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 Recovers Stolen Books for the Mage College - 01/16/2023
    In which Kendis recovers stolen books from Fellglow Keep, and returns them to the College of Winterhold; acquires dragonscale armor at Yorgrim Overlook; and aids a strange little man in a jester's outfit at Loreius Farm.
  • In Which Kendis Becomes Harbinger and Joins the College of Winterhold - 01/13/2023
    In which Kendis journeys to Ysgramor's Tomb, frees the spirit of Kodlak from lycanthropy, and is proclaimed Harbinger of the Companions; joins the College of Winterhold; and finds a mysterious orb in the depths of Saarthal.
  • In Which Kendis Avenges Kodlak and Saves Dawnstar from Nightmares - 01/09/2023
    In which Kendis slays the Glenmoril witches for Kodlak; returns to Jorrvaskr, only to discover Kodlak has been slain by the Silver Hand; journeys to Dawnstar with Vilkas, and saves the people of Dawnstar from nightmares; slays all the Silver Hands in Driftshade Refuge; attends the last rites for Kodlak; and is charged by Eorlund Gray-Mane to go to Ysgramor's Tomb with Wuuthrad, along with the rest of the Circle.
  • In Which Kendis Slays Silver Hands and Seeks the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller - 01/06/2023
    In which Kendis slays more of the Silver Hand at Orotheim; claims the tower Myrwatch near Morthal; discovers someone has stolen the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller out of Ustengrav; and receives instruction from Kodlak to slay the witches of the Glenmoril Coven.
  • In Which Kendis Gains a Thaneship and Dawnbreaker - 01/02/2023
    In which Kendis covers a lot of ground, gaining the thaneship of Falkreath, Lakeview Manor, a bounty reward for slaying a dragon, Silver Hand plans from Faldar's Tooth, the Masque of Clavicus Vile, and last but not least, Dawnbreaker.

Screenshots

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