Iron Skyrim Continues

Iron Skyrim Continues

Update: This plan is not working so well.... apparantly something is conflicting with Frostfall, meaning going an environmental death variant of Iron Skyrim isn't going to work so well. I need to figure stuff out more to make this work.

Well, a few mod updates and finally getting the Dragonborn DLC, due to conflicts, completely destroyed my ability to continue Iron Skyrim for a time. So the mod list has had to be rebuilt. My previous mods? Whatever they were, I don't recall. So, instead, I've added a whole new list of mods.

Now, a number of them specifically increase difficulty. I gave a few runs, and found I was lucky to last five minutes without dying. This doesn't make for a good story. (And I've found that enemies doing critical auto-kill moves can end most Ironman runs REALLY fast.)

So, instead, I'm going to try a different set of Ironman rules for the next character. Since I've included hypothermia... if my character dies as a result of environmental effects, they're dead. Combat deaths allow respawns. However, this comes at a cost..... all gear my character uses MUST be self-made. They can't buy equipment or use loot. All equipment must be crafted. (Yes, this includes player home. I won't use any pre-fab home, but will have to use the hearthfire self-building homes.)


Before I go into the next bout of Iron Skyrim, I figure I might as well share the mods.

So, in no particular order...

• T3nd0s Skyrim Redone
• Gifts of the Outsider - Dishonored in Skyrim
• Character Creation Overhaul 
• Frostfall (Adds environmental effects, such as hypothermia)
• SKSE (By itself, does nothing, but needed for other mods)
• SkyUI (Pretties up menus, and required for some mods)
• Extra Encounters - Dawnguard
• Extra Encounters - Higher Spawn Rate
• Extra Encounters - Dragonborn
• Arthmoor's Unofficial patches (Skyrim, Dawnguard, Dragonborn, Hearthfire, High Resolution)
• Field Alchemy
• No More FastTravel
• More Carriages (to balance in regards to no more fast travel)
• Archmage Spellcrafting
• Craftable Scrolls
• Oblivion Style Healing
• Dispose of Corpses
• Morrowind Music
• Spells of the Third Era
• Old School Spells
• Morrowind-Colored Soul Gems
• True RPG
• Kill Anyone, Anytime
• Flyable Broomstick
• Open Cities Skyrim
• Golden Saints
• Morrowind Tribunal Weapon Pack
• Candles of the North: Morrowind-esque wielded candles
• Bestial Hunger - Werewolf Bloodlust
• Artifacts of Morrowind: Ring of Phynaster
• Mabynna's Spirit Summons
• Beastieary of Solsthiem
• Divayth Fyr Companion
• Sixth House Bell Hammer
• Chrysamere
• Ashland Amulets
• BiPolar Blade
• The Fork of Horripilation
• Mace of Aevar Stone-Singer
• Mudcrab Merchant
• Morrowind Potion Names
• Ice Blade of the Monarch
• The Aradraen
• Old Good Glass
• Khajiit "Eye of Fear"
• Usable Keening
• Morrowind Skooma
• Morrowind's Moons
• Moon-and-star
• Morrowind's Legendary Rings
• Domino's Mudcrab Merchant
• Divine Intervention
• GoldBrand
• Books Books Books 2
• Better Quest Objectives
• Mark & Recall
• INIGO

The continuing adventures in Iron Skyrim....

This edition of Iron Skyrim continues the adventures of Grida, the opportunistic "Acrobat" Orc, who was recently enjoying an energetic swim...

"Hey, I see a town over there, Mr. Voice-In-My-Head, I bet there's all kinds of stuff that should belong to me there. It's all pretty and ****."



Hey, I hear something beh...

 "Ha! Take that!"

Did... did you just beat a mudcrab in sharp fisticuffs?

"Yes.... and now I have my lunch plans."

Oh... goody...

 "Hey, what do you know, a place that probably has stuff in it."

Is that how you look at EVERY house you see?

"Only ones I haven't seen before. If its one I HAVE seen before, its just as likely to be completely empty."

".... fair... enough?"

"Hey look! They left some unguarded barrels outside!"

