Warframe: Voruna

The wolf pack.

Obtained through conjunction missions on Lua, which is basically a fancy survival mission that gives you a chance at a "piece" every 20 minutes, expect to do more than a few runs to not only collect blueprints but also Thrax plasms which are used both in construction of Voruna AND buying the blueprints from Archimedean Yonta on the Zariman if you just had lousy luck grinding. Which I did.

Once built this she-wolf has four passives that can be triggered one at a time: increased parkour, stat resistance, heavy attack efficiency or a bonus life (60 second cool down on that last one). On top of that she also can turn invisible for a short while, go feral with a five strike pounce, gain health through melee attacks or energy via head shots and lastly spread negative statuses on enemies.

Pretty cool, but she seems to very much lean into status application and skill spamming as opposed to my preferred crit builds. I suppose it's just one of those things where, yes - she's pretty cool, but can she fill a purpose better than the others? She's very much a "killing things" frame (over say a sneak, defense or tank frame), but her killing is kinda slow - and there's a lot of competition in the "killing things" category. That probably means my helminth is going to taste wolf.

As an aside, yay! At least until Citrine is released that means I have now "mastered" all the non prime frames! :)

Voidstar: Angel vs Eidolon

[Part of the Voidstar: Warframe-128 story]

Nihil watched the battles with great interest until a loud voice called out to him. "Ai yo! You call that a sword? You should see Hok's masterpiece!" yelled the self-referencing Ostron as he drew out his favourite Zaw. With a sigh, Nihil swatted him away with a gentle swipe of his Vitrica. Unfortunately there were equally mismatched encounters here as Mutalist Alad V could do little to Nef Anyo's Razorback, nor could the Wolf of Saturn Six throw his hammer hard enough to prevent himself being obliterated by the Balor fomorian.

Similarly Clem could only lightly injure Archon Boreal and M-W.A.M. did the same with Archon Nira before being crushed. Meanwhile inside the wreckage of a Grineer galleon Derim Zahn made good use of his turrets and relocator beacons to defeat the J3-Golem, and Teshin was wounded when dismantling Frohd Bek's Ambulas. On a lower floor, Sister Vala Glarios came face to face against the Lich Worm Queen. With both combatants equally injured and equally driven it came down to their weapons to decide this outcome, and since Liches have the superior guns this was the end of Vala's continuity. [I'm basing that off internet reviews and not experience, because the internet is always right - right?]

As an aside: the Zariman is currently my favourite map.

Despite being far from the surface, the Lich Worm Queen heard the shrill shriek of the Void Angel on the surface as it engaged the Hydrolyst eidolon with flight slams, powerful energy orbs and void spikes seriously damaging the giant creature and breaking many of its sydonias as it fought back with its own seeking projectiles, ground stomps, acid rain and giant gun that eventually damaged the angel enough to retreat into the void to recover. As eidolons are simple creatures, the Hydrolyst proceeded to ignore it which turned out to be a fatal flaw once the fully recovered void angel returned to finish it off.

Voidstar: Sargas Ruk vs Alad V

[Part of the Voidstar: Warframe-128 story]

On the other side of the ridge Robotics Tech Jad Teran's nullifying helmets didn't save him against Sprag's hammer, nor did Ved Xol's opticor save him from the Wolf of Saturn Six. Baro Ki'teer had no chance against Nef Anyo's Razorback, Latrox Une's shield ospreys were not enough against the Balor Fomorian's death ray, the Mag specter barely won against the Gyre hyena [mostly because she's armed with a spear and shurikens], Angst was taken out by a self detonating ghoul called the expired, the Ropalolyst was only injured by the boiler demolisher's explosion, Executioner Nok shot down the Raptor MT and Executioner Reth managed to lightly injure Lephantis with his Drakgoon before being eaten by it.

Thanks to its electricity firing plasma rifles the Hyena Th barely defeated close range combatant Executioner Garesh, and the Frost specter was lucky in shotgunning the Ignis bearing Garv before his snowglobe melted. With good use of teleporting to a distance and his temporary shielding, Captain Vor defeated Armis Ulta while Lech Kril could only injure Sister Vala Glarios before she worked out to hit his tubes to kill him.

