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

[Renee]

Could Calcelmo possibly be any farther away from the College and still be in Skyrim?!?

Ha ha ha I know, right? And as you'll see, dealing with Calcelmo was a real b**** once Bjorn finally made it to Markarth.

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Loredas, Heartfire 26

Days Passed: 40
Days Jailed: 1

Whiterun Bounty: 150
Haafingar Bounty: 10,001
Fines Paid: 149



Typical snowy day as Bjorn leaves Winterhold. Markarth is a long way away, and since Bjorn has business in Solitude (and Solitude seems closer) he heads to Solitude first.

More mages returned to Fort Kastav though, and Bjorn + a random Afflicted Refugee guy both fought against the mages here, though only one of them lived. Guess who?

Bjorn decided to stay in Fort Kastav for the night, even though he wasn't tired, and it was only mid-afternoon when he arrived here. Since Kastav has a prison-full of locked doors, he managed to boost his horrible Lockpicking skills from 14 to 16 while opening them all.

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Sundas, 28th of Heartfire

An odd thing happened when Bjorn got to Helarchen Creek (which is annexed with Nightgale Inn via that same mod I can't remember the name of). All the people in this village began fighting Bjorn's horse. Bjorn had killed a lion and a wolf several minutes before this happened, and while he was skinning them he heard some commotion. Turns out, the entire place was attacking his horse!

This is mod stuff, of course. I have a horse mod too, which makes them attack, carry items, and all sorts of other stuff. Maybe the horse got hit by friendly fire from a town guard and went buck-wild (har har).

Bjorn arrived to a military fort inhabited by bandits called Fort Dunstad at about mid-afternoon. I always get this HUGE adrenaline rush whenever I approach this place. Lord Haaf-Mersey or some other such character of mine would now have a huge battle on their hands, since the place is full of bandits. But all Bjorn had to deal with was a "good afternoon" from one guy, while some other bandit was b*tching about "mead, mead, mead...stupid bees and their stupid honey...."

Bjorn obviously is in good company (friend), being part of the Bandit Faction. He wound up spending the night here.

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Tirdas, early morning, Heartfire 30

Bjorn arrived to Dawnstar the day before, changed out of his bandit gear, and into ordinary townie clothes. Better to blend in this way.

Spent most of his two days here making the pelts he'd skinned into workable leather, and making several armor pieces to sell for extra money.


This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 17 2017, 04:48 PM

[Acadian]

How neat the Bjorn can walk right into a bandit camp or fort! That certainly does change the nature of a visit to Fort Dunstad. Glad to see he's still happily killing those black-robed necrodudes though.

[Grits]

Renee, I think the no-spells change suits Bjorn very well. Sometimes the limitations speak as much about the character as the things that they do. I love his look! I like that it takes a major effort to fight through Snow Veil Sanctum, and they need to take breaks for rest and repairs. (And drinking.) I very much enjoyed this part of the TG questline. It's fun to relive it. I had to laugh at Bjorn clearing the shelves at the College. Nice!

Lopov, I love how you started Forrah's story. She has a lot of spirit and determination. I like her! She has proven to be a clever and capable adventuress. When Mjoll says she wants to go along with her, I believe it!

[Renee]

Acadian: You got that right! Being in the bandit faction erases a lot of stress for me! I like being able to see things from both sides too.

Grits: Yes, lack of spells is challenging, but really, Bjorn winds up with so many healing potions (because he sometimes bullies people sometimes along the road, especially Vigilant of Stendarr folks) that it all evens out. Snow Veil Sanctum was confusing for me and Bjorn as well. He doesn't know really what's going on; who he can trust, and so forth. Thieves Guild really is much different than it was in TES4.

Been missing you in these forums, by the way.

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Middas, early evening, Frostfall 1

Arrived in Morthal. Rather moody, uneventful place, even more depressed than Dawnstar. Bjorn spent the night in this place's inn (removing his bandit armor once again for regular clothes, so as not to draw too much attention).

