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After unloading all that loot from my first attempt at reaching Blackreach, I spent several days lounging around Lakeview and the surrounding towns. I actually stopped in Whiterun on my way back to Lakeview and spent the first day there. I own Breezehome, but consider it simply a place to stop for a night. Ghorbash and I hunted the next day and even went through Halted Stream Camp again as more bandits had taken up residence there. Had a deer not led me in that direction, those poor [&@%!] may still be alive today. Perhaps Hircine was playing around a bit.

After a couple of days at home and making quick visits to vendors for raw materials, I upgraded Ghorbash's weapons a little and crafted a few higher end items that were traded in Riverwood. Then we set out for Largashbur. With a stop for the night in Ivarstead....this was a leisurely trip and game was hunted along the way....we made it to the Orc Stronghold without much difficulty. Several Orcs were out front and seem to have recently slain a giant. I was disappointed that we missed the fight.

We were welcomed, but things were not right with this clan. We began assisting after Atub mentioned some items she needed to remove a curse on the clan. We did so and then, of course, Malacath spoke to me. Of course I did as he asked!

After completing Malacath's request in Fallowstone Cave, I began heading back to Largashbur. When leaving Fallowstone, my game froze on the loading screen so I went to bed.

Went on a clearout of an area. Bleakwind Bluff, Sundered Towers, Red Eagle Ascent, Liar's Rest (?) and Chillwind Depths.
Got quite a lot of quest related artefacts, but no word walls, booo. Loads of Falmer about too.
Have become a bit lazy and am using the Dremora Kynreeve from the Sanguine Rose an awful lot.
I like seeing the red dots disappear whilst hearing, 'there you are weakling!'

Kadlin took care of Vittoria for the Dark Brotherhood - not the most elegant example of her work. She had to cut a path out of Solitude with her blade. It was worth it, though. She was granted the ability to summon Lucien Lachance and has kept him by her side as her follower ever since. Other than Cicero, he seems to be the only one treating her with the respect due the Listener. Unfortunately she still had other business for the Thieves' guild in Solitude so she had to head straight back, hide her stolen merchandise in a corner and go pay her fine to be allowed back in.

I'm thinking Torvar will be the one for my character. She's trying to reform and thinks she can help him at the same time. It will be interesting to see if his behavior changes after marriage.

Edit: Deleted rest of post. Wrong thread.

Well, after completing the Companions, retrieving the Totems of Hircine with Aela and clearing out a few dragon's dens with Vilkas, Kyra visited Riften and met Mjoll and Aerin, and went crusading for Mara taking her to several new locations, including Markarth where she met Calcelmo. She left several loose ends in Markarth to finish Mara's quests. Kyra and Aela were close, but Mjoll was different, reminding her of what it meant to be human. Aela was an instinctive hunter, but had given in to her animal instincts. Now Aela was more animalistic predator, but Mjoll was noble, having not only overcome adversity, but resisted corruption. Mjoll reminded Kyra of Kodlak, and Mara seemed like a natural guide for Kyra to reconnect with her humanity that was slowly ebbing and slipping away from her in the course of the hunt. She realized she was slowly losing herself to the beast within and decided to follow Kodlak's example. She retrieved Grimsever for Mjoll to show her devotion and gratitude for the example and lesson Mjoll provided. Mjoll was so deeply moved that she agreed to be Kyra's new "Companion" and accompanied Kyra as she ventured forth to cure herself. This was her chance at redemption from the impurity that tainted her human blood. Aela had Hircine and her beast Companions. Since then, Kyra and Mjoll have been adventuring together, earning Kyra recognition alongside Mjoll as Thane of Riften. Their latest adventure together to return some sort of artifact or relic called the "Lexicon" to a place called Avanchnzel turned into a meandering voyage halfway across Skyrim all the way to Windhelm as Kyra's Clairvoyance directed them. Destiny and Fate make strange bedfellows and have either a horrible sense of direction or a horrible sense of humor as they were most recently led in a circuit from Darkwater Crossing to Windhelm then south to Shor and back past Riften. The irony remains as they prepare to embark once again.

