Day 3

*Yawn*  It’s 4:00am when I wake up.  It’s still dark outside.

At least I still got a good eight hours of sleep.  It’s going to be a long day.  I start heading east in the general direction of Skingrad.  Kvatch is closer, but I’m not exactly sure what it’s like before the oblivion gate siege.  Skingrad is still a better bet.  I pass under some ruins and find a herd of flaming reindeer. 

Okay, it was me that set them on fire…Geez, excuse me for being a pyromaniac.  The deer burns to ashes, and upon looting it I gain some venison, a type of meat.  I chase after another deer, and the sun is in the sky by the time I kill it.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion%20Blog/Oblivion2008-04-2520-04-18-46.jpg

Anyways, I continue east.  A couple hours and many flowers later, I stumble across what seems to be some deserted ruins. 

Curiousity gets the better of me, and like at Hrota Cave, I decide to enter.  Wow, spooky.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion%20Blog/Oblivion2008-04-2520-06-30-14.jpg  This place is pretty cool on the inside.  I’m sneaking around, looking for loot, when I hear some whispering voices.  I wait for a few seconds, but I don’t see anyone.  I slowly turn around and start to leave the dungeon.  This was a bad idea.  I make a wrong turn and find myself right behind a necromancer in dark robes. 

Okay, stay calm.  He hasn’t noticed you yet.  I’m going to back away very, very slowly.  Oh, shit.  He saw me.  I run for my freaking life.  I turn around, and he’s summoned a zombie.  Oh, shit!

I retrace my steps as fast as I possibly can, but take another wrong turn.  I’ve sprung a trap.  Giant blades of death begin to swing from the ceiling.  One of them slams into me, cutting away part of my health and blurring my vision.  I turn around just in time to see one of the blades cleave through the necromancer’s zombie. 

That’ll buy me some time.  I head through the exit and continue running.  I turn around to see if the necromancer is still following me, but he’s not.  However, an animated skeleton with a meat cleaver is now in hot pursuit. 

Must…keep…running.  After 10 minutes of running I slow down.  I think I lost them.  Phew, gotta take a breather.  I rest and eat some food to restore my energy.  I slay three deer with fireballs launched from afar.  I loot three more pieces of venison.  I continue towards Skingrad, but I’m still really far away.  I come across some weird cave, but I’m not sticking around to be chased by more black magi.  I’ve learned my lesson. http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion%20Blog/Oblivion2008-04-2521-16-06-98.jpg

Next to the cave is a small camp.  I run towards it, but drop into a crouch when I see an archer standing guard.  I move closer, and see that she is a wood elf.  I decide that she is not a threat, and I stand up and walk towards her. 

Apparently, she’s just a rogue NPC.  And from the looks of her gear, she could kick some serious ass.  She says, “Leave me to my work, stranger” when I approach her.  Alright, that’s cool.  As long as I stay on her good side, she probably won’t kill me.  I take her advice, and leave the small camp.  It’s around 2:00pm, I’ve still got plenty of time.  I spot a small, ruined castle up ahead. 

I survey the area first.  I don’t see any enemies.  I’m still not heading inside though.  I pick the flowers around it, and head back up to the trail.  I follow the trail for a couple more hours, picking up everything I see along the way.  The sun begins to dissapear over the mountains.  Within minutes, it’s completely dark outside. 

I look up and see a weird celestial body in the sky.  Not sure what it is.  Must be Oblivion’s moon or something.  I look on my map and I see a small tent icon.  I walk over to where it is.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion%20Blog/Oblivion2008-04-2522-58-41-01.jpg It’s not inhabited, as far as I can see, but won’t let me sleep there because there are enemies nearby.  I set up a perimeter and look for any animals or humans.  Pretty soon I find this unlucky fellow.

It’s a dark elf bandit.  I sneak up behind him and launch a flare spell right into his back.  He turns around and starts filling the air with arrows.  I block most of them with my shield, then charge into him with my dagger.  I slash a few times, then back up and finish him off with another fireball.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion%20Blog/Oblivion2008-04-2522-59-57-53.jpg  He’s down for the count.  I walk over to the body and loot it.  Alright!  I have bow now!  I also replace my old rusted dagger with his mace.  A wolf jumps out from behind a bush, but I make quick work of it.

I skin the wolf of it’s pelt and walk back towards the camp.  There not much at the camp, save for some ale which I greedily pick up.  Hey, finders keepers.  It’s 12:45am, so I’ve got to be heading to bed.  I sleep for eight hours and wake up in the morning. 

Day 2

A new day…

I wake up in Anvil at 8:30.  A little bit of a late start, but that’s okay.  I sit down in my room and eat the breakfast that room service set out for me. 

