Hours 64 & 65: Cairn You Believe It

I decide it's time to get on with some more proper quests to take a break from all the traipsing and grinding. I last did a Dawnguard quest in hour 36, and I've been visiting Isran from time to time for Heavy Armour training, so I think I'll jump back into that.

I have to locate several people - a couple of people Isran knows who can help with the Dawnguard, and a Moth Priest. This involves a bit of travelling through the wilderness. My journey takes me to Dragon Bridge at one point, and I'd forgotten what a nice place it is:

Eventually, I've tracked down everyone I need to, and back at the fortress the Moth Priest reads the Elder Scroll which Serana, the vampire I freed earlier, has handily brought back, having defected from her father Harkon's evil scheme.

I now have to find some more Elder Scrolls, which first entails tracking down Serana's mother. She's in hiding, and we decide that Castle Volkihar itself is probably where she is - 'last place you'd think to look' and all that. We head there and sneak in through a back entrance to the dungeons. There then follows a fairly involved trek through the bowels of the castle, which go on seemingly forever. Eventually, I get stuck and find myself retreading the same ground over and over, getting more and more frantic. After half an hour, I give up and have to consult YouTube - very annoying. I'd missed a hidden candlestick-handle to open a secret passageway.

At the end of the dungeon we discover that Serena's mother has most likely vanished into something called the Soul Cairn. We work out an overly-complicated way of following her (I choose not to become a vampire and instead allow myself to be weakened whilst in the Cairn).

Behold, the Soul Cairn

This is an unrelentingly bleak and forbidding place which is almost completely empty, with just a few scattered bands of skeletal enemies. It's more purpley-blue than just blue like in the picture above. We track down Serana's mother and I complete a fetch-quest type thing to release her from a magical prison. Next, she tells me she has the Elder Scroll I'm seeking and asks me to follow her. However, she doesn't move! I try all sorts of things, including reloading from earlier, and attacking her, but nothing works and it seems I can't proceed with the quest!

Hour 63: The Higher They Gate

Since I cleared out the exterior of Hag Rock Redoubt, I figure I might as well explore inside. It's a pretty small area though and not really a full Nordic ruin. I decide to visit a larger ruin afterwards to really see Prowlers Profit in action. I've previously discovered but never entered High Gate Ruins, far to the north, so I head there:

Upon entering, I come across a Nord named Anska who wants help retrieving a scroll from inside. I agree to help her, although if it's a powerful scroll that I could find useful I'll obviously keep it for myself and immolate her.

There are several levels to the ruins, and being a fully-fledged ancient Nordic ruin there are tons of burial urns everywhere. For the first time, I see how truly ridiculous Prowlers Profit is, and by the end of the dungeon I've collected what feels like it could easily be tens of thousands of gold worth of rare gems. It's so good that I think if and when I do my next playthrough (probably as a Khajit assassin) I'll try and collect all the Barenziah stones as early as possible so that I have this boon throughout my whole playthrough. How possible this will be remains to be seen, as some of the dungeons were no joke, but the reward is so great that I'll probably give it a go.

At the end of the dungeon there's a surprise Dragon Priest called Vokun, whom my Dremora Lords dispatch without too much effort. There's another mask my by chest in Severin Manor, then. I collect the scroll for Anska and there doesn't seem to be any option but to return it to her, and she repays me by giving me a spell tome for Flaming Familiar.

Returning to Raven Rock to offload my loot, I then try out the spell on the hapless guards and townsfolk (before re-loading the game). It's quite an interesting and unique spell - it summons flaming wolves who charge at the enemy and then explode after a few seconds. The problem is that all the explosions could damage my other summons, and also if an enemy is too far away when it's summoned it charges at me and explodes for some reason! Not a spell I'll be making use of, then.

Hours 60 - 62: Suiting Up

After several unsuccessful attempts to surrender to the guards - they just absolutely hate my guts and all suicidally attack me, I decide to leave town for a while to see if it all blows over. I head back to the mainland and clear out an iron mine near Whiterun - this is just the same a goldmine for me, because with the Transmute spell I can turn all the iron ore into gold. The only catch is that it's pretty boring casting the Transmute spell about 60 times.

Gold ore transmuted, and with pockets overflowing with precious gems thanks to Prowlers Profit, I set about creating more jewelry. I sell a lot off for a good bit of gold (after enchanting, of course - putting my Enchanting level up to 94), but I decide that the time has finally come for Tharon-Zul to encase himself in armour.

I found a complete set of 'Nordic Carved Armour' at some point during a mission ages ago, and stashed it away in the main chest at Severin Manor. I enchant the helmet to increase my Magicka by 66 points, to take the place of the circlet I've been wearing this whole time. The gauntlets and torso armour don't have great options, so I just enchant them to boost my Heavy Armour skill. The boots are even worse, and the best I can stick on them is to fortify my Carry capacity by 40 points. Better than nothing I guess.

The end result - Tharon-Zul's first set of heavy armour. The enchantments aren't great, my Heavy Armour skill is quite low (although it's artificially boosted to something like 86), and it's not the most intimidating-looking armour I've ever seen, but it's a start.

Afterwards I take a stroll through Raven Rock, and fortunately I no longer seem to be a wanted man. I chance a visit back to Neloth and he's calmed down too, so I'm able to finish the quest by informing him that I slew his enemy - he rewards me by making me an honourary member of House Telvani. 

I next spend a while travelling round to all the major cities, buying up all the available iron ore from blacksmiths and transmuting it into gold ore. After several cycles round the whole of Skyrim, I'm able to craft a huge amount of expensive gold gemmed jewelry, which I enchant with more soul gems I acquired via the same method (cycling through as many vendors as possible). The end result is that I finally get my Enchanting up to level 100, and grab the Extra Effect perk. This will help me a lot when enchanting my next set of armour. I also get my Smithing up to 44, and I visit Isran at Fort Dawnguard a few times for Heavy Armour training too.

All the traipsing around, enchanting, selling, and training takes up a lot of time and gets quite monotonous. The only break from the grind is a trip to the exterior of Red Eagle Redoubt near Markarth. A large Forsworn encampment, led by a foul Hagraven, dwell within the ruins, and give fierce battle.

A mighty battle is fought upon these ancient ruins.

