I think I see what you're saying. Makes me smile the way macole writes, sometimes.

20231022 SI - Pinnacle Road, Vampire Hunting – Order of the Virtuous Blood

The morning after we were so rudely dumped out of Fain we found ourselves on the eastern side of a mountain range. Needing to get to The Fringe and then the portal to Cyrodiil we turned south hoping to find a pass through the mountains. It was quite some time later and well south of Fain’s dump exit before we found a trail that would take us west through the mountains. The trail intersected with a wider road near the New Sheoth Graveyard at which point we turned left and proceeded on our way toward The Fringe.

We had been traveling for awhile when we came to a division in the road. Not having been in this section of the Shivering Isles in a very long time, I was unsure which way to go. Asking the druid Elenya to divine directions she immediately knelt down to draw runes in the wet grass. The runes completed Elenya raised her hands and softly began to chant.

After a few minutes she stood, threw up her hands in frustration and exclaimed, “My Jandaga, It’s all insane gibberish! The flora cries out for a savior; to be reunited. Nature insists we go left.”

Hmmm, I don’t like the sound of that. Taking a moment to think it over, curiosity got the better of me and I led the Ladies down the left handed path.

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feeling groovy
Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy


As if to acknowledge our commitment to the southern path, the rain had stopped shortly after taking the path on the left.

Ignoring the brackish lake to the left of the road the trip south was pleasant at first. Claire and Elenya were happily busy collecting exotic ingredients while I sang a happy little song. Our good spirits came to a sudden end when a large Grummite Deathdealer came charging out of the mist. His attack caught us off guard but in the end the Deathdealer had dealt himself a losing hand.

Why did the grummite attack us, was the question. The grummite had come from a small island in the middle of the lake. Was there something there that demanded the Deathdealer attack three travelers brave or dumb enough to wander aimlessly in the swamp? We had to find out.

All we found was four large grummite egg sacks hanging in the rock formation.

Normally insensitive to fallen enemies Claire sadly commented, “Defender of his family, a Jandaga for Grummites.”

From the grummite nest site, to the south we saw a building worth investigating.

An ancient temple? Ages old, the crumbling structure housed a great statue of a Scanlon. Archeologically the find raises serious questions. Who raised the statue and for what purpose? Was this a shrine to a long forgotten Scanlon deity or great king? Could the Scanlon have once been an advance civilization predating the current man/mer occupants or Grummites for that matter? Or, could it even be older than the deadra prince that lays claim to this realm; a remnant of Nir’s creation lost when Anu formed the remnants of the 12 worlds into one -- Nirn? To be reunited with the rest creation, could that be the reunion Elenya tells me the flora seek?
Pondering those questions and others, we left the Scanlon monument and headed to the western shore of the lake.

Climbing out of the water a Noble Elytra tried to impose a dry land usage tax upon us. With Claire at the mercy of giant insect-like thing, I summoned Markie to come to my assistance.

“Elytra bisque!” exclaimed Markie as she came running.

With that battle cry on our lips we tore into the giant bug. By the time we had taken care of the Elytra dusk was closing in on us. Hoping to find an inn or someplace suitable for spending the night we continued our journey south until the entrance to Xedilian beckoned to us.

Stepping inside Xedilian’s wooden doors revealed a staircase down to a dark room. The three grummites in the room didn’t like being interrupted in whatever activity they were partaking in. I didn’t care what they were up to until they made it their business to involve me and my Ladies in their games. So, we had no choice but to let the grummies know that we were not playing.

There was more than one room to Xedilian but they were all locked with gates that were opened elsewhere. Unable to find the switches to open Xedilian’s further reaches left us feeling rather apprehensive about spending the night in a ruin we hadn’t fully cleansed. We decided to leave Xedilian as we found it.

Our hope in finding a safe place for the night dashed, we once again took to the road leading further south. To increase our misery, it began to rain.

The trail led us to the edge of a forest of leafless trees. The body of a fallen Kiskedrig Dark Seducer surrounded by several fallen gnarls lay in the road.

“My Jandaga, the stains on the grasses cries out that something other than gnarls did this thing,” cautioned Elenya.

