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

[ghastley]

Seriously, if the Psijics can teleport the egg away like they do at the end of the vanilla questline, why would they not do so when you first find it and save all the drama and trauma to the College?

I've always understood that the Eye wasn't safe to move until the Staff had been used to "calm it down". Naturally the Psijics would like someone else to do that for them.

[Acadian]

I think they did it as part of the developer conspiracy to force you to become the head of every guild. I've simply rendered Buffy immune to that silliness.

Trust me. You would not want Buffy in charge of anything.

[Renee]

Lordy this thread's been busy, but it's a GOOD busy.

Scoundrel: Now I remember that quest, the one with Maro. I wonder if he ever goes anywhere other than Whiterun? ... Wait, I think he does, because Mycharonna saw him in Markath, but could not take care of him there for some reason. Or maybe she saw him in Whiterun first, and then got him in Markath. XD I donnn't know...

h.e.r.: That's awesome you've got someone with Scout class. Never played a Scout before. I love CCO mod though, for bringing Classes back. Good luck with Alise.

Gritsy: All these years and I still haven't beaten da game. Are there really 7,000 steps though? What do you think?

Acadian: LOL giant charus egg.


And finally, Claire Voyance is back in Solitude. After 3 weeks of adventuring, she still hasn't got the 5,000 gold necessary to pay back the loan which allowed her to get out of jail. It'll happen though. I think she's up to 4,500 gp.

This post has been edited by Renee: Apr 23 2015, 02:23 PM

[haute ecole rider]

h.e.r.: That's awesome you've got someone with Scout class. Never played a Scout before. I love CCO mod though, for bringing Classes back. Good luck with Alise.

Why, Alise and I thank you! Though this is our fourth start with the game. According to Steam, we've put in nearly 450 hours since starting this game nearly a year ago.

Gritsy: All these years and I still haven't beaten da game. Are there really 7,000 steps though? What do you think?

Once I tried counting those steps, but Alise was in a hurry. She was FREEZING, n'wah! So I looked around, and the best answer I could find is this.

[Grits]

Acadian, ‘reimagineer’ is my new favorite word! I love to think of Tolfdir flexing his alteration muscle. I’m glad Buffy is able to avoid getting hit with Bethesda’s Chosen One hammer.

Gritsy: All these years and I still haven't beaten da game. Are there really 7,000 steps though? What do you think?

I think there are enough steps for me not to count them! Kind of like the populations of cities, there are steps to represent the 7,000 but not actually have them all in the game. It’s a decent hike up there but not so tedious to make me want to FT.

How is Claire’s mental state after her incarceration? She’s having to work very hard to pay off a debt that she didn’t deserve. I worry about her turning surly.

My update is long, so I’ll put it in tags for scrolling convenience.


Some screens:

Valdi and Serana discussing Isran’s assault plan.

Valdi and Serana exchanging a mental high-five after surviving Isran’s revised assault plan, which was “You girls go get him.” Erik arrived after the fight.

.

This post has been edited by Grits: Apr 24 2015, 01:30 AM

[SubRosa]

Serana is looking outstanding, as is the back of Valdi's head!

Yikes, what a mess in that second pic! I hope Erik brought a vacuum cleaner, or at least a shovel...

[Acadian]

Renee - Good luck as Claire continues to gradually dig her way out of debt.

Grits - Congrats to Valdi the Knight of Dawnguard! I’m glad she has become friends with Serana. It’s also good that she is maturing into a newfound comfort within her own skin. And more congrats on her nuptials to Erik the Vampire Slayer! Great screenshots. A lovely quiver that Valdi is sporting with Auriel’s bow, and nice capture of that quiet moment with Serana after the big fight.

[Renee]

Well that's a cute update Gritsy, full of insight and humor. cracked me up when you said "everybody is hitting on Valdi". It's true, isn't it? .. And here we have the Skyrim version of eloping, as they did not bother to invite their friends! Ha ha.

Claire is fine, thanks for asking. She is a bit like a soccer mom in modern Earth terms, you know, a go-getter. Nothing knocks her down for long; her over-enthusiastic cheerful demeanor always comes through. ha ha

748 steps, eh? I guess it's sort of like an overexaggeration, you know, the NPCs of Tamriel say "Oh yeah, there's 7,000 steps up to the Greybeards" but nobody ever bothered to actually count them. And 7,000 sounds like a good, round number. *shrugs*

[Lopov]

Destruction.

