Grits, so glad you and the Z are having fun. Sometimes ya just gotta be a bit (okay, a lot) naughty, eh?

Captain Z sounds a lot like a privateer, which is to say a pirate with a letter of marque from one of the European kingdoms. Yaaar.

Some of Victoria's screenshots recently have got me hankering to adapt an old friend over to Skyrim.

When we left her and her sister in Cyrodiil at the end of the third era she looked like this

Two hundred years later she looks a bit more mature, but with an elf's lifespan (pointy ears, so reasonable assumption), it's not much more, and she now looks like that.

Her horns have grown, as you might expect. She still wears chains rather than anything else. I found some hooves and adapted them, but I'm still looking for a tail. I'll probably have to make her one. However, she does have Animated Demon Wings that can be turned on and off with a spell-cast. The wings change the jump animation so that the wings help boost the height and distance. It also seems she can fall farther without getting hurt if she spreads her wings. I'd recommend the mod. I dropped the glow from the ones she's using, but I think those were the only pair that had it.

Since her half-sister was a round-ear, she most likely didn't last as long, so I won't be bringing her over. Diablita could end up as the Dragonborn in Clark's Skyrim, as she looks the part! So far, I've played her as a mage, as that's the viable path for someone who won't wear any armour. She's reached level 14, and is just getting to Adept level in Destruction and Ateration.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Nov 19 2018, 07:00 PM

Woot! Aerial combat between Alduin and Diablita!

That’s the exact inspiration, SubRosa. I dragged my kids through a lot of Blackbeard museum stuff this summer!

Dovahkiin Diablita! I love it, ghastley! The years have been good to her. Wings sound like a lot of fun. She looks great!

This weekend has not been good for playing, but Darnand still managed to get his stag on.

Darnand's stag looks very neat! Now. . . does he ride it, eat it or try to send it into battle?

Wow, he's a horny one. Bigger than I expected too!

“Summon Dinner.” I’m pretty sure there’s not going to be a sudden demand for battle deer, but he makes a nice horny friend for Darnand to hang around with.

Now he just needs a "summon sleigh" command and you've justified fast travel.

An update on the Nightmares in Dawnstar quest. Buffy's done that quest on each of her several playthroughs and quite likes it. As I mentioned above, we discovered that the court wizard had requested College assistance and that fit into our RP very well. It also occurs (as Buffy runs around Skyrim doing matchmaking chores for Mara) that the same quest perfectly suits as a task for Mara, since the priest you help is a priest of Mara. We just like that quest!

Fredas, 2:12 AM, 31st of Sun's Height, 4th Era 202

Mycharonna the Ice Witch is stalking around Castle Dour in Solitude. She is to assume the role of the much-applauded Gourmet. The real Gourmet was killed a week before though. This should be an interesting part of the quest.

But I am Rping that she doesn't have to meet with Commander Maro until noon. Since it is now 2:12 AM, this means she's got hours to kill before she meets Maro, and during these hours, she desires to see Castle Dour, as much of it as she can. Now that she can go invisible, this should not be a problem at all.

4:25 AM: She finds some horsemeat she can feast on. Yum yum.

7:00 AM: Mych shape-shifts until she blends into one of the darker areas in a storage room of Dour. She spends the next 4 hours unseen. Not like anybody's looking for her or anything though.

11:34 AM: one of the rare times she goes outside, but she had to do it. Luckily it's raining and gloomy out. No sun. She speaks to Maro and shows him proof that she is the Gourmet. He lets her pass into Dour's kitchen area.

3:24 PM: Mych meets up with a fellow chef named Gianna, and together they prepare the feast. I don't want to say exactly how this is done, but it's a rather creative Bethesda moment, how the food which will kill Titus Mede II is prepared.

4:34 PM: The next set of events happen very fast. The Emperor eats the tainted food, and dies. Everybody blames Mycharonna the Gourmet of course, so she has to flee. Thank goodness I chose the right direction. She wound up on a passageway on top of Solitude, and was confronted by three soldiers. The one soldier made one of those long, epic videogame speeches, something about the man Mych just killed wasn't the real Emperor, and how the DB is finished, yadda bla bla. The soldiers then began to pursue my witch, all three soldiers draw weapons.

4:44 PM: Mycharonna manages to escape, by simply running forward into some sort of tower. Runs down a spiral staircase, then goes invisible. The staircase keeps going downward, and luckily this means she doesn't have to run through town. Instead, she winds up somewhere on the Karth River, Solitude now above her.

