Today In Skyrim (Spoilerific), Like the other one, but with added spoilers!!! Options

[Grits]

Renee, Jerric’s Juice is exactly as Acadian described it. Thank you, Acadian! I changed Skyrim’s Atronach Stone to be the same as Oblivion’s Birthsign, with no magicka regen at all and a boost to base magicka along with a percent spell absorption. Jerric doesn’t use any enchantments that would give him a magicka regen boost, since we RP that the Atronach blessing/curse makes them not work on him. I love playing an Atronach that way.

Lopov, I will miss Lydia’s steps behind Lucius and her journal entries as well. The Dragonborn continues alone. I like how that lovely manor in Solitude gave him thoughts of someday.

Haa-Rei on vacation! Hrelath Dralen... Drain Health??

This post has been edited by Grits: Feb 5 2015, 05:20 PM

[Acadian]

Hazmick - Yup, master thief, assassin, vampire. . . doesn't sound like such a bad guy at all.

[hazmick]

master thief, assassin, vampire. . . doesn't sound like such a bad guy at all.

He's very polite and has the nicest manners, so we can overlook all those other little nits

Grits - I'd never noticed that before! It works so well!


I rejoined Haa-Rei today as he traveled to Falkreath, to begin construction of a house. We're not sure if he'll move in properly though - his family is happy living in Solitude (and moving all of his stuff would take ages). On the other hand, Haa-Rei wants his girls to grow up in the forest because it's peaceful and the city gives him a headache.

We have some Dawnguard business to take care of in the mean time so Haa-Rei can think on it.

[Acadian]

Haa-Rei could always have fun fixing up a house in Falkreath then, if prefers to remain in Solitude, sell the new house in Falkreath – you know, add ‘Real Estate Tycoon’ to his resume. Ask your scaly pal to say hi to Serana!

*

Buffy’s never spent much time in Windhelm because, frankly, the place is rather unwelcoming to elves. She does have some business there however with the court mage and is determined to get to know Windhelm a bit better. She’s finding the city’s reputation to be somewhat deserved. . .


As Buffy approached the main gate, the guard on duty stared at her ears as he warned, “We got a nickname for anyone who trifles with us guards here in Windhelm – suicide.”

Buffy pulled the hood of her robe up to obscure her elven features. Acadian quietly reminded her that she was likely too slender and graceful in her movement to be taken for a Nordic child. She ignored the paladin, passed through the gate and was greeted by another guard just inside the city. “Hands to yourself, sneak thief.”

Believing that being an elf was a lesser crime than being mistaken for a thief, she lowered her hood again. The guard seemed appeased that she was not a thief, but the eyeslots of his helm then traveled downward over her mantled robe. “What business do College mages have in Saarthal? It’s a place for Nord dead, not your weird experiments.”

“Welcome to Windhelm,” Acadian whispered to the dejected elf as she trudged through the snow trying to find her way to the palace. . . .


Now, I will say that despite the dreary feel of the city and barely veiled hostility toward elves (and mages), Windhelm has a mysteriously big, confusing, medieval city feel to it – the place seems very atmospheric in its own dark and uncomfortable way.

[hazmick]

We had Serana around with us for a bit of hunting. Unfortunately my game is glitched so i can't ask Serana to get the cure for vampirism . I suppose it just means that she and Haa-Rei will be friends forever.

As for Windhelm, it's not a bad place...especially after you help the Empire to remove Ulfric. The Argonian community there is always welcoming so we like to visit from time to time. Tell Buffy to just ignore the more vocal Nords, they're not worth her time. (Though if an arrow happened to hit Rolff Stone-Fist in his big mouth, Legate Haa-Rei would provide Buffy with an alibi )



After much deliberation we've decided to move the family to Falkreath. The house is finished, but we need to get some more decorations up to make it more like a home. Haa-Rei has promised to teach the girls how to hunt, though Sofie also wants to learn more about plants. I'm just happy to be out in the forest again - city life is not my thing.

[Renee]

Yes, I can imagine Buffy would not feel very comfortable in Windhelm. Oh no.

