Why old lore Skyrim is the best Skyrim || Introducing "Skyrim: Home of the Nords"

[@Darumaster]

I can't wait for the entire continent of Tamriel to be playable in the year 2111

[@accountnamewithheld]

2090

[@federicocapriotti2180]

elder scrolls online

[@naruhina1997]

@@federicocapriotti2180 Elder Scrolls Arena

[@Grufflebum]

Yeah...

[@Finding_Arcadia]

Ambitious, aren't we?

[@mpg272727]

I'm still mad that Bethesda decided to reuse the imperial pantheon as Skyrims gods rather than the old Nord gods as "otherwise it might confuse players coming from Oblivion".. Always sounded like such a stupid excuse

[@HeldIntegral]

Considering 90% of skyrim players haven't played a prior tes title

[@Xaytan]

It's their "Keep it simple stupid" writing philosophy at work. They genuinely think their players are too dumb to understand that Skyrim has a different culture than Cyrodiil.

[@masih24]

Beautiful ❤

[@Nikelaos_Khristianos]

@@HeldIntegral Yet these nerds can very easily tell the difference between Greek and Norse gods. 😳🫣 Almost like they (Bethesda) just wanted an excuse to be lazy.

[@Nikelaos_Khristianos]

It’s incredibly bizarre when you also consider that the Oblivion folks are probably the ones less likely to be confused about the gods. Not that anyone would be confused in general anyway.

[@WalrusWinking]

I miss the Celtic influences on the older lore of the Nords. It gave them a really cool feel, when they made Skyrim they went all in on the Scandinavian influence and completely trashed the Celtic feel.

[@goose6604]

It's because viking stuff was cool at the time. They wanted to cash in. I didn't like it either.

[@federicoricca2512]

​@@goose6604just like oblivion with lord of the rings

[@johngaelnox5447]

It's better than Celt because we know less of Celt than Nord

[@lpod7180]

There's Celtics influence in the spiral-esque designs on many of the stone textures and painted cows. Small but noticeable

[@tingle2958]

​@@johngaelnox5447 that's not better, it's just more marketable

[@charlieboone1298]

It's pretty fashionable for TES fans to shit on Kirkbride these days, and sure, the man could use a collaborating editor sometimes, but he's what made TES so unique and beautiful, and astonishingly weird. It was a D&D homebrew before, and without the bizarre wonder of Morrowind, that's all it would have ever been. Since he left, Howard has made the lore increasingly stale, while making occasional bits of Kirkbride's writing canon when it's convenient. I don't have high hopes for TES6, especially after the bland, dated nothing-burger that Starfield turned out to be, so thank fuck the community is still turning out gold like this.

[@steventrotter4958]

Stanfield makes you really look back and think "You know Oblion was pretty fucking good"

[@Tomatowormprince]

It was better as a d&d homebrew than the 2deep4u fanfiction kirkbride was turning it into

[@siruristtheturtle1289]

@@TomatowormprinceIt wasn't at all: Daggerfall political nonsense had absolutely 0 cultural or historical depth, being a blatant not-HRE with tabletop tropes plastered on top.

[@boreanknight]

I used to be more critical of MK in the past but - he is literally responsible for creating Morrowind. MK is best when paired with someone to guide his chaotic bursts of creativity, just what Ken Rolston did during Morrowind production. I'd love to see them back for TES6.

[@ericv738]

Any TES fan who shits on Kirkbride isn't any TES fan at all.

[@Billy_MacBilly]

The reachmen seem to be based off Irish and Scottish celts imo, especially since they seem to mostly live in the Druadoch Highlands (like the Scottish Highlands) their names are very similar to tradional Irish and Scottish names, their magic is maybe like ancient Irish and British druids (and how it was viewed by ancient Romans or German invaders?) one reach man village is called Rauiri which is literally an Irish name more commonly spelt as Rory

[@barnsleyman32]

i remember reading that the reachmen are primarily based on the gaels in the project tamriel discord so you're dead on, ancient european celtic influences (like gaulish) too i believe

[@Billy_MacBilly]

@@barnsleyman32 Gael means an Irish person in Gaelige

[@Billy_MacBilly]

@1Medivh9DSparil9JagarTharn4 that sounds goofy lol, they remind me more of like roman colonisation time period British celts rather than Irish people tbf or atleast modern Irish people I guess because of the magic

[@choccomoke9234]

i remember the picts being the major inspiration, the people who inhabited scotland before the scots (who i think originally came from ireland). The picts are an extinct people, and the reachmen (in skyrim at least) share a lot of their recorded names.

[@flipflierefluiter5665]

Yes also it would fall completley in line if the Cyrodillians are Romans and the Nords Germanic. In our universe the Celts got driven away and conquered(at least partly) by both these peoples. Also The Bretons are obviously based off our French province of Bretagne, who not incidently at all both have celtic and germanic and roman ancestry.

[@SRMC23]

Nord Culture was more on the totemic side like the early germanic tribes with the whole idea of their gods being represented by animals instead of personified humans like imperial/elven religions. Tsun, Stuhn, Kyne, Shor, etc. we see them in TES:V Skyrim as the animal symbols of barrow ruins. They gave up all of that and started to adopt a more Imperial/Breton way of living which is part of why so many fled to the Stormcloaks in the game. They want to go back to that ancient Atmoran heritage that they lost after centuries of intermingling with the Empire. The Nords show in this mod seem to follow that original concept, of them being the Goths, Saxons, Franks, and other germanic tribes that lived up north of Rome and which reveled in that warrior culture. Skyrim nords are not supposed to be like medieval skandinavians, that was a fuck up with the timeline.

[@DiocletianLarius]

I agree with the religion thing, but the original concept do seem to be based on vikings, with TES3:Morrowind Nords having a sea raider/trader culture and even longship burials (Olmgerd the Outlaw). I think this mod kinda follows that with guards having "viking armor" (even their helmet seems kinda similar to the Gjermundbu helmet). Though I personally think that the Nords, like all other cultures and races of Tamriel, are based on a lot of real life things; they aren't "just vikings", but also ancient Germanics as you say and even Celtic (specifically Gallic and Britonnic).

