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

[Acadian]

Lopov – Aard’s been busy! Seems like he may have found his calling though. Sorry about Meeko.

Grits – Nice to see Varia the bard! Seems like playing a bard would be great fun. I know I simply love the area and many of the NPCs in Solitude. If Varia’s going dungeon diving, I hope this Coda fellow knows how to fight. . . since we know that Meeko generally fairs poorly.

[SubRosa]

Aard is certainly a minimalist! Too bad about Meeko. That is why I never use animals companions. They always end up getting killed. Or like other companions, just getting in the way.

Varia makes me think of Varina Davis. Although I am guessing you named her after Aria, with a V in front? She is cute.

[Renee]

Lopov: "He knew that orders weren't meant to be questioned but he couldn't help but wonder why would someone want such a man killed by the Dark Brotherhood" Uh oh, Aard is considering his own actions?

Sorry to hear about Meeko. Aard really needs a German shepherd? instead of a terrier mutt though.

"Aard's knife struck once and the divorced miner became the dead miner" Yeah, I'd say his 'career' could be "promising", indeed.

Grrrrits: Cool, you have a bard, too? Sweet!

I also love the "Become a" mods. Become a beggar is really fun, too. There is a mod I found called Bard's College Redux? which adds a bed for the PC to sleep in, but it's right in the middle of everything, so it's not like she'd have her own room. ... I would ... really like that cubicle.

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12:40 PM, Heartfire 18, 4E 201

"Now I'll show you to your quarters, apprentice. You'll be sharing your new residence with your fellow guildmates."

The man with the white beard, who had come to Skyrim with a group of others, other common foragers and beggars, stands completely stunned.

"My .... my quarters?"

Apparently so. Just like that, his status has elevated from common beggar to ... 'Apprentice'.

It had taken a few hours of begging, asking for coin, and then coming up with a sob story if people turned him down. But he had done it. He had managed to gain enough gold to (1) afford a room down at the Frozen Hearth the previous night, and (2) afford to buy the filrebolt spell offered by Faralda, the elf he had encountered on the bridge before the college. Faralda had claimed that due to problems with the local Nords, she had been posted at the bridge to keep certain people out, only accepting those who might be trustworthy.

"This is where you'll be staying. This is your bed and desk..." the lady named Mirabelle was saying, but the bearded man was not paying full attention. Bed ... and DESK? ... Maybe the college was desperate for new students, or even old ones such as himself. Why else would they just accept a stranger (and a poorly-dressed one) such as he? ... He noticed the college was not exactly packed with inhabitants, so far. So maybe they were, in fact, really needing some new people here.

Mirabelle leaves the room, asking for him to follow her, but he can't just do so yet. He looks around his new room. When was the last time I even slept within a stone building? He is much more used to sleeping wherever he could--usually some bedroll right under the sky. Or a shack with a leaky roof, if he was lucky.

Void salts! ... and the dust of vampires!

... He notices these items strewn casually aside, upon one of the room's small tables. I can sell these for easy coin! he thinks, then realizes that maybe he can (instead) actually make these items into something worthwhile, especially now that he is (apparently) an Apprentice of the Mage's College. Would his begging days now be over?

Also within his new room is a bottle of common white wine, a goblet to drink it out of, more barrels (one of them containing some spoiled meat), lots of clothes, mostly nice clothes, some robes, some stray gold pieces. This gold gets snatched up so quickly by him, it's as if it was never there.

Mirabelle is probably waiting. He decides he'll change his clothes....which would only be appropriate. She had given him some magical robes, and a hood and boots, as well.

"I cannot believe my luck!"

He tosses his former, ragged clothes aside. No more miserable begging? And goes to rejoin Mirabelle.

This post has been edited by Renee: Mar 20 2015, 02:07 AM

[SubRosa]

When I first saw the name Mirabelle, I thought of Mirabelle Monet, and was wondering if the WW had become a sailor!

I think the WW needs to get himself an app for his staff, so he can record his journal.

[mALX]

mALX - There's a dead soldier in the right part of the shot and two in the center. The closer one in the center of the picture does indeed appear to be poised for an 'upskirt' shot.

Well, at least it wasn't just me that saw that!

[Grits]

Varia makes me think of Varina Davis. Although I am guessing you named her after Aria, with a V in front? She is cute.

Aria! I didn’t think of that, but I’m sure that’s what put Varia into my mind. I wanted my bard’s name to sound like ‘very velvet,’ lol. Coda’s actual mod-given name is Coda, so when she met him he had to be in her band!

