When Buffy stays at a tavern, she’s normally up and out before dawn. As such, she’s grown accustom to the possibility of pre-dawn vampire attacks. This morning however, she slept in some, since she had arranged to meet Illia in the market square just after sunrise.

Therefore, when she stepped out into the foggy Riften morning, she was surprised to hear some yelling that sounded like fighting in progress.

Before she could determine the location of the commotion, the noise ceased. Bringing up a detect dead aura, she noted three dead non-hostiles near Riften’s south gate. As the other mage joined Buffy, the pair headed for the gate to investigate.

This is the scene they encountered.

Illia’s response was “What a waste.” (no kidding)

When Buffy asked the guard about it, his reply was an unhelpful, “I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an arrow to the knee.” (no kidding)

Buffy realizes that Riften’s Jarl is no fan of the Legion, but didn’t realize how seriously the city guards took such matters. Either that or perhaps the Legion soldiers had refused to pay the visitor tax and lacked the sweet talking skill that Buffy had used to bypass that expense.

I have seen Imperial patrols inside Riften before. I don't think they caused a fight with the Riften guards. But it could have been in my Imperial game, after the city had been taken by the Empire. I don't think so though...

They could have been killed in a vampire attack! I have seen stranger things

The Riften guards are in the Stormcloak faction, so Legion patrols from the nearby random encounter spot can get into trouble with them outside the other gate. I have never seen them inside the city, though. How strange! Three Legionaries with a death wish?

Buffy and Illia are both looking marvelous, by the way. I had never met Illia until fairly recently when Jensa chased something all the way to Darklight Tower. Illia is a badass and quite the cutie. They look great together. The guards should be ashamed for trying to extort Buffy!


I’ve started a slightly unlikely character to build ghastely’s Orc Hearthfire mod. Meet Mithilion the Hammer. Mithilion met Lardrumph gra-Largashbur, the love of his life, while they were both serving in the Legion. They always talked of traveling the breadth of Skyrim together. In a way they are. Lardrumph fell in the Battle of the Red Ring and Mithilion went AWOL soon after. Now The Hammer is wandering Skyrim in the company of his true love’s head.

Mithilion thinks he might bury Lardrumph’s remains once he gets to her birthplace, but he’s not sure since he would probably miss her. So for now he just walks, living in a way that would please Malacath. A high elf who loves an orc knows what it is to be outcast. The Hammer hopes that one day he will awaken in the Ash Pit and be united with bold Lardrumph once again.

Heavy armor, two-handed, smithing. Healing spells when absolutely necessary and conjuration for a daedric companion. Maximum body paint. No sneaking.

I've never seen Imperial soldiers inside Riften myself but fights outside the gates are fairly common. And the weather in Riften seems to be the same always.

Mithillion looks really great, Grits, and it's nice to see a non-typical High Elf that prefers heavy armor and weapons instead of magic. "Wandering Skyrim in the company of his true love's head" -->

Mithilion Martel (Martel is French for "The Hammer", hence Charles Martel) puts his namesake down! I think he should keep Lardass' I mean Lardrumph's head. After all, he will need someone to talk to. The Celts used to do that with the heads they collected.

I do recall seeing several instances of Legion soldiers fighting Riften gate guards outside the North Gate, but like you all, have not seen such a thing inside the city. Still not quite sure what to make of those bodies and the yelling/combat music that preceded the incident.

Grits, I do think that Illia is a great follower. And if we didn't bring her out into the world, she'd be forgotten about and all alone up in that tower. Her personality/voice is pleasing, she is a very good destruction mage and seems to do better for Buffy than some other destructionists at controlling her spells to avoid friendly fire. Her normal role in our game settles down to become the assistant to Riften's court wizard (who is so scatterbrained that she needs the help).

Hammer sounds fun and, indeed, very different for you. His story of LardRump and the head is morbidly sweet. The fact that he survived the mating ritual with an Orsimeress is incontrovertible evidence that he is made of sturdy stuff. He seems like a great character to use as you check out ghastley's new mod.

Mithilion the Hammer has been working hard to earn his status as Blood-Kin from the orcs of Dushnik Yal. He retrieved the Forgemaster’s Fingers (my first time getting that quest, woo!), brawled with Chief Burguk, brawled with Gorbash the Iron Hand, and agreed to deliver a sword for Gharol. He’ll head that way as soon as he scrounges for ore and gets some sleep. The Hammer just hit level 10 so it will be go time when eventually he gets to Largashbur. Thanks to a random encounter (mod, I think) he already has a daedra heart in his pack.

