User:Damon/Runa's Journal

Buzzkill... I periodically delete the oldest of my saves, since rather than overwrite one save file per character, I hit "New Save" each time I save (in case I want to back track for some reason), and while clearing two dozen saves for Cassandra and another many for Eric Snowmane, I accidentally took out the three or four Runa saves that I had. I'll make a new one for Skyrim eventually that I will complete after I deal with the backlog of Morrowind jobs I've volunteered for.

I decided to make a new character in Skyrim. I had fun doing Andre's Journal, a hardcore roleplay of Oblivion, so I decided that I wanted to do one in Skyrim as well. The rules of the roleplay will be largely the same as last time. I'm going to make a random character with a random background, and I am going to live in the world as that character would. Hopefully, this playthrough will last longer than 10 hours, unlike Andre's did.

Description

The Character

This character is a Nord woman named "Runa". The premise of the roleplay is a girl who's parents are a bit more... Civilized, than the typical Nord family, and the girl wants to escape from them to experience some freedom of her own, rather than be sheltered her whole life like her parents are trying to do. So, she leaves town, carrying minimal equipment, barely enough provisions for a long journey, and she's wandering pretty aimlessly.

She's pretty good hearted, and she'd stop to help someone who needed help, if she felt like she could do it, and she's not one to take what isn't her's, and wouldn't be doing any thievery unless there was absolutely no other option. Otherwise, she'll take the world as it comes to her.

Her family is split on the war. Her parents are firm Imperials, whereas her brother enlisted in the Stormcloak Rebellion. While her family disapproves, and hope the Stormcloaks are crushed, they still wish for the safe return of their son. He's their son, after all.

Runa is largely indifferent. She understands the need for Imperial unity, but she also realizes that the Empire is crumbling, and it might not necessarily be in the best interests of Skyrim to remain an Imperial province in the long term. She's slightly leaning towards joining the Stormcloaks.

Weapons wise, Runa has the bare minimum in blade training. She will carry a sword, though she is not at all proficient, and will more than likely flee from an enemy, rather than fight it, unless it was something weak like a wolf, which is a pretty simple kill.

She's also not a killer. Not a killer of man or mer anyway. She's too soft-hearted to kill someone, even the most vile of beings.

Rules of the Roleplay

1. Sit down (when applicable) and eat at least two decent sized meals a day. (Decent is a drink and a piece of cooked food (or bread, cheese, or fruit, which isn't cooked, but she'd need two of an uncooked item, rather than one cooked item to call it a meal))
2. Minimal use of weapons before getting training. Runa has virtually no blade training, and except for in the most dire of circumstances, I am not going to fight with a blade before purchasing at least one training session with a weapons trainer. And, my weapon will always be a one-handed weapon, since she's physically too small to comfortable carry and wield a large battleaxe or greatsword.
3. At least 7 hours of sleep each day.
4. Try sleeping in proper inns before resorting to bedrolls and the like that are found outside. Runa's a naive little girl, and she'd be unaware of the dangers of the world, forcing her to want to sleep in the safety of a settlement, if at all possible. As the playthrough progresses, and I feel like she's been through enough trial to become more comfortable with the things like this that make her uncomfortable, I'll move towards letting sleeping in campsites happen sometimes.
5. Rest in each city that is visited for a least a little bit. (This can obviously be skipped if I have an urgent reason.)
6. Death ends the play through.

Mods

Unlike Andre's, this will be an unmodded playthrough. The start in Dragon's Bridge will simply be me dashing through the tutorial in Helgen, grabbing a single iron sword, grabbing some common clothes to replace the rags worn at the intro, and then I am fast traveling to Solitude and walking down to Dragon's Bridge to start the playthrough.

Runa's Journal

Pre-Game Entries

These entries are here to set up the premise of the roleplay.

Entry One

My mom and dad are insisting that next week I travel to High Rock to go see Aunty and be raised a "proper" lady... I don't want to go. Every time we visit Aunty Maren, she dresses me up in the most ridiculous dresses. I'm not a little girl anymore. It's making me crazy.

I've asked if I could just stay in Skyrim, but they always refuse. "It's too dangerous", they say. They let Torbal run off all the way across Skyrim in order to join the rebellion, and I am stuck in Dragon's Bridge. I'm a year older than my seventeen year old brother. Why should I be contained to this boring town?

Entry Two

Another letter came from Torbal today! He's staying safe, and he sent some good tasting mead from the Rift, where he's been stationed by Ulfric. He said he was in a skirmish with some Legion scouts, but they were able to fight them back. I wonder what Riften is like? Torbal says it's really pretty in the Rift, with lots of springs and beautiful mountains.

I also got into a fight with Dad today. It was more of the usual... I've outright refused to go to High Rock and live with his pretentious sister. He didn't like that I called her that. Didn't like it at all. In fact, I think he told somebody to keep an eye on me. Every time I leave the house, it feels like there are eyes on me. Or, maybe I'm just paranoid.