Sylmirie and Aicantar adventured through Frostflow Lighthouse. They love solving a good mystery, but this one was solved from the moment they walked through the door. That poor family didn't have a clue as to what lived in their cellar. So Sylmirie and her hubby cleared the place out. The final battle was an epic one with Sylmirie stuck in a hallway behind Aicantar and their summons. Talk about annoying. She had to push past Aicantar (who by the way LOVES getting in front of her when they're in battle) to get to the Chaurus Reapers. Perhaps not a great idea...and I'm sure Aicantar yelled at her in the background: "What are you doing? Stay in formation!"

*tee hee* The things that run through my head when I play this game.

I laughed hard when he resurrected a smaller Chaurus to fight the gigantic boss in the last corridor. The way Chaurus look from behind when they're slicing their foes with their pincers is hilarious to me for some reason. Their heads move about funny. And Sylmirie likes electrocuting them because they jump. Muaha. And after discovering some treasures, they laid Habd's remains to rest and got an unexpected bonus (ie, my other two characters will be going to that lighthouse as well now).

The only time I ever finished that quest I had a bit too much wine in my system and I didn't complete it properly. So I'm glad to have done it this time. All of that took about 30 mins of game time and then I got bored. Until the next adventure, Sylmirie!

^

You know, I've never even stepped foot in the place. I really need to do that.

Its great. Just watch out in that room at the end.

Kyra and Mjoll set out for Avanchnzel again from Riften this time, and got sidetracked yet once again by a giant attack on an orc stronghold. After helping the orcs rid themselves of a curse brought about by an inept chieftain, Kyra got a nice new set of orcish armor in the process, which she promptly upgraded with her smithing to Epic quality. The open face design is much more preferable allowing her facial features to be seen, and the overall design looks much better on female characters than her previous Dwarven set. Unfortunately, there was only one set to go around so Mjoll will have to make due with her Dwemer armor for the time being. It's still better than the steel plate. The steel plate armor was flattering enough, but the helm was horrendous. Now, Kyra is over the armor cap and with a 100 Heavy Armor skill fully perked out and her magic resistance, damage is all but shrugged off and brushed aside from almost everything but the heaviest hitters and true heavyweights. Even in her Dwarven set, the giants and the orc chieftain posed little actual threat or trouble. Kyra finally tired enough of journeying between the Rift and Whiterun to move her and Mjoll to Honeyside, at least for the time being until this "Lexicon" business is finished. After disposing of all the unwanted, unneeded and unnecessary inventory in Riften, they ventured forth yet again from Largashbur and finally arrived at their destination, clearing the first area and watching the "memories" of the Lexicon and Avanchnzel unfold before them.

Zsakhi smithed until she didn't have a single septim to buy even a piece of bread for lunch, then chopped wood until dark. The next day, she got attacked by bandits the second she stepped out of the inn and killed them again after she raised them as zombies. Clearly her welcome in Riverwood was outstayed so she trekked to Whiterun where she immediately got to smithing with Adrianna until night, and after an interesting night of drinking and chatting up locals, she rented a room at the Bannered Mare. The next morning after some wheeling and dealing with Adrianna again, she went out into the field and hunted big game. She only got two, but their meat and hides would end up being useful. After she bathed in a ditch, Durak of the Dawnguard came and tried to recruit her while she was still naked.

^^Great roleplaying summary up there, godsmack (the stuff about Mjoll and Aela, etc.)! And I agree about orc armour on women - Mjoll wore it for most of my first ever playthrough.

