Dawnguard: Adventures in Babysitting

I certainly took my sweet time 'finishing' Skyrim. I know you can't truly ever finish the game, but I just recently completed the main quest line, after some 350 hours of play.

What can I say? I meander.

Once I completed that I was able to turn my attention to new and wonderful adventures, such as "Skyrim: Dawngard".

It was refreshing to experience a new and darker side of Skyrim, although it has to be said it felt slightly forced. I had not actually run into too many vampires during my travels, and to hear there was a horrific ongoing plague that I had missed somehow seemed a little odd. Well, whichever. I'm no friend to vampires and so this was an unanticipated killing spree I could get behind!

On the whole 'Dawngourd' was a bit pear-shaped. I didn't appreciate the forced escourt character. I thought the mood and storyline was all over the place. And ultimately, the ending was shite. But it had its moments, and that's why I can say it was worth the money and time.

Dawnguard has already earned its keep with the (on again off again) dark mood, the jumpscares, and the flora and fauna additions. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that you are ultimately presented a choice dichotomy: to join the vampire-killing Dawnguard, to become a vampire.  I already was a werewolf, and chose against becoming a vampire for reasons manifold, so I can't really talk much about the new and wonderful skill tree for vamps and werewolves.

Lamely, I have actually been trying to roleplay my character as originally intended, and attempting not to stray too much into 'evil' territory. I've not done the Thieves Guild quests, and I genocided the Dark Brotherhood (that's not evil that's righteous! :0 ). However satisfying wholesale slaughter in the name of good feels, it does mean I'll have to go through and replay everything with a differently aligned character. Le sigh! I suppose real life must be pushed aside for Skyrim adventures for another 300 hours. Duty calls.

DAWNGUARD

You want pics? I got yer pics. You want plot? Well... I wasn't really paying too much attention, and it wanders somewhat. And I know wandering.

Spoilers to follow after the jump.

Fus Ro BACK : Burning Hearthfire

It's been a year of waiting, buried underground.
But now I hear a summons drumming through the rock. From within my earthy tomb I hear the call. It is once again time to wreak havoc.
Shuddering and heaving, soil erupting in all directions, I burst out into the night sky. FEAR ME!

Actually, I got access to a good computer with updatable graphics card and was finally able to play Skyrim again. I'm sure you missed me. Yes? Right?... You never called.

I ended up purchasing Hearthfire, Dawnguard and Dragonborn, and have been enjoying them - although I have much kvetching to do. What would life be without ungratefully complaining about awesome things?

---
Hearthfire

When I say that I have been enjoying the Skyrim plugin "Hearthfire", that's a bit of a lie.

What I meant to say was "I don't give a damn" about Hearthfire.

Frankly, my other 10 million houses were more than enough room to store my mounds of trophies in.
I thought I would have more ability to customize the new house I was building on land just outside of Falkreath. Nope!
As per the architectural plans, you build a central hall, and then can add wings to house an armory, kitchen, or library, etc.
But even though I have more money than god, I still can't afford to put them ALL on. I have to choose between just a few, and not have an incredible sprawling KimDotCom-like mansion. :(

I guess there are people out there that enjoy fiddling around with crafting door hinges and iron nails, but the interface doesn't even come close to a Sims or Minecraft-type build-with-ease design, and fell very flat with me. What can I say? I'm not a DIY kinda girl. I have followers and minions for that kind of thing.

"Stand at the door and be ready to open it for me if I even look like I'm thinking of going out."

I spent more time asking my Housecarl to buy clay than anything else.

I have to FETCH GLASS??! *fume*

Admittedly, I do enjoy the kitchen with the delicious apple pastry things that get magically crafted by someone while I'm away.

And this brings me to my usual bout of bitching:

 - I wish more staff could be hired. The estate has a barren feel to it without people on hand to pretend to do work while I'm around. If Solitude kitchens get a chef, why can't I hire one? I'm the world-saving Dragonborn, bitch! I want servants scurrying in fear of my displeasure. I want to feel important by belittling others, dangit.

 - The front hallway is ugly and unnecessary. Who is in charge of interior design around here? I want them fired immediately.

