Today in Cyrodiil, spoilers version, TES: 4 Oblivion character accounts & stories Options

[Renee]

Woo, I like the blue.

Uh oh. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten that biscuit... ☮

At first I thought "a hundred light years from home" is Moody Blues. That phrase was triggering a memory. I had to Google it! Ah, it's that weird Rolling Stones song, the one which was all trippy & psychedelic. I believe that was the last major tune written by Brian Jones.

Yea, sounds like The Jandaga be trippin'.

Are you able to draw a weapon near this unicorn? Hopefully it's not as cantankerous as the one in Hircine Grove.

Such pretty pictures; it's been really fun joining you and Lena in Cyrodiil again.

[Lena Wolf]

Ghost hiding in the bushes... That's so funny! What, is she having a bad hair day?

Wow, your Anvil looks great! Except... what's with the enormous potholes in the streets? The Countess out of cash again?

[Acadian]

Some sort of mind altering substance in play here? Skooma? Nah, not enough lethargy. Daril? Nah, generally fatal to those without scales & a tail. Datura perhaps? Probably not. I give up.

Where else but hiding in a flower bush would one expect to find an ghostly wood elven lass?

Looks like Kvatch will be getting some nice gardens.

[macole]

(Someone wanted to see the Field Hippies. You know who you are. How I could recreate the early ‘70s with its peaceful nights spent under the stars waiting to catch the first rays of the sunrise, Take the next best thing; a mix of late ‘70s, early ’80s disco nights and ‘00s karaoke nights at my sister’s bar. We played a game ‘Roulette Karaoke’. You get called up, spin the big wheel and sing the song. Winner’s bar tab was paid for at end of the night. No one ever left when I was on stage but I never won either, sister’s bar technicality.)

20220827 Vampire Hunting, the Musical - A fantasy trip remembering nights at the karaoke bar

Standing there at the gate to Sapling Manor watching Godras fade into the distance as he began his journey to Kvatch I wondered what do I do now that the Falling Flowers quest was finished. With a shrug I headed back to Benirus Manor.

Sitting down in the library I began to study the book The Ayleid Steps. Hours later I put the book down, no closer to solving the riddle than before I started. The book offered little toward solving the ghost’s dilemma. With little hope of finding Ervvin Austel’s missing journal I became depressed.

Rosalind brought a dinner which I barely touched, leaving it on the library table. The manor was strangely quiet. When I asked Rosalind where Claire and Yesmin were she told me that they didn’t want to disturb me while I studied and had gone out. She didn’t know where they went or when they’d be back. With little else to do I thought I’d take a walk and meditate in Sapling Manor’s garden.

Exiting Anvil’s Castle Gate an insistent heavy bass beat began tugging at me, pulling me towards the docks. A haunting melody coming from far western end of the docks had a frightening familiar feel to it. The seductive call of vampires!

The Black Flag Tavern sat at the far western end of the Anvil Bay docks. Walking along the dock I could feel the heavy bass beat long before I could hear it. It wasn’t long before I realized the error of my paranoid over reaction. It wasn’t vampires seducing their play. It’s free-mike night down at the Black Flag Tavern and there’s a party going on!

Dance, dance, dance the music insisted. Standing outside the Black Flag Tavern captured by the beat, my feet began to move. Finding myself shuffle dancing alone on the boardwalk I couldn’t take it no more and had to go inside.

“Ah, just what I need to chase away the blues; a hot band and a hot songstress with a voice of an angel.”

The Black Flag was packed to the gills with rough-and-tumble pirates. I was barely able to squeeze my way in through the door.

“Five gold cover,” demanded a bouncer who was easily twice my size.

“What, but I’m…”

“Now it’s 10-gold, shrimp or I’ll toss you in da bay.”

Geez no one recognizes me without my Dragonspirit armor on.

(Due to the infamous notoriety of some the clientele no pictures were allowed inside The Black Flag Tavern. They confiscated my discworld imp camera, Exposed the imp and spilled all his paints.)

The mosh pit was packed. It popped with energy as the singers sang “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”.

I stood there in amazement watching a room full of tattooed and steel studded giant sized pirates bobbing and weaving as one to the beat. Every time the singers sang “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” the pirates both male and female shouted “Take Me, Take me, Take me!” in reply.

Unable to see over the land of giants I climbed up on a chair so I could see. To my shock and surprise, there prancing on the bar leading the pirates in their overly enthusiastic boogie was… Vila!

She spotted me. Hand signals flew and the next thing I knew I was floating on a sea of hands to be deposited on the bar next to the Pirate Queen. Vilja planted a big kiss on me and said something.

“Can’t hear a thing,” I shouted as loud as I could.

Vilja pointed toward the big fireplace the corner where the performers were. You think seeing Vilja leading the dancing pirates was a shock. A big banner in the corner read, “Introducing: The Field Hippies!”

