A Stranger in Skyrim 22

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Housecarl

In which Lydia is introduced.

The servant began to lead her toward the armory, as instructed by the Jarl. After a moment's hesitation, though, she reached out to grab the man's arm. "I know he expects me to pick out some armor but - that's not going to do me much good. Do you suppose I could select my rewards from the library instead?" 

"Of course, my Thane." The servant bowed slightly, changing direction. 

In the end, she made off with four dog-eared books, all spell tomes that Farengar helped her to pick out. Well - all except one. The thin black book she selected for herself, no one had seen her slip into her pocket. Flipping through it briefly had been enough to catch her interest, and damn it, she'd earned every bit of the reward she picked out. 

As she made to leave Dragonsreach, arms straining a little under the heavy tomes she'd selected, a black-haired woman in full plate approached her. "Can I help you?" Mariah asked, shifting the weight of the books in her arms. 

"Ah, my Thane. I am Lydia, and I am to be your housecarl." She bowed, formally. 

A pause as she processed that. "So - you're some kind of bodyguard, then?" 

"I - suppose you could put it like that. As you are my Thane, I am sworn to protect you, and all you own, with my life." The woman regarded her uncertainly. 

She nodded. "Could you help with these?" She offered Lydia the stack of books, intending for the stronger woman to take only a couple of them. 

"I am also sworn to carry your burdens … " The woman looked resigned as she took the stack. 

Mariah smiled. "Thanks. So - what all am I supposed to do as a Thane, if I may?" 

"To be a Thane is - it's an honor to be named such. There aren't really many duties or responsibilities; you've been recognized for the service that you've already given Whiterun. You're an important person here, a hero. Guards will even look the other way, if you tell them who you are." 

She ducked her head, embarrassed, as she headed for the door. "I don't think that'll be a problem, you know?" She really wasn't a career criminal - why did everyone assume she was? 

"Of course, my Thane." Mariah held the door open for Lydia. "What are we doing today?" 

"Well - I'm not supposed to do anything strenuous for a day or two; doctor's orders." She headed down the steps and across the waterway. There was a man there, standing in front of a shrine. He was shouting about Talos - wasn't that one of the Divines? 

Curious, she listened in. Maybe she'd learn something. 

"Aye, love, love!" The man shouted. "Even as man, great Talos cherished us. For he saw in us, in each of us, the future of Skyrim! The future of Tamriel!" He paused for a moment, for breath, taking a swig out of a flask that - she could only assume - contained some kind of alcohol. Drinking on the job, pfeh. "And there it is, friends! The ugly truth! We are the children of man! Talos is the true god of man! Ascended from flesh, to rule the realm of spirit!" 

He shook his head, angry. "The very idea is inconceivable to our Elven overlords! Sharing the heavens with us? With man? Ha! They can barely tolerate our presence on earth!" He spat on the ground, an indication of his disgust.  

"Today, they take away your faith. But what of tomorrow? Do the elves take your homes? Your businesses? Your children? Your very lives? And what does the Empire do? Nothing! Nay, worse than nothing! The Imperial machine enforces the will of the Thalmor! Against its own people!" 

It was food for thought, and she stood, listening to the entire lecture. She wasn't the only one. He was urging the Stormcloak rebels on, recruiting for them, it seemed. She had little interest in religion, but she didn't think it right, that this Empire was oppressing a people for a difference of opinion such as that. She'd read all about that kind of thing on Earth. She'd have to watch her step - it wasn't her war, but it was stupid to ignore the political climate. 

"Is this war as bad as it sounds?" She asked Lydia as they walked away. 

The woman looked at her, thoughtful, as she nodded once. "It's torn families apart. Old allies have turned to hated enemies over this - it's not quite open warfare yet, but everyone knows it's building up to it. And when it does …." Lydia shook her head. 

"Everyone will suffer. Not just these Stormcloaks, not just the Empire, but the average person, too. I want no part in that. War just isn't worth the cost." 

"Truly, there is nothing you value so much you would fight for it?" A raised eyebrow. 

