They were back in the Moorside Inn, doing their best to ignore the fleeting, curious glances from the other patrons. Whispers of Dragonborn occasionally reached the table and Monilee had to suppress a great urge to stand up on her table and harangue the barflies, demanding some quiet and privacy. 

 

"If you're thinking what I'm thinking," Shayna said, "it would be even better if you took the opportunity to demonstrate your thu'um. That'd shut them up."

 

Monilee scoffed, "Oh, don't tempt me."

 

With Lucien and Edippa lost in conversation the next table over, it was just Monilee, her double, and Lydia, and the lack of a chastising or at least moderating response from Lydia at this point struck Monilee as a little off. Turning, she saw Lydia studying her dinner with a distant gaze. 

 

"Something on your mind, Lydia?"

 

It took her a second to answer. "My Thane, I'm a simple and traditional woman..."

 

 

"...and the way you've allowed Edippa to influence Lucien is also very concerning." 

 

"I see..." Monilee began.

 

"I'm devoted to the Goddess Mara," Lydia explained, "her benevolence saved my from sin and wickedness."

 

"Uh, sin and wickedness?" Shayna chimed in.

 

"Yes, that's right. She is the bearer of love and the patron of marriage. Lady Mara could save you from your trials as well!"

 

Monilee had to admit that this piqued her interest, but she had her doubts. She had long devoted herself to Dibella, and struggled to imagine herself pledging to the goddess of marriage.

 

"In the moment," Monilee said, "sin and wickedness were far from my mind. Just the joy of victory and the warmth of my friends' bodies. I was happy - honored - that you joined us in celebrating the dragon's defeat."

 

"My Thane, you don't need my body. The Warmth of Mara can see you through."

 

"Look," Shayna interjected, "Isn't she a love goddess? I'm sure she's OK with us sharing some furs."

 

Lydia shook her head, unconvinced, "I respectfully disagree." She turned back to Monilee, "I am your sword and your shield. I'm afraid I have nothing else to offer you."

 

Glancing over towards where an evidently tippsy Lucien was now resting his head on Edippa's bosom she added more quietly, "Now let's pretend we never had this discussion."

 

"All right, Housecarl," Monilee acceded. 

 

Monilee passed the rest of the night quietly, considering Lydia's words - not just about her own convictions but also her comment about Lucien and Edippa. She would have to talk to those two some time soon and make sure they were both happy with how things had developed. She had to confess that Edippa had a way of being a little... pushy with her romantic intentions. Priest of Dibella or not, it wouldn't be good if Lucien felt bullied or intimidated by the older, more experienced woman.

 

Later, as they bathed before bed, she decided to broach it with Edippa. "Mother," she asked, "can we talk about your and Lucien?"

 

Edippa smiled, "Of course, daughter. He's blossoming into quite an exquisite lover, isn't he?"

 

Monilee considered that. It was certainly true that he appeared to have taken Edippa's teachings to heart and learned them with all the attentiveness of a true scholar. 

 

So she nodded slowly in affirmation, "Yes, he has indeed. But I'm also a little concerned. He seemed so shy and reluctant at first. Is this what he wants?"

 

The cleric considered that for a moment. "In Lucien's case, one came from the other. I know you've seen both the beauty and the ugliness of this land, and you understand how it's different from more 'civilized' lands like High Rock or Cyrodiil. You must also see how that civilization comes at a price, and often that price is insecurity and a lack of confidence. Those things are dangerous here in Skyrim."

 

"That's true, and it was a hard lesson to learn. But I feel like you're tip-toeing around the matter of pressuring him to first become your lover and then to join the rest of us when we share in loveplay together."

 

Edippa laid a hand on Monilee's shoulder and looked her in the eyes, "I understand your concern, and it's a sign that you have a good and just heart. Please trust me that I did not force Lucien to do anything he didn't want. I came to understand his fear of this land, and especially how he found the forthrightness of Nord women challenging and intimidating, in private conversations long before I first brought him to my bed. Now, daughter, understand that this is knowledge for you as our leader and me as your friend only, and not to be shared. Lucien had great fears about what life held in store for him after his return from Skyrim. Could he forge a successful career? Could he stand on his own apart from the patronage of his family? Could he find a loving wife and be a good husband?"

 

Monilee nodded, "and so you sought to tutor him?"

 

"Yes," she said. "Just as Lydia has taken it upon herself to tutor you in humility and moral rectitude, I am tutoring Lucien in confidence, bravery, and loveplay. Understand that while he may still sometimes hesitate, when I push him a little further it is no different than when Lydia gives you farmer's bread instead of sweet rolls, and just like with Lydia I do it with his consent."

 

That helped settle the concern that Monilee was bearing. "Thank you for trusting me with this knowledge, mother. I sets my heart at ease."

 

"I'm happy to hear that," she answered with a smile, "now, I think you're well scrubbed. Let's do something about your hair, shall we?"

 

The next morning, Monilee noticed that Edippa was leaning against a column, casually peering into Lucien's room. 

