Note: Ash is unaware that Morrowind or Dawnguard has crossbows, since he has never played either of them.
Also: the journey up/down the mountain taking roughly a day in total is to accommodate Klimmek, who likely would not have a very high survival rate if he has to spend a night on the mountain every time he carried up a bag of food. Maybe Paarthurnax hunts for the Greybeards or something.
{ === + === }
We go dungeon crawling.
I think I have made a permanent enemy in Mell, given how we're diving into a ghost pit to find the very thing that she's terrified about.
…On the flip side, she's the one who chose to come along, so…
Upon entering the Barrow, we find the Ghost Guy who goes "leeeave this place" and he scares Mell to tears. There's a lever switch puzzle that we figure out quickly because it's pretty easy.
There's also a treasure chest. Guarded by a series of traps, but still a treasure chest.
"What's the group consensus on graverobbing?" I ask. Mell looks scandalized, so I guess we know her position.
"No stealing from coffins." Aria says. "Everything else is fair game."
Sounds good to me.
Aria works around the traps without any real problems.
Inside the chest is a small stash of gold and some gems. We (the group) only take the gems because having to gather up gold is a pain.
The Barrow, like Bleak-Falls, is bigger than the game variant, so it takes us a little bit of careful searching to find where Ghostie is staying. The lighting is also exceedingly poor, because there are no lit torches, except for the ones that we're bringing in. This makes finding ghostie easier, since he has lit candles.
Our party composition is…
Aria, Jake, and Erik are the front line. Mell is trying to break my arm with how hard she's squeezing it, and I'm on light/loot duty. Comparatively speaking, my mana pool is larger than everyone else's (thank you perks) and so I can shoot Candlelights like it's going out of style.
Anyways, the three of them meet Ghostie and, after a minor scuffle, knocks him unconscious. Nonlethal damage is great.
"You can't knock a ghost unconscious." I say for Mell's sake. "So he's just a pale idiot."
"I somehow take offense to that." Jake quips, despite being neither an idiot nor (now, anyways) pale.
"I think this is the cause." Aria picks up a bottle on a nearby table. "Mell, can you take a look at this?"
"YES" Mell says, entirely way too loud because she's terrified. "I CAN."
We pat her on the head. She slaps our hand away.
Boo. Mell takes a moment to calm down before closely examining the potion.
The active mind doesn't notice, but Mell's examination of the potion requires the use of a spell.
"…There's quicksilver in this." She says after a moment. "There's a tiny amount of it, but it's there." She frowns.
…Isn't that mercury?
"Isn't that poisonous?" Jake says, echoing my thoughts with a frown. "Was he drinking that stuff?"
It's too opaque to see the contents, so Mell gives the bottle a shake. The contents slosh around. "It seems so." She sighs. "I suppose this stuff is why he thinks he's a ghost." To be fair he could have just not made enough to fill the entire bottle.
"So…" I flip through the man's diary (Ghostie's name is Wyndelius Gatharian) and…yeah, he's insane. He's been here for about a year or so, which…I wonder if his mind just skips the fact that he needs to eat and drink? Hmm.
...well, so what do we do about Wyndel? The man's a little bit insane, and I'm pretty sure psychiatric care in the Skyrim world isn't sophisticated enough to pull him back into normal life.
What constitutes normal life in Skyrim?
…Killing other people, I guess? That seems to be what we do in the game 99% of the time.
We resolve to pull him out of the Barrow after exploring it a little more.
Which is a pretty good idea, because…
Because…why is that gate open?
We find the gate that would otherwise be sealed with the dragon claw. It's behind a set of flamethrower traps that has long since run out of juice.
Since the gate opens in such a way that it becomes near invisible, nobody thinks twice about it. Hell, I didn't realize it until we had passed it.
Under the Candlelight spell, we see Jake give us a glance.
Both of us expected to be stopped by a Dragon Claw Gate, and yet we were not. He can't bring this point up because it would be weird…well, until we see something more substantial than the lack of a gate, I'm going to keep my mouth shut too. Besides, if you think about this logically, there's no reason to believe that a Barrow will auto-reset after…what, ten in-game days?
We've forgotten about Jake and Aria being stopped by the sealed door in Bleak Falls.
Anyways. Cue montage!
The rest of the dungeon crawl is pretty straightforward. We go through the dungeon, see some Draugur, disable them, rinse and repeat until we have cleared the entire thing. I never noticed while playing the game, but this Barrow has a good hinting mechanism: the first Draugur room you get is one where they pop out of coffins in succession, and you have to off them before they overwhelm you through numbers. The end room is a huge selection of coffins and Draugur that do the same thing. It's good hinting.
In our case, since Aria and Jake are walking death gods, the Draugur don't really get to stand up before their heads go flying.
I got some experience out of my crossbow, despite its horrid accuracy, and in total we made out with a bag of gems, some scrolls, and a sword enchanted with fire…and a crossbow with broken arms because my god is it fragile.
We didn't take anything else, largely because there was nothing else of notable value to take—anything I take I will have to physically haul back to Whiterun and I'm not short enough on money to do that.
Aria also learns Kyne's Peace.
Since she didn't explain anything when we asked about the Dragon Dictionary, I won't bother asking if she actually learned anything or not.
Ultimately, we brought both Wyndel and his journal out of the Barrow to the inn at Ivarstead, which doesn't really 'give' us the Sapphire claw, but confirms (for me at least) the claw's existence and safety. Also the innkeeper confirms that the claw was used some "five years ago", so the door being open is not a recent occurrence. I'm not sure how I feel about this, especially the fact that Wyndel should have, by all measures, noticed that open door at the time of his first entrance.