I agree with others, this is a great shot.
Good to see a new Dunmer, there haven't been many around lately.

She was surprised and thrilled when Stenvar ran up to her at the Throat of the World. When they parted on the Dragonsreach porch she told him that she would find him when she returned to Skyrim, but apparently he couldn’t wait. On the way back down the 7,000 steps they camped in the troll hollow for old time’s sake.

That's nice that he couldn't wait for her to return. Not even Greybeards could stop him.

Good to hear that the Paarthurnax Dilemma expands the vanilla choices, I have it installed in Lucius' game when he finishes the main quest.

Scoundrel: Now I remember that quest, the one with Maro. I wonder if he ever goes anywhere other than Whiterun? ... Wait, I think he does, because Mycharonna saw him in Markath, but could not take care of him there for some reason. Or maybe she saw him in Whiterun first, and then got him in Markath. XD I donnn't know...

He travels to all major cities and you can steal his schedule in the Penisus Oculatus Outpost in Dragon's Bridge. Killing him in a major town grants you a bonus. Although UESP doesn't mention it, Elder Scrolls Wiki says that if Maro spots you following him, he'll try to get rid of you by changing his route, which usually means straying away from main roads. That's why he left the inn as soon as Aard got behind his back and wanted to leave Whiterun.

Buffy’s on quite a new playthrough....That way, the Arch Mage figures, it will keep that pesky Thalmor Ancano busy trying to figure out what mysteries the egg holds. So the truth will be held closely among only Buffy, Tolfdir and the Arch Mage.

Giant chaurus egg! I love the story that revolves around it in Buffy's game and how it will eternally leave Ancano trying to reveal its secrets.

I’m sure it didn’t help that Valdi was still wearing her Amulet of Mara for the Restoration charm, and as a result everyone in the province was hitting on
her.

It wasn't just the amulet, it was because of her good looks too. Nice story about dealing with Harkon and the aftermath.

Hearty congratulations to the young couple!

--

When Aard heard that Cicero turned against Astrid and attacked the brotherhood, he wasn't surprised at all. But he sensed that it wasn't just Cicero's fault - Astrid was a self-proclaimed leader who led the Dark Brotherhood by her own rules, ignoring the old ways and the Night Mother. Cicero, on the other hand, was very devout to the Unholy Matron and to Aard because the Night Mother proclaimed him the Listener. It was only a matter of time before the jester and Astrid would end up fighting.

While Aard disliked Cicero at first, and followed Astrid's orders because she paid well, something changed inside him when he heard voices of the Night Mother, telling him that he's the new Listener. That was when Cicero sort of "fell in love" with Aard because he respected the Unholy Matron and her word represented law for him. But at the same time Astrid became distrustful and often remarked that she's in charge, no matter "what voices Aard heard inside his head".

And now Astrid, the impostor, ordered Aard, the Listener, to kill Cicero, the Keeper of the Old Ways. Something didn't feel right here and Aard knew that sooner or later Astrid will have to accept the fact that he's been chosen by the Night Mother and that she should step down as a leader. While riding to the Dawnstar Sanctuary, the supposed hideout of the mad jester, Aard made his final decision about Cicero's fate.

...

A few days later Aard returned to the Falkreth Sanctuary. Astrid's husband Arnjborn returned before him and Astrid was grateful that Aard saved her husband's life. But what happened to the jester? Did he track him down and kill him like a pig? As soon as she saw Aard coming down the steps, she hurried to him:

"Arnbjorn is safe, and for that you have my thanks. But what of the fool? Is Cicero dead?"

"Deader than dead," coldly answered Aard.

"Excellent. Once again, you've proven yourself a born assassin. Tell you what. Why don't you hold onto Shadowmere a while longer? He's a fine steed, and hasn't been ridden nearly as much as he should lately."

"Sure." Astrid expected a more lively response.

"And now that this Cicero mess has been mopped up, we can get back to the matter at hand, hmm?"

"Of course."

"There's just one more target before we strike out at the Emperor. Have you by chance heard of the Gourmet?"

"Occasionally."

