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

[ghastley]

One quest started, thirty-something to go.

Well maybe that many.

I don't know if you intend Snaaty to do all the vanilla quest-lines, but there are bonus quests if he does, A lot of them are for the CoC, and I don't get the impression he's going that way (yet?)

[tegeus-Cromis]

Up to speed with Kahreem now, you know that really reads well as a single narrative, not just episodes, Renee. Maybe once Kahreem has the Grey Cowl of Nocturnal (I hate to think what he'll do with it!), fix the whole lot up as a single document? Could make it a download.

I really like touches like:

The two guards stand silently for a moment, each keenly aware that he has just disagreed with the other. Kellsgard? or Vincent? ... They stand silently, staring down at their boots, but also giving an occasional glance upwards, wondering what should be done about their disagreement. It's a rather intuitive moment. Something only the guards of Cyrodiil would be able to understand, with their magically-shared minds

"Heard any news about the other provinces?"

As the other man answers, both guards are grateful that the subject has been changed.

I love a bit of metafiction, me...

[Renee]

Lopov: Snaaty's going to be the pimp daddy, mac daddy, and maybe also a daddy, all rolled into one.

ghastly: Hey thanks for all your work with Gweden Brothel, I'm pretty excited about my dealer's adventures. So far he hasn't found anybody in Anvil yet, but that's the beauty of it. We'll have to try to find these ladies.

tegeus-Cromis: Whoa! Welcome here! So glad you joined Chorrol! It is much quieter here, but in a way it's nice to get away from the crowds, right?

... Kahreem is based on a cousin of mine from when I was a kid / teen. This cousin was a pathological liar, but also a hell of a lot of fun to be around. So that's my inspiration with Kahreem.

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 23 2015, 02:21 AM

[Renee]

Tirdas, Heartfire 4

Well, made it to Skingrad. Been here for several hous now. Waiting. Waiting for my aunt to show. Matilde is her name. Matilde Petit. She sent me a letter, several actually, when I was still living up in Solitude. In her last articulation she mentioned something about meeting me once I got to Skingrad. Said to go to Summitmist Manor, and if my knocking does not procure any answering, I am to go to "the inn", where she has been in the habit of dining lately.

Now as I am thinking, it does seem quite a thin set of circumstances. So many things could be wrong. She could have taken ill. She could be laid up in her bed somewhere. For she (nor anyone) did not answer when I visited Summitmist. And she is not here. But again, 'tis my first day here in Skingrad. Perhaps she was of minding that I might not show tonight, on THIS particular night.

Still though, she seemed quite adamant. 'Come to Summitmist, and if there is no answer, go to the inn, stay there until I show. I shalt be dining here in wait for you.' she had sayd said. Sigh.

My journey from the Imperial City to Skingrad was not without incident. All seemed well at first. Cyrodiil is so green! I am in love with the lush, green forests of Cyrodiil. And as mentioned, 'tis quite warm here, as well. I like and desire this warmth.

My journey take me past a large, white set of ruins at around mid-day; I am guessing this ruins were built long ago, by the Ayleids. Well, me getting curiosity, I decided to have a gander at this ruin. For it seemed safe, and the day was uneventful til that point. There semm seemed to be nobody about. Then, a little monster flashed a ball of fire, straight my way! And another. And a couple of mages, they all came for me at once! Initially I ran, of course, but then upon the road happened to be a group of travelers, one with an axe, the other using magical means. And a soldier. Within no time, the mages and their little monsters were all fallen.

And I helped too. I do now a bit of magic on my own; I can cast fireballs. I can light a room from my fingers, you know simple things as such. Twas quite merry, all of us joining to fight the rabblery!

And the fire. Must mention it. Never have I felt magical fire. I was hit by one of their attacks, yes I was. And yes, I did fell such pay feel such pain, like never before. But 'twas also rather nice. This feeling. The warmth. The fire.

Sigh. My head, it aches. I believe that I have taken ill, myself. And the rain, it does fall hard outside. I believe I will make one more journey to Summitmist, and if there is no answer, I shall take a room here at this inn. I have the gold. But not a limitless supply of it.

