Aww, and you know Buffy quite adores the white-haired warlock.
And nice little poem!


Renee, that Niben River Valley between Bravil and Leyawiin is beautiful! Good luck to Saga in that cave.
Grrrr!
Yay!

I knew you ripped it from some song but didn't figure out that it's One Night in Bangkok. Good job!


Interesting, the name of this cave doesn't sound familiar to me at all. Blackwood holds many mysteries.

I enjoy reading about mundane problems, like getting hungry in Saga's case. And to choose appropriate outfit for dungeon delving. I think she's better off alone in the cave.

Oops, sorry. I meant to say something other than a Bosmer male...

Lopov, what a start for young Vion! It was great to catch up on his story. I like his attitude and ambitions.

mirocu, congrats to Lothran on his collection and the new discovery. How is he going to get an unenchanted Kvatch cuirass? That’s quite a puzzle. Oh, and nice poem!

Renee, it feels like summer with Saga in Cyrodiil. I always think of her with green trees and flowers. Long life and many screenshots to Legion Forester Illijah! I think he’s very photogenic.

SPEW! Lucky Buffy didn't see Lothran say that!

Turdas, Frostfall 10, 6:03 pm, 4th Era Year 5

"Ah, what fate has brought to us," she says, glad to see that she and her friends had found another cave. "Here. We shall place our encampment here. Maglir, make fetching of our tent-rolls. Feldren ... you can do as your wishings command. Eyes wandering, in protection of the horse."

Feldren the Imperial Forester nods, but Maglir stares at his governor, his eyes earnest. .... please? Please bring me along into that cave? thinks he. He hopes his face does not betray his emotions, but knows it probably does. The lady elf he travels with day after day always seems to be able to tell whatever he is thinking.

"I know your thoughts, Maglir, and you have knowing of mine. I must purport to replying in the negative. That you might be ... ehmm ... better off staying here," says the lady, trying her hardest to speak more plainly to her hireling. "We know not of what lies within that cave: most likely it 'tis goblins. And not to make offensings, but your company is better-suited amongst my horse and Feldren, until I can make better assessings below."

"But .... if there's anything you want me to do, I am humbly at your service."

The lady smirks. Turns around, and begins to choose: crossbow? or longbow? ... It all depends on who (or what) is in that cave. If it IS goblins, the crossbow would be the best choice if she is to go down there alone. Her crossbow is slow to load, but has a habit of downing whoever it is pointed at, in just one shot. If she brings Maglir (which is unlikely, for she does not know this new cave at all), one of her many bows might be more appropriate. Less damage-per-shot, but quicker to aim, just in case Maglir fuddles everything up.

"Six o'clock, and all's well ma'am" says Feldren the Imperial, ever the soldier.

From then on, all chaos erupts.

Feldren is first to react. He grabs his silver bow and aims it. Saga is instantly alert, and grabs hers as well. Maglir brandishes his sword, a rare enchanted item he had found awhile back. Aerin of Valenwood hefts her own bow, and grabs the first arrow her fingers grasp upon: an arrow of silver. She aims in the direction Feldren had aimed, and Maglir is now running. The path before them is clear, yet at first she doesn't see who (or what) her enemy actually is.



Raaaaa!!!!

Goblins! Two of them. They rush Saga and her henchmen, calling out in their strange language. Both of them carry handweapons: one has an axe, the other has a club. Saga aims, fires, and hits one of these annoying creatures square in his gut. Feldren misses his shot. Maglir squares off with the other goblin, trading swipes and blows. Saga realizes that the one she had hit now has that sort of 'look' in his eyes: I think I'll go for the light-haired one. He seems all set to go, seems to be thinking he'll eat well that night. Thankful that dinner has just showed up. He likes it when dinner just shows up, without having to do any actual work hunting it.

That is when his luck begins to change. No Golden Elf Special for this goblin tonight.

Saga raises her right hand, calling out to the spirits of the forest, and summons ten drab-colored rats. squeak squeak squeak! they say in unison. Then they immediately attack, which confuses and slows the goblin. The goblin takes a couple bites of damage from the two rats nearest him, while Saga aims her bow once again. She doesn't move. Doesn't try to run off to another spot, doesn't need to. She merely aims, and fires.

SQUAAAAA!!!


