Lol poor Dennis.

Yes, I was wondering where you got those armor sets. One of these days I need to go on a mad clothing / armor raid over at Nexus.

I switched Joan of Arkay over from Xbox to PC yesterday. I had to! Her world was getting to that point where it was packed with cougars and other ridiculous predators everywhere. Next thing woulda been those glass-wearing bandits. I'll hopefully start posting some Joanie updates again. She wears heavy armor... I'll probably be asking you about some of the armor sets your characters wear (but the female version... since Pym and all your others are more scantily-clad).

Renee: The Apachii Goddess Store is a good place to start. Mass Outfit Redesign is my base armor set but it is not on the Nexus. I'll get a list together of my favorite companion armors mods. Until then ask and I'll try to answer.

20210205 Thieves Den

It’s a short trip from Crowhaven to Anvil so it wasn’t long before we were standing in Morvayn's Peacemakers selling used but serviceable arms and armor. The shop owner Varel Morvayn whom we’ve known for years always gives us a good price.

From Morvayn’s we take w walk down to the docks to sell some dry goods to Norbert Lelles the proprietor of Lelles' Quality Merchandise. It’s amazing how calm the otherwise fidgety Norbert becomes when he sees us walk through the door.

After visiting with Norbert we take a leisurely tavern crawl along the dock. Starting with the newest one near the lighthouse we taste our way to the eastern end of the docks. With cargo being loaded and unloaded from the ships, it’s a bit more hectic along the eastern end of the docks. The Port Authority office is at this end of the dock so I guess the longshoremen work just a little bit harder.

Standing at the far eastern end of the docks, looking out over the water taking in the invigorating salty sea air we happen to spot someone swimming in the sea. Thinking they might need help we cast a water walking spell we walk out to offer our assistance.

It’s Erriallus the Maormer (I-SL). Apparently Erriallus hasn’t found a suitable south bound ship to latch onto for a ride back home yet.

We ask if perhaps he might be interested in working for the Stranded Light as a spellmaker. He declined the offer with a suggestion to search further east along the coast; somewhere east of Leyawiin perhaps.
Since we’re already walking on water we decide to walk on around the seaside portion of Castle Anvil. That’s when we found Smuggler’s Cave. Can you believe it? Imagine that a smuggling going on right under the noses of the nobles. With a door that leads right on into the castle, no less. Ain’t that somethin’?

I tell you, if I was emperor there’d be some changes made that’s for sure.

“You emperor?” chided Maeva with a giggle. “You’re Archmage and Head Master of the Archeology Guild and can’t stand being in the office of either one for more than a day before you get itchy to get out on the trail again.”

Can’t deny it, she’s right of course. We all had a great laugh at that.

Another door leads to Dunbarrow Cove. Dunbarrow Cove is a misnomer. If it ever was a cove it definitely is not one now. It’s a large unnatural cavern with a pirate ship trapped inside it like a ship in a bottle. Only the glass bottle is solid stone.

Amazed, we stood there staring at the ship wondering how in the world it got inside this cavern. Well we didn’t have much time to ponder the question as we were attacked by crazed skeletons. The battle with the skeletons takes us from one end of the cavern to the other. Finally the Red Saber Skeletons are defeated and we enter the ships cabin.

The skeleton of Cap’n Dugal doesn’t like the intrusion and takes it upon himself to attack us. With the defeat of Cap’n Dugal defeated we ‘re able to search the cabin. We find the Smuggler’s Key and the journal of Torradan ap Dugal, Captain of the ship The Black Flag. The journal tells the tale of the rise and fall of the Red Saber Pirates, Cap’n Dugal, and the entombment of the ship The Black Flag.

The ship The Black Flag is now mine. Don’t know why I would want it though. It’s a mess. Something tells me that Dahlia Rackham of the Clarabella may be able to help with making the ship into a useable base of operations.

It is just after sunset when we return to the Anvil docks. We locate Dahlia Rackham and for 5500 gold coins she agrees to make improvements to Dunbarrow Cove.

Now for a restful night at Benirus Manor. I’m sure Claire, Yesmin, and Rosalind will be happy to see us.

'It’s amazing how calm the otherwise fidgety Norbert becomes when he sees us walk through the door.'
- - Even I remember the significance of that tongue in cheek remark, given how you get to help him during a quest.

Wow, what a gorgeous shot of the Anvil docks at night. Amazing night sky!

