I know how much effort you have always put into naming characters, so I’m glad that you’ve found a system. And your inspiration source provides tons of neat names to choose from.

- While I respect the need to protect that pretty head and can appreciate that it is easier to wear a helmet when one has little round ears, it does seem a shame to cover that blond hair.

- The skelly and orc shots – Grits is so right! Those are beautiful shields!

- Rude. Ah. . . I see what the shield is for now.

That helm looks nice with the face opened up. Are they all like that now in your game? I'd like a mix if I could choose.

Love the shield in the skellie pic.

Looks like the orc’s defense wasn’t good enough to prevent a slash to the neck. He’s got a cool looking shield too, though I would rather not replace any of the vanilla with them.

Rude:

Grits: I liked Hervor's ordinary flesh and blood look too. But unfortunately it was not enough to keep me interested in her. I always prefer open helms, so I can see my characters faces. Usually they never wear any kind of helmet at all, so I can see their entire head. But sometimes a helmet looks good, like Hrafn's Nordic Carved Helmet, so I will break down and let them wear one.

You are right about her expression in that pic. I liked it a lot too because of how she looks determined, but not maddened.


Acadian: Oh no, Hervor will have helmet hair after those first pics!

I love those shields. The Vikings made some really cool artwork, and those are among them. It's too bad there is no way to add a Raven Banner to the game.


King Coin: I use Open Faced Helmets, which makes all the closed face helmets opened up. It leaves alone the ones with some open space, like the Ancient Nord Helms though. So you can always see your character's face.


The Shield Maiden Hervor is taking a break. In the meantime my new Deadwalker has captured my imagination. She was an Imperial named Kore, who fought for Empress Alessia in the First Age. As such she is outfitted with Ancient Nordic gear, provided to the army by Alessia's Skyrim allies. After her death she was made an undead slave. But in the Fourth Age she finally breaks free of her necromantic bonds, and wreaks a terrible vengeance upon her enslavers.

I definitely did not want to do the vanilla game start with her. I tried using Alternate Start - Live Another Life, but its necromancer option starts you out in Blackreach, which does not make a lot of sense to me. So I created my own Alternate Start mod just for Persephone using the commands listed at the bottom of the UESP Wiki's Console page. It was incredibly easy, and let me start her in the depths of Fellglow Keep.

Kore was once a maiden picking flowers...

...Now the dead come to her, and call her their Queen.

The still-living Kore, just after joining Empress Alessia's army.

Risen again four Ages later as Persephone.

Persephone fights for freedom.

Queen: very nice shot. She looks awesome in that pose!

I love the ancient Nord helmet for female characters. The antlers are a cool look. I prefer it over the horns the male helmet gets.

That ward in the last picture isn’t going to save her from Persephone’s steel! I do think that it helps against damage from enchantments though.

I really like what you did with her names. Kore is beautiful both living and undead.

Queen looks so neat with the fire and I guess the blue effect is coming from her sword? Like KC said, that pose is just awesome.

Neat to see the real sword and then later the summoned version. These pictures are making quite the story!

The last one is my favorite. The flame, blade, and Ward make kind of a triangle. I love that helm on Persephone. What a great shot!

Wow, Kore the flower maiden is beautiful indeed!

I do have a soft spot for two handed swords. Nice background for this born-again lass from the past.

As ever, it was fun googling Persephone. In this case, doing so dissuaded me of the image of a woman with an iphone in her purse. I can now see why you didn’t name Kore’s reincarnation 'Enkore'.

King Coin: Queen is going in my desktop rotation. I really love how that turned out.

I think the antlers look better than the horns as well. I guess I have never been particularly horny.

You are right, the Ward did not save that necro!


Grits: Once I saw your agreement of using the name Persephone, I just knew I had to do some before pictures of her. Naturally her name while alive could only be Kore. I consider the story of Kore/Persehpone's descent into the Underworld and eventual return to be an iconic piece of mythology. It is a great example of Joseph Campbell's Hero Cycle. The fact that the story itself is told in so many different ways is one of the best things imho, as it allows one to emphasis many different things. Most of all though, I think it serves as a great example of taking lemons and making lemonade. Even at the most brutal way of looking at it, Kore is kidnapped and raped. But she turns that around by realizing her own power, and becoming Queen of the Underworld.

That blue effect is from the Absorb Magicka enchantment on Malediction (I was temped to call it Narcissus, and I might still change it, but I think people would confuse the name for the person, not the flower that led Kore to her doom). This is the first time I have used a weapon with that enchantment, so I am not used to seeing all the blue. I have since added an absorb health to it as well. It turns out Persephone is a very difficult character to play. The problem stems from not only using a bound weapon, but a two-handed one at that. To heal herself in combat Persephone has to dispel her sword, leaving herself defenseless. One handed characters can still keep a sword in one hand while they have a shield in the other. The next problem is that healing tends to empty out the magicka tank. But then afterward she needs still more magicaka to resummon the sword! Likewise, if she wants to switch to a ranged attack with her absorb, she again has to dispel the sword, then resummon it afterward. So she is a real magicka hog. At the same time, she needs a high health in order to survive those times where it is simply impossible to lose the sword and concentrate on healing. It makes for very challenging gaming!

I also noticed that the flames make a cross with her in the middle. Not that I would put comparisons between her and another fella who died upon one, only to return to life three days later...


Acadian: I have always loved the two handed swords in Oblivion and Skyrim as well. The two handed sword has been difficult for me to get used to again. If has been a long time since I had a character with one, and I have gotten out of practice with timing and distance control. But it is finally starting to come back now. Thank goodness!

Perse-phone won't be butt-dialing anyone, that is for certain! Her reception would probably be dead anyway.


Free of the necromancers of Fellglow Keep, Persephone bends down to look at her reflection in the water. If she could still feel her feelings, she might be horrified.

There is nothing to do but move on.

A soldier in Alessia's army knows what to do with elves.

Hooking up with her old boyfriend Darryl at the bar.

