
The Legendary Dragon
Amaki’dar has reached level 78 at last, and managed to find and kill a legendary dragon, thus getting an achievement on Steam. That makes the last achievement she can get until I decide to buy the Dragonborn expansion. Till then I’ve pretty much done everything there is to do in the game. So I decided to start a new game as a Dunmer mage specializing in destruction magic. Dear readers, meet Sapsorrow!

I’m unbound and about to burn my foes to cinders!
During my escape from Helgen I chose to side with the Stormcloaks as usual. I ignore the advice that Ralof gives me about giving the axe a few swings, but I do take his gear. I’ll need armor after all. I equip a fire spell in one hand and a shock spell in the other, and once we get into the torture chamber I obtain a wizard hood and robe, which I don for magics sake. While I’m in there, I take the opportunity to pick all the locks on the cages and dungeon cells. Yep. My inner thief is peeking out. Next thing I know I’ll be heading to Riften instead of Whiterun first thing upon escaping Helgen. Sure enough I escape the dragon attack and my own execution at Helgen, and now I have the freedom to do as I see fit in Skyrim. Maybe I will become a thief int he long run, but in the meantime, I follow Ralof towards Riverwood and pick some plants along the way. I’m planning ahead, wanting to make some magicka potions when I reach town so I’ll have some on hand.
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BURN!
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Lockpicking and Pillage galore.
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Alduin flying away from Helgen overhead. Whatta sight!
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“Mage, eh? Well to each his own.” – Ralof
Once in Riverwood I meet Faendal, a wood elf who’s vying for affection from Camilla. Problem is he has competition. A bard named Sven is after her too, so Faendal has an idea. He gives me a letter to give to Camilla and say that it’s from Sven. When I do so, Camilla tells me to tell Sven that she’s not seeing him anymore. I tell Feandal that Camilla won’t be spending much time with Sven anymore, and he gives me 25 gold, the money he’s earned from working at the lumber mill. Sweet. Not only that but I can now ask him to follow me. A free sellsword. Nice.

Yeah, I help him cozy up to another woman, and then I ask him to come with me on many adventures. No logic, just evil. 😛
While visiting the Riverwood Trader, Lucan happens to have a few things for sale that I’d like to have. Novice Robes of Destruction for example, and a Circlet of Minor Illusion. If only I had 3856 Septims! Sadly I only have 299, after buying spell tomes for Frostbite and Fury. Swell. Lucan did suffer from a break in recently though, and he promises me some gold if I get his golden dragon claw back. Hmm!
First I head into Embershard Mine, kill all the bandits and take what I can. Back in Riverwood I sell it all and found that I make about 1100 gold in the process. Sweet. Now I’m up to 1305 gold, but it’s still too little to buy either of the items I want from Lucan. Rats! Well, C’mon Feandal, let’s go to Bleakfalls Barrow and get this over with! We go through the ruins, get the claw, I find a stone tablet and some nifty things to disenchant later, and return to Riverwood. Now I have enough gold for the robes of Destruction. Sweet! I leave and go into South Brittleshin Pass to kill a bunch of skeletons and a mage, and then use the enchanting table to disenchant the various items I found so far.

Let’s see whats behind door number one!
Upon reflection, the way enchanting works in Skyrim is very different from World of Warcraft in many ways except one: when you disenchant an item, you destroy the item. Now in World of Warcraft, you learn enchantments from trainers, vendors, and from random formulas that you might find from monsters all over Azeroth. You disenchant magical items (armor or weapons) to get materials you need to create new enchantments that can be placed on armor or weapons, and you can either enchant your own items that you are already using or put them on enchanting velum to save them for later or store them in the guild bank so others can use them.
In Skyrim on the other hand, you learn the enchantments by disenchanting armor and weapons, and you only have to do this once per enchantment. Then in order to enchant an item, you need the item in question, a learned enchantment, and a filled soul gem. Soul gems are usually empty, so either you use a weapon that has a soul trap enchantment on it, or you cast the spell Soul Trap on an enemy. Either way, when you use Soul Trap on an enemy and kill it in time, then their soul gets trapped in the soul gem, and then you can use it to create new enchantments or recharge enchanted weapons. Very different ways of enchanting, eh? I think I prefer World of Warcraft’s version, in the sense that you don’t have to kill and use the souls of living things to power enchantments. Skyrim’s version is a little darker, but then again it is simpler than WoW’s. In WoW, there are a lot of different enchanting materials, some of which are hard to come by and more expensive to obtain.

