Always Lost, Always Hopeful (133) Thwarted and Pierced

———————————————
SPOILER INFO
This fanfic novel is largely based on the events that occurred in an actual game of Skyrim I played. Therefore, it's inevitably a spoiler.
———————————————




previous day






4-201-12-29 04:40
Dead Man's Drink, Falkert, Falkreath, Skyrim


We run southwest, headed for uncharted country. I'm utterly fascinated by everything gradually getting lighter with the sun rising while we run.

In the village of Pinewood, we make just a brief stop, exchange a few friendly words with a couple of guards, and move on.

After a while, we discover a stone structure with a spriggan in it, and hurriedly return to the road before that basically good but not too bright creature would become alarmed.

A little further, the road ends, turning into a snowy uphill path.

With my heart pounding, I lead the way. Where will this path lead to? A new world or just solid mountain?

It leads to Elinhir Pass. The name suggests it would take us through the mountain range.

It's two days to the New Year's Eve. Should we go back and return here after the New Year's celebrations? Or should we proceed just a little further? I mean, this is not some kind of a magic portal. It's a pass. We can go through and cast a look at what's on the other side, and we'll be able to come back to Skyrim anytime we want, won't we?

What's on the other side, anyway? Cyrodiil? Hammerfell?

Hammerfell, say Lydia and Jenassa. Elinhir is a town in Hammerfell.

This may be where Rayya came to Skyrim from. But she said the Hammerfell border had been closed. Is it still?

The girls have no idea. They haven't even heard the border used to be closed.

We decide to go and take a brief look. A few minutes of walking uphill, and the path ends at a strong wall with a gate.

We approach. About ten meters before the gate is a magical barrier that physically prevents us from proceeding. A Hammerfell border guard appears and tells us we can't get through. I try to negotiate, but he won't answer any questions. Eventually, we turn back, immensely frustrated. Such an amazing discovery and then such a letdown!

We run back towards Falkert. A bit of a comic relief awaits us just before Pinewood:

What is that thing straight ahead of us? A gang-raped spriggan?

Greatly puzzled, we get closer only to find it's just a forked treeroot plus a trick of the light:

This magnificent mountain is somewhere between Pinewood and Falkert:

Sitting in the Falkert inn, still somewhat dejected, and replying to Valga's compassionate enquiries, I come up with a new plan. We have just about enough time to travel unhurriedly to Dragonbridge and get that fifth letter from M to Reginald. It's not exactly important, but it's the only quest we have anywhere near to where we currently are. We can spend the night in Dragonbridge and then return leisurely to Hviterun via Morthal. Take in the sights and such.

The other plan would be to go to Dushnikh Yal in the west, just to say hello, and Morpork, to see if the city administration and businesses have finally turned back to normal.

We are all in agreement that the first plan is better, mainly because we have no reason to expect anything will be different in Morpork. There's something very wrong with that city. Before we return there, we need to come up with something we can do to help. It wouldn't be very smart to assume things would turn back to normal by themselves.

Come to think of it – if we go to Dragonbridge, we should even have enough time to visit Dånstar. Maybe we can persuade Bjarne's boss to give him a couple of days off, so he can come with us to Hviterun for the new year.

I'm not surprised Lydia thinks it's an excellent idea.

We now travel to Northkeep, passing by the Half-Moon Mill:

From there, it's but a stone's throw to Northkeep where we do some shopping and such:

It occurs to me that on our way to Dragonbridge we can just as well pass through Roriksted where I can hire Erik as my follower, letting Jenassa return to the city ahead of us. She'll have but a relatively short trip to the east over easy terrain. I'm not interested in keeping Erik permanently, but by hiring him I can let him get away in such a manner that his father will be satisfied that his son is not just idling around. After Roriksted, we can proceed to Dragonbridge and later Dånstar as planned. Once we're back in Hviterun, I'll dismiss Erik and Borgakh and re-hire Jenassa and Jordis. That is good for two reasons. Firstly, Erik will be able to live in Hviterun, and secondly, I'll have the choice between Valdimar and Erik whenever I'm in the city and feel the desire to make love.

