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 Arch-Mage and Returns Some Instruments - 01/31/2023
    In which Kendis witnesses the death of the Arch-Mage; quests to Labyrinthian to recover the Staff of Magnus, and slays the dragon priest Morokei; uses the Staff to save the College of Winterhold; recovers a missing flute from Hob's Fall Cave; and returns to Solitude to give the missing instruments back to the Bards College.
  • Bailing on Survival Mode in Kendis’ playthrough - 01/29/2023
    As of hitting level 32 in Kendis' run, I'm officially bailing on playing her in Survival Mode. Main reason for why: it takes a lot of the fun out of the College of Winterhold for me. 🙁 More deets as to my reasoning in the post.
  • In Which Kendis Becomes Thane of Riften and Quests into Mzulft - 01/27/2023
    In which Kendis agrees to hunt bears for Temba in Ivarstead; agrees to help the Orcs at Largashbur with a giant problem; helps a bunch of people in Riften, and is proclaimed thane; buys Honeyside, and gets Iona as housecarl; discovers the whereabouts of the Staff of Magnus in Mzulft; and retrieves the missing Finn's Lute from Stony Creek Cave.
  • In Which Kendis Restores a Festival and Recovers a Drum - 01/22/2023
    In which Kendis helps restore the Burning of King Olaf Festival, and formally joins the Bards College; and in which she recovers Rjorn's Drum from Halldir's Cairn.
  • In Which Kendis Signs Up for the Bards College and the Legion - 01/17/2023
    In which Kendis journeys to Solitude; seeks to join the Bards College, and also to fight for the Empire; attempts and fails to clear bandits from Fort Hraggstad; and recovers King Olaf's verse from Dead Men's Respite.

Screenshots

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