Wow, Gilda! She really did run out of laces. Clark did a great job with her nose.

Lopov, Aravi Manor is what Jerric and his crew call Lakeview Manor, since in their world it’s the home of King Coin’s Khajiit Aravi and Kharjo. However they pretty much take it over when they’re all visiting, especially in the games where they have three dogs and all of the horses roaming around outside. Like Acadian we don’t worry too much about the hows and whys when the characters of friends meet.

I love the mental image of Lucius charging down the middle of Movarth’s dining table. And what a great story about Lucius’s ancestors and the mysterious thief!


Jerric and Darnand spent a couple of days looking for an ice cave on the north coast and then looking for a way back out again. Jerric will tell you his sense of direction is infallible, but it’s not so much underground. He had a glorious time smashing necromancers. Poor Darnand hardly got in on any action.

Presently they are in Solitude. Jerric has a flute to hand in at the Bards College. I’m not sure what will happen next.

This happened, though. Here the guys are wondering who decorated the tree in Jerric’s apartment. They suspect elves.

Jerric’s dragon game did not age well due to factors I can’t pin down, so we’re back in his original level 40-something PC game. He is a beast! He can summon Ishckrihk, but he rarely needs him. Plus he has all kinds of junk in his inventory! I think he’s still waiting for his Ma to clean out his backpack for him.

Lopov - Cool Leyawiin story involving the Caros. And nice update from Lydia on the road with her Thane.

Grits - Visions of sugarplums Jerric crashing through the snow necrodudes. . . . Gosh I hope Jerric doesn’t give up his day job for bardery or fluting. What a beautiful picture of Jerric and Darnand sharing a cup of cheer around the Saturalia tree. Elves indeed!


Buffy and a heavily laden Superian are making their rounds delivering Saturalia gifts. . . .

A guard at Whiterun gates saw Thane Caro approaching the town. But this time it wasn't only Lydia at his side, there was also a tall, muscular Khajiit with dark fur walking with them, a greatsword on his back. And the last in line was a dog, unnaturally big for his kind. The guard had strict orders - Khajiits are not allowed inside city walls.

"Good afternoon, Thane," says the guard and humbly bows as the party approaches the gate.

"Good afternoon, soldier."

"Excuse me, Thane..."

"Yes, soldier?"

"Emmm...it's your traveling companion. The one with the fur. They are not allowed inside city walls."

In the next second the guard regretted saying anything. The look which Lucius gave him, was not one of anger or hatred but of despise.

"Firstly, don't you ever dare to address Keiko as "the one with the fur". Secondly, he is with me and he is going with me to Whiterun. And he is going with me to my house, to Breezehome. And to anywhere else he wants to go by himself. Is that clear, soldier?"

"Yes, Thane, but Irileth..."

"I don't care what Irileth says. If she or you or anyone else in Whiterun have a problem with this, it won't end merely by words, I assure you. Now open the doors for us and return to your guard duty."

"Yes, Thane! I understand, Thane!"

The guard hurried and opened the large doors so the party entered Whiterun. The last in line was the large dog who stopped right at the guard's legs, quickly raised his back leg and peed on his boots.

"You damned mutt! Begone!" yelled the guard.

"Shut up else I'll transform you to a worm!" shouted the dog with a shrieking voice.

"What? Did...did...did you just talk?" asked the guard and stepped back.

"Who's laughing now, ha? Begone, pissant! Piss Ant!"

The large dog then hurried inside Whiterun just before the doors closed.

"By the Gods! I...I...I must be going mad!"

Later that day the guard sought help at the Temple of Kynareth and Danica Pure-Spring needed to use a lot of spells to calm the guard. But even when he was cured, he kept saying:"I used to be a guard, but then a dog talked to me."

Of course the dog was not an ordinary dog. His name was Barbas and he was a hound of Clavicus Vile, the Daedric Prince of Wishes. Lucius took him under his protection because he decided to reunite him with his master. But what seemed like a simple task at first glance, turned out to be a complicated assignment and Lucius was now supposed to find a necromancer hiding somewhere in the north, who resented him to Clavicus Vile.

