Well, Sal's gotten started. I haven't created him fully yet, trying to figure out his class setup, though I already know what he'll look like, his face is always pretty much the same. Since he doesn't use armour or melee weapons, I don't want him leveling too high. I think his class might just boil down to conjuration, illusion, marksman, and restoration, with the rest as filler. Unlike most of my characters he's not very skilled with destruction, it seems like he's got nothing beyond the novice touch spells for the elements, not counting flare, but he'll be using drain speed eventually for shenanigans.

He's even shown me something new already. Until today I'd never found the chest with an average-level lock in the tutorial dungeon, so him pointing it out to me was a nice surprise!

And I'd forgotten just how atmospheric Oblivion could be; sneaking through the tutorial dungeon, bow in hand, in almost complete darkness, looking for any sign of movement to aim for. It was awesome, and Sal's actually a pretty good shot with a bow, better than my characters usually are. He made a shot on a half-visible moving goblin that the other archers I've played in the past wouldn't have attempted, let alone hit.

Edit: *Facepalms, with planet-shattering force* Of all the things to forget, how did I manage to overlook mysticism as a skill for a MYSTIC archer?

This post has been edited by Callidus Thorn: Apr 19 2015, 10:13 PM

I like the fact that you aren't planning on leveling him too high. Whoa, there's a 3-tumbler chest in the beginning dungeon?

Between him being unarmoured and my track record at keeping characters alive, I can't afford to



Yup, surprised me too. I mentioned it in the "New Things" thread. I think Sal has a nose for treasure

I hope so. I like your stories.

The effects are pretty wild, lol. I love Shetcombe for my early characters.




Thanks!



I just made that for my own game; but have considered a few times the thought of posting some of my Oblivion mods some day. It wouldn't take much bundling for that one, but would need some permission MEO for the dinner plates on the table and probably beta testing the Kickapoo effect.

Good thing I'm in the mood to write

Firstly though, a note: Dranos' game has been scrapped. Since he was thought up for the 4th era, there was the nagging sense that everything that happened in his game was conflicting with his already established backstory for his actions during the Oblivion Crisis. Really ruined his game.

Anyway, now for a little something to get Sal the Argonian going:

The Imperial City Prison

Sal the Argonian awoke, hissing as even that slight movement pulled at the bruises the guards had given him. The Legion did not take kindly to stowaways, especially in the Imperial City, but Sal had had no choice.

The compartment was cramped, and the smell was almost overwhelming, but Sal endured. He had to. This was his only way out. He couldn't risk going back to the Twin Lamps. Slavery may have been outlawed, but everyone knew the Telvanni were a law unto themselves, and so of course they would ignore it. So the Twin Lamps had been moving against them wherever possible, dangerous though it was, because officially no-one could enforce the law where the Telvanni were concerned.

The raid on Tel Uvirith had gone well at first, with half of the slaves freed before the alarm had been raised, but once alerted, the guards had been more than they'd prepared for. Sal had drawn off one group, poisoned arrows and a summoned skeleton more than enough reason for the guards to pursue him. He'd led them on a chase towards the water, where several boats had been left against such an event. But the boats had already been taken, and not even an Argonian could outswim Telvanni guards, for whom water was no obstacle.

A knife to the throat of the ferryman ensured his co-operation, and got Sal as far as Sadrith Mora, no safer than Tel Uvirith had been, and he'd gone over the side rather than sailing all the way in. He'd pulled himself up the side of the first ship he'd reached, not knowing where it was bound for. Cyrodiil had not been a pleasant surprise, not when he'd been discovered before the ship had sailed halfway there. If the Legion didn't pay a reward for turning over stowaways entering the Imperial City, they'd have thrown Sal into the sea as soon as they'd found him.

Footsteps and voices echoed down the steps, and Sal hauled himself to his feet, wincing with every movement. Three figures descended the stairs and stopped outside of his cell. The torch had burned down before Sal had passed out from the pain, so he could see nothing of the figures but vague outlines. "Stand back prisoner." A voice growled at him. "Over there by the window. Stay out of the way and you won't get hurt."

Sal backed away until his shoulder-blades met stone, and with a squeal of rusted metal the cell door opened. The figure held a naked sword in one hand, its gently curved blade caught the merest amount of light and gleamed. The other hand reached into a pouch at his belt, and took out a small vial. "Take this, prisoner. Sit in the corner, on the floor, and drink it." Sal hesitated, and the voice continued. "Drink the potion, or I'll slit your throat prisoner, I don't give a damn what happens to you, not tonight." Sal shrugged and took the vial, sat on the floor in the corner of his cell, and drank. The cell began to spin around him, his scales tingled, and what little he could see took on a purple tint as the cell slid out of focus. Everything went black, and Sal knew no more.


