Strangeness south of Riften

[sukeban]

One of the elements of Skyrim that I def appreciate is that there seems to be almost two categories of exploration, I'll call them random and static (imprecise, to be sure). The random ones are those rad encounters that we all love along the roads and in the wilds, the epic volkihar vampire vs. ancient dragon vs. 6 forsworn vs. 3 orc hunters vs. 2 vigilants of stendarr vs. a whole buncha aggro mudcrabs (true story ;D the reach ftw). They breathe life into the environment even if they quite often don't really make any sense (and maybe sort of break immersion due to an obscene amount of WTF).

 

Then there are the static encounters, things like the OP's burned house, the slaughtered observation tower, or the dead bandit and his cart. These are usually random and compelling when first visited, often not making much sense at all. However, upon more investigation, a story of sorts can often be pieced together from the remains. In the case of the burned house, it definitely was a summoning-gone-wrong, for all the previously mentioned reasons, but also because a scroll of "summon fire atronach" can be found somewhere around the corpse, meaning that the unfortunate victim most definitely was too n00b to properly utilize the scroll. Similar thing for the watchtower, only I believe there's a note somewhere in there saying something like, "Watch out for Imperial patrols in your area, we saw one just the other day" implying they were victims of an Imperial sneak-attack. As for the bandit, there's a bandit hang-out (Robber's Canyon?) just a little down the road from him that also has a bunch of notes demonstrating intrigue, madness, theft, and rebellion amidst the bandits of the camp. Perhaps this poor sod was one of the rebel bandits trying to make off with some of the camp's gold? It's less clear what happened to him, but it definitely didn't end well. Bandits spawn around that cart, if memory serves. Maybe those are the guys that killed him, sent to track him down from the camp. I dunno, but that is part of why it's so rad. You almost get to play detective trying to figure out the cause and effect leading up to various events at locations on the map.

[Tidus44]

Well, I'm walking back home to Whiterun and its 4:30 am and I hear a horse coming up behind me. I turn and look and.....run into a spectral headless horseman. Being somewhat curious I give chase and it appears he likes to be followed as he stopped or circled when he got too far ahead and then took off again as I got close. No one else seemed to see him as we passed guards and some bandits, but a giant herding a cow (I thought they herded mammoths??) got fairly excited when the ghost passed him.

 

Won't spoil where he led me, there is a bit of a reward at the end. But funniest (and strangest) thing I've seen in Skyrim.

[BrettM]

I've only seen him once so far, when I first discovered Labyrinthian on my way to find the Skyborn Altar. Just as I got to the gate, a ghost horse came up from behind and ran by me. A few seconds later a headless ghost came chasing after. Really gave me the willies, and all I could do was stand there with my mouth open thinking "WTF???"

 

I made no attempt to follow, though, because I was still at a low enough level that frost trolls were having their way with me. When I saw one in there, I never even entered. Which was too bad, because I later found out that the direct, easy path to Skyborn Altar goes right through the middle. I ended up spending a great deal of time skirting the mountains until I found a way to climb up there. OTOH, I discovered a lot of locations in the process, from Labyrinthian all the way around to Ivarstead.

[magiii]

I also found that house and I like to think it was a failed attempt to Summon a daedroth, quite possibly a flame atronach. There is a book in Skyrim that tells the story of a teenage mage who summons a dremora. The daedroth tricks the boy into accepting a gift which, unbeknownst to the teen, breaks the protective enchantment of the summons, and allows the daedroth to escape, killing the boy and his mother.

 

i found the house and if you look close you can find a conjure flame atronach scroll near the body. so it was a daedra summoning and he was summoning a flame atronach.

 

and something. daedroths are a special kind of daedra its not a general term. so as dremora

[StealthCookie]

I have a few:

 

As part of Saadia's quest, I head into the Winking Skeever in Whiterun to talk to her. Inside is a nord who initiates dialogue, calling me a milk-drinker (Stupid insult really, I like milk :tongue: ) and demands that I fight her. I politely refused her, and she attacked me. I killed her and there was no bounty or hostility from others.

 

I had another encounter where an Argonian DB assassin attacked me as I rode around near Riften. The note she dropped gave no details as to why I was targeted and by whom. I hadn't done any major peeving off of any faction, so it remains a mystery...

[BrettM]

When exiting a dungeon, I saw three guys in heavy armor walking towards me. They became hostile on approach and I had to kill them, noting that they were labeled as "thugs". One was carrying a contract from Septimus Signus with orders to teach me a lesson about theft. The funny thing was that I never touched a thing in his outpost until after Hermaeus Mora turned him into a pile of ash, at which point I took a couple of books I wanted from his shelves on the way out. Apparently dead people can put out contracts on you, which is a pretty neat trick.