Since we only skimmed the journal for dates we didn't notice, but instead of Wyndel not finding the way deeper into the dungeon, he bemoans the fact that his way is constantly barred by the Draugur and goes insane trying to find a way around them, devising the potion as a kind of stealth mechanism rather than a villager-scaring tactic.
I guess I really should have realized that the world existed before Skyrim's opening sequence.
So what next?
Hm…
Well, we did what we came here to do, so let's just go home.
Just like that?
Just like that.
…
Our return trip, also five days, was without incident. Kinda, sorta. We didn't even get stopped at the Anti-OSHA tower.
By day three it started raining on-and-off during the day and it's just miserable.
…By day four, Mell caught a cold.
"Are we gonna be ok?" Jake says when Mell begins coughing. "I mean, it's us." He says.
"We haven't gotten sick since we got here." I note. "So it's probably fair to say that our immunity profiles are similar enough to not be a factor." It's not unusual to get sick from something that you were never exposed to, so the fact that we're ok means we're, y'know, not gonna die immediately. I can imagine a future scenario where the two of us are heroes in response to some kind of a plague outbreak.
Mell takes some kind of tonic she had with her and is ok by the end of the day.
She's really too cute to be a master alchemist, but at this point I believe she is one.
By day five, we're home.
…Why is Whiterun smoking?
After doing a little information gathering from farm hands and patrolling guards…
A dragon buzzed the place two days before we got here. It didn't stay for a long-term fight, mind you. It just shot a few fires into the city and then left. It was probably just bored.
…but that does mean everyone is on edge and is constantly watching the sky.
Anyhoo…I'm home! Fuck yeah!
…I'm not home. Fuck.
"Well." Jake breathes as he sees what we're dealing with. "This sucks."
I nod. "Aye."
All of us stare at the burned down remains of my house. It was already a fire hazard to begin with, so I guess a good hit from the dragon finished it off. I mean, yeah, it's not *just* my house, like there was a row of houses that were hit (plus others that burned down because of the resulting fires), but still.
So I need a new place to live. Boo.
What of our materials?
The books? I kept them in a metal lockbox wrapped in frostbite, so they're ok. I will never badmouth the ability to make things colder ever again. The enchanting table itself is fine, and the dragonbone pile is also fine.
…Which makes me think that the house burned down due to secondary fires rather than the dragon itself, but that's a pointless distinction to make.
…Either way, I need a new place to live. This sucks.
And everyone else?
Aria has a bed in Dragonsreach. Erik and Jake have guild jobs (of a sort) so they can bed there. Mell's house/shop has been rebuilt, so she's going home. Despite her best efforts Jake did not deign to go with her. Mell, very reluctantly, accepts to have me under her roof for the time being.
It ended up being two days.
Which wasn't very long, all things considered. Ultimately I found a new place worth 1000 gold, along with the meat stall that used to be next door. The owner of that stall—a kind old High Elf lady—said that I was good for business…she's also very dependable, which is why I'm perfectly ok with this.
Either way, my new house is on the northeastern side of the Clover. It's about three rows away from the main causeway (the ones that you use in-game) and is sheltered against one of the stone walls that divide the temple district from us poor folk.
Bonus points: there's a surprising amount of land that came with the house, so I have the room to expand if I felt like it. The house that came with the land is not much bigger by floor size, but is more solidly built and looks like it could actually take a hit. There's also a proper bed!
...It's like if Breezehome's insides were as large as the outside, come to think of it. It looks like it too. Breezehome itself is 5000 gold, so…y'know, fuck that noise™.
Anyhoo, I paid 500 gold to have a shiny new forge and smelter built, and another 200 for a dedicated wing for my enchanter's table, and another 100 for a small offshoot for my enchanting material (books and the like).
The fact that I have a good relationship with some of the bigger names in the Clover meant I could muster up some folks and have the whole thing built in two days.
I also annexed the next door—a decrepit, empty house—and had them tear it down to build a new house/shop for Eli, to the tune of 400 gold. It was at this point that I realized that I have way too much gold for a poor person.
It's a weird feeling, to have earned all this gold without having to kill things.
We just help other people kill things.
Aye. Housing aside I also had to pay around 300 gold for other furniture, including actual bed frames.
After a week, I had my house! And then I spent the rest of my expendable income (2000 gold) on iron and steel. And cloth. And wood. And Fire salts. And…
…
[Week two]
Work work. Putting up signs for my new shop as well as getting display racks for the equipment that I'm building. Since I'm now closer to the main street, there is a greater amount of wanderer foot traffic, and a larger amount of those wanderers are mercenaries and guildfolk looking for new weapons.
So I have to spend more on making things look pretty, which…is nice, because things that look pretty look professional, so long as it's not gaudy.
…Which gives me work for the Whiterun Guard.
So one of the things I can't do as a poor smith in the Clover is access to Government Contracts (of a sort), like the one that Idolaf gave to Adrianne for a large shipment of weapons. Clover smiths are naturally barred from these contracts to ensure that the end product shipped out is of a working quality. (Nevermind that some of the non-Clover smiths are seriously bad at what they do).
Non-Clover smiths are almost always swamped with work as a result, and those that don't have contracts (or don't want them) can't keep up with demand. Which means that the Guard, the least important branch of the Whiterun military (in terms of being supplied) gets the shaft on maintenance…to the point where they have to do maintenance and upgrades on their own time.
