The 'What You Did in Skyrim Today' Thread

[The SheoDovah]

Today, Aejiri saved Windhelm from the Butcher after finding the White Phial. She was surprised when a Draugr used the Thu'um against her in Forsaken Cave. She couldn't save the elf but she did flat out kill Calixto for his crime. She is torn between investing the ruin that houses the Dwemer forge or going to the greybeards.

[Ursula R. M.]

This morn. Ursula took Gregor and the went back to Solstheim to see what they could get done. Deathbrand, and Stahlrim were on the to do list. They started where they left off, looking for the last piece of Deathbrand Armor. With some help from Dragonskin, the Ashspawn were cleared, Gregor held his own with dual wielding Staff, Shock and AWE. Ursula used the best bow she had, an Ebony Bow of Chaos. After aquiring the last piece of armor and a very important key as well, Ursula decided it would be a great idea to work on this new armor before meeting up with the Pirate's Ghost, Captn. Deathbrand. A quick trip home and a few minutes at the work bench, etc. Stahlrim Armor, well adjusted and ready to go. They took a trip back to Skaal village to see if the blacksmith there had any more pointers. Ursula already had that down. Convinced it was about good enough, and making a Stahlrim bow to further the blacksmith skill, then they were ready. Skaal Village, conviently located near the entrance to the Deathbrand containing Crypt. YadaYadaBlahBlah, and Deathbrand quest complete. Ursula and Gregor went back to "the Hall" and did more smithing, Urs. was at 99 so 100 was easy, and finally the ability to make Dragonscale Armor!!! Deathbrand Armor, placed on the upstairs Mannequin for all to admire.

[SLV_Gamer]

I started up the main quest again.

[perylousdemon]

Murob and Ghorbash wandered about in the Reach some more today. Most notably, they cleared out Lost Valley Redoubt and retrieved Hrolfdir's shield for Jarl Igmund. Then they traveled to Four Skull Lookout, where they encountered three non-hostile Forsworn (added by Interesting NPCs). Murob talked with them for a bit, then went to bed.

[Jabberdave]

Jabberdave, thanks for that vivid narration which describes my own dragon fighting experience perfectly! Do you play with Deadly Dragons by any chance?

No mods as I'm on X-Box. The dragons have gotten rather difficult on Expert since I hit level 50. Well, everything has gotten more difficult, but the Ancient dragons are seriously a pain.

[Crepe the Ashlander]

Sathil Hard-Arm, my Nord battle-mage, defeated the pirates that were harassing the East Empire Company's trade links, he did feel guilt though as he took money to help the Empire's trade routes, he better not let his commander, Ulfric know. He also sorted out the murderer in Windhelm, catching them before they killed the high elf.

[Elenath]

1. Created a new character to see how far I could get using just destruction magic. He immediately murdered a hunter and Faldrus and developed stalkerish tendencies.
2. My ranger married Sylgja (sp?), they walked home and he spent the rest of the day cooking a romantic dinnner and gathering wildflowers for her. She just wanted to sit outside with her buddies and when he tried to go to bed, a message appeared informing him that "you cannot sleep while being asked to leave". Heck of a honeymoon.
3. My mage wandered across the entirety of the Pale and most of Hjaalmarch, didn't find anything substantial to fight. I got bored and moved on.
4. My khajiit sword-and-board fighter killed some vampires, cleared out a fort, and climbed the Seven Thousand Steps for the first time. She also got to fight a dragon on the way back down, which was the most satisfying fight I've had in a while. Not enough potions, low skill with a bow, and no skill in Restoration. I was actually scared for a bit.

[Dohva.]

Onmund was nearly killed by vampires right inside Windhelm. In attempting to defend himself, he struck one of the guards with his lightning spell. Felina ran to his rescue while a master vampire and his thralls slaughtered several innocent townsfolk. Bloody boot prints were everywhere. Somehow the vampires ended up dead and Felina used Voice of the Emperor to calm the guards down. She still had to pay a fine though.

Enter Dawnguard. Felina has decided its time to put and end to these vampire attacks.

[The SheoDovah]

Today, Aejiri went through the Aetherium forge ruin. She bumped into a ghost and discovered the truth about a book. She also killed another dragon and has decided to visit the Greybeards. She can't delay it any longer. Oh and she sold a lot of crap. She also created a new weapon for herself. Dragon's Fire. A fire elven sword. She is using Zephyr(the weapon not the member) as her new bow.

