The original mod is There Is No Umbra - Chapter II for SE. FableForge gives his blessing to this backport, but PLEASE NOTE he is currently working on Part III of the story, and he requests that you don't direct technical queries about the mod to the SE page as he doesn't have a copy of LE and can't troubleshoot for something that may not even be down to his coding. What I can tell you is that I've played through the main quest using this backport all the way to the 'happy' ending. The meshes, textures and animations have all been successfully converted to LE. The quests, scripts, etc are all functioning correctly.

I'll copy some of the description from the SE page here, but for the full details have a look at the original page. There's much more there - suggestions, tips, general information and a lot more pictures and videos. Make sure you install the LE requirements (See Hard Requirements below) and check the CONVERSION NOTES at the bottom of the page.



Includes Chapter I. Continue Daumbra's story, and obtain new gameplay mechanics (sword throwing, sword riding, mind control, etc) through an epic quest professionally voiced by Kerstyn Unger (you've heard her as Serana) and Shawn L. Koch. This is much larger than Chapter I and has many possible endings -your choices really do matter.

Honored to have won Mod of the Month for April 2021!



CHAPTER II TRAILER



(Did you like it? You may like the Chapter I trailer too. Chapter I is already included in this mod.)

SUMMARY

This is not a short story - even though it's just three quests, I estimate the total playtime is roughly equivalent to a small vanilla questline (think Companions). But the story is focused entirely on Daumbra: the newest incarnation of the cursed sword Umbra, whom you may have heard of. She can be your follower, but she can also be your weapon, and there are several mechanics which I think are somewhat new to Skyrim modding,
such as riding on her like a hoverboard, or throwing her like a javelin (and then she fights the baddies at the spot where she landed), mind-control, and so on.

I was lucky to have the voice-acting talent of Kerstyn Unger (whom you most likely have heard as the voice of Serana, or in other great mods) and Shawn L. Koch -his impression of Clavicus Vile was *chefs's kiss*, and his other character, I guarantee you, you will either love or hate, with a passion. 

The mechanics all have custom animations by Netwalker123 -everything is really smooth (and I got inspired in the first place by his work). 

Everything is lore-friendly.


NEW MECHANICS

By the end of Quest 1:

• Summoning her to your side: Simply use the summon spell.
  

By the end of Quest 2:

• Wielding her as a long-range sword: Try the standing attacks for extra range.
• Riding on her at high speed like a hoverboard (she rides on water, too): Simply sprint while wielding her.
• Summoning her directly to your hand to wield her: Simply use the summon spell with one hand free.
  

At the start of Quest 3:

• Throwing her like a javelin: Hold the "Activate" key for a second, while wielding her, then
  release. Combining this with the summon-to-wield above is very satisfying.

At the middle point of Quest 3:

• Mind-controlling enemies: If you permit her to, whenever an enemy temporarily defeats her, she
  will take over his mind when he picks her up off the ground.

Three quarters into Quest 3:

• The [Spoiler] Mechanic: Oh, you will like this. Trust me. Please use the spoiler tag in the comments if you wish to talk about it.
  

Near the end of Quest 3:

• Fiery Power Attack: At the cost of some stamina, your power attacks will basically act like fireballs going off on your enemies' faces.
  

CHOICES MATTER

The mod has multiple paths and multiple endings to suit your values and point of view. You may find some decisions harder than others. Characters who always try to do "good" will hopefully learn how flexible those principles are... or not! I suggest saving before important decisions. There is one ending I consider canon, which in my opinion is the happiest of all (and the path where you also see the most content) but there are many, many other endings before it, which some may consider appropriate depending on how you're roleplaying your character.

Join us at https://discord.gg/52qUTXu and go to the spoilers channel to chat about these things -the moral dilemmas in this mod are by far my favorite topic :)

Most of the mod has quest markers, and for the few places that don't, simply play Skyrim as normal as possible. Things will happen in time, guaranteed. If you get stuck though, join us in discord and I'll help you.


HOW TO START

• If you've never played Chapter I before (don't worry, Chapter I is already included in this file) look for the "There Is No Umbra" book which appears in common loot. There's also a copy on Farengar's desk.
  

HARD REQUIREMENTS

• CVR Follower Voices - This mod makes heavy changes to "Rose Deep", so I don't recommend you share that same voice type with other NPCs. It's also available on Patreon here with no sign-in required.
• Dynamic Animation Replacer - this is a gem, everybody. I've met people who are leery of it-perhaps they fear it's like FNIS or Nemesis which requires doing special tasks with every install/uninstall: that's absolutely not the case. DAR is one of the most plug-and-play gems I've ever seen, safe as can be, and totally required to see the sword's unique, custom animations.
  

INSTALLATION
Just use your favorite mod manager. It's safe to add to an on-going game, and as safe to remove as any other mod -your mileage may vary.


TROUBLESHOOTING

Check the Troubleshooting and Walkthrough article, or the video walkthroughs courtesy of GLEclipse Gaming. 

In general, make sure you have the latest version, make sure to never spawn anything from AddItemMenuMod, and make sure to never import her into a Follower Management System. Put the mod near the bottom of your load order, and if you played Chapter I, clean your savegame with
Fallrim Tools.


WANT TO HELP?

I would like to work with someone who is great at creating locations. I have ambitious plans for my next mod!

Beyond that, please know that the most expensive part of modding is paying for voice acting. Voice actors 100% deserve it. I can only imagine a world  where I can spend all my weekends writing quest mods, safe in the knowledge I can pay my people for their awesome work. 

Would you like to thank my voice actors for the tremendous work they do? Please join my Patreon.



CONVERSION NOTES

The original mod relies on CVR Follower Voices and Dynamic Animation Replacer. Fortunately, both exist in LE form. Make sure you install the LE versions, and not the SE versions of those mods.

I have included all the patches found in the SE fomod, despite some of them patching mods that don't actually exist for LE like 'Finding Velehk Sain,' for example. The patches are converted for LE, so if the missing mods are converted in the future, the patches are ready and waiting. I haven't, however, converted the Vibrant Weapons patch because it references an esl as its master file. If Vibrant Weapons comes to LE one day, then at that time the patch can be converted to point to whichever format it comes in, either esp or esm.

I'm offering this backport as is. I have played it through to the 'happy' conclusion so I know as far as that goes it's all in working order, but I haven't explored all the possible endings. Not being the author of the mod, I'm not in a position to answer technical queries beyond basic questions from modding beginners. I'll reiterate here that FableForge is working on the next chapter of Umbra, so please don't ask technical queries about the mod on the SE page. For answers to gameplay queries see the articles on the SE page, which include a walkthrough and troubleshooting guide.

If you like the mod, please consider also downloading and endorsing the original SE version, even if you don't have SE, because after all it is all FableForge's work. Please also consider joining his Patreon.