He awoke to a throbbing headache. For a moment he had to wonder if that potion was still affecting him, because while the cell door was closed, one of the walls was open. Not the outside one, unfortunately, but one that led underground, beneath the Imperial City? Sal rubbed the scales between his spines as he tried to focus and think, before shrugging and entering the passage. A short stretch of rough rock gave way to old, well crafted stone walls, though age had taken its toll on them. He was so confused by his surroundings and the aftereffects of the potion he'd been given that he didn't notice the bodies until he tripped over one. The shock forced clarity of thought into his mind, drowning out the haziness.

The body was that of an Altmer, his head lolling at an angle that no living neck could reproduce, and there was no other mark on him. Sal thought for a moment before stripping the body of its dark red robe, replacing it with his prisoner's garb for the sake of decency. Wandering around looking like he just escaped from prison would only lead to trouble. There were four more bodies, three robed men and one woman in armour, but a search of them turned up nothing but a couple of potions and a short sword. Sal had never been one for fighting up close, so he left the sword but pocketed the potions. The only door leading out was locked, but a section of the wall had collapsed somehow, providing Sal with a path to another room, this one far cruder.

There he found another body, this one long dead, but possessed of an old and battered bow with a quiver of arrows, which Sal appropriated, muttering thanks to Stendarr, before pressing onwards. Rats and goblins stalked the rough passages, which eventually led back to the old stone section again. This time there were even more bodies, but none of them armoured. Sal began to wonder if taking this robe had been a mistake. He looked around the room, noticing several other exits. They were too high for whomever had passed through to have used, but perhaps they had been used by the robed figures? But Men and Mer could not climb as well as Argonians or Khajiit, and Sal was able to scale the ancient walls, and found another way out, free of bodies.

The corridors led him to an entrance to what his nose told him would be the sewers, and Sal drew his bow before continuing onwards, once more having to deal with rats and goblins in the dark. He wandered the tunnels for hours, eventually stumbling across a usable ladder leading to the surface.

Renee – With all those guards and soldiers at Kvatch, Kahreem was probably wise to leave. Using a stolen horse to do so – mebbe not so much.


CT – Sorry about Dranos; that 200 year mistake by the devs can indeed be a challenge for roleplayers and fic writers. In the end, it is often best to ignore that artificial barrier between Cyrodiil and Skyrim for those of us who play long-term characters.

Welcome back to Sal! I remember him. Nice twist on the opening of Oblivion. It would appear that Sal is not ‘The Chosen One’. Therefore, drugging him and leaving him behind makes perfect sense for those guards who passed through his cell.

Obviously Uriel VII didn't know him as the one from his dreams, as all Argonians look the same to him.

Yes, that is a clever take on the beginning of the game, bravo! ... Don't worry if all the details don't make 100% sense.

Argh, now I'm going back over it all. It pretty much turned up in one big rush as I wrote it, especially this incarnation of Sal's backstory.

This post has been edited by Callidus Thorn: Apr 20 2015, 10:53 PM

gpstr, I love how delivering the Amulet led Elenin to a destiny that seems quite separate from the Amulet’s destiny. Elenin’s adjusted robe looks nice, congrats on tackling Blender!

mirocu, it’s always amazing when Lothran discovers a new place. Congrats on the find!

Renee, the refugee camp is closer than I would have guessed Kahreem would get to Kvatch, but I expect after the Altmer’s panic he won’t readily venture even that far again. Unless someone has a rumor about Kvatchian Cheap Wine in peril. I could imagine his rapid exit from the camp perfectly.

Callidus, a warm welcome to Sal! I like the potion twist so you can skip the whole Amulet situation.

I loaded up a PS3 game for a few minutes last night out of curiosity. Darian! He is traveling with Benirus, Maglir, Erthor, and the Jemane lads. I forgot how fun his game was. He is such a likeable guy. Plus the music coming through the sound system is just magic. They’re headed out to rescue Dar-Ma. It should be a riot. I really hope they don’t get her killed!

@mALX - good job with the Shetcombe farm, particularly with the basement.

@gpstr - I really liked the part where Elenin begins to realized what might be her destiny.

@mirocu - looks like Lothran will never run out of new discoveries in Cyrodiil. Trumbe doesn't sound familiar to me either, I'd definitely remember a name like this.

@Renee - "his elf told Kahreem that "daedra were coming", and advised everyone to run, but nobody did so, so neither did Kahreem"

@Callidus - something's positively unique about Sal's face, it just seems slightly different than that of other Argonians. Good to see him back, hope you stick to him for a while.

--

It's been a long break, namely from November 2013, but I knew that eventually I'd find my way back to Cyrodiil again. Since my modded Oblivion was lost when my previous disk crashed, it took me a while to find some essential mods but I'll definitely be adding new ones as I'll discover things which bother me. Though I must say that I use only a handful of mods in Oblivion when compared to Skyrim.

