I’m glad you’re not ruling it out, because there is a lot to enjoy.

One ray of hope for Buffy is the costume system, where you can find in-game or buy (with real money) outfits that hide what you’re wearing underneath. Lil and Jerric both have costume outfits that they like now, so no matter what ridiculous armor they have to use for that level the appearance is something they like. The down side is there aren’t many available at any one time, but I expect there will be more as they encourage players to spend cash on the game. When I post screenies I’ll mention it if someone is wearing a costume to hide their clown armor.

Lildereth has enjoyed a beautiful night and morning in Valenwood, swimming in the warm waters, singing tree songs, and occasionally running for her life. She loves being home where the trees, furniture, and males are all normal-sized. Lil already has a few NPC friends that she visits around Elden Root, plus she met a traveling Khajiiti merchant who told her that as much as he admires the great trees, he values most the folk who gather under the branches. This trip she found the Outlaws Refuge. It’s in an Ayleid ruin! Darnand is going to annoy the regulars when he examines the stonework there.

She solved the attire issue last night. Everyone likes their low-level gear, and there’s no reason they can’t keep wearing it for social purposes. Darnand especially spends a great deal of time in perfect safety in town. So Lil whipped up a few shirts and robes and passed them to the guys through the bank-mail. Jerric put his on but is in the middle of something and so hasn’t made it to a dye station, but Darnand dyed his town robe in his favorite blue and has been happily wearing it since. Both Jerric and Lil have costumes for adventuring when their ‘must use’ armor happens to look silly, and so far Darnand is not too bothered by his adventure wear so he doesn’t need a costume. It will only take a few days to make more room in the saddlebags to carry some extra robes and shirts. She made them unimproved level one so they will stand out in the menu and not accidentally get sold or deconstructed. Problem solved!

The other thing she solved was the eating food for effects rather than for eating issue. They all carry the provisions that Jerric has expertly made for them, but that’s kind of the opposite of having a meal. So Darnand and Lil learned a few simple recipes and now they can cook something fresh at random cookpots when they want it. It’s a small thing but it means the world to them.

Lildereth also pointed out that their mounts don’t disappear when they dismount, they are simply whisked back to the safety of their stables via the same magic that allows Wayshrines. She gently reminded us all that dear Buffy has used King Rislav’s Call of Corsair with her precious Superian throughout at least four provinces and a Daedric realm, and if that kind of teleportation magic passes Buffy’s safety test then none of them should worry.

It's wonderful to hear that Lil is enjoying Valenwood!

Yes, Call of Corsair works well to reunite with your horse. As far as what to do with an unguarded horse when you go into danger (or just dismount I guess in ESO), several RP solutions come to mind in addition to the one you mentioned:

- A spell that creates an ethereal field around the horse so it basically 'phases' out of this plane.
- Move the horse to a special purpose 'green' soul gem that can temporarily hold the essence of a living animal. A variation would be to coax Azura into 'repurposing' her Star.
- A power allowing you to 'phase' the animal into a tree or boulder - similar to how Skyrim spriggans hide themselves.
- And the one that Buffy uses: Acadian is a spirit within Buffy of course. Buffy taught him her Call of Corsair. Thus, when Acadian uses Call of Corsair, Superian is moved to where he is: a spiritual form inside Buffy.

Jerric is presently questing in Shadowfen (Black Marsh), but he has a Blacksmith writ to turn in at the Fighters Guild outfitter in Windhelm. He has not gotten a questline-related boat ride to Windhelm yet, nor has he walked past the Morrowind border. Rather than wait until he has finished a bunch of quests and leveled up some more, he has decided to walk to Windhelm through the Rift. Starting from Davon’s Watch.

Right now he is standing on the bridge about to cross into the Rift. He can see the mountains, Skyrim trees, and Nordic towers. This game can be a wanderer’s paradise.

He is going to have to be careful, though. These areas are above his level. He might find himself taking an involuntary Wayshrine ride back to Morrowind.

Haa-Rei and I's thoughts are with him. He's in for a tough fun trip.

Oh my goodness, that was TERRIFYING! Stendarr’s mercy, what a road trip!

hazmick, it will not surprise you to learn that Jerric got into considerable trouble on his jaunt through the Rift. Not ten steps up the first hill he found himself bounced to a Wayshrine by two skeletons and a sabre cat. Much sneaking followed. He couldn’t resist helping out a few folks, so that part was really all his fault. At one point he was sprinting blindly pursued by what sounded like a hundred sabre cats, when around the corner jogged a woman with a lot of big numbers and badges decorating her name. Her title was “Former Empress.” She casually swatted the cats to death without pausing and ran on her merry way, leaving Jerric collapsed in a puddle (of sweat) and Grits unable to let go of the controller.