Reflecting upon her reflection is neat. The things she's seen, the things she wishes she hadn't seen. . . .

Moving on is simply a spectacular shot in so many ways! Wow!

Eeep! Persephone Merkiller!

Darryl! Is she going to hold out for his brother? And his other brother, for a robust foursome of the grateful dead?

Malediction is a great name for Persephone’s sword. It sounds like she is fun to play. I love characters who use all three of their bars, even if the green one is mostly for running away strategic repositioning.

Aw, reflections. That picture says a lot.

In Move on she is so pretty! Glowing eyes and all.

Wow, the elf-kabob is an awesome shot! Great pose and the swirly effects show up well at night. I guess Persephone is not afraid of the dark.

Her boyfriend Darryl, nice. I like his blue eyes, but he needs to get skincare tips from Persephone.

Moving on is brilliant in many ways. Love the gorgeous water of the shallow water. Her boots are going to be squishy though!

Does she kill all elves or is this only Altmer? Or perhaps only elves in armor?

I think she was better preserved than her boyfriend was.

Acadian: I really liked the reflection picture too. It was the first time the character had been out in the sun, and I wanted to stop to take a picture outside the dark dungeon environment where she started. It turned out really well.

Well, she is no Hoag Merkiller, but she killed quite a few point-ears in her time as a soldier in Alessia's army.

I am sure we will be seeing Darryl's other brother Darryl, and Darryl too, before we are done!


Grits: I have decided that her sword was originally named Blessing, or possibly Shor's Blessing. It was enchanted by the seid workers of Skyrim. Now just like Persephone, it has been transformed into something darker, and the blessing has become a curse.

Not only is Persephone not afraid of the dark, I think it is safe to say that she is the reason other people are afraid of it!

Persephone is much better preserved than Darryl. I have been thinking about that, and it is because she is a different kind of undead. I am taking some inspiration from both the briarhearts, and the two undead in Solstheim with the heartstones. Only she was created thousands of years ago. I am thinking she has an enchanted heart made of the Ayleid Varla Stone crystal, and that it gathers in energy just like the Ayleid Wells do, from starlight (aka, magicka pouring down from Aetherius).

I keep thinking more about Persephone, and her creator (Hades?), and I think there might be a story in there. The Pre-Modern Prometheus. I even have theme music already. This is the song of her creator, a necromancer who would never call himself a necromancer. Rather he was a man seeking to defeat death itself and create eternal life. A world without end. Instead he made Persephone. This song makes me think of Persephone at that time.


King Coin: Persephone does not kill all the elves she meets. Only those belonging to hostile foreign armies. She has a lot of history there.

That water is from Pure Waters. I like it best of the water mods, for how it makes the water semi-transparent. It really makes the shallow streams look fantastic.



Persephone had to shave for this pic

This one looks like a book cover to me

A slightly different angle on the same shot

Here is a long vid of Persehpone's first visit to Helgen

Lol, at least as a dead girl, she shouldn’t have to shave again!

I’d read that book. Looks like the sort of thing I’d read.

I like how she summons her sword. I need to try a conjurer sometime. First she beats right through someone’s shield, and then she swipes a head from someone’s shoulders! She’s awesome!

It seems a little funny to use a restoration spell on someone that’s dead!

I tend to avoid going inside Helgen keep when I use an alternate start. The one that I use, things go weird inside. Yeah, I’m seeing the same things in your video as well.

Head count 2.

Wow, she just plowed through that bandit chief. In my game, the lever to drop the bridge didn’t work. I ended up turning off collision to get through.

Very pretty end.

Screens:
Impressive shot of Persephone bringing down the hammer claymore!
Book cover? Gosh, you are so very right. It instantly conjures memories from the ‘Clan of the Cave Bear’ series! Such a beautiful shot! The second one is also very good, but the first one is unbeatable. Wow!

Vid: Loving that bound claymore! And Persephone knows how to use it!

I love the notion that Persephone has a self-refilling magicka source to keep her preserved. The thought behind your characters is fascinating. Necromancy could be the basis for a great love story.

Book cover is just gorgeous. What a fabulous shot. Persephone is a beauty, whatever her “living” status.

Neat to see Helgen as a bandit haven. I’ve never gone through the caves again having seen too much of them from the Bethesda Start. Kyne’s Peace! The best Shout in a spell tome. Awesome.

I could grow quite attached to a draugr summon! Darryl has excellent presence as an ally. I like his voice, and the way he lets go of his axe with one hand sometimes is pretty neat when you’re not the one being chopped.

Love the floaty blue light from Malediction. Persephone is fun to watch!

King Coin: Persephone has the highest skill of any two-handed fighter I have ever had. Currently its 80. She wipes a lot of people out with a single power attack, and can hit everyone in front of her with a sideways power attack.

There is actually a Necromantic Healing spell that only works on undead, and its a restoration spell. I think Dawnguard adds it. Persephone uses it on Darryl.

Weird things in Helgen? The things in my video are almost exactly the same as your second trip in Helgen when playing vanilla. The only thing different I did change was the bridge that gets smashed. I left that still intact and needed the lever to open. OTOH, I did remove the spiders, because I do not like them, and changed them to Chaurus Runts instead. Likewise, I removed the sleepy bear at the end.


Acadian: The Book Cover pics came out really well. I always start thinking of screenshots whenever it is near sunrise or sunset, especially if there is a good backdrop.