The Falkreath home is nice to have, eh? My crusader guy wound up buying the initial one-room cottage at first, decorated it (in a manly-man way, ha ha) and then added extra parts later on.

[hazmick]

Renee - I agree with you there, it's a great location. Also, isn't everything in Skyrim manly-man stuff?




Haa-Rei finished all the decorating and moved the family in. He also asked his friend, Derkeethus, to help clear out the nearby bandit hideout at Pinewatch (just to be safe). Now he's having a little rest at the top of his newly built enchanters tower extension. The lake view is his new favourite.

[Acadian]

Renee, thanks!

Hazmick, Buffy's rescued Derkeethus before, but never traveled with him. I bet he's perfect for Haa-Rei - they can sit around drinking nightshade tea and telling Black Marsh tales.

[hazmick]

yeah, he's our favourite companion. He and Haa-Rei are practically twins once they have their armour on and bows ready
Haa-Rei doesn't make use of companions too often since he spends too much time worrying about their safety and making sure they don't get lost. Derkeethus is immortal though, thanks to a glitch in the game which prevents his 'essential' tag from being removed once you rescue him. A very handy talent to have in Skyrim.

[Renee]

Whoa, that's a nice glitch to have. Some glitches can be welcome, or funny.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Claire Voyance is moving right along with Civil War / Imperial stuff. Unlike Haaf-Mersey, she does not really 'sidetrack' very much. She does not see a cave, and "wonder what's inside". She might go in that cave to warm up a bit, and search for some food, but she's not a mega-dungeon-diver like some of my others. She's a drone, basically, doing whatever she is told, for the Imperial's side.

And I'm fine with this, but I feel like I'm itching to create somebody new, somebody who likes getting deep into some draugr barrows and whatnot.

Claire's main problem with Skyrim (so far) is the cold. For some reason, the Imperials placed one of their main camps in the middle of nowhere, located in The Pale. So she does a lot of running back and forth from this camp, to Dawnstar, to her next quest location, back to Dawnstar, back to camp, etc. She's gaining resistance against the cold slowly.

[Acadian]

Renee, I know what you mean about Claire. But I sort of envy her focus to task - something my butterfly/waterfall/dungeon chasing elf lacks. Let me know how you like the civil war, as I've never touched it and probably never will.

[Grits]

Aww, hugs to Buffy after that chilly reception in Windhelm. Wuunferth the Unliving is one of Darnand’s pals, at least for Darnand’s part. Darnand appreciates Wuunferth’s blunt manners.

Congrats to Haa-Rei and the family on their new home. Lakeview is one of my favorite places.

