LE Hunting Lodge and Taxidermist

[gimiwan]

TLDR version: a player home geared toward hunters where the taxidermy mounts (gameheads) require actually hunting the animal before they are added to your home.

 

A while back I was looking through some player homes, particularly at ones aimed toward hunters. I noticed that many of these had gameheads. So I thought to myself, "wouldn't be cool if you acquired these gameheads by actually hunting the animals they're made from?" Well, today I fleshed out that idea quite a lot, and this is what I came up with. I'll discuss my ideas as you would encounter them in-game.

 

We start off with a new shop in some village like Riverwood or maybe Falkreath. Upon entering this shop, you see all kinds of gameheads and full mounts of the various animals of Skyrim. You approach the old man who appears to be the shopkeeper. He says that he's a taxidermist. Being that this is a shop, you can actually buy some stuff, but all you can really buy initially is things like leather, hides, teeth, tusks, etc.

 

So you talk to this man a little more and he explains that he is a retired hunter. He then offers you a task. It's just a simple fetch/delivery quest. Return to him and he'll reward you. Since he trusts you a bit more, he'll tell you some more about himself. He used to live in a lodge a ways into the wilderness. He would live off the land, and spend his spare time practicing taxidermy on his kills. But a short while ago, he realized he was getting too old to hunt anymore. So he decided to support himself through taxidermy. While he would have loved to stay in his home, he wouldn't get enough clients out in the middle of nowhere to be able to eke out a living. So he moved into town to set up his shop. He's certainly not wealthy, but he is getting by. And he does his miss his hunting days.

 

Time for another task. He has a client who wants a bearskin rug. But this client is no hunter, so has not provided the required hide. The old man asks if you would retrieve a bear hide for him. Doing so nets you a paltry reward. At this point, he asks you a question: "Are you a hunter by trade?". You can say no, that you were just doing a favor for an old man. He will reward your generosity and continue to offer his services. And that would be the end of the mod.

 

But if you say yes, he will tell you that his old hunting lodge is still around, and still vacant. He had always been hesitant to let it go, but feels that it should be used, preferably by a kindly hunter such as yourself. He offers to sell it to you; says the local trader can provide any furnishings you might need. So you visit the lodge and notice that it is surprisingly lacking in taxidermy mounts for the former home of a taxidermist. Upon next visiting the taxidermist, you can ask him about this. He'll of course say that he took everything with him when he moved. He offers to sell you a full set of mounts (which will furnish your new home with some standard gameheads). But he says that he can sense a greatness within you, and thinks you might be up for a greater challenge.

 

He offers to make custom mounts for you using the remains of various unique animals. He briefly describes them as thus: a buck with horns so large and ornate, they're said to have been crafted by the divines themselves; a white wolf whose leadership over other wolves leads some to think he may not be the alpha male of his pack, but the alpha male of all wolves; a bear so old its hair has gone gray; a mudcrab whose shell is supposedly as hard as stone; a mysterious creature, a hare with the antlers of a deer, which may just be the ramblings of a drunk; and a dragon described as "uniquely savage".

 

So now you have the option of asking about each of these animals which will add a new quest. Completion of each quest will result in a trophy being added to your lodge. Complete all of the quests and the taxidermist will give you his bow. I'll go into more detail on these quests in the spoiler boxes below (to conserve space).

 

The Buck

 

The buck is probably the simplest and easiest quest. The taxidermist tells you about how he had encountered the buck several times in his years. Most of the time it was from a distance, but a few times he got within archery range. Not that it mattered. The buck was far too swift for him. In terms of gameplay, the buck would have increased health and increased speed. The challenge will be in keeping up with the buck while trying to fire your arrows. The buck (along with all of these animals) will be immune to magic and (hopefully) shouts, so will need to rely on your bow or a melee weapon. Additional challenge will be in finding it. The taxidermist will tell you the general location, but there won't be a quest marker (as it will be for most of the quests). So you'll have to stalk the area keeping an eye out for a buck with unique antlers. Upon killing the buck, return to the taxidermist and he'll add a game head of the buck with unique antlers to your lodge.

