The Saga of Laprima Donnaugh Options

[Renee]

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Clavicus Vile

When the dream began, she found herself lying in a cart, lying in hay, lying still, half-hiding from the others. Part of her wanted to be out there with them, while another part felt quietly content to stay right there. Right in that haypile. Staying still, and keeping quiet. It's this latter, secondary part which attained.

The scene was heavily pastoral. Lots of trees, green with foliage. Sunlight and blue skies. A few puffy clouds, a perfect sort of day. The sounds of others around her. The cart she was in had been drawn off to the side, placed in shadow. The horse which had brought it here must have been tethered somewhere else. As she lay in the cart, she began to feel rather lonely. Sad, and lonely, despite the others cavorting nearby.

They were there for her. All of them, gaily awaiting her presence. Dressed in finery. The women wearing whites, pinks, and light blues. Maids and maidens. The men, dressed more somberly, but the sounds from their revelries were no less delighted and cheerful.

Where is she? Where is Laprima?

Someone was calling. A man, sounding a bit tipsy with wine, perhaps. Yet his voice contained an edge of concern. And then, the voice of one of the ladies...

We should go find her! She's probably near! She's going to miss out!

She sank lower, hiding within hay. She could hear them coming, getting nearer, occasionally calling out to her. She cowered. Not with fear, but with some sort of distress. Lonely she was, and part of her did want to join the others.

She scrunched within the hay as footsteps approached and circled the cart. She held her breath. Eventually, the footsteps moved on. Small relief; she exhaled. They hadn't discovered her. So she took a chance. Got situated upon her arms, and raised her head about a foot, attempting to peer over the cart's side. As she did so, she noticed there was a knot in its wooden planking. For no reason at all (other than, this is a dream, and in dreams we sometimes do strange things) she pushed upon this knot, and the knot fell out, leaving a hole. She squinted her left eye, viewing outside of the cart, only to see vague shapes of the departing couple, heading off into a cabin. Still calling out, still calling her name.

...And that's when she noticed the man with the dog.
...He stood off to the side of the meadow, nearer to the woods.
...He stood in shadow. He wore a jerkin of white and black. He beckoned to her.

You there! I can see you, he said quietly. Despite using a soft tone, she could hear his voice clearly, in the surreal way which dreams can magnify. I can see you, and I mean no harm. Why do not you approach me?

She felt a stab of fear. How can he view me, hiding within this cart? But then, she relaxed. For the man was merely a boy. A boy she recognized from her youth. And this boy was her brother.

Laprima! he called. Come hither, posthaste!

And so she did.

She rose from the cart, took a moment to brush stray strands of hay from her clothings, and then ran swiftly toward her brother, skirts ruffling below. She noticed that the dog which had been there a moment ago had vacated, or vanished. She looked to her brother as she drew nearer. And her brother smiled up at her in his typically mischievous way. A smile she hadn't seen since they were, in fact, both children. Her previous feelings of loneliness were gone.

You should depart! her brother said to her, dancing around her with gaited elan. Head on! Depart hence toward Solitude! And do as they say! ... These folks you see in their fabled costumes, all of them here, are of nothing to you! ... To us! .. They mean nothing! ... A wretched lot! ... So onwards must you go! ... Your man, he awaits your presence! And you shall be in high company! Just dandy! Just peachy!

She felt elation at his words. Her brother, right there before her. 'Whatever is to come, would be fine,' he was telling her, seemingly tapping within her thoughts, her hopes, her fears.

Elija, she said to him.

Yes, sister!

She was weeping by now.

Her hands raised to embrace him. But just then, a flash of emotion overcame her. A mixture of revolting sickness, and sweet delight. She recoiled, stumbled backwards in disgust...

Laprima Donnaugh awoke, bolt upright, her eyes teary. Her bed quarters around her, her 8 year-old feline dozing by her side. She'd just had a dream. Her thoughts were racing, so she consciously made an effort to remember all she could. ... Her brother .... A cart ... Some people walking by in gay costume ... A dog by the side of the forest ... Slowly, she pieced it all together. After a minute or so, she sat up in bed, inked her quill and began to scribble words quickly in her journal.

