The Elder Scrolls VI: Not Skyrim (as experienced by Faendal)

[LocoColt04]

What you will read below is effectively a multiplayer story. These are the events pertaining to my character in our tabletop game, from a third-person limited point of view. These notes are meant to convey the series of events, but are not in full literary form. I choose to share these notes in this fashion because I hope to entertain you in the same manner which I myself am entertained.

This game is using the FantasyCraft system, modified to reflect the Elder Scrolls crafting/enchanting/etc gameplay. The game takes place during the events of Skyrim, in the region of Cyrodiil. As Skyrim is set over 200 years after Oblivion, it is assumed that Kvatch is now a bustling town, rather than a ground of destruction.

Faendal is a Bosmer (Wood Elf) hailing originally from the Valenwood, but spending much of his adult life in Skyrim. After Alduin's attack on Helgen, he flees southward to Cyrodiil, making a home in Chorrol. For a more detailed synopsis of Faendal's background, click here.

Comments are welcome in this thread, as our sessions will be held bi-weekly and my logs will be spread out.

Session log notes will be posted in orange to distinguish them from standard communications. On that note, enjoy.

~

Why is Faendal in prison?

Shortly after entering Kvatch on wolfback, one of the noble class approaches him rudely. Faendal chooses not to respond, but Fangslayer growls at the remark. The nobleman runs off to the guard, who then approach Faendal. They are aggressive, but Faendal orders Fangslayer to keep quiet. As the guards press him for answers (who are you, why have you come, what did you do to that nobleman, etc.), Faendal shrugs off the aggression and remains calm. One of the guards does not like the attitude, and shoves him off of Fangslayer. Fangslayer leaps forward, but Faendal's command rings out and she stops her attack before touching either guard. Despite her instant obeyance, the guards pick Faendal up off the ground and cart him away to prison. More guards arrive in an attempt to capture Fangslayer, but she escapes, with Haru flying after her overhead.

This brings us to the start of the campaign.

SUMMARY OF EVENTS:

Faendal is the third of the not-yet-a-party to be brought into the cells. He is tossed haphazardly into a cell by himself. Across from him, there is a very large intimidating man, sharing a cell with an obnoxiously aggressive man. In the cell next to his, there appear to be two military men. Across from them, a very young boy, and a Khajiit. The boy speaks frequently, introducing himself as Mouse, and oft quells the silence with his wild tales. He genuinely does not know why he and Bear, the large man, are in the prison. A day passes. The Khajiit calls himself V'Zaren. One of the military men has a long name, but Faendal only caught the surname, and will refer to him as Hawk; the other man is referred to as The Lieutenant, until properly introduced. A new prisoner is tossed into Faendal's cell. He is courteous, but not necessarily polite. He keeps to himself and refuses to give his name, but offers to help Faendal shift about in the cell more easily.

One of the guards kills the boisterous prisoner sharing the cell with Bear. Later that evening, the guards bring in an Argonian to take his place. Faendal notices the Argonian fiddling with something after the guards leave, but cannot discern what it is. V'Zaren appears particularly interested in whatever is happening. Laughing maniacally, the Argonian throws his concoction at Bear. Moments later, the ground rumbles. One of the guards runs in from outside and eventually locks himself in the cell with Bear and the Argonian, obviously terrified of whatever is out there. Faendal asks his cellmate's help in moving away from the outer wall and into the corner. Though it is dark, there are many screams outside and something comes crashing through the wall, snapping Bear in half. The Argonian continues to laugh despite what just happened. He tosses something on the guard as well, and the monster eventually does to him what it did to Bear. The Argonian escapes through the hole in the cell.

V'Zaren reaches through the bars of his cell and drags the corpse of the guard over to him. The key ring is too large to be squeezed sideways into his cell, but the bars facing the pathway are wider. V'Zaren collaborates with Faendal, tossing the keys out the front of the cell toward Faendal, who only has to reach a short amount to gather them. Faendal slowly clambers to his feet and lets himself out, with the quiet man behind him. V'Zaren says that the monster appeared to be some sort of long-necked turtle. Mouse is adamant that it was a dragon. Nobody else could quite make out what it was. Before going to the Khajiit, Faendal unlocks the cell door to the Nordsmen beside him. As they exit their cell, he finally unlocks the door with V'Zaren and Mouse. He is weary of V'Zaren, who seems to know too much about what was going on with the monster.

Mouse is mortified at the loss of his friend, but eventually follows the party down the empty hallway into a room filled with their belongings. Each member collects what is rightfully his, and then rummages through the unclaimed belongings. Hawk finds some knives, but before picking them up, Mouse screams at him and lunges for the weapon. He also claims a very large tunic belonging to Bear, keeping it as a sentimental item. As Faendal is picking up a silver ring of considerable value, Hawk and his Lieutenant are panning the walls. They remove one of the wanted posters. V'Zaren follows suit, and finds one of the Argonian. He removes it from the desk.

The misfortunate prisoners, many claiming to be there wrongfully, make haste through the hole in Bear's cell. Kvatch appears deserted. Upon exiting the building, Faendal whistles loudly. Haru, his falcon, returns to him and perches on his head. V'Zaren takes note and begins licking his lips. Faendal threatens the Khajiit to keep his tongue in his mouth and his claws to himself. The group begins searching the area. The quiet man heads to the church, while Hawk and his Lieutenant make for the stables. Still weary of V'Zaren's motives, Faendal follows him toward the inn.

Hawk and his Lieutenant find Fangslayer in the stables with the horses. Fangslayer growls at her intruders, but otherwise holds her ground and does not attack. The men, worried for the horses, flush her out of the stable with a torch. She backs up to the wall and leaps off of it, over the men, and out into the streets. They remain with the horses. It is unknown whether Hawk took note of the saddlebags she had on.

Fangslayer returns to Faendal's side while V'Zaren is searching the inn. Faendal remains outdoors, watching the streets and his newfound allies. A priest exits the church, and the quiet man is following him, heading toward a small house. V'Zaren exits the inn, encountering a gruff snarl from the white wolf, but seems unstartled. She glares at him, and he returns the menacing glance, but they otherwise leave each other alone. Faendal hobbles along behind Fangslayer as she follows V'Zaren to the general store and the smithy's workshop to stock up on supplies and get something useful for Mouse.

