#fun with pixels

[valcabre]

Poppies in Skalitz red...

(Companion piece to Henry and the marigolds)

[aardvark-123]

Skyrim By Democracy: Character Creation, Part 3

I've never seen such a close vote, but it looks like our unknown Orc is going to be a woman, and to that end she'll be transgender.

Now we need to decide what Miss Dragonborn looks like. I'm going to design her based on your answers to the next question; whichever combination of traits are most popular.

What sort of person should she be?

Tough

Glamourous

Distinguished

Scruffy

Scary

Playful

Bland

Outdoorsy

Scholarly

Small

Mysterious

Voting ended onDec 15, 2025

I'd also like to hear your name suggestions, for what name our heroine should be named with. Give me name ideas, please, and I'll hold another vote or choose whichever one I like the look of.

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[by-allison-kai]

Pixel Art!

So apparently there's a "Mermay" thing? Right, so... here's my mermaid! First time doing a mermaid - this was a lot of fun!

[valcabre]

I hc that yellow marigolds remind Henry of someone

(Now has a companion piece here!)

[valcabre]

Twelve bells for Capon.

[valcabre]

1403 lads now in a pixel palindrome!

[aardvark-123]

Skyrim By Democracy: So Near, Yet So Avanchnzel

Something about From-Deepest-Fathoms's sad story had touched Wrathberry's heart. "Yo, Lydia, we should totally take this lexicon thingy to Game Boy Advancenzel or wherever the tusk it was, so that lady can relax instead of bringing like the whole mood down on the docks!" was how she explained it.

"Well, why not?" said Lydia, and off they went.

They took the southern road from Riften, past long-neglected Largashbur and the unwanted Shadow Stone.

A dragon happened. In fact, and it was quite hard to get them both in the picture, two dragons happened!

There turned out not to be enough Wrathberry to fight two dragons.

Wrathberry ran for her life, disappearing into the undergrowth half a mile away from the dragons. By now, she was sneaky enough to stand right behind a fox without being noticed. She eventually managed to sneak past the dragons to the old Dwemer road up to Avanchnzel.

There were ghosts in Avanchnzel.

"Hey... Look! It's From-Deepest-Fathoms!" gasped Wrathberry. "There, with the, like, snout and pointy tail! But she isn't dead. Maybe these ghosts are like...?"

She paused, looking around for an answer, but Lydia was not there.

Wrathberry bit her lip. "She'll rock up in a bit, right? Her armour, like, those dragons would've broken a tooth or something!"

Wrathberry crept (well, stomped, while humming some of her favourite anime theme songs) through the cave, in the footsteps of Fathoms and her party. The path opened up into a vast cavern, and the abandoned Dwemer city build into its rock.

Mechanical spiders and rolly-legged soldiers came out to menace her. Wrathberry punched her way through them, healing herself as and when needed.

The visions carried on visioning as our heroine helped herself to vintage Dwemer engine oil. The explorers from before had met plenty of automata, but the robots had let them pass.

"Oh, colour me not particularly surprised!" huffed Wrathberry. "Climbing over each other to beat up one chick on her own, but four people? Please, sirs and mademoiselles, come on in! Enjoy our fine pottery! Smell the stonework! Give the carpets a lick!"

Lydia caught up in the second half of the dungeon. After Wrathberry caught her up, she had to agree that the Dwemer pottery was lovely, and the carpets tasted very bland.

Lydia and Wrathberry soon found themselves in a workshop, full of materials and half-finished automata.

"I've heard that some pieces of Dwemer scrap can be melted down into the bronze alloy they used for metalwork," Lydia remarked. "And then cast into pristine weapons and armour."

"Cool!" said Wrathberry, stuffing three Dwemer urns down her trousers.

An alchemy set-up gave her the chance to experiment with Dwemer oil.

If the ghosts, or memories were to be believed, the lexicon had some effect on Avanchnzel's robots. Fathoms's party had dwindled after a trip over some well-nibbled carpet and a tangle with some spinning blades, until it was just her and Breya pushing doggedly forwards.

Only with some very, very quick footwork did Wrathberry avoid losing her own shins to the blades. Lydia, well, the game engine wouldn't let her die unless Wrathberry accidentally set her on fire.

Up ahead was the lexicon's podium, guarded by two Dwemer centurions. Well, one centurion now. Breya had defeated the other, at the cost of her own life, letting From-Deepest-Fathoms make her escape.

With one woman punching and the other holding up a shield, a centurion wasn't that bad.

As Wrathberry slotted the lexicon back into its podium, a feeling of serenity washed over Avanchnzel. "Yo, I bet if there were any robots still alive right now, they'd totally calm down and let us walk out!" Wrathberry declared. "Pity we can't test that theory, like on account of killing them all."

Some of the ancient knowledge of the Dwemer now lived in Wrathberry's head. She'd be twenty-five percent more protected in a suit of Dwemer armour! which was heavy armour, which she didn't wear!

More usefully, she could learn smithing 15% faster.

Uncovering the secrets of Avanchnzel had been a grand adventure, and From-Deepest-Fathoms was sure to be glad her nightmare was over. Right now, though, Wrathberry had reached level 21, so she needed a new perk in something.

