I'm new to the fanfic forum and not afraid to admit I'm intimidated by the talent here. I spend most of my time on the Oblivion forums where I often mention my character, Buffy. I have posted a few short stories from the journal she keeps when they seem appropriate to a thread, and have been quite surprised at the positive reception.

In fact, Buffy has numerous enthusiastic supporters on the Oblivion forums. What they tell me they like is that I am not creating stories; but rather telling stories that are very well known to Oblivion players - but from Buffy's perspective. Several of them have asked me to post more such stories about Buffy. I have hesitated to do so on the Oblivion forums in favor of looking into the fanfic forum.

My purpose is to have a thread where I can post stories from Buffy's journal.

My audience is primarily members from the Oblivion forums that have so kindly expressed an interest in Buffy.

After years of playing Oblivion and scores of characters, I have finally found one that "sings" to me. I have learned to love her, imperfect as she is, as I would a granddaughter. At the same time, she has taught this old man a great deal about trying to make one's way in Cyrodiil as a young woman. I hope some of that love will come through to those who might to read further. Buffy is a novice writer. I hope and expect her writing will gradually improve as she matures.

1 ---------- Buffy Goes to Prison ----------

I'm Buffy, and this is my journal. I don't mind the name. It's rare and somewhat exotic for Cyrodiil. Why father chose it, I have no idea.

Before I can remember, father went on a vampire hunting expedition north of Cheydinhal and never returned. One of the warriors in the Bravil fighters guild told me that father mentioned something about a shrine to Azura and had perhaps met his match. I am told he was a Breton, named Superior.

Mother was a Bosmer merchant in Bravil named Terry Ann. She died of fever when I was but twelve. I was raised by the City of Bravil.

Nilawen kindly took me in and let me live in her shop, The Fair Deal. Daenlin taught me to hunt with a bow and how to block with my bow if cornered until help could arrive. The kind mages at the local guildhall taught me a weak version of a fire spell and a healing spell. Kud-Ei also promised I could join the guild and learn about illusion once I turned 18.

City Swimmer taught me how to remain hidden. She told me if ever caught, to try sweet talking. Once the two of us were caught while sneaking coins out the Chapel offering bowl. I tried sweet talking the guard. He looked me up and down quite a while, then commented that I was a nice looking young thing and he would let it slide.

It was at that moment I discovered I wasn't a little girl anymore. Up to that point I had always considered myself a skinny little wood elf with big ears. City Swimmer told me now that I was 17, I could use my attractive face, slender curves, long blond ponytail and blue eyes for manipulative purposes.

It was on one such sneak-training expedition with City Swimmer that my life would change. We were in the Imperial City and City Swimmer stole an apple - it was just supposed to be for practice. The storekeeper started shouting and attacked City Swimmer. She tried to run out of the store but the storekeeper was blocking the door and kept hitting her. Fearing for City Swimmer's life I drew my bow and slew the storekeeper, just like a deer.

City Swimmer was able to get away, but a huge guard suddenly appeared in my face, blocking any escape. I tried my sweet talking trick like City Swimmer taught me, but he was not impressed. I tried resisting arrest and put up my bow to block like Daenlin taught me. The last thing I remember was his shield coming at my head with a remarkably fast backhand motion.

Nice :goodjob:

Finally! I am so glad you decided to do this, Buffy's Tales have really become a draw for me when I get on the forum. I love seeing how she handles the different quests and incidents, and how her personality is interjected into the story. It will be so nice to be able to come here and read them, I can't wait to see how she handles the prison escape! (as you know I have been bugging you to hear that one, lol).

That's a great start Acadian! I didn't even anticipate the switch when so to speak. I look forward to reading further into your story

Any plans to dig deep (or even little daydream episode kind of things) into past experiences she had and how they helped to mold her present day?

Thank you so much. I humbly present the story of Buffy's passage through the tutorial dungeon. This chapter continues to develop her character and introduces a curious relationship with her guide/mentor, Acadian.