20210208 Thieves Den, Fighters Guild - Hrota Cave
Early the next morning just after breakfast a message arrived informing us that Dunbarrow Cove was ready. Upon hearing the news we rushed to tour the new Dunbarrow Cove.

It’s all there as advertised. Dahlia Rackham truly did a marvelous job of getting Dunbarrow Cove outfitted with unique features; vendors who stock weapons, potions and spells to aid Stealth-oriented characters, a Fence who will purchase stolen items, trainers to raise the Security, Sneak, Speechcraft, Marksman and Mercantile skills, pirates who can be recruited and sent out to pillage and plunder, and an unopenable training chest to raise the Security skill. How she did it so quickly is a mystery.

We couldn’t resist sending the pirates out to plunder. I expect they’ll hit the Valenwood Isles now that it’s not protected by the Wrecking-Stone. (I would keep Thieves Den; I like getting a fence without having to join the Thieves Guild.)

As we were leaving Dunbarrow Cove, Kaleah wickedly mentioned, “Vilja always wants to see the ships maybe she’d like being a pirate. Why not station her here to run the operation?”

Hmmm… I’m sure she’ll want to go shopping for a pirate outfit.

Returning to Anvil we go back to the Peacemakers to unload another crate full of slightly battered armor and swords. Morvayn complain mildly about the cracks and holes in the armor but in the end he took everything we had to sell.

As we were leaving Morvayn’s we happened to bump into Azzan of the Fighters Guild. He had an opportunity for us. Clear out a bunch of thieves that have been operating in the area. We should speak to Newheim the Portly for more information.

Azzan informs us that Maglir needs redemption and will be going along on the job. Maglir, of all people. Protesting made no difference, Azzan’s mind was made up and that was that. Maglir wasn’t so thrilled to the arrangement either the only plus for him was he was getting paid.

We track down Newheim in the Count’s Arms. Newheim believes the thieves are holed up in Hrota Cave. He also asks if we could recover a family heirloom that the thieves had stolen, a flagon handed down from his father. With that we headed out to find this Hrota Cave.

We sure didn’t have far to go. Arriving at the entrance to Hrota Cave, as expected we had to wait for Maglir. The straggler Maglir appears to have been pulling up the rear in more ways than one. I overheard Kaleah mumble to Maeva, “The little creep tries that again he’ll lose a hand.”

As usual we prepare for the assault. Urging caution I lead the party into the darkness. Hundred feet into the cave we hear voices. Throwing caution to the wind Maglir charged to the fore screaming his battle cry, “So we can get paid!”

Oh, come on Maglir! I may look like Nephrim heavy infantry but the mad bull rush tactic is not part of the plan. You have to survive first of all in order to get paid.

See what Maglir got us into. One of the thieves summoned a Perthan, a Spider Daedra to the fight. The thief must be fairly powerful mage to attempt controlling such irrational, disobedient, and willful Daedra as Perthan are known to be.

Despite Maglir’s rashness the eight thieves Cingaer, Dennilwen, Githriian, Idrolian, Nedhelfin, Niraegaer, Thiirchel, and Thrangirfin have been eliminated. Not one offered to surrender. Can’t really blame them for that though, life in the imperial prisons sucks.

Look, there’s a bottle of Shadowbanish wine on the shelf but Newheim’s Flagon is not on the table as it should be.

Unfortunately we’re unable to find Newheim’s flagon. (possible bug with Snus Dungeons the flagon should be on the table.)

Unable to find the flagon, we collect as much loot as we can carry and head back to Anvil. Maglir is overjoyed at the thought of collecting his pay. What’s gotten into this Bosmer? He’s more concerned about profit than doing a service for the client.

Ah, see, my Redguard thief character has heard about Dunbarrow Cave but hasn't gotten around to finding the place, yet. Gives me a reason to fire up his game again!

My Lady Saga wood elf archer hired Maglir for awhile. I agree that he's very tough, but does that 'pulling up from the rear' thing a little too much. I also seem to remember he delivers some hilarious lines as he rushed into battle.

It's a shame that Newheim's Flagon get messed up. Snus Dungeons and Better Dungeons make a marked improvement in the look of the dungeons but I've found several instances where items like the flagon are miss placed or a cave is not accessible at all.

Maglir is very slow a foot. Sometimes it's a long wait of several seconds for him to catch up. Yes, he does have some very funny battle cries.

This post has been edited by macole: Feb 10 2021, 09:01 PM

Since the flagon was missing, I'm hoping Maglir did not get paid after all that.

