Skyrim The VII thread The Saga Continues

Heh. For all the complaining, I love the look of Dragonbone armor. You are clearly wearing the things bones, and it looks wonderfully barbaric. The helmet though, like the one for dragonscale, needs work.

Speaking of which, I'm not as fond of dragonscale. Pauldrons seem to shrink my character's shoulders. Playing a nord male, bulked out to max. Glass for example, makes him seem huge. But upgrading to the dragonscale slims the guy down.

Raith just got challenged to a wizard's duel in Whiterun. This little snot runs up to him and starts talking shit. So he prompted calls out Frosty and laughs while the Atronach beats the guy into red slush. His last breath was to accuse me of cheating by summoning, even after he spent the whole fight slashing with a dagger.

Good times.

I kind of like the dragonbone helm, myself. It could use some work, but it's not bad looking on the kitty, and I strongly prefer helms that let you see your character's face.

I like to imagine that that's an abstraction of odds and ends that can be repurposed into lockpicks. Hair pins, needles, etc.

This is pretty much confirmed. All the merchants you can buy them from are merchants who you'd expect to have lots of bits of scrap metal on hand, i.e. blacksmiths, jewelers, etc. Lockpicks are just bits of metal you find.

There are jewelers? Well, outside Riften? ....I'm assuming Riften has atleast one, anyway, given the quest marker pointing at it.

Also, is there any way to unlock additional jewelry smithing options, like circlets? And how do you unlock new food crafting options? Just finding the right foodstuffs?

AFAIK, all the Jewelry options you have are there, at Smithing 15, if you have the mats available.

Certainly that's the case with Food Recipes. Now maybe there's a Misc Quest I've never encountered to teach you about some odd new stew recipe -- but early in the game I hoarde all the Salt and Leeks I can.

Red Apples, Cabbage, and Salt make +Health/+Stam Apple Cabbage Stew, probably my favourite "Minor Split Potion" Recipe.

Vegetarian Stew is the only Recipe that doesn't need Salt, but the 6 minute (!) effect is fairly minimal, especially later in the game.

Doug.

I like the look of Ebony armor, if I could get the gold-gilded mod to work, it'd be even better.

The nordish horned helmet looks awesome tho, I'm going to have to try a new game later where I just stick with 'lower' level gear like steel/iron armor and have that barbarian look going on. Glass armor looks cool too.

Some funny stuff tho, I imagine shopkeepers wondering why my character enters their store, does a "Wait a sec." while he takes off his helmet to exchange it for the mask of a daedric prince, change his necklace and quaff a potion. Then engages in barter. Or a smith wondering why I'm apparently stripping down to hide armor and clothes before I smith anything, though that stuff comes out flawless/legendary that way

Yeah, my mistake. I never noticed Horker Stew in the food crafting options until I found one in the game world, so I thought finding it unlocked it, but checking an early save that seems to have just been an oversight on my part.

Elsweyr fondue looks to be pretty cool for mages. But I've had one sitting in my inventory for ages, ever since I kind of went away from the whole magic thing to a artificer/archer build. 100 damage/shot is pretty cool (x3 for sneak attack), and I haven't even nearly maxed the archery tree.

So anyone else has Vokun Mask? Currently equipped with it with the rest being Imperial Plate armor, I look like a middle evil Doctor Doom

Okay, after slaughtering a dozen or more different Thalmor groups, I think I've figured out their foibles and the legal specifics.

-Thalmor don't technically count as "people." Therefore, killing Thalmor troops does not count as murder.
-However, attacking Thalmor openly does count as "assault" and incurs a 40 septim fine if witnessed. Attacking Thalmor on empty roads between cities and villages likely won't incur any assault charges. I assume that the Jarls have to at least pretend to give a shit if the nazi elves get killed on their lands and someone sees it.
-The prisoners being escorted by Thalmor count as witnesses to killing Thalmor, so if you attack a prisoner detail, expect a small fine and confiscation of stolen goods (Thalmor gear looted from their corpses does not count as stolen).
-I believe (this is unconfirmed) that freeing the prisoner removes the assault charges, but I have yet to confirm this. Most prisoners seem to flee from Conantuck's mighty thews and I can't catch them to free them. Why the prisoners flee from the screaming barbarian covered in burnt elf guts and blood dripping off his armor made from the bones of slain dragons is beyond me.
-If the Thalmor initiate combat, the subsequent hilarity is considered self-defense. So Thalmor execution teams who attack you on-sight are fair game. If the Thalmor are escorting a prisoner or just walking down the road, entering dialogue and provoking them to attack you will let you escape any fines.
-Hitting a prisoner during your frank exchange of opinions counts as assault and you'll expect annoyance from city guards the next time you drop into civilization.
-Theoretically, storming the Thalmor Embassy, breaking into the barracks, wantonly slaughtering everyone inside, stripping them naked, dragging them into a pile, and putting a sweetroll on the top of the mound of massacred elves does not count as "assault". Theoretically. No one can prove I was there because all the witnesses are dead.

Bravo, sir. You have raised the art of Thalmor trolling to a high artform.

Personally, I kill them, steal their stuff, then Fire Breath their corpses so that the bears get a hot meal.

Oh, yes, I had that as well.

Challenger: "So, you think you're a great mage! I challenge you to a wizard's duel!"
Aedel: *shrug* "Your funeral, mate."
*Aedel stabs challenger to death with his sword without casting a single spell.*
Challenger: "But that's not magi-" *dies*

The way I see it, there were no witnesses, so I'll just tell everyone I used powerful magic and who's going to know the difference?

Was the sword enchanted? If so, you used magic. Poor fool should have specified what kind of magic he wanted us to fight with, after all.

