Skyrim VR... Day 36

Just down the road from the freshly liberated mead hall was a quaint looking village. As I approached, I noticed it was covered in a swirly white shield. I was immediately sus.

I could see some folks sitting in a circle doing some kind of summoning spell. Strange things are afoot at Skaal Village.

I approached, and tried to chat to them but they were all like don't bother me, I'm concentrating. They should have had little red ⛔ symbols floating over their heads like their pillar.

I wonder what they were up to. I let myself into all of the houses, but aside from some little kid, there was nobody else there. It seems like a lot of buildings for 3 adults and a kid. I made a mental note to come back again and see if I can interrupt their spell, or at least figure out what's going on.

Wandering up toward the headwaters I needed for a quest, I found another of those creepy green lights. This one was the wind one. I dunno how many there are, but feels like I've clicked a half dozen of them by now.

Near the headwaters, I found a cave entrance. It turned out to be another Reikling hideout. Apparently these ugly guys move in everywhere. I think I evicted them all, but they do have a tendency to hide in barrels, so I dunno if I missed a couple.

I think GLaDOS might have sent the Reiklings to Skyrim, it looks like they have the patented Aperture Science testing symbology on the wall. This one looks like a test involving an illegal soccer tackle. 🟨

Moving deeper into the hideout, I found a barred-off treasure room behind an expert grate. I assume the previous owner accidentally locked their keys in the room and couldn't get back in? Otherwise, I dunno what this is gonna open.

I could hear the chanting in my head that signifies I'm near some new dragon runes, but even so this looked like a trap, so I took my time to correctly solve the puzzle before pulling the lever.

I was surprised to find a East Empire Strongbox in the ruins, but perhaps they had been in here prior to the Reiklings moving in?

When I solved the puzzle, I went and read the runes and got a new shout - cyclone. I really must get around to using my shouts. I keep on using my bow, it's too much fun, and shouting is kind of the opposite of stealth.

Now I know I'm the only soul who has been this side of the barricade in hundreds of years, so who lit the candles? Maybe they're magical everlasting candles. But honestly, it's little things like this which can break the immersion a smidgeon... might as well have been an "emergency exit" sign hanging from the roof.

Surprisingly, the emergency exit didn't take me directly back to the start of the dungeon... it took me to a very sus looking statue and a big book. I felt that now might have been an appropriate time to save, just in case.

And, oh, ah. This eldritch book bullshit again.

I was expecting to have to dodge tentacle monsters like last time, and, well, it looks like they levelled up. They weren't your average hide-in-a-pool-and-slap tentacles, they were big ugly walking tentacles with a monster attached.

I wasn't going to let it get close enough to touch me, so I dropped it from afar and carefully continued exploring this green hell.

Later on, the tentacle monsters were even more upgraded. Apparently after missing the previous one, Sofia was keen to get molested by this big guy, so she ran off ahead while I kept my distance...

I don't know why she was so keen on getting close to that guy, just looking at his dead body still gives me the #nope-s.

A few more puzzles and scary monsters and I got to the end book inside the book.

The picks from the Book of Untold Legends were a bit of a no-brainer. I could pick a Spectral Drum that increases my Stamina Regen (stamina isn't really a thing in VR), I could pick a butler to carry my stuff (I already have a Sofia for that), or I could pick a black market merchant.

36 days in and I think I might have finally found a place to sell my stolen goods! I will have to try unloading them from Sofia and sell them next session!

I finally got out of the stifling eldritch plane, and then the stifling musty dungeon, and into the... well I suppose it's fresh night air. But that ash plume is kind of stifling too... I think it's going to be a few more weeks on Solstheim before I can head back to Skyrim and truly clear my lungs.