In one of the crashed Corpus capital ships General Sargas Ruk located Alad V cowering in a corner. "P-P-Please just wai..." is all Alad manages before the general incinerates him with napalm. "Regret will be your legacy!" Suddenly from the flames burst forth a round metal choker that locked itself around the general's neck forcing him to cease the attack... in fact, he found he could no longer move at all. Before him, Mutalist Alad V stood up grinning. "You Grineer are too arrogant, general. I will teach you to play nice," mocked Alad as he sauntered towards his prey. "Don't you see? It will be better if... when... we are one. Now open yourself up to me."

Alad V is really into bondage too.

Sargas Ruk could only scream in his mind as his body obeyed, revealing all his weak spots like a good slave. He would not survive what Mutalist Alad V had in store for him.

Warframe: On call Wolf, nothing Phorid

Due to the mass demand of detonite injectors, mutagen mass and fieldrons required to make lots of gear, I've found myself camping invasions as of late as they reward said items and the poor infested invasion boss Phorid just happens to be the easiest and fastest pinata to smash to get them. Even if you don't do any other invasion type, whenever this guy shows up do yourself a favor and whack him (3 times). It's very fast (you can even kill him on his entry cutscene) and you'll accumulate a lot of Nyx parts on the side.

I've also finally gotten my intrinsic leadership high enough to summon a railjack crew member in non-railjack missions! This summon only lasts for 3 minutes (or until death) and then has a 10 minute cool down but is pretty strong when armed with my Chernobyl tombfinger pistol.

We also experimented summoning the Wolf of Saturn Six boss who is crazily tanky (good thing I didn't try this solo), and found he has a chance to not drop any reward! Given it costs Nightwave credits to buy the consumable beacon to summon him, which is not always in the shop, that's kind of annoying. Still, the on call crew member is a good assistant against him. Against anything really, so definitely worth working towards!

Hunters in the Snow: Hold the Dark Grey Wind River

A trio of movie mysteries involving hunters and canines.

Let's shoot some stuff!

Hold the Dark

A hunter (Jeffrey Wright) is called into a remote Alaskan village to track and kill a canine that took a child but soon learns he's actually stepped in the shit once he finds what he is looking for. Now this action mystery is pretty decent at holding my attention, especially since there is a surprisingly high body count.

My biggest complaint is the cinematographer took the title too literally though, as most shots have poor (or in some occasions ZERO) lighting. Other than that the acting is ok, the plot actually puts enough hints so that you can see the ending by the time you get there, and the action pieces - though few and far between - are quite good. Can't recommend it as it's not your standard type of movie, but I enjoyed it and would probably watch it again. Two duct taped rifles out of five.

The Grey

When a plane goes down in some remote and snowy mountains it is up to the resident hunter (Liam Neeson) to try keep the survivors alive against both the elements and a pack of vicious wolves.

While this survival film does a decent job at giving each survivor a personality and nice sets, the CGI wolves are very large, mean and script driven which is only found in the mutant Hollywood breed. :P Still an entertaining watch, but one I wish didn't end so abruptly. Two and a half boom sticks out of five.

Wind River

When hunter (Jeremy Renner) working on the titular Indian Reservation finds a human corpse, he quickly gets recruited to aid the authorities (who are severely low on man power) to assist.

Apart from one segment early on with way too many cuts and some whispered poems this murder mystery is a pretty decent one that keeps a good pace and has decent action pieces. Also, it really does feel like it could be a Longmire episode at times so if you like that show you will probably enjoy this (and vice versa). I give it three lions out of five.

Absurd Game Ideas: Saint of the Mountain

[Part of the Absurd Game Ideas folder]

Many game bloggers, including myself, usually talk about our ideal games or how to improve the games we currently play. Well I thought it would be fun to flip the script and share our most absurd and silly game or game mod ideas! You are invited to blog your own crazy ideas too! :)

For today I give you...

Saint of the Mountain

In this action RPG, you play as a Saint Bernard who must patrol the mountain ranges to keep them safe for mountaineers. Rescue people from hypothermia, avalanches, rock slides, wolves, bears, poachers, dwarves, nazis, aliens and a dragon while commandeering sleds, snowmobiles, and helicopters and gaining XP to unlock more skills! Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? You can fully equip with vests, helmets, M16s, great swords, grenades, jet packs, lazers and even nuclear rockets! Go forth and save everyone as the Saint of the Mountain!

Battle Brothers: Heavy Casualties

Part of the Fate of Heroes series - spoilers ahead!