[Kurosu93]

i saw that burned house 2-3 days ago.nothing special mate just the dragon that lives in the lair nearby.the only interesting thing i found in this area is an old ruin full of ghost from the dragon cult.now that was something new.got myself another mask as well.soon only 3 left now

[landy8]

The attackers/asassins. Yes, they exist. I was attacked a couple of times. First they were just that nameless Nord/Khajiit/Argonian, then I found a Dark Brotherhood note on one of them, and everything became clear. BTW, sending asassins after your clueless character is an ancient Bethesda tradition. It was even in Daggerfall (chapter II), where Nulfaga (mother of king Lysandus) conttracted your character because somebody told her that you killed her dear son. So don't think much about it, BrettM, just keep your sword/spell ready.

 

Dead NPCs by the broken carriages - sometimes they have some story, sometimes - hey, it's just a landscape! Skyrim is pretty nice this year!

 

Headless Rider - saw him once, but didn't follow. Pity. Impression was considerable - late night (both in game and in real), weird music and someone headless and spectral riding in a distance! Of course I recalled the Forlorn Watchman from Oblivion, but I got a little occupied by bandits and frost trolls.

 

NPCs fighting NPCs - it's normal. In Oblivion (TES IV) fights like legion patrol vs highwayman/bear/goblin band were quite common. It's a real ;) world!

 

Interesting encounters. There's a lighthouse to the east from Dawnstar (and a little south). Enter, note a nice female corpse on the floor, look around and enjoy. Sanguine quest is good too. But a cow herding giant was my favorite. Really. I've met him myself and it took me no less than five minutes to stop laughing (real minutes, not the in-game ones) :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

[landy8]

For the TES fans (like me).

When I wrote that Nulfaga contracted your character, I was wrong. Sorry.

Has anyone noticed, I wonder?

In the beginning of the game your boat was caught by the storm, and later in a side quest you got the information that the above mentioned storm was created by Nulfaga because... and so on.

 

I love these things, really. That's the reason I'm a more than twenty year old TES fan. The best features of the same sort were in the Battlespire (BTES - Beyond The Elder Scrolls game). ("I'm versed in arcane knowledge, I know the secrets of creation, but I know nothing about "stools"". Everyone played the Battlespire will remember and smile ;). I hope.)

 

So, a simple advice for the people new to TES: take it lightly! Remember what the Greybeard chief told you: breath and focus. Read: focus on your quest objectives and consider the rest a charming landscape. And if somewhere deep in the gloomy dungeon you meet a girl who gives you that key you couldn't find, take it easy. Maybe, it's an incarnation of Vatasha of the Shadow Legion. The game lore is vast and the possibilities are innumerable.

[Tidus44]

There are all kinds of little "scenarios" all over Skyrim that really encourage one not to fast travel or to go quest to quest, but to wander around and to explore.

 

I was exploring south of Morthal and on descending a rocky slope, dropped onto a ledge and found a chest (100 gold and a health potion) and two skeletons with their hands stretched out as if they died holding the chest. How they got there and especially carrying a chest, why and how they died - all a mystery as there is no clue what so ever from a journal or a note or some NPC mentioning a theft or missing persons.

 

I found an entrance into a wrecked fort in the Riften/Windhelm area and entered and found a pool of water in the lower level of the fort. I took a look under the water and got a bit of a surprise as there was a dead Legion soldier floating below the surface that I wasn't expecting to come face to face with and - bonus - a chest with a daedric bow of soul trap in it. Since my character is only level 19, its a pretty nice weapon to find as its much more damaging than the bows I have been finding. Thing is why was their a Legion soldier in the water, who put him there and why? One can only speculate.

 

There seems to be a number of structures (cave, fort, ruin, house) that one can find while exploring that do not have a map marker associated with them and some contain some rather unique loot.

 

I just recently found that lighthouse near Dawnstar. At least one gets a story with it, but as a low level character it wasn't the easiest place to work through.

 

One I forgot. Wandering the area of the hot springs near Fort Amol looking for Jazbay grapes and I see two people walking. I duck down thinking "bandits" and watch as they walk away. I follow them a bit from a distance and see a camp fire (it was about midnight game time). The two walk into the camp and sort of wander a bit, then they both undress and go sit in the hot springs. I wander over and its two hunters - a male and a female. Just thought that was kind of neat they were enjoying a hot tub after a hard day hunting.

Edited March 7, 2012 by Tidus44