Varia has been fun to play in short sessions when I’m involved with projects and don’t want to get drawn in to a complicated character’s story. She has the simple goal of becoming famous, which means she just travels and plays. Still, in her mere 22 hours since I made her last December she has been memorable. She is an Imperial who seems to have a fondness for large, dark-haired Nord men. She fell for Orgnar immediately and hung around the Riverwood/Whiterun area for a while developing her bardly reputation. During this time she met and hired two mercenaries (from different mods) who look like twins, Coda and ‘Mercenary’ who I renamed Hallan the Red Hand. That’s where the trouble started.

A series of mod conflicts resulted in Hallan losing his dialog options completely, so he would follow her around and fight for her but had no prompt at all for interaction. So he sort of became a protective stalker. There was an event inside the Sleeping Giant which caused Coda and/or Hallan to kill Orgnar, and then the town of Riverwood went to war with Varia. Even her Voice of the Emperor and Illusion spells couldn’t stop the carnage. She fled. Now Riverwood is hostile territory for her.

Once Hallan showed up out of the blue in the depths of Frostflow Lighthouse’s dungeon, right when she had decided that she was the biggest idiot in the realm for trying to save that poor family. I was sure she was going to die, but Hallan popped up and saved her. Then I figured out the mod conflict, resulting in Hallan and his horse walking away still with no dialog options. If she survives her next adventure I might reinstall his mod so that she could eventually meet him again some day. I’m not sure where he goes, so it will be a surprise if she sees him.

Oh, Varia named her horse Melody.

Renee, I put Varia’s sleeping spot up on the Nexus: Bards College Sleeping Cube. It doesn’t have a door, but it has a screen and is down in the dorm area.

I love TWW’s delight at having his own place with free stuff under a real roof. Most of my spoiled magelings keep looking around for that desk that Mirabelle promised them! (So I made a little mod for that, lol.) I’m really rooting for this guy!

[SubRosa]

So Varia is one itinerant minstrel and wandering wastrel, at your service. Has she ever had a jam session with Talsgar yet? He is my favorite of all Skyrim's bards.

for a while developing her bardly reputation.

For a moment I thought that was her bad reputation.

Her horse is Melody Pond? Does that mean her next follower will be River Song?

Wow, that is a convoluted course of events. I think I would have just reloaded my previous save after one of my followers killed an NPC (well, one I didn't want dead) and sent the town into an uproar.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Mar 29 2015, 01:37 AM

[Acadian]

Renee – The WW really looks like he fits right in at the College. He sort of has that whole Tolfdirian wizardiness going on. Love how you portray him being struck by his good fortune.

Grits – The Perils of Varia! I think I’m with SubRosa and would likely have waved the reload wand a couple times for the poor girl. I hope she gets her tall dark stalkers sorted out. Oh, never to be able to visit Riverwood again!

[Lopov]

@Grits - Good to see another bard on board, and a much more successful one than Shala! I like it that playing for Jarls can get her some jewelry instead of septims. I think that soldiers will appreciate Varia's singing for them.

@Renee - good job with portraying TWW's surprise and joy of getting his own quarters and new clothes. I laughed when Mirabelle had to wait for him. I think that containers in his quarters respawn, so be careful if storing anything inside.

[Renee]

That's really neat Varia hired some mercenaries. That's a really good idea, definitely. That is rather immer-- .... immersive that Varia got ousted from Riverwood, and it wasn't even her fault! One of those moments when you might say "wow, did that just really happen?"

Yeah, The White Wizard needs an staff-app.

Tolfdirian wizardiness going on.

YES! A bit of a twist on the typical Gandalf.

I was thinking of ditching his beggar mod, but I think he might still revert to begging from time to time, especially if he finds himself in a situation during which he wants to really blend in somewhere.

This post has been edited by Renee: Mar 21 2015, 12:45 AM

[ghastley]

Another fun little incident. I ran into a stray dog (Barbas) outside Falkreath, and decided to clear the quest from the journal by completing it.

Where the path to Rimerock Burrow leaves the road, I met a stray dog (not Barbas) and they both followed me for the rest of the quest

I hope they're not Daedric fleas!

So when I get back to Clavicus Vile's shrine, I have to return the axe, as I have no idea which dog to kill.

Oh, that one's Barbas!

I'm not sure I need the Masque, but I can leave it on a Mannequin somewhere.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Mar 21 2015, 03:12 PM

[Renee]

Ha ha ha daedric fleas!