The Whiterun Military, by the way, is comprised of three branches: armored troops, light troops, and cavalry forces. There are more nuanced divisions within the branches but the general organization is as given.
…Anyways, I've been making equipment by being as professional about it as I can manage, and I scored 13 points out of it (and 1 major perk). To prepare for a thing that I want to do come next week, I take 3 ranks of Fire mastery, 5 ranks of Ice mastery, and 5 ranks of Shock mastery.
For the major perk, I take Elemental Melding.
Our work with the Guards makes them like us more, because our works are affordable and dependable, and we "give a good name to Whiterun Steel."
…
[Week three]
I wanted to start experimenting with dual-casting of two different spells. Elemental Melding (which only became available after 5 ranks of masteries) supposedly reduces the penalties from trying to dual-cast two different elements of magics.
Let's pretend that I totally knew Elemental Melding was going to be available after taking the 5 ranks of masteries, yeah?
Anyways…yeah.
After a day of trials, I have learned that dual-casting is fucking hard. Trying to dual-cast two spells of different elements? Harder. Elemental Melding makes it easier, but…it's still tough to the point where I'm making zero progress. Think of it like…metronomes! Yeah, metronomes. When dual-casting, you are effectively trying to make two metronomes (with the same bpm) click at the same time. When doing so with different elements, those metronomes are operating at different speeds, and you don't get to choose how fast it's going. Trying to match them up is a nightmare and a half.
...But there is still utility to using the spells by themselves without dual-casting. You still have to pay attention to the two "metronomes at different beats" in order to cast two spells of differing types, but you don't have to make them match each other, which makes things easier. For example, Frostbite and Flames (Frostfire, I'm calling it) is very useful for creating hot water at will.
It doesn't create water, mind: Frostbite collects ambient moisture to make ice which gets melted down by Flames.
This does mean that I get to wash my hands with hot water without using precious firewood to boil said water.
Note: the ability to use frostbite and flames to make hot water isn't new.
Yeah. Everyone who knows both Frostbite and Flames knows how to do it, and Frostbite is a common enough spell despite not being innate like Flames. The reasons why most people don't do it is because a) the mana cost for doing it is pretty prohibitive, and b) when you use firewood to heat water you can go do something else. I have oodles of mana and I can pump it out like nobody's business, plus it's good training for how to use magic more effectively, which is why I do it. Also I don't wanna pay for firewood for my washing.
…Speaking of washing. I never really noticed it before, but seeing Mell sick gave me…well, not really a new outlook or anything, but it's made me a little more aware of local health.
…People are…healthy-ish? It's not like we're passing by people who are constantly sniveling or coughing or whatever, but I do get the sense that the local health is not as high as it could be, even though everyone and their mother has access to Healing. I wonder why?
This question bothers us so much that we ended up paying a visit to the temple of Kynareth.
By the way. Rockjoint? Not a real disease.
Erm.
The things you can catch from wild animals are more like curses than diseases, because they fade after a good night's rest, and can be dispelled with a little effort.
So!
We go inside the temple.
On entrance, the temple has three rooms of note, with not a door in sight.
The main center room is large and spacious, with a carpet for worshiping, judging by the people kneeling on said carpet. At the farthest end of the room is the altar, with candles and the statue and everything.
To our left is a separated off room with shelves and tables, which I assume makes it a study of some kind.
It's basically the receiving room for the temple clerics when they're dealing with clerical business. Hidden from our line of sight is a door that leads downstairs into a living quarters for the clerics.
To our right is a room of beds, and by the sounds of the groaning I assume that's a sick bay of some kind.
"Welcome to the temple of Kynareth, child." A cleric says softly as we look around. "I am Head Priestess Danica Pure-Spring. How may I assist you today?"
Apart from her there are maybe…ten more clerics? "I just have some idle questions." I bow. "Apologies for the disturbance." Ten clerics and a handful of assistants of some kind.
She stares at us.
"In exchange for your questions, perhaps you should give me some assistance." She says after a second. "You have some skill in the healing arts, do you not?"
…How can she tell? "I know Healing Hands." I shrug. "I don't know if that counts."
She smiles in a rather friendly way. "It counts." She beckons for us to follow her into the oh wow this place is stuffed.
In the room of the Sick and Dying, there are thirty beds.
Each bed has a Wounded Person of some…description. No upper class-looking people, to no surprise. There is barely enough walking space between the beds, and eight clerics (not counting Danica) are moving around each bed, applying Healing Hands as needed. It looks and sounds like they're applying healing to the people who are groaning the loudest. If I didn't know any better I'd say this was a soccer match.
"I will answer any question you have if you give us help for the next hour." Danica says with a smile…that reflects her tiredness.
She looks drained.
No kidding. Let's get to work.
We approach the closest Wounded Farmer.
Looks like a bite wound…oh my lord it has festered. MAGGOTS. WHY ARE THERE MAGGOTS HERE?!
"He has been here for a few days." Danica says.
WELL HERE'S YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM OH MY GOD
We take out a set of gloves used for the forge and heat it with Flames.
I also find a nearby pan and fill it with Frostflame water. I also find the cleanest rag I have.
"Warning, there may be screaming." I say curtly and begin washing the wound on the farmer's body.
There is…not necessarily screaming, but certainly loud groans of discomfort from the Farmer. Some of the other Wounded tries to shift away from us, but the other members of the temple stop them.
In retrospect this would be less troublesome if it wasn't being done in the middle of literally everybody.
We clean up most of the maggots after twenty minutes.