They prove to be remarkably tough opponents, with their archers taking out my Dremora Lords in a single shot, and one particularly aggressive Briarheart warrior taking out at least 4 or 5 of them in combat before they could finally best him. The Hagraven also rains down fiery meteors which explode cataclysmically and destroy all in their path. It's a difficult and bitter struggle, but I eventually prove victorious as I summon wave after wave of assailants to throw at them. To my annoyance, I find that I can still be taken out by one stray arrow. However, I haven't been able to grab many Perks yet, and I also hope to find a Fortify Health item to disenchant and use on my next set of armour, so I haven't given up hope yet.

One other thing I realise during these hours traveling round Skyrim is that I forgot how cool Solitude is:

This probably has to be the nicest and happiest-looking town, maybe on par with Whiterun. The whole place is kind of a like a castle, and indeed an actual castle and battlements form a large part of the town. It kind of reminds me of Skingrad from Oblivion, but with the castle actually incorporated into the town. It's pretty big, is clean and neat, and feels very secure. Raven Rock's still my favourite town, though.

Hour 59: Low in Highpoint

After a perfunctory investigation, I learn that an enemy of Neloth's (a former apprentice of his - actually it sounds like he 'experimented' on her, so I'm not sure her attacks are entirely unjustified) is holed up in Highpoint tower. I head to the tower which looks out across the southern part of the island. Previously this tower didn't have an entrance and was nothing more than a geographical feature. Now part of it has fallen away to reveal an entrance - it's nice that there's now a dungeon in the central part of this region, instead of it being a large expanse of nothingness.

Inside the tower is crawling with Ash Spawn, so I slog through to the end with the aid of my Dremora. At one point an Ash Guardian is summoned by the enemy, which proves to be a potent adversary, but once my minions close in on it it can't withstand their powerful flaming attacks.

During my rampage through the ruins I come across a prisoner - an experimental subject awaiting the same fate which Neloth's former apprentice experienced at the hands of Neloth, it seems - asking to be freed. I free her and she starts giving me her life story so I immolate her immediately. Tharon-Zul's unholy unholy fire does not discriminate. Weirdly, I get a 'bounty' added for killing her, which then immediately removed due to the 'last witness' (i.e., she herself) being killed.

After slaying Neloth's nemesis, I return to Tel Mithryn only to find Neloth hostile! He attacks me and I have to re-load. After trying unsuccessfully a few more time, I instead head to Raven Rock, only to find that the Redoran Guard have also turned against me! I can only assume it's because of the killing of the captive earlier - ridiculous, as she was just a lowly outlaw and there were no witnesses anyway. I slay a few of the guards before making my escape from town.

Tharon-Zul scowls out at Raven Rock from across the ash-plain, plotting his next move.

Hour 58: Smithing for Fun & Profit

 My last character overview was in hour 34, so it's high time for another one.

Level: 42

Magicka: 673

Health: 200

Stamina: 100

Gold: 55,366

Conjuration: Legendary 100 (so, I've got to level 100 twice)

Alteration: 94

Destruction: 55

Restoration: 54

Illusion: 32

Enchanting: 92

Smithing: 31

Spells learned: 62

Favourite Spell: Fire - Potent Flames (lies)

Favourite School: Alteration (more lies - it must be because I keep casting the Enhance Speed spell)

Locations discovered: 147

Dungeons cleared: 48

Days passed: 98

Gold found: 214,099

Quests completed: 48

Misc objectives completed: 34

People killed: 563

Animals killed: 298

Creatures killed: 223

Undead killed: 413

Daedra killed: 184

Automatons killed: 89

Assaults: 89

Murders: 25

Largest bounty: 6080

Total lifetime bounty: 13,950

I spend this hour collecting as much gold ore as I can find from a gold mine near Markarth. I then head into a small barrow called Mouldering Ruins and loot the place. It's only one small room with a few chests and urns, but I now get to see the power of Prowlers Profit, which took me 9 hours to acquire. Pretty much every single urn, burial urn, and dead Draugr corpse yields multiple gems, including flawless ones, diamonds, and emeralds. Just in this one room, I pick up an absolute ton of gems, and I've decided to head into a larger Draugr ruin as soon as possible.

Spectacular view from some rocks near to the Mouldering Ruin. You can see Solitude way off in the distance. Again, it wasn't this blue in the game and I have no idea why it comes out like this on my phone.

I return to Markarth, smelt the gold I found into ingots, and make a large amount of jewelry at the forge. Doing so rapidly increases my Smithing level, which is why it's level 31 in the stats above. Selling it all off could be a pain, but I know I have a merchant back in my house in Raven Rock who buys anything and has 10,000 gold, so I head there. I've invested in a few Speech perks by this point, too, and get much better prices than I used to previously.

Just from the sale of the jewelry alone (most of which I enchant before selling) I make 9,582 gold. And that's just from one mining expedition and one room of a Nordic ruin! I can immediately see that the 25,000 gold required to purchase Proudspire Manor in order to get all the Barenziah stones will pale into insignificance in the face of the sheer amount of coin I'll be able to make - and quickly, too.

With my riches, and since I'm on Solstheim again, I decide to buy some more Enchanting training from Neloth. However, he won't train me any more - I'm above level 90 in Enchanting, and he says he doesn't want me to be better than him. Damnit, getting it to 100 is going to a grind! Instead, I spend some money with him purchasing filled soul gems, because casting Soul Trap to capture souls for enchanting purposes is absolutely not something I can be bothered with. I also get another quest from him, which I don't think was available before - I'm to help him track down the source of recent attacks on Tel Mithryn.

Hour 57: The Un-hollow Crown

Tolvald's Cave turns out to be one of the most difficult areas I've yet explored, and takes up the best part of an hour. It's certainly a meaty mission to end the quest-line on, as it's a 3-tiered cave system absolutely crawling with high-level Falmer. Not only are the Falmer frequently present in huge mobs (5 or 6 to a room sometimes) but their archers are annoyingly powerful. At one point even 30+ Flame Atronachs isn't enough to win by attrition, and I have to find a safe angle to start summoning Dremora Lords closer to the archers.

After an epic and weary slog, I eventually reach room where I spy the crown discarded on the floor. I'm then set upon by several ghosts for some reason, but my Dremora cut them down quickly. Weirdly, I'm able to loot a full set of Elven armour from each of the ghosts.