With Kaleah on the hurdy gurdy the Field Hippies were rockin’ the joint. Before I could react another sea of hands deposited me on the stage with as the song came to an end.

The crowd roared for an encore.

“We’ve been here hours and have gone through our playlist. You got to sing,” Kaleah implored.

“What? I’m not…”

“How about this one?” Claire suggested with a wild look in her eyes. “He’s done it before, plus the energy he puts into the performance drives me wild.”

“This ain’t no cowbell kind of crowd,” cautioned Elenya. “Besides he tends to mess up the chorus and even if he gets it right he’d need a couple drinks to work up to that one.”

“Oh, I can fix that,” cooed Fiona while rummaging through her bag.

“More! More! More!” shouted the crowd growing ever more insistent.

“Time for one more, make it snappy!” shouted the barkeep.

“Please, my Feache?” cooed Kaleah gently dragging her talons up and down my back. “For me?”

Oh, the tingling shivers that ran up and down my spine. Giving in I said, “OK.”

“Yay! It’s a party!” shouted Yesmin. “Let’s do this one. We can all join in and then get outta here.”

Party over, we gathered at Benirus Manor.

Fun loving and mischievous, the Field Hippies in order; Moonshadow elves Claire and Fiona, Cute Elves Elenya, Maeva, and Yesmin, and of course there’s Pym of unknown lineage. Kaleah, in the center, is an honorary member but does not consider herself to be a hippie; she’s too grave. When Kaleah does take a lead role within the group they become, The Sisters of Lord Have Mercy.

“You’re over your quarantine, I see.”

“I never was sick,” Kaleah said sternly as Elenya and Pym pointed and made violent gagging motions behind her back.

Fiona handed me am envelope, “Claire and I got this for you.”

The package contained copies of Ervvin Austel’s journal. “How did you get this?”

“Can’t tell, that would be cheating,” Claire said.

“We do have our ways,” Fiona added seductively.

“Ok, so can you tell me what was going on at the Black Flag? Where did you get that hypnotic music? It had me thinking vampires were on the prowl.”

“Well Rosalind is writing a play based on your vampire hunting journal,” Yesmin started. “She’s seriously talented.”

“We’ll make a piles and piles of gold,” giggled Maeva.

“You write how you hear the vampires singing their seductions,” the battlemage Claire added. “So, Rosalind has expanded on what you wrote and turned it into a play, a musical.”

“Yeah, we were trying some of them out,“ Yesmin said. “Pretty good, don’t cha think?”

“She’s thinking calling it A Bard’s Tale,” said Fiona.

"Absolutely not!"

“How about Jandaga the Vampire Hunting Bard?” asked Elenya, the druid.

“Feache the Vampire Hunting Bard,” insisted Kaleah.

No! and No! and I am not a bard! There are much better singers and dancers than me out there.”

“So says he who sings and dances through dungeons,” chided Kaleah.

“Maybe but none inspire us like you do,” said Fiona. “It’s the synergy of all you do, you know.”

I don’t know if I agree with that but I know I’m not changing any minds here tonight so I said, “Well, just keep it simple. How does A Musical Guide to Vampire Hunting sound?”

[Lena Wolf]

“Well, just keep it simple. How does A Musical Guide to Vampire Hunting sound?”

Nah, that one is already taken. Translated from Faerish, it means "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". How about "Victor/Victoria"? Very victorious, that one.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Aug 28 2022, 09:53 AM

[macole]

20220831 The Ayleid Steps – Retracing the Steps, Lost Ontobel

Ervvin Austel’s journal proved to be an interesting read. He wrote about finding lost ruins filled with Ayleid artifacts, enchanted weapons and armor as he mapped out much of the Step Network.

Ervvin talks of an elf merchant in the city. The elf he calls C. and the city he doesn’t mention but he mentions the Foaming Flask. Ervvin also mentions a little notebook in which he wrote all his notes as he mapped the stepstone network.

The drunken fool lost his notebook in a Gardens District tavern. Maybe this lost notebook is what his ghost is trying to get me to find? I’m thinking the Imperial City Elven Garden District would be a good place to start.

As I sat there contemplating the next move Kaleah came to stand behind me. Massaging my shoulders she leaned in close, her lips brushing my ear, she whispered, “Let’s go explore the Steps together. Just the two of us together facing the unknown, it will be just like old times, adar -o nin –iel.

Leaning back I smiled and said, “Pack your things. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

Shortly after sunrise we used the stepstone located in the foyer to take us to the Imperial City.

(Isn’t it odd; the stepstones described as being built by the Ayleids, unable to be moved or destroyed by human means, yet here they sit inside imperial homes and offices. How?)

Arriving in the Market District we headed straight to the Garden District to thoroughly search the inns of the district.

“My feache, I brought along the BIG steins,” Kaleah crowed. “Never know how long these things take.”

