Elden Ring: Ahh, jumping...

[Part of my Elden Ring journal]

Nokron is primarily inhabited by three things: living vikings (who are easier to fight than their spirit versions below), zombies with magic weapons and mimics - one of whom copies me! It has no chance since I can summon the ghost headless though. Same with the second ancestral spirit stag boss that I put down again. Parkouring down the rooftops I earn a mimic summon of my own and some sort of knife, while going the other way leads me to Siofra aqueduct where some random hobo accepts D's armor and joins me as an ally to try defeat a pair of giant, poison barfing gargoyles. While I can almost always down one, it's just too tough to beat both so its time to head elsewhere.

Opting to hunt the next mark, Raleigh, for Volcano Manor I stop by a small mine en route and easily slay the stone digger troll within collecting his great club! Slower to swing than my current stick but it reaches farther and hits harder. Raleigh is its first victim. Beyond him is a keep sinking into a lake of poison which is naturally inhabited by poison zombies and slugs. The knight boss here is fought in such close quarters I have to revert to my large club and combine it with a tower shield to beat him (with my mimic as well)!

Double club, the natural progression of my club type weapons...

I then report in to the witch Ranni, who is happy with the dagger I collected from Nokron and says she's to leave on a journey now and I also report to Lady Tanith who gives me three more marks to hunt and tells of Volcano Manor's true lord Rykard - one of the elden shard bearers! I might get to meet him if I keep up the good work. For now I return to the twin gargoyles in the aqueduct with my upgraded great club and mimic and this time crush them with the help of hobo D. At the waterfalls beyond lies a comfy looking coffin that asks if I'd like to rest in it. LOL.

Pathfinder: The Ruins of Raven's Watch II

[Part of the Party Time journal] 

We find Thelsikar in an unholy chamber beyond the magically sealed door next to the large statues. Juris had previously examined (and fondled *snicker*) these but other than knowing they are magical we couldn't work out how they worked, until our conversation with the dying cleric in the cells. Doing a fantasy version of the macarena opens the door, and puts us into battle against Thelsikar himself! As I used all my dice rolling luck earlier I am hopeless in this battle but at least can tank some hits from this dagger wielding madman.

Mom eventually backstabs him to death with her new magic rapier but a large stone gargoyle then comes to life and carries Thelsikar's corpse off, ignoring my attempts at pissing it off by burning an important looking book (indeed, I think I only angered our wizard Juris who was keen on book collection). We give chase but can't catch up, especially as we run into a lone skeletal champion who blocks the way.

My dice rolling continues to suck, and mom's opening strike with her undead slaying weapon misses. The skeleton doesn't miss and mom goes down. Out of spells Juris comes in with his quarterstaff while Rose revives mom with her wand of cure light wounds and mom's next attack on the skelebum is massive, but not enough. The champion downs Juris next and with things looking grim I suggest Rose uses the healing wand on the skeleton (I remembered in Pathfinder: Kingmaker this was a thing so DL allows it, for now at least). It's a touch based attack which is much easier and she tags it on her second attempt, healing for the maximum value and destroying the scum bag with plenty of time to stabilize our wizard and get him back to his feet.

Alas the gargoyle and Thelsikar are long gone so we just loot the dungeon for all its worth, finding a handy bag of holding to help carry it all, and Juris finds proof the Lamashtu cultists were doing something to harden black dragon scale. He couldn't retrieve all the intel though as the pyromaniac warrior (me) was setting many things alight in an attempt to stop their research. Oops.

BDO: Trespasser

[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

Surprisingly some of the Calpheon council is waiting for me at Trent, and promptly send me back via another land route on the premise of delivering an official letter to the elf queen. In reality, they reveal that they are thinking about invading both in trade and by force, basically making me their spy. This new road is plagued by annoying gargoyles, but eventually I make it back to the elven border where I manage to bluff my way in.

