Kothet's Story, A dremora in Skyrim, and his housecarl. Options

[ghastley]

Kothet was a (dead) character in the Gweden Brothel mod. He was the Dremora Valkynaz who owned Prizna, before she killed him and escaped. I resurrected him to be the test character for the Dremora Hearthfires mod for Skyrim, and he hung around a bit longer than expected.

Since a Dremora in Skyrim normally only wears a special version of Daedric armour (with reduced stats) he can't use most regular armour, so his story reflects that limitation, and the gear he does use is the same as the houscarl can use in my mod, which was of course added to the game as wearable by a Dremora.

The housecarl's combat style and equipment are set by the mod to complement the abilities of the player character, so a mage, defined as a player who has higher magicka than health or stamina, wil get an archer housecarl. An archer ( a non-mage with Marksman skill above one- or two-handed) gets a melee housecarl, and others get a mage. Kothet's preference is two-handed, although he starts off using a one-handed weapon with a spell in the other. The spell-book offers three choices of housecarl - male, regular female, and sexy female. The last of those wears skimpier outfits, and has the sultry voice rather than the commander voice.

Kothet's story is already well under way, and I'll start to post more episodes here once I finish posting Clark's. There's a link at the top for those who've forgotten about Prizna's interview with Clark. I linked to the copy here, not the one on my site with the nude picture of her.

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1 - Helgen

I can understand the Stormcloaks deciding to hide in my cave. The entrance is well-concealed, which is why I chose it. And it stays that way, if I'm careful how I enter, and don't leave obvious footprints outside.

I can understand how the pursuing Imperials found them, too. What I can't understand is why the Imperials think I'm one of them. Seriously, how many Stormcloaks have horns?

I'm not talking about helmets here. My horns are on my head, just like any of the Kyn. But we are few in Tamriel, so maybe they've never seen a Dremora before.

Whatever they were thinking, we all ended up on the same cart headed for Helgen. I presume I was vocal about the Imperials' incompetence in including me, because I don't remember much about the journey, just waking with a sore head as we approached the town. By that time, I'd given up trying to make our captors actually think. They were military, which would generally mean that thinking was for officers only.

---

I know this because once, I was an officer. In Mehrunes Dagon's forces, I led the attack that took Ganonah, the city the locals call Kvatch. Which is why I got the blame when it was taken back, even though I wasn't there at the time. I was the officer, so I should have forseen the possibility, and not left the place under the command of a subordinate . Even though Dagon himself had sent me elsewhere, on an assignment beneath my station.

To make matters worse, the woman I'd been given as a reward for my success at Ganonah had turned on me. Admittedly, I'd probably been unfair in the way I treated her. Anger at Dagon can't be directed towards him, and she probably got the worst of my frustration. I was on guard duty - me, a Valkynaz, on guard duty! - inside the gate we'd opened near Bravil. That's where she killed me. A mere woman struck me down, with shock spells to weaken me, and a final blow from a mace! I was so proud of the way she did it, but of course, unable to tell her until I was restored.

And then, equally, I was in no position to do so, because I was somewhere else in Tamriel. I have no idea how long I was in the heatless flames of Oblivion waiting for restoration, but I expected to be restored in the Deadlands, in familiar territory. Clearly I'd lost even more of Dagon's regard by being slain by my own woman, and he'd sent me to guard another gate, this time from the outside.

I'd only been there a few hours, when the fire in the gate suddenly ceased, meaning the gate was closed, and I was stuck in the mortal world until Dagon decided to recall me. Given his recent actions, I did not imagine that happening soon.

---

Two centuries later, I'm still here. Each time I die, I'm restored to Tamriel, not the Deadlands. So stripping off my armour and wrestling a bear wasn't as much use as I thought it would be. It just lost me some useful equipment, and I had to replace it with lesser things that mortals had made. Since then, I've learned to make my own.

When these Imperial clowns have finished with me, I'll need to make some more, as they took everything when they put us on the carts. Since I'd just crawled out of my bedroll when the Stormcloaks arrived, I wasn't even wearing my armour, and they gave me some crude sack-cloth things to cover myself.

I can see Helgen gates now, so it looks like we'll be there in a few minutes. Hopefully there will be a competent officer in charge, and I'll be released.

---

The horse-thief the soldiers had rounded up with us didn't have any confidence in officers, and tried to run as soon as we got off the carts. He died in a volley of arrows.

There was a legionary calling the roll of prisoners, and lining us up for the General. I'd heard of this Tullius, and he seemed like a man who could think. I was confident that their mistake would soon be rectified.

