So, I got ROB'ed.
Well, not really by a ROB. Though this being was, as far as I could tell, omnipotent, it wasn't exactly random. According to him, he is an alternate version of me that was pulled out of his life by another ROB and sent on a jump-chain. He decided to pay that forward by sending me on an adventure of my own.
Which would be great, but he's not being nearly as generous as a lot of the jump-chain and ROB stories I've read. I didn't get any points to spend and I am not just here for 10 years. I'm here until I die, and he hasn't made any promises about what happens after that.
Where is here? I'll give you a hint. The first thing I heard when I arrived was, "Hey, you! You're finally awake! You were trying to cross the border, right?"
Fucking Skyrim! Let me tell you that surviving that first day was the scariest thing I've ever done.
Luckily, my alternate self did let me know somethings about the world he was sending me to. First, I am the dovakiin. So, great, I guess. Nothing like having the weight of an actual world on my shoulders.
Second, the world functions as a sort of mix between the game and real life. Basically, he told me, any gameplay features that would help me to survive would still exist, so it is possible for me to learn a spell just by opening a book, which is great. However, there are notable differences from the games, like distances being much greater and populations being much bigger. However, the best thing is that, like the game, the story quest won't advance until I advance it.
I've been here for more than a year now, and I still haven't gone into the first dungeon.
One thing that isn't like the game is that there is no fast travel function. On top of that, I don't really feel safe traveling around Skyrim, so I tend to keep to within the walls of Whiterun. The only times I even step out are to buy stuff from the traveling Kahjiit caravan.
I've got a job working for the alchemist in town. I also work for the smith girl and the wizard in the castle. My goals for my time here have just been to grind up my enchanting, alchemy, and smithing while earning as much money as possible. Unfortunately, some of that money has had to go to renting a bed in the inn, but I've still accrued quite a savings.
This has been leading up to now. I'm meeting up with the Kahjiit caravan one last time, but this time I'm looking for something specific. The last time they were here, I gave them a list of things I'd buy in bulk if they acquired them for me, and they have successfully done so. I now have fifty samples of salt, small antlers, blue butterflies, and snowberries each.
With that in my inventory, I head up to the castle to complete my preparations for surviving this world.
At the enchanting table, I take out one of the filled grand soul gems I've aquired over the last year and a silver ring I made at the forge. I enchant the ring with a bonus to alchemy. Then I put it on and brew a fortify Restoration potion using a sample of salt and small antlers. I take off my ring, drink the potion, and put the ring back on. Then I make another fortify Restoration potion, take off the ring, drink the potion, and put the ring back on. After the third cycle of this, I do it again, but, this time, I make a fortify Enchanting potion instead of Restoration.
Now, after drinking the Fortify Enchanting potion, I enchant another silver ring with fortify alchemy.
I repeat this cycle until I run out of ingredients for fortify Restoration potions.
This is a pretty well known exploit in the games. It utilizes exponential growth to make fortify Enchanting potions that are, potentially, millions of percent better than they should be. It is pretty lame to actually play the game that way, but I'm not playing a game. This is my fucking life, here.
My newest, and most powerful ring, is enchanted with fortify Alchemy and fortify Smithing. And it will make any potion I make 30,000,000% more effective, and it will allow me to improve weapons and armor by 30,000,000%.
Now, I can enjoy another way that this world doesn't function like the games. It is entirely possible to wear an enchanted ring on each finger, and you can wear as many amulets as you want. I now have a ring that has fortify archery and fortify one-handed, a ring that has fortify sneak and fortify pickpocket, a ring that has fortify health and fortify healing rate, a ring that has fortify magika and fortify magika regen, a ring that has fortify carry weight and fortify lockpicking, and a ring that has fortify alchemy and fortify smithing, and I also have eight amulets that between them they have fortify alteration, fortify barter, fortify block, fortify conjuration, fortify destruction, fortify illusion, fortify restoration, fortify stamina, fortify stamina regen, resist disease, resist fire, resist frost, resist magic, resist poison, resist shock and water breathing.
And, wow, this is the first time since I got here that I'm not cold. I should have enchanted something with resist frost a long time ago.
Now, I just need to go grab and improve my armor and weapons and I'll be ready to face the dangers of Skyrim. Honestly, the health enchantment alone makes me basically unkillable.
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So, it's been like fifty years and I haven't aged a day. I think the crazy health or health regen my enchantments grant are keeping me young.
The story of the game was over just months after I set out to get started. The crazy thing is when you "fortify" a skill, it doesn't just mean a numerical increase in damage, it also makes you better at that skill. By fortifying my archery 30,000,000%, I basically gave myself the ability to hit a dragon in the eye from over a mile away. And it also increases the damage, which means I basically one-shotted Alduin.
With that out of the way, I got to the fun stuff. I did some side quests, became thane of every hold, stuff like that. I also made a dedicated study into magic, something really easy to do with basically unlimited magika.
I was especially interested in conjuration. One thing I always wondered about in the games was what are other conjurers doing differently that they can have permanent atronachs and daedra. Turns out, the answer is the difference between a spell cast on the fly and a dedicated ritual with prepared ingredients.
I honestly don't understand why necromancers aren't ruling this world. I mean, granted, undead are generally weak and people hate them, but quantity is a quality all its own. I personally own a very rich iron mine that is constantly being worked by zombies. Not the lame ones, either. The good ones that come at the end of the conjuration tech tree. "Dead Thrall" it's called. They retain their minds, but are bound to my service. I've even given a few of them enchanted rings that make them impossible to beat in a fight.
Speaking of rings, I don't have them, any more. About 40 years ago, I figured out a way to enchant tattoos, so I no longer need my rings.
I guess now I'll just see how long I live and hope that when (if) I die I'll get to either continue my jump-chain or go back to my home world. I do hope I'll be able to bring someone with me in that case; I'd hate to have to leave my wife or daughter behind.
