Skyrim: Where one List ends, another begins

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

Kneel before me, servant.

To replace Perdida (after she got eaten by the Storm Dragon) I recruited the orc dovahkiin, Tharas Gull, at Death Mountain to continue the dragon hunting quest. Thankfully, the next few are nowhere near as bad as Zuvulom. One just spits tar. The next, a dragon of madness doesn't really have any effective attacks which makes him easy prey. Then a "death dragon" only has a "machine gun" bite going for it but has a terrible hit rate and couldn't even survive one of my regular combos. The third was a holy dragon, who shone beams of orbital bombardment instead of breathing directly.

This was pretty cool since the light negated my "moves faster in darkness" armor, but the stupid thing left itself vulnerable when it landed to munch on some wandering forsworn. At last we came upon the final dragon, a flaming beast who only looked menacing. Slaying him revealed the true enemy though: the flame dragon was just a summon of Gorel, another ascended mage.

You missed.

This necromancer had some nasty spells but since the ruins he stood in offered lots of cover it was easy to dash around to his flank and hack him to death. It became clear that these ascended bastards were behind the dragons re-emergence - I mean, it's almost like I hunted them to extinction before these wizards showed up, so Tharas and I agreed that it was now time to hunt the ascended mages and give them what they deserve.

Skyrim: Dolan

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

After retrieving the relic axe for the Dawnguard (a joke of a mission if there ever was one as it was guarded by only four forsworn), they sent me to another crypt in the North called Heimfeigr. It's an atmospheric place but with very few draugr and only one dragon priest it's more like a mission they would have gotten a weakling like Agmaer to do. Guess they're running out of folks to send?

All show, no substance.

Having decided to take a break from the Dawnguard missions for a bit I returned to Whiterun for Jarl-y duties for a short time. I mean really short, as one of the children who play in the palace discovered a disturbing note: someone named Dolan was trying to recruit court magician Farengar (who I killed long ago) into their new order - and they wanted Dovahkiin's eliminated. Perdida and I took offense to this so we went to hunt the fool at Labyrinthian. He wasn't hiding.

Well... that's new.

Dolan had powers I hadn't encountered before. Explosive lightning knock back ones he could chain which made it challenging to get up to him. With Perdida tied up fighting some nearby frost trolls I had to move from cover to cover. This must have freaked Dolan out as he panicked and ran into a hut, which was his last mistake. With no where to run in there he felt the full force of my stabby-stabby swords.

In his possessions was a map and instructions to kill some sage. That meant there were more like him lurking around...

Skyrim: The First Key

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

Our exploration escape route led to a tower full of forsworn led by a hagraven, and due to some bad timing with a closing portcullis Captain Ghoragdag was impaled to death by the closing gate. The remaining foes weren't a match for Nerelia and myself though. We even cleared another tunnel with a large (ultra) skeleton contigent, where Nerelia survived by using her summoned frost atronarch as a shield. Clever girl.

"Yes I am."

Soon we were back at the exterior of Death Mountain and new areas were open to me now, a tavern, an inn, and a bath house, full of new potential followers but I still couldn't open the very first door of the quest due to not having the first key. Eventually I gave up and looked on the map where I should go next, when I happened to hover over "Nerelia House", where I got the horse Red Shadow. Oh! That's where you live.

Deciding that someone should survive this tale I opted to take Nerelia home and released her from my service. She said I could keep the horse though. Also in her basement I found key #1. LOL! I raced back to Death Mountain and opened the mysterious chamber only to find a smallish zone with some left over undead and the next key which opened that gate I had jumped over previously.

No matter, Death Mountain was now cleared!

Fighting the Forsworn Army

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! In this entry I am following my custom scenario "A Curse of Iron". You can follow the rest of the story here!

Received a letter from Tolfdir via courier today, while he hasn't found a cure for my condition yet he has learned that the spell cast upon me has a limited range and must be done from a pretty high altitude. Given I was in Markarth the best spot would be from the city itself, but since that's too obvious the second best spot would be at Dead Crone Rock which is where I needed to head next. First I managed to finally upgrade all my gear again then with Kharjo in tow we followed the path, right into a wandering bandit chief party. What the hell. There were four of them! All chiefs, no indians. After that fight we ran into a witch and a Shadow Nightingale!? Seems like something really wants to keep me away from this place.