 "It looks tasty, but you know what I think is a GREAT idea?"

Oh no, please don't tell me you're going to...

"Hey mister Honeymead salesman, want to buy some honeymead?"

I... can't believe you pulled that off.... you sold him the merchandise you just stole from him...

"I'm just that good... now, while he's being confused counting his stock, lets sneak into his back room and..."

"Huh, sounds like someone is putting the lean on this place."

That's horrible.

"Yea, I mean, why isn't it me that's getting to write letters like this?"

You know, I've said how horrible you are before... but I'm just out of words for it at this point, so just pretend that I said something that somehow sounds more surprised at how bad you are than the previous times... 

"The second page of the letter mentioned Riften, I'll have to remember that place, sounds fun."

...wait, you emptied the entire back room that fast?

"Why not?"

 There's someone putting a lean on the guy, things are tough, have you no sympathy?

"Yep. I don't have my own meadery, and both this guy and the letter-writer have meaderys, I have plenty of sympathy for my situation."

 "Oh well, onto the main town..."

Great, what trouble will you cause there?

 Well, looks like we're stuck not going in, too bad, lets go somewhere where you'll do less harm...

"Not so fast, I have an idea on how to get in... I'll just use my feminine charms to get in."

I'm a little surprised you pulled that off.

"I know, no one can resist these babies."

I don't think that's why we got in.

"I jiggled a little, didn't I? We got in didn't we? I'm telling you, he opened that door because of my sexual allure."

I'm pretty certain the reason he opened the door was because you made him need to rush in and yak in the outhouse."

"You stick to your story, I'm sticking to mine."

Hey, a guard's coming towards us, mentioning he recognizes you...

"Oh ****, he knows about that wife I killed back in Riverwood, I'm so going to jail, sooooo going to...."

The fee is pretty low.

"Seriously? Heck yea, I'll pay that. If I can kill people and only pay that price, I'll do it all **** day!"

Wait, there's more....  

"Nooooooooo!!!! MY STUFFFFF!!!!!!!! I BLAME YOU, VOICE-IN-MY-HEAD, I BLAME YOUUUUU!!!! I SHOULDA RUN, BUT NOOOOOO, YOU'RE LIKE 'THE PRICE IS CHEAP' and I'm all like 'OKAY', I KNEW THERE HAD TO BE  A CATCH!!!!"

  Hey, he dropped that on the end without warning us, I know I didn't see it coming.

"Yea, he did, that SNEAKY M*****-******!! THAT BASTARD!" 

He's not even going back to the castle with it, he's just continuing on his duties like nothing happened...

"WHAT THE ****? THAT.... oh... that's good. He's clever... I wonder if he's taken?"

 Oh my....

 "Oh for ****'s sake, that priest is annoying. I mean seriously, he's droning on so loud, it's obnoxious. Someone should do something."

 Just ignore it, he's not hurting anyone, and he's got some valid compla....

"You know what, I'm going to help out this fair town, be a hero, fix this menace..."

 You're... WHAT!?!

"Alright, in position..."

No, no no no no nono nooo....

"Shush, you're going to spoil my aim, I gotta time it while noone sees me and get it in one shot so he doesn't yell..."

NO! STOP! DON'....

"THERE!"

....T DO I....

"Hey, he didn't have bad loot on him."

I don't care, there's no way you're going to justify this....

"Of course I will. I'll gladly pay the merchant's fee. 1 gold for one bit of helping out the community. Where's a guard, I'll take care of it right now, show you I'm willing to handle this proper.." 

"F***"

"Well, at least I got to keep his stuff, including keys, I got myself a house!"

...  you hurt a poor innocent m...

"Now lets see what's in his..."

"He's not so innocent now, is he?"

What the? How did you? But...

"Its the loud, obnoxious 'better-than-thou' types that are always hiding some skeletons in their closet. The ones who mean it are usually quieter and less judgemental."

That's... surprisingly insightful from you.

"Naw, I'm just pulling stuff out of my ***, pure luck he was hidin' dead people."

... Now I don't know which part you're pulling my leg, and which part you're being honest about.

