Category Archives: Story Time

Warning: potential side quest spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

Knight Time

While walking away from Rosentia’s house I was approached by a city guard. It seemed that the Count was requesting council with me. Having yet to meet the Count of Leyawiin I was intrigued but not at all worried as my dealings with city rulers so far had been largely positive. Most likely the Count had heard that a new adventurer was in town looking for work and had use for an unknown agent to do some of his dirty work.

“Just sit there, you smug bastard.”

Indeed, Count Marius Caro was welcoming and seemed to be fairly frank with his statements which I respected. He had summoned me to investigate an Orc who had been hanging around Leyawiin claiming to be a knight. Specifically he wanted me to find out what she was up to. Mazoga wasn’t hard to find. Clad in full plate armor and rudely harassing the castle guard about wanting to speak to the Count, Mazoga could be singled out from a mile away. I introduced myself.

“The government does – you didn’t fill out form 32A in triplicate!”

Mazoga insisted I call her Sir Mazoga despite being female and her manners left nothing to be desired, even for an Orc. She wouldn’t give me any details about what she was up to. Instead, she bluntly asserted that I seek out Weebam-na for her. I let the count know that Mazoga was interested in Weebam-na but he wanted to dig deeper and insisted I assist her in finding him. Weebam-na was a Argonian hunter who lived within the city walls. While the Argonian didn’t seem to have a clue about what Mazoga could want with him he was curious enough to go speak with her.

“A delicate meeting of the minds.”

Mazoga drilled Weebam-na about a place called Fisherman’s Rock. While Weebam’na was familiar with it Mazoga’s rude tone and refusal to tell him why she wanted to go there caused him to decide not to guide her there. After a few more raised words the hunter left leaving the would-be knight angry and not much closer to her mysterious goal. Still, Weebam-na revealed enough about the location that Mazoga now knew where to find it. Not content with this, she turned to me and demanded that I take her to Fisherman’s Rock. Updating the Count one last time on the situation I returned to Mazoga and agreed to go with her.

“Targets acquired.”

The journey to Fisherman’s Rock was largely uneventful. As we descended the hill from the Yellow Road into the woods and finally, with the coast in sight a bandit camp came into view. Surprisingly Mazoga calmly approached the bandits, whispering to me not to attack until after she had a word with the bandit leader, Mogens Wind-Shifter. At first she asked him if he remembered her. Confused, he claimed he did not. Then she asked the large Nord if he remembered her friend, Ra’vindra. Again, he didn’t acknowledge a connection. Finally Mazoga launched into a angry tirade about Mogens and his bandits killing Ra’vindra, her best friend. Swords were drawn and the time was nigh.

“Mazoga attempts to confuse the bandit leader before killing him.”

I quickly rushed out from behind the tree from which I was observing the confrontation and drew my sword as the gang circled around Mazoga. A massive melee ensued. Luckily Mazoga could in fact handle her own, and while the battle was not over quickly, it did end decisively. Standing over the bodies of the fallen bandits Mazoga wiped the blood from her face, told me I could have the entirety of the loot, and wandered off into the woods. I quickly searched through the camp and headed back the Castle Leyawiin to fill the count in on the what had just occurred.

Count Caro found Magoza’s self appointed knighthood, quest for vengeance, and elimination of some long troublesome local bandits all quite honorable. He offered Magoza and myself an opportunity to become Knights-Errants of Leyawiin’s own Knights of the White Stallion order. While I was sure Magoza would jump at the chance I didn’t quite know how I felt about it.

“Gee, thanks. Must be an exclusive club.”

The Count had a seemingly simple request for us – to eliminate a dangerous Orc outlaw called Black Brugo. Magoza knew of Brugo, and knew that he made daily visits to one of his gang’s hideout in some relatively close ruins north of the city. Magoza, was of course, overjoyed with the idea of being an official knight. I decided that I could use the reputation boost for future work and since there were so few strings attached there were few foreseeable downsides. There was also the bonus of getting free room and board at the order’s lodge on the Green Road north of Leyawiin which could definitely be useful in future travels. Off I went with Magoza once again.

“Arriving at Telepe.”

We hiked to the old Ayleid ruins where Brugo’s gang, The Black Bows Bandits, held up. At first the camp appeared to be deserted. As Magoza and I crept through the drizzle along the soft, rain-soaked ground we kept a close watch for possible sentries. We made it all the way to the steps leading down into the subterranean levels of the ruin before the first arrow caught my shoulder. Magoza dashed for cover as I rolled to my right and instinctively blasted a fireball towards the roof of the structure. Although I didn’t hit the guard my spell did reveal the silhouette of the bandit in question, drawing his bow for another shot.