The skirmish is over quickly. Two more arrows, and two more bites; the first goblin falls, wishing he had never decided to venture outside in the first place. Maglir ultimately needs help from Feldren and Saga downing his goblin, but this one falls as well, after Maglir throws a spell of health-draining upon it. This leaves the two Bosmer, one Imperial, and one bay horse left standing.

"Might have better luck staying up at Cropsford."

"Our encampment must be firmed upon safer grounds, I am of agreement."

They head north, glad to be alive. What if more than two had suddenly shown up? The attack had stunned the three humanoids; they hadn't seen it coming. But they are free, and head to Cropsford, which is (as it turns out) a ten minute walk.

"Okay. Maglir. I accede your wishings."

"Huh?"

"I have desirings, that you shalt make accompanyment alongside myself, on the morrow. We shall make our encampment within Cropsford. Gather some restings, and on the morrow, take this cave before it can take us."

"Fine," Maglir answers, literally bursting with enthusiasm underneath his tin suit. "You won't regret it."

"I baste my hopes upon such."

8:31 pm
Not long afterward, a trio of delvers enters the sleepy (yet vibrant) village of Cropsford. The people of Cropsford look to one another, happy to see the party's leader: a blonde-haired elf who had stayed with them before. Whenever she and her companions show up, they know for sure that Cropsford will be entirely safe, that's for sure. Not that they had many problems with enemies.

"I heard there were some goblins around here recently," Callia Bincal greets Saga and her friends, trying to make conversation. "Awful creatures."




This post has been edited by Renee: May 23 2015, 01:18 AM

Heh, I love the ending when Callia mentions goblins, not that Saga and her party already had enough of them for that day.

Is Cropsford fully constructed in Saga's world?

The only one he could get was from one remaining dead soldier by the church. There was no unused one anywhere. He didn´t like taking it from the brave soldier but he thought it was an even worse thing that no one had given him a proper burial yet, or even put out the fires and started rebuilding the town.


Thanks! Did you notice I took it from One night in Bangkok?

Yes, mirocu, I remember your other poems now ... Ode to the Mudcrab. You are a poet, and you know it. I sometimes forget though.

Yes, Lopov, Cropsford is finished in Saga's game, but it's the vanilla version, with 3 NPCs roaming around. I've got Cropsford Revival in Renee's game though, which is supposed to be even grander. She's never been there yet though, so I don't know what it's like yet.

My elf archer has just discovered Atatar! Really excited about this. She'll be exploring Blackwood (which is our least-explored area so far) over the next few weeks.

This post has been edited by Renee: May 31 2015, 03:38 AM

Atatar is a great ruin to explore, I still remember that its last section has a lot to offer for someone seeking knowledge.

Actually, she's been to Atatar before. As soon as she climbed that hill and saw the inn which is next to Atatar, I realized where she is. Still though, it's pretty exciting that we're going to Blackwood.

Frostfall 22, 4th Era Year 5

Lady Saga has entered a new phase in her adventuring career: exploring the heck out of Blackwood. It's an area she's only skimmed through in the past, sticking mostly to the south, where Topal Bay is always a nearby swim.

She's convinced the final Ayleid statue must be in Blackwood. But Blackwood is much more randomly dangerous than other regions of Cyrodiil are. There are slimes, and oozes (MMM stuff), along with the usual bandits and other outlaws. There's no way she's bringing Maglir and her faithful Imperial Legion guy into these swamps.

So for once, she's been going totally solo. She tends to leave her horse behind at Leyawiin's stables, or in the safe village of Blankenmarch. She's also been eschewing a lot of her armor pieces, actually going round wearing 'huntsman' styled clothing instead. She's that confident. She just explored Veyond not long ago (no statue in there) which is full of trolls, or WAS full of trolls. Trolls used to be something she considered too dangerous to fight by herself, but now, she merely sees them as a challenge.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jun 5 2015, 01:50 PM

Right.

Been on a bit of a Sci-Fi binge of late, but now I'm returning to fantasy. So I fired up Oblivion again

Orvas

Orvas by candlelight

So Orvas made it through the Emperor's assassination, staying well back and watching. He wasn't surprised in the least by events though, so clearly he knows something of what's going on. He actually had a smug little smile on his face as he watched Baurus head off with the Amulet of Kings. Having gotten out of the sewers he swam across the lake, and went rummaging through Vilverin, clearing it of bandits and picking up some new and shiny iron armour in the process. Nothing like as good as his gear back in Vvardenfell, but it'll do.