From there, I befriend a sneaky human poacher by helping him kill other competing poachers (lol) plus a bunch of fauna, including a tribe of angry koalas from whom I nab an ancient tablet, and get directions to an elven military base known as the Old Wisdom Tree. The elves barracks inside the hollow of the fallen wood, and are amiable enough as I help them do random chores around camp.

Then when they are not looking, I snoop through their correspondence and go to the nearby praire to murder the feather wolves they use as pets, the colorful giant birds they use as mounts and smash griffon eggs while dancing around the dangerous griffons themselves. Upon my return to Old Wisdom Tree to sell loot and restock, I am promptly arrested! Looks like those scouts on top of the tree weren't just for show after all.

The more reindeer like they look, the higher the rank?

Insight: Pay the one million mount transfer fee (or buy a new mount) when you first arrive at Grana. I was a fool and did all of this on foot!

Eador: The King and the Vampires

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

Olchyr had just returned to the mainland when Ul-Dagan attacked. The ranger hired the shaman Shelumu and allied with nomadic horsemen to help defeat the invaders, using his magic sword to dispel the evil spirits that stood in his way and finding a powerful spell scroll that would make Shelumu near unstoppable.

Indeed, Ul-Dagan's forces had no chance when the shaman began raising vampires on the field of battle and were quickly evicted from the shard. Alas, Ul-Dagan's still shield prevents any counter invasions so Nesturs attacks the brooding Elf King Dariol instead, to reunite him with Vianta. In death.

Yep, the backstabbing vampire is an ally!

Wizard Shinordium and scout Cleeren find themselves surrounded by elven forest lands - not rich in gold but rich in gems. It is tough to navigate those woods though as the elves are great archers and unicorns quite tough. Fortunately there is a small section of Holy Lands (loyal to the Lord of Light) who again agree passage for Nesturs proxies.

They eventually reach Dariol's castle, weakening it through use of an undead invasion (ritual spell cast by Shinordium) and then attacking it. The King is a gargoyle summoning archer (fortunately not the exploding type) and while he inflicts great losses on Nesturs troops, he ultimately falls in battle.

Eador: Exploding Units are the Worst

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

The scout, Dynrigg is sent to the next shard against Beleth's forces where he enlists the aid of dryads, fairies and finding that most of this land is faithful almost to the point of zealotry to "the Lord of Light". Since they still view Nesturs as "good" they do let Dynrigg pass through, but aren't as friendly to Beleth's evil champion.

Poison damages all opponents!

Dynrigg eventually lays siege to Beleth's stronghold there, and despite catastrophic losses to centaurs allied to the necromancer, the scout is successful, partially thanks to his success in poisoning their water supply before the battle but mostly thanks to the exploding gargoyles he learned to summon during his time with Archmage Kelaide.

Meanwhile in the void, another master appears - the barbarian Doh-Gor who wields a powerful magic amulet. He openly states his intent on destroying Nesturs. Soon.

Dragon's Dogma: Stage One - DEATH!

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

Having earned some fame I am allowed (to create) my own bodyguard - who I design as Rose the sorceress (because, wifey!). I also recruit a warrior type lady named Anise and after some quick training exercises with Ser Berne, the sergeant at the encampment, we head back to Cassardis to hand in and complete a handful of other newbie quests (like flower picking). Since it is night time when we arrive, we find a spirit lady named Olra at the docks who asks for our help. I say yes, and we are warped to Bitterblack Isle.

That's not a big black curtain behind us...

This turns out to be an "end game" area but I don't care. We push through the insanely strong greater goblins and run into Death himself, who we have no option but to run from. Rook is too slow and gets beheaded by the reaper's scythe before it vanishes into the shadows. Undaunted, we push on - often having to run past things like giant skeletons, skeleton warlocks, a cockatrice, and gargoyles, until we reach a deep chamber which is the home to a giant floating eye.

This beholder is far too tough so we backtrack out of there for the time being. Fortunately we now have some pretty cool gear, enough XP to reach level 17 and a rather large sum of gold in the bank. :)

Dark Souls III: Dragonslayer

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

That doesn't bode well...

