June 11th, 2021 - About the frequently reported conflict with Verona House Bloodlines (VHB) by DTOM1962
According to my recent investigation, this is not a conflict, but a mere load order thing!
Both mods edit the path grid in Skingrad, and as long as my mod loads last, both mods should work fine.
Note that the recommeded version of VHB to use is not the original version, but the FIX version by Arthmoor: Verona House Bloodline SI Fixed.
As long as you are running with this version, Vortex should automatically sort it correctly. If not, simply flag my mod as later in Vortex, and you should be fine.
In parallel, I am trying to sort this out further. If you want to stay tuned, you may want to follow this post at VHB.

June 07th, 2021 - Yet another update! And yet another OPEN Better Cities compatibility warning

Seconds ago, I have provided a new patch version 1.2.2 of this mod. It increases the follow distance of your new animal companion a bit. It has always been way too close, probably leading many players (like myself) to be annoyed by the companion over time. The new version will make the wolf keep some distance, leaving you air to breath ;-)

Yes, I know - I've officially ended maintenance for this mod last year (see below). This is still true (theoretically). But there are exceptions to theory. And sometimes nostalgy just beats reason by a length. :-D

And here's the annual reminder for the OPEN Better Cities incompatibility:

Please be aware that this quest is NOT compatible with OPEN Better Cities Skingrad!
With "Open" I mean exactly that - the OPEN option of BETTER Cities causes issues, and only for SKINGRAD.

In other words:

• Better Cities per se (in "Closed" mode) ist absolutely safe!
• OPEN Better Cities for any other city than Skingrad is absolutely safe.
  

If you still want to play with OPEN BC Skingrad, bear in mind the following:

• You need to switch Skingrad to "Closed" before starting the quest, otherwise you will get stuck.
• If you switch back to "Open" AFTER finishing the quest, this will make your new player home disappear!
• So if you WANT to use the player home, do NOT switch back to "Open" mode. If you don't care about the home, switching back is safe!
• 
  

Feb 12th, 2020 - End of support for this mod :'(

Dear all,

it's nice to know that people out there are still playing some of my mods :)

However, I am afraid that I can't support them any longer. Unfortunately, I am far away from oblivion today, and I don't even have a proper installation of the game anymore to reproduce new issues, incompatibilities etc. Even less will I be able to implement new features.

All of my mods (see list further below) haven't been updated for years now, and I've obviously missed multiple important updates to related mods, OBSE etc. So it's very likely that incompatibilities have accumulated to a pile which I cannot address any longer - at least not without giving up other things in my life.

This all means that I'll have to make that long-feared hard and sad step after all.

Creating all of this stuff and supporting an evolving it over years has been a fascinating, thrilling part of my (at least virtual) life, but I just have to move on nowadays.

I am very sorry about this - it took me a long thought to make that decision. :(

I encourage everyone to take the sources from my mods to try to adapt them to more recent developments! I am sure that there are hundreds of gifted modders out there who can do it in an instant or two ;-)

Thanks to everyone who has contributed in any form to this!! Take a look at the long list of credits!

I'll still try to keep in touch here the best I can. Maybe I'll even have my own "nostalgic Oblivion playthrough" from time to time. I'll always be glad about mor "Oblivion talk", but only as a player. I won't be able to be an active modder for TES IV any longer.

Kind regards (with a bit of crying), 
jaime74


Aug 05, 2014 - Be aware of incompatibility with *Open* Better Cities
This mod is compatible with Better Cities, but NOT with the *Open* Better Cities option activated for Skingrad. Please refer to the "Compatibility" section below for details.

What's this mod about?
This mod is a small (but hopefully exciting) quest, in which you will find a wolf as a companion, including a few more hidden benefits and surprises.
Uncover the mystery of a haunted house in order to find the wolf. You'll also have to perform certain additional actions to turn him into a companion. And finally, there will be even something more to discover...

The quest story isn't really extensive, but rather short and straightforward. Be warned, however, that there's a specific time limit for solving the main puzzle. If you aren't quick enough, you will fail at least partially. This is all the more worth mentioning as some parts of the quest require patience! At several points you'll have to wait for hours or even days to be able to proceed (which can also be done in "wait mode", of course). This is meant to be part of the thrill. If you should fail the time limit, refer to the walkthrough and the FAQ included in it.

The walkthrough guide with FAQs can be downloaded from the "Optional Files" section, or read it online here: Online Walkthrough

Please rate my mod if you believe that it deserves it!
Have fun!

Difficulty
You can start this quest at any level, but I especially recommend playing it with a low level character early in the game, for several reasons:

• It doesn't require any combat (unless you intentionally seek it out)!
• You can gain animal companions (very helpful for weak characters)!
• You can gain a decent player home for free (usually quite rare at low levels, while you're still poor)!
• You can benefit from a special, refreshing healing effect!
  

Background
Originally, this was the first mod project I ever created, meant for private use only. It started to exist as one of those uncountable "Yet-Another-Animal-Companion-Mods" (YAACM). Then, lately, triggered by the upcoming Skyrim rush, I decided to polish and release a collection of my older projects prior to running off for the new TES V game. So I have given this one a complete revision, extending it by the quest and extra features. This means that it has turned into a bit more than a plain YAACM mod!
Note that any resemblance of the mod title to "An Unexpected Journey" - the subtitle of the upcoming film "The Hobbit" by Peter Jackson - is absolutely accidental! However, if this coincidence should give it some additional attention in any way, I won't complain! :)
And, last but not least, if you believe that there are some resemblances to G.R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones, regarding some names in this mod: Yes, they are only partially accidential! :)

Voicovers
The one and only main character in this mod is fully voiced, but general dialogues (like rumors etc.) aren't.
Therefore, unless you are a highly talented 3 seconds speed reader, you should have OBSE -Elys- Universal Silent Voice installed.

