In the game, time passes a lot faster at a rate where an hour in game passes in 3 minutes. The trip to Riverwood if you followed Ralof used to take maybe 5 minutes if you weren't over encumbered. In terms of time scaling, that would be around a 2 hour trip and the difference in scale with the distance appeared to reflect this. It was still shaped in a similar manner to what I remembered, but with more trees and plant life in between.
On the way, I had picked flowers as I trailed behind the others and began collecting ingredients for potion making. I saw a few butterflies I could have grabbed as I went, but I just didn't have the heart. I'll have to buy or find stuff like that I guess. One of the best ways of making money fast in any of the Elder Scrolls games was through alchemy as many people know.
Furthermore, if the game's mechanics were accurate at all regarding the weights of different items, alchemical ingredients were MUCH lighter than any iron weapons and armour you'll find on a bandit. The profit to carry weight ratio was just one of many useful pieces of information I hoped would allow me to navigate this world.
SPEECH SKILL INCREASED 24
SPEECH SKILL INCREASED 25
Hurr, Whooah, Hyaah
The sound of Nordic bellowing and the ringing sound of a blade echoes in my ears. I know what that means. I've levelled up... But I don't see the option to do so. Maybe it's something I need to sit down and focus on. Ahhh, no wait. Logically speaking, levelling up probably happens before, during or after sleep, like in survival mode... Or in Morrowind, one of the other predecessors for Skyrim. It makes more sense that it would work that way.
The speech skill increases just from thoughts alone were strange... I wonder if my current readings for different skills are accurate, or if the imagery indicating my progress, my HUD (Heads Up Display) only started with Lokir's default values? Maybe the level-ups are more like readjustments based on the knowledge I bring to the surface of my mind. Yeah... Having a good understanding of the profit to weight ratio is surely worth at least two levels in speech... The fact that the HUD hadn't accounted for it before means that it isn't perfect. This probably also means that there will be inconsistencies with the rate at which I gain new levels too.
I wondered if I would be able to visualise access to other information, including the menu for selecting my perks. Could I even buy perks? I know npc's COULD get them, but would it be that easy? If I can simply use the same menu as I did in the game, that would be great. But for now, I need to get to town.
I expect there will be some reductions in readings where I might not be too strong too. I am after all NOT Lokir, there might be skills that I'll struggle with that Lokir was better at than me too. At least, that'll be my running theory for now.
Alchemy would also increase my odds of survival if I could learn to brew a variety of potions, especially potions of invisibility. As a spell, I knew invisibility was at least an Adept level spell, meaning it was way out of my league as a spell I could cast anytime soon.
A potion on the other hand? Lets see, coming up to the river, hopefully I might see some Nirnroot, that has the invisibility property...
ALCHEMY SKILL INCREASED 16
There it is! Just recognising what I already know is readjusting this weird equivalent of a HUD. I should keep going with this line of thinking...
There is a moth known as a 'Luna Moth', it's wings contain this invisibility property too. Hmm, what else? Vampire dust and chaurus eggs... Vampire dust can ALSO be used for disease curing potions funnily enough.... Hmmm mudcrab chitin and charred skeever hide too I think? What I would really need though, was blue mountain flowers and hanging moss, for some of the easiest early money in the game... Oh, and wheat, lots of wheat.
ALCHEMY SKILL INCREASED 17
We arrived at a set of 3 pillars on the side of the road. I knew what they were. Standing stones. Stones tied to different star signs that would grant you a power. The Dragonborn touched one, the stone of the Warrior. Hmm, yes, seems he's going to be a melee build. A bright light appeared to rise in a beam up into the sky after he did this. Ralof complimented him and turned around. They didn't seem interested in if I was going to choose something, continuing to walk along. Maybe it was because I was a local and they assumed I already had picked one... Or maybe it was because Lokir should be a charred corpse right now...
I shuddered in this moment as a cold gust blew by, spooking me and causing me to look at the mountain opposite and the barrow above. Well, that was creepier than expected... Time to move, but first I needed to see if the standing stones would work for me.
I was relieved when the thief stone glowed, sending up a beam of its own.
My HUD told me I'd receive a 20% exp bonus for any of my thieving skills, which was what alchemy, speech, sneak and archery fell under. I wasn't able to bring up a full "Interface" per se. It's more that the listed buffs appeared in my vision briefly and imprinted clearly into my mind. The text and format of it all still seemed to match or closely mimic what i was used to though, so there's that... Anyway, these were the main skills I wanted to train up as soon as possible. Alchemy and Speech for making money and talking myself out of difficult situations, maybe also being able to say, request and do things you couldn't do in the game. Lock picking was another thieving skill I would potentially need for dungeons, but the only other skill in this category was pick pocketing... Uhhh, that would be too scary to use for real, no way.
When it came to speech though, there were a lot of things I was hoping to do that simply weren't available in videogame format, like commissioning armour and weapons with specific enchantments? Special ordering things from certain stores etc? Buying ingredients in bulk? Setting up a shop of my own? If this experience would be truly unbound, the possibilities were endless...
I arrived with Ralof and the Dragonborn in town and informed them I'd meet them again shortly. They headed off to the lumber mill to the left side of town and I walked immediately towards a certain Nord I hoped would give me a quest. A young blonde man named Sven, clean shaven in appearance, wearing a brownish yellow vest.
He should offer me a quest to sabotage a relationship between a Wood Elf named Faendal and a girl in town named uh.... Camilla Valerius?... An easy quest where you dob Sven into Camilla and Faendal thanks you, becoming one of your first companions.
The quest can be done in exactly the opposite way too, but Faendal was also an Archery trainer and without unofficial patches, you could take your money back from him and basically train to level 50 in Archery for free. Whilst I didn't expect any exploits like that to work, I needed to know for sure... Maybe it's representative of a discount he gives you over time, or maybe as you travel with him, he trains you out in the field for free...
As I approached, waiting for Sven to speak, I realised how absurd this would look. He wasn't an NPC now, he was a person, but with the HUD and everything else in place I was feeling a little confused. Imagine a stranger walking up to you in a public place and standing right in front of your face, silently waiting for you to spill your heart out.
Continuing to walk by, I glanced to the side and checked his face. Ah, wait a second! His frustration is plain as day. I stopped and slyly crossed my arms without facing him. For some reason, I imagined myself talking as Brynyolf, one of the main characters of the thieves guild. A charismatic Nordic man, with one of the more famous voice actors representing him... Sadly, I still sounded like Lokir.... Uhhhhh.... Regardless, before I could think about how uncool I was going to sound, I leaned back against one of the buildings nearby.
"Love troubles lad?" I flinch internally when reminded of my voice.
Sven's eyes widen in response, "yes, YES, how did you know?"
"You'd make a good bard, you're very expressive, it's written all over your face"
SPEECH SKILL INCREASED 26
Sweet
"I am a bard! Wow, well ok... It's that obvious huh?
I nod at him in response and he shakes his head a moment before continuing.
"Faendal thinks he can woo Camilla Valerius away from me. She's already mine I keep telling him"
Bingo...
Comments (0)
See all