Having saved Lazenfeste, Gander purchases 9 war dogs and recruits the bowyer / archer pair of Eberhard and Hartmut "One Shot" before leading the company to the twin ports of Meerburg and Holnisland where they are joined by Sir Lancel Hildebrand, Sir Albrecht Kettilmund and Sir Donatus Donbert, all of whom have lost their companies in this war.

Sir Donatus has restarted building his though, introducing his small militia of Bernhard the traveler, Torkel the fisherman, Thorben an ex caravan guard and Hanke his sergeant. The Spears then conduct a rapid strike operation on a nearby "Long Spears" goblin camp, eradicating it at the cost of Corynx getting fatally skewered, Eberhard being out archered, and Hartmut getting eaten by the mount of a goblin wolf rider.

Upon their return the find the twin ports under attack by hordes of orcs and jump right into the fray. Sigmar and Bernhard are butchered by orc berserkers. Bertram, Thorben, Torkel, Sir Donatus, Sir Albrecht and Sid are also all killed in action. With the remaining orcs scattered, the survivors hit the tavern to drown their losses in ale.

But not before leaving a warning for all the other orcs.

Battle Brothers: Skinny Brigands

Part of the Fate of Heroes series - spoilers ahead!

The peace after the invasion is pleasant, but coin hard to come by once more for a mercenary band. Harlech tries his hand at a tournament, jousting against Sir Albrecht but only wins himself a broken shoulder. Raven and Sir Erland also injure each other again when quarreling about status, Emile continues thieving, and Stargazer pockets a magic knife from a corpse in the woods.

To keep them busy, Gander returns the Spears to hunting dire wolves and courier work, as well as "posing" as bandits and raiding Erzberg, slaying a good number of peasants as part of an extortion racket for House Folsach. Gander feels guilty about this afterwards, with Sid consoling him saying money is money.

The ultimate motivator.

Almost right afterwards the Spears are back at Erzberg, defending it from rampaging green skins with the Hungry Hounds and soldiers led by Sir Wilhelm Erkenbrand. There are a few allied losses, and Corynx suffers a broken elbow thanks to a goblin pike. On a more positive note, Sir Erland manages to get a traveling troupe to perform for free upping morale, and Raven Fat Bastard is no longer fat! Needing a more appropriate name, the Spears re-dub him Raven Skinny Bastard.

Battle Brothers: Spear Wall

Part of the Fate of Heroes series - spoilers ahead!

With the string of recent victories, morale is high as a banner for the Spears is created. The Nord Craizee is recruited as the company goes to hunt the rampant dire wolf packs roaming the forests.

The large white flags means their morale is breaking.

These critters are fast, but are easy prey as they keep lunging against the front line spearwall. The same tactic works well on zombies encountered at some random ruins, the only difference is - they get back up, making for a marathon battle but one still won by caution.

The company eventually arrives at Wiesendorf who not only have hauntings at the graveyard, but also a fort of bandits raiding their supply lines. With a quick scouting run it turns out the "hauntings" are also bandits, so the Spears set out to rout both locations.

These bandits are wise to the spear wall method, and counter with delays or ranged attacks forcing the Spears to charge. Ultimately this leads to the death of S***A who is piked while spear walling (pikes out range spears), and Moaning Knight (one of the original three) who takes an arrow to the knee... and another to the face.

Coppertopper the messenger and He-Alve the strange, scaled one are recruited as replacements, but Faltran and Bloodfire know they'll never be able to replace their fallen comrade.

Sheltered: The Dangers of Generosity

Part of the Fate of Heroes series - spoilers ahead!

The outings were surprisingly fruitful in terms of construction supplies, and with new recruits as Dr. Vahlen's good will invited the wanderers Frances, Paul and the gun-nut Stephen into the Shelter - much to Big Mike's disdain. The food supplies were almost all spent now, but at least the new comers could help expand and furnish the shelter a tiny bit.

Desperate to combat starvation, the expeditions began heading even further - which is when they started running into the local wild life. Dr. Vahlen and Skrmischa barely escaped from a ravenous bear, while Big Mike and Pip managed to slay a wolf for its meat. The boy was so excited by the kill though that he neglected to mention the bleeding bite he suffered during the combat.

Bears don't need gas masks. Clearly.

Back in the shelter, Pip passed away quietly in his sleep. Dr. Vahlen, distraught that she missed such an obvious wound was overcome by the shock suffered a heart attack right then and there - dying right beside Pip while everyone was "giving her space".