Managed to kill them too then had a bit of peace and quiet until we reached the forsworn camp at the base of Dead Crone Rock. Despite killing the sentries quietly and smoothly the sheer number of opponents here was problematic, but Kharjo and I persevered (mainly using lots of food) and slaying them all. We were in for a surprise at the higher level though, where my missing horse Shadowmere was fighting the Briarheart and his pet troll! WTF. No Idea how the hell that happened, but I'll take any help I can get! After we cleared out the outside we assaulted the tower itself, easily clearing out the few remaining forsworn and reaching the highest point with the Word wall. There I found the tome that had been stolen from the mages college, and after browsing some pages found what was afflicting me. More importantly I found what I needed to cure myself.

Other than a skilled mage (which I'm not), I was going to need bear claws, taproot and a giant's toe - and I already had all except the last. However I knew exactly where to get one - slightly annoyed I had to leave Shadowmere again though, due to the non-iron metals in his saddle (or being, what the heck type of horse is he anyway). We returned back down the road where we were ambushed by a lone wood elf (stupid girl) and then ran into Maiq the Liar. Chatted for a bit then moved on to Karthspire. I knew there was a dead giant there that would be easy pickings. What I didn't know was that all the forsworn had returned to the area, making it a hell of a task getting to it given I was out of arrows. In the end we just had to bolt, grabbing the toe while evading spells and arrows of the defenders then running quickly up into Sky Haven Temple where they refused to follow.

All that's missing is a Scorpion King.

Like a Fish in a Barrel

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! In this entry I am following my custom scenario "A Curse of Iron". You can follow the rest of the story here!

On my return to Solitude I ran into another Penticus Occultus agent on the street! After beheading him I retreated into my home where a pair of guards pursued me. Fortunately between myself, Jordis, Njada and the mage Wynna we managed to eliminate them quickly. Wynna was the last recruit going for her trials so we snuck out of there while the other two disposed of the bodies. Decided to check out the rumors at Markarth but found nothing interesting. Upon exiting the tavern though I suddenly began to feel ill and completely blacked out.

Woke up feeling very weak and lacking in voice at Vindrel Hall with Wynna watching over me. Using her magics she told me I had been cursed by powerful magic. I tried to get my gear but most of it burned to the touch. I couldn't even carry my amassed gold! She suggested we try get to the Mages College at Winterhold to try work out how unhex me but first I needed to find equipment! Being unable to drink potions was a bit of a worry, so I packed up all the food I could find and took a woodcutter's axe and an iron two handed sword from the wall. Wynna also pointed out I might want clothes which she found in a nearby wardrobe. After getting dressed we headed out, only to be stopped by a guard who recognized me.

Side Note: Thank you for not being in this game.

For a change, she let me off the hook to be someone else's problem and we made our way on foot out of town following the path North. Wasn't long before we came across another guard under attack by a trio of forsworn. Since his compatriot just helped me out I thought I'd return the favor and join the fight - each of us now fighting one forsworn. While Wynna killed hers the guard lost his battle and his opponent continued battle against the sexy mage. Meanwhile I'm trying to kill a dude with a woodcutter's axe since the big sword was too tiring for me to swing around (I'm better at single handed anyway). After a LONG fight I finally kill the bastard and take his bow (no arrows). Alas, I cannot touch the rest of their gear so we just leave them there and continue on our way. After that hectic battle I realize it would be best to avoid as many opponents as possible so we head into the nearby river to swim our way North East.

The plan works pretty well, and I manage to even use my new found "challenge" skill of salmon catching on the way as we swim down rapids and remain undetected by a dragon circling overhead. What I didn't count on was running into a giant mudcrab near some waterfalls. There was no way I could beat the hard shelled thing on my own, but thankfully Wynna swam in and zapped it to death just in time.

Duelling the Dead

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

En garde!

Took the Knight Alyssa for her tests next, starting with the forsworn just outside my new base. We then moved on to colder regions where she handled multiple draugr deathlords just fine and survived an ancient dragon - however this winged beast got away! Checked in with Esbern who thought he had a lead where it may have gone so I left Alyssa there (her finishers on the overlords were impressive) and took her friend Rayna instead, who had already previously proven her skills. Once we reached the spot, Mjoll was there too and so was... Athis!? How many times did I have to kill this soon-to-be-draugr!?

