'Cafe is a Breton term for places that serve coffee and baked goods. Before that, there were khaves in Hammerfell where coffee was first brewed black. Then, wanting to outdo the Akaviri legacy of the tea houses built by the Potentate, the Imperials in Cyrodiil's West established coffee houses. But because "cafe" was easier to say, most of them call themselves cafes.'
-- Sera Maddex, an Imperial University scholar, explaining the brief history of establishments that serve coffee across Western Tamriel
Got a commission from the lovely artist @baileybooradly for my Redguard LDB Cyrroc At-Tinnin and the modded follower Kaidan. With her permission, I also practiced coloring and rendering on it for myself (that version is under the cut!!)
If Skyrim had more story centric DLC, what would you want to see?
Return of the Dwemer
Aftermath of the Skyrim Civil War
Thalmor invasion of Skyrim
Giving the Bard's College the better storyline and representation it deserves
Forsworn. Give them back the reach or wipe them out
The Last of the Snow Elves
Aftermath of your decision regarding Paarthurnax
Akaviri expedition
The Last Dragonborn becomes the new Dragonborn Emperor
The Psijic Order
Dragonborn conquest
War between the Aedra and Daedra to claim the Last Dragonborn's soul after his d
Voting ended onJun 7, 2024
Context
Return of the Dwemer.
the Dwemer returning just as suddenly as they left. Maybe go to a city and find it overrun with Dwarves and you have to escape and get together a band of warriors from both sides of the civil war in order to save Skyrim from annihilation or join the Dwemer. As part of the dlc you would get the option of having up to four followers.
Another cool option for a small add-on would be a homebase for your followers like in fallout: New Vegas. A fort where you could send them and make it a thriving community of followers
Post-Civil War. We get to see what happens after you win the Civil War. How Skyrim thrives after Imperial or Stormcloak victory. You crush the last Imperial or Stormcloak hold outs and execute the remaining generals of the losing side. If you helped the Imperials win, you could stop a Thalmor plot attempting to put Elisif on the throne to be their puppet. You could have Elenwen removed from Skyrim and decide who ultimately becomes High King/Queen Of Skyrim. Ultimately it comes down to Balgruuf or Elisif. If you helped the Stormcloaks win. You help Ulfric eliminate all opposition to his ascension to High King and help the Stormcloaks kill the Thalmor Justiciars and eventually burn the Thalmor Embassy to the ground.
Thalmor invasion of Skyrim some time in the future. Set up for a massive battle. You go to help the Legion/Stormcloaks, you have to recruit the remaining enemy Legionnaires/Stormcloaks. Basically every follower you've had and given crazy good equipment to us there. The Blades are all there if you rebuilt them. For some plot reason you have Talos's actual personal amulet which reduces Shout cool down by 100%. You ride Odaahving over the Thalmor Flagship, followed by Duurnehviir. Storm Call. Become Ethereal and leap off your dragon, landing on the deck surrounded by the leaders of the Thalmor. Pull out Wuuthrad. Go to town.
End result is that the Thalmor invasion of Skyrim is utterly defeated and their ability to attack Cyrodiil is severely crippled.
giving the Bard's College a bigger, more fleshed-out quest and adding the ability to play instruments would be neat. You could play instruments, there could be skill books that level your bard skills or song books that would be like spelltomes where you learn new songs. For quests you could have to perform in front of various audiences.
The Forsworn. There are hints throughout the game that they are planning something big, letters found in several camps etc. But other than the forsworn conspiracy there’s not much there. A branching quest line that builds off of that quest, about retaking the Reach or fighting against the Forsworn would be cool. Could even maybe spill over into a hold of High Rock.
For the Forsworn, it depends on what you chose for the Forsworn conspiracy. If you killed Madanach(and everyone in the prison) then you hear reports of the Forsworn planning a massive attack on the Reach planning to avenge their king and retake the Reach. It's clear the Forsworn will not stop these constant attacks on the Reach, so you have to put them down.
If you sided with the Forsworn, you get to help the Forsworn retake the Reach. Displace the Nords, killing the Silverblood family and retake Markarth. Madanach replaces whomever the Jarl was but as king. The Imperials would work with the Forsworn ran Markarth, but The Stormcloaks would not, so better to only choose this path if the Imperials win the Civil War.