Renee, I can picture Claire running around in the snow with her knees out in that Legion uniform. The Civil War questline can be a real grind without any breaks. I’ll be watching MD’s forecast to see when your dungeon diver might make an appearance.
~~~

In between mod test sessions both Jerric and Lildereth have gotten new games. For the most part we’ve been getting the basics set up in their worlds: Gildergreen restored, Breezehome furnished, friends moved in, dogs collected, horses purchased, Aravi Manor (Lakeview) built, Kharjo’s amulet fetched, Erik’s Slayer status renewed, Helgen on the path to rebuilding. And this time, dragons released! We’re doing ‘Dragons Lite,’ as Acadian named it.

Jerric and Lil have both had a bit of trouble with the law lately. Jerric is used to stopping at the Honnigbrew Meadery for a little refreshment after he squares things with the crossroads guards, since he is prone to indulging in his impulses. I usually don’t even remember who he punched by the time he pays of the bounty. Lil likes to know what people have in their pockets, but she rarely takes anything or gets caught. This incident resulted from her ‘stealing’ a book for Darnand off of a shelf in Dragonsreach. She was very annoyed about it. If they didn’t want citizens borrowing the more expensive books, they shouldn’t leave them out in the common areas. Also if she had meant to steal that book, they wouldn’t have seen her doing it! Lil usually reserves pranks for her friends, but I can see some wardrobe changes coming for the Dragonsreach folk once she gets that Perfect Touch perk.

[Acadian]

Grits, I like how you restart your games when needed. I've grown to enjoy doing the same thing in Skyrim. Somehow the game seems to lend itself to that (not to mention a good time to purge scripted mods). Glad you're enjoying 'Dragons Lite'. I think this playthrough or next I might try the mod that I think Renee uses to adjust random dragon attacks (and other quest things). The mod is 'Timing is Everything'.

How very Jerric that his habit includes a stop at the Honnigbrew Meadery. Nothing like fine spirits to raise your. . . well, spirits! And how frustrating for Lil! I'm sure you're exactly right - that if she meant to steal something it would be gone without a single trace leading to her.

[Renee]

Grits, I like how you actually caught a picture of that text, when Lildereth gets busted there. That almost looks like a Kahreem moment. I agree about the books thing. Why put them in such obvious locations, if they're that rare? !

Acadian: I will let you know how Civil War goes. I'm kind of kicking myself. I wish I had started a very simple journal with Claire. Maybe she'll do this anyways, it just won't include early moments of Civil War.

I'm really looking at the WARZONES mod from the Colonel's Awesome Mods thread; WARZONES looks really cool. I'm a little leery of the fact that it requires so many other mods, one of them being ENB, which I've read horror stories about at Beth. Maybe you folks have some experience here, and can calm my nerves, because it would be really cool to get Claire's game actually feeling like a war, rather than occasional (and very rare) skirmishes here and there.

This post has been edited by Renee Gade IV: Feb 13 2015, 02:12 PM

[Lopov]

As I understand it, there comes a time during the latter portion of the main questline where you must go without followers for several quests in a row. Perhaps this is a way of helping to deal with that.

I think you're right, I remember reading that the final portion of the MQ can only be done without any followers.

Lopov, I will miss Lydia’s steps behind Lucius and her journal entries as well. The Dragonborn continues alone. I like how that lovely manor in Solitude gave him thoughts of someday.

Perhaps he'll once sit down and relax indeed. But that day still seems to be far away. And since he was quite enthusiastic about the life of Skaal, he might call Solstheim his home in the future.

On the other hand, Haa-Rei wants his girls to grow up in the forest because it's peaceful and the city gives him a headache.

Haa-Rei is a wise father.

Buffy’s never spent much time in Windhelm because, frankly, the place is rather unwelcoming to elves. She does have some business there however with the court mage and is determined to get to know Windhelm a bit better. She’s finding the city’s reputation to be somewhat deserved. . .

Great story, I like how you mention paladin Acadian talking to her. Looks like many of our characters feel unwelcome in Windhelm, Lucius also got a lot of negative comments. He even thought about joining the Legion again just to free Windhelm of Ulfric.

She might go in that cave to warm up a bit, and search for some food, but she's not a mega-dungeon-diver like some of my others. She's a drone, basically, doing whatever she is told, for the Imperial's side.

I guess that's okay for a change because that means that she's moving through the questline faster. It makes sense that she focuses on fighting the war instead of dungeon-delving.

If they didn’t want citizens borrowing the more expensive books, they shouldn’t leave them out in the common areas.

I couldn't agree more. The same goes for all free food, coinpurses and potions in rented rooms. I see that the party has been quite busy doing various odds and ends all over Skyrim.

[Lopov]

Lucius' story is mostly told in pics and the dark one's in the general thread, so I might write an occasional story with my new character here. I probably won't write about him too often but still...

