The Retired Character Thread Options

[Renee]

I have just completed one of my character's games, and decided I'd open up a thread for those whose stories have come to an end. Feel free to add your own.

Lord Haaf-Mersey

Final Playthrough Date: 7:52 AM, 12th of Sun's Dusk, 4E 202

Total Gametime: 400 hours, 38 minutes, and 4 seconds

Class: Crusader
Factions: Dawnguard, Thane of Falkreath


Days Passed: 452
Hours Slept: 3,455
Hours Waited: 2,228

Final Gold: 22,333 (this is what is stored in a safe in LHM's house)
Gold Found: 225,882

Chests Looted: 1,451
Skill Increases: 628

Dawnguard Quests Completed: 13
Quests Completed: 37
Misc Objts Completed: 114
Main Quests Completed: 1
Side Quests Completed: 13

Locations Discovered: 186
Dungeons Cleared: 109

Homes: Lakeview Manor
Children: 1 (Lucia)
Spouse: Mjoll the Lioness
Main Followers: Mjoll the Lioness (Motormouth Mjoll), Serana, Rayya the Overkiller

Lord Haaf-Mersey is also known as the Crusader from Cyrodiil, and is supposed to be a Breton/Nord (but mostly Breton). He grew up in a good home somewhere in (or near) Bruma. His family was well-to-do and he had a strong education, but he was raised to speakth in a tongue long-lost to the majority of Tamrielites.

He had some sort of military training, and may have spent some time working as a guard. Sometime in the 4th Era/Year 199 a crude Nord Warrior named Thor a'Zaene (also from Cyrodiil, Thor was my second Skyrim character) became the first to discover loot and wealth in some of Skyrim's draugr barrows. Since all of Cyrodiil's forts, ruins, caves (etc.) had long been plundered, Thor's discovery created a rush to Skyrim; many folks wanting to become wealthy. Lord Haaf-Mersey moved to Skyrim not to become rich, but because rumors were that a civil war was about to erupt there, and he had also heard some sort of 'calling'.

Being a devout follower of The Nine and also somewhat of a historian, Haaf-Mersey researched all he could find about the great adventurers of the latter Third Era. He became rather obsessed about Dyan phor a'Cauz, a Paladin who managed to save Tamriel from the wretches of Umaril the Unfeathered. He eventually began having a series of visions in which Dyan would speak to Haaf-Mersey directly.

When Haaf-Mersey moved to Skyrim he initially looked into assisting the Nords on their side of the Civil War, but it did not take long before he decided not to do this. After moseying a bit in Whiterun Hold (mostly keeping the land free of bandits and other baddies), Haaf-Mersey eventually found his calling when vampires began invading the holds of Skyrim. He joined an uprising of fighters known as the Dawnguard, and eventually rose to defeat Lord Harkon, saving Skyrim from a sunless world (among other things).

Lord Haaf-Mersey can be found living at his home in Falkreath Hold with his adopted daughter (Lucia), his wife (Mjoll the Lioness), and his Steward (Rayya).



This post has been edited by Renee Gade IV: Jan 6 2014, 12:06 AM

[Grits]

This is a great idea, Renee. My characters who died are memorialized in Senor Cinco’s threads on the Beth forums, but the retirees never got their parties.

This thread is in the non-spoilers section, but since we’re talking about characters who have finished things there might be spoilers despite my best efforts. If anyone thinks they might complain about that, they should probably move along and just skip my posts.

Here’s a little write-up for my very first Skyrim character on the PS3. She was also my first character in Oblivion, so I know her very well. If memory serves she had 330-something hours played over about two years, and the last time I mentioned her level it was 50. I don’t really keep track of stats and her saves are gone, but I remember the “Bunnies Slaughtered” and “Wings Plucked” stats made me laugh. Rowan was never a good enough archer to slaughter bunnies, but she was cold-hearted enough to pluck a lot of wings. Better them then her, she would say.



Celebrating the Retirement of

Rowan Varrus

Dragonborn, dual-wielding savior of the world.