 

 

The Bear

 

The bear will be similarly simple. The taxidermist will tell you about how the bear is old. No one knows how old, but there have been reports of it for decades. But just because the bear has grown old, don't presume it has grown feeble. The bear will reside in a cave. This will put you in a close quarters fight. The bear will have more health and do more damage than a normal bear. As a reward for victory, the taxidermist will give you a choice. He can either make a full body mount, or a bearskin rug. Your choice will be added to your lodge.

 

 

The Wolf

 

The wolf should be a little more challenging. It will be accompanied by an unusually large pack (maybe 8-10). The pack will all have a bit more health, do a bit more damage, and be a bit faster than a normal wolf. The white wolf will have a lot more health and damage. Victory will get you a gamehead.

 

 

The Mysterious Animal

 

The mysterious animal would be a jackalope. The taxidermist will send you to the drunk he first heard the story from. The drunk won't remember where he saw it, but says that others in the tavern have seen it. Another drunk in the bar will claim to have seen it and give you a very vague description of where. Perhaps it wasn't real after all. But when you leave the tavern you are approached by a wood elf. He overheard you asking about the jackalope. He's seen it as well, but didn't want to say so in so public a place. People would think him daft. So he provides you with a more accurate location. Now the jackalope will spawn somewhere in a fairly wide area. You'll have to be a bit lucky to spot it. And typically when you do, it will run away. Therein lies the challenge. The jackalope is incredibly fast. There would be no way to catch up to it without frequent use of Whirlwind, which is impossible due to cooldown. Add into that the jackalope will notice you from a great distance, and you'll find you have a tricky prey.

 

You'll pretty much have four options. First, try to sneak in close enough to get a decent shot with your bow. This won't be as easy as you think, but you have an advantage in that a single hit from any weapon will kill it. Second, stay out of the range that it will notice you and prove your skill as an archer. This will be difficult primarily because you will have to spot it from a great distance. Third, try to corner it. Whether you can achieve this will depend largely on where the jackalope spawns. And your last hope is simply to get lucky. Killing this elusive prey will get you a full body mount to set on a table or cabinet.

 

 

The Mudcrab

 

The mudcrab will either be very difficult, or very time consuming. The taxidermist will direct you to its general location, and you should find it easily enough. But when you attack it, you'll find that your weapons have no effect. Since it's immune to magic, there's not much you can do but return to the taxidermist. He'll direct you to a specialist he know. The specialist will say, "I know they say the mudcrab in question has a shell as hard as stone, but the truth is it's much, much harder than stone. You'll need a particularly tough weapon. Perhaps something daedric will pierce its chitin." But daedric won't work either. When you tell him this, he'll be a bit dismayed. Then he'll offer up his last ditch theory, the toughest stuff he knows of: diamond. He'll send you to the Castle Fletcher in Solitude. The fletcher will be able to make an arrow with a diamond head for you. The only problem is that no diamond in all of Tamriel is large enough to make into an arrow head, save one. He'll direct you to a wealthy individual in possession of the largest diamond in existence (I'm think Maven Blackbriar).

 

So now you have to get the diamond from Maven. You can approach her directly and ask her about it. She'll refuse to give it to you, but with even a low speech level, you'll be able to persuade her into putting it up for sale... for a million septims. With a higher speech skill, you can intimidate her into lowering the price to 750,000 or persuade her into lowering it to 500,000. But if you attempt to intimidate her and fail, she'll raise the price to 1,250,000. I'm thinking that if you've previously completed quests for her, all the prices would be lowered by some. So your first option is to save up the money to buy it from her. Alternatively, you can try to steal it from her, but not without knowing the location. You can find the location by pickpocketing a note (and a key) from her, or by bribing/persuading her son, Hemming.