[@Commonwealth_Imperium]

If anything the Nords should be a variety of Middle and Northern European Cultures. (Celtic, Slavic, Germanic and Norse.) Whiterun being Polish/ Cossack Winterhold being Russian (Novgorod) Solitude being Gaulic etc Also there should be 3 different magics that represents the Theology of Man and Mer. Merish Magic (Mysticism) Mannish Magic (Elemental)

[@squaeman_2644]

Kinda weird tho to call them Nords but give them Germanic cultures

[@tommeakin1732]

"The Nords show in this mod seem to follow that original concept, of them being the Goths, Saxons, Franks, and other Germanic tribes", "Skyrim nords are not supposed to be like medieval scandinavians, that was a fuck up with the timeline." This is the first time I've seen someone else say this about TES and, as far as I can tell, you've got it more right than the folk who even started righting this lore in the first place lol - though I'm less sure about the first couple of games tbf. I started out with playing ES games, and like most who play them, I was just thinking "dems be vikangz, yeah?" when it comes to the nords, while I also found it weird how they were put in a game alongside Romaboos. I then learnt a great deal of irl European history, then came back across the deeper ES lore, and it's pretty clear that a lot of core ES history has been borderline ripped from irl history (to the point of being a little creatively dead tbh) and it's clear the "nords" are supposed to be the Germanic tribes, broadly speaking - with their taking of skyrim being akin to the Germanic expansions. Skyrim would be more like central Europe than Scandinavia. But somewhere rather early, the whole "dems be vikangz, yeah?" seems to have become a given, down to titles like "jarl" being a scandinavian spelling for "earl" in English (well likely "erl", "erle", or "eorl" for the same time); both from proto-germanic (reconstructed) "erlaz". Why are English speakers like this lol. It's pretty fucking weird, and stuff like that happens time and time again.

[@alexanderstilianov]

​@@Commonwealth_Imperium​ I've tirelessly searched for any Slavic influence in TES lore and the Nords ain't it. The only Slavic inspirations seem to be lost in old Colovian lore in the Pocket Guide (1st Edition) and names like Skingrad, Neugrad and Rislav.

[@TheThingInMySink]

I feel like the fact that Morrowind has very little voice acting (almost no voiced dialogue) is a huge and often understated advantage it has when it comes to fan made content. Groups like the Beyond Skyrim teams have to hire voice actors, and while Beyond Skyrim: Bruma has some pretty good voice acting, it's never going to reach the consistency of the main game. It's not feasible for a project that nobody gets paid for. When you add more content to Morrowind, as long as your writing is good the sky is essentially the only limit you have. I'm not saying this to shit on any voice actor out there, be they professional or amateur, but the fact is no matter how well made a mod project for Skyrim is, no matter how talented all the people working on it are, you can always tell when something isn't part of the main game. I played Morrowind after Oblivion, I found myself liking it a lot, and even though I never finished it I played it quite a lot, until eventually I just stopped, I had a lot of games to play. Coming back years later and installing TR and a bunch of other stuff straight away I just couldn't tell what was modded and what wasn't. Granted I probably lacked a proper frame of reference not having truly FULLY experienced every part of the game, but still. Nothing beats fan made content that FEELS like it belongs in the game, that feels like it was always there. The only other community that has in my mind achieved this feeling on the same level is Thief (First two and DarkMod). Morrowind is just good for this stuff in so many ways, from it's gameplay design, to the lore, to the fact that through these things it has gained a cult following WILLING to invest their time in infinity projects like PT. It shouldn't be surprising that there are few games like it, so many things have to go right for mods like Home of the Nords, Tamriel Rebuilt etc to exist. Even just having a msassive modding community built around a moddable game isn't necessarily enough. You quite literally need lightning in a bottle.

[@boreanknight]

Kevin Rolston, who worked on Morrowind and Oblivion as a lead designer was also against voiced dialogues because they limit the game. I prefer text based, because I can read at my own pace, skip anytime or read eveyrthing. Plus, I can select any further topic. In Skyrim, anytime there was a longer dialogue (Paarthurnax for example), there were complains about taking it too long. You have to sit it out, and sometimes it doesn't feel right. And as you said, making mods makes so much more complicated. Even Bruma, highest quality mod out there for Skyrim, feels like a mod once you hear some of those dialogues. There was one actor in Wyrmstooth, I swear he sounds just like one one of the original voice actors, but that was that. And as you said, nothing on those voice actors, it's just hard to replicate same feeling.

[@Diesalot-sc9qz]

Regarding the Minotaurs, PT intends to have 10 unique clans of the race, including one that views themselves as the true emperors of Cyrodiil. There are also going to be Minotaur priests, legionnaires and merchants

[@boreanknight]

Wow that's much more than I expected! Super excited!

[@l0rf]

I look forward to a wip of that coming out in 2051😅 exciting but very ambitious.

[@wybub]

I completely agree! Home Of The Nords is what I wanted from Skyrim when it came out. It has what, to mean, makes Elder Scrolls what it is. The Kirkbridian approach of combining familiar elements with totally alien and focusing more on geopolitics with elements of the high magic inherent in The Elder Scrolls. a world where healing magic and potions are so common they appear to be the standard for healing for instance. Home Of The Nords makes the very familiar environment of skyrim--a very boreal setting, combined with elements of Russia and Canada, and throws in totally alien stuff it never treats anything less then normal. A spikeworm and snowray is just as normal to the world of TES old lore as a bear or a wolf is. The fact their focusing so much on the human provinces now is disappointing since they won't try to make it alien or weird in any impactful way. Bretons, Redguards, Nord and Imperials are just as unique as any of the elven races when you follow their lore. Also, I hope recovery is going well my friend!

[@Denis-lp3pz]

Thanks again for this wonderful overview! Some comments: - The next release is gradually moving into quest-development stage, while some bigger interiors still remain in making. The city of Markarth Side is filled with NPCs already, and there are some misc quests finished and reviewed even. But the main focus in PT right now is on releasing Anvil, since Province: Cyrodiil didn't have public releases for a very long time. - The next SHotN release after Markarth Side will most likely be Falkheim, which is a corner of land north of Markarth Side and west from Haafingar. It's capital is the town of Snowhawk, which is the last bit of exterior left in development for this area. The difficult part is, we need someone to model 3D assets for house interior set of this culture. Interior sets being one of the most difficult types of 3D assets. - The Reachmen being similar to Orcs has additional hidden sense in the fact that they use pitched down vanilla Orc voicelines. We're still looking for a voice actor to provide custom voice over for the race. - Kreathi minotaurs are named like that probably to distinguish them from Cyrodiil minotaurs. The latter are much more sentient and civilised. You will get to help one minotaur priest in the upcoming Anvil release as a part of a faction equivalent to the Imperial Cult. - The Bear Clan, just like the Nordic rulers of Dragonstar, are the remnants of warring parties left from the old border conflicts. They are struggling to fit into the relatively peaceful world of the modern Reach. The player will get to resolve the status quo in the upcoing release.