Acadian: I think Maglir snatched it. I'm certain we heard a Maglir was at the Count's Arms celebrating a great achievement as we were leaving Anvil.

20210214 from Skingrad to Shadowcrest Vineyard

After collecting our pay, Azzan told us he had no contracts available for us. We’d have to go to Cheydinhal for additional contracts. Since it was rather late we said good-bye to Maglir and went home to Benirus Manor for the night.

We were standing at the door of Peacemakers when Morvayn opened up his shop. A few hours of haggling and we were on the road again. Bored with the quiet life at the Manor, Claire (armored robe from AveEarthlyDelights mod) decided to join us for awhile.

“Are you sure you’re just not tired of hearing that raving prophet go on and on, day in, day out?” I asked.

Our first stop was Gweden Farm. It’s starting to get crowded with girls but very few customers. I had thought that with Desann out of the way now, Gweden’s business at would pick up. Didn’t happen! Now it looks like I’m footing the bill for rehabilitation home for wayward girls. Maybe I just need to wait a bit.

Tsarina doesn’t have anything to say about Desann’s Palace but from her silence I get the feeling that the Palace was not shut down as we had thought. Something to check into.

The next morning we leave Gweden and make our way to Skingrad. Eyja, my maid at Rosethorn Hall served a late lunch of her famous Sheppard’s pie and a cup of mead. Feeling more relaxed I changed into something a little less conspicuous for the walk to All Things Alchemical.

Returning the riding crop to Silanu we discuss our suspicions of a set-up. Silanu doesn’t know much other than Tertius lived in Chorrol and that is where the courier carrying the letter was heading. We’ll keep that in mind next time we’re in Chorrol.

With the Mages Guild Hall nearby I thought it prudent to give a quick inspection before leaving Skingrad. Finding everything to be in order we left Skingrad through the East Gate. Further down the road we passed through Fort Haven and said good-bye to the outskirts of Skingrad.

At a point on the road near the Derelict Mine we turned a bit southerly intending to cut across country to my winery, the Shadowcrest Vineyard. Just so happens that the chosen path passes by the Ayleid ruin of Nornalhorst.

Standing atop the ruined gate of Nornalhorst Maeva reminds me that this is the Ayleid ruin where I acquired the sword, Light of Dawn. It was overrun by vampires at the time which we had to defeat inorder toclaim the Light of Dawn.

Kaleah lets me know the stink of vampires rises from Nornalhorst once again. Perhaps the Ayleid ruins needs another cleaning.

There were fewer vampires for the Light of Dawn to absorb this time around. Light of Dawn only collected around 20-vampire life forces. Still quite a haul but it certainly wasn’t easy to do as many of the high level warrior type vampires were decked out in Daedric armor.

Shadowcrest Vineyard is just hop, skip, and a jump from Nornalhorst. Even so, it was after sunset by the time we reached Shadowcrest.

Lovingly, I slaved in the kitchen cooking dinner for my Ladies. After dinner we loaded ingredients, potions, poisons, in the alchemy sorters, scrolls in the scroll chest, stacked books into the bookshelves, and placed private letters into a small box labeled correspondences. The night ended with a relaxing bath just before going to sleep.

I'm just not so sure how well Gweden will do so close to Anvil. Buffy once heard an Anvil guard say he'd rather sleep with his horse than a Bosmer!

I hate to break it to the Jandanga, but given the outfits of those he travels with, no one is going to notice what he wears.

Wow, that’s a beautiful walk out of Skingrad.

And an afternoon of vampire huntin’ before spending a delightful evening being ‘domestic’ at Shadowcrest.

I should probably update the wiki pages to indicate when the customers start to show up. Mai'iq never does, of course.

Bjarne should be there once the place has at least one on the staff. Marcel depends on you doing the brother's quest, or he doesn't exist. Veritus is Silanu's client, so depends on her quest, plus building the lodge, so he has a place to go. Randonil is clear enough, as he's a captive until that quest is done.

There's more to your mod than I realized. Silanu's quest should be done soon.

It grew beyond my control. I couldn't stop adding more quests, and more connections to other mods. It eventually merged with the Bear Riders when i got to Falkreath. I can't recall if there was any link to Evergloam, but I probably had one in mind.

20210220 Maids-SMCMQ02Blackwood Company
Having fallen in love the laboratory at Shadowcrest Claire has decided to stay behind and work on recreating the famous Shadowbanish wine. Yeah, right. By the way she guzzled the stuff at dinner I suspect it’s the wine cellar that‘s the attraction. That’s fine. Someone really is needed to watch over the place when I’m gone.