Grits: I still have not decided if Pesephone's creator (Haides I think) was human or Arimer. My original thought was that he was an Ayleid, hence his idea to pattern her heart after the wells, and his knowledge of manipulating varla stones and the like. But I cannot see him ending up in Skyrim with her. OTOH, I can picture him a breton or nord mage too, using the tools of the enemy against them. I am thinking Persephone was created in White Gold Tower after Alessia had taken it. Unknown to Haides, the tower itself played a hand in making Persephone, as it is a focus of Ayleidic magic. I can picture him presenting Persephone to Alessia and her advisors, trying to 'sell' her the idea just like a modern arms dealer. Because after all, Haides needs money, lab space, and more test subjects to keep up his work. Persephone was only the prototype after all. But Alessia would never go for necromancy, no matter what you call it, or how pretty a package it is in. So she would have told him she'd think about it, and then ordered his arrest. Then Haides was forced to flee Cyrodiil, and go on in secret. If he was a Nord, he'd naturally go back home to Skyrim. But since White Gold itself was part of the creation, he'd never succeed in making another like Persephone, and he would never figure out why until he was dying (probably with Persephone's hands around his throat).

I picture a real love-hate relationship between them. I know Persephone refused to ever speak to Haides. Though she would speak to other people - like Alessia. It infuriated him, and was her only means of expressing her will. Otherwise she was under his power. My thinking is that he made her heart in two halves. One was in her chest, the other was in a ring that he wore. The pieces were radically different in size, but when it came to actual power they were equal pieces. I am not sure how it eventually happened, probably a feud with other necromancers, but I can see Haides and Persephone in some dungeons or caverns after either an earthquake or explosion, with a metal beam piercing clean through his chest. His last act was to give Persephone her freedom, placing the half of her heart from his ring into her chest, fusing both pieces together. He would have said something like "Because it is all I have left to give." Persephone's first act of freedom was to strangle him, repeating the very same words back to him. Even she does not know if she killed him as an act of mercy, or one of vengeance.

And as I write, this song is playing. How perfect.

I can also picture Persephone killing all of the rival necromancers, and destroying their lair while inside it, burying herself within. Like the ending to Bride of Frankenstein, where the monster has his hand on the switch to the explosives and says "We belong dead."

Kyne's Peace was the first shout that I turned into a spell. It is practically indispensable for most of my characters.

Darryl is quite useful as a follower. But his other brother Darryl is even more kickass. Darryl II shouts!

I love the blue wispy effects of Malediction as well. It is actually the effect of the Ghostblade from Ansilvund.


Persephone lets the Thieves Guild know what she thinks of them

Meet Darryl's other brother... Darryl

Darryl can Fus

Persephone finally decided to update her outfit

Under the stars

A bad day to be a bandit

That’s a great shot as Persephone introduces herself to the TG. A beautiful sky and mountains in the background if it weren’t for the blood and flying head blocking the view.

Old Blue Eyes is fabulous!

Uh oh on the wardrobe. I confess to liking the outfit she has on in the first three shots. The new ‘Serana’ outfit looks a little more constraining and harder to get blood stains out of. I mean it’s not as if Persephone cares about keeping warm.

Bad day to be a bandit indeed! Here comes double trouble!

If you had played Skyrim as long as many people have, and had to constantly put with that fella Brynjolf accosting you to join the Thieves Guild, you would think his death was the most beautiful thing in the world! Seriously, there are even mods to keep him out of your hair.

Old Blue Eyes? I guess its that Old Black Magic that has Persephone in its spell. Or maybe Darryl just Did it his way?

Its true the old outfit had a lot less material to clean. But the new one is black and red, so the stains should not show... much. I like the way it accentuates her figure.


I have been working on a concept for a new character - an asian/Akaviri this time. Something not easy to manage in Skyrim. I was inspired by a mod that adds an asian follower from a custom race. I made the race playable, and made the follower a preset. Naturally the player character I made from that looked nothing like the follower, not the least bit asian. *sigh*. So I scoured the Nexus for asian race mods. The best one seems to be the Ashen Race, which touts itself as an oriental race mod. So it should be no surprise that none of the presets for it look even slightly asian. I did find a save game of a character that looked mostly asian, and have been able to work from that. Now I am going over equipment mods.

I settled on a mod that more Japanizes the Blades Armor (apparently it adds a twin backpack in the chest as well... )

And comes with town clothes as well

The sword is a sticking point.
On one hand there is Akaviri Katana Reborne, which has some neat glowy runes

But Insanity's Dragon Katana goes better with the armor

The Dragon Katana's blade is nothing special though

So I am not sure which one to go with. Probably the Dragon Katana, because the black and gold fits the armor best.

I do not have a name for the character either. Maybe Tomoe Gozen? I have used that one in Fallout 3 already though. Perhaps Jingu Kogo?

I'll come back in a bit to look at the screens, but if you like the sword Aravi's been using in my screen shots lately, it is part of a sword pack called Jaysus Swords. Screen. Keep in mind, if you do get that sword pack, it was created before the CK was released, so you need to use a separate patch to keep it from overwriting some other things. I can provide links if you are interested.

EDIT:

Thieves Guild, is that Brynjolf? That guy is so obnoxious. You can’t sell those unique gems without getting in with him, so I added a small mod that lets one of the Khajiit caravans by them.

Persephone is looking good in her new outfit. Under the college is a cool place. I got a mod that adds a necromancer alter somewhere under the college.

I like the new Blades armor, though I’d do without the helmet. The robe looks comfy.

I like Insanity’s sword, but then I’m not a fan of glowing runes and stuff like that.

second edit: some annoying thief's name was incorrect...

Fun with samurai! The blades armor looks good - even better without the gold bow around her neck and without the helm. A katana of some sort is the clear choice of course and both those look good. I see what you mean about the blades themselves, but I'd give priority to how the scabbard looks. The in town outfit looks simply delicious, and very dark hair with dark eyes are natural choices.

No clue on a name. Given the name of my only character, you surely don't want any advice from me. . . else you might end up with a Barbi or Bambi!

For a name how about Betty? She was named after this fish because of its darting, elusive nature, and only later found that, in the Nord language, it shared its name with a woman. I leave it to you to determine the name in her language.

I like Insanity's sword. The blade looks like it might actually do its job, and has been zone-tempered to produce hardness variations along its length.