[sinister]

Started building Lake View Manor. Just added the bedroom, storage room, and kitchen. Took me a couple of tries to get the bedroom and storageroom's balcony to connect right.

[Dark Heart]

Amara rode back to Windhelm. She got held up by a dragon attack on the road near Northwind Summit. Then she decided to take a little detour to the lair, since she thought the dragon was dead. When she reached the lair, though, there was another dragon perched on the word wall. It's the same on all my characters: I always get two dragons, one on the road, one at the lair itself. Must be an entire dragon family living up there

Amara then stayed at the lair for the night and rode further north in the morning. After clearing a cave for Brunwulf Free-Winter, she reached Windhelm, where she sold her loot and finished up a few minor quests before telling Aventus that Grelod would no longer be terrorizing the orphanage.

The next day she rode west towards Whiterun when a courier intercepted her at Mixwater Mill and handed her a mysterious note with the print of a black hand and the words, 'We know!'.

At that point a really fascinating coincidence occurred. Amara had another quest regarding squatters at Mixwater Mill (added by Interesting NPCs), and since she was already there, she decided to investigate. Interestingly, the squatters turned out to be fugitives from the Dark Brotherhood. One of them is even an ex-assassin who warned her not to get involved with the Brotherhood.

I thinks it's really fitting that she should meet those people at that specific time. On the eve of her joining the DB, she gets a dire warning from an ex-member. Plus the things the guy told her about killing, about guilt and innocence, give me an entirely new angle for roleplaying her story. I'm looking forward to getting into the DB even more now.

[The SheoDovah]

Today, Aejiri made her way towards High Hrothgar. She is halfway there and has killed 2 bears and a troll.

[Elenath]

Over the course of one hour's play today, my Khajiit was 1. Invited to join the Dawnguard, 2. Attacked by cultists, 3. Asked to become a werewolf.

It was a big day for her, I guess. Coming right on the heels of being named Dragonborn, too.

[Ursula R. M.]

Well Ursula decided to go back to Solstheim and find her friend Teldryn Sero and see if she could solve a few more problems in that god forsaken land. Said a fond goodbye to the family and friends in Heljarchen Hall, and had Markus drive her to Windhelm where she caught the boat to Solstheim. Mr. Sero was where he said he would be and agreed to take on the challenges they were about to face. First thing, visit the Skaal Village and make sure everything was wrapped up there. All was fine execpt an Erik clone was looking to expand his horizons and Mother did not approve. This time Ursula advised the young man it was not quite the right time for him to leave his poor mother. He agreed to stay a bit longer. Back to Raven Rock; Started and finished Served Cold and saved Councilor Morvayn from the Morag Tong Assassins. I cannot praise my follower enough here, Sero was wielding a Dragon Priests Staff and a Dwarven sword. He busts out his flame atronach also and look out, you better be fire proof too! Ursula, was in rare form and let Sero handle much of the battles. Busy Busy, met a dark elf (what else) and invested 1000 gold for an excavation project. Looks like we are kissing that money goodbye, by the looks of the guys journal. Oh well. Mr. Sero expressed a very strong desire to get the hell out of Solsheim and over to Skyrim. Back we went. The rest is a bit mundane, so hopefully he will stay awhile and enjoy the scenery. An afterhought, Ursula has yet another house to worry about. Nice big place in Raven Rock. Two dead bodies included.

[Snail's Pace]

Non-roleplay: Slightly increased the difficulty level by downgrading Jess's equipment. Crafted new hide armor, bracers, and boots, and a new Elven bow and dagger with ~10% lower armor and damage ratings than the old ones. This just makes it 10% more important to shoot straight and to not get her into a melee fight. Probably will lower the armor ratings further, but will use this equipment for a while to see how it goes.

Delia-Jessamine Maric, very confused Breton stealth-mage:

1. Realized that she was in Winterhold, but did not know how she got there. Three days had passed.
2. Went to see Brelyna for help, but their conversation went in some unexpected and unpleasant directions before they parted ways still friends.
3. Went to Windhelm the next day.
4. Got drunk and threw a bottle of ale at Rolff Stone-fist.
5. Bribed a guard to avoid arrest, flaunted and embraced her shady side.
6. Made it back to Riften, found that Torvar was mad, but not for long.
7. Crafted the new equipment mentioned above.