“This place creeps me out,” added Claire.

With this stark reminder of what a dangerous land we were traversing we pressed onward into the skeletal forest with extreme apprehension. Was it the growing gloom of night playing with our senses or were the trees’ skeletal branches really reaching out for us?

Suddenly a flash of green flared between the trees ahead and from the dark forests on either sides of the road came those seeking blood.

“Vampires!” screamed Claire and Elenya in unison.

The fight was on.

Elenya drew her sword and charged as Claire, wielding the Crescent Moon Staff, summoned a Frost Atronach. Drawing the Light of Dawn, I found myself facing a lich summoned by a Vampire Lord. My fiery blade sizzled as it arced through the air striking the lich, forcing it to retreat.

Having survived the initial charge, the vampires’ surprise attack turned into a running battle through the dead tree forest. In the end the Abbot, the Vampire Lord, a Vampire Bard, a Vampire Warrior, and an Infected Ex-Vampire Huntress lay at our feet.

Vampires, hmmm, did we drive them out of Cyrodiil just to have them regroup here? The Order of the Virtuous Blood should hear of this.

Fearing the worst I gave the Infected Ex-Vampire Huntress a careful inspection. Thank the Mother of All Creation it wasn’t our friend and OVB colleague, Kendrel the Huntress.

Leaving the dusted vampires behind, we laughed at how we were looking for a place to spend the night. The night was almost over!

As dawn began to break, we came to the end of the dead forest. Seeing leaves on trees once again was such a comforting sight.

Elenya spoke up, “There is harmony in Nature and all things are balanced in the end.”

While Claire and I whole heartedly agreed, deep down inside I have this feeling that Elenya’s sense of nature is being misled by this land of Sheogorath.

This post has been edited by macole: Nov 2 2023, 05:46 AM

I hope all the nice alchemical treasures compensate for the challenges here. Too bad they had to trudge on all night with no safe place to stop. And a vampire attack to add insult to injury. I'd imagine a druid would struggle indeed in the Shivering Isles.

Wow, what an adventure!

Two things strike me as odd. Vampires in the Shivering Isles? Sheogorath must have been slacking because he doesn't normally allow them in. Insanity has rules, you know. Plenty of cheese but no bloody mess.

Secondly, a vampire summoning a lich? That was one crazy vampire. They can't stand necromancers normally, they are mortal enemies... err... immortal enemies? Anyway, they hate each other. So why would he summon a lich of all things? Perhaps Shegorath messed up his head.

Feelin' groovy. 🌷 Simon & Garfunkel??



I do this too, sometimes. Find some strange feature or statue or look at the layout of a room and the objects within it and starting going crazy wondering "Who was here? Why did they build this?" and so on. Anyway, let's see if there's an answer to all this pondering.

It says this is OVB but I don't remember any of this at all, so far (my memory, though...) Ah, here are the vampires. That's the thing I loved about that mod, a lot of the vampires would walk around in plain sight, just ... after dark instead of in sunlight. Anyway, we could never be 100% if the person we were stalking was a vamp or an ordinary person. Not until we got close.

Yeah, Kendrel. I remember her.




I did the Order of Virtuous Blood mod a few years ago, and wasn't aware it added bloodsuckers in S.I. as well as Cyrodiil.

I have a feeling that Fiona will not be happy seeing Claire and Elenya return with baskets full of exotic ingredients from the Isles and will insist on going along on the next Shivering Isle trip.



It could be the vampires were able to flee to the Shivering Isles because Sheogorath has his mind on other more pressing matters, the return of Jyggalag. The land of Sheogorath does have affect on one’s mind, even those of vampires.


Yes, Simon and Garfunkel. Did you know that Simon hated the song after he wrote it? He even refused to sing it during concerts.

It so good to know that others ponder the ‘what ifs’ and ‘how comes’ while playing. My whole adventure is based
on searching for an answer. How so many do speed runs of such thought-provoking games is beyond me.

I was vaguely aware OVB placed vampires in the Isles, I read it somewhere long ago, but I did not expect to be attacked by vampires while on the road at night. The Pinnacle Road clan may be the only occurrence as I’ve not met vampires anywhere else. But then I’ve never spent much time in the Shivering Isles.

