Doing loads of potions is a good way to boost alchemy.

Golden Saints? You'll know them when you see them - The name is descriptive.

Quote from: Narf the Mouse;250842Capture Golden Saints or a slug guy and they can power a permanent enchantment.

IIRC, Winged Twilights are even better for that than slug guys, as they give slightly more magical juice. They're kind of rare, though. You'll recognise them by the wing and their distinctive sound.

Don't think I got that far in the game. I rarely finish games.

You can combine ingredients and up the alchemy as suggested, then sell the potions for generally a lot more than the individual stuff was worth.

Dairy 25: Finally found the bloody cave. I had explored a huge square chunk of territory with 1 little square gap in the middle. Where was the cave? You guessed it, in that one gap. Anyhoo, i am the chosen one. Reported back to the tribe who tell me i now have to unite all the houses and all the ashlander tribes. Hoo, that's gonna be easy...Started with the Hlaalu (paid my fine first!), bribed 1 guy to support me, he gave me a list of where to find the others. I'll do the 2 found in Vivec first.

I'm away for a couple of days now, so a brief break from posting.

Yeah, Hlaalu are basically Ferrengi.

Diary 26: The Hlaalu aren't really playing ball. I've got 2 onboard and the rest are scattered, so i'll do them as i get to them. I decided to try my mates at Redoran. First got a mission to clear the name of the boy i saved earlier. A bit of to and fro and i manage it. I then take the plunge and try to get the vote from house redoran. With the friends i have cultivated here, it is no problem apart from 1 dude, who i duel in Vivec. I win fairly comfortably and pocket his full ebony armour and ridiculously hard weapon. Recalled home and will try to get rid of the treasure next time...and get my vote for house redoran confirmed.

Diary 27: Before going back to Ald'ruhn, i decide to take the plunge and go to Mournehold for the first time, to see if i can sell some stuff there (i've had a count up and i currently have 200,000 gold in unsold treasure - 120 of that is that bloody deadric weapon). I go there and track down some new sources. I manage to sell my spare 2 ebony gauntlets. I'll go back later with the boots and sell them. I have 14k in the bank. I then go to get confirmed as house redoran's guy. They do so and give me a ring to prove my status. Hurrah! I then get another mission from them to clear out some smugglers near Gnaar Mok. Bit of a trek to get there. I clear out a cave on the way and soul trap a deadroth, using up my last grand soul gem. No-one knows about the cave in the town, so i wander around for a bit. I left it there. Next up, duffing up the smugglers, selling my ebony boots and enchanting another item!

After i've done that i'm undecided whether to pursue house hlaalu for their nomination or stay in Mournehold and see what happens there. Suddenly my reputation has jumped up to 16, my armour is now 143 and it looks like the temple are after my blood, posting bloody notices and stuff!

Diary 28: So i decided to tie up loose ends today. Found the smugglers, duffed them, got loads of nice treasure. Sold it and bought another enchanted item. This one, the Bastard Bone Belt summons a Bonewalker for 30 seconds - has about 10 charges, so not too shabby. Managed to sell the ebony boots, so i'm back up to 14k again - still with 190k of unsold stuff.

Next up, off to a place called Milk to take care of a mad nobleman. I'm running out of carrying capacity. I'm only about 5lbs below it at the start of things. Oops, far too many potions sloshing about. I'll make an effort to quaff loads of them on this mission.

Quaff or sell.

Diary 29: Got to Milk and duffed up the nobleman and his cronies. I fancy i could have gone off on an extended quest to help him get better, but i didn't fancy it, so i went the direct route. Yet more ebony armour. Shit, that's another 70k of stuff sitting in my parlour. Better than all that, i got an amulet of Mark. Huzzah! I then hopped around doing odd quests for other redoran councillors, so that they will recognise me as a councillman and i can build up my stronghold. Collected taxes, chased a lost love, cleared out a haunted mansion. Only 2 more councillors to please then i'm one of the boys!

I think i'll finish Redoran off and then start up again on the main quest. 17th level now, 190 health.

Diary 30: After a bit of a break i spent an hour or two re-familiarising myself with the game controls and getting back up to speed on what i had outstanding in the quest department. Answer = Lots.

So i decided to keep ploughing away at becoming a Redoran councillor. This time i had to find evidence of corruption at the ebony mine in Caldera. A nice simple jaunt where i managed to pocket a couple of pieces of raw ebony. Found the evidence, told my main man back at HQ. Now i have to go back there and close the place down. This could be interesting...

Horray! You're playing again!

It's amazing how much fun it is to read these types of posts...

Heh. If you've got some of the level 5 soul gems (Forgot the name), do a slaughter-run through a Daedric ruin and see if you can grab a Golden Saint. Think I've said this before, but they can power permanent stuff.

Diary 31: So, i made a juant back to the Caldera mines to see how i could close the thing down. Turns out i don't need to go on a killing spree - all i need to do is free the head slave! Easily done. I return and get the vote of another councillor. Only 1 to go! Sadly, he turns me down flat. I wander about the councillors a bit, before one of them tells me that the Telvanni might be influencing him. Hmm, a trip to my least favourite place. Sadrith Mora. However, now that i've got my floating shirt, i just levitate down from the walls of Wolverine Hall (i always get lost in that place). Turns out that the head honcho is keeping Arobar's daughter hostage. Eek. I save before going in, yet everyone is pretty friendly. Luckily the girl is located right in the entrance hall, so i don't have to fight all the way through the place. Just take the 3 guards present. Duff 'em fairly easily, use my Bonewalker belt to keep them busy while i pile on the pain. They had some decent treasure. I escort the girl to the docks, then recall home. I'm fed up with archers, so i make another magic item - my Anti-Archer Shoes. These drain 10 points from the Marksman skill of the target. Sadly, the game crashes after that and i fancy that i hadn't saved since finishing the battle in the tower. I'll re-do that bit at another point. Hopefully then, i can finish the 3rd part of my fortress, then get back to the main quest.