Just wanted to share this. Particularly for the no-fast travel fans.

I married Ysolda. The wedding party included Lydia, Uthgerd, Mikael, and Camilla. After the ceremony, everyone headed out of Riften's north gate, more or less together (except Camilla, who probably went out the south gate to take the southern route back to Riverwood). Now, I could have just FT'ed or taken a cart back to Whiterun, and everyone probably would have made it back safely. But I knew that even named NPCs can be killed by encounters. I'm not sure if it's the presense of the PC that causes this, and NPCs on their own travel safely, or not. Anyway, I decided to go along, to make sure my new wife made it back in one piece.

We set out with Mikael and Uthgerd in the lead, then Ysolda, then myself and Lydia, whom I'd added as a follower, to keep her close. We dispatched a troll around the first bend with little trouble. But then I realized the whole group was going to try to walk through Fort Greenwood, which I hadn't cleared of bandits yet (not really a spoiler -- all locations can be assumed to have hostile populations at first). So Lydia and I ran ahead and quickly cleared it.

Moving on, we encountered a few wolves, and I was attacked by a random Imperial (character, not soldier). Mikael and Uthgerd were a ways off ahead. Then I caught up to Uthgerd because she was standing still at a bridge. She was standing still because of the bear on the bridge who had just killed Mikael. Lydia and I took care of the bear. I didn't know what to do about Mikael, so I left him. No more "Ragnar the Red" at the Bannered Mare, thank Talos, oh I mean, how sad.

Things got a little tense as we passed near Darkwater Crossing, because of the dragon flying around in the distance. But he seemed content to fly around. More tension arose by Fort Amol. Uthgerd wisely took a shortcut through the woods, but Ysolda insisted on walking along the road, coming perilously close to triggering a hostile response from the fort's inhabitants. But because Uthgerd got ahead of us, I wasn't there to support her when she encountered a frost spider.

I didn't really like Uthgerd. She'd shot me in the back with an arrow the one time I went out with her. But she'd been an actual follower, and I didn't want to leave her there. Someone else wrote a story one time about carrying Lydia's body back home, so I followed that example and picked Uthgerd up and carried her back to Whiterun. After giving her armor to Lydia, of course. No need to let good steel plate go to waste. Fortunately I was able to keep up with Ysolda, and I only had to drop Uthgerd once to kill a bandit. No further hostile enounters, and we arrived back at Whiterun after about 24 game hours on the road.

I had a problem, though. I couldn't get Uthgerd's body through the gate -- you can't take a hand-carried item through a transition. What to do? I didn't want to just dump her somewhere. I thought if I could find a low spot in the wall I might push her over and then gather her up on the other side. I went all the way around Whiterun and found that the city has a very well-built wall. Finally I left her body outside the gate, hoping the guards would take care of it. They must have, because her coffin was in the Hall of the Dead when I visited (along with Mikael's urn). By the way, I did run over to Riverwood -- Camilla made it back too.

It was interesting along the way to see the AI's pathing routine get screwed up and then correct itself. Sometimes they made smart shortcuts, other detours were just bizarre.

NPCs will travel safely on their own if the PC is not around. The game triggers attacks only when the PC is near, and perhaps in the same cell. This is why you always see battles amongst random NPCs begin as you enter a cell.

Of course, this does not explain the random dead NPCs that one sees as they travel around.

In this game it is interesting to watch the NPCs Path themselves. In the few quests where you have to follow an NPC somewhere, it is neat to watch them start down a path at an intersection, then turn around to go the correct way.

That is an awesome story.... maybe a bad honeymoon though.

Nice story there! On my new character I decided to not use fast-travel so I wouldn't miss epic adventures like these. It's made the game so much more fun for me and I can spend longer on each save.

His story is what I try to accomplish with this game. Seriously going to walk with NPCs now just to "make sure they make it home". I doubt I'll get married with this character but I'm sure I'll find something to do like that. Really..... great story.

Outstanding tale!

I often ride my horse, and before I did that I would run to where I was going, but accompanying an NPC for the journey back home (Or to Cloud ruler temple with Martian) can certainly be a harrowing adventure in itself! I do FT when I'm too lazy, but most times I take to the roads myself as this is the best way to explore a Beth-world!

Speaking of harrowing, I once did this in FO3 when I had to make sure some kids made it to little lamplight safely, Imagine my rage when a Super Mutant started to attack one of the kids, after that I took to hunting down every Super Mutant I could find armed only with a blade...

My friend married Ysolda, but the people who came to his wedding was the Khajiit Caravan, why was it different for you?

Had he befriended anyone or gotten any followers? I'd done a favor quest for Camilla, Lydia was my housecarl and I'd brawled with Uthgerd and then used her as a follower. Mikael must have come for Ysolda, I'd never even spoken to him.

With the confirmation that it's the PC's presence that triggers hostile events (which is what I figured), I might not do this again, if Ysolda and I change cities for example. It took a very long time (about 2 hrs real time, due to their slow walking speed) and was kind of annoying. I don't always have this kind of free time. But it was also fun to do at least once, and it gave me a good tale to tell.

This character is also the first time I've walked back down from High Hrothgar. Which really doesn't take that long. Especially if you "ski" down the west face of the mountain to Whiterun.

Sounds like a terrible date.

How do you carry a body or even just a head? I turned off Run, held down E until the item was being carried, but if I tried to move it got "resistance" and came loose. I could not get it to clear the ground or go more than a couple feet.

I too stopped using fast travel, and love the random encounters you get out of it. I've freed politcal prisoners, helped a group of guards who were being assaulted by bandits and been attacked by Khajiits, Dark elves and Nords trying to steal my money. There's also the occasional contracts by the Thalmor and DB, but they are fun nonetheless to take care of.

Perhaps the body is too heavy. Try removing some of the items such as armour/weapons from the corpse then try picking them up again. Usually works for me.

=(

I wanted to walk back with my wife too, but I FT'd and conjured up a nice horse and carriage ride home in my head.

Cool story bro.

Just kidding, well told tale. Though i have to question your true motives for undertaking this journey. Was it to get rid of some unliked "friends"? .... Hmm? This is deliberate murder, and i may report you to the jarl.