He tracks Septimus to a remote hideaway in the ice fields of the Ghost Sea and makes an agreement to get the mage the Dwemer Lexicon in exchange for the location of the scroll.  Map in hand he dives deep into a dangerous ruin and discovers the door to Blackreach and the scroll of power that lies within.

Tension has been building on the team and Golldir and Raydien come into conflict over the situation with Serana.  Raydien will not cast her out and as a result Golldir refuses to travel with the group any longer. 

This session I have been thinking a lot about the personal dynamics between Raydien, Golldir and Serana and thinking about how their ability to get along might be affected by events.  Golldir is becoming less and less tolerant of Serana and Raydien's inclination to judge people individually rather than simply slaying all vampires.  I think this conflict will be more pronounced in the coming play sessions.

As the vampire war intensifies he is feeling pressure to be a mindless destroyer rather than a thinker.  A rift is beginning to form between himself and Golldir as he allows vampires to slip away and travels with Serana and he finds himself feeling more often like the living are the real evil in the land.  He sees greed and depravity all around him but is unable to rise above it as all he sees when it looks inward is a hypocrite and a murderer.

Raydien enters into a dark period of transformation in this session and I consider this change to be the entrance into chapter two of his epic story.  These are the important and pivotal moments I look for in Skyrim and the did not disappoint!

Getting things moving again we head to Riften to report to the Dawnguard.  These sessions take us all the way to Riften and back West through Whiterun as we search Skyrim for Gunmar and Sorine.

Raydien and Golldir are led into the tunnels below Solitude by the Dark Intent of undead found in the House of the Dead but down in the darkness they find more than they expected.

The theme of these play sessions was friends and followers.  In the spirit of the Circles of Character Conflict, I tried to think about his place in society and what his relationships might be with others given his strange upbringing.

The theme of this play session seemed to be discovery and curiosity.  As the player, I was discovering who Raydien is and as a character I think he was doing the same thing by searching for his father.  I chose to make the pursuit of his an immediate thing rather than saving it for later.  Quite often the idea of finding a long lost relative is used as a momentous long play goal.  Many role players doing including myself, however I decided to hand it differently with this character.

My first play session of Raydien's story was all about getting into the characters head and taking a close look around me through the lens of his experience.  This is the root of all role play for me.  Working from the psychology of the character outward is my idea of the ideal role play methodology when combined with a dash of mystery and a liberal helping of open mindedness.