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

[Acadian]

Taking out that pesky vampire sounds like a good thing. Clever use of the resistance jewelry and detect 'life' to help. That pic escorting J'Dato back to Leyawiin looks invitingly lush.

[macole]

20210103 Naked Nord
The holidays over we left the Leyawiin home and stepped out into bright sun… err, damp fog. It is Leyawiin after all.

It was a morning of selling loot at the Dividing Line and Best Goods and Guarantees, followed by a late lunch at the Three Sisters’ Inn. It was at that we heard rumors of a Nord being arrested for being naked and disorderly. Apparently it took several guards to subdue the Naked Nord when he tried to enter the castle, demanding to see the Count and Countess.

A naked Nord? Now that brings back memories. Let’s go investigate.

The jailer in the castle dungeon takes us to see the Nord prisoner, Hrogar. It’s a good thing there were no Argonians imprisoned today otherwise we wouldn’t have been allowed the visit, Countess’ orders.

Yep, there Hrogar was, naked as a jay bird. Kaleah nudged me as I was about to ask the guard how often did the Countess come down for inspections. Instead I directed my comment to Hrogar, “Met a witch, I see.”

“What… how did you know?” replied the astounded Hrogar.

Nords are so dumb and predictable. Yeah he met a witch, lost his pant, and his prized possession a hammer was stolen. The only clue he had was that the witch had a run in with the Blackwoods Company.

It’s a short walk to the Blackwoods Company Hall. The Blackwood Company leader Ja’Fazir confirmed that Ar’ahnir had been robbed. Claiming that it was none of our concern he refused to tell us any more about it. Strolling around the common room we met Ar’ahnir.

Ar’ahnir admitted he had been robbed and would tell us more if we did him a favor first. Seems that a package he ordered from someone named Tavael has not arrived. It’s now a week past its promised delivery. Ar’ahnir would like us to go to Bravil and get the goods from Tavael.

“… and tell the elf that this has been Ar'ahnir's last order if that is how he cultivates his business relations,” Ar’ahnir added emphatically.

Bravil? There are a few things we need to do in Bravil, might as well go now. If it all goes well we could be back by dinner time.

The quickest way to get to Bravil is to speak to Yaranil, the Stranded Light Guild Guide stationed at the Mages Guild. My Ladies argued for the Universitum Arcanorum portal system. Oh no, that would take us through the Imperial City and a required stop at the Goddess store. No time for that. Grudgingly my Ladies gave in.

Yaranil, an Ayleid, has adjusted very well to her life and job at Leyawiin’s Mages Guild Hall. She was more than happy to send us to Bravil.

She was less than pleased when we told her that Better Cities Cheydinhal had placed a new wall over the secret drop site. Unable to locate the drop box we hand delivered the letter to Tyrru. She was doing some serious mumbling about security breaches and lives being in danger as she teleported us to Bravil.

Goodness, Ayleids can be so paranoid. You’d think they’re afraid that Umaril or Whitestrake is going to return at any moment and do; I don’t know what to them. What am I saying, judging by current Imperial attitudes toward Ayleids maybe Varanil and Tyrru are right to be ultra cautious.

You could say we were more than happy to find ourselves standing in Bravil and not in some oblivion wasteland.

[Acadian]

Haha, does the sun ever shine in Leyawiin?

Naked Nord. You’ll be happy to know the quest you describe is alive and well in ESO, continuing the saga of the pants-stealing witch.

Bypassing the Goddess Shop is probably a good idea if either time or gold are in short supply methinks.

[macole]

20210107 Sutch lumber, Gweden Cybeline
Arriving in Bravil we quickly picked up a couple of rumors of interest. One was that Tavael was recently killed in a brawl at the Lonely Suitor’s Lodge. Well that was an unexpected turn of events.

The other was that some of the Count’s servants aren’t too happy and may consider new employment.
Working on the first rumor we discover it is true Tavael was killed in a pub brawl. To our relief the publican Bogrum Gro-Galash had saved the package Tavael was able to give us the items to deliver to Ar’ahnir, 5 Kingly Repair Hammers with instruction papers.

Um, these “kingly” hammers look like el’cheap-o hammers with a splash of gold colored paint. Hope Ar’ahnir isn’t too upset that he won’t tell us about the witch.