Hawk and his Lieutenant return from the stables, noticing that the white wolf they encountered earlier appears to be friendly. They move with their two horses and four more that just happened to come along for the ride toward the house that the quiet man entered. He eventually exits without the priest, but with a somber look on his face. In the first real display of emotion he's had in front of the group, he is rather adamant about tracking the monster's trail.

Hawk and Faendal discuss tactics, and decide that the wiser decision would be to track the Argonian. The quiet man refuses, and sets out in his own direction, following the obvious path of destruction left behind. The rest of the party mount horses as Faendal climbs onto Fangslayer's back. Hawk scoffs and mutters something under his breath about the "mangy animal." V'Zaren opts to stay with the less-wreckless side and follows along with Mouse as Fangslayer sets to work tracking the Argonian, taking cues from Haru overhead. Within minutes, they meet back up with the quiet man as the trails converge. It seems the Argonian was also tracking the monster, so the party makes haste northward, back toward the mountain range separating them from Chorrol.

The night is uneventful, but as the party reaches the end of their second afternoon of travel, they come across a trio of giants blocking the only path through the pass. Faendal draws his bow but keeps it lowered as he takes point of the party and slowly approaches the giants. The largest, wearing pants instead of a loincloth, seems civilized enough to communicate. He approaches the party quickly, and comes within striking distance of Faendal before stopping. The rest of the party backs away. Fangslayer hesitates, and steps back just out of striking range. Through pointed conversation, Faendal reasons with the giant, securing their passage through to continue tracking the Argonian under the condition that the party provides the giants' meal for the evening. The group turns back and begins hunting and foraging.

The party eventually stumbles upon a clearing with a doe and a stag on a hilltop. Faendal takes point again, drawing his bow and loosing an arrow at the stag. Startled, the stag runs down the opposite side of the hill. Hawk charges the doe, felling it in one blow. The stag hears her cry of pain, turns, and charges back at the party. More formidable than any could have anticipated, the large stag puts up a hell of a fight. It is during this first group combat that Faendal realizes how effective Fangslayer is when flanking a target. Hawk also makes note of this, but during the fight becomes gravely injured. The party's combat dynamics swing into action, and one strong bite from Fangslayer finishes the job. V'Zaren pulls out some supplies and works on healing Hawk with roughly half of a medicine kit. Fortunately, it is effective.

When the group returns, the giants offer the party the opportunity to share in the evening's spoils. Weary of death upon declination, the adventurers accept the offer and sit down to eat. After the meal, the giants seem far more reasonable, and more willing to divulge information. Faendal learns that the monster matched V'Zaren's description almost perfectly (though Mouse still swears that it was a dragon), and that the Argonian was only a couple of hours behind the monster. This giant turtle was intimidating enough to cause the giants to move out of its path. The group is advised to avoid direct conflict.

After dinner, the party settles a couple hundred yards north of the giants' camp for the evening. In the morning, Haru flies ahead of the group to resume tracking of the Argonian. After an hour of travel, Haru turns back to the group and flutters excitedly. Through sign language, he communicates that he found something noteworthy. The party picks up pace until a small shack in the middle of the woods becomes visible. Dismounting their horses, the group moves forward cautiously, approaching the shack while the Lieutenant takes point. Faendal remains on wolfback, as he is useless otherwise. Within a hundred feet of the shack, Fangslayer stops dead in her tracks and refuses to move. She paws at the ground repeatedly, but Faendal is unsure of what has her spooked. She whimpers, and does not move forward even under command. Hawk and his companion move forward, but after taking just two steps, a large hole opens in the ground and the Lieutenant falls into the pit. Hawk is fortunately resourceful enough to come prepared for most situations, and removes a chain from his bag. He cautiously approaches Fangslayer, then ties the chain around her harness, tossing the other end into the pit. As Fangslayer moves in the opposite direction, the Lieutenant reaches the top of the pit and begins to rise.

At this time, the shack door opens. The Argonian is standing there, vial in hand, and lauches it the hundred yards at a velocity much faster than one could throw an object. Everyone in the party except for Faendal and Fangslayer is hit with a powder that causes them to sneeze (and smell suspiciously of barbecue). This was exactly what happened to Bear before the giant turtle appeared and ripped him in half. The party begins to panic as the ground rumbles beneath their feet. The group retreats as fast as possible back toward the giant camp.

Mouse is incredibly insistent upon returning to the shack to get payback for what happened to Bear. The quiet man also speaks up on the matter, refusing to submit to fear. V'Zaren notes that he could concoct an antidote, given the proper ingredients. The party spends a couple hours foraging for supplies, and eventually comes up with enough items to build a stink bomb to counteract the sweet smell of the Argonian's powder, and a mustard green smokescreen of their own to douse the effects.

The group returns to the Argonian's shack. They notice him watching them through a window, appearing incredibly shocked that they would return. Faendal is comfortably on point, and Fangslayer charges the Argonian as soon as he exits the building, despite throwing another vial of barbecue sneezing powder. Faendal, Hawk, and the Lieutenant are all affected, but Fangslayer moves forward unharmed, leaving the Nords behind. The rest of the group rides from the other side of the pit, and they converge on the Argonian's location. The Argonian casts a web spell, trapping the group at his doorstep, and laughs maniacally as he did in the prison cell. He returns inside and shuts the door behind him.

As the monstrous turtle arrives, V'Zaren deploys his antidote. The group no longer smells pleasant, quelling the turtle's immediate hunger. Realizing the monster is docile, the party does not engage it, and instead feeds it from their own supply. Enraged that the party managed to survive, the Argonian escapes through a back exit. The party rushes inside only to find the shack empty. They search for items of value and clues to what's next.

END OF SESSION 001.

SESSION REWARDS:
Fancy Silver Ring (worth 100s)
Whatever loot was allocated to my character from the shack since I had to leave before the end of the session

[LocoColt04]

Session two should have happened yesterday, but two of our players could not join us. Since there are only four players, we delayed the session and went to see Argo instead. We are looking to reschedule session two for sometime next week.

__________
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using Tapatalk 2

[LocoColt04]

Session two finally happened after a couple weeks of limbo. What's really crazy is that I'm the one whose schedule is about to explode, but I've been available every week thus far. Here's to hoping we can sneak session three in next week instead of waiting until the week after Thanksgiving (which is the following Thursday). One full month between sessions is going to make this a touch difficult in the long run.

