Nord Refugee Character Diary - Hrisskar III

- Fredas, 7th of Sun's Dawn, 4E 202 -

Markarth was mostly a waste of my time. After a harrowing journey where I nearly lost Kili, I spent the following day looking for the man interested in purchasing my bow. My excitement faded when I finally found him and he offered me not even two hundred gold for it. I had been expecting an offer of eight hundred or a thousand maybe. His offer was barely going to cover my food and boarding expenses for the journey there and back. I tried to persuade him to offer more, but he wasn't having it. So I took him up on his pathetic offer.

The trip back was nearly as harrowing as the trip there. I was chased by bandits and assassins and wolves and even a bear. Again I thank Mara that Kili is with me. I can't imagine having to make that trek on foot by myself.

I was lucky enough to happen upon the body of a slain young man in my travels. Lucky only because among his possessions was a valuable silver necklace, which I sold today for more than the magical bow netted me. I felt somewhat bad taking and selling the necklace, but I'm barely able to afford food for Kili and I every day, so I guess it's okay.

To be honest, I'm feeling very homesick right now. I feel lost in this world. I miss my father. I miss lazy afternoons fishing in the hot sun. I miss sleeping in a real bed and eating good food. I'm trying to stay positive, but living like this is so difficult .. and it feels like I'm not making any progress and don't know what to do next.

While I was in Solitude today and came across Belrand again. He was nice enough to me, and I considered spending my remaining gold to rehire his company. But I couldn't do it. I already have two mouths to feed and bed. I can scarcely afford a third. It costs me nearly one hundred gold each day just to survive. Besides, I have no guarantee that Belrand won't run off on me again with no explanation.

So I'm all out of sorts. I feel like a compass with a needle that just spins randomly. I need to find a direction, a course to follow. I can't stand this feeling that I'm a ship just drifting in a thousand currents. So tonight I have some deep thinking to do. Tonight I have to find my path. Tomorrow I have to follow it.

- Loredas, 8th of Sun's Dawn, 4E 202 -

So this morning I awoke with a clear mind. I was going back into the cave. Whether I died in there or not, that's where I was going. So I rode Kili up the trail from the camp and stepped inside.

I'm not going to lie, my heart was racing and my hands were shaking. I knew what lie ahead. At a bend in the cave I had found a falmer along with a chaurus beast. This is why I had left the cave previously. I didn't know how to get past the two of them, and now .. without my bow ... it was going to be that much more difficult. I really felt like I was just walking into my own death.

I can't tell you how sick I am of being in this steamy, putrid cave. Falmer are disgusting creatures, and they make my skin crawl. But I still feel as if I owe those poor travelers, so onward into this stinky cave I pushed.

I'll admit I didn't really have much of a plan. I mostly was just hoping to find a way to separate the falmer from the chaurus so I could have an even fight. Not that the fight would be even. Either one by themselves was still likely to kill me. But I knew I had to get them separated somehow.

So the makeshift plan was to put myself in a position where only the falmer could see me. My heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest when I stood up from the shadows and announced my presence to the foul being.

He spotted me almost instantly, and quickly drew his sword. I turned and sprinted back down the passage. My only wish was that he was following me without the chaurus in tow. I looked back for a moment, to make sure he was still pursuing me. He was. Closer than I had expected, too.

My mace was poisoned with a paralysis potion. I could only hope this was going to buy me the time I needed to finish him off. And then, a moment of brilliance struck me.

As I was running back through the cave I came across a trap that I had deftly avoided numerous times already. It was triggered by stepping on a metal plate on the ground. This trigger would cause a half-dozen spears to stick from the walls in various directions.

What I now realized was how I could use this trap to my advantage. You see, it's set to spring against someone going the opposite direction ... someone going into the cave. But .. if I were to stand on the plate and use my shield to block the falmer from exiting the small passage, I could maybe trap the falmer in his own trap.

I sprinted through the tiny passage and drew my shield and mace. Just in time. The falmer was right behind me and managed to slam his sword against my shield almost before I could react. But a second later I backed up onto the plate and the spears went to work on him. I struck him with the poisoned mace as well, hitting him two more times before backing up onto the plate again.