Persephone:

How nice to see Brynjolf’s head flying. Thanks to a mod he leaves my characters alone now, but still…

It would be awesome to have a Fus-ing follower! I’ve already downloaded your Undead Summoning mod for Darnand when he eventually gets to come out and play. Even though he’s not a necromancer.

Under the stars is lovely. Persephone looks like she’s moving on with her unlife now that she’s in an outfit instead of her tomb armor.

Wow, Darryl is big! I love how he holds the axe.

Akaviri warrior:

I like the Blades armor. The hat is admittedly not my favorite, but it gives a very distinct and readily identifiable look.

The town outfit is gorgeous! It looks great with her coloring. She’s beautiful.

I love Insanity’s sword. The scabbard works very well with her armor, and I love the realistic detail on the blade. If she’s going to be very magical I’d go for an effect on the plain blade over the glowing runes. Is there any goldish magic effect? The only thing I can think of is healing.

Names… What’s she like?

King Coin: Thanks for the link to the sword. But I find I like the Dragon Katana best. It is perfect for Jingu's look.

Brynjolf used to really drive me nuts until I got that mod that Grits mentioned, that shuts him up and stops him from force-greeting you with the the Thieves Guild introduction.

I tried that mod that lets you sell the unusual gems to the Khajiit, but it did not work. Maybe I was trying one of the wrong Khajiit caravan leaders, rather than Riisad? I'll try it again.


Acadian: In the end I decided to go with the Dragon Katana, precisely because of what you said about the scabbard. It's look fits in much better with her outfit overall than the other sword.


ghastley: The Insanity sword does look very realistic and usable. One of the reasons it won out!


Grits: Persephone shedding the tomb armor and getting into the vampire outfit was indeed a part of her finally leaving the past behind and getting on with her undeath.

Darryl is kind of odd with his shouts. He says the full "Fus.... Doh Rah!", but it only seems to be the Fus effect alone that happens, as people do not go flying. Those times battling through Solitude with Ulfric it seemed like a tornado had hit the place, with the way people were flying!

I am glad to hear that Darnand the necromage well-respected member of the magic-using community will be getting some use of Darryl and his brothers!

No one likes her samurai helmet? The horn things are a bit grandiose. If it is any consolation, like most of my characters she almost always goes bareheaded.

After looking through my book on Samurai Women, I decided to go with Jingu Kogo for a name. She's the only one who can really hold a candle to Tomoe Gozen (who I have already played).


Thanks to her waterwalking spell, Jingu is the sole survivor of an Akaviri trading ship that sank in the Sea of Ghosts

Jingu likes to explore this strange, new land

But still, she says her daily prayers to the morning sun, and home.

Warming her hands by the fire

Another book cover

How is this helmet?

Slugging it out with the Falmer

Sneaking like a ninja...

...and striking like one

She’s pretty! But doesn’t look especially Asian… weird how Skyrim is like that. Actually the book cover screen looks more Asian than the others.

In strange new land, her pose seems oddly appropriate.

Prayers is pretty. The one in town looks a lot more comfortable next to the fire in her robes.

Uhh.. no helmets.

I see she has a spell in hand. Does she usually fight with magic and her sword? Or does she block with a one handed weapon?

I like the interesting but uncomplicated way that Jingu found herself in Skyrim. Was that view toward Azura’s statue and Winterhold pretty much her first sight upon reaching land? Neat to see Skyrim through new eyes and from a different direction (not Helgen).

Morning prayer is one of those pictures that tells a story. Very nice.

It’s great to see Jingu’s slim shape as she warms her hands, since her robe does not have her armor’s auxiliary chest storage feature.

It’s hard to pick a favorite between book cover and the sneaking one. I love the way her face looks in the sneaking one, but the book cover one is such a gorgeous picture! I like the way her spell lights up her face.

Jingu looks awesome as a dual-wielder. Does she have an enchantment on one of her swords?

New helmet? Lol. The Nord horns make me like the gold horns more!

King Coin: I know, she only looks Asian in certain lights/angles. And that is using the most Asian-looking mod out there!

No love for the horny helms? No fears, I cannot ever see her wearing the Helm of Yngol again.

Morning Prayer is a case where I looked over to see the sun rising over the ocean, and knew I had to take some kind of picture of that.

She's mainly a dual-wielder, but uses magic in her left hand as well, especially for ranged attacks before closing to melee. It has been a long time since I played a dual-wielder, and I really cannot say I like it much. It seems to be mostly just button mashing, where playing a shield and sword or two-hander has some strategy in timing your blocks and bashes.


Grits: Jingu actually spawned at Pilgrim's Trench. This way I can say that one of those ships down there was hers. She spent a lot of time exploring the northern coast though, with the help of her water walking spell. (I still cannot believe they left that out of the vanilla game. They really expect your characters to swim though the arctic ocean).

Those twin storage units in her chest are handy for carrying around her loot!

Her swords are not enchanted, not yet at least. You are probably seeing the faint glow of her Oakenflesh spell. She always uses that to buff up her armor, since as a dual-wielder she cannot block.

I thought that Helm of Yngol would make the Japanese one look good!



Flinging a firebolt

On the lookout for a killer

Facing off against The Butcher

The after-slaying party at the Candlehearth

Jingu looks wonderful! Like Grits, I think her story is simple and very effective. Hmm, honestly, I'd dump the helmets entirely for her and start looking for a circlet to suit her. Red is absolutely and definitely her color for her casual clothes - she looks spectacular in it! If you're not happy with the dual wielding, how does it work and feel using one blade in her right hand with magic filling her left hand? I know that I would struggle with having to stow weapons before casting.

Acadian: Sometimes the simplest stories are the most effective. They can always get more complicated as time goes by. Like an ordinary street urchin from the IC who gets caught up in the Oblivion Crisis, or a simple bowgirl from Bravil who ends up hip deep in the same.

I really like that simple robe outfit. Even though its just a retexture of the vanilla robes, it has a very Japanese feel to it.

