Skyrim: Impressive Abilities

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Our next target was a dragon in the marsh, one who could turn invisible! It also liked to stay airborne which made this prolonged fight an annoying one. It did give me the opportunity to learn about Perdida's secret ability though: she had explosive arrows! Turns out it's not so much an ability but just the special arrows from Death Mountain, of which I was carrying a few hundred myself.

Can you spot it? Use the radar up top for a clue. :P

Eventually I managed to shout down the bastard and with Red Shadow tanking I could finish it off from the back. A similar strategy was used against Nahlotnah, the sonic dragon who was attacking a Stormcloak camp. Half the soldiers died during the battle since they kept walking into its very large attack cone in which the closer you are the more damage you took. Perdida with the panzer shield could tank it a little though, just enough for me to do my thing. I had to slay the other half of the Stormcloak soldiers afterwards when they tried to arrest me though. Morons.

That sonic scream was very effective though.

No such strategy existed for the next dragon though, one that was literally on fire and enjoyed explosive bombardment. Just being near this one burned my health bar away, but there was no helping it as Perdida and Red Shadow got tied up fighting a second elder dragon (of the normal variety) at the same time. I had to resort to using the Arbiter's Decree to confuse the beast and simply brute forced him during the opening, consuming a lot of health items to survive the experience.

He died with an artistic finish!

Perdida finished the other dragon around the same time, just like a true Dragonborn.

Skyrim: Matryoshka Orb

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Following the map we found previously only led us to a dead guy being watched by a friendly flaming wolf named Wolfmeat. I imagine the corpse was of the seer, for on his person was a strange book, full of maps superimposed on dragon portraits. Thirteen of them. We decided to go check the first one out and found a friendly giant, two more dead mages (of the psjiic order), and a strange floating orb... which I could go in. Magically I suppose, since it looks rather small. Perdida could not follow.

Only good things sit inside magic orbs right?

Definitely not small on the inside though as I found myself in an arena type space, my opponent - another ascended mage named Samel. Dolan had nothing compared to this guy who was shooting all sorts of bad stuff from every orifice (so much I couldn't take screenies)! It took a lot of health pots and ultimately a few invisibility ones too (that I collected from those assassins awhile back) to give me the upper hand and slit his throat.

The journal he carried mentioned all sorts of strange things, like his soul seeking another vessel or some such. I didn't really pay it any mind as I spied a second orb hovering nearby. Determined to clear this matryoshka orb I jumped into that one too - into another arena. This one guarded by the dragon Aaldu. If Samel was a 10 on the difficulty scale, this thing was a 15. I needed to use the Arbiter's Decree to stun the thing when it was landed to finally deal fatal damage, and it still forced me to use heal pots! Welp, that's what they are there for.

Needed the Decree to force it to land too.

My victory dance stops suddenly when I see yet another floating orb in the distance...

Skyrim: Tusaron

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Do your curved swords do 900+ damage? Didn't think so.

Adventuring with Brutus is fun, as he is almost as good as me when it comes to killing things! Dovahkiin and Nerevarine high five! We wandered around the roads for a bit, taking turns dueling the many wandering challengers and even had a dragon slaying competition!

Brutus: "Jump on the head because then it is at your mercy!"

Me: "Just like handling an alligator then?"

Our journeys led us to some vampire nest at the request of the Dawnguard, and while exterminating them was easy it turned out that their master - an ancient thalmor bloodsucker, was away - journeying to Castle Volkihar to meet his buddy Lord Harkon. We caught up with him just south of Helgen... the Vampire Dread Lord Tusaron. I knew right away that this was a danger unlike we had previously faced so I opened with my paralyzing arrows which knocked him down.

Not one to waste an opening, Brutus charged in and wailed on the undead thalmor for a bit... until he finally resisted my paralyzing shots. On his feet, Tusaron was a whirlwind of death - agile and unrelenting. In just a second after slicing Brutus into tiny Nerevarine pieces he was already almost upon me at my sniper spot. The Arbiter's Decree made the ancient vampire hesitate though, and that was all I needed to get a number of power attacks to finish off the fiend.

Lived up to his name.

After paying respects to my fallen companion I began the cold trek back to Fort Dawnguard.

Skyrim: Sanguine's Apprentice

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

I decided to make a detour to Fort Dawnguard to let them know of Strogan's fate. While Einer tagged along, the sisters went off to seek out the next Dragonslayer. Would be a while before I rejoined them though, for at Fort Dawnguard I was informed that Njada was captured by vampires!? Vampires likely allied with the Dragonslayers methinks.

Not wasting any time Einer and I headed to Morvunskar to deal with the scum, easily annihilating the exterior guards. Someone had beaten us inside though, and was happily killing all the vampires and arch-death-omancers within, named... Sanguine. Wait. What? Yes, the Daedric Prince Sanguine was there killing stuff in person. Apparently it was his way of apologizing for that drinking prank so long ago, as he genuinely wanted to try increase my skills. That doesn't stop me from trying to punch him but he's immortal (as if striking air) as usual.

In the depths of the place we find Njada, tied up. I hesitate trying to free her since she might secretly already be a vampire. While deciding, Sanguine quietly mentions "this would be a great opportunity to practice your destruction magic!" He has a point. Especially since the Arbiter's Helm lets me cast shock indefinitely, and I have a target who can both take the punishment and won't fight back... so...

