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 Slays a Cannibal, Acquires Mehrunes’ Razor, and Quests for Mara - 03/28/2023
    In which Kendis slays a cannibal desecrating Markarth's Hall of the Dead; acquires the final piece of Mehrunes' Razor, and is forced to fight off Silus when Dagon demands she kill him; investigates signs of a Dagon cult; investigates the ruins of Arkngthamz and meets the ghost of Katria; and finishes questing for Mara in the name of love.
  • In Which Kendis Visits Alduin’s Wall and Slays a Dragon Priest - 03/22/2023
    In which Kendis foils a conspiracy about the Forsworn in Markarth; reaches Karthspire and Sky Haven Temple, and learns the secrets of Alduin's Wall; purifies the heart of a dead knight, and gains Spell Knight Armor; saves Azura's Star from the clutches of an insane necromancer; and slays the dragon priest Hevnoraak at Valthume.
  • In Which Kendis Raids the Thalmor Embassy and Marries a Mage - 03/15/2023
    In which Kendis infiltrates the Thalmor Embassy to steal what information they have on the dragons; recovers a lost heirloom from Shimmermist Cave; retrieves Esbern from the Ratway; acquires a steward for Heljarchen Hall; marries Rulnik Wind-Strider, and settles her family in Whiterun; learns a Word of Power in Angarvunde; and slays the dragon Vuljotnaak.
  • In Which Kendis Becomes Thane of Eastmarch - 03/09/2023
    In which Kendis returns a Lexicon to the depths of the Dwemer ruin Avanchnzel; becomes thane of Eastmarch; slays a dragon with the help of Farkas of the Companions; acquires the hammer Nerveshatter; and puts an end to a false god's rule over a goblin tribe, gaining a goblin friend in the process.
  • In Which Kendis Takes Windhelm for the Empire and Gains a Dwarven Home - 03/04/2023
    In which Kendis takes Fort Kastav and Winterhold, and then Fort Amol and Eastmarch, for the Empire; participates in the final attack on Windhelm, and slays Ulfric Stormcloak; adopts Sofie as her second daughter; recovers a sword for Oengul the smith; slays the bandit Tyra Blood-Fire and claims her ebony plate armor; and explores an abandoned Dwemer home, Nchuanthumz.

Screenshots

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