I'm sure this isn't because the clerics know nothing about cleaning wounds, but for fuck's sake guys.
We begin pouring healing energy into the man's body.
Healing is based on intention, so…hm. So let's focus that intention into bolstering the man's immune system and his natural recovery rate.
As we are unable to perceive either of these things, the advantage granted by the targeted healing is, like, 3%.
Whatever it is it's better than nothing. "Do you have clean bandages?" I ask Danica.
"We have bandages." She points me to a roll of cloth that…is clean, but is likely not specifically cleaned.
We toss it into our bucket of hot water and wash it as thoroughly as we can for a minute or so.
I am not a doctor, nurse, EMT, or any kind of medical staff. I do, however, understand the importance of sanitation and have a basic understanding of human biology.
After cleaning the bandages, we wring out the water in them and then firmly bind the man's wounds.
I do get some other cleric (I think his name's Jenson or something) to help lift the man's midriff so I can get the bandages bound nice and tight. Working the forge gave me nice and strong arms, not gonna lie.
"In the future please do not leave open wounds untreated." I say with no small amounts of annoyance in my voice. "Clean and bind and save the treatment for later if you must, but for fuck's sake don't leave it just aired out like that." Especially not over a few days.
Danica is…measured, in her response. "I see." I feel bad, because I'm sure their actions are because they just don't have the time or resources, but…
We help out for the better part of two hours, until each and every person's wounds have been properly cleaned and bandaged.
The first person's wounds were the worst, as it turned out, so the rest took a lot less time.
"Thank you very much." Danica says after the session. "Your…language…aside, I appreciate the assistance."
"Sure." I say. I may have been…coarse, and have gotten progressively coarser, as the day progressed. "You guys are just swamped with healing work, huh?"
Danica nods sadly. "Aye, the banditry that resulted from this war has given us an ample share of wounded, and Skyrim's wildlife is as lively as ever." She blinks as one of the least wounded guys gets up from his table. "You're good." She observes. "His wounds may be light, but I didn't think he'd get up this early."
Yeah, in a room of wounded people cross infecting each other? I'm surprised none of them have died yet. "In exchange for my services, tell me everything you're willing to share about Restoration."
…
[Lesson]
…
Hmm…
So as I've tested before, Healing depends on targeting. The better you know your target, the better the healing rate. Danica, as the game's healer trainer (one of them), is really good at targeting. She has a very thorough understanding of the insides of the human body in a way that makes me think she used to be very good at cutting people in the past, or else has been around bodies that have been cut up (in a very detailed fashion) in the past.
Her apprentices/helpers/trainees/supporters…nnnot so much. From a healing perspective though, everyone within the church can be considered as fairly skilled, and Danica says that the church's requirements for Restoration is that they are 'at least a Journeyman'. In Oblivion (maybe earlier games too?) being a Journeyman meant you had a skill level of 50+ out of 100. I'm not sure what it means in a practical, non-game fashion.
Within the bounds of this temple, though, the biggest issue they have is, arguably, a lack of recognition of the germ theory of disease. Other than that they're pretty good at their jobs.
Thus, we spent the rest of the day getting the Temple to care about cleaning up the sick bay.
It's not like they don't wipe down the area or whatever, but it's done for the sake of appearances rather than hygiene. It still achieves the same result of getting infecting agents out of the area, but uh…yeah. Could use some work. To that end, I insist that they get hot water (one trainee uses frostbite or just get it from a well while the other boils it with flames).
It really shows the power of a perk when I can do it pretty much forever.
…I have not checked my skill chart since two months ago. SO LET'S DO THAT
We do.
It's still as unreadable as ever. However, for hexagons that are associated with things like Frostbite and Flame, I now have some numbers attached to the endpoints of the hexagons.
While watching the hexagon, we cast Flames.
It drains the shit outta me, so I assume the cost spikes up if I don't pay attention. Either way, I watch as the hexagon expands ever so slightly until one point hits a corner. It then retracts aaalll the way back to the center, and the number next to the corner increases.
By that logic, do I auto-legendary skills that have maxed out? Or something? It doesn't feel like I'm doing less damage or whatever…
We do this mulling while on our way home.
It's nice to finally learn a few things. I earned 10 points today. All of them go into Replacement, because I've been using that more and more with my work.
…
For the rest of the week, if I have free time I go to the temple and help out. The temple constantly gets people who get injured in various ways, and provide free healthcare service.
It helps confirm one of my suspicions, and definitely tells me that, yes, a better understanding of the systems we're working with helps efficiency.
So…for example. A human body is a giant bag of cells. These cells do things.
A+ explanation.
Foreign elements in the body like bacteria and viruses are…uh, foreign. If you don't know they exist, they will also benefit from healing spells and get stronger as a result. This is, I believe, why healing a diseased person will have variable results—boosted immune system versus boosted bacteria, winner's a tossup.
When you are aware of bacteria/viruses, then they get a smaller benefit or else no benefit at all. Obviously, this is very much so conjecture because I can't see the damned things, and I'm…hesitant to say that I'm doing a good thing (or if the thing I'm doing is good), but selectively targeting a person's immunity system seems to make them recover faster. I don't know how good this is going to be for larger wounds (or if this will trigger autoimmunity problems) but for the time being…people with minor pains are coming and leaving the temple fully healed in about two hours, so that's good.
By the end of the next week the temple clerics' reputation skyrockets because of their exemplary performance.
…
[Week 4]
I invented the shower! And the automated crossbow.
