’t attack him. He would have killed her in two seconds from what I’ve read about him. Yikes.


This post has been edited by Grits: Jan 10 2014, 03:34 AM

Yeah, I would just have her knot know any shouts. Or just Ice Form. I can't function without that one lol

That's interesting about the ebony warrior. If any of my characters ever reach level 81 I can't imagine they would be willing to fight him like that. I also enjoy the lower levels, mainly because of the gear, Ravos often wears improved and enchanted furs and leather when not dungeon crawling.


From High Hrothgar Ravos headed to Whiterun. Restocking on arrows at the Drunken Huntsman, he couldn't resist the urge to pick up Jenassa and embark upon some dunmeri dual wielding devastation. With Jenassa at his side, Ravos decided to head out to the reach, complete some of his misc objectives and retrieve another aetherium shard.

The dunmer duo arrived in Markarth after two uneventful days on the road. Both of them are overly eager to take some forsworn names and kick some forsworn butt when they head out tomorrow.

I do too. Also, there's something about that time (Levels 0 through 20 or thereabouts) that I tend to really connect with my characters. Every choice they make has some sort of profound impact from my perspective. This is the time I seem to be surprised the most by my creations.


I wonder if I'll ever have somebody who makes it to L81. Probably not.

It always kinda shocked me back when Skyrim was new and there were these gamers getting to Level 81 in a month or sometimes less, and then complaining in a myriad of ways that the game was too easy or too "this" or too "that". I just get stuck on the 'how did you get there so fast?" bit. I gamed with Lord Haaf-Mersey for over a year, and he barely broke Level 47.

This post has been edited by Renee Gade IV: Jan 11 2014, 03:12 AM

I am sure I will never see the Ebony Warrior in any of my games. I have never had a character get anywhere near level 81. Even if I had, I doubt they would want to kill him either. Not if he is friendly. Most of my character never even want to fight the Old Orc.



I have never used shouts, except for a few that I turned into spells, like Kyne's Peace. In fact, that is pretty much the only one turned into a spell I ever use. Though I have found other ways to make animals friendly in Skyrim as well.



I prefer the earliest levels too. The game just feels more interesting then. I also tend to like the low tier gear like iron and steel best as well, just because of appearances.



That's because you are a N00b! You need to roll an uber toon, grind up, and go on some raids!

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jan 11 2014, 04:03 AM

But if my uber-avatar doesn't want to grind up all the skills in his stat sheet, won't that leave him as a useless milk-drinker, not to mention break my Legendary-leveled Immersion?

But that's the whole point of Role Playing Games!