TESO: Molag Bal

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

Beyond the torture chamber is the path up to Molag Bal's fortress, and by powering up the magic amulet via absorbing the life of the prophet, I gain a temporary boost of super saiyan strength - literally one shotting the armies of dremora that try get in my way. Even flights of demon dragons and thick fortress walls are no match as I blast my way up the mountain to the towering daedric prince trying to throw down meteors at me.

I like how my pet monkey is just casually following me at this part.

I get up to him and blast him down to a more manageable size, fight him in a more standard fashion and ultimately chop off both his arms! This forces Molag Bal to flee and Meridia is kind enough to restore my missing soul as a reward.

Winning pose!

With that victory, Lyris and Sai head off to the sunset together and Abnur, who is missing, is reported (by Meridia no less) to have taken the cheat amulet with him to Cyrodiil for his own use - though he won't be able to do anything with it for a few generations. Now re-souled I am free to do whatever I want, and I get a nice cauldron hat for my trouble. I suppose chasing Tharn into Cyrodiil is an idea, but that's all PvP land. Regardless, main quest complete!

TESO: Writhing Worms

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

With all the alliance zones mostly done now (still missing some group content and a few bits and pieces) I return to the Prophet's cave to find he and Lyris haven't done a damn thing since I last saw them ages ago. Since my GFX settings are better now, I reattempt that rescue mission they wanted to do... to rescue Abnur Tharn, and then a Redguard sword master named Sai Sahan, and then a magic deus ex machina amulet to use against Molag Bal.

Wouldn't be a magic duel without at least one beam contest.

Naturally the worm cult leader, Mannimarco tries and fails to stop us at each step of the way - ultimately fighting for real to try take the amulet for himself because he wants to replace Molag Bal. He really shouldn't have said that because after I beat him down, Molag Bal's giant hand comes through a gate and whisks Mannimarco away to Coldharbour.

His mistake was not taking the amulet instead, because we follow close behind and sneak through the very same torture chamber where Mannimarco and other familiar villains are getting their comeuppance, a few of whom are of the Tharn bloodline (not that Abnur minds since they are all douche bags like that). Most of the prisoners beg to be freed from their torment, but I ignore all of them because that's what they all deserve.

TESO: Old Friends

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

With the Covenant halted, I managed to get in touch with the Prophet again. After finding him hiding in a not so nearby cave/hovel, he tells me that Molag Bal's plan to take over Tamriel must be stopped. Well, duh... some mages have low INT I guess? I need allies first though, which makes sense since the local war mage committed semi-suicide, and the first one that pops into his mind is Lyris so once more he opens a portal to Coldharbour and I'm tasked with putting her back together (figuratively, since dremora enjoy mindbending torture). Somehow this involves much slaying of dremora but we escape just fine this time.

Alas, almost as soon as we return the Prophet wants us to go back to rescue someone else! Sigh. Unfortunately this time the region he sends us to keeps crashing me to the desktop so much (GFX overheat?) that I end up abandoning that game-breaking piece of shit mission, telling him to let Lyris handle it. Not happy TESO. Instead I decide to explore a dwemer ruin to look for some lost books for the Mages Guild. I guess it's like working for a library? Anyway, one such book spawns the spirit of Archmage Shalidor who asks my help in retrieving... more lost books. And an island. From Sheogorath.

Seems they have a long standing feud.

I found Shalidor's four tomes really easily once I stepped through the gate he opened to the Shivering Isles. The guardian clanfear was really troublesome though, forcing me to learn how to quickslot potions. Of course Sheogorath wasn't going to just let me take all five tomes, instead he let me take one - offering the rest when I earned them. After taking the book back to the Mages guild for decyphering (Sheo cursed the books so that Shalidor couldn't do that), I was free to decide which way to travel so I hopped on my horse and headed North West to Riften! Because I needed to check on my daughters. o_o

TESO: New Life Unlock

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

For some reason Friede's words "Thy place of belonging" kept ringing in my mind and with the Fire Keeper's help I used my significant soul fire to teleport me somewhere closer to home.

I awoke in a very weakened state in the familiar landscape of Coldharbour. Lucky for me not five minutes goes by before a towering Nord lady named Lyris frees me from my cell, informing me that my current undeath condition was caused by some scum named Mannimarco. With no intention of keeping the silence this time, I took great pleasure in eviscerating all the dremora in the way to our escape route: another prisoner called "the Prophet".

I can still backstab with a two handed sword!

The old guy manages to open a portal back to Tamriel for us, but thanks to Molag Bal's interference Lyris doesn't escape. Just want to note that it is fortunate the Prophet's portal opened over the sea because it was pretty high up! I washed ashore on a snowy little island called Bleakrock and was soon conscripted by the local Dunmer She-Captain into gathering all the townsfolk for an emergency evacuation since Covenant warships were spotted headed this way.

Despite the "rush" I happen to come across a friendly Argonian He Alve who teaches me the art of lock picking, which is now a simple mini game. Simple when someone explains it anyway! Just push down on each tumbler and let go when it starts to shake. More importantly just -remember- when it starts to shake so your second attempt will always work. After this two minute crash course, I've not failed any. Thank you He Alve!