After the adventure at Archdragon Peak it was time to continue exploring Lothric's Castle, fighting past all forms of knightly hollows from before - only this time they have empowering mages to buff them. Once I get back outside it looks like there's some ominous eclipse event happening too, and all the dead dragons on the wall ramparts are now taking flight... Two of them decide to lay covering fire along a bridge I need to cross too, which results in a small detour through more human sized enemies.

This is more a test of flanking, not timing.

I manage to slay one of them with firebombs, which somehow kills the other (odd) but at least it lets me advance to the next boss plaza - one inhabited by Dragonslayer Armour!? I guess he's the version 2.0 of what I'm using, and while he defeats me on round one, I best him on my second attempt - making use of the big fountain to buy time to heal. It's then on to the Grand Archives where I find out that the Crystal Sage is still alive!

Of course there are gargoyles on the roof...

The bastard keeps taking potshots and teleporting while I have to deal with cursed books, midget assassins, candle head mages and a flame sword invader named Melisandre (player), who I totally think is an NPC and break the courtesy of waving first even though she waved hello. Sorry Melisandre! :( A blue sentinel named Monet (player) comes to my aid but Melisandre defeats us both! Thanks for trying Monet!

It is a long and arduous run up the tower (again) but this time I slay the Crystal Sage for good, run past a competing adventuring party, slay a small contingent of hollow knights and unlock a super shortcut back to a bonfire which is super handy because just ahead is Lothric's throne room!

Dark Souls III: Urban Espionage

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

While Irithyll wasn't as cold as Frozen Elysium Loyce, the tall and slender guardsmen liked to dish out frost bite damage and work in squads. There were also fire stick carriers who led processions of ghoul like hollows across the streets. It was simpler to avoid them when I could - ducking into dead ends and only killing the few that spotted me. This sneaking around worked very well here, letting me reach a number of bonfires with relative ease.

Just need to avoid these!

After a dark warehouse of "invisible" hollows (not really since you can see their eyes, and the rest of them when they are in striking distance), I found myself in the moat surrounding the city - avoiding the white, bug like monsters resting in the water.  The path eventually led to a separate tower - Irithyll dungeon home to masked lantern branders who had the annoying ability of "death stare". Yup, as long as they looked at you your maximum health would drop.

This was especially bad in the areas where they clustered in groups of eight or more. Obviously I opted to sprint past them when I could, as well as a sleepy giant and a surprise handful of cute froggies. Thankfully there were shortcut elevators to the bonfire up the top that I could unlock. There was also a strange cliff that suggested I "try gesture" but none of the ones I knew did anything.

Dungeon delving at its finest!

The prison eventually gave way to an old temple like place guarded by stone gargoyles (who can still fly) and fire cultists. The place is also littered with visual treasure, making progreses incredibly slow despite it being a smallish zone due to my graphics card crashing the game out constantly. Despite that I find the boss of the place, a giant King named Yhorm who has no issues in squishing me with his great sword. Finally a giant who isn't a push over! Given the minuscule damage I was doing to him in return he was certainly going to be a problem.

Dark Souls II: De ja Vu

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

Beyond the chariot chamber is just a dead end with an evil little dwarf who asks if I want to join the (PvP) Covenant of Blood. I say no, and decide to revisit the pretty sinking ruins for anything I missed. While the tall warriors who I previously ran from before are easily defeatable now, all the white knights who previously were just resting are now on their feet - hostile - and deceptively agile for shamblers. I still manage to beat them, and find I missed a turn off during my previous visit. One that led to a red dragon!

And then...

Good thing it is nowhere near as strong as the one from Undead Berg. Once I get under it, this one has no chance. I am then joined by Masterless Glencour, perhaps the only "good" white knight, to enter the nearby cathedral where we face ... Ornstein!? He is nowhere near as tough as last time though and with Glencour tanking it is a very easy victory. Targay, the leader of the Blue Sentinels watched our fight and says we are worthy of joining his order. Again since this is a PvP thing, I say no.