As I realized he was dead a nasty glob of poisonous stink struck me. The chaurus! Apparently it had followed us after all. I had no choice but to turn and run. I was already hurting badly from the falmer's strike, and now I was afflicted with poisonous spit as well.

I made it around the first corner and felt instant relief. The chaurus couldn't spit at me now and certainly wasn't as fast as I was. I continued further down the tunnel and then found a spot to hide and wait.

After a good while, when I was feeling better, I ventured back down the passage. I moved slowly, listening intently for the distinct sound of the chaurus' legs on the cave floor. But I heard nothing. I continued forward. My movements were painfully slow.

Then I spotted it. I froze in my tracks, shocked that I hadn't heard it. It was barely ten paces from me, and I could hardly breathe. But then I noticed it wasn't moving. After a few moments my courage returned and I inched closer to it. The chaurus was dead, no doubt somehow the victim of the spear trap. I have no idea how this happened, but I was thankful.

A bit later I lured another falmer out into the passage and used the spear trap against him as well. I can't tell you how satisfying it is to see these scum die in their own trap.

But now I'm back at the camp about to get some much needed rest. I'm actually looking forward to going back in the cave tomorrow. I only hope I can finally finished the job and avenge those travelers.

- Sundas, 9th of Sun's Dawn, 4E 202 -

It was already dark outside when I left the cave tonight. It was dark when I entered this morning as well. I can't imagine living like this .. never seeing the sun. No wonder the falmer are so violent and evil.

My hands are aching as I write this, but I'll try to continue. I spent the entire day fighting falmer in the cave, and my shield and mace are heavy in the hands. For that matter, my whole body aches, and would like nothing more than to feel a real bed underneath it. Instead .. once again .. I'll be sleeping on this thin bedroll at the camp.

Early this morning I discovered a gruesome scene in the cave. I found pens where the falmer had been keeping captured travelers captive. I could see a few still in the pens and had hoped they were alive, but they were not. One of them had a note on him, scribbled hastily and barely legible. No doubt he wrote it just before he met his end. Poor soul.

His words told a rushed story of how falmer had descended on his caravan. Apparently once they were captives in the cave, the falmer had been offering their bodies up to a monster. I don't know if are referring to the chaurus or something more sinister. I tend to lean towards the latter at the moment.

You see, after discovering these pens and the bodies and the note, I found a chamber nearby with a alter or something like an alter. On it was the body of another dead traveler, with candles around it and markings on the stone bed of death. From what I could tell this was where the falmer were offering up dead bodies in some twisted ritualistic fashion ... and there was no chaurus in that chamber. Instead, there was a ramp leading up to another tunnel. I suspect there may be a very large spider in there. The falmer seem to coexist nicely with the spiders I've seen so far, and maybe this is how they achieve that.

I wasn't able to investigate the tunnel today, though. The chamber itself had a pair of falmer in it. One of them had a conjured sword and also knew frost magic. I was able to lure him back to the trap and finish him off fairly quickly. However, the other falmer wasn't so ready to follow the same fate. He refused to leave the room and chase me.

So I had to get creative once again. I crept back into the chamber as slowly and quietly as I could. It's not easy to sneak around in heavy steel boots, but I can just manage it.

It took forever to get close to the falmer. I would only move when his back was to me, and held my breath any time it wasn't. After what seemed like hours I finally got to within about ten paces, but he sensed my presence. His sword in hand he began to search for me, but I remained perfectly still .. waiting for the right opportunity. After what seemed like another eternity it happened. The falmer walked toward me, unaware of my location, but still on alert that something or someone was nearby. He walked right up to me and and I just waited patiently, fighting my instinct to run.

When he was less than an arm's length away I struck him with my mace. It's flame burned him and the poison on it's edges sucked at the falmer's life. Even though my concealed blow had done considerable damage, the fight was far from over, though. I was determined to remain on the offense though, so I smashed my shield into him to throw him off balance. I followed with another smash from my mace, then another from my shield. I realized then that he was standing on the edge of a short ledge. So I bashed twice more with my shield to knock him over it.