No time to worry about that though as we came under attack by the -wrong- dragon. This one was just an elder one and we slaughtered it just fine. I then asked Athis about his state and he was very dismissive, continously walking away so I used this as a good test of Rayna's skills - telling her to duel the freak dunmer while Mjoll and I just stood back and watched. It was a long fight but Athis was just outclassed and once again was run through. Mjoll then promised to find whoever did this (I assume whoever brought Athis to back life, again). Hopefully this time he stays dead as a courier came by to deliver his inheritance?

After leaving Rayna at the Temple, I took the brash knight Cutter next as he was getting bored in Solitude. For as much as I dislike him he still proved himself, managing to help me clear an unfinished dwemer ruin (despite his fear of such places), defeating a wisp mother on his own, and surviving a big mammoth and two troll combo. Having passed, I sent him off to the temple too and took the lizardman archer Anu next. After surviving an easy frost dragon and a few bandits I decided to revisit the Dawnstar sanctuary to make sure the brotherhood (that is down to one little girl and a corpse) was in check. Sure enough when I got there I found they had recruited a new male initiate! Figured this would be a good test of Anu's skills and got him to duel the new guy in a knife fight. This time, the fight was not in my favour though - and the lizardman was gutted from navel to neck before falling lifelessly to the ground. Just as the initiate breathed a sigh of relief I appeared from the shadows and slit his throat.

Returned to Solitude where Njada wanted to give me some tips on blocking. After that I brought Alle the high elf for her trials next. Esbern had found another dragon to slay, and my little band had also researched a second one to be hunted down deep underground! After warming up on an easy Blood Dragon (where Mjoll was late to arrive on the scene) we descended into Blackreach to hunt Vulthyrol. I needed to get close enough to yell at the giant "sun" which meant a quick covert run through the Silent City via the tunnels, silently sniping the patrolling falmer. Eventually I did manage to summon the dragon, and Alle was too hasty in charging it as a shadow master and his pet dwarven centurion arrived on the scene. The dragon was caned quickly but then while I handled the giant centurion, I lost track of Alle and her pursuing falmer. Eventually I found her corpse behind some buildings with the shadowmaster doing some obscene things to her face. After extracting revenge it was time to get out of there.

Rites of Initiation

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

Next up was my queer dark-elf recruit Wynd who proved he (or she) was quite capable by surviving against two trolls, helping eliminate forsworn scum quickly in one of their larger camps, and actually defeating a Hagraven in one on one combat! Passing with flying colors I sent Wynd off to Sky Haven Temple and took Ono the orc next to try clear out a non "cleared" cave on my map: Wolfskull cave. Though he seemed hesitant to enter the draugr and necromancer inhabited place at first, he quickly found his courage and it was quite amusing to watch the various violent ways he would dispatch his enemies one he got his axe in them! To seal the deal we also went out with Mjoll to defeat an Elder Dragon and it was he that put the finishing blow to pass his initiation and graduate to the blades sanctuary.

Took the dark elf Mia and Lynn, both blades members with me next to clear out Radlbthar (damn wierd names). They were doing fine against the bandits and dwarven automatons in the ruin (though they needed a lot of direction to evade spinning blade traps) but when we reached the deep market we were beset by falmer scum and their pets. Mia got separated and quickly found a shadow master's wicked blade lodged in her leg. There was nothing Lynn and I could do as he dragged her away, kicking and screaming up into the darkness. Further in we found pieces of her dismembered body, some of which were used to jam dwemer gears. After getting revenge, Lynn used her remaining rage to absolutely destroy a master dwarven centurion all on her own (though I think it's arms were damaged). With the zone clear I sent her on ahead while I picked up the Khajiit, Bane.

I had planned to use him to try track down the other drug dealing Khajiit caravans that seem to have gone into hiding ever since I killed off that one group. We started out at Windhelm and immediately came under attack by an Ancient Dragon! It almost killed the horses (and me) but we took it down eventually. Journeyed a -very- long while to the West, killing an imperial patrol with a stormcloak prisoner and some wildlife in the process, but no caravans. We did eventually run into an Imperial Camp that I had not found before and massacred them all. Strangely their leader had already been killed by something or someone... investigating flashes of light nearby we came across a Dremora Succubus and an Arch Cryomancer in combat. Killed them both (dremora was tough, a random bear also came to help out) and since Bane was excellent all around, sent him off to Sky Haven.