My new character is Redguard Komotai, a 25-year old girl, a rogue by class and by heart. Here comes a short introduction, similar to the one in the Skyrim Characters thread.
_______________________________________________________________________

Name: Komotai

Race: Redguard

Birthsign: The Lady

Date of birth: 2nd of Heartfire 3€408

Place of birth: Stros M'Kai

Class: Rogue

Attributes: Personality, Speed

Skills: Alchemy, Athletics, Blade, Block, Illusion, Light Armor, Mercantile

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Short backstory:

Komotai is a no-nonsense Redguard rogue, born on the island of Stros M'Kai in 3€408, who like many others couldn't resist the call for adventure, so she already left her home island at sixteen years of age. In her life she was a pirate, a relic hunter, a tomb raider, a bodyguard, a merchant and everything in between, but most of all, Komotai has been a rogue adventurer.

She doesn't mind living a dangerous life, for she thinks that life without walking on the edge isn't worth living for. She dislikes any kind of law or authority and has been a host in several jails in southern Tamriel. By reading this you might get an impression that she is evil, which is probably true to some extent, because she mostly cares only about herself, but there have been instances when she helped those in dire straits, whether because of her momentary kindness, gold or because she just wanted to experience another adventure.

In the Last Seed of the year 3€433 Komotai was aboard a small ship sailing from Elsweyr to Black Marsh, when one day a sudden storm overturned them. She managed to save herself from the sinking vessel at the last moment but her entire equipment was lost underwater. Not having much choice, Komotai began swimming to the shore...

_______________________________________________________________________

Her backstory is intentionally rather vague, because at this point I'm not sure whether she'll remain a roguish adventurer, will she with time become a better person or will she step to the dark side.

After surviving the shipwreck, Komotai made it to the shore with nothing else but her underwear and her fists to serve as her weapon. The first shelter she came upon, was Tidewater Cave but after seeing a troll wandering inside, even bold Komotai figured that facing it wouldn't be a good idea. She swam to the opposite shore and found a shelter from rain behind some tree. Exhausted from the extensive swimming, she leaned against the trunk and almost immediately fell asleep.

It's raining Redguards in Cyrodiil!

Grits, it's good to see Darion again! Best of luck to he and his posse in the great rescue Dar-Ma caper.

Lopov, welcome to Komotai! Poor thing's been in the water so long, I'm sure she's exhausted. Hope she gets a dry night's sleep.

Welcome back into the game, Lopov!

Thanks. I expect she'll be back in shape soon.
Thanks. It felt good fiddling with the character creator, and seeing Blackwood again.

Great to see you back playing Oblivion Lopov. Looks like we've got the old band back together

Time to get back to Sal, since I left him rather abruptly.


Tonight, in Cyrodiil:

Sal clung to the ladder with one hand, using the other to gently raise the grate overhead. It was dark, but he didn't know how late it was, and didn't want to be seen climbing out of the sewers. He tilted his head, climbing to the next rung on the ladder so that he could look around. Seeing nothing, he slid the grate to the side and climbed out, taking care not to make too much noise. The heavy fabric of his robe deadened most sounds he made, but his tail was itching to be out in the fresh air once more. After gently setting the grate back in its place, he looked around, and found himself beside what looked like a well, with trees and bushes growing around it. To one side he saw a footpath, and on the other an arch leading to an open area.

Crouching, hissing a muted curse about the robe, he crept awkwardly to the arch and looked out. There were crates opposite him, and he ducked out of sight as a light approached, passing by accompanied by the rattle and clank of armoured footfalls. Old instincts returned; a childhood of thieving and scrounging, and he snuck forwards, keeping one hand on the wall for balance. Now that he was out of the sewer and needed to move faster, and free of the effects of that potion he'd been given, he was having a hard time keeping his balanced with his tail caught in his robe. But the cloth was too thick to tear, and he didn't have a blade. Leaning out of the arch, he found himself lit by torches on either side, placed to illuminate signs. He smiled; the cold, reptilian grin of a predator. If these were shops, then those crates he could see must contain all manner of useful things.

A brief glimpse both ways revealed no guards heading his way, so he darted out, as fluidly as he could manage. Sticking to the shadows, and thanking Nocturnal that his robe was a good dark colour, Sal pried open the crates one by one and rummaged through them, dropping back whenever armoured footfalls approached. He had to rush, but still managed to find plenty to pilfer; a few changes of clothes, some food, a pewter pot he could use to cook in, and a pitcher, as well as a sturdy looking pack to load his goods into and even a bedroll. He'd found a few other things, less useful to him until morning when he could sell them back to unsuspecting merchants. Stuffing his robes into one of the crates, he adjusted the ill fitting trousers; like the robes, not tailored for Argonians, and made his way back to the sewers. He didn't like it, but wandering around the city at night would lead to trouble. While he'd been searching the crates, he'd heard one of the guards roughing up an elderly woman, a beggar by what he'd overheard. Sleeping in the sewers was better than being beaten and maybe hauled back to prison. In the morning he'd see about getting out of the city, maybe finding a way back to Vvardenfell.

