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, 7th, 4E 8234
Would it really be too much for Arantheal to wait until morning before calling together his secret meetings? It's still at least three hours until dawn. Got woken up by a Keeper banging on my door. Pricks. But anyways, some new developments. Or rather, a new development.
The Nehrimese are invading. They've got ships anchored on an island some distance from the east coast. And of course, they're all led by Taranor Coarek himself, the "great liberator" of Nehrim. Of course, his liberation mainly meant putting whole cities to the sword and whatnot, but who cares about a bit of mass murder here and there? I must admit, his men did help me out in getting some payback against the religious bastards who slaughtered my family, and most of the orders in Ostian kind of had a reckoning coming, but I think I'd have felt more comfortable with his whole crusade if he didn't always wax lyrical about how amazing he was.
Anyways, the problems are twofold: firstly, Coarek is the kind of guy who sees someone spiritual and immediately guts them. Enderal's the epitome of theocracy in Vyn, and putting two and two together, it's pretty clear that Coarek doesn't intend to "liberate", but to basically slaughter every living thing he can find. But that's not the big kicker. No, the funny thing is that he's apparently aware of the cycle we're fighting against. And he's fighting for it. As in, he's fighting to ensure that all life in Vyn is wiped out. The way he sees it, anything a holy order is trying to prevent is something he should be fighting to see fulfilled. Fucking insane bastard is what he is. Insufferably arrogant and infuriatingly close-minded. You'd think he was a priest from Ostian with his fucking zealotry.
So, Nehrim's coming at Enderal full-force in an attempt to stop us from making sure that everyone in the world doesn't die. Because they're all fucking morons. But a lot of this is speculation, which is why we're sending spies. And who's the lucky gal who gets to sneak into their camp? You guessed it: me. Well, me, Jespar, and Firespark. We can't sail there. That would be too conspicuous. Instead, the plan is to use this old Pyrean railroad that stretches underground and should reach the island where the Nehrimese are camped out. Sounds far-fetched to me, but it's worth a shot. The entrance to the railway is a place called the "Living Temple". There's a gem we need to open it, and Firespark thinks it's in Fogville.
I'll be spending today making preparations, and we'll set off the day after. Got lots of stuff to set in order. But right now, it's still not even dawn and I'm really fucking tired, so I'm going back to sleep.
Well, after a proper rest I took care of a lot of business. Right now I'm in the Undercity; a tavern called the False Dog. This place makes me feel paranoid. Really paranoid. Even the rats seem to be giving me funny looks. I think after some of the stuff I pulled I might have garnered the attention of some less than savory gents. Once I've got time I'm going to start pursuing some of the leads I've got on the Rhalata. I just wanted to take a walk through the Undercity and remind myself that I've still got work here to do.
Anyways, Halda said that my armor would be ready by tomorrow. I'm a bit relieved, as if we're going for stealth, we might have a bit of a problem, considering how conspicuous Selna's armor is. She didn't really have subterfuge in mind when she forged it, I guess.
After checking up on the armor, I found Calia and we talked a bit more. I asked her about the mark she has on her face (you can sort of describe it as a black spiral on her left cheek). She said it's been there for as long as she could remember. No idea what it means or if it has any sort of purpose. For what it's worth, I think it looks really good. Heh, I told her as much and she blushed. We talked a bit more, and I told her about the whole Nehrimese problem. She seemed a bit worried, and I don't really blame her. She doesn't even know Coarek like I do. If anyone gives cause for worry, it’s definitely him.
After that, we probably both needed something to steer our minds away from how shitty our situation is starting to look, so I asked if she wanted to spar a bit. She said yes and we went at it in the practice rings for a little while. And Gods, she’s got a strong arm. Never been on the receiving end of one of those strokes of hers, but she’s hiding a lot of strength in that little frame of hers. Enough to not only knock me back but also maintain control of what must be an insanely heavy greatsword. She told me she spent most of her time practicing and meditating, and it really shows; she’s probably even better than I am. I was barely holding my own against her. She’s really starting to grow on me.
Well, once we finished sparring, I thanked her for the workout and took my leave. She seemed to appreciate the chance to go at it with someone who didn’t look down on her with scorn. Anyways, I left the Sun Temple and headed to Ark’s main fortress. Wanted to have a word with the captain of the guard: a woman named Leora Eren. I don’t know much about her, but I’ve seen her in action sparring with some of her subordinates, and she can really move. She kind of reminds me of Jespar. But I wanted to talk to her to see if there were any other details about the Nehrimese she could offer.
She said that they’ve basically got an armada parked around a big island. She reckons it’ll take them at least a week to properly mobilize and another to get to the mainland, but they’ll probably deploy in force pretty soon. She says she expects them to hit Duneville and the west coast. That means they’ll probably try to go for Riverville and set up a base there. And they’ll probably slaughter everyone in the village. I’m not going to let that happen. I think I might have a few ideas on some spells. Going to have to experiment a bit. We’ve got some time, though. Assuming Jespar, Firespark and I survive infiltrating their camp, that is.
After that bit of doom and gloom (on another note, I noticed that Leora’s uncharacteristically difficult to find in the Sea of Eventualities. I’m going to have to ask her more about that), I decided to take a walk around Ark, scope out the markets, get supplies, and make sure everything was in order. Took out a deposit from the bank and left it as a bit of an anonymous donation to the lass selling bread in the Foreign Quarter. Her father was the one Calia and I found in the Pyrean ruin with the mercenaries. I haven’t heard much about his trial, but it’ll probably be a little while before there’s something in the news. But his family needed the coin more than I did, so I might as well leave it for them.
Afterwards I went to the Undercity and walked the caverns, like I said. It’s really depressing here. Oh, a bit of another development: I talked to the Apothecarii down here and as a bit of compensation for my work with the red Vynroot, they gave me a relic they’ve been keeping hidden: the Old Ban Totem. It’s supposed to be able to dispel a seal of immortality on the Blind Miner, one of those mythical creatures, one who apparently roams the Tar Pits of the Undercity. Sounds like another creature to go hunt when I’ve got the time.
Speaking of hunts, Ark’s bounty board is surprisingly clean. Shame, because those tend to be pretty entertaining. And profitable. Maybe the guards will stumble across a bandit camp or something pretty soon and put out a notice.
In the meantime, though, one excellent method of earning a quick penny is to play with the bard up in the Fat Leoran. That’s my plan for the night, really. I need to start practicing the lute again. It’s been a while since I really picked it up, and I expect Liliath would be up in arms if she saw how much I’ve been neglecting her lessons.
Well, I think Gerril definitely hates me (he’s the Fat Leoran’s resident bard). Decided to try my hand at doing some singing along with the lute playing, and I pretty much stole the show I think. I feel a bit bad, but at the same time it felt pretty damned good. Got some good coin for my trouble, and more than a few propositions from the men… and some of the women. But I’m not really interested. I prefer sleeping with people I can form a meaningful connection with, and everyone in the Upper District is too insufferable and superficial.
On another note entirely, I just now noticed that my hair’s growing out. I haven’t really been paying much attention to it. It’s almost down to my neck. Usually I keep it really short so it doesn’t get in the way. I guess my mind’s been on other things lately. Not sure if I’ll cut it or not. Granted, if I let it get much longer it’ll probably start getting annoying.
Anyways, I more than earned my room in the inn for the night. I could sleep at the Sun Temple, but I half expect some Keeper to bang on my door and tell me to get moving to Fogville. I really needed a break from the Temple and everyone in it, honestly.
This day was pretty nice. A fitting calm before the storm and all bloody hell break loose.
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.