[@boreanknight]

So many great news, thanks for the update! Ah, moving north to the city state of Snowhawk, so exciting! I've no idea what kind of culture to expect there. Hopefully more people join the project, it deserves to be seen and played. I don't have any modding knowledge otherwise would love to help.

[@Denis-lp3pz]

@@boreanknight you're doing great help already. Of course, we welcome everyone to do Construction Set work. But video production is in big demand in PTR.

[@Lotsofleaves]

@@Denis-lp3pz Hey! I recognize ya from the discord, thank you for all your work on the projects!

[@Denis-lp3pz]

@@Lotsofleaves thanks, will do my best ^_^

[@omegawolflight]

is it true that in shotn lore helgen exists

[@Karina-winsmore]

As a small note - unliked dwemer direnni are not gone. They are still around as a high elf clan in summerset isles.

[@Fullmetalnyuu0]

I forget the lore of the Cyrodilic Ayleids, what happened to them?

[@Karina-winsmore]

@@Fullmetalnyuu0 they were genocided. Some escaped into vallenwood or deep into cyrodilic wilderness, becoming Wild Elves.

[@justgeneric2876]

Some integrated which is how we get Bretons

[@ragewinninethousand4140]

Seen any *e l v e s* ? HAHAHAHA!

[@OlofPalm3]

Its so funny

[@h.w.4482]

kirkbride and george lucas are really similar in that they do their best work when paired with someone who can talk them down sometimes, making their ideas more refined. left unchecked they kinda go hog wild

[@thecornfieldiii2069]

Gold must be refined

[@LordVader1094]

​@@thecornfieldiii2069True

[@spencermannan6075]

​@@thecornfieldiii2069 Drugs have to be refined, too

[@Jiub_SN]

Lucas never had someone talk down to him, maybe in a new hope, and Kirk rides best work was the stuff that wasn't filtered

[@spencermannan6075]

@@Jiub_SN George's wife was the reason the original trilogy is considered better She talked him out of a lot of stuff Also I love kirkbride's stuff, but he needs some reigns too

[@TheElderScrollsFan88]

Ah yes, the real Skyrim we never got...Such a shame, I love the old lore so much more. One of my biggest disappointments of Skyrim the game was the absence of original Nordic religion. Even the civil war was all about imperial god Talos, but also the landscape, the Reachmen, Nordic traditions, all of that was lacking in development. Glad that at least the community is making things much, much better.

[@tobyeaterofbark9582]

old skyrim was fucking beautiful. as someone who got into the series from skyrim reading about the other regions blew my mind. i wish theyd leaned more into the norse aspects of their culture. when i played oblivion i never felt like i left skyrim. atleast in terms of how people acted

[@noone12748]

Maybe in the future we can have a prequel Skyrim that takes place in the past, instead of the kindergarten level play of the war between Rome and the germanic tribes that Bethesda whipped up

[@adamcole8171]

This makes me feel homesick for what was never delivered. This is exactly what I've been trying to articulate for years now. I love Skyrim, but it could have been such a deeper, more primal place to explore. I feel like I should get involved with this project.

[@sneeu27]

Reachmen worship the Daedric Princes. They call them the Spirits. It also seems the Hagravens are the actual leaders of the Forsworn. They have a ritual where they replace a persons heart with a briarheart flower as a Lorkhanic Re-enactment. Lorkhan had his heart removed by Auriel (the Elven god)

[@boreanknight]

Ah, never thought of connection between Lorkhan and briarhearts, interesting.

[@W.Isarnorix.D]

The Hagravens could also be tied to Nocturnal. In ESO you'll find Crows and Hagravens in Eldergloam.

[@rickymartin4457]

Project Tamriel'd Reachmen lore differs heavily from ESO's. They don't worship the Daedric princes in this mod for example.

[@sneeu27]

@@rickymartin4457 I see

[@GazingTrandoshan]

@@W.Isarnorix.D eso restored a lot of cool stuff with the skyrim bits , markarth dlc was juicy

[@accountnamewithheld]

Can I say how refreshing it is to watch a video where I'm not having a corporate sponsorship rammed into my ears and that has obviously been made by a fan of the material Excellent video, silky smooth footage, great job lad. Can't wait for any playthrough videos you might come out with! :)

[@boreanknight]

Playthrough coming very soon :) Thanks!

[@ericv738]

The footage shown so far of the mod looks amazing and, yes, i think it does restore some of that "old lore" magic from Morrowind-era Bethesda.

[@asgoritolinasgoritolino7708]

Well, that is until you see ayleid dungeons lmaooo The mod clearly uses lore and content, even designs, from the latter games, though.

[@ericv738]

@@asgoritolinasgoritolino7708 I would actually welcome Aylied dungeons in the Morrowind game engine. Sounds cool

[@sultanofrum2478]

@@asgoritolinasgoritolino7708 There are discussions and some very cool concept art on making Ayleid architecture in TES III province mods quite different from that shown in TES IV. But it's a difficult situation, since so much content has already been created with the TES IV-looking set that we have. Recreating all of it in a new architecture set would be a lot of extra work that would much delay the mod releases. And it's not like the TES IV design looked bad.

[@asgoritolinasgoritolino7708]

@@sultanofrum2478 I mean, i'm all up for that change. Personally, the oblivion ayelid dungeons looked quite generic, and I mean, if I wanted to see them, I would just play oblivion. But why would you change them, though? Despite what many people believe, the mod has always used content from the latter entries, for example hagravens and aurorans. I'm curious as to why you guys want to replace the Oblivion Ayleid tileset design, basically.

[@sultanofrum2478]

@@asgoritolinasgoritolino7708 Well, for many of the reasons you brought forward. While we have greatly expanded upon the options given by the TES IV set (which our set looks almost 1-to-1 now), at the end of the day it is still kinda generic LOTR elf architecture. It is also difficult to build sensible and believable ruins with it -- we would want to build ruined Ayleid cities, but the set only allows for tomb and throne-room-looking stuff. So all-in-all, it's a bit of a lazy choice and a missed opportunity that our Ayleid set is a TES IV clone. But I guess that the biggest thing is that Feivelyn drew such beautiful and vibrant concepts for an alternative Ayleid architecture set that we'd dearly love to use that instead.