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Turdas, Frostfall 2

Days Passed: 46

Spent night in Fort Snowhawk after killing all its stupd milk-drinking mages. Good place full of lots of loot, sorely needed.

*he ascended to Level 16! I dumped +3 into Endurance, +3 into Agility, and +1 into luck. I also gave him the Light Armor > Agile Defender perk.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 20 2017, 11:42 PM

[Lopov]

+ a random Afflicted Refugee

This reminds me of afflicted refugees in Forrah's game. :facepalm: As soon as she met the requirements for Peryite's quest, she was constantly running into these NPCs. I'm glad she's on Solstheim now where they aren't present.

Hah, interesting to read about Bjorn being welcome in Fort Dunstad. It's probably my favorite fort in Skyrim.

Bjorn is 16 and getting wilder than ever!

[Renee]

Those Afflicted Refugee guys annoy me (through Bjorn) because they don't have the bullying speech options that other NPCs have. In other words, Bjorn's got Become a Highwayman in his game, and he gets some speech options because of this, but for whatever reason the AR guys can't be messed with.

Fort Dunstad is one of my fave places too...for attacking. Such an adrenaline rush!

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Fredas, Frostfall 3

Days Passed: 47

Left Fort Snowhawk and arrived in Dragon's Bridge, where a guard promptly tried to arrest him. Yikes. Bjorn has a huge bounty here....10,001 gold. Luckily, I did not have that "Prison Overhaul" mod installed (the one you use also, Lopov) at the time because he only spent one week in jail. Hmm.

Solitude in distance

Bjorn the Tough Guy (and I like tough guys)

This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 22 2017, 06:37 PM

[Acadian]

Bjorn's been a bad boy!

Love that view of the Solitude rock bridge thing.

Tough guy's no milk drinker!

[SubRosa]

but for whatever reason the AR guys can't be messed with.

Those of us who own AR-15s agree!

Bjorn has quite a scowl there! He looks like he make a dragon think twice about attacking him, after one look at that mug!

[Lopov]

Bjorn is so wide that he can't put his hands next to his body.

He could be a Russian with that beard and the "Where's my vodka?" look in the 2nd pic.

I don't use Life in Prison anymore because it's not compatible with RP chopping and mining which is more essential to my games.

[Renee]

Making me laugh over here! Glad you all have a sense of humor.

Lopov: Oh no kidding....that makes sense about RP Mining & Chopping because right after his jail stay I made sure to install Life in Prison again. Then about a week ago, Bjorn was in some bandit hideout which had a bunch of mining gear & veins in it, yet he was able to perfectly mine three ores within several seconds, as the vanilla game provides, and no more than three. Needless to say... this really broke imm-----imm ... Immersion for me!

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Fredas, Frostfall 10, mid-afternoon.

Bjorn Tubewyyld is let out of jail to a sunny Haafingar day. On Frostfall 11, he spent half of the day trying to find out where "Castle Fletcher" is (because the quest update in his journal said to go to "Castle Fletcher"). He thought it was a second castle, somewhere in Solitude, unattached to Castle Dour. Turns out, it's really THE Castle Fletcher that he was supposed to be looking for. Since there was no "the" in front of Castle Dour, he didn't realize he'd merely supposed to have been looking for the castle's fletcher. *facepalm*

(See how important those articles can be, Lopov? lol.)

Once he figured out where to go, he spent the rest of the day making an iron warhammer, and also some hide armor. He buys, finds, or steals ores and animal pelts, and then makes cheap armor / weapons for sale.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 22 2017, 09:30 PM

[Acadian]

I love how Bjorn is perhaps not the sharpest lockpick in the pouch. I wonder how he would have dealt if his journal said 'Find the Castle Fetcher'?

[Lopov]

to find out where "Castle Fletcher" is (because the quest update in his journal said to go to "Castle Fletcher"). He thought it was a second castle, somewhere in Solitude, unattached to Castle Dour. Turns out, it's really THE Castle Fletcher that he was supposed to be looking for.