Lydia didn't approve of Barbas either but her Thane convinced her that it's better to have him travel with them and keep an eye on him, instead of let him to wander wilderness and corrupt souls of unwary travelers. Keiko, the Khajiit who lived at Falkreath Watchtower, joined them after Lucius invited him to journey together.

They decided to resupply and rest in Whiterun and continue the journey north the following morning. While Keiko stayed at Breezhome to rest and Barbas was ordered to remain outside because he barked too much, Lucius and Lydia went to do their chores. Lucius stopped at the Bannered Mare to buy some food while Lydia checked with Commander Caius if they received any notes while they were gone. Turns out they did. The first one was a sealed note for her Thane, signed only as AGM, which Lydia assumed to be Avulstein Gray-Mane. But the second note came with a package and it was for her.

She couldn't wait to return to Breezehome to open the package. What could be inside?

Lopov - Nice to see Lucius looking out for his kittypal. And traveling with the daedrdoggie as well! Finally, Lydia gets a gift - wonder what it is?

"My Thane, look what I got from my friend!"

"I see...a quill?"

"Not an ordinary one, my Thane. It's a magical quill that requires no ink to write. Look here!"

"How nice! Very handy for you, right?"

"Indeed! So before we depart to the north, could I go to the market and buy something for my friend?"

"Of course. But only if you tell me who is this mysterious friend of yours?"

"I will tell you on our journey, I promise."

"A secret admirer, perhaps?"

"I shall tell you more later. I will be back shortly."

Lydia hurried from Breezehome, wondering whether her Thane was a little jealous because she kept the identity of her friend for herself. She definitely hoped that he was. So she decided to keep him jealous at least for a while.

...

When Buffy will pass through Whiterun the next time, she can find a package addressed to her at Commander Caius. Lydia didn't have much time to find something original but she bought a Circlet of Major Alteration for her friend, hoping that she can find some use for it. And she wrapped some bottled ice wraith essence alongside, that should either help her battling against frost attacks or keep herself warm in cold nights of Skyrim.

...A few days later...

This is my first entry with the new quill and it feels magical writing without any ink. What a handy quill this is! My Thane, Keiko, me and that stupid Daedric dog who never stops barking, are resting in a small camp a distance west from the Northwatch Keep, a secret Thalmor occupied fort. We are here to rescue Thorald Gray-Mane from custody but my Thane wants to avoid bloodshed. Absurdly! Keiko and me tried to tell him that this won't be possible and that negotiating with Thalmor is senseless but he insists. Stubborn yet noble, he is! However, he agreed, that if he can not arrange Thorald's release tomorrow, we will attack the keep and take him out by force. However, because we can not afford to be recognized, this means that we must not leave any witnesses behind. It sounds harsh but we don't have any other choices, do we? After all, my Thane will have to infiltrate a Thalmor hosted party the next month and he probably won't be very successful there if our attack at the keep becomes too well-known. I shall write more soon.

Lydia, west of the Northwatch Keep,

14th of Sun's Dusk 4€201

This post has been edited by Lopov: Dec 28 2014, 05:27 PM

Sundas, 5:30 PM, 17th of Last Seed, 4th Era 201


I Nassqa. Nassqa new Skyrim, and from Tsaesci, and from Akavir. Nassqa new Tamriel.

Nassqa go cave, find ore. Sell ore town. Ore, Nassqa, gold. But no find ore in cave.

Nassqa find man in cave. Man yell Nassqa. Man say follow. Nassqa follow man.

Find bear. Man say stand low, point bear. Nassqa no fear bear, but man fear bear. Man stand low, and fear bear. Nassqa no fear bear. Nassqa have weapon, and no fear bear. Nassqa no use weapon, no kill bear. Nassqa stand low with man, move as shadow. Walk near bear, move as shadow. Bear no see shadow-man, and shadow-Nassqa.

Man run run run, Why man run? ... Man have much fear. Nassqa no fear, Nassqa stand tall. Nassqa walk stand tall. Nassqa follow man.

Nassqa leave cave with man. Man talk much, man say much. Too much. Nassqa listen, but Nassqa no know as man speak much.

Man go away, call Nassqa, say "follow", but Nassqa no follow. Nassqa go.

