I’ve been playing Skyrim again. Or technically, I’ve been modding Skyrim in preparation for playing it, but either way, I decided to revisit my favourite characters, therefore it’s the perfect time to make good on my promise and collect them into a post. I apologise to anyone who doesn’t play or care about the game, because this will be incomprehensible!

When I play Skyrim, I create a single world state with a varied cast. I don’t like to have my character discover they’re the exclusive Dragonborn, and also rule all the guilds, and also just haaaappen to be the especial avatar of half the deadric lords. I like to have one Dovahkiin, and one Thieves Guild leader, and one College of Winterhold student, etc.

This used to involve a lot of internal editing for quest redundancies, but now there are some very helpful mods. Skyrim Unbound lets you turn off the main story entirely, including word walls and dragon soul absorption. Timing is Everything lets you defer a bunch of prominent quests. So I tweak the settings for each character, and it works out surprisingly well.

As proof of concept, my first character, Winter (above), isn’t involved in any factions or major quest-lines. She’s more of a general explorer: she dungeon delves in search of power-sources, and collects arcane whatnots. She’s totally opposed to joining the College of Winterhold, so when she wants to buy high level spells, she has to sneak through the back entrance (which isn’t meant to be used, and involves a lot of awkward, repeated hopping to get up the slope to reach the door.) I have a whole story worked out for her, where she was raised in the Blackwood swamps of Cyrodiil by an old Argonian mage called the Tarn Witch, who has now sent her up to Skyrim to meddle in affairs and tweak events as they unfold. I imagine that Winter, herself, isn’t sure whether she’s making her own decisions or following her mother’s indirect bidding. I can’t really play this part out in game, but at some point she settles in Windhelm and plants herself as an advisor and seer for Jarl Ulfric, all the while misdirecting him in subtle ways. Danger and intrigue!

Winter’s main skills are conjuration (necromancy), illusion, alchemy, and enchanting (I wish mysticism was still around, though I get why they cut it). Her inventory might include cards for divination, various weird alchemical ingredients, arcane tomes, etc. All that witchy stuff. Her favourite foods are sweet breads and Argonian wine.

Next is Yrra, my Bosmer archer. I want her to be androgynous, so I had to search for a custom (broad-shouldered and flat-chested) body mesh, and for armor that came close to matching that. Let me tell you, readily available female armor does NOT tend to be androgynous OR flat-chested! Really, I should learn 3D-modelling. Anyway, Yrra is my cannonest canon Dragonborn, and the hero of the civil war to boot. She’s a war orphan from Cyrodiil, and was raised by the nuns of Gottlesfont Priory before spending her early adulthood idling around the Imperial Waterfront district with various ne’er do wells. I make a lot of characters from Cyrodiil, because I played Oblivion so much that every location is dear to me! Anyway, I’ve also given Yrra this cheesy romance side story where she falls in love with a young Thalmor mage. Love across enemy lines – it would make a perfect (terrible) YA novel.

Her main skills are archery, alteration, light armor, and smithing. For her inventory, I have assorted survival and crafting gear, an amulet of Kynareth, a creased up letter from her old mentor (Yrra travels up to Skyrim in search of her, and I’ve modded various related clues into the game). Her favourite foods are rabbit meat and hearty breads (she doesn’t follow the Green Pact, but still veers carnivorous).

My Thieves Guild leader is an argonian called Grey Throat. She’s a godfather-ish figure, or at least she’d like to be. I try to play her differently than I play the above characters – Grey Throat is a city lizard, so she never goes exploring (except into other people’s houses while they’re away), and she travels everywhere by carriage. She mostly sticks to Riften, unless she has business elsewhere; she’s all about making money and living high off the hog. God, I love her! At some point she marries her Argonian lady-love and settles down into a nice, domestic life of delegated crime. Eventually, it’s going to be Grey Throat vs. Maven Blackbriar – there can only be one.

Her main skills are sneak, of course, plus daggers, pick-pocketing, and lockpicking. Some of my other Thief characters reject the whole Nocturnal now rules my soul thing, but Grey Throat is into it. Her inventory would include stolen shinies, forgery supplies, letters of business, and various lush accessories. Her favourite foods are tasty fish and honey snacks.

Other Skyrim-obsessed people will notice that I don’t have a College of Winterhold or Dark Brotherhood or Companion character (I’ve never actually finished the Companions questline). I’m still working out who those are going to be in this world state. Maybe I’ll make a follow-up post when I sort it out.