Based on a journal entry I wrote to chronicle the creation of my first Morrowind character in over a decade after asking Lemmy for suggestions, Morrow(Re)wind is the tale of Argonian Dragoon Polishes-His-Spear (Pol for short). Join us as I poke my way through the maddest Elder Scrolls game and attempt to complete it with no guides, only hazy memories and potentially the input of readers.

We're running OpenMW with the I Heart Vanilla modpack plus Daisy's Lua multimark and as of the end of part 2, HOPLITE. See the post on patientgamers for links.

Part 1 - I'm on a boat!

Part 2 - Did it hurt when you Vvardenfell from heaven?

Part 3 - YOU ARE HERE

Part 4 - Finding My Religion

Someone please say something if these get too frequent. I'm just uploading them whenever I get to what seems like a chapter break.

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Pol awakens the next day, and after offloading some miscellaneous loot to Arille and purchasing some breakfast, he begins the walk up the hill to the freakishly large flea-like creature the townsfolk had assured him was the "silt strider" he was to ride to Balmora. As he crests the hill, he notes a nearby cave and recalls how a woman in town had mentioned recent problems with a nearby smugglers den. Pol hesitates a moment. This isn't his problem, and he has a mission at hand, but it's clear that if the handful of local legionaries could have dealt with this already, they would have. Besides, if the likes of Foryn Gilnith proved to be the norm around here, these people need all the help he can spare. Hefting his spear, Pol heads into the cave of Addamasartus.

The first smuggler attacks him immediately. Folks in these parts seem to stab first and ask questions later, if at all. Pol takes down the knifeman easily enough. In the next room a mage almost gets the drop on him, but Pol manages to trip the mage on a staircase and remain out of reach after the first searing blow. Luckily his spells, while devastating, appear to be limited to physical contact. Pol discovers a key on one of the bandits, and a knot forms in his stomach as he reads the words "slave pen" on the key tag. He continues through the cave, dispatching the bandits with less trepidation now. He finds a handful of throwing stars along the way, which should prove useful, and is thrilled to find a steel shortspear. These can be wielded in one hand, so will allow him the extra safety of a shield, should he procure one of a weight he's comfortable with.

As he reaches the end of the cave, Pol find himself back where he'd started, but now he notices a wooden gate opposite where he'd entered. Approaching the gate, he tries the key he'd found earlier and finds it fits the lock. He opens the gate to find two of his own people in shackles, as well as one of the Khajiit. Pol immediately unlocks all three. They don't appear in any condition to travel, but with all the bandits slain, they should be able to restore their strength on the smugglers' supplies and be on their way soon. Pol bids them a farewell and leaves the cave.

As he exits, Pol glances at the silt strider. He should continue his mission, but he can't shake what he's just seen. Is this really how his people are treated in Morrowind? If he stays here, will he too one day find himself in Dunmer shackles? He has no way to leave... Pol turns away from the silt strider and decides to follow the road to Balmora instead. He needs to clear his head.

Pol wastes all his throwing stars using a large white insect for target practice, then nearly runs facefirst into a massive-jawed reptilian beast, with a tail to rival his own. While startling, this one seems unaggressive, so Pol lets it be and cuts a hasty retreat back to the main road. Pol soon stumbles upon a small village built in front of a fort, all the buildings in Imperial style. Signs identify it as Pelagiad. It reminds him of nothing so much as one of the small villages he'd seen in High Rock.

Eager for a rest, Pol wanders into town and soon finds a general store in which to offload some of his valuables, but finds that the merchant will not trade with him. It seems some of the items the smugglers had dealt in, Moon Sugar and Skooma, are illicit to the point that their mere possession makes traders uneasy. Something like that has to be pretty good, or at least valuable to the right buyer, Pol thinks, so as he makes like he's tossing them in the bushes, he merely stashes them out of sight behind the shop, to be picked up when he leaves town. While shopping, Pol finds a nicely balanced medium weight shield to use with his shortspear. It's made of a material he's not familiar with called "bonemold". He's also able to complete his armor set, except for a helm that will fit over his snout, though he does have to get the bracers in more of this strange bonemold substance. His shopping completed, Pol heads to the inn to rent a room for the evening.

As he heads up the stairs, he is enchanted by a Khajiit woman. After some chatting, Pol learns that her name is Ahnassi. Sensing that Polishes-His-Spear is a born Lady's man full of raw reptile magnetism, she is enthralled by him as well, and almost immediately wishes for Pol to be her special friend. She gives him some interesting information, that a Nord in the room upstairs worships Mehrunes Dagon and has an enchanted belt that may be related to the daedra.

Pol stops by the Nord Hrordis' room on the way to his own, but she refuses to speak to him. Pol knows the ways to a woman's heart, and removes his clothing to perform the seductive pole dance for her, and now though she plays shocked, she is intrigued enough to speak to Pol. He woos the woman almost to the brink of ecstasy with his words alone, but to no avail. Smitten by Pol as she might be, Hrordis reveals nothing about the belt or the daedra. Frustrated, Pol retires to his own room to rest.

