Gaming

Haven't you had a proper fist fight yet?
Not even Uthgerd?
Or that racist chap in Windhelm? (I'm definitely gonna punch HIS lights out the next time I see him. )

I've only used my fists by accident, I think. Kind of like the Witcher when he sheaths his sword... And I don't know who Uthgerd is. I do remember there being a guard I wanted to punch, in Windhelm, but I figured the other guards wouldn't like that...

So, I decided to leave the Companions behind and go to Helgen. On the way there I got side tracked and found a small cabin that turned out not to be so small after all... So now I am over encumbered, but it's OK because I have bought a horse

And I will sell the loot once I have done the laundry and finished my current episode of Fringe.

This didn't happen before! I had just got off my horse in Riverwood when I left the game (by alt tabbing, it was just paused in the background). I came back and heard a guard mentioning those vampire hunters in the Dawnguard. Heard that a million times before. But when I looked around there was an orc and he's trying to recruit me!

Now what do I do!?

Edit: I decided to want to kill vampires. Which resulted in me being told to go elsewhere and have my skills tested. Which sounds just like those dang companions.  

Also, I'm still waiting to sell my loot because apparently Lucien needs to finish cooking first...  
 

I've never met him!
I doubt if any response from you will commit you to anything yet. It'll probably just direct you to the canyon with the fort which is where you join up.

Damn... I don't remember when I last saved, but I just killed a dragon and then ran over to check on some guards and they got attacked by bandits just as I arrived so I tried to help them and THEY KILLED ME.

I am getting slightly tired of constantly dying. Maybe it's time to play something else

*enters cave*
*fights skellies and necroes and makes it to the other side*
*exits cave*
Lydia: Hey, look, a cave! I wonder what's inside?

Well, I'm now off to Riften to deliver my "special" loot. I'd really rather keep it but...

And maybe later I'll get out the lightsabers again to see if Cal Kestis is really "not dead yet."

Did I say travelling to Riften?
Yeah, forget about that, I got a bit sidetracked and distracted. You know how it is.
Did a bit of exploring and found something from a different older quest, which was interesting and spoilery, and then started making my way back with a lovely moon shining behind us.
But wait.
Can you hear that, Arissa?

 

Yeah, that creepy noise in the distance. It sounds a bit like a...

 

Yeah, one of those.
Don't worry, I'll sprint on past those giants and mammoths and I'll start the assault with some arrows and you can both back me up.

 

Except no-one's backing me up.
I try to look back between arrows and Arissa's on her knees getting clubbed by the giants. I can't see Brelyna at all and now I'm getting frost breath in the face and wolf attacks from behind!

 

I'm not really sure if Brelyna died but it doesn't matter cos I died too.

Next time I'll try to make sure we're all clear of the giants before I start the arrow thing.
At least the moon was lovely.

Back when those guards killed me, and the game reloaded from the last save, that turned out to be quite a bit earlier, but at least I knew a dragon would show up soon. I wanted to keep my horsey out of the way, because it basically took on the dragon single han... hoofed? last time. Not sure how it survived. But of course I grew tired of waiting and when the dragon appeared I was again on horseback. But as I turned back to get off the horse at some distance, the dragon attacked a giant that happened to be standing in the middle of the road.

Several people helped kill the dragon while it focussed on the giant,, which seemed to be rather calm throughout the whole thing. I'm not sure how close you can get to them without being bludgeoned so I carrefully looted the dragon corpse way over at the tail end.

Are you using some appearance mod? Seems to me all characters look kind of the same and rather "gritty" when I try making them. I haven't played around with all races, though... I've seen appearance mods on Nexus Mods but apart from not having set Vortex up yet, I think too may of them look kind of like Kardashian wannabes/Instagram filters... When they don't look like manga characters...

Edit: I forgot to mention that later, when I was returning to Whiterun after several small diversions and the dragon, I met a guy who was walking down the road with a painted cow. The giant was gone by then, but I'm thinking it was a thank you for him killing the dragon. Not entirely single-handedly but almost. 

Edit2: Oh for F***s sake. Once again I haven't saved since I left Whiterun and then I went and died. Not that anything important happened on the road, really, but I still think that'll be the last death for today. 

I think I might be developing a cold My throat has felt a bit sore all day. Maybe sleep is a good idea...

I love seeing the painted cow.
So do the giants, but in a different way.

I worked out why Brelyna didn't back me up very well before. Her super fireball staff needed charging up! So I sorted that out for her and we took on that dragon and won by approaching from a different angle.

I didn't get the soul though. No dragon skelly.

 

Also while I was lining up this camera shot, Brelyna suddenly fired up her magic and started charging at me!
Thankfully she was aiming at that sabre cat that is now dead in the foreground. Phew.

And while walking back I saw a Vigilant Of Stendarr in deeep trouble.
 

I usually help them when they're chasing vampires but not this time.
But I will loot your body later.
These mammoths are too easily spooked.
(EDIT: That WASN'T the Vigilant in the pic. That was one of the vampires! They had killed the Vigilants and stripped the bodies, which is why I was initially confused. And all that loot is mine now.)


As for appearance thingies, my player character is pretty much a default Breton female. That was the face that stuck out for me in the creation menu and I felt like I could come up with a story and background just from that appearance, so I went with that one. I do currently have a hair mod, so that particular style isn't available in the base game. I only downloaded those a few weeks back for a certain quest where you have to attend a party. I thought that would be a good time to change to go with the posh clothes.
(One of the hair mods is over 1GB with over 900 styles! So I definitely didn't get that one, but there was a cut down version that I found that just added a handful of extras.)
I have been trying to gradually age my character a bit as I play along (I really loved the way they did that in the game Fable so I keep trying to add a little scar or changing the complexion from time to time.)
I do have some NPC appearance mods though, particularly the "Bijin" ones. Some of them are a bit too glam but they're not weird manga creatures and if you pick and choose which of them to install then it adds a bit of variety without completely breaking the original art style.