~ Sarah ~

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 23 2015, 02:57 AM

[tegeus-Cromis]

... Kahreem is based on a cousin of mine from when I was a kid / teen. This cousin was a pathological liar, but also a hell of a lot of fun to be around. So that's my inspiration with Kahreem.

Ah, that probably explains the appeal of the character for me too. Makes me think of an old friend in London much like your cousin and Kahreem, total liar and very light-fingered too. But lots of charm, never aggressive - and somehow everyone forgave him in the end. Well, except the law (just like in Cyrodiil) - he did flee the country in the end, last I know of him. Think we could still have a good laugh over a bottle of ***Cheap Wine*** even now, though, in spite of him ripping off all the money from my gas meter a little while before he split...

[Renee]

Wow, that sounds terrible! He fled the country? What for, specifically?

Yes, that's how my cousin was: most people forgave him in the end, although there were some incidents, like this one time he stole great handfuls of my mom's jewelry, and when HIS mom found all this jewelry in his room, he bold-face lied and said he had no idea how it got there. He also went around for awhile saying that Carl Lewis (famous Olympiad sprinter) had shown up at his school, and they had wound up foot-racing against each other, and my cousin won.

... and that was one of those things. You hear him say this, you KNOW he's lying about it. You love the guy though. *shrug*

I'm not sure what happened to my cousin. He just sort of vanished. Last I saw him was probably 1990. He was riding around in a beat up Mustang. He showed up to my folks' place, asking for money (again). That's it. Nobody in my family knows where he is. One of these days I think I'll finally join Facecrook, just to see if he's on there, like everybody else who seems to have vanished.

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 23 2015, 04:19 AM

[Lopov]

You've hooked me up to Sarah's story, Renee, I'm curious to find more about her aunt and why did she invite her niece to Cyrodiil? And the fact that the Summitmist manor is involved, makes it even more mysterious.

[mirocu]

You know what I like most about your new character, Renee? It´s that after all these years and hours, despite the fact you know so much about the game, you still find the inspiration to create new characters to let loose around the cyrodiilic countryside and just like that it´s all new and fresh again


It´s something I can´t do. I can´t find it in my heart to abandon Lothran, even for just awhile. But I´m fine with it; he´s my longest lasting character in any game ever and that thought alone is what gives me inspiration

[tegeus-Cromis]

Wow, that sounds terrible! He fled the country? What for, specifically?

That's what we wondered. TBH, a lot of us figured that he might have simply annoyed some people given to exacting, shall we say, extrajudicial retribution. But who knows..?

(As seems to keep happening to Kahreem, of course...)

[Renee]

mirocu: Such kind words. You have and Lopov will see what's to come, she's got quite a story.

t-C: Ha ha you noticed, eh? Yah, he's quite a lot of trouble, Kahreem is. The basic rule with him is: if I get that urge like I should reload his game (because of some blunder he's fallen into) I know it'll be a good story! Rule #2: NEVER reload if he screws up.

[tegeus-Cromis]

t-C: Ha ha you noticed, eh? Yah, he's quite a lot of trouble, Kahreem is. The basic rule with him is: if I get that urge like I should reload his game (because of some blunder he's fallen into) I know it'll be a good story! Rule #2: NEVER reload if he screws up.

He reminds me a lot of a character from Fritz Lieber's Grey Mouser/Fafhrd stories (Swords of Lankhmar being one of the most famous) - picaresque tales, rather than the epic/heroic like Tolkien or Howard. Lieber, incidentally, is regarded as one of the biggest influences on early table-top gaming - and eventually, straight through that to RPGs like Oblivion - so here we are... (I don't know how widely read he is now, but I can certainly see his influence in, for example, Game of Thrones too, GRRM will be well acquainted with his work.)

This post has been edited by tegeus-Cromis: Aug 26 2015, 05:04 PM

[Renee]

Game of Thrones, one of my friends raves about this show. If I wasn't so busy with other things, I'd have time to check it out. I will have to see if I can find some of Lieber's stuff at my local bookstore too.

Middas, Heartfire 5

Well, 'tis late in the day, and I am losing my will. Saddened, I am. Still no answer at Summitmist. I do believe the place is deserted. And no-one knows much about the place, or the lady beknownst as Matilde Petit. But I sensed something. A cr certain hesitation on the part of a few townspersons with h whom I spoke. As if they are not willing to talk about the place, or the lady I suss.