Mithilion did not ask Gorbash to travel with him. He doesn’t seem to be lonely. In battle his flame atronach covers him while he charges in for the smashing, and on the road he chats freely with Lardrumph’s head. So far I have not heard Lardrumph answer.

I should probably note Nightcaller Temple as a good source for those two items somewhere in the readme or wiki. It's the quest my characters have been doing for them, as you get both.

Let me know when I can let my fingernails start growing again!

While eating his favorite food - cooked beef buried under a pile of hot baked potatoes and drinking his favorite beverage - wine, Aard was thinking about the irony of the fact, that the same man who helped Grelod the Kind to another world, also killed the serial killer that was threatening the prettier population of Windhelm. This very man was hoping to get properly rewarded by Windhelm's Court but all he got, was "Thanks" from moustached steward Jorleif and a promise that guards might be more cordial to him.

So because he wasn't officially rewarded, Aard decided to reward himself. During the investigation he was given the key to the spacious but abandoned manor called Hjerim, which was murderer's hideout for experiments. Aard decided not to return the key and instead moved in. He "borrowed" some basic furniture from the Aretino Residence and from the serial killer's house so he had a basic kitchen and bedroom which was everything he needed because he mostly used the place for sleeping, during daytime he was outside or in taverns.

Why did he go after the serial killer in the first place? Aard knew that it wasn't because of his helpful nature or kind heart, but the killer might change his habits one day and begin preying on men, and Aard didn't want to end like a pile of flesh, blood and bones in a bucket of some sadistic necromancer. Besides, Aard didn't want for the killer to harm Sofie or other helpless children that had to live on the street.

After a few days of lazing and drinking, Aard was getting bored and got an urge to try his fingers “at work” again. It's been a long time since he was picking pockets but that was how his "career" began many years ago and he wanted to prove that he's still good at his prime profession. After a few learning sessions with Silda the Unseen, a beggar and trainer in the skill of picking pockets, the following events occurred:

-Oengul War-Anvil and Hermir Strong-Heart both missed their rings on the same day. Hermir didn't care much because hers was a common silver ring but Oengul was worried because his ring was decorated with a valuable amethyst. However, they couldn't understand how someone could steal their rings during the middle of a bright day while they were working at their forge?

-Nurelion, the proprietor of the White Phial, was also looking for his valuable ring with a garnet but even worse, he also couldn't find some valuable potions either. Probably his inept apprentice Quintus Navale sold them to someone and forgot to write it down or what was even more possible, potions fell from his insecure hands and broke!

-Wuunferth the Unliving, the court mage of Ulfric Stormcloak, couldn't find some magical potions either but he was a confused sort so guards didn't take him seriously. And they were right, within the same day he already forgot that anything was supposedly stolen from him and he returned to his daily chores like nothing happened.

The following events had only one "thing" in common - Aard. But the feat on which he was the most proud was that he managed to pickpocket five hundred septims from Silda who taught him how to pick pockets in the first place. That was of course the same gold which he paid for his training.

The only person in Windhelm, who knew of Aard's exploits, was the shady Dunmer who pretended to be a common laborer during days but in evenings at the New Gnisis Cornerclub he had another profession - he was a fence with ties to the Thieves Guild and was Aard's source of septims.

And while Aard was busy relieving residents of Windhelm of their valuables, Astrid was plotting on how to kidnap the man who meddled in affairs of the Dark Brotherhood and now had to repay his murder by another murder…

I love this. It looks like Aard rewarded himself with a lot of other things too!

Grits - Hammer and Lardrumph's head seem like a great team, and doing favor quests for all the strongholds sounds like it would be lots of fun.

Lopov - Wow, Aard's been busy! The dark and foreboding atmosphere in Windhelm seems to suit him. And sure enough, it looks like he's attracted the attentions of Astrid.

*

Buffy’s been busily helping a couple folks with their careers.

After assisting Illia escape the tyranny of her mother’s coven, Buffy traveled with the well-skilled destruction mage for a time. Illia quickly tired of Buffy’s nonstop travel, and sleeping under the stars with horses. She is now the (desperately needed) assistant to Wylandriah (court mage of Riften).

Erik the Hoe-pusher took a little more work. Although he matched Buffy’s spirit for travel and adventure, the elf quickly realized that the farm boy, while strong as an ox, was hopeless with bow and magic. His talents were clearly more suited for hitting stuff – hard and up close. Knowing how unqualified she was to advise him in matters of melee and armor, she escorted him to Winterhold Whiterun. His strength and spirit impressed the Companions enough to take him on as their newest member.

