Riften, Windhelm, and the Coast: Imperial vs Stormcloak, Again

I kind of want to marry Brynjolf and his accent.

I've always had trouble with Riften. As Keah, I entered the city maybe a handful of times. But as Ella, I need to set up a different base of operations than my homes in Markarth, Whiterun, and Hjaalmarch. This means I need to be south or east, and Riften would so neatly provide a home for me.

In Eastmarch, there is unique fauna-- Creeping Clusters, Dragon Tongues instead of Mountain Flowers, more fish in the hot springs and along the coast. There are plenty of ruins around to provide Bone Meal, and vampires are around enough so that I have a constant source of Vampire Dust. South, in The Rift, Riften is a direct line to the Dawnguard, thief, and assassin quest lines. Windhelm, which is barely a couple hours travel, is the route to Soltsheim, and the mage's guild is just a bit further north. In this northern area, there are sabertooths instead of wolves, which provide alchemical ingredients instead of yet more hides.

Ending up having to jaunt up the coast within view of Windhelm.

But still, I find Riften and Windhelm both problematic. Both are full of deceit, prejudice, and poverty. Riften is an example of these qualities in Imperials; Windhelm shows these qualities in Stormcloaks.

Riften has both the Thieves' Guild and the Dark Brotherhood. The city is so poor that I picked up two quest lines on walking into the city to simply provide merchants with ingredients-- Fire Salts for Balimund's forge and Ice Wraith's Teeth for Marise Araval to help her keep her meat cold. Mjoll and Aerin try their best to keep the hatred to a minimum, but the people are frankly uninterested, and the fact that Mara's temple is here is a slap in the face of all of the citizens. They hate that priests and the presence of the Goddess of Love, when what they have to do to survive is make deals, bribe the thieves' guild, and bully others so that they can avoid being bullied: the first thieves guild quest is to steal a ring from the merchant Madesi so that Brand-Shei can be framed for it. The excuse given is that Brand-Shei needs to learn to keep his nose out of others' business. Whose business? Madesi's? The guild's? And Brand-Shei is nice. He's a Dark Elf who was raised by Argonians and wants to find out more clues to his past, even though he likes his Argonian brethren. The Jarl is mostly uninterested and her business is run by her steward. Maven Black Briar virtually owns the city.

Anyway, I had to finish up Brand-Shei's quest before I could head back into Riften, so I ended up bouncing between Riften and Windhelm for a while, killing Grelod and finding various things. After a quick jaunt to Loreius Farm, to meet Cicero before moving on with the Dark Brotherhood quest line, I ended up moving up to get the White Phial quest started for the alchemist in Windhelm and stopping at the Shrine of Azura on my way.

Along the coast from Riften to Winterhold are veins of iron and corundum. I also ended up clearing Mount Anthor, which got me the word Iiz for Ice Form. Up in the moutains around Winterhold are numerous cold-weather only beasts, like Ice Wraiths and Snowy Sabre Cats and Ice Wolves..

The Forsaken Cave and Crypt, where the White Phial are located, had another Wall, Aus, for the Marked for Death shout. I headed back to Windhelm to fork over the White Phial and made my way back down to Riften. Outside of town, I accepted a quest to get a Moon Amulet for Kharjo of one of the Khajiit caravans. I decided to sleep for an hour in the inn to kill time until I could meet with Brynjolf. I was promptly abducted by Astrid of the Dark Brotherhood. I expected this, but did not expect to be taken all the way from the Rift to Hjaalmarch! Regardless, I stopped in at Morthal while I was there to report to Idgrod, receiving the title and weapon of the Thane. I ended up cleaning up Eldersblood Peak (netting the word Haal of the Disarm shout) while I was nearby. The dragon here appears to eat Snow Trolls, so I bet there are some about somewhere nearby.

After ALL OF THIS I was finally able to go to the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, where there was-- yes-- another word for the Marked for Death shout, Lun.

All in gold. Also, had to enter the Palace of Kings in Windhelm. Spent several minutes yelling at the screen/Ulfric.

Dragon Lairs and Dwemer Ruins

After leaving Darkwater Crossing, I was unable to find the falls where Derkeethus disappeared. In my search, I ended up further down the path to Riften than expected, so I decided to just continue travelling. I did find time to consult a map, however, and realized that the reason the miners are requesting aid from Windhelm is that Darkwater is, in fact, in southern Eastmarch!

The remaining road to Riften was very eventful. Over the rise of some of the hills, I saw a dragon attacking a mammoth. After some battle, I killed the dragon with the help of the giants nearby, who were none-too-pleased that the dragon had been eating their livestock.

