Skyrim Alchemist

I’m back, and it’s been a while since I written my story! I am still playing Skyrim, but I got caught up playing a Dark Elf warrior. I fixed an issue on the blogs where images weren’t showing up in the stories.

I am going to be playing in Elder Scrolls Online, and I’ve decided to continue this story by switching the point of view between characters in Skyrim and ESO. ESO is taking place in the 2nd Era, so this will let me fill in the back story for Azeriah’s mentor, Anariel. When I started writing the story, I didn’t know what role Anariel would have in it, but now things are coming together! I’ve already started fitting some story pieces together when ESO starts. I’ll be using this blog as a photo journal of my adventures in ESO, tying in with Azeriah’s story arc in the 4th Era when Skyrim takes place.

Finally, I’ll be extending my alchemy tool for use in ESO.

I made changes to the site navigation so hopefully it will be easier to find the content.

• Previous/Next links added to posts.
• Changed Story Blog/Site Info to list the post links instead of displaying the content.

With site maintenance done, time to add more stories.

Today is the Chinese New Year – 2012, Year of the Dragon!

Indeed, it is.

Happy Chinese New Year!

The Alchemy Tool is complete! That doesn’t mean that I won’t make changes to it, but it is working the way I intended. I designed it with the intention of having it on my iTouch or Android phone while I play the game. I’ll probably add a frequently used recipes page later.

One detail that is bugging me. IE will not render the CSS3 drop shadows. My attempts to use ie-css3.htc and pie.htc didn’t work. I may come back to it later. So currently, the menus look nicer in Firefox and Safari.

For now, moving on to other things – like playing the game!

I’m actually a lot farther along in the game than my story blog. I have been thinking about how the story develops as I go.

To blog, or to play. That is the question. Hmmm.

I’ve updated the Skyrim Alchemy Tool. Effects and Ingredients are now always visible. Flyout links work! I designed it for how I use it with my iTouch while playing. If there’s a particular potion I want to make, then I know what to look for quickly at an alchemy shop. If I want to learn an ingredient effect, I’ll click an ingredient, then the effect to see what a matching pair might be.

There’s a couple of minor display issues to clean up, but it should be usable. Tested in IE, Firefox, iOS, and Android.

I’ve completed a preliminary stage of the alchemy tool.  You can try it out here – SkyrimAlchemist.com Alchemy Tool.  It should be mobile app friendly, though I still need to do a little work to streamline the CSS.

To use, click on the Effects or Ingredients tab.  On a web browser, hover over the item in order to open the flyout.  On a mobile app, click on the link.

Clicking on the items in the flyout isn’t enabled yet.

Enjoy!

Nearly finished with my alchemy tools.  I’m in the process of testing them now.  Database and most of the queries are finished.  I need to polish the layout and interface.  My goal is to make them mobile web app friendly.

If you’ve been following my story so far, you might be wondering: “If this is the Skyrim Alchemist, where are the alchemy tools?”

A fine question!  A problem that I plan to remedy in the new year.  I started this website two fold:

1) My first playthrough was with a Nord huntress.  I found my imagination filled in a story as I played – emergent storytelling.  I did not play the Bard’s and Mage College quests, as I didn’t feel it fit my huntress character.  I decided to make a mage character, and share the story as it happened.  I wanted the story format to be in words and pictures.  I really enjoy being a Skyrim tourist, stopping to pose and snap pictures.
2) A vessel for alchemy tools.  There are a number of alchemy calculators out there already, but I would like to try my hand at creating one.  I need a personal project at the moment to hone some of my development skills, and this seemed to be a great opportunity to work on a small, pet project.  I have a couple of different tools in the works, which I plan to unveil in the new year.  My goal is for the tools to supplement the story.

Enjoy the holidays!  See you in the new year, with more story and tools!

This is the journal of Azeriah Letholias, a high elf adventurer in the game of Skyrim.

I finished the main quest(s) previously as a Nord huntress.  I did not do the bard or mage quests, so this is a new character to explore these quests.  This blog will be an attempt to catalog my journey.  It also will serve another purpose, which I hope to unveil in the near future.

The premise of this new character, Azeriah, is she went to study at the Skyrim colleges.  I will be instituting a few self imposed rules in this playthrough:

1) Walk, or take public transportation.  No fast travel.  Jogging will be used sparingly – I will mostly walk.  Sprinting only in cases where it is really necessary – like running away from something!
2) Staves or daggers, but no heavy lifting of swords or shields.  Swinging a sword is simply too athletic for a wimpy scholar.
3) No thefts or murders.  I will not be joining the thieves guild or dark brotherhood.  These criminal activities would disgrace my family honor.  I will not be taking items that don’t belong to me.
4) I will change into normal clothing when wandering around town.  My combat gear is for adventuring.
5) Most of my blog journals will be “in character” format from the eyes of the character, but I may make a few “out of character” posts when sharing certain game details.
6) Although high elf in origin, I’m unsure whether I will join the Imperials or Stormcloak.  We’ll just have to see what happens!

Since I am blogging about my adventures, I may reveal certain plot points as “spoilers”.  I suggest finishing these quests yourself if you don’t want these surprises ruined for you by reading the blog!

The Adventure Begins!