That dremora succubus was nowhere as near as hot as Lost Girl, Bo.

The Legend and the Champion

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

Found ourselves out at Rorikstead today where I recruited Erik "the Slayer" (after convincing his father that he should be allowed to go adventuring). The lad showed promise despite lack of experience, helping me retrieve a goat I sold to a giant (ehhh?), and a whole bunch of retrieval tasks involving more killing of forsworn. While helping the cannibal Eola clear a nearby cave of living dead (who she says tastes terrible) he stood up to another death overlord and survived. The kid, still travelling with me, seems to like him too and her ears perked up each time he told us stories of his favourite hero Red Eagle. It so happens I was investigating that partirular legend and we found his burial cairn atop a tall mountain. He also wasn't quite so dead. It was a drawn out battle, with the kid pitching in by throwing rocks and distracing the legendary dead man every now and then. By the end of it I finally struck down the ancient warrior, ending his unlife. We found Erik crumpled beside the sarcophagus, still and unmoving. He had been slain by his hero.

Overburdened with gear and a crying child I returned to Markarth to lighten the load. Decided to purchase property there as well and for my recent actions was proclaimed Thane of this region. Met my new housecarl Argis in my new home too and he agreed to join me on my travels. We also hired the priest -whatshisname- since Eola asked for one for some ceremony at the cave we cleared earlier. Wasn't quite paying attention again. Decided to first revisit the not so abandoned house to find the stupid Boethian I rescued earlier trapped by the altar I explicitly told him was going to trap him. -.-

The altar then proclaimed that it would win their duel of wills this time as it had a champion. Hah I think not stupid altar. Except it wasn't talking about me. Argis, influenced by the daedra, killed the idiot. The altar proclaimed him champion of Molag Bal and granted him an evil looking mace. Between myself, the kid and -whatshisname- we dragged him out of there before he was turned any further into a daedra's bitch. After dropping the kid off at her temple and a quick goodbye we went to Eola's cave and found a whole bunch of people waiting here, some I recognize from the city. Turns out they're all people eaters and -whatshisname- is for lunch. He's already mesmerized by Eola's voice. I have nothing against cannibals, but murdering some innocent dude whose name I don't even know for your happy meal is just not on. As she sashayed towards the altar I snuck behind her and in one awesome finishing move, slit her throat and tossed her body down the stairs. Her guests met equally bloody and violent ends and -whatshisname- returned to the city alive.

Argis and I then beat up some giants, delivered some items, and reunited a dog with its master before returning an artifact to the shrine of Meridia. She wanted us to clean out her temple from some defiling evil which turned out to be quite easy as the shades were no match against the champion of Molag Bal and his shadow. Indeed the most challenging part was talking to her statue which had a bad habit of bringing me high into the sky then dropping me to my death. With enough retries, I finally got through those sections without breaking every single bone in my body. :P

Joe to the Rescue

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

With most of my tasks now lying on the outskirts of Markarth, I hired the mercenary Vorstag and bought the war dog Vigilance to tag along finding them useful against the pockets of forsworn we kept running into. The first major task was to pickup a "marked" child for the temple of Dibella, but it turned out she had been captured by a large band of those forsworn scum. Joined by her father we assaulted the ruined tower they were holed up in but alas during the opening assault he was stabbed to death and Vigilance was roasted alive. Vorstag and I massacred the remaining defenders and secured the girl whose name I cannot pronounce. I just call her 'the kid'.

It seems the kid didn't want to just trade one prison for another straight away and pleaded to come with me. After getting her old man killed how could I refuse? On the road we'd play hide and seek, and she looked like she was able to take care of herself; making herself scarce during combat and pointing out dead bodies for me to loot afterwards. Apart from that one time where Vorstag and I had to rescue her from a rampaging ice bear.

Speaking of Vorstag he was really beginning to show his powers, using all sorts of weapon combinations and being a general kickass, even summoning flame atronarchs every now and then. He even stood toe to toe against a zombie death overlord as well as a lich living at the top of Volkswagen tomb (or something similar).

It's a scary place!