With the cathedral also a dead end, I revisit the Lost Bastille and as usual, find an area and bonfire I totally missed. The Eagle Knight attacks me once more in a dark storage room but this time I defeat him convincingly. Using a lockstone I also open a bridge to a new tower, one guarded by cute little knights. Masterless Glencour assists once more in slaying them and the invader Vorgul the Sinner. At the top, we battle FIVE belfry gargoyles! Glencour is thrown off the roof early, but I still manage a victory (barely) and ring the tower bell. Because that's what I do.

Not this time, Eagle Knight!

Dark Souls: Jolly Cooperation

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

Feeling brave with a closer bonfire I decided to head back to that church and beat up the hollows guarding it. The mage on the second floor was a bit scary, but by fighting everything else out of his field of view he had no backup when I got to him. Near the back I found and freed another knight in cool gold armor: Ser Lautrec of Carim, but the main event was on the roof where a pair of gargoyles blocked my path. Good thing Solaire was there to back me up! :D

Jolly Cooperation!

With him tanking the gargs this fight was pretty easy. Upon their defeat Solaire went on his merry way while I finally reached the bell tower and rang the first bell. Woo! This summoned a creepy guy called Oswald but he didn't do much else apart from "offer to pardon my sins" and laugh like an insane person... something he shares with almost everyone else I've talked to actually.

He mentions that Cleric Petrus is also drenched in sin...?

Before moving on I notice that Andre the smith is selling something for 20,000 souls. Figuring I would need that item eventually, I camp the church and purchase the strange medallion. Good thing too because I use it to open a door in the next area I go into: Darkroot Forest, home of spriggans, living statues and... a giant moth that shoots magic missiles!? It takes some evading, patience and a few throwing knives but I eventually slay the overgrown bug. Thanks to player left messages (because this game has a cool quasi-online thing happening) I also find a hidden bonfire behind an illusionary wall giving me another save point before venturing deeper into the woods.

Star Trail: Going Deeper

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

The first few levels are sprawling and mostly devoid of life, yet Paeroka manages to get her hand jammed into a rusty bear trap while unlocking one of the many old chests there and catching some unknown malady. On the plus side is there seems to be a surplus of magical strength girdles in here. On the third level down their path is blocked by a five meter pit which the agile rogue, Antharon volunteers to jump across first.

What agility!

After Wolfy retrieves his corpse (which leads me to ask why they couldn't climb down the pit then up the other side) the team decides to look for another path and they find it in the form of collapsed tunnels on one side of the level. With only one shovel, Zubon pulled the short straw and was tasked with clearing out the rubble of stones and bodies of dead dwarves blocking the way.

LOL

Eventually they find a shaft that leads them deeper, and right into a chamber with four gargoyle statues that come to life! Obviously sculpted by racist dwarves the monsters all focus on Pike the Hare and tear him to pieces before the party can defeat the stone creatures. Further in there are also zombie dwarves, and a large basin of water that must first be drained to reveal submerged stairs underneath a heavy metal drain. Good thing Shintar packed a crowbar!

Double Cosplay: Dragon Crusaders and Dragons of Camelot

Dragons of Camelot

What happens -after- King Arthur dies.

The death of Camelot's king (and that most of his knights have been disbanded) provides Morgana the prime opportunity to summon dragons and take the place by force. While the dragons are pretty cool CGI wise and the locations for filming are pretty great there are a lot of things that bring this movie down, and for me the number one reason being the quality of props. Yes, that hurts more than the subpar acting!

In short, it looks like a cosplayer fair with mismatching armor and all too clean attire and both the "knights" of Camelot (very loosely used here) and Morgana's troops have no uniforms what-so-ever. Also, if you have an archer type character it might pay to actually have that person know at least some archery - like, oh I don't know... being able to properly draw the bowstring back to at least their chin?

No one is impressed by your archery.

