Whiterun turned Red

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

With Torvar in tow and me riding my new horse we travelled back across the plains to the orc camp (they had walked back) and found only a handful of adversaries left. Ofcourse I made the mistake of turning my back on my draugr companion and in a flash he had vanished - fled to who knows where. Damnit, I'd have to hunt down the coward later. First I had to deal with these orcs. I opened fire from horseback to lure them after me and I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere because suddenly I was in their MAIN CAMP which has around twice the number of orcs than the first, as well as a towering commander who kept yelling stuff about eating my heart. Worse, nearby I found the corpse of Odahviing - he had been slain by these bastards, no wonder he no longer responded to my call. After eating his soul I continued leading them back to Whiterun and despite getting knocked off my horse a few times I killed a few more and managed to get the commander with five of his soldiers isolated from the rest of them.

Guess the others went off to chase misbehaving little kids?

This time the guards fought back, but they were cut down and I was pushed back into the city proper. Guards and random adventurers began engaging in combat now and I'm pretty sure one of the orcs got felled at that point. The remaining enemies though carved their way through the defenses so I fell back to Jovasskr where draugr Ria was supposed to help me. Instead she just smiled and let the enemies through - TRAITOROUS SCUM! Didn't have time to deal with her right there so I pulled back to Dragonsreach where the fighting continued and dead bodies were left in the wake of the orc threat. I led them all the way out to the top balcony and with a well timed FUS ROH DAH! sent two of the goons flying over the railing to their instant deaths. No such luck for the commander since he was too heavy so I lured him and his remaining two guards down into the dungeons where even more guards died fighting them.

Once it was just me I dropped down a little hole in one of the cells which was too small for the big orcs to follow, then made my way to the exit. To my surprise the trio appeared there behind a barred gate. A locked gate. That I could shoot through. They were screwed. Iced the two extras and hurt the commander terribly so that he fled. I went after him up into the guards barracks and got the last four guards in the city to smash him down, making him kneel before me for a few moments before one of them with a heavy warhammer smashed it down upon the commander's ugly face, killing the enemy leader right there.

Fall of Fort Greymoor

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

Decided to investigate this new orc threat (Urukhai mod) and not far from the Western Watchtower I found my first group. There were only three or four of them, fighting bandits, a pair of mages, and an ancient dragon; and they were tough as NAILS. Maeci made the mistake of trying to duel one and she was soon impaled right through one one of their wicked blades. I summoned Odahviing to the chaos and the fight ended up near Fort Greymoor where the Stormcloak guardsmen came to my aid. Many of them died in the combat but we managed to kill all the orcs. Worse was their "leader", a strange cloaked figure called a Black Swan. One shot from her bow would kill me instantly, so (after a few reloads) I decided instead to sneak up right behind her and backstab her to death. Turns out she wasn't even an orc, but a redguard!?

Who knew ballerinas were so deadly?

A second Black Swan soon appeared and out of nowhere the kid from Falkreath, Chelsea came running - firing back at my foe. I was also surprised to learn she could use basic Thuum! Between the two of us we killed the next sniper as well as a random Nightingale Assassin who appeared shortly after. Damn that Brynjolf. Looks like he escaped the guards afterall. Anyway, we reported back at Riverwood and agreed that what I had just spend 20-30 minutes fighting was a scouting party. Holy hell. I got Lighting and the cleric Aluna to go to Fort Greymoor with the remaining soldiers because we were going to need them. I tried to get Chelsea to stay there too but she stubbornly refused so together we went off to scout the plains for more orcs, and it wasn't long before we found their camp, South of Rorikstead. There were maybe 8-12 of them here in a tight group.

According to plan, we opened fire from far and began sprinting back to the Fort. Didn't realize their dual wielding beserkers could run faster though and for all her shouting Chelsea was soon cut down by the rampaging mob leaving me to sprint away from them all on my lonesome. I tried calling Odhaviing again to cover my back but for the first time he didn't show. Through stamina potions I finally made it back to the Fort which was by chance being reinforced by a wandering dunmer named Talon Dreth and his mercenaries. Almost immediately my pursuers arrived and the battle began in earnest with everyone engaging the orsimer forces, but they were just way too strong. The guards and the mercenaries were cut down, as was Lighting whose throat was cut on the stairs. The cleric Aluna tried to flee to Whiterun but she was mobbed before getting very far. Maybe only one or two of the orcs had fallen.