I don't think she's ever returning to Solitude.

---------------------------------------------------

ghast.ley: Very cool idea, bringing your elf into a new era. Love that [censored].

This post has been edited by Renee Gade IV: Aug 11 2014, 10:43 PM

I have always thought of that as a quest for Mara rather than one for Vaermina. But then none of my characters have ever wanted to keep that staff of hers.


Given Mycharonna, I get the feeling that this was meant literally, not figuratively...

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Aug 11 2014, 10:16 PM

I liked your idea of RPing that many of the quests Buffy completes come from requests for help to the college of winterhold Acadian. I always imagined the court wizards and such were members of the college...

Renee, I can't read your updates because I've yet to even touch the Dark Brotherhood. I'm not even 100% sure how you join (although I think I might have an idea)!!

Anyway, Ravos arrived in Solitude a couple of days ago and since then he's spoken to General Tullius and managed to convince him to come to the peace conference on high Hrothgar, by telling him Ulfric was coming. He deliberately chose to get Ulfric's support first as he knew he would be easier to convince (given his links to the greybeards and fear of Alduin as a nord) whereas Tullius would need a more tactical reason to come.

He also spoke to Falk Firebeard and sorted out the little issue in the catacombs..

This post has been edited by Vital: Aug 14 2014, 10:12 AM

Well the other day Alise and Argis the Bulkhead are in Bleak Falls Barrow with Faendal as backup. As usual Alise is in the lead, and is eyeing a Restless Draugr at the far end of one of those stone bridges that's so common in these Nordic ruins. She pulls out her glass bow, loads up on Dwemer arrows, and takes aim. She gets three arrows in the guy before she backs up to one side to give Argis room. Argis moves up just in time to get a frost blast from the Draugr. He doesn't even flinch but gives the Draugr the most beautiful shield bash to the chin that staggered the big undead. That move would have done Julian proud! Two smites with his Elven sword (that Alise forged just for him) later and that draugr is history.

Ironically enough I've played about 300 hours (over two playthroughs) of Skyrim and that's the first time I've seen that shield bash. That it would be Argis to demonstrate it just tops it all off - he is my favorite Bethesda follower so far (though I have yet to meet Calder).

SubRosa – I agree. Buffy, of course, had no interest in trying to keep the staff – she doesn’t even know what it does. Happily, she didn’t buy into Vaermina’s drivel for one moment.

Vital – Thanks! Sounds like Ravos is up to his ears in bringing trying to help the Nord and Imps sort out the dragon business. Hope he enjoyed the Potema quest.

Rider – Don’t you love it when a carefully planned assault comes together? Have not met Argis the Bulkster so had to look him up. I’m glad he’s working out as a sturdy (and smart) follower. I have seen Jordis execute a shield bash before and it is pretty cool.


Buffy has kind of a full quest log right now in the Reach. She's working for Dibella at the moment - trying to find a Sybil - "A young girl, about your size," they told her.

Excellent escape, Renee! I’ve had a couple of characters get in serious trouble there. My assassins don’t tend to think well under that kind of pressure.

Vital, that was good thinking on how to work Jarl Ulfric and General Tullius. I really enjoy the Falk Firebeard business. He’s one of my favorite NPCs.

haute, Argis is another of my favorites. I liked him so much I cast him as Jerric in Darnand’s first game.





Captain Zanimal Sadri and his raiders cut through the Blackblood Marauders like a hot knife through scrib jelly.

They approached the wreck from the sea, expecting treachery. They were not disappointed. Captain Zanimal spent most of the fight trying to bite one of their mages. Something was amiss with either his vampire mod or his timing. It was weird that the other gang went hostile right away. Then again they might have been responding to an angry slaughterfish in the water. Either way they drew steel while the Z crew was still off shore and it was on!

That lizard bitch Deeja (Captain Z’s words) died on her knees. She was pretty mouthy on the docks when there were guards around, but in the end she didn’t have much to say other than the usual “no, please, gods, mercy,” blah blah blah. As expected that lizard bitch Deeja had in her possession A Note. Back to Broken Oar Grotto they went.

On the way Capt. Z got distracted by the glorious night sky (as he sees it with Predator Vision). This happens a lot on the ship but it’s a bad idea for a vampire in a longboat. Happily they got where they were going well before sunrise became an issue.