Wishing Claire much success in her project and after assuring her that we’ll be stopping by on a regular basis Kaleah, Maeva, Pym, and I continue our journey eastward. Just past the small lakes and waterfalls behind Shadowcrest we notice the guard usually stationed in front of Desann’s Palace is gone. A sure sign that Desann’s Palace is no longer in business.

A great column of dense black smoke is rising from the base of the hill just past Desann’s tent. Looking down the hill we see a burning shack. The shack burns but is not consumed. It looks like an Oblivion gate had opened up right underneath the building. There’s a man pacing back and forth in front of the burning building.

Thinking he might be in of assistance we start down the slope to offer our help. Without warning or provocation he attacks us. My Ladies try to instruct him on the finer points of dueling but he wasn’t a very good student. The big dummy stepped right into Maeva’s zornhau demonstration. That was a bloody mess.

Well what do you know it’s Ruska the nasty Nord that the Dremora Vrolaine wants a piece of. Well, if she’s still there at Desann’s Palace I don’t see any reason now not to oblige Vrolaine and take Ruska’s body to her. Kaleah suggests that since Maeva has already hacked Ruska to pieces why not just take a leg. Vrolaine will be happy and it would be easier to carry.

Up the hill we go carrying a package for Vrolaine. We weren’t really expecting Desann’s Palace to be open but to our surprised to it was. Other than the lack of guards standing at every doorway it was very much business as usual.

Even the slave pens were operating as if nothing had changed. Two or three heavily drugged girls were shackled in each of the locked cages. At the end of the gangway, true to her word Vrolaine stood patiently waiting for her meal. In exchange for the meal she gave us Desann’s dagger in return. Don’t know what we’ll do with the dagger. Desann is dead and the guard who wanted the dagger recovered has deserted her post.

Leaving Vrolaine’s pen we shut the cage door and locked it. Don’t want Vrolaine to find out that she can get up and leave anytime she wants. If it wasn’t for the possibility that she might eat a client now and then, I’d offer her a job at Gweden.

Passing through the dance hall with hardly a glance at the dancers we head straight to the administration office. The sly little cat Sha’lr has taken over the operation. Oh, she knows what we did to Desann but she’s not telling anyone. She claims to be supportive of the slave girls by giving them jobs and a place to stay. I get the impression, now that the shoe is on the other foot, she enjoys lording over the so called superior races.

Then Sha’lra mentions that the Blackwood Company is attending to security issues in a newly excavated room beyond the private room. When asked if I’d consider helping I agreed to look into the matter. My Ladies and I entered the private room looking for the entrance to the hidden room. Thank goodness the room was unoccupied at the time.

When we arrived, the Blackwood Company had already setup a defensive perimeter. The Blackwood company leader Captain Miller motions toward an Argonian alchemists and tells us Project Purity called Blackwood to investigate the murder of Desann and several of his guards. The source Miller claims is Daedra that are pouring out of a portal up ahead. Sarcastically he orders us to go in talk to the Daedra and bring back intel on their numbers.

Before accepting we have a talk with the Argonian alchemist. Argis-Slee is a proud member of some obscure organization called Project Purity. Unabashedly he boasts of his products. As he talking I get the faint yet distinct odor of Hist sap.

Not sure if I like what’s going on here. Something about the attitude of Blackwood Company and Project Purity dealing in an illicit drug trade doesn’t set right with us.

As Kaleah and Maeva wait for my decision Pym grabs me by the arm and begins pulling me toward the tunnel entrance. Ok, ok, we’ll go talk to the Daedra.

Shadowcrest sounds like a perfectly named place to try and recreate Shadowbanish wine.

Feeding the Daedra?

I vaguely remember something about the Blackwood Company, hist sap and unpleasant happenings around Leyawiin.

the mod author hinted that Shadowcrest's original owner was the alchemist that developed Shadowbanish wine many ages ago.

Think of the Fighters Guild quest

Like you said over in the new Beth forums, Jandaga is all over the place with his quests / locations-to-be. Do you need to take notes, macole? I find that I do for all my multiple characters in different games.

Interesting that there's a Project Purity. That name comes from Fallout 3, when the Lone Wanderer (similar to Champion of Cyrodiil) needs to assist getting the Capitol Wasteland's water purified.

One of my characters is casually doing Blackwood Company quests, so I think we may have the same mod there. That character--Renee Gade III-- is always getting sidetracked, too. Just like Jandaga, I assume.