Mariah shook her head. "It's not like that. I just - I think people should try to get along, despite their differences. Life is too precious to throw away like that." 

Lydia laughed, but it was a bitter laugh. "Things must be different, where you come from." 

"They really aren't." She sighed softly. "They really aren't." 

--- 

Mariah sat down on one of the benches near the temple of Kynareth. "Set those down - " She gestured for Lydia to set the books next to her. "I won't get any better if I don't study," she explained, taking the first heavy tome. Conjuration basics - Summoning for Dummies, it might as well have been titled. 

"You're a wizard, then?" Lydia asked it dubiously. 

She laughed. "Well, I'm trying to be. It's pretty much endless studying, as far as I can tell. But - I can do this," she summoned lightning to her fingertips, dancing the sparks across the back of her hand. "So it's worth it, in the end." 

Lydia watched with some interest. "We don't have a lot of wizards here in Whiterun - Farengar, of course, and there's a drunkard who frequents the Bannered Mare, too." 

"Well, I gather I have some talent for it." She shrugged her backpack off, settling it on the ground between her feet. 

"Mariah!" A small voice called, and a little body flung itself at her. She laughed, nearly toppling over as Lucia practically tackled her. "You're okay!" 

She smiled, hugging the child gently. "I am, thanks to you." 

"Oh?" The little girl looked up at her, wide-eyed. 

She nodded. "From what I can tell, Irileth found your potion in my things. It's what kept me together until they could get me to the healer." She squeezed the girl gently. "So I guess I owe you, huh?" 

"I guess so." 

She looked up and over at the housecarl. "Lydia, meet Lucia. You said you were supposed to guard me and everything of mine, right?" 

"Well … yes …." 

She nodded. "I want you to look after Lucia, at least while we're in town, all right? It's not much," she said the last to the girl, "But it's something I can do for you anyway." 

"Of course, my Thane." 

She leaned back on the bench. "Gods, but I'm tired." She yawned to emphasize her point. "But you don't get better at anything without practice." She nudged Lucia gently, to get her to let go. Then, she cracked the book open. 

"You can read?" The little girl asked. 

Lydia made a shushing noise. "That's rude … " 

"No, it's all right. I can read - do you want me to read to you? It's actually really interesting to learn from all these books." 

"You think so?" Lucia smiled brightly, leaning forward to peek at the pages. "I'd like to learn," she said wistfully. 

"Well - why don't we learn together?" She smiled brightly, flipping to the first page. "'This book is the first in a series dedicated to the study of conjuration ….'"

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Surviving Better Than Wolves

I wrote this for a couple of my friends who keep dying on my server, (they've never played BTW period, much less Hardcore Hunger - one of them is actually new to MC in general) and I thought it might be useful to some people. It's all text, no screenshots or videos, so if you want screenshots and videos, might I suggest some of the other fantastic guides already present on this very forum?

There may be some minor spoilers, but I couldn't fit that in the title, so it's here.

If you don't want anything spoiled for you, why are you reading a how-to guide anyway? 

Go get yourself killed a lot, that's what I did.

The scope of this is strictly the early stages of survival. It's more of a loose set of guidelines for what to do than a hard and fast guide. This encompasses what I've learned from my experiences so far. There is no one true way to actually play - this just seems to be the best way to pull it off without villages and without doing a lot of nomading.

That's a word now.

---

The goal of early survival is attaining a sustainable food supply.

Early Game Tools:

Wood Pickaxe, Wood Shovel, Stone Pickaxe, Stone Axe

Early Game "Weapons":

Stone Axe (Extremely low durability, use only in an emergency!)

---

Early Game Foods:

Brown Mushrooms, Pumpkin Seeds, Cooked Meat, Eggs

Note that mushrooms spread extremely slowly without bonemeal, which is not an immediately available resource, and pumpkins cannot be farmed until you have iron. Still, a nice dark mushroom-spreading area is a nice thought. Just be careful: it's quite possible that the mushroom farm will spawn monsters if you miscalculate even a little bit on the light level. It has to be low enough for mushrooms to spread, but high enough to keep monsters away - it's probably safer not to worry about it for now, especially if you're new to Minecraft in general and aren't sure what light level actually means.

