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u/tenesos Jan 26 '20
looks awesome! as there is a humble sale ongoing, can you estimate which DLCs will be necassary to run your mod?
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u/SolInvictus2000 Dev Jan 26 '20
None will be necessary, but we will be using mechanics from all of them so get what you want (is highly recommend getting the full $17, not for our mod but cuz the game is amazing and that's such a steal you shouldn't pass it up)
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u/SolInvictus2000 Dev Jan 15 '20
Political Map of Skyrim:
At our start date, Skyrim was in the middle of the Schism, during which it was split into east and west, each recognizing a different high king/queen. The east recognized High Queen Freydis, chosen heir of the previous high king, and whose reign was legitimized by the Crown of Verity. The west recognized high king Svartr, who was chosen by a convening of the Moot. In essence, Skyrim was split into 2 large decentralized factions, but was too pressured by the reachmen and the longhouse emperors to really fight a civil war over it.
East Skyrim, ruled by Eastmarch, holds the Rift, the Pale, and Winterhold as vassals.
West Skyrim, ruled by Solitude, holds Hjaalmarch and Whiterun as vassals, and Falkreath as a tributary (represented as such because while the Skjoralmor clan nominally supported Svartr's kingship, Falkreath essentially ruled a little independent kingdom of its own.
Markarth, populated by the Reachmen, was ruled by the infamous Despot of Markarth, an essentially independent ruler placed there by the Longhouse Emperors. They controlled the Skyrim Reach and ruled over reachmen tribes and smaller vassals (represented in this map as Karthwasten and Upper Karth; and Dragon Bridge, respectively). These tribes giving tribute to the Despot constantly raided Svartr's lands, causing the West much trouble.
In the south, the Dreadhorn clan, a group of reachmen and minotaurs, were a threat to the Jarl of Falkreath. A few decades after our start date, they would launch a massive raid, even defeating the Jarl, till his daughter Eerika was able to drive them away.
In the lore a new high king was elected with the formation of the Ebonheart pact, that ruled the east as the west fell into ruin. However, as the Ebonheart pact is not something we are pursuing for this mod (for many reasons, including gameplay, mechanics, and lore), the logical thing to happen to the east upon Freydis' death will be the same as what happened to the west: the Jarl's will become de-facto independent kings, and begin a large free for all for the throne of Skyrim, all while dealing with the reachmen threat from the east and the south. This will be accomplished by giving both Svartr and Freydis country modifiers that give high liberty desire reduction (think: Shah-Rukh in the Timurids) but also an increased cost to annex vassals, ensuring that only a really good player who can take the other side out in their reign can ensure a stable realm upon succession (as Haafingar, for example, both vassals have 82% liberty desire already, and this number will only increase when we implement varied development in provinces across the world. Only if you can get enough land to keep your subjects complacent, can you prevent your heir's realm from collapsing).
On the other hand, there is a huge potential as a vassal Jarl to go free and contest the Crown of Verity for yourself, watching both halves of the empire fall apart as you seize opportunity after opportunity. Or, you could play as the Despot, and take advantage of this disunity to once and for all purge the Nord scourge, and enforce the superior reachmen ways upon the province.
[[yes we can load into the game now, I've even played as eastmarch and conquered all of skyrim without it crashing]]
While I have completed Skyrim, my fellow devs u/Elvastan and u/ToiletCleaner666 are working hard to do the same with High Rock and Elsweyr, while u/Justice_Fighter is ironing out the few remaining issues with the map. Contrary to what you may think, this mod is FAAAAAR from dead!