On top of all, I have learned there are TWO inns within Skingrad, not one. I made discovery of the West Weald last night, but there is also the Two Sisters Inn, which is located on the other side of town. So this is wher I am now, as I wi write this. Waiting for her to show for dinner. But she has not appeared, as such.

My gold, it runs low. I cannot pay for another room, for I only have four pieces left on my person. My last meal was a pot of roasted pumpkin. Corn, pumpkin, unmashed grapes -- such things we do not have up in Skyrim. But as was mentioned, I am nearly destitute. I feel like a waif. A twenty year-old waif. What am I to do?

~ Sarah ~

This post has been edited by Renee: May 9 2023, 07:06 PM

[tegeus-Cromis]

Game of Thrones, one of my friends raves about this show. If I wasn't so busy with other things, I'd have time to check it out. I will have to see if I can find some of Lieber's stuff at my local bookstore too.

I read the books (A Song of Ice and Fire) - well those that were out at the time - first. I think they mesh more with Lieber (and with Oblivion, one lot of gods in GoT are 'The Seven') than the TV show, though that is terrific in its own way. Anyway, I just found that WP has a separate entry on Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and, no, I did not realise he came up with the characters back in 1936. Well, the stories were not published as collections until the 60s/70s, so not surprising, I guess.

Relevant here:

In 1937, Leiber and his college friend Harry Otto Fischer created a complex wargame set within the world of Nehwon, which Fischer had helped to create. Later, they created a simplified board game entitled simply Lankhmar which was released by TSR in 1976. This is a rare case of a game adaptation written by the creators of the stories that the game is based on.

Nehwon, and some of its more interesting inhabitants, are described in the early Dungeons and Dragons supplement Deities and Demigods, and the stories themselves were a significant influence on the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game.

[Lopov]

@Renee - good job with describing Sarah's despair in Skingrad. And once again...she's really cute.

[Renee]

Thanks Lopov. I shall post her next story tomorrow. For now, here's a Snaaty Snippet.

Tirdas, Evening Star 18, 434

"How could the Nine let this happen? Are they angry with us?"

"It's possible, but maybe she got out, and is looking for you too."

Snaat Rayag walks silently through the encampment below Kvatch. For nearly a year now, these folks had not been able to return to their former town. The daedra had been long gone, but a force of bandits had taken over the place, and organized to the point that it would take an army to beat them down. Snaaty doesn't care about any of this though. He is here to locate somebody, anybody who might be of 'service'.

And it isn't long until he sees her. A Redguard who hadn't been here the week before, when he passed through this same encampment. Her hair is a brassy-blond. Easily-spotted.

"How could the Nine let this happen?"

"I feel your misfortune, and your pain. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Snaat Rayag. I am from Anvil. I have come to perhaps offer you something of gain."

"What do you want?"

"You are from Kvatch? I haven't seen you here before."

"Yes. I am from Kvatch. And I feel totally lost now that Kvatch is ruined. I try to help around the camp, but it's not enough. This is no place for me to do business."

"Business, eh? And what sort of 'business' might that be?"

"I used to be a prostitute in Kvatch, but here in this camp there's no privacy, and I don't even have my own tent. ... I'd really like to get back to my old trade, but where would I go to get started again? I can't afford rent, let alone a house of my own."

"Well, let me...." Snaaty starts, but she interrupts him.

"Besides, I haven't seen Garanil since the daedra came. He ran off immediately in the direction of Salted Mine, though I have no idea why?"

"Well allow me to make you an offer then. I can set you off to a place, a sort of cottage by the seaside. Picturesque. And you can work there, indeed."

But the Redguard lady just stares at him. And speaks no further.

"Ah, I see, you want me to go find this ... um.. 'Garahil', is that it? Very well, I shall do so. For I have a sort of vision for the way I'd like to set up in Anvil, and you fit this vision perfectly. Heh heh heh.... I can offer you some thing nice, by the way, but not until we're away from these others. You shall see."

"Bye."