Such is Buffy’s trend with followers. She adores making new friends and even traveling with them – on an occasional basis.

Note: Buffy's on a relatively new playthrough, so her questing path doesn't necessarily include things she's 'done' in the past. Currently, she has not become involved in any of the notable questlines except to begin the College.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Mar 6 2015, 02:16 PM

Claire Voyance the Cleric from Chorrol, otherwise known as CVCC, has just joined Dawnguard. She's not going to go to Dimhollow Crypt unless she absolutely has to. I just want to see some random vampires in her game. I like the way DG makes the game more unpredictable.

Edit: Claire's game just stalled out, dangit. Got stuck on a loading screen. And I didn't save for a half-hour or so. Oh well. I'm really wanting to create a new character, a wizard. Snowing hard outside. Trying to think of a name now. I already thought of Bjorn Tu Biwyyld, and he would go along great with Aard, Grits' Hammer, and Molly as well, but for some reason I'm not very inspired to start Bjorn just yet.

Aard must be getting rich! Richer than Claire, that's for sure.

Erik the Slayer became a Companion in Buffy's game?

This post has been edited by Renee: Mar 5 2015, 09:28 PM

How about Ghan Dolph the Grey for a wizard? Or Lei Dei du Lahke?

Wow, I knew it was snowing in Renee-land, but I didn't realize that snow counted as rain for character creation inspiration. Kewl! A wizard is it to be then?

Aard decided to reward himself!! That’s awesome. I love that he moved some of the Arentinos’ furniture into Hjerim.

Acadian, I love how Buffy helps her friends find their way. It’s fun to think of Illia in good company (my crew all like Wylandriah) and Erik training with the Companions instead of sitting all alone in his chair.

Renee, sorry to hear about CVCC’s game. Good luck with your snow inspiration! Does snow mean white hair? Or maybe a Nord?


Mithilion the Hammer has been busy helping orcs and pleasing Malacath. He’s now traveling with young Borgakh the Steel Heart, showing her some of those new places and people that she used to look forward to seeing when she came of age. Borgakh doesn’t say much, which is great because Lardrumph still does most of the talking. Lardrumph thinks that Borgakh would make an excellent forge-wife for The Hammer. The Hammer is quite sure that she would not, but he knows better than to argue with his true love’s head.

The Hammer needs goat horns, iron, and about a thousand gold for stronghold supplies. Sounds like it’s time to go raiding in the Reach.

(Let your fingernails grow back, ghastley! It’s going great! )

I love that you made Lardrumph's head an actual item! You should try giving it an enchantment. It would be tricky, since you cannot actually equip a skull. So you would have to use scripting I think. Azura's Star works without being equipped, so that would be a good place to start looking/copying scripts. Or maybe Mith C Hammer could make her skull into one of these helmets? Or perhaps one of these?

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Mar 6 2015, 02:19 AM

Grits, I love the idea of Lardrumph's head! And it's great to see she's not jealous of Borgakh as The Hammer goes about building his ghastley stronghold!

SPEW! What a thing to wake up to! Er...Is that dead body mooning the camera or do I need new glasses?

Acadian - Those legion soldiers almost made it to the gate! I love how the guard is just standing there like “What?”

Oh, and I think you may have mistaken your locations, unless you are using a mod that places Jorrvaskr in Winterhold instead of Whiterun.

Grits - Mithilion makes me want to start a new Skyrim character. A heavily armored High Elf wandering the countryside muttering at a severed skull... that’s awesome! He’s like a deliciously twisted Don Quixote in service to Malacath. All he needs is Volendrung.

Lopov - Aard sounds like a man after my own heart. No reward? Fine, I’ll just take up residence in the nicest manor in the city thankyouverymuch. That’s the same reason I applaud him for stealing from that cheapskate Nurelion. And I have the feeling an aggresive argonian might be in Aard’s near future.

Renee - I really like CVCC, and the thought of a cleric in the Dawnguard just seems to fit. Although, come to think of it, having her go over to the vampires might make her story even more interesting.

Wizard names huh? Hmmm, how about Ab-Ra Cadabra? Yu’n Trubil-Now (I might use this one myself )? Fyr’n For-Getit?

mALX - There's a dead soldier in the right part of the shot and two in the center. The closer one in the center of the picture does indeed appear to be poised for an 'upskirt' shot.

Destri - Thanks! Ya know, that's not the first time my fingers have typed Winterhold where there should be a Whiterun and vice versa. You're right of course, and I fixed it.