[@sasha1mama]

That kobold is nightmare fuel. If I'd seen that as a kid, I'd have been creeped out to an unreasonable degree...then eventually gotten over it after countless hours of exposure and killing them.

[@MulleDullen]

I have rarely looked into the old lore, but you told and showed it with such care, I cannot help being enthralled with it. Great video

[@boreanknight]

Thank you!

[@minerman60101]

Markarth is very unlikely to come in 2024, unless PT gets a large influx of developers. PT is putting its efforts towards getting Anvil done first before fully committing to getting Markarth done. Also, Shadowkey would be post-Morrowind, coming in 2004. Also most importantly, Hrnchamd has made a map expansion for the vanilla engine in the MWSE-lua mod UI Expansion.

[@ragilpramudyaputra7251]

still playing vanilla engine with mwse right because mwse mods is amazing maybe i'll switch to OpenMW until OpenMW Lua getting more unique mods

[@boreanknight]

Thanks for the info! Can't wait for Anvil as well.

[@Markk4kk]

Thanks for the info. Need to jump back into Morrowind again soon

[@AbstractTraitorHero]

A map expansion? Explain?

[@Denis-lp3pz]

@@AbstractTraitorHero map expansion (a part of the UI Expansion mod) allows you to use the UI map beyond the borders of Morrowind. Vanilla map can't go further than Morrowind mainland, hence the players of Skyrim Home of the Nords and Province Cyrodiil: Stirk had to play these landmasses without UI map. OpenMW had no such limitation and until recently was the only way to play Project Tamriel with a proper map. But thanks to Hrnchamd, you can now enjoy the map on vanilla as well.

[@dieselface1]

This makes me wish there was a mod project for Skyrim itself focused on recreating the world to fit more with old Bethesda lore. Sure, you can restore a lot with individual mods but different modders have very different styles and visions and it all feels a lot more disjointed than something that a team like the one behind this mod can make.

[@dziku2222]

Honestly, I like the mod more than the Skyrim as a standalone game. Sure, the mod is smaller and there are not that much quests to do, especially in comparison to Tamriel Rebuilt where you bump into all sorts of random events/locations/quests when you move between major points on map, but the atmosphere of the place is just awesome. It feels both fitting to Nords you know from Morrowind and it has those nostalgic vibes from Daggerfall or Might and Magic games for some reason, especially in places like Karthwasten. Locations in the mod are fantastic. Some places like Mirilstern just explode your eyes in awe - not only having a very cool layout, but also tons of custom assets and models. Rocky inpassable moutains, or rather highlands with cliffs are very refreshing in comparison to Morrowind landscapes, because they made traveling harder and more commiting, when there are only several spots you are able to get onto cliff (unless you plan to use levitation potions or save the hustle with TCL). The first time I've seen cave interiors it was amazing - again, like with surface locations - it's fantastic to see so many new assets. One of caves I've seen was so expansive it looked like an exterior location or some huge underground chambers like from I don't know - Minecraft lol - in a good way. Another thing I'd like to stres is that texture quality of the mod is fantastic - they fit the game, they are interesting and they look good. Some items are probably not yet finished and have this odd lack of shading to it, making them feel modded at the first glance and less pleasing to collect, but the mod is in progress. While points of interest on the map are fantastic, forests and wilderness between them can feel repetetive and somewhat procedurally generated. I know that landscapes were made manually, but that's the vibe you get when traveling through the open world until you bump on one of locations. It would be cool to find some more random features or regions being different from each other depending on geography. Suprisingly enough, personally I prefered wilderness from Bloodmoon. NPCs look very good, however I think it would be cool to see some more uncommon races here and there like you do on Vvardenfell, because everywhere besides Karthwasten you basically meet only nords. I'm not talking about some fancy unfitting stuff, like suddenly meeting whole bands of argonians, but would be cool to see people from other human races from neighbouring provinces from time to time. Quests in the mod are very enjoyable, but I think it could use some chainquests / mini-campaigns as well, to get the player more immersed in a certain location they are currently questing in. Morrowind has this type of narration to it, due to being open world, that you build a good picture of the place you are in mostly through how it looks and through quests you can pick there. For example, Almas Thirr from TR was solely focused on Hlaalu vs Indoril conflict, and how the city tries to strike balance and stay neutral despite the strong influence of both Houses. Andothren had this beautiful questline for Thieves Guild focused on rebuilding it, bonding with your guild companions, dirty laundry of a nobleman living in the city and the fallout of the conflict with Comonna Tong. Both of those has build the picture how those cities operate, what topics are they focused and what might an average day of the citizen of one of those may look like. I think Skyrim would benefit greatly on stuff like that, because it simply builds this bond between the player and the location, making it more memorable, because you have a lot of excuses to spend time there and to interact with the place and people living in it. New coins to collect! Quest with a mystery of murdered chickens! Overall, fantastic stuff, can't wait to see more of the mod! It's a big shame Bethesda after releasing Morrowind gave us players only cesspool. Both Cyrodil and Skyrim sounded very fascinating and full of atmosphere in books you could find in Morrowind, yet when those two got their games released, it was this sterile, bland garbage with 0 character.

[@captaingunnstar]

good to see you back. Here's to a healthy year for you!

[@boreanknight]

Cheers!

[@jigsawchan6280]

I really admire your delivery and editing skills. You make Morrowind feel even more mysterious than the actual game and lore itself. Thanks for the video ^_^

[@ericv738]

I love the square design of the buildings of Karthwasten. Reminds me of Daggerfall.

[@ishiaraii]

Your video is a godsend, SHotN deserves to have more recognition! Installed that mod a couple of months ago. Vorndgad forest was my first "real" exposure to what this Skyrim/Reach is in terms of aesthetics: cold, foggy, mysterious, with weird silhouettes of wormmouths and kobolds skulking about, and deranged spriggans. I was hooked immediately, it had this recognizable "hedge heathen" aesthetic to it, sometimes (only partially) reminding me of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. And the Karthgad village had set the tone for nords of this Skyrim perfectly. The Bear Claw clan carry similar themes of "falling from grace" like many nords in TES V, but in SHotN, the dialogue of the clansmen conveys so much more bitterness and misery over how no one remembers them as defenders of the Reach. Their clan tomb is barely tended to, having just a couple of draugr defenders inside, with many skeletons having been dropped haphazardly on the floor, no one caring enough to place their dead properly in their sargophagi. It's more than just "they used to be heroes but now they are bandits"; it's really heartbreaking to see this clan fallen so low, you can almost see a Bear clansman giving you the hard, bitter look and saying "Do we look sad to you?"

