Give Feedback
Grim Tales - A Princely Favor - Champion of Fenrir Book IV - Chapter 1
-
Endorsements
-
Total views2.7k
Grim Tales - A Princely Favor - Champion of Fenrir Book IV - Chapter 1
About this image
Notice
This user's image description contains 26 images. Some authors like to showcase more of their work in their image descriptions or use the image description to provide a storyboard for the image provided.
You will need to be logged in before you can see this user's image description.
44 comments
So Grim and Serana will be working together. That should be interesting.
Anyway, nicely done, both pics and story! I like Mizzog's take on Aela here, too.
Now on to the next... after reading a bit of Nataly's latest too, I think.
He is just one of those princes you can like. But Molag Balls not really. After doing his quest were you have to club that old man to death and what he did to serana pisses Damocles off.
Thanks for the comment and aye not a fan of Molag either!
I like the way yours and Nataly’s tales are now so intertwined (and of course with the special appearance of Despair from Liadys). They’ve firmly become entrenched in one another and you cemented this further with comments about Dannee’s handling of the vampire situation. I had wondered whether you’d have Grim do the Dawnguard quests but it seems as though you’re going to take some poetic licence when it comes to these quests. So this will be a Grim-having-to-team-up-with-the-most-unlikely-of-allies tale… Grim and Serana take on Bal (well, Despair anyway). Fantastic premise and I can only IMAGINE how much they’re going to get under each other’s skin!! I sense Erik is going to have to be a peace-maker between these two!!
Are you and Nat working in collaboration on this piece? I love the way you’ve captured Sofie and Serana’s personalities from Nat’s story and I was wondering if that’s from astute reading or some help from her? Either way, a great opener to what promises to be a fantastic new Book.
PS: I absolutely adored the line ‘The Huntsman had entered the Huntsman’.
I recall your Elrindr and you did a great job making him a scumbag. I tend to be a bit more like Alexi in my writing so tend to give people a nicer edge (with some exceptions of course). Maybe Rathe scared him so much he turned over a new leaf! On the other hand he could still be a total scumbag but puts on an act for Grim because he knows Grim is veyr carefree with his gold. So in reality I expect they could be the one and the same.
Grim sometimes wears clothes in public even if he has trouble finding ones that fit - glad you enjoyed their "city" outfits.
My plan for Grim on the Dawnguard and Dragonborn quests is to completely change them. Dawnguard won't look anything at all like the vanilla. Dragonborn I don't know yet as I have not done them - so don't know how close or different they will be. Mirrak may be an undead thrall to Mora in Grim's story since Dannee already took care of him. That is my current plan. Grim needs to learn the secret to free the trapped dragon souls and that is tied to Mirrak as the first dragonborn.
I am writing all the dialogue myself but I do ask Nataly a lot of questions and share any thing I have some doubt over. For the most part I think it comes from just knowing her stories so well - and Nataly provides a lot of character depth which makes it easier. That being said I am reading a lot of her past stories now, that she wrote before I met her, and that is also helping. So we are working together but she is mainly advising me so I can make sure I represent them correctly.
That last line I also liked a lot so thank you for mentioning that - made my day!
Grim sure can be stubborn when there is something he does not want to talk about, trying to change the subject with a little banter about them settling on a farm, he is quite good at getting Erik off track though he knows Grim well enough to push him a little. I agree with Grim and Isran with his somewhat ruthless nature could be dangerous, even with his begrudging acceptance of Serana, he seems one quite set in his ways, he is one that likes to do things his way as his strained relationship with the Vigilants shows.
Despair is a very dangerous foe indeed if she took the keen huntress that is Aela by surprise, though with her shadowy aura weighing on people's minds she does have quite the advantage, Aela was strong to have resisted enough to hide Sofie to keep her out of harms way. It is unfortunate that Hircine did not arrive in time to intervene in one of his sibling's schemes, now unable to get involved directly. Of course Serana managed to get herself into quite the situation with her sharp tongue, having little choice but to help Aela though she is not too fond of her. Will be interesting when she and Grim team up and to see what dynamic there will be between them. A fantastic chapter of Grim's tale, I am very curious about what is to come
They always seem to be on some adventure or not so they enjoy what little time they get to just enjoy some time at the tavern eating and drinking. However Grim prefers to sleep out in the open (and with Wolfgar on guard very few things can sneak up on them) and since the BWC and the Khajiit have many trade agreements it makes for a good arrangement to hang out with them.
Glad you enjoyed all the dialogue I did in this story - both between Erik and Grim as well as Serana, Sofie, and Hircine. I often struggle with it but for this story it came a little bit easier which was nice. Usually it is fastest for a Prince to come when summoned and I expect they can't always know everything that is happening (I don't think they have that much power). Coming through on their own limits their power as well I think - while being summoned gives them more access. I admit it is a little vague in the lore - I mean Sam seems to have no problem coming and going yet you don't see Mehunes Dagon coming and going like that.I have not been able to find anything definitive in lore why some Princes seem to come and go easier than others. So for now I look at like this - They are blocked from coming over in their True form but if summoned they have a decent amount of power. If they come on their own then they are far more limited in what they can do.
In general I think the Princes are like our old gods from mythology - very personalized and always meddling in human affairs. They almost never show their true power and instead like to work through their champions and servants. Also it would probably not be good if out and out war broke out between all the Princes. Such power unleashed would probably be the equivalent of a nuclear war. So they have their great game and rules.