Time to level up! (Lev 57)!

(Sanguine is super effective!)

Skyrim: Key to the Underworld

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Death Mountain was guarded by lots of Daedric guards (guys in Daedric armor, not Dremora), some with sabercat pets, and four dragons. All of whom were friendly. What? Yes I was surprised at this too. Unfortunately all points of access to the little town were locked, needing keys (my 100 lockpick skill is useless!). I couldn't make heads or tails of the clues for the first key so instead Bagamul and I just parkoured around a bit until we found a tower with an unlocked door. Finally we were getting somewhere!

There were hostile draugr inside but they were nowhere as tough as the skeletons outside, so my sword cut through them like butter. Higher up I found two more OP weapons, twin katanas of dragon slaying (base 600 damage), a "sexy" book and finally, a flaming urn with a key. Key #8? LOL.

I like books with big ... pictures!

The key gave us access to "the underworld" which for some reason was guarded by a handful of frost trolls (disappointing if you were expecting the sexy vampire version). Past them was a huge chamber, with a skeleton army AND a dracolich / bone dragon whose first move was to disarm my 900+ damage sword! >_<

Dealt with it first (with the twin katanas) and then used the Arbiter's Helm to terrify the undead army, earning Bagamul and I some free kills. Once the effect passed however, they all swarmed in and slew my orc ally viciously. Obviously, he was avenged mere minutes later.

Skyrim: Out of the Ordinary

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Our trip to Markarth was cut short by the fact that all the guards still were after me for slaying that wandering vamp in the streets (whose body was still lying there I might add, all these years later). Fortunately the Arbiter's helm also came with a special ability: Megaphoning his deep decree and scaring everyone away for a good amount of time. I used this to collect all the stuff in my home in that city and with Guomundr and Red Shadow's help (horsey), transported it all to Solitude.

In hind sight I should really just pay off the guards. That's what all this gold is for right? Anyway, once there I again studiously worked on blacksmithing, finding I could craft a most powerful weapon...

Totally not overpowered...

I soon received word from Njada that strange things were being seen on the Eastern border of the region, so I left Captain Guomundr there to watch over my stash in Solitude (the guy earned a break), and instead recruited Captain Gamli, Captain Ghoragdag and the Hunter to scout out the snowy, mountainous area. And boy did we find something out of the ordinary.

A UFO!?!

Skyrim: Third Time's the Charm

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

I didn't bother to talk to anyone upon leaving the Lake house this time around. Instead I just suited up in the full Immaculate Dwarven Armor and marched right through the radiation hole (no need for potions with the full armor) to the Arbiter's dome. This time, he totally freaked out that I had his helmet as proof that he would die if he fought me.

We might have still  fought a little anyway.

He agreed that he would put an end to his law, to let the people live free. Yet he was unsure what would happen to me as it would be a time anomaly, with the events that led me there to begin with never happening. I might even become Jay Garrick (yeah, watching too much Flash on TV :P). I told him "You can't lock up the darkness" to do it. With a flash of light, I found myself standing before a statue. Of me.

Interesting likeness!

Cassia's brother was there too, saying he had just entered what he thought was ruins only to find a thriving city! In an amazing change, the whole cave roof had given way to the real sky above, and things worked out for almost everyone in town. They now know me as the hero who saved them seven years ago. Lol @ time travel right?

Not Metellus though. He was executed by the townsfolk and Maisi was freed. Some others left during the interim too. Only one sort of escaped any comeuppance: the shifty vendor. Before I left I made sure to pay him a visit in his shop. A short and violent one. Then I dragged his corpse into the undercroft to be skeever food. It worked for Metellus!

And so with the remaining people's cheers I reunited with Cassia and Captain Guomundr. The girl gave her thanks and headed down to stay in the city with her sibling, while I gave the Captain the cumbersome armor and left via the elevator (which has always been there instead of a hole I guess)  to unload the loot.

Skyrim: The Arbiter

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

I suspect you are the boss... the huge glowing circle kinda gives it away.

Fortunately the radiation didn't extend under the dome and inside waited a single man (possibly a dwemer): the Arbiter. Creator and enforcer of the Dwarves Law. He seemed pretty knowledgable about me too, about my affiliations, penchant for killing, stealing, and that I was from the future. With careful choices of responses I came close to convincing him to ending his law, showing that it was flawed since Metellus had outwitted him.

Alas, my greed got the better of me at the last prompt. Instead of saying "End your law and send me back to my time," I opted for "I'm not leaving empty handed."

His reply was simple: "Then you shall not leave at all."

The freak certainly enjoyed using lightning spells in combat but once he started failing his saving throws against my paralyzing bow he was screwed. I let him hobble around near the end, listening to him whimper about it being "Impossible". Then I took my sword and beheaded the f***er (you can tell he's an awesome bad guy to generate such hate!), and looted his neat helmet as my reward.

That explains his affinity with electricity.

Of course this means I had to potion my way back topside, where all the robots were torching everyone alive - again. I spotted Metellus running for the Lake house once more but this time decided to make a detour. Fortunately my amazing sneak skill let me slip past the angry robots and reach the burning body of the paranoid psycho to loot his piece of the Immaculate Dwarven Armor before shadowing back to the Lake house for take three.