 

Once you know the location, you can go about it in two ways. You can go through and kill everybody, looting all the keys you'll need from their bodies, and acquiring a hefty bounty while doing so. Alternatively, you can try to sneak your way through. But your path will be impeded by multiple master level locks, locks that require a key (lifted from Maven or a guard), guards, and potentially traps. If you inquired about the diamond from Maven before coming here, you may find a note on one of the guards warning that someone was looking to acquire the diamond, and to increase security, meaning more guards and the addition of traps. But if you try to steal it from her straight away, you'll have an easier time. The guards will not only attack you on sight, you will also get an immediate bounty if you're spotted. And since Maven is so influential, the bounty will be higher than normal.

 

So you've finally acquired the diamond. Return to the fletcher and he'll get started on crafting the arrow straight away. He knows a gemcutter and everything. But it may take a few days. So when you return a few days later, he'll provide you with a single diamond tipped arrow. He warns you that this arrow is truly one of a kind. There is no other diamond in all of Tamriel large enough to make another arrow head, so this one is it. If you lose it, you won't get another one. So don't miss. If you do lose the arrow, the quest is failed.

 

This arrow will have a very large amount of damage, like 100 or 500 or something. This would make the arrow very useful against pretty much any enemy in the game. So you are free to use it how you like. But the intended use is still the mudcrab. Use it against the mudcrab to kill it in one hit. Inspect the body to find a broken diamond arrow. Return to the taxidermist with the mudcrab's chitin and he'll offer you a choice. He can make you a mount, but given the unique properties of the chitin, he thinks it could be put to better use. He knows a blacksmith who could craft the chitin into a unique shield. This shield would have properties befitting a material that can only be pierced by diamond. And so ends this quest. It's quite long and can be a great pain in the ass, but I hope that every part of this quest feels natural and necessary for the role players out there.

 

 

The Dragon

 

Last up is the dragon. This one has quite a bit of back story. Ask the taxidermist about the dragon, and he will say the following: "I've been hearing rumors that you might be the Dragonborn. If that is the case, I may have something that might interest you. I heard a tale from a client of mine. This client is a hunter that I've known for many years. He made a claim once of a preposterously large bear; I thought he was just embellishing to elevate himself, that is until he actually brought the damned thing in. And it was even bigger than he had claimed. I thought it was a young mammoth at first, it was so big. And killing this beast was not the only nor the most challenging of his feats. This Nord has faced dragons before. Crazy bastard even managed to kill one.

 

I tell you this about him that you may know that he is no coward, and he is not prone to exaggeration. A short while ago, this man was hunting up by [location]. It was snowing, so visibility was low. As he got closer to the peak, he noticed some bones. Not that unusual a sight to see, so he carried on. Closer still to the peak he found more bones, then more. Then he tripped over the rotting carcass of a troll and landed in the bones of a man. He rose to his feet and pressed on, more cautiously now. Suddenly, the snow cleared. He looked about him. All he saw was bones and bodies all the way to the peak. They were the bones of beasts, men, and even dragons. He suspected magics must be the cause, for what else could lay waste to so many, including dragons? Though this man was brave, he had no defense against magic, so was about to head back.

 

Then he saw it. A dragon. There was something about this dragon; it had a wild appearance about it. It took flight over the peak and let loose a horrific roar that shook the man to his very core and his ancestors trembled within their halls. Even though he knew that any noise might draw the attention of this terrible thing, he felt a compulsion he never felt before. He felt, more than any other thing in his life, he had to scream in terror, but lacked all power to do so. This man, this, the bravest of all men I have known in my long, long life, he turned tail and he ran for his life. Fortune had it that it was hunter and not a bandit that found him passed out on the road many miles from the peak.

 

This was no ordinary dragon. It had some sort of power about it, to make such a man tremble. I am no fool. I would not send even an exceptional hunter after this thing. But you, you are Dragonborn! You slay dragons and steal away with their power! If it's at all possible to kill this thing, you will be the one to do it. And surely they will sing songs of your victory for generations! Though I believe you can do it, I beg that you do not go unprepared."