At least that is my rationalization
However the three primary families of the Deadra, The Vampires, The Dire, and The Werebeast, appear to be in complete disarray. The recent acts of pure unbridled power (the assault on Jorrvaskr, To Dance with the Dire The Final Chapter albeit no one will about it, and Fenrir Unbound Conclusion) will put the common people into fear. How long till they band together against a common enemy? Would it not be pure and right for the common folk to slaughter the abominations? Already rumors of a dark elf from the Thalmor, by the name of Dravos Gahn, has been sent to deal with such a menace.
What will this new book focus on? Will we meet new characters both good and evil? Will we see old faces? Or even some of The Nexus's most famous character creations crossover to add the sense of a larger playing field in the upcoming book? Cant wait to find out!
Samuel
This book is mainly going to focus on Grim's role as Fenrir's Champion. This will involve his work with the Black Wolf Company and as well as his training to be the Champion. It will also have some stuff about Erik I can't talk about yet. The second main plot will be about Grim's quest to free the dragon souls locked inside of him.
Just to explain to anyone who reads this. I would position Hircine in a pose with TC command and maybe an idle. I then undo the TC and disable his AI. Then I move Serena opposite him and do the same. Then I move behind Hircine with Grim and make Grim the same height. Then I target Serena, then I TC and TAI her. This prevents her from changing her position but causes her to look at my character right behind Hircine - so she is now looking at Hircine. Then I repeat the same process only now I get behind Serena, change Grims height to hers, etc.
Repeat the above for Sofie and where I want her to look ... then repeat for different views and scenes. Lord forbid you crash or have to start all over again.
Thanks for your comment on my 'door' thing. Really liked that. Do not know if I keep it up but I will remember the expression.
Glad you liked the expression, one of my favorites.
It's good to see the lads make a return after their vacations ! Their complicity always so heartwarming as they tease one an other. Wolfgar being awesome as always hehe. Oh Grim, deflecting the question by changing the subject but Erik is being persistent as he want an answer..at least till someone gets into really gruesome details ! I think Grim is right, Fanatics are dangerous...even if its for the 'right' reason. Nothing justify spilling the blood of innocents even if it's to kill one or two vampire ( or whatever monster). Quite impressive if they managed to get an alliance with the Vigil..even if fragile...lets hope they can manage to do the same with the Dawnguard !
Nice little homage to Nataly's story with mentioning her amazing Lady Dragonborn Dannee. Very nice also to see the opinion that Grim and Erik have of Serana. It's gonna be a very interesting cooperation between them that is for sure. Though i get the feeling it won't be as hard for Erik as it will be for Grim to accept ever Grumpy Serana.
Speaking of ever grumpy Serana, she make quite the entrance being her usual cranky self...even if it's more as a show then anything else. I found it absolutely adorable, Hircine watching over little Sofie ! I have a soft spot for such things ! What a terrible ordeal for someone so young..to be stuck under Despair terrible influence ! I admire her spirit, still wanting to be the warrior and help. Very unusual that Aela seemed to be more resistant then the other companion to the nefarious aura. I really enjoyed the interaction between Hircine and Serana. The Huntsman isn't as susceptible as his emotional brother Sanguine to prodding and trolling and quickly turned that little verbal joust against everyone favorite cranky vampire.
I can't wait for what is coming next ! Very curious to find out what Molag motive are, why would he make such a daring move against Hircine. And I can only guess what it was that Hircine wanted to tell Aela but choose not to
Wonderfully written dear !
I think the tricky part with the "end justify the means" is weighting the odds and the good of the many over the good of the few. In western culture I think there is a stronger emphasis on the individual versus the east which I think is more on the community. For good or bad I myself tend to focus on the individual (plus friends, family, and the clan) as I have a hard time connecting to the billions that live on the planet (see Dunbar's number). A more interesting article on the submit is What is the Monkeysphere?.
So based on the above Grim is really about the individual over all. Hmm what was I talking about? Ah yes Fanatics and vampire killing. So lets say there is a Master Vampire who has been an exceptionally evil version of is kind and has killed literally thousands of people. He and is top cronies have taken over a town and this is Israns one chance to destroy him - but the risk of him escaping yet again is far to high and they have no idea which of the towns folks are under their control and which are their cattle. Anyhow they obliterate the town, killing some innocents in the process. By ending this Master Vampires reign of terror it has saved countless future lives ... most likely ... so was it worth it? Or a more simple example is when a town gets the plague and you quarantine it till it dies out, usually killing some healthy people in the process.
Anyhow sometimes not always an easy answer and way off track to my story at the moment but I like thinking about such things. It is good to stretch the mind like this sometimes.
I am glad you enjoyed the bit with Serana (good lord have I been spelling her name wrong all this time!!!! I spell it Serena ... I have ... runs to do a global search and replace ... and no one told me!) and Sofie. I got some feedback from Nataly on how to present the situation so it would match her stories best but otherwise I did all the writing.
So a few mysteries left at the end - what secret does Hircine know about Aela? What is Despair and Molag up to? What will happen when Grim finds out who his new partner is?
Very happy you enjoyed the story so much! Thanks also for all the great discussions on Despair. I have to limit her a little - otherwise she would have killed the entire city of Whiterun - but doing my best to indicate just how powerful she is.
To me Jorrvaskr is actually one of Hircines "strong holds" on Nirn (like Dead Mans Grotto and the glade outside of Falkreath) and hence Despair was breaking into another Prince's hold (which, of course, is why Hircine has to follow the rules and have Grim try and break into Molag's stronghold) and had to get in and out quickly. No time for pleasure and fun diversions like killing all the companions