[This series was heavily inspired by Christopher Livingston’s “Living in Oblivion” and “The Elder Strolls”. I love both of these series’ to pieces, so please go and check those out, if you haven’t already done so. The Oblivion one can be found here and the Elder Strolls can be found here]
Day 2
I rise early, a full day of exploring waiting before me. I have 444gp in my pocket, and I’m hoping that the wilds around Solitude will help me increase that sum.
I eat a lordly breakfast of chicken breast, a whole cabbage and some water, before heading out for the day.
It’s just after dawn and I am greeted by a slightly cloudy day. Not to worry though, I’ve got a good feeling about this.
By the time I finally reach the bottom of this path however, my good feelings have waned a little. There weren’t any ingredients on that half an hour walk from Solitude’s gate and there are none in sight either.
I tell Lancelnot to not give up though, and we continue on.
Things get exciting when I spot my first enemy- a wolf!
I drop into a crouch and draw my bow. Now is the time for Lancelnot to prove his worth as a hunter. He can finally claim a title in the world, finally claim a bit of honour that did not involve sneaking around crypts or battling dragons to earn.
He nocks an arrow, a cocky tilt of his head as he pulls back the bow.
He misses. Completely.
Thankfully, the wolf doesn’t see me, but it does run straight off into the trees on the right of the road where I can no longer see it. I craftily shoot an arrow into the centre of the road to draw it back out.
This time, Lancelnot doesn’t miss. His arrow hits true, but the wolf is not yet felled. As it bounds towards me, I nock another arrow and loose it into the creature’s foul face. It dies, then proceeds to slide down the road for longer than strictly necessary given the gradient of the slope.
I catch up with my kill and loot it, earning myself some nice wolf meat and a wolf pelt. I’ve a plan to make myself some more armour to go with the leather cuirass I’m sporting right now. It looks pretty ridiculous and I’m hoping that completing the set will help.
I continue to walk up the path. For the next few hours, I see nothing. No animals, no ingredients, no nothing. Lancelnot is beginning to get disheartened. So much so, that he is only slightly cheered when we reach the top of the mountain and are greeted with this view:
It’s all very pretty, but it won’t make much money, that’s for sure. Photographs have not been invented yet, so a nice view offers no way to make dough save for opening a restaurant and charging extra for window seats.
It’s not very long after that when I come across the Thalmor Embassy. Lancelnot decides to steer well clear of that place. He’s heard tales of the things that go on there, and he’d rather not tangle with any of those high elves right now. Or ever, really.
If he was heroic, he’d probably go and take a peek. But this isn’t a hero. This is Lancelnot, the guy who got all excited about killing a wolf earlier. I’m not sure the Thalmor are anywhere near his league.
Anyway, I carry on walking and find nothing. For some reason, there aren’t many ingredients growing on this mountain. I’d expected it to be a bit sparse, but I was hoping for at least a couple of snowberries or something?
At around 11.00 I spot a goat, running over the snow. I bring it down with a supremely good shot with my bow. After I loot it, I notice that chasing it lead me right to the road. And beside the road, is a cluster of ingredients. I pick them all up eagerly and decide to follow the road back to Solitude.
It leads me past a strange talking wall. No seriously- Lancelnot is not making this up here. There was a wall with weird symbols on it and it was chanting right at Lancelnot.
Of course, Lancelnot was having none of that nonsense. He carried on walking and pretended not to hear the shouting. Talking walls mean weird things and weird things mean quests and quests mean adventure. And that is precisely what Lancelnot wants to avoid.
I stop by the statue of Meridia for lunch. I’m amassing a small collection of ingredients now- this day is turning out to be far more productive than it first appeared.
On my way down the path, I meet a rude horse.
It’s apparently called Noble and it was very displeased to have a peasant such as Lancelnot in his presence.
Nah, not really. There was a nobleman sitting on the horse. It just looks like the horse is talking to me in the picture, get it?
Well I found it funny. . .
Anyway, I leave the nobleman sitting on his horse (they seem to be stuck between two stone pillars) and continue on down the road.
I pick up a few more ingredients, some mountain flowers and a couple of snowberries. I find some mushrooms on a fallen tree. I’m in quite high spirits by this point, despite the rude horse/noble.
I come across a lovely fellow named Tasgan.
He tells me that he is a wandering bard. Although he seems a little too fond of adventure for Lancelnot, I decide to hear a song anyway. I’m in a good mood and a little music will surely lift my spirits even more.
I pay him his money, and he then proceeds to walk a few feet away from me and starts serenading the empty road.
It’s an interesting choice. Maybe the acoustics were better over there? Or maybe he couldn’t look at Lancelnot’s ugly mug because it would be too distracting. Either way, I enjoy the song from where I stand, not wanting to disturb his performance by moving.
He finishes the song, then strides away from me without another word.
He walks too fast for me to catch up with him, so we walk kind of awkwardly a few feet away from each other. As I have to zig-zag across the path to collect ingredients, he starts to get further and further away until I can no longer see him.
Ah well, goodbye strange adventuring bard. As Solitude approaches, I pass Katla’s farm. In a whirl of spontaneity
As Solitude approaches, I pass Katla’s farm. In a whirl of spontaneity, I decide to go and find Himdor, the man that would sell me a house.
He seems to be suffering from a strange skin condition, but Lancelnot doesn’t mention it.
I ask about the house and he tells me that I can buy it for 13,682 gp. That’s less than I thought it was but it’s still far too much for Lancelnot. I thank him, before heading back up to Solitude.
I head straight for the alchemy shop and mix up all of my ingredients and sell them back to Angelina. By the end of it I have 1256gp- not too bad a profit for the day. . .
But that’s not all that’s exciting. In the process of mushing up flowers, Lancelnot gained his first level! He’s now a proud Level 2, with a perk in speechcraft. Ha! Take that Skyrim! Combat skills be darned, I’m going to get better at talking to people!
For a day that started off pretty bleak and depressing, it sure brightened up. I made about 800gp, just from alchemy. At this rate, it won’t take long at all to buy myself a house. Then, I can start searching for love. . .
The Nerd Writes 