“This never gets old.”

I gained my feet and rushed for cover as a barrage of arrows landed all around me. Once I had the safety of some fallen stonework in front of me I was able to better see my target and put the archer on the defensive with multiple fireball hits. Soon the bandit withdrew from his position and I turned to see several more figures rushing my position. Whether they were already patrolling the camp or had been roused by the noise of the skirmish underway, they wasted no time joining the fray. I drew my sword and Magoza dashed from her cover to join me.

“Brugo and I square off.”

It instantly became clear that these new additions were none other than Black Brugo and his personal entourage. While Magoza was able to distract one of the bandits, tangling him up in an intense sword fight, the others concentrated on me. Blocking their hits with my shield and choosing my own attacks very carefully soon I was able to cut down all but Brugo himself. While Black Brugo was a fierce warrior I found that my swordsmanship was on another level above his and as Magoza finished her opponent and rushed to my aid he dropped to his knees and slumped over, defeated.

After looting the bodies and securing the area around the ruins, Magoza suggested that we finish what we had started by entering and clearing out the bandit camp lower in the ruins. Given that we had already slain the gang’s toughest members I figured I had nothing to lose and unknown treasures to gain, and agreed.

“Magoza viciously finishes off a wounded bandit. Eww.”

The accessible parts of the ruins were well lit and relatively clean – obviously still used. As we crept through the hallways we heard little activity. Finally we reached a large room teaming with life – several bandits gathered, chatting, eating, relaxing, cleaning their weapons, etc. while I watched from the darkened corridor. When I turned to signal Magoza she was already running full speed passed me, sword above her head, into the room. I drew my sword and stepped into the room after her. While the ensuing melee was large and chaotic, few of the bandits proved any challenge for the two of us and soon we stood with a pile of bodies at our feet. Perhaps if we were in a larger space where they could have made use of their infamous archery skills they would have fared better. We looted the bodies and continued to search the ruins, though found nothing more of interest save for the gang’s bank box which the two of us split evenly.

“Business is good!”

When we reported back to the Count he was quite pleased. He, very informally, dubbed both of us Knight-Errants and presented us each a shield bearing the crest of Leyawiin and keys to the order’s lodge. He also said as Knights of the White Stallion he would award us generous bounties for proof that we had killed more members of the troublesome Black Bow Bandits. Magoza immediately set herself to the task, while I retreated to the peace of my inn room for one last, hopefully quiet, night in the city before finally heading north.

Warning: potential side quest spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

Layover in Leyawiin

I’ve been majorly slacking on my updates lately. Sorry readers! I’ll be trying to force myself to play more and more Oblivion this month so expect several more updates before May.

After the successful completion of my last quest I was preparing to continue on my journey, heading back up north to the Imperial City. I spent one more night sleeping in a semi-civilized manner, in an inn, before stopping by the city market in the morning to purchase some fruits and vegetables. While walking around the market I overheard several different people discussing a citizen called Rosentia Gallenus. Apparently she hadn’t come out of her house for days and there was a horrible stench and strange noises emanating from within as well. I decided to postpone my departure slightly and investigate.

Knocking on her front door I wasn’t sure what I’d find. Had she committed some kind of grizzly murder? Was she some sort of powerful necromancer, or had she possibly become undead herself? When she finally opened the door she looked worried and exhausted. Recognizing me as an adventurer a weight seemed to instantly lift from her shoulders and she invited me in.

“We wouldn’t want the neighbors to think you’re the wrong religion, now would we?”

Immediately upon entering her house I was surprised to find the room flanked by several scamps. Rosentia explained. After the death of her husband left her with a fair amount of free septims she began collecting rare, magical artifacts. Her most recent purchase was a staff of Daedric origin. While attempting to translate the runes on it she accidentally activated it, summoning the scamps. Apparently the scamps didn’t cause much in the way of mischief but they followed her everywhere, and even killing them wouldn’t cause them to go away – a new one just appeared in its place. Rosentia had tried getting rid of the scamps, and indeed the staff itself, but nothing worked. She needed help figuring out how to get rid of it. Unable to go herself without raising all kinds of questions about her new, little friends she asked me to talk to one of her friends at the Mage’s Guild.