Nassqa find village. Much fire in village. Not know happen village. But Nassqa stay in burn-village. Nassqa sleep in burn-village.



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

Non-RP version: I know this seems strange. My friend used to speak like this as he RP'd Nasqa many years ago. We all had silly voices that we made up, hence the primitive dialog above. I figure somebody who doesn't know the language very well is going to have an okay grasp on some nouns, adjectives, and verbs, but with other types of words (prepositions, articles, adverbs, etc.) he struggles.

Anyway, what happened was my new Akavir just arrived in Skyrim, and has somehow made it to just outside of Helgen. There was nothing going on when he got there. He wound up finding a cave below the village, and decided to investigate. He is a miner, and he's looking for ore veins he can mine from. He goes into this cave, and finds some commotion as he meets Ralof, as he and a prisoner are rushing to leave the cave. Nassqa never sees the dragon attack, in other words.

At the end he winds up in Helgen, and sleeps there too (Simple Actions). The next day, he found Riverwood, bought a pickaxe from the smith-guy there, and has begun looking for ores.

This post has been edited by Renee Gade IV: Dec 28 2014, 11:04 PM

Lopov – How fun to read about Lydia getting her gift, and even better to hear that she likes it!

Reneee – Wow, NASCAR Nassqa is certainly a stranger in a strange land. He sounds fun to play!


Buffy found herself traveling with Mjoll the Lioness and Jordis the Sword Maiden for a time. She concluded they are both fully deserving of their names, for each of them wields their claymore one handed from the saddle to deadly effect. It was a dreary day, with heavy clouds and a steady rain as the trio approached Whiterun. Once the animals were stabled and the ladies settled in to Jorrvaskr and drinking mead, Buffy sought out Commander Caius at the guard barracks who did indeed have a package for her from Lydia! The circlet to ease casting of alteration spells is most appropriate, for the utility magicks of alteration certainly hold an important place in Buffy’s spellbook. And the ice wraith essence - like anything to combat cold - is of great help to the thin-blooded Valenwoodster. Buffy is most appreciative!

One thing that irks me about being on the console is that you can't get your companions to ride with you, even when you buy the extra horse and order them toward it. I'm wondering if Mjoll continues her unsolicited soliloquies while on horseback. That must be entertaining!

The horse riding doesn't seem to affect the followers' chattiness. Jordis is quiet as ever - very kind but not too talkative. Motormouth Mjoll does indeed continue telling you about her childhood, asking your opinion about things and generally being her delightfully talkative self. Buffy is a chatterbox herself, although her comments are action triggered (equip bow, mount, dismount, ready spells, etc).

I love the 'presence' that even vanilla horses have in Skyrim - headtracking the player, swishing tails, snorting, breathing, pawing the ground. . . . And with a couple mods, the northern province is fabulous for a horse-crazy elf.

@Renee - I like the way Nassqua speaks, so that we have to figure something out by ourselves. I can totally picture him sleeping in ruined Helgen, wondering what happened.

@Acadian - if your trio arrived a little earlier or if my quartet left a little later, they would have met. Good to hear that the package was safe with Caius.

Glad to see Lydia's still happy with that magic quill. Wow, DragonThane had to kill that dragon with no help from his burden-carrying Lydia! Sleeping in shifts is prudent but not fun. Perhaps Buffy should have sent Lydia some eight hour scrolls of summon flame atronach to help foster warm, safe camping.

I spent most of the holidays with two Orcs who are trying to build their own strongholds.

Gol gro-Malog and his lovely companion Borgakh have a save (without my mod) near the site, and they've already had experience of building Lakeview. I've restarted the game multiple times from that save, as I worked on the mod.

The other character is trying to build Greenspring Stronghold as a first home. I'm adding the materials via console, as the basic mechanisms of mining etc. are unrelated to the mod. This character gets a new identity via setracemenu each time, and has been both genders, (but always an Orc). If I find one that really appeals, they may become Wise Woman or Guard at the stronghold later. I discovered with this one(?) that you can't buy logs unless you own one of the standard Hearthfires homes, so I just add them for now.