It was a very short fall and didn't hurt him at all, but it gave me a moment to collect my breath as he found his way back up to me. Another bash of the shield followed by a flurry from my mace left me standing over his dead body. It was then that I realized there was still another falmer in the room .. as his arrow missed my nose by a hair's width.

I fled from the room and waited a bit to see if he would chase me. I was hoping to use the trap trick but this falmer also wasn't leaving the room, so I had to sneak back in and finish him off in much the same way as the other.

Not an easy day but definitely a good day. I'm a little apprehensive about venturing into that tunnel tomorrow. As much as I don't like falmer I really don't like spiders .. especially large spiders.

- Morndas, 10th of Sun's Dawn, 4E 202 -

So I headed back into the cave this morning, certain I would find an enormous spider and finally meet my end. As it turns out there was nothing at the end of that tunnel except a store room for the falmer. I can't really say I wasn't happy about that either. At fighting from dawn to dusk inside the cave yesterday, I was relieved to have to spend all day today out in the sun riding back and forth to Solitude to sell what I could.

Now I've just ridden away from the cave for likely the last time. I can't say the falmer made me rich, but I do feel good about ending their reign of terror on the nearby roads. I also hope I've adequately avenged the deaths of those who fell at the falmer's devious hands. Either way, I'd be happy to never see another falmer again. I could say the same for this bedroll too.

Y'know, I've come to think that in this game, courage is reading a note or a journal describing the horrific doom of its writer and saying "Woo, this looks like a bad one. Better get to it, then."

Neriad13 said:

Y'know, I've come to think that in this game, courage is reading a note or a journal describing the horrific doom of its writer and saying "Woo, this looks like a bad one. Better get to it, then."

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lol .. too true.

really awesome and great job. I can actually picture your character's trials and tribulations as he struggles with his odds in Skyrim.

I do have some questions though, and it's mainly did you manage to finally get the ice wraith teeth, and are you going to use a falmer bow to replace the one you were forced to sell?

Please keep up this great story.

- Middas, 12th of Sun's Dawn, 4E 202 -

I'm in a real mess now.

After leaving the cave behind I had the novel idea to head back up to the other cave near Solitude. Not the cave with the sabre cats camped out front. The cave I visited quite a while ago that had a pair of skeletons guarding the entrance. Right now I'm not sure why I thought this was a good idea. I mean, I complained enough about the last cave I think.

But no, I did it. I entered the cave and pushed through it to try and clear it out. After all, there's a hundred gold with my name on it back in Solitude if I can do the job. I can tell you right now that reward is not enough.

I hadn't pushed very far into the cave before I came to the room that caused me grief previously. It's a chamber with a fairly deep pit that offers no way back out. Inside the chamber, on a ledge that runs around the pit, is a skeleton with a huge sword and a very deadly-looking draugr. I remember the last time this draugr was quite proficient with magic and could take a beating.

So this time I tainted my mace with a paralyze potion. I wasn't going to let this fight swing the draugr's way. But with my first strike I knew things were about to go badly. You see, the draugr was unaffected by the poison. He was not paralyzed even the slightest. This left me face to face with him on a small ledge with a very testy skeleton rushing over to assist. I knew right away it was time to leave. I was not going to win this fight.

I spun around to sprint back out the way I came, but the passage behind me was gone. In fact, there was a wall of ice in front of my face. For the briefest of moments I was completely confused, but then the ice moved ... and I realized the draugr had conjured a frost atronach behind me. I was trapped and certainly moments away from death.

For another brief moment I just stood there .. still ... in a strange sort of peace. I knew my fate and I was ready to accept it without a struggle. I waited for the final blow, not knowing if it would come from the elemental, the draugr or the skeleton.

But then, in the recesses of my mind, an idea flickered to life. The pit! My only chance at survival was going to be to throw myself into the pit. I knew the fall could kill me, but I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. So stepped sideways and turned toward the hole.