From the Lonely Suitor’s Lodge we go to the castle to speak to the count about doing business with Sutch. The Count agrees to send lumber to Sutch for the price of 2000 gold. Thinking we’d get our money back in the long run we pay the highwayman his price.

Leaving the Count to his schemes we stop by the servants’ quarters to interview unhappy servants. We found one. Cybeline an Altmer who took employment at the castle, only to find the job was not as she thought it would be. The cushy job of "heir's mistress" became the household drudge, and personal sex slave of both the Count and his son.

Cybeline is not happy with the conditions but will not leave as long as there is a chance that the Count’s son will give up skooma. A test is devised to steal away Gellius’ skooma stash and see who he turns to; Cybeline or the drug dealer.

Oh just great! Now we got to play the thief. Maeva gives me a pat on the back for encouragement. “Go ahead you can do it.”

Using the magical trinkets and spells I had available to make myself invisible to the guards I managed to steal Gellius’ skooma stash. Sounds easy, it wasn’t.

(I tried several times using every combination of magical trinkets and spells I had available to make myself invisible to the guards but my best result was being spotted by a guard who said not to worry he was a friend. He then followed me around and watched as I took the skooma stashed behind Gellius’ bed. Several times I was spotted and arrested. Maybe it was my saber that gave me away?

Once I thought I was arrested again when the guards came running down the hall. I was invisible at the time when one of them yelled out, “Where did he go?” The two guards then attacked Drels Theran and Dro'Nahrahe killing them both. Really strange.)

After giving the skooma to Cybeline we spent a few days at the Mages Guild acting Archmagey before returning to speak to Cybeline. As expected Gellius turn to his dealer for comfort. Needless to say Cybeline was devastated. Now that she is ready to leave the castle she tells us she can’t just walk out, she needs a disguise.

Cybeline said, “Yes, I need something that will cover me, but it also needs to deter the guards from accosting me. Red Silk or Aqua Silk should do the trick!”

“Red or Aqua Silk robes with hoods! You couldn’t have mentioned that earlier?” Oh well, we know where to get an outfit for Cybeline so we might as well get on with it. Off to the Imperial City we go to buy a silk robe and matching hood.

[Acadian]

What a hoot in Bravil - fun little quests involving Count Pompousness and his wormy drug-addled kid. Heh, the Jandanga needs a bag of holding in which to stash his glowing sword when trying to be all clandestiny and stuff. I wonder if an old mythic dawn red hooded robe would work for Cibelene?

[macole]

20210111 Gweden – Cybeline, Naked Nord
Off to the Imperial City we go to buy a silk robe and matching hood. This time we’ll use the Mages Guild teleport system to take us to the Universitum Arcanorum. It should be just about dinner time when we get there. Spend the night in the Arch-mage’s quarters and early tomorrow we’ll walk over to Rindir’s Staffs to shop for a robe.

It didn’t quite work out that way. It was nearing lunchtime by the time we entered the Market District. My Ladies tell me you have to be charged up to shop properly so we stopped by the Feed Bag for burgers.

After lunch we hit every shop in the district along with a stop at the bank until I found a red silk robe at Rindir’s Staffs. I really don’t why we had to stop at every shop we passed on the way to Rindir’s, I knew only Rindir sold the red silk robe and hood.

Oh well, shopping done we pay a visit to the Order of the Virtuous Blood. Roland mentioned another report of a vampire attack. This one is located near the head waters of the Silverfish River.

“Feache, my fearless vampire killer, can you hear the drums’ urgent beating?” Kaleah asked with an eager tone in her voice.

“Juman’ji,” whispered Maeva as she drew runes of warding in the air.

“Hush, Maeva. Don’t mention that name. Yes, we’ll deal with Cybeline in Bravil, the naked Nord in Leyawiin, and then go hunt us some vampires.”

Pym did the Eagle Rock right there in the middle of the street. She was so excited dancing around waving her hands in the air I thought she was going to say something.

Back in Bravil we placed the red silk items in Cybeline’s sack and went to the Lonely Suitor’s Lodge to wait as she had instructed. Wasn’t much more than an hour (seemed like mere minutes) before Cybeline arrived looking pretty good in her newly acquired garments.

