Ring Notes:
- Sybille took her sweet time examining the rings I found at Dimhollow, but the effects are good enough to remember so I'll write them down.
- The first one, dubbed Ring of the Nightstalker, makes the wearer's movements completely soundless, from footsteps to even open combat, but the enchantment doesn't apply to interacting with other objects, like opening doors.
- The second, the Butcher's Ring, requires blood to work, because of course it does. The way Sybille explained it to me, it will absorb whatever blood is in proximity that isn't inside a creature or container and turn it into energy, enhancing the wearer's vitality, reflexes, physical strength, and so on - anything that helps them spill more blood, to put it briefly.
Aetherium Notes:
- It seems like the two shards are part of a matching set. They're not even broken - they're very carefully carved into pieces. Katria's notes imply the existence of two more pieces. If put together, it should make a full circle.
- I don't know if I'm hallucinating or something, but it feels as though when I put the two pieces together, they start emitting some kind of hum. It's not something you'd hear unless you were listening for it, but it's just barely audible.
- Uh, so the pieces won't come apart now that I've connected them. A little concerning, I will admit. It's not as if they've fused together, but they're almost… Pulling each other closer together. You'd probably need two people to pry them apart.
Thu'um Notes:
- Second word of Become Ethereal is "Zii", meaning "Spirit". I don't really notice much of a difference when using it, but I think it lasts longer? I'm not sure.
- Oh shit, there IS a difference. I'm invisible now! That can come in handy. But I feel like there's something else I could do, maybe I should meditate more on this, dig up a memory or two.
- Frost Breath and Whirlwind Sprint are complete now, courtesy of that invisible coward. Funny, I don't think he used Become Ethereal for his camouflage, maybe there's a specific Shout for it? I'll have to pick my brain a bit for that one later.
- Whirlwind Sprint doesn't seem to change much. The more words I use, the more control I seem to have, and the farther I can go without needing to stop. I can even change directions and grab things mid-flight, which might come in handy. I wonder if spells would pass through me when I'm like this?
- Frost Breath is surprisingly complicated, the more I think about it. The words themselves mostly do the same thing as with other Shouts - increase control, potency, and so on. But I think imagination plays a part here, too. I need to test something.
- Alright, my hunch was correct. Both Frost Breath and Fire Breath can be manipulated to come out differently - so far the things I've been able to pull off are just a wave, a massive projectile, a bunch of smaller projectiles, a continuous stream, and even a targeted explosion. No luck with Fire Breath, though. Maybe I need more words? What words could a Shout like "Fire Breath" have?
Magic Notes:
- I've been trying to experiment a bit with lightning magic, but it just isn't my thing, apparently. Not to mention it's a lot more needy, so I'm chugging potions like an addict just trying to keep up with the drain. I think I'll stick to fire.
- I still can't get over the fact that the liquid fire idea actually worked. Seht's gears, I have a headache. I need a nap before I do anything more.
- Okay, so this… What do I call it, even? Lava magic? Lava magic, it's fucking tricky. The fire sticks around for a bit but dissipates almost immediately afterwards when I'm not actively focusing on it, so it's not like it's creating actual lava. I should try to experiment with the… what's the word, viscosity? Less like water, maybe more like glue, but burning. Now that would be nasty.
- Alright, I give up. For now anyway. I am exhausted. Who would've thought that creating solid fire is harder than creating normal fire? If there's a magicka equivalent to muscle soreness, I'm starting to really feel it.
Vampire Notes:
- Alright well, since Serana is going to be traveling with me, I decided I might as well ask her a few things about how this whole vampire thing works, since I'm not exactly an expert. I'll write down whatever she tells me, and we'll figure out the rest as we go.
- The most sensitive problem is obviously the feeding, so I asked about that first. It depends from vampire to vampire, especially taking into account how active the vampire is, but generally a vampire can go about a month on average without feeding before they really start feeling the effects. By then though, they're pretty much a starving beast, and vampires themselves refer to those "feral" vampires as Bloodfiends.
- The more well-fed a vampire is, the more generally powerful and stable they are. Vampirism affects both the body and the soul, and this makes vampires dependent on the life force of other creatures to survive. Theoretically a vampire can feed even on animals, but that kind of diet will leave them a lot more lethargic and generally incapable of using their abilities.
- Serana says she would feed daily back at the castle, since thralls are available constantly, but as we travel she's comfortable enough drinking blood maybe once every two or three days. More than that, though, and she starts feeling a bit antsy, so might not be too good of an idea to be around people then.
- The way Serana put it, vampires are "selectively alive". The energy they get from blood is spent animating their body - making their limbs move, and so on. To preserve energy, this generally means they don't perform any kind of biological functions that they don't need to do. For example, they CAN digest food, but their digestive tracts don't work "by default", they choose to make them work when they want to. With the same logic, they don't need to breathe, they don't produce body heat, and their hearts don't beat. Some vampires can force their bodies to do all of these functions, but they'd have to do it consciously, and they'd have to feed a lot - both on blood and on regular food - in order to maintain these processes.
- Vampires don't die from starvation, either. Since their bodies are technically already dead, "starving" really means they have no more energy to animate themselves. This means that a vampire beyond the point of no return will fall into a deep sleep, basically unable to move until either someone finishes it off or feeds it, at which point they will wake up and be "alive" again. That said, vampires who have tried to resist this sleep for too long and stayed awake despite starvation until they have become bloodfiends may not return to the most sound state of mind, and will need a longer recovery period.
- Blood magic is absolutely fascinating and horrifying. Serana refuses to tell me too much about it, but apparently this is the thing that makes everything click inside a vampire. It's what makes their bodies go, and it's what requires all that life force to maintain. A vampire who doesn't feed well enough will be unable to use blood magic in combat, for example, because all of their energy will be spent just keeping themselves alive. Or, well, "alive".
- The fact that most of their bodily functions are magical as a baseline, vampires are a very exceptional lot compared to regular mortals. They're stronger, sturdier, faster, and have much better stamina. That's not to say they can't get injured though - they very much can, just as easily as regular mortals. It's just that "regeneration" also falls under the list of those "optional bodily functions" they can choose to activate at will, and so they can heal much more rapidly than most mortals could. It still hurts like a motherfucker though and it's very exhausting to do, especially if repeated.
- Oh right, I also asked her about all those rumors about garlic and silver and stuff. Garlic is completely made up. In fact, garlic makes people's blood coagulate less, so some vampires joke that a vampire actually made up that part because he was tired of his victims' blood curdling while he fed. As for silver, that's a bit more problematic. It's not some kind of blight upon their flesh or whatever all those cheap novels like to say, but the metal does get in the way of regenerating a bit. More powerful vampires can shrug it off altogether.