In the morning, Pol speaks again to Ahnassi, and the caring girl has procured a potion of feather for him, to light his load as he continues his journey. The kind girl seems troubled, and after some questioning by Pol, she reveals she has been receiving threats from a member of a local criminal syndicate, a man by the name of Daren Adryn in the town of Gnaar Mok on the northwest coast. Pol hisses in sudden anger at this. The first truly kind person he's met since setting foot in Morrowind, being threatened for petty thievery? This will not stand. Pol promises to deal with the man as soon as he's able. Bidding Ahnassi to stay safe and think of him, Pol heads back out to the road, a little more hop in his step as he thinks of his new special friend.

A wrong turn on the road to Balmora leads Pol to a fellow traveler on the road. Nevrasa could use some protection on her pilgramage to a nearby holy site called the Field of Kummu. Along the way, she tells Pol a tale of Lord Vivec, to whom the shrine is dedicated. Vivec, who seems to be some sort of Vvardenfell folk hero, is said to have shown great humility in aiding his people here when he assisted a farmer whose last pack animal had died by acting as a beast of burden to bring in his muck harvest. Pol does not know what "muck" means here, nor why one would want to farm it. He does not have to wait long for his answer. He leaves the pilgrim to medtate at the shrine, the surrounding area seeming safe enough, and backtracks to the last signpost for Balmora. Along the way, he spots a small island just offshore, full of mudcrabs. Deciding to clear them out for the pilgrim's safety, Pol finds tubular fungi excreting a brown custard-like substance into their hollows. He tries some and is still not sure why one would farm it. The taste and texture is unappealing, and it only makes his head slow momentarily. He does however find a delightful treat in a patch of marshmerrow, the pulp of the delicious reeds invigorating him and energizing him for the journey ahead.

Passing through a strangely blighted and empty pass in the hills, Pol finds himself in the presence of another Imperial fort, and catches sight of a walled city just past the bridges in the distance. Hopping with anticipation, Pol approaches the city wall and finally finds himself in the relatively bustling town of Balmora. This has proved to be a more eventful journey than expected. Pol feels he's learned much along the way and is ready for a good sleep to sort out his thoughts.

But first, he had best finally deliver this package. Pol asks a few folks on the street and manages to locate the South Wall Cornerclub, a dingy tavern whose proprieter seems eager to direct Pol to Caius Cosades, if only to get him out of the establishment as quickly as possible. Pol has no idea what to make of Cosades' home when he enters. It is, quite frankly, a hovel, and the man himself looks not much better. Pol notices a pile of the moon sugar substance on Caius' table and curses himself for forgetting to pick up the stash he'd left behind the general store in Pelagiad. He could only hope that it would still be there when he returned to let Ahnassi know he'd dealt with her thug problem.

Handing over the package, Pol waited in awkward silence and anticipation as the man before him read the accompanying letter. He'd made the delivery... could he go now? As it turned out, the answer was both yes and no. This addict or actor was, he claimed, an agent of the Blades - a secretive network of Imperial spies and agents. He said his orders were to induct Pol into the selfsame network, for reasons as yet unexplained. Before Pol could voice the forming thought that he had no training for this sort of thing, Cosades seemed to anticipate. The alleged Imperial agent told Pol that his first orders were, essentially, free time. He was to undertake some training on his own, be it through finding and taking on freelance jobs, or joining up with one of the various guilds and organizations present in the area.

The whole thing seemed ludicrous to Pol. A secret network of spies pulling strings from behind the scenes? And why him, of all people? Why not recruit someone whose already meager skills hadn't deteriorated over a year in prison and a months-long boat trip? It was all too unbelievable. And yet... here the man was giving Pol a sack of coins, and here the man was pointing Pol to experts who could professionally train him, and here the man was offering his bed (dingy as it was) to the road-weary traveler. ...Maybe. Maybe it could be true. Pol was so tired. As Cosades began to puff his pipe and a sickly-sweet scent filled the air, Pol practically dove into the bed and passed out, images of the last few days flickering behind his eyes in the moments before sleep took him.

Folks, we have reached Level 2! Our multipliers aren't great, but I'm not too worried about minmaxing, and it should get easier soon, as we gather more tools and go on more real quests, to naturally practice things and get better mults on our next levels. Even if our mults suck for a while, eventually enchanting, alchemy, and restoration should have us buffed to Aetherium regardless. I definitely need to jump and repair my gear after fights more often to make sure I start building Strength for damage. I take the 2 in Intelligence (magicka has been running out quickly trying to practice with my healing spell), the 3 in Endurance because we need to build that early for health, and 1 in Luck because it's always 1, so seems good to take on low mult levels.