"Heh, I'll never tell, keep ya guessing. ;) "

 "You know what though, Mr. Voice-in-my-head?"

What?

"This place is too political, too up in its own business... everyone I overhear got a cause, an axe they're grinding... I don't really fit in..."

 So?

"So... I'm leaving town. Right now.."

Where too?

"Well, that place that other meadery was from... it sounded like they knew how to handle business there... Riften, I think its name is? Let's go." 

You know... I think I can actually respect that decision. 

 "See? Extortion with gatekeeping, I TOTALLY am cool with a town. With a corrupt town, you know where you stand, a little extra gold, and the world's in your pocket."

Oddly, you're right, you do fit in more... but you can't get in..

"That's the other part about corrupt..."

 What?

"Corrupt towns are also lazy towns. Which means if you DON'T have the money, all you need..."

 "... is to put in a little more creative work, a little legwork..."

"... and you can almost always find another way."

Huh, I never thought of it that way...

"Wait... there's a THIEVE'S GUILD? I LOVE this town! I'm going to join right now! ... if I can just find out where it is."

*smirks* I thought you were an acrobat.

"Exactly."

So where are you going to find out how to find them?

"Search the place in town with access everywhere that noone ever goes." 

 You're going sewer crawling?

"I prefer to think of it as acrobatic exploring."

You know what? Although I hate most of what you do, I have to admit, you do have some skills...






"Did YOU just give me a complim...."

And then Gilda was ambushed by a bum in the sewers.  She didn't even see it coming. (Picture lightened, because it was so dark. She couldn't see the bum, but he could see her.)

*sigh* And now for the continuing adventures of Grida/Gilda Ogg, Maybe I'll luck out and you'll die off this time.

"Why you gotta be hating? What've I done to deserve the hate?"




Let's see, you've assaulted innocents, robbed from stores, killed a man's wife, done shrooms, you..

"Hold on there! I ain't done any shrooms!"


But, you were so excited about gathering all of them?

"Yes, but I ain't ate em yet. You want to have fun, you gotta save them all up and eat them all at once. I'm not going to waste the experience."

... so shrooms, avoided chances to help people, 

 "Shut up, Voice-in-my-head, there's a tower up here..."
Looks kind of like the one you cleared out when we first met...




"Similar, but not the same.."

"Boom! HEADSHOT!"
How did you see him? He blended right in....

"Last one!"

Do you always have to off them once they start begging for mercy?

"Of course."

"Meh, loot's not as good in this one. Their lives weren't worth the cost of my arrows, this coin purse won't cover it.."

...such astounding morals you have.

"Well, time to leave.... there's only two options..."

Well, it's up the mountain, or back down, and back down leads to Riverwood, and you can't go back there.

  
"Heading back to Riverwood!"
What? Seriously? Just a short big ago you were run out of town, and you killed a guy's wife, and...

 "Hey, look! More shroomes!"
Are you listening to a word I'm saying?

"No."

Seriously, Gilda, you're just going waltz back into town?



"No."



Well, I'm glad you have at least some level of discern...


"I'm going to grab their fish for lunch first."

 "Sweet, sweet recently killed once-living things."
You make it sound so appetizing. XP

 "Hey look, one of the locals is willing to teach me to be better in Archery!"
You mean the same skill you used to kill one of the locals?

"Yep. And now.."

You can't be serious....

"Heh, my bad."

You're serious... why is he not chasing you?

 "Didn't you hear? They were arguing shortly before I 'fixed' the problem, heh. Now lets see what else I can find..."

 Please no...

"Hey, these look like those stones from earlier, but not...can they give me superpowers too?"

"Huh.... says here I can sell my soul.... meh, what do I got to lose?"

Wait? Souls? Plural? I WANT NO PART OF THIS!!

"Bah, thing's busted anyway. Good thing there's always more shrooms..."

You know, at this point, I'm fine with you being distracted by shrooms, I....

 ... why are we back in Riverwood?

"I didn't practice my 'acrobatics' here, duh. Everyone saw me go out the main exit, now I'm back in by a side path. Alibi!!!!"

