Old Habits Die Hard Part Three, The old dog practices new habits Options

[haute ecole rider]

Here is the first of a third thread for Old Habits Die Hard. I appreciate all of you staying with Julian and I this far, and hope you stick with us to the end!

For those who want to go back to the beginning, here you go:
Old Habits Die Hard Chapters 1 - 7
Old Habits Die Hard Chapters 8 - 13

[Destri Melarg]

Okay, I’m back with my obligatory wall of text! I enjoyed so much about these last chapters that this is going to be a very LOOONNNNGGGGG post. You have been warned.

Chapter 14.3 The Shrine of Sheogorath

First I want to commend you on incorporating Gwinas’ directions into this chapter. They gave Julian a frame of reference outside of the combat and helped to bridge the gap in logic that says that there is no way that Julian would have been able to anticipate the Mad God’s offering demands.

I have to agree with trey that there was something slightly jarring about Julian’s need to cleanse the area of bandits. The explanation for her actions was both logical and well described, but there was an undertone to her actions that was both uncharacteristically cold and blood-thirsty. Could the distaste she feels for the task at hand be causing her to take her frustration out on the bandits she seeks to encounter on the road?

Chapter 14.4 Sheogorath’s Reward

Ah, the K’Sharra Prophecy. You already know how I feel about that! I know you are an animal lover, but come on . . . FLAMING DOGS!! IN A TOWN FULL OF CATS!!! I know that there is a perverse corner of your mind that registers a chuckle at the thought. On that note, it seems kind of strange to me that we feel empathy for the Khajiit of Borderwatch who suffer nothing more than a temporary fright and a long day cleaning up. We also feel for the sheep and the rats, who one way or another are going to end up dead at the Khajiit hands anyway. But we give no love to the poor, terribly mistreated and immolated DOGS! I am glad that Julian at least describes their dying as ‘sickening’.

You had me from S’thasa’s opening comments about the cheese (brilliant touch to have her make those comments to Julian over lunch!). Julian’s agonizing over ways to fulfill the conditions of the prophecy without killing the poor sheep (apparently the lot of livestock is no better in Tamriel than it is in, say, America) made her distaste with the whole task hit home. I thought the flashbacks to Ri’Bassa’s comments were great companion pieces to Gwinas’ directions in the last chapter and helped form a sense of continuity to the entire Sheogorath storyline. I wish you had included Ri'Bassa's reluctance at conveying the final part of the prophecy. It would have added to the build-up IMO. As it reads now there is something anti-climactic about the big event.

Chapter 14.5 Ardaline’s Staff

Now it all begins to make sense. First it was a return to Bravil and a confrontation with the demons of her past. Then it was her epic struggle against multiple enemies at Fort Grief that ultimately ended in failure. Following that it was her near relapse into the hell of addiction from which she thought herself free. Finally it was an unsavory task for a Daedric Prince that left her doubting her own purpose. I guess it is no surprise that Julian would lash out at random bandits on the road or terrorize a couple of civilians whose only crime was buying a staff from the wrong person. I stand in awe at the subtlety in which you have allowed Julian’s character to reveal itself to us in these last chapters. If it was intentional then you are bumping dangerously close to genius here. If it was a happy accident then I would advise acting like the dog who has just collided with the sliding glass door. Just shake yourself and walk away quietly like you meant for all the world to do exactly that!

Chapter 14.6 Order of the Virtuous Blood

‘Welcome to the hallowed halls of the Order of the Virtuous Blood. We are, for lack of a better term, vampire hunters . . . even though, until now, we have never actually found a vampire. It has, suspiciously and conveniently, come to our attention that Roland Jenseric is a vampire. What we want you to do is go out and kill him so that we can take the credit. Please.’

One of the things that I always admire about this story is the way that you seamlessly juxtapose in-game dialogue and Julian’s often tongue-in-cheek perception. Given the weight of responsibility that she has taken upon herself, and her tendency for melancholy, these moments of levity are a welcome respite.

I love this chestnut:

“A few nights ago, I was roaming the city, as I often do, searching for signs of a vampire.”

After emerging from hiding from the man who was ‘to strong’ to confront, Seridur returns to the garden to find the woman dead with two puncture wounds in her neck and it is only then that he realizes Jenseric is a vampire?!! The very thing he was supposedly out there hunting in the first place!! Methinks Seridur’s story should be wrapped in old copies of the Black Horse Courier and flung around the Waterfront for it doth emit the smell of slaughterfish!

On a completely unrelated side note: Deep-Throat made me laugh! And I don’t think that mALX has watched more porn than you. She has watched more old porn!