Crown in hand, I return triumphantly to Riften. I receive the Prowler's Profit reward, which should drastically increase the amount of gems found as loot, and the completed crown is put on display on Mercer Frey's desk:

So, the whole Barzenziah quest ended up taking 9 hours in total - significantly longer than the Mages College and the Miraak quest-lines. I also rushed through a lot of the missions - there were more areas to explore, and more little side-quests and mysteries built into a lot of the caves and dungeons, but I decided that I'm only interested in the stones at the moment, so cut out a lot of that. It was a long slog at times, but it does feel good to have finally collected all the stones for the first time.

Although I've been forced to join the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild, I won't be doing those quest-lines with Tharon-Zul. I might see if it's possible to wipe out the Dark Brotherhood, though. They serve a master other than the mighty Tharon-Zul, and for this they must pay with their lives. It's not a priority, though. I now want to focus on levelling up my Smithing and Illusion, and getting Enchanting to 100.

Hours 55 & 56: Stoneseeker III

Last 4 stones now. The stone in Reeking Cave is a doddle, as is finding the one in the Blue Palace in Solitude. The next one requires me to own Proudspire Manor, and to do that I have to complete a couple of quests for the Jarl's steward. The main one is to clear out Wolfskull. I love this mission, as the final part of the cave system involves battling through a towering subterranean ruin whilst a gigantic summoning ritual is taking place:

As usual, it turns out there's very little that a horde of Dremora Lords can't sort out. After this mission I undertake one more simple one and I'm then allowed to purchase Proudspire Manor, for 25,000 gold. I do this, not bothering to furnish it, and grab the penultimate stone.

The final stone is in Astrid's room in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, and to access this I need to join the Brotherhood. So, I do that (when it comes to killing a prisoner in the abandoned shack, I immolate them all; Tharon-Zul has no time for petty interrogations.

Now that I finally have all the stones, I need to speak to Vex in the Thieves Guild to prompt the quest to search for the crown of Barenziah. Only problem is, she won't speak to me until I'm a fully-fledged member of the Guild, so that takes up some more time doing a few missions for Brynjolf. Ugh.

I completely forgot about this awesome 'Cistern' area of the Thieves Guild HQ. I haven't been here since my last assassin character in 2012.

Once I've completed a few trivial tasks (seriously, for one of them I have to collect about 300 gold of debts for the Guild - whereas even after purchasing Proudspire Manor I'm still walking around with over 40,000 gold... also, is this a Thieves Guild or some kind of mini-Mafia?) I finally get to talk to Vex. She tells me to head for Tolvald's Cave, north of Riften, to search for the lost crown.

Hours 51 - 54: Stoneseeker II

That's right, this one covers 4 hours. I start by tackling some of the more challenging stones, visiting Ansilvund, then Pinewatch. The former is a decent slog through a Nordic ruin.

The final chamber of Ansilvund. If I go in here something bad will happen, won't it?

Draugr and Necromancers alike all fall to the blades of my Dremora Lords. Pinewatch is even more enjoyable; it's an unassuming thatched house, with a secret button in the basement which opens a hidden passage into a sprawling cave-system filled with Bandits.

On my travels across the countryside I come across a group of Vigilants of Stendarr:

I resolve to slay them, but every time I try, the game crashes. In the end I have to re-load and give them a wide berth, and then the game works fine. Curse those wretched Vigilants!

I also finally purchase Breezehome in Whiterun, for convenience. I can just use it to dump heavy gear and whatnot before transferring it to my main home in Raven Rock.

I've discovered a spell called Transmute, which allows me to turn iron ore into silver and gold. I know it's a fantasy world with magic and dragons, but this is a bit ridiculous, as it would make gold absolutely worthless, which it isn't because gold necklaces and whatnot fetch a higher price than others. Mages being able to do this would absolutely destroy the economy of Tamriel. Oh well whatever, I just try not to think about it.

Rounding out the first two hours, I retrieve the stone from Hob's Fall Cave in the north. I then grab some easy stones from the Dainty Sload and the Black Briar place I stumbled across a while back (I hadn't noticed the stone before).

A few more dungeons and caves follow, with some lengthy and enjoyable treks across wild parts of Skyrim I hadn't visited. Exiting one, I'm greeted by glorious golden and orange light illuminating the landscape:

My favourite place I visited was Sunderstone Gorge. It was populated by 'Pyromancers' and other fire-obsessed mages, and at one point an incredible battle played out between two of them looking down from a vantage point and my horde of Dremora Lords. I could only watch in wonder as enormous explosions and roiling sheets of flame erupted in the distance, punctuated by the occasional distant shimmer of lightning as Dremora succumbed to the fiery onslaught. Occasionally the frighteningly-powerful rolling sheets of fire would engulf me and I'd have to trust in Spellshield to save me from instant immolation, before scrambling to replenish the Dremora. More and more I summoned, watching them sprint forward into the blazing infernos of magical power, until my minions gradually gained the upper hand and were able to get within striking distance of the mages. Overall I think that battle was my favourite thing that's happened so far in the game.

I also pick up a stray dog on the road near Rorikstead:

I allow it to accompany me through a few dungeons, before parting ways with it back in Whiterun on one of my perennial loot-selling visits.

By the end of the 4 hours, I've collected a total of 20 of the 24 stones. I've got one more dungeon to visit, I think, then I can pick one up in Solitude. The final two will require some missions to be done. I think I can get it done before another 2 hours are out.

Hours 49 & 50: Stoneseeker I

I obviously consult an online guide for help locating the rest of the stones. I start off with some of the easiest, clearing out Whiterun, Riften, Windhelm, and Markarth. Most are easy to locate, although I pick up a couple of small fines along the way for trespassing. I'm sure the coin I'll make from Prowler's Profit will be worth it, though. I also end up exploring a few areas in the towns where I don't think I've ever been before - the Hall of the Dead in Whiterun, for example. Some places take a bit longer to access; for example, to get one of the stones in Markarth I need access to the Dwemer Museum, which means completing a short quest for one of the mages there.

A mighty Dwarven automaton on display in the Dwemer Museum in Markarth.

I then pick up the stones from Dead Crone Rock near Markarth, and Stony Creek Cave near Windhelm. These require me to fight my way through Forsworn and Bandits respectively, so take longer to complete, but there's nothing too challenging.  I haven't travelled to that many places on the map so far, so actually getting to some of these places takes longer than actually finding the stone once I'm there.

