So obviously I've leveled up a little bit since the first post about Amédë. I spent the better part of levels 1-15 joining both the Thieves Guild and the Companions so that I can work on the smaller quests in those factions. I also did a few smaller quests including "Innocence Lost" (gets you your first meeting with the Dark Brotherhood), "The Book of Love (some missions for the priestess of Mara in Riften), and little things like taking a sword to the steward of Whiterun, telling some punk to leave a girl alone, brawling with someone who was bullying a dark elf woman in Windhelm, etc etc etc. I also got to the point where I have all the effects figured out for all ingredients (not including ingredients from Dawnguard or the Dragonborn plug-ins, or the ingredients you can only get from Blackreach), this was made tremendously easier with the help of the
Skyrim Alchemy Shared Effects app. I have also built my first house in Falkreath with the money I made from selling potions. At my house I have the garden growing Swamp Fungal Pod and Imp Stool for an expensive paralysis potion, once I feel I've collected enough from that, I will plant Blue Mountain Flower and Wheat (it makes a health potion that not only restores health, but fortifies it too.
Normally, I buy the house in Whiterun and use that as a base early on in the game (I don't really trust the chests at Jorrvaskr or the Cistern, even though they've been pronounced safe), but I like having a huge house to store my stuff in (I'm a huge organizer at heart), have both an alchemy lab and an enchanter's table AND have children. I also like the extra boost in speech and smithing skills you get from purchasing materials and building the Hearthfire houses.
My loosely-held plan is to build up a good financial basis while finishing the Companions quest line (I almost always marry Vilkas), and honestly I think it's the easiest Faction questline out of all of them when you're starting off. I will also be working on doing the small jobs for Delvin and Vex, discovering all the smaller towns, settlements and mines.