Rowan Varrus, single Imperial woman in her mid-thirties, drifted to Skyrim with no clear purpose. She had been a spellsword in Cyrodiil, but in this new land everyone seemed to start off on equal footing.

She blundered into a group of Stormcloaks near Darkwater Crossing. They seemed intent on treating her very badly, but she was soon rescued by the Imperial Legion. Who then assumed she was a Stormcloak spy and planned to cut off her head.

Then there were dragons.

Rowan embraced her unlikely role as the latest Ysmir, Dragon of the North, though her fragile person was frequently not up for the tasks given her. One of her first actions was to take the blessing of the Lord Stone to supplement her light armor and lack of native spell resistance. She focused her education (perks) on one-handed, though she also used Daedric summons and healing spells in battle. She never really embraced Destruction magic in Skyrim. Probably because as a dual-wielder it was far too cumbersome to fiddle around swapping swords and spells while getting hammered in light armor.

She kept a follower with her most of the time. First Lydia who started off strong but got weaker and weaker as Rowan’s skills increased. (Remember that bug?) Then Sven, who amused her by occasionally whipping out his flute for a little music when she took too long to make up her mind in dungeons. Then she hired Stenvar when Sven started spending too much time on his knees. She accidentally caused Stenvar’s death when her flame atronach exploded right next to him in a corridor.

And then she met Vorstag.

Rowan and Vorstag had a bumpy relationship. She liked him right away, but he was a complete maniac which sometimes caused problems. For example in Falmer dungeons Rowan liked to sneak in for a look and then snipe at least one before the action started, but Vorstag would often come charging in yelling battle taunts from where she left him waiting way back by the door. They may be blind, but they can still HEAR YOU, Vorstag. Also they killed a few guards over the years when Vorstag got out of control over small issues. Rowan was not a criminal, but she did develop something of a criminal record. I became familiar with the “Last Witness Killed” message. Also she learned that she had to make Vorstag wait somewhere far away when she had a bounty (from his reckless killing) so that he wouldn’t take on the whole town while she tried to surrender.

Anyway one time in a dungeon he jumped or fell down into a pit of draugr where he was getting his butt kicked and using up healing potions, and Rowan couldn’t get a clean shot. So she jumped in after him. At the end of the dungeon she dismissed him, realizing that she would not live long if she continued that kind of selfless behavior. After all, he was supposed to watch her considerably smaller back. Then she ran after him and hired him back before he even got out of sight.

She fired and re-hired him that way several times over the course of their adventures, each time feeling more of a sense of something inevitable. Then standing on the street in Whiterun in the rain, he asked her to marry him. She had forgotten she had the Amulet of Mara on and was just going to give him some healing potions. But she immediately said yes.

By then Rowan had found a set of Orcish armor with a very good health enchantment, so she had taken the blessing of the Steed Stone and switched to heavy armor. Eventually she became Thane of Haafingar Hold and bought Proudspire Manor in Solitude. Lydia joined the Blades, so Rowan and Vorstag enjoyed privacy whenever they returned for short visits to Breezehome.

Rowan defeated Alduin, solved the problems of the College of Winterhold, became Thane of most of the Holds, joined the Legion and saw the war through to its end, acquired several Daedric artifacts of varied uselessness, and slaughtered Skyrim’s Dark Brotherhood. As she and Vorstag neared retirement they adopted Samuel and Francois Beaufort from the Honorhall Orphanage.

The family lives in Solitude. Rowan takes her role as Thane of Haafingar very seriously, especially as her Jarl is kind of a dimwit and will probably soon be High Queen of Skyrim. Also some of the other Thanes are crooks. Vorstag runs a successful business out of Proudspire Manor. Although Rowan insists on a Cyrodiil education for her boys (they’re home schooled), they can usually be found at play in Solitude’s market district.

Here are some pictures of my TV:

Rowan and Vorstag in the Reach

Vorstag getting crazy eyes while talking to the priest about their wedding

Post-wedding photo: Rowan saying WTF as Vorstag bolts for the door