 "Alright, Let's see what isn't nailed down..."

You can't be...

 ... that was fast.

"Gotta be fast to get in and out before anyone gets home."
 

 "Now for our next target..."

Can't you just leave these poor villagers in peace?

 "Hey, it's not my fault if they're not home to guard their.... oh... uh... hi... bye."

 "Leaving now..."

 "Hey, look, someone's breathing out here..."

It's more bandits...

 "You mean it WAS more bandits. What they think they're doing working on MY turf, huh?"

Maybe it balances out... maybe, with all the bandits you kill, maybe you'll end up reducing crime more than you create it, maybe...

"Yes! More gold! Gold is so much nicer than stuff, you don't need to find a fence for it."

... maybe you'll always be a bad example. 

 "So nice of them to make dinner for me..."

That's just looks... ewww....

 "You're right, it looks a little rare, I'll let it blacken just a little first."

That's not what I mea...

 -Slurp- "That's good, stomach full, bed now."

You ate that whole thing in one gulp? Hello? Hello?

 "Morning.."
So beautiful, so full of...
"Opportunities..."
Wow, that was really unexpect...
"Specifically the type that walk on two legs and carry coinpurses."That, on the other hand, I should have seen coming...

 "Speaking of opportunities, I hear..."

 "... a mage's..."

 "...coinpurse hitting the ground. Let's check the one HE killed first."

 "Looks..."
Disguisting? Vile? Like the guy we killed was killing another guy who was harvesting people?
"Tasty."
No.

 "Looks like the one WE killed was a monk."
So wait, there were two mages fighting, and the holy monk one killed one that was carrying human body parts around, and then you killed that one?  YOU KILLED A HERO WHO WAS HUNTING DOWN VILLANS WHO WERE HARVESTING HUMANS?!?
"Looks like. Heros aren't as tough as the stories make them to be..... good to know."

 "Hey, what's that?"
It's a...

 "Don't care, it's mine."

 You are SO lucky it was empty.

 "Hey, is that a lone house over there without anybody around?"

Oh no...

 "Oh really, heh, well, then I'll just look around, and admire your loot... I mean home."
Seriously?  A little old lady? You're going to steal from...

 "Bah, nothing worthwhile..."Well, at least you're...

 "What do we have here?"It's probably just a storage celler...
"Where she keeps all her ****** loot!"

"Uh... this isn't what I was expecting..."

 "This isn't looking like a safe place to be...."Maybe I'll finally be rid of you...

 "Shrooms! Yay, I'll only take these, she'll never miss them, and then just sneak out of here, and out the door and..."

 "ACK! FIRE! KILL IT! KILL IT!!"
Yes, yes, finally, you'll...

 ... survive yet again... no fair.

 "Well, since I already dealt with the hard part, might as well take all the old lady's loot."

 "She even had some shrooms I missed! I've never even seen this kind before!"
You have a one track mind, you know.
"Hey, to be fair, it's two track. Shrooms, and money."
The fact that's your counterargument, I find disheartening.

 "You know what? There's this new little alcove just waiting for me... premisis recently vacated, a safe small basement... I know what its time for..."

 "Not to mention I have a new variety to try out! I'll try out ALL OF THEM!!!"

If I'm lucky, you'll OD...

 "HEEEEYYYYYY, VOICE-IN-MY-HEAD, LOOK AT THE SWIRLS!! LOOK-AT-THE-SWIRLS!!!"

*Two hours later*

"Where'd these new poisons come from?"
Apparently you concoct poisons when you're tripping. Is there any point when you're NOT a menace to society? 

 "Time to clear the head with a swim..."

 "What do we have here?"

 "Score!"
What...is...with...your luck?

 "LETS SEE WHAT ELSE WE CAN FIND IN THE RIVER!!!"
Seriously? You're swimming over a waterfall, well, at least that's one way to be rid of you.

 "HA! WHAT A RUSH! I WENT DOWN THAT! SEE THAT? SEE THAT, MR-VOICE-IN-MY-HEAD!?!"
What does it take to kill you?