Hello, and welcome to the Lady Saga Exploration Thread. In this thread, we'll be traveling along with Aerin of Valenwood, also known as Lady Saga, as she explores as much of Cyrodiil and Valenwood as she can.




AYLEID RUINS

Beldaburo
Garlas Agea
Niryastare
Trumbe

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CAMPS

Bodean Camp
Last Chance Camp

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CITIES, TOWNS, VILLAGES, HAMLETS

Sutch

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CAVES

Bleak Cave
Brittlerock Cave

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FORTS

Crowhaven
Fort Hastrel
Fort Sutch

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MINES

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I originally rolled Saga on Playstation 3 just before Skyrim was released, on October 19, 2011. The idea of her game was to simply explore all the locations my other characters never got around to visiting. Light on quests and story, but heavy on travel, adventure, delving and scouting. Since 2011 I have made three different versions of Saga: the original on PS3, a second version for Xbox (who lives in the first year of the Fourth Era), and a third version for PC, who lives in the fifth year / 4E I think. The version of Saga in this thread is the one originally on Xbox, but I transferred her game to PC several years ago.

Here are some pics.

3rd Era 433 (PS3)

4th Era Year 1 (Xbox)

On my original room computer I had a notepad page which listed every location my elf visited, especially all the dungeons, the lairs, the caves, the forts, and so on. As some of you know, at the beginning of this year that computer's drive went bad! A geek repair shop was able to retrieve some stuff off that drive, but not Saga's Locations.txt file.

So in this thread we're starting all over with the list. And as she discovers or rediscovers each place, the location will be linked up above in this OP. I figure this will be a fun way to get back into Elder Scrolls 4. 🌲

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It's too bad that the list was lost, but then again it gives you the incentive to do it all over again! Because I bet you don't remember every single dungeon you've visited years ago! What fun! Looking forward to reading about Lady Saga and her trusty Legionnaires.

Thanks. Yes, it'll be fun to rebuild that list! And (edit) holy moley I am having fun tonight! This feels like the old days!

Let's have a look at my wood elf's stats. I was a bit torn whether I should start her game over from scratch, or just continue it as-is. I think I'll continue it though. So here are some stats, where she is at. Some of the stats, skills, and magic below are from The Fantasy Trip, which was a tabletop role-playing game way back in the '80s.


LADY SAGA

Created: October 19, 2011, 5:57 PM

Level: 20

ST: 12
DX: 22
IQ: 24

Race: Wood Elf
Sign: The Lord
Class: Ranger (custom)

Age:

Skills: Alertness: (2), Bow (2), Blunt (2), Cartographer (1), Horsemanship (1), Literacy (1), Naturalist (0), Silent Movement (0), Swimming (1),

Spells: Command Creature (0), Detect Life (1), Heal Self (1), Light (1), Open Locks (1), Summon Rats (1), Summon Wolf (1)

Sundas morning, Sun's Dusk 3, 4th Era Year 1

Play Time: 320:41:08

So Saga's game starts in Crowhaven. This is where I saw her last time we traveled together, and she's already explored this fort. As she explores each location in Cyrodiil I'm going to write some of her adventures (if any) at that location.

In this case though, she's already through Crowhaven. Whatever happened in there has already happened. My elf wants to go north. So off we go!

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9:08 am -- It is raining steadily, but there's no thunder or strong winds, so visibility is good.

Encountered some sort of undead skeleton up on one of the Gold Coast hills. Saga summoned a black bear, which took care of the skellie *smash!*

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Did she find January in Crowhaven?

Ha ha, must have just missed Jan! I have pictures by the way, I'll post 'em tomorrow.

11:29 am -- She finds Beldaburo (nice, that was quick!) I have a feeling she's been here before, maybe in her original game on PS3. But here on my game today (PC), Beldaburo does not appear on her map. I don't remember what sort of enemies are in here, but I have a "good" feeling this is one of the fun dungeons.

