Recuperation

I wake feeling worse than the day before, my body feeling those bruises and cuts even more, ignoring the pain I pull myself out of the furs and break my fast on bread and fruit, washing it down with mead, I am going to need the pain numbing effect.

I head out to the mill and find an axe and start chopping wood. I soon get into a rhythm and my mind starts to flood with thoughts about where I am from? Where was I going? Am I married?

At noon I take my break and have some more food to keep up my strength. 

I head over to Gilfre and she pays me for the work done so far, very nice of her. 

We spend some time chatting a bit more and then I head back to chop some more wood.

I resolve to stay here until I am back to full health and have some money accumulated before deciding my next move. 

Surviving the First Day

No sooner do I get to the rocks when from out of nowhere a stranger runs at me again. What the HELL!! 

I fumble for my sword but he gets to me before I even have the thing drawn, so much for living another day!

He doesn’t attack me, wait! I am confused, instead he mouths off something about an enchanted shield and bolts off leaving it in my hands! What the hell is going on here? My head still hurts, my body aches like that bloody Giant danced on my ribs all night and now this! I no sooner see the stranger disappear behind the hillside when another stranger runs up to me, obviously following the first stranger and asks if I know where this thief, as it turns out, went? I obligingly point in the direction the thief ran away in. I am not confused this time but astounded, my life is a plaything for the gods, it must be or what else can explain this madness? I watch the second stranger run off after the thief and never see them again.

However I am now in possession of an enchanted shield which belongs to someone else but the pursuer didn’t have time to tell me more. So until further evidence come to light as to who the owner is I will make use of it. It seems I will need it sooner than I thought what with all these mad strangers running at me from nowhere every five minutes.

I finally manage to crumple down in between two rocks and start to think about my next move. I desperately need shelter, a bed, food and probably some medical treatment as well.

Should I head for Windhelm or Riften? My gut feeling tells me neither, west is the way to go. West? I look to the west and don’t see anything but I follow my instinct none the less, trusting it will keep me alive a while longer and head off trying my best to move as quietly as possible.

After hours of exhaustive walking and sneaking I come to a river on the opposite bank I see some buildings. Praise the gods I think I am saved.

I cross the river and head towards the buildings, still wary of whom or what I might encounter there.

Thankfully I see a woman and walk over to her. She is friendly and introduces herself as Gilfre and this place is her sawmill, Mixwater Mill. Gilfre tells me that all her workers have abandoned her to go off to war. War, what War? I think to myself. She also tells me that she needs help with chopping the wood and the heavy labour chores the previous employees carried out. If I am interested she pays in gold and I can stay for free in the workers cabin. Right now I could kiss her; instead I thank her respectfully and assure her that I will be chopping wood first thing in the morning.

I head for workers cabin and some rest. This day is finally coming to an end and I am still in one piece.

I open the door and am greeted with a mess but the interior is dry, warm and safe and that’s all I need right now.

I sit down and eat some food and drink some mead, I am deliriously happy.

When I am satiated I collapse into the nearest bunk and pulling the furs over my aching body I drift off to sweet slumber…

The Nightmare Raid

It all happened so quickly, bandits from out of nowhere shouting and brandishing their weapons, rushing at us, hacking and slashing. It was all over before we even knew what hit us. I saw my life flash before my eyes as lay in my own blood wishing I had…..darkness.

I wake up, my head pounding, my body aching.

I remember the attack, I was in that caravan, now burning, surrounded by the dead. I must be dead, I died didn’t I? I remember…blackness taking me.

Maybe the bandits thought I was dead and just stripped me of all I own. Some luck! 

 

I can’t seem to remember where I was going or what I was doing, I just know I am Sigvald and obviously I was left for dead on the side of the road.

What now?

With only the clothes left on my back I search the caravan for anything left by the bandits and I find a few coins and some food they missed and also some books they didn’t want. I take them all and feel a touch of guilt that I can’t stay to give the dead a decent burial. The bandits might come back after all.

Looking around for some clues to explain where I am or where I was going, I see a nearby road sign and hobble over.

The sign has a notice on it proclaiming that a nearby Giant has the Jarl’s protection and should be left alone. I am not going to argue with that but what is more important to me is that the note is stuck onto the post with a dagger and I need some sort of weapon right now, so I help myself to it and as I grasp the hilt in my palm I feel its reassuring coldness. Things are going to get better.

 

I look at the road sign again and see that this is a cross roads and the road leads to two different places Windhelm and Riften. I can’t remember these places so have no idea how far they might be away from me.

Something in the grass catches my eye and I see an iron sword, maybe dropped by the bandits as they made their getaway, I pick it up greedily. Things are improving.

 

I decide to give my next move a bit more thought but from a safer place than the crossroads. I see some rocks nearby and head for them.

Role Playing and Alternative Beginnings to Skyrim

My Tale of Sigvald’s non heroic adventures in Skyrim begins with these thoughts.

I have not played Skyrim for a long while, after taking two characters past level 60 it felt jaded and very repetitive. Even Dawnguard didn't really do much for me.

A few days ago I stumbled across a series of articles entitled The Elder Strolls by Christopher Livingston The Elder Strolls by Christopher Livingston in it he starts off as a regular non heroic type guy and plays Skyrim from that perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the 10 part series and then came across another similar example The Elder Strolls by Iris Ophelia / Janine Hawkins The Elder Roles which I also enjoyed very much. I really liked the idea of trying Skyrim from a non Heroic type perspective where the object is not to be Dragonborn and do all these quests etc. but to just survive as a normal NPC would, doing mundane necessary things like sleeping and eating and earning money from work as opposed to looting dungeons and saving the world etc.

I think with some nice ground rules for your character to adhere to you could really enjoy Skyrim all over again in a totally novel way. So that's what I am going to do!

A MOD that comes in handy is Alternate Start - Live Another Life by Arthmoor which allows you to start the game from a large variety of places and characters.

I am starting off as a guy attacked en route somewhere and left for dead.

This roles RULES will be:

No long term memory on awakening, you only remember your name and that all your possessions are plundered in the attack (you don’t know your roots or where you lived etc. Your previous life is gone you have to start again and carve out a piece of Skyrim for yourself).

Eat at least twice a day and sleep at least 8 hours a day

No fast travel unless by carriage as I assume normal NPC's would be able to do that in game

No stealing

No murder

No Dragon Shouts

No deliberate quest undertakings that involve dungeons, stealing, returning prisoners, saving the world or any heroic type actions (delivering a sword from a smith in Whiterun to the Palace in the same city or similar type thing is OK)

The purpose of these rules is to force me to play Skyrim from a more realistic perspective. For instance a trip to another city is something I will have to plan for in advance because it’s a BIG DEAL. I'll need to have money to spend the nights at inns along the road, food to last until I find an inn and a weapon in case bandits or wolves cross my path. It's dangerous out there for a nobody from nowhere.

So the story begins.