"Read his cookbook? It's become quite a phenomenon. "

"No."

"The Gourmet is scheduled to cook for the Emperor at a special dinner. You'll kill him, steal his Writ of Passage, and assume the roll of master chef."

"To cook a dinner to kill?"

"Festus has been spearheading this part of the assassination plan. He's close to uncovering the identity of the Gourmet. You should report to him."

"As you say... Leader."

Astrid winced at the word "leader", because Aard pronounced it in an unusual, almost mocking way. Looks like he was once again trying to let her know that he was named the Listener. This time she overheard the remark.
If she could see Aard's face as he was walking down the stairs, she'd see a pleased smile on his lips. That kind of smile which Aard put on, when he lied to someone and that person blindly believed him.

Festus explained to Aard that the only person that could possibly know the Gourmet's true identity, is a cook named Anton Virane, that serves at the Understone Keep in Markarth. The next day, as he was riding to the old town, Aard felt excited, but not because he would kill some cook, but because he would see his girlfriend Muiri again.

This post has been edited by Lopov: Apr 25 2015, 01:15 PM

[Acadian]

Hmm, some power jockeying within the loving embrace of the dark family it seems. . . . And the galloping gourmet-killer gallops to girlfriendville astride Shadowmere.

[ghastley]

I just started a new character - a slender leggy Altmer mage (min weight, extra-tall) whose back-story is that she's an acolyte of the Psijic order. She wants to become a full member, but needs to build up her skill with real-world experience before she can pass the exams for the higher levels.

I'm debating whether she should have anything to do with the College of Winterhold. Since the Psijics hold the view that advanced magic is too dangerous for the general public, and should be restricted, and the College follows the Mages Guild principle that magic is for everyone, there should be some conflict. I'm deliberately putting her on the boundary, as she's outside looking in. There's also the aspect that the Psijics may not like her learning outside their community, but how else does she show them her aptitude?

I'm making a series of shorter-skirted versions of the mage outfits for her (like the one I did for Brelyna.) May release them on Nexus once the "paid mods" stuff blows over, but I want to see how safe I am from having my free mods re-posted for sale by crooks. I think the existing ones are obscure (unpopular) enough that I don't need to worry. I originally intended she'd be a "play" character, rather than a mod-testing one, but that never happens.

[Acadian]

A giant among elves! I've toyed with doing something with the Psijic Order as well. My concern is that it pushes a character toward overpowered or even 'The Chosen One' a bit much. But your ideas are really good and account for that nicely.

[ghastley]

Since the player-character is "the Chosen One" in Skyrim, I'm going along with that, and letting her be Dragonborn. That fits her self-image as good enough to become a Psijic. She probably will lose patience with Delphine at some point and break off the MQ. She hasn't even been to Winterhold yet, let alone joining the College, but she keeps getting pointed there when she buys spell tomes, etc.

Master-level spell tomes aren't random finds, so she could have issues at higher levels. Ebonyflesh should be enough, without going to Dragonhide, as long as she doesn't level too much. The other Master spells are a pain to cast, so I doubt she'll miss them.

More importantly, though, she won't get the chance to wear the Archmage's Amulet! Of course, if she twists my arm, she might get a Psijic one...

I need to find where I put the "Absorb Health" spells I put together (with SubRosa's help), as she'll like those. I know they're in one of my miscellaneous mod files, somewhere. I have about five times as many esp's as I use in any individual game, and some of my "misc extras" ones are just named for the character whose game they're used in, which doesn't help much in identifying which contains what.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Apr 27 2015, 07:12 PM

[Acadian]

Forgive me. What I meant was the lesser version of the chosen one - in this case how the College questline (like every guild questline) paints you as the chosen one to save the College if you progress the questline very far. With that in mind, I meant having your elf as a novice/apprentice Psijic under training is brilliant.

[haute ecole rider]

So I've been out of work sick for the past two weeks. I'm finally well enough to return to work tomorrow (yay!), but in the meantime Alise and I have been busy in Skyrim.

