Aerothorn on 16/4/2006 at 05:39

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So, we've all had really cool/suprising/immersive moments in the game - figured I might as well start a thread to tell our little fables. I'll start off with one that just happened to me.

So, I was finely heading to Skingrad for the first time. I was riding on my horse and was just a bit west of Weyte (or whatever that town near the Imperial City is called) when I saw an Imperial guard coming up on a horse. He looked different, though - he had a white shirt on. So I rode up and he was identified as "Countess' Bodyguard". I looked around and sure enough, I saw Countess Alessia Caro. Mothril had told me she visited her mother in Chorral every month, but they said "don't even bother looking for her then" - I figured the game would just make her dissapear. The fact that she travels across pretty much all of cyrodiil every month and the game maps it amazed me.

Then a thought occured to me. I had yet to murder anyone, and [SPOILER]after discovering Allesia's secret Argonian-torture room[/SPOILER], I did not think much of Miss Caro. Also, I was curious what would happen if I killed her - would her husband be grief-stricken? Would he know it was me? Long story short, I figured out a way to kill her .00001 seconds before the guard got to me (so I didn't have to resist arrest to finish the job). I paid the big fine, went off with him. So I returned to find and loot her corpse. I couldn't remember exactly where it had been, so I took a guess, rode a bit, and saw a body next to a horse. I assumed that was it, but as I approached, I saw it was Mothril, next to a boar who, I assume, had gored her to death - I had nothing to do with this one. I killed the bore, then approached the horse - which I promptly walked through, as it was some sort of buggy-ghost horse.

Anyway, while I've yet to figure out what the count's response (if any) will be, I'm now really curious about the AI. Is my game deciding what is happening to these people all over the world? Are they fighting monsters in far-off corners of the globe? What if I hadn't found Mothril? Do NPCs just randomly dissapear, wandering in the woods when you're not around, and you never know? Are they only activated when your in the area - and if so, why did I never see Mothril die?

Interesting questions, anyway. Also: Is there anything you an do about Caro's practice of [SPOILER]torturing Argonians[/SPOILER]? Seems like there would be a quest, but I never saw it - did I miss something?

Aerothorn on 16/4/2006 at 06:51

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Whoops, sorry - shoulda done a search.

And yeah, part 2: I reloaded before killing Caro, because I didn't want Mothril to die (at least, not by the hand of a boar:ebil: ). So anyway, a bit later, I'm down near Pell's Gate...a bear is after me and I'm heading to Pell's Gate to get help from the villagers...but then the bear stops. I turn around, and it seems to have trapped a courier (who got off his horse) in a cave.

But after the bear is dealt with, I go back..ends up the courier wasn't trapped in the cave, the body was smushed between some rocks near the entranceway. And as I come closer I realize, to my shock, it's not a courier...its Mothril! WHY DOES SHE KEEP GETTING HERSELF KILLED. DIDN'T SHE EVER PLAY INTERSTATE 3E 376? "Never....get off the horse."

PeeperStorm on 16/4/2006 at 17:04

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The fighter's guild had just given me a job ("Hey, you! Go over to that cave over there and kill some bandits. And take this guy along with you"), so like a good little recruit I marched on over to the cave in question with my helper in tow. Just as I got within sight of the entrance, we were attacked by a wolf. Suddenly, a black horse charges up and proceeds to stomp the wolf into little wolf-bits. Ok, that was nice. Odd, but nice. On up the hill to the cave. Just as I was about to enter the cave, a courier steps out of the cave, gets on the black horse, and rides away. And that was my "WTF?" moment for the day.


Another time, another place: I decided to complete the Corrupt Watchman quest. I did stuff, yada-yada, completed the quest, then followed the "good" watchman to watch him bust the bad guy. After some amusing dialogue (something along the lines of "I'm gonna get even with those finks that squealed on me, and their little dog too!") off he goes to jail. Fast-forward an unknown number of days, and I'm in the middle of an Oblivion gate. It's one of those Oblivions where you have to go through several sets of caverns to get to Da Tower, and I'm in the second cavern. Suddenly, up pops the Bad Watchman dude behind me, yelling that he's gonna have revenge, rip my leg off and kick my ass with it, etc. I kill him and search the body, and it turns out that he followed me through an Oblivion Gate with nothing but shirt, pants, diary, and a silver dagger. I guess I must have really pissed him off.

RarRar on 16/4/2006 at 19:12

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No new stories. I did see the Countess though and her bodyguard out in the wilds. I didn't know who they were. Her bodyguard looked like a patrolling guard except he was sleeveless. Very puzzling. I was going to go over and investigate but a Troll attacked them at that moment. I stood by to watch and to my surprise the Troll killed the bodyguard and turned on the Countess. Usually I appreciate when the patrol guards kill the animals I don't like and stand aside and let them go at it. But I was horrified that my inaction could possibly lead to the death of this lovely maiden so I jumped off my horse and ran to the rescue sword in hand. I got close enough to see the label over the Countess--it's the COUNTESS!--and redoubled my efforts to rescue her. But she took off running into the wild Troll following right behind. I gave chase but soon lost them.

Now I fret constantly that the Countess is dead. Won't this break the game somehow? I should really go and check her castle to see if she made it back ok. I worry so.

Another little thing:

As everybody knows I usually don't fast travel and just ride to my destination on horseback. So I appreciate the occasional Inn I might come across--some place to spend the night (I hate travelling at night). Two times now I've seen a patrol guard there too. One was inside, lifting a big mug of something. And on another occasion one was simply outside sitting on a bench next to his horse, resting. I don't know why but this touched me. I'm a big fan of patrol guards and it was nice to see them taking a break and being human.

RyushiBlade on 16/4/2006 at 20:03

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Most (all?) Counts/Countesses are invincible and can only be knocked unconsciou, AFAIK. They're a part of the main quest (Aid for Bruma) afterall.