In my last post I touched upon the role of choices in Skyrim and how much fun it can be to make what might appear to be a mistake, (is there really such a thing as a 'mistake' in Skyrim? I dunno!?) and instead to be freed by the option of letting oneself go wild and maybe take actions and make decisions in Skyrim that one wouldn't normally make or do in game! This is a concept that has stuck with me from the first time I picked up the "Duke" controller and graced the shores of Morrowind.

When I think back on my first foray into the remarkable Elder Scrolls series, it actually took awhile for the freedom the game offered to actually sink in. I mean, when one goes from Final Fantasy X and other similiar series to being thrust into the brink of a world where almost every decision is yours and yours alone to make, and then deal with the consequences, it can be a little overwhelming! I grew up on Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy and other similiar type RPG's, and as I've always primarily been a console gamer, I was unaware of the sprawling freedom-of-choice type of games that PC gamer's were well aware of and had enjoyed for years. So when The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind dropped I thought I had a pretty decent idea of the amount of freedom you might have in the game, but soon discovered to my great joy that it was even more amazing than I could imagine. I'd read the previews & review in the pages of EGM and Gamepro, plus some other publications, but it still didn't quite prepare me for what I was in for. 

I've already mentioned the first thing one learns, and learns the 'hard way', was to save often. Like OCD often. This is common practice now, but back then this was a novel and foreign concept to me. The game was supposed to give you 'save points' when you needed them, basically telling you when it was necessary, and warning you that a big boss battle might be coming up. Final Fantasy battles could be difficult, but a 1st level wizard armed with nothing but a dagger and some weak spells, being bested by a Kwama Forager or two was ludicrous. That's what I get for charging off into the wilderness with a blood red sparkle in my eye and the morning dew dripping from behind my Dark Elven Wizards ears! Suffice to say I wasn't happy with my first choice of character and started over with a more well rounded warrior/wizard type of character was a given. These are just some of the lessons one is taught in game, and these lesson's have served me well in Oblivion and now Skyrim.

But the mechanics of 'saving' have also revealed its own exploitations and opportunities. And it's this possibility of playing out an alternate reality of the one I had intended for my character that I used in my current situation. It's funny how I somehow felt a little bit sneaky, like I was cheating fate as it pertained to my character Valerius. Knowing one has a limitless amount of reloads can leave one feeling a little cheeky. 

   So there I was, perched anew (from my reload) atop the towers' outcropping, guards bellowing, torch's flaring, and me staring down my doom at an unsurvivable fall. I peered left, then right, and there it was, my possible saviour. A large internal fortified wall. It stretched from the rock cliff to a much lower area of the tower I was on. But even better was the fact that it was crumbling and appeared to be higher on both ends and receding in the middle. This entire wall's existence had escaped me in the panic of my first try at escaping justice or what passes for it in Markarth, but my determination to see this escape through, meant I was willing to try any option that presented itself! And best of all was the fact that Skyrims awesome "sticky boots of mountain hopping & climbing" would hopefully serve me well, and indeed it did. Running, dropping and zig-zagging my way to street level was a breeze. And luckily there were no guards in sight on the streets to the exit of Markarth. I'd done it, and now all I needed to do was run the hell outta there!

So through the gates I went. And was immediately caught YET AGAIN in the "Angry Guard Dialogue Tree"! ...Twice! But my little manipulation of the system again gave me the head start I needed, and I was able to outdistance my pursuers and leave them yelling at my boot heels in vain. Down the hill I went, one lone guard approaching on his patrol, so I veered left and avoided the dreaded snare! I kept going, no longer running as I was out of stamina by this point, and huffing loudly like a broken bagpipe! I'd done it. No pursuers that I could see (this would change!) and the sky slowly starting to darken before me. Now what to do. ...And then the ground trembled. Followed by the unmistakeable roar of a Dragon. 

Immediately upon my escape I'd found myself following the road and standing at a sign post with the name of a place I'd never been before nor heard of, 'Karthwasten'. Night was settling in and I had a choice to make, I could go right which would take me in the direction of Whiterun and other points, or left and over the bridge towards this new and enticing little place not yet on my map. Left I went, and this was the point at which the ground trembled and a Blood Dragon swept out of nowhere to assail me with his overbearing shout. His mistake. So began our battle, with ole dragon-breath shouting and swooping in to blast me with frost (or was it flame?) and me jockeying for a position with which to fry his arse with lightning and just waiting for him to land so I can start power-hacking him to bits! Some battles may appear as a dance, but I think our engagement would more resemble a court jesters rendition of clumsy circling on my part to keep the dragon in my sight, and his swooping and hovering in a shower of electricity scorching his ass and pissing him off. Eventually he took enough damage to be forced to land and square off mano-e-dragono!

I should probably state that by this point my character was fairly tough (lv.17), and somehow I'd seemed to have made some wise desicions in my choice of perks in sticking with a 'one-handed' weapon + 'one-handed' magic type of set up. And as I've stayed pretty much exclusively in the Eastern area's of Skyrim up to this point, I've had numerous encounters with quite a few Dragons of varying sizes and toughness, and so had a lot of experience in battling them. Even so, it still gets the blood pumping as some of the beasties are definitely more powerful and resilient than others, as I'm sure everyone's noticed.