Delga Playthrough

In Which Delga Acquires the White Phial and Joins the Bards College

November 11, 2021 /

Pretty busy session this time too, all familiar territory, but stuff I wanted to get done. Particularly the getting into the Bards College, just so I could get to the part where I get all the skill bumps!

Highlights

  • Play date: 11/10/2021
  • Session number in this run: 12
  • Cleared Forsaken Cave
  • Got a bunch of gold and silver ingots \0/
  • Also word for Marked for Death, and got the cracked White Phial
  • Curalmil was not too difficult as long as I monitored my health bar
  • Got all the alchemical ingredients back in the chamber with the cracked Phial
  • Got out again and headed back to Windhelm
  • Passed Talsgar the Wanderer again
  • And a third Dark Brotherhood assassin
  • Went into Windhelm to stop first at the White Phial shop
  • Gave Nurelion the Phial; got his meager reward and Quintus’ less meager one
  • Also got Wylandriah’s soul gem while i was in there
  • Shopped a bit with Oengul and made jewelry at his forge
  • Leveled up to 24; took a One-Handed perk
  • Also got Smithing over 60 so woo! Arcane Blacksmith will be unlocked next level up!
  • Got his quest for Queen Freydis’ sword
  • Sold a bunch of jewelry to Niranye
  • Headed out to take the cart to Riften
  • Got in late; crashed at Honeyside (hi Iona! BRB gotta go furnish this place)
  • Bought round one of furnishings, which got me the kitchen, bedroom, and alchemy lab
  • Went out and sold a few things to Balimund and Bersi
  • Got Mjoll the Lioness’ quest to get her sword Grimsever back \0/
  • Then went back and got the enchanter table and garden
  • Boinged home to Whiterun
  • Dropped off a few things in bedroom chest
  • Sold more things to Belethor, and oh hey he had ebony! Got both his ingots for later to finish out my Nordic armor set
  • Got a quicksilver ingot from Warmaiden’s, and made Nordic gauntlets
  • Set out across Whiterun plains to get to Dead Men’s Respite
  • Critters killed en route: mudcrab, four wolves, sabre cat
  • Found last two necessary nirnroot
  • Passed Talsgar the Wanderer again, dude gets around apparently
  • Mined an iron vein
  • Fought Subjugated Ghost, oh okay near that dungeon; hold that thought ghosts, I’ll be back for you
  • Went past Orotheim and will be back for that, too
  • Reached and cleared Dead Men’s Respite, got Olaf’s verse, his ebony sword, the second word of Whirlwind Sprint, and assorted boss chest loot
  • Hoofed it northward to Solitude
  • Went near but not to Meeko’s Shack; was close enough to hear him barking
  • Went through Dragon Bridge for the first time and officially discovered it for the map
  • Headed on into Solitude; shopped at Radiant Raiment, Bits and Pieces, and Angeline’s
  • No Daedra heart, but Sayma did have some ebony and a quicksilver, so I made Nordic boots
  • Turned the verse in at Bards College; restored the festival and got inducted
  • Got the quest to go get the flute back
  • Took carriage to Winterhold to get Wylandriah’s last thing, her orichalcum ingot
  • Was tempted to head up to the college but held off for now; too many side quests already stacked up
  • Hoofed it out of Winterhold southward
  • Critters killed in route to Windhelm: snow bear, two wolves
  • Used the smelter at Whistling Mine since I had some ore that needed smelting, and Riften has no smelter
  • Took out hostile Breton who must have been some kind of battle mage? He was throwing fire and wearing steel plate armor
  • Imperials vs. Stormcloaks, looks like the Imperials won?
  • Mined iron vein
  • Imperial tried to recruit me; yep hold that thought I’ll get to you
  • Cut through Windhelm, and HI SOFIE, yes honey I will totally buy your flowers
  • Cart down to Riften
  • Oh good was able to talk to Ingun even before I reached the house
  • Got the rest of my Nordic armor improved, because Balimund had quicksilver ^_^
  • Got Wylandriah her items
  • Also bought Bound Battleaxe, Healing Hands, and Muffle spells from her
  • Went to Honeyside to hang out a bit and check out my alchemy supplies
  • Oh good I had troll fat!
  • Did a little alchemy and read Enchanter Primer near the enchanter table
  • Leveled up to 25 and unlocked Arcane Blacksmith \0/
  • Returned to Whiterun, dropped off a few things in chest there
  • Saved for the night

Getting the White Phial

Forsaken Cave is definitely familiar territory at this point, but it’s territory I like. The whole story around Nurelion wanting the Phial, and sending you to get it because he’s too sick to do it himself, is compelling. And I do like Quintus, his kind assistant.

Plus, the dungeon being chock fulla valuable ingots is very helpful to a character still in the early-ish stages of the game!

It’ll be a while before I get to the part where I actually repair the Phial; I need to get far enough in the main plot to visit the Throat of the World before that happens. But now at least part one of the plot is done.

Joining the Bards College

Also familiar territory, but again, territory I like. And now that I’ve taken care of the restoration of the festival, I can get to the part where I find those lost instruments and get the skill bumps, which is the whole point of joining the Bards College in the first place. <3

I have the quest for the flute queued up now; I’ll have to swing back to get the ones for the lute and the drum.

Assorted other side quests and crafting

Getting Wylandriah’s and Ingun’s quests finally settled was satisfying. I like both of those characters! And I appreciated being able to buy spellbooks off of Wylandriah.

I hadn’t actively planned to make Delga as much as a mage as Merawen. But I think it’s probably going to happen anyway, just because I enjoyed playing magic too much to not do it again. And at the very least, some of the more basic spells are kind of critical on the Switch build–Candlelight, I’m looking at you. Now that I have Healing Hands, I can heal Lydia or whatever other follower I have with me, too!

Likewise, Muffle is too damned useful to not have. Delga is not nearly as sneaky as Merawen, but this doesn’t mean she won’t ever need to sneak!

And now I have a full set of Nordic armor. I also nearly have a full set of Orcish. I feel like on principle I ought to be wearing the Orcish armor, except for the part where it’s not nearly as good as Nordic in terms of quality and level of protection. Still though I’m going to make a full set of Orcish and get it improved up to Legendary, just to see what that makes its numbers look like.

And oh yeah: I did get Mjoll the Lioness’ quest to get her sword Grimsever back. Speaking of characters I like. <3

Next time

Still have a whole bunch of miscellaneous quests queued up. So I’ll be working on whittling those down!

Screenshots

Editing to add

  • 11/18/2023: Fixed missing gallery, and added play date and session number markers.

As Angela Highland, Angela is the writer of the Rebels of Adalonia epic fantasy series with Carina Press. As Angela Korra'ti, she writes the Free Court of Seattle urban fantasy series. She's also an amateur musician and devoted fan of Newfoundland and Quebecois traditional music.