Unwilling to endure these bad vibes, Frances left to resume her wanderings. Stephen put his one bullet into his gun and after thrusting it in his mouth - pulled the trigger.

Dragon's Dogma: Safe as China

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

Back in the city we recruit the sorceress Yennefer (taking a break from adventuring with Geralt I guess?) who has an awesome lightning whip spell and are also joined by the Pawn Guild manager Barnaby on our next outing since he wants to take a more active role in ending the dragon threat. Too bad he is an idiot as demonstrated on our first outing to the Northern hill where harpies manage to keep putting him to sleep with their singing.

We save him from that and from many the big white dire wolves in the region, managing to meet an old guy called the Dragonforged who supposedly once faced the dragon too. He's not very forthcoming with information at this point but does give me some cool stuff to help in my quest. We also explore the dead woods where Sara died previously and take out a few chimeras. At the very center of it is an Abbey of nuns, because apparently that's a "safe" place? Lol.

Tell that to all the prowling chimeras!

We continue up the mountain, fighting past a clan of female bandits who become less hostile as we get closer to their mountain top fort. Once there they let us pass with no hassle into a dark marsh inhabited by a lich. He is no match for the team, but is also not as strong as the Bich on Bitterblack Isle. Eventually we reach China - because we reach a massive fortress called the Great Wall, which also is keeping monsters at bay. I wonder if Matt Damon is around?

Dragon's Dogma: The Bich

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

Since the altar is closer to Cassardis, I decide to trek back there and recruit the towering Nord gal Juliana and take the team back to Bitterblack Isle with Olra's help. We are much stronger this time around so I decide to take on that Cockatrice we ran past previously. Keeping with good D&D, the damn bird has a petrifying breath and Rose and Juliana are stoned midfight just as a huge black boss wolf shows up out of nowhere, because that's a thing here. Randomly spawning bosses.

I manage to cure Rose in time but Juliana is shattered by the big bad wolf before both beasts are laid low. Despite her loss we press on and recruit another ranger deeper in named Monterrey before taking on the giant beholder that stopped us before. Not so this time as we have enough ranged attacks and raw power (from Lily) to take it out. This opens a shortcut back to the surface (ala Dark Souls) and a path deeper into an underground fort with undead.

What made it challenging is our good buddy Death showed up again, meaning the team had to sprint through all the scum to avoid his one hit kill scythe, right into elder ogres and a tough minotaur type thing. Fortunately the spirit vanished at that point and let us handle these tough fights properly. There's also an undead dragon we have to run past later but it doesn't matter since it catches up to us at the next boss fight with its partner, the Lich Bishop - or Bich for short.

This is probably not going to end well...

This floating Bich proves to be way too tough as he summons tornadoes and other BS magics on top of being able to resurrect the dragon at will so once again we have to warp out of there, promising Olra will get that Bich next time.

Dark Souls III: Return from whence thou cam'st...

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Ariandel asks me to fetch Friede but there's no need, as she is already approaching with the exact same ice magicked scythe of the previous white-haired painting lady. It's pretty clear now that she killed her somehow and with Ariandel is now corrupting this world. I would not let that stand!

Or ... maybe I'll just back away now.

It turns out Friede is a nunja though (dual class nun/ninja) who can turn invisible and pretty easily kills me with said scythe. A few goes of this and I am so beaten up mentally I opt to withdraw first, following the suggestion of a player message to cut the long bridge outside.

This then serves as a ladder down to a root maze (guarded by two annoying great Nord archers) which reaches the frozen lake below. The area leads to a flowery valley with the bottom part of that tower where a lady with an affinity for wolves guards a curiously familiar grave.

Though not stated, I'm sure this is Knight Ciaran, especially given how tough she is (and she can somehow parry while attacking, the cheater). Worse when she summons a great wolf for aid. She's not as tough as Friede though, as it only takes me three attempts to defeat her.

Dark Souls III: The Second Painting

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Following Sirris' instructions I find Sir Gael at the Cleansing Chapel (of the Deep). I guess I misunderstood that he could help me though, since he is the one asking for help - tasking me with bringing fire to the painted world of Ariandel, holding out a scrap of painting which serves as a teleporter. Why not, it's not like this is the first painting I've stepped into.