Sadly it didn’t take long at all. At the very first inn, Luther’s Broad’s Boarding House, we noticed a loose board at the end of the bar. Taking care not to attract attention we pried the board open a little wider and pulled out a couple sheets of folded paper. Carefully replacing the board to look like it hadn’t been disturbed we retired to a table in the corner.

A note, we found a note! Excited like a high school boy on his first date with a girl, I unfolded the note. And just like that first date, in the end it came crashing down in utter bewilderment and disappointment. Oh, the notes told everything but using random numbers and fake direction name the instructions to a lost treasure trove it was written in a complicated code.

Hours and steins went by as we tried to decipher the clues. Finally tired after an exhausting day we rented a room for the night. Um, Luther yelled at us, “By the gods get a room and take it upstairs, already!”

Taking Luther’s suggestion, Kaleah got up off my lap and we took our homework upstairs.

Next morning bright-eyed and clear headed, I showed the notebook to Kaleah.

“I think I figured out the first one."In line with colored drink and wolfsound caves between them and east of the towers..." Two caves along the Gold Road, Green Mead and Howling. The towers must be a nearby abandoned Imperial fort. All we have to do now is go find it.”

We left immediately.

‘Praise the Nine they’re gone,” Luther mumbled as he wiped down the bar.

It early evening by the time we reached the Green Mead Cave area. Turning south off the Gold Road we began searching the area until we found two stepstones. Unable to see them clearly in the darkness we laid out a bedroll and eventually fell asleep.

“Look there’s a ruined fort just past those trees,” Kaleah pointed out. “One of these stones must be the right one.”

“Yes but which one?” I questioned. After a brief inspection I made a choice. “This one has a serious crack. The other one looks good, let’s use it.”

We find ourselves in the West Weald near Ra’sava Camp. We activated the second stepstone.

With the Kvatch Cliff at our back we are looking east over the West Weald. Is this all that this is going to be, just bouncing from one step to another? Kaleah agreed when I suggested to give it one more try and if we don’t find treasure call it quits for the day.

Activating the third stepstone we had to act quickly or drown as we were deposited at the bottom of Anvil Bay. With massive ships bobbing dangerously close overhead I did the first thing I could think of… activate the step.

Once our eyes adjusted to the darkness we realized we had arrived at our destination, the Lost Ontobel Ayleid ruin.

Our first glimpse of Lost Ontobel wasn’t very inviting. Mummies were prowling about and where there are mummies there’s bound to be ghosts, wraiths, skeletons, and a lich or two. It wasn’t too difficult fighting our way through Ontobel. Lost Ontobel wasn’t a very big complex either. After passing through a couple of large rooms we came to a dead end. The corridor which I had assumed would lead to the surface exit was blocked by a cave-in. The only way out would be to use one of the stepstones where we entered.

Ervvin may not have mentioned the score of undead prowling about but by the amount of enchanted items we found Ontobel surely was one of the lost Ayleid ruins Ervvin had written about.

Most unusual for an Ayleid ruin, we only encountered one deadly trap. A room near the cave-in held a gas jet flooding the room with poison gas protecting two reliquary with very hard locks. It was well worth the effort to unlock the two Ayleid containers.

Finding a stepstone in the gas chamber our first thought was it must lead to somewhere important to warrant being placed in the gas chamber. Activating it we found ourselves returned to the grassy hills of the Colovian Highlands just east of Trumbe.

It’s late and we’re too exhausted to make it all the back to Anvil. We settled for finding a nearby camp. It was midnight when after a brief negotiation over tent rights, we settled down for the night at Bodean Camp.

This post has been edited by macole: Sep 4 2022, 08:47 AM

[macole]

20220904 The Ayleid Steps – Retracing the Steps, Lost Qualum

After the morning devotions and a light breakfast, we reviewed the discovery of Ontobel. Organizing our notes I file them away until they could be sent to Sova at the Archeology Guild Hall. She will find this very interesting, I’m sure.

So what do we do now?

“This one is easy,” Kaleah pointed out. “The house above this basement faces two guild halls behind a tree... This has to be Francois Motierre’s house in Chorrol.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But figuring out the others is going to take some time. How about we take the puzzles to Anvil and have everyone look them while we run off to Chorrol. When we get back hopefully the puzzles will be solved saving us a lot of work.”

Leaving Bodean Camp, it was late in the day when we arrived at Benirus Manor. Calling a meeting of the Ladies we gathered around the altar of The Darkness, the smoky dark crystal ball. Explaining the plan to solve the riddles and retrace the Stepstones according to Ervvin’s notes. My Ladies eagerly accepted the challenge. Off they went, each one vowing to solve more riddles than anyone else.

With the riddle solving assured Kaleah and I traveled to my home in Chorrol. Over a late dinner we discussed plans for getting to the basement of Motierre’s house.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever met Motierre,” I told Kaleah. “Never have seen him walking around town, have you?”

