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My Bad Guy was recruited into the Dark Brotherhood and is now travelling around Skyrim clockwise on a massive crime/murder spree. The plan is to start Dawnguard and make her into a Vampire once I make it as far as Riften.

My Good Guy is similarly travelling around, trying to clear up a bunch of quest markers from the map before he accepts any more.

Today I managed to get a bookcase to duplicate Oghma infiniums. Now I can still level to 81 and possibly beyond.

My Imperial assassin Cassius just finished the Dark Brotherhood's main quest. After that, Cassius married Muiri and moved into Honeyside. What a mistake that was. I attempted to decorate my home (which is already a pain to do) and listened to her say "Thanks for solving my... problem" over and over. I'm considering making her move back to Markarth. Or stabbing her. Both viable options.

Yesterday, Ulrok(spelt wrong as i couldn't remember if it was U or o. Tis spelt with U.) entered Skyrim. He escaped Helgen and tried to find the Dawnguard. He failed to.

Today, Ulrok tried to find the dawnguard and tried to raise enough gold to get to Solsthiem. He failed. Then he mysteriously vanished. Ulruk entered Skyrim. I restarted as i was rushing it. Going to spend a few days in Riverwood or just 2 days. Will do the Main quest up untill Dragon Rising and before the way of the voice then delay it. Don't plan on starting Dawnguard untill i've got a lot of shouts and am roughly level 20. Plan to do it in Orcish Armour then switch to either Dawnguard Armour or Vampire one. Unsure which side. Am tempted to have him join the vampires out of his desire for revenge on the Thalmor and he views the vampire lord as the way to do it. May actually delay it untill after Alduin is defeated. Don't think i will bother with Hearthfire with Ulruk as he has only one thing left. Vengance. Meaning if you're a thalmor, you will taste his axe. Will do Dragonborn after the main quest as it seems more natural to do so. That having a Dovahkiin that is at his best take on the first seems like a much better way to do it.

My character is rather humble, and was conflicted about his role of Dragonborn. He feared abusing his power, he feared the responsibility that was laid on him without his choice. As Gandalf would put it, our only choice is what to do with the time that is given to us. And Roderic fears that the world, or Akatosh in all his greatness, made the decision for him.

His fight with Miraak will be an underdog story that helps him realize his role and risk and responsibilities as a Dragonborn blacksmith.

With almost every character I make, I like to believe that each dragon soul devoured by my character changes them, ever so slightly to think more like a dragon before they eventually believe, like the dragons believe, that power equals truth. This will give the character ambition and even reason to be corrupted and experience that side of skyrim.

I always fulfill his last request. That guy was a greedy [&@%!] anyway.

My PS3 character continued wandering around Skyrim. She fought two Blood Dragons (at level 22); one was outside Whiterun, and the other was at Northwind Summit. Arandis forged herself a full set of Scaled Armor (I was amused by the fact that I had the exact amount of materials required to craft it) and improved it, but kept her Elven weapons because she simply doesn't have anything better. Other than that, she got herself killed by a Bandit Chief at the Valtheim (Valthiem?) Towers... He pulled a kill cam on her when she still had over half health. Hmph.

PC Vulom Staadnau IV traveled back to Dawnstar and continued her journey along the coastline. She traveled all the way to High Gate Ruins, where she decided to "help" a Nord find a certain scroll. Once that was finished, Vulom killed said Nord and proceeded to take off with everything of value.
She then went through Folgunthur and started Forbidden Legends, and then decided to do some work for the Daedric Prince Meridia.
Vulom finished just outside of Volskygge, which she will clear out tomorrow.

Today my nord male Cain Frost just forge a new armor and visit a cave (I dont remember the name) with Lydia.

Comes-Up-Last and his gang travelled westwards and northwards from Riften, planning in the long run to rejoin the Dawnguard at the other end of Skyrim for the final showdown. On their way they stopped at Darkwater Crossing and took the time to extricate Derkeethus from his wet prison because I thought CUL could do with another Argonian follower. (Amusing sidenote: since CUL is a notorious lawbreaker and therefore on good terms with bandits all over Skyrim, I habitually add all his followers (including horses) to the bandit faction as well to avoid silly fights among friends; and now Derkeethus entertains the rest of us with all the typical bandit songs about the orc and the elf and the maiden fair as springtime in old Stross M'kai, including complaints about illegitimate brats and stupid people who will fight instead of just handing over the gold. Seems he led quite an interesting life before becoming a miner .)

