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]

Acadian: Kother has noticed her bumps, and he' sure he'll get used to them.

Renee: No mining mods. The closest I came to that was with my Argonian Hearthfires mod using mining animations to clear the rubble before building.

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Previously: Kothet got the moonstone he needed for his crafting table from Soljund's Sinkhole, but he still needs a lot of other materials.

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7 - Kolskeggr

I still needed other metals for that crafting table, so we headed towards Markarth, looking for the gold mine I'd heard about. The signposts only pointed to the towns and cities, of course, and I had no idea if there was a town at the mine. And unless they'd named it "Goldtown" or something similar, it still wouldn't help.

As we walked, me in front, her behind, in complete silence, we encountered a few travellers coming the other way. I exchanged pleasantries with them, but heard nothing from her. I thought I'd heard her say something when one of them turned out to be a bandit who wanted to rob us. Something about "enjoying this", as she set him on fire.

It appeared that my enemies deserved her words, but I didn't.

---

We reached a fork in the road, and apparently both directions led to Markarth. One went up the hill, and the other down into the valley. I'd heard from a traveller that the Reach had "Silver in the hills, and Gold in the valleys" so I chose the road downward. There had to be some basis in truth behind that saying.

What it didn't say was that there were hostile locals wherever you went. More of the fur-clad people that I'd had to clear to reach the tower were ahead of us. They'd taken up a position where the road crossed over a bridge, and there was a small house beyond it. Unlike the bandits at Valtheim, they weren't extracting tolls for using the bridge, just attacking anyone who came near. And that was now me, and my housecarl.

Their bows weren't accurate enough at this distance to cause any harm, but it didn't stop them trying. Mine wasn't either, and I was the only one with a ranged attack. We needed to get closer, without getting hit.

So as any good Dremora would do, we charged. We both shouted defiance, and ran across the bridge. Not in a straight line, of course, and fortunately the road was wide enough to zig-zag, and spoil their aim. And by staying behind me, she didn't get in my way.

Lightly armoured as they always were, they stood little chance. Not that we were wearing much more, I reflected. I really needed some kind of breastplate over this studded kilt thing I was still wearing. I'd taken that off the Imperial Captain, and hadn't found anything better. I was torn between showing my muscles to my housecarl, and showing her I had the sense to wear armour. At least she could see that I was looking for better. A mage doesn't wear any, so there was little danger that she'd spoil my view.

With the things I took from our slain foes, I had about as much as I could carry. So when we saw the path that lead to a mine behind the house at the bridge, I didn't immediately take it. I could come back and check out the mine, once I'd traded this mediocre equipment for something better. I suspected that if they'd taken over the mine, they'd have it better guarded than the bridge.

It made sense to head for Markarth first, and come back better equipped.

At the top of the rise, there was a farm to the right, a bridge across the stream to a mining village to the left, and ahead was the stables outside the city. I could see several people standing outside the mine, so I went over to ask what they mined here. If it was gold, maybe they'd trade for some of the things I was carrying, and save me some walking.

This mine produced iron, but one of the men, Pavo, told me he'd just arrived from Kolskeggr mine, where they'd been driven out by the Forsworn. That was the name for those fur-clad bandits we'd just encountered, and presumably the mine we'd passed was the one he mentioned. I asked what they mined there, and it was gold.

He warned me not to tackle them, as they had axes, and magic, but it didn't sound like more than the ones I'd already defeated, reaching the tower. And we'd aready killed the first three, outside. When I showed Pavo the "armour" and weapons I'd collected, he confirmed that it was the Forsworn.

So now I knew where to mine gold, but I'd have to clear out these Forworn first. And I wouldn't be able to carry any gold until I sold some of the things I was carrying. We headed up the road to the city.

When we entered the gates, I heard the word Forsworn again. Off to my right, there was a commotion, as a man in miner's garb knifed a woman in the market. I decided not to get involved, as I'd noticed a smelter in the opposite direction, and I assumed there'd be a forge, and a smith, nearby.

The smith was an Orc, and she was berating her Imperial apprentice as we approached. I told her I'd look out for the book she wanted, and eventually got round to trading. She had some steel to make myself a breastplate, and she bought the other weapons and armour in return. I made a few improvements to my mace too, while I was there, and had the materials.

Feeling better equipped, and lighter, we headed back towards Kolskeggr Mine.

---

When we arrived, the remaining Forsworn were all still inside. It seemed that we hadn't alerted the others when we killed the bridge contingent. So that meant we'd have the chance to employ stealth.

The Dremora preference is to challenge and charge, but as a hunter for these many years stuck in Tamriel, I'd learned that it's not always the best way. You won't get a second deer if the rest of the herd have all been scattered.

As soon as we entered the mine, I crouched down, and looked back to see if my companion did the same. No, but at least she was staying back, and walking quietly. Her outfit made no noise, at least.

I peered around the corner, and spotted one of the Forsworn patrolling the tunnel. I nocked an arrow, and took careful aim. This bow had a heavier pull than my old Imperial one, and the elven arrows promised more damage than plain iron ones, so I was hopeful of a clean kill.

Yes! he dropped without a sound. One good thing about that fur armour of theirs is that it doesn't clatter when they drop. Nothing should have alerted his comrades ahead of us.

I was equally lucky with next one, but there were two of them together, this time, and the other saw her fall. Fortunately, this wasn't an archer, and he had to close the distance before he could attack. An arrow, and my partner's firebolt, took him out before he reached us.

Wait a moment, firebolt? She hadn't used that before. Just flames, so we had to get closer. She must have just learned that, although I didn't understand how, and I certainly didn't expect her to tell me.

We hadn't met any mages yet. The one I'd met on the way up to the tower was a tough opponent, and it was likely that we'd have the same fortune here, and he'd be the one waiting at the end. Hopefully, alone.

The Kyn do not rely on luck, and it's just as well, as he wasn't alone. I charged at the briarheart, as a firebolt flew toward the archer. I didn't look to see if it was sufficient, as the frost spell the briarheart cast clouded my vision, as well as slowing me down. I swung at where I thought he was, and felt my mace make satisfying contact. But a blow from his axe also glanced off my new breastplate, making me very glad that I'd made it. Perhaps luck is a matter of being properly prepared.

It took a few more blows to finish him, but at least he wasn't able to use that frost spell a second time. And that firebolt next to me warmed me back up, as well as removing the other threat.

"We can tell Pavo that it's safe to return," I announced, but got no response from anyone. I wasn't expecting one, but it would have been appreciated.

There were a couple of gold ingots on a table, as well as some already-mined ore. That was enough for what I needed, but I decided to mine some more, while we were here. I could make the gold into jewellery, which would be good smithing practice, and once I could enchant items, I'd be able to make something useful to a mage. Perhaps a circlet, or a ring, or an amulet to hang between those wonderful...

I needed quicksilver and a Grand Soul Gem before I could even think about enchanting, so I put that idea out of my head, even if she kept putting it back. It was the way she stood there, watching me dig the ore, at just the right angle to draw my attention. That's probably why I hadn't noticed that her robe was shorter. It used to reach down to her ankles, but now I could see the tops of her boots.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Sep 12 2016, 02:16 PM