She tells her horse to stay behind, and then gathers the following from its invisible satchel: Dwemer Bow, 5 bone arrows, 20 iron arrows, and 30 silver arrows. Silver, because she seems to think Beldaburo has more undead inside.

She wears her (mod-added) Ranger armor set, and her hands are covered by Battlehunter Gauntlets, which allow 65 feet of Detect Life.

She carries 11 homemade poisons, mostly Damage Health or some other Attribute. She also has a half-dozen homemade potions: Restore Health, Fatigue, and Magicka mostly.

Lady Saga. She can survive in wilderness where others starve, but she's also a pro at dungeoneering. Detect Life, Light, and Nighteye she uses these on and off to navigate the ruin. Dispel cancels any of these effects. She can also use Unlock spells, although only for Easy locks so far. She can make herself invisible. And since she's born under The Lord, she's got the Blood of the North time-based healing spell.

See? She's well-equipped, and usually well-prepared.

She also has the ability to Astral Project, using her spirit to see as far as she wants (this is me playing with TFC command). But for her to use this, she's gotta be able to wait an hour. None of my other characters have this ability.

Outside of Beldaburo is two Conjurers. She is able to jump upon a huge boulder, summon bears and rats, and occasionally get a good shot at her opponents.

Inside Beldaburo are daedra and undead, which are apparently enemies to each other! ... This is the MMM mod in action. Sometimes it'll put competing factions or enemies in the same cell.

Thing is, she's not really keen on fighting either of these, not tonight anyway. Saga mostly hunts NPCs. That's what all those poisons are for. So she leaves Beldaburo after a couple hours, and heads back to her horse up on the hill.

9:51 pm -- She spends the night in front of Beldaburo's entrance.

To boldly go where no Wood Elf has gone before. These are the adventures of Lady Saga. Should the Jandaga and Lady Saga ever meet the Jandaga will buy the wine. Don't worry, he can afford the good stuff.


OOO and MOO do this to each other all the time. Lots of fun to sneak into a dungeon, sit back and watch the factions fighting. Um, until they see you, that is. Then it's all against you.

The Fantasy Trip, now there's a game that stirs the imaginatiom. I still refer to my Fantasy Trip books now and then. I have three from 1980's; In The Labyrinth, Advanced Wizard, and Advanced Melee.

Yes, The Fantasy Trip has some more-realistic rules and is closer to being Earth-like. No humanoids with hundreds of hit points. We played this before playing DnD, though later on we'd begin using DnD's much larger rule-sets and encounter lists.

Saga doesn't drink any alcohol except for Mead. She'd gladly accept a bottle from the Jandaga. Then they can swap stories of whoa as they compare notes about Cyrodiil's wilds.

Last night Saga made it to Oyster Bay, which is mod-added but I don't remember by what. Probably Arthmoor's Sutch, since Sutch just up the hill.

Fighting a Conjurer

"Oh what's the matta? Getting..." *THUNK!*

Nice to see you chronicling Lady Saga's wood elven travels around Cyrodiil.

Oyster Bay, the haven for pirates and smugglers is from Arthmoor's Sutch

Acadian--I hope we bring pleasant memories to you as we travel about the province. 🌳🌳🎄🌴 Places where yours also visited in the past. Like... waterfalls.

macole-- Yes Arthmoor!

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Sun's Dusk 4, mid to late-afternoon

Days Passed: : 435 (whoa..)

Aerin has her Dwemer Bow repaired but there isn't much else to do in Oyster Bay, and nowhere else to go from here except the big hill. She walks up the hill, knowing it leads to Sutch. Once she's reached Sutch it is getting to be late afternoon. The weather is pleasant. Perfect really. A little chilly (winter is coming, or what is considered 'winter' in this province), but it feels good.

She rents a room at Silver Star Inn and buys some food. Her horse carries around an enormous amount of money: over 4000 gold! Lack of currency is never a problem when traveling with my Bosmer from Valenwood.