[@boreanknight]

Thanks for a really great description of SHotN! A commenter said there will be a quest regarding the Bear clan in next update, I hope we get to help them in some way.

[@shararm]

Dude idk how ive never seen your channel before but its awesome seeing all the huge mod stuff i dont have time to play anymore

[@HickoryDickory86]

I like the lack of Dwemer ruins. Seeing Dwemer ruins so abundant over all of Skyrim never seemed right to me. A few here and there, sure, with a much higher density in the eastern half (with the Blackreach subterranean highway network connecting major Dwemer cities in the east with the scattered few in the west), but far more appropriate would have been ancient Falmer (Snow Elf) ruins, showing how _they_ were once the dominant elven race of Skyrim.

[@melkermagnusson5070]

I really like your morrowind videos! It made me install the game and mod it myself.

[@TheNorthlander]

I got into the franchise in Oblivion and thus enjoy much of the new aspects of Elder Scrolls, while also feeling some of the old remained in that game compared to Skyrim. However, the passion of Morrowind fans and how that has fueled their modding community has inspired me to pick the game up and finally personally dwell into the old lore of the Elder Scrolls rather than just reading about it in a in-game book or on a wiki article.

[@asgoritolinasgoritolino7708]

Ah yes, new aspects of elder scrolls like fast travel and meaningless choices (unkillable NPCs) nice taste bro, sure thing bro. Anyways, if you like new lore then i've got great news, both tamriel rebuilt and ShotN use new lore as well, so you might feel at home too.

[@goose6604]

​@asgoritolinasgoritolino7708 how old are you?

[@rissaarei5336]

Don't mind the navelgazing idiot (asgoritolinasgoritolino7708). All three games are good and all have something that makes them stand out from the others. I hope you enjoy your time in Morrowind!

[@arkgaharandan5881]

put a interactive map in your phone, use a movement speed increase mod, pick class and try to roleplay as that by using those skills, only do quests and factions that fit your class, this is how you enjoy this game.

[@IMidgetManI]

@@asgoritolinasgoritolino7708 you actually have to try to be this unlikeable

[@falloutdave459]

your nord videos are my fav dude keep it up

[@garybusey9941]

Home of the Nords and Tamriel Rebuilt and Province Cyrodiil are all amazing additions to Morrowind and are all must-have installs for me whenever I want to play it again.

[@sneeu27]

I dislike that there's almost no Nords in Skyrim that worship the traditional Nord gods. Only Froki does. Like wth is up with that? Bethesda could have made a village or at least one region that follows the traditional Nord culture and religion. That would have been cool

[@wingedhussar1453]

By then debs priority was making a gameplay focused blockbuster not a lore deep game. It would have taken a difrent director and tod Howard doesn't care about the lore as much

[@Lotsofleaves]

It's almost a kick in the gut that we got froki at all. I bet he was an addition of some passionate dev who agreed with your sentiment but didn't have the power to shift the vision. I think I'd rather have no froki or living reference to the totemic culture, or AT LEAST one village of remote Nords still living the old ways. Old Nords could have been the Ashlanders of tes5, along with Reachmen. That would have given weight to the civil war, given that we'd have a culture contrast of Imperialized city Nords and rural Old Nords.

[@sneeu27]

@@Lotsofleaves that would actually be pretty cool lol

[@Lotsofleaves]

@@sneeu27 it would haha, for now I get by on the head canon that the bandits are the old Nords!

[@sneeu27]

@@Lotsofleaves haha

[@moccus3466]

Reachfolk have always been my favourite culture in the elder scrolls, simply because as someone of Celtic heritage (Welsh) I feel like I get some representation in my favourite media. The rumours surrounding their culture and racial origins are very similar to the debates about the origins of the Celts in our world too.

[@WalrusWinking]

That was one my favorite parts of the lore as well.

[@danielgiovanniello7217]

I love Celtic mythology and culture so much, I just wish I knew more about it and its languages. I love seeing it used in fantasy settings, everything just sounds so badass. Part of the reason why I use a lot of Welsh, Irish, and Scottish naming in the D&D setting I'm working on, lol.

[@Lotsofleaves]

Love the Warlockracy- adjacent style, this is an instant sub for me and likes on every tes video I watch. I am always needing more tes3 vision elder scrolls and your content really hits the spot!

[@tut28Angel]

I wish the reason for more Imperial worship in Skyrim was that during Oblivion the gates did a large number on the homeland of man. So when Akatosh save the world from the force of Oblivion and beat up a prince. The nords thought the Imperial gods were more deserving. But thats just my headcanon.

[@Chinothebad]

Considering the 200 year gap starting right after Martin turned into a dragon, it could actually work to say how most Nords would worship the Divines.

[@welltemperedclavier819]

Thanks for the video! You presented a great overview of what makes S:HOTN so special to so many people. And as you say, even though the playable land area isn't the biggest, there's a ton of stuff to do there. I also wanted to point out there actually are a few Orc encampments in the playable area. Quite small and easy to miss, but they are there. Also, this is just quibbling, but technically Black Marsh is also under the TR umbrella, because of Black Marsh's connection to Morrowind. The rest of the Tamrielic provinces are part of PT, however.

[@boreanknight]

I found two Orc camps, one in the woods and other in a large cave, but I didn't get to include them here, together with many other things. Next time for sure! Didn't know about Black Marsh but it's interesting. That whole southern Morrowind region with House Dres is going to be wild, can't wait.

[@welltemperedclavier819]

There are also smaller projects for the Padomaic Isles and Abecean Isles, but I can't remember if they're part of TR and PT, or if they're considered separate@@boreanknight

[@toyguismailov4199]

@@welltemperedclavier819 Don't forget about Moonmod

[@frommyhighhorse]

Played this a few weeks ago and its actually amazing so far. ty for the vid

[@PixelPenguin77]

Been following and playing this mod for a while now, thank you so much for making this video.