Obviously, my name wasn't on their list. They didn't even know it yet, because I hadn't told them. The unthinking grunts hadn't asked; it wasn't their job. The legionary asked his commander, a woman, what he should do. This was as it should be, pass the decision-making up the chain, and do not take responsibility on yourself. I expected her in turn to ask Tullius, but she decided that she didn't need to bother him with this level of decision, and arbitrarily condemned me to join the others in line for the block.

Part of me admired her confidence in her own decisions, but most of me just wanted to kill her. I stared at the Captain, learning her features so I would know her if we met again. No, when we met again. Even if I had to return from the dead to kill her, and of course I would do so.

I was the second to the block. It had me thinking that I might even be returned before all the executions were complete, and how beautiful would be the justice if I could place her head on this very block in my next life. But then the dragon came, and everything was confusion.

---

I found myself running into a tower with one of the Stormcloaks. My hands were still bound, and he had nothing to cut the ropes. How he'd got his own free, I wasn't sure. We went looking for weapons, and eventually found some. With my hands loose, and an axe in one of them, I could determine my own fate.

And fate led my nemesis to me. The same Captain led a small group of Imperials into the chamber, and my Stormcloak allies helped me deliver justice. I took her armour, adjusted the straps to suit my very different shape, and put it on. Her ample chest meant that she wore a size large enough to protect a male, but it wasn't quite the right shape. I discarded the top half, even though it was plate that might have melted down. There was no smelter or forge here.

Ralof laughed when I tried it on. "We'll no doubt find you some more as we go further in," he predicted. "Probably not plate, but the regular Imperial armour isn't too bad. Of course, I can understand you not wanting to be mistaken for one of them. Especially not for a woman!"

I felt the thought he hadn't expressed. The hope that I wouldn't get the chance to take any Stormcloak amour. He didn't want to find any fallen comrades on our way out.

---

Some did fall, but they were crushed by the collapse of part of the buildings just after we passed, and out of our reach. I managed to add a basic long bow and some iron arrows, from an Imperial archer, but didn't bother to trade any armour. His covered more, but was thinner. We both picked up some potions, lockpicks and minor items as we passed through the cave beyond the dungeons. Some of those arrows went into fighting spiders and a bear.

Ralof and I parted company at the exit to the cave. He was going to head for another small town called Riverwood, where his sister lived. I was more inclined to try and head back towards my cave. I'd survived well enough in Tamriel by keeping away from the people, so going into town wasn't my first choice.

But I wasn't familiar with this part of Skyrim, so I ended up finding myself in the same town I was trying to avoid. It seemed that all the trails on this side of Helgen lead to the same place.

---

I went into the general store, hoping to trade some of the Imperial military junk I'd picked up for something a bit less tied to one side of the Civil War. I walked into the middle of an argument betwen the shopkeeper and his sister about something that had been stolen. Since he didn't seem to want to discuss trade until that subject was dealt with, I found myself agreeing to look for the missing item. I really had no intention of going to look for it, but his description intrigued me. It seemed to resemble a Clannfear Claw, something I hadn't seen for decades. I wondered if it actually was one that had been gilded as a trophy.

I got a decent trade for my goods, so apparently my agreement had put him in a good mood. His sister pointed out Bleak Falls Barrow on the hills at the other side of the valley as the likely place it had been taken. The map I'd bought put it on one of the trails that crossed the hills towards Whiterun, and I had to pass near that city to get back to the Rift and my cave. It was a bit longer that way, but why not take a look?

I suppose I was also looking forward to the prospect of some combat. There would be bandits this way, the ones that had stolen the claw at least, and the other route was a well-used road that would be relatively boring. I headed for the hills.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Jul 18 2016, 06:07 PM

[ghastley]

Previously: Kopthet has found Alduin's Wall, and discussed the implications with Paarthurnax. Now he finds he needs an Elder Scroll...

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25 - College of Winterhold

"Why are you chasing around after this Alduin?" Zahra asked me. "Is it just because the Nords are all in a panic about the end-times?'

"Well, I assume there's fire behind that smoke. Legends are usually based on facts, even if they have got half of it wrong. But mostly it's because Jarl Balgruuf asked me to do so, ... and because that's why the Kyn gave me the spell to summon you."

"So we're headed for the College of Winterhold next?"

"Yes, I'd ask Esbern, but he seems to have the same illusions that Delphine has about needing to eliminate all Dragons. It's the way he was trained, and he knows no better, but it clouds his judgement."

"What about the Greybeards?"

"They have little contact with the rest of the world. How would they know where to find anything? The College is supposed to have a major library, and they might even have the scroll itself."

---

When we reached Winterhold, we found a senior mage waiting at the entrance, to screen potential applicants to the College. She wanted me to summon a Flame Atronach as proof that I had the skills of a mage. I pointed at Zahra. "I summoned her, and she's better than an Atronach." Zahra proved my point by turning on her flame cloak, and Faralda laughed.