Being the last one left I lured the mob up into the parapets then jumped the wall, giving me a head start run. I actually did manage to kill a few more of them because they were quite injured from the battle - even beheading one that strayed too far ahead of his buddies, but I was still falling back. Back to Whiterun - where the guards wanted me dead. No choice though since these enemies were simply too powerful. I was in for a surprise when I reached those gates though - the guards and orcs ALLIED against ME and didn't fight each other AT ALL! What the HELL? I got myself out of there quickly, trying again in vain to summon Odahviing. I did ice a few more of the orcs though but at least half their number remained as I hid in the distant hills until they got tired of looking for me. While there it suddenly clicked. The orcs and Jarl Bossman were in league with each other, that's why the two forces were so friendly. Angrier than ever, I marched back towards Whiterun - it was time to get some answers.

Parting Ways

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

The patrol run was going well, Beleval and I easily wiped out a medium sized bandit encampment to retrieve another set of dwemer schematics for Sorine, then proceeded into a cave to eliminate a master vampire before he could turn the many resident conjurers into allies. While the mission was a success, Beleval's inexperience was her undoing - slaying a flame atronarch at close range. The explosion knocked her off her feet and she screamed in agony as she burned to death.

Swung by Windhelm to make sure Njada was settling in ok before heading back to Fort Dawnguard to report in. She had taken a strange liking to "the butcher's" hidden room which was funny. Back at Dawnguard HQ I picked up Agmaer again to finish off the last part of our patrol - retrieving a shield relic from more vampires. Since it was on the way, I decided to swing by Morthal to check on Serana. I was getting worried since there was no sighting of her for awhile.

The guards didn't take kindly to my arrival as always, so I called Odahviing to help them understand to get out of my way. The battle was prolonged somewhat when a thalmor soldier brought an Elder Dragon into town. After eliminating all the enemies I scoured the town for Serana but to no avail. Failon was of no help either, too absorbed by the dead dragon to talk to me. This incident makes me wonder if there are actually other Dragonborn out there?

Super unlikely I think to myself.

Anyway we pushed on to the location and massacred the small vamp coven to retrieve the shield, which I gave Agmaer since it seemed it would be more use to him and checked in back at Dawnguard HQ. There, to my surprise was Serena, waiting for me and now fully human. With all that's happened I offered her to come stay with Njada but she declined, saying that she would be more useful to the Dawnguard. So with that I gave her a big hug and waved goodbye to the others. Isran knew I couldn't carry them forever. It would be up to them now to continue the fight on their own, and you know what? I think they'll do alright.

Fielding All Assets

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

After a quick stop at the lake to loot the broken king, my little band returned to Skyhaven Temple to swap out Bane for Anni the elven archer. For Bane's efforts I had promoted the khajiit to becoming a guard for Njada but understandably, he first wanted to see the current vampire threat ended. It was time to head back to Fort Dawnguard with Auriel's Bow but as usual we hit all sorts of side quests on the way: hunted a giant deer, two frost dragons, wiped out a bandit base, another master vampire and got Dummy to teach me the "Soul Rend" shout which seems pretty cool. He doesn't seem anywhere as useful as Odahviing though, so with our bargain done I think I'm going to let him rot in the Soul Cairn now.

We also stopped by the Mage's College to hand in some falmer tomes and it is becoming more and more apparent that other than Tolfdir, most of the other people there have a healthy hatred of me - and are becoming more open in their methods of disrespecting their "leader". I decide to let it slide for now since there are bigger fish to fry and we finally return to Fort Dawnguard, where we discover a small group of refugees(?) striking up camp right outside in hopes for protection. Isran isn't too thrilled about them, but his eyes light up when he sees the divine bow and after a stirring speech rallies most of his members for an all out assault on Volkihar Castle.