Marilyn stole Frost and double-crossed Louis Letrush, acquiring not only a noble horse (in friggin' ebony horse armour too - I so love Requiem!) but several suits of steel plate armour to sell in the process. After familiarizing herself with the art of riding & ruling a horse (i.e. installing Horse Commands) she and Gorr set forth northwards for Cragslane Cavern in order to put and end to the smuggling of skooma into Riften (or, more properly, eliminate competition for the Thieves Guild and Ri'saad's caravans). They only got as far as Fort Greymoor though, where they were ambushed by bandits. After annihilating the attackers (Frost and Vigilance tore the last one to pieces between them) they proceeded to clear the fort of its unlawful occupants, being benighted and desperate for a sheltered place to sleep. Everything went well until poor Viggy was killed fighting the bandit leader. Marilyn was quite mad at Gorr who had just stood there and watched while she fought the boss all by herself and the poor dog was slaughtered. I think she'll probably give him the boot after Cragslane, but where is she going to find another dog? Somehow I doubt Banning will trust her with another one after this. (Yeah, I know, she'll probably adopt Meeko sooner or later.)

Thanks. Finally finished Unfathomable Depths, and now Kyra's armor and smithing are through the roof. Had no idea the boost would be so significant. Now, her smithing is like 70 something (after a smithing skill boost from the blacksmith in Dawnstar for fetching a book) and with a smithing fortifying/enhancing necklace and ring, she's tempering to Legendary. All this is actually a bit overkill since her armor is over 700. Why do they do that? Takes all the challenge and fun out of it when you can cap your armor rating so early and easily, and that's with an orcish set still at Epic because she doesn't have the required materials needed to upgrade again.

Finally started "In my Time of Need" (again) and actually found a solution to the problem of which side to take. I had no real reason to kill the Alik'r who assign the quest in the first place (sorry, LordAshton) so that wasn't really a viable solution. I went to Saadia and got her side of the events, taking careful mental notes of the dialogue and exchange. All Saadia says is that the Alik'r are employed and hired by the Aldmeri Dominion and that she suspects they're hunting her for speaking out against the Thalmor, and that they want to "extradite" her back to Hammerfell to face execution, but that was the only reference to "Hammerfell" she gave. At no point did she actually either explicitly or implicitly state how, when or where these events took place. I even double checked the quest journal entry.

Stage 25
"The barmaid at the Bannered Mare in Whiterun is apparently a fugitive noble from Hammerfell. She claims that she is on the run from assassins sent by rival houses in her homeland and needs someone to stop them before they find her."

The only real hole in Saadia's story I could find is the part where she refuses to go to the authorities and distrusts the guards and the Jarl, when she knows one of the Alik'r have been arrested, which obviously shows the guards and Jarl haven't been bribed or otherwise "bought off". Of course, the Alik'r prisoner's account could account for this discrepancy that he was simply abandoned for fumbling, which implies that perhaps the Alik'r could bail him out, if they were so disposed or inclined. Then I went to Swindler's Den, the name of their "hideout" carrying it's own implications and connotations. After disposing of all the bandits, I finally faced Kematu and have to say that his story was equally convincing, as I was almost swayed to side with him, but the facts are the facts.

Kematu seems to be oblivious of the events outlined in the "Great War" as he carries on about how the "resistance" is alive and well in Hammerfell, but he does seem to want a peaceful solution and to capture "Saadia" alive. Both are aware of each other's identity. Saadia accuses them of being assassins, which Kematu flatly denies, but he doesn't deny, but rather affirms there being a bounty on Saadia, which supports her account of them being mercenaries, which he doesn't deny. Both accuse the other of working with the Aldmeri Dominion and the Thalmor, and of basically being conniving, cunning, devious and deceitful. Kematu flatly blames the fall of Taneth on Saadia's betrayal for which the other noble houses became aware and demand "justice", but the fact is that the "Alik'r" not only consistently and constantly break the law and have run-ins with the authorities, citizens and guards, but flatly refuse to even acknowledge normal diplomatic channels for extradition of fugitives from justice, hence getting kicked out of Whiterun and having one of their members thrown in jail.