Even better, after clearing the place out he headed back above ground for a meal. As he sat by the fire, eating the bandits' food and drinking some of their mead, he got a little chatty about his past. He was a former member of House Telvanni, but didn't go in for all the infighting and intrigue, not directly at least. In his own words:

"Nowhere is the phrase 'knowledge is power' truer than in House Telvanni. Knowing who a rival is working with and against, and more importantly, knowing what spells and enchantments they have about them, is vital. Trying to eliminate a rival without knowing enough is almost certain to lead to disaster. But that sort of thing tires me. Why bother fighting everyone else, when it's far easier to become invaluable to everyone else? So that's what I did. I became an Enchanter, and specialised in discreetly supplying enchanted items to others. I sold to everyone, and not just within house Telvanni. They all knew it, but they all stood to gain too much from my wares.

Meanwhile I'd sell enchanted gear to one person, and then the details of its magic to a half dozen more, letting me make money hand over fist. But such things an only last so long. After I received a letter about the death of my uncle in Cyrodiil, and learned that he's left me his Tower, I decided it was time to leave Vvardenfell for a while. Easier said than done. I had to fake my own death to get away from House Telvanni, and spent almost every coin I had getting to Cyrodiil in secret, and then got arrested to make sure I was in the right place to see if what I'd heard was true..."

What he'd heard, I can't say. He became tight lipped again at that point, and turned in for the night without saying another word. He was not happy when some magician, probably working with the dead bandits, attacked in the middle of the night. After blasting him with magic, he took the mages robes and shoes, since they were the right size. While looking for anything else of value, he came across the mage's spellbook, and one spell caught his eye. A Frenzy spell; up to level five for 30 seconds on target. A novice's spell. He's not much good at illusion, but it seems he might be getting some practice soon.

You made an awesome looking Dunmer! Great job you did on Orvas!







This post has been edited by mALX: Jun 9 2015, 06:05 PM

Renee – Luvs Blackwood too! Buffy normally stays out of Atatar cuz its quest related, but enjoys the Drunken Dragon Inn nearby. Oh, and Veyond is wonderful! At Buffy’s level, all those special trolls have grand souls – every wonder where the Mages Guild gets filled grand soul gems? Only a few mages have the stones to fill those things up. I love the image of Saga going solo and Valennative style down in the marshes of Blackwood!

CT – Good to see you back in Tamriel. MALX is right – Orvas is a handsome Dunmer. It’s so nice to see poor Baurus finally wised up and realized that taking custody of the amulet himself is a wise move. Impressive that he cleared Vilverin right out of the sewars – that’s a fair challenge I think.

@mALX: Heh, thanks. With all the characters I've gotten through in Oblivion over the years, I've had an unfortunate amount of practice with Oblivion's character creation, and most of my characters have been Dunmer.

@Acadian: I've always found armoured spellcasters to be borderline overpowered early on. Between heavy armour, a shield spell, absorb health, a summoned skeleton, and that apprentice level frost spell, an armoured caster's damn near unkillable at level one in Vanilla Oblivion. The zombies in the undead section would have posed more of a challenge, but Orvas didn't find the pressure plate to open the hidden passageway.


Well, Orvas is now level two, having cleared out Sercen. He got to test out his new frenzy spell, which worked rather handily on a couple of bandits. Now he's got plenty of Welkynd Stones to examine. But he was frustrated by the locks he couldn't open. I'm not sure what he's going to do next, either work his way round to enter the Imperial City, or head north to Bruma and his Tower.

This post has been edited by Callidus Thorn: Jun 11 2015, 11:05 PM

9:35 pm, Morning Star 22, 3rd Era 434

Kahreem of Weet is traveling by (stolen) horseback to Skingrad, with a bunch of weapons to sell, and he is going to sell these because he is desperate for money. An Imperial guard single-handedly demolished a group of goblins right outside of Derelict Mine, all Kahreem did was watch this spectacle. After the fight was over, he got this idea to collect any weapons carried by the goblins so he can sell these in Skingrad.

Let's all hope he makes it there with no hassles. His bounty is only 5 right now, but that could change at any minute.

Somehow I don´t doubt that

Renee, it’s fun to picture Saga slipping through the trees in Blackwood. I love that she’s concerned for her followers and wants to keep them safe. And Kahreem is loaded with weapons to sell – Kahreem the arms dealer!

Callidus, Orvas looks great! I imagine he’s going to enjoy the Frenzy spell.