An update on Gangrel.

After his escape with the Nord, they parted company. Gangrel took shelter in Embershard Mine, killing the bandit residents and looting the place. Now level 14, Gangrel is focusing on mining and collecting alchemy ingredients to accquire wealth. He has also travelled to winterhold and joined the colleage there. Striking a loose alliance with the other apprentices. He has also cleared the ruins of Saarthal, finding a useful magical staff within its depths.

Finally caught Swamp-Strider back up to where he was prior to the restart, and as per RP he's begun working for the College and Companions. He'll be taking those quest lines slowly, as he has to work his way up the ranks, so will be doing a lot of radiant tasks in order to prove his worthiness to progress. Applying the crafting skills to his gear has made a huge difference in combat; he no longer has to use hit-and-run tactics, but can actually tank while dealing massive blows with his Legendary Orcish Greatsword.

Oddly enough I actually miss that part, however it's really not sustainable at higher levels due to damage scaling. Next character I may sell the Fortify Smithing potions instead, since my mods mean I get a lot more mileage out of weapon enchantments. That said, I haven't tangled with the insanely upped Draugr bosses yet, so we'll see.

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Using his now fully-developed crafting skills, Swamp-Strider made another batch of potions for sale, as he needed more money for training fees. The merchants could take lessons on how to rip customers off from these people, with their exorbitant fees (I have a mod that doubles them, and am debating raising it to 5x or more) for minimal progress...

Fortunately, he was fairly adept at ripping off the merchants in turn (all relevant perks in Speech) and was able to get them to pay top price for his exotic concoctions (Alchemy perks), so could raise large sums on short notice when necessary. Which was more often than one might think, given the high prices on the rare Alchemy items he needed for his most valuable potions. That was about to change, though, as he was now outfitted well enough to hunt the dangerous creatures from which said materials were extracted, and for whose heads he had a contract with the Companions (started Aela's work).

The tasks he'd received from the College were a bit on the odd side, but they paid well; the places they sent him to were a bit disturbing, though, and some of the things lying there should really have been left alone. The most recent one took him to a place not far from Whiterun, which was convenient; he'd gotten some requests from various locals while buying supplies in the hold capitals, and a few of them could be fulfilled while he was in the area. It was also not far from Morthal, which was good as well; he'd found the item a lady there wanted, and could drop it off after he was done.

There was a possible side bonus as well: Bandits. As a professional fighter, he despised them, and took great joy in ending their miserable lives whenever they crossed paths. While he recognized that both they and he used their weapons to enrich themselves, the thought of doing so by terrorizing fellow travelers disgusted him, and their ham-handed tactics insulted his professional pride. They also provided skin and hearts for Alchemical use, although he made a point of never drinking said potions lest their cowardice taint him; he sold them instead, both for the irony (they earned more money when dead than while alive, and through honest means, at that) and the income. While they were not known to be in the area he was traveling to the lure of treasure in the ruins inevitably drew them, so there was a good chance he'd get to rid the world of some more of their filth while performing his tasks.

Brigid is still going strong. Level 28 and a bloody terror
Haven't had much time for writing updates so I'll just pick up with her musings as she and Lydia hunt down some silver hand leader at Aela's behest, with some hints of what has transpired to date:



Clank clank clank...

By the Nine, this housecarl walks louder than a mammoth! 'Spose I can't complain, really. I'm the one that gave her all that steel plate.

But I would feel better with Faen padding softly behind me through these Silver Hand infested halls.
'Specially after all we've faced together. Two daedra and their fools' errands. Vampire den. Werewolf hunt. Even got a piece of that giant Aela was fighting outside Whiterun. Bears, bandits, Thalamore...
Faen always seems to know where I need him. Arrow sailing over my shoulder into my foe or sword drawn and guarding my flank.
And quiet.

Clank clank clank...

I've half a mind to turn around, leave this place, send Lyd home to drink my mead and run down to Riverside to pick up Faen. Then come back to finish this job.
But the sooner this Silver Hand scum is put down the better. And I guess I owe Faen some time to try to patch things up with Camilla. She seemed quite taken with me and never even gave Faen so much as a "hi, how d'ya do"...
Hopefully he'll have an easier time of it without me in town...

Lyd's not bad in a fight really. Holds her own. But I'd rather hunt down these Silver Hand swine 1 or 2 at a time. Not have the lot of 'em bearing down on us.

"Lyd, wait here. 'Round the corner. I'll scout ahead a bit. If ya hear me running back be ready to lop off the head of whatever's behind me"...


Ahh... Silence. That's better. These boots are quiet as if I were walking on air. Assassin's boots, though, so small wonder.
Still remember that smug [censored] I took 'em from. Poisoned me. Abducted me. Then had the gall to tell me that I owed her organization and would HAVE to pay them back.
I don't take kindly to being abducted.
Heh. The look in her eyes when my axe bit into her flesh. How's that for payback? And thank you for these boots and gloves.

If only that other woman had kept her trap shut. I was about to free them all, gods know, but she had to 'command' me to release her. And me already all worked up about being abducted and ordered around. I don't remember much. Just the rage. Such awful wonderful rage. You'd think I'd still worn that cursed ring from the child killer.
Then sitting naked on a chair in the corner, blood all over me and in my mouth and 4 dead bodies on the floor instead of just the one.

No one commands Brigid the Black. Brigid Blackwolf!

Ah well... No fault of mine. I blame that assassin and her organization. They'll pay for the blood in that shack. But that's another hunt for another day. Today I hunt silver hands. I'll pick up the Brotherhood's scent on the morrow...

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