I finally decided to give both of them the benefit of the doubt. If Kematu is telling the truth, he's pursuing a 20 year old bounty, at least, but a traitor deserves justice. In this particular case, I decided justice has been served. Saadia has been effectively exiled from her homeland, stripped of her station and title and is serving out her "sentence" by being reduced from a noble to a barmaid. At the point I had to make a decision in the dialogue options with Kematu whether to help the Alik'r or fight them, I simply exited the coversation dialogue and left the cave, leaving them standing there looking at each other and scratching their heads. The Alik'r can stay in Swindler's Den and Saadia can stay in her room at the Bannered Mare in Whiterun.

The quest sucks and was poorly designed, developed and written, and I resent being effectively forced into such an awkward position of being required to make a blind decision without being given any facts to work with or even the possibility to investigate the claims of each. It's pretty obvious someone is lying, but you are refused the option to investigate to find out who. This sort of "choice" is no choice at all, so I chose not to choose. In an older pen-and-paper RPG setting you would have a person sitting in front of you acting as DM/GM that you could probe and query with relevant questions to base a decision on one way or the other and it would be up to them to decide how much and what info to provide. If this were all the info I was given in that setting, this is how I would decide. I'll just have to learn to live with an unfinished quest in my quest journal and log book.

Where Kyra and Mjoll go from here is anyone's guess. I have several open quests left including those loose ends in Markarth, but frankly, I'm a little burned out and crispy on exploring the Dwarven ruins and Dwemer excavations. Maybe I'll go do Azura's Star or one of the other Daedric quests we've been putting off like "A Daedra's Best Friend".

Kadlin easily snatched Gaius Maro's schedule (and a few septims from the guard) and noticed he was due on Whiterun in three days. She decided to head there early, hang out in Breezehome for a while and establish a routine. Breakfast at home. Smithing in the morning and Alchemy in the afternoon. Nice long dinner in the Bannered Mare. By the time Gaius arrives, she'll practically be a regular customer.

Plus at this rate, she should be skilled enough to start upgrading her Nightingale Armor in a day or so.

godsmack: That was great roleplaying, in your decision on the "In My Time of Need" quest. You seemed to have stayed true to your character on that. Well done!

Thanks, again.

Sylmirie and Aicantar went through Mzinchaleft and found Mjoll's sword. They rested in Dawnstar for the night and had to share the smallest bed in all of Skyrim. Imagine two amazon sized elves sharing a single bed. A nightmare. Sylmirie tossed and turned for hours before finally waking up early to leave that damn town. On their way towards Solitude they stopped at High Gate Ruins. Although their pockets already bulged with treasure, more never hurts, so in they went to help Anska retrieve her scroll.

Everything went smoothly until the end (after the dragon priest was killed) when Anska decided to attack Aicantar. He showed mercy on her after a few rounds of frostbite and had her begging for her life. Sylmirie stood and watched with that impish grin of hers. After the beef was settled, Anska got her stupid scroll and our elven couple left the ruins with a ton of gold and jewels. Next stop Solitude, so Sylmirie can got on a fat shopping spree. Poor Aicantar will be that man that sits in the dressing room with his girl watching her try on all sorts of clothing. I pity him already.

Addie decided to ask Lucan about his thief problem, partly to see if he would mention the second break-in. So she set off (the next morning) to retrieve the claw in exchange for even more gold from the merchant.

Facing the three bandits at the barrow entrance was a hugely exciting fight. Addie's light armor skill is lower than vanilla because of Character Creation Overhaul, and of course SkyRe makes combat much deadlier. She took out the guy nearest to the door with a couple of arrows, which alerted the battleaxe-wielding middle man. The ensuing hit-and-run drew the third bandit, who had a crossbow. Addie managed to shake them off and hide (and could track their footsteps thanks to the amazing Audio Overhaul for Skyrim). When they stopped searching, she doubled back to the upper level, then slit Axe-Man's throat. She didn't get the jump on the woman, though, which led to a finishing firefight between longbow and crossbow.

