Historic Markarth is the first in a line of mods I am making to overhaul the cities of Skyrim, and a labor of love that I've been working on for several months now. When I started making it there were barely any Markarth mods on the Nexus, and though others have come out while I was working on the mod, none of them really fit my personal taste. I wanted a mod that took into account the history of the city and the Reach, which made the race and class problems of the city a little more obvious, and that expanded on the city with more buildings and districts. The mod is not 100% finished, but I decided to release it as-is and do any fixes and updates based on user feedback over time rather than let it sit any longer. This was my learn-to-mod project, so some areas are very laggy due to not understanding how lights or clutter added lag, but my hope is to lessen this in future updates.

City Features

• Individualized clutter outside every entrance, to make navigating the city easier
• More lighting sources placed throughout the city (note: if you have other mods that add light sources, you may get lag and light flickering)
• Three new buildings: a bathhouse (partly finished), a meadery (finished), and the Imperial College of the Voice (finished aside from NPC functionality)
• Three distinct "districts" of the city based on the city's lore: Riverside, a poor area where the natives of the Reach live; lower Dryside, which is where merchants and non-natives live and work; and upper Dryside, where you find nobles, wealthy citizens, and the Keep; the Temple is also styled as it's own 'district' and is intended as a garden/rest area
• Clutter and workbenches and outdoor shrines and rest areas for survivalist emergencies
  

Residences

Residences all now have personalized touches on the entryways, to give clues as to who lives there. Wealthier residents have more clutter, poorer have less. The Abandoned House also has a unique entrance to make it more foreboding.

Dryside Market

The market has been expanded with one more stall, since trade in the Reach has been too disrupted by the Forsworn and the Silver-Blood monopoly to flourish. The exteriors of shops have all been cluttered, both on Dryside and on Riverside, to let you know what the shops are, as has the Silver-Blood Inn. Market stalls have also been given more clutter. A new meadery has been added, as has an entrance to what will eventually become a middle-class district.

Understone Keep has been given a facelift to show the importance of the building, a small sitting area outside of it, wealthy clutter, and a more well-lit walkway. Next to the Keep, a small stair leads to a beggar's campsite and an old statue of Mara which the locals have turned into Mother Mara Our Lady of Hagravens, much to the chagrin of the Jarl. The walkway beside the Keep is also better lit, and includes the entrance to the Old Imperial College of the Voice.

The walkways around the Temple of Dibella has been turned into a functional rest area, and now acts as a better divide between Dryside and Riverside. The Shrine of Talos has been given a unique entrance to suit its function. Beneath the Temple, on the market street, there is an entrance to a bathhouse that will eventually be staffed by the Order of Dibella.

The smelter and mine area has been given more smoke, industrial clutter, and guard presence, emphasizing both the poverty of that district as well as the fact that it's the location of suspected Forsworn agents and, of course, the prison. Entrances have been added that will eventually lead to Reachman residences who don't live in the Warrens and new shops, but for now are just decorative. The Warrens entrance has been given more clutter and looks more lived-in.

Upper Riverside

The Hall of the Dead and the Dwemer ruins have been given unique entrances, as well as plentiful lighting to emphasize the reverence both Nords and Reachmen have for their dead. The Hag's Cure now has decorations to suit its purpose, and the smith is more built-up and useful.

• May be some light flickering with mods that add new lanterns or light sources in the city
• The bathhouse's entrance interferes slightly with pathing on the alley nearby - hasn't been an issue so far, let me know if it becomes problematic
• NPCs have greyface bug - fix slated for next update
• New buildings do not lock up at night and stuff is currently unowned - fix slated for next update
• The door next to the meadery and marketplace currently goes nowhere - slated for update after next
• An interior door in the College of the Voice currently leads nowhere - slated for update after next
  

• New underground district housing the diverse population spoken of in older lore books, will be more of a middle-class district
• Cliff houses and upper levels, building more onto both sides of the city
• New books and notes strewn around the city telling the stories of average citizens and new locations in the mod
• Quests, merchants, and trainers in the College of the Voice
• Better AI packages for new citizens
  

Compatibility

• compatible with all interior-editing mods, such as mods altering Understone Keep or shops
• compatible with Sky City to the best of my knowledge
• compatible with The Northern Bathhouses
• compatible with Skyrim Sewers
• incompatible with anything that adds a location to the stairwell corner by the market square, as that is filled with a door currently
• incompatible with other large Markarth overhauls, such as JK's Markarth or Dawn of Markarth
• patches available for RLO and ELFX
  

If you find a mod that is compatible or incompatible with this one, let me know! If you would like to make a patch for this mod, send it over and I will put it up and credit you with the patch.

• For inspiration: Xxbtztrl for HoT Markarth which this mod was originally intended to work alongside (but grew too big), and also BluePianoTwo and jkrojmal for other excellent city mods that kept me inspired. Check these out if this mod is not your style!
• So far no assets from other users have been used in this mod, but this may change in the future.
  

• You are welcome to make patches and upload them to the Nexus. If you make a patch let me know and I can link to it!
• You are welcome to make translations, but please only put them on the Nexus. I want to be able to link to any translations on this page.
• You are welcome to port this to SSE for your own use or make an official port/continuation. I just ask that if you decide to continue it rather than make a full port that you name it something else other than 'Historic Markarth', to differentiate if I ever make an official port myself.
  

Mods in Screenshots

• Mods that effect Markarth itself: RLO, USKP, New Markarth v1, Stoop Over Markarth
• Irrelevant shown mods: Equipping Overhaul, Purity, CoT
  

Recommended Mods:
- New Markarth v1
- SKY CITY - Markarth Rising
- Vlindrel Hall Reborn
- Markarth Reach Environment Upgrade
- Stoop Over Markarth -- Vlindrel Hall Elevated Patio
- Design of the Nords -- MARKARTH
- Skyrim Sewers 4
- Understone Keep Fountains and Rubble
- Thalmor Influence - Markarth's shrine of Talos lockdown
- Joinable Forsworn Faction with Warpaint
- Vlindrel Hall - Forsworn Shrine to the Old Gods
- Old Hroldan Ruins
- Forsworn Faction Pack
- Kingdom of Forsworn
- Distinct Hold Guards
- Dwemer Garb