Uh…
So the shower is a pretty simple thing. I have a bucket with a small hole in it, hang it up high, fill it with water, and then uncork the whole deal. It's pretty great, especially when frostflame water is involved. Wish I had some shampoo or whatever, but I don't know how to make it, and I don't know how to get any, so that's…y'know, a thing.
The automated crossbow, on the other hand…well, first off, some dude from Morrowind said they had crossbows (so fuck him) and then some other guy said that there's some anti-vampire guild with crossbows (fuck them too).
…I may be a little bit bitter about having my crossbow preempted, which is why I worked out an upgrade. Mine is still better because it takes conventional arrows as ammo and reloads like a fucking shotgun.
Anyways, I've been incrementally doing upgrades on the protobow, to the point where it's finally too damaged to operate. Repairs and upgrades, upgrades and repairs, until it's finally had enough. But I learned a lot (got no perks out of it) and I've built the successor.
So, the new crossbow is a bulkier in every way…with no appreciable increase in durability. While the structure is wood, I had to reinforce the components with metal sheets and Replace key parts with metal bars just to make sure it doesn't explode during use. The reason being? Most of the crossbow…the arbalest, is now empty.
And yet it's still heavier.
Aye. So it's now over a meter long, clocks in at 40 pounds, and is fucking impossible to aim without a kick stand. And it could be heavier, too, were it not for replacement shenanigans. The reason why it's so heavy is because of the internal piston.
I've…taken inspiration from a car's internal piston to build one that works with air and a petty soul gem rigged for a simple energy discharge. I can't get it to do a proper enchantment so this will have to do, really. A simple energy discharge, as dictated in the book of basic enchanting, is pretty much the first step in enchanting. Get the energy out of the soulstone, and then do the other 99 steps necessary to actually, y'know, cause an enchant.
Step 2: draw the rest of the fucking owl.
But anyway, the arbalest is visually just a huge crossbow with a shotgun pump and arms. This is used for manual reloading in the event that the autoloader fails to work (and if the pump fails I can reload it like a standard crossbow. Yay redundancy). The piston is built into the hollowed out square sitting, and works as thus: first, it is loaded with a hand crank that allows me to pressurize the core. Upon depressing the trigger and with a bolt of my magical power, the soulstone is 'active' and pushes the piston downwards. Similar to a car, the downward motion then translates back into an upward motion, and compresses the air back to the soulstone, where it activates independently of my magical power due to the ambient power that is released into the air by the soulstone. This action also drives the slider (where the arrow is) and the reloading arms, letting the whole thing reload without my input.
The firing rate is about one shot per every two seconds, and the accuracy clocks in at a respectable 90%. Since I have access to a forge, I've also built a more reliable ammo hopper, and it can funnel ammunition into the crossbow at an unlimited pace…or until I run out of arrows to shoot.
…Theoretically, anyway. I haven't really been keen on field testing it. I mean, it didn't explode horribly, so I think that's a win?
We got 20 points from the project.
Also, fun fact: after reviewing my skill window, I've deduced with my incredible powers of "having eyeballs" that my arbalest (and the crossbow) did not cause any form of skill gain while used. I don't know why.
We would never find out, but the reason why there wasn't an associated skill gain was because we built the protobow as a 'Experimental Weapon' and the arbalest as a 'Rapid-Fire Weapon' respectively, and both weapons fall under the broad category of Irregular weapons, which also includes things like ladles and spoons n'shit. Irregular weapons as a skill category just constantly increase regardless of what we do, and thus we never notice.
I've done the whole 'look at skill window while using weapon' thing to find out exactly what skill increased or changed, but it's a) next to impossible to follow the hex charts of like 100 skills, and b) I'm scared I'll hit somebody.
The skill window's UI elements actually get smaller the more skills you get, and everything fits on one page. It is hell trying to find anything out with that UI.
…Well, I did get 20 perk points out of it, which also pushed me up to the next major perk.
…Actually, it gave me two major points. Training with Danica apparently gave me some more traits, but because I don't write down what minor perks I have, I'm not quite sure what I got new. Again, the UI is disgusting.
Either way though.
For my major perks, I take 'Magicka Channeling' and 'Boosted Magicka Channeling', which means my mana cap is tripled (applied last as a modifier, so mana boosting gear effect is also tripled) AND my recovery rate scales with my cap…while moving at over triple speed.
For my minor perks, I take five ranks each in Fire/Shock/Ice/Heal masteries. Given that I have but don't remember taking heal mastery I assume that came from Danica. Or maybe my memory is just bad.
It's been a month.
For reference: Jake earned 80 points over the same timeframe…which also gives him 4 major perks.
It's not fair. He comes around every so often to chat.
He took SEVENTY ranks of Combat Mastery and 10 ranks of Overwhelm. For his majors, he takes Armor Master (Great/Greater/Greatest) and Boosted Enchanted Presence. So any armor on his body is basically eight times as effective, and enchanted equipment burn out at quarter speed.
He also gained two titles…er, 'Finishing boosts', as the UI calls it. 'War God', from having the Great/Greater/Greatest Armor and Weapon master major perks, and 'Veteran', from having 100 ranks in Combat Mastery. War God boosts his crit by 25% and makes him less vulnerable to being critted (25%), while Veteran gives him a bonus to exp earned in combat (25%).
Did I mention how unfair this is? Because this is totally unfair. There is no hint as to what gave him these finishing boosts, but I imagine having 100s in a perk will get one.
…I wonder what the finish for Replace might be?
We're never going to see one of these bonuses are we.
