I'm replaying Enderal, a total conversion for Skyrim. I found it well-made, with a gripping story, great characters, and excellent music. I got a whole bunch of mods for my next playthrough, and one adds in a journal one can write in to record thoughts, events, etc. I'll be keeping this journal up as I play, and I figured it would be fun to share it here.
Heartfire, 1st, 4E 8234
Woke up a bit early and took care of a bit of business before the whole Keeper initiation ceremony thing. Went to the market to sell some stuff and then went up to the temple. Finally met the third member of the Nehrimese party: Yuslan Sha'Rim, a Qyranian Entropist. He knows a lot about magic, and I reckon he's more experienced in just about all of its facets than I am. He gave me a few pointers on the different schools, and I might ask him for more later when we get the time. He's an interesting fellow. I like him.
Also talked a bit more with Constantine. Asked him about Naranthzul's order and how he felt about the deaths of the Light-born. Naturally, he was proud of their part in the destruction of the gods. Can't say I blame him. We also talked about Nehrim. Ostian, to be precise. He said that visiting the city is what made him "declare war on religion", so to speak. First sight he came across when he visited the city was the line of burning corpses pinned up on crosses. I can't say I don't sympathize with him. He saw what Ostian was like, but I lived it. Lost my entire family to those religious bastards.
speaking of religious bastards, it's almost time for the ceremony. I still don't like Arantheal, but I have to admit that he had a point; if we're going to fight these... things that we're up against, I'm going to need every resource I can get my hands on, and the Holy Order is the strongest faction in Enderal. If they can't help me, no one really can. But if they send me to spread the word of the Light-born or some tripe like that, I'm burning the entire place to the ground.
Well, it's official: I'm a Keeper of the First Sigil of the Holy Order. Went through their little ceremony (ignoring the glares a lot of them were giving me) and got the Grandmaster's blessing. Calia was pretty happy about it. She's worked a long time for it, so that's not surprising. As for me... I don't know how I feel about it. I didn't really have much of a choice. They're an order of religious zealots for the most part, and they're incredibly elitist about their little club. It grates on the nerves. I feel like if they had the chance they'd relish the opportunity to have a go at me. And it's not just me; they didn't like Calia either. Probably because she wasn't "born to be a Keeper" or something stupid like that. Always fun to appreciate the wonders of caste systems.
I will say that the Keepers have some pretty nice armor. It's easily better than the steel I've been wearing. It's really conspicuous, though. Good for wandering a city and making sure people know who you are. Probably also good for traditional warfare and stuff like that. But for traveling, I think I'm going to go with something a bit more... weathered. I talked with Halda, the Sun Temple's blacksmith, and she agreed to make me a suit of armor (after I offered her a copious sum of pennies, naturally). It'll be ready tomorrow, so until then, I've got nothing to do, which is honestly a bit of a godsend; these past few days have been breakneck, and I really do appreciate just having at least a few hours to relax and take stock.
My next stop is a manor owned by the Aged Man. The same Aged Man from the bards' songs. He's a collector of artifacts, including one we really need right now: the Word of the Dead; it allows one to peer into the mind of a corpse to perceive its last memories. We have the corpse: a Pyrean frozen in ice. Now we just need the artifact. What for? Well, it comes back to the stones Lishari was digging up when I met her. They're fragments of something called the Sigil Stone, a relic that can block the effects of the Red Madness. Pretty important. Well, to activate it, there's an incantation or something that needs to be cast. The Order has most of it, but they need the last phrase, which is where the Pyrean's memories come in. They want me to use the Word of the Dead to find the last bit of the incantation in his head.
I'm heading to the manor with Jespar; apparently we can't just break in and take the artifact. The Aged Man is mythical to the point where even the Light-born were wary of him, back when they were still alive. So we're going to get in under the guise of merchants selling something, wait for night, and steal the artifact instead. Because that's going to go just as well.
Anyways, I'm taking the night to rest and wait for my armor to get finished up, and then I'm taking a Myrad to the tower in the Western Coast. Simple enough. Jespar seemed cordial enough the last time we talked, so I don't think we'll have any trouble working together. At the very least, I won't have to worry about keeping the Entropy a secret.
Link to Enderal. It's important to note that the writing above is based almost entirely on the story created by an extraordinarily talented group of modders. Credit is due to them, not to me. I would also be remiss to not credit Arcones for the idea of using a parchment-looking background to add some flavor.