Did you know there are VH-OVB vampires in Morrowind?

I can see why, Feeling Groovy's so sing-songy, so damn catchy!

Hmm. Maybe not. Considering Simon also wrote Kodachrome (bleagh!). 📷 Sorry to anyone who likes that song.



I agree. You shoulda saw me in the Year 2000, playing Tomb Raider for the first time. I went those ruins in Peru so slowly, more like an archaeologist than an adventurer.



Really? To be honest I've hardly seen any vamps in MW so far. I'm sure we will though, at some point.

20231031 SI - Pinnacle Road, Xiditte

Our delightful, cough, journey south continues as we try to find our way back to the Fringe. Once again we are faced with a decision posed by another fork in the road. Which one to choose? Elenya tells me that the crazy flora is still saying “left” so left we go.

Typical dungeon crawling procedure, why did I expect something different? Tomorrow it could change to right, right, and right.

Taking the fork to the left takes us to the banks of a great lake or sea.

To our left we find the ruins of Xiditte. Again, Claire and Elenya comment that the ruins appear old. Not as ancient as the Scanlon monument but certainly older than any man or mer construction.

While we were happy to get out of the rain, the inhabitants of Xiditte, the cult Zealots of Sheogorath were not very welcoming. Summoning giant flesh golems, they came at us with swords flashing. Really, how do they expect to gain any followers when they treat inquisitive adventurers like this?

Once the dance with the Arbiter and his cult followers was over and we had cleared this section of Xiditte, we entered the Arbiter’s office. Books and papers were everywhere. A log listing recent rewards and punishments given to various cults members sat on the Arbiter’s desk. It was an interesting read that featured a place called the Pit as a punishment. We’ve thoroughly searched this floor of Xiditte and found nothing resembling a pit. I wonder where it could be, outside maybe.

Stepping away from the desk I laid my hand on what I thought to be a desk ornament. It was a switch. The floor in front of the desk instantly slid open. Claire and Elenya screamed, “THE PIT!” as they fell into the gaping hole.

Oops! By the looks on their faces they weren’t too happy about being so unceremoniously dumped. Umm, can’t have the Ladies thinking that I’m not concerned about their welfare. I thought of tossing down a rope so that they could climb up. Yeah, I know how that’ll work. They’ll grab the rope and yank me on down. So, I might as well just save them the trouble and jump in and help them with their convalescence.

Their gushing “you have magic hands of a healer” filled me with self- pride leading me to overstep. Noticing a skeleton in the center of the Pit’s floor I made the dunderhead comment, “Some “life of the party” you girls are.”

It's too late to change events
It's time to face the consequence
For delivering the proof
In the policy of truth

The sudden ringing in my ears and stars in my eyes told me… something I can’t quite remember.

Staggering, I fell into Claire’s comforting arms. Holding on more for comfort than support, the Ladies led me to a very hard locked door.

“I think you hit him too hard,” Claire said to Elenya. Holding me close Claire added, “Poor dear, he can barely stand.”

Ignoring Claire, Elenya directed my gaze to the door and commanded, “Open it!”

The little vixen knows what she’s doing. Of course, I can open it by casting the Open Everything spell. Only thing is I have to take off all my armor to do it. It’s so embarrassing. Why can’t I wear clothes under armor?

There is a face-saving solution in my pack. Steadying myself, I used the Open Very Hard Lock charged staff, Latar Andavar, to easily unlock the door.

“Oh pooh,” moaned a pair of voices behind me.

The Pit’s door opened to the Xiditte Catacombs. There were a few Zealots roaming the catacombs of Xiditte. Just as snobbish as the Arbiter’s group, the Catacomb group suffered the same fate. The halls of the catacombs soon echoed with the sounds of sword play. After teaching the rowdy zealots some manners the catacombs were much quieter.

Down a staircase we entered a room of statues. Now that we know what a switch looks like in this place we noticed a switch at the base of the nearest statue, a statue of a Hunger. Pressing the switch a bolt of lightning shot from the mouth of the Hunger streaked across the room to strike the nearest of four Grummite statues. There, it fizzled.