Requirements
Oblivion Latest Patch (1.2.0416)
OBSE 20 or higher
OBSE -Elys- Universal Silent Voice

Compatibility
Compatible with overhauls like OOO (Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul), MMM (Martigen's Monster Mod), UL (Unique Landscapes) and BC (Better Cities).
For BC, a compatibility patch is included, which needs to be installed alongside with the basic version of the mod (as described under "Installation"; mod installers will prompt for it automatically). It has been tested with the (currently latest) BC version 5.5.0.

Warning: While it is well compatible with regular BC, the Open Better Cities (OBC) option for Skingrad, which can be toggled on in game, will break the quest!! Don't use OBC for Skingrad alongside with this mod! You may choose to reactivate it after the quest is complete, but this will make the player home (one of the rewards for this quest) unavailable! A patch might be provided in the future, but I cannot promise this right away.

Apart from that, the following quest mods are know to conflict with mine:

• Verona House Bloodlines by dawson.tom - only conflicts when loading after my mod. If this one loads last, both will work fine.
• Running this mod together with A Family Problem by Videniofthesith (version 3.8c) breaks my quest! This is due to a bug in the other mod (see this discussion). So I recommend, until it gets fixed on the other side, not to use both mods at the same time. Until then, only the mod which loads last in the load order wins!
• There's a conflict with LGs Vampire Bloodlines v2 by Lord_Gallant, which can cause sporadic crashes when the player dies after the wolf has turned into a companion. The reasons are hitherto unknown, but I'll try to provide a patch in the future.
  

Installation

• The installation archive works with Vortex, BAIN (Wrye Bash) and OBMM. But it can also be installed manually by copying the contents of "00 Core" and the content of ONE of both esp folders into your data directory.
• If you are using Better Cities (specifically: BC Skingrad): When installing with a wizard in BAIN or OBMM, everything should be handled automatically. When installing manually, copy ONLY ONE of the available esps into your data directory, by picking it from the appropriate package subfolder. This applies only to Better Cities SKINGRAD (any other BC parts are compatible with the base version of my mod). If you are using BC, but NOT Better Skingrad in particular, you MUST use the vanilla version!
• Load order: Best to use BOSS to sort your load order (this mod is already registered in the masterlist). Otherwise, ensure to load it after Better Cities and and A Family Problem (if using one of these mods)
  

Credits & Resources

This mod contains resources from the following excellent packages of other modders. Thanks and credits to them for sharing their work and allowing to reuse them:

• Mickmage for his Wooden Toys Resource
• Qarl for Quarl's Webs (extracted from Tamriel Resource Pack)
• Meo for Meos Open Books Resource, which also implies credits to Phoenix Amon for his Book Jackets
  

Special credits to:

• catkai for the Japanese version (based on v1.1)
• Wallettheif for helping me to sort out the conflict with LGs Vampire Bloodlines
• MrGrymReaper for helping me detect some Better Cities compatibility issues, and also for inspiring me to integrate the new "female player" features
• CarlosS4444 for detecting some redundant edits, and for not giving in to my stubbornness! :)
• Jazhara7 for detecting the incompatibility with OBC Skingrad (see above)
  

Version history

v1.2.2 (07.06.2021)
- increases the follow distance of your new animal companion, leaving you air to breath ;-)

v1.2.1 (07.10.2012)
- You only need this version if you're using Better Cities. Removes 3 redundant water height edits for Skingrad from the Better Cities Patch. Though they didn't do any harm, I removed them, to be sure. Thanks to CarlosS4444 for detecting them and not giving in to my stubbornness! :)

v1.2 (05.10.2012)
- bugfix: the Better Cities Patch now comes as a separate esp file that must load after Better Cities (otherwise it doesn't have any effect)
- optimization of the diary correspondence and the dialogues to properly handle the player character's gender (especially for female PCs)

v1.1 (18.10.2012)
- fixed three invisible dirty dialogue edits

v1.0 (10.03.2012)
- initial version

More mods and other projects by me (jaime74)

Blade of the Haunted - A Sword Quest
My main and most time-consuming project here for TES4 so far. In this quest you will pick up the trail of an old legend from the Ayleid times of the 1st Era - a legend nowadays known only as a fairy-tale, a children's bedtime story called "Aaro and Dundellon". Follow the footsteps of this legend and you will gain a long-forgotten, powerful sword.

Northern Front FIXED
This patch fixes a couple of issues in Northern Front by Mishaxhi. It has been released with permission from the author of the original mod.

Ruined Tail's Tale - Unofficial Patch
This unofficial patch tries to fix/bypass a quest-breaking issue in Ruined Tail's Tale by Simyaz, which occurs in some games around a certain quest stage.

jaime74's Elder Scrolls Channel on vimeo
Watch more videos about my and other people's mods for TES IV and TES V on vimeo.

Robo Zer00 - Creating a Multiplayer Game with Unity and Blender
This is something completely different! A funny, private, non-commercial game design project that I've been working on for months. Come and see if you like the previews...