Grapes, bread, and wine.  Not the most healthy breakfast, but at least it will keep my energy up.  I finish eating and leave my room.  As I’m walking down the stairs, I encounter a guy named Wilbur.  He seems like a nice enough fellow.  He informs me that if I murder someone, the Dark Brotherhood will visit me while I’m sleeping.  What a load of crap.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion%20Blog/Oblivion2008-04-2518-51-34-76.jpg 

A bright and sunny morning in Anvil.  I’m ready for my daily workload of picking herbs, shrubs, mushrooms, flowers, and the like.  If Lady Luck is on my side, I’ll hunt as many animals as I did yesterday.  I don’t have very much food, so I stop by a general good store and replenish my supply before I exit Anvil.  Well, I’m going to have to look for a new town.  I don’t care how nice the room at the inn was, I need a cheaper place to stay.  Too bad Mirabelle won’t rent out any rooms to non-sailors.  Apparently she needs her daily dose of seamen.  I head north until I come across Hrota Cave.  I’m curious as to what (or who) is inside, so I decide to take a peek. 

I’m careful to be no more than a shadow in this cave.  I glide swiftly, but quietly across the rugged stone floor.  I don’t see anybody in the room ahead, but there is a wooden door at the far end.  I peek through the cracks in the door.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion%20Blog/Oblivion2008-04-2519-18-49-85.jpg  Looks like the coast is clear.  I open the door, and as I predicted, there isn’t a soul to be found.  I take a couple steps into the room.  I hear the noise of shuffling feet.  I pull out my dagger and blend back into the shadows.  I turn around just in time to see a small rat running in between some crates.  I dig through a chest and procure 10gp.  Seeing as though this cave is (I hope) uninhabited, I assume it’s morally legitamite to scavenge from these abandoned boxes and crates.  I search the rest of the cave and find a bronze necklace.  Well, that wasn’t a total waste.  10gp for me is nothing to sneeze at.  And now I have my first piece of jewelry.  I’m walking towards the exit when I accidently spring a trap.  Oops. 

I alright, just a little surprised.  The spiked flail only took away 1/4 of my total hp.  I pick a few more mushrooms and leave the cave.  Okay, that little cave detour took a few hours.  It’s 3:00pm when I step outside.  I head north picking flowers until it’s 5:00pm.  I have to look for a place to spend the night, because Anvil is too far back.  I look on my map and decide the closest place is the Brina Cross Inn. 

I head inside and chat a bit with the locals.  It’s a small inn and tavern type place.  Everyone inside is pretty friendly except for one person. 

Her name is Caminalda.  From her robes, she’s either a noble or a wizard.  Seeing as how she’s in the Brina Cross Inn, I’m assuming she’s a wizard.  Best not to get on her bad side.  I decide talk to her, and she gives me the stink-eye.  Don’t know what her problem is.  I talk to the innkeeper and rent a bed for the night.  It’s a bargain at 10gp. 

It’s not as nice as the one in Anvil, but it’s a helluva lot cheaper.  I even read this book before I go to sleep.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion%20Blog/Oblivion2008-04-2519-44-02-57.jpg.  Today wasn’t as prosperous as yesterday, but it wasn’t bad.  It’s only 8:00pm, but I want to get an early start tomorrow.  In the morning, I’m heading for Skingrad.

Day 1

The day begins…

I arrive in Anvil in the early morning (3 am).  I step off the boat and look around.

So this is Anvil.  It’s a sea-faring village from the looks of it.  Friendly people walk up to me and greet me with remarks that they know who I am.  They must gossip a lot in this town.  I walk along the docks, greeting the cats and rats that run by.  I walk onto the boardwalk and start passing by the shops.  It’s early in the morning, so it makes sense that they’re closed.  Bad business to run a shop while everyone else is sleeping.  I continue to walk along the mossy planks of wood until a see a couple people up ahead. 

 

Huh, well, whatever floats your boat, I guess.  I talk to one of the guys and he mentions training me in hand-to-hand fighting.  He clearly has not seen my karate skills.  I talk to the other guy, and he says something about his pants scaring away the fish.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion2008-04-2222-22-26-40.jpg

Right…Well, see you guys later, I’m just going to walk away. 