Chapter 14.7 Investigating Roland Jenseric

Like the others so ably pointed out, the conversations with Claudio and J’mhad really added a sense of depth and weight to the world that you present.

I admit that I found the fact that Julian had to ‘study’ Jenseric’s windows to ‘realize’ that they were uncovered a little strange. It felt like a definite ‘face-palm’ that I think you could have done more with, if for no other reason than to add a little seasoning to Julian’s methodical investigation. That is strictly a personal observation on my part.

Chapter 14.7 (again?) Return to Bravil

Let’s start with Vamori and Ardaline. I love the way that you have chosen to resolve this quest. Like the others said it is far more satisfying than the game’s resolution. My only issue (and it would be a very small one) is your portrayal of Vamori in the scene with Ardaline. He comes across as a little too one note to me. We get that Julian regards him as something of an ineffectual weasel, but that doesn’t mean that he should simply behave like one when getting dressed down by the woman he loves. He should be ecstatic that he accomplished his goal. Through both the hug and the slap, Ardaline is at last paying attention to him.

I would also once again caution Julian on her condescension toward men who step out of line. On her way out of the Mages Guild make sure that she steps down gently, we wouldn’t want her clay feet to break as she looks toward the skooma den!

Now the scene with Lerus is interesting. One can see the dilemma presented to her: resign her post and leave the people of Bravil to whoever the Count would name as her successor, or swallow her revulsion at certain of the Count’s crimes in order to remain at her post to protect the people of Bravil. I would not envy her that choice. SubRosa raises some interesting and valid points, ones that I am inclined to agree with as the story is written now. Perhaps, in a later chapter, we can be given some indication of the good that Lerus does while letting other things slide. That will help us to see her situation in a different light. I also disagree with your assessment of Lerus. I think that she is an incredibly strong character. That is why it is so maddening to see her constantly watching from the sidelines. The woman is a player, coach. Get her into the game!

The Count has dealings with both the Dark Brotherhood and the Marie Elena? Can we infer that Gaston Tussaud’s untimely demise was born of machinations begun in Castle Bravil?

Chapter 15.1 A Confession

trey might graciously give Jauffre a pass, but I won’t. Tell the Grandmaster that while he and all his pretty little Blades sit in Cloud Ruler sipping tea and eating roast lamb and mutton, Julian is the only one actually doing something about the Oblivion Crisis! His attitude grates on the nerves as much as Julian’s does toward men who are weaker than her. There is a certain justice in that, I suppose. It is certainly a testament to your skill that we care enough to get angry when we see Julian getting short shrift. I wouldn’t change anything about this chapter. As aggravating as Jauffre’s demeanor is, it still perfectly fits the character that you have developed.

I simply reserve the right to criticize him for it.

Chapter 15.2 A Hope for Healing

Finally!!! Treatment for that knee! Now we get to see what Julian at full strength is capable of. Daedra, silver tongue-tied lotharios, psychotic Orcs, and mischievous mages beware!!

The others may be willing to forgive Jauffre, but not me! The fact that he had such detailed reports of Julian’s actions yet still chose to berate and interrogate her shows a man with a pronounced streak of sadism in his make-up. Given her condition, both mental and physical, Jauffre comes across as nothing short of a bully in monk’s robes. Maybe Julian can convalesce in Bruma where she and Paint can get some relative peace.

Chapter 15.3 A Dream of Home

This chapter was simply remarkable. Julian’s reluctance to be rendered helpless and her inadvertent insult to Orania was so in character that my neck literally hurts from shaking my head in admiration. Jauffre’s new-found empathy and compassion slightly lowers my desire to hit him over the head with the Truncheon of Submission (but I still think he’s kind of a d*%#). Everything leading up to the dream-sequence worked perfectly.

‘Sun’s companion’ takes on meaning and weight while reading through Julian’s dream of home. We have all heard Julian mention her mother and brother on numerous occasions, but in this sequence we get a tantalizing hint of the tragic fate that awaits somewhere beyond the door to that simple cottage. The details that you chose to show us, like the mother’s longing gaze toward Anvil Harbor every day at the fourth bell, and the silver bracelet on her wrist that she never takes off, not to mention Cieran’s filling out from being apprenticed to Varel Morvayn are incredibly vivid and strike as truth against that tuning fork that we all possess inside. And the ending . . . with the scaled hand and hot breath of what I can only presume to be the Dragon of Time himself burning the back of her neck.

Beautiful.

This post has been edited by Destri Melarg: Sep 7 2010, 09:41 PM