Halfway Through the Oblivion Main Quest

[lavender_rose]

My Tribal Hidden Elf (whom I called Alandis because I like the name) and Vilja are now at the point where they are investigating the Mythic Dawn. By now they've gone into a couple of Oblivion gates and I was really surprised at how intimidating the atmosphere and the dremora look.

Throughout ESO there are times when the player goes to the realms of Oblivion, but none of them made me stop and have that "we're not in Kansas anymore" reaction. And I jumped in my chair the first time a dremora charged at me.

This makes me repeat something I said earlier when comparing ESO's Vvardenfell to TES3's (admittedly modded) Vvardenfell; ESO feels like a theme park while the places in the single player games feel like the real deal.

TES4 has an interesting story but it does confirm what I was thinking earlier; this is not a questline that Aeronwen and Neldor would get involved in, at least not officially. If they would do anything it would be entirely off camera and not mentioned in the story blog and would be for no reason other than to get some gates spawning so Aeronwen can record seeing these historic events in her diary. But as far as "official" involvement; investigating a dangerous cult and raising a set of young twins doesn't mix. The most they would do is kill any daedra that might spawn near their home(s). Otherwise they will just be observers whose priority is to protect their children.

Another Valenwood Relative

[lavender_rose]

As I mentioned in this blog's previous entry, my Hidden Elf is working her way through Oblivion's main quest with Vilja. The two characters have seemed like a good fit (though admittedly this player character has nowhere near the developed personality like Aeronwen does. Aeronwen has, after all, been living in my headspace for almost twenty years). Since they get along so well I had figured Vilja would work well with my main characters. Unfortunately during my last game things just didn't feel quite right.

This is my no means a criticism of Vilja. If anything the fact that she works with some characters but not all shows just how well written and developed Vilja is (the same with the Morrowind companion Julan). So when I restart my main game I don't think I'll include Vilja for that one. Unfortunately that left Aeronwen and Neldor once again struggling with caring for their twins while trying to earn a living by adventuring. But then another Valenwood relative stepped out and offered to help. ( Read more... )