“No, come to think of it,” Kaleah replied. “I haven’t.”

We waited until dusk when fading light created confusing shadows, to break into Motierre’s house. Our timing couldn’t have been worse. In the gloom, we nearly knocked Francois Motierre down as we search for the basement door. He turned white as a sheet like he had seen the face of Mephala herself.

“Please, don't kill me!” he screamed as he bolted up the stairs. “You can take anything you like, then just leave! I won't call the guards, I swear!"

Well that was strange but we didn’t waste any time thinking about it. Making our way down to the basement we easily found the stepstone. Strange place for an Ayleid stepstone but there it is.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, yes I’m ready.”

Using a welkynd stone to activate the stepstone we stepped. Instantly we were transported directly to Lost Qualum.

“It’s quiet just like Ontobel,” Kaleah said in a hushed voice. “Let’s hope it’s as easy.”

It wasn’t.

The heavy cloud of dust in the first chamber hid Qualum’s dangers from us. The one saving grace was that it also hid us from them but not for long. Even though we stepped very cautiously and as quietly as possible the silent hiss of our boots shifting settled dust attracted attention. It only took a couple of steps away from the stepstone before a wraith slowly turned its baleful gaze toward our direction.

The wraith raised its arms and with a wail mounds laying ion the dusty floor began to rise. Soon the far end of the chamber was alive with those that had no business being alive. Zombies and mummies shambled in silence toward us. A call for the Sisters of Insanity and the fight was on.

How many cuts with a fiery sword does it take to kill a mummy? One… ten times.

That’s the trouble with mummies and zombies. Minutes after you kill them they get back up and you got to do it again.

“Persistent raggedy little buggers, aren’t they?”

Kaleah just laugh.

Qualum turned out to be a rather large complex of multilevel hallways crisscrossing over and under each other. Mummies were the most prevalent danger. The monstrous creatures weren’t too difficult to deal with until we met a group of mummy priests, a mummy king (pharaoh?), and a lich. That’s when I call for the Midas Angel. Her flaming white hot sword would not be denied.

It took some time but eventually we prevailed. Looting the Ayleid ruin netted nearly twoa score welkynd stones along with gold and many enchanted items. Finding no other available exit we left Lost Qualum the same way we arrived, by using the only stepstone available.

Magnus’ warm gaze was shining brightly when we reappeared in the Colovian Highlands somewhere north of Lipsand Tarn.

Clasping Kaleah in a great hug I said, “That was fun.”

Kaleah laughed and replied , “Killing is my business and business is good.”

“Let’s see if we can get closer to Anvil,” I said. Kaleah agreed and using another welkynd we stepped. Instantly we arrived at a location just north of Gottsaw Inn.

“Gottsaw is right down there ,” I told Kaleah. “If we walk fast we could make it to Anvil tonight or…”

“We could take a room for the night, hmmm,” Kaleah finished with a sly smile and twinkle in her eye.

“Dinner at Gottsaw it is then. Hope Foroch has it ready.”

[Renee]

Holy sugar, my elf is at Bodean Camp as we speak!

Oh wow, looks like they're doing a Dark Brotherhood quest. Francois Motierre is a name which triggered some memory for me.

That’s the trouble with mummies and zombies. Minutes after you kill them they get back up and you got to do it again.

Oh no, don't tell me you've got no option to toggle this off! Undead Rise Return is a feature of MMM too. It'd be cool (in a horror movie sort of way) if we could burn them up with fire, and this causes them to be permanently dead. Doesn't work this way, unfortunately.

Probably have asked this before, but how did you get their really cool armor? Especially in this pic?

[macole]

Oh wow, looks like they're doing a Dark Brotherhood quest. Francois Motierre is a name which triggered some memory for me.

Well there is a DB quest associated with Motierre but this time we're just there to find an Ayleid Step. The Jandaga is not a DB kind of guy.

Oh no, don't tell me you've got no option to toggle this off! Undead Rise Return is a feature of MMM too. It'd be cool (in a horror movie sort of way) if we could burn them up with fire, and this causes them to be permanently dead. Doesn't work this way, unfortunately.

That would be nice wouldn't it. I think I saw a mod once that would disable bodies after you looted the corpse.

Probably have asked this before, but how did you get their really cool armor? Especially in this pic?

The ever seductive Kaleah is looking good as she traipses through dungeons in her;
split-skirt = R18PN Mina Armor There are two versions for download. I use the old Mina armor only version.
cuirass = Black Luster_ExnemsBody_Weapons_and_Armor (There is a BBB version which is totally wrong. Metal armor should not bend that way!)
boots & shield = NexonsArmory At times Kaleah will wear the robe which is highly distracting to mortal males not so much so to the undead. Also this mod has some very wicked staves.

The Jandaga is in his Dragonspirit armor Drake_Knight_Armor_and_Weapons by Jojjo. Out of the box this armor is very bright. Too bright for for the ancient armor that it is supposed to be in my game. Using GIMP I made an effort to darken it to my liking. There may be a mod does a better job.