In any case, session two ended tonight with us leveling up! We are all now level two, and with the FantasyCraft system, that means some pretty neat things happen depending upon your class choice. These Skyrim modifications have been a ton of fun. It's been very interesting playing in Cyrodiil during the Skyrim timeline because my character (hailing from Skyrim himself) is the only one who KNOWS that the dragons are in fact back due to being just outside of Helgen when Alduin attacked, and has been (unknowingly) in the same place as the dragonborn on a handful of occasions. One of the other characters was also in Skyrim briefly before the events of the videogame occurred, but as such heard much of the dragon rumor but has no proof of their existence. The other two characters have heard things on the winds but don't believe a word of it. The other thing that's really nice about playing in Cyrodiil during these events is that we'll have a source of news from NPCs, but for the most part are free to pursue whatever storyline we end up carving as we move through this campaign. With Kvatch having been destroyed at the beginning of the Oblivion game, it was the perfect starting zone for us to utilize for our campaign - we were free to do anything and everything we pleased with it, as there was no map or layout to follow.

But after tonight, we have our first true destination: Skingrad.

The hardest part about these session notes is that I really want to write down all of the events, but I am committed to only sharing things from Faendal's point of view, and including things which were explicitly told to him otherwise. And Scott's nameless character remains nameless. We as players do not know if this is part of the character, or if he literally hasn't come up with a name and is just playing it off as part of his character. Either way, it fits his personality.

~

The party is in need of some more feed, as they gave the entire stock of horse feed to the adamantoise to appease it. They intend to move northeastern, toward Chorrol, but realize there is no longer enough food supply for that journey. They investigate the shack a little more, and Faendal takes a sheet of parchment from the large desk in the living area, copying down a map on the wall that has a collection of marked points. They camp the night in the remains of the damaged shack (the turtle had stepped on part of it), taking three shifts on watch. Faendal takes the first shift, then awakens Hawk three hours later for the second shift. Fangslayer sleeps at the door, and Faendal curls up on the floor near the desk.

Near the end of the third shift, Faendal is awakened by the sound of V'Zaren's wavering vocals. He sits up to find a strange robed man shifting back and forth while speaking with V'Zaren. Curious as to how the man managed to enter the building without alerting V'Zaren or waking Fangslayer and Haru alike, Faendal remains on guard as he clamors into the bedroom to join his companions. The nameless man remains asleep by the fireplace in the living room, but Hawk and his Lieutenant joined V'Zaren before Faendal had managed to stand up.

"So, you will give book, and Djazigo can be on his way, yes?"

The hooded human shifts fluidly back and forth, every motion with immense purpose. He seeks the alchemy book that V'Zaren had recovered earlier from the stack of the Argonian's belongings. V'Zaren continues his nervous conversation with the stranger, asking which book he needs, and why he needs it. Djazigo needs the book because it is his "job." Upon meeting trivial resistance, he disarms himself, tossing various daggers and swords onto the floor around him. He reaches for something in his robe and Hawk goes on the defensive. Djazigo glances at him, but clearly does not fear the captain's mild threat. Djazigo removes a stack of papers, shuffling through them until he finds the one he is looking for.

"You see, my good friends, Djazigo has a job. The job says get book. Book is here. Djazigo needs book."

V'Zaren holds fast, and Djazigo looks at Hawk. He hands the paper to Hawk, who proceeds to read over it. While doing so, V'Zaren prods Djazigo for more information.

"Djazigo does not have more information. Job says get book, so Djazigo get book. It does not say how Djazigo get book. If Djazigo cannot take book, Boss not pleased. Djazigo will leave here with book."

Hawk nods after reading the "job" from the parchment, handing it back to Djazigo. Displeased with the idea of simply handing over the alchemy book, V'Zaren seeks a compromise. Through very nervous discussion, the party agrees to hand over the book on the condition that they can meet the "boss" Djazigo had referenced, and see why he was in search of the book. Djazigo agrees that this can be arranged, but only if an appointment has been made. Djazigo then offers the party a Job of their own, with the reward being a meeting with Boss. After quiet debate, the party agrees. Djazigo asks what the party calls themselves, so he can inform Boss of their acquisition of the Job. Without an answer, Djazigo suggests that the party claim a moniker of their own, and then begins to walk off. He exits the building through the hole in the wall. Only Faendal notices as he walks until he thinks he is out of sight, and then breaks into a sprint faster than Fangslayer at full speed. Curious, he opts not to mention it.

The Job unfortunately sends the party back to Kvatch, where they had just escaped prison. Their task is to retrieve another book. What does this mysterious Boss want with these books? What's so important about an alter book in a church? The party turns back southward, and travels to Kvatch. The trip is uneventful, though the giants do ask for another tribute of food before they allow passage. Realizing they are traveling with a spare horse, they group offers their extra (stolen) mount in exchange for passage. While the giants do not offer to share the meal this time (the horse is not as large as the elk from days prior), they do offer to allow the party to camp on site with them for safety. The party accepts, and then continues onward.

Upon reaching Kvatch from the north, the only way in is the gaping maw in the wall on the northeastern side, where the adamantoise had originally charged out of town. Otherwise, they would have to approach the southern gate, which would undoubtedly be guarded as it seemed many of the town's denizens had already returned. Fortunately, the church was on the northern end of town, and the group decides to enter through the wall to avoid attention.

Fanedal rides in first, proudly atop Fangslayer, spacing himself from the rest of the group. She trots ahead at his command with the party not far behind. A couple of the guards glance over, and one of them points at him. They approach him hurriedly, perhaps remembering that he had been arrested just days prior. Faendal looks back over his shoulder, and tells Hawk that he will draw the guards off so that they can retrieve the book. He continues forward, entering the main road, and the guards draw closer. As Faendal ignores their commands to stop, he takes a sharp turn south and lines up with the southern gate. Fangslayer continues at a slow trot, and the guards begin to run after them as he continues to shrug off their commands. When the guards get within striking distance, Fangslayer breaks into a sprint. The two guards scream for help, drawing the attention of another dozen guards along the road who begin to converge. Fangslayer rushes through the streets before they guards can form a barricade, and they all give chase. As she exits the southern gate, two of the guards continue to pursue her. Two more of the guards post themselves promptly at the gate, and the other ten begin hurriedly searching the streets looking for other signs of suspicious activity.

