:rotfl2: How true.

However I don't read them in dungeons. I bypass loot just to haul the damn things home :haha:

Markarth so far (I only own that and Breezehome) has the most book storage space so it makes a nice library space :)

Which, as it turns out, I was. Had to go right back past there on my next job for the Companions and sure enough there was a dragon getting ready to attack. Checked after it was over and the mound above the town was empty.

He landed right smack in the center of the settlement but fortunately he was a frosty fellow so he didn't set anything on fire before we killed him and I don't think there were any casualties except for some farmer's tater crop. And maybe his prize goat but I am not taking the rap for that this time. :O:

FINALLY got the Purity quests from both Farkas and Vilkas and cured my own self on the second one, now there's only the Dragon Seekers business with the Companions which should be a lot more fun than trekking and retrekking all the way back to Y's Tomb just to do five seconds' worth of work. To be fair we did take the carriage as far as Winterhold both times because: independently wealthy, perks, etc., stop looking at me like that Vilkas, just shut up and get in.

On a sad note, Skyrim Network News is reporting that someone snuck into the assassins' sanctuary near Falkreath and wiped out the core of the Dark Brotherhood... which was already reeling from the mysterious disappearance and presumed death of its leader, Astrid von McMonologue. Reports of some very interesting apparel turning up on display mannequins in a noted Solitude basement could not be substantiated at this time.


And woohoo took my Daedric Smithing perk and made a full set of armor + shield and a battle axe since that was all the hearts I had on hand. Trying to decide whether to go ahead and enchant it and start using it now, or wait until I buff up the rest of my Alchemy perks so I can make a really bitchin' Fortify Enchanting potion to use first. With the ebony armor I didn't mind going through 2-3 different sets as my other skills improved, since acquiring the raw materials was so much easier... but it's not quite the same with Daedra hearts, this may be the only set of Daedric I make and I want it to be as powerful as possible. And I still need to check my supplies in Riften and Markarth to see if I've got another heart there for additional weaponry. A new bow would be nice. I've got a few Daedric arrows I picked up somewhere, I don't think I've ever seen them for sale though - are they only "found" items in the game?

*Hint*

If you're hurting for hearts, complete the quest for Mehrunes Dagon and return to his shrine every 2 days...

Naw, not really hurting for them - two more for a bow and sword should not be that hard to obtain by making the rounds of Skyrim's better apothecaries. And I don't so much need the one for the sword, as I will be heading to Sky Haven Temple pretty soon and will pick up Dragonbane there and that may end up being my one-handed weapon of choice anyway.

It's just a question of not wanting to wait until I pull together another 5 for a full set of armor + shield if I realize not too far down the road that I could have far more powerful enchantments on them because of extra perks I might end up taking. I will probably stick with Daedric from here on out as a heavy armor set and it's not like you make a "throwaway" set of Daedric armor just to get you by until something better comes along.

I may still stick with the ebony I have for a bit, it's pretty tough stuff and has served me well.

And I tend to shy away from the Daedric quests themselves, with the rare exception the requirements for completion in the ones I've seen so far are generally repugnant to me anyway and the rewards not really worth holding my nose while I earn them. Enchanted axe/sword/whatever? I can already make darn near any weapons I want with the double enchantments of my choice, most of which deal more damage and are worth more than the Daedric quest weapons even after I've improved them as much as possible. About the only thing they're good for to me is filling spots on empty display plaques. :shifty:

I found that Dragonbane is only useful for Dragons, which I can kill quickly with my Daedric Bow anyways :03: So it's currently sitting on a weapons plaque in Vlindrel Hall with another Blades sword. At the moment I'm dual wielding two Daedric swords which work quite nicely.

As for Daedric Quests, I found that, considering the oblivion crisis, Mehrune's quest wasn't all that bad. That and after completing it I get 4 Daedra hearts for free + some pretty good loot and Gold and Ebony ingots.. for free.. every two days.

Anyways, up to you :D

Right now I've got extra ebony on hand and almost every smithy I visit has it for sale anyway. Enough leather and leather strips to make more armor and weapons than I will ever need are stowed in various homes across Skyrim. About 40 chunks of iron ore likewise stowed away, and it's cheap (or free with a pickaxe) and available just about everywhere you go, and I can turn it into silver or gold with a flick of my wrist. All the major alchemists offer me a Daedra heart for sale almost every time I hit town.

That, and I have upwards of 180 thousand septims in my rucksack. As I've said before, the triple major in Smithing/Enchanting/Alchemy has served me very, very well. It's nice when I find it, but I don't really need to do quests for the free loot any more. :haha:

I keep telling all y'all, there are perks to being independently wealthy. :O:

OH! THE! IRONY!

