@Jdeleski: thank you for the welcome!
I'm not going to grind skills like crazy, no. But my character will probably craft a lot of daggers, at least in the early levels. Not 100 at a time, probably around 10, and once in a while. From a role-playing perspective, I think he would repeat the process of forging the simpliest of the weapons just to get better and better at smithing: he knows the difference between a sharp sword and a blunt one! But as his skill begins to improve, he will drop those and start creating more advanced weapons, as he will probably have learned all he could learn from iron daggers. As a rule of thumb, I will usually keep my smithing skill a tad lower than the 1H and block. About dragons, that's exactly the reason why I change the level to master when I meet one: in this way, they are dreadful. That is how they should be, imho. No more "oh, look, another dragon to kill". I've been playing like that from my 2nd playthrough (not DID, though), and I can tell you the dragon fights become truly epic. Still, if you are cunny and approach the fight in the right way, you CAN win them. It just takes heaps of time, arrows, effort, and many other things. But I'm willing to give it a try DID
I'll let you know soon, hehe!
@Carpe Noctum: great post, I enjoyed it! Could you tell me how to put images in the thread, please? (I'm kind of a forum-noob, he!)
Good luck with Talia, he seems strong enough to survive this harsh world!
@Fewr: I'm sorry for your character. Falmer can svck me, I'm not going to enter caves with them before level 20! Hate those things...
Anyway, back to Tyrig. Here's his journal.
Tyrig's journal
Morndas, 17th of Last Seed, 4E 201
HOLY [censored]! For Talos' sake, is that for real? It's been several hours, but I still cannot believe it: my heart's still pumping like there's no tomorrow!
Let me go through it, step by step. Yesterday evening I was taken as a prisoner by imperial soldiers. I was trying to rescue that skeever-minded of Lokir from a Stormcloack camp, when the imperials came down and grabbed us as well. I was knocked unconscious, and I woke up this morning on a wagon alongside Lokir and two stormcloacks. One of them told us that the other one, who was gagged, was Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm and leader of the rebels. It is said that he killed the High King of Skyrim using the Thu'um, the power of the Voice of the dragons. Dragons... To me, that word has completely changed its meaning after this morning.
They took us to Helgen, a little village near the southern border of Skyrim, and put us in line for the executioner's block. General Tullius, military commander of the imperials in Skyrim, was supervising the matter, and alongside him there was... A Thalmor! Slimy piece of a bastard! What is he doing there? Well, that brain-dead of Lokir couldn't face his destiny, and tried to escape, only to be shot down by the imperial archers. If only he waited a few minutes more, he could be alive by now, and more important, I could know the position of that slime who calls himself a mer! Now I'm completely stuck, without any knowledge about where he is! Well... Not that I was thinking in these terms in those moments: after all, I was going to be executed. Everything else didn't matter much. But...
Here I was, being put on the block by an imperial officer. I thought I would not die by the executioner's axe. If they were to kill me, they should have earned that. I would have used the advantage brought by surprise to dodge the axe and start fighting. Sure, I had my hands tied behind my back, so it would have been a short fight indeed, but the idea of dying without trying to avoid it was... Disgusting. Anyway. I couldn't put my plan to use, because as soon as the executioner raised his axe... A dragon appeared. A dragon, in the flesh! Black as a moonless night, and as big as an entire tower! I thought that maybe I was already dead, but didn't realize it. Maybe that's what happens when you first enter Sovngarde, you see dragons... But then, as soon as the giant wyrm landed on the tower, the entire world quaked like it was going to shatter, and I realized that thing was as real as me! Then a roar came from him, more powerful than a thousand thunders, the sky clouded and burning meteors rained from the sky! One of them grazed me, but it was enough to knock me to the ground and to dim my sight. I was helped by Ralof, the Stormcloak who was with me on the wagon. He probably saved my life, dragging me to the relative protection of the tower. The imperials completely forgot about us, of course, and concentrated their efforts on the beast, which seemed totally invincible. Arrows just seemed to bounce off his scaled skin, and magic didn't seem to harm it, either. With the help of Ralof, I managed to avoid being burned to ashes by the dragon's breath, and I made my way through the battle to Helgen fortress. Here, Ralof and I discovered an underground tunnel which seemed to lead off the village. Avoiding entire portions of the rock walls crumbling under the attack of the dragon, we eventually made it to an exit on thenside of the mountain. On our way, we bumped into several imperials, including the officer who was coordinating the execution and the torturer. Needless to say, we ended their lives with sweet pleasure.