It was Jerric’s idea to sprint through the bandits and bears and help out at a Dolmen. Two other guys were there. Two! What a rush.

After freeing up a lot of pack space and partying a little in Windhelm, Jerric rode the Wayshrines back to Shadowfen where he embarked upon his next assignment. At the end he received… a free boat trip to Windhelm. This is not the guy who should plan the group’s vacation.

Do you remember the quest? It's not Freedom's Chains is it? Or that Rivenspire quest with that Vampire Count?

If not, tell me

From what I've gathered Valenwood is pretty big, huh? That's great!

It was Rightful Inheritance at Castle Rillis in Auridon. The ending gave me shivers!

Lil is uncharacteristically pushing herself to get back to Grahtwood.One thing that makes it seem big is the hilly and tangled terrain. You can't just sprint in a straight line, and there are sometimes surprises around the roots and corners.

Grits, I feel for Lil in her wilderness travels. I really think wood elves are meant to be either up in the trees or up on the back of a horse (or perhaps shoulders of a Nord). Otherwise they’re too short to see where in Oblivion they’re going!

Oh, and what a gorgeous screenshot in your sig this month of the gang camping and telling tall tales ‘round the campfire!

Haa-Rei made the infamous journey to Windhelm today. On our first playthrough we tried (and failed) the Jerric way, so this time we went by boat.

Nightblade Haa-Rei is doing way better than Sorcerer Haa-Rei ever did. He's managing to stay 3-4 levels higher than his enemies, and his damage output is much more respectable. We've even managed to clear the public dungeons in Stonefalls, Deshaan and Shadowfen!

Neat, hazmick! Is NB Haa-Rei using any melee weaponry at all or just bow + NB skills?

Yep! He uses a two-handed sword as his secondary weapon. The 2H weapons skills line has a healing skill (We still haven't unlocked it though) which converts stamina to health. Sounds very useful. Many of the NB skills are melee focused anyway, so it's actually really handy to have a close combat weapon. However, one could still manage with nothing but a bow, as Sorc Haa-Rei did.

I've always associated two-handed weapons with big burly Nords, but honestly it really suits Haa-Rei. I figured he must have some good arm strength to use a bow, so a claymore isn't too far fetched from a headcanon/fanfiction perspective.

I'll see about getting a screenie to show off the Argonian style 2H sword. They're really cool!

I've been playing ESO for a couple of days now and I'm pretty addicted! I wanted to incorporate Lissa into the game... But as I prefer to stay true to timelines and I've already jumped the shark by getting Lissa into Skyrim
I've decided to go for an ancester.

Her name is Ciyenna. She is 18 years old.

She is an ancestor of Lissa on her mothers side, but her existence in Lissa's family tree had been completely wiped. I thought this was an interesting way to play as having this character in the game would mess up my 'Lissa Lore'
so I am interesting in discovering exactly HOW her existence was removed from her family heritage.

She's pretty cool. Like Lissa she is an expert with a bow, and is skilled with the use of poisons and traps.

Like Lissa many times, her story started where she was stuck in a prison cell, and after barely escaping from the Daedric hellhole was told she was a key to preventing the 'end of the world'.

She soon woke up, finding it to be an all to be a dream*, finding that she was actually in Daggerfall, freshly woken having drifted to shore from the sea. She cannot recollect how she came
to be in this situation, but she's going to find out!

Next stop is Stros M'Kai, to find Kaleen, the woman who found her drifted ashore in Daggerfall. She has thanks to give, and maybe even questions to raise...

So yeah, I'm playing, I'm loving, and I'll update as often as possible!

*the prison sequence is not a dream, but for now I am keeping it that way as I doubt I'll follow the main storyline just yet. Ill see what happens.

Acadian, thank you! Those fellows aren’t afraid of monsters, so the campfire tales take a different turn. I completely agree that our wood elves are made the perfect size for finding a high perch on branch, horse, or shoulder. When Jerric starts to pace and rant indoors, Lil often hops up onto a tall dresser to wait it out. In Grahtwood she is always scrambling up the tree roots in hope of getting higher.

Rihanae, a warm welcome to Ciyenna! I look forward to hearing about her adventures.

Lildereth is traveling Grahtwood still cautiously but now able to take on some of the tasks that the locals give her. She is presently hanging around Elden Root. The Bosmer king gave her a cute outfit, and it would be rude not to wear it. But it would quickly get her killed in the forest. So she’s spending some time in the tree-city and its suburbs.