[Renee]

Awesome, especially the Drake Knight Armor. I've got this idea for a typical Dark Knight, a guy with no emotion, and nobody knows what he looks like. He'll be my guy who will finish Dark Brotherhood, assuming I ever roll the guy.

See, my original gal who tried to do DB couldn't do the Purification part. She loved her guildmates too much to just kill them all. Even the Khajiit merchant who always insults us; Kate grew to love the guy, and even looked forwards to his insults after a while! She tried to kill Lucien instead, but this was not possible.

Edit: I agree, the original Drake armor is too shiny.

This post has been edited by Renee: Sep 6 2022, 07:56 PM

[Acadian]

Those Anvil dock bars host a rough crowd!

Wow, travel by steps sure is confusing – sort of like opening a box of chocolates, you never know what yer gonna get. Oh, that wasn’t too bad – looted Ontobel and made it back to grass and sky.

Clever to assign puzzle solving to the rear party – delegate and disappear off looking for Qualum. Harder than Ontobel but done and done. The pair even make it to Gottshaw Inn. There are worse places to spend the night.

[macole]

Acadian: If i'd only turned around to look we could've stayed in Kvatch.

20220908 The Ayleid Steps, Retracing the Steps - grading papers – MOO Fort Strand

Leaving Gottsaw Inn after breakfast Kaleah and I tried to get a better idea of where the Ayleid stepstone that we arrived on was located. Looking back toward the top of the hill where we had arrived we came to the startling realization that we had been just outside the western wall of Kvatch. Dang, if I had turned around I probably would’ve broke my nose on the wall.

We should have stopped by to see how things were going. Oh well, next time.

Clouds were moving in by the time we left Gottsaw Inn so we thought we’d save some time by cutting cross country to Anvil. It was working out fine until we ran into some bandits near Fort Strand. Not liking their attitude we decided to serve eviction notice to whoever remained in the ruins of Fort Strand.

A group of MOO Valenwood Rangers had set up camp in Fort Strand. Turning right at the first junction after entering Fort Strand we fought through a few of the Valenwood Rangers that included archers, Beatmasters and a Druid. It was when we entered the Fort Strand Dome that the fight became more intense.

Almost immediately after entering the Dome we crossed paths with two unexpected invaders. In the darkness Duvianus Hateria (MOO), a member of the Dark Brotherhood and the vampire Carnius Maro (MOO) caught us by surprise.

Shrouded in darkness by his DB leather armor Duvianus Hateria attacked Kaleah. Not knowing whom he was dealing with Duvianus used a destructive touch spell on Kaleah. It didn’t work. He would’ve been better off using the soul trap enchanted Elven long sword he carried. It wouldn’t have worked any better but at least we wouldn’t have lost his hand when Kaleah struck him with her fiery blade.

While Kaleah entertained Duvianus I buried Light of Dawn in his back. In less than a minute the dark shrouded Duvianus Hateria succumbed to our fiery blades.

“I told him, don't touch me there!” Kaleah spat angrily.

Turning away from the corpse of Duvianus Hateria, Kaleah pointed down the hall and said, “Can you smell the vampire down there.”

Sure enough screams of “Blood, I smell blood” could be heard coming toward us. Soon the vampire Carnius Maro came into view. Seeing what was left of his comrade Carnius with complete confidence in his prowess attacked.

It’s been a long time since we dealt with a vampire and as eager Carnius was to drink our blood Light of Dawn was eager to taste Carnius. The bane of the vampires shone exceedingly bright as it struck the vampire Carnius. Screaming wildly for our blood until the end, the Light of Dawn feasted and put a permanent end to Carnius’ hunger.

What were these two doing imbedded with the Valenwood Ranger company? A possible clue was the Dead Drop order we found on Duvianus Hateria. Others have told us that vampires make excellent assassins. They often align themselves with the Dark Brotherhood so Carnius Maro traveling with Duvianus makes sense. Could it be that they hired the Valenwood Rangers to help find their quarry?

(Here’s the thing about MOO, there’s no real quest but MOO adds dark Brotherhood NPCs that carry assassination orders. I’ve collected a few but not being a DB follower I’ve never acted upon them.)

By the time we eliminated the evil resurgence in Fort Strand it was pouring rain. We found a couple bedrolls and made do until the next morning.

The rain had stopped sometime during the night making for a pleasant, if not for the mud, walk to Anvil. Arriving at Benirus Manor expecting to see the smiling faces of 5 field hippies I was rather surprised to see Vilja here with them. What I wasn’t expecting was a house in turmoil.

Everyone was yelling and screaming or as in Pym’s case demonstrative signing and wild facial expressions, at one and other. Even Rosalind, my 15-year old ward and house maid was acting out. What happened while I was gone?

