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R.I.P. neildarkstar. Haven will miss you dearly.
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Arilliana, the Heretic
Topic Started: Sep 12 2016, 05:41 PM (222 Views)
Areial
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Et'Ada
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Rick
Sep 19 2016, 10:40 PM
I still just do not get this...

You guys are getting WHAT.....THREE master vamps....I have never seen even two in one city or village attack.....upto levels in the high fifties even.
Most vamp attacks fade off to being very rare after level forty or so.

In the wilds a master may have additional lower rank vamps with him.
And I have met a Nightlord in the wilds too....
But in cities I've not (yet) seen two master vamps together
You can't get more vanilla than my xbox plus dlcs
You must be suffering mod influences surely!



My 1st character to die by Vampire attack( in a city) had two Master camps, a couple thralls and a death hound ( maybe two.. I thought I had seen the second, but never found it)

The 1st Master was doa...and I saw a Thrall and went after it... another Master came from her blind side.. smack between the two and not enough health fort that.

On 360... I regularly ran into 2 Masters and or a couple Mist-walkers at mid levels...
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neildarkstar
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I'm uncertain as to exactly why I was chosen, but I now find myself occupying the position of Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold.I plan to fill this position with all the dignity and pomp it deserves, I will therefore expect one and all to bow, scrape, and grovel before me while responding to my every whim until I can find a way out of this position. Hmmm... I made such a suggestion to Urag, and he threatened once again to have me torn apart by angry atronachs...

In any case, to I explain how I got here, I had decided the time had come for a little vacation from the college scene. It'd been over a month since I returned with the "Chronicles" for Urag, and I was feeling the need for some adventure. I had in the recent past learned a Word of Power from a location the Greybeards had given me, and I thought it might be good to see if they had a new Word in a new pit of despair for me to delve into. I made the journey to High Hrothgar, and it turned out they did...

Arngeir seemed to be wearing a poker face when he marked the location of the "echo" on my map, and he said nothing at all about what I might encounter there. "Ironbind"... What an odd name... and a chill went up my spine as I thought of it.

For a moment I thought of the Nightgate Inn which is just across the road from this Ironbind... eh, cave? Barrow? Both? ...and it occurred to me that that area seemed like an ill omen. That was where I had parted from Stenvar and collected a nasty disease at the same time.

The journey was relatively uneventful, and I arrived at the junction where one way led to Ironbind, the other to the Nightgate Inn, and a third trail went through a Northern pass I had never traveled. Even though the hour was late, I did not go to the inn, but rather turned toward my goal. My reluctance to sleep in one of Nightgate's beds was greater than my need for sleep.

Shortly, I came across a rough camp where a young, heavily armored Redguard girl and an Argonian in mage robes huddled near a small fire. They were deep in a conversation that made me think the Argonian was somehow in the service of the Redguard, but with an agenda of his own and I heard quite a lot since they didn't initially hear my approach. At least not until the Argonian suddenly noted that they were not alone. Hissing Argonians always make me smile. They think they are such sly bastards until you catch them with their tail hanging out, then they start their hissing. I gave the Argonian a broad smile, and greeted the pair.

An odd conversation ensued with the girl adamantly defending her and Beem-Ja's right to the treasure, though in truth I had little interest in anything but the Word I had come here for. It seemed the girl, Salma, was determined to enter Ironbind seeking an unknown treasure that she was convinced was inside, but I had the notion the Argonian named Beem-Ja was after something else entirely. It bothered me that I couldn't say what that might be. We decided to join forces (since it seemed there was no other choice) and together, we entered Ironbind. As I entered, again I felt a chill as though somebody had walked across my grave...

The first passages were more or less normal ice caves, with their share of Skyrim's creatures, though they seemed inordinately hard to kill. I'd have usually had little trouble with such by myself, but it took quite a bit of fighting for the three of us to fight our way further in.

Then we enterd the chambers proper, and suddenly we were facing deathlords in every room. They were tough, but we three and my summoned helpers were able to defeat them easily enough.

Now, we stand at a chamber door, and the excitement of my companions was almost palpable. Salma is urging haste to get in there and get the treasure, while Beem-ja speaks of the final door behind which we'll certainly find the Warlord Gathrik. I am not finding comfort in such words... But, on we go to victory or Sovengarde, eh?

Talos protect me.
***

To the Master Wizard of the College of Winterhold, I greet you.

My name is Salma, and I must present you with sad tidings. I send you these writings and finish this tale because you Arch-Mage cannot.

We three entered the final chamber of Ironbind, and found there a room filled with undead servants of the Warlord Gathrik. Beem-ja and I sprang to attack Gathrik, while Arilliana sent an atronach against him. She then turned her fire on the skeletal minions and mages who beset us from all sides.