Agmaer and elf Beleval are to remain with the doggies and a few trolls to help the gate guard protect the refugees and base while we are gone. Knowing how strong the Volkihar clan is first hand I decided to field ALL my remaining resources for the upcoming battle: Anni, Lynn, Cutter, Bane and Jordis who was excited to get out to the front again. Even Njada, whom I would have preferred to stay safetly at home would have none of it after hearing what we were attempting, so she also came along. We met up with Isran's similarly sized group at the shore of the castle itself and when I asked what the exact plan was the crazy bastard just smiled devilishly, looked at me with excited eyes, and basically said "We charge the castle!"

This isn't going to end well, is it?

New Bad Guys and Allies

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

Cleared a few more caves, ruins and groves of various scum (including a spectre, which I haven't encountered before) in the region before finding the heavily fortified Fort Greenwall. Even with Odahviing's support, the bandits there were so numerous that Anneke's archery skills couldn't save her when we got separated from each other. I tried, but was too just too far and could only watch as they butchered her before I reached them. This angered me somewhat and I figured it was time to make use of all those 40 dragon souls I had stored up, learning all the shouts I had in reserve with a few more souls to spare. After dealing with them I pushed North to Kynesgrove and picked up Roggi Knot-beard who owed me for retrieving his shield much earlier on and after a brief stop over at Windhelm for a thief mission we proceeded to Dawnstar for a letter delivery run, taking out large snow cats, more bandits and a revenant(!?) on the way. Also ran into my other cat friend Kharjo on the road ("This one says Hey.") and noticed that since the war was over, there were awhole new bunch of mercs waiting around taverns looking for adventure (thanks to the "CM New Companions Mod").

The new Dark Brotherhood sanctuary is looking pretty spiffy too and already there are two new nameless assassins on the payroll. Seems they also kidnapped a bunch of prisoners while I was away, each of whom eagerly told me of a treasure in hopes for freedom. Alas, I can't free them yet or it may blow my secret plan. The redguard also asked me to kill a few more people so I tested Roggi's loyalty with the nearest target, an argonian vulture who if you read between the lines, may actually be causing ships to crash (remember someone actually goes through a pretty intense ritual to mark all these guys). Anyway, Roggi had no problem murdering the scum in his sleep.

With a two handed sword.

Also decided to hit three of the nearby imperial camps, slaughtering all the imperial allied losers we found. Just so happened I also had a task in Dragonbridge to talk to an imperial agent about brotherhood business. After he gave me his gold I promptly eliminated him and all of his compatriots, lessening the imperial taint on this glorious land. Soon after we came across a shack with a shaggy dog named Meeko who was looking for a new home. Given my track record for "surviving npc helpers", I decided to adopt the fellow to my house in Solitude. Njada always had wanted a dog, and I think she is safer now with both Jordis and Meeko looking after the place.

Alduin is a Punk

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

After a quick trip to a frozen island to open a giant metal box, Jordis and I finally signed up to aid Ulfric's rebellion. I was hoping that this would progress on it's own as I did forged my own path but it seems nothing gets done without my intervention. The first major strike was a seemingly pointless objective of retrieving an old crown which saw both stormcloaks and imperial scouts lose men for no good reason. After that Ulfric wanted me to deliver a message to Jarl Bossman of Whiterun to see which side of the fence he really was on, but Jarl Bossman would not accept the letter until I got rid of the dragon trapped in his castle. Damnit.

Forced to accept Odahviing's bargain, he flew me to Alduin's hideout where I backstabbed all his minions, including perhaps the easiest lich to defeat in one hit. Also defeated two guard dragons that challenged me on the way up. There were two more at the very top but they were too sleepy to fight so I jumped into Alduin's magic portal into the afterlife. Wait, did I just kill myself? Couldn't I have gotten here by jumping onto a bed of spikes? What's going on man.