Recognizing the security system for what it was, we searched and found a series of switches mounted on a nearby wall. Using these switches we were able to rotate the Grummite statues so that a lightning bolt fired from the Hunger statue would go ricocheting from one Grummite to another until reaching the final Grummite statue standing far into the next room. Upon striking the final Grummite statue the lightning bolt was sent crashing into a wall.

The shattered wall exposed a hidden hallway and staircase. Up the stairs we went. The hallway at the top of the stairs came to an end and we were faced with an athletic challenge. To continue we would have to jump from one narrow ledge to the next.

Not want to be seen as overly enjoying watching the lissome Ladies manage the obstacle course, I went first. With a telekinesis spell at the ready should I have to try and catch them should they miss a jump, I watched intently as Claire and Elenya navigated the obstacle.

The final ledge allowed us to enter a room holding a crystal chest. Locked, the chest requires a special item to open it. Nothing we have will do the trick and we’re left wondering what does it take to open the crystal chest?

“Perhaps one of the Stranded Light Daedra at Merendin knows what will unlock this chest.” Claire suggested.

Leaving the crystal chest room, as we stood on the first ledge we noticed a bedroom below us. Earlier, when clearing the Catacombs of Zealots, we had thought of returning here when the place was safe for a nap. Why not just jump on down now instead of taking the long way around? Even though we used the super hero three point landing, my Ladies still complained about bruised knees.

“Float like bee,” Claire said proudly, like she had come up with the greatest metaphor ever.

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” moaned Elenya, correcting Claire. Turning to me she questioned, “Ever think of using telekinesis like a spider-silk thread and lower us down gently?”

Yeah, I know, I should get a parachute soft landing spell for situations like this. To make up for it use my Food for Gold spell. After several tries, we had the most lavish and expensive picnic ever.

Dinner over, feeling content Claire and Elenya wearily eyed the bed. I thought I’d stay up a while read through some of the books we found.

“Don’t be long,” they softly cooed as they climbed into the big bed. They were sound asleep within minutes.

Of all the books, I found Myths of Sheogorath to be the most thought provoking especially the first story, “Sheogorath Invents Music”. While it was particularly gruesome it gave me the initial impression that this land was here long before Sheogorath.

Finally too tired to read anymore, I eased myself, so not to wake the blissful sleeping Ladies, into the center of the bed.

After awhile I decided that if I was to get any sleep I’d better get up and go find the bedroll we saw in the room just outside the door to the Pit. Now I wouldn’t say that the two gentle ladies snore, umm loudly. No, I wouldn’t say that but umm… Normally Cannon in D gently lulls me to sleep but when they slid into Toccata and Fugue in D Minor I knew I had to leave.

A touch cold here alone on the stone floor but to sleep at last is good.

Another fun romp through part of the SI. I sort of remember that pit area somewhere in some SI dungeon. . . .

No sleep for the weary. Or the wary. Foiled by a pair of snores.

I've never spent much game time in the Shivering Isles. This all new to me.

Well, I've spent probably more time in the Shivering Isles than in Cyrodiil... and I've never been to Xiditte! This is vanilla, isn't it? Not a mod?

I'm surprised that you've missed this one.

Yes, other than possible texture replacers it was a vanilla run through of Xiditte.

"Our delightful..." *COUGH* ".... journey south..."

I don't even know why this is funny ... to me.

Which version of S.I. are they in: Dementia or Mania? Or can you just go there and not choose either one of them? Never been to the Isles.

Love that Ruins of Xidette pictureWHOA they fell in a pit.

Indeed. How do these zealots expect to attract any new devotees if they're pulling tricks like this? -- Then again, what sort of a game would we have if everyone was nice to us as we travelled into their nefarious lairs?

Today's song: No idea. None at all. Not even a bell ringing somewhere. 🔔 Hmm, neither Lena nor Acadian got it too. This looks like a job for the ghast-man.

Wow, look at that bedroom. I can't decide if it looks cozy or creepy.