[@Markk4kk]

Nice video. I think you managed to touch on what makes Morrowind unique from later elder scrolls games. Looking forward to how Morrowind will continue to develop over the next twenty years

[@palkamusica]

Great video again. Long and healty life.

[@boreanknight]

Cheers to that!

[@chexgex2834]

My god, talk about an amazing mod! To think all this can still be done and show just how much this game's modding community still has to offer!

[@Lordborgoth666]

As someone who has been following both project tamriel and tamriel rebuilt for years now I can honestly say that I love both the scope and passion behind the projects and I see them being more fully realized so when I'm in my mid to late 40s im sure I can play Skyrim as described in the original kirkbride lore just like how im sure we will see lore accurate imperial City and its surrounding areas instead of The Lord of the rings inspired experience we got out of Oblivion because Todd was inspired by The fellowship of the ring but anyway man it's always a pleasure seeing you posting a video and I really enjoyed it.

[@Lotsofleaves]

Hey, just want to point out that Kirkbride isn't the only writer to thank for the tes3 vision of Skyrim and I only say as much because the outsized credit draws greater attention from his haters. I love his work and contributions but even he would agree that the "weird" in Elder Scrolls isn't his alone. I want there to be more appreciation of the weird and creative in TES and sometimes the anti-mk crowd spills over onto the style of TES lore he's known for. I too follow these projects closely, thanks for being a part of this with everyone!

[@asgoritolinasgoritolino7708]

Except that they do use TESV lore and concept art constantly. So it wouldn't be "Skyrim as described in the original kirkbride lore". You think hagravens appeared before TESV? Nah, they literally used the design from Skyrim Same thing happens with Province Cyrodiil, which gets many of its lore directly from oblivion. Auroran lore and design, for example. Don't worry, this is a common misconception, they are terrible at communicating and explaining their projects.

[@Lotsofleaves]

@@asgoritolinasgoritolino7708 Yes, I agree up to the criticism at the end. They definitely are married to the so called "tes3-Redguard" era lore but there's not enough there to craft whole regions and cultures. As well, they ofc want to appeal to the audiences of the latter games to some extent and it's not like every idea of the latter games was bad. Hagravens are cool af! I love how they built on them here in SHotN by deciding to make them named npcs, fitting their role as witch-matrons of the Reachmen. I want to push back on your last point though, they're not bad at communication at all, the situation of misinfo and blanket statements like you responded to is just a reality of a collectively managed project with a massive base of overzealous fans. If people only got their info from the dev updates on their website, which are very comprehensive, this would not be nearly the issue it is. In fact I think the dev scene has learned loads of lessons about holding back in their public communications, e.g. never giving release dates.

[@rickymartin4457]

@@asgoritolinasgoritolino7708 Skyrim has some great concept art by the late Adam Adamowicz (RIP). They never said that they don't use certain elements from later games, I'd like you to point out where you read that, so I can confirm if it is true. They do use certain aspect from TES4 + 5 however, which surprise surprise, is often stuff Kirkbride wrote for them as a freelancer. What they do not use is official Bethesda lore of the later games that directly contradicts earlier 3rd era lore. These retcons are pretty problematic so they generally only use stuff (if they like it) from later games if it builds on, or doesn't contradict TES3 lore. This is still a very old lore centric view and philosophy they have.

[@asgoritolinasgoritolino7708]

@@rickymartin4457 Did you read my comment at all? I said it was a common misconception, because they are always saying and stating they use lore from the old games while constantly integrating lore and designs from TES IV and TES V a well. Again, I think this is just a communication issue from their part. Look at the comment I replied to, o even, at the title of this very video! Everyone is confused about it, many people believe the mod is limited to morrowind-era lore, while it is truly not. I already provided two examples that came off from my mind, but they are not the only ones, of course.

[@Gitshiver]

Amazing work as always Alek! I've had S:HotN installed for months but there is just so much world to explore that I haven't made it out west yet, but it looks amazing and seems to be a major labor of love!

[@boreanknight]

Thanks! Same here, I explored it for the first time last year and instantly fell in love. Now I gotta go back to TR, still haven't played new map 😅

[@mister_i9245]

I'm very excited for the upcoming update to Province: Cyrodiil

[@DMIwriter]

The first proper region! I'm pumped. Personally, I think the old lore version of Cyrodiil and imperial culture is amongst my favorites. Especially looking forward to the minotaur tribes. It sounds like they're going to make them sapient

[@Kai.CRoleplaying]

Great video Alek. Happy new year to you and thanks for this fantastic analysis. I agree the story of Skyrim seemed to make the Nords concern about Talos bigger than what the lore should've been, like why were the Nords so obsessed with Talos when they have their own deities or at least versions of the Divines. You even in Skyrim have the NPC Froki who still worships the old pantheon like Kyne and so on. The mod looks awesome. Love that fans are making such quality content for this game like 20 years since it dropped.

[@boreanknight]

Happy new year! Yeah that Talos obsession in TES5 was really something. I haven't covered Nord religion in this video because I found very little about it, so far. Practically no one talks about religion and there are no distinct temples. One book talked about nord religion and Alduin in a very cyclical manner. Basically nords praying for preventing Alduin's return which would end the current cycle. Here Alduin reminds me of Nidhogg, dragon eating the world tree and cosmic wolves eating the sun during Ragnarok. If I find more info maybe I'll do a separate videon on it.

[@nicechock]

Because they dont like magic and they consider magic users to be weaklings. Talos was a man hero god. Warrior

[@rickymartin4457]

Another banger of a vid! Can't wait for more Skyrim Home of the Nord vids from you. Maybe one about mini-bosses next? Or the most breathtaking dungeon of the Reach?

[@re_medy]

I don’t know what amazes me more - the quality of the video, the choice of a topic that is very interesting to me, or the fact that the channel only has 2K subscribers. Спасибо!

[@lizardmedia2257]

Morrowinds Solsteim and home of the nords give off Bathory vibes. listen to Blood on Ice, Nordland 1&2 and youll know what i mean.

[@boreanknight]

I listened to Thyrfing's Urkraft, love that album and haven't listened to it for many years. It felt just right!

[@DazeofYore]

One of the very best Elder Scrolls videos I've ever watched.You've got a talent for video production/narration. Your voice is very nice to listen to as well. Just subscribed!