By the end of about 2 hours, I've collected 10 stones, so I have 12 in total - half. That's a lot more than I was expecting, although the rest will probably take somewhat longer as they're mostly in dungeons and whatnot.

Hour 48: Cashing In

At the end of the Miraak questline I'm given the option to use up a dragon soul (I have a bunch now because I gained a few from Miraak when he died) in order to remove all the perks from a skill tree. I choose Alteration - I then re-invest some back into the tree in order to keep my spell resistance, but I no longer need the more advanced Alteration perks or the 3 levels of Mage Armour, as I never both casting any of the [x]-flesh spells. This gives me a bundle of leftover perks which I can use for Enchanting, Illusion, or perhaps Smithing if I decide I need to make my own sweet sweet armour.

Speaking of Enchanting, it's at level 88. If I get to level 90, I can then wear Ahzidal's armour to give myself +10 to Enchanting, and then invest in the dual-effect perk. I train the 2 levels with Neloth, which costs a stomach-churning amount at almost 10,000 gold in total. I then return to Severin Manor and try to boost my level, but it won't work! After a while of trying various configurations I eventually realise I never actually found the torso armour in Kolbjorn Barrow! I'll have to head back there to see if I can find it.

Fearing an endless, confusing slog, I'm actually pleasantly surprised when I find it after a relatively short search. Not sure how I missed it the first time. Finally, I can don the complete armour set:

I think Tharon-Zul's a bit too scrawny to pull off this look...

It does boost my Enchanting to 100 - but I still can't buy the perk! After researching, it seems you can only buy perks based on your natural, un-boosted skill level. God damnit, what's the point of that! Ahzidal's set is completely useless then. The ring that gives you 2 spells could be useful in future, and I always have the waterwalking boots in my inventory because they make traversing water so much quicker, but the rest is just going to be stored away in my main chest in Severin Manor.

Having spent such an extortionate sum on training, I decide it's about time that I sold my gem collection. Here's the contents of my gem chest:

42 Amethysts

10 Flawless Amethysts

2 Diamonds

11 Emeralds

34 Garnets

21 Flawless Garnets

31 Rubies

5 Flawless Rubies

5 Sapphires

Total value = 33,140 gold

I sell them over the course of 2 days to my household merchant, whilst wearing an amulet that gives me 12% better prices, and make a total of 14,187 gold. I've no idea if that's a particularly good ratio or if I should have invested more in Speech etc to get a better price - I don't think I've ever invested in any Speech skills with any character - but it at least pays for Neloth's extortionate training plus a bit extra.

I also have 32 Heartstones and I believe I should be able to sell them for 250 gold each to Neloth's apprentice (I can never remember his name) or to Neloth himself, for another 8000 gold. However, no option to sell them appears for either character. Damn, so those are just useless items in my chest then.

I decide to bid farewell to Solstheim for now, and finally return to the mainland - although as I'm keeping Severin Manor as my home, I'll be heading back there every now and then to empty things into my various chests. I have a vague memory of seeing an Argonian camping out in the frozen northern wilds early on in the game (I checked - it was in hour 2) and decide to try and find him again to nick his dragon armour, but after a lot of searching I can't find him anywhere.

I have a bunch of things on my to-do list now, but one thing I've never done is collect all the Barenziah Stones. I already have 2 of the 24, so I decide to start making my way through the list, and head to Whiterun. Whilst there, I come across a 'Veteran Warrior' - I kill him and loot his plate armour set and 5000 gold! I'm then apprehended by the guards and pay off my bounty of about 2000 gold - so I still make a profit of 3000, plus I get to keep the armour set because I looted it from his dead body, which is somehow fine (whereas they'd have confiscated it if I'd stolen it from him whilst he was alive). The fools!

Hours 46 & 47: An Apocryphal End

Having reached Markarth, I spend a while wandering around and marveling at the ruins. I remembered it being an impressive city, but I'd forgotten that it's completely built inside and around intact Dwemer Ruins. It's the most vertical of all the cities, with steep winding stairs and towering rocky outcrops, and I think I'd probably have to say it's the most impressive overall.

I mean, this is the approach to the Jarl's chamber. It kind of has to be granted the title of Most Impressive City. Look at it!

The city also showcases Bethesda's amazing talent for 'blocking' to increase the sense of scale and distance. A large rock dominates the centre of the city, with the Temple of Dibella and impressive Guard Tower on top. This restricts your view and makes it so that when you're on one side of the city, it's quite a long way to get round to the other side of the rock, and the view is then completely different. The developers have clearly used this technique in the map at large, with hills and mountains preventing you from gazing out across the entire map, and making certain areas feel a lot more remote than they actually are.

I approach the Jarl but he doesn't have any kind of of dragon-related errand for me. I spend some time jumping around on the rocks and stairways of Markarth, picking up a few quests but declining to start any of them. I decide to investigate one of the 'dragon lairs' (there's one near the Shrine of Peryite) marked by a dragon symbol on the map. I've been to them before to discover Word Walls, but that was before I started the main quest. Perhaps a dragon will be there now that I've begun it? Fortunately, my inclination turns out to be correct, and I slay a Frost Dragon there, enabling me to unlock the last word of the Bend Will shout.

I'm therefore able to return to Solstheim and read the Waking Dreams black book (it doesn't work if you try to read it whilst on the mainland).

Miraak is waiting for me high upon his tower at the Summit of Apocrypha.

The journey to the Summit involves several 'chapters' and quite a satisfying trek, with Seekers, a Lurker, and a puzzle to solve. On my way, I'm assailed by the deformed-looking dragon which I previously saw by Miraak's side. I'm able to tame it using the Bend Will shout, and it flies me up to the Summit:

Miraak is there along with two other dragons, and so begins an aerial battle. Although it looks awesome, the controls are extremely difficult and not intuitive at all, and I keep dying to savage onslaughts from both Miraak and the other two dragons, with seemingly no hope of success. After a few tries, I manage to simply persuade my dragon to land on the ground near Miraak, which allows me to dismount, and I start summoning Dremora Lords (by this point I'm fortunately able to summon three).