Claire Voyance bought Breezehome, after taking a 5,000 gold loan from Whiterun's local bank (mod). She's now going to have to repay this loan, over a month of time, so it's good she's doing some random travelling, finally. You don't make much gold during Civil War quests.

I'm going to advance some of Dawnguard in her game, since I've already done these quests with Haaf-Mersey. I don't feel like doing the whole Serana thing over again. I want to get to the point that Serana is in the DG castle, and a certain amount of NPCs are also there, this way Claire can have her pick of NPC followers. 'Cause Hadvar (for some reason) doesn't want to follow Claire any more, and neither does Farkas. Idolf Battle-Born wound up dying. Claire has Aela with her almost constantly, but my cleric works best while doing the Power Trio thing.

This post has been edited by Renee: Mar 28 2015, 07:12 PM

[Acadian]

Ghastley – That’s funny that another stray dog joined your character and Barbas. Oddly, I’ve never done that quest in either Oblivion or Skyrim.

Renee – Congrats to the Clairevoyadventuress on buying Breezehome. That bank loan mod sounds perfect for her. As a cleric, I can certainly see why she’d want two other followers – more helpers to fight for her so she can focus on healing.

[Renee]

There was a Barbas quest in Oblivion? Was it a higher-level quest? Must have been. I haven't had a character get high into the teens in that game since 2008.

Yes, that's how she works best: healing others while they do the fighting, but occasionally stepping in to some combat herself. I have no idea what happened to Farkas and Hadvar. Pretty sure Hadvar got scripted 'off the grid' with Civil War stuff, while Farkas....I don't know what's up with Farkas. Some sort of conflict between CSR and the base game, methinks.

Well now it's time for some White Wizard. In this tale, he is preparing to go to Saarthal, I think. I wrote this a few weeks ago. Doncha love it when you write something, and then forget entirely what you wrote, so it's actually fresh to you as well as anyone else?

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Turdas, 21st of Last Seed, 4th Era 201

"Why hullo, little girl. Not much to do here in Winterhold, is there?"

"The mages don't let us go in the college. They said it's not safe in there."

The man who would someday be known throughout all of Skyrim pauses, and scratches his white beard. Now dressed in College robes (rather than rags), he still can't help but fear that he will soon be asked to leave, because of who he really is. Not really a mage, but a scrounger who just happens to have a few magical talents. But the girl before him does not criticize and mock, like some others would have down in Cyrodiil. Matter of fact, neither does anybody else in the Frozen Hearth.

He smiles. He likes his new college robes: green and gold they are, with a hood to match. On his feet are some tall boots, definitely the nicest boots he'd ever worn in his adult life. And although he can't be accused of being rich, he has even managed to earn a small amount of money, 117 gold, after brewing up and selling a few poisons and potions. The College had made it easy for him to do this--all the equipment was sitting right there, in an anteroom, for anybody to use..

Although he did not exactly have much formal training with alchemy, and had probably botched more potions than he had brewed, the man with the white beard had had plenty of time to kill. Dozens of ingredients were just lying around in one room, on shelves, and in barrels. And nobody was bothering him! So he had spent hours getting to know the college's alchemy equipment: grinding up raw ingredients, stuffing them into a funny-looking glass device. Lighting some magical fire underneath this device. Boiling down mixtures from pulps to fluids. It had all added up to a dozen or so potions, hours and hours later.

Had he been asked to stop using this equipment, he certainly would have done so. But people had walked by, and merely nodded a greeting, or ignored him altogether.

"If there's anything you need, just let me know."

"Something to eat. What have you?"

Already, the man with the white beard knows that the day in front of him is going to be one of the most important of his life, so he does not hesitate to buy some food and drink. Apparently, he was supposed to meet some others from the college at a place called Saarthal. He had heard of this place before, long ago down in Cyrodiil. But of course he had never been there. Apparently, there was some sort of important finding in this old Nordic barrow, and for some reason, they had decided to ask the 'new guy' to come along.

"Good day."

The man with the white beard leaves the Frozen Hearth, hoping to find the others. Although he only has three spells within his spellbook, certainly his talents might come in handy?

This post has been edited by Renee: Mar 29 2015, 01:51 PM

[Lopov]

@Renee, I loved the part when you describe TWW's practicing alchemy. So he's off to Saarthal then? Time to begin the adventure!

Regarding Barbas - it's Clavicus Vile's quest where you are asked to kill Umbra. Barbas is stuck in your inventory as a permanent item until you finish the quest. He comments on your actions from time to time.