To the batmobile Robin! Wait… wrong batcave!
So when I was finished disenchanting some items and learning new enchantments in the process, I leave the caves through the northern exit. Faendal says, “Hey, look! A cave! Wonder what’s inside!” I glare at him and say, “You block-head! We just came from there!” I wonder if he’s on Skooma. We head east towards Whiterun and help the Companions kill a giant and offer me membership. Not sure if I’ll join right now. After all I am a spell caster, not a warrior. Then on inspiration, I head on east even further and go into another cave, this one being a bandit lair called White River Watch.
First thing I know is that I’m being greeted by a blind bandit who mistakes me for someone else and tells me that the boss is waiting up at the summit, and that I better not keep him waiting. Ah. Thanks for the heads up there, human! I then cook him in his own armor and proceed. Next are some bandits plotting a mutiny. I cast Fury on one of them and he gets killed in the ruckus, then Faendal and I kill the others. Then we overhear some bandits talking over a captured wolf, trying to decide whether or not they can tame it. I find a chain on the wall and pull it. The cage door opens and the wolf attacks the bandits. In the end we kill all the bandits, including their leader, and then head back down to Whiterun.
I steal some Argonian Ale for a beggar, discuss how we might repair the tree in the center of Whiterun, and then check in at the tavern for the local gossip before getting some rest. I learn of a face sculptor in Riften, the Shrine of Azura, the Companions are hiring, and that the Jarl put out a bounty on some bandits in Halted Stream Camp. The next morning it’s raining, and I go talk to Ysolda and Amren, and now I get to find a mammoth tusk and a Family Sword. Yep. I like to be kept busy!
So now I got tell the Jarl of Whiterun about the dragon attack on Helgen, and then we visit with the court wizard named Farengar, whom I tell, “Look out! You’re about to step on your own Shock Rune!” He says, “What, I never even cast a… ah I see. You have some knowledge of the higher art,” and then he starts to tell me about his research and asks me to go get a dragonstone from Bleakfalls Barrow. But I’ve already been there so I already have the stone.
Next is when I go out and slay a dragon. At level 6? Good thing I have reinforcements! Ireleth and the guards come with me, but Faendal is nowhere in sight. Where is that wood elf of mine? By now I have a few perks invested in the Destruction tree and I tookt he precaution of buying some new spells from Farengar, namely Firebolt and Ice Spike. When the dragon attacks, sure enough he’s a fire breather, so I attack with Ice Spikes. After a nice little battle, the dragon dies and I take his soul and shout, “FUS!”
When I head back to Whiterun, a courier comes to me with a letter from a friend. Turns out some folks were uneasy by my shouting at the Western Watchtower. It seems to me that unless my voice carried that far, the only folks who heard the shout was Ireleth and the guards who were with us. So if they were the ones who knew about my shouting, why is it that they’re over there and the courier is coming from the city? I shrug my shoulders and accept the delivery. This guy oughta work for FedUp. I read the letter, turns out I can learn a word of power at Northwind Summit, which is somewhere between Riften and Windhelm. Joy. Rapture.
I get back to the palace and tell the Jarl that the dragon is dead and I am Dragonborn. And oh look, it’s Faendal! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!? I give you a hide helmet of minor archery and you hide in the map room while I go kill a bloody dragon? BAD WOOD ELF! Gimme that helmet back! DISENCHANT!
Now it’s time to go everywhere and do everything. ^-^