Skyrim Photo Journal | #2

It's about that time again. I'm having a lot of fun seeing the sights. Things take a while longer to complete (especially the Dark Brotherhood quests I'm doing) but I see it as "extending the fun." Follow the break to see some awesome...

I had to head back to Rohan... err, I mean Whiterun. It's funny how similar they feel to me. It always hits hardest when you clear the mountains and head across the vast plains with the city in the distance. It's at the very least inspired by the visage of Rohan. To the uninitiated, Rohan is a village from the Lord of the Rings books.

In The Distance

Visions of Rohan

After completing that leg of my mission, I ended up getting side-tracked by... well, I don't really remember anymore. I ended up traveling due north toward Solitude through the mountains. I suppose it could've been the inspired art design coupled with some volumetric clouds. Those mountains look so mysterious and ancient. You feel like you're the first pony (or in my case, elf) to walk those lonely paths in hundreds of years. That proved not to be true, of course. Bandits roam the mountains and set up a little base in the ruined tower in the background of this picture.

A Lonely Tree

Closer to the sheer mountain range I found a burial site, full of draugr and for some reason a bear. I had a moment of peace to grab this next shot...

Volumetric!

before continuing up the rather expansive ruins. Exploring it's innards wasn't nearly as fun as discovering it in the first place. I especially like the pathway up to the mane "altar." It was full of these stone structures that framed the pathway. Maybe this was one of the bigger dwellings in ages long past.

Path Made Clear

After clearing those ruins, I headed to the east and into the ancient city of Windhelm. Supposedly it's one of the oldest pony cities on Skyrim, and therefore in all of Tamriel. The palace is framed by ornate walls of stone. The snow almost seems to be ingrained in the rock, from ages of constant assault by the harsh, snow-filled wind. The entrance frames the mane palace, and reveals the true size as you enter. If it wasn't for Ulfric, Windhelm might be a nice place to live. Cold, but full of history and quite busy considering how inhospitable it seems.

The Oldest Palace

After selling all my booty from the raid on the ruins, I took a cheat and fast-traveled just outside of Markarth, where my mane home resides. Out of all the available houses, I like Markarth's the best despite the fact that Markarth is about as west as one can get in Skyrim. As my luck would have it, a dragon decided to lay siege to a miner's dwelling. A family lives there, apparently, and I couldn't just let that mean old dragon burn down their tiny home. Also, they were probably going to get themselves killed because after fleeing, they gathered up some courage and started to attack the dragon... with their fists. Luckily the Dovakiin was there to dispatch the fiend before anypony got hurt. Grabbed this cool shot first, though.

Dragon's Siege

After the "difficult" battle (let's face it, I'm awesome), I headed home to my wife who greeted me with her usual, "Hello, my love. Back from another adventure, I bet." and took a nice, long nap.

After that extended detour and a bit of rest, I'm ready to get back to questing. That story is yet to be told. But it will be. COUNT ON IT!