Jingu does use magic in her left hand for distance attacks and the like. But it is not very effective when you really get to close quarters. You cannot block that way, so you have no defense. Since you cannot defend, you might as well just go with two weapons and make the most of your offense. Or you can just empty out everything from your left hand and block with the sword in your right hand. But while it is easy to put something in your left hand, it is a real hassle to remove everything from it. I even tried using a shield with Jingu, but it just does not feel right for a Samurai.


So I have been experimenting with some other characters. First off I tried a reboot of Le Chevalier D'Eon. I also tried out an Orc, a race I have not visited in a long time.

Le Chevalier D'Eon came to Skyrim via a ship

She is not the only one who feels like a fish out of water...

Skyrim may not be as refined as High Rock, but it still has rock stars

How often have you seen this in Skyrim?

I also created Durga, an orc who left/was kicked out of the stronghold of Dushnikh Yal (she stole a pile of potions from the cellar before she left!)

Durga is hanging around the Reach

She thinks this guy is a liar

Darkness and light

Disguised as a Forsworn

Doing something rude to a Silverblood mercenary

I love the ‘Flinging a firebolt’ picture. Very nice shot of her.

‘On the lookout’ looks like the guard is watching something too.

I was never able to properly finish the butcher quest.

Ah, back to the French knight. She has such fancy armor, I almost expect to see her with a dueling sabre.

Fish… Kill it. Some easy and useful alchemy ingredients.

I did not expect to see her dancing at the inn!

No quests?!

Love the way your Orc looks! That second screen, she has a nasty brooding look.

She looks great as a forsworn, fits her savage look.

I’m not entirely sure what she’s doing in ‘rude,’ almost looks like she’s bouncing his skull off her chest plate.

Old news: Aww, how wonderful to think back to the simple origins of our wood elves. Speaking of bowgirls, I don't suppose it is possible (in Skyrim) to weld a bow to one's left hand (for shooting and blocking) and use one's right hand to fluidly switch from unquivering/shooting arrows to casting spells like a mystic archer? Chasing spells with an arrow and chasing arrows with a spell?

*

I very much like everything about your Chevalier character – her look, story, armor, all of it.

Rock stars – aww, I was expecting Rocky the stone golem storm astronaut.

I see Chevalier is a master of quest avoidance! I say avoidance instead of completion because I know you well.

Durga looks great! The war paint really suits her. Looks like she favors a most appropriate two-handed axe? And I’m guessing the untruthful hooded cat is SkyM'aiq.

Fireball looks great with all of the glowy magical effects around her.

How funny, she’s getting the eye from that guard. Doesn’t she know there’s a killer on the loose?!

Wow, did Jingu find the Butcher inside the house? Neat!

I’ve never found a comfortable way to empty the left hand for one-handed blocking. I love the way an unarmored or lightly-armored one-hander can dance around in a fight, but mine have all died before I got good at it. Another reason to embrace the greatsword.

Yay, D’Eon!! You did an awesome job with her face.

Lol, that is an ambitious fish. LOVE D’Eon’s boots.

Le Chevalier D’Eon looks like she’s having more fun at her no-quest party than Jingu had at her after-quest bash. Perhaps it’s the empty log!

Durga (“the invincible”?) looks hot. And not just for an orc. Wow.

Ooh, big axe, very nice.

It looks like M’Aiq and Durga did not enjoy each other’s company.

I was left thinking that if she hadn't changed back to her banded iron, it would have been rude.

He would have died happy.

King Coin: I like Flinging a Firebolt a lot too. It is one of the pics where Jingu actually looks Japanese.

I loved that look on the guard's face in On The Lookout! It's one of those I love to put captions to, like "I wonder what her underwear smells like?"

Blood on the Ice is incredibly bugged. And Bethesda claims to have fixed it! I have often had problems with it. Even this time I had to break into a shop that is supposed to be open, attack the owner, run outside across the city, give up to the guards, then run back to catch the owner before he got back inside his locked shop so I could talk to him and advance the quest.

D'Eon needs a black sword to go with her armor, so I did not have many choices. Basically Ebony or Ancient Nord. I used a mod of a mod I made that gives the Nord Hero weapons glowy runes, but I went and gave them the black textures of the Ancient Nord weapons under the runes.

No quests are one of the joys to the do it yourself alternate start. You start out that way. It is very refreshing.

I was surprised at how Durga's appearance came out. She's even hotter without the facepaint. I had to put it on so she did not look too pretty.


Acadian: Unfortunately bows still use both hands, so to equip a spell in Skyrim you have to completely unequip your bow. The sword and board is probably the easiest combination to use with magic, as you can hotkey your shield, and your spells. Whenever you select a hotkeyed spell it always fills your left hand first (If you hit the key again it fills your right as well). A hotkeyed sword always goes to your right hand. A hotkeyed shield always goes into your left hand. So you can easy put a spell in hand to shoot at a closing enemy, then switch out to your shield when they come up and be ready for melee.

No Astronauts for either of these characters. I want to take a break from summoning for a bit, and do something different for a while.

Durga is an Orc, so what else but a battleaxe? Its like mashed potatoes with gravy, some things are just made for one another. She tried a warhammer for a while, but it just was not her. Didn't have that cleaving I suppose.

The Hooded Cat is indeed Maiq, the most untruthful one. He's a lot easier to talk to in Sky than he is in Obliv. He does not run around the province at light speed for starters! He is a random encounter. You never know where he might turn up.


Grits: I was thinking the guard might be the killer too, from that look he was giving her. Or maybe he just wanted her robe?

I was surprised by the final showdown in Blood On The Ice. It went the same as normal until the end. Jingu staked out the market area and waited, and waited, and waited, and the Butcher never showed up. So I quickloaded and checked the quest arrow. It was pointing to Hjerim. So Jingu went there and found him inside. I do not know if that was a glitch, or if Bethesda changed the quest in their last update. It was certainly a lot easier fighting him in there, without any civilians around to get clipped by sweeping blades.