They were running up to the Eldersblood peak while the dragon was attacking them with frost so Lucius sprinted up and then took a sharp turn to the right while Lydia missed the turn and instead ran forward and fell down.

Things have taken an unexpected turn. We’ve been adventuring in the north, liberating Volskygge of its evil denizens among others, when we were attacked by three masked people in the woods. They claimed that Lucius is the false Dragonborn and that all shall tremble when the real Dragonborn arrives. One of them, a woman that spoke to us, had a note on her body, where it said that they originate from Solstheim, were supposed to kill Lucius and report their success to someone called Miraak. I’ve never heard this name before.

Lucius took the attack seriously and thinks that the real reason for dragons returning might be on Solstheim. Since there are still more than twenty days to the party at the Thalmor Embassy, we decided to head to Solstheim immediately. But it didn’t go as smoothly as we expected.

We stopped in Dragon’s Bridge Inn to buy some food but when we came out of the inn, a blood dragon attacked the village. We defeated it but two brave Haafingar guards died while fighting the deadly beast. Lucius ordered them to remain inside but they refused to listen, poor soldiers. After the battle he wanted to hire a carriage to Windhelm but I suggested taking a boat to Windhelm instead and that’s where we are now – sailing to Windhelm in a cold, windy night. I can see uneasiness on Lucius’ face and I doubt that anyone of us will be able to get some sleep tonight.

While Lucius has to repay to anyone that tried to kill him, I have my own score to settle too. Lucius and I almost kissed each other in the woods when masked people attacked! They couldn’t have chosen the worst possible time. But they will get what they deserve!

Lydia, on a boat,

29th of Sun’s Dusk 4€201
--
“Watch yourself, Imperial!”

“Stay out of trouble here, Imperial!”

“Imperials think we need their laws. Pffft!”

“This is the Stormcloak territory. Keep this in mind, Imperial.”

“Are you one of those craven Imperials as well?”

Windhelm wasn’t only cold because of its geographical location but also because of unfriendly and scornful guards. It seemed like they hardly wait for Lucius to make one single mistake so they could arrest him. But Dragonborn didn’t give them this pleasure.

Together with Lydia, they arrived to the “city of true Nords” in the afternoon. Unfortunately the Northern Maiden, a ship that could take them to Solstheim, was not in the docks and friendly Argonian Shahvee told them to come back in the evening, when the ship will return from fishing. There was still some time until the evening, so Lucius and Lydia headed to the city’s market and sold most valuables gathered while adventuring, namely dragon scales and bones, enchanted staves and various battle gear, magical circlets… they returned to the docks in the evening and met with captain Gjalund Salt-Sage who refused to take them to Solstheim at first but Lucius convinced him that it is necessary to travel there, so in the end he agreed and they arranged a departure the following morning at seven o’clock. To avoid unnecessary accosting, Lucius and Lydia spent a night at the New Gnisis Cornerclub, where innkeeper Ambarys was quite happy to offer them a place to sleep, because he heard rumors about a stranger in town being harassed by Stormcloaks and as a Dunmer in Windhelm, he knew what means being harassed. He had some qualms about Lydia, she was a Nord after all, but he kept his thoughts to himself. The following morning they arrived to the Northern Maiden as they agreed but captain Gjalund obviously changed his mind.

“Forget what I said. I’m not going to Solstheim.”

“But we had an agreement. You said that you’ll take us there.”

“I can’t…it’s hard to explain but I’m afraid. When those masked people boarded my ship, that’s the last thing which I remember. After that…nothing. I only remember being here, I don’t remember sailing at all. So forget it. I’m staying here. It’s much safer.”

“I’m sorry, Captain, but I don’t like it when someone changes his mind overnight. You are taking me to Solstheim and you are taking me there now, because that’s how you said yesterday.”

“Are you deaf? I said I’m not going there anymore.”

“Yes, you are. First of all, I told you that masked men tried to kill me and my friend and I want to find out who’s behind these attacks. Secondly, because yesterday you promised to take me there. Thirdly, because only if you take me there, I can find out what have those man done to you and why don’t you remember anything from the journey to Windhelm.”