Long version

Spoiler:

Delia-Jessamine Maric, very confused Breton stealth-mage, figured out she was at the Frozen Hearth in Winterhold. She was unable to gain any useful insight into her situation from the inn-keepers other than that three days had passed since she was in Riften and that she was alone. It was odd that she had Wuuthrad with her, because she never uses heavy weapons, being too small to swing one without tiring quickly.

She went to the College and found Brelyna. Their initially friendly conversation soured, though, with both women airing grievances about each other. Brelyna revealed that she knew or suspected secrets about Jess's past and present that Jess tried to hide, and was tired of Jess's lying. Jess was frustrated at not being able to live up to Brelyna's expectations, and pointed out that Brelyna had secrets, too. They seemed to come to an understanding and their friendship remained intact.

(More details about the above are in the Roleplayer's Thread.)

Of course, Jess needs to get back to Riften, so the two friends tearfully parted ways for now. Jess returned to the Frozen Hearth for the night. She ate dinner alone in her room and wanted to get drunk. Unfortunately, the next thing she knew it was morning. She had fallen asleep and let a fine opportunity to get drunk slip away. At least she was still at the Frozen Hearth.

Jess left for Riften and made it to Windhelm. It was night when she arrived. She decided to stay at the Candlehearth, against her better judgment - usually she stays in Kynesgrove instead of in Windhelm.

She ate dinner and started drinking, then went outside to be alone to think. Rolff Stone-fist was outside. Great. Jess and Rolff had a history of drunken brawls, one of which Jess had been arrested for. He began speaking badly of the Dark Elves and Jess began to walk away wanting to control herself this time, but as she turned Rolff told her to get out of his face. Fine. Drunk and seething with anger, the Breton used a spell to throw a bottle of ale at him, injuring Rolff, who came at Jess with a knife. She punched him and he cut her. She was angry enough to kill him this time but a guard intervened.

Unlike the last time this happened, Jess was now a member of the Guild. And the guard knew. "Since you're a member of the Guild, 20 septims will get you out of this." She paid him off to avoid being taken into custody. And that was that.

She found Rolff. Jess wanted him to see that she was already back. There had been no arrest, no punishment. She had suffered virtually no consequence for assaulting him with that bottle of ale - which still lay on the ground in front of the inn. She picked up the bottle of ale, drank it, and smiled at Rolff. Then Jess went inside and stumbled to her room, fell into bed with her clothes on, and fell asleep.

Jess left for Riften the next morning with much on her mind. It was already night when she arrived at Honeyside, Of course, she was worried about how she would be greeted after having disappeared for five days. Torvar was sitting with his arms folded at the kitchen table with Iona. He didn't say anything. Jess felt terrible, said nothing, but took a sleeping tree sap and went to bed.

She awoke with lover’s comfort and wondered what she did to deserve it. The drug always made her forget. But Torvar did not seem angry with her anymore, so she didn't question it.

[Jabberdave]

Today, Aejiri made her way towards High Hrothgar. She is halfway there and has killed 2 bears and a troll.

AWESOME avatar!

Just running along the western coast. Found a few caves, one with a couple of hagravens. Also located a wreck with a few bandits. One of them was giving me a hard time with his shock spells. Also did a good bit of swimming around the rock formations off the coast.

Oh, almost forgot. Found a cave that I'm not sure I've been in before. Lower something.....I had to dive under the water that led to a cavern, but there wasn't any way up to the apparent walkway up above. So I'll be searching for the "Upper" something or other this evening.

[perylousdemon]

Today, Aejiri made her way towards High Hrothgar. She is halfway there and has killed 2 bears and a troll.

AWESOME avatar!

Just running along the western coast. Found a few caves, one with a couple of hagravens. Also located a wreck with a few bandits. One of them was giving me a hard time with his shock spells. Also did a good bit of swimming around the rock formations off the coast.

Oh, almost forgot. Found a cave that I'm not sure I've been in before. Lower something.....I had to dive under the water that led to a cavern, but there wasn't any way up to the apparent walkway up above. So I'll be searching for the "Upper" something or other this evening.

I do believe you're referring to Steepfall Burrow, up near Northwatch Keep.