Faendal turns Fangslayer westward as they break the initial threshold, turning in a clockwise run around the outer wall of the city. As to not lose the guards' attention entirely, the pair stays a comfortable 50-60 feet ahead of the two guards giving chase. Faendal directs Haru to fly up and keep watch on the others, and to return when the situation is either clear or dire.

Meanwhile, the nameless man remains standing outside the breach in the northeastern wall, keeping Mouse quiet and trying to stay inconspicuous. V'Zaren, Hawk, and the Lieutenant had all headed to the church, but that was the last Faendal had seen when he checked his shoulder on the way out the gate. He caught occasional glimpses in as he made laps around the town, but had no way of knowing what was happening inside.¹

Upon his third revolution, he notices three guards chasing after Hawk, who is again on horseback, from the northeastern breach. He appears to be alone. Haru returns to him, screeching uncontrollably, obviously excited but unable to communicate through their established sign language. Glancing back to see how far his own pursuers were behind him, Faendal orders Fangslayer into a full sprint again, rounding out the path directly to Hawk. They quickly place distance between their own pursuers and surpass Hawk's with ease. Faendal catches up to Hawk right as they enter the treeline of the wooded area to the north. Fangslayer moves easily between the brush and trees, but Hawk's horse is not as nimble. She slows down to keep pace with them, all while Faendal keeps watch behind him, arrows nocked and ready for action.

After a ten minute game of cat and mouse through the woods, the guards give up, and return to town. Faendal and Hawk agree a safe place to wait for the remainder of their companions would be the hut along the original path they had taken out of Kvatch. Shortly afterward, the remainder of the group joins up with them. Nobody appears to be hurt.

Curious as to what might be so important in the silver-bound book they had confiscated from the church, V'Zaren takes it back from Hawk. He fiddles with it, managing to easily open the lock. Faendal expresses concern with opening a locked book, and orders Fangslayer back. As V'Zaren opens the book, there is a flash of light. V'Zaren, Hawk, and the Lieutenant all manage to stumble back and cover their eyes in time, but the nameless man is caught in a faintly orange force field. The others gawk at him with terrified glances. Faendal thinks back to his time with Hert and Hern, and recognizes the result of the spell. Without telling the party what it was (he genuinely doesn't know it fully) or why he recognizes the condition, he does inform them that the nameless man will be trapped in that force field, timeless and unharmed, for anywhere from 3-5 days.

The group takes Hawk's chain, wrapping the nameless man effectively, and then attaches him to Fangslayer's saddle to be dragged along. Only Hawk and his Lieutenant have their horses. V'Zaren explains that it was wiser for the group to leave their stolen horses in town, to avoid any suspicion. Certainly, something had happened in that church to cause the guard to give chase, but Faendal opted not to pry.

The party begins to head eastward, at the pace of those walking, in the direction of Skingrad. Djazigo expressed that he would "find" the group once they retrieved the book, so it mattered not which direction they went. That very night, as they set up camp halfway between Kvatch and the small village of Riverfall,² Djazigo approached the group again on the third watch. V'Zaren, alarmed by Djazigo's sudden appearance behind him, woke the party. (It is later decided that V'Zaren no longer gets to take watch, as he has now been startled twice by the same mysterious figure.)

Djazigo immediately notices the nameless man's comatose state, and asks, "What... uh... what happen to him?"

Faendal "That's what we want to see your Boss for, Djazigo. We need to fix him."

"How... how you say... what come of him? How he end like this?"

"It was a bit of a... magical misunderstanding." At the sound of Faendal's words, V'Zaren backs up a step in mild shock. The room goes silent as everyone stares at Faendal. There is a mild pause, and a strong unease in the air.

"Is no matter. So, Djazigo understand you have new book. Djazigo needs book, take book to Boss."

Faendal speaks up again. "Wait, Djazigo... before we give you this book, we were promised an appointment with... 'Boss' in exchange for retrieval."

Hawk looks at Faendal with wide eyes. V'Zaren clutches the book tightly inside his bag. Djazigo notices, and again asks for the book.

"V'Zaren is unsure of why Djazigo needs the book. V'Zaren understood that the book was the Job and that the reward for the Job was to meet Boss."

The Khajiit stares down Djazigo, eyes narrowing slightly, but wavering with a hint of fear. Djazigo persists, demanding that he at least see the book before he can set up the appointment. V'Zaren looks to Faendal, who in turn looks to Hawk. Hawk nods. V'Zaren withdraws the heavy leatherbound book adorned with silver lace. Djazigo stammers a little, appalled at what he sees. He inquires about the missing lock, and Hawk points to the nameless man, still locked in his reactionary position on the floor.

"This... perhaps you should bring book to Boss yourself. I will make appointment. Where is good?"

V'Zaren pulls out his map, and the party finds the trip to Riverfall is still a rough two days' walk. Djazigo exclaims "Two days!" and thanks everyone for the time. He proceeds eastward immediately, walking away nonchalantly. As he begins to fade out of sight, the others begin to look at each other and converse amongst themselves. Fangslayer's ears perk up, and Faendal looks back toward Djazigo just in time to see him sprint off at that unnatural speed again. Faendal still chooses not to say anything to his colleagues, trying to figure this out for himself first.

The party decides that setting out immediately (despite still being an hour away from dawn) is for the best, and prepares a small meal before heading out. The first day's travel is uneventful, as is the evening's camp. While scavenging midday, Faendal hunts a small buck to increase the food supply, and strips it entirely for usable bonecarving materials during the first watch that evening. As nothing else happened, he passes the watch along to Hawk. The following morning, the party rises, prepares for the day, and moves forward. After a couple of hours, the group (traveling roughly 40 ft north of the road itself) comes across a small group of men huddled together near the road. Faendal commands Fangslayer ahead, taking a more commanding lead of the party as the others fall a few paces behind. As he approaches the men, they begin to fidget and grip their weapons more tightly. They appear confused, glancing back and forth between the large white wolf, its rider, and the motionless chained man being dragged behind. Faendal comes upon them unarmed, and without hesitation or slight of speed, continues forward. The nameless man's body bounces along the ground behind him, and the rest of the party follows. V'Zaren offers a simple "good morning" to the men, who are completely taken aback by what just happened. V'Zaren stops, and Mouse clutches him tightly. Hawk slows down to avoid moving ahead, in case of incident.