[@boreanknight]

Thank you so much!

[@DazeofYore]

@@boreanknight Of course!

[@neilpritchard4100]

Recently started playing Morrowind for the first time and while I haven't installed any of the expansions since I don't want to get too distracted from the base game on a first playthrough, I did pick a Nord like you. But, my reason is a little reversed, I suppose. I really, really, like the ancient Nords. Like, First Era and earlier. So I miss thu'ums and the dragon cult stuff, even if the more "mundane" magicality of stuff like Woad etc. is nice, too. But so far I've been blown away by how grounded and real Morrowind is, even with all the slightly overdone mystique. While I enjoy some of Kirkbride's stuff, I find his quote ragging on how derivative and obviously referential early Elder Scrolls was (the forum post about, like how every place name is a reference to some other fantasy place, and how Vivec is so cool because he's a gay demi-god wearing bug armor... or something to that effect) a little jarring and distasteful. So it's not the exotic I find amazing in Morrowind, but rather the down-to-earth stuff played straight in high fidelity, so I think I'm going to enjoy Home of the Nords a lot, whenever I do get around to it.

[@HamanKarn567]

This is a great mod alongside Tamriel Rebuilt. Island of Stirk was a really good one too. For this mod I remember playing and finding that tomb with the head giving riddles. It was so cool. I can't wait for more of these areas to be released on both mods. Morrowind is my favorite game of all time so for me these mods are like getting new expansion packs for the best game ever. They feel like they are official that's how good they are imo. That's why I love them so much. This channel is also awesome. I've only found it for about a month but I really enjoy your videos as well.

[@boreanknight]

Thank you! I feel the same about these mods, they are at least original game quality and in some areas are even improved.

[@Slender_Man_186]

I remember when the Thu’um was a Nordic wind magic that had no connection to Dragons.

[@scarecrow2097]

You gave me a very nice template for my skyrim modding.

[@kg30004]

I adore the modern elder scrolls games but the mysticism of nords seen in Solstheim in TES3 is something special

[@burak-safak]

I found this channel thanks to this video, checked the other videos and subscribed immediately. I'm leaving this comment here to slap the algorithm so that others can discover this channel too.

[@boreanknight]

Thank you so much!

[@gabewhite6943]

I’ve been waiting to play this mod until it’s more complete. Gladly, I think I’ll be forgoing that wait.

[@joeljimenez4794]

Very well made. thank you!

[@aj2760]

Great video! The Markarth of version of Home of the Nords will be super interesting. A nordic city mixed with ancient elven architecture and with the College of the Voice in the center, which is an imperial institution teaching about the thu'um..... It will be quite the experience

[@boreanknight]

Btw I'm very curios about the College of the Voice, are there gonna be shouts in game? I think that the voice was supposed to be much more widespred among the Nords, than what is shown in TES5.

[@sultanofrum2478]

@@boreanknight I'm not sure it's yet decided. The College of the Voice in Markarth is not really something that actively teaches shouts anymore, IIRC, it's more of a prestige thing and boarding school for Colovian and Skyrim noble youths. Any implementation of the Voice will need to rely on Lua additions and, therefore, cannot be in the core mod until OpenMW provides the required APIs.

[@ABuffWizard]

Excellent cinematography, really set the tone and ambience of the mod. Seems like a good vibe.

[@thalmoragent9344]

Honestly, even as someone not overly a fan of the Nordic race compared to some others, I most certainly agree that the Old Lore for Skyrim was a lot more interesting Sure, the Dragon Cult getting a lot of traction in the story was cool and all, I liked it but still, lost a lot of the cool history of Skyrim. They even dropped the ball when it cake to what they could've done for ths Snow Elves (albeit that's another story altogether). Overall, the Stormcloaks pushing for the worship of the Atmoran Gods over the Imperial ones would've made for a much better story. Ulfric's character on its own is one thing, but had he been given a similar role in-universe by being seen as "the next Hoag Merkiller", then we could've seen a more dynamic Civil War. Imagine Ulfric and the Stormcloaks end up mirroring/echoing the Nords of the First Era, who fought against the Allesian Order and their Imperial Cult's influence in Skyrim? Seeing them push forward the worship of the Atmoran Pantheon, their OG belief system, would've made for a much more interesting Civil War

[@TazAlonzo]

One creature I pray makes a appearance is snow whales. Not even visually, just imagine being in High Hrothgar and hearing the majestic cries of whales.

[@horselats]

Playing Morrowind feels like being at sea, it even takes time to prepare (mod), and when I arrive its by boat. :) I know it influenced my career path.

[@SkyguyFilmsZooruvfilms]

I was not expecting a mod review

[@Markk4kk]

This might be an unpopular opinion but I actually prefer Skyrim and nord areas in Morrowind rtaher than skyrim. There's a certain scale, colour, atmosphere and charm that Morrowind provides compared to skyrim.

[@HiAgainTheNameIsStillAyle]

Mate That's called nostalgia

[@younghegelian1]

@@HiAgainTheNameIsStillAyle nostalgia for what? i mostly agree and while i played skyrim for hundreds of hours during my formative years i only started playing morrowind a couple of years ago.

[@loriw780]

New subscriber here. Thanks for the steady stream of Morrowind content. All of the videos you've made on the subject have been great- I used your TR minibosses video to check out a few of the people. Love this game. There's nothing quite like it.

[@boreanknight]

Thanks so much, glad you're enjoyed the videos!

[@TwilightRogue15]

I have found my people. Let us enjoy the rich and wild old lore together.

[@karpai5427]

This looks amazing. I hope all of my loverslab mods for Skyrim will work with this version of the game, otherwise, I can't stream it.

[@andreiporojanu2670]

Great video!

[@ThommyofThenn]

I had not considered this. As such, I must thank you for making an interesting episode about this

[@JayBMods]

You should cover province Cyrodiil too, if you haven’t yet! It’s Anvil release is coming up soon, and the lore they’re drafting blowing oblivion straight out of the water!

[@boreanknight]

I'm definitely going to cover! Actually I wanted to review Stirk island but I heard it's being redesigned, so I'll wait for Anvil release. Do you by chance have any info on release date?

[@JayBMods]

@@boreanknight last I heard, the team is shooting for sometime this year, but there’s still some work to be done and that’s far from certain. Almost all of the interiors and exteriors are done now. What’s left seems to be the Stirk/Charach redo and new quest content for it and the mainland.