It didn’t take much to convince Cybeline to seek employment at Gweden. In fact by the way she was looking at all the men in the room just before she left I had the odd thought that she was going to start working right away.
We left right after Cybeline but instead of heading west toward Anvil we turned south toward Leyawiin. It was very late when we arrived in Leyawiin so we turned in for the night at our Leyawiin home and now OVB chapter house.

The next day over at the Blackwood Company HQ Ar’ahnir was glad to finally receive the repair hammers he had ordered. Living up to his word Ar’ahnir told us he and his partner, J’roga encountered the witch at a place called Marsh-Punk Camp. Ar'ahnir fears his friend is dead as J’roga stark naked and angry, chased after the witch. Ar’ahnir asked that while we’re looking for clues to the witch if we would also search for J'roga.

Hmmm, doesn’t seem to be much we can do for J’roga now, Ar’ahnir is satisfied with his hammers, and we have pressing OVB vampire business to attend to; what to do, what to do?

We decide to attend to the old business in the west first and work on the Silverfish vampire infestation and Marsh-Punk Camp later.

[Acadian]

’I really don’t why we had to stop at every shop we passed on the way to Rindir’s,’
- - Pfft. Silly man.

“Juman’ji,” whispered Maeva as she drew runes of warding in the air.’
- -

So Cybeline will be working at Ghastley’s Gallery of Gwedish Delights!

[macole]

Acadian some guys never learn

20210119 Maids1 PG version
The journey from Leyawiin was relatively quiet until we reached the area of the West Weald slightly east of the Priory of the Nine. It was getting dark and we were thinking of stopping at Desann’s Palace for drinks when we heard a dog barking. Really it was more like a dog fight rather than a howling at the moon kind of noise. Curious we headed in the direction of the uproar.

The sound of the dog barking led us to of all places my winery Shadowcrest Vineyard. I didn’t realize we were so close. The guard dog was in a fierce battle with three headhunters. My Ladies and I rush in to aid the guard dog in eliminating the trespassers.

After ensuring the tenant farmers were safe in their houses behind locked doors, we decided to spend the night here. After all why spend money for drinks when my country home has a wine cellar stock with some of the finest wines available. Plus there’re two comfy double beds.

(This is one of my favorite house/enterprise mods. It’s got everything; a dark secret, ample storage, wine racks, book shelves, and more. If the rooms were slightly larger and more open (too many doors) it would be my favorite house.)

Next morning after breakfast and checking the books with the tenants we leave Shadowcrest Vineyard.

Desann’s Palace is just a short walk past the stepped waterfalls. Delivering Augusta Calidia’s letter to Anburke could be our excuse to check in on Gweden’s competition.

A scream comes from our right when we enter the common room. A guard posted at the door seems to be quite agitated. Curiosity leads us to ask what is going on. We can understand the guard’s concern when she tells us a Dremora has broken free when the idiot jailer tried to get frisky with it.

Seeing an opportunity to find Stacey Pinder among the slave pens, we offer to calm the Dremora. We spy nearly a dozen naked drug addled slave girls as we pass through the cell block. Stacey Pinder is not among them. At the end of the cell block, standing over the bloody mess of what used to be the jailer, is the Dremora Vrolaine and she is hungry.

Vrolaine demands the meat of someone name Ruska or she’s going to start eating customers and the slave stock even though she claims they’re too scrawny to be satisfying. Oh that won’t do.

The options are not good. To kill someone to feed Vrolaine is abhorrent. To banish Vrolaine by defeating her in combat could result in many innocent deaths. Needing to think we take Vrolaine’s demands and leave without commitment. I don’t think she noticed we shut and locked the cell door as we left.

Kaleah consoles against aiding Vrolaine. She is not to be trusted and would not fit in with the Stranded Light crowd.

Maeva points to all the drug addicted slave girls locked up in the cages. “This is nothing like Gweden where no one is forced into service,” she tells me. “We must do something.”

Crossing the common room we enter the tavern to find Anburke. Even though Anburke wasn’t too happy to hear that Augusta wasn’t going to shanghai girls for Desann anymore, he did say he would put in a good word to Desann for us.

A check with the guard stationed at Desann’s door resulted in good news. Desann wished to speak with us and the guard allowed us to enter.