The men, admitting openly to being bandits, are perplexed by the image they just witnessed. Hawk explains to them that the guy being dragged had crossed the "little man on the big wolf," and the bandits released their grip on their weapons. V'Zaren asked how much further it would be in order to reach Riverfall, and one of the men told him it would be a four hour ride. As not everyone was on horseback, this implied a full day's travel still remained. V'Zaren thanks the bandits and offers them a pair of rations for their trouble. The men scratch their heads with bewildered looks, accepting the offer. The party moves forward at a full clip. The remainder of the day is uneventful, and the party arrives at the gates of Riverfall a few minutes before dusk.

Before entering the town, V'Zaren takes point, with Mouse close behind. Hawk and the Lieutenant help place the nameless man's rigid body up onto Fangslayer's back in an attempt to hide his current state. Hawk and the Lieutenant then ride ahead of Faendal, leaving Fangslayer in the back of the group, hopefully unnoticed. V'Zaren acknowledges the lone guard at the gate, and proceeds forward. The guard stalls him and hustles him for a bit of information. Just as he is about to let the party move forward, he notices Fangslayer creeping up at the back of the group.

"Whoa whoa whoa... what is that?! You're going to have to put that... thing... in the kennel. You know, better yet, I think I'm going to need a safety deposit."

"Safety deposit?" V'Zaren asks.

"Yeah... wouldn't want anyone getting hurt or anything like that. It's just a deposit. You'll get it back when you leave... if nothing goes wrong. It'll cost about... 10 silver per person. That'll be 50 silver."

Mouse speaks up candidly, noting that there are six people, because he's not half a person. "Fine. Make it 60 silver. And get that dog over to the kennels. They're [pointing down the road] over there."

V'Zaren looks around to the other party members, expecting a donation of coin, but receives nothing other than blank stares. Sighing, he offers up 60 silver pieces to the guard. The guard introduces himself as Sam, and points the rest of the party toward the inn and the stables, conveniently located side-by-side. He keeps a close eye on Faendal, ensuring the elf listened to the instruction.

Once at the kennel, the keeper clears the largest cage available, and requires a 1 silver maintenance fee. The other animals cower in fear as Fangslayer trots toward her cage. Faendal pays the silver piece, dismounts from Fangslayer, and begins to walk slowly back to the entrance. His braces creak a little, and he uses his bow as a walking stick. To his surprise, the Lieutenant is outside the door, and offers to assist him back to the inn. Once at the inn, aptly named "The Salty Fish," the two rejoin the others at the bar, and engage in conversation. Faendal asks where the nameless man is; Hawk rented three stables - two for his horses, and a third to store the nameless man in the hopes that he would remain safe and out of the way. The group socializes with the barkeep, and rent two rooms. After seeing how small the rooms are, Faendal opts to go back to the kennels instead of renting a third room. He withdraws his bow and hobbles slowly back to the kennel, finding a young boy inside the lobby when he arrives.

The boy is excitable, but seems very offput by Faendal's late appearance. It is inferred that he likely tends to the cages, and is probably the kid of the the keeper who was earlier on duty. Faendal opts to impress the kid with a small guessing game. He withdraws the silver ring from his coin pouch, and shows it to the kid. The kid properly guesses which hand the ring is in and attempts to snatch it, but Faendal pulls back too quickly. The kid gets very loud, demanding the ring because he guessed correctly. Faendal quickly points out that he never promised the kid would get anything for winning - especially not the ring - but offers him two silver pieces instead. The kid thinks about it, and decides that three silver would be more reasonable. Faendal promises to pay in the morning, because he doesn't have any more silver left to give. Weary, the kid accepts the offer and leaves the kennel. Faendal sleeps against the wall outside of Fangslayer's cage. Haru perches atop the cage, proceeding to groom himself.

At the crack of dawn, Faendal opens Fangslayer's cage, sets up her saddlebags, and hops aboard. Haru is awakened by the sound of the cage unlocking, and moves to the top of Faendal's quiver, nodding off again. Faendal leaves the kennel and moves to the outside of the general store, awaiting its opening. While looking around the empty streets, Faendal notices some movement inside the inn. With full intention of joining his companions after a visit to the store, he remains in place. A few minutes pass by, and yelling is heard from the direction of the kennel. The kid comes tearing around the corner in a panic. Upon seeing Faendal, he charges toward him. "YOU!"

"Whoa, hold on kid. I promised you three silver in the morning, right? Well, it's the morning. Here you go." Faendal holds out three silver pieces, and the kid takes them gleefully and runs off in the other direction.

Almost immediately afterward, the Lieutenant comes out of The Salty Fish looking for Faendal. Not wanting to deal with the agonizing walk to and from the kennel again, Faendal takes Fangslayer behind the inn and issues her to stay out of sight. When he enters the inn, he is shocked at the sight of the nameless man sitting in a chair in the corner. "Looks like the spell wore off," Faendal mutters. He sits at one of the tables, next to V'Zaren, and the barkeep approaches the party. After much meaningless banter, Hawk reaches the conclusion that the barkeep is Boss. He asks Boss why this book was so important, and V'Zaren hands it over. Understandably, Boss is displeased with the lock on the book having been removed. Faendal explains that the job never said the book couldn't be opened, and the party was curious to see what was inside. Boss shakes his head in disappointment and asks if the party found anything useful in the book. V'Zaren explains that the trap sealed the nameless man and they immediately closed the book. Boss asks if there was anything else the group learned from the book, and Hawk reiterates that it was never opened again after the initial incident. Boss complains a little about having to "put another one of those back on there" but otherwise seems pleased with the retrieval of the book.

Boss explains that he is in the business of acquisitions. When Jobs arise, he distributes them amongst his agents, and they acquire the goods for him. Sometimes Boss acquires things for himself, but typically Boss acquires things for other people. Faendal senses that there's more to it than that, as though Boss is hiding something bigger, but doesn't question him about it.