“Awww, aren’t they precious?”

Alves Uvenim had already suspected what might be going on and conducted some of her own investigating. She believed that the staff was a creation of Sheogorath, the Daedric prince of madness, and that we might be able to get rid of it by leaving it at a shine to him. Fortunately Alves discovered that Rosentia could give me the staff as long as I would willingly accept it. Not only that, but there was a little known shrine to Sheogorath in a cave not far from the city. Problem solved! I visited Rosentia one last time to retrieve the staff and began my journey.

I soon left the city, legion of scamps in tow. Thankfully I wasn’t concerned about rumors of my own dabblings with the Daedra as I was routinely spotted traveling with much worse than mere scamps. The scamps were indeed annoying, however. Unlike summoned creatures they wouldn’t fight for me. In fact, if anything they preferred to stand in the way and hamper my efforts, cackling and snarling as if they were well aware of the twisted joke their Daedric master was playing.

“Leave my Daedroth alone, you Xivilai fuck!”

When I finally pushed open the long disused wooden door barring the dark pathway leading down into Darkfathom Cave I immediately heard the scurrying of more Daedric creatures. My attempts to quietly sneak into the cave were of course nullified by my own beastly entourage. Inside the cave I faced a large variety of exotic Daedric creatures, many of which I hadn’t laid my eyes on before. Thankfully few of them posed much of a threat and I soon found myself standing at an ancient, long disused shrine to Lord Sheogorath.

“Nice shrine. Further proof that the Daedric Princes have tiny wangs”

The shrine was impressive – probably once a central place of worship in Tamriel long ago. I approached it cautiously and laid down the staff upon an empty alter in front of a large statue of Sheogorath. The scamps scattered and the curse appeared to be lifted. Upon returning to Leyawiin Rosentia was relieved to hear of the news and for my trouble she offered me an less annoying artifact from her collection – a magic ring that seemed as if it would be useful indeed. Another job well done and thankfully another reward worth my trouble. I was hopeful that this might become a trend and I might be able to make my living as an adventurer.

Warning: potential side quest spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

The Petty and The Pious

As soon as I arrived at Leyawiin’s city gates I was hailed by a guardsman. He welcomed me to the city and, after quickly scanning my attire, inquired about my availability to help the city guard with a small task. He told me of a local Skooma dealer who had setup shop in a house in Greyland to the south that the city authorities wanted dealt with.

“Welcome to Leyawiin. Now go kill some people!”

When I arrived at the house I could see the shadows of two men cast against the ground from the torchlight within. I was able to creek the front door open without either of them noticing thanks in large part to the noise of the heavy rain fall outside. I crept into the house and took a quick look at my adversaries. Both men were well armed and seemed to be somewhat tense, in mid discussion about business no doubt.

“Fore!!!”

I summoned a frost atronach in the middle of the room, immediately catching the attention of both men who quickly drew their swords in panic. I then drew my own blade and rushed at them from behind as they attempted to stand with the atronach. After finishing off the first gang member I focused my attention on the second. Alas, the frost elemental was too much for the drug trafficker to handle and as I turned to face him the atronach sent the poor bastard flying through the air, narrowly missing me.

I searched the bodies and the rest of the building and gathered a few identifying objects to bring to the Leyawiin Guard. I was greeted with a fair bounty in gold for my services. My visit to the city of Leyawiin was starting off quite favorably.

Later that day I wandered around Leyawiin learning the lay of the city and doing a bit of shopping. While looking through the spell library at the Mage’s Guild I was approached by a Khajiit mage named S’drassa who wanted to talk to me discretely about some personal side work.

“These Mages Guild guys sure seem to have cushy jobs.”

It seemed that S’drassa was a bit of a collector of rare and precious crystals and stones and wanted my help in tracking down an extremely rare, magical crystal known as Garridan’s Tears. He suggested I ask around at other Mage’s Guild locations and, in particular, the Arcane University in the capital city. Normally I don’t agree to such lengthy quests that involve so much travel but S’drassa’s story sounded interesting and I was sure from his dress that he had the money to pay me handsomely.

After traveling north to the Imperial City I spoke to a few of the staff of the Arcane University and was quickly directly to Julienne Fanis. Julienne spoke a little about the legend of Garridan’s Tears but soon directed me to a book that told the tale. I purchased a room in an inn on that side of the city and read the book by candle light well into the night.

