|
-
OB-place-the market sewers.jpg
...like THIS! BOO! (maniacal cackle)
Dedicated Stalker
(Assassin-type Roleplaying)
Every two weeks or so, the Night Mother turns to you to perform a special kill for her.
These murders are not just ordinary targets that can be taken out in a single night. To properly roleplay here, you need to find a suitably difficult target (such as a specific guard deep within the Imperial Palace or one of the Counts/Countesses). Pretend that the target's name and general location were revealed to you during a dream while in your chosen home's bed *.
Go to wherever your target is, and scope him/her out. How you do this depends on who you are and where your preferences lie. Either become the hunter who waits for his prey from within deep shadows, or the casual citizen who seems to lead a normal life and uses this status to get close to unsuspecting targets. Whatever you choose, follow your target for at least three days straight. Only rest for as long as you are sure that they are sleeping or otherwise stationary, keep undetected, and above all, note their schedule. You may even want to keep a brief journal or take notes, such as on times that the target has meals, scheduled routes, conversations, etc. Also be sure to know when the target does something out of the ordinary, such as walking around their city twice in the middle of the night before going to sleep. Once you know your target more than he knows himself, wait for the proper opportunity to strike.
If you go for the innocent citizen approach, make it seem like an accident, preferably in daylight. Conjure a monster to attack the target, then run around with the rest of the nearby witnesses as if you didn't know what had happened. Or make an elaborate trap-- the details are entirely up to you and widely variable. You can even make it seem like an accident that you only witnessed as an innocent bystander, such as walking by and discreetly backwards-pickpocketing a Damage Health hood or poison apple onto the target. The harder to access the target that you've chosen, the more creative you will have to be to look innocent and avoid a bounty (if you are caught, just go to jail and be sure to tell the rest of town later that you were falsely accused).
If you choose to take out the target as the subtle assassin, wait until the target is alone and strike from behind or from the shadows (in an elevated location). Wear dark, light clothing or armor (including a helmet or hood that hides your face from possible witnesses) and be quick, using either a dagger or a bow. Be sure to implement all of the assassin's tools: poisons, discreet magical effects, etc. However, make sure that none of it is bright, loud, or easily noticeable to anyone nearby. When the target is dead, either melt back into the shadows and watch as people discover and comment on his corpse, or slip away back to your hideout before anyone is any the wiser. If you are somehow discovered by law enforcement, never submit. No matter how high your bounty gets, always resist arrest and return to your hideout. This will make it harder to complete each target, as you will always be either on the run or in hiding to avoid detection.
When done (whatever your choices), take a break, do a minor quest for a close friend, and replenish your supplies using gold taken from your targets or made off of their fenced inventory. If you are ever low on gold, kill someone minor for their money. They must be a named NPC with a specific schedule, but they don't need to be as difficult targets as the main contracts. Never perform any honorable tasks unless it is from a very close friend, and never perform any dishonorable tasks unless you really feel like it. Joining the Dark Brotherhood is optional, but will always be second after your own personal interests. When you feel that you are ready to kill again or it has been a few weeks, fall asleep and wait for your next target.
( * )This home can either be in a low-key location like Bravil-- or a cleared-out/abandoned fort where you are unlikely to attract attention-- or a more pricey establishment in one of the cleaner cities. In the latter case, you will need to pretend that you are a model citizen to your neighbors throughout your daily routines when not on the hunt, lest they suspect your dark secret.
Lost Bandit
(Wilderness Dweller-type Roleplaying)
Born with a debilitating illness, you were left for dead in the forests of Cyrodiil (or what sparse woods there are in Skyrim). Your pitiful cries were heard by passing bandits, and having just lost half their members in a feud with a rival clan they took you in. Somehow you overcame your illness, but were never strong enough to wield a battleaxe like the rest of your clan. So instead you took up the bow, and with it learned to take out rival bandits and others your clan attacked in single precise shots. You were always kept on the sidelines of battle, however, as your clan seemed to have become surprisingly attached to you despite their form of living and your many differences. Therefore, your only weapon you had ever practiced enough to use the night your clan was killed was your bow. A group of guards attacked in the still of night, and your adopted family was struck down before your eyes. One of the guards found you, offered to take you back to the city and get a civilized home there. You answered him with an arrow betwixt his eyes and ran.
Now you live in the dark secluded forests of your province, always on the move, always watching for guards or bandits who do not wear your clan's armor. Your only possessions are the clothes you wear (standard bandit armor-- fur/hide sets) and the bow you carry. You avoid cities like the plague, knowing they are full of the monsters who left you for dead and those who killed the family you found. Instead you roam the wilderness, killing deer and other animals for food with your bow. Every person you see who strays off the roads is automatically deemed dangerous-- only the good citizens keep to the roads-- and dispatched with a swift-flying arrow. No matter what happens, whether you are charged by an angry grizzly or cornered by a wildcat, you use only your bow (you have nothing else!). Don't spend too much time aiming-- pull back and release in the fluid motion of the Bosmer of Valenwood-- get as many shots into your enemy as you can. When wounded, flee to a safe place and rest to heal. Make sure that you always have plenty of arrows, either from guards you kill in the wilderness or attacking ones traveling along the roads (remembering as you do your old bandit life).
You answer to no-one but yourself, and search forever for a scrap, a remnant of the clan who took you in. Whether you find them again (charming a different "clan" into liking you) or not is up to you.
Sewer Rat
(Scientist-type Roleplaying)
You begin your new life as a prisoner, sentenced for lifelong imprisonment for inhumane experiments and conveniently freed by a fleeing Emperor. But he came too late-- you no longer have any wish to return to the sun or rejoin loved ones. You would far prefer to spend your years here, in the Imperial sewer.
Either wear the prison clothing you were given long ago or forego clothing at all-- you are living wild now. Carry with you only a single weapon (blade or blunt) at a time-- hide anything else you find in the barrels/crates around the sewer. Use that single weapon for protection-- but don't EVER kill anything, even if attacked. You need live bodies for your experiments. If you are able to kill things with one blow, up the difficulty in the options menu. Travel the entire length of the tunnels, explore the passageways that lead to the houses of city citizens, and make a few forays into them for necessary food items once in a while. Make sure to do this at night (check the wait button) so that nobody ever knows you're there. If you are ever caught (by a victim of your robberies or a creature living in the sewers), take a few swings to ward them off and run. Lose your pursuers in the snaking tunnels of the underground-- after all, you know them far better than they ever could.
Do what you must to survive, and never use magic-- you are a scientist, and don't believe in it. Anyway, the glow would light up your surroundings and you prey from the dark. But what do you prey on? The creatures that got you sent to jail in the first place. It's not enough to just survive, you must continue your experiments. Seek to understand animal nature: find ways to challenge them. For example, drag a box in front of a door and attract a rat's attention. Jump over the box and try and show the rat how to find his own way past. Or line up two goblins and let one hit the other while trying to attack you. Vanish into the shadows and see who wins and why. Steal notebooks from the lands above to record your findings. Don't forget to not use magic or bows. And above all, if anything goes wrong, RUN don't kill-- your experiments are no good when performed on lifeless corpses.