This post has been edited by Renee: Nov 7 2023, 02:50 AM

We are running down Pinnacle Road in Dementia. For the majority of what little time I’ve spent in S.I. it's been spent in Mania. It gives us those nice bright colors and greens summer. Makes you think all the world's a sunny day. Kodacrome (bleagh!). 📷 Sorry, just had to do it.

Lyrics hint, they're a British band from the ‘80s.

You don't need to choose anything. The land has two distinct regions but you can travel freely everywhere.


Of course I know those fashionistas. But I remember their synth-pop rather than their lyrics, so I shall admit I had to look it up. Which is why I'm not saying the name and leave it open for the next person to try.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2023, 09:39 AM

Arrgh KODACHROME!! How could the same fellow who wrote The Boxer and Bridge over Troubled Water come up with that crap?

One of these days one of mine will go to the Isles, who knows when that'll happen though. I've only had one character who wanted to go there, but then my PS3 died (he was on PS3).

20231112 SI-Pinnacle Rock - GwedenExpansion - StrandedLight - VH-OVB

The next morning after a restful sleep we left Xiditte, rejoined the main portion of the Pinnacle Road and as usual, turned left to continue our trek south, over a road that undulated up little raises and down into water filled soggy bottoms. After crossing a couple of wooden bridges that traversed deeper gorges, we passed by a small campsite, Lost Time Camp. There wasn’t much there and not being tired we gave it a quick look and left.

Not far from the camp we came across another divide in the road. Seeing no reason to change our previous course of action we took the overgrown Corpesrot Passage on the left. According to Elenya the flora of Dementia agreed with the decision.

Up a small rise we spotted what looked like the massive stump of a gigantic tree. What appeared to be a rotten section of the stump turned out to be the entrance to Corpserot Prison. With a name like that we had to enter.

Once we got past the cave-like earthen entrance tunnel the interior of Corpserot Prison changed. The earthen tunnel became grand rooms and hallways of smooth stone walls and staircases. Yes, the place was filthy and in disrepair but the place had the feeling of being occupied.

The Magus Torturer, the leader of a small detachment of Grummite prison guards, gave us our first clue as to who occupied this facility. The three of us easily dealt with the overgrown toad. The rest of the Grummite guards fell to our blades as we explored the prison.

In places, walls had been broken through and tunnels excavated enjoining adjacent rooms. In one such place a tunnel took us to the barred gate of a jail cell. (Until now we hadn’t seen anything resembling a prison cell and we were beginning to wonder why the word “prison” was used in the name.)

Locked in the cell stood a half-naked Dark Seducer, Nelrene the Naughty (Gweden Expansion).

As a punishment for some infraction Syl, the Duchess of Dementia, had Sheogorath bind Nelrene to the mortal world and then condemned her to this prison. Nelrene didn’t dwell on why or what she did to be judged so severely only that it was my fault. Now she wants my help to escape.

Having no recollection of ever meeting Nelrene or having anything to do with Syl, I started to object. Before I could get two words out Nelrene insisted that she was going with me. Then Nelrene said she needed suitable armor and a weapon so she could feel safe. Oh, and it had to be made of amber. Lucky for her I just happened to have a complete set of amber armor and some weapons in my Midas Chest.

Offering Nelrene her choice, she surprised us by only taking a cuirass, a shield, and a sword. Trying it on for size Nelrene decided she liked the fit and finish of the armor. It hugged her tightly, giving her a comforting safe from harm feeling. Looked pretty good on her too.

Leaving Corpserot Prison, the Pinnacle Road turned toward the west for a ways until it finally came to an end. Crossing bridge we approached Pinnacle Rock, the most sacred home of the Mazken.

The Mazken guarding the entrance refused to allow us entry for the night, saying that mortals aren’t allowed. By the way the Maken were eyeing Nelrene and considering that Nelrene is an escaped convict we thought it best to not press the issue and quickly left. We didn’t have much further to go as the land came to an end.

Standing on the banks of the bay (if there had been a dock we could have sat) oft in the distance we could see the shadowy outline of the Fringe. Hmm, do we take the long way around by going back the way we came or take the short route by walking on water? Nelrene, anxious to get as far away from Syl as quickly as possible, pressed for the water route. All agreed, then with a wave the hand we stepped out on water that hardened under our feet.