Also came across a captured priest of Boetheia and freed him too, warning him that an altar of Molag Bal back in the city intended to do nasty things to him. The first thing the idiot does is head straight there. Well, he has it coming. Pushed on to the next major rescue for folks from Whiterun. The three of them had been camping out in the snowy mountains for weeks waiting for me to show up. Whoops. The hostage is being kept prisoner by a large group of well armed Thalmer (elf) bastards. I try to convince the barbarians that a sneaky approach is best, but before I can even finish sniping the first guard with my bow they all charge head on. It is a bloody skirmish, and while all the elves were killed we lost two of the three plainsmen as well as the mighty Vorstag (again in the opening assault). The remaining survivor and his brother (the prisoner we released) head off into hiding and it's now just me and the kid on the road.

After backstabbing a sleeping blood dragon that was full from eating imperial soldiers at a nearby outpost (quickest dragon kill thus far - under 10 seconds!), I helped a captured hagraven reclaim her tower from another witch allied with more forsworn. These guys seem to be everywhere in these parts. Well, the hagraven proved to be very helpful, had a good sense of humor and since she didn't try to kill me I left her in peace. If only more monsters were like that. :)

As an aside: Photo above is courtesy of AndreaS, who has more pics of abandoned and ruined places which is also an interest of mine. :)

Digging too Deep

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

Woke up in a Temple of Dibella, with a very irate priestess telling us to get out. Lydia is here too, passed out beside me. We get our things and find ourselves in... Markarth? What the hell happened? Seems there are many things afoot in this city built into the mountain. I also find it funny that their Jarl lives in a hole. Seems fitting for someone being bossed around by snooty elves. Our first major task lead us to the depths of a halted excavation. After dealing with the delay-causing giant spider we proceeded further into the expansive dwemer city infested by goblin-like creatures. They are individually weak but in numbers are fatal as Lydia found out when she was overrun by a group of them wielding their wicked blades. Continued through alone and finally reach the "Control Room" where I activated all the automated security. As I made my way out I wondered what sort of technology these dwarves (who haven't been seen in years) possessed to make such things. I also have a theory as to where they went...

Afterwards I began investigating a conspiracy involving the forsworn (who really sound like fancy bandits), and it seemed the more I found out, the more I was warned to back off. Recruited the brawler Cosnach at the tavern after defeating him in unarmed combat to add some muscle to my side and discovered that the forsworn leader is running the show from within the city prison itself. I know the guards there told me to go away but I might just have to break in now. During the search I also came across a not so abandoned house where I was forced to kill a fellow investigator in self defense after he was possessed by the daedric presence within. For all his might the dark lord still had to ask for outside help to get things done, because his power is limited to the house? What a tool. If he wasn't hiding inside that altar I'd stab his face right now.

Discovered quite a bit about how Markarth was being run and when I returned to the small shrine of Talos to report my findings, I found my contact dead with a trio of guards waiting to arrest me. To hell with that I said and drew my weapons. Fighting in such tight quarters was disadvantageous to me and more and more guards seemed to keep pouring in, but not fast enough to replace the ones I killed. Even my newest "ally" Cosnach turned out to be on their payroll as he attacked me with the sword of Falkreath I had given him earlier, but much like our previous duel it was I that remained standing in the end. The Shrine was littered with bodies when I was done, and after healing up I headed towards the prison mine only to be attacked by even more guardsmen. I lost track of how many I managed to kill but eventually they just managed to swarm me, knocking me into one of the waterways running through the city. Surrounded, low on resources and almost dead I finally surrendered. [Hero fail. :(]

Found myself tossed into the prison mine with no gear. Saves me from having to break in at least. Seems the majority of the forced labour here are forsworn, each with sappy stories and a pure hatred for the Nords (which I am). Protip: If you want me to feel sorry for you, don't insult / express a desire to kill me or my people right after. The mine was smaller than I thought and I found the forsworn king guy easy enough. He wanted me to help him escape. So I did, by cutting his throat from ear to ear. Used his escape plan to sneak out through some conveniently connected ruins and found the Silver-Hand responsible for the whole mess waiting for me. Having sorted out his problems he paid off my debts, cleared my name and returned my gear. With an aboutface I marched right back where I came, slaughtering my way through the tunnel to kill all the forsworn scum imprisoned in the mine. Unfortunately the guards were way ahead of me, and all the prisoners were all dead by the time I got there. Satisfied by this turn of events I made my way back to the surface.