On topic: I've had a busy couple of days. I decided to make a Forsworn character to test out Forsworn Faction Pack. Fun little mod. She even started off in Druadach Redoubt thanks to Live Another Life. It's just a shame that the author of FFP didn't include a way to free the Forsworn from Cidhna Mine without doing The Forsworn Conspiracy. For all I know, it might not be possible, but it seems to me there should be a way to do it. If I had more experience with the CK, I'd try to figure it out myself. Anyway, Ysara has reduced the standing population of Dragon Bridge, Rorikstead, and Karthwasten to...well, one or two, depending on the town. Children are unkillable, and I couldn't remove the essential tags on a few other characters, for some reason. She also wiped out a couple of Stormcloak camps. It's been great fun since I usually don't play characters that are so wantonly destructive. Sadly, there's only so much I can do with her and keep to the spirit of the character, so it's time to move on.

[godsmack]

Several iterations later, I finally get to explore some new avenues that I’ve previously neglected, mainly, joining the Dark Brotherhood. Love the new armor and can’t wait to put Kyra through her paces as a stealth-mage assassin. First objective and test will be seeing how she handles and makes her way through Ilinalta's Deep in search of Azura’s Star. So far she went solo out of Helgen, made her way to Falkreath and then on to Markarth where she hopped a carriage visiting various cities and towns including Whiterun, Riften, Windhelm and Azura’s Shrine following some of the “rumors” (quests) she picked up at various inns.

[Dohva.]

Felina and Onmund went skinny dipping for treasure under Lake Illinalta and fought some wicked mages. That was fun.

[SM-Dreamer]

Today, Blade dared the freezing north to help Brand-Shei find out about his past. She felt bad for setting him up during her thieves guild initiation, and had agreed to go looking for the lost ship. However, sitting in her tent by the fire, shivering violently and trying to dry off, she pondered the trade and whether it’d been worth it.

A bear decided to attack as she was breaking camp, and once it was dead, she spent more hours than she’d meant to skinning and harvesting from it.

Back in Winterhold, she stared in suspicion at the lights the folk had strung up, and at the overly tall fir tree with its gaudy lights. Entering the inn for a meal and sleep, she found more strange ornaments, but felt mollified by the cookie tin.

Before falling asleep for the night, Blade struggled through reading the journal she’d found, and not being quite tired, also read the book she’d found on a man that had attacked her. It started her down the quest for Boethiah’s proving, though she wasn’t sure when she’d get to that quest just yet.

When she woke, it was midnight, but she didn’t want to stay any longer in the wrecked town, and ventured off in search of Hob’s Fall Cave. She could deal with tracking down Ranmir’s lover and Pantea’s flute all at the same time. On the way, she was attacked by trolls and bandits, and was thankful for Vigilance to take the brunt of the damage.

Glancing at her map, she headed in the general direction of the cave, and found a lighthouse instead. The fire atop it looked welcoming, and she detected no bandits nearby. She crept closer, and what she found inside horrified her.

Carefully, she explored the first level, the dead body and the strange insectoid. Though reading the journals was difficult, she pieced together some of what had happened. She was nervous about fighting whatever creatures these were, but felt obligated to help. It’s what heroes did, right? She wasn’t sure, but went downstairs anyways.

After fighting the ear-wig like things, distorted elves, and spiders, she stopped to eat and let Vigilance heal. While she was doing this, a strange feeling came over her. It was as if someone else were in control! She found herself moving forward recklessly, wielding not her dual swords but one sword, and rushing towards the insects without fear or caution for their poison.

She also found herself doing this more than once, and wondered if she’d done this before. The sense of deja vu was bewildering, and when she came across dead Sudi, she felt as if… she’d seen this? She’d read the notes? She didn’t know, only that the feeling eventually faded when she neared the end of the vile nests and she settled into her normal, sneaky self.

After killing the nest, she took Habd’s remains to the lighthouse fire, then cleaned up the building. Tired, she barred the cellar door (just in case), and though she felt bad about sleeping in the dead family’s home, she also felt she’d earned it, and passed out for the night.

With the room door closed and Vigilance guarding it.

(The ‘odd feeling’ was my wife taking control because she wanted to play, lol, and the 'deja vu' when I restarted where I'd left off)

[Elenath]

Today I discovered that Silent Moons Camp has an interior. How many times have I been through there, without noticing it? Remarkable.

[perylousdemon]

I started a new Bosmer after I finished with Ysara. I selected the "Attacked and left for dead" scenario in Live Another Life. All I have to say is that it's a good thing I don't have Frostfall installed... Also, the spoiler tag is there because I was bored and practically wrote a novel. You have been warned.