Doubt it. I'm too scattershot with my perks…and to be honest, I like it this way. Let Jake be amazing by sheer virtue of playing the game, and let me be amazing because I keep modding in new things.
…
[After the Month of Leisure]
…?
On one of our deliveries to the guard house at the gates of Whiterun, we come across a band of Redguards.
They have curved swords. Curved. Swords. Incidentally, I'm delivering swords that I've been commissioned to make.
…I should start seriously making metal armor.
As we deliver the swords…
As I finish my delivery, I listen in to them demanding to be let in to search for a woman. Three guesses as to who that might be.
…Though it seems like the story is going a little differently than the game, because the Redguards *are* allowed into the city.
…Huh.
…Well, I have nothing better to do at the moment.
We begin tailing the Redguards through the street as they get closer to the Bannered Mare.
Since the roads have a fair amount of people, tailing them without being detected isn't too difficult. They hit the Bannered Mare around five minutes later. To ensure that I have a good view on what's going to happen, I go in before they do by a few steps.
The four Redguards enter the Bannered Mare, and predictably everyone kind of stops to look at them, because, I mean, c'mon. They're armed, but since the Mare regularly hosts swords-for-hire taking a break, nobody blinks twice at their Curved Swords.
"Saadia!" The inn's owner calls out. "Newcomers!"
There are a total of twenty people in the inn not counting the newcomers (Redguards, me) and Saadia is in the back room, likely working the kitchen in some way…do they not have a chef here? I don't think I've ever seen the matron do anything but be reception.
Saadia steps out of the kitchen with a harried "coming, coming" before locking eyes with the Redguards. She freezes on the spot.
"We've finally found you, Iman!" The Redguard lead calls out. He's not Kematu, I don't think. "You won't escape justice this time!"
"What are you talking about?" Saadia replies curtly. "Do you assault every Redguard woman you see with unhinged threats and assume they're someone else?" She gets a few laughs and cheers in her direction.
The current mood in the inn is: tense.
"Children." The innkeeper claps. "No fighting, unless you're doing it with your bare fists."
"My apologies." The Redguard leader says formally…and surprisingly sincerely. "But that woman over there is an ex-noble of Hammerfell, and had, before her…'timely', escape, pledged support to the Aldmeri Dominion."
...That's quite smart, doubly so since Saadia just visibly flinched.
"Don't be daft." Saadia snaps. "Or is this how you approach women?"
By name-dropping the Aldmeri, especially in a place where it's not liked, they've just shot Saadia's hiding place full of holes.
"I do not treatise with traitors." The leader says coldly. "With your permission, matron, we would like to bring her to justice."
…So the big problem right now is that the Redguards are totally not hiding in a cave with bandits and thus are not sketchy.
"How do I know the lot of you aren't just slavers in disguise?" the innkeeper sighs. "Do you have any proof?"
Pause.
"Sadly, we do not." The leader bows. "It is our word against hers, unfortunately."
"Then I can't let you just take away one of my best workers." The innkeeper shoos them with her hand. "You're ruining the mood."
"I understand." The leader nods and backs respectfully out of the room.
…double hmm.
"Ash!" I hear a friendly voice. Jon Battle-Born waves at us and comes to sit at our table.
We order some food, because we are hungry and have yet to eat.
"Jon!" Again, although I've been living alone, I haven't been alone-alone. As in, people do come and visit on a frequent basis. "How's it going?"
"A lot more interesting after that little show." Jon grins. "What do you think that was about?"
I…have my guesses. "No clue." I shrug. "Has Saadia been here long?"
Jon nods. "Long enough to be a fixture in the tavern." He narrows his eyes. "The Dominion, eh…?"
More hmm. "Think they're telling the truth?" The game doesn't really take sides either way, though, again, the Warrors were the one hiding in a cave with bandits.
"I don't know. They were too clean to be just mercenaries." Jon muses. "And I heard Saadia lives a little too well for her status as a mere servant."
…That's…true, in a way. The cleanliness part, I mean. I have no idea how Saadia lives her life and hoo boy do I not give a fuck.
We both watch Saadia work.
The patrons of the shop are…if not necessarily hostile, then at least a lot more cautious around her. She understands the reason, I think, and keeps distance as necessary.
Hrm.
We watch Saadia for a little longer until we get our food.
We then eat and get out. Ultimately this isn't something I care enough about.
We leave the Bannered Mare, then immediately hear screaming.
Screaming, followed by a dragon's roar.
Looking up, there is…yep.
A dragon coasts through the sky.
Well, let's go home really fast and grab my trusty autobalest. Good thing I live close, and the people are well drilled in the art of dragon evacuations.
We make it home as the dragon readies itself for another diving attack on the city.
Alright, I got my stuff.
We set up our autobalest in the middle of the rapidly deserted street and aim it at the dragon.
Whoa it's breathing fire. Not at us, but it's breathing fire. Given its flying angle I don't think it's trying to stay for a scrap. Anyhoo…
Pew pew pew pew pew!
As we judge that it is close enough for us to hit, we pull the trigger and the arrows start flying.
I guess it's less pew pew and more Bap. Bap bap bap bap bap…the sound of the metal sitting hitting the wooden crossbar. This thing also kicks like crazy. If it were not for the tripod stand I think I'd have a few broken ribs.
Our shots disappear into the sky.
…The dragon shows no indication that it has been hit in any way, and after five shots the autobalest string snapped due to the stress, so…yay? The dragon leaves as quickly as it showed up, so I guess it was just bored.