I was also mildly amused by a clear stand in for Morgana in one of the opening scenes where the editor did everything to not show her face, splicing her (solo) closeup footage in later which is ridiculous because she's in a completely different room. My favorite character is one of her evil captains though, who gets the pranciest white horse of all time. He is tasked with pursuing the good guys but is very careful to not actually catch up with them at any point. Alas, as good (I'm being generous) as the dragons are there's not much reason to watch this and I can only give it one cosplayer out of five.

~~~

Dragon Crusaders

Featuring dragons, crusaders, gargoyles and pirates!

If you watched Dragons of Camelot then you will notice right away a lot of the cool locations reused here. Also, while it is still possibly the same cosplayer group used in this picture they are more believable with the dirty attire and better acting. The bow guy in particular is pretty cool though some of his archery is questionable (not as bad as archer in the previous movie). There's also a short, kick-ass chick who definitely brings the fight choreo up a notch and is perhaps a good example of a standard D&D halfling fighter. Some fight scenes make use of oddly cut segments though, which doesn't do this film any favours.

Dirt = Authenticity.

The CGI is not as good as the other movie, but it is passable enough and props to them for using gargoyles too. Where this film falls over bad is the story itself. A band of knights being chased by an unseen army (seriously) decide to try help some random people being attacked by pirates. In the process they get cursed by a peasant (LOL) and can only be freed by some bad wizard who happens to control a bunch of dragons, and possibly is one of the dragons himself. He also is a pretty decent swordsman, archer and cavalier. What? Also the pirate speak in this film comprises entirely of grunts and yelling incomprehensibly. Awesome.

Pity, it's like if you took the good aspects of the two films you might actually get something more worth while, but ultimately this too has nothing much going for it and I give it one cosplayer out of five.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney, 1996)

[Post #17 of the Blaugust Challenge!]

Hidden away in the bell towers of Notre Dame is the disfigured Quasimodo, a monster with fricking strong arm muscles, a great singing voice, and a heart of gold. He longs to mingle with the rest of the people in Paris but is rightly afraid that he'd be treated as an outcast so he instead spends his days looking down on them with only his (possibly imaginary) gargoyle friends to keep him company. A string of events lead him to meet the gypsy Esmeralda, who becomes his first true non-gargolye buddy. Alas, gypsies aren't tolerated for very long within the city as the main villain,  Judge Frollo quite enjoys setting them on fire.

That is a -very- rough outline of the movie's setup, and to be honest I was a bit surprised at how well all the main characters are developed. Being a Disney movie there's a LOT of singing, a lot of comedy, a fair bit of dancing, and a very light violence. I'm just curious as to why the movie wasn't titled "Esmeralda" as she is the main crux upon which Judge Frollo, Quasi and Phoebus (my favourite dude) revolve around. Basically they all want to get into her pants. Go DISNEY! :P

There's even a pole dance sequence!

I guess I should also mention that with Notre Dame taking center stage there are a few songs and themes involving religion, in case that should bother anyone. Last thing I want to talk about is the animation. For the most part it's very good as per usual for Disney but there's a little bit near the start where I felt they were using what I call "reserved animation" too much. The city is made with layering paintings and the animated characters in between them didn't quite seem to gel. That's quickly fixed in the next 4/5ths of the movie though so I just found it odd they didn't fix it fully. Regardless I thought it was a very enjoyable and entertaining flick and give it four bells out of five.

Blaugust Bonus: I go to mass every week. Never been to Notre Dame though. When I was very little I actually wanted to become a priest! That wouldn't have worked out so well I think, the world doesn't need another psycho preaching to the masses. Sooo, instead I setup a blog to do exactly the same thing. LOL. 

Wizardry Online: Ghost Town

[Part of the journals from Wizardry Online!]

Apart from the Succubus, giant suits of loitering armor, oversized tarantulas, demon imps and ambient classical music in a minor scale it was a band of overly strong werewolves that ultimately prevented us from getting past the magical barriers within the House of Savage Lust. We did reach the library though, and from it we learned the location of some sort of experimental zone built by a mad dwarf named Azarm. Thanam decided to continue to try find a way past the magic barriers in the estate while I returned to Port Illfalo to resupply.

