Tag Archives: Elder Scrolls

Warning: potential side quest spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

Nightmares

Practically as soon as I stepped foot back into Bravil I was approached by a young messenger who told me that my assistance was needed at the Mage’s Guild. I was slightly annoyed to have been harassed before even recovering from my last task but also rather happy that my reputation had been spreading so quickly. After a quick stop at my inn room to unload and clean up a little I made my way to the Bravil Mage’s Guild.

As I entered the guildhall an Argonian woman immediately took notice of me and discretely waved me over to her. She introduced herself as Kud-Ei and told me that her friend, Henantier, was missing and that there was a reward for helping locate him. As we walked and Kud-Ei and I reached a more secluded section of the hall, however, her story changed. She explained that Henantier was in fact trapped somewhere and that she could lead me to him when I was ready. Very odd indeed. Still, I didn’t think the Argonian was attempting to manipulate me for any ill reasons and agreed to accompany her.

“It’s too bad he didn’t build in an exit.”

Kud-Ei lead me to none other than Henantier’s house. As we climbed the stairs Kud-Ei explained to me that Henantier had been experimenting with a magic that gave him control over dreams and had enchanted an amulet to let him enter and explore his own dreamworld at will. Sure enough, there he was sound asleep on a bed. Somehow though, she explainied, Henantier had become trapped in his dreams. He and Kud-Ei had apparently taken various safety measures and Kud-Ei knew what must be done to rescue him – the amulet could be used by someone else so that they could join Henantier in his dreams and attempt to help free him. Unfortunately, this person had to be someone Henantier had never met before, a complete stranger, which is where I came in.

“But he looks so peaceful.”

Truthfully I wasn’t very keen on the idea of entering someone else’s subconscious. This seemed like a powerful and potentially very dangerous magic which was probably why Kud-Ei didn’t want to discuss it openly at the Mage’s Guild earlier. Even so, still being quite keen on learning and experiencing new things, and perhaps secretly hoping to learn a bit of my past self from my own subconscious, I agreed. I sat on a bed across from the one where Henantier slept and looked up at Kud-Ei as she slipped the amulet around my neck. Almost instantly the world went black…

I found myself standing in a strange, twisted version of the Henantier’s house wearing only the enchanted amulet. Before I had completely gained my senses Henantier himself approached and spoke to me. He didn’t seem to know where he was or how he got there but he did tell me that he had lost a few things and wanted help looking for them. This was a vague statement and I was quite conscious that this world wasn’t reality and he could be referring to literally anything.

“I’m pretty sure my dreamworld would be a lot more interesting than this.”

I looked around the room a bit searching for clues and soon opened the door into the next chamber. The area inside contained a massive, black void filled with all kinds of strange looking objects, with a series of narrow paths winding their way throughout. I grabbed a nearby torch and began following a path. I immediately started noticing the subtle but telltale signs of various common dungeon traps sprinkled alongside a few much more bizarre ones. I carefully continued, avoiding pressure plates and tripwires while being as observant of my surroundings as possible. Finally, upon reaching the end of the path I found a shining jewel perched upon a stone pedestal. Despite all of the traps I had just carefully avoided I was compelled to pick it up. As I lifted it up it started to glow brightly and then disappeared, right from my hands! Suddenly I was standing back where I had started next to Henantier. I questioned him a bit more about what he was missing and although his answers weren’t helpful it was clear that his mental state was more sound than it was the first time we spoke – had I somehow help restored a portion of Henantier’s sanity? Is that what he had lost?

Perhaps I had to face more of these challenges to further restore Henantier’s mind so that he could guide us out of his dream world. As I entered the second chamber it appeared similar to the last – a large, open black void on which only the ground I stood upon seemed to be consistent with the normal laws of reality, and even it seemed to be floating unsupported in the ether. In front of me sat a small chest in which I found a scroll. The scroll contained a cryptic series of diagrams which made little sense to me at the time. As I walked forward I approached what appeared to be some kind of strange maze of tiny platforms. When I stepped forward I realized that each platform was in fact a kind of pressure plate, and thanks to my keen reactions just narrowly missed being perforated by a barrage of poison darts. I quickly jumped back off of the platform and took another look at both my surroundings and the scroll.

“Studying the maze.”

After studying the scroll for a while I finally noticed a pattern which I hoped would indicate the correct path to take through the deadly maze. Sweat no doubt rolled down my brow as I set foot back on the first of these plates, yet no trap was sprung. I stepped upon the second a little less fearful, and before I knew it I had conquered the puzzle and the next element of Henantier’s sanity had been returned.

“All dressed up with nowhere to go…”

The next puzzle I faced was quite different indeed. As I entered the chamber I found myself in a small stone room containing a series of chests and a large, armored door. The chests contained a selection of weapons and armor which, still being quite nude, I was quick to don. Opening the door I found myself standing in the center of a small ruined arena. As I turned to survey the place the door I had entered from simply vanished – I was trapped. Spinning back around and drawing my newly claimed sword I was startled to see two large minotaurs, possibly minotaur lords judging by their massive size, standing on the other side of the arena. They had noticed me as well and wasted no time charging directly towards me.

“Well they certainly don’t look happy to see me.”

I attempted to cast a fireblast at one of the beasts but found that my magic had no power in this place. I raised by sword and prepared for impact. In a matter of seconds one of the huge beasts had slammed his massive axe down upon me but deflecting its blow I turned into my parry and slashed at the minotaur, cutting it deeply. I continued this tactic of dodging and parrying the huge beasts and landing my own strikes when I had opportunity until I finally stood victorious over both of them. After taking some time to recover I located another one of Henantier’s elements and was yet again whisked away.

“The prize!”