 

 

"Is that your mercenary friend and... Shayna?"

 

Edippa nodded slowly, watching the action with evident satisfaction.

 

"Surely having Nordic cock stretching his back passage isn't part of your plan to make Lucien a good husband?"

 

The cleric shrugged, "he wouldn't be the first scholar to end up finding true love in the arms of another man. And moreover, who knows what favors he'll need to give and receive to move up the academic ladder back in Cyrodiil."

 

"And no doubt Shayna is just there to chaperone."

 

"Surely you didn't expect her to demure from such an opportunity?"

 

"Of course not," Monilee sighed, "why would I expect anything else?" With another shake of her head she returned to her humble breakfast of bread and hard-boiled egg.

 

With breakfast and morning amusements concluded, the party set off south for Whiterun. On the route they weighed the options of proceeding directly to Riverwood to continue searching for the horn, or stepping in Whiterun proper to reequip and provision. Considering a few factors, not the least being that Lydia's steel armor had taken some noticeable damage during the dragon fight outside Morthal, they decided to stop over in Whiterun, both to sell the loot from their adventures thus far and also to acquire new armor for Lydia.

 

When they arrived, rain was pouring down all across the Whiterun plain, and the city walls did nothing to spare those within. Still, the smith Adrianne Avenicci was not far from her forge, and Monilee struck up a quick conversation about the armor.

 

"Adrianne," she said, "I need to get my new Housecarl outfitted. Can you help me?"

 

Adrianne took a moment to look Lydia up and down before responding.

 

 

"My housecarl, you mean? Oh, she'd not interested in me." Monilee tried not to sound too bitter about the matter.

 

"What?" Adrianne shot back.

 

Monilee shrugged. "Something about sin and Mara. Why do you ask?"

 

 

"So you think my Housecarl and I should be together?"

 

Forcefully she answered, "Aye, that I do. She's sworn to carry your burdens. She's a gift for your service."

 

"Perhaps, but I'm not going to press the point with her."

 

"I see," Adrianne said. "It's really too bad. Such beauty... but in any event, I have a different request for you. I need you to retrieve ore from a mine in Eastmarch hold. Do this task for me and I'll be delighted to give Lydia the finest arms and armor."

 

They discussed things a little further, and it was clear that the mine at Darkwater Crossing wasn't so far out of their way as to be impractical. Whoever had left the note behind couldn't know exactly when the party would reach Riverwood anyway, so a day's detour seemed reasonable. The only problem was Valtheim Towers. Unlike last time, the shortcut through the mountains wouldn't get them any closer to Darkwater Crossing, so they'd have to deal with the bandit stronghold. 

 

Under the shadow of dense clouds, their footsteps hidden by thunder, the party approached the towers from the west and found the gates wide open. Quickly, a bandit revealed the reason for their easy entrance. 

 

 

Under other circumstances, Monilee might have parlayed with the bandits for passage, maybe intimidated her way past, but she was in no mood for that at the moment. She whispered her word of love to the thug and, while the woman was disoriented, cut her down quickly with the Rueful Axe. From there, the party stormed the fort and sent the remaining bandits either fleeing - or do their deaths.

 

 

After the last of the bandits ran shrieking into the night, the party took stock of their surroundings, confiscated the bandits' meager store of treasures, and rested the night in the relative comfort of the old towers. Before departing the next morning, Lydia raised the banner of Whiterun Hold over the towers. Hopefully a sign that would signal the hold's guards that it was time reoccupy their once-lost border post.

 

"I'm proud of what we've managed to accomplish," Lydia said, "without you I don't know when - or ever - the guard could have retaken Valtheim. Well done, my Thane."

 

"Thank you, Lydia."

 

"The mine at Darkwater Corssing isn't far now... but wait, I heard what you were talking about."

 

"Mammoth ears," muttered Shayna.

 

"Yeah," she said, making a brushing off motion before turning back to Monilee, "...but, she's right."

 

"About what?"

 

"I am sworn to carry your burdens. I'll... see what I can do."

 

"Housecarl, I'm not asking you for anything at all - nothing but your sword and your shield."

 

"I know," she said, momentarily looking away, "but I must take care of you."

 

Monilee tried her best to be indulgent without making Lydia more uncomfortable than she already clearly was. "You're just confused, dear. You should think more about what you want."

 

"As you wish, I am at your command. Honor to you, my Thane."

 

Darkwater Crossing was a quaint little hamlet, just a few huts along with a campsite for the itinerant miners. It wasn't difficult to locate the foreman, a woman named Anneke Crag-Jumper. Evidently a good friend of Adrianne's, she was not just happy but positively eager to hand over the shipment of ore. 

 

"Is that your companion?" she asked, pointing over Monilee's shoulder at Lydia. "She's a beautiful woman indeed."

 

 

"That's too bad," Anneke opined. Monilee was pretty sure she could feel Lydia glowering behind her.

 

"Thank you again," Monilee said, "I should get back to Adrianne with this."

 

As they left the mine, Monilee heard a startled cry, "Help, somebody help! Somebody do something!"