Tirdas, Sun's Dusk 5
The next morning it is raining. Dark, rainy, and cold. Maybe some adventurers might choose to take the day off, spending more coin at the inn, but a bit of inclement weather is no matter to Lady Saga . She selects her Fine Steel Bow and an arsenal of arrows. Potions and poisons.

She decides to continue north, equipping her Batthehunter Gauntlets. If she casts Greater Detect Life she has up to 120 feet of Detect Life to help keep her safe from predators.

To the north is the remains of an Oblivion Gate. A manlike figure resides nearby, which she assumes is daedric, so she avoids gate altogether. Begins heading east. There's an Ayleid ruin on her map up here called Nirastayre.

I spelled that wrong. But it's only because the game CTD'd (first CTD of the season!) and I didn't feel like reloading from the last save.

Sun's Dusk 6 -- We camp near the Lord Doomstone as rain falls, and Saga sleeps the next 7 hours. She awakes around midnight and gets the urge to head south. Niryastare is found just after midnight.

She has been here before, Niryastare is already on her map. Inside she can hear two ghosts floating around. She tries going down a set of stairs, but the chamber below is full of poison gas!

And she needs to go grazing anyway. Her supply of food out here in the wilds mostly consists of berries, leaves, flowers, mushrooms, seeds, roots, and so on. She is able to survive on this sort of sustenance, just like a deer. But for her to do this, she must spend a lot of time ... grazing. 🦌

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mid-afternoon
Um, scratch that. Saga finds Last Chance Camp, and tells her horse to wait while she crouches down with her bow. An outlaw bandit stands nearby with a HUGE axe. This bandit sees my elf and comes rushing, but by then it's too late. Saga hits the bandit with a poisoned arrow, which damages most of the bandit's health. A second arrow finishes the lady off.

I'll hack you to pieces!
Nooo!

There's plenty for her to eat here: goldenrod, fennel, motherword sprigs, plus the outlaw lady had stocked a few essentials. Saga takes it all except for the tuna. She is vegetarian. She sleeps for 4 hours under golden sun.

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Sun's Dusk 7, Early morning
She decides to head east, and spies a large Imperial fort within the hour. Place is not on her map.

This is Fort Hastrel. A skeleton patrols outside, but when she attempts to shoot it, another enemy is suddenly there: a Champion Ogre! ... Larger than typical, thankfully the ogre decided to fight the skeleton before attacking Saga. She is able to jump upon a nearby boulder, hit the giant with one of her poisoned arrows, and summons a bunch of rats. Within a minute, the ogre is dead.

The place is populated by zombies and vampires. She spends a few hours playing with them but her supply of water is getting low. Saga needs to find a water source, not just for drinking, but for bathing. She eats a pear, and *bam* now she's got brain rot. 💀

She has some mandrake but decides to head back southeast to Sutch. There's a well she can tap for water, and a nearby pond to swim.

Ahh, the life of an exploress.

Hmmm... being a vegetarian has its dangers!

Brain rot and in need of a bath, a good combination for meeting new people.

I apologize that the adventuring hasn't been so spectacular yet folks. She will return to Fort Hastrel since it has vampires. Well, I'm pretty sure she will. Never know 100% when it comes to Lady Saga.

Let's see what'll happen. We last saw my blonde elf in the township of Sutch.

I find her in Lord Drad's Estate. In my Fourth Era gameworld, Drad rents or sells the former slave houses. One of mine can pay him for an entire month, or buy the place outright. Saga has apparently rented in the past.

Inside the slave house is an Imperial Forester, which is excellent news. This guy's a follower! She spends the night here, and the next morning off they go to the ... east.

They don't get very far before they find Bleak Mine. She has already been in here before, the place contains ogres, and other such monsters. Meh. She moves on.