Next stop Whiterun, where CUL was relieved to find that his dear Shahvee had reached Breezehome safely and consulted Proventus Avenicci about converting his alchemy lab into a children's room. Unfortunately it seems that I'd already done that before, then decided that CUL was unlikely to have kids and reconverted it back to alchemy lab, which is now irreversible. Looks like I'll have to extend Lakeview Manor after all. The rest of our stay in Whiterun was spent selling stuff and crafting some decent gear for Derky. Larkspur (from Interesting NPCs) decided he was done adventuring for a while and chose to stay behind (i.e. I dismissed him; he's an amiable chap and I could imagine making him CUL's steward if that's possible, but his dialogue is a bit too repetitive to have him around all the time), so we're now one step closer to a pure Argonian dream team.

Next stop Falkreath and a visit to The Family, where things haven't been going too well, but that will have to wait until the vampire danger's been dealt with.

PC Bosmer ran around Skyrim for a while, searching for Moonstone and Malachite.
In the end, she gave up on that because she could craft Dragon weapons and armor, and she just so happened to have plenty of bones and scales.

Other than that, I did some power-leveling, got bored, then used the scroll of perfection.
So now she's level 81.


Yeah. Didn't do too much.
Time to return to Vulom IV, I think.

I traveled to Dawnstar Sanctuary and decided not to follow Astrid's instructions. I figure that a Daedra worshiper like Myrle would rather see the Dark Brotherhood following the Night Mother, instead of becoming a business organization. After that I headed south and the journey once again reminded me why I never ever use horses in TES games... Yup, the red glowing eyes are super cool, the actually fast fast travel is nice too, but since I'm not using it all that much, the annoying parts come forward. I hate that I have to dismount to do anything, I hate that the horse is dumber than a concussed Lydia and I hate that I can't sneak. And on top of that Myrle is a Vvardenfell Dunmer, she'd never be comfortable with riding a horse and would choose her own two legs whenever possible. So, as soon as I reached the Falkreath Sanctuary, I left the stupid beast there.

After I lied to Astrid I went east and killed a dragon that was trying to burn down Falkreath. A regular Dragon, which surprised me a bit, I've been fighting Elder and Ancient dragons lately. Oh well, it just meant that I could jump into melee right away and hack it to pieces in ten seconds flat. I followed the road east, went through the Helgen Pass and visited Froki to give him back his bow and tell him I killed the final animal guardian. The reward wasn't all that nice, but I enjoyed the challenge.

And then I got a chance to indulge my murderous tendencies, when an Ancient Dragon from that tower near Froki's shack attacked me. Instead of distracting it with summons, the way I usually do, I led it straight to the Imperial camp down the hill. Not surprisingly, the dragon ate the camp (the only survivors were the horses and the wounded hiding in the tent) and died soon after, because it was so busy gulping down Imperial soldiers that it completely ignored the fact that I was standing up the hill and turning it into a pincushion. Which only goes to show that gluttony is bad for you.

Speaking of gluttony, I'm off to Markarth now, to track down a certain cook, but I'm taking a long way round - need to visit the College and both leaders of the civil war.

Messed around with an Argonian Vampire named Hides-In-Mist earlier, then returned to dungeon diving with Vulom.
She cleared out a few dungeons, but other than that, she really didn't do much.

Gotta finish the dungeon diving and Daedric quests before I do anything else.

After much annoyance, swearing at the screen and cursing Bethesda to Oblivion I reset Hearthfire so I could have a child's bedroom in Breezehome, rebuild Lakeview Manor and adopt little Ram-Ku. Unfortunately I wasn't exactly in Jarl Siddgeir's good books after my followers had slaughtered his Dadgeir, but saving his town from an Arctic Dragon and a vampire attack (and using setrelationshiprank on him and Nelya) helped to convince them it had all been a tragic accident, and Comes-Up-Last is now once again proud owner of a plot of land right on the sunny shores of Lake Ilinalta. Now northwards for the final solution of the vampire problem, and after that and some construction work CUL can happily spend the rest of his life teaching his son how to catch fish (when he isn't viciously murdering people for money or relieving them of their valuables).