I was really looking forward to this part because when the Zanimal went there previously Captain Hargar put up one hell of a fight. I thought the game would re-spawn his crew with maybe another boss as part of the quest, but no. Captain Z’s raiders entered to find a lot of empty wine bottles and naked dead bodies lying around. It was clear that their captain had been there recently.

That lizard bastard Jaree-Ra (Captain Zanimal has no love for Argonians) died like a cornered skeever at the hands of Asrael and Stenvar before Captain Z could even blow anything up. Then things got exciting.

A party of Dawnguard vampire hunters attacked right while Zanimal’s crew was bunched up in that scaffolding viewing Jaree-Ra’s remains. The hunters use silver weapons from their mod and some kind of vampire killing spell that knocked the Zanimal on his backside and made him smoke and hiss. It was terrifying! He had to run away completely blind from the effects. Some mage nailed him with enough lightning to sap his magicka at an alarming rate. There were no bodies under his feet so he summoned a weaker skeleton minion with the magicka he had left to distract them while he ran up the ramp. He scraped along the wall on the right to keep from falling off since he was pretty sure there were rocks and a boat under him. As far as we know vampires are as susceptible as any mortal to cracking their heads open.

So the crew earned their gold after all. Capt. Z really needs to get an Absorb Health enchantment onto a blade. He was pretty close to meeting Molag Bal that night.

Back on the ship (here’s a picture from the ride back) Capt. Z made plans to haul his tail up to Winterhold the next night. I’m not sure if they’ll be able to sail there once he’s discovered it, but he had to walk this time. Stenvar and Asrael stayed with him. The Zanimal was still smarting from the silver overload of those Dawnguard fetchers.

On the way somehow they picked up a bounty, probably from a Reveler witnessing Z being a little too free with his fangs. He does like to drain the ladies, and among the things that attacked them on the road was a cute and tasty spellsword. She looked adorable later fighting a frost troll with her bare little reanimated fists. Anyway the guards greeted them in Winterhold with some mild hostility.

While the Zanimal marveled over the guards’ unknown method of communication and paid his small fine to one of them, Stenvar and Asrael killed the others. Then they killed the one talking to Captain Z. In the silence that followed Captain Zanimal considered reviewing some standards of conduct in cities for his best pirate raiders, but then he just couldn’t be bothered.

A quick chat with Faralda at the College gate lightened his purse, fattened his spell book (Fireball, yay!!), and confirmed his suspicion that killing all of the witnesses is an effective way to end disagreements with the law. Apparently she hadn’t seen or heard anything, or perhaps she didn’t care. Presently the Zanimal, Asrael, and Stenvar are headed back to the ship which is docked in Windhelm. Oh, after the Blackblood adventure they sailed to Windhelm.

Captain Zanimal feels like eating some countrymen. He’s headed next to Solstheim.

Deeja's name always makes me think of Druja from Oblivion. So she is a pirate? I did not know that (I never had a character take up Jaree on his offer). I cannot say it is surprising though!

The night sky does look neat with Predator vision.

I see Captain Zanimal has a typical Dunmer's love for Argonians. I.E. on a spit! Tuonetar echoed the sentiment.

A Dawnguard team attacked in a dungeon? I have never seen that happen. But then, I didn't play Helregin for too long either. The only time she was ever attacked by the Dawnguard was outdoors.

Solitude looks really neat in the last pic. You can really see how the Blue Palace got its name.

The (un)life and times of Zanimal! So much of what he's doing is all new to me and great fun to read. Wow, sounds like those Dawnguarders are pretty mean with their silver and sun mojo! I did complete the DG questline in our last playthrough but only from the DG side of things. I'm with SubRosa in really liking that last shot (of Solitude) from the sea. It's a beautiful city to begin with and simply spectacular in that screenie.

Capt. Zanimal has extra Dawnguard patrols added by three different mods in his game. These very tough and well-armed vampire hunters come in random groups of up to I think six, so they are a real danger. They are also an occasional source of head-desk. It’s fun when they attack in the middle of a dungeon, but Serafíne got attacked by them once while she was in the Soul Cairn.

The Captain got attacked again when they had almost reached the Windhelm docks. This time it was a group of three Hired Assassins wielding the same kind of silver weapons (because they are from the same mod). They had a named Vigilant of Stendarr with them who turned invisible and fled after they all were killed. Two of the assassins had notes on their bodies, presumably from the Vigilant who had hired them. It was pretty neat.

Wow, Grits - sounds like those mods to put some teeth into the vampire hunters (no pun intended) are really making (un)life for the Zanimal tough.