I realized at this point that there was a dragon lair close by and went up to receive the first word of Frost Breath, Fo, from Bonestrewn Crest.

I also discovered the burial mound the dragon had been raised from, empty of its dragon, of course. It was nice to find all of the signs of dragon life near one another-- lair, feeding ground, burial mound. It was very pat and neat. Additionally, there were some iron ore veins nearby.

I continued south and eventually found that the road diverged to the ruins of Mzulft. I didn't enter the main part, but looked around the storeroom, where I found numerous materials for melting into ore (I did not take them, due to weight constrictions) and a glowing shard, which launched a side quest to identify it. I was intending to go to Markarth to do so, but realized that I had just looted a book, The Aetherium Wars, from the body of an adventurer outside, and it helped me identify the shard as an Aetherium Shard. It looks like a quarter of the whole, and the next should be in Arkngthamz, near (yes) Markarth.

The glowing shard. I love the Dwemer.

Very shortly after leaving the ruins, I was set on by hired thugs, who Hroggar from Morthal had apparently hired to kill me, for stealing from his home (with the Jarl's permisison, I might add) in my attempt to bring his vampire girlfriend to justice. Also, didn't I kill him?

Regardless, I killed the thugs, took the contract so I would know who to bother when I returned to Morthal, and continued ever-southward. I detoured off the path again to Northwind Mine, an iron mine with few deposits, but it proved a shortcut to Northwind Summit, a dragon lair. After having to do a quick cheat to make Lydia actually traverse the cave, since she chose not to accompany for reasons unknown, she engaged the dragon at close combat while I provided a steady stream of flames. Soon, the dragon was dead, I had the first word of the Aura Whisper shout, Laas, and a nearby chest revealed Meridia's Beacon.

Ah, will Daedric quests ever stop following me? Lookin' at you, Barbas. Go away.

Meridia, however, is one of my favorite of the Daedric Princes. She is... uncompromising, unflinching power. She doesn't see shades of gray, which makes sense, as she is only light. If I reunite her beacon to her shrine, the weapon she gives is glorious-- Dawnbreaker, a sword that brings hell to the undead.

Meridia must not realize that I'm a vampire as well. I have to get rid of it-- it really is a curse, and severely cripples my combat skills. I had to use numerous magicka potions with the dragon, and nearly died, since my magic didn't regenerate during the daytime. There are no noticeable perks, either, since the powers it gives are pitiful.

I was nearing Riften after this, thank the gods, and the pathway ran through Shor's Watch, where the watchmen had been killed by Imperial soldiers, and Shor's Stone, which is a mining community situated over Redbelly Mine. Annekke and Verner's daughter, Sylgja, lives here, where she works the mine and apparently brings other miners their food. I have no doubt that Annekke is less than pleased with her daughter's backseat role, but Sylgja can't be more than eighteen, considering how young her mother is. She asked me to bring her parents some letters, since she had been injured recently, and though a Priest of Mara had healed her before heading to Dawnstar, she still feels poorly.

I had intended to just do a quick run into the mine to see what was in there, but was surprised to find myself attacked by Frostbite Spiders! I killed them all, and looked around town to see if anyone knew this, and was rewarded with almost a thousand gold coins when one of the miners realized what I had done.

I continued on, and eventually reached the gates of Riften.

Darkwater Crossing

Ella, vampire eyes a-glowing away. I don't much like being a vampire, though.

I decided to leave Whiterun and head to Riften to scout out the housing situation. The hope is that with Riften being in a swampier area, the flora and fauna around there will be more appealing than the endless sea of tundra cotton and mountain flowers on the plains. (Of course, if one wanted to take on giants and mammoths, the plains would be the place to live, but alas, I don't feel that Whiterun is the place for me.)

After a brief debate on whether to take the cart to Riften, I made my way on horseback with Lydia, Barbas still tagging along. This would later prove a problem.

Bandits are so stupid.

We discovered Frostbite Spiders along the rivers, and several packs of wolves, as well as one bandit group made up entirely of chiefs-- I assume they were at a meeting to decide who attacks which travelers? I nearly ran over them before they finally stopped talking about skooma and started attacking me.

