Kendis Playthrough

Kendis
Playthrough Info
Game Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Race Redguard
Playthrough Dates 12/07/2022-9/1/2023
Platform Nintendo Switch
Language English
Difficulty Adept (partially with Survival Mode)

This is the page for my eighth Skyrim playthrough, for the Redguard character Kendis.

I began this playthrough on 12/7/2022 on my Nintendo Switch, and finally ended it on 9/1/2023. And while the Anniversary Edition on the Switch came out at the tail end of Faanshi’s playthrough, this was my first official full playthrough with the AE on this platform.

This was also my first official attempt at running Survival Mode. But it was only a partial attempt, because I bailed on running Survival Mode partway through. (See reasons why written up in Bailing on Survival Mode in Kendis’ playthrough.)

I ran Kendis on the default Adept Difficulty, just because at the start of her run, I expected Survival Mode to make things difficult enough for me without running the Difficulty level up higher than normal.

Kendis is named for Kendis Thompson, the heroine of my Free Court of Seattle books, Faerie Blood and Bone Walker. And by rights, given that Kendis is half-Sidhe, her Skyrim counterpart really ought to be half-Altmer and half-Redguard, but the default character creation UI doesn’t let me do that. 😀 So I’ve set Skyrim!Kendis up as a Redguard!

Kendis’ Backstory

Even though this version of Kendis can’t technically be half-Altmer, I will take the liberty of assuming that Kendis does have some elf blood a few generations back in her family line. Not enough that she has any obviously elven features–but enough to bump up her magical affinity, for the inevitable point where she’ll join the College of Winterhold.

Redguard society, according to the Redguard lore page on the wiki, generally disdains magic. And from what I see about the town of Elinhir, that place in particular has reason to be distrustful of magic in the Fourth Era. So I think Kendis is from Elinhir–and grew up in a family explicitly distrustful of magic.

But when she discovered she had the ability to do certain things–throw fire with her hands, and command small wounds to heal themselves–she realized she’d have to go somewhere else if she wanted to learn more. She learned from a trader about a certain college in Skyrim that teaches magic, and so she went over the border between Hammerfell and Skyrim, hoping to find work that’d get her passage to find that college.

Unfortunately for Kendis, she came over the border right into the path of an Imperial patrol….

Playthrough Posts

Here are all the posts about Kendis’ playthrough! These are dynamically updated, so a new post should appear here when it goes up. They’re listed in descending date order, so the newest posts should always appear first. Also, note the pagination controls after the first five posts. You can page through to see the older ones.

  • In Which Kendis Confronts Alduin, Interrupts Necromancers, and Recovers a Shard - 07/08/2023
    In which Kendis recovers a totem of Hircine for the Companions' Underforge; confronts Alduin on the Throat of the World, and afterward plans with Paarthurnax to trap one of Alduin's allies; restores the White Phial; interrupts a ritual to summon Queen Potema; discovers the Oghma Infinium; and recovers the final lost Aetherium shard in the ruins of Raldbthar.
  • In Which Kendis Slays Harkon and Does Side Quests - 05/24/2023
    In which Kendis rescues Florentius from Ruunvald; slays Lord Harkon at Castle Volkihar; helps Valerica escape the Soul Cairn; participates in a fishing contest in Morthal; slays a dragon at Eldersblood Peak; and does work for the Companions.
  • In Which Kendis Acquires Auriel’s Bow - 05/14/2023
    In which Kendis quests through Forgotten Vale; slays the dragons Voslaaruum and Naaslaarum; slays the Arch-Curate Vyrthur; and acquires Auriel's Bow.
  • In Which Kendis Finds an Elder Scroll, Crimson Nirnroot, and Ancestor Glade - 04/17/2023
    In which Kendis recovers an Elder Scroll from Mzark in the depths of Blackreach; brings crimson nirnroot to a very tired farmer in the Rift; learns the location of Auriel's Bow in Ancestor Glade; and quests into Darkfall Cave in search of the fabled weapon.
  • In Which Kendis Joins the Dawnguard and Seeks Elder Scrolls - 04/03/2023
    In which Kendis joins the Dawnguard; discovers Serana entombed in Dimhollow Crypt; rescues the Moth Priest Dexion Evicus; helps Serana recover her mother Valerica's Elder Scroll from the Soul Cairn; gains the respect of the undead dragon Durnehviir; becomes thane in Winterhold; and seeks another Elder Scroll from Septimus Signus.

Screenshots

Kendis’ screenshot galleries can be found on the Kendis Screenshots page.