By the way, apparently CUL's marital problems are far from over yet: When we last stopped in Whiterun, Shahvee refused to share her husband's bed, denying him Lover's Comfort, but chose to sleep in the vacant housecarl bed (I can't really remember what happened to Lydia in this playthrough, but I think it's safe to assume she laid down her life in some godless dungeon protecting her even more godless thane). Is this something to do with her pregnancy, or is she punishing him because she's jealous of Anum-La? We wonders, my precious, we wonders...

Hung around the College of Winterhold and slaughtered a bunch of Horkers. Then I went wandering the icefields between Winterhold and Windhelm, and took down a Whispmother and two Snowy Sabrecats. All three without much trouble, which was rather surprising, since my mage only just reached level fifteen. Onmund and an Atronach make everything so much easier.

My first minutes of gameplay today had Keri Hilson's "Turn Me On" song playing. Felina's steel bolt penetrated a bandit at the same time I heard "you look baby mama type". I should really be doing something more important with my time. LOL

By the way, Durhneviir is useless. She finally got his shout to work and then he did nothing as bandits proceeded to slaughter her and Meeko. I think she'll summon him next time and shoot him with arrows.

Durnehviir works just fine for me. I summon him in the battle against the twins (you know the Dragons I'm referring to) and he attacks them with no problems. After giving me the Word(s) to Soul Tear, of course. He will sit still during that time and ignore all combat around him. Durnehviir will only attack once he is done talking. If you already know all the Words, he'll go right to the battle.

Other than that, he can serve as a good distraction. Like any follower who's worth what you did to get them.



Anyway, Vulom IV completed her dungeon diving and is now working on the Daedric quests. She completed Ill Met by Moonlight and A Daedra's Best Friend.
I'll probably take her off to Markarth next.

Once I'm done with the Daedric quests, I'll probably do as many side quests in each town as possible, as well as working on building the Hearthfire homes.
Then it'll be time for the Companions.

So today I rode a goat. Not on purpose, mind you, and I'm very happy no one was there to see, because Myrle must have looked like a complete moron, but I tried to jump over a goat that was blocking the path and somehow landed on its back. And then it started running. I killed it just in case, I don't want it spreading the story...

I talked Ulfric into accepting the truce, caught a killer in Windhelm and helped restore the White Phial. Then I travelled north to the College, where I had to kill the "magical anomalies" twice, because the first time ended with both College mages attacking me and I couldn't get them to calm down... Friendly fire sucks. The second time I used summoned daedra and a bow, instead of hacking away with Dragonbane and Mehrunes' Razor, and managed not to hit anything I wasn't aiming at.

Then I cleansed the Azura Star and took the priest with me as a companion (she's a fellow Morrowind Dunmer and a daedra worhipper, I thought I'd give her a chance). We took a carriage to Whiterun, to listen to an old fortune teller and do some shopping, after which we're travelling across Whiterun Plains to the Labyrinthian, then a chat with the general, and then I have a date with a cook in Markarth. Busy, busy, busy.

Oh, and I absolutely love how the guards react to what I'm doing. The ones at Windhelm gates swore there were "this close" to catching the killer, mentioned my status as a College mage, and mentioned Nurelion's death. And the one in Whiterun was amazed that I had the Azura's Star with me and shared some gossip about the uncovered plot to assassinate the Emperor ([evil laugh on] muahahahahahah). This is nothing big and nothing very important, but it makes Skyrim feel more alive and I love it.

Vulom "helped" out the people of Falkreath, then went to the Jarl. She took care of some bandits for him, then was made Thane.
After that, she bought Lakeview Manor and built the house. Spent the next half hour or more organizing everything. Built it with a library, greenhouse, and alchemy tower this time. Calling it "the Poisoner's Nook."