As Boss begins to speak on what comes next, the barkeep walks out from the kitchen. Confused, he looks at Boss, and yells out "what the hell?" The party realizes that there are two identical barkeeps in the room now, but all remain motionless. Out of nowhere, Djazigo appears from the kitchen, stabbing the barkeep and lowering him slowly to the ground. The two disappear from sight. As the party looks back at Boss, he mutters something under his breath about "pointlessness" and his entire appearance begins to shift. He now looks like a wizened old man, complete with long beard and frazzled demeanor. His voice and mannerisms change as well, but the importance of his tone does not.

Boss offers the party a new Job to make up for the botched first job. There are two tasks at hand. As the party is indecisive, Boss picks the easier of the tasks for them, suggesting that it would be best to stay small until ready for "more important" tasks. The new Job is the retrieval of another large, decorative book, this time from a temple in Skingrad. The book is of a similar description, and likely locked. V'Zaren has been instructed not to open it this time, so the party safely assumes that the new book is also rigged. Skingrad is only another two days east, so the group makes plans to pack up and set out immediately.

On the way out the front gate, V'Zaren remembers he needs to get his deposit back. He approaches the guard, but the man standing post is not Sam. As V'Zaren explains that he just wants his deposit back, the new guard looks at him unknowingly, genuinely uninformed of any deposit which may have been taken. V'Zaren asks why his deposit is not readily available for his departure, and the guard continues to explain that he has no idea what V'Zaren is talking about. Fangslayer steps up to the new guard aggressively, changing his entire tone.

"Oh shit! Um... I'll probably need a deposit from you guys, for the assurance of the safety of our citizens... from that thing..."

"No," Faendal barks, "you will not receive a deposit. We are trying to leave and do not want any trouble. No deposit is necessary because we are attempting to walk out that door. In fact, it would be exceptionally helpful if we could retrieve our deposit from yesterday. So, where is Sam?"

The guard sheepishly points toward Sam's house, conveniently just across the road. Fangslayer turns and the entire group follows. Hawk beats loudly on Sam's door. Sam eventually answers, half asleep in what appears to be a hungover state. He asks what the group wants, ignoring their responses. Faendal prods Fangslayer forward a couple of steps. Sam's eyes open wide, and tells the party he'll be right back, slamming the door behind him. He reappears a couple of minutes later, morning caffeine in hand.

"So... what's up?"

Faendal steps forward again, and Sam backed away as though he had already forgotten Fangslayer was at his feet. "You owe us our safety deposit, sir. We gave you 60 silver on the condition that we don't cause any trouble. Now we're trying to leave, and you're giving us trouble. Return the deposit, Sam."

"Oh... oh, the deposit... well... about that... 50 silver might be all I have available."

Hawk and V'Zaren both tense up. Faendal shoots them a quick glance and continues, "that will be fine. Give me the 50 silver and we'll be on our way."

Sam reluctantly hands over the coin pouch. Faendal counts it, drops in 10 silver from his own stash, and tosses the pouch back to V'Zaren. The group turns and leaves, no longer acknowledging Sam, and heads directly out the gate before anyone realizes the real barkeep is missing.

END OF SESSION 002.

SESSION REWARDS:
1s worth of bone carving materials.
A new Job with a hinted lucrative reward.
Advice to come up with an awesome name for ourselves.
Successful avoidance of all combat instances in the entire session.

LEVEL UP: Party reaches level two.

1. The most awesome thing in the world happened at this point, and it was a shame that Faendal himself did not get to experience it. V'Zaren and Eij Hawksley were inside the church with Aldous (the Lieutenant) posted up outside. V'Zaren wanted to get the priest's initial attention, and then have Hawk create a distraction to draw away the priest and anyone else so that he could slip the gigantic silver-trimmed book off of the altar unnoticed. Because the two did not solidify this plan prior to going into the building, they were stuck awkwardly motioning to one another - to be fair, there was very little time and Faendal's attempt to draw the guard only lasted about 30 seconds total. As V'Zaren walks the edge of the chapel with the priest, Aldous sticks his head in the door and informs Hawksley that they're short on time as the guard are moving suspiciously, checking the buildings. In a panic, Hawksley rushes the altar, grabs the book, and runs back toward the door. The priest, a little ahead of him, shouts repeatedly for him to stop, and they reach the front door at the same time. Right as Hawksley opens the door, the priest screams for help. The two guards closest to the church roll a higher initiative than Paul (Hawksley's player) and are at the door inspecting the trouble before Hawk can even make a move. This forces him into an awkward emergency bluff situation - one which ends with us rolling in tears. His character screams out that he needed the book because "that monster riding the direwolf has my wife, and I need this book in exchange for her life!" in the most convincing manner he possibly can. (Keep in mind, Fangslayer is not actually a direwolf, and Eij Hawksley is aware of this.) The priest's turn comes next, and he pleads that the sacred text not be taken. V'Zaren stays out of the conversation, pretending not to be relevant and avoiding the attention. Two more of the guards arrive, and they are fully barricading the door at this point. Paul repeats the plea with even more gusto, and the guards believe Hawk, though one is scratching his head trying to figure out why Hawk looks so familiar. (Aside from us all recently being in that very same jail there in Kvatch, Eij Hawksley is a wanted man in two countries for reasons I'll leave unknown to you... probably because I also shouldn't know.) Well, I had gotten up and walked away from the table at that point because I needed a stretch and a trip to the throne room, and while I was gone, one of the guards recognized Hawk and that's what forced him out of the building, onto his horse, and out of the hole in the town wall in a flash. It was at that point that Faendal saw him running with guards chasing him, and stopped taking laps around the city.

2. Riverfall does not exist in the Oblivion era; however, as this takes place during Skyrim era, it is reasonable to assume that a new village may have sprouted up within the last ~200 years.

[LocoColt04]

Oh man. There was so much awesome shit that happened this session that my character didn't experience. Fangslayer is becoming more detrimental as we travel further east. Unfortunately, Faendal's legs are frail, and he can't exactly get around without her. The character flaw I chose is becoming less enjoyable... but I delight in the challenge which it presents. We (players, not characters) have briefly discussed some potential solutions. I may eventually craft a wagon and purchase a horse, then use my various ride training skills to drive the vehicle, and keep Fangslayer hidden in the back of the wagon while we enter and traverse through towns. I would still intend to have Faendal ride her at every given opportunity and let the characters without horses drive/ride in the wagon. This would take quite some time to complete, but I think I've got the supply cost saved up in order to make this happen. Two of the characters have horses already, so perhaps theirs could pull the wagon in the meantime. It wouldn't be ideal long-term, given that their mounts are combat trained, but it would be a viable solution until I am able to purchase (or otherwise acquire) horses of my own.

