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 Becomes Thane of the Pale and Takes Territory for the Empire - 02/27/2023
    In which Kendis learns a word of power in Silverdrift Lair; acquires the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal and the Headman's Cleaver; acquires Bloodchill Manor after wresting it from the control of vampires; helps the Empire retake the Pale and the Rift; becomes thane of the Pale; and builds the beginnings of Heljarchen Hall.
  • In Which Kendis Becomes Thane of Hjaalmarch and Goes to War - 02/20/2023
    In which Kendis defeats vampires in Morthal, and becomes thane of Hjaalmarch; acquires Valdimar as her housecarl and steward of Windstad Manor; learns how to make amber and madness armor and weapons; retrieves the Jagged Crown from Korvanjund for the Empire; defeats a champion of the Stormcloaks; helps Whiterun defend against the Stormcloaks; and discovers and slays a bandit hiding out in Dragon Bridge.
  • In Which Kendis Aids the Remnants and Slays a Mad Conjurer - 02/13/2023
    In which Kendis aids the Remnants liberate one of their agents captured by the Thalmor; slays more Saints and Seducers bandits; quests down into the Solitude sewers and slays a mad conjurer; and also slays multiple dragons.
  • In Which Kendis Does a Lot of Side Questing - 02/08/2023
    In which Kendis revisits Bleak Falls Barrow, and slays a dragon on her way out; delivers a little bit of dispute meditation, Nord style; slays more dragons at Autumnwatch Tower and Bonestrewn Crest; and slays bandits at Traitor's Post, which lets her acquire Daedric mail.
  • In Which Kendis Clears Fort Hraggstad and Slays Sahloknir - 02/04/2023
    In which Kendis clears Fort Hraggstad of bandits on the strength of her wolf blood; learns Delphine is a Blade, and slays Sahloknir with her; returns the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller to the Greybeards; breaks the curse on the Orc tribe at Largashbur, and gains Volendrung; acquires the Lord's Mail armor; buys Tundra Homestead; and slays the dragon and dragon priest Krosis at Shearpoint.

Screenshots

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