The story of Garridan’s Tears was a fascinating one indeed. The book told of a good Knight who lorded over a small farming community. When a vicious drought struck his lands his people sought his aid. Helpless to aid them himself he paid the best sages in the land to seek a solution. Eventually, as the situation seemed the most bleak and desperate he was approached by a sage who told him of the legend of the Everflow Ewer – a magical vessel which never ran out of water. Garridan believed that this was the answer to his people’s problems and set out on a noble quest to retrieve the artifact.

Following the sage’s advice Garridan breached an ancient cave and then a magically sealed door that lead to a small glade. Finally, inside the glade he discovered an altar on which sat the Ewer, just as the story told. All was not well, however, as when Garridan grasped the artifact the ground rumbled and an immensely powerful ice golem or elemental of some sort appeared and began attacking the knight. Garridan defended himself bravely but the guardian of the glade was too much for him.

The tale goes that as it was about to land it’s final blow Garridan blocked it with the Ewer itself, splitting it and causing a massive explosion of ice, freezing the surrounding areas and incasing both Garridan and the golem in a block of solid crystal. Tears erupted from Garridan’s eyes as he realized that he had failed his people. The few small crystals that were ejected from the grasp of the icy tomb are what are known as Garridan’s Tears today.

I traveled back to S’drassa to tell him of what I had learned as well as to see if he could prepare me to enter the frigid area where this epic story had come to a close. The narrator of the story claimed to be there when these events transpired and, according to his description, the entire area around the altar was now cursed by a deadly frost. Luckily S’drassa had just the perfect solution in some powerful potions and I set out on my journey to the cavern rumored to be the one in the tale: Frostfire Cave.

“At the entrance of Frostfire Cave.”

As I entered Frostfire Cave I found it to be strangely abandoned. Most of the caverns, ruins, and other interesting sites throughout the Empire had some obvious signs of visits from treasure hunters, bandits, or monsters, even if they were remotely located and well hidden as with this location. When I entered the cavern, however, I was greeted with an almost choking eruption of silt from the rocky floor. I navigated the rocky passages slowly and deliberately through dust clouded torchlight.

“Down boy, down!”

The only creatures that inhabited the cave were a large pack of artic wolves. Oddly enough many of the wolves in the cave seemed to be either extremely agitated or slightly distracted. I suspected that this was a side effect from the powerful magical seal that protected the entrance to the glade, which I soon discovered in a large room at the end of the cave system. I opened the door in the manner described in the book with little difficulty.

“Hermetically sealed.”

The strange glade was, at first, beautiful and lush. A peaceful place that I could easily have imagined once served as a resting place for a powerful magician or even a great ruler in times long past. Still, one had to travel only a few paces over a small foothill to see the frost scorched area where my objective waited.

I crept slowly towards the frost and ice covered area attempting not to alert whatever might still occupy the area. The narrator of the tale in the book didn’t lie – the closer I got the colder I became until it became completely unbearable, practically burning my skin. I took one of the potions S’drassa provided me with and continued on.

“Target acquired.”

Luckily the only guardian I saw protecting the area was a single frost atronach or golem of some sort. It definitely wasn’t the intimidating one from the tale, as I could see his towering silhouette against the translucent edges of the large block of ice set dead center of the frozen area. Still yet undetected I positioned myself behind a large boulder and soon let lose with a barrage of fireballs into the creature. It was mighty indeed, and I quickly found myself locked in melee with it. Still, between my sword and my mastery of fire based magic it posed little real threat to me.

“Damn, that’s cold! *rimshot*”

Once the sole protector the glade fell I began exploring the frozen patch of earth. Just as the legend described there stood Garridan and the great ice creature, locked in battle and entombed for all eternity in icy crystal. Garridan clearly held the remains of the Ewer and soon I found my first crystal of Garridan’s Tears nearby. I quickly realized that my supply of frost protection potions was running dangerously low and began more purposefully searching for crystals. Moments later I was sure I had gathered that I could gather without myself becoming part of the usual scenery of Frostfire Glade and made my way through the doorway back into the caves.

“If the cat dudes are happy I’m happy.”

S’drassa could barely contain himself when I arrived with not one, but five of the legendary crystals in hand. The mage pulled out a small satin sack of coin and threw it on his workbench and then reached around him and pulled out a second. It was a handsome reward of several thousand gold pieces – the most I had yet earned from a single payment and it was all earned relatively easily.