Under the blue sky, we trot towards Roriksted.

We discover a Gjukar's Monument  somewhat away from the road. It's just a very high phallic stone column. I've no idea what it's supposed to symbolize or who Gjukar was.

And this is Roriksted:

The villagers, including Erik, are happy to see me. I hire him as my follower. Jenassa prefers to rest in Roriksted for a while and then return to the city. We hug her goodbye and move on. We have been so fast that I think we have enough time to travel via Elisdriel and Dunstad Grove. Elisdriel is, as you know, always a nice place to spend and hour or two.

Erik won't have to wait for long to put himself to test as a warrior. We are attacked by bandits on our way to the north, shortly before the place where we'd have to turn off the road and go northeast:

There's one visible on the right behind that stone. The man on the road was already dead.
Might have been killed by those very bandits.

They are very uncoordinated. That is good because it makes it easier for us to kill them, but it's bad because just when I think we've got them all, the last man appears unexpectedly and hits me with several arrows before we can draw our weapons again and finish him off.

We now need to get past the waterfall to our east, which means going uphill in the southeasterly direction a little bit, bypassing the waterfall, and then descending along the eastern riverbank all the way down to the other river branch which we'll have to cross. (That'll be the one in the picture below.)

As we're descending towards the river, looking for the most comfortable place to cross over to the northern bank, I notice how Erik is glancing at me in a way that leaves no doubt he'll want to have sex with me. I'm definitely not in the mood (my ovulation must have ended) but I know I can't be so cruel as to turn him down, especially not in the kind of a fairytale environment we have in Elisdriel.

I catch Lydia grinning. Undoubtedly, she has noticed how Erik is eyeing me and has realized the same thing I just realized. Well, I brought it upon myself. And surely it won't take all that awfully long.

Arrived in Elisdriel, I exchange enquiring glances with Erik. Then I sigh resignedly and tell Lydia and Borgakh to take a walk. Erik and I go in. I intend to just lie there, but Erik makes me hold my legs very high so he has it more comfortable.

In spite of myself, I start to really enjoy it, to the extent I even begin to wonder if the girls can hear me outside. No, I'm sure I'm not that loud, and why should I worry anyway?

Afterwards, Erik and I lie on the bed, cuddling lazily. Somehow I don't think we'll be going anywhere tonight. For that matter, I hate to have to climb out of the bed, but I can't let the girls remain outside for the whole night.

I don't bother to put any clothes on.

Actually, it's light enough outside for us to move on, but wild horses couldn't drag me away from here right now. It's not like I'm tired. Not at all. I'm simply overcome by this amazing peacefulness and calm. For the first time in I don't know how long time I'm feeling delighted just being there without any urge to hurry somewhere and do something.

I have a brilliant inspiration. I not only tell Lydia and Borgakh they may come in, I ask Lydia if she would like to go upstairs together and try to refute a law of nature. (I mean what we know about Nord men.) She is thrilled.

Borgakh asks if she can come along and watch. I reply jokingly: "Only if you strip naked." To my great surprise, she agrees.

So they take off their clothes downstairs and quietly walk up the stairs after me. I go first, in order to obstruct Erik's view for as long as possible, and then we're all over him, Lydia and I.

We not only succeed in, as it were, reviving his manhood, we end up making wild abandoned love deep into the night. Erik does it with Lydia and then he lets me have it the second time. While he's resting, Lydia and I kiss and such. I notice unmistakable fascination on Borgakh's face. It's the first time I'm seeing her drop that Orcish matter-of-factly mask.

Lydia sees it too. When Erik joins our cuddling, evidently aroused again, Lydia invites Borgakh to masturbate him. Under Lydia's expert instructions, she gets him rock hard quite soon. I look questioningly at Erik, but he seems to be enjoying himself so thoroughly that we let Borgakh's hand please him all the way. Lydia takes the tip into his mouth towards the end, though, while I kiss Erik's mouth and caress his belly.