The town was even emptier than when we left it, with all the adventurers having evacuated due to the Armageddon threat. Even the Lost Souls board had a record of zero souls lost for the month, a number I had never seen before since our arrival. Being one of the few remaining people the arcane minister Zermu Terlu was quick to issue out a Dimento medal to assist with supplies in exchange for trying to stop the rumored "end". I also stopped by one of the still functioning guild agencies and found a note from Quark - that he and a handful of the remaining Porkul Pickers and their allies like Raven Daydream, Maco Meng, and Helga had packed up to try their luck on distant shores. They must have packed in a hurry since there was still equipment in the guild armory, some of which I decided to take for myself.

One of the priests at the local temple urged me to find his wand as he seemed to think it would help in our overall goal so I found myself heading back to the dreaded Temple of Oblivion and after poking around in places no sane man should I gained access to a secret lair inhabited by gargoyles! Fortunately I got the drop on them and managed to take them on one at a time, recovering with Dimento camps when needed. After the difficult combat I managed to retrieve and return the wand to the priest... alas all it seemed to do was cure his own speech impediment. Time is running out and I am unsure of what to do, but I know I cannot simply abandon these people to whatever horrible fate is about to pass.

I take heart knowing that if it is an end by gargoyles, I can take a few of them with me.

 

-Caanon

Sacred: Burning Flame

[Part of the Sacred Journey.]

The element of Fire was next on the list (not optional) so I soon found myself and Speedy racing back into Wyvern Pass and deeper past the desert onto the ash plains, home to very strong fire based critters. My first encounter with a pack of fire demons, wyverns, gargoyles and exploding fire trolls was close to fatal since my armor is weakest against fire. Fortunately a nearby travelling merchant sold me enough potions to survive the mad dash to my underground destination, which turned out to be an underground city of dragon worshippers!

They were friendly enough and even had some freelance work for me in the form of finding missing chickens, collecting dragon scale from already dead dragons, saving people from the fiery wasteland outside, dealing with dragon hunters, and catching dragon egg thieves (that merchant I bought potions from on the way in). I also had to save a virgin sacrifice from the next caldera which was very tough, and I'm sad to report that Speedy got cooked in the process. I did gain a dragon scale shield though that had a chance of taking damage to my gold account instead of health. I figured that having over one million gold at this point it couldn't hurt.

Gold as HP might be an interesting mechanic!

After restocking on supplies I dashed across the caldera of Speedy's death using a new found utility skill "combat jump" which is very handy to ford those rivers of lava and monsters and into another underground lair, this time filled with hostile dragon worshippers and fire based foes until I came face to face with the Fire Dragon itself. Stupid thing is it never decided to breathe, opting for claw attacks throughout our battle which made it one of the easiest dragon fights so far. From it I took the element of Fire and like a thief dashed and jumped my way back across the caldera, through the now hostile underground city, and back out of Wyvern's pass.

Darklands: You begin in a Tavern

This is part of The Darklands story.

It was a strange dream of a gargoyle that inspired the 40 year old, retired bishop named "Syp the Elder" to go adventuring. He felt it was a message from heaven itself to help cure the land of its sin. Unwilling to see the many good reasons to enjoy retired life, one of his students named "Ravanel Swift" decided to accompany him to try keep him out of trouble. Being twenty years younger meant she was far more sprightly than the old bishop, but Syp knew they'd need a guide to lead them through the wilderness that the other two had been sheltered from their whole lives.

Fortunately Ravanel knew of just the person to help, "Gypsy Syl" a bard and vagabond of 30 years whose tales Ravanel would often listen to at taverns after her lectures. The worldly Syl was a bit hesitant to join the group at first especially being at odds with the pious bishop but was convinced by the younger girl to stay.

The final member of the group was one recruited by Syp. He knew that apart from a guide they would also need a strong guard to help protect them as they travelled the lands to do God's work. The only one available who was up to such a task was the 35 year old veteran soldier "Bhagpuss Catman". A stern warrior proficient in many forms of weaponry.