Darnand is quite at home in rainy Wayrest. He’s getting a feel for the city’s layout and is now able to easily go about his daily tasks at the workshop and stables before retiring to whatever library strikes his fancy. He is disappointed in his Enchanting progress. That’s the focus of his study. Jerric has been keeping him supplied with glyphs and runes, so hopefully Darnand will see some improvement soon. He really hates not being awesome when he tries to do something.

Jerric is loving his life in Eastmarch. Most of his work has involved mead in some way or another. Kyne also features prominently. Next up he is running in a foot race around the city. Windhelm in party mode is his kind of town. Also he finally ditched the silly cuirass for one that he likes and Lil sent him a handsome new shirt, so Jerric is looking good in Windhelm.

Ahhh Valenwood... How i'd love for Ciyenna to travel there! It sounds beautiful Sounds like the gang have been busy

Ciyenna is currently spending her days as a 'bow for hire' in Daggerfall. As she cannot recollect her past after the accident that left her drift ashore, she decided to do something with her life.

I'm enjoying Ciyenna's company and learning a lot about her. She is very much a lone wolf. She doesn't make friends very easily due to her somewhat blunt nature, but despite this she is the kindest soul. She simply comes across the wrong way to most people. She's not perfect, either, which I love. She occasionally makes decisions based on her own opinion rather than a whole spectrum.

During a quest a couple days ago she made a decision which the majority of those involved disagreed with,
and I also wasn't sure it was the best decision, but as Ciyenna felt it was right I had to get over it. I'm still wondering if it was the best decision, but alas.

That's another thing I love about ESO... no RELOADS! Decisions made have to be stuck with, and although there aren't many consequences for 'bad' decsions, it still makes for interesting gameplay.

Before returning to Daggerfall, she had left Daggerfall to go to Stros M'Kai by ship to find Kaleen, captain of the Spearhead and the woman who saved her life. Ciyenna decided to repay her debt to Kaleen by helping her
find a specific crew to help her with a heist she is planning. The heist itself, which involved stealing an ancient relic from an Alieyd ruin in Betnik went well, but as the relic was the cause of much death and destruction, If left Ciyenna with a tough choice to make. Steal it
and use it's powers for 'good', or destroy it.

She stole it, thinking that something that powerful is a nature versus nurture thing, and in the right hands it could possibly so good. not many people agreed with her decision, but she is sticking to her guns.

Rihanae, I know the quest you mean. Darnand hated to do it, but he destroyed the artifact. That choice also angers some people. Darnand would love to have kept it for study only of course, but he’s seen that situation go wrong too many times before. I also love the lack of do-overs, although Jerric once made a mistake and very much regretted it. Now he listens a lot more carefully when people are explaining his options.

Light-fingered Lil has supplied Jerric and Darnand with a small assortment of roleplay rich but gameplay useless items for them to carry. Darnand has a runestone fragment, pocket knife, Dwemer compass, and pumice stone (for rubbing out mistakes on parchment) in his pack. Jerric has a brush (described as also suitable for animal coats, lol), and a set of tavern dice. Lil carries a comb and sweet-smelling soap. She’s also collecting unarmored clothing, but so far she hasn’t found any shirts. I think it would be great to see some of these items for sale from traveling vendors. If not for Lil’s larcenous bent we would never have found them.

Jerric and I spent my very limited free time over the holiday exploring Hew’s Bane. This means mostly cliff diving, fishing, and battling various critters that sting, slash, pinch, and burn. Hammerfell is hands down my favorite province (and I wince at calling it a province, lol).

He’s back in the Rift now following up on some business for Skyrim’s High King. Folks have taken to calling him the King’s Arrow. Jerric is sure they mean well by it, but it still makes him laugh.

Here’s a bit about a quest in the Ebonheart Pact. It concerns people and events from the very first post in this thread and mentions NPCs by name, so don’t read it if you want to avoid spoilers. The outcome depends on your choices, so yours may be different from Jerric’s.

A beautiful little snip there, Grits. A hard choice but, in the end, very Jerric. I don't think I would let her go either, but that doesn't make it much easier.

Very Nordic I should say! It looks like that quest has a bad outcome no matter what your choices are. You defend the fort, the docks fall. My guess is that if instead you defend the docks, the fort falls. It looks like Aera dealt with aftermath very poorly. It would not be hard to forgive her for wanting her daughter back, even through foul magics. But murdering others in the process is whole other matter.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Apr 14 2016, 12:34 AM