I head towards the town gate, stopping to harvest any random flora that appears in Anvil.  Sure is a lot of Aloe Vera growing around here.  Guess the seamen need it for their skin.  I stop near the front gate to give a gold piece to the beggar.  I only have like 17 gold, but maybe it will bring me some good luck today.  He even blesses me as I walk away.  How nice.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion2008-04-2222-30-53-35.jpg

I exit Anvil and head north.  I stop to admire the horses stabled in the, well, stables.  Maybe one day I will be able to afford a horse.  Someday, Someday…

I walk along the road, stopping to gather any and all ingredients along the path.  I spot a farm next to the road and see a bunch of growing crops.  I walk over to start harvesting, but my conscience stops me.  I think to myself, would an NPC steal crops from another NPC?  Seeing as we’re all buddies in this giant world, I believe its morally wrong to steal.  I pass the farm and continue along the north road.  Suddenly, I’m confronted by a very scary Khajiit. 

No way in Hell is he taking my supple 16 gold.  I take the second choice and prepare to die, wait, I mean fight back.  I activate Adrenaline Rush.  I FEEL A GIANT RUSH OF ENERGY.  MY BLOOD STARTS TO BOIL.  I FELT LIKE I JUST DRANK 20 BRAWNDOS! (see link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbxq0IDqD04).  I charge the Highwayman and start slashing at him with my three inch long dagger!  It takes a couple flare and heal spells, but I manage to best the kitty in combat.  BURN FURRY! http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion2008-04-2222-40-32-21.jpg  After the battle has been won, I proceed to strip the Khajiit of everything he’s got. 

Sorry, but its a Redguard eats Khajiit world out there, buddy.  It’s not personal, its business.  I try on his fur gear and shield.  I look quite dashing if I do say so myself.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion2008-04-2222-41-28-93.jpg

 I don’t see many more herbs on the path, and I don’t want to be jumped by another highwayman, so I take the road less traveled.  Stray off the beaten path.  etc.  I find a lot more plants in the tall grass than I did back on the road.  I see a marker that is shaped like a tent on my compass, so I decide to head west in that direction.  I stumble upon a deserted camp.  There’s a few bedrolls on the ground, and a pitched tent beside them.  I proceed cautiously over to the tent, but there’s just a chest inside…and a human skull.  I shrug my shoulders and leave the camp.  Don’t wanna stay around and end up like that guy.  Besides, the chest was locked anyways. 

I see movement in the grass ahead of me, and I drop into a crouch, therefore increasing my invisibility by over 9000.  I can barely make out a wolf stalking something in front of a big hill a good distance away from me.

 

Imma chargin’ mah lazers!  I put on my robe and wizard hat and start mowing down the trees with a flurry of fireballs.  Woot!  One connects!  Oh, shit, now theres a wolf on fire charging at me.  I pull out my dagger and start flailing at the wolf with it.  A few of my desperate stabs hit, and before long there’s a dead wolf in front of me.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion2008-04-2222-47-41-28.jpg

I skin the wolf and take its pelt.  Alright, my first hunt of the day.  And those pelts are valued at 10gp.  Nice!  I celebrate my victory by picking more flowers.  Yeah, one pelt isn’t going to make me rich.  I spot some ruins through the trees on top of a hill.  Might as well go check it out.  I walk up the hill, but then a thought hits me.  Am I really just going to mindlessly charge into the center of some deserted ruins?  I mean, there aren’t any roads leading to or from them.  I reenter sneaky mode, and crawl towards the ruins.  

Well, whadda ya know.  My intuition was right after all.  There are two animated skeletons walking around the fort with giant axes.  Yeah, I’m not getting any closer.  I hightail it back down the mountain as fast as I can for fear that they may be chasing me.  I decide to catch my breath near some giant rock with carvings on it. 

I know, I look so heroic in this picture.  Considering I just ran away from some walking bones, of course.  I walk over to the stone.  Ooh, look, I can interact with it!  Oh, goody!  Hm…it want’s to give me some conjured stuff.  Sounds like a fair trade.  Bam! http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion2008-04-2222-53-09-12.jpg  A flash of light and I’m standing with a giant spiked helmet over my face and a giant red longbow in my hands.  Epic!  Now I can really hunt some animals.  Only thing is, I don’t have any arrows…Oh well, I continue to pick the many flowers around the stone.  I keep walking down the mountain until I see a deer.  I sneak (of course) in a very stealthy way towards the deer.  It somehow sees me, so I charge through the brush towards it.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion2008-04-2222-54-33-40.jpg  It probably saw a giant red and black helmet and freaked out.  I don’t blame it.  I chase the blasted deer all the way down to the beach. 

It jumps into the water, but swims really slow.  I have no trouble jabbing my knife into its soft fur.  I’m able to salvage some vension, a heavy and delicate meat from the carcass.  All this hunting and scavenging plants has made me really tired and sweaty.  I go for a nice swim in the ocean!  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion2008-04-2222-56-44-67.jpg  My rock hard abs need to be cooled off.  After a quick dip, I get out and put my armor back on.  I see some mudcrabs on the shore and decide for them that they should die.  I fire some flares at them and gut them with my knife.  Easy kills.

