SSE New Miraak replacer mod - as an Atmoran/Snow Elf halfblood?

[Shahariel]

Hi everybody!

Had an idea for quite some time, but I'm a total loser when it comes to using the Creation Kit (meaning I managed to royally screw up the "create Bendu Olu"- introduction mod test from it, don't get me started on creating NPC replacers...).

My initial thought was: Why was Miraak so oblivion-bend on turning his back on his fellow Atmorans and join the Dragon cult? Why did he jumped at the first chance to get away from his dragon masters and tried to become the master himself?

Any other dragonpriest's motivation may be lust for power, or joining them in fear of being killed (not every Atmoran/Nord is a dauntless warrior), or revenge for something his fellow Atmorans did - but we're talking about the FIRST Dragonborn. I think he deserves better than "Hey, and THIS is the new final boss in this questline, his backstory is (shuffle to a bunch of generic files)... this!".

So I came up with following story:

When the first Atmorans under Ysgramor's lead settled at Saarthal, not ALL Snow Elves did even know about the settlement, or had seen an Atmoran up to the moment the 500 Companions (or at least the group of them raiding the Snow Elf settlement in question) stood before their gates during the Extinction.

To have this backstory work with other Snow Elf mods and/or PC backstories: The Snow Elf society was divided into 3 "normal" kingdoms with a High King residing over them AND his own realm. Saarthal is located in the High King's realm, and those living in the other kingdoms mostly were unaware of Saarthal and it's inhabitants.

The High King wasn't the most fond of the short-lived Atmorans within his borders, but on the whole Ysgramor had his people under control. Of course there were some incidents due to severe cultural differencies (imagine a bunch of Atmoran hunters hitting (or more...) on Vestal (Phynasteric? Syrabanic?) virgins who are on a pilgrimage or killing animals classified as "revered" or "not to be hunted because holy to Jephre" - or better yet, stumbling half-drunk into a solemn meditational prayer to Auriel and start singing some drinking songs...), and the Snow Elves were a bit worried about how fast the Atmorans reproduce, but overall both races left each other alone.

But a handfull of Snow Elves did interact with the Atmorans - among them the High King's elder son and daughter (though the latter was guarded more closely and couldn't sneak out that often. The (older) Snow Prince befriended Yngol, whom he even taught some elvish smithing tricks and how to get close to a Snow Whale without being affected, and in return was a regular guest in Saarthal - where everyone trusted him.

At this point those who want could use Vilassian the Forsaken from the mod "Ruined shrine of Phynaster" as the older Snow Prince.

On one of these occasions he took his sister with him. And as fate wanted it, she and Yngol fell in love - or rather, as Auriel and Kyne wanted it, for a Dragonborn would soon be needed when Alduin tries to devour Nirn when he wasn't supposed to yet.

The High King was NOT amused about his daughter being in love with an Atmoran, for she was supposed to marry another Elven prince, and those of his people who actually HEARD about the secret liaison deemed Yngol clearly not fit for their princess - what if her children were as short-lived as their father? Or worse - what if Yngol would take other (Atmoran) wives, as it was custom among them? And since Elves don't have that many children, will HER children even be considered as heirs of the "kingdom" of Saarthal, or would the child of another Atmoran woman be chosen? The (older) Snow Prince quickly shut up any concern and stated his trust in his best friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law.

On the Atmoran side, there were voices about how their own sisters and daughters weren't enough for Ysgramor's son and heir, and quite a few women were angry that Yngol declared that he will marry his love, and no other wives besides her. The Snow Princess must have bewitched him...

Ysgramor and Ylgar, however, stood with Yngol's decision, and reprimanded every ill-meant voice.

Maybe the love story would have a happy end, if several Daedric Princes wouldn't mettle...

Molag Bal, Mehrunes Dagon and Boethiah managed to twist the unbound loyalty of several Snow Elf groups to their High King into blind hatred against the Atmorans, letting them speak openly and vehemently against the "animals" in Saarthal and incite all kinds of attacks against the "spawn of Lorkhan" - right up to the point when the High King strictly forbade his daughter's "unnatural" union with Yngol and hastened the marriage with an Ayleid prince (to get her away from Saarthal).

The Snow Prince/Vilassian would have none of this and sneaked his sister out of the High King's palace, meeting up with Yngol for a secret wedding (who officially went on a Snow Whale hunt with his father and brother). The Snow Prince went hunting down the Snow Whale to give Yngol a trophy to show, and the newlyweds enjoyed their wedding night - the very night the boy who'd later name himself Miraak was conceived.