After that, Erik can't keep his eyes open any longer, so Lydia and Borgakh go to their sleeping mats downstairs (simply because the bedroom is too small).



next awakening






return to the table of contents

Always Lost, Always Hopeful (68) The One Who Doesn't Search Finds

———————————————
SPOILER INFO
This fanfic novel is based on the events that occurred in an actual game of Skyrim I played. Therefore, it inevitably reveals a lot about the game.
———————————————




previous day






4-201-10-24 06:30
Keepers' Inn, Northkeep, Falkreath, Skyrim


We leave Northkeep and head south.

For a change, we turn off the road and travel through the forest this time.

Our goal is to end up on the road that leads southwest from Falkert through a mountain pass and towards the province border. That area is blank on my map. Currently, we are northwest of Falkert.

I haven't the foggiest idea what's on the other side of those mountains.

Apart from the scenery, the only thing worth mentioning is some kind of an altar deep in the woods where a group of mages is performing some rituals. They attack us, but they seem to fear us more than we fear them, because they're very insecure and we have no difficulties killing them.

Soon we reach the road we've been looking for.

Following it into uncharted territory, we arrive in a cute little village called Pinewood.

In its outskirts, we pick up a large amount of weapons and armor which may be leftovers from some past battle. Nearby is the house of someone called Maluk. I pick the lock, enter first and am completely surprised, to say nothing of seriously battered, by a hostile and very strong mage. It was a grave mistake on my part to completely ignore the possibility that, in spite of the locked door, there may be someone inside this more-hut-than-house. Fortunately, my girls who follow close behind me kill him eventually.

When I've recovered from the shock, I steal everything from this house as revenge. Before leaving, I have a strange vision which suggests there's an adventure waiting for me in or near that house southwest of Granite Hall we passed by some time ago and weren't able to enter. I am most intrigued and want to check the place out as soon as possible.

As you will see upon a closer look, that is a map of Tamriel, an even better one than the one I showed you two weeks ago.
You may recognize Solstheim and it's indeed not very far from Windhelm.
But most importantly, I now finally know where is High Rock, the homeland of the Bretons. (West of Skyrim.)

I'd love to travel further southwest, but we have ended up loaded almost to capacity with loot. Looks like this day hasn't been as eventless as it has seemed to me. In nearby Pinewood, there are smithing facilities all right, but no proper shop. Therefore I decide to return to Falkert.

During the last week or so, we've gathered so much loot that I now have more than 100,000 septims, and I've been buying extra carryweight every now and then. Still, I'm careful not to spend too quickly. Anyway, what I actually intended to say is we're returning to Falkert along the road. (Earlier today, we bypassed Falkert from the west.) Not far from the intersection where you can turn east towards Helgen, we meet an old acquaintance – that "praefect" Wilaar who urged us to accompany him and kill some bandits together.

He tells us he's trying to find an easier way to his destination. Last time, he had to climb up and down mountains, but now he has heard of a cave somewhere in this area through which one is supposed to get through easily. He invites us to come along and help him search. I laugh and motion to my followers to move on.

In Falkert, we go shopping.

Exotic beverages are sold by a man named Thaik on the town square.

We sell as much as we can in Falkert and move on to Aurora where I succeed in catching a few more traders who are still working. Soon it's 8 o'clock, though, and there is nothing more to do apart from chilling at the inn. I realize I haven't had sex for a while. Fortunately, there's a good-looking man named Lorm in the taproom. He comes across as strong, confident and trustworthy.

In fact, he's a sellsword. He makes some money instructing people in the use of two-handed weapons, but he's eager to be hired as a follower. I tell him I have to disappoint him. I may let him serve me someday, but tonight he'll have to settle for possessing me.