D'Eon just did one of those wonderful dances you mentioned around a Hagraven! She killed the poor creature with nary a scratch, thanks to always being behind it because of the constant circling. And D'Eon was only about 8th level or so at the time, so she really could never have taken out the HR in a straight slugging match.

I loaded up an old save of D'Eon and saved her face, then turned it into a preset so I could get the new D'Eon looking right. Of course I tweaked her features a bit. But only a little bit around the chin and jaw, and I think with a darker lipstick. I always liked how she looks. But then Bretons make good-looking characters.

Like the old D'Eon, the new Chevalier is a partier. There is no inn or musician she can pass up.

Durga really surprised me with how she turned out. I think she was Preset #2, with just a bit of tweaking. I did not use any special mods for her, just the normal body and face loadout I always use.

Durga is a name I picked out a long time ago. I got bored one day and just started looking up goddesses and made a list of names to use for future characters. I have been waiting for the right one to use Durga with. This Orc was going to be Durga or Kali. Kali feels more like a magical character to me, so Durga was the clear winner. Invincible suits her as well. She is like the Hulk, she just smashes everything in front of her! And I naturally I have never even remember to use her Berserk power. She power attacks with her axe, and crushes everything in one or two hits.

That Dwarven axe she picked up has a 30 point Absorb Stamina. It turned her into a real monster, because now its non-stop power attacks.

Unlike D'Eon, Durga is a vanilla character. It is kind of refreshing to use only the stuff that the game came with for a change, and actually look at the things the merchants are selling to see if I want to use them.


ghastley: Hah! Trying on the Forsworn armor is sort of a tradition for most of my characters. But like almost all the others, there is no way Durga would wear it. Iron or steel is what she needs. Come to think of it, only one character of mine ever did wear Forsworn, my poison mage Ivy.


It's D'Eon's turn to see how the other half lives.

On top of the world

Taking a break

Durga meets the Face of Boe

Teaming up with Melka

D’Eon in a furkini! As much as I like skin – and hers is lovely, mind you – the paladin style plate she normally wears is just so. . . her.

On top of the world and taking a break shows her clear love of high perches!

Durga meets stoneface and thinks about the heavy axe on her back. “Just a little off the top?”

Melka? Not one of your more attractive characters. Okay, I’m just joking. I assume Melka is an NPC involved in some quest perhaps?

I’m assuming she isn’t fond of those fur scraps either? It definitely doesn’t suit her like it did Durga. She was hot.

On top of the world, Aravi was there once!

Break, what a clever perch! Is she part Khajiit?

Even though I am perfectly aware of what the face is, I still expected it to say something.

Aravi just saw Melka too! She’s been roaming around the reach, as that’s the area she’s explored the least. It’s fun finding new things.

EDIT: Yep, Acadian, Melka's part of a side quest. I believe you saw Aravi's first meeting with her. She didn't let the bird out of its cage however.

Even though she’s a Breton, D’Eon in feathers and fur is just not happening! I’m too used to seeing her civilized, at least outwardly. She seems like a bit of a wild child inside though.

Great shot on top of the world. I’ve never had a character there when I could really move the camera. Very neat to see.

Great outfit in taking a break. I had to make a custom default outfit for NPC Abiene so she could wear that robe (and the pleated shoes in her case) around the house. Come to think of it, Abiene would like D’Eon a lot! How did she get up there?!

Face of Boe: lol. I just watched Last of the Time Lords. That stone face should start hitting on Durga any time now. I really enjoy seeing your characters explore “quest” areas completely free of game interference.

Melka has some great lines. Durga looks like she has nothing to fear from a Hagraven with that big green axe, so why not see what happens? How did that adventure end? Is Melka still collecting shiny, shiny eyeballs, or did Durga have one more bird to pluck at the end?

Acadian: You are right, the Forsworn Furkini is not for D'Eon. She is much too fancy for that.

Melka is a Hagraven who can found in one of the dungeons. Her sister Petra stole her tower and locked her up. You can free Melka and help her kill Petra and all the other baddies in the tower. Or you can leave her locked up and do all the slayage alone. Durga opted for the team up, which was helpful, as Melka knows how to circumvent all the traps. "Careful here. There's a trick to this. The trick is; to not bleed to death! Ah, there's a lever too."


King Coin: D'Eon is definitely not fond of the bits of fur the Forsworn call 'armor'.

I thought you would recognize the Throat of the World. I was sure to get the word wall in the pic. I found the Notched Pickaxe up there. From what I read on the UESP Wiki, it is supposed to add 5 points to your Smithing skill. But when I equip it my skill does not change. Even though when I look in my Active Magic Effects page it does show a 5 point Fortify Smithing. Have you ever used it with Aravi? Right now D'Eon has it gracing a display case back at Lakeview.

I actually only vaguely remember that face from when Aravi went to Sky Temple. Doesn't it split apart or something after Aravi spilled her blood on the floor in those channels? I think the rest of the temple was beyond it right?

The Reach is also the area I have not explored very much. That is one reason Durga is based there. She'll be my Reach explorer, hopefully she'll find everything there eventually.


Grits: D'Eon is definitely a wild one inside. She's old English French High Rock nobility after all. Polished, proper, cultured exterior, and passionate, hedonistic, sensual interior.

That is the first time any of my characters have been up on top of High Hrothgar. I was prompted to go because I recently made some changes to my Shouts Are Spells mod. Since I am not starting my characters in Helgen anymore, I removed all of its spellbooks from there. Instead I decided to put them in the shrines you visit on the way up to High Hrothgar. Thanks to the Clear Skies spell, D'Eon was able to get around the monastery and get all the way to the top.

I thought you would like the outfit in Taking A Break. That is Abiene's! I have always loved it when I saw Bryling wearing it in Solitude. But I never saw it from behind until D'Eon wore it. Seeing the head of the fox bothers me. So I had to stop using it.