Since she woke up from a beating in the mountains just east of Knifepoint Ridge with night falling on, Alise has managed to rebuild her life. As we've been playing together, more of her backstory has come to the surface. It seems that she was born and raised in Cheydinhal, where she became a freelance scout for the Legion. She barely survived the Battle of the Red Ring of 4E 175 where her family was slaughtered and her comrades killed. She escaped to Skyrim and settled in Falkreath, working as a miner in the Jeralls. She has forgotten her scouting skills and spoke nothing of her past to anyone, preferring to build new relationships with her fellow miners.

In the twenty years since, she has lived quietly, working hard in the mines. More recently she started learning smithing, after bringing down iron ore for Lod.

Then one day she and a miner friend decided to travel over the Jeralls on a pilgrimage (to where, I haven't been able to learn yet). They had not gone far past Knifepoint Ridge before they were ambushed by bandits. Once again Alise survived near death, and we first met her when she was trying to put her life back together.

Initially without weapons, Alise had to call on her scouting skills, very rusty after twenty years of disuse, to reach safety in spite of wilderness teeming with bandits and wolves. Oddly enough, spriggans left her alone when she stumbled into Evergreen Grove.

Once she was safe in Falkreath, and rebuilding her life (and making new daggers and weapons for Lod), she was able to continue developing her scouting skills now that she has a new purpose: bandit hunting. After clearing a few places of bandits, Alise received a letter from the young Jarl "requesting" her presence. One thing led to another and she discovered herself a Thane of Falkreach, with a surly, judgmental Redguard housecarl exotically named Rayya.

Together they cleared Shriekwind Bastion after they were attacked by animated skeletons on the road along the lake. Here is where Alise encountered her first Dragon Wall, though she doesn't yet know what they are. All she knows is that she heard strange chants, a word - Su - that won't stop repeating in her head, and then she blacked out. Fortunately Rayya was beside her to guard her until she recovered, but that strange word won't leave her soul.

Upon their return to Lakeview, Alise asked Rayya to be steward and keep an eye on the house and livestock. She headed east to Riften to see about trading some valuables at better prices. On the way she had to pass through Helgen, which was burning after a recent dragon attack. Though she heard something of the battle, and saw the smoke from afar, Alise somehow missed seeing the dragon (the path that runs up to Helgen from the south is very steep and uphill, thus I'm not surprised Alise never saw that creature). A search of the bodies led her to a cave beneath Helgen, where she found both Hadvar and Ralof, both injured and near death. Her own experience still too fresh in her mind, Alise gaveHadvar a healing potion, but was unable to reach Ralof before a rock fall killed him. She then escorted the injured Hadvar back to Riverwood, but when she was asked by his uncle Alvor to travel on to Whiterun to request protection for Riverwood, Alise declined. She resumed her trip to Riften.

After a few more adventures around Riften, she ended up heading out to Markarth with a purchase agreement for Bolli to give to Kleppr. On the way in via the north road, she came across Forsworn outside Kolskeggr Mine. Concerned for the welfare of the miners within, Alise didn't hesitate to take on these ferocious barbarians and cleared the mine. Unfortunately she found no survivors. Saddened, she pressed on to Markarth, anxious to reach the city walls before dark. There she found Pavo and Gat at Left-Hand Mine, telling Skaggi of the Forsworn attack. Alise was able to tell them that the mine is clear. Before returning home, Gat made Alise a Blood Kin. She was surprised and pleased by his gesture of thanks - it meant more to her than any amount of gold.

What I'm finding about Alise is that every time we come to a new town or city, she beelines for the blacksmith's. It's the first place she stops, the first place she asks about a new place, and the place she goes for information. Of course, she is searching for fire salts for Balimund, she found the book for Ghorza's hapless apprentice Tacitus, and she traded with Alvor and Lod.

Naturally, on her arrival in Markarth, Alise was suckered into the Forsworn Conspiracy, which left her angry and bitter toward the Silverbloods and the city guards. Alise ran some hunt and kill errands for Raerek, including recovering some shield from Lost Valley Redoubt. Here, with only Vigilance for company, she encountered her second word wall. Feim is engraved into her soul, along with Su. The Bard's Leap was the perfect place for her to take a breather and wonder what it all means. Why did she black out when she found that wall? Was it the same thing that happened to her in Shriekwind? Will she find more word walls, and will she black out again? What if there are still enemies around? On her return to Markarth, Alise wasn't too impressed with Jarl Igmund, so she was caught off guard to find herself Thane of the Reach as well, with a stone house and a taciturn Nord housecarl. Vlindrel Hall reminded her too much of a mine. Though she is an experienced miner, and is comfortable working the ore veins, it is not her passion and certainly not a place to put her feet up. Alise preferred the lakeside terrace at Lakeview Manor, where she can soak up the sun and feel the breeze on her skin, and watch the hawks circle overhead. After a conversation with Argis, where she tried to release him from her service (he stubbornly won't leave, due to some bizarre Nord code of honor), she learned that he's not too happy in Markarth, either. Well, that did it. She gives him her sturdy Fjord pack horse to ride, made him a new suit of armor and a new sword, and they hit the road.