After the escape, Ralof talked to me a bit, bringing my knowledge of Skyrim up to date, mainly for what concerns the political situation. In the bunch of minutes which had gone by since I awoke, we grew very attached. Not that surprising, considering they were probably the most intense minutes of our entire lives. So he proposed me to follow him up to Riverwood, a nearby village in which her sister lives. He said she was going to help us rest and protect us from the imperials. I gladly accepted, since my hate for the imperials was growing stronger and stronger every minute. What in the planes of Oblivion was that Thalmor doing alongside General Tullius? The rumors I heard must be true then: after the Concordat, the imperials just became Thalmor milk svckers! Filthy spineless cowards! I put on the armour I salvaged from the corpse of the imperial officer. I could feel the smell of the imperials upon it, and I was not going to like it... But I needed it. First because it was a good form of protection: steel made, not very flexible, but quite durable. But, most importantly, I could try to disguise myself as an imperial officer if a patrol caught us... After all, we were in imperial territory. I am an intelligent person, and I know when I have to put aside my pride.
So, we set off to Riverwood. Along the road, we spotted some strange-looking menhir with constellations inscribed on them. My magic senses told me that they hold a very ancient and powerful magic, and Ralof confirmed that. I activated the Warrior Stone. It is said that it will make my fighting instincts sharper. Once in Riverwood, Ralof's sister, Gerdur, proved to be as kind as his brother, letting us use her house to rest as soon as he got over the shock about what we saw in Helgen. I fell on the bed and slept for around 3-4 hours at midday, cause I was completely exhausted. I could not count the days since the last time I slept in a warm bed like that.
After waking up, I pvssyd a little bit with Ralof, and he told me he is headed to Windhelm to join the rebels once again, and offered me to join them as well. I will definitely take a look into it, but maybe a bit later. I've never been a fan of military institutions... Too many rules to respect. Moreover, I have different things to think about right now, such as how to start my life again from scratch, since I lost all of my belongings. I think I'll have to give up on pursuing those [censored]in' Thalmors, at least for a while, until I find a way to live.
Gerdur, instead, asked me if I could make the trip to Whiterun, the capital of the hold Riverwood is in, in order to inform the Jarl of what happened at Helgen and to ask him to send some troops to Riverwood, which is completely undefended and would be an easy prey for a dragon. Given her kindness I could not refuse to do her such an important favor. Yet, I felt too tired to face the journey today. I'll set off tomorrow at the first lights of the dawn.
In the meantime, I went to the local trader and sold the things I managed to salvage during my escape. It seems the owner suffered for a theft lately, and asked me to retrieve his golden claw from the bandits who stole it. It didn't seem like a bad idea, until he mentioned where the bandits are stationed: Bleak Falls Barrow, the ancient Nord ruins on the mountain above Riverwood. I am definitely NOT going to venture into those ruins without aid. I am no fool and I know ancient ruins are places of great danger. I didn't mention that to the owner: I just told him, instead, that I would keep an eye open for it.
Using the little gold I gained from the loot, I went to the smith and bought the materials to upgrade my armor and my sword. The smith seemed to like me, and teached me how to effectively forge simple weapons and helmets, as well as how to improve the ones I have better. In the end, he helped me learn the process of forging steel, which is far more effective than iron. (By the way, a curious note: I always thought that steel was made by putting iron in a forge with carbon. It seems, instead, that here in Skyrim they get the same kind of metal by mixing iron and corundum. How peculiar!).
So here I am, writing this journal right after the dinner prepared by Gerdur (a delicious one indeed!). I feel I have learned much in this day. Through the strange events that occured, I feel my life has started to change... It's a strange feeling, it's like if something bigger is growing inside of me. When I learned how to forge steel, I... I felt like I was growing better, stronger. It's like in the good ol'days at the monastery, when each day I was learning something more. It's a strange feeling indeed, I am not able to describe it any better... Nor to understand from where it comes. Maybe the air... It's very different up here, much... Sharper. Oh well, who knows. Maybe it just comes from all the extraordinary events which I lived today. Anyway, I'm going to rest now, as a tiring trip awaits me tomorrow. During the dinner, I announced I will leave for Whiterun, and Gerdur thanked me and gave me the directions I need to reach the city. It doesn't seem like it will be a difficult trip. We'll see tomorrow.
(If you managed to read this through, I thank you for the interest!
I promise he'll keep it much shorter from tomorrow on!)
» Sat Jun 09, 2012 8:16 am 
on! (slang baby)
http://graveyard.wikia.com/wiki/The_Graveyard_-_A_Dead_Is_Dead_gamplay_site_Wiki