 

Wow, one of those mudcrabs was loaded.  He had 2gp on him.  He’s probably a pirate or something.  Glad I put an end to his pilaging and plundering.  I’ve had a full day.  It’s around 5pm when I decide to head back to Anvil.  I enter the town, but decide to check out the lighthouse on the coast.  Wow, that’s a tall lighthouse.  http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion2008-04-2223-00-41-26.jpg

I enter through the main door.  Huh, a nice cozy place he has going on in here.  He even has food and wine set out on the table.  Must be a romatic guy. 

I would’ve expected the lighthouse owner to be a hermit or something.  I head up the stairs to find this guy.  Whoa, nice view up here. http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/85natrapS/Oblivion2008-04-2223-02-38-10.jpg  Oh, look, there’s the light house guy.  I talk to him; I joke, admire, coerce, and brag to him.  I made a friend!

Fine view indeed!  Well, it’s getting late.  I must be off to sell my wares and sleep for tomorrow.  I say good night to ol’ Fog-Eye, and head back into town.  I stop by the Flowing Bowl to sell most of what I’ve collected today.  I made quite a bit of money.  I’m at about 185gp now.  I feel successful.  I leave the Flowing Bowl, and head to The Count’s Arms for a nights rest.  It’s a nice room, but also really expensive at 25gp a night.  And even though its 10:00pm, light shines through the stained glass.  I didn’t know Anvil was the city that never sleeps in Oblivion.

 

We’ll see what shenanigans I get into tomorrow morning. 

Not Your Average Oblivion…

To make Afroman’s experiences in Oblivion a bit more realistic, I’ve downloaded a few mods to enhance his non-adventures. 

Book Jackets: A complete retexturing of all the books in Oblivion.  Gives them much nicer colors and designs.  Not necessary for Afroman, but helps add realism.

M.O.E. – Fatigue Loss: This makes Afroman lose fatigue when he runs.  Makes the game more like Morrowind.  Since Afroman is an NPC, he will mostly be walking; however, he might need to run if he is in danger or needs to get somewhere fast.  Also requires him to sleep everyday.  This adds more realism to the game, because NPCs always sleep during the night. 

M.O.E. – Hunger Effects: This makes Afroman hungry.  He needs to keep his energy up by eating food everyonce in a while.  If he doesn’t eat for two weeks, he dies from starvation.

Cats & Rats: Not necessary, but nice to have cats and rats running around.

Kobu’s Character Advancement System: Completely changes the leveling system in Oblivion.  Sleeping to gain levels is no longer requiered.  Stat multipliers are completely taken out of the equation; now when you level a skill, your governing stat for that skill also increases. 

M.O.E. – Travel Services: Might be useful.  Since Afroman never fast travels, having an alternate way to get from A to B quickly could come in handy.

M.O.E. – Main Quest Delayer: This is the most important mod in my opinion for Afroman.  You start off in Anvil, just having arrived off of a boat with a knife and some food.  This is good, because Afroman is just your average Joe Schmo, not some hero waiting to be discovered in an Imperial City jail. 

These mods will make my character feel a bit more like an NPC in Oblivion.  All of these mods can be found on http://www.tesnexus.com/.

Who is Afroman?

Afroman is the character I created to live as any other NPC in Oblivion.  He is a redguard with a very inflated head.  I chose redguard as his race because they have good constitution and are “the most naturally talented warriors”.

 

I don’t know about you, but I’m not very intimidated by him.  Hopefully, though, he is strong enough to survive the wild beasts and bandits of Cyrodiil. 

I picked custom class for Afroman, specializing in endurance and personality.  The endurance should boost up his health and the personality should help him barter better with merchants and make him more likeable.  As likeable as he can get with that head anyways…

His seven favored skills are alchemy, block, blade, light armor, restoration, mercantile, and speechcraft.  The alchemy will help him make better potions, the mercantile for better haggling, the speechcraft for making him more likeable, and the other 4 to help him survive better.  I picked the Warrior as his birthsign for extra health, carrying capacity, and damage.  Hopefully the wolves won’t tear him to shreds.

Introduction

I’ve started this blog to document Afroman’s adventures in Oblivion.  I want to live and survive as an NPC in Oblivion.  I will avoid anything and everything heroic.  There will be no reloading in this game; if I die, I die for good. 

This blog is based off of Christopher Livingston’s http://livinginoblivion.wordpress.com/.