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: You are surprisingly perceptive for a mortal. Of course Kothet's viewpoint has the weight of greater experience, so it must be the correct one.

Back to the regular schedule ...

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Previously: Kothet met Delphine, and wasn't impressed. However, she was the only clue he had to the dragons/dragonborn situation.

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23 - Esbern

I handed my armour, my war-hammer, and a carefully selected collection of potions to Malborn, the Wood Elf agent in the Winking Skeever. He set off for the Embassy, while I walked down to where the carriage was waiting. I changed into the more formal party gear Delphine had selected for me, and boarded the carriage.

Elenwen met me just inside the door, and she knew my name, even if she didn't know my face. I was surprised, as she must have seen me at Helgen, and I should have been conspicuous, as the only Dremora. I'd was certain that I'd seen her there, talking to Tullius as we were carted in. Like all Altmer, she was tall, slender, and quite attractive in an elven way. Which probably made her quite unattractive to the average Nord, who likes his women more ... cuddly?

Malborn interrupted us, mainly to get my attention, I think. When Elenwen wandered off back to her other guests, he asked that I should try and create a distraction, so he could sneak me into the off-limits part of the building, where my equipment was waiting.

Obviously, that distraction couldn't include me, or everyone would be looking my way. That was enough of a problem already, as most of the other Jarls and Thanes there had never seen a Dremora before, and were curiously peeking in my direction whenever they got the chance.

I had a few options. There was the Thane of Solitude, Erikur, who was apparently attracted to the Bosmer girl serving drinks, and could probably be goaded into making a nuisance of himself with her. I was reluctant to do that, however, as it might get her into trouble, too.

Most of the other choices were just as bad, but the half-drunk Redguard merchant who came in at the same time I did, a man name Razelan, looked like my best bet. I delivered him another drink, and persuaded him to stir a bit of life into the proceedings. He wasn't enjoying himself there anyway, and didn't mind getting tossed out.

After he'd managed to insult Elenwen, and most of the others, the guards all swarmed in to apprehend and eject him, blocking everyone's view of me. I took the opportunity to slip through a door behind the bar, with Malborn.

He led me through the kitchen, and I found my equipment waiting in a chest in the pantry. There was a door at the back of that, providing access from the private quarters, and my entry to the same. Malborn closed and locked the door behind me, warning me I'd be on my own.

I searched the rooms I now had access to, dealing with a few interruptions from Thalmor guards as they blundered in. I found nothing of interest, and headed out the door into the courtyard, hoping to find something in the Solar opposite. Of course, that meant dealing with more guards on the way, which I must admit, I quite enjoyed.

By the time I entered the Solar, I was wondering why I hadn't just stormed my way in to begin with. The Thalmor guards didn't put up much opposition, and it would have avoided all the masquerade of the party invitation. On the other hand, the party did keep Elenwen herself out of the way, and perhaps that's what Delphine had in mind.

In the Solar, I found Rulindil, the torturer in charge of the Thalmor dungeon, talking to a Nord informant, name Gissur. After eliminating them, I had a key to the lower floor, where I imagined I'd have a better chance of finding something useful.

There was a single Thalmor soldier guarding the cells. She didn't last long. Now I wanted to check out any containers, free any prisoners and generally disrupt things. I found a number of documents that I suspected Delphine would like to read, especially as one was about her. Another concerned Ulfric Stormcloak, but the third was on another man I'd never heard of; someone called Esbern.

Just then, some more soldiers came in at the top of the stairs, and they had Malborn with them. Before they could do anything to him, I attacked, and soon had a key to an exit that I suspected we'd quickly be needing. I freed the only prisoner I could find, and together we opened the trapdoor that led out.

It opened into a cave, and I could hear something animal-like ahead. I kept the others behind me, and it was well that I did, as it turned out to be a Frost Troll. As I struck at it, a fireball flew in from the mouth of the cave and helped put it down.

"Zahra! How did you know where I'd be?"

"Delphine mentioned that you'd be coming out here, so I was waiting outside. When I heard the troll, I came in."

"So where's Delphine, now?"

"She went back to Riverwood. You need to collect the rest of your gear there, at the Sleeping Giant. She took it all with her."

