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A complete and terrifying overhaul of the Hulking Draugr cannibals, bringing them closer to the concept that Bethesda was inspired by when they added them to the Dragonborn DLC.
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A complete and terrifying overhaul of the Hulking Draugr cannibals, bringing them closer to the concept that Bethesda was inspired by when they added them to the Dragonborn DLC.
When introducing them for the first time in the Bloodmoon DLC for TES 3: Morrowind, the Draugr were featured as ancient Norse clans contemporary with the Skaal, who, upon finding themselves starving and isolated on the island of Solstheim, resorted to cannibalism and became adept at it, being then cursed by the All-Maker to live as undead after death and crave human flesh for eternity. Their skin is dark, their eyes are red, and their clothes are rustic and made of leather and simple metals. However, in Skyrim we have the majority of Draugr being presented as Wights animated by the magic of the Dragon Cult, with rare exceptions appearing with other origins. It would be possible that only those from Solstheim had this distinct origin, however the dungeons where they appear are also linked to the Dragon Cult, including having Dragon Priests in charge of them, so the theory and possibility collapses. As a tribute, Bethesda added the Hulking Draugr to the island's DLC, appearing at high levels and even spreading throughout the leveled lists of vanilla Draugr, thus also being able to appear in Skyrim tombs as well. They are clearly a homage to the Draugr from Bloodmoon DLC, with dark skin, no noses, and mouths covered in blood. Their clothes are simple, made of human skin (you can actually see the ripped skin of a face on the back of the clothes, close to the shoulder) and adorned with bones. However, they are just a light reference, not satisfactory enough, as they have the same bright blue eyes, use the same type of weapons, shouts, in addition to having a unique shield but which only has the unique name, being a reuse of Iron Shield. Furthermore, the textures of the clothing and Hulking Draugr are of very poor quality, originally released in 512x512 resolution. All of this is changed by this mod, turning these Draugr into something truly unique and terrifying, with a carefully implemented loric and immersive foundation, as can be checked below under "Features".
In terms of lore, I decided that the Hulking Draugr will be presented similar in origin to those in the Bloodmoon DLC, in causes and appearance, but not being exactly the same, but rather originating from a cult as old as the other Draugr we found, which positioned itself more like a sub-cult within the Dragon Cult, and therefore permitted by it, which found in the cannibalism of enemies a way to obtain physical and magical power. Since Dragons literally devoured the souls of enemy and traitorous Dragons, and also devoured enemy Norse warriors in battle, these Draugr decided to emulate their masters, adopting ritualistic cannibalism, which made them gain great power and also an extremely physically large body, thus justifying lore-wise their larger size in the vanilla game, and maintained in this mod, unlike the skeletal Draugr from the Bloodmoon DLC. Viewed with some strangeness by other members of the Dragon Cult, and despite being treated somewhat distantly and being relatively isolated in society, they were still allowed to exist and tolerated due to the Dragons accepting the existence and practices of this cult. This group in particular later became the Hulking Draugr after death.
The Bloodmoon's Draugr, although similar, largely emerged later, although many also date back to the Merethic Era. These were mostly groups of warriors who succumbed to hunger and despair and began to devour their dead enemies and even their friends, and who over time became nothing more than immoral clans of cannibals, without any ritualism associated with the practice. Cursed by the All-Maker for their crimes against the natural order, they rose again after death as Draugr Cannibals, with many seeking refuge in ancient Norse tombs, living alongside the other "common" Draugr, and devouring invaders. They are different, faster and more feral, although they walk hunched over and in a clumsy manner. Their skin is similar to that of Hulking Draugrs, their eyes also glow a malevolent red, and their clothing is simple and made from leather and the human skin of their victims. They are thin, their nails are sharp, and what mainly makes them stand out is their large mouths covered in sharp teeth, similar to a Ghoul. They do not use weapons, and will attack frantically with their claws when they see prey.
As you can see, it is impossible to reconcile all this lore with simply keeping all Draugr as they are in vanilla, and it also makes no sense to turn all Solstheim's Draugr into Cannibal Draugrs, so the option I chose is the only one that makes sense, keeping all the vanilla Draugr in Skyrim and Solstheim as they originally are, except for the changes made to the Hulking Draugr, now considered part of an ancestral cannibal sub-cult, and finally adding later in another mod the Bloodmoon DLC Draugrs as a very specific group of feral Draugrs that were created via curse and have now joined the other Draugr in the tombs, but with a completely different appearance and behavior.
My main justification for later releasing these Draugr from Bloodmoon as another variant instead of simply unifying them with the Hulking Draugr that I'm overhauling in this mod is due not only to how they move and look in Bloodmoon, but mainly the polymorph of these available on ESO, released as "Accursed Death", and which clearly shows a creature much more ghoulish than a Draugr or Hulking Draugr, and which is said to be inspired by the latter.
- The clothing and body textures originally in extremely low quality 512x512 resolution are now in 4k, in addition to being retextured for a more frightening design and close to the original concept that inspired the creation of this variant. Furthermore, the clothes are now stained with blood like the body. The eyes now glow red, just like the original concept. Even though all my pics show a bald, beardless Hulking Draugr, the bearded and haired variants are still present, also affected by this overhaul equally; (on the image above: vanilla on the left, modded on the right)
- The "Dented Iron Shield", an unique shield dropped by them but which only had the name as unique, is now a damaged Iron Shield, as the name indicates, having a dented center, the result of violent combats, and justifying its value inferior to a common Iron Shield. Previously not all Hulking Draugr used the shield, now they all do. Like all in this mod, the new shield is also in 4k resolution; (on the image above: vanilla on the left, modded on the right)
- Instead of using random ancient draugr weapons, Hulking Draugr now use a powerful and heavy Ancient Nord Greataxe, droppable and upgradeable, and in 4k resolution; (image above)
- The Hulking Draugr kept all their vanilla stats, dealing only a little more damage now because their weapon has similar stats to an Ancient Nord (two-handed) Battleaxe. They now have 20% resistance to physical damage, can no longer be disarmed, can no longer pick up weapons from enemies or the ground like bows, and instead of the "Unrelentig Force" shout they use the "Dismay" shout, which scares weaker opponents and makes them run from combat, a change that reflects their terrifying cannibal background much better.
The mod is not compatible with other mods that modify the textures or model of vanilla Hulking Draugrs. If you have one installed, or think you might have one, put this mod below it/them in your load order. If you are asked about files overwriting those of other mods, press "Yes to all".
(OBS- If by chance when installing several of Mihail's mods at the same time you are asked about files overwriting those of other Mihail mods or other authors mods, don't worry because they are just the same files shared between mods. I recommend that on these occasions always give preference to the files contained in my mods, and among mine always give preference to the mod you are installing last.)
The Mihail Monsters and Animals series aims to create and make available to the community the most complete set of creatures for TES 5: Skyrim, implemented in an immersive and unique way, with respect to the pillars of lore. Instead of pathetically just throwing models and textures in the game reusing 100% vanilla mechanics, the creatures made by Mihail have uniqueness and extreme zeal in their idealization and implementation, which will provide you with an experience that you have never had before in this area.
Author: Mihail- 4k retexture of the original textures of the Hulking draugr body and clothing/armor, 4k "Dented" variant of the vanilla Iron Shield, 4k re-texture of the vanilla nordic blade trap used as base to create the Ancient Nord Greataxe (the retexture was made just for the weapon, not affecting the original blade trap from vanilla), game implementation.