Other than that, she murdered Bolund. Man was [&@%!] me off (as usual), so I ducked down at the bottom of the ramp leading into the lumber mill, pulled out the Lustmord Crossbow, and then shot him dead. The Guards didn't even react. Mission successful.

Antonius Falco Secundus, former Legionnaire for the Imperial Legion, still he wanders the vast open of Skyrim. Stopping at any town or wilderness camp when night falls. He's still unsure about what he wants to do. He avoids the Legion out of fear, Avoids the Thalmor lest they recognize him, avoids the Stormcloaks for he has no wish to join their cause. But one night he was reminded of why he fled the Legion. As he walked the lonely mountain roads to Markarth he encountered on the road ahead Thalmor Justicars taking a Prisoner. He wasn't fugitive no more but he was a man with filled with hatred. He battled his way through all 3 Thalmor and in his bloodlust he realized he killed the prisoner as well, a Nord. He couldn't believe what he had done so after he dumped the bodies into the Karth River (The Nord he gently placed by a cairn) he got off the roads and fled into the mountains. But guilt and regret would not find him that night only more danger as he was attacked by Forsworn and Hagravens....last he left off he was looting the bodies of the dead Reach natives...

I followed the plan from my previous post and traveled north. The Labyrinthian was a lot of fun, especially since it was one of the few locations I've never seen before.

After I talked to general Tullius, I headed west to find that ancient assassin Olava told me about, and on the road outside Solitude I met - you guessed it - Thalmor patrol number five! I dispatched them quickly and thought I made a really good choice by taking Aranea with me. She has a deadly aim with those lightning spells and doesn't get in my way at all. Now if only she would take a hint and change her clothes when I'm putting awesome Master level robes in her equipment... Well, after the Thalmor were dead and I was busy dragging the first one to the edge of my favourite cliff, I heard someone say "What happened here?!", turned around and saw two Vigilants of Stendarr standing over the body of another Thalmor. And there I was, five steps away, dragging a corpse by the leg, while my summoned dremora was watching on...

Oh well, there's enough room down that cliff for everybody. Or every body. Muahahah.

Anyway, I headed to the location pointed out by Olava, and met yet another Thalmor patrol. They were busy slaughtering some Stormcloaks and didn't even know what hit them. We were in the middle of nowhere, so I left them where they fell.

The assassin was easily found, especially since I had cleared the location earlier and there were only two lone Forsworn stragglers sitting by the fire. One small problem was Aranea trying to commit suicide by repeatedly walking into a swinging spikes trap. In the end I had to step in front of her and let the spikes hit me instead, because she was already on her knees and about to get dead. Gah. As soon as I get Legendary Edition, I'm getting one of those follower AI mods and doing something about that particular bit of stupidity...

We went to Markarth then (getting lost twice on the way and killing a dragon that tried to eat us), improved the Ancient Assassin Armor (Triple-A?) and ran into a slightly ridiculous glitch. You see, it seems Myrle's nose and chin are too pointy. Because they stick through the fabric of the cowl, making it look rather ridiculous. It's so unfair! What do those assassins have against people with big noses?! It's not her fault!

Well, after that bit of silliness, I went to intimidate the cook (that was easy), said "who's the good boy?" to a dog that was barking at the Thalmor and now I need to find something to do until my "loose end" goes to sleep.

(edit: stupid typo)

Comes-Up Last and his gang are currently travelling northwards from Falkreath through the Reach, heading for Darkfall Cave where CUL plans to replenish his supply of Sunhallowed Elven Arrows before confronting a certain primitive cannibal clan on their island near the High Rock border. After a few months of playing a Forsworn character I had quite forgotten how fiendish they can be as enemies, especially as Forsworn Faction Pack gives them a few spells and abilities which are rather inconvenient if you're on the receiving end; I suppose Enhanced Enemy AI doesn't help either. CUL, who is wont to tank his way through deathlords without blinking, had to resort to some serious sneaky sniping and hit-and-run tactics, even call on Histskin once. Fun fight.