I decided to stop for the night in Darkwater Crossing. Annekke Crag-Jumper had a quest for me, so I went to Knife Point Ridge to take care of a very large group of bandits. This was made difficult by Barbas' incessant barking and constant, endless pushing, nearly causing me to tumble into ravines more than once. I can only assume he's mad that I've left Clavicus Vile's quest, though since he's no longer speaking for some reason, who knows. I then detoured to Fort Amol for a... snack.... The Fort, which had been run by Stormcloak guards, was taken over by mages. I didn't clear the Fort, so I'll have to go back later to take a closer look. Tomorrow, I'll see if I can find Derkeethus, an Argonian who's gone missing from Darkwater, and maybe take another swing at Fort Amol before heading south to Riften. I've also agreed to eventually take a note to the White Phial in Winterhold for more medicine-- the mine is apparently nearing its end, and making the miners sick. No wonder Annekke wants to go journeying with me, much to her husbands dismay! As a note, why do I need to go all the way to Winterhold? Isn't Riften, or Whiterun, closer? Though the White Phial is a very pre-eminent alchemy shop. Do others lack the skill? Or the ingredients? Or is there some political reason?

Knifepoint Ridge: the prettiest bandit settlement ever, and so large, with a pit and a captive sabertooth cat, presumably so they can have some torture entertainment. Excuse me. Could have had, since I killed everyone.

Clavicus Vile's Dog and The Ring of Hircine

I found and followed Barbas, the dog outside of Falkreath. He, of course, belongs to the Daedric Prince of Wishes, Clavicus Vile. He lead me to one of his master's shrines, where his master is stuck in a statue. Clavicus Vile ordered me to retrieve an axe for him since it would prove... ominous ellipsis... interesting. I assume that he likely wants me to kill someone with this axe, so I believe I will put the quest on the back burner for now. Daedric quests aren't usually my cup of tea, though if any of them happened to send me to strange areas, with unique flora and fauna.... Regardless, this means I now have Barbas as a companion until I finish the quest.

Interestingly enough, the next thing I did was manage to get involved in another Daedric quest, also based out of Falkreath. The man in the Falkreath jail, Sinding, was jailed for savagely killing a little girl, evidence he is out of control of his lycanthropy. As a vampire, the ring didn't affect me, so I took it from him and sought out Hircine, who he had managed to anger by spurning Hircine's gift and not reveling in the hunt instead of wishing to suppress the urge.

Hircine, being angry as he was, sent numerous hunters after Sinding. I followed them and, with Sinding, killed the hunters. Hircine was actually pleased, since he thought this best depicted the savagery of the hunt, but I had misgivings about leaving Sinding alive, even to spite a Daedric god. Though Sinding swore to live out in the wilderness of Bloated Man's Grotto, there is no guarantee that he would be able to control his form forever, and the spot is far from an unpopular one. I went back into the grotto to finish the job. This, of course, pleased Hircine even more.

On the way from Bloated Man Grotto to Silent Moons, I happened upon a group of vampires who masqueraded themselves as Vigilants of Stendarr, but their glowing eyes gave them away.

I took a detour up to Silent Moons Camp, a fairly mediocre bandit camp over what looks like old Nordic ruins, which had three mushroom clusters of no particular significance and a locked room with nice high level potions in it. It is somewhat interesting for the Lunar enchanted weapons found here, which might come in handy if I keep the vampirism. The camp could make a decent base if need be, since there are so few bandits in it that it's easy to clear out.


I also apparently spent a lot of time in first-person with magic hands, as is evident by these pictures. Magic!hands!

Journeying Around Hjaalmarch and Whiterun

Instead of riding immediately back to Falkreath, I went south to Morthal instead of into Solitude itself. Hjaalmarch is much more interesting in terms of flora and fauna than Falkreath. There are Swamp Fungal Pods, Slaughterfish Eggs and Slaughterfish in the numerous marshes, Spiky Grass, and a decent number of vampires and skeletons.

Morvath's infamous boot collection.

Immediately on entering Morthal, I found myself engaged in the Laid to Rest quest, where I routed out a vampiric plot. Unfortunately, just as I closed in on the head vampire, Movarth, I myself completed my transformation-- whoops. I finished the quest regardless and headed back to town, only to be met by a member of the Dawnguard, telling me that they were attempting to put together a force to combat the vampire menace. Serendipitous timing much? In Movarth's lair were several iron deposits

Lovely grotto beset with trolls.