With the team assembled, the question that everyone asked simultaneously was... what now?

Syp had a follow up question.

Trials at the Golden Dragon Ruins

Part of the journals from Wizardry Online! You can view the rest here!

Sel was contacted by a masked aristocrat calling himself Arahawi today and we were tasked with retrieving the Fir Elin jewel for him from the Golden Dragon Ruins, an outdoor trap-filled labyrinth of teleporters inhabited by goblin-like gargoyles, troll-like zules, foul smelling ogre things and worst of all large earth elementals that have remarkable range with their fists. Furthermore, both floors are stacked with riddles pertaining to the rather gruesome fate of Lin Lian. The answers are littered within stone tablets in the ruins themselves but most were a pain to remember, let alone get to (good thing we have a sneaky elf). Also Sel remembered a song sung by the bard back in town which helped in some parts.

Most of the barricades were held by denizens of the ruins, and some by groups of stone knight statues. Using the many broken pillars I could fight them a few at a time but one barricade, held by five earth elementals was almost unpassable. Fortunately with enough training they too broke before me and deeper within the mapless zone I met a porkul priest named Quark, Jaina a thief, and Vladut an elven warrior. We decided to team up to reach the end of the place, defeating a powerful purple hued zombie on the way.

Giant Frogs like eating Porkuls.

Due to the arrival of another murderous mage (pk) called Smackman our group was broken not long after and I had to proceed to the final section with Vladut. Fortunately the giant frog that was guarding the jewel itself was not so dangerous, despite being very tough. After it fell to our blades we returned to Illfalo Port and Sel gave Arahawi what he wanted, completing the contract. On a side note I am getting concerned for her. Something is wrong with the mana in this region, despite the supposed mana drain, as evidenced by the blood thirsty mages we've seen. Will keep an eye on her and will get Thanam to do the same.

-Caanon

We Charge the Castle

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

From my vantage point atop a nearby abandoned tower I confirm that Isran is an idiot. For whatever reason his group rushes the long stone bridge immediately meaning any dragon support I call down will most likely result in friendly fire. Worse, most of them bypass a pair of gargoyles and vamps who charge down the bridge to my team waiting in reserve. Still, they are outnumbered out here so I concentrate my sunhallowed fire onto the bridge proper where the Dawnguard group is getting thrashed and it seems to turn the tide for them somewhat, until I hear a large angry growl next to me.

Goliath? Is that you?

One of the gargoyles had made it up the tower and resisted my soul rend shout (thanks for nothing, Dummy) so I was forced into close quarters combat until I finally killed the sentinel. Once that was done I did a quick scan of the battle field: all the Dawnguard forces were either dead or kneeling over like bitches to the remaining two vamps on the bridge. Just outside, my group didn't fare much better - Cutter and Bane were lying dead on the sand along with one vampire and a death dog, Anni was floating face down near the jetty and I can only guess the various red smears around were what was left of Lynn. Jordis and Njada were still fighting off the remaining vamp and gargoyle but were not doing well so I prioritised them first and sniped off their adversaries before doing the same to the remaining enemies on the bridge.

Miraculously most of the Dawnguard team weren't dead (yet) and staggered to their feet to continue the charge into the castle proper where the vamps were waiting at good spots to blast us with their magic. I returned fire from the entry balcony while Jordis charged forward with the other brazed Dawnguard fools. A second wave of vamps from a different door appeared and rushed Njada and I, forcing us back to the entry way but we managed to down them on our own. When we did catch up with Jordis in the basement, she had bloodshot eyes and an extremely pale complexion. She lunged at us when she saw us but Serana shoved her aside with her magic and I could only stand dumbfounded as the two gals fought it out, at that moment unable to raise my weapon against one of my best followers.

The fight lasted a few minutes until finally Serana landed a direct hit with her lightning spell, throwing Jordis violently against a wall before her smouldering body crashed lifelessly to the floor. After making sure she was dead, we returned to the castle proper which seemed to have been fully cleaned out. Only one more opponent remained.