Notes? Yes I guess you can say I take notes. It’s little easier for me since I only have one character. The pages I post are an elaborate version of my notes. Jandaga has a good memory and should he forget one of his Ladies usually will remind him.
The Blackwood Company’s illicit use of hist sap is the main focus in the Fighters Guild quest line. There are many mods that play on that conflict. Turns out Maids unexpectedly, does that too. There is at least one mod that allows you to join Blackwood Company that, I think not having played it, turns the table on the Fighters Guild.

20210224 Maids-SMCMQ02-Valhalla
It ain't no big thing to wait for the bell to ring
It ain't no big thing the toll of the bell

It’s a Blue Portal. Are we ready? Might as well step in and get this over with.

The portal took us to a brilliantly lit temple floating majestically like a sparkling diamond in the darkness of the void. Stepping off the portal on to the marble floor of Valhalla we’re greeted by light armored female Redguard and Imperial guards. The recruits allow us to step forward as a beautiful creature approached. Her name is Karakiss.

Karakiss’s introduction was brief. For more we must speak to Serenity. Escorting us to the doors of the Stronghold, Karakiss strongly implies the Blackwood Company is not to be trusted.

Inside the Stronghold down the hall we march heads up and shoulders back to give the impression of fearless determination. Serenity was attended by two female guards. We make note of two more guards stationed on the ramparts above us.

As I begin to introduce ourselves it becomes plain that Serenity already knows who we are and why we are here. With the subterfuge out of the way we get right to the heart of the matter. First by confirming that Serenity and Karakiss are not Daedra neither are they of any race on Nirn.

“Just what do you expect us to do?” I asked.

“Kill them all!”Her near demented scream shocked us momentarily. Recovering her composure, she soothingly continued, “They're terrible people who've done so much harm, and plan to destroy your world in a way you can't even imagine.”

“Does it have to do with a highly euphoric and addictive sex drug, Erosap?” I questioned.

“I wasn't expecting questions,” replies Serenity. “How about I explain everything to you when you get back? After the captive women in the Palace are freed. Do you hear that? We're the good guys, Champion.”
Hmmm, “Good Guys”, I wonder. The slight hesitation to ponder the “Good Guys” comment was noticed. Serenity upped the ante.

“You'll fit right into our ranks if you ever decide life in your realm is too boring. My women would be thrilled to be by your side.”

“I have to think about it,” I answered while thinking, “whipped cream and a cherry on top. Should we hold out for sprinkles?”

“Thinking is so dull! Hurry up and make your decision!”

What do we have here? On one side there’s the Blackwood Company and an Argonian alchemist working with Project Purity dealing in an illicit drug trade and sex trafficking. On the other side we have a totally unknown race and operation. To top it off, Serenity’s silky smooth and slightly suggestive negotiation tactics left us feeling a little uneasy.

“Don’t trust either side,” Kaleah advised. “Du-sith! These Serenity and Karakiss things… are not my Feache’s combrogi (fellow countrymen).”

"How so? Their ears aren't too much bigger than mine. They are female after all."

Nothing prevented us from wandering around the stronghold as we mulled over our questions. Well not completely, there were a couple of doors requiring keys that we could not enter. The door to the barracks was unlocked. Nonchalantly opened the door and stepped to take a look.

Four of Serenity’s legionnaires stood at attention in the Barracks Lobby. The door leading to dormitories was unlocked. A short hallway and a door to the left and we found ourselves face to face with the SEXY SIX; Luna, Ivy, Rose, Blondie, and Muerta. They claimed to be proficient in certain hand-to-hand combat techniques.

“Sexy Six, but there’s only five of you.”

“We were thinking of calling ourselves The Fetish Five but we like the sound of The Sexy Six better. You could join us to make our sixth. Now wouldn’t that be a slap on the… ah, thigh.”

Sprinkles!

For a moment I thought we were back at the Silver Sky Temple with Clan Master Kikyo but something felt terribly wrong. Maybe it was the smoldering glares at my back causing me to sweat. Sadly I had to decline the offer, Serenity was awaiting our decision.

Not a BLUE portal!

“My, Karakiss, what big ears you have.”
“All the better to hear your approach.”

“How about I explain everything to you when you get back?”
- - Umm, nothing suspicious about that idea, eh?
“Don’t trust either side,” Kaleah advised.’
- - Good advice, methinks!

Yep, this BLUE portal.

Dang, wish I'd a thought of the "Big Ears".

This post has been edited by macole: Feb 25 2021, 06:47 AM