Imperial City
Imperial City is simply overwhelming, even for the new, more confident, me. The hustle and bustle of people, even if they are very friendly, overpowers a small village guy like myself. Shops, people, temples, guard towers - it all smothers the senses, making one feel ungrounded and superfluous. My confidence has been shaken and I probably need to get out of the city soon. Maybe I'll continue on to Chorrol, to find Jauffre and hand off this Emperor's bauble.
I did find myself back underground again. It can be hard to stay in the fresh air around here, with all the buildings and people pressing in. I slinked away into the sewer system, and explored extensively while I tried to get back on my feet. I felt I needed more practice, to sharpen my combat skills, and the sewers turned out to be an excellent arena for my efforts. Mudcrabs and goblins proved to be worthy adversaries, as I explorer the twisty little passages underneath the bustle. The rats, however, I can do without!
My new confidence, however shaken, must be showing, though. I was looking around in a shop went the merchant, Jensine, approached me and asked if I would check out a small problem the merchant society has. It seems one Thoronir has been undercutting their prices and they wonder about the source of his goods. It makes a man feel good when he can wear his confidence on his sleeve and be appreciated for it! So I accepted the charge and went off to look for Thoronir's store. I figured at the very least I could find some cheap goods.
It turns out that Thoronir is the proprietor of "The Copious Coinpurse", a dubious name for an establishment. He was proud of his low prices, but refused the answer any questions as to his sources. Later, as I was out exploring the city, I came across Thoronir and one Agarmir, surreptitiously meeting up in a small park. So I slunk to within earshot and overheard Agarmir informing Thoronir of another shipment of ill-gotten gains, and for Thoronir to be ready to move them along. So it looks like Jensine and the merchant society were right in their suspicions!
I tailed Argamir back to his house. I will have to get in there when he's not around to see what is really going on.
After that little job is done, I will probably head on out to the Weynon Priory. This Amulet is getting to be too much of a burden, both physically and spiritually. Time to cut lose from this pressure and move along.
I'm finally getting comfortable with the skill system. I've been contributing to the OblivioWiki, and I think I'll post something there with how it all works. There's an intricate connection between skills, attributes and both skill levels and character levels. So I went down to the sewers to brush up on my Endurance and Strength abilities.
Still no major complaints vis-a-vis game play. I don't have a good feel for the lock picking minigame, so I'm not very good at that. I'll probably have to practice via the Quick Save/Load process. The graphics are excellent - just went through a nice rain shower, complete with lightning and thunder, that was pretty cool. A few too many "Loading..." screens, perhaps, both of the complete with splash screen ones (which really pull you out of the experience) and the "Loading area..." message which shows up periodically. My computer must be fast enough to load these areas without hesitation, because I'm not sure why they bother with the message, as it loads without a hiccup in game play.