She's now gotten as far as the first three Draugr.

Because this new mod is so awesome (Amazing Followers Tweak Mod) I have to do a double post here today. Marcurio drank Lieth's blood and turned into a werewolf. HOT. They ran off into the woods together to meet up with Barbas at Clavicus Vile's shrine...but too much time had lapsed since they first cleared out the cave and so all the vampires were back. After all that was settled, Lieth saw the moon was out, so she and Marcurio transformed and ate a nearby Stormcloak camp.

Just wait until Vilkas finds out about this.

This is actually "What I did in Skyrim the last 3 days" as I didn't have time to write this stuff on the days that I played.

Summary:
Delia-Jessamine Maric, troubled Breton stealth-mage, decided to straighten out her life. She:
1. Did a good deed and a neglected duty
2. Confronted personal demons in the Reach
3. Revealed to another Companion that she is a mage
4. Found some new clothing
5. Left the Thieves Guild
6. Hid the evidence
7. Disrespected a powerful Daedric prince

Long version:

^ Some very impressive RP ^

Went to Froki's shack and did the Kyne's quest, reward not handy for me as I dont hunt.
Went towards some structure down the hill from his shack and was surprised by a deathlord and a big bunch of skeletons attacking. A frost dragon also decided to fly down at the same time, not sure if a coincidence. Needless to say, that battle did not end in my favour.

Finally got the kitchen, dining room and loft decorated in breezehome, since im more flush than I used to be.
Looks nice n cosy now and marcurio has been making use of the cooking pot.
Whats also nice is that I dumped recruited Lydia into the blades, so now she no longer infests lives in the house.

Had fun trying out more scroll spells whilst in whiterun. I dont use much magic other than destruction, so discovered some cool spells. Especially liked Blizzard, a master level spell. Am about level 77 destruction so will have to practice more to be able to buy. Killed marcurio with one fiery explosion blast so would like to buy that too!
Killed all the guards in ensuing arrest caused by my wanton magic. Last time I tried that I was much lower level and got creamed, but this time was different! I, of course, reloaded so all guards/citizens/husbands were fine again.

Contrary to my usual kind demeanor, I became riled by that small girl in whiterun who says she cud fight anyone and wasnt afraid of me. She said it a few times, so I disarmed my mace and fireball, chased her behind the houses, waited for her to say it again, then satisfyingly punched her in the face. She ran away, commenting that she didnt think I had the stomach for it. Normally I dont, but she was just askin for it.

@godsmack

Thanks. The character's personality is based on people I know, which makes it easier. Of course, a lot of it is exaggerated to fit the fantasy world, but in many ways the character is true to life, I think. I put more thought into creating her than most of my other TES/Fallout characters (only my CoC was as detailed, and the two characters are connected in my made-up lore). She's chaotic though, and I can't always make sense of the things she does. Like with my ex-girlfriends.

The Molag Bal quest was the toughest one to know what to do, so far. If she had been in a better frame of mind, I would have cut her losses and left it unfinished, similar to what you did with "In My Time of Need" (and I agree with your reasons for leaving that one unfinished for your character). But she was at her lowest point and I thought she would be vulnerable to Daedric manipulation, so I decided to keep going with it (though I hated every minute of the MB quest).

Back on topic: I haven't done anything in Skyrim today, but I was checking Jess's stats at the end of playing yesterday and noticed that she had somehow notched her first murder, which bothers me. It had to have been an accident. So, what I will do in Skyrim today is try to figure out when this murder happened and whether to re-do what I did yesterday, or let it stand and play on. She doesn't have a bounty, so I guess no one "knows" that she is now, technically, a murderer - except possibly a certain first-time mercenary that she hired in Rorikstead. If I knew who it was and when it happened, I could incorporate the accidental murder into her story, but I don't know any details about it. Ugh.

Edit: this made me laugh.