Elessir Playthrough

Elessir
Playthrough Info
Game Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Race Dunmer
Playthrough Dates Started 7/19/2023
Platform PC, Steam Deck
Language English
Difficulty Adept

This is the page for my tenth Skyrim playthrough, for the Dunmer character Elessir.

Elessir’s playthrough is born out of my attempt to reassess my mods situation after the disastrous attempt to recover Harrowhark’s playthrough. I’m running him concurrently with Finds-The-Way and Kendis.

This marks my first time playing a male character in Skyrim, as well, since I finally got High Poly Heads, KS Hairdos, and RaceMenu working, all of which allowed me to make a male character that didn’t look terrible! And, playing a male character is one of the few things I haven’t tried in the game yet.

This character is named after Elessir a’Natharion, Unseelie mage and singer, who’s one of the major characters in my books Faerie Blood and Bone Walker.

Goals for this run:

  1. Cover some of the same ground I wasn’t able to do with Harrow’s run before it imploded, which means:
    • Running Lucien as a follower
    • Running the Thieves Guild for Good Guys mod (though this time I’ll be trying a newer version)
    • Running the Dark Brotherhood for Good Guys mod
    • Running Beyond Skyrim: Bruma
  2. Like his namesake, Elessir needs to be a gifted mage, so I’ll be emphasizing using Destruction magic in his combat and will try to get his Illusion up, too.
  3. Elessir’s namesake is also a skilled musician (and a notoriously snarky Elvis impersonator, LOL), so he will definitely be running the Bards College.

Elessir’s Backstory

Since the Elder Scrolls franchise doesn’t really have an analogue of the Seelie and Unseelie Court mythos, I can only borrow some of the core ideas from Elessir’s background in my books. Current rough idea is that he’s an exile from a House in Morrowind, fleeing for his life after he failed in an attempt to overthrow his House’s Grandmaster. Who very likely also sicced the Morag Tong on him.

Playthrough Posts

Here are all the posts about Elessir’s playthrough! These are dynamically updated, so a new post should appear here when it goes up. They’re listed in descending date order, so the newest posts should always appear first. Also, note the pagination controls after the first five posts. You can page through to see the older ones.

  • In Which Elessir Opens an Oblivion Gate and Joins the Dawnguard - 11/30/2023
    In which Elessir vanquishes a Mythic Dawn cult, but with unexpected results; acquires the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal, and the sword Bloodthirst; commits some light thievery for the Thieves Guild; and goes to Dayspring Canyon to join the Dawnguard.
  • In Which Elessir Acquires Mehrunes’ Razor and Quests Through Rielle - 11/29/2023
    In which Elessir reforges the Gauldur amulet; acquires Mehrunes' Razor; slays a dangerous fugitive and acquires his Elven Hunter armor; slays the Forsworn renegade Crowstooth and acquires dragonplate armor; slays a dragon at Arcwind Point; and quests into the ruins at Rielle in search of what's driving the Mythic Dawn cult to investigate the place.
  • In Which Elessir Becomes Thane of Hjaalmarch and the Pale - 11/27/2023
    In which Elessir slays a Thalmor assassin, and the dragon Vuljotnaak; investigates the activity of Mythic Dawn cultists at Rielle; retrieves the fragments of Geirmund's amulet, and the sword called both Dawnfang and Duskfang; acquires Bloodchill Manor after vanquishing vampires there; and becomes thane of both Hjaalsmarch and the Pale, after aiding Morthal with a vampire problem and Dawnstar with a giant problem.
  • In Which Elessir Battles Mercer Frey, Thalmor, and Forsworn - 11/09/2023
    In which Elessir slays Mercer Frey in the depths of Irkngthand; restores the Skeleton Key to the Twilight Sepulcher and gains his full power as a Nightingale of Nocturnal; acquires the hammer Nerveshatter; slays a mad blacksmith; raids the Thalmor Embassy; rescues Esbern from the Ratway; visits Alduin's Wall with Esbern and Delphine, and learns a way forward to confront Alduin; and meets Paarthurnax, the master of the Greybeards, who sends him off to find an Elder Scroll.
  • In Which Elessir Becomes Thane of Winterhold and a Nightingale - 11/01/2023
    In which Elessir destroys a second Seducers bandit camp; slays the mad conjurer Thoron in the Solitude sewers; locates what's left of missing College of Winterhold apprentices; recovers the Helm of Winterhold and becomes thane of Winterhold; reforges the Arms of Chaos; discovers the treachery of his Guildmaster; and joins forces with Karliah and Brynjolf to become Nightingales of Nocturnal in a united effort to take down Mercer Frey.

Screenshots

Elessir’s screenshot galleries can be found on the Elessir Screenshots page.