Spoiler:

Faelwyn came to just outside of Alftand. The biting cold made it difficult to remember exactly what had happened during the night, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that the others were missing, and so was all of the gear they had brought with them. She knew that if she didn't find shelter or a warm fire soon, she would freeze to death. She climbed stiffly to her feet and glanced around the small hut, hoping against hope that she would find something useful for the trip to Winterhold. Before Fae could investigate the chest under the nearby table, however, a battle cry rang out, and she found herself face to face with a heavily armed and armored bandit. Knowing that she didn't stand a chance, she bolted in the general direction of Winterhold. With no belongings to weigh her down, she was easily able to outrun the bandit, but he soon became the least of her problems. Her flight had attracted the attention of a snow bear and an ice troll, both of which began to give chase as well.

Luckily for Fae, she made it to Winterhold in one piece, and all that running had warmed her up to the point where she was no longer shivering. There was no way she was staying in Winterhold, though. After "acquiring" some gold, armor, and weaponry from an Orc named Durak, she set off for Windhelm. It was a difficult trip, made so by the bears, ice wraiths, and the occupants of Fort Kastav. Still, she arrived at Windhelm with some daylight to spare. She'd had enough of the snow and bitter cold, so she took a carriage south to Riften.

It was late when she arrived, and she'd had a long day, so she made a beeline for the inn. Upon entering, she was approached by a shady red-haired man named Brynjolf, who offered her an opportunity to make some coin. Fae didn't hesitate to accept; after all, picking locks and pockets were two things she was remarkably good at. After getting a good night's rest, she met Brynjolf in the marketplace and worked her magic. The job went off without a hitch, and Brynjolf was impressed enough that he offered her more work if she could find her way to the Ragged Flagon in the Ratway.

Fae found the place easily enough, though she was very underwhelmed by its appearance. Still, money was money, and she could certainly use more gold, even if it meant bullying it out of people. Not her preferred method, but it was the only way to get the message across that the Thieves' Guild was not to be ignored. After she took care of that, Brynjolf took her to meet the leader of the guild, a man named Mercer Frey. Mercer immediately rubbed her the wrong way; she would have to tread lightly around this man.

After the meet and greet, Mercer got right down to business and gave Fae her first official job for the guild: infiltrate Goldenglow Estate to find out why the owner had stopped paying the Thieves' Guild, and burn three of the beehives while she was there. And she would have to do this while dodging the numerous mercenaries posted in and around the estate. A simple enough job for a thief as talented as Fae. She headed out once it got dark, and she was in and out of the estate within a few hours. Fae's flawless execution of the task apparently caught Maven Black-Briar's attention, because Brynjolf informed Fae that Maven wanted to speak with her. Fae was exhausted, though, so it would have to wait until morning.

[godsmack]

Hrm, so far, not so good. It seems while I was heavily focused and invested in the "mage" part, I rather neglected the "stealth" part, and subsequently found out that Kyra rather sucks at being sneaky, and stealth in general. Even so, clearing the first level of Ilinalta's Deep wasn't really a problem with a liberal application of spell magic. Still, I'm starting to reconsider if my affiliation with the Dark Brotherhood was the correct choice for this character. Stealth kills require both stealth and weapon focus, neither of which I'm really interested with investing time and energy into developing.

[Ursula R. M.]

Woke up too dang early, and started to play with d'Art. He has been having trouble getting the Vampire Lord thing down. Decided since I was pretty out of it I would tour the Volkihar castle and see what I missed. Did find the Thrall master, but could not figure out how to get a Thrall. Left the Castle after eating a bit of "cattle" and headed out to find a follower to bring back to the Skooma den. d'Art. had mostly cleared it out but had been overwhelmed by fellow Vampires and hell hounds. Decided to recruit the "lady" in Bannered Mare. Uthgerd, has enough fight in her to keep d'Art. alive. I was right and we got the Blood into the Chalice. Decided not to go back to Volkihar right away, and took a detour to CoW. Need a bit more practice and what not in the control of Vampire Lord. saved and tested it on Onmund and J' zargo(sp?)
They did kick d'Artagnon's Ass! But, all good it was practice. Do like to use the cloud of bats for escape. d'Artagnon leveled up and took on more health, and a restoration perk. That is pretty much all. They ended up back in Uthgerd's house, she went to the bar as usual. (when does she sleep?, her blood smells sweet)

[The SheoDovah]

Today, Aejiri travelled to Riften after training with the Greybeards. she was attacked twice by cultists. She helped someone to reclaime their castle and went ot Whiterun. That's about it.