If you have problems with followers, I suggest using Amazing Follower Tweaks which allows you to recruit anyone and is according to my experience free of major bugs. The only thing to remember is to manually move the mod to the bottom of load order (as the author says), in my case all auto-sorting mod programs put it higher and then it doesn't work but if placed at the bottom, it works flawlessly.

[ghastley]

The latest De Fault sister, having adopted Uzi, went off to Winterhold for some Alteration training from Tolfdir, as she wants (needs) to use mage armor spells along with her two-handed skill. But first we all troop off to Saarthal. She's level 16, has Stoneflesh and a Superior Steel greatsword, and she's just encountered a Draugr Deathlord (level 30) with an Ebony greatsword and Unrelenting Force and Disarm shouts.

We're dying a lot here. Tried running round in circles hurling lightning bolts, but she runs out of magicka too quickly, even in Apprentice robes for extra regen, and one hit from the Deathlord will kill her. She can go toe-to-toe for about three swings of her greatsword before she runs out of stamina, and the draugr can retaliate. Then it's a one-hit kill again. If it gets its disarm shout in, then it's time to turn and run anyway.

I'd hoped that she'd raise a level or two in destruction, so she could halve the cost of the lightning, but that's a bit to far off for the short time she has to live. Her other spells let the draugr get too close.

I may have to load an earlier save, and hope for a lesser opponent.

[Acadian]

Renee - Nice to see someone older than Tolfdir. I wonder how this pair of seasoned citizens will do in the bowels of Saarthal. Speaking of which. . .

Ghastley - Condolences on difficulties your Orc is having. Given her skills at the moment, I'm not quite sure what her best course is. Too bad Tolfdir isn't of much more help.

[Renee]

ghastley: what difficulty are you using? Not that you should change it or anything (I wouldn't) but I'm just curious.

Lopov & Acadian: MMM hmm, I already wrote up Saarthal awhile back. Again I have no idea what I wrote. I love this sort of surprise.

[Grits]

So when I get back to Clavicus Vile's shrine, I have to return the axe, as I have no idea which dog to kill.

I’m sure the stray dog appreciated your caution!

Renee, sorry to hear about Idolaf. That’s great that he got to go out like a true Nord and didn’t just keel over in a tavern one day while complaining about his neighbors. Congrats to the new homeowner! I love Breezehome. It’s humble and homey. Best of luck to TWW in Saarthal. I love his caution as he prepares for the big day.

ghastley, is the Deathlord at that spot where you enter the room and there is a double staircase? That room has been the scene of many deaths for me. I think you can backtrack and slam down one of those gates to recover. Does she summon any critters? I seem to remember Achille (no armor conjuror/illusionist) casting his flame atronachs through gates in a few of those draugr dungeons. His Illusion spells were pretty useless. He spent a lot of time backtracking to safety and using the dungeon’s gates for protection.

[ghastley]

I never touch the difficulty slider, so rolling a Deathlord for that location is just bad luck.

She did finally run it to death, using her lightning bolt spell whenever it stopped, and discovered that it wasn't the ebony greatsword she'd hoped for, just a honed ancient nordic one, which is equivalent to the one she has (base damage 20), so not an upgrade until tempered. She wasn't wrong about it being a deathlord, who get 1000 hitpoints to grind down. She has only 200, as she's spread her upgrades across health and magicka, with a few in stamina to support her greatsword habit. Plus a few more now, as that battle leveled her up again. She did a one-hit kill on Jyric after that!

However, it looks like she has to wait until she's fetched the books from Fellglow Keep before she gets to train her alteration with Tolfdir. She'll probably have earned a mage armour perk or two by the time she gets back, and not need it. She's only really doing these to kill time while Falk Firebeard decides to send her a letter about Potema. I want to test out moving Uzi from Greenspring to Proudspire.

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Oh, and she's a Breton, not an Orc. I created Fred De Fault long back as a base character at the Helgen exit, with only some base mods (such as RaceMenu and Apaachi hair) that I'd need for character adjustment. I made him a Breton to match the name. Fred has done the Greenspring build, too, but once he'd made the mead barrels in the basement, I couldn't get him back out of there!

The sisters just change the gender, and hairstyle, and sometimes nose and mouth, then get an "F" name. I used to change race, too, as Orcs can skip a step on the favour circuit, but doing the Forgemaster's Fingers helps advance the character level, and you need 9 for the Cursed Tribe, so now I leave them as Bretons.

Now I've released the Orc Hearthfires mod, the current character has continued play to do more with Uzi. She'll eventually own all the possible homes, and move the family to each of them in turn, and back to Greenspring in between.