2 ---------- Buffy Escapes; and Acadian Rythyms ----------

I awoke to a horrible stench. And cold. The bone piercing cold of a stone floor. Ok, keep your eyes closed and don't move. I really didn't want to get shield bashed again.

Dampness. I opened my eyes just a crack. Darkness with a small stream of light coming from somewhere. Silence. I opened my eyes and lifted my head. I could see that I was alone but to my horror, I could also see a door made of bars, and bars on the tiny window that allowed the small stream of light to enter. I could only be in one place - the Imperial Dungeon.

Barely choking back tears I began to survey things. I still had all my parts attached ok, but my head sure hurt. I stood up and went quite feint. I had to sit down at the tiny table in my cell.

Something else was different. I felt a presence. In my head. Like another being or force of some sort. I could sense a couple things about this force. It was benevolent, and somehow I could sense that it was masculine. I decided it must have been the blow to my head.

I got up again, more slowly this time and began looking around. There appeared to be another prisoner in the cell across from me. I tried to talking to him. Talking to another prisoner would surely make me feel better. Big mistake!

I was going to just sit back down and cry, but I heard people approaching. Talking and the rattle of armor. They told me to get back in the corner of my cell. Well, I remembered that shield bash from the guard in Imperial City pretty clearly, so I quickly obeyed. They opened the door and they came in.

There were three guards of some sort and an older man dressed in elaborate robes. The older man came right up and talked to me.

He was the Emperor of Cyrodiil! How was I to know? And here I am, dressed in rags, dirty face, unkempt hair, and I don't smell too good. He didn't seem to care and was quite kind to me. He said he knew me from his dreams?

He and the guards seemed to be fleeing some assassins. The guards opened a secret door right inside my cell that opened to some sort of stone cave looking tunnel. Just as quickly they were gone down the tunnel.

I got up to follow them. Wherever that tunnel went it had to be better than this cell.

That presence again. In my head. Very clearly I could sense it, urging me not to follow so quickly. Rather, that stealth would be required and I should practice. After all, City Swimmer and I did get caught, and that's largely how I ended up in here. Maybe a touch of practice was in order.

I decided to practice sneaking in the corner of my cell against that disgusting Dunmer. It gave me time to think more about this presence. I was sure I was crazy, but I was in no position to refuse help from any source at this point. This presence seemed to know things about my world that I did not.

Very well. I decided I would welcome the presence. But, what was it? I just didn't know. Finally, I decided I would think of this presence as my mentor. Acadian - the name suddenly popped into my head as if placed there by another. I sure hoped he knew what we were doing.

Well after all that thinking and sneak practice, I was certainly much better at sneaking. Off I snuck, down that tunnel.

There was some sort of scuffle up ahead. I was glad I was sneaking. Maybe Acadian does know some things. Rats. I don't mean like darn, I mean RATS in my face! I didn't know what else to do so I used that flare spell the mages taught me. Thankfully it worked perfectly.

Dead bodies. One of those guards and some guys in red robes. Body searching yielded a couple potions, some useless red robes and a couple swords.

Well, I always felt I was not strong enough to do more than irritate someone with a sword and wasn't about to try using one now. That little flare spell would just have to suffice for the moment. The room I was in had an opening into a cavern of some sort.

A Bow! Rusted and made of iron, but a bow nevertheless, along with some arrows. With a bow and some arrows I felt a bit more able to defend myself. Good thing too, because in the next few chambers I was attacked by a fair number of rats and even a zombie.

I was able to sneak shoot most of them like Daenlin taught me when hunting deer. For those that got too close, I put up my bow to block and cast that handy flare spell.

Also I found some bits of equipment to replace the putrid rags I was wearing. The sneak advice I got from Acadian seemed to be serving me pretty well.

Voices ahead. Sure enough, I finally caught up to the Emperor. He called me over to him and talked some more about death and stuff I didn't fully understand. Emperor stuff I guess?

Then he asked me what my sign was. Sort of like the boys in the bar in Bravil had recently started doing now that I was 17. I told him I had no idea what he was talking about. He showed me a parchment that had a list on it. I had no idea what it all meant. Somehow, I could feel Acadian urging me to pick the Mage. Ok, the mage it would be.