"I’ve never seen them as a group to be so argumentative toward each other. “Where’s the Love, Peace and Happiness?”

“My naïve little Feache, you just haven’t been paying attention,” Kaleah replied.

“Ladies, please!” I shouted. “What is going on here?”

That was a mistake. Their attention turned towards me and suddenly a sea of paper was waving in front of my face with cries of foul play. Oh, I get it. They turned a simple request into some sort of competition and now I have to play teacher and grade papers.

“While I’m grading papers I’ll assign traveling companion according to correct answers. Not feeling confident the steps will handle multiple companions well I’ll limit the number of companions to one or two. Hope this makes everyone happy.”

Here goes "May The Mother of All Creation guide my choices" (Actually for the most part I rolled dice to make assignments):

1. "In line with colored drink and wolfsound caves between them and east of the towers..." Done, Kaleah and self. Done
2. "iadnilfohtronagnafotsew" Maeva
3. "It is well north of Arrius, the midday step". Pym
4. "Reed this: from the tower to the east, below the left slingshot arm, 3 steps." Elenya and Maeva
5. "is tan dat awel land be hin data tarism or a ham eisvaht ace nand then or thayle ids te pism yen trance." Pym and Yesmin
6. "jo uif csbwjm gjhiufst hvjme cbtfnfou". Fiona
7. "thron fo wryesel bredor, hebdin ailodest lingibud, no poles." Elenya
8. "The house above this basement faces two guild halls behind a tree." Kaleah and self. done
9. "This is easy: remember this cavern?" Vilja, the only one she got right.
10. "A door, not blessed, not yours; somewhere behind it is a stone." Claire
11. "The golden tree, the dead tree, the tower burnt..." Yesmin
12. "Flanked by waterfalls, where unlit areas remain." Claire and Fiona

(What you expected the answers too?)

Amusingly but not surprisingly, Rosalind was declared winner with a perfect score of 12 out 12. It’s a shame she’s only 15, a year too young to go adventuring. Everyone else got at least one wrong.

That taken care of I left Benirus Manor to trade-in the recently acquired loot. Feeling a need to get away for awhile, I thought haggling with Varel and Norbert would be preferable to listening to the Ladies discussing who the best riddle solver was.

So all things considered the day went well. I made a lot of gold (really need to visit the Bank of Cyrodiil in the Imperial City), riddles were solved and assignments made with minimum fuss, and now it is late and time to sleep.

It’s dawn and feels like I had just lain down when someone shook me awake. An eager Maeva said, “Come on, wake up. I’m packed and ready. Come on let’s go.”

[Acadian]

Bandits and vampires and assassins! Oh my! Rather a buffed up crowd in Fort Strand.

I laughed at what the ladies did with their puzzle solving assignment.

Only one night of rest for the weary before he is off again. This time with Maeva.

[macole]

20220914 The Ayleid Steps, Retracing the Steps #2- Lost Eutivyle

Iadnilfohtronagnafotsew, according to Maeva the answer is to write it backwards and add spaces, “west of Anga, north of Lindai”.

Where do we start? Maeva suggested starting at Lindai. From there comb the country northward, if we don’t find it then we zigzag our way south then north as we work our way east toward Anga.

Taking out my map I explained my thought. “We know where Lindai is, it’s marked on our map. Draw a line north from Lindai and then draw a line west from Anga. Where the two lines cross will be the…”

That’s when I realized we don’t know where Anga is. It’s not marked on our map.

“We need to go to the Imperial City. You can do some shopping at the Goddess Store while I stop at the bank and then research the location of Anga at the library.”

“Like I said start at Lindai and…,” Maeva was about to argue until she heard the word “shopping”. Her stern look turned into a bright smile, Maeva curtsied and said, “The Jandaga’s wisdom is unerring,”

Using the stepstone in the corner of the study we left Benirus Manor. Instantly we stood in the Imperial City’s Market District. As Maeva headed off to the Goddess Store I could hear her say, “I do need a new pair of shoes.”

After a day in the Imperial City, most of it spent sampling brews in nearly every inn in the city while waiting for a certain little someone to finish her shopping, we left for Lindai. Proceeding north from Lindai we traveled north through the Great Forest. Such an idyllic setting with golden leaves falling ever so gently to the forest floor. It truly is beautiful this time of the year.

Crossing the Orange Road we knew we were close to the intersection point. Somewhere along this seldom used path lies hidden the stepstone we seek.

Three days or was it four, of frustrating searching goes by. Up one side down the other crisscrossing back and forth we covered every inch of ground we thought the stepstone would most likely be. On the fourth day

“Well my cute nisse what do we do now?” I asked. Although this is not Maeva’s forte Cute Elves’ affinity with nature could be helpful in finding things hidden in the brush.