I found a shortcut to Alduin's hiding place!
Sovngarde is a pretty boring place. There's a mead hall where you can sing and fight which is great. And ofcourse drink. But I don't drink. Ever. At least the sky is reeeeeally pretty here. There's supposedly mist too, created by Alduin himself as he chomps through spirits to be all spooky like, but my graphics card doesn't support the mist so I see everything clear as day and watch as the big dragon humorously chomps down on spawning spirits at random. It's especially funny when he does it just as they are mid sentence talking to me. :D

Anyway, after showing the dead champions who is boss, a trio of them come with me for the final showdown with Alduin and in Juris' words - "he's a punk". No challenge whatsoever, disappointing. After getting him out of the way and literally being yelled back to life, I find a bunch of dragons waiting for me at the top of the world. Finally a good fight! But I'm wrong. They're just there to worship me and fly off. Odahviing stays to offer his services whenever I need, and boy is that going to come in handy. *evil grin*

Once a Traitor, always a Traitor

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

Right after the truce meeting I headed up to Paarthumax with Ogol and we put and end to the traitorous worm, and while that upset the Greybeards a fair bit (well at least one of them, the others don't really talk much), my two blades friends were overjoyed. They also asked that I help rebuild their order so they can begin to hunt down the flying lizards once more. However I had other things to take care of when I returned to the Dark Brotherhood HQ to find that Cicero has gone beserk. I was tasked to find the fool and given the nightmare Shadowmere (very awesome horse) to catch him with. We tracked him back to another sanctuary inhabited by murderous spirits, and a named troll. Ogol met his end there and with a sorrowful heart also killed the happy jester. I was starting to like that guy.

Next orc from the village to join me was Ugor, and she quickly proved her skill by surviving an elder dragon and blood dragon simultaneous attack. That was a fun battle! After killing off another imperial fool I was tasked with eliminating a reknowned chef who would be cooking for the emperor. Up near where he was hiding we also helped Salma and Beemja with a cairn they wanted to clear before a quick trip back to Whiterun to trap the dragon Odahviing. After a relatively easy fight he was caught and spills the beans on his master's hideout. He also holds the bargaining chip of me needing him to fly there as it is inaccessible by foot. That's a shame, I remember wandering up the red mountain past all those cliff racers and tossing Dagoth Ur into the lava before even doing the main quest in Morrowind (didn't kill him, but I think that was a technical victory :P) however I guess Alduin has more smarts.

While I contemplated this offer it was back up to Solitude again to cook for the emperor. How the heck does anyone NOT suspect me of being an assassin while wearing complete nightingale armor, bristling with weapons, travelling with an orc body guard escapes me. Instead they accept I am a chef. Just more proof that the empire is filled with morons. The poison dish is served, the emperor is killed and I make my escape - or so I thought! Looks like I've been sold out, and the guy that just died was a body double (you think the emperor would have lots of that with there being magic in this world). After fighting my way to freedom I quickly returned to the Brotherhood sanctuary which was being successfully assaulted by imperial forces. Most of them were already horribly dead by the time I arrived which was awesome. I would have liked to do that myself but apparently missed my opportunity to do so (as Juris informed me later on). Anyway I "save" two of them and the corpse who tells me to continue to hunt the real emperor down.

I think he's a chef, or possibly a monk.
First I deal with the guard commander at Solitude docks, a short and sharp skirmish that resulted in their deaths and Ugor's. Afterwards I quickly snuck into Solitude (I'm a wanted man) to get Jordis from my house before we swam out to board the real Emperor's boat. There we hack, stab and shoot our way through all of it, leaving the ship devoid of life and the empire devoid of a leader. I also decide to take out the turncoat who ordered the hit, since he sits on the imperial council. The payment of 20,000 gold is nice, and the remaining Dark Brotherhood people request I use it to rebuild their guild and recognize me as leader. What idiots. How about I turn them in instead? Again not an option, so I leave them to rot with the corpse of their Night Mother and ignore her whispers in my head. They and the thieves guild can and should fade into oblivion for all I care.

One a side note, one guild that I felt was very under utilised was the Bard's College so it's good to see that the true bards like Malufenix didn't let that get in the way of them sharing their talents with the rest of us plebs. :D

Skyrim covers by Malufenix:
Dragonborn Comes
Age of Aggression