The Spellshield protects me from Miraaks magical attacks and the dragon-breath from the other two dragons, and although Miraak puts up a ferocious resistance, the battle ends with him surrounded by my Dremora and mercilessly cut down. On the brink of death, he repeatedly resurrects himself by consuming the soul of one of his dragons, only to be cut down again in short order. Once all of the dragons are dead, he seemingly reaches some kind of apotheosis (?), but Hermaeus Mora intervenes and impales him on a tentacle, ending his reign as Mora's Champion:

He accepts his end stoically, and Mora has a new champion. So, the main Solstheim quest is over! It's taken 6 hours all told, although a couple of them were dragged out by my errors or stupidity and I probably could have done it in 4 or 5. It did seem a tad short, but the three 'main' dungeons - the Temple of Miraak, the sunken ruins of Nchardak, and the final journey through Apocrypha - were quite enjoyable and relatively meaty endeavours. I think to feel truly epic there would have needed to be another 2 - 3 hours of main quests.

In terms of the storyline, as with most Skyrim stuff it's a curate's egg. The relative simplicity and straightforwardness of the plot is made up for by the lore and the world in which it's set. The story of Miraak attempting to return to Mundus from the realm of Oblivion, for reasons not particularly fleshed out (that I could establish anyway), only to be supplanted by the new Dragonborn, isn't particularly interesting in and of itself, but the epic 'feel' of the story of Dragon Priests, infernal pacts with a Daedric Prince, and forbidden knowledge gleaned in order to breach the veil between Oblivion and Mundus, is satisfying.

On reading some of the backstory for Miraak, he does seem quite hard done by. Certainly Hermaeus Mora has chosen pretty badly by forsaking him in favour of Tharon-Zul, who henceforth can and shall in no way act as his champion and in fact will simply return to Skyrim and in all likelihood never think of Mora again - especially if that butler doesn't return with his loot.

In a way this does make it feel kind of cheap - a bit like how you can become the Arch-mage of Winterhold but important mage characters say things like "I had you figured for a mage" and "That spell looks dangerous, keep it away from me" without ever acknowledging your rank. As I'm ostensibly Mora's champion now, surely there should be some repercussions for me never actively doing anything for him from this point onwards. Obviously such game-altering developments are beyond the scope of the game, but that's kind of the point - the game makes a rod for its own back by allowing the player to become the leader of everything and the champion of everyone.

Hour 45: A Mission for Mora

I enter the book, Epistolary Acumen, and traverse the shadowy realm of Apocrypha once more. This time it's a bit more substantial, and consists of several 'chapters'. It also features some fairly unique 'moving terrain features' (I think this might have been in one of the other books, but not to this extent) where you have to get on a revolving platform and then time your jumps on and off lest you fall to a watery gravy in the inky black waters below. I don't think I've seen anything else like this elsewhere in the game, so it's quite impressive.

I reach the end without too much difficulty, even with my reduced summons, and eventually come face to face with Hermaeus Mora himself. He says that in order to defeat Miraak I'll need the final Word of the Bend Will shout, and he'll only grant me knowledge of it if I deliver the secrets of the Skaal to him. Therefore it plays out in a fairly typical 'infernal bargain' type fashion, with the fickle Daedric Prince revealing that he'll cast Miraak aside for one he deems more interesting or worthy - after all, it's just a game to him. I agree to help him, and return to the Skaal.

Upon speaking with their leader/elder, he accepts, and starts to read the Black Book himself, whereupon he is seized by daedric tentacles:

That's gotta hurt...

Mora thanks me for delivering the secrets of the Skaal to him, and true to his word teaches me the final word of the shout. I have no idea what secrets he was after or whether I could have learnt more about the secrets by speaking more to the Skaal - the whole thing seems a bit shallow and convenient to me. Oh, and the Skaal elder is, like, totally dead.

In any case, it seems I have what I need to challenge Miraak now - except that I still need to unlock the final word of the shout by consuming another dragon soul! I head back to the same island as before in case the dragons respawn, but it seems they don't. Research tells me that I can get missions from Jarls to hunt down dragons. Therefore, I decide to head back to the mainland briefly to see if that's the case. The Jarl of Falkreath doesn't have one for me - nor does his steward - and I'm fairly certain that Whiterun doesn't have such missions (I could be wrong). I've never been to Markarth yet and I decide this is as good a time as any to check out the western portion of the map, so I fast-travel to the shrine of Peryite and trek to Markarth from there. It's a decent journey, though fairly uneventful - on the way through the mist-wreathed wilds I only slay an 'Orc Hunter' and a giant Frostbite Spider.

Eventually, I reach the impressive gates of Markarth:

Hour 44: The Sunken City

I'd previously cleared the outer ruins of bandits in a bitter fight, so we enter the ruins without trouble. We quickly spy the Black Book, but it's restricted by Dwemer mechanical artifice and Neloth informs me that we need to collect several power cubes to restore power to 4 boilers so we can drain some of the flooded chambers and restore power to the room where the Book is, or something. To be honest, I can't really hear him and am not listening. Get the cubes, he says, so off I leapt.

I probably should have listened, because I don't really know where I'm going or why. In addition, because I have the 'Big Jump 5x' mod, I'm able to simply circumvent some of what I presume are supposed to be puzzles, by simply jumping up to ledges instead of working out how to activate bridges, etc.

The end result is that I get a bit ahead of myself and have to backtrack several times, getting lost and confused in the process. There are a couple of intimidating Centurions to fight along the way, but Neloth makes short work of them. Eventually, through sheer bloody-minded trial and error, I collect the required cubes and we're able to unlock the Book, but due to my scatterbrained approach the whole things takes about an hour.

The book is freed and Neloth bids me read the unholy text within.

One other thing of note is that during this dungeon I decided to make my Conjuration skill Legendary. I'm constantly summoning and since the skill hit level 100 I've noticed a marked slowdown in my overall leveling up. Resetting it to 15 will allow me to start leveling that skill up again which will help with increasing my level. However, it does mean drastically cutting down on my overall number of summons, until I've got it high enough to re-buy some of the Perks. Currently, my army has been reduced from 10 to a measly 2. Neloth is quite powerful and has been able to do a lot of the heavy lifting in this dungeon, but I hope I'm able to get it back to at least 3 or 4 summons by the time I face Miraak, otherwise I could be in trouble...