[@boreanknight]

@@JayBMods Thanks!

[@AndrzejGieraltCreative]

Hype, this is along the lines of what my falkreath narrative overhaul will hopefully achieve eventually. Nowhere near this big I guess.

[@timh.7169]

damn, this looks interesting. Nords are my favorite, too. But in TES5 I really really miss the depth in their lore like give me more viking/germanic inspired lore and more shamanic sides

[@hysterical5408]

It looks alright, hope to see more updates in future.

[@alim-xf7wz]

Everything aside Atmosphere in this mod is phenomenal. I don't know how to describe it there is something in Atmosphere that you can't replicate in newer games The game is beautiful even without high res textures and volumetric lighting or real time shadow.

[@stiken4421]

20k views! yeah! dude you deserve as much views as possible!

[@boreanknight]

Thanks!

[@backupschmliff1156]

Never heard of Tamriel rebuilt. I'll check out your other video but I thought I should leave this comment anyway for the algorithm

[@boreanknight]

Thanks! If you're playing on pc it's easy to install. It's a mod that adds Morrowind's mainland, and it already has a large playable area.

[@FangsofYima]

I look forward to playing this, I'm just so buried in all the TR content still. So much to do in modded morrowind these days its insane.

[@trevorsamuels8392]

That's pretty cool how they made morrowind have 2004 graphics. Reminded me of how og re4 looked.

[@magickaddict]

Wonderful video. Thank you so much for explaining the lore of 3rd era Skyrim!

[@csam9167]

I always thought that the Reachmen we like Celtic people perceived by roman conquestor and christian faith... So demonic worshipping pagan god enjoyer druidic led men. Anyway top tier video, top tier visual , top tier audio.

[@deuteriuscawl]

would it be at all possible to link the bear clan and the stormcloaks? Maybe Ulfric having heritage from there/having adopted their culture? They just made me think "these guys might be what Bethesda wanted the Stormcloaks to be"

[@boreanknight]

I thought of that too, with all the bear symbology, but couldn't find any info. Maybe TR devs could give us a hint.

[@sultanofrum2478]

You can have this be your own headcanon. Project Tamriel purposefully does not draw connections to later games, since these projects don't seek to serve as prequels to later titles, but rather go off into their own directions based upon how the lore was presented at the time of TES III.

[@hedgehog3180]

I will say that Markarth and the Reach was probably the best written part of TES V Skyrim. Mostly because it was the only place with more complicated morals.

[@irishijo1]

I absolutly love Morrowind, its relative simplicity masks an amazing level of depth that is just so enjoyable to create new characters in. Tamriel Rebuilt takes the relatively small scope of Vvardenfell, and expands it to a degree that feels truely expansive, with beautiful sights to be seen anywhere you go. It is hands down my favorite Elder Scrolls game I've played, between Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. I cannot wait to take a trek from Ebonheart to The Imperial City and beyond.

[@ElijahuPincher]

Is High Hrothgar possible in Morrowind's engine?

[@Denis-lp3pz]

Yes, Roerich has been doing good stuff with it.

[@vespaman101]

Nice. I remember being estatic to explore skyrim lore and going up the thousand steps. Finding lore bits i recognized and my friends did not was cool. But a lot wasnt used. First of all they alluded to dragons returning for at least 2 games before Skyrim but they ddint even use the availavle lore. I was expecting Tosh Raka attempting to take over Tamriel.

[@spyrofrost9158]

"Seen any elves?" x100 I actually would have loved Skyrim so much more if it had a Breton-style Medieval city in the Reach.

[@HiAgainTheNameIsStillAyle]

Fr, I love Skyrim but it never felt right to have a dwemer focus on an area that should be all about the reachmen I think the Rift having more dwemerine shit would make more sense, since it's so close to main land Morrowind and all the Dwemer used to be more around there Still love Markath though, never got why people hate it

[@DAGGERBLIVION]

There is an oblivion project to make skyrim into oblivion called TWMP Skyrim alive witch is a part of the current biggest tes modding project called Wolf Tamriel.

[@jijijijijiji44]

I would have loved for the Stormcloaks to be an old nord type of group versus the modern Bethesda one. Instead of Talos being the centre, all the mystical old elements of the Nords would be kept with the Stormcloaks, frowned upon by the Imperials. Instead, the Skyrim of TESV, for all that i love of it, isnt the Skyrim that The Elder Scrolls set it up to be. Humans are just a copy paste of each other, further ruined by ESO and their "all humans come from the same place" narrative.

[@almogvarshavski9226]

Found this fantastic video by sheer luck, glad to declare i happily subscribed as i always support the morrowind community and especially the modders/ loremasters/ as at this point i'm more likely to be satisfied by TES content made by us rather than bethesda. Hoping for some update videos in the future! Cheers

[@EJDubbz]

Lore beyond measure

[@co.1157]

Great video, I will certainly play this when I get a computer.

[@pacceli2009]

This old lore sounds much more interesting. Where can I read more about It?

[@boreanknight]

Check their forums on Project Tamriel. There are some lore discussions from years ago. But I got most of it from in game dialogues and books.

[@pacceli2009]

@twilightcoda8572 thank you guys.

[@aqueleK]

Thanks for this video, I've always wanted to play Morrowind, but the time barrier has always stopped me. However, watching this video made me realise how deep the game really is.

[@weall1208]

Morrowind graphics in a temperate european setting really makes me think of Gothic.

[@mimief7969]

I love being a Nord in Morrowind, you feel like such a cool savage in a strange land. What's not to love?

[@TheGraveKnight]

Late but I think Morrowind also had a good balance of the power fantasy idea, since yeah while you're (possibly) the reincarnation of a legendary god-king, you had to *earn* it, and it's shown that many before you have tried and failed indicating that this is no easy task. The Champion of Cyrodiil oddly enough was sorta on the right track, as there's nothing inherently special about and ultimately Martin is the true hero of Oblivion's story, but Skyrim threw it hella hard in the main character power fantasy being dropped in your lap.

[@theantil7]

I played MW for the first time about a year ago. And as an avid Skyrim player since 2011, I must say, MW TAUGHT me how to play Skyrim. It should be a pre-requiste. I love MW now, but for different reasons than Skyrim. And because of modding, I still stick with Skyrim. But if I had to play vanilla I'd play both no doubt.