With my Paladin build having completed the main quest line, I felt the urge to try something new, so I have begun Zentuk the mage.

Zentuk was raised in the city of Jehanna in the provence of High Rock. Having just recently completing his journey to Winterhold were he is attending the Mage's College. Zentuk grew up poor and see's magic as a way to never be poor again. He has an insatiable desrie to learn all he can, even that which is not meant to be learned.

I am playing this character using the alternate starting mod and began at the college. I can tell you now that the first mission in the School of magic china was likely not designed with 1st level characters in mind. My paladin was a brute that walked into fights. The mage however is very squishy and has forced me to leanr a new style of play. I have actually had to run from fights and in one section used the a gate as a weapon. The undead walked up and I dropped the gate just in time to pin him and let my flames finish him.

The alternate start system really adds a level of challenge to the game. The opening mission for the game in default play leaves your with a few levels when you are done, starting cold makes things a lot more interesting.

I am curious if anyone lese has played using this mod yet?

Today Zentuk, Apprentice at the College of Winterhold, set forth from the college to find Othorn. Seems this former apprentice of the college stole some tomes of importance and I have been sent to retrieve them. As the first day of my journey neared it's end I came upon an outpost on the road. My hope was that it was a safe place to stay, however as I approached I soon saw otherwise. A skeleton stood guard on a tower armed with a bow. I summoned a familiar to engage the skeleton and it was quickly joined by another along with two human mages.

The mages would not listened to reason and I was forced to defend myself. This was my first real battle against other mages, I was most grateful for being taught the importance of wards. While in reality the fight was brief, for me it seemed to stretch forever as we traded spells and blocked with wards. Eventually I got the upper hand and my familiar was able to finish of the skeletons. As I approached the main outpost I saw more skeletons and quickly realized I had stumbled upon a coven of necromancers. This was an amazing opportunity for me to gather some magic knowledge as well as raise my value in the eyes of the college.

I spent the rest of the day clearing the outpost of skeleton constructs and the necormancers that were still here. When I was finished I realized night had fallen. Loath to travel at night I decided to stay here for the night. I found the form outpost's commanders quaters, they were neat and clean. Reading through some of the material I found I discovered this places was called Fort Kastav. The necormancers must have been here a while as they had a large store of food on hand. Once I have finished this entry I will sleep for the night and in the morning continue my journey.

While I am not play DiD, mostly becuase this class and style of play is very new to me and I would be starting over a lot, I am RPing the character to the nth degree. This means I walk at least 80% of the time when traveling. I will not use the fast travel in game however i see no harm in hiring the wagon for transport. While I have picked up a dagger for emergencies I am not picking up a lot of weapons and armor, unless of course it is enchanted. I am however building quite a collection of book, part of the RP for this character, he wants a vast library of his own.

The alternate start has really changed the way I am looking at the game. I have not done any of the Dragonborn stuff, instead just playing the role of a mage seeking his future in Skyrim. Add to this the fact that this part of Skyrim was not a place I spent much time with my Paladin and my exploration fix is getting filled easily. Advancement is slow, as I am only level 3 and have not yet had the money, when I was near a vendor, to buy much in the way of spells.

I would encourage everyone to get this mod and try a different start, it really changes the perspective of the game.