“Wish Elenya was here. She’s better at this than I,” Maeva said. Taking a deep breath Maeva added, “I will do what I can.”
On moss covered ground, Maeva sat cross-legged raised her arms high and entered a trance like state (to consult the Xedit codex. Hours later she awoke. Staggering as she tried to stand, I manage to catch her before she fell. Looking up to me, she breathlessly whispered, “Northwestern end of the ravine just before Moranda, high on the hill between a large rock and a tree hidden by bushes.”

We spent the night that way. I sitting on the soft moss covered ground rocking gently as my brave little Maeva gently slept. Early the next morning with everyone recharged and ready to go we searched for the stepstone. Late in the day, in the pouring rain we finally found it.

“You got to be kidding, I’m standing on the stepstone and I still can’t see it!”

“Well,” Maeva chided. “Did you expect the stone to jump up and say, here I am?”

Unable to answer I activated the stepstone and away we went to… the FREEZING Jerall Mountains near the Hermaeus Mora’s Shrine. A blizzard was blowing in and we activated the stepstone to get out of there as quick as we could.

The next stop was no better. It took us just a few mountain peaks away near Sky’s Edge Cave.

(Notice that< as sometimes it happen, Maeva didn’t follow properly and I have to call her to me)

Using another welkynd stone we activated the stepstone. This time we found what we were looking for, the ruins of Lost Eutivyle.

Skeleton warriors and lich of various ranks greeted us in the usual way. To which we responded in kind. We recovered a real nice Runeskull of Hellfire from one lich.

Lost Eutivyle contains the small room we arrived in and, a much larger room comprised of a balcony surrounding a lower floor. Along one wall of the balcony are several push blocks that open hidden rooms. Once the 4 or 5 lich and the skeletons are taken care of the place is a virtual treasure chest.

One hallway led to a door that opened to the Cave of Lost Eutivyle. The music, stepping across the threshold into the Cave of Lost Eutivyle started the music playing again.

I want you;
(Boom, Boom, Boom)
I want you so bad,
(Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom)
I want youuu,
(Boom, Boom, Boom)
I want you so bad,
It's driving me mad, it's driving me mad

Vampires! For a brief moment my whole body stiffened. Then like ripples of water gently undulating outwards from a pebble tossed into a pond, a shiver washed through me. An old feeling of excitement had returned. Light of Dawn hummed as I gave the blade a quick honing. Then with a wink to Maeva we were ready to meet the challenge.

“Come on,” I shouted into the dark. “Come, let’s have some fun!”

We didn’t have to wait long. A pack of bloodsuckers led by Kurt the Squeezer came out of the darkness to be cure of their affliction. The deniers, we chased down and taught them the error of their ways.

Fourteen bags of vampire dust later Maeva and I stood at the end of the Cave of Lost Eutivyle.

“A pretty nice haul,” I said to Maeva pointing to the stack of enchanted armor and weapons. “Especially that sword we took off of the Squeezer. And 32 welkynd stones to boot.”

“Yep,” Maeva replied. “And the way we’re using up the welkynds on the steps we’re going to need all that we can find.”

Having done all that we could in Lost Eutivyle we activated the stepstone to leave Eutivyle. To our surprise we were returned to Lost Eutivyle’s entrance stepstone.

The entrance stepstone took us to the sun drenched Colovian Highlands near Cloud Top.

[ghastley]

What was the story with the “standing on it and can’t see it” one? UL or something change the landscape? I don’t recall similar problems in my Ayleid Steps run.

[macole]

What was the story with the “standing on it and can’t see it” one? UL or something change the landscape? I don’t recall similar problems in my Ayleid Steps run.

Oh, there's lots of things. One being it was higher up on the hill than i assumed it would be. Another is Unique Landscapes and possibly the grass mods I use nearly covered the the step with vegetation. Also, UL uses small boulders of a very similae coloration making for some confusion. I passed by it a couple of times thinking it was just another small white rock.

an alternatet storytime:

On the fourth day, the day after Maeva used her talents to help pinpoint the step's location, we resumed our search for the stepstone. Given a idea of where it was we climbed higher and further north than we had before. Tt had begun to rain when we found a large boulder in front of a tree. Using the boulder as a perch I surveyed the surrounding area.

"I am at a complete loss. I don't see anything," I told Maeva.

"Oh, my Jandaga, “ Maeva said excitedly. "What's this here, right behind you under this bush?"

The pouring rain had caused the bush to droop revealing white stone.

"Well, I'll be!" I exclaimed. "It's a stepstone! Maeva my sweet nisse, you did it!”

It's either that or as Maeva likes to think, I was too distracted watching her run around and wasn't paying attention to my surroundings.

This post has been edited by macole: Sep 16 2022, 05:45 PM

[Acadian]

Maeva is a clever one. She got a shoppping spree while making the Jandaga think it was his idea. The pair of Rockhoppers Stepstoners really got around. Plenty of loot, welkynd stones and vampire dust for their troubles though.

'Truly Beautiful' really is an aptly named screenshot.

