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.

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!

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

Advancing in Potions and Fungi

As part of the duties I wanted to complete before I headed out of the Whiterun area, I went to Redoran's Retreat to retrieve Amren's Sword. Amren, a citizen of Whiterun, requested it of me because bandits stole it and his wife was seconds from leaving him if he tried to get himself killed by bandits. However, the cave only had about four bandits within it. There was additionally a great number of mushrooms-- White Cap, Imp Stool, Namira's Rot, Mora Tapinella... essentially, all of the basic mushrooms, but no glowing mushrooms. There were one or two specimens of each kind, providing a wide sampling. It might be worth heading back inside if I find myself in the Whiterun area again, which I no doubt will, since the tundra is also home to cotton, luna moths, and torchbugs, as well as mammoths and other wildlife.

I made more potions to advance my skills, and lucked upon some new effects--

Torchbug Thorax and Purple Mountain Flower, in addition to Restore Stamina, also have the effect of Lingering Damage Magicka. They make an excellent poison, though I will have to make sure to take nightly trips to gather the thoraxes. It will be helpful against magicians in particular, since they are never long on stamina anyway, so wearing out the restored statistic will hardly be a problem. On that note, I really must find some way to combat my magicka loss during battles-- which herbs would be best at Restore Magicka, or should I look into enchantments?

I proceeded from there back to Whiterun, but it was evening and none of the shops were open. I was able to drop the sword off with Amren, but I headed back out to Halted Stream Camp. Along the way, I found a large number of Mudcrabs, who appear to enjoy the streams and pools in the tundra, some Nirnroot along the water, and various fish and dragonflies. The dragonflies, Dartwings, are very difficult to catch.

Halted Stream Camp is situated directly over Halted Stream Mine, which is an iron mine with many veins of ore-- very useful for mining iron. Additionally, there is a gold ore vein near Halted Stream Camp, about two cursors west, near a stump and a Dwemer ruin where bandits have set up Silent Moons Camp. There were only eight bandits in Halted Stream, but it was very difficult for me-- it might be worth getting a companion of some kind to help fight. I did, however, manage to kill them all by careful use of stealth. However, leveling bow and stealth are not what I'm aiming for. I definitely need a companion.

Bleeding Crown - Weakness to Fire
Blisterwort - Damage Stamina
Imp Stool - Damage Health
White Cap - Weakness to Frost
Namira's Rot - Damage Magicka

Beginning the Journey

The character is rolled. I've called her Ella, and have decided that she is half-Nord, half-Bosmer, even though theoretically those may be two different species and thus incompatible. But this is my character and I'll mix species if I want to.

I was discovered crossing Skyrim's closed borders from Cyrodiil, as any character might be, RP background: I was trying to enter Skyrim to pursue my journeyman level of herbalist training. More than an herbalist, however, I strive to be a naturalist-- to catalog all the plants and animals of Skyrim. I intend also to become skilled in magic, since I don't want to be weighed down with heavy weaponry as I collect specimens, though a bow is necessary for animal ingredients, and I will need to cultivate some close-range weaponry skills as well.

And now, of course, there are dragons!

On the 17th of Last Seed, Morndas, 4th Era, 201, after I was to be beheaded in the border town of Helgen, and subsequently saved by a great and fearsome dragon, I took off with one of the Stormcloak soldiers who had been a guard to Ulfric Stormcloak. Ulfric, the Jarl of Windhelm, was bound and gagged, and in the wagon bouncing along with me, off to our apparent doom. Of course, that wasn't to be so. He was with the Stormcloaks and me, but we were separated and I ended up with one of my Imperial captors, a man named Hadvar. We escaped Helgen together and went to Riverwood, where his uncle Alvor runs the smithy.

Before we escaped, we ran into Imperial torturers. Despite being an Imperial-supporter himself, Hadvar did not seem to mind me ruthlessly killing both the torturer and his assistant. I can't abide torture.

Regarding animals and plant life: the road from Helgen to Riverwood had numerous wolves, foxes, and prey animals. The plants were far more interesting to me. On this road, one finds red, blue, and purple mountain flower, mostly blue, turning to patches of red as you get closer to the river. There is also thistle, but very little else. There were numerous kept plants in the village, but these, of course, were domesticated. There was a Frostbite nest in the catacombs beneath Helgen, where I was able to harvest Frostbite Venom and Spider Eggs. There was also, interestingly enough, a bear in the catacombs, but I quickly dispatched of her so I could harvest her claws and pelt, as there was no evidence of cubs. On the other side of the river in Riverwood, there was some Mora Tapinella growing on tree stumps.

Hadvar stayed on in Riverwood, but I was too impatient and left immediately for Whiterun. I made it by dawn and received a brief lesson in smithing from the local blacksmith, as well as hearing several arguments. I head up the Jarl's keep, Dragonreach, soon, but I am tiring fast. I have promised many people to look into many things (missing swords, bandit camps, stolen items), but first I must inform the Jarl about the dragon. I desperately want to make my way to the northern climes, to see what grows in the snow wastes, but I must finish up here first.

There was quite a bit of purple mountain flower on the road to Whiterun, as well as clumps of tundra cotton. There is much lavender as well. From Helgen to Whiterun, there were sporadic patches of snowberries. There was also numerous clumps of deathbell and nightshade in Whiterun, which is concerning, as both are obvious poisons.

Hard at work advancing my skills, I made many potions.

Blue Mountain Flower and Rock Warbler eggs = restore health.
Dragon's Tongue and Snowberries = resist fire.
Tundra Cotton and Lavender = resist magic.
Red Mountain Flower and Mora Tapinella = restore magic.

Besides the eggs, these are all very common ingredients. and I believe that harvesting them will allow me to advance my alchemical skills rapidly. I look forward to my adventures as a journeyman herbalist and naturalist!