Seeing as how the Dawnguard is out of Riften and I would like to go north, it will probably be some time before I can head that way, but it's good to keep in mind. I headed back to the Whiterun and Falkreath areas so that I could clear some of the quests out of my log, heading to Darkshade to retrieve Runil's Journal. Darkshade had once been a bandit camp, but was overtaken with five trolls. The area is a gorgeous underground grotto, made grotesque by all of the bloody corpses due to the troll infestation. There are also two gold veins. It could be a decent place to harvest troll fat and gold ores once it recovers from being cleared. I immediately headed back to Falkreath, where the guard asked, the moment I entered town, if I had seen a dog. I said no, but headed to the blacksmith Lod, who had originally put out the request for someone to find the dog. He gave me some gold and fresh meat to look into it for him, and I dropped the journal off with Runil. Now, to head out of Falkreath, find the dog, and hopefully finish up in southern Skyrim for a while!

Entering Falkreath Hold

I traveled south and west to Falkreath. On the way from Helgen to Falkreath, I found a Shrine to Talos that had been destroyed by the Thalmor. This was on the shores of Lake Ilinalta, where I was also able to find a Pine Thrush nest and nearby a clay deposit. On the way, I was also twice beset by vampires! Fortunately, after I killed them, their excellent enchanted armor became mine! Unfortunately, I began to feel ill afterward. I am still trying to decide if I want to experience being a vampire.

The Thalmor orders.

After meeting with the Jarl, I went on two quests to clear out bandit dens - Bilegulch Mine and Knifepoint Ridge. The Jarl, who is a major tool, had a deal going with Bilegulch Mine that they reneged on. Knifepoint Ridge was a bounty, probably set by the more useful Steward even though the Jarl's name was on it. Bilegulch Mine is mined by Orc bandit outlaws. It's an orichalcum mine, and overtop it the orcs have set up a full smithy, with some orc weapons. This could be evidence of an orc settlement in Falkreath?

Knifepoint Ridge was a very well-established camp with a full smithy and alchemy station, set over an iron mine. The bandits made Imperial prisoners work mining rather than doing it themselves, as the orcs did.

Although Falkreath is heavily wooded, there isn't really any interesting flora. There is a higher frequency of stumps, which yield Mora Tapinella, and due to the massive graveyards, skeletons can appear, which yield Bone Meal. There are also numerous Pine Thrush nests sprinkled around, and plentiful fishing. However, the area didn't yield much over the course of my brief survey, so I went back to Whiterun and took a trip north to Solitude. (Meanwhile, Lydia and I both overwent makeovers, presumably due to time spent doing each other's hair.)

I arrived at Solitude, bought a horse, and am currently trying to decide if I want to go in or ride back south to Falkreath before starting quests in the area.

"Yes, it totally makes sense that I look like a model. Hush, you."

Bleak Falls Barrow

The view from Bleak Falls Barrow, entrance.

Still companionless, I decided to try heading up to Bleak Falls Barrow anyway, since Lydia, my future housecarl, is the best companion at the moment, and the Jarl will give her to me after Bleak Falls. On the way to Bleak Falls Barrow from Riverwood, there was an iron ore vein. Bleak Falls is home to a rather large and terrifying Frostbite Spider, bandits, and a large supply of draugr. I had to turn back to Riverwood to get a companion at this point, since the draugr, who often wield strong two-handed weapons, were too much for me. I picked up Faendal, the elf in love with Camilla Valerius, whose brother sent me to get the Golden Claw from Bleak Falls. As a distance fighter, Faendal is not the best choice. He also seems a bit stupid, not drawing his weapon when I draw mine, and occasionally just standing and staring at the approaching danger. However, his aid did enable me to clear the dungeon.

The precise location of the iron ore vein.

Toward the end of the barrow, heading toward the sanctum, are no less than 15 clusters of Glowing Mushrooms!

I killed the Draugr Overlord and received a shout at the end before heading back to Riverwood to drop off the Golden Claw. A courier stopped me in the village with a letter from the Jarl of Falkreath, who says he's heard of me and would like to meet me, promising his favor if I should come. I decided to head down after finishing in Whiterun for the time being. After I left the Riverwood Trader, I found myself being attacked by Death Hounds and a Master Vampire! I had to run, since one attack nearly killed me.

So refreshing for Miraak not to steal the soul.

Going to Whiterun led to my first dragon battle, which took forever no thanks to Faendal, who seemed stupefied by the dragon's approach. However, I was given Lydia and the title of Thane. I left Faendal with a few weapon upgrades and sent him on his way. Lydia is a heavy armor swordswoman, and should be a much better match for me. Next, to Falkreath! Hopefully, they have a stable-- I finally have enough funds for a horse, which will make my upcoming trip north toward Winterhold much easier.

Lydia is taller than me! Well, she is a Nord...

Glowing Mushrooms - Resist Shock