The Emperor seemed happy enough about that and off they went. Since they seemed prone to running into the Red Robes, I decided sneaking along well behind them was still prudent.

More Red Robes, cave areas and goblins. One of the goblins looked like a witch or something. Fortunately I had found a mortar and pestle and knew how to use it (thanks to Ardaline in the Bravil mages guild). Poisoning my bow helped take down that witch goblin.

I managed to catch up to the Emperor again. There were dead Red Robes all around and the guards looked pretty concerned. They went off to scout around and left me to guard the Emperor! I didn't think a skinny little Bosmer with a rusty iron bow was a great choice, but off they went.

The Emperor came over to talk again. More stuff about death and destruction that I still didn't understand. He was the Emperor though, so I just nodded like I understood. Then he gave me his amulet.

All of a sudden a Red Robe jumped out of the wall, cut down the Emperor and started attacking me. I think I wet my pants, but then remembered what Daenlin taught me. I put up my bow to block and started screaming for help.

The guard named Baurus came running back in and killed the Red Robe. He seemed more saddened that the Emperor was dead than mad at me for failing to save the Emperor.

We talked about the amulet the Emperor gave me and Baurus asked me to take it to some monk named Jauffre in Chorrol. Baurus told me how to escape. Then he said he guessed I was an experienced Agent. I told him I didn't know what an Agent was.

He handed me a quill and a parchment form thing to fill out. I had no idea what any of the stuff was. It seems someone did though. I was beginning to trust Acadian, so I just closed my eyes and let my hands fill out the form.

I handed the form back to Baurus. He looked it over and said "Bowgirl? Why, I never would have guessed. Still, I don't think you'll have any trouble with rats and goblins." Then he handed me a key and sent me off to some sewars.

Smell. Rats. Goblins. Yuck. Oh my goodness! Daylight! Only a sliver, but real daylight on the other side of a gate. Creaking and rusted, the gate finally opened to full daylight, fresh air and a beautiful lake.

I was so excited I started dancing around like a little, well? wood elf. That of course attracted the attention of a mudcrab on the shore of the lake who promptly attacked. I killed the mudcrab with one arrow and ravenously ate the meat. Then a huge drink from the lake and I felt a bit better.

At that point I could feel Acadian urging me to climb the hill up to the Imperial City.

I just sat down and started crying. "Look", I said, "If you are going to live in my head, we need to reach some understandings. You obviously know many valuable things about Cyrodiil, and I believe you can help me; But just as obviously, you know nothing about women. We are going to have to work together here. I am filthy, bone tired and I stink. I am not going one step further without a bath in this nice lake." Silence.

Well ok then. I took off those smelly clothes and dove into the lake. I felt like a new elf as I came out of the water, all squeaky clean. I spent a couple hours on the pier, trying to scrub my clothes, sun drying me, my hair and my clothes.

I cleaned and inventoried the stuff I brought out of sewars. I could see I only had a few more hours of daylight left, so I dressed as best I could, carefully loaded my pack, strapped on my bow and quiver and started the climb up to the city.

I somehow knew my life would never be the same - Acadian agreed.

Thanks Shadow! I plan to use daydreams to help fill in gaps. For example, she might be on her horse daydreaming about the day she bought the horse - her mare is a pretty big deal to her. Or standing at the entrance of the AU mentally reviewing the significance of how she got there. She will certainly have plenty of internal debates with herself as her more or less good side wrestles with dark things like the exhileration she feels when she kills or her quick tendancy to vengence. The only flashback type things I may be looking at to childhood may be regarding the mystery of her vampire slayer father.

Short break before the next one as I wrestle with which one to use or whether to write a new one. I really want to break away from a pure chronological flow now.

Wow, i am impressed by your work!

This is storytelling at a new scale, something we all experienced, but never though of giving so much personality to our characters (written, at least). I mean I have charackters I like, like Apoc, who I created and played with since morrowind, but i never thought of decribing his history and his past as you are doing.