- Like in the rest of blighted Skyrim, you cannot easily store anything in glass display cases. Whose brilliant decision was that? "We'll litter the realm with empty, unusable display cases and watch them cry in frustration! MWAHAH!" I'm sure there's a mod for it, but why in HECK is this not available in vanilla? And why is my stuff all over the floor when I get back? I placed it with CARE, damn you.

- NOT THE BEES! "A unique feature at Lakeview Manor is that you have the option to build an apiary. It comes with one piece of honeycomb and some bees." Yeah, well, nobody mentioned that the bees would be building GIANT NESTS inside my damn house as well. Now each time I return home I have to shoot down a disgusting hive nestled in the rafters and throw it into the fire, because bees are everywhere in my house, droning away and causing me to lose sleep.

Actually, I don't lose sleep because I can't actually get any resting bonuses due to my malformity.

In any event, I seldom make use of my 'home', and started using it as one does the 'stash' chest from Diablo II. Ah, good old RogueEncampment-ville. Home away from home.

One thing in particular I DO enjoy about having my own place is employing my own bard.

Llewellyn the Nightingale. AKA Fingers.

I quite like coming home from a long quest and bossing Fingers around. I'll come in the door, throw some decapitated heads on the floor for someone else to clean up, and point at Fingers. "PLAY."
He gladly (and hurriedly) complies.
Excellent.

There have been a few times when I suspect he actually has his own thoughts and opinions. I often order him to sing "Age of Aggression", and one time he raised his eyebrows and claimed in surprise "Only true Imperials request that one."
I believe the look I gave him laid to rest what I thought of his 'opinions'.

After I brought Ulfric Stormcloak's head back in a bag one day he never again voiced his observations to me. Smart man.

Skyrim Conspiracy : Bugs in Jars of DOOM

It's a conspiracy maaaan!

There are those who are 'in' on the secret, and those who aren't.
Allow me to illuminate you, brothers, about the dark aspects and occult practices of Bethesda and all its hellish minions (designers).
This might be a conspiracy that dates back generations (or actually just since last year) but it's imperative to bring these issues to light so that we might awaken from the clouded dream we've been lulled into by sinister forces.

Prepare to be AMAZED: 

GameInformer.com:

This whole hunt started innocently enough when a Reddit user noticed that the various insect-carrying jars that you can pick up in Skyrim have runes carved into their lids. In a series of investigations that my mind can barely comprehend, runes were translated, other hints were dug up, and the lore of Elder Scrolls was scoured, eventually leading one fan to create this map:

AHA! It all makes sense now, right? No? As best I can understand, the runes point toward five towns that form a pentagram that itself points the way to a ritual that could wipe humans off the face of the planet. I don't completely follow the thread of logic behind this insanity, but feel free to read the thread on Reddit and try to for yourself.

Wooooo it challenges all your beliefs, doesn't it? All that you held dear has been torn asunder! Admit it!
Which dark forces, which manipulating demons, could have hidden such arcane knowledge? Who could have wrought such deception and intrigue? Who could have been so subversive, so underhanded, so conniving??

Blizzard. >:C



PS:
 Dear Gameinformer.com;
That is not a pentagram. That's not even a pentacle. Those are just two pentagons in a circle - otherwise known as an alchemical transmutation circle. JEEZ you gotta get this stuff right or your conspiracy won't control ANYONE.
Amateurs.

Sweet Mother: Skyrim Shadow Glitch / Bug

I've been experiencing a glitch or bug or SOMETHING in Skyrim recently that doesn't necessarily render it unplayable, but it comes close.

Shadows and lighting are giving me an issue. I've read up on the issue extensively and tried many things, to no avail.

If anyone has even heard a whisper of a rumour as to how I might fix it (without, you know, actually getting a new computer), I'll pretty much try anything at this point, including summoning the Dark Brotherhood.

Basically the lighting issue is as follows in screenshots:
And in many instances (especially interior) the pockets of lighting/shadow that are SUPER bright, or so dark I cannot see to play.

That's not rain, that's the shadows trying to slice us to ribbons.

Body lit, head shadowed.

As I turn, the darkness rotates. It isn't stationary.