Desann will not hand over Stacey Pinder but he has a proposition for us. Take over management of the operation here in Cyrodiil so he can leave and start up operations in Skyrim. “Not only can you have the Pinder girl, you can have your way with all the girls.”

I think he got the wrong idea of what I meant when I said “I want Stacey Pinder.” Maeva and Kaleah are right, this place is no good. We turn down his offer and fight to end his illegal drug and sex ring.

At our refusal, the giant Argonian Desann calls on his guards to attack.

While Kaleah, Maeva, and I take on the guards Pym pokes at the invisible Desann.

After the battle in Desann’s private chamber we find Stacey locked in a cage. Unlocking the cage we thinking it best smuggle her out of Desann’s palace as quietly as possible. The use of a teleport home spell takes us directly to Arborwatch in Chorol. In return for reuniting the sisters Lucy and Stacey Pinder pledge to keep Arborwatch spotless.

While looting the Desann’s quarters we found a letter addressed to his mother, Seed-Neeus. Now ain’t that something.

[Acadian]

Aww, gotta like a crew that leaps in to help a dog in distress.

That does indeed look like a wonderful vineyards home.

Once again, your lush landscapes look fabulous.

Gosh, that Desann's operation is disgusting compared to how Gweden runs. Your crew was right to shut them down with prejudice.

[Renee]

That's a lovely house mod. I know not of that one, but it sounds like it could be an Emma creation.

Are those locked-up slaves a part of Gweden Brothel?

[macole]

That's a lovely house mod. I know not of that one, but it sounds like it could be an Emma creation.

Are those locked-up slaves a part of Gweden Brothel?

Shadowcrest Vineyard COBL version 1.02 created by Korana in 2009 has been a staple in my Oblivion game since then. If you like segregated storage e.g. bookshelves, potion cabinets, and poison lockers this house has it. If you like crafting e.g. baking bread, cooking stew, making wine, and poisoning apples you can do it here. If you like the life of a farmer e.g. riding horses, picking grapes, milking sheep, and a loyal guard dog then search no further. It’s all right here.

Oh, did I forget to mention the bathroom with the soaking tub to ease away your aches and pains?

The drug and sex slave operation is part of a mod called Maids 1. It sounded interesting and has been in my download library for years. This is the PG rated version of the original (no sex scenes). This is the first time I've played through it and I've found it leaves a lot to be desired.

This post has been edited by macole: Jan 20 2021, 09:28 PM

[Renee]

That's what Emma's Cottage is like... tons of storage and crafting and containers and actually so much stuff, it's a shame my character who uses that cottage is hardly ever there.

Never heard of Maids 1. Yikes.

[macole]

That's what Emma's Cottage is like... tons of storage and crafting and containers and actually so much stuff, it's a shame my character who uses that cottage is hardly ever there.

Along with Shadowbanish Vineyard I have two of Emma's houses Aleswell Cottage and Fisherman's Shack near Anvil. Like your character, mine doesn't spend much time in any of the houses. He sometimes thinks that when he retires he'll spend is days fishing and sailing the catamaran he acquired in the Valenwood Isles.

[macole]

20210124 Gweden – Juliana, I-SL – J’sten, Sutch

A new day in Chorrol. After breakfast we leave Lucy and Stacey Pinder to their cleaning and walk down to the Fire and Steel to dispose of some unwanted items. From Fire and Steel we went to The Grey Mare for drinks and a bite to eat.

Juliana was there so we gave her the ingredients she needed for the cure potion. The potion will take a day to brew. With some time to kill we discussed what to do next. Maeva mentioned Wendir and with no objections we collected our gear and headed south.

It was pouring rain when we arrived at the stone gate of Wendir. Into the inky blackness of Wendir we ventured. Actually it was fairly easy. No, I shouldn’t say easy. If we allowed the undead creatures to get close, creatures like the Mummy Priests and a Nether Litch were difficult to deal with. And the raising floor traps were nasty to deal with.

But, we did have one big advantage. The glow of the spectral knights and wolves, and their susceptibility to shock spells made them ripe targets for ranged shock attack. From a safe distance, Finger of the Mountain swept away many of the specters leaving us to deal with a few mummies, ghouls, ghosts, and other assorted undead.