Malborn and the prisoner, a Breton named Etienne Rarnis, ran off in different directions. While Etienne had thanked me profusely, Malborn was complaining that he'd be a fugitive for the rest of his life. As if he hadn't anything to do with that situation.

---

Since I had my armour, and a change of clothing, even if it was a bit ostentatious, I didn't desperately need to go there right away. I re-read the dossier on Ulfric, and wondered if there was enough material here to extract a bit of gold from him. It did imply that he'd been quite informative, when he was their prisoner, and I suspected that Elenwen had a hand in that. Or some other part of her body.

Delphine would, I'm sure, be quite pleased with hers. It made her look much more important than I suspected she really was. But the one on Esbern was intriguing. The Thalmor clearly believed he was the key to knowledge of the new dragon situation, and had made him their highest priority. Perhaps he should also be mine?

The dossier mentioned Riften, but that wasn't very precise. Since Delphine was one of the Blades, perhaps she'd have a better idea where in Riften to start looking for him. I'd better go to Riverwood next, after all.

---

Delphine was surprised to discover that Esbern was still alive. She'd thought herself the sole survivor of the Blades. As for finding him, she told me that he'd most likely be in the Ratway, which is where the Thieves' Guild headquarters were. Anyone who wanted to hide would be down there. She gave me the impression that there was as much of the city down there as there was on the surface, so it didn't narrow my search much.

In Riften the entrance to the Ratway wasn't hard to find, but I imagined we were entering a hostile labyrinth, and the rest of the hunt wouldn't be easy. Getting attacked by a couple of low-lifes in the first tunnel just confirmed that.

There was a raised drawbridge blocking our way just a little further in, and we needed to jump down and find a way around it. Presumably a Thieves Guild member would be able to lower that drawbridge, or maybe there was another entrance somewhere that they used. I just hoped that it all connected together, and we weren't in the wrong part.

We encountered less skeevers than I'd expected, but that was mainly because they had low-lifes preying on them, and an abundance of traps. It all made progress slow and tedious. Eventually, however, we reached the Ragged Flagon, which seemed to be a Guild-run tavern, although they were unconcerned that we weren't members. Presumably just getting here was enough. A door at the back led further into the tunnels.

It wasn't long before we encountered some Thalmor soldiers, who were also looking for Esbern. That made sense, as we already knew that the Thalmor suspected he was in Riften, and they wouldn't have found him up in town. Why they attacked us wasn't as clear, but they did, so they died.

---

We finally came across a door that had multiple bars, and locks, and seemed more like a fortress than a beggar's cell. This was probably where Esbern lived. I knocked, and a voice told me to go away. I asked the voice if he was Esbern, and he denied it, of course. So I mentioned the 30th of Frostfall, and Delphine, and that changed his mind.

Once we were inside his little home, he explained that it was the date the Great War started, and he and Delphine had been at Cloud Ruler Temple, in Cyrodiil at the time. The two of them had separated, and had been on the run from the Thalmor ever since. When the Dragons re-appeared, he'd seen that it was futile to continue, and retreated down here.

"Why futile?"

"Because this is the beginning of the end-times. Without a dragonborn, there's no way to stop Alduin, and the world will inevitably come to an end."

"But I'm dragonborn, or at least the Greybeards tell me I am. I find it hard to believe, being a Dremora, but they assure me it's possible."

"Well, this changes everything. You need to take me to Delphine immediately. Or at least, once I've gathered what I need for the journey. Just a moment." He started to hunt around his cell, stuffing various items into his pockets.

"I think that's all," he said, "Let's go!"

Almost as soon as we went out the door, we ran into another group of Thalmor. The mage among them summoned a flame atronach, and I smiled at the poor choice. To add to their woes, Esbern countered with a frost atronach of his own. This man wasn't the frightened rat I had taken him for.

Esbern also knew all the shortcuts to get out quickly, dropping down grates in the floor, and ducking down side-passages that I wouldn't have considered. Soon we were standing back outside the Ratway entrance in Riften.

I decided to take the carriage to Whiterun, and walk to Riverwood from there. The carriages never seem to get attacked, and the road from Whiterun to Riverwood was about as safe as any. I'd cleared most of the area around it myself.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Mar 23 2017, 09:53 PM