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.
Last Seed, 22nd, 4E 8234
Collected one last bounty this morning. The bandits are becoming less numerous. Maybe they're getting the message? In any case, the fight was hardly that. The guy was a good warrior, but he was too cautious, and Blutgang hit too hard for him to keep his footing. Wasn't a long duel.
After that I spent the morning in the tavern doing some more reading. Mainly just familiarizing myself with Enderal's culture, going through some folk tales I picked up and reading a few books on the continent's geography. I did, however, read another interesting story from the wanderer where he detailed a rogueish lass who combined Mentalism and Elementalism with archery to devastating effect. I've never been much of an archer, but I'd love to meet this girl.
Speaking of girls, spent some more time with Liliath when she broke for lunch. She's astounded by how quickly I'm picking up the lute, and she says that if I keep this up she might consider cutting me into her deal with the innkeep. Who knows? If this whole warrior-mercenary thing I'm coming into doesn't end up panning out, I could make a decent living as a bard.
I think I'm going to spend the rest of the day reading and browsing the market to see if there's anything interesting. There's not much left to do unless I want to start straying, and that's something I want to try to avoid. Jespar's still not here, but that's not a problem. I'm fine with spending another day or two in Riverville. Gives me time to put my thoughts in order and think. Things have been going by really quickly, and it's nice to just take a break and slow down.
Did a bit of wandering before heading back to Riverville. Nothing much, just a bit of strolling down the coast. Found a nice little island with a big chest, so that was something. Now I'm back at the inn. Read a pair of journals from this explorer who went to Skaragg. Only know about the place by hearsay, but it sounds like an interesting culture. Violent and savage, but interesting. The explorer and his group got captured, and they slowly started getting whittled down as time went on. His friends got taken to some cave. Not sure what happened to them. But he survived mainly by acting as a healer of sorts to the tribe that had taken them in. The men weren't really treated poorly. From the looks of things, it seems as time went on they were simply seen as more additions to the tribe. The author fell in love with a Skaragg girl he healed, so that was interesting. There's a third tome, but it's written in a different language, one I'm not familiar with. Might be able to find a proper translation in Ark.
Well, Liliath's asleep next to me. Damn, she's beautiful. Pretty soon I'm probably going to join her. Feeling exhausted after that. But I've had a bit to drink and if I write this later I might not be as colorful. She came up to me after she finished for the day and offered to buy me a drink and dinner. We talked for a little while. At some point she asked me about the burn on my face. Funny, with how quickly everything's been going I almost completely forgot about it. Haven't even mentioned it here. It's just a scar on my left cheek from when I was in the streets. Bit of a souvenir from when one of my employers decided I was responsible for some shipment he lost... somehow. Tried to hit me and I hit him back, so he grabbed me and put part of my face to the fire. Paid him the same respect after I weaseled out of his grip. Took a while to stop hurting and peeling, but now it's just a brand, a reminder of the life I had to live. The life I've left behind.
Anyways, Liliath and I talked for a bit longer, broaching more light-hearted topics. She told me about some of the backstory of her songs. She said that to sing them properly, you have to be able to see and understand a deeper meaning behind them. For example, the Song of the Whisperwood is an ode to what was once a lush forest, now consumed by a fungal plague and turned into some mystical, legendary site. Liliath sees it as a story of how death can transform something beautiful into something legendary. Something like that. It was really poetic.
After a bit more conversation, I decided to call it a night. I thanked her for the drink and food and joked that maybe I'd have enough coin to afford a room now (used just about all of it getting supplies for the upcoming journey, among other things). She offered to let me sleep in her room. Or rather, insisted I stay there. So I did. We went there, shared a few more drinks and talked for a bit longer, then, well... we stopped talking. She was a bit tamer than I expected her to be, but that wasn't much of a problem. It was still fantastic.
It's pretty late now and I think I'm going to go to sleep. I expect Jespar'll show up tomorrow or the next day, so I won't be here much longer. Bit of a shame that I'll have to leave Liliath behind, but I'm sure she'll understand.
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.