Hour 43: Cleansing the Stones

I return to the Skaal village and speak with one of the elders, who suggests that I attempt to 'cleanse' the Wind Stone (which has mind-controlled villagers attempting to build a monument around it). I head there and am instructed to use the Bend Will shout on the stone - I've discovered the shout, but I haven't unlocked it. Oh dear, looks like I can't continue with this quest?! I look up where I can reliably find a dragon so I can absorb its soul and unlock the shout, and fortunately it seems there's usually one on a small island to the north of Solstheim. I head there, and sure enough I see the beast crouched in the distance:

My Flame Atronachs easily slay it, and I therefore unlock the shout. Heading back to the Wind Stone, the shout destroys the monument and shakes the villagers from their stupor. However, this also causes a Lurker to materialise. It barely has time to lumber forward and take a few feeble swipes at the nearest villager before it's violently immolated by a barrage of fireballs from the Atronachs.

I'm then prompted to perform the same feat to the other stones on Solstheim - I think there are 4 or 5 others. Sometimes there's a Cultist or two skulking around near them, but after dispatching them I easily repeat the procedure and slay the Lurker which appears. I rejoice whenever I see a Lurker, as they nearly always drop good gear and a good bit of gold, so this mission was perfect.

Next, the elder suggests I visit Neloth in Tel Mithryn to learn more about the Black Books. I head there and an annoying conversation ensues wherein my character asks questions about the books and sounds surprised and intrigued by them. The game obviously hasn't taken into account that I'm not only well aware of them but have by this point about 5 of them in my possession and have reaped nefarious rewards from Hermaeus Mora himself (or itself?).

Neloth suggests we locate another Black Book in the ruins of Nchardak to the north, sunken off the eastern coast. We head there on foot, under cover of darkness, slaying Ash Spawn along the way.

Hour 42: Into the Temple

I return to Solstheim once more, which I regard as my home now. I only recently realised that you can fast-travel there without having to pay 250 gold each way for a journey by boat - now that I know this, I don't see any need to spend the coin on a house in the mainland, when Severin Manor is more than adequate and has multiple chests in the bedroom for the very convenient sorting of treasures. I have one chest for items of interest, one for gems, one for books, one for soul gems, and notes go in the safe. Have I mentioned this before? I think I might have, but I can't be bothered to check.

I waste no time and head straight to the Temple of Miraak. There I meet a Skaal woman, Frea, who accompanies me inside, as she wants to free her people from what's clearly the malign influence of Miraak, making them build strange structures all round the island.

The dungeon is fairly epic and satisfying, with some pretty tough enemies sprinkled throughout. I collect a large amount of expensive items, including several ebony swords and Elven axes, which weigh me down too much. For some reason, my Dremora Merchant hasn't been showing up lately, even after I read the Untold Legends book again and de+re-selected him, but fortunately the Dremora Butler does materialise when bidden, so I offload the heavy stuff on to him.

At the end of the dungeon is another Black Book, Waking Dreams. I read it and am confronted by Miraak himself in Apocrypha, flanked by tame Seekers and a weird-looking Dragon:

He scorns me in a cut-scene and I'm powerless to do anything before his Seekers spirit me away back to Solstheim. He's the second person, after Harkon, to banish me from somewhere - I don't like it, and I shall have my revenge on both of them. He looks pretty impressive with his fancy gear and his Seeker buddies there to help him, but that won't protect him against 10 Dremora Lords...

After a brief visit to the Skaal Village, I return to Severin Manor to sell off my loot, raking in a good bit of coin. I then attempt to summon the Dremora Butler again to retrieve the expensive weapons I left with him, and he won't appear. What the hell! The accursed Butler has stolen my loot! I try fast-travelling to other locations, and also travelling back into Untold Legends again to try and reset it, but try as I might, he refuses to materialise in Mundus. He's obviously off galavanting somewhere in the Deadlands with my hard-earned loot.

Other than the Dremora Butler glitch, this was a very satisfying quest overall, establishing Miraak as a very powerful adversary, and after I've sold off my loot, sorted out any trinkets such as gems, and done a bit more enchanting, exactly an hour has passed.

Hours 40 & 41: Jurgen-a Get It

Before heading to the Throat of the World, I get the Companions bit out of the way, as I really want to train in Block. I have to carry out a couple of menial tasks carrying things around, but I also have to have a brief sparring match with one of the members. This doesn't seem to gel very well (or, at all, you might say) with summoned creatures, as my horde of Daedra immediately set upon the hapless challenger who only wanted to engage in some play-fighting with me. This causes an immediate and violent escalation as the other members of the Companions join in to help him, and my Daedra then start attacking everyone in sight!

Fire rages and Dremora Lords wade through their bested foes as my army swiftly puts down the feeble Companions.

Within moments, it's over - it was all I could do to snap the above picture - and the Companions are either slain or, if they're 'essential', bested, while my Dremora and Atronachs prowl the training area on the lookout for any more challengers. The best the Companions had to offer was nothing to me - what a collection of miserable wretches.

Anyway, I obviously reload and dismiss (i.e., destroy) my summons before trying again. Things go better, and before long I'm allowed to join their feeble club. I get some Block training and then head for High Hrothgar to see the Greybeards. On my way I stop by Warmaidens and notice that if you have a high enough concentration of light from Atronachs in an enclosed space, it sort of overloads the graphics and makes everything ridiculously bright:

I think I recall a similar thing happening with Frost Atronachs in a dungeon, except they were even brighter.

I trek to the Throat of the World and begin the arduous ascent. I decide to bypass it as quickly as possible and engage my 'Enhance Speed' spell to zip up at an unnatural speed - so fast that I don't even need to fight any enemies; they all pass by in a blur as I zip past them. Even at such prodigious velocities the journey takes a while, but before long I reach the secluded fortress of High Hrothgar:

Inside, I speak with the Greybeards and they teach me some shouts and whatnot. Cool story bros, I'm just here so I can unlock the Miraak quest. The only shout I'm particularly interested in in Become Ethereal, so that I can jump of mountains and not die. After completing their tasks, they tell me I need to retrieve the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller from an Ancient Nord tomb called Ustengrav.

I head straight to Ustengrav, and right inside the entrance I do battle with the most powerful wizard I've yet met. She's called something like an 'Ascendant Necromancer'. I start off with a simple summon of two Dremora Lords, but she dispatches them with ease. No problem - I shelter behind a pillar and promptly summon six more, who immediately rush to do battle.