Shorter notes this time, given Faendal spent 2/3 of the session away from the party. It's okay... he still found a way to steal the show. And NONE of the other party members witnessed it. V'Zaren will end up having a vague idea... the wrong idea, at that, but he'll be the only one with an inkling unless he chooses to tell someone else -- or unless it comes up elsewhere down the line.

~

As the group travels onward toward Skingrad, each member spends his time honing various skills and learning new studies through the small library they had managed to amass. Faendal reads a pair of books on unusual species of animals native to the Cyrodiil region. Given his extensive knowledge of Skyrim wildlife, it was only natural that he begin to expand his knowledge to his current surroundings. Faendal's ability to work with hide and cloth also improved significantly after reading a book offering some new stitches.

After two and a half days of relatively uneventful travel, the group reaches the outer edge of Skingrad. The city, surrounded by walls, was relatively calm. The last time Faendal had entered the gates of the city was more than a year past, shortly after his initial journey into the lands of Cyrodiil. He expects to be welcomed openly, but as the sun sets, the guard begins to close the gate. Faendal explains that this is unusual, and Hawksley sends Lieutenant Alberick riding ahead to see if the group can secure safe passage into the city for the evening.

Alberick discusses the party's intentions, and the guard informs him to call the party forward quickly. The group rides up, but Faendal stays toward the back, worried that the unfamiliar faces may not react well to Fangslayer. Certainly enough, the guards refuse entry to Faendal, despite allowing the rest of the party into the city. As the group heads toward the inn, Mouse looks back apologetically, and Fangslayer begins a slow trot around the outer wall of the city.

Faendal knows the rest of the group may be lost without him, as he is the only one with any prior experience in Skingrad. He and Fangslayer scout the walls for a weakness, seeking a contingency plan for entry in case the rest of the group is unable to acquire the holy book from the temple. Would they even find the temple? Would they try at night? In the morning? Which inn will they seek refuge in? These questions raced through Faendal's mind as Fangslayer paced around the city in a clockwise manner.

During the first trip around the wall, the various guards posted at the towers along the wall begin heckling Faendal, each reacting in his or her own way. Some appear scared while others just point and laugh at the poor outside locked out of the city. Something aside from the sight of a wolf-riding wood elf clearly has the guards worried, and Faendal begins to wonder if he will be safe staying outside of the city overnight...

After completing his first lap and arriving at the western gate again, there was only one noteworthy weakness in the city's defenses, and even that may prove to be a challenge. To avoid suspicion, he continues along his clockwise path until arriving at the southern end of the city again. Behind him lay the castle of Skingrad, and before him lay the southern wall. There is no gate nearby, but there is a massive rock formation between the wall and the castle gate. This is where Faendal dismounts his trusty steed and leans for a night's rest. Against the wall in front of him is another, smaller rock formation, with the highest point roughly twelve feet up. The wall is nearly twenty feet - certainly not outside of Fangslayer's reach, but a difficult jump nonetheless.

Faendal looks up and sees the guard at either tower closest to him (there is a tower about 35 feet in either direction) watching him. With luck, he'll be safe for the evening if the guards do their job. Neither seem to care about the white wolf at this point. Faendal falls asleep.

Three hours later, there is some indistinguishable yelling above. As he regains consciousness, Faendal makes out the screaming - the guard in one of the towers is attempting to warn him of the wolf on the ground next to him. Great, the changing of the guard... Faendal yells back up, claiming the wolf as his own. The guard shifts uneasily, but resumes watch and Faendal falls back asleep, this time leaning against Fangslayer's chest instead of the massive rocks behind him. Roughly another four hours later, the guard changes again. There is panicked screaming from the opposite tower this time, and as Faendal awakens, he hears screams about a giant wolf eating a little man. Looking upward, Faendal shouts back, again claiming her as his own. He rolls back over again, attempting to sleep a little longer.

Shortly before dawn, Haru begins circling overhead, and Fangslayer stands up, dropping Faendal's head to the ground with a decisive thump. Something is happening in town, and the guards in the towers are both staring intently at something happening inside the town. With opportunity present, Faendal gathers his wits, mounts Fangslayer, and pulls her back. Haru races into the city overhead, and with a running start, Fangslayer bounds up the lower rocks at the wall's edge, leaping to the narrow piece atop the formation, and vaulting up to the top of the wall as it crumbles beneath her. Both of the guards in the towers hear the commotion as Fangslayer lands atop the wall. Across town, there is some commotion... and smoke in what looks like the direction of one of the inns. Faendal looks left and right, and as the guards and just beginning to react to the sound, commands Fangslayer off the wall to the courtyard below.

She stumbles slightly upon hitting the ground, and Faendal is slightly shaken as well. She breaks into a full sprint, reaching the temple nearly a hundred yards away in well under ten seconds. The guards pull their bows, yelling for attention, and each loose an arrow, missing entirely. Upon the step of the temple, Faendal finds himself facing a locked door. In the low lighting, he manages to utilize his bone knife and a long splinter of bone from his supply kit in unlocking all but the final latching mechanism of the lock. Panicked and under duress, he forces the knife into the lock, breaking the final latch, and forces his way inside.

The temple is silent. Inside, there is a groundskeeper sweeping the floors, preparing the building for the day's mass. He does not even look up as Faendal enters on wolfback, despite being within a few yards of the doorway. Perhaps he is deaf? There is also another man in the temple, sitting in the front pew, hunched over focusing on something else entirely. Normally Faendal would dismount while indoors, using his bow as a crutch as he typically does, but the pressure of the situation forces him to ride up full speed. He stops next to the man in the first pew. The man, wearing a collar, is the priest of the temple. He is also very old... and very startled by looking up at the eyes of a wolf. His panic quickly turns to a heart attack. Faendal tries to calm him down, but is unsuccessful.

"Forgive me father, for I have sinned. Rest. It's over now."