After she had recalled all she could, she realized she was in agreement with her brother. She would head to Solitude.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 24 2022, 02:42 PM

[Renee]

So I know this tale seems a little stale, it seems like quite the medieval soap opera, right? But just wait... it gets more potent.

Viarmo, how did he ever get to such a position as headmaster. Why he couldn’t even sway a young girl with his words.

Perhaps Headmaster Viarmo should have introduced the quest by making it sound a little more intriguing by dangling the forbidden fruit hook to it?

Nuh-uh, no way. Wouldn't matter how much fruit gets dangled, macole. 🍇🍒🍌 My gal's not an adventurer, at least not yet. Even if she turns into one, I doubt she'll want to go into that sort of dungeoneering. "Hey, why don't you head into this cave by yourself, a-ha-ha-ha!" ... No way she's going to do this.

I had the temptation to tear into Bethesda's quest and make it so all she has to do is speak to Elisif to finish the quest. But honestly, it's a bad idea to mess with Beth's quests. Bad things can happen, and once they do, you can never get rid of them! All my normal, non-story Skyrim games on PC so far have little stuff which doesn't work right, due to me screwing up in the Creation Kit.

So I'm going with Laprima's initial wish. The story won't need the visit to that silly cave visit, trust me.

I see Elisef is the sort to go on about the old days. And she is still young yet! It sort of reminds me of Lincoln, in the movie Lincoln. Except when he did not want to answer a question, he would go off on a long folksy story about someone he had once known. Except he was entertaining, because the actor playing him has charisma.

Yes, Lincoln. I never saw the movie, but I know the guy really had an excellent soul. Was why he was one of our best presidents.

Oohhh, Bard's College. That sounds fun. January joined that one. While she is not a performer, she loved the whole storytelling aspect to it all, as well as doing research that involved smiting draugr and the ghosts of dead kings.

Given how she notices these things, it sounds like Laprima might be suited to becoming an architect.

Problem is nobody in Solitude teaches architecture. And in a way this is good. The story might get realllll boring if all she does is go back to class.

She is going to continue training at Bards College though. That's going to be fun. In fact, her Speech training is (so far) the only skill-up she's had.

The Winking Skeever? Is she going to become a waitress? That would probably not be what her auntie was expecting!

I love how you pick up on little clues and notions, 'Rosa.

"As long as you have a great attitude towards our patrons," says the screenshot. Does that involve wearing a tavern outfit? Definitely not what auntie had expected!

OH yeah, you'll see!

Well, probably not the actual Innkeeper outfit.... this is a Renee story, after all. So that means: Laprima's going to be stylin' when she goes to work, methinks.

I sympathize with LPD though and agree that the Winking Skeever trumps the other options on Elisef's list. I recall that Buffy learned as much or more about performing musically from Lysette as she did from the College of Bards.

Wow, really? She was also at the Bards College? I wonder how many of ours have been there.

Such a shame there aren't more quests. It's the least-developed guild in the (vanilla) game.

Laprima's almost in an enviable position. Everything's being set up for her.

Except... she doesn't want this. And I get why. Independence must be a big draw, considering the life she's lived. Always playing to the beat of someone else's drum gets wearisome after a while.

Right. If we can go back to the Paris Hilton scenario again, it'd be like if Paris simply lived off her family money... and nothing else.

Laprima, Quinn, and Paris all have their own minds.

There is wisdom, I think, in finding her own path. Particularly regarding her husband's proclivities. If he gets caught, she'll likely face a lot of blame (or even be pinned as the scapegoat). As such, it makes sense for her to try and allies outside of the court so she at least has somewhere to run to if things go wrong. And improving speechcraft is never a bad idea.

Very nice.

The story is at a weird sort of crossroads at the moment because of things to come, which none of you all can see, yet. But the neat thing is ALL of you have gleaned some of what will happen with Laprima herself. Call it intuition, call it foreshadowing. I love trying to figure out your all's stories, too.

Let's see what happens next.