[macole]

20220925 The Ayleid Steps, Unknown Cave, Anutwyll Inner Chambers

After giving thanks for being allowed to see the beauty given to us by the Mother of All Creation we used the step to leave Cloud Top. In less than a second we found ourselves at the bottom of the Unknown Cave, a deep dark trench with no way out other than the way we came in.

“What is this place?”

“The realm of a fallen lesser Daedric prince?” Maeva surmised. Then with a laugh she added, “A duke perhaps?”

“Yes, very well could be. Started by an upstart, got squashed by a better, and never finished. Think there’s anything up top.”

“You could use the Wings of an Angel spell to fly up to the top and find out,” Maeva suggested. “But no, I don’t think there’s anything up there.”

There wasn’t. Surprisingly though, we did find some things hidden away in this dark little trench; a welkynd stone and a chest holding a couple of interesting enchanted items.

Using a welkynd stone to leave this Unknown Cave, the step took us an Ayleid Well just outside Sardavar Leed. A conjurer attacked us as soon as we appeared on the well. Maeva made sure that he didn’t bother us for very long.

“Conjurers,” Maeva spat, “Do you want to test your skill against theirs, my Jandaga?”

Entering Sardavar, a long staircase took us down to a four way intersection. Straight ahead of us, a staircase led down to the floor below. To the right the hallway led to a bedroom. The hall to the left led to a locked door. Above us an open cross walks passed overhead. As we entered the intersection the trap was sprung. Armed and armored with bound daedric gear Guardians of Oblivion, conjurers of immense power, attacked.

Summoning all sorts of Daedra and Atronachs they came at us. Two came at us from down the stairs ahead of us, another from the hallway to the right, and one on the walk walkway above us dropped atronachs on us from above. They clogged the narrow halls with atronachs as I summoned my most dependable warriors. It became a slugfest.

It was difficult getting to them but one by one the Guardians of Oblivion fell taking their summon creatures with them. A lucky shot with a fireball knocked the Guardian of Oblivion off the overhead crosswalk. He quickly became a pincushion. The entrance to Sardavar was now quiet.

The initial onslaught over Maeva and I descended the staircase to the balcony below. Sardavar Leed is vast. Seeing it could take days to clear we decided to leave Sardavar Leed. Weary, we collected what loot we could, several welkynd stones and some enchanted items, and headed for the exit.

Back outside we activated one of the steps located on the Ayleid well. The one we chose took us to the Inner Chambers of Anutwyll. An ogre was pawing at a reliquary set upon a large stone catafalque. Still wound up from Sardavar, the impetuous redhead, Maeva attacked. While Maeva took care of the Ogre I called fprth the Sisters of Insanity as backup, just in case some hidden monster appeared from the shadows.

Exploring the now quiet Inner Chamber revealed a door to Anutwyll Erfinsel. Anutwyll Erfinsel turned out to be another step stone hub containing eight Ayleid Steps arranged in a circle. Strange Ayleid tablets hung on the wall in front of each step. Unable to decipher the tablets we left this room as we found it.

There was little resistance as we explored the rest of Anutwyll. When we found the exit it was dark and pouring rain. Ducking back in Anutwyll to get out of the rain we decided to go back to the inner Chamber to spend the night. Next morning, we used the step stone in the Inner Chamber to leave Anutwyll.

It’s a pleasant morning and the view from high in the Valus Mountains, southeast of Lake Canulus, of the Nibenay Basin is spectacular. The question still remains unanswered, why would Ayleids place steps in such a remote places as this?

To avoid a nasty fall down the mountain we took our chance with the step stone instead.

Thinking back on it, climbing down the mountain may have been the safer route. The stone we landed on put me in a most precarious situation in Wenderbek Cave. The step stone was hanging by a thread at the edge of a bottomless chasm. One false step and it’s all over. To make matters worse we were fronted by a pack of hostile Goblins.

Thinking it wise, we stepped out of Wenderbek Cave.

We may be further north but here we were again standing high up in the Valus Mountains near the Morrowind border. This time we were further north. Looking down the mountain something odd was peeking through the trees.

“Could that be city walls? Maeva asked. “My map doesn’t show any walled city here.”

“This requires investigation,” I said and started down the mountainside.

As we made our way down the mountainside Maeva said, “My Jandaga, you know we could have gotten a Goblin Totem back there in Wenderbek,”.

“Yeah and be chased by Goblins for the rest of our lives,” I replied. “No thanks.”

“But it is so much fun to plant a couple totems in the Temple District,” Maeva said with a sly, wicked little grin.

[Renee]

I think I'm going to try Ayleid Steps. These latest stories have gotten me interested. Any advice?

[Lena Wolf]

I think I'm going to try Ayleid Steps. These latest stories have gotten me interested. Any advice?

Avoid planting goblin totems in the Temple District. The guards get their knickers in a twist over them.