It is kind of odd, though.
I've stormed their little fortress (and by stormed I mean slit their throats) and killed everyone, but when I talk to city guards they start some sort of comment about how I've made a powerful enemy of the Thalmor, the subtitles claim they continue talking about it but it only lasts like half a second or so so I've never managed to catch the whole sentence.
Which is strange, as I made a point of leaving no...
Fuck
I left those Nords locked in their cells with no food or water!
Even killing Thalmor probably isn't enough to get them to forgive me for that, they probably told everyone they could exactly what I looked like.
Fuck
Though, to be fair, when I talked to them through the bars of the cage they were all like "leave me alone".
So... I did.
Woops.

No.

I am a Nord. Using enchanted weapons sounds like the sort of nonsense the Thalmor would go in for. Are you saying you fight like a Thalmor?

(Actually, the best enchanted weapon I had then was Dawnbreaker, but when I realised that via smithing I made my Skyforge Steel Sword considerably better than Dawnbreaker - and similarly improving Dawnbreaker would have needed ebony ingots, which I didn't have access to at that point - I just decided to go with it instead. Besides. Not using the magic sword mocks the Daedra, which I like, and the logistics of using soul gems always bugged me. I do have Azura's Star, but it's just a hassle to bother to soul trap every enemy before I run them through, so if can I have a decent excuse to use a mundane weapon, I will prefer a mundane weapon.)

Wizards can use swords, so the duel was legal.

Not your fault he didn't specify no weapons and the fight was to the death.

"Hmm.. These look like stab wounds. Wizard's duel, you say?"

"...Bound sword?"

"Can you even cast tha-?"

"FUS RO DAH!"

Hey now, that's unfair. The Thalmor have enchanted weapons handed to them on gilded silver platters. I make all my own weapons.

My Dovahkiin was a female Imperial on the small side, and she's not fool enough to cross swords with much, taller, much angrier Nords without having a little extra luck of her own making on her side.

Heh, same thing, an upgraded Skyforge Steel Sword being better than my enchanted stuff, happened to me as well.

I never did manage to cast soul trap in time as well, until I took the Bound Weapon soultrap perk.

Seriously, somebody just sticky these freaking threads and retitle them "How to be funny".

I just realized something, do you ever see anybody else in the game that's not a special NPC like the Headless Horseman get on a horse and ride it?

Cause I don't think I ever had, and it's very confusing as to how I can ride one yet my companions only has an attack function when it comes to horses I want them to ride.

...I haven't, actually. Weird. They definitely rode horses in Oblivion, but...

And I actually have yet to enchant my sword. Not sure what I want to put on it. I'm thinking Silent Moons and Paralyze, because that sounds like a cool combo. Or absorb health and fatigue... I should make another blade for that. But also, I think the shout that increases strike speed doesn't work on enchanted weapons, so...

Slow time is all around better at everything the speed strike does, and you can have your enchanted weapons.

The doors to Castle Dour banged open, and General Tulluis looked up from his map, where he and Legate Rikke were planning the next stage of the war against the Stormcloaks. He narrowed his eyes as he realized who was barging in.

"Ambassador," the most powerful man in Skyrim said, straightening. Elenwen, Thalmor ambassador to the Imperial forces in Skyrim, strode into the planning room like she owned the place. Probably thought she did.

"General," Elenwen said, nodding curtly. "Several of my agents have been killed within the last week. I require Legion assistance to capture the perpetrator."

"I didn't think the Thalmor cared for Legion interference in their affairs," Tullius replied, leaning back. Decades of service and practice at being a hard-bitten stoic sumbitch kept the smirk off his features. "Besides, Skyrim is a dangerous place. You should have expected casualties."

"Nine Thalmor Justiciars were killed," Elenwen stated, as if that meant something.

"Sabrecats?" Tullius said, glancing to Rikke, who nodded.

"They happen around here."

"They were together," Elenwen said, her tone icy. "Sabrecats cannot kill nine elite Thalmor warriors operating in concert."

"Dragons, then," Tullius said, shrugging dismissively. He had better things to do than worry about dead Thalmor. His armor needed to be buffed.

"There have been a lot of dragon attacks," Legate Rikke said. "There's nine of their skeletons piled up in the courtyard. The centurions are using them for climbing exercises now."

"They were killed inside of the Embassy!" Elenwen snapped, obviously getting angry.

"Well, that's one hell of a sneaky dragon," Tullius replied. "Unless your security is so lax that they missed a dragon attacking the embassy." He paused. "Unless you're suggesting a human, especially a Nord of all things, got inside your embassy and killed your agents right under your nose."

"They were killed by greatswords," Elenwen continued, ignoring the jab. Thalmor were great at ignoring things they didn't like to hear. "Their bodies were stripped of anything valuable, tossed into a pile, and a pastry wa sput on top of them. A message was pinned tot he chest of the senior wizard."

She threw a slip of paper onto the table. Tullius sighed and picked it up. He glanced over it, and kept a satisfied smile carefully concealed.

The message read "FOS IN UR RO DAH, MILK-DRUNKERS, C"

The Legate's penmanship is improving, he thought.

I don't understand the rationale behind making dragon armor smithing the 100 skill perk whilst daedric is only 90. Dragon armor is inferior - to Daedric, why would I bother wasting a perk on it now?

Personally I think Ebony looks the best, with steel plate a close second, but I wear Daedric because of the stats and its not shabby at all either.

Can't wait to fully buff enchant - I fought a Master Conjurer in one dungeon and she had lightning attacks so powerful three hits were enough to almost end me (a little more if I had my shield blocking).