I soon find myself in a wintery mountainside, inhabited by tall, javelin throwing viking dudes, lonely trees, and packs of wolves. Individually they aren't that tough against my fully upgraded axe, but since this is Dark Souls - they come in groups of three or more. Still not a problem though. Even the giant wolf pack leader isn't a problem since I've fought one who wielded a giant sword before.

I like that it's just sitting in plain sight so you know what you're walking into.

Progress seems good until I hit some ruins near a crumbling guard post - that's when I encounter the giant Nords who live up to their appearance and cane me very easily. At that point I decide to look for a way around these guys...

Dark Souls III: Farron's Keep

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Tweedledee and Tweedledum?

Deciding to avoid the Crystal Sage for now, I find another path guarded by two bandits - a club wielder and a sword guy. I manage to kick one down a ladder shaft and follow up with a plunging strike. The second one opts to take the ladder down which makes it easy to hack at him while he is defenseless. Just when I think I'm doing well, I reach the next area - the continuation of the swamp, only this time it is green AND poisonous, meaning it is running time aplenty.

The giant leeches are the least of my worries as I scurry from dry land to dry land, avoiding the poison monkey men and giant swamp things wandering about. A sign near the start indicates that I'm supposed to turn off three flames to open "the door" too, and while the flames turn out to be little candles - of course they are all pretty well guarded. A ladder up leads to a really tall tower and the lair of Farron, the old wolf. He's eternally asleep though, and offers a PvP covenant to protect his swamp from invaders. As if this place wasn't bad enough!

Atop his lair are some gorgeous views, as well as extra items. There's also a huge demon like the one Ser Chubby helped with before, but I leave that one alone. Using that vantage point I can find the flames I missed and put them out too, opening the path to the next area which loops back to the non-poison swamp, and another bonfire within walking distance of the next boss, and Lord of Cinder, the Abyss Watchers.

Sounds like a boring job, watching an Abyss...

Interestingly the path to them is a battle site between the resident poison monkeys and a pair of dark wraiths, meaning easy souls for me and an easier time reaching the boss fog. This doesn't help me in the slightest once I'm inside though, as the dual wielding warriors (yes plural) make short work of me. For added difficulty my graphics card has a really hard time here and increases my "crash out of the game" ratio.

Skyrim: Tomb Raider

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

Nice place!

After a decent jog through the desert, we reach the city of Ben Erai where Rayya is waiting for us! She explains that this particular community of Redguards have lived here in isolation for generations waiting for me to arrive, to "help" me with the final tests to reach the Champion of Cyrodiil's mausoleum - his real tomb, which was around here somewhere. At least now I can understand now where Rayya was sending all my decorating funds.

That moment when you think you are in A Tale in the Desert.

I did have to ask how she got here though, and in the back of the Fortress I am shown working teleporter to Falkreath, for those who know the Ancient vision spell. You mean I could have just jumped here directly? That... would have been more convenient you know. Anyway, their version of help simply involves telling me I need a key and an amulet of cheetah friendship from somewhere in the valley to proceed. Of course they have a lot of other tasks such as hunting fire charrus and punching desert wolves.

Wolf punching.

The majority of the Eastern part of the valley was filled with tombs though, and I mean the huge sprawling type such as the one pictured above. They were filled with shades, skeletons, mummies and most problematic - STONE CRUSHER traps. Not really a problem for me since my light step doesn't trigger pressure plates anymore.

Unfortunately Rayya doesn't have that perk. Squish.

Dark Souls: Kill you Later

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Beyond the Colosseum lay the ruined township of Oolacile, collapsing into the gaping abyss beneath it. The remaining inhabitants were either beholder head hollows or ugly chaos mages that used dark sorceries of the abyss. Fortunately there was a cool counter to this in the form of a simple silver pendant I found, which basically gives a one second "shield" that deflects all dark magic. Your timing in using it just had to be good (much easier than parry), so I spent a bit training with it - intentionally letting mages blast me.

Chester, the grinning merchant also decided to try snipe me while I crossed one of the long bridges. I pummeled him into submission then used his sniping tactic to get passed a horribly strong ogre thing that blocked the path down into the dark. Again. F-ing dark places. Here at the Chasm of the Abyss I got slammed by dark magic coming out of the darkness. So much for my shield huh? Good thing there was a bonfire right at the start.