“Alright, alright, no sense in arguing with you. You have a point, though. There are many strange things happening on that island, maybe you can find out why. Take a seat and put on some extra fur cloaks, they’re right there in that crate. The weather is nice so we should be there in a few hours. Hope it stays that way. Sogrlaf, Lygrleid! Get set, we’re leaving!”

And so the Northern Maiden sailed to Solstheim, carrying the Dragonborn to the mysterious island in the north...

This post has been edited by Lopov: Jan 9 2015, 05:14 PM

Lopov – Love the little Dragonborn Fables! Very clever. Darn inconsiderate cultists interrupting an almost kiss between Lydia and her Thane! How dare they! Off to Solstheim for vengeance indeed!

Good luck in Solstheim! I'll get there too with one of mine, one of these days.

I've played several Orcs through the first ten levels testing my mod quest's handling of the completion of The Cursed Tribe. The last time I did it, I fast-travelled to Riften stables and headed off to Fallowstone cave to meet the chief. Outside the cave I was waylaid by the bunch of bandits impersonating Imperial troopers, just as a bear and a frostbite spider who'd started following me as I passed caught up. None of those like each other, so it became a matter of running around healing while everyone else fought with everyone else.

So then a Thalmor patrol comes by, wipes out the lot of them, and calmly continues, ignoring my Orc completely.

The run through the cave itself was a bit of a non-event after that, especially as the giant couldn't reach my archer, who'd brought plenty of arrows. Mind you, she nearly got killed by a flying Orc chieftain landing on her.

For me this is probably the most rare random encounter. I only had it once with my first test character whose name I don't recall and then never again. Would like to see it again, though.

--
We have been on Solstheim for a week and although our battle hasn’t finished yet, we are leaving the island tomorrow. Our first days were strenuous and at times my mind was in a turmoil. Dragonborn Miraak played a game with us and did not allow Lucius to sleep. I was immune to his magic but he managed to lure Lucius out of our bed and made him walk to one of ancient stones in some state of trance. Fortunately I have a light sleep and I immediately sensed that Lucius was gone.

Too many events occurred afterwards and it’d take too much time and paper (fortunately ink isn’t a problem any longer, thanks to Buffy) to write all of them down, rest assured they will remain in my memory forever. We descended in the temple of Miraak where he once again took control of Lucius and summoned him to his unreachable realm, only to return him in a much weakened state.

We were both exhausted and sleepless yet we did not give up and step by step, we managed to fight against Miraak. In our battle against him we’ve been aided by a tribe of Skaal that live in the far north of Solstheim. A reserved yet interesting tribe, they are nothing like us, Nords of Skyrim. We see ourselves as hardy and persistent but neither of us can compare to the Skaal, who manage to survive in the harsh environment on their own, where even a simple job like gathering firewood, can become a matter of life and death.

While Lucius spent a lot of time discussing his heritage and Miraak’s deeds with their Shaman Storn, I joined his daughter Frea who showed me around their small village and told me more of their lifestyle, their culture and their beliefs. They do not like strangers but they accepted us because we helped them and Frea is convinced that only the Dragonborn can fight against another Dragonborn, thus she believes that only Lucius can stop Miraak.

With a Word of Power learned at the dragon wall Saering’s Watch west of the Skaal village, Lucius managed to cleanse stones that have been corrupting people’s minds, making them entranced. We, or perhaps I should write Lucius, cleansed all of these stones that the Skaal call All-Maker stones. According to their beliefs, the sacredness of these stones is essential for maintaining oneness on Solstheim. With stones cleansed, Miraak can no longer affect minds of Solstheim’s dwellers.

In our past days we managed to make Raven Rock a more hospitable place and it’s good to see its residents being grateful. Not only are they free from Miraak’s curse but we have also defeated undead general Falx Carius that was commanding troops of Ash Spawns, ordering them to attack Raven Rock. Even the rudest Dunmer merchants have become nicer and have been offering us discounts on their goods.

With Miraak significantly weakened, we can afford to return to Skyrim and attend to our duties there. And to conclude this entry on a more romantic note…trials of Solstheim made Lucius and me more attached to each other and he’s not just my Thane anymore and I’m no longer just his housecarl. And nights are no longer cold.

Lydia in love, Raven Rock,

6th of Evening Star 4€201