[Renee]

Sundas, Frostfall 12

This day started for Bjorn just after midnight, when he rented a room at Winking Skeever and stored some stuff here. He then got his lockpicks in preparation to break into Castle Dour's fletcher.

But first, a fight! A vampire somehow got inside the entrance area of Solitude, and the guards and a couple citizens took care of it. Bjorn did not get involved, he merely watched. After this was done, he headed up to the fletcher. Turns out, he didn't need any lockpicks right away; the place was not locked.

The fletcher's owner (whom Bjorn innocently bought some arrows from earlier that day) was still awake, but unaware when Bjorn snuck in. Bjorn cased the place, grabbing a bottle of alto wine to quench his thirst. This was a mistake actually, as this caused him to get kinda drunk. Every once in a while, he'd then lose his balance due to the effects of this alcohol. But he had been thirsty, so...

The ledger he was supposed to doctor some numbers into was easy to find, drunk or not. Sitting right upstairs, matter of fact. Bjorn couldn't help stealing a few items as he made his way out of the fletcher: various gold coins, a strength potion, and a few items of food. Overall, the job went well. Back in the Ratway, Delvin would be pleased.

Early Afternoon:
He awoke, got his things together, and then left Solitude. Outside of town, there had been some sort of scuffle. A guard lay just outside the city gates....dead. And three black dogs surrounded him, also dead. The fight had not gone well, but at least it was over. Bjorn saw his opportunity though. A full Solitude guard's armor suit? He looted this off the dead man. Later on he'd wash it, and then occasionally pretend to be a guard, just like Kahreem.

Since he knows he's wanted in Whiterun, Bjorn decides to head back the way he came: toward Morthal, and then Dawnstar. But he only made it as far as Fort Snowhawk, where some mages & conjurers had returned, surprised to see most of their friends had been offed by somebody.

Spent night at Fort Snowhawk.

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Vampire Attack!

Sneaking around while drunk on alto wine

This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 31 2017, 11:32 PM

[Acadian]

So Bjorn 2B Drunk displays his Karheeminess in not only drinking on the job but planning to impersonate a guard.

Glad to see he located that Dour Fetcher in the Castle.

Extremely in character for Bjorn to let a vamp attack take its course.

[Renee]

Glad to see he located that Dour Fetcher in the Castle. 0

Ha ha yeah, you know?

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Tirdas, Frostfall 13-14

Bjorn stayed in Dawnstar for a day and a night (doing more smithing, and selling the armor & weapons he made to some Khajiit merchants just out of town), and then headed back to Riften, passing safely through Fort Dunstad again. Just north of Whiterun's hold, he encountered a couple of rouge (but amateur) mages, both who tried to take him down with novice magic. Bjorn killed these both with maybe two or three blows each.

One of these mages carried a Staff of Flame Atronach though. Nice. Bjorn's keeping that one.

On the way back to Riften, he made a wrong turn, and wound up heading toward Whiterun instead of Windhelm. This turned out okay though. Nobody seemed to notice who he was, that he'd stolen one of this town's horses not long ago. Maybe it was the hood he wore over his face.

Spent the night at Valtheim Towers, where the bandits there were eager to hear of Bjorn's latest adventures.

[Acadian]

I bet Bjorn will have fun with that flame atronach staff! Wow, nice being able to use all those bandit forts and lairs as 'guildhalls' to stay at.

[Lopov]

I hope that the ghost of Uber-Knees didn't haunt Bjorn in Valtheim Towers.

[Renee]

Note: the story below continues from the one I posted long ago, on October 25, 2014

Your candle,
Snuffed and waning.
Your sun, your Star
Eclipsed, smoted, fading

Hearth heated, 'rranged
Doom, Moats, be-strayed!
Morning dawn clear
Harsh heart, severe

Allow mited resolve
Landscape pin-pointed destinies

Great Kings arisen
Erasured, Crass Visions

Loredas, early morning. Last Seed 15, 4th Era Year 202

Days Passed: 363

Titus Mede the second stood, and suddenly straightened, Faltered, swung his enchanted axe into the air a couple times. Then he smiled. Relaxed, even. Gathered his courage, and squatted before the woman in dark clothes he had apparently just killed. Checked for a pulse while keeping his blade pressed upon her neck, just in case. No pulse. And no pulse meant no life.