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 27 2015, 11:23 PM

[Lopov]

Snaat Rayag's business career about to get started.

Fortunately for him the blond Redguard didn't offer her services to bandits occupying Kvatch else he'd have to rescue her.

[ghastley]

Something about this woman seems familiar...

Except that she's been waiting in that camp a lot longer than I'd expected!

[Renee]

This next part is crucial in Snaaty's game. He's supposed to go in a cave with a name I've never heard of, and he's not really that good of a fighter. He can wield a bow, he carries a mace, he can summon skeltons (while dancing the dance of death), and he can a daedric cuirass, but all of these abilities are defensive. He's a merchant, after all. He uses all those tactics only if he has to, and usually to get out of trouble.

So what's he to do? ... Well, he's got a lot of bandits that like him, and a few conjurers (he's part of their faction). This depends though. Some of them (those added by MMM or some other mod) won't recognize the faction he's a part of, and these folks WILL attack him. I like to think they know he's got a lot of pocket change, being a skooma dealer and all.

But he got lucky. He went to the mine that's just west of Skingrad, and nobody was hostile to him in there. So he managed to recruit a bandit ringleader, a bandit hedge wizard, and a big, dumb bandit with a huge axe. He's on his way to Salted Camp right now. It's almost like he's part of a Cyrodiilic street gang.

[Renee]

Turdas, Heartfire 6

Today I sit within my rented room, this time in the Two Sisters', which is e cheaper than West Weald. 10 gold versus 25. I only managed to rent this place after making realization thta that there are shrubs everywhere. In Skingrad, I mean. Shrubs, mushrooms, flowers .... things which can be made into potions. The alchemists buy them up. And I did meet one such alchemist, here within town, a dark elf. Not remembeing her name. She did ask some odd questions, though. Something about necro-- I do not remember what she termed this. Brought me a moment of pause, however.

Anyways, so that's some good news. I made some gold just be by knowing which florations to select, then sold them to this tstrange strange Dunmer woman. Went from 4 gold to 58, which is not bad, but after renting this room and procuring something to eat, now I am down to 30.

Sadness, I feel it. The rain, it falls merciless outside my wo two rented windows.
And there is no sign of Matilde. None at all. And no answering from Summitmist, which I suppose you gathered, otherwise I would not have made arrangements to stick myself within a 10-septim dormitory. This ... it bothers me. Where is she? Why would she sent me those letters, inviting me to walk all those miles, and now that I am here, there is no sign?

The bell, it tolls outside. At least Skingrad is a lovely place to arrive toward; I see touches of Solitude everywhere I look.

I did ask a guard, now as I am more of comfort, I struck my courage to approach one man, ans and asked him about Matilde Petit, and Summitmist Manor. Like many others in town, he did deign at first, but then I orated toward him for awhile, complimenting, acting cheerful ... and finally he did admit that no-one had heard any word from Summitmist, for quite some time. Place has been locked for years. And of Matilde Petit? He could not recall such a name, and he said to me he had been living here for at least four summers. He would know, then.

So where is she? Was it really her who wrote to me? It does not make much sense, now does it?

I think I will go sit by the fire. Lovely fire hty they have here. I think the fire will cheer me, bring me out of the blue.

~later

Ah, so much better. To gaze into those flames. Colors of gold, colors of yellow, colors of orange, deep reds. No blue. No darkness. Drawing me love, forget my sorrows. I thank thee for tending this hearth orc-woman, or perhahs her sister. I could stare into your fire for hours. And I will. I think I will stare into it, and lose myself within its flames.

Oh! Almost forgot, I am going to try gaining employment tomorow! I have heard that if I am in need of gold, I can simply work at one of the wineries, picking grapes, I assume. I think if they would like my services, that I will hopefully start working tomorrow. Yes, I can make gold picking foliage and flowers around Skingrad, but there are only so many plantings, and I am of the belief that it is too dangerous to go traipsing into the wilds. I am not fit for such adventures.

~Sarah~

This post has been edited by Renee: Jun 16 2022, 05:51 PM

[Lopov]

She really has a special affection towards fire, doesn't she?

I like the part when the guard says that the manor has been locked for years and Sarah wonders whether her aunt even sent her the letter.