"I think that qualifies both of you," she agreed, and admitted us both. "Report to Mirabelle Ervine when you reach the courtyard."

Mirabelle was certain that they didn't have any Elder Scrolls at the College. "But ask Tolfdir, the senior lecturer. He's just starting a new class in the Hall of Elements, and you might find that useful, too."

I assisted Tolfdir with a demonstration of wards, and then asked him about Elder Scrolls. He confirmed what Mirabelle had told me, that there were none at the College. "But we're all on our way to the excavation at Saarthal. That's just started, and there's no telling what it will turn up. Perhaps even the scroll you seek. Why don't you join us?"

---

At Saarthal, Tolfdir had us each search a section of the site for magical artifacts. The only one who found anything was a timid young Dunmer named Brelyna, and she found more than she was expecting, when a gate closed behind her, trapping her in a small section. Her shriek of surprise brought the rest of us running.
Tolfdir asked her what had happened.

"I pulled an amulet off the wall, and the gate closed behind me."

"Then perhaps the amulet is the key to opening it again," he suggested. "Put it on, and see what you can do with it."

Brelyna did so, and when she cast a flame spell at the place where she'd taken the amulet, the wall collapsed, revealing a passage. At the same time the gate opened, admitting the rest of us.

Tolfdir led the way into the passage with Brelyna following, and Zahra and I close behind. The other students stayed where they were, reluctant to risk the unknown.

We emerged into a small chamber, and a flash of light. "Did you see that?" Brelyna asked us.

"The flash of light?" I asked.

"No, the Psijic monk that just spoke to me. He said something about danger ahead, and the Psijics watching me."

"When did all that happen?" Zahra asked her .

Brelyna thought a moment. "I did notice that you all appeared to be frozen while the monk was speaking to me. He must have stopped time for you, which is why you didn't see anything but the flash."

Tolfdir decided that we ought to continue, and we could discuss the Psijic intervention later, back at the college. This section of the ruin had been sealed for some time, so there would likely be draugr in it, and we should all be careful. The moment he finished saying it, a coffin lid fell and a draugr stepped out to attack us. We encountered several more as we proceeded, and the source appeared to be a chamber with a remarkable number of coffins stacked up as far as we could see.

Tolfdir wanted to stay and examine the chamber, but urged the three of us to continue, and try and find out where it all led. "And the way out again, I hope," Brelyna added.

There were traps, and puzzle doors, which Brelyna appeared to be quite adept at solving. There were draugr to battle, which suited me better, as a big daedric hammer works well against ancient bones.

Tolfdir caught up with us just as we were about to open a large wooden door. Brelyna did so, to reveal a glow coming from the middle of a large chamber below us. As we got closer we could see that it came from a huge magical orb floating just above the floor. It appeared to be guarded by a draugr, who rose from his seat as we approached. I stepped forward to deal with him, but my blows had no effect at all!

Magic from my mage companions was equally ineffective, until Tofdir had the idea of turning his spells on the orb. Using a shock spell seemed to drain power from it, just as it would from a living mage, and the draugr's protection was gone.

He didn't last long under a barrage from the rest of us, and Brelyna got another amulet from him when he fell.

"I'll stay and guard this orb," Tolfdir decided. " You go back to the College, and notify the Arch-mage. This is something he'll probably want to examine personally. Quickly, now. This is important, even if we know exactly what it is."

There was a door behind the orb, and we went through it, rather than retrace our steps. It was a long way back the way we'd come, and there was the hope this would be quicker. The passage led to a word wall, and a chest. I learned a word of "Ice form" and we got a bit of miscellaneous treasure from the chest. No Elder Scrolls, though.

---

Brelyna reported our discovery to the Arch-mage, who set off for Saarthal, and directed us to the librarian, Urag gro-Shug, for anything he could dig up about Saarthal's past.

Urag didn't have anything. "Not any more, after Orthorn ran off with those books. If you want to get them back, you'll have to go find him."

We asked about Elder Scrolls. "If I had one, it would be locked away, but I don't. I do have a couple of books about the Elder Scrolls that you can look at. They may be of some help."

The two books he brought us weren't very helpful. One just described the effects of them on the reader, and the other was incomprehensible. I remarked on that to Urag, and he laughed.

"Yes, that one was written by Septimus Signus. Not many people can make any sense of his work. He's the main authority on the Elder Scrolls, or he's completely insane. Nobody's quite sure which. You can ask him yourselves, if you can find him. He went off north a while ago, looking for something, and we haven't seen him since."

Brelyna went to look for Orthorn, and we went looking for Septimus.