Faendal brushes the priest's shoulder, grasping him for a brief moment before turning to the altar and stuffing the holy book in Fangslayer's saddlebag. As the priest takes his last breath, Fangslayer sprints for the door. Faendal opens the door, expecting to be fired upon. He maneuvers Fangslayer through the incoming arrows, avoiding any damage. They turn northward, sprinting to the only place Faendal thinks he can exit the town -- the third gate, adjacent to the guard house.

As the pair crosses the bridge into the other half of town, there is much muffled shouting and screaming about fire and prisoners and something about a fire wolf. Taking note of this, they hit the main road and bolt eastward to the guard house gate. V'Zaren is standing at the edge of the road as Faendal streaks by, and he steps back, confused.

"Hail, guard, for I have doused the fire wolf and need to release it outdoors!"

The guards look back at Faendal in amazement, partially shocked by a man riding a wolf, and otherwise still confused by all of the commotion on the other end of the road. Unable to argue the logic of a man riding a wild beast, they begin opening the gate. As the gate opens, V'Zaren and Alberick find themselves with an opportunity to escape. Once the gate is wide enough for Fangslayer to exit without damaging the goods in her saddlebags, she runs forward. Faendal shouts back, "thank you, gentlemen!" and rides Fangslayer off into the brush in the distance. V'Zaren and Alberick give chase, and the guards shut the gates behind them.

Alberick informs Faendal and V'Zaren of his contingency plan with Hawksley in case the two of them are ever separated. The goal is to meet at the northernmost point of the closest town or settlement. Not knowing what's further east, Alberick suggests moving back west, to the last settlement the group traveled through. The three return without incident, and find themselves with Hawksley and the Nameless Man in due time. Mouse is nowhere to be found.

Obviously worried of something, Hawksley refuses to enter the settlement, instead camping in the wooded area to the north. The Nameless Man stays outside with him, and Alberick opts to stay with them. Faendal wonders what happened inside the walls of Skingrad that has everyone so nervous... this is twice now the group has been forced to run away from town while he has been outside of the wall. What is Hawksley's problem?

V'Zaren joins Faendal in the settlement. While the occupants are a bit weary of the wolf, nobody runs in fright or otherwise pays special note of her. Upon reaching a small market with a variety of stalls and traders, Faendal dismounts Fangslayer and ties her to a tree outside for the sake of appearance. V'Zaren and Faendal seek out their respective needs. Faendal places an order for a tailor's kit so that he can more appropriately make use of all pieces of anything he has to kill. V'Zaren finds a glass-blower and commissions a chemist's kit. Both of the vendors tell them that their orders will be available in two days' time.

V'Zaren heads straight for the tavern while Faendal returns outside and visits Hawksley. They agree to camp outside for two nights, despite the information that the settlement has no guard. Alberick goes into the town for a handful of supplies, and Faendal returns to V'Zaren. The two of them are soon joined at their table by a man and a woman carrying ale.

"Hello, Boss," Faendal firmly states. The man ignores him entirely, and offers the drinks more directly. He tells them that they seem like a pair of fellows who would probably be good at acquiring various goods. The woman sits quietly, observing the reactions of Faendal and V'Zaren. The man prods further, offering the pair a job. Upon asking what type of job this would be, the man tells V'Zaren that this would be a job acquiring a book. Faendal is immediately skeptical. If this isn't the Boss, who is he? What does he want?

Faendal asks what kind of book they're looking for, and the man states the title of the holy book Faendal had just taken from the temple. As calmly as possible, Faendal asks where he should be able to find the book. If this isn't the Boss, perhaps he wouldn't know that the book was already in his possession.

The woman walks back in -- despite nobody noticing that she ever left -- with the holy book in hand. Startled that she was able to slip that out of Fangslayer's saddlebags without drawing attention to herself, Faendal realizes he is definitely in the company of the Boss.

"Perhaps, maybe, you two should join us upstairs?" asks the man.

Faendal looks up at V'Zaren with a slight panic in his eyes and a quiver in his voice. "Maybe... maybe we should join them. I mean, she took that book out of my saddlebag without drawing the smallest hint of attention to herself... I don't think we're in a place to say no."

The four all move upstairs together. As the door shuts, the first thing the man does is ask for a little more discretion in the future. Relieved, Faendal repeats himself: "Hello, Boss."

The three of the men converse while the woman keeps an eye on both the door and the window. Before rewarding the pair for a job well done, Boss slaps Faendal. "Father Gregory was a close friend of mine. Okay, not really close... but he was a friend. And you killed my friend."

"What?! I didn't kill anybody. He had a heart attack; that's not my fault!"

"You killed my friend. You did half a job, you get half a reward. So... half the information, yes? What would you like to know?"

V'Zaren glares at Faendal, and then asks some questions about the whereabouts of their elusive alchemist friend.

Faendal and V'Zaren are given three locations of dwellings identical to the one crushed by the adamantoise, and are instructed to retrieve the texts from each of them, but under a stipulation... no burning down buildings and no killing innocent bystanders. Faendal looks wildly at V'Zaren, confused about the burning, and then defends his own standing regarding the death of the priest.

As the conversation draws to a close, Faendal asks if there is a timeline for completion of their new task. Fortunately, there is not. V'Zaren asks if he is allowed to read any of the texts they recover before returning them to Boss, and to his delight, Boss gives permission. Boss walks out the door, and the woman leaps out the window. The pair turn to each other, and decide to fill in the rest of the group.

As each have another day and a half to kill before they can collect their respective crafting kits, they pass the time visiting the other shops and bartering for goods. Faendal finds a pair of interested parties in the ring he has, and listens to offers from each of them as they attempt to win his favor. Ultimately, the man who offers no silver but a full set of leather armor is the one who receives the ring. In exchange, Faendal also receives a stock of various flowers. Uncertain of what to do with them, he opts to hang on to them in case they can be of use to V'Zaren's potions later.

Faendal spends his second day altering the armor he received to better fit his body. Having his new leatherworking tools would simplify the task, but he is still able to finish the alterations before nightfall. The following morning, he returns to the tailor to pick up his new tools, and pays off the balance owed for the kit. Thanking the tailor for his services, Faendal returns to the wooded area north of the town, rejoining his companions.


END OF SESSION 003.

SESSION REWARDS:
None;
Items obtained from purchase/barter:
Tailor's Kit - clothcraft/leatherwork
Full Leather Armor
Assorted flowers
* Silver Ring removed from inventory