Skyrim: When Good Guys Go Bad! Pt.2

   In my last post I touched upon the role of choices in Skyrim and how much fun it can be to make what might appear to be a mistake, (is there really such a thing as a 'mistake' in Skyrim? I dunno!?) and instead to be freed by the option of letting oneself go wild and maybe take actions and make decisions in Skyrim that one wouldn't normally make or do in game! This is a concept that has stuck with me from the first time I picked up the "Duke" controller and graced the shores of Morrowind.

When I think back on my first foray into the remarkable Elder Scrolls series, it actually took awhile for the freedom the game offered to actually sink in. I mean, when one goes from Final Fantasy X and other similiar series to being thrust into the brink of a world where almost every decision is yours and yours alone to make, and then deal with the consequences, it can be a little overwhelming! I grew up on Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy and other similiar type RPG's, and as I've always primarily been a console gamer, I was unaware of the sprawling freedom-of-choice type of games that PC gamer's were well aware of and had enjoyed for years. So when The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind dropped I thought I had a pretty decent idea of the amount of freedom you might have in the game, but soon discovered to my great joy that it was even more amazing than I could imagine. I'd read the previews & review in the pages of EGM and Gamepro, plus some other publications, but it still didn't quite prepare me for what I was in for. 

I've already mentioned the first thing one learns, and learns the 'hard way', was to save often. Like OCD often. This is common practice now, but back then this was a novel and foreign concept to me. The game was supposed to give you 'save points' when you needed them, basically telling you when it was necessary, and warning you that a big boss battle might be coming up. Final Fantasy battles could be difficult, but a 1st level wizard armed with nothing but a dagger and some weak spells, being bested by a Kwama Forager or two was ludicrous. That's what I get for charging off into the wilderness with a blood red sparkle in my eye and the morning dew dripping from behind my Dark Elven Wizards ears! Suffice to say I wasn't happy with my first choice of character and started over with a more well rounded warrior/wizard type of character was a given. These are just some of the lessons one is taught in game, and these lesson's have served me well in Oblivion and now Skyrim.

But the mechanics of 'saving' have also revealed its own exploitations and opportunities. And it's this possibility of playing out an alternate reality of the one I had intended for my character that I used in my current situation. It's funny how I somehow felt a little bit sneaky, like I was cheating fate as it pertained to my character Valerius. Knowing one has a limitless amount of reloads can leave one feeling a little cheeky. 

   So there I was, perched anew (from my reload) atop the towers' outcropping, guards bellowing, torch's flaring, and me staring down my doom at an unsurvivable fall. I peered left, then right, and there it was, my possible saviour. A large internal fortified wall. It stretched from the rock cliff to a much lower area of the tower I was on. But even better was the fact that it was crumbling and appeared to be higher on both ends and receding in the middle. This entire wall's existence had escaped me in the panic of my first try at escaping justice or what passes for it in Markarth, but my determination to see this escape through, meant I was willing to try any option that presented itself! And best of all was the fact that Skyrims awesome "sticky boots of mountain hopping & climbing" would hopefully serve me well, and indeed it did. Running, dropping and zig-zagging my way to street level was a breeze. And luckily there were no guards in sight on the streets to the exit of Markarth. I'd done it, and now all I needed to do was run the hell outta there!

So through the gates I went. And was immediately caught YET AGAIN in the "Angry Guard Dialogue Tree"! …Twice! But my little manipulation of the system again gave me the head start I needed, and I was able to outdistance my pursuers and leave them yelling at my boot heels in vain. Down the hill I went, one lone guard approaching on his patrol, so I veered left and avoided the dreaded snare! I kept going, no longer running as I was out of stamina by this point, and huffing loudly like a broken bagpipe! I'd done it. No pursuers that I could see (this would change!) and the sky slowly starting to darken before me. Now what to do. …And then the ground trembled. Followed by the unmistakeable roar of a Dragon. 