We still can't take a Hand-to-Hand perk until she gets that skill to level 40.

What skill should Wrathberry take a perk in?

Light Armour (2 perks taken)

Destruction (2 perks taken)

Conjuration (3 perks taken)

Sneak (2 perks taken)

Alchemy (2 perks taken)

Restoration (1 perk taken)

Lockpicking / Pickpocket (1 perk taken)

Speechcraft (2 perks taken)

Smithing (1 perk taken)

Voting ended onMar 6

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[aardvark-123]

Skyrim By Democracy: A Rapid-Fire Riftonian Romp

Wrathberry was concerned she hadn't found enough plot hooks, so she spent the afternoon talking to people around Riften.

It was a lovely day for it, and the obvious place to start was the market.

The friendly food saleswoman Marise Aravel was happy to chat about the freshness of her produce. It turned out she used ice wraith teeth to keep things cold; unfortunately, her supplies were dwindling. She asked Wrathberry if she wouldn't mind tracking down, say, five lots of teeth.

"I'll keep you in mind," said Wrathberry.

Bolli was also there, with a small parcel of fish for Marise to freeze. He explained that he was in charge of the Riften Fishery - thirty years, man and boy - and he was just about to agree a ten-year fish deal with Markarth's Silver-Blood Inn. He asked Lydia if she wouldn't mind taking his letter to Kleppr.

"I can't promise anything, but Wrathberry'll keep you in mind," said Lydia.

On the market plaza, people were struggling to get used to life without Brand-Shei. Haelga just stood there, staring at his empty market stall. Wrathberry felt bad for her. She didn't do anything.

Instead, she sold several of the Thieves Guild's free beginners' poison to Grelka.

Our heroines met Balimund, Riften's home-grown blacksmithing legend. He explained that he used fire salts to keep his forge hot, but he'd been running a bit low recently. He asked Wrathberry if she wouldn't mind gathering, say, ten bowls of fire salts for him.

"Sure, if I'm flush with fire salts," said Wrathberry.

Before leaving the forge, Wrathberry turned some spare sabre cat pelts into leather and upgraded her Thieves Guild armour. Whatever special tanning technique they used had made it as strong as Elvish armour, a good choice to wear in battle until she found something better.

In the Bee and Barb, Wrathberry ran into Louis Letrush. Louis had been working out a deal to buy Sibbi Black-Briar's horse, Frost, but Sibbi was now in prison with half of Louis's money. Louis asked Wrathberry to negotiate with Sibbi, or failing that, steal Frost and her lineage papers.

Sibbi, of course, was the daughter of Maven Black-Briar, Riften's most influential and least moral businesswoman. Yes, even less moral than Nivenor! If Sibbi was in prison, it had to have been for something very bad.

Wrathberry loved knocking sense into entitled mafia princelings - theoretically, at least. She'd never done it before. "Leave it with me, Louis," she said, "and I may or may not reimbhorse you!"

Mjoll the Lioness and her good friend Aerin were also in for lunch. She got to talking about her days as a traveller, and how she'd lost her sword in a Dwemer ruin.

"I could," began Wrathberry.

"There's a bug, sorry. I can't actually offer you the quest until you've gone up a level," Mjoll cut in.

"...Oh." Wrathberry pouted. "No big deal, I'll come by later."

"Please do. I'd love to catch up with you and your friend," Mjoll smiled, giving Lydia a nod.

Next, Wrathberry and Lydia had a look in the Temple of Mara. The priestess, Dinya Balu, happened to have had a vision of a girl in Ivarstead who needed romantic advice. She asked if our heroines wouldn't mind awfully going and advising the poor thing, and for bonus points, killing her parents.

"Yes and yes!" agreed Wrathberry. "I mean, assuming I still feel like it in a few minutes."

"Yes and maybe," agreed Lydia. "Er, by the way, is Mjoll the Lioness--"

"Ohhh, yes. Definitely," said Dinya, nodding emphatically.

There was still more of Riften to wander, and after leaving the Temple of Mara, our heroines found themselves at the docks. The biggest building there was the Riften Fishery, where Wrathberry felt a sudden premonition.

"Viriya and Swims-In-Deep-Water..." she muttered. "Something about a note? Lots and lots of notes, 'cause it's cheaper than hiring voice actors in seven languages?"

"Wrathberry, you're babbling something!" cried Lydia.

"I won't go back to Avanchnzel! I won't!" wailed From-Deepest-Fathoms, pressing an inscribed lexicon into Wrathberry's hands.

"U-um..." said Wrathberry. "I guess we can bring it to Avanchnzel? Like if we're going that way?" she sighed, stuffing the cube under the mountain of potions in her handbag. "What a wild afternoon..."

Now that we've got dozens of plot hooks, what should Wrathberry do?

Help Louis Letrush get his horse.

Visit Angarvunde and look for Medresi Dran.

Help the people of Largashbur with their giant problem.

Give the young woman from Ivarstead romantic advice.

Take the Inscribed Lexicon to Avanchnzel.

Deliver Bolli's letter to Kleppr, in Markarth.

Join the Riften Fishery and help Viriya with whatever.

Go for a walk in the woods.

Voting ended onFeb 28

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