I should note that I'm not the only one who tried to intercept it. The guards and some mages have also tried to shoot down the dragon, so for a few seconds there were a lot of magic and physical missiles flying at the dragon. Anti-aircraft fire is kinda hard when the target is stubbornly difficult to shoot down, though, so as far as we can tell the Dragon was unscathed through the entire ordeal.
…and now I'm daydreaming of a timeline where you could possibly take something like an A-10 through a world war 2 battlefield.
…
[Damage Assessment]
The Dragon's attack torched a line into the town, and a few houses are on fire. So the danger is just secondary blazes that come from those fires burning out of control.
We spend the rest of the day helping out the guard with frostbite and healing hands.
In conjunction with Danica's healer corps, I should mention. After a fashion I switched entirely to healing and treating the burn victims that the guards bring in.
Out of curiosity, why were we helping?
As I said earlier, the guard is one of my markets, and being a good citizen really helps if, say, I need to stab someone in the dark of night. Not that I'm ever going to, but…y'know. Just in case.
Either way, the healing duties take the rest of the day.
…
[Next Day]
We wake up, with very loud zombie groans, to a rapid, if faint, knocking at our door.
For the love of…what. Ugh.
I've apparently slept in a little because it's…what, midday? It's awfully bright outside. Did I oversleep? I probably overslept.
I hope this isn't someone giving me shit over the cross…er, the autobalest.
We crawl out of bed, throw on our forge pants, and address the issue of the rapid knocking.
"Mornin'." Jake says with a cheery grin. "Got a minute?"
"Fucking hell, man." I yawn. "Yeah, I guess. What's up?"
…
So there's a new mission of a sort. Jake's guild job got pulled into a mission with the Whiterun patrols. They're going to clear out a bandit camp northwest of the city. Expected resistance is…er…bandits, numbering at roughly a hundred. This is the camp that holds both the…Iron To Silver To Gold spellbook and Mammoth Tusks, for that one sidequest.
…But why a hundred bandits?
"Apparently the camp's a site for organized raids on Giants n'shit." Jake shrugs. "They're illegally trading Mammoth components and the Giants aren't happy."
Which means Whiterun needs to jump in? I guess I understand why they're not all that interested in giant anger.
Either way, Jake's rallying troops because apparently we find this kind of stuff fun. Our party will be Jake, Erik, Mell, and me. Aria left some time earlier for some unstated reason.
When you're on the outside looking in, the Dragonborn feels literally insane, no?
Anyhoo, Jake's the vanguard, Erik's the wingman, Mell's the healer, and I'm…the gadget mage, archer, and healer. I should consider clearly defining my role or something.
I have three days to prepare, so let's get to preparations.
I have to make, for Jake and Erik: A Great Sword, Two Short Swords, a Fighting Axe (one-handed axe), Two Suits of Armor, A Shield, and a partridge in a pear tree. Mell has her own stuff, so that's nice, at least.
And I also need to make stuff for myself. In three days.
"Fuck you, Jake" is my immediate reaction.
His reaction to my reaction is to laugh and fork over 8000 gold, so we're good.
…
[Their Equipment, three days later]
…
I closed my shop for this.
Let's see…
Jake's primary weapon, his two-hander, is a heavy piece of work. At fifteen pounds, it is way the fuck heavier than a sword should be. He's badass, so he can handle it. Overall, the sword has no special properties. It's just big, sturdy, deadly, hefty, and well built. I've embedded it with a sapphire, with the wish that it will protect Jake from being turned into a pincushion. Here's hoping that it works, yeah?
The short swords are, I imagine, going to be used for combat when the fight invariably goes underground into the dirt tunnels. In that respect, these swords are shorter than normal short swords, have a singular cutting edge with a widened back (like a cleaver). Otherwise, they have a barbed saber hilt and embedded rubies, on which I have wished that they "fuck up armor like nobody's business." The saber hilt means that there exists a curved piece of metal that connects the bottom of the hilt to the guard, which provides additional defense to the hands. The barbs mean you can punch with them, just in case if that was a necessity.
So…a machete plus a saber plus spiked brass knuckles.
More or less.
Erik's one-hander axe is also not really special. It's weighted a little towards the head compared to a standard axe, giving it a little more power at the cost of speed. It is embedded with a topaz and the wish that Erik doesn't bleed to death.
I have no guarantee that the Wished Gems will do anything, but, y'know, better to do it than don't. I still don't know how to properly enchant an item, which…sucks.
Anyways, armors.
Jake's armor is extremely forward facing, with most of the steel focused around ensuring that his target doesn't fuck him up too much as he runs towards said target. Erik's is more stable, offering equalized protection in a 360 degree radius.
We're judging their protectiveness by the thickness of the armor plates.
Jake's plates, in particular, are tougher and thicker than normal, because I've overlaid several layers of steel with Replace.
…back up a second.
Jake's armor is fur, leather, plate, with the leftmost layer being closer to his body. Erik is the same, though his fur and leather layer is mixed. Ok.
Jake's leather layers have iron bands Replaced into it for durability, and his fur layer has cotton Replaced into it for better cushioning against bludgeon strikes.
Erik's plate and soft layers have the same treatment but with less effort put in. Both armor plate sections are as curved as I could make it with my skill level to give them further resilience against slashing and off-center piercing attacks. My armors aren't very flashy, not that I've made many suits, but the quality of armor as seen in the game is only possible because the devs only need to make one texture to apply to a billion suits of steel, so eh.
The shield is wooden with a band of steel around it. It has bands of Iron replaced into the wood to give it better arrow resilience, but is otherwise quite normal.