 

At this point you can go fight the dragon, or you can the taxidermist if knows anything else about it. He'll tell you that upon hearing this story, he was reminded of a book about a dragon he read in his youth. But for the life of him he can't remember its name. He suggests finding someone who knows his books. This starts an optional quest. You get no further clues or a quest marker, but Urag gro-Shub at the College of Winterhold would surely know what book you seek. Ask him if he knows any books of unusual dragons, and he'll name off three. He tells you where you can find each of these. Only one of them is the book you seek. Its title: Dragon With No Name.

 

This book tells the legend of a dragon. This dragon had lived as any other, but he was erratic, acted without concern for consequences. The other dragons knew that, given the power of the Thu'um, he was danger to all of them. They feared his power would grow too great. So they banded together and stole the dragons voice. The dragon was stripped of his power and exiled.

 

The dragon is understandably angry, but his anger is fueled by the frustration of not being able to articulate his thoughts because he no longer has a language. The only way he can express his anger is through violence. It started as violence against dragons, the ones who wronged him. He would attack any dragon that crossed his path. Since he could no longer speak he had to fight with tooth and claw, and he did so with a great ferocity. The dragons were surprised to learn that as an unintended consequence of removing his Thu'um, he was now immune to their Thu'um. So they too had to fight with tooth and claw. But they could not match his savagery, so he defeated every dragon he fought.

 

He seemed to grow larger, stronger, and more savage with every passing day. Out of fear that they would be unable to defeat this dragon without sacrificing many lives, the other dragons devised a poison that would severely weaken him. But they soon learned that he seemed to be almost content to stay in his own little corner of the world. They decided to just leave him be.

 

So the dragon sat on his peak. And he stewed. His anger at the dragons grew into an uncontrollable rage against the world. He would kill anything that wandered to near, not out of defense or a need to eat, but purely out of spite. And that pretty much ends the legend.

 

You can now set out to retrieve this poison to aid in your fight. The poison will only work on this particular dragon. It will cause a very large amount of damage, and cause the dragon to move more slowly.

 

The dragon will be situated on a peak surrounded by relatively open terrain with no nooks or crannies for you to hide in (don't know which, if any peak would be suitable). The peak would be covered with the bones and bodies of various animals, men, and dragons. The dragon will not breath fire or ice at you. It will only come at you directly. The dragon will have significantly more health, do more damage, and move much faster than a normal dragon. It will also be larger. It will be immune to all magic. You can try to lure it away to a more advantageous location for you, but if the dragon gets too far from its peak, it will fly back and regenerate its health. You must fight it on its terrain.

 

When you kill, the dragon will not burn up like a normal dragon, nor will you acquire its soul. Return to the taxidermist and he will congratulate you profusely. He says that he can make a mount of the dragon, but that it would take a while. Return several days later, and he'll inform you that he completed the mount. Visit the lodge to find the full dragon form mounted around and on top of your lodge. Perhaps he would also make an amulet from the dragon's tooth for you. And ideally the bards would start singing a new song, though that's probably a bit much.

 

 

 

And that is pretty much my idea. More quests could be added of course, utilizing other animals. Though I think too many would end up cluttering the lodge. It would be better to have something that feels like a lodge that has been appropriately adorned with your trophies, than it would be to have four walls with which to house your extensive collection of animals. This mod could (and should) feel like an extension of Skyrim, and not a mod. That's why it isn't a house you happen across with a one paragraph note explaining why you get a free house. What I envision for this mod wouldn't be "bring any deer hide to me and I'll put a mount in your house". It could be that, and that'd still be kind of cool, but I want better. I want trophies for feats of hunting that are actually challenging. Hence, the mod I am describing has unique animals with unique challenges.

 

But because this mod has unique animals, it puts it well out of the realm of my capabilities. I doubt I'd have much difficulty with the NPCs, quests, and event work, but I have zero talent when it comes to things like modelling and texturing. So I'm putting my ideas out there for others to do what they will with it. If you decide to do something with this idea and would like some further help from me (primarily ideas or writing), feel free to ask via PM or a post in this thread.

 

 

So if you've actually read through all of this, tell me what you think.

[Kimisaw]

I think it's cool. Even though it is 2020 at this point, it was an awesome idea