Again, I am impressed. Good story, although we all know what will be happening, we don't know how your character will take the infomration. Good Idea of yours. :goodjob:

It inspires me of doing my history of my own char. Do you mind if I take your style of telling stories?

I'm suspecting you'll have to mention bow shooting at some point.
For purposes of realism, these bowshooting tips may be of some use.

First, IRL bowshooting with traditional bows (not the metal and cam wheel modern version), especially powerbows such as the longbow and the recurve, takes at least five to ten years to learn well. You can learn shortbows faster, but they have a short range and very high trajectory - anything over twenty yards you have to loop the shot high to gain range. Which means long distance shooting in low ceilinged areas, such as tunnels, is a no go.

The actual technique of shooting is- (short version): you pull up a bow to half tension, sight the target offset (and that is what takes the years of experience to do) then raise and pull and loose in a smooth motion. Even experts cannot hold a bow at full tension for more than a few seconds. You can try to sight the target at full tension, but you need to be really, really STRONG in upper body strength to do that.

Of course...you may want to disregard all that, and go for other aspects of storytelling...that is your privilege! This is just to help in case you wanted to inject some realism into combat scenes.

Albo: Thanks for the encouragement. I would be honored if you take some of my style and use it. I have certainly borrowed from others. Bobg for the inspiration to get so involved with my char. Arwen for the concept of telling Oblvion stories through the eyes of her char. And several of our wonderful ladies on the forums for helping this old man figure out how to RP a young girl.

D. Foxy: Thanks for the realism on bows. Buffy is pretty weak and one her stories upcoming has a very detailed blow by blow of a critical bow shot. I shall have to see if I can incorporate aiming under partial tension, then go full tension and release. Can only get so real on that though since she routinely discusses zooming in to id her target. She is an archer - illusionist and my intent is to include fairly sophisticated enchantment/tactics descriptions that if read carefully can be of value to Oblivion players as they play.

This is one I had been waiting to read! I was never sure how Acadian mentored her either, and that explained it. (kind of like in the movie "Always" where the spirit is beside him giving him help without being seen?) Really cool, and you did really well with a girls feelings in this! I love it, and can't wait to read more of Buffy's adventures!

Well i will defintaly keep this thread in my favourites. And will you be doing in the order of her life so we see everything as you mean it to? Btw Brilliant way of writing i could only dream of writing like this. :tops:

Oh, I had to go thru that shooting that "Arrow of Extrication" at that one spot. It was so far away that I had to aim up and arc it in, especially since my character was not adept with a bow and arrow. It took numerous tries and re-loading saves, lol.

Buffy is awesome and I like the unique touch of adding her mentor/spirit guide to the mix. I hinted at the relationship once or twice in my fan fiction about Angel but never came right out and talked about it. Can't wait for the next instalment.

I'd be interested in reading some of Angel's stories too, Acadian said you were a real inspiration to him in his own writing.

There was an RP first (now fallen off the forum.) then a middle section where I continued the story as a Fan Fiction which is till on the forum.

http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=862718

This is the first entry from the now lost RP

I don't know why you were so worried about posting this. This character is really vivid, with a distinctive voice and empathetic character. Basically, this is good writing. I can see why people love her so much.

I'm happy to say this was a fairly enjoyable read. The writing was done well, and I think you pulled off the first person perspective rather nicely.

However, there are a couple of points that I would like to bring up. The first: dialogue. I noticed that there was almost no dialogue in either installment, whatsoever. Dialogue is a vital element in developing characters and establishing mood, especially in a first person story like this, where your perspective is limited to your protagonist. It also adds a certain 'bulk' to the story, which leads me to my second point.

Detail: undoubtedly one of the most important things to consider when writing a piece like this. I know personally that it's tempting to let a reader's experience with the games fill in the details of characters and locales, but it's still a good idea to describe the locations that she's visiting. Maybe describe the rats that she's fighting? Give us a general mood of the caverns, or give some more vivid details about the Emperor's appearance. I personally have a tendency to add too much detail sometimes, but this is something to definitely consider.