As for me…I've purchased a suit of leather armor (of rather shoddy quality), a leather shield, and some combat mage book holders. I also bought a very strong belt for my autobalest, two quivers of arrows, and a dagger from Adrianne.
How strange that we're not arming ourselves.
To be honest, I just ran out of time. I'm going into the fight with the spells Candlelight, Oakflesh, Shock, and Healing Hands…and my autobalest with two hundred rounds of ammunition. This'll be fun.
…
[The meetup]
I find Jake, Erik, and Mell rallied with the rest of the assault force meeting up at the stables outside Whiterun.
"Well, if it isn't Ash!" Erik says like he wasn't being outfitted for armor yesterday. "Long time no see!"
"Same to you, Erik." I grin, because it's nice to see him so happy with his gear. He looks like a professional warrior now. A poor professional warrior, but a pro nonetheless.
"What's that thing on your back?" Mell asks, noting the autobalest jutting out over the back of my head by a full…head. "Is that a weapon?"
"My long range weapon." I nod and give it a pat. "I'll be providing fire support with this thing whenever I'm not using magic." I'm experienced enough with Shock at this point to cast it as a ranged bolt, though the power is kinda lacking. "What are you going to do?"
"Back line support." Mell pats her pouch of potions. "I'll be in the back to make sure our casualties are reduced." She then gives me a…approving? Look. "I heard about your work in the Kynareth Temple. I'm impressed, Ash. You didn't strike me as the type that could utilize something as sophisticated as Restoration."
…Well, fuck you, too? I can't tell if she's being sincere or not. "I do what I can." I say, settling for a…piddly, answer.
I then feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to face its owner, a rough-looking Redguard mercenary.
"I recognize you." The man says. "You were the one healing in the temple, right?"
…I blame you for this, Mell. "For a short amount of time, yes." I nod.
He breaks into a wide smile. "Wonderful. I feel much more reassured knowing that a healer of your caliber will be taking the field." He waves to…oh!
Frieda gives us a warm smile and a wink.
The lady whose name I forgot!
"You're going to be attached to Warwolf Company?" He says, looking at Jake. Is that what he's going to name us?
"He's a good friend of mine." Jake speaks up. "Warwolf Company leader, Jake." He extends his hand.
"Metal Rain Company Leader, Rovain." The man shakes Jake's offered hand. "If you don't mind, we'd like to operate as a cooperative unit." He looks to me, then Mell's breasts, then Mell's face.
Mell rolls her eyes at Rovain's eye path.
Even when protected by armor they're marvelous, or something. Mell's got her immaculate leather armor, though it looks like she hasn't cleaned it too much since the last month.
"Sure." Jake agrees to Rovain's plan. "Nice to see you again, Frieda." That's her name. Got it.
"Hello, Jake." Frieda says in a…rather seductive manner. "Are you prepared for this battle?" Is my best friend starting a harem?
Mell bristles a little at Frieda's playful punch on Jake's arm. We don't notice, but she's wearing the bracer we made. On the bracer is a multitude of deep-looking cuts that testify to the amount of wear and tear the piece of armor has gone through. She's also wearing our cuirass, but that's hidden underneath a travelling cloak.
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Jake spreads his arms to show off his gear. "I have my best friends with me."
"Good friends are hard to find in this line of business." Rovain grins. "It'll be an honor, Warwolf leader."
…And then Jake threw me a curveball. I mean, he waited until the niceties were over and we got underway, but he threw me a curveball all the same.
"So, uh, can you make us some insignias?" He asks in a low tone.
Our travelling arrangements…
We're all on foot since none of us (Metal Rain included) have experience with horseback riding. I'm sitting on the supply wagon with Mell and Metal Rain's support healer. Mell's making additional potions despite the bumpy ride and I have my sewing equipment. Everyone else is walking.
"We get a bigger share of the spoils, plus everything we loot, if we're an independent unit." Jake explains further. "I registered as a freelancer unit. Hope you don't mind."
"It'd be nice if you told me this earlier." I sigh.
Jake grins sheepishly. "Sorry. This is the first opportunity I got." So he did it on a whim. Got it.
Meh. "Will over-one-shoulder capes work?" I love small capes.
…
As we approach the bandit palisades after four hours of marching, I finish the capes (four in total). They're simple drab olive capes (why is that the only color) and have a crude stitching of a white wolf with a broken chain inside its mouth.
Alternatively, it is a giant misshapen marshmallow (with eyes) masturbating an ejaculating sausage. I'm not very good at fine embroidery yet.
"I guess it stands out" was Jake's lackluster verdict. He gets the last one I made (the one closest to the actual warwolf image). I give myself the marshmallow one, because at least I have my craftsman pride.
He says as he proudly wears the unnecessarily lewd image.
"Alright, we're here." Rovain says with a soft exhale as we make camp at our current site. We are hidden from view (hopefully) by a series of low hills. We can't see the bandit camp from here, so by all standards they can't see us.
The armorers, weapon…ers, and the alchemists offload their stuff and establish the base camp. It's all pretty simple stuff: crates doubling as tables, roughshod whetting wheels…big tables that ominously look like they're going to be used to handle the wounded…
…I'm realizing at this point that this is going to be the biggest fight I've ever seen in Skyrim, period.
Fingers crossed that none of us are gonna die, yeah?
.
.
.
{ === + === }
Author Notes:
No actual disrespect meant towards the ones who pointed out the crossbow business, mind you. Ash does need to be taken down a peg every once in a while to be sufficiently grounded.