Currently her plan is to return to Falkreath and maybe take Argis into some bandit lairs and assess his skills. If he has the same judgmental attitude as Rayya, maybe she'll leave him at Lakeview with the steward. So far Vigilance is proving to be a good companion, though he gets in the way sometimes.

[Renee]

Lovely story about the development of your Alise, rider. Nice how she likes visiting the smiths first, it's like her place to go and talk shop, even if she doesn't know anybody else in town.

My crusader guy used to call Rayya "the Overkiller" because that's what she does. Don't have Alise improve that lady's cutlasses, trust me, Alise won't have much to do anymore, as Rayya begins to overkill everything in sight!

I like callling in sick, and calling in "sick" sometimes to work; that's a guaranteed gaming session at some point. But dang, two weeks? Sounds serious.

Can't wait to see pics of your new 'leggy' Altmer, ghastley.

This post has been edited by Renee: Apr 28 2015, 12:42 PM

[Acadian]

Rider – Heh, nice to see that you got some time in the ‘sweet spot’ of too sick to work but not too sick to play! That said though, I'm glad you're feeling better. Thanks for the lowdown on Alise and her game so far as she makes her way in Skyrim. Like Renee, I think it’s neat how she gravitates to the blacksmith shops when she comes into town.

[ghastley]

Mellewen continues to avoid getting involved with the College of Winterhold, even as a pure mage. She's using the Adept level of the Absorb Health spell (Restoration school) that I created for her, using SubRosa's recipe. She has Stoneflesh for defence, and is looking to upgrade to Ironflesh when she can find it.

She could have bought Breezehome, but opted to build an Orc Stronghold instead, mainly because she happened to be outside Largashbur when she leveled up to 9 and the giant faded in next to her. This was the first time I'd done the Cursed Tribe quest first, and I discovered that done that way, it doesn't count for Making Friends and Influencing Orcs, which came up as 0/5.

She's probably doing the "dragons light" thing, and leaving the MQ alone, now that she's taken the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller back. I wanted her to have a few of the shouts available, such as Become Ethereal for the traps.

She's currently at about level 20 and has upgraded her outfit to the same one I made for Brelyna. I need to make another one for Master level at least, and maybe a few in-between ones, perhaps with a Psijic style.

You can't see it in that shot, but Lydia now uses Dawnbreaker. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, while passing the temple on the way to Mor Khazgur to do the final bit of mining. Malkoran was really hard, as her only offensive spell is short-range, and he could kill her before she got in range. It was finally managed using a summon fire atronach scroll to provide a distraction. Now that she's raising her Smithing skill with the home-building, she might think about upgrading Lydia's equipment that way, rather than looting.

[haute ecole rider]

Now that she's raising her Smithing skill with the home-building, she might think about upgrading Lydia's equipment that way, rather than looting.

That is what Alise is doing with Argis. When he first introduced himself to her as her latest housecarl, she took one look at his battered steel outfit and decided he deserved better if he was going to go adventuring with her. So the next morning she got up early, headed over to Ghorza's forge and rustled up an upgraded Warchief heavy armor set for him and an improved Nordic Steel Sword. For now he's wielding an Elven shield until she can get some more steel ingots for a Nordic Steel shield.

Right now he looks like a giant teddy bear running around after her. But I won't tell him that, cuz he's liking the new set so far.

[Acadian]

Ghastley – Nice to get an update with screens for Mellewen. Those long legs combined with 'Brelyna' robes are wowzer!

Rider – Heh, Argis the Teddybear. You know what they say. . . add a few hairs to a bear and you’ve got a Nord!