I also made another probably ephemeral character (although I don't know, he might grow on me), a knightly Breton by the name of Sir Diesalot (obviously no DID-character). I see him as a somewhat quixotic character - say, a former clerk of the East Empire Trading Company who has read too many romances celebrating the Champion of Cyrodiil and, after a fatal disagreement with his boss, decided to emulate his hero and become a knight errant, helper of the poor and oppressed and bane of all bandits, dark sorcerers, daedra and other monsters; a bit of a Vigil of Stendarr all by himself and without the fundamentalist attitude. After disembarking in Windhelm he has so far
- failed to make an impression on Torbjorn Shatter-Shield,
- sold his few valuables for the money needed to buy a steel greatsword and the raw materials to forge himself some armour (couldn't afford to buy a readymade one),
- successfully killed a wolf or two,
- almost died to a horker before killing it by a hair's breath,
- run screaming from Yngol's Shade, realizing he had grossly overestimated himself,
- cleared the bandit hideout at Traitor's Post, making extensive use of the hit-run&dodgewhilehealing-rinse&repeat technique I suspect many of us perfected in Oblivion's Arena (naturally, he'd forgot to bring potions, or rather he couldn't afford any and had to make do with the starter Healing spell) and after an extended shootout with the bandit chief (who one-hit me when I made the mistake to engage him in melee); at one point I ran out of arrows and had to collect fallen ones while dodging his shots. Oh the fun of low levels!
- almost solved the mystery of the Butcher murders but fell to Rolff Stone-Fist's dagger due to a misunderstanding about the rules of brawling and being too surprised to defend himself with his blade.

I think I'll revive him though, he does have potential.

Sylas was off exploring a bit and relishing his new found cursed powers when he ran into a storm cloak patrol near Fort Dunstad. After being chased across a couple hills and around the fort at least once I run into two shady looking figures just off the main road apparently just waiting around. This was Sylas' first meeting with M'aiq and Talsgar. Shame it had to end violently for the bandits and Stormcloaks did not particularly find Sylas to be all that welcome.

Vulom traveled to Solitude and met the madman wandering the streets. When she went up to the Blue Palace, she found somebody there reporting some strange disturbances around Wolf Skull Cave. Vulom, being her greedy self, offered to take care of the problem. Only then did she go off and take care of the problem the madman had.

Vara Rydilis did the exact same thing, minus the Wolf Queen bits since she's already done those.
I've done Sheogorath's quest twice within the last half hour. Went faster the second time since I was apparently having problems aiming the first time around.

Other than that, I also downloaded the Bosmer Armor Pack. After that, I got the strange urge to resurrect an old, long-dead Bosmer of mine. Lanari. Otherwise known as Skyrim character #3. With some changes in appearance this time around, though. Just not sure if I'm actually going to keep her. Probably not. The armor, on the other hand, is definitely a keeper.

Got my head cut off by Krev the Skinner.

My Nordic champion of Kyne, Haema Cold-Blood, just got herself an amulet that gives zero shout cooldowns. I always thought it a bit lame that the dragonborn could only use his voice and main superpower a couple times a minute. It should be his secondary, close to primary choice!

She is training under the Greybeards, learning the words of power, and familiarizing herself with the Way of the Voice. She will need to understand that it is only a power used for True Need. Roleplaying that appreciation for the Thuum and how it should only be used when needed will balance out her zero cooldowns, but still make it fun and possible to play higher difficulties.

She's been in monk robes with her bow and hatchet. She's Kynareth's guerrilla guardian of the forest and Nordic people. She bolts through the forests of Skyrim leaving leaves dusted up in her trail, an untouchable shade in the forest. Thunder follows her trail, and the enemies of Kynareth and her people tremble at Haema's voice. She would be a pacifist with the Greybeards, but Paarthurnax once told her that "power without action is inert." Her voice empowers the people of Skyrim under Kyne's guidance and Ulfric's flag.

Disclaimer: I hate hate hate hate using exploits and maxing out characters with enchanting and other boosting loops but, quite frankly, this was for an in-character ability and I find I will use it in a balanced enough way to not have a cluttered conscience. Please don't disrespect me <:O It's the first and likely one of few times I'll ever even make a Restoration potion lol.