The room shook with explosions of her flaming spells, and the sound of her shouts mingled with the shouts of Warlord Gathrik until I thought surely I would be deafened for life. The Warlord's minions fell quickly, but unfortunately, so did Beem-ja. As I struggled to regain my feet after taking a huge blow, I saw the Warlord's mighty blade strike Beem-ja full on, and then a shout put my Argonian friend down as the mighty undead swung his sword at Beem-ja for a final thrust that nearly pinned the Argonain to the cold stone floor.

I saw then flaming explosions as Arilliana threw everything she had at the undead Warlord, only to see him heal himself as her resources were apparently exhausted. I marveled at her courage as she stepped forward to face him... Shoulders back, head angled to send a shout of some sort at her foe, but... nothing happened! No sound came out, and I saw a look of surprise coupled with complete despair cross her face as the Warlord loosed a shout that encased her in ice. Like some marvelous statue, she stood for a moment, then fell to the floor.

I tried then to attack the undead monster again, but a slash of his blade sent me tumbling down to the lower level, gravely wounded. I could do nothing but watch as he stood over the helpless Arch-Mage waiting... waiting with the patience of the dead... and then the ice was gone, and the Arch-mage struggled to rise. A swing of Gathrik's deadly blade ended her struggles forever, and her life.

I could do no more, I knew I stood no chance against the Warlord Gathrik alone, so I found my way back out of the dark tomb, and I now plan to return to my home.

Peace be upon you, and the blessings of the Eight.


***
So ends the tale of Arilliana the Heretic who now frequents the halls of Sovengarde..

By way of Writer's note, I was not playing Arilliana as a DiD character. In fact, I reloaded the game about five times, but it was a fight she apparently was not fated to win. Each time, some new thing brought her down. Once it was even the trap where the helmet sits that had ALREADY been set off earlier, nailing her with spears from the floor as she tried to get some distance from Gathrik. I've never had that trap reset before...

If you're still not too bored, I'd like to talk about something else for a moment though...

A couple of days again, I had mentioned Ironbind in some discussion I think here at Haven... Arngeir gave Arilliana the Ironbind quest, and later that day I read of Rafer's character dying in Ironbind, but she hadn't gone there yet. Did you ever notice a... confluence of coincidence that somehow creates an... atmosphere of doom about a quest? Anyway, I had that feeling, and that's why I put the sense of foreboding in Arilliana's portion of the story. Just wondering, eh? :)



Edited by neildarkstar, Sep 20 2016, 06:11 AM.
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Wow, that was one hell of a read Neil! Poor girl, she should have stuck with being the bored arch mage I guess.... And yes, sometimes chapters of accidents echo each other....

It's interesting - that particular area has a LOT of potential for hazardous deaths or near-deaths: Silverdrift Lair, Ironbind Barrow, Irkingthand, Raldbthar - as if that lake in the center holds an Oblivion of nasties and they all straggle out around its edges....
Edited by Serethil, Sep 20 2016, 10:20 AM.
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neildarkstar
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You know, as a writer I often find myself wondering "why?" as I search for reasons for a character to leave a secure home or town to venture out into certain danger for uncertain reward. Do RL reasons really work in Skyrim, or do they leave only because if they don't leave, we have no game to play nor story to write?

Boredom, or a desire to fight the opposing yin or yang in one's life, a desire to help the helpless or steal whatever they can't protect? Perhaps any one of those is good enough reason I suppose, depending on the character, but how realistic is that in the end when death claims the protagonist?



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Serethil
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Well, of course with a game we start out by being puppets on the devs' strings. In this game, it's at least quasi-logical the first few "vanilla" times one plays that the character's going to want to know WHY she wound up in Helgen, about to lose her head - and is saved by the intervention of a supposed "myth". The devs in games in general do a fair job of producing a wish to head out into the world.

This many years later, with the wealth of mods (speaking specifically of TES games), you can come up with as many "non-vanilla, non-puppetry" reasons to leave security (if your character has it) as your imagination can invent. At this point, my girls all inhabit a dragon-free zone - because one of their predecessors took care of that....
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Areial
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Sad that Arillana passed and I know what ya mean. I have read about people loosing a character in a specific place and my character was sent their... it lent an air of danger. I have also re-loaded a character many times after they died and then just could not play them after a certain point... sometimes it's as few as twice.. on the 3rd time dying.. they were left in peace.
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Andra Hawksdaughter
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Oh man, I liked her!! :( Great read, and that Salma sent word was a nice touch!
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Grits
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I love Ariliiana's snarky observations. Ha, well they said the bed was lousy! One of my Oblivion characters had a weak shock on self spell for external parasite situations. He called it "De-Louse Nord."

Trixie, best summoning ever. Oops, but not very helpful apparently. Salma's letter was a great way to deliver bad news.

There are some locations that give me a doom feeling. Ironbind Barrow is one of them. I have occasionally encountered a practically untouchable Gathrik in there, but not always.

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