"So that's it, hmm?" he asked in his booming voice. "That's the best the Dark Brotherhood had to offer? Hmm hmm haa haa." He smiled. Turned cautiously around, reaching for his brandy slowly. Just in case. "Then again, rumor has it that Skyrim's chapter of the Brotherhood has faltered. No wonder this one seemed so easy!"

He spoke these words to the nearest wall with confidence. But then, a momentary sense of worry. Because ... why did the lady before him just give in to his blows? Why had she not fought back? And were there others out there, waiting? He peeked out his door, just to make sure. Nobody there.

"Maybe it's because she was the last one living from that guild. Yes. Perhaps so. Maybe she sacrificed herself, in some way. Maybe the hag was embarrassed about the guild's sudden demise?"

He asked this question, and got no answer. Smiled again though; the look on his face portraying a man who was patting himself on the back. Titus Mede II had been living a cultured, easygoing life for many years now. With plenty of guards surrounding him at all times, it'd been years since he had done more than innocently spar with wooden weapons. Easy kill or not, the experience of downing this middle-aged crone had left him exhillerated. Sure, he had done many great things in his time, turning the Empire around from complacency, and disaster. He and his tacticians had essentially ended the Thalmor threat! And had also been conquering Skyrim, one hold at a time.

But there was something nice in knowing that his personal fighting skills...the skills he had learned long ago during his schooling years, were still honed sharp, and intact.

"I still got it. After all these years. My training has sufficed."

And with nobody to witness what had just happened, Titus Mede II realized he was free to embellish. Free to tell the tale of what had just happened.... in any which way he thought appropriate.

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Later that night...
The Emperor of all Tamriel (or most of it) returned to his ship, a dozen men stronger. After leaving his cabin roughly twelve hours before, he'd been startled to find almost all of the Katariah's crew had been murdered .... or worse. Which meant he'd had no choice, but to return to shore, and gather up a new crew.

He had done so easily. After rowing himself to shore, and then walking all the way back to Castle Dour, gathering soldiers and passersby alike at the sight of the emperor, walking all alone, had been easy. After hearing his plight, men were virtually bending over backwards to be included on his ship.

And once in the castle, he had certainly embellished, and why not? He'd added, subtracted, stretched, turned, and twisted his story, while soaking all the attention he could garner. ...Oh yes, we fought like tigers...with only one victor! Me!... The others had hailed him of course, from the lowliest cobble-scrubber all the way to General Tulius himself, everyone present had been astonished. Amazed. Horrified even (that his end had come so close). But most of all, they'd been congratulatory. Just imagine ... Emperor Titus Mede the second .... ridding his own assassin! they'd fantasized. The Dark Brotherhood has sunk to new lows! they'd laughed and smarted.

The soiree, the feasts, had lasted all day. The Empire is strong! The Emperor even more so! Hoorah!!! Hooray!!! Huzzah!!!!!

But later, much later, Titus Mede the second returned to his ship. His men skulked aboard, getting familiar with the tasks of sea which they'd soon embark upon. Some of them seasoned seafarers, others merely glad to be headed out of Skyrim, and back to the heartlands, hoping they wouldn't get sick as they journeyed. Titus had enjoyed the quick feeling of comradery his new men had quickly gathered up, looking forward to warmer air, and golden sun. He was glad, he was proud, he felt more able and tenacious than ever.

... Until he'd returned to his cabin. Where the middle-aged Dark Brotherhood lady he'd killed twelve hours ago was nowhere to be found.

This post has been edited by Renee: Feb 4 2017, 01:34 AM

[Lopov]

The Ice Witch returns on the stage! Great opening story and not once you mentioned her actual name, she was merely a crone or hag to the Emperor. Looks like Titus should listen more closely how to finish someone off back in his schooling days.

[Acadian]

Haven't seen the last of My Charona!