Entry Three

I was right. The innkeeper Faida actually approached me when I was walking out of town towards Solitude to get some fresh air. She was getting into my business and telling me to "not go doing anything your father wouldn't approve of". Naturally, I shrugged her off and went about my business.

When I was walking towards Solitude, I heard blades clashing over the edge of the cliff, and I went to look down and investigate. There were Stormcloaks sparring in a campsite. Stormcloaks! Right down the road from the capital.

One of them saw me, and they led me down to the camp, where they told me about the war. One of them, I can't remember his name, said he was fighting with Torbal against some Legionnaires they came across while moving supplies to set up this camp, and he was killed. There is a letter and some money that will be sent by the Stormcloaks soon.

I know I should tell father, but I can't. He will get MORE protective of me.

Entry Four

The letter came... Like I thought, my father got increasingly protective, and he's sending me to High Rock in a few days. I'm not going. Skyrim is my home.

I've outright threatened him with walking out, going so far as to use some of the money I've made working for Faida to buy a small iron sword. Father merely laughed. His sick of my games, and he actually told me outright to walk out the door if that's what I wanted, and that I'd be regretting it before nightfall.

I'm doing it. First thing in the morning, I am leaving!

Gameplay Entries

Entry Five

I was still in sight of Dragon's Bridge when I saw it. A carriage had been attacked and a man and woman were killed. There were arrows all over the ground, and the chests and crates were scattered around the area. I found a journal on the woman. It seems her husband was a merchant bound for Whiterun, but she didn't want him to go because the roads were dangerous. Eventually, she let him go, but she accompanied him, saying they'd live or they'd die together.

The sight had scared me. I didn't think that I'd see this kind of thing while I was still able to see the Dragon Bridge and the houses. I found a few coins and some food, though I feel bad for scavenging off of the dead like that.

I didn't get much further down the road when I came across an outpost manned by some bandits. They tried to kill me, and I don't think I've run that fast in my life! Then the wolves. A pack of them found my just as I finally escaped the bandits. I was cornered and had to pull the dagger I bought, and I was able to kill one of them, but I had to run afterwards. I don't know how long I was running, but I was on the edge of collapse when I found a small village named "Rorikstead". Thankfully, there were guards there who were able to fend off the wolves and bandits still following me.

I've had enough trouble for the day. I need to rest here for the afternoon. There is a large city off in the distance, and a local told me that's Whiterun. The city the merchants were going for. I think I will spend a few days there, since I am running out of money, and I didn't bring enough food to last for more than a few days.

Entry Six

Whiterun is a beautiful city! And, I made it safely as well. There was only one time on the road where I was chased by something, but some helpful Khajiit traveling down the road saved me. They also purchased some stuff I was holding from my running around. It's nice to have a little money for food and stuff.

When I arrived in Whiterun, I spent the afternoon wandering around town to look at the various shops, and I even got a lesson in using the forge from Adrianne at Warmaiden's. It's hard work and it can get very hot working the thing for long stretches of time, but it's something that could prove to be a useful skill someday.

Entry Seven

After I spent a few days wandering around Whiterun doing whatever little things I could to make some more money and buy some food, I decided to go explore the mountain side a bit. I had purchased a pickaxe from the Drunken Huntsman the day before, and I wanted to scout the mountains nearby for mineral veins so that I could use the material to smith gear.

I was in the small village of Riverwood, when I met an elf named Faendal. He wanted me to pass a letter to the woman at the trader. The reasons why weren't my business, I just complied since it was right down the road, and he had to move lumber at the mill for his boss.

He thanked me for helping him spoil another man's chances at a girl he was after, and he agreed to follow me around during my wanderings in return. I can do it, but I am still scared to be chased by all the wolves and animals out in the wild, so I let him come along on my ore finding mission.

Entry Eight

It's a powerful thing, being able to take a life…

We crossed the river and wandered around the base of the mountain before crossing up to a tower that we wanted to look at out of curiosity. A group of bandits were in there! We were pinned down behind rocks to avoid being skewered by arrows. Faendal returned fire and they sent one to try surrounding us. I didn't feel afraid or anything until it was all over, but I had killed someone. Faendal was able to kill the other two with his bow, so we got away safely.

I suppose we were cornered, and there was no other option but to do it, but I did not enjoy it. It's not as glorious and adrenaline pumping as the soldiers make it out to be, and it's not something I want to do again. We poked around some in the tower, taking what we could find: some gold, as well as the weapons and armor of the assailants to sell and keep away from other bandits who would take advantage of the high ground and free gear.

I kept some furs and leather armor that we took, since I wanted some gear to learn how to wear for when we are traveling, but it almost feels wrong. Someone else's blood is on this stuff… I can still see the tears in the man's eyes and the pain in his face when I ran the dagger through him… I wonder if that's what Torbal felt like when he was killed by the Legionnaires? I wonder how he felt about killing?

That aside, I failed to find any material to smelt at Warmaiden's, so I'm now back in Whiterun for the night with Faendal. We will scout out more places later.