Halfway across the bay hoping to rest for a moment, we set foot on a large island. High above the narrow beach, rising above trees was a camp platform. Finding a camp on an island in the middle of the bay wasn’t all that surprising. Finding a Maormer living on the platform, did.

Hailing the sea-elf we climbed up to speak with him. Sirelle tells us the story of how he escaped the pirates after they sank the ship he was on ship. He doesn’t remember anything other than being attacked by pirates, swimming for his life, when suddenly the stars in the night sky changed and he somehow ended up here.

Sirelle is concerned about his fellow 13 shipmates and asked if I would find out their status. We’ve met a couple already it couldn’t hurt to ask them what they know. We stayed at the Water Camp for a short while before deciding to continue on.

It was early in the evening when we reached the walls of the Fringe. Judging from where we were at the shortest way to the Gates of Madness would be to follow the wall to the right. Nearing the gates to the Fringe we found another crystal chest. Still unable to open a crystal chest we continued on our way to the Door to Cyrodiil.

Darkness came upon us as we passed through the little town of Passwall. A sick-looking Redguard (Vampire Hunting-OVB Mod) showing all too obvious signs of vampirism shuffled despondently past us. Light of Dawn hummed at my side inciting me to unleash its fury upon the afflicted sick-looking Redguard. Resisting the impulse I came up with a crazy idea.

Sheogorath must be desperate to allow vampires to enter the Shivering Isles. So, if someone has got to save the Madgod, why not send him this sick-looking Redguard? An insane idea of a hero for a mad god, why not?

“Seeking refuge amongst the insane, eh?” I asked. Staring blankly at us the sick-looking Redguard had nothing to say. “Well, why don’t you go up to New Sheoth Palace and seek an audience with Sheogorath? He can cure you and fulfill your wildest dreams if you complete a task for him.”

The now mission focused yet still sick-looking Redguard turned and resolutely headed toward the Gates of
Madness. We on the other hand walked over to The Wastrel's Purse to get a room for the night.

The following morning, we left Passwall.

edit: fixed screenshots

This post has been edited by macole: Nov 13 2023, 06:49 PM

I did think the tree platform camps in SI were pretty neat.

Looks like a couple screenshot links are not working.

Brilliant to send Sheo a sick vampire applicant for his 'champion' needs!

I like the tree platform camps too. I've noticed that a lot of modders use them.

I've fixed the screenshots. It's the space after the period that did it.

A vampire becomes a god, how insane is that? The Vampire Hunter is going to have some serious work to do.
Lena had some thoughts on why vampires shouldn't be in the isles. My thought was Sheo is in dire straits and will take anyone or thing to save his bacon.

This post has been edited by macole: Nov 13 2023, 07:06 PM

What's that the darker-dressed Field Hippie is wearing? Looks like a short skirt, but it looks sort of ranger-ish. I can see my Bosmer archer wearing something like that. Obviously mod-added, so which one?

Nelrene the Naughty joins the highly-exclusive Jandaga clan. Sounds like competition for the other gals. 😍 Yeah, NTN's choice of armor/shield is quite striking. She's looking like Field Hippy-material for sure. ☮

No lyrics, but today's song inference = Otis Redding, final answer.

Whoa, a Maomar. Are sea elves part of S.I. by defauilt?

Ah, there's one of the Vamp-Hunting vampires. 🧛 Years ago when Renee Gade III was involved with VH she'd always have to be careful when finding one of these monsters, especially in the Imperial City. Oftentimes, she'd be dressed in some floofly-looking clothing (she's a doll) because she was off-time/not 'at work', so not wearing armor, maybe not even carrying a suitable weapon. Thing is, she'd usually feel compelled to vanquish the vampire, right then and there. And I think the guards were okay with this, iirc.

But there's a certain way these vampires move about, right? Apart from actually looking at their eyes, they have a certain way of moving about which normal NPCs do not. Even so, it sucked if RG3 thought somebody was a vampire, attacked him or her, and now she's got a bounty to pay.

Sounds like the Jandaga has more mercy upon the vampires he comes across!

This post has been edited by Renee: Nov 16 2023, 07:40 PM