Acer Aspire 5552-7858
Windows7 Home Premium/64bit
6 GB RAM, 640 GB HDD
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250
AMD Phenom II x4 N970
(all settings on low - Mock me for my wussy laptop if you must, but know that I'm but a humble soul and don't mind playing Skyrim on 'nice personality', as long as I still get to play it!)

Ive updated drivers, rolled back drivers, updated them again, changed graphics setting on the system, tinkered with shadow settings for game, tinkered with graphical settings for game, always keep the game 'updated' in Steam, uninstalled and reinstalled Skyrim, pounded my head on the desk, summoned hellish demons to attack puppies out of spite, and more things I shant list.

I'm assuming it's some sort of incompatibility between my graphics card, or between the drivers and the game - mostly because none of my other games are suffering. But this is a NEW thing, only having started within the last month or so. Ive played Skyrim successfully, albeit low res, since it came out.

Anyway, I'm just putting this out there in hopes that some random wandering adventurer has experienced this and has slain the enemy.


Sweet Mother Sweet Mother send your child unto me
For the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood and fear.

***************************


Update, Nov. 2012: Ok, so for anyone interested enough in the answer to this riddle: The problem is with my graphics card/chipset, so don't bother spending fruitless hours messing with graphics and drivers and ini settings. They won't fix this problem.
AMD have not provided a driver update for the Radeon HD 4000 series cards. They have made available updates for the 5000 and up, but if you have 4000 you're pretty much screwed. They don't seem to be compatible with the Skyrim update that came out in July 2012.

So that's about it. :/  I'm continuing to play Skyrim and I simply have to tolerate the spazzy lighting. It is annoying, but it's not a total game-breaker (although it ruins much of the immersion).
I'll wait to get any DLC until I have a new machine.

~E <3

Skyrim - Peter Hollens & Lindsey Stirling

Nirnroot Hunting

"Nirnroot is the easiest. It grows only by the water and makes a unique chiming noise. The only drawback is it won't regrow after harvesting."

―Ingun Black-Briar

So in an effort to pick enough nirnroot for alchemy (and in an effort to make it STFU "unique chiming noise" my butt - more like "irritating, nagging drone"), I went questing near riverbeds and streams.
One must always be vigilant for bears in this neck of the woods, but I wasn't particularly worried. They never follow you into the water. They're like dragons that way.

Crossed the bridge back there, after kicking some Forsworn ass. I hate how they troll bridges. What jerks! Scored a briarheart in the deal. Then ate it! Delicious.
And the look on the previous owner's face as I did so... priceless! XD

Came across this. I don't think it was a Guardian Stone. Probably just more ruins.

Wot's this? Chaurus chitin?

The lady at the lumber mill was no help. And she was mean to me! (So I stole her chicken eggs. Serves her right.)

I think this is probably a rest-spot for brigands or thrives, but there was nobody around when I got there. Good.

At the end of the day I hadn't harvested a single nirnroot, unfortunately. All I got was a sack full of mountain flower. Hmph.

I should probably try again at night when the nirnroot are more easily visible. And since I can't sleep anymore due to ... issues... *cough pain-in-the-ass-werewolf-blood cough*, I might as well spend all night sloshing about in miserably cold water looking for a Goths-be-Blighted WEED.
It's either that or vampire hunting. And I'm sick to death of those creepy bastards and their dinner parties and their fancy clothing - Boethiah take them!

Skyrim in Thaw

Well, either Alduin's Apocalypse is upon us, or it's solar flares, or it's just plain ol' good luck, but we're experiencing an early spring this year. My little corner of Skyrim continues to melt.

Dragons don't attack you when you're in the river. They don't like their meals marinated.

Man, those abandoned cabins always have angry killer bears in them. I'm gonna just go around this one. I don't need grilled  leeks THAT badly.

Animal tracks - man... this undoubtedly means I'm going to have to buy YET another horse very shortly. Stupid horse is made of glass or something....

Early spring is great! Soon, the Jazbay grapes will be in season, although I'm going to really miss Snowberry pie. :/  Oh well! Winter is always just around the corner.

Literally. It's like.. right over there.

Actual Google Satellite Image of the area.
Brace yourselves... winter is a huge wall of terrifying whiteness. And it's comin'.