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 Joins the Companions and Apprehends a Fugitive - 12/13/2022
    In which Kendis becomes the newest recruit to the Companions in Whiterun; slays another dragon at the Western Watchtower; confronts the Alik'r warriors at Swindler's Den, only to learn the situation is not what she thinks; and turns Saadia over to Kematu.
  • In Which Kendis Goes Bandit Hunting - 12/11/2022
    In which Kendis hunts a bandit chieftain in Redoran's Retreat, and recovers Amren's lost family sword from Valtheim Towers.
  • In Which Kendis is Revealed as Dragonborn - 12/11/2022
    In which Kendis slays Mirmulnir at the Western Watchtower; discovers Alik'r warriors seeking a Redguard fugitive; thwarts an attempt to assassinate the Jarl; and acquires the Bow of Shadows.
  • In Which Kendis Recovers the Dragonstone - 12/09/2022
    In which Kendis gets to know Whiterun, as she looks for work to pay for supplies to go to Bleak Falls Barrow; bribes the bard Mikael to leave Carlotta alone; reaches Bleak Falls Barrow, and quests through it; and returns to Whiterun in weary triumph with the Dragonstone.
  • In Which Kendis Escapes Helgen - 12/08/2022
    In which Kendis the Redguard escapes a dragon attack on Helgen with the help of the Imperial soldier Hadvar; and in which she brings word of Riverwood's peril to Balgruuf, the Jarl of Whitrerun.

Screenshots

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