Difficult Decisions

            Lately I’ve been playing Skyrim – one of the best video games out there. There are a large number of factors that make this game so good, but one of them is the amount of choices you have in the game.

            At the beginning of the game, you go through a brief introduction to the main plotline accompanied by learning how to play the game, then you are sent out into a massive world. From that point on, you can do whatever you want. You can follow the main quest to get to the end of the game, or just go off exploring and doing minor side quests. If you want to go around stealing from all the residents of the world, you can (although you may find yourself in jail). If you want to ignore the quests and focus on skills, go right ahead.

            However, the brilliance of Bethesda (the company that made the game) shines through the most when it comes to the decisions you have to make as part of a quest. Some of them are black and white with a clear right and wrong, but some of them... some of them just have no good choice to make.

            There are a number of big quest lines alongside the main one, and one of these is a perfect example one of these challenging decisions. It’s a decision so hard to make that I have yet to make it once – even though this is my third time playing through the game and it is the second most important plotline.

            Basically, the nation of Skyrim is part of an Empire which recently signed a peace treaty that, among other things, outlawed the worship of one of the world’s gods. That particular god was particularly revered by the people of Skyrim and it has incited a rebellion against the Empire.

            It falls to you, the player, to choose the side of the war. Empire, or rebellion? Well, it may seem like a simple choice at first, but as you delve deeper into the plot, you discover more about each side of the war.

The rebels are in their homeland, being banned from worshipping one of their gods, thus their cause is just. Of course, the leader of the rebellion killed the High King of Skyrim – there is debate among the populace as to whether it was a legal challenge or outright murder.

            On the other hand, the Empire only banned the worship of this god because it was the only way to save the Empire from a more powerful enemy. That particular enemy is in the background watching and even fuelling the civil war as it weakens both sides. That means it would be better to side with the Empire because it consolidates power for the future when the lurking enemy takes to the offensive again – at which time, presumably, the god could be worshipped again. Yet, to take that side is to go against the freedom of the people.

            As you wander the world, you receive propaganda from both sides of the war. The Empire is weak and wants to rule Skyrim with a puppet queen. The rebel leader is a murderer and just wants power. When you enter one of the Empire controlled cities you witness a public execution. When you enter the city of the rebel leader you discover that the humans living there are extremely racist against the elves.

            The more information you receive, the harder the decision is to make. Because, there really is no good decision – either choice has negative consequences. Now, of course, this is only a game. It doesn’t really matter what choice you make.

            However, many real life decisions are just as complicated and convoluted. Choices are only rarely black and white – in spite of how we often treat everything as if it is. And that is what is so amazing about Skyrim.

            Fantasy reflects reality. It is a tool we can use to observe and reflect upon our lives and our world. In the end, it may give us better understanding. Or it could just infuriate us. It’s all up to how we choose to look at things.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Fish in a Jar

            Today I shall share with you a story from my LARPing days. Earlier this year, I told you about how I sometimes make joking suggestions that people take too seriously. This is a story about that, too.

            Firstly, for those who don’t know, LARPing stands for Live Action Role Playing. The one I was involved with is called Amtgard – a fantasy themed game (surprise, surprise). If that still means nothing to you, once a week my friends and I went to a park in costumes and beat each other up with pool noodle swords. Kind of like Dungeons and Dragons live. It’s significantly more awesome than it sounds.

            So, as part of this game, sometimes quests are run – usually only during events with guests from other groups because more people is better for quests and they take a lot of energy to put together. During a quest, people are split into two groups PCs and NPCs. NPCs are the people running the quest – the monsters and characters that tell the story – while the PCs are the players who try to solve the puzzles and defeat the monsters.

            Now, for years, as core members of our group, my best friend and I were usually NPCs, if not the people writing the quest in the first place. This time, however, we were PCs – which, to us, was an opening to have a lot of fun.

            For a few months, we’d been planning a couple of new characters to play – a pair of eccentric gnomes. These characters had no interest in solving the quest. No, they just tended to be around, sometimes helping, sometimes throwing a wrench in the gears. We planned all kinds of antics, such as fishing in a pile of leaves or setting up a “machine” that enchanted weapons (which really had one of us inside casting the spells). The overall intent was to mess with people enough to make them think we were NPCs rather than PCs and have them wondering what our part was in the quest.

            Well, we got word in advance that this quest was taking place during a fair scenario – where there would be games to play and prizes to be won. How perfect was that? All we had to do was come up with some items that we could trade to people, or give them as prizes, with the hope that they’d be fooled into thinking they were some significant part of the quest.

            I have no memory of how the conversation led to it, but this is where – after the laugh I have that indicates my idea is to ridiculous to do – I made the suggestion I never thought would happen.

            Fish in jars.

            However, as usual, I underestimated my best friend’s willingness to run with my crazy ideas. The idea stuck. Why? Because it was perfect for the scenario. In a quest situation, why on earth would there be live fish if it wasn’t an important part of the quest? We would hand them out to people and they’d go insane trying to figure out what they were for. What more could we wish for?

            So, the project began. We went and scouted fish prices, then went to the grocery store and bought four jars of baby food. It was while my friend was eating his way through these jars that I giggled and said the next thing I shouldn’t have.

            I said, “You know, people might ask what the fish is for, and if they do, you should do this.” I proceeded to mime drinking the contents of one of the jars.

            I should have known. He looked me in the eye and declared that he would do it. He then said that he hated me, because he didn’t want to do it, but it was too perfect an opportunity to miss.

            And so, on the day of the event, we went out and bought our fish. We bought feeder fish because of a combination of them being cheap, and that they were intended to have short lives and we had no idea what would happen to them once they were given away. My guilty conscience – still protesting at the plan to swallow a live fish – hoped that they might end up living a better life than that of a bigger fish’s meal.

            We sorted out four fish into their four jars – leaving the lids loose when we could to keep oxygen in the water – and headed for the quest. The game started, and we set to work. One by one, we went up to random people (one of them even an NPC), asking riddles or offering trades – then presented them with live fish.

            They had no idea what to make of them. The expressions on their faces were priceless. Luckily, no one asked what they were for.

            We were having so much fun messing around that I honestly have no idea what was going on with the rest of the quest. At some point, monsters attacked, and the carefree gnomes hopped inside a protective circle and watched the battle. Then the quest was over.

            The best part, though, is that during the quest, one girl had traded her way into owning all four of the fish. She told us how delighted she was with them and that she planned to take them home to the states with her and keep them as pets. It was wonderful – if not for that, I would likely still feel guilty about those fish to this day.

            At the same time, I’m a little sad that no one asked what the fish were for.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.