The Last of the Snow Elves: Lost tribe of Snow Elves seeks to rebuild their civilization. They seek out other healthy tribes, search for a solution to heal the afflicted Falmer, fight to reclaim their ancestral home, and they seek revenge on those factions still working to eradicate them.
This could certainly be a fairly long and interesting DLC. We could get into political shit with the descendants of Nords who still hold a grudge, could get another Elder Scroll on the scene by finding out one of them has the ability to undo the tricks of the Dwemer, some weird time travel shit to find out more about that Elder Scroll, more about the motiviations of the Dwemer.
Post-Paarthurnax Dilemma. If you sided with Delphine, you will aid in re-establishing a new guild of warriors 'Dragonguard' by allocating resources and taking over forts across the province, and prepare an incursion into the heartlands against the false Empire and their Thalmor masters. If you sided with the Greybeards, you will start a new academy for teaching the voice, and train a league of dragon-riding warrior monks set out to extinguish the undead legions of a resurrected dragon priest - a master necromancer and the teacher of Vals Varen and Lu'ah Al-Skaven - who wants to use the buried and recently-dead of Skyrim to conquer the province for himself.
Akavari. An Akaviri expedition arrives on the shores of Eastmarch, having heard the cries of the return of the dragons. They've come searching for the Dragonborn and to join in the hunt for dragons. You venture across the province on dragon hunts with several key new characters, testing your mantle against new dangerous species of dragons in new and old re-vamped locations.
After several successful ventures and proving yourself to the Akaviri captains, they proclaim you as their new leader, and advise you to forge your own kingdom in Tamriel. If you sided with the Empire, you must now usurp their claim upon Skyrim and push the remanent of Tullius' legion out by force, for the Mede Dynasty refuses to acknowledge your new seat of power in Skyrim. If you sided with the Stormcloaks, you must usurp Ulfric's claim as high king before the moot, and convince each of the hold's Jarls, either through favour or battle, to submit to your righteous authority.
I feel like The Dragonborn becoming Emperor could be for Skyrim, what The Shivering Isles was for Oblivion.
See this post on what a Dragonborn becoming Emperor could look like
The Psijic Order. Magic in skyrim doesn't really feel too fleshed out, There could be quests that give you entirely different spells instead of the usual 5 spells plus reskins. It could have you solve the mystery on why they never had much screentime.
And at the end, it could have you restoring winterhold
Dragonborn Conquest. Similar to my Dragonborn Emperor concept, but doing it for the good of the people of Skyrim.
The premise would be that the Dragonborn is sick to death of this wretched Civil War. One side is subservient to the true enemy and the other side is full of racists. The Imperials have literal criminals as Jarls(Maven and Siddgeir) Stormcloaks have paranoid lunatics and the corrupt as Jarls. Both sides have good arguments, but both cannot be allowed to control Skyrim. So the Dovahkiin decides it’s time for the people to open their eyes and take Skyrim back for the people. Nords, Imperials, Redguards, Elves, Argonians and the Khajit.
The Dragonborn’s promises
The Khajit caravans get to gain entry in the cities of Skyrim instead of being forced on the outskirts
Restoring Talos worship
Argonians gain entry into Windhelm instead of being forced on the docks
The Dunmer will receive better housing than the Grey Quarter
All citizens of Skyrim will be treated equally under the new High King
Proper Jarls to rule and govern their holds and to maintain stability, peace and justice to their people instead of ruling out of greed or power
An end to the Civil War by any means necessary
An end to corrupt families like the Black Briars and Silver-Bloods
Rebuilding Winterhold
Giving The Reach back to the Forsworn
The execution of Ulfric Stormcloak and expulsion of General Tullius and the Legion.
The final promise. An end to the Thalmor Justiciar witch hunts and kidnappings and the forced removal of the Thalmor from Skyrim
So yeah, The Dragonborn should’ve been able to become High King of Skyrim and rule for the good of the people of Skyrim. Be able to handpick the Jarls for the good of the land and been able to side against the Stormcloaks, Imperials and Thalmor.
The Dragonborn's death is inevitable, but the Daedra are scheming to keep the Dragonborn's soul after his death, while the Aedra want to reward the Dragonborn with Soverngarde.
Another Kaidan doodle, tried to start with the correct sized canvas from the get go. Now it won’t save transparently for some reason. I spent an unreasonable amount of time on this doodle. Hands hurt a ton now. I haven’t drawn this much and digitally in a long while.