Combat is to be avoided at all costs. Seriously, run away from combat if at all possible.

So the first thing you do in any version of Minecraft is punch wood. BTW is no different, so go gather a some wood. You'll want around ten wood logs to start with. Break them down into planks and the planks down into sticks, leaving enough wood for a wooden pickaxe. Mine all eleven cobblestone you can, and turn that cobblestone into a stone pickaxe and a furnace. Then mine more stone, then make a stone axe and some more stone pickaxes. If daylight still exists, consider getting more wood. You'll want it. 

Do not go out at night if you can at all help it. If night falls and you're unprepared, dig a big hole and cry in it. Hopefully you won't starve.

Now that basic supplies are out of the way, let's discuss food.

If you find a swamp, harvest most of the brown mushrooms you find (leaving a handful under trees in case of emergency and for repopulation purposes). If you find pumpkins, collect them. Hunt for meat, but beware that animals run away, and chasing animals may be a greater waste of food resources than it returns. One porkchop is not worth three or four shanks off your food meter because you ran and jumped all over the place. Punch all the tall grass you find: hemp seeds will be an extremely vital part of the settling-down process.

Beware of over-hunting: You're not the only 'person' trying to eat animals now. Keep at least two of every animal penned up somehow, even if you don't have the crops to breed them just yet, as they will become important later in the tech tree.

If you don't care about wool, then sheep would be your best target for over-hunting early on; you simply don't need sheep if you don't want wool, and by end-game you'll have other food supplies.

When you think you've got enough resources to settle down, find a place you'd like to build. My ideal place is near a desert for optimal windmill usage, but a desert is not necessary, and I'm actually currently settling in a swamp by an ocean.

Chickens provide the earliest, easily-sustainable food source: feeding chickens hemp seeds from tall grass will provide eggs, which when thrown will either hatch into a baby chicken OR will give you a raw egg.

You want chickens around.

Raw egg can be mixed with brown mushrooms to create an omelet, which can then be cooked for best results. Alternatively, you can mix the egg with a bucket of milk and a bowl for scrambled eggs, which can also be cooked, or you can cook the egg alone for some benefit, if you never find milk or mushrooms.

If the chicken hatches, on the other hand, then you have access to more chicken meat or another source of eggs, depending on your preference, as soon as the baby chicken grows up.

It's important to note that you should create a safe chicken coop with a roof on top: the chickens' primary predators (other than you) do not care about walls!

After you've got your chicken situation settled, you should move on to farming properly. This will require at least eighteen iron ore to create the hoe, so it's time to start digging. You want as much iron and coal as you can get. Do not use the coal to smelt the iron you find; logs cook for variable times based on species but are now just about as effective as (char)coal in terms of fuel. You're going to want torches. Torches are important, and torches are much more valuable in BTW.

You will need a lot of stone pickaxes: the durability on them is not particularly spectacular, and you can no longer repair them by banging them together until they're fixed.

Suggestions for branch mining can be found all over the place, but I find that it's the most effective way to locate pretty much any mineral resource in vMC, and BTW doesn't change ore-spawning rules. 

A general guideline I use is:

1: Dig to bedrock.
2: Go back up five blocks. This should put you right above the lava layer.
3: Dig in a straight line about three blocks high until you run into open air or something you can't actually mine.
4: Stop (it's hammer time).
5: Turn cobblestone into cobblestone slabs.
6: On your way back to the start of your mine, place half-slabs on the ground to prevent monster spawning.
7: Your mine will be very dark. You can use torches at important locations, but I would recommend only placing them as you absolutely need them: coal is much more valuable than cobblestone.
8: Dig side branches following the same guideline as #3.
9: Rinse and repeat.

You will also want stone stairs to take you to and from your mine. You can crawl up stairs when starving to death, but you can't jump. Besides, jumping wastes food resources. At this stage in the game, you do not have food resources to spare.