Not that I was going to hesitate, but a blow to my back ensured that. I stepped off the ledge and did my best to slide down the rocky walls into the pit. I landed hard, and it hurt, but the pain reminded my that I was alive. I didn't wait a moment to gather myself, and instead sprinted to the other side of the pit where I saw another tunnel. That meant there was a way out after all!

Bleeding and bruised I wandered cautiously down the tunnel, my mace ready for more trouble. But the trouble I found was going to require more than my mace.

I am at an opening in the passage right now that has revealed an enormous cavern with a fort of sorts built up inside it. There are rivers of magical blue light coursing from the walls and winding toward a brighter ball of magical light atop a tower. I can make out the figure of a person inside. I can also see draugr and necromancers wandering in the various areas of the fort. This is not good. I am trapped yet again.

Thomas Liu said:

really awesome and great job. I can actually picture your character's trials and tribulations as he struggles with his odds in Skyrim.

I do have some questions though, and it's mainly did you manage to finally get the ice wraith teeth, and are you going to use a falmer bow to replace the one you were forced to sell?

Please keep up this great story.

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Thanks, bro. I plan on keeping it up 'til the end.

To answer your questions. No, I haven't gotten the ice wraith teeth yet. As you can imagine, playing with these restrictions on this difficulty is pretty insane, so I'm coming back to that as soon as I can conjure up a decent plan that (hopefully) won't get me killed. d;-)

And no, I haven't replaced my bow yet. I was planning to but the stupid game has afflicted me with some sort of glitch, the likes of which I can't even find online .. which means maybe I'm the only one having this issue? Not sure, but basically if I shoot an arrow it goes like 5 feet and then falls to the ground. Doesn't matter how long I draw the bow back either. So basically, I can't use a bow now even if I wanted to. Major suckola. But I'm adapting the best I can.

Sorry to hear about your glitch. have you tried picking up the bow, equipping it, then dropping it and re-equip? Says sometimes that will clear up the bug.

Thomas Liu said:

Sorry to hear about your glitch. have you tried picking up the bow, equipping it, then dropping it and re-equip? Says sometimes that will clear up the bug.

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Yup. Even tried a brand new bow. Seems to be a permanent glitch. Super lame.

Gaha! I did something similar in that cave. Except that I was playing with my over-eager warrior character. And I saw the atronarch ahead of me, but not the pit. I went "Ooh, I wanna kill that guy!" I charged toward him, swords drawn, ready for battle...and then tripped and fell on my face into that stupid pit. It was very disappointing. I actually yelled out loud in surprise when it happened and had to explain myself to my bewildered parents."I was fighting a guy and then I fell down a hole!" "Oh, too bad."

I have a secret love for dungeons in which the only exit is straight through until the end. I feel that it raises the stakes and tests one's will to survive, though it does get a tad annoying at times. I think that you're very capable of making it through this one too and proving your mettle. Necromancers don't need too many hits to die. Stay strong, Hriss!

Damn, that's a glitch. As if you needed any more restrictions. I wonder if a story-related reason for it could be written into the journals.

an answer from yahoo answers:
"Here is what i suggest to you, as it worked for me twice so far (on Xbox):

Just shoot arrows out until they finally start flying out normally. May take more than 10 arrows to work (pretty annoying if your'e low on arrows, i had to use my last elf arrows). Preferably some cheap arrows.

Also try switching bows/arrow types/weapons, or favorite/unfavorite, dropping and picking up bow, etc.
Also, loading a previous save was a waste of time, it ended up happening again anyways. Don't know what causes it. As a last resort, try clearing the cache on your Xbox."

Waiting for some to come up with something along the lines of:

'I used to be able to fire arrows like you, but then I......."

Really enjoying this, many thanks for keeping up with the writing!