Lorm insists on paying for our night's lodging, the four of us. Of course, he and I are the only ones to go into the room for the time being.

Lorm may be a good sword trainer, but he also has some other skills that are no less impressive. The only reason why this experience is less than perfect is a little girl who walks in on us. The next moment, she is called back and harshly admonished by a woman, apparently her mother, but I still feel embarrassed. Lorm, however, goes on as if nothing had happened. He will absolutely be my first choice, should I ever need a new follower.
[series of 4 pictures you can click through; click on the first picture to make it big, then press the right arrow to see the next picture etc.; press  Esc to return to the text]

next awakening






return to the table of contents

General rehearsal game, hours 25..28

———————————————
SPOILER INFO
This story follows closely my actions in an actual game, so it's inevitably a spoiler.
———————————————




previous part


I wanted to sell as much as I could before going into (near-)wilderness. In order to pass the time until the shops would open, I broke into a house and stole some cash and food and ingredients. After selling all I could, I noticed I was sleepy. In order not to waste a whole day, I slept only 4 hours. Then I had a bath and we headed southwest.

I feel kind of safer in Stenvar and Vorstag's company, you know. They are sometimes a nuisance in combat,
getting ahead of me and blocking my shots. Most of the time, they are very helpful, though.
They are efficient and strong enough not to get killed easily, so I don't have to take care of them.

We discovered a house which was apparently a part of the mod Beggar Prince . Its author is one of those who just gives you all the lines available, without bothering to check if you are actually supposed to know anything about all those things you say. Apart from which, I was able to pick up a lot of free stuff in the house which is just not right. But it doesn't matter as I had already decided that I would switch off Beggar Prince  for my main game anyway.

We discovered the village of Pinewood and spent the night there. Then we went further southwest along the road and reached the edge of the explorable world. Going clockwise along the edge, we found a couple of buggy caves created by Falkreath Hold Extended . In one of them, the cave entrance would take you into a completely dark space where you couldn't go anywhere. By turning in various directions and pressing W , you would eventually end up outside again.

Here is some scenery from southwestern Falkreath:

I decided to use the remaining time to find out if me and my boys can take on a bandit camp which I knew would be there somewhere. We found it and approached it very conveniently from above. Now, I guess I forgot to tell you, but recently I altered the parameters of the Sense of Smell  special power. In order to make it less cheaty, I decreased its range from 250 to 100. I also decreased the duration from 120 to 20, because it's really very annoying to have to wait for the glow to disappear in order to take screenshots, and no one would ever need it to last for 120 seconds anyway. As for the distance, 100 is just about perfect. It spares you the utter confusion in dungeons, but in the open there's a good chance that the enemies will discover you before you discover them, so you no longer have this huge unfair advantage you used to have. (Mind you, distance 100 doesn't mean 100 Skyrim distance units. I don't know which units that parameter uses. Maybe it's 100x10 or something.)

Back to the current assault. I had a perfect shooting spot overlooking the camp, but unfortunately it was too far for the Sense of Smell  to detect the enemies. A delightful challenge, an opportunity to exercise my tactical thinking! I sneaked slowly closer (as well as lower) until one of the enemies detected me, and when he began to move, I was able to see him with my physical eyes and kill him with a number of shots, and then I killed another one. We had to descend all the way to the ground in order to get the remaining two. They kept looking for us, but we stood there in stealth mode and eventually they gave up. Then we sneaked in and my boys killed them while I was watching their backs. It was awesome.

There were a couple of doors. I was about to go in, but then I noticed I was past 28 hours of the real-world playtime which I had planned for this rehearsal game. So that particular challenge will remain unsolved in this life.

This is it. The general rehearsal is over. I have gained very valuable experience and after a few final adjustments I will start the real game – starting in Helgen, the vanilla opening. I can't stress enough how excited I am.

Thank you for being with me so far. My report of the real game shall be written in a different style and I hope it will be much better than this one.



next part: my final mod configuration