Since I couldn't be cautious, it was running mode time - down and down until I started fighting ghost humanities (a consumable item?) which must be the easiest opponents ever. I also got visions of Alvinia (the cat) leading me through one section and right to a secret path where a much younger Sif was trapped. Of course I saved the puppy. If I didn't how could I kill it later? That would be a paradox!

I guess the sword also "grows up"?

Almost right beside that chamber was another shortcut elevator up to the "hub" section. Yay! Also, Chester apparently survived our previous encounter and was understandably upset upon seeing me again. I executed him for his crimes. One less bandit to worry about.

I do like it when they beg.

Dark Souls: A Big Improvement

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Gets less dangerous with less heads!

Having defeated the hydra at Ash Lake I thought I'd revisit the one in Darkroot Basin. As expected, running up to it was the only problem but once in there, he had the same weaknesses and suffered the same fate. Pity he didn't guard much though: a suspiciously empty cave and a ladder leading to another part of Darkroot forest. One with giant, rolling cats which I stayed the heck away from and one that led back to the forest guardians area.

Ambushed by shrubberies!

They were hostile again but now it was easy for me to take them down, and since they gave good XP I hunted them for a fair bit. Also at one of the cliff edges I found Shiva's corpse (or a corpse wearing Shiva's armor). I guess he was killed by the shrubberies / spriggans. Figured I'd rechallenge Sif, the great wolf too. Now that I could wear Havel's full suit though, I finally put the dog down.

High on a winning streak I decide it's finally time to return to Anor Londo for a rematch against the executioner and dragon hunter: Smough and Ornstein. "I do amazingly well and win on the first go!" is what I'd like to say, but what actually happened is I got curb stomped. WTF? At least I was getting one of them to half health now. A big improvement from last time.

Dark Souls: Cats and Dogs

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

I am surprised to find the next section of forest guarded by people (not hollows)! It takes some adjusting to get used to their combos but with the handy bonfire I eventually have them down well enough to progress towards the ruined tower they are guarding, and it's sole inhabitant: a talking cat! The kitty is the leader of the "forest hunter" covenant (group) and invites me to join in a convoluted "ye olde" way of talking. I accept after learning it means the rest of the clan outside will stop being hostile to me! Win! :)

Alvinia - one sinister looking cat.

After briefly chatting to their field commander, Shiva of the East (I suppose he's a ninja?), I am free to go even further into the woods coming across a small colony of the cutest mushroom people ever. Since they aren't hostile I just leave them alone and push on until I reach a strange circular graveyard across a bridge. Upon examining a gigantic sword in the center, I am attacked by the biggest wolf ever, who so happens to be able to wield said gigantic sword.

Drop! I said Drop! Uh oh...

Sif (the wolf) proceeds to thrash me a couple of dozen times before I give up and follow a winding path down to Darkroot Basin. After beating another knight and a few crystal golems I am dissuaded from hanging around by the powerful water breath of a nearby (like, rifle range nearby) hydra. Instead I opt to go into what looks to be the base of a stone tower and run smack into Club Knight again. I'm much stronger both level and equipment wise now though, and even more adept at parrying so this time I win. I take his pretty awesome ring which lets you carry heavier stuff and learn his name was Havel.

Good night, club knight!

Feeling confident with the win I make the trek back to Sif and... promptly get thrashed again. Lol.

Skyrim: You aren't finished!

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

After finishing up some loose ends at Raven Rock, such as finding a new steward for Neloth and executing an thieves' guild member in his sleep (because you can't outrun justice), I thought I was done with the little island of Solstheim. Turns out I was very wrong as Neloth still had a laundry list of ingredients for me to fetch and sent his bumbling apprentice Talvas with me to do so.

Not enough of these in the base game.

Unfortunately for Talvas, we stumbled upon a polite group of loners who I figured to be werewolves. Freaking abominations. I beheaded the first one to prevent her turning but the other three opened with their shape shifting and tore Talvas apart, his bits showering down on the mountainside. Needless to say, I then did the same to them. Curious actually, Sero and I had previously also eradicated a small enclave of werebears (impressive transformation), yet there are no wolves or bears on the island. :P

Since the ingredients were going to be easier to find on mainland Skyrim, I checked in with Frea first to see if she wanted to come along since she wasn't so subtle about not wanting to be like shaman dad and instead be an adventurer, barring any unfortunate arrows finding her knees. She was easily persuaded to leave her people and come with me. Too bad she'd never see her home again.