You should also consider this principle when terraforming the land around your home. Dirt half-slabs are an amazing invention. Use them liberally because you do not want to jump everywhere. You just don't. Stairs are also effective. 

Running and jumping should be avoided unless it is absolutely necessary.

So, mining. You have some options on what you want to create out of iron. If you find diamonds, consider saving up twenty-seven iron ore instead of just eighteen. Two diamonds can be used to make a hoe, and your first iron pickaxe is a major milestone. Otherwise, just save up the eighteen iron ore you need to make a hoe, and craft it as soon as possible.

Yes, I said a hoe for your first two diamonds. Not a sword. You want to avoid combat at all costs. Combat will cripple you, and crippled Steves die horribly. The end.

Now that you've gotten a hoe somehow (we'll go with magic for this one), it's time to start up your real farming endeavors.

If you were lucky enough to get pumpkins in your early nomadic stages, great! Add pumpkin seeds to your farm, leaving a blank plot of dirt for each stem you plant. Note that pumpkin growth is pretty slow, but you can eat pumpkin seeds raw for 1/2 a shank of hunger each, at the same level as brown mushrooms on their own. Pumpkin pie is not available at this level unless you somehow wandered across an inhabited village and it had wheat - this guide is mostly about surviving without a village, so we're skipping pumpkin pie entirely. 

You will want a decently-sized farm for hemp and hemp-seeds regardless of the presence or absence of pumpkins. Not only will this assist with feeding your chickens, resulting in more eggs and chicken meat, but a good hemp farm is also the first step towards the first major technological development in BTW: the windmill. Remember that your hemp farm must have open air or glass above it - and nothing else - or the hemp won't grow. 

If you've found any bones in your travels from dead skeletons, or temples, or other players who had bones on them when they died (get creative! And remember, don't engage in combat if you can help it) you may want a millstone and hand crank to make bonemeal. The exact recipes can be found on the wiki, found here:http://sargunster.com/btw/index.php?title=Main_Page, so go take a moment to look that up now. The materials are things you should already have on hand if you've been following along. 

(Hint: Wood and stone. Entirely. Some of it has to be processed.)

The hand-crank drains hunger extremely quickly, so always make sure you've got food to spare for this!

Bonemeal does not grow plants instantly in BTW, nor even at the rate that vMC now provides. It does, however, accelerate plant growth, including hemp plants and pumpkin stems. 

So, now's a good time to analyze your resources. Do you have enough food to power the hand-crank to make bonemeal, and regardless of that, do you have enough food to survive the wait for your plants to grow? You should also consider whether or not you've encountered any wolves yet. If you have, you may consider using the raw bones to tame them instead, as they are a vital part of the later tech tree, can help you in combat, and may do as a food source in a pinch.

Never directly attack your (or anyone else's) wolves. It won't end well. Also feeding them their fallen kin is a Bad Idea.

If you don't have bones, of course, this is obviously a pointless consideration until you feel you are ready to fight skeletons, you create a mob grinder, or until the dawn greets you with a lucky stockpile of monster drops.

Regardless of the presence or absence of bones, you should focus on improving your food supply so you can grind the roughly 70 hemp plants you'll need to collect for a windmill and axles. Remember to only cut the top half of the hemp plant, as it will grow back much, much faster than growing a whole new hemp plant.

More in-depth guides cover advancing through the tech tree from here. One of the best guides is actually the front page of the BTW wiki, so take a peek at that to see where you should go next. 

At this point you're mostly settled in, so your survival is entirely dependent on you.

Some considerations for your next goal: a compass is nice for finding the original spawn point. Building a road back to the original spawn may help you find your way back to wherever it is you settled if you die. If you've died a few times, there are good odds you have no idea where either point actually is until you build a compass and/or a map.

You will also soon want a nether portal to continue climbing the tech tree. More diamonds are therefore in order, as Hardcore Buckets does not allow for the bucket method of building such a portal. Just make sure your nether portal is someplace secured from the outside world. Optimally, nothing (except you) comes out, nothing (except you) should go in.

That's basically it!

Feedback is appreciated, as well as any other tips for absolute, complete nooblets.