Background: Left at the Temple of Jhunal as an infant, she was raised by the Abbess and taught the ways of the Owl. A small child with red eyes was a strange sight in Winterhold, but there was little around to spread the curiosity of herself further than the town. This was precisely what her parents had wanted, as her existence was in danger the moment she was born.
The abbess had made a promise to two runaway blades that she would keep their child safe from the Thalmor, and if that meant hiding her parentage from her until she was ready to hear it, it would be done.
Unaware of her past for a long time, Laaza grew up in an unconventional, but happy environment. Always wanting to learn, but always trying to get where she was told not to, it was all the Abbess could handle keeping the temple and her young charge safe. She was never satisfied until she unraveled whatever thing she had set her eyes on, just to understand.
As she grew, her wanderlust became a too strong pull to stay in the temple, and after almost 3 decades, she asked for help acquiring some gear to set out and explore. The Abbess was reluctant to let her go, but she was not unkind; she was her own person, and she knew well enough that to tell her no would mean her ward would find another way to leave the safety of the temple.
So, she found her armour, found her weapons, and gave her the letters her parents left her that explained why they could not take her with them. At their last goodbye, the Abbess bade her write to her of her travels. It was all she could ask of her; to satisfy her own worry for the young woman now, as she tread a path on her own now.
The letter in hand, her goals were clear; find the fate of her parents, if she could. The Abbess taught her kindness, and she surely tried to be so every day, but Thalmor’s influence on her own life left sour thoughts within her. She had held little opinion of these ‘Thalmor’ prior to leaving the abbey, but the letter sparked a hate for what they took from her before she even knew what could have been; and as much as the anger burned, she knew swinging at such a hornet’s nest would be her doom.
For the meantime, she searches out for any trace of where her parents went, taking bounties to keep gold in her pocket, and learn more of the world through experiencing it, rather than another old book.
Personality: Not fully naive to the world, but has little experience in the actual world outside her home in Winterhold. She is kind first, and curious to a fault; indeed, some things she has followed lead to more danger than what the discovery was worth. Regardless of that, she is more than equipped for studious endeavors when she has time in the bigger cities, being raised in the temple and living well within the colleges’ influence.
Her disposition towards new people is to always see the good in them first, but trust her instinct when something seems amiss. She makes friends easily and has little difficulty engaging in talk with most individuals. A temper forged through the teachings of the Abbess and the temple occupants in her formative years proved to shape her into a reflective and open-minded person, for the most part. Her hatred is primarily reserved for the Thalmor, in any case, and if there is any chance to ‘handle’ them, she will take it. There is enough of the Abbess’ voice still in her mind to avoid directly opposing them though; staying hidden and off of their radar is her best course of survival.
Personality: Not fully naive to the world, but has little experience in the actual world outside her home in Winterhold. She is kind first, and curious to a fault; indeed, some things she has followed lead to more danger than what the discovery was worth. Regardless of that, she is more than equipped for studious endeavors when she has time in the bigger cities, being raised in the temple and living well within the colleges’ influence.
Her disposition towards new people is to always see the good in them first, but trust her instinct when something seems amiss. She makes friends easily and has little difficulty engaging in talk with most individuals. A temper forged through the teachings of the Abbess and the temple occupants in her formative years proved to shape her into a reflective and open-minded person, for the most part. Her hatred is primarily reserved for the Thalmor, in any case, and if there is any chance to ‘handle’ them, she will take it. There is enough of the Abbess’ voice still in her mind to avoid directly opposing them though; staying hidden and off of their radar is her best course of survival.
Fighting style: Laaza was trained with most forms of melee combat, but possesses magical adaptability, able mostly to heal and conjure weapons for the most part, she favours a sword-and-board type style. Her magic is not on par with most mages, but her repertoire of spells mostly are an ‘in handy’ basis of use, rather than all out destruction.
She holds some favour to use poisons in her fights unless ran out, but does not have the full aptitude to create them herself, and thus relies on other alchemists to resupply when she can.
After assuming her role as dragon-born, she felt an obligation to learn as much of the language as possible, the powers granted with the shouts gave her a undeniable edge in battle, and the curiosity in her veins begged her to learn as many as she could, at the very least to document for her scholarly friends and for her own wish to learn.
Current Followers: Remiel, Xelzaz, Val Serano (TBC)