This post has been edited by Callidus Thorn: Apr 22 2015, 09:13 PM

Tonight Lothran wandered the immediate area around Anvil and upon coming back to the gate by the docks, he saw a dead ogre laying on the steps! No idea how it got there since they´re never in that area to begin with. But there had been a fight; one of the guards had been hurt and the ogre had six arrows in it.


And thanks to a friend, Lothran has finally convinced Wilbur and Maenlorn to stop following him around...

@CT - looks like Sal has some problems with his tail. He found quite a few useful things in crates of what I assume, is the Market District.

@mirocu - an Ogre in Anvil? Maybe he escaped from Lord Drad's Estate.

--

"Well met, adventurer. A moment of your time if you please," Lerexus Callidus greeted the Redguard woman that passed him at the west gates of Leyawiin.

Komotai stopped and examined the young legionnaire from head to toe. She disliked lawmen but she badly needed some gold and a weapon better than the iron dagger which she picked up in the Forsaken Mine, so she could as well listen to what the legionnaire had to say. Hopefully it'll be worth her while.

"What do you want?"

"Perhaps you'll be able to assist me. I'm after some skooooma dealers," seriously said Lerexus and nodded to confirm the truth of his words.

"So?" Komotai shrugged her shoulders.

"A small group of skooooma dealers led by a Dunmer named Kylius Lonavo is holed up in the Greyland Settlement just up the road. I've been trying to catch Lonavo for months,..."

Komotai couldn't help but to laugh inside, thinking of how inept must have been Lerexus.

"...but every time I approach the place, his lookout sees me and he goes running."

"No wonder if you go there clanking in your armor. They probably hear you first and see you second."

Lerexus overheard the unnecessary remark and went on:"I need someone to go in there and put a stop to those fetchers. I don't care what it takes. We must get that poison they're selling off the street. Bring me Lonavo's ring as proof he's... been dealt with... and I'll give you the bounty on him."

"The bounty better be worth it."

"Be vigilant. Lonavo is a snake," cautiously said Lerexus.

Komotai knew the way to Greyland, it was crates outside this small house, from where she borrowed some blacksmith pants and a flax tunic the night before. She didn't know that she had been so close to "snake" Lonavo back then.

Perhaps he might be uncatchable for the Imperial Legion but Lonavo didn't represent any real threat for Komotai. His girlfriend, a Nord-wielding marauder was tough to bring down but a well-placed stab to Lonavo's back was enough to kill the "snake".

Komotai took his enchanted claymore and put it on her back, contented that she finally found something worth wielding. Now all that remained was to return to Lerexus and show him Lonavo's ring as a proof of his death.

"You've done it! I can't even begin to thank you enough. By the Divines, I salute you in the name of the Legion," Lerexus exclaimed.

"One doesn't get rich from salutations," cynically remakred Komotai.

"Here is your well-earned reward." Lerexus handed her a small coinpurse. Komotai expected to get a much more fatter coinpurse so she hastily opened it, only to find only twenty gold inside.

"Seriously? Twenty gold?"

But Lerexus was already merrily marching to Leyawiin, a satisfied expression on his face, because he played an important role in bringing down the serious criminal. Not to mention he even paid the adventurer for her services AND saluted her in the name of the Legion.

For a moment Komotai wanted to slap Lerexus but figured that getting arrested so quickly wouldn't be a good idea. At least she got the enchanted claymore and a free bed to sleep in Greyland, which wasn't so bad for a start.

CT – So Sal’s skulking around the IC gathering some survival items. Mebbe he can find a dagger and cut a tail hole in his ‘new’ pants. Anxious to leave the city he is.

Mirocu – That’s one reason I avoid using an open cities mod. The cities in the Elsweyr mod are open and I’ve seen a lion play create a real mess in the market district of Dune. Thankfully in Cyrodiil, those guards and gates do a good job keeping the wolves and ogres at bay. Neat find though. Wow, you know a real modder? Can you get her autograph?

Lopov - What a lucky break for Komotai! Raid on Grayland was perfect for her - a bed, roof, claymore and even a small jingle in her coinpurse. She's off to a good start in Leyawiin.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Apr 23 2015, 02:16 PM

I agree. It's awesome and perfect that we're all here playing one of our all-time favorites. You don't know how much I'm grinning right now as I read y'all's stories.

Lopov I laughed so hard at "20 gold, seriously?"

mirocu: A friend? Who's this 'friend?'

This post has been edited by Renee: Apr 23 2015, 02:51 PM