I've seen that problem on the PC too. I only had it happen a few times before I stopped and made sure I fully pulled the bowstring back before release. It seems to happen if I try to rapid fire arrows and even with the quick draw perk it trips up and fumbles the arrow until I get good solid draw in again.
The good thing is I can usually go an pick up the arrows that got fumbled.
Next time you're out in the open do a little practice and make sure to fully draw the bow before release. Even hold it there a good long second.

Neriad13 said:

Gaha! I did something similar in that cave. Except that I was playing with my over-eager warrior character. And I saw the atronarch ahead of me, but not the pit. I went "Ooh, I wanna kill that guy!" I charged toward him, swords drawn, ready for battle...and then tripped and fell on my face into that stupid pit. It was very disappointing. I actually yelled out loud in surprise when it happened and had to explain myself to my bewildered parents."I was fighting a guy and then I fell down a hole!" "Oh, too bad."

I have a secret love for dungeons in which the only exit is straight through until the end. I feel that it raises the stakes and tests one's will to survive, though it does get a tad annoying at times. I think that you're very capable of making it through this one too and proving your mettle. Necromancers don't need too many hits to die. Stay strong, Hriss!

Damn, that's a glitch. As if you needed any more restrictions. I wonder if a story-related reason for it could be written into the journals.

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As if I needed any more restrictions ... I couldn't have said that better myself, lol. That's a pretty funny story about falling down the hole. Stuff like that is why this game is so much fun. And not sure how you play, but not allowing yourself to just reload a previous save really makes things interesting, right? You fall (or jump) down that hole and suddenly you realize you're stuck and can't just retreat from the cave. Crazy stuff.

I'll be updating with a new entry shortly. d;-)

XhoppX said:

an answer from yahoo answers:
"Here is what i suggest to you, as it worked for me twice so far (on Xbox):

Just shoot arrows out until they finally start flying out normally. May take more than 10 arrows to work (pretty annoying if your'e low on arrows, i had to use my last elf arrows). Preferably some cheap arrows.

Also try switching bows/arrow types/weapons, or favorite/unfavorite, dropping and picking up bow, etc.
Also, loading a previous save was a waste of time, it ended up happening again anyways. Don't know what causes it. As a last resort, try clearing the cache on your Xbox."

Click to expand...

I'll give some of those a try and cross my fingers. Thanks!

Gemini Sierra said:

I've seen that problem on the PC too. I only had it happen a few times before I stopped and made sure I fully pulled the bowstring back before release. It seems to happen if I try to rapid fire arrows and even with the quick draw perk it trips up and fumbles the arrow until I get good solid draw in again.
The good thing is I can usually go an pick up the arrows that got fumbled.
Next time you're out in the open do a little practice and make sure to fully draw the bow before release. Even hold it there a good long second.

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Yeah, I'm pulling it all the way back, so that's not it. In fact, the first time it happened I had the bow drawn for a good 10-15 seconds before I let go. Thanks for the help, though.

BIGwooly said:

Thanks, bro. I plan on keeping it up 'til the end.

To answer your questions. No, I haven't gotten the ice wraith teeth yet. As you can imagine, playing with these restrictions on this difficulty is pretty insane, so I'm coming back to that as soon as I can conjure up a decent plan that (hopefully) won't get me killed. d;-)

And no, I haven't replaced my bow yet. I was planning to but the stupid game has afflicted me with some sort of glitch, the likes of which I can't even find online .. which means maybe I'm the only one having this issue? Not sure, but basically if I shoot an arrow it goes like 5 feet and then falls to the ground. Doesn't matter how long I draw the bow back either. So basically, I can't use a bow now even if I wanted to. Major suckola. But I'm adapting the best I can.

Click to expand...

ive had this happen to me several times. and always at the wrong time. but ive found if it happens i just have to hold down the trigger longer then i normally would. and i didnt realize till just now that the arrows are acting like im trying to shoot through grass or a bush. when you do end up getting a bow again go to a town and shoot the practice dummies. that way you can justify carrying more arrows for a bit till you get it figured out.

I wish that's all it took, but like I said, the first time it happened I had already been holding the trigger down for like 10-15 seconds. So holding it longer isn't a solution for me unfortunately. d