We found the Ayleid Statue we came for, let’s get out of here. It was still raining when we left Wendir.

Back in Chorrol we spent the night at Arborwatch. Late the next day we tracked down Juliana. She had the potion ready. Taking it we delivered it to Viranus Donton. Viranus already had found a cure but he happily accepted the bottle. Good to have a spare on hand, just in case you know.

Telling Juliana of the delivery the discussion led to thoughts of future employment. Juliana quickly packed her bags and made the trip to Gweden. We think it is time we headed south too. Maybe stop by Sutch on the way to investigate vampire activity near Anvil.

Taking the trail south through the Great Forest it was beginning to get dark as we passed by Hackdirt. A short ways later we come along Entaiss’ house, now left vacant with her sad demise (Stranded Light). Not to leave a good house to suffer from emptiness we thought we’d spend the night to ease its loneliness.

The house wasn’t empty. An Ohmes-raht by the name of J’sten had come searching for Entaiss. Not finding her at home and in desperate need of shelter from the Renrija Krin, J’’sten had taken up residence until her return. Upon hearing how Entaiss died J’sten told us that he had warned Entaiss that the Renrijra Krin would seek retribution for her aiding skooma addicts in kicking their habit.

Renrija Krin? Another illicit drug operation, no doubt. Did we just eliminate one pusher just so another could take its place? Or is this the state of the empire now? Shut the Jaws of Oblivion and Get and every one turns to drugs to forget. I guess I can understand.

The next morning we wished J’sten good luck in avoiding the Renrijra Krin before continuing our journey through the great forest on our way to Sutch.

Arriving at Sutch we noticed the progress being made in rebuilding the fort. Speaking to Pai-Meel at the inn we found that the lumber from Bravil had arrived and construction was running well ahead of time. With more than enough construction workers all Pai-Meel would like to have now is a master mason to complete the construction. Maybe Master Grayson Tiberious, who is currently visiting the Imperial City, would consider coming to Sutch?

We’ll spend the night here and see about going to meet Master Graysom Tiberious in the morning.

It was during breakfast when we received word that the walls of Fort Sutch had been completed, thus saving us a trip to the Imperial City.

[Acadian]

A busy but productive couple of days. Potion, Ayleid statue, check on Sutch. That screenshot during the trip to Sutch was fabulous.

[macole]

20210129 Crowhaven, VH-OVB, Origin of the Gray Prince
When we arrived, the Crowhaven welcoming committee came out in force to greet us. Clearing out the mummies and skeletons was not an easy task. The mummies kept getting back up.

Crowhaven is dark, very dark. I call Twinkle to come light the way. “Come gentle Twinkle, be brave; hold out your light that we may not fall prey to the evil that hides in darkness.”

Kaleah looked scornfully at Twinkle, “Always so nice. You should demand obedience from inferiors.”

“And how would you react to that kind of treatment?”

“I’d break the chains that bind and… Oh!” The shocked look of enlightenment flashed across Kaleah’s face to be quickly replaced by a blushing warm smile. “Yes, I understand.”

With Twinkle lighting the way we enter Crowhaven. Finding nothing but wolves, rats, and gargoyles our initial reaction was “where’s the vampires?” Then I remember wolves, rats, and gargoyles are often closely associated with powerful vampires.

Passing through a rusty iron gate the corridor branches either to the left or to the right. To the left we see a single wooden door. To the right is a large heavy double door. We take the door on the left and continue onward. It wasn’t long before we saw a lone figure clawing at a locked wooden door.

“Vampire,” hissed Maeva pointing to shadowy figures at the far end of the dark hallway.

A MOO clan vampire, Lurius Ponius turned and with a blood curdling scream attacked. My Ladies held his attention long enough to allow me to put an end to the vile creature.

Unlocking the door with Agronak’s mysterious key we entered a small multileveled chamber. A maddening cry echoed throughout the chamber. “I haven’t had a meal in decades. You will be my feast!”

He came charging down the long hallway, raised his hand… “Blink” he was gone. The now invisibility vampire attacked. Maybe it was that shinny ruby red armor that Lord Lovidicus wore that enabled my Ladies to track him? Most of the time all I could see was faint blurring or a green glow in the air.