To my shock, she sends a gigantic ripple of frost magic towards them and they all die! It appears to be a Barrage spell, which I think is a custom spell type and one which I've never seen an enemy use before. Moments later she overwhelms me, so I reload and plan ahead this time, summoning ten Flame Atronachs to hopefully overwhelm her. However, she wipes all of them out in one fell swoop with another gigantic energy blast! Nothing and no one else I've fought has even come close to this kind of power! I have to reload once more, and this time I just keep summoning Dremora Lords, replenishing them as they're slain. I lose track of how many I have to summon, but eventually the sheer numbers prove too much and my army is victorious. After my previous easy win against the Companions, I feel rather humbled now.

Fortunately the rest of the dungeon isn't populated by spellcasters of similar strength. I blast my way through Draugr and a few deadly traps (and find the Become Etheral word wall on the way), until finally I reach the end only to find that someone else beat me to the Horn. They've left a note, and I'm to meet this mysterious person at the inn in Riverwood.

I head straight there but before I get to the inn I'm accosted by two 'Cultists', who attack me after claiming I'm not the true dragoborn or something. Yes, this will allow me to start the Miraak quest! I didn't realise it would trigger literally as soon as I left Ustengrav! My Daedra dispatch them, and I then head to Whiterun to get a bit more Block training (putting me up to 30 in total) before I head back to Solstheim. The mysterious stranger might be waiting in Riverwood for a while...

 

Hours 38 & 39: Here Be Dragons

Time for a tinker. I've decided that, since the Mage Armour perks just aren't stopping archers from one-shotting me, Alteration seems to have been a bit of a waste of time. I'd like to level up my Block and invest some skill points into that, and I've also discovered that one of the mid-level Illusion perks can increase the damage caused by Fire spells, so I'd like to level that up a bit too. Apparently, if I defeat Miraak I'll be able to get the perk points from one of my skill trees refunded, so I'll take a break from the Dawnguard quest for now and start the main quest, as this should unlock the Solstheim main quest quite early on.

I visit the Companions in Whiterun to try and get some cheap Block training, but it looks like I'll have to start their quest-line to unlock this. I may do this, but I doubt I'll do their whole quest-line (which I've never done before, actually) with Tharon-Zul - doesn't seem right.

Jorrvaskr, the home of the Companions, looks pretty awesome.

I spend longer than I'm prepared to admit jumping around on the mountains that separate Riverwood from Whiterun (do the mountain ranges have names?) to get good views, before picking up the Golden Claw quest from Riverwood and the Dragonstone quest from Farengar in Whiterun, both of which require me to head to Bleak Falls Barrow.

I head into the barrow after a difficult struggle against some bandits outside, where I quicksaved and then got taken out by an arrow immediately, so every time I reloaded I died straight away again before I could even raise my shield. After a number of reloads, the bandit missed and I was able to take him out.

I remember this dungeon being pretty epic, but it turns out that when you're level 33 with 10 summoned Dremora Lords and the Spellbreaker shield, it's actually pretty quick, and the whole thing's a breeze compared to other dungeons I've battled through like Mzulft or Labyrinthian.

Once I get back to Whiterun with the Dragonstone (after dropping the Golden Claw back to the Riverwood Trader and earning a nice 1000 gold - much appreciated, in fact, because my coffers are nearly completely drained after eye-wateringly expensive Enchanting training with Neloth - I was down to only about 250 gold at one point), I'm rewarded with this shield from the Jarl:

Is this some kind of sick joke? A shield worth 202 gold? I make a mental note to visit wrath and ruination upon Whiterun as soon as possible.

We're interrupted, of course (Tharon-Zul has forseen this) by news of a dragon attack near the city. I head out with Irileth, one of the Jarl's housecarls, and as the dragon keeps flying round and round and refusing to land I just summon a bunch of Flame Atronachs, who make short work of it. I absorb the soul and hear a booming voice on the wind. The Jarl tells me it must be the Greybeards calling me to visit them (okay?) - once I've popped up to see them in their mountain abode, I'll hopefully be able to start the Miraak quest.

Hour 37: Quest for Spellbreaker

Although Tharon-Zul is becoming relatively powerful and his horde of summoned Daedra are all but unstoppable in battle, there's one thing causing me an endless headache, and that's arrows. Sniper bandits, Dragur, and vampires have been the bane of my life since day 1, and that's still the case now after 36 hours. Wards only help against spells, and although I can try and distract archers with summons, it still only takes one stray arrow to take me out, which means I constantly have to Quick-Save because a hidden sniper archer can just take me out before I've had time to react. 

I have more than enough Magicka now so perhaps I need to start investing in Health. In addition, although I will still eschew melee combat, I think perhaps robes-only may have been a mistake - if being encased in a suit of armour helps me survive arrow hits, I need to investigate this - I can still enchant the armour. There's just one other thing I could try as well - using a shield. With my mods, shield protect a lot better against arrows (as they should) so perhaps it's worth sacrificing spell flexibility (seeing as I usually have a summoned army following me about anyway) for near-imperviousness to arrow-fire.

After some research, I learn that the unique magical shield 'Spellbreaker' is granted as a boon from the Daedric Prince Peryite if I visit his shrine and carry out a task for him. As well as acting as a normal shield, it creates a  (free!) Ward effect to protect from spells whilst blocking. Perfect! I find his shrine in the western wilds, and he commands me to slay one his followers who's holed up in a nearby Dwemer ruin called Bthardamz. For all-powerful beings, Daedric Princes do seem to need a lot of help from mortals.

Bthardamz is absolutely huge and the tunnels and corridors seem to go on forever. The place is crawling with spell-casting 'Afflicted' who, as well as being mages, have some kind of vile vomit attack. After almost an hour, I reach an impressively overgrown section of the ruins:

Soon after, I track down my mark, and assassinate him. Returning to the shrine, Peryite keeps his word and grants me the fabled shield. I try it out on a nearby Forsworn camp and even with no increases to Block yet and no skill points invested, it does a great job of blocking nearly all damage from arrows. It does make spellcasting more awkward as you can only cast with the non-shield hand and can't cast while blocking, but the difference is survivability is huge, so I think I may be adjusting my play-style to make use of the shield.

Hour 36: Family Reunion

Just past the Dagon Shrine I come across Skyborn Altar and a Word Wall (I've collected quite a few Shouts by now, but as I haven't started the main quest yet I haven't been able to use them). I then decide to climb to the peak of the mountain I'm on, to get a better view. This takes an inordinate amount of trial and error, but I get there in the end:

Looking out towards the Throat of the World, the entire Plain of Whiterun can be seen, with Whiterun itself in the distance.