Early afternoon
She finds a Colovian Soldier standing in golden grass. "You. I've seen your kind before. You've got blood on your hands," he says. "Keep your blade sheathed, you murdering bastard, or I'll put you down myself!"

(Lol, my elf never carries blades! )

Well, so much for hiring this guy as a follower. Surprisingly, his Disposition toward her is 100, despite the words he just said. Saga decides to ask the guy if he wants to come along with her. Excited by the prospect of easy earnings, he says "Let's get going!" She gives the soldier 100 gold right up front.


Party of Three

So now she's got two followers, which is important. There are times when it can get pretty rough as they travel in the middle of nowhere.

Overall, Saga wants her horse protected most of all. 🐎 Her horse (a bay) carries everything, and so this is mostly what her followers do--keep her hooved beast protected, especially from all those pesky nuisance creatures. When she goes underground, the soldier & forester will stand guard at her camp.

They travel east for a few hours. After some time they get attacked by a durzog (goblin beast) and then a large cat. The Imperial Forester is able to heal himself but the Colovian Soldier apparently doesn't know healing spells! And he's been hurt pretty bad.

There's an Ayleid ruin to the north but my elf decides to call it a day. The party builds camp, and spends the night under the stars.

Loredas, Sun's Dusk 9 -- Today it is raining, but not too harshly. Brittlerock Cave is located after the party takes an abrupt south turn. She hasn't been here before. The place is full of daedra though. She sneaks up on these beasts, and sees a daedroth for sure, along with some mean-looking fiery creature. Not what she's looking for.

By the time she gets out of the cave it's pouring rain outside. There is an Ayleid ruin just to the east which she's already been to called Trumbe. Despite the rain, Saga falls asleep.


Sundas, Sun's Dusk 10, after Midnight
She awakes to the sound of shouting. Mountain Lion! Though the beast gets killed, so does the Colovian Soldier she just hired. Guess he wasn't really cut out for adventure like we thought.

After the fight she is restless. She goes for a walk, while her legion forester guy stays behind. Saga walks east, letting her mind wander. Pretty soon she's lost!

The Jandaga and Kaleah just passed by Trumbe heading SW to Bodean Camp. We must have passed each other in the dark.

Tirdas, mid-afternoon, Sun's Dusk 12 -- A mid-summer rainstorm proceeds. Today Saga discovers Garlas Agea, which is east-northeast from Anvil. Really excited about exploring this ruin, it's filled with necromancers!

Night Eye Saga

Youch!

Silhouette Saga

Just one area to explore, my elf was in and out within a real-life hour. What I used to call "one-stop shopping" back in the early days.

A nice, tidy dungeon crawl then.

Middas, mid-afternoon, Sun's Dusk 13, 4th Era Year 1 -

Hours: 329:43:44

We find Smoke Hole Cave, place is full of undead. 🦴 🧟‍♀️ Which... meh. They're really tough to fight for an archer with the MMM mod going all out to pwn the player. She's more interested in sniping NPCs and vampires, some monsters. Not so much undead.

Where shall she go next? Always the question with my elf.

Lady Saga found For a Full Jug, a hamlet on the north border of Valenwood. As usual, I can see the mod-author for Valenwood Improved mod had some spectacular ideas in mind, but left it unfinished.

Anyway, I should post some pics of the place. It's the same architecture and textures and artwork as the base game, but they way the place is arranged is different than vanilla.

For a Full Jug, I don't think I've been there. There is much of Valenwood that I haven't explored. Valenwood could use some polishing but there is enough there to make it worth exploring.

There are only two buildings in this little village, along with maybe 6 or 7 NPCs who were all clustered within one of them. First building seemed obviously like it was supposed to be an inn or a tavern, but there was nothing in there at all. Not even any lights! I couldn't help but exit the game, and then slapdash a few light markers, some candles, a couple beds, a couple crates and barrels, and finally a couple respawning food containers.

It looks really unpolished. But better than nothing. Plus, now my elf has a bed to sleep in.