...I've been intending to create this type of character for about a year and a half. I had the name, I had the backstory, I knew what would he do, but the burden which I put on me, was the appearance. I knew exactly how I wanted this character to look like but whenever I tried (four to five times altogether in the past year), I failed miserably. For me appearance is one of the most important traits, not because I want my characters to look beautiful but I want to feel that "special something" when I look at them, I want their faces to express their soul, I don't want to get bored of them, so to speak.

--

"You've seen the true face of the Empire here today. You should join the fight for free Skyrim!" said Ralof to his silent friend with whom they teamed up after being almost executed by the Imperial Legion in Helgen. "But where are my manners?! The name is Ralof. Pleased to meet you, kinsman," he said and extended his hand for shaking.

"Aard," said the short-haired Nord with a deep voice, shook Ralof's hand and smiled vaguely.

"We better get moving. We'll be safer once we get to Riverwood. My sister Gerdur runs a mill there."

"Yeah...you told me already. Say...why were Imperials after you?"

"Seriously, you don't know? That was Ulfric Stormcloak himself!"

"Ulfric who?"

"Oh right, they said you were captured crossing the border. Still, I'm surprised you haven't heard of Ulfric. He's our leader - the leader of Stormcloaks."

"Which means...?"

"Surely even down in Cyrodiil people have heard news of the war in Skyrim?" asked Ralof, surprise in his voice.

"Surely...I didn't pay much attention to...to what was going on outside Cyrodiil. Being...busy."

"The Nords are tired of spending our blood fighting against the Empire's wars, and paying for the Empire's decadence with our taxes. Ulfric is our rightful High King. He's leading the fight to drive the Empire out of Skyrim, once and for all."

"Mhm."

"We need people like you to fight for Skyrim's freedom. You should head to Windhelm and join the Stormcloaks!"

"Hmm...may...be."

In that time four bandits came running by, chasing a deer. But when they spotted two travelers, they figured that they will have more use of their septims than of some meat. They surely frightened Ralof because he ran ahead, leaving Aard alone to deal with a pair of melee fighters and another pair of archers. Nonetheless, within a few minutes, all of them were dead, their septims, gems and potions now in Aard's pockets.

He continued down the road but Ralof was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe..even better."

If Ralof knew who was his mysterious companion, he might not like him as much. Aard was almost hanged in Bruma for a kidnapping of some noble that went horribly wrong, but he escaped the night before the execution. It didn't last long, though, after crossing the border he was caught by Imperials again, however this time he was almost beheaded when the dragon flew over his head, saving him.

Aard's life was not a happy one - first it was him that suffered from violence but as he grew up, roles changed. Extortions, kidnappings, larcenies, a murder here and there...all of this accompanied by plenty bottles of wine and skooma vials didn't contribute in forming a kind man. But Aard didn't know how to live any other life. He came to Skyrim to escape the justice and now he was a free man, he could do anything he wanted.

Windhelm sounded like a good place to go. It sounded like a city of Nords so he shouldn't have troubles there. But joining an army? Not in a hundred of years. He'll definitely find something else to do there. Something that will suit him.

--

Aard later came to Riverwood but didn't have enough gold to afford a room at the Sleeping Giant Inn, so Delphine kindly told him that this is not a Temple of Mara. He met a traveling merchant and bought some skooma, then moved on. Currently he's in a cave called White River Watch and has cleared it of its denizens. He only spared one - Ulfr the Blind - Aard didn't feel that killing a blind man who left him alone, would change anything on this good-for-nothing world.

[Acadian]

Welcome to Aard! Not gonna join the bluecoats, eh? I'm willing to bet he's not up for throwing in with the redcoats either. Dragonborn? I'm thinking no. I chuckled at Delphine's 'kindness'.

[Renee]

Congrats, and a great beginning story there. Lots of backstory on this one. Acadian's head must be spinning with all these new Skyrim characters, they sure showed up all at once, right?

What difficulty is his game? Pretty neat that he's able to take on 4 NPCs at such low level. Then again, they're just Bandits. Not Highwaymen or anything really tough.

LOL he'd rather spend his money on skooma than a place to sleep!

[Lopov]

Not gonna join the bluecoats, eh? I'm willing to bet he's not up for throwing in with the redcoats either. Dragonborn?

No, no and no. Thanks for a welcome.

What difficulty is his game? Pretty neat that he's able to take on 4 NPCs at such low level. Then again, they're just Bandits. Not Highwaymen or anything really tough.

I guess it must be Apprentice but I'd need to check it to be sure because I haven't changed any settings since I started Lucius' game, which means since November.

[SubRosa]

I suspect Aard might be headed for Riften eventually. I hear there are like-minded people living under the streets there...