Immediately upon my escape I'd found myself following the road and standing at a sign post with the name of a place I'd never been before nor heard of, 'Karthwasten'. Night was settling in and I had a choice to make, I could go right which would take me in the direction of Whiterun and other points, or left and over the bridge towards this new and enticing little place not yet on my map. Left I went, and this was the point at which the ground trembled and a Blood Dragon swept out of nowhere to assail me with his overbearing shout. His mistake. So began our battle, with ole dragon-breath shouting and swooping in to blast me with frost (or was it flame?) and me jockeying for a position with which to fry his arse with lightning and just waiting for him to land so I can start power-hacking him to bits! Some battles may appear as a dance, but I think our engagement would more resemble a court jesters rendition of clumsy circling on my part to keep the dragon in my sight, and his swooping and hovering in a shower of electricity scorching his ass and pissing him off. Eventually he took enough damage to be forced to land and square off mano-e-dragono!

I should probably state that by this point my character was fairly tough (lv.17), and somehow I'd seemed to have made some wise desicions in my choice of perks in sticking with a 'one-handed' weapon + 'one-handed' magic type of set up. And as I've stayed pretty much exclusively in the Eastern area's of Skyrim up to this point, I've had numerous encounters with quite a few Dragons of varying sizes and toughness, and so had a lot of experience in battling them. Even so, it still gets the blood pumping as some of the beasties are definitely more powerful and resilient than others, as I'm sure everyone's noticed.

   Once old ugly touched down in front of me it was only a matter of a half dozen power swings or less and he was finished. The bugger's life essence swirling around me, his carcass settling nicely in the middle of the path, half way between the sign post and bridge, and me gleefully looting his still burning corpse like a rabid vulture, I went forth.

The Dragon, though unexpected, was fun, but more of an interruption in my wild quest to tear a (somewhat) bloody path through Skyrim. I'd cut myself loose and decided I wasn't going to take anymore guff from the surly citizens of Skyrim, and would pay them in kind with surliness befitting their level of jerkiness. I turned from victorious battle and headed for the bridge. Half way across I was charged from the opposite end by what appeared to be two bandits, but was soon to find out they were in fact (Possible Spoilers!) Forsworn Foragers that had seemed to be lying in wait for the unwary. But at the time, because of my current relations to the Forsworn, I suspected they had been sent after me and am unsure even now if that was indeed the case. 

They spouted something about victory this and that, but were dead before they hit the ground. Loot/examine. As I started again for Karthwasten, I wondered how far I would have to go to test the "guilty by Hold" info I'd heard about, and was truly curious about what the NPC's reactions would be to me now that I was a wanted criminal. I followed the sign posts as they came, and was to learn very clearly that a bounty had indeed been put on me by the fact that a rather burly Orc mercenary/warrior had accepted it, and hunted me down as he came barreling over a small hill charging me and spouting my doom! He put up a slightly more gallant fight than the Forsworn had, but after zapping him with some lightning and a few power swings later, he flew heavily into a crumpled heap only to be looted. I took off running, the dark of night all around me.

A few hills later I saw four heavily armoured Imperial troops. At last! These are my peeps! I'm a grunt just like them! If anyone's on my side, its gotta be my fellow countrymen. …To my horror they attacked me 'en masse' cursing me loudly for the vile creature they believed I was! I tried sheathing my weapon and hitting 'A' to talk, but no dice, they wanted my blood. I had no choice… and since I'd altered my lawful attitude about Skyrim I was forced to dispatch my fellow Imperials. I was truly an outlaw now. And since I had thought of heading to Solitude to test the crimes by Hold theory thinking it might be a somewhat safe place to do so, I again altered my plan, a little bit sadly, and realized it was the outlaw's life for me, no going back! Or so I thought. 

   I'd like to add that I'd not only freed my characters actions, but had also freed my constant need to save. It didn't matter that much to me because I was running the razor's edge, and felt something of a thrill at the prospect of losing my progress up to this point because I didn't really have any intention of continuing this current in-game reality. I didn't exactly know when it would end either, I'd been having too much fun so far following this thread, and was quite happy to let the game decide what fate my character would meet! If I ended up defeated somewhere somehow by some unknown entity, it was alright by me. But I would soon feel the need to do a small amount of saving because I couldn't quit the fun of it just yet. I needed more.

   Next: "Karthwasten", and the horrified citizens thereof whom would rue the day Valerius the bloodletter would try, yes TRY, to do good and help them! Once again thanks for taking the time to read this! Until next time!