The fourth area led down to a small, rocky, well-like chamber, leading down still further to a water filled tunnel. A chest contained what seemed to be a water breathing potion and I guessed that my challenge was to swim through the tunnel. Unsure of what lay ahead of me I drank the entire potion and dove in. The murky tunnel seemed to be leading me down further and further. As I continued to swim I began to worry about the longevity of my potion as I was already quite far beyond the normal capacity of my lungs. Finally, at the end of the long, dangerous swim I found myself in a damp, but somehow mostly dry cave containing another of Henantier’s missing elements.

Once again I stood in the twisted, dreamworld rendition of Henantier’s house and was again approached by Henantier. Thankfully he seemed to finally have his wits about him. He told me that he now understood where he was and, better yet, why I was there with him. I said that we should leave immediately. Before I could reply and ask him how we should accomplish this I was waking upon the bed in Henantier’s house – Henantier’s real house. Kud-Ei, who had been patiently watching over us, rushed to Henantier’s side as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

Later after we had both gathered ourselves Henantier thanked me for the assistance over a warm glass of cider and offered me a selection of picks from his spell scroll collection as a reward. Some of these scrolls would be useful for my own arcane studies and the others I could surely trade for a tidy sum when I returned the Imperial City. Another job well done, even if it was only a dream.

Warning: potential side quest spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

The Ghost Ship

After selling off a few of the odds and ends I had gathered during my recent adventures I packed up the rest of my belongings and set off for the long hike up north, from Leyawiin to Bravil. The path between the two cities, known as the Green Road, was well traveled and much less dangerous than the one I took to get to Leyawiin originally, and the walk was relatively uneventful as far as I recall. Bravil was a city that I had conducted a fair amount of business in since my liberation months ago and its muddy, run down streets were somewhat comforting to see again. I didn’t think there would be much in the way of adventuring to be had in and around Bravil but poking around had become so routine by now it would require very little effort. I started with the city guard.

“Scenic, not so beautiful Bravil.”

One particular guardsman I was casually chatting with mentioned a local superstition, only one that he claimed had been verified as true by practically everyone who travels around the city at night, including most of the guard. The claim was that the ghost of a what appeared to be a sailor would appear on an island in Niben Bay nightly and walk the shore before finally gazing out onto the water for quite some time. So regularly does this spirit appear in fact that some of the guard joked about telling the time by its appearance. The apparition seemed harmless so the locals who were familiar with it simply chose to ignore it. They called it “The Forlorn Watchman”. I must admit that while at first this seemed like a pretty uninteresting story I had learned over those past weeks of steady, purposeful adventuring that almost anything abnormal one sees or hears of usually leads to something bigger when checked into and I was betting that there was more to this situation than a wandering spirit. I decided to investigate myself.

“No, ghosts don’t have a lot of interesting hobbies.”

Following the advice of several different citizens I made my way to Bawnwatch Camp to wait for the spirit to appear. As predicted, the ghost appeared right on time and began its lonely trek across the shore. As it was staring longingly out into the bay I made my move and approached it, sword drawn. The spirit slowly turned to face me and began to speak. It identified itself as spirit of Grantham Blakely and stated, rather cryptically, that he was stuck in the mouth of the panther and needed someone to help release him. The spirit gave little else in the way of details before vanishing. Later that night after walking back to the city I spoke to the innkeeper and the patrons of Silverhome on the Water about what the ghost had told me. A couple of them were quite familiar with the Mouth of the Panther, telling me that it wasn’t quite as cryptic as it sounded, and was actually the nickname the inlet of the Panther River off of the bay, so called because of the jagged rocks that line it.

“What do we have here then…”

The next day was rainy and dreary which made the long trip across the bay even more unpleasant. On the way I imagined what scenario might have brought Grantham to his end but when I reached the Mouth of the Panther it became clear as I almost immediately spotted the damaged carcass of a small ship smashed up against the shore. I poked around the outside of the vessel to learn that it was called the Emma May. It was very heavily damaged and I could only easily make my way below deck by crawling into a giant hole that had been ripped below the waterline. As I crept through the soggy, smashed remnants of the vessel I was suddenly ambushed by several spirits. I struggled against them and eventually defeated them, but they struck with a vicious, desperate hatred which took me by surprise. I thought it odd that I was attacked in such a way until I stumbled upon one of the ship’s log books. The last entry in the book detailed a mutiny aboard the vessel against the captain and his lone supporter, one Grantham Blakely. It appears that Grantham was tied up in the bottom of the ship. It also detailed how the remaining crew sailed the ship into an inlet to escape a storm. The log ended abruptly after that.

“Hot wraith on wraith action.”

As I ventured further into the bowels of the ship I fought off more and more of these malevolent spirits until I finally reached what I had guessed to be the long decayed body of Blakely, secured to a pillar. As I unshackled his remains the spirit of the Forlorn Watchman appeared to me and thanked me for releasing him. Before disappearing once more he motioned to a small pile of cargo and miscellaneous debris in the hold. I sifted through this junk eventually discovering a small scroll that contained some sort of treasure map.

“We meet again, Blakely.”

I left the ship wreck, thankful to return to the light of day, as obscured by clouds as it might have been, and attempted to decipher the map. It appeared to lead up the Panther River. I carefully walked the banks of the river attempting to avoid detection until I reached the approximate location marked on the map. Already rather wet from the steady rain fall I didn’t hesitate to dive into the river to begin my search. After a great deal of toil I located an old wooden chest wedged soundly between two rocks. Once I was able to free the chest and bring it to the surface I was delighted to find that it contained a generous amount of gold and jewels as well as some other artifacts. I don’t know if this was Blakely’s personal stash, or if it perhaps belonged to the captain or one of the mutinous crew members, but in any case it was a just reward for my short adventure and a welcome start to my quest for work in Bravil.

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.