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: Elf Nazis

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

It is with good fortune that we arrive at the Khajiit isle of Khenarthi's Roost right after an unnatural hurricane destroyed most of the Dominion ships in the harbor. While helping out the survivors it is made clear that the local Sea Elf pirates are behind the magical storm and thus forfeit their residency when a Dominion envoy arrives. The pirates continue to be a nuisance on the larger isle of Auridon, which is my next stop where I am surprised to already run into Queen Ayrenn while saving her from an assassination attempt and am recruited as one of her spies.

Those magic storms are cool though!

With the help of a most humorous khajit named Raz, we protect the newly crowned Queen and her retinue as they tour the island from the Veiled Heritance, who are basically High Elf Nazis. It's strange that there are worse elves than Thalmor huh? Most of the Veils turn out to be turncoats from Ayrenn's own court with their "Veiled Queen" being Ayrenn's demonized sister in law, who coincidentally worships Mehrunes Dagon and allies with Mannimarco too. After most violently dealing with the Nazis and their dremora I feel optimistic about the Queen's outlook for the peace truce.

Worth noting that the side-quests here strangely are all heavily focused on "mages who screwed up". One who petrified a town to cover up his experiments, one who feeds people to his vampire son, and so on and so forth. Trust the Altmer to try fix what ain't broken.

TESO: A Giant Problem

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

Despite looking familiar, Riften had definitely changed. Quite possibly due to the recent attack from giants that leveled an entire corner that contained my house! There was no sign of Lucia or Sofie anywhere and the orphanage had been turned into a craft workshop, which as a silver lining sells increased bag space for gold! All the banks do the same too. Good design TESO!

With no leads on the girls I decide to just work on the problems at hand, helping the city put out fires and rebuild then dealing with Mannimarco's Worm Cultists prevalent in the surrounding area. This leads me to slaying a lich, putting pieces of Ysgrammor's axe together and meeting the Jarl King Jorunn, the leader ofthe Ebonheart Pact, laying seige to a Worm Cult stronghold - specifically the one where they raise dead giants! Yes, they were behind the attack on Riften.

I'm in the right spot, if only I can pull my sword out of my shoulder!

I lead the charge and smash our way up to the final giant boss who is an absolute pain to fight, mainly because I've been forgetting to distribute my skill points. Fortunately, Jorunn is a cheater on god mode and with enough shenanigans the giant finally falls. The King, impressed with my skills, then charges me to get the leaders of the other factions to agree to a ceasefire so that we can all team up and attack their main base in Coldharbour. That sounds like a good plan!

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!