Photo-Journal of a Berserker (Skyrim RP)

[Shjade]

There's been a lot of talk about a certain region of Tamriel of late. To be specific, there's been talk of someone referred to as "Dragonborn" in the northern reaches of Skyrim. According to legend - or, more accurately, rumor - this person's supposed to be some kind of fated individual blessed by the divines to strike down an imminent attempt to destroy the world, kill off attacking dragons, generally be a do-gooder at least to the extent that they'll be preventing genocide of the human race.

Koroga wouldn't know about that.

It's not often that political intrigue of any particular complexity ends up resolving in the Nord provinces of the frozen north. In this case, at least from Koro's perspective, it isn't really all that complicated. Mostly it was a matter of having been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

See, there was a bit of a blowup a few months back, some heated words were spoken, followed by some blades being put to use, and in the aftermath it quickly became clear that a member of the noble houses of Hammerfell was responsible for the whole debacle turning out as violently as it did. This impromptu investigation was on the rough side, being more interested in punishment than what most might call "justice;" while one member of the noble house was ultimately responsible, that didn't stop the witch hunt from tearing through most of the lesser individuals in said noble's employ at the time in the process.

Can you see where this is headed? If so, you're ahead of the game compared to Koroga. As the second guardian of the noble's household, she didn't realize the depth of trouble she was in until they came banging on her door with scimitars at the ready. It's a traditional blade among Redguards, something of a note of pride among some of their kin: a graceful weapon, smooth and artful in its curving blade, yet still powerful when put to proper use.

Koroga favors a more direct instrument for resolving conflicts.

It would be an accurate statement to say that a two-handed battle axe is an inelegant weapon. It's hardly the lightest option available. It lacks anything resembling subtlety and what grace it may have can only be construed as such by the most raucous of warriors, whose proclivities lead them to wade into warfare in a fashion finer fencers would decry as madness, recklessness, barbarism, or perhaps simply "messy." All these things are true. On the other hand, when faced with a small group of hostile swordsmen, none of them armed with anything heavier than their fishlike swords and not a one deigning to carry a shield in defense of their fine swordsmanship, having such a "barbaric" weapon at hand certainly gets the job done.

There was little time for packing or preparation in the wake of their skirmish. Koro had the presence of mind to grab her most integral equipment - her axe already in hand of course, a pendant her patron had had enchanted for her as a reward for her years of service, a roll of travel rations, her travel wraps and, instead of finding her patron at home (of course she'd had to warn the woman; she hadn't realized her noble employer had fled the city days earlier), taking along the magicked circlet the noble had left behind on her bed.

Neither enchanted accessory was a potent thing, she knew, but if she was going to be a fugitive for a time every bit would help. The pendant's power was one of protection: wearing it caused wounds to heal at an accelerated rate and softened the effects of aggressive spells targeting the wearer, power that had saved Koro in more than a few close combat situations since her having acquired the boon. The circlet, not being hers, was less certain, but, by her estimation, judging by the context surrounding her patron having worn it in the past, she judged it a protection from the elements.

Given her sparse clothing, she proved that estimation on the mark her first night out in the cold. Wearing the ornament seemed to make the night's chills simply fade away. It wasn't as comfortable as having warm furs available to tuck under for a rest, perhaps, but she'd be hard pressed to argue it was ineffective. Of course, that still left the matter of her rather obvious exposure, a trait that in and of itself made her recognizable to those around Hammerfell who knew of her service.

It was one thing to fight unarmored, a matter of preference and comfort, choosing agility over protection, but it was another to walk around this way. It drew attention. Under the circumstances such attention was undesirable, but the thought of stealing something simply to hide herself from pursuit did not sit well with the woman who had for the past decade of her life spent most of her days trying to uphold order. It would not do. Neither would staying near home.

According to rumor, her patron was said to be headed north, looking for the frost of Skyrim to cover her tracks on the road and elude the harsh judgment of her peers in Hammerfell. The safest thing for Koroga, then, was to head south, or any other direction, really. Anywhere but where street talk suggested would be most dangerous to go. Going north would mean running the risk of being caught before she could find her patron. Going north meant braving harsh people and harsher terrain where she would stand out as a dark spot against the white landscape - both literally and figuratively. Going north meant, if gossip could be believed, possibly finding herself beneath the shadow of a dragon on the rampage.

Going somewhere else meant running away.

It was two weeks before Koroga got her first look at Falkreath. It didn't seem as though it was being immolated by flying myths, raided by Redguard commandos in pursuit of fugitives, under siege by bandits or warring kings or in any other sort of turmoil. It was a good start.

* * * * *

Never made one of these threads before, figured I'd just open up with the idea in my head and worry about details and communication afterward. So, um...hi there!

I know I'm not the first (nor likely to be the last) to post a Skyrim-themed request thread here and, to be honest, I'm not sure I'm looking for anything specific. I just have an urge to play around in the setting and the game itself is decidedly lacking in roleplay opportunities, despite ostensibly being a role-playing game. (Seriously, am I the only one playing who wanted to be a Thieves Guild turncoat to get them all jailed, or have similarly game-impossible thoughts for questline outcomes? I digress.) I didn't have any specific character type in mind for RP in the setting, however, until my most recent concept: a nigh-unarmored axe-wielding berserker type. Enter Koroga!

Now, despite having written up that story for her up above with the pictures (which I just felt like taking at the time, and I'm now wishing I'd unequipped that quiver in the dragon shot >.<), Koro's not a necessary thing here. She just served as an example means of getting things started: the setting's in place, there's some plot to push things along (trying to find her patron and/or avoid pursuit in the process) without even needing to get involved in the Dragonborn story itself. There's plenty of room to mess around with possible character ideas and setups; this is just one that laid itself out for me all nice and tidy, so it seemed like a good place to start. Details are good meat for discussion!

So what is it I want, then? A partner I find fun to play and chat with, more or less. You could play another character for some ongoing interaction with whoever I'd be playing, or you could play a more background/DM-esque role if that's your thing, though I imagine world-creation type stuff would be more of a cooperative effort - it's more fun when we're sharing ideas and both play a part in shaping events, after all, isn't it? At the core, I suppose I'm just looking for some fun tromping around in the wilds in somewhat exhibitionistic fashion with opportunities here and there for deviant behavior of one sort or another. Probably not all-the-way-debauched style adventures where every wolf, bear, zombie and dragon is an uncontrollably horny bastard - fun as those can be, they tend to get stale fast - but I can't help thinking Skyrim's bandit-type folk would have more use for a bedwarmer than a corpse when they have the upper hand, for instance. All about balance and common sense (in a nonexistent fantasy world! ...wait what? O.o; ). O/O's are in the sig, you can find links to some of the RP's in which I've been (and/or currently am) involved in that thread as well to check style compatibility, and...I think that's pretty much that for a foundation?

Anyway, I'm rambling. Feel free to post in the thread here or PM me with interest, though a PM would probably work better for getting my attention just to make sure I don't miss it. As I mentioned at the front, I haven't made one of these threads before, so I'm not sure how easy it is to keep track of the thread in such a fast-moving forum as the solo requests section.

Thanks for reading, hope the little story snippet was fun even if you're not interested, and Happy Thanksgiving (yesterday) to you all. ^.^