 

An instant later, Monilee heard a deep roar that could only come from one source - a dragon. And there it was, approaching from the east! Drawing the Rueful Axe, Monilee rallied the party and they moved to meet the dragon short of Darkwater Crossing, hopefully far enough to spare the innocents in the mining camp.

 

 

They met the dragon in battle near the ruins of an old watch tower. Though it stunned Monilee with a blast of intense frost, the rest of the party held it off long enough for her to recover her feet and strike is across the snout with the Rueful Axe. Now stunned itself, the dragon took to the air and attempted to flee, chased by a hail of the party's arrows. Injured, the dragon did not retreat far, settling on a rocky hill some distance to the east. Monilee gave chase and defeated the dragon in its lair - a lair that contained not only the dragon's treasures but also a word wall. Empowered with both a dragon soul and the knowledge a new word, Monilee fell to her knees for a moment to recover. 

 

As her head slowly cleared, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

 

"Do you have a moment, Thane?" asked Lydia.

 

 

"My Thane, it's my job to make sure we maintain good relationships for one another."

 

"Oh?" Monilee asked, "are you about to chastise me again?"

 

"I'm not angry with you," Lydia sighed, sounding a little exasperated.

 

"Finally," Shayna said, from somewhere behind Monilee.

 

"Look," Lydia continued, studiously ignoring Shayna, "maybe we can come to some sort of agreement." 

 

"What do you have in mind?"

 

"You are... the Dragonborn. And I am your Housecarl; it's my honor to serve you. This is the best thing I've ever been a part of."

 

Monilee nodded slowly, "I'm glad you're happy, Housecarl."

 

"Sometimes I feel... temptation. It's becoming more than I can bear. It was more than I could bear after we defeated the dragon at Morthal."

 

"Tempation... for me?"

 

"Yes, Thane."

 

"But what about the warmth of Mara and all that? You don't need me."

 

"To receive the touch of Mara, you must first act as her hands in the world." It sounded like Lydia was quoting.

 

"And you want to be Mara's hands?"

 

"Well, it's certainly worth a try."

 

Monilee chuckled, glancing over towards Edippa who was evidently watching with interest. 

 

"Look, Lydia, I'm a bit conflicted. You're beautiful but you're also a bit of an innocent. I think from your perspective, you'll find my way of life... sinful. Is that what you really want?"

 

"My life is already tied to you, my Thane. If that's your way of life, then I suppose we sin together."

 

And then, just like that, Lydia kissed Monilee, taking her a bit by surprise.

 

 

When they broke their embrace, Monilee asked her, "Lydia, my Housecarl... are you sure you want this?"

 

"I do," the warrior responded with newfound certitude, "so much."

 

Then she forestalled whatever Monilee was about to say next. "Enough, let's go. Somewhere... beautiful, somewhere private."

 

Monilee instantly knew where to go. In their pursuit of the dragon, they'd passed a hot spring surrounded by ancient dwarven ruins. Warm, comfortable, the perfect place to relax and... sin together. She led the way, and Lydia followed, her previous caution discarded. 

 

"Do you like it here, Lydia?"

 

"It's just perfect," she said quietly. "Please, let's make love."

 

 

 

Test Report

Baseline updated based on new release (hot upgrade, no new game started)

 

• Updated Toys Framework to version 0.7
• Updated Toy Story to version 0.7
• Updated Shout Like a Virgin to version 8.03
• Updated SSE Engine Fixes with new Shadow Scene fix
• Added Skyrim Priority SE (Golden Rule compliant)

 

External Tools Report

• Successfully updated Bodyslide
• Successfully updated FNIS
• Successfully updated Nemesis
• Reviewed all mods in MO2 conflict checker, no new asset conflicts identified
• Ran xEdit error checks, no errors found
• Ran xEdit Cleaning checks
  • No deleted master references found
  • No ITM references found
• Ran xEdit Conflict checks
  • No conflicts identified in Toys.esm
  • No new conflicts identified in the other files (for example, Toy Story.esp still contains the previously-documented wild lighting change to Nightingale Hall)
• Reviewed external files in internet explorer
  • SLaVE SE appears to be packaged with the SEQ file for the previous version. This may be benign if no relevant changes were made

 

Gameplay Report

• The Thu'um of Love has not been starting sexlab scenes, just applying its calming effect. After discussions with @VirginMarie this is clearly not the intended behavior. I'll be testing this more intensely going forward to try and sort out what is going wrong. 
• A SLaVE sex scene got stuck (actor couldn't reach Monilee, it appears) and "love wasn't meant to be" event successfully terminated the scene. The scene then tried to restart and was able to path the actors successfully. Not sure if the "second try" was deliberate or not but no lingering issues were observed.
  • Also, Cassia in the second scene Cassia murdered Monilee. It was pretty funny to watch. I suspect this is the same as the previously-documented issue with violent snuff/necro/vampire animations getting picked up by SLaVE and it's probably not a genuine bug, just a funny emerging behavior.