I return to Dimhollow Crypt and head inside. I battle through Draugr and Vampires until I reach an impressive central cavern. After solving a very simple puzzle, a hidden vault opens and a slumbering vampire steps out:

I think I just switched allegiances...

She asks me to escort her back to her home, which lies far to the west of Solitude. Katla's Farm is the closest place I've previously traveled to, so it's quite a trek from there (I've consulted online maps to try and get a sense of how far it's 'supposed' to be, and although map scales vary, I think it would probably be about a week's journey). On the way, we happen upon a small patrol of Thalmor. Remembering Ancano's threat against my nascent power and the Thalmor attempt on my life in Labyrinthian, I attack and slay the patrol without mercy. One day I'll strike at their Embassy as promised.

Eventually, we reach a small rowboat, which we take to a nearby island, where the mysterious vampire's home is revealed to be an imposing castle:

We enter and are greeted by her father, a vampire named Harkon. By way of gratitude for freeing his daughter, he offers to make me a vampire. Hmmm, perhaps Tharon-Zul was too hasty in his dismissal of the gift of vampirism? If it can augment my already prodigious powers, perhaps it could be worth trying. I stall my decision whilst I do some online research, but just as I'm reaching the conclusion that it wouldn't be worth it after all (the stymied magicka regen and increased weakness to fire would be rather annoying), Harkon decides he's had enough of waiting and makes my mind up for me, banishing me from the castle and casting a powerful spell to teleport me away. You can't fire me; I quit! 

Hour 35: Darkening the Dawn

I don't think I've ever completed the Dawnguard quest before. Unfortunately, as I accidentally killed the Dawnguard Orc in Dawnstar back in hour 10, I'll have to seek them out on my own. I haven't travelled to the Rift hold before, so I have to journey down past Riften from the Atronach Stone. 

A view across the the perennially-autumnal Rift from the low mountains in its north, which separate it from Eastmarch

The journey across the Rift is fairly eventful as I come across several 'upgraded' variants of enemies I've previously fought - quite a few Mammoth Bears (instead of Cave Bears), a 'Spriggan Earth-Mother', and a big wolf called something like a Giant Red Wolf.

In my attempt to find the cavern which leads to Fort Dawnguard, I stumble upon Black-Briar Lodge high in the mountains. It's guarded, and the guard seems edgy. As I approach, he turns hostile, so I sic my Daedric army on him, enter the Lodge, and proceed to massacre all the inhabitants with deadly impunity. I have no idea whether this is needed for a quest at some point, but I've visited ruination upon the secluded Black Briar Lodge.

Eventually I find the unmarked Dayspring Canyon which leads to the Fort. I pass through, but quickly find that the Dawnguard are immediately and murderously hostile to me! I can't join them, so I check online and apparently this is because I have a bounty in the Rift. Curses! I head to Riften and allow myself to be arrested by a passing guard - it takes every fibre of my being not to immolate him - and pay a fine of just over 1000 gold to clear my name. Although Tharon-Zul's pride is left wounded, this unfortunately seemed necessary in order to ingratiate myself with the priggish Dawnguard. I return to the Fort and this time I can speak to them and agree to join their cause.

Night falls over the awsome-looking Fort Dawnguard

My first task is to head to a cavern near the Hall of the Vigilant and investigate what the vampires want. I head there, but before entering I spy what looks like an enormous humanoid statue in the misty distance. I head over to it and it turns out to be the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon:

I can't enter is as the door is quest-locked, but I imagine it'll come up during the Mythic Dawn Museum quest.

Hour 34: Not so Vigilant

I arrive back at Windhelm with my trusty Riekling bodyguard. Tharon-Zul - Arch-mage of Winterhold, Saviour of Raven Rock, Scourge of Solstheim, Chieftain of the Rieklings of Thirsk, Devourer of Dragon Priests - has returned! Tremble, O Skyrim!

Level: 31

Magicka: 593

Health: 100

Stamina: 100

Conjuration: 100

Alteration: 72

Destruction: 51

Restoration: 52

Illusion: 29

Enchanting: 79

All other skills extremely low

Spells learned: 49

Favourite spell: Fire - Potent Flames (still - ugh)

Favourite school: Destruction (still don't see how this is possible tbh)

Locations discovered: 86

Dungeons cleared: 24

Days passed: 44

Gold found: 91,327

Quests completed: 25

Misc objectives completed: 16

People killed: 237

Animals killed: 208

Creatures killed: 148

Undead killed: 256

Daedra killed: 82

Automatons killed: 46

Assaults: 89

Murders: 17

Largest bounty: 6080

Total lifetime bounty: 9325

First things first, I head straight back to Shatterstone Mine, as I'm now confident I'll be able to climb up the previously-inaccessible ledge, thanks to my Big Jump mod. Sure enough, I easily leap up, and am able to proceed to the next part of the mine, Shatterstone Redoubt.

If this is a fan-made dungeon, it's certainly impressive

I slay the bandit leader and return to the Jarl of Falkreath for my reward. He allows me to purchase a plot of land for 5000 gold. I try it out as I've never built my own home in Skyrim before (or IRL, to be fair), but I quickly discover I'll need to traipse around looking for building materials, and I just don't have the patience for that. I'd rather just pay for a home and be done with it, not faff around 'crafting' stuff, so to save myself the coin I re-load and don't bother purchasing the plot of land. Instead, I'll purchase Breezehome in Whiterun once I've started the main quest. I'll most likely then transfer my items across from Severin Manor.

For now, though, I decide to seek out the Hall of the Vigilant in the northern mountains and visit destruction and ruination upon them for having the impertinence to worship Stendarr instead of Tharon-Zul. When I get there, to my great surprise I find someone has beaten me to it, and the hall is a smoking ruin littered with corpses:

No! Who has affronted me so by taking away my right to vengeance? I look around and find several dead vampires alongside the bodies of Vigilants. Vampires are clearly powerful and dangerous beings and therefore must be obliterated on my way to the domination of Tamriel. I'll seek out the Dawnguard to aid me in my destruction of these impertinent creatures. Of course, once the foolish Dawnguard have served their purpose, I'll destroy them too, for all shall fall to the wrath of Tharon-Zul!