Ephedrina 01 - (Lady)* Ephedrina
"The Dunmer nobility is proud and cruel," they say, "and their craftsmanship exquisite."
Most Dunmer who fled to Skyrim are common rabble. Few nobles have chosen exile in those lands.
Ephedrina, too, is a member of the common rabble. A mere servant, of some use to her betters for sure, but nothing special. Ephedrina's most distinguishing characteristic is that she's the retainer of a Dunmer noble, a woman of real wealth and quality.
Well, she was such a retainer - a lady in waiting, with a bit of magic and a way with the blade, someone who could hold her own at court and maybe carry out a quiet murder if necessary. Very useful.
For reasons of her own, Ephedrina's lady chose exile in Skyrim. Alas she never made it there. One dark night at sea, the poor noble lady fell overboard and disappeared without a trace. A veritable tragedy, to end her life thus. Ephedrina, for her part, was left with a chest full of noble accoutrements. Why not assume her lady's identity, or at least her status? And with her status, her possessions. It would be a waste not to.
To her disappointment, her Lady had much less gold to her named than Ephedrina had supposed. Maybe that was why they had left? As for her own belongings, they too went into the sea. From now on, she is Lady Ephedrina - a noble Dunmer exile, saddened by the tragic loss of her lady-in-waiting at sea but determined to prosper in the cold harsh land of Skyrim.
An overview of the powerful trinkets now in Ephedrina's possession:
It appears as if Ephedrina will have to earn her keep once she lands in Skyrim. However, she is confident in her abilities. It doesn't take her long to get used to her (dear, departed) Lady's sword, nor to pick up the defensive uses of her fan. It's a very elegant way of fighting, suitable for a noble lady.
In addition to her elegant blade and fan, Lady Ephedrina also owns a mask which enhances her magical abilities. It's surprisingly comfortable. In addition to enhancing her abilities it also comes across as rather intimidating - especially when combined with a hood.
Ephedrina only knows one spell, but she has used it to great effect in the past. It is her intention to learn more at the earliest opportunity. She is under no illusions that Skyrim is a gentle place, and is determined to wrest comfort and wealth from it with blade and spell.
Windhelm appears in the distance. They are making landfall in a few hours.
With no master to serve and nothing but her own wits and skills to rely on, Ephedrina is ready to make a new life for herself. She is an adventuress.
A few notes on the shape of the playthrough and some key mods:
I've got Naked Defeat 3.0 and Simple Slavery ++, so if things go wrong Ephedrina could be in a lot of trouble.
I also have Devious Followers Continued and SubLola installed, but unlike the Maer playthrough I'm not going to throw Ephedrina into them deliberately. They're there as a consequence and part of the potential long way down, but my intention is for Ephedrina to struggle against them if and when they're relevant.
I spent a fair bit of time with SexLab Disparity, so different clothes matters and there are stat implications for a bunch of other things in there as well. I also have a bunch of other things in there, of course, but we'll see how relevant they get... it'll be an RP thing whether I engage with them or not. I have some (but far from all) features of SL Survival and SL Adventures turned on as well.
XP wise, there's XP for combat, quests, and reading but none for exploring or clearing dungeons. Double XP for Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood quests (neither of which I've played through before beyond joining the Thieves Guild). Skill levels are practically uncapped (in theory they can go all the way to 100 at Level 1), but I have Punishing Lashes and Succubus Skill loss active as well, so they could go the other way.
Edited by Anunya
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