The mud golem Lord Lovidicus summoned arrives too late to be change the tide of battle. Lord Lovidicus will soon be dust, cured of his affliction by the sharp edge of Light of Dawn.

Preparing to loot the living quarters we’re attacked by another vampire. We’re certain that Legotan Pinelake of the OOO faction intended to mix our blood with Lovidicus’ dust to restore life of his master (I saw that movie). The effort was destined to failure since Light of Dawn had absorbed Lord Lovidicus’ life force. I just helped him fail quicker.

The journal of Lord Lovidicus was found amongst the loot. My, my, my, of all the dirty little secrets. Lord Lovidicus is the father of the Grey Prince. I’m not sure how Agronak gro-Malog is going to take this unsettling news.
Agronak’s request has been taken care of but there is still the matter of the Order of the Virtuous Blood quest that needs attending to. We backtrack to the great double door. The door opens and we enter Crowhaven Burial Halls.

There in the Burial Halls we caught the Master of the Blood Thieves and his 5 associates. Three of the associates were very difficult deal with; Naspis Gravius of the MOO faction, and two OOO faction Deadly Vampires; an Orc Deadly Vampire Crusader and an Orc Deadly Vampire Scout. Two ordinary local vampires My Ladies dealt with as I explored further.

As My Ladies fought common vampires and other undead, I was dealing with Deadly Vampires on the other side of the Burial Hall. The heavily armored yet cowardly Orc vampire attacked Twinkle while his partner turned her attention to me.

With the Deadly Vampires disposed of Naspis Gravius takes his chance. He got in a lucky hit and knocked me down. (Bummer, I must have rolled a 1). Oh well, get up and return the favor.

After chasing the invisible Master of the Blood Thieves all around the burial HallThe Master of the Blood Thieves falls to the Light of Dawn. I was about to thank the goddess for the lack of mummies when… yep, there it is. A mummy priest rounds the corner. Ok, one final mummy and now we can report to the OVB that the Anvil threat is closed.

[Acadian]

Yay for little Twinkle, bravely lighting the way!

Those vampires come from very odd groups. Were the MOO clan cows when mortal? And the OOO must be named for the response they elicit from their foes? Oooooh! (Teasing, overhaul mods, I know.)

A fun romp through Crowhaven!

[macole]

Those vampires come from very odd groups. Were the MOO clan cows when mortal? And the OOO must be named for the response they elicit from their foes? Oooooh! (Teasing, overhaul mods, I know.)

The MOO vampires very well could have been feed cattle. But, since not all MOO vampires had names my thought is the named vampires may have been former vampire hunters of high repute and as an honor allowed to keep their names.
You could be right about the OOO faction or clan names.

What surprised me was there were a couple of regular Oblivion vampires in the mix.

This post has been edited by macole: Jan 30 2021, 11:07 PM

[Renee]

Lol, knockdowns were caused by missing our "Agility" roll long ago. Basically we'd roll 3 6-sided dice, and usually if a 17 or 18 was rolled (and the enemy doing a foot sweep) that was somebody falling over.

Who is wearing that fantastic metal armor? Congrads taking down yet another vampire SCUM!!

[macole]

Lol, knockdowns were caused by missing our "Agility" roll long ago. Basically we'd roll 3 6-sided dice, and usually if a 17 or 18 was rolled (and the enemy doing a foot sweep) that was somebody falling over.

Who is wearing that fantastic metal armor? Congrads taking down yet another vampire SCUM!!

At the time I wrote that down I was thinking of a tabletop WWII game called Sniper we used to play. One day, Dennis set up to throw a hand grenade and rolled the dice. The number was a double “1”. In effect he dropped the grenade at his feet and blew himself up. We laughed about that for years.

Lord Lovidicus is wearing the shiny red armor. In the vanilla game the vampire Lord Lovidicus is only wearing pants. Oscuro’s gives him a fantastic kit of enchanted ruby red glass armor.

The vampire that knocked me down along with the mithril armor he is wearing is dynamically generated by MOO. This time he was given a name, Naspis Gravius. Sometimes the vampire is known only as Ancient Vampire Battlemage or something other along those lines.

As for armors, I do use a few armor retexture mods. It may be difficult to determine which texture mod is at play.