Both parties went back home without knowing what events were also set in motion on that night:

For that night the Daedric folowers chose to strike against the Atmorans - one group sent a bunch of elven honey wine barrels to Saarthal, as a gift of the still trusted Snow Prince. The honey wine ( or as the Atmorans call it, mead) was mixed with a sleep paralysis poison , and the unsuspecting Atmorans fell asleep one by one. Ysgramor and his sons however returned late to the party, and arrived just as another barrel of mead was opened - one of the Atmorans. They drank their fill and went to sleep, tired only by the hunt (and their secret wedding night) - and Yngol decided to tell everyone the good news in the morning, when they were all awake again....

As Vilassian and his sister snuck back into the High King's palace, they heard a secret conversation between their father ans a handful of anti-Atmoran extremists (wouldn't in be fitting if this daedric-inspired group named themselves the Thalmor?) about "raiding the beast's den at Saarthal and freeing the Princess from the evil influence of the spawn of Lorkhan.." - and the High King answers with "Do what you deem to be necessary."

Vilassian leaves immediately in the hope of not being to late and hastens to Saarthal - his sister hurries back to her room to cover for him and to pray her husband will not be harmed.

But the Snow Prince arrived nearly to late, the massacre has already begun. Following a secret route Yngol showed him he managed to get past the killer commando and to his friend's quarters - where Yngol and Ysgramor were already fighting to protect the wounded Ylgar.

At first reaction Yngol was mad with anger, but reluctantly followed the Snow Prince leading him to safety - and Ysgramor following his older son in turn, never realising a Snow Elf was in front of them.

The friends departed in anger, Yngol blaming the Snow Prince as the initiator of the slaughter, the Snow Prince stating that he wouldn't marry of his sister to him the very night BEFORE he'd kill them off, and gave Yngol his dagger, as a sign of his everlasting friend - and kinship.

Long story short, Yngol was so grieved at the loss of the rest of his family and kinspeople, he used both the smithing knowledge the Snow Prince taught him and his dagger to create Wuuthrad - and turned a symbol of friendship into one of blind hatred. Yet he started to have second thoughts after creating the weapon, and decided to meet up with the Snow Prince as soon as they land again in Skyrim, and tell his bloodthirsty father that without the Snow Prince, they'd been dead, too.... but he never made it to Skyrim alive.

The Snow Prince, on the other hand, did his best in fending off the Companions and getting as many of his people to safety as possible (and ended up in the ruined shrine of Phynaster, doomed to remain alive with his grief and guilt till he turns insane, because he wanted his best friend and brother-in-law), all the time being scorned by the other Snow Elves for being the one responsible that Ysgramor and his sons survived. At one time he even barely managed to flee a burning city with his newlyborn brother in his arms (hte one later known as the original "Snow Prince"); forced to leave his mother beind to die.

His sister fell into Ysgramor's hands, and only the intervention of Kyne stopped him from killing her. She died at childbirth (perfectly working with the Rigmor series on the topic of a Dragonchild), and Ysgramor kept his (Snow Elven) grandson. Well, he kept him alive, and didn't let him starve, but treated him not much better than the Snow Elven slaves in Windhelm, never recognized him as his beloved Yngol's only child.

And instead of recognizing him as the rightful heir, being the eldest (and only? I think there's a great oppurtunity here to let Yngol have a liaison with the daughter of Jeek of the River, which line would ultimately end in certain twin brothers found in Jorrvaskr, but that is for another mod...) son of Yngol, Ylgar and his children will inherit the crown of Windhelm.

The young boy, being shunned as a halfblood by the Atmorans and feared to be caught spoken to by the Snow Elven slaves, grew up without any real family or childhood friends - or for that matter, any reasons to see himself as an Atmoran, too. His magic abilities were trained by Ahzidal (who often used him as a guniea pig for his own magic tests), and what he knew of fighting came from defending himself from pureblood Atmoran children eager to beat him up.

Growing up like that, he became the very opposite of what Auriel and Kyne wanted him to be - he hated both races he sprang from, and when Alduin established his reign over Skyrim, he took the name of Miraak and joined him - only to bide his time to become what was his birthright all along: the True King of the North.

This works (and is intended to work) with the Miraak follower mod - all the more reason to bring him along, after being alone for 4000 - 5000 years.

 

Aaaaaaand here we have my request (no, not the story as a mod, though that would be fantastic - maybe with the Snow Prince being brought to Yngol's Barrow and the old friends reunited again as a first step of ending a war that raged for thousands of years):

A character overhaul of Miraak making him an exeptionally tall and muscular Snow Elf, with the iceblue eyes and blonde hair of his father and grandfather, to reflect this backstory.

ANd thank you all for reading!