Got visited by friends today, we planned to meet during the days between christmas and new years eve, but their little kid became ill, and so it was delayed until today. I gave them my present, and when I unpacked mine, it was - Skyrim.

:88)

I comfort myself with that I did not pay money to once again need to try Steam, and hope the experience works better this time than it did with Shogun 2. If it works, I have no doubt I will enjoy Skyrim a lot.

I also hope it installs without a 5 hours download first that installs right over the just installed program that came with the DVD, and then every couple of days again - just to finally break down anyway. Also, Shogun 2 messed up frequently when I ran Steam in offlinemode via Steam, or in desperation then blocked it via firewall - does offline mode work in Skyrim, or am I once again forced to stay online all the time??

So I guess we'll be seein' ya... in about, oh, six to eight weeks. :O:

Skyrim is my first experience with Steam and everything installed very quickly, more so than many games I've had that installed only from the DVD with no downloading. There have been patches since the release so you will no doubt have to wait for the current version to download and install but, as I said, it worked for me with no problems whatsoever.

And I did start out in offline mode and had no problems with that either, altho my computer is always online with a LAN connection but I had Steam in offline mode.

Well it all worked out because one of Ulfric's first gifts to me was a Daedric sword so I have that plus Dragonbane just for the dragons plus my Daedric battle axe and bow. :D

Actually it's nice that I waited longer to do the Alduin's Wall quest this time since Dragonbane is leveled and I think I ended up with the version where it tops out on extra damage to dragons. I have killed a couple by myself since then but with the fully charged Marked For Death shout and the Magigolo in tow blasting them with destruction magic in mid-air, when we work as a team they tend to be dead by the time they hit the ground and I only get a couple swings in on general principles and to, you know, impress any bystanders. :O:

Attacking Whiterun and beating the Jarl into submission did kinda suck overall but I have to say it was quite exciting turning up outside the city and thinking it was some random fire mage battle going on, but no they were flinging some kind of burning ammo at us over the walls with catapults which I did not expect at all.

And I have fulfilled my dream of sending Lydia off to work for the Blades, buh-bye Lydia. Now the Magigolo and I can have Breezehome all to ourselves. Also the housecarl from Riften altho I wasn't around her enough to get anywhere near as annoyed, but that house is just too small for me, a follower, and a housecarl. The one in Markarth can stay and I think I've decided the one in Solitude as well only because the space is so big and I spend all my time in the lowest level and she's never down there. The one in Hjerim I think will go to the Blades as a third recruit because he's got Vilkas' voice and the wrong face for it and I'm not gonna deal with that every time I go to Windhelm.

Very cool! I think with my next character I will pick sides.

Also note that at 35+ all leveled loot don't get better

Are the gifts that Ulfric/Imperial counterpart gives you levelled or...?

Offline mode in steam works well for most games. Not all, but most. It works VERY WELL for skyrim as it queues up yoru achievements and updates them when you finally do go online (if achievements are of concern at all). I find steam is probably the least draconian of the options available out there.

I'm not sure about that, I don't think I started finding dragonplate pieces until I was in the 40s somewhere.

I think some are and some aren't. In my case it really was a mixed bag: a Dwarven sword, a hide shield, a Stormcloak officer's uniform, and two enchanted Daedric swords. At least that's all I remember. The second Daedric sword was Ulfric's own weapon, which he gave to me at the conclusion of the Civil War questline. The wiki says that gift is definitely leveled and I'm guessing the first Daedric sword was also a leveled reward especially since none of the other stuff I remember from him was that special.

Oh and the Blade of Eastmarch when I was Thaned but that was pretty much the standard "oh you have joined my court here's a little something from my armory" type reward.

But you know after everything was all over with and the crowds were dispersing from Castle Dour I asked him if there was anything else he needed from me and he said something like, how could he ask for anything more? And I had done enough and the gods had other plans for me and I was free to roam.

Free.

To.

Roam.

:shifty:

NO ULFRIC I WANT TO SERVE YOOOOOUUUUUU on a platter to myself with a side of LUURVE.

But he just walked off into the sunset. :wah:

And I'm lookin' at Argis the Bulwark like, dude, did I just get dumped? And Argis is all like: can we go home now? And don't you already have a husband back in Whiterun? Little guy likes to shoot fire out his fingers? BTW does this Orcish armor make my butt look big?

But I'm convinced though that it totally wasn't a "don't call me I'll call you" thing, it was really an "if you love something set it free" thing. At least that's what I'll tell myself when I'm weeping bitterly into my pillow every night. :O:

Well see, that just means that now you're free to start all over again. Indulge your dark side.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ok1jkUAaU8...rotherhood.jpg

:arrgh!:

HAHAHAHAHAHA you so crazy, whatchoo talkin' 'bout Willis? There is no Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim.



At least, not any more. :|\\