Finally, consider the pace of your writing. If this had been, say, a short story, then the pacing would have been fine. As a smaller piece in a larger work, however (I'm assuming that's what this is) I think you could afford to slow it down a bit. Don't be afraid to describe, and indeed embelish, your fight scenes. Don't just have Buffy tell us "I killed the mudcrab." Tell us what she was doing, what she was thinking. Was she afraid? Was she laid back and casual as she easily lodged an arrow deep into the very heart of the beast? These are things that add spice to a piece of writing.

Again, I enjoyed what you've got here so far; you're off to a good start. I hope my suggestions have been helpful, and please keep up the good work.

I am overwhelmed by the acceptance I have received here from not only Buffy's Oblivion forum supporters, but from friends like bobg and Shadowhider. I value BSparrow's advice so much - both on RP matters when she used to be so active on the Oblivion forums as well as her encouraging responses to my PMs about even starting this thread. Despite the positive comments, I am striving very hard to improve and refine as I go. The first chapters were written with the OB forums in mind. I edited them before posting here, but they still retain an influence towards brevity and bullet style. Without a self-imposed brevity restriction here, I can hopefully bring Buffy more to life moving forward.


3---------- Buffy Fights her way Home ----------

The Copious Coinpurse? That sounded like a good shop. I may be out of that prison, but I was broke. I needed gold to ride the coach home to Bravil. Hopefully selling the loot I collected from my prison escape would help. Besides, I could barely carry it all.

I wondered if that amulet the Emperor gave me was worth much? Buffy! Don't even think it! He was a nice old man and he entrusted you with it on his deathbed. I never said I would deliver the thing to this Jauffre fellow. But Baurus also trusted me. I mean Baurus could have just killed me, taken the amulet and delivered it himself. Settled then. I would deliver that amulet and be done with it - just not right now. I needed to get home to Bravil.

As I entered the shop, I looked at the sign on the counter: "Copious Coinpurse - the shop where your purse is just as full after you buy!" Well since my purse was empty I was hoping to do a little better than that. I felt encouraged when I got a friendly smile from the fellow Bosmer who ran the shop, Thorinir. I sold all the stuff I felt I didn't need. That netted me some gold, but not enough. I rummaged around in a bunch of bags and barrels sitting around in the Market District. I found plenty to eat, and that certainly helped, but not too much else I could sell for value. I ate my fill and then mixed up some of the things I found into potions. Thorinir gave me a pretty good price on those potions. Especially since they were pretty much worthless to me. Almost enough gold to ride the coach home to Bravil. But not quite. And it was getting dark. I really didn't want to spend any gold on an Inn, but I needed a place to sleep. I found a bedroll in the Market District, but a nearby begger said it was her's.

I explained my plight and asked if she had any ideas. She thought for a few minutes and suggested I join the Arena as a combatant. Surely she had been sleeping out in the rain too long! But then I thought about it for a minute. I could get a free bed, a free set of armor and even get paid. Of course I could also get killed. But I was pretty good with a bow?. Hopefully Daenlin's training would not let me down. Well ok then.

My heart sank when Owyn the Blademaster started laughing at me. Finally he let me join the Arena, and even gave me a set of armor. Well, if I needed to fight to get home, so be it. But not tonight. I was exhausted and crawled into one of the Arena bedrolls. Fortunately, I was too tired to be scared; so I slept soundly.

The next morning I tried on my new Arena armor. Owyn had called it a light raiment. It was blue and looked pretty good. I strapped on my bow and quiver and reported to Owyn for a match. He sounded pretty discouraging, but scheduled me for the next match. I poisoned my bow, using the only poison I had, and climbed up to the Arena itself.