I am sure D'Eon would love Abiene. She's a quiet one, and D'Eon knows that the quiet ones are the wildest behind closed doors! The funny thing is that when I think of Abiene and any of my characters, it is Aela. Not because of anything romantic, but because they are both Restoration mages, yet they are so incredibly different in motivation and personality.

"All I said was hello!"
"For you, that's flirting!"

It is nice to get into those places we are not supposed to go because they are quest locked, like High Hrothgar. Since I won't get into them any other way, sometimes I cannot resist to poke my nose in there with a little help from the console. That is how D'Eon got to the top of Lakeview btw. The TCL command turns of clipping, and among other things lets you walk on air.

I love Melka! She has such great lines, like: "Yes, yes. My staff, take it. Kill something pretty with it." and "Mix pretty poisons and collect shiny eyeballs, yes." She is such a fun npc. It's too bad you cannot have her as a follower. Though the constant huffing and groaning would get annoying after a while.

Needless to say, Durga was not worried about Melka, big green axe and all. Since Melka was a straight with her, Durga took her staff and left Melka and her eyeball collection in peace.


This one reminds me of all those stock fantasy pictures with the lone hero fighting it out on top of a mountain of baddies.

Le Chevalier has not been at a loss for action either

D'Eon teamed up with a wolf to take on this troll

Is that a redwood spriggan?

D'Eon found her town clothes

Durga gettin’ her axe on!

Your Chevalier is so cool. What a neat character! Uh oh, looks like she’s killing blue-eyed Daryl, his brother and his other brother too.

That sprig looks so at home in the autumn forest. Perhaps she changes with the seasons?

Wow, I’ve always really liked Triss armor, but the OB stuff is way too busty and chunky for non-Nord girls. This Skyrim version looks absolutely fantastic and cut just right for the relatively petite Chevalier. Beautiful!

Those Falmer look like they’re boiling up out of the ground! I can see how Durga and her axe will keep them from getting past in that corridor. Nice!

That’s a great picture of D’Eon among the skellies. She looks grim and determined.

Wow, she looks tiny compared to that troll! And the wolf. What a neat picture with the rocks in the foreground and that ledge behind them.

Oh, an autumn birch spriggan! Beautiful colors.

I love D’Eon’s town outfit. It has a lot of style, perfect for her!

Notched Pickaxe: Aravi has found it in one of her previous iterations, but not in this one. She doesn’t carry tools with her, so it was probably gathering dust at the bottom of a chest. I never noticed the smithing skill increase. I wonder if it is worth having equipped when crafting.

Sky Temple: You are correct. Needs a bit of the Dragonborn’s blood to open.

Stock Fantasy Picture: I still love it! That’s a great shot of her hacking down the falmer. I see she’s got some race appropriate armor.

Aravi almost never gets any help from the local wildlife. Or when she does, the helper turns on her!

Redwood sprig: Must be a matron, right? They are pretty tough if they take offense to your presence. I love how they step out of trees sometimes. Surprise!

Town clothes: Looks beautiful! It was funny playing Witcher 2 a while back and recognizing the outfit.

Acadian: Durga needs that axe for those Falmer, they are tooough.

D'Eon appreciates the comment. She's not as big a fan of Old Blue Eyes as Pershepone. I guess she's more of a Dean Martin fan.

D'Eon is using the smallest body size, so that is probably why the Triss Outfit does not look overly chesty on her. I am sure on other characters it would look a lot more 'roomy'.


Grits: There were actually three more Falmer further down the stairs that you cannot see in that pic. It was one really, really tough room!

I was surprised at how big that troll looked too. It's actually standing straight up, instead of being hunched over, so you see just how big it truly is. D'Eon actually came down from the ledge to get into sword range to attack the troll.

I thought the Autumn Spriggan was a nice touch for the Rift too. Though I am sure it is completely by accident.

I had completely forgotten about the Triss Outfit. I had already gone through all the vanilla outfits and not found anything appropriate. Then I spent about twenty minutes looking through the Nexus, and of course it was all high heels and 21st Century slut dresses. Then I just happened to notice the Triss .omods in my mod list, and it occurred to me that one of the color versions would probably be perfect.

I recently made a mod that lets you craft Fortify Speechcraft circlets, and disenchant them to learn the enchantment. D'Eon has put the Fort Speech on all of her town clothes now, so her Speech is up in the 70s or so. I used to do that all the time in Oblivion with my character's town clothes as well.


King Coin: Durga had just gotten the Orcish Smithing perk and made herself that armor before that pic was taken. Though I liked how the banded iron looked on her too.

That wolf did turn on D'Eon once the troll was dead. But thankfully by now Le Chevalier has made the trip to High Hrothgar, and gotten the Kyne's Peace spell.

I am guessing that is the Spriggan Matron in that pic. I think that is the biggest, least colorful one. I think the one added by Dawnguard is purple, and the one by Dragonborn is of course the burned variety.

If you could play as Triss in Witcher 2 I would try that game.


On the go with the Chief of Largashbur

It seems that D'Eon is not quite alone in Avanchzel

The night life in Riften leaves something to be desired

Outside of town

A postcard pic in front of the local landmarks

I assumed that the orc in the first pic was one of those random adventurers you see on the road. I was picturing him telling her ‘What’s a milk drinker like you doing out here…’ while she easily kept pace with him.

Second picture, is that the mages’ guild quest? That’s the only dungeon that I remember a large group of ghosts like that in.

Night Life: Darnand Mercutio’s checking out D’Eon, and Mjoll(?) looks like she’s going to deck Mercutio!

Outside: Love this picture. She has a very pretty face, and the surroundings are nice and colorful.

Landmark: Aravi’s been up there too! Great view of Windhelm, Azura, and the College beyond.

The chief is giving D’Eon quite a look. What a contrast between the two of them. I expect in the end it was the groomed and polished petite warrior whose conduct was most pleasing to Malacath.

That’s a neat picture with the shades of those adventurers. At first I wondered why they weren’t wearing ghostly robes, and then I recognized Deepest-Fathoms. D’Eon is helping out a lot of folks!