Bow partially drawn, arrow nocked, announcer talking. Scared to death. What did I get myself into? Too late now to back out now, the gate opened. I was already sighted in. I quickly brought my bowstring to full tension, released, and my first arrow was downrange, even as I grabbed my second. The other combatant was green with poison but still racing at me as I launched my second arrow and grabbed a third. He was getting way too close. I could clearly see he was a fellow Bosmer now. I started moving backwards down my tunnel quickly as I nocked and released that third arrow. Good hit again. He had to be hurting now, but he was in my face and I had run out of tunnel to back up in! Up with the bow to block his sword. Panicky, I began casting my flare spell as fast as I could. Oh thank Mara! He finally crumpled at my feet.

Blocking with my bow helped a lot, but I still took a couple hits. I was bleeding now, and shaking all over. The announcer said I won, so I limped back into the Bloodworks. The healing fountain helped stop the bleeding. Short range, no place to hide... Buffy what were you thinking? I had survived this fight, but clearly needed to get a lot better at this Arena stuff if I was ever going to do that again and expect to live.

When I reported to Owen, he was shocked that I was still alive. He slapped me on the shoulder. I guess that meant he thought I was ok, but it also almost knocked me over. Then he gave me 50 gold. With the little bit I already had, that would get me home! I missed Bravil so much. Besides, City Swimmer owed me big for saving her scaley tail. Since that pretty blue Arena armor was the nicest outfit I had, I kept it on. I packed my stuff and headed for the stables to wait for a coach to Bravil. I was looking forward to napping on the ride home.

Another great instalment. Thanks for keeping them coming.

I have to agree with what DarkNova said. I really like detail and I think there should be a little more thrown in there (that doesn't mean describe everything down to the thinnest detail) because it really does paint a picture in the readers head.

On a side note I am suprised to see you over here, Acadian.

I gratefully accept the critique. The comments by DarkNova are crystal clear, concrete and have given me much to think about. I am confident I can incorporate more "bring to life" details. I thought about DarkNova's comment on first person perspective. It was not a conscious decision to go first person, it just never occurred to do otherwise. I can see the potential and freedom that third person could bring. I will try doing a story in third person and see if that might be better. I think maybe I can do that without losing anything - and can always go back to first person if it doesn't work out of if Buffy's supporters hate it. I am also trying to break away from a purely chronological progression. I mean Buffy is actually level 11 now and has amassed the tools she needs to walk and ride the land of Cyrodiil and survive. I'm anxious to let her stories catch up to where she is. I think perhaps flashbacks and reflections that help develop how she got there may work.

There will always be a degree of "leap of faith" in terms of reality in her stories - I want the aspiring no melee archer-illusionist to actually gain concrete tips on playing the game that I have taught Buffy. A challenge will be to retain the mood, but allow the reader who plays the game to enchant their bow, create a combo spell, exploit a glitch and have a pretty good idea when Buffy is using one of the few smaller mods in her game. Quoting from one of Buffy's wonderful supporters: "What a cool idea to weave some hints and tips into the story, a noob may not have known you could do that, just like your fighting explainations - I'm on my 18th game and never even imagined such exciting actions as you described for battle last week, so even someone who has been playing a long time can get something out of it - not that I've mastered Buffy's techniques on that yet, lol !!" That is an example of who I am writing for and why I want to weave in actual, precise tips, equipment - part entertainment, part "guidebook".

A slight break (only a day or so) is in order as I wrestle with these things and deal with a couple of real life intrusions.

Oh this was great Acadian! Please don't worry about the forum comments about a "wall of text" - just keep your stories intact. They are way too good to be edited away for a quicker read. I am totally addicted to reading Buffy's next moves, and what she thinks as she makes them!

Thank you for the link and taste of Angel's stories, I appreciate that - and can see why your writing inspired Acadian in his writing.

I guess every now and then you could write as Acadian looking down on Buffy and his thoughts about how she is handling things, and that wouldn't be too huge a step out of the story, but I definately love the first person story, you did an awesome job on that first arena fight and how she felt. That may be one of my favorites so far!

** oops, sorry - this was supposed to have been an edit, not an additional reply.

Love the newest installment! I swear I felt the same way my first time in the Arena

Please keep up the fine work!