Night life made me laugh. What a sneer on Marcurio’s face! The Nord chick is wearing her silly hat indoors, and there’s no bard at all. No wonder D’Eon looks bored! That’s a great picture of her face.

Ooo, I like Outside of town the best. I love her snazzy outfit, and that’s a nice pose looking up I imagine at Nords and horses with Wujeeta in the background. Has D’Eon helped Wujeeta out yet?

What a view in postcard! I love seeing D’Eon in that pose, and the backdrop is gorgeous. It makes her beautiful armor and blade really stand out.

On the go – Little D’Eon has to jog to keep up with that big fella. He’s got a dandy looking Nordic shield though!

Not quite alone – Surrounded by sprits. I hope they’re friendly!

Night life – What a stunningly lovely close up of D’Eon. Wow!

Outside – You lookin’ at me?

Postcard – Here, D’Eon has almost a magical glow to her face. Very nice.

King Coin: The second pic is from the Dwemer ruin of Avanchnzel, in the Rift. It's a really neat ruin that has a story attached to it. The ghosts are the last people who ventured into its depths.

That is not Mjoll in the nightlife pic, but a new npc heavy armor trainer I created. I put new trainers in all of the cities, usually in the inns to make them more lively.


Grits: Wow, how did you guess that Malacath is more pleased by pretty girlyboys than big brawny orcs!

D'Eon was hated the Riften club scene. There is no music! How can you party without music? *sigh*

D'Eon gave Wujeeta a healing potion to get her over her skooma cravings. For now at least. But she has not gone all the way and chased down the skooma dealer, or his source. She is too preoccupied with other things, like Dwemer ruins and some bunch of vampire hunters called the Dawn-something-or-another.


Acadian: That shield of the chiefs is one of my favorites from the Matherian Viking Shield pack. I took a number of them and made my own mod with them, and used them to replace the low level shields in the game - Iron, Steel, etc...

Thankfully those spirits in that pic are friendly. Oblivious really. They are really more visions of the past than actual spirits. You learn a really neat story as you follow them through the dungeon.

That is a magical glow on her face in the postcard pic. Literally! I learned that if you put a spell in your left hand before using that pose, the glow from the spell shows up not only on your sword, but bathes your character's face. It makes it look extra neat.


Durga has teamed up with another orc hottie

Getting some bandit action

Where to next?

This giant had the gall to attack Le Chevalier D'Eon's home.

A short vid of Le Chevalier D'Eon taking on the final two bosses of Volskygge

Those orcs look like they’re having a blast kicking butt, taking names and generally destroying things! I’ll bet Sir Mazoga would love it up in Skyrim!

Giant vs D’Eon – Trying to decide if this = Beauty and the Beast or Davida vs Goliath. Regardless, a fabulous contrast.

Vid. That first boss looked easier because he stayed to fight. The second one (outdoors) was quite pesky with his frost spells and running away. As ever though, D’Eon kicked butt and, more importantly, looked stylish while doing it. I really love her armor – it not only looks great, but suits her perfectly.

Love both of their armors! The circlet looks surprisingly nice with the rough armor.

Bandits, Aravi’s been here too! And ouch! That arrow sticking out of her thigh! And is that one in her breast too? Her friend looks much safer ducked behind that rock.

Where too next, I notice the textures in your game aren’t blending very well either. I was wondering if that was just something with my game.

Whoa, for a second I thought the giant went inside! That gives me an idea for an open air house, like ancient Romans. Course they didn’t have to worry about rain and snow!

Wow, I love how you kept dancing around that first guy in the video. Did you mod her speed at all? Aravi always feels so slow when she fights, and I am wondering how I could tweak that.

She probably is slow. I noted that the way Frost spells include slowing the target meant that Nords have a big advantage in combat speed against frost mages. Fleur and Pala were similar builds, but Pala got that Nord advantage that Fleur didn't, and it really noticed.

But Orcs with two-handed weapons are major powerhouses. Two together would be awsome!

I'm surprised to see the giant up on the deck level. Can they reach someone with a bow at the top of a tower wing that way? I may have to review my house plans.

Your speed is based on your height, and so far as I know nothing else. I did nothing to change D'Eon's speed, and since she is a Breton female, she is among the shortest and slowest in the game, with a height of 0.95. Female Khajiit are the same. I think you said you modified Aravi's height to make her shorter, that would also make her even slower as well.



I was surprised when he followed D'Eon up there too. I don't know if they can reach someone in a tower or not. My first thought would be no, as the towers are probably far enough away from a giant standing on one of the outdoor decks.

Acadian: The only thing more fun that one orc going on a rampage is two orcs going on the same rampage! Sir Mazoga would love it up north.

The second boss in that vid was a lot tougher for exactly the reason you said. He kept running away. D'Eon is mostly a sword and board fighter. That is where she really excels. She only falls back on the lightning when she has to.


King Coin: That circlet fits Durga's coloring very well. I don't think its even enchanted, it just looks good with her hair and facepaint.

That's right, one arrow in the boob and another in the thigh. Not exactly a way to get a girl in the mood!

I don't think there is anything anyone can do about the seams between textures, like between the ore deposit and the rest of the ground in that pic. I am sure it is just the game.

I would love a house with an atrium in the center, like this Greek house.

D'Eon does that little dance around bad guys all the time. I think of her as a sword dancer. She killed a hagraven when she was about 7th level or so that way, without being hit once. If you move quick enough, you can stay behind them all the time, so they cannot attack you.


ghastley: There is something about being green and having tusks that just makes battleaxes perfect. It is like cheese and wine, or beer and Nascar, some things just go together.


A short vid of D'Eon taking the shortcut out of Arkngthamz

D'Eon cannot abide Falmer. They are like cockroaches.

Apparently bunnies and wooden swords are what motherhood is all about.

It's raining men!

Dancing with a blue-eyed devil

I just liked this one

Back on the dance floor

Is that glow in your eyes for me Serana?