He is a unique, fully voiced, immersive, vanilla-like nord follower! This mod is VERY friendly for new players/modders, as well as experienced! He has nearly 200 unique voice lines of immersive dialogue and uses his own follower framework! I tried my best to make this as LORE-FRIENDLY and PROFESSIONAL as possible! Let me know what you think!

Story Summary:

Valdar is a tall strong Nord who has led a life of adventure, but has recently decided to settle down in Whiterun, acknowledging that his dreams of being a hero for the people of Skyrim, and dying in battle for a valiant cause, may never come to fruition, as he ages long past his prime and has nothing left to fight for.

With the arrival of the dragonborn, however, he has found a new purpose in his aging life: to defend and protect the dragonborn on their journey! He will devote his life to whatever cause the dragonborn deems important, and fight by their side until his last breath.

Valdar is tough as any nord should be. He is humble, never boasting or bragging. He is Compassionate, putting others before him, and carrying for the people of Skyrim whether they are nord or not. He is righteous, wanting the best for the people, and for you. Lastly, he is loyal, following you no matter what path you take.

Creation info:

Hey! I'm Kayo! For YEARS I've wanted to make a unique and fully voiced follower mod, and FINALLY I have been able to do it (though I'm really late to the party I realize.) This is my first real unique follower mod, but I have tried my absolute best to ensure that he appears VANILLA in-game, and that the mod feels PROFESSIONAL. I have had helps from a few people to ensure that this mod runs well and doesn't effect anything that it shouldn't. LET ME KNOW IF THERE ARE ANY BUGS and I will try and fix them. Chances are I may have already fixed it and if so just download the latest updated version!

I decided to make Valdar because 1. I love Nords, 2. There aren't many good custom Nord followers 3. I feel the game doesn't make you feel important enough for being dragonborn, so this mod helps with that, and 4. I can only do a Nord accent ;-; My hope is that he enriches a playthrough, making the dragonborn truly feel like an important part of Nordic culture.

I may also add more to this follower as time goes on. If you ever do update or redownload him he should still work just fine. He may repeat a line he has said before but that's about it. I do plan on making more mods! I already have a Redguard companion idea that might be coming soon! Let me know if you're interested and what you'd like to see!!!

Fight Style and Equipment:

Valdar prefers 1 handed weapons and heavy armor, as he uses his other hand for ice magic and healing magic.
He starts with a simple robe and a simple iron sword, so that you can customize him how you wish. The sword is removable, the robes however are not, but he should change into whatever you give him.

Where to find him:

He sits at the big tree in Whiterun in the wind district. He often sits facing the temple of Kynareth. He should approach you.

How to recruit him:

You must complete the Dragon Rising main quest (The one where you fight your first dragon) to recruit him. This is very very early in the storyline. So long as you have completed that quest at some point, he will be ready to recruit in Whiterun. Otherwise, he will just hang out peacefully at the tree.

I recommend playing a new game with him for the best immersion and for the best experience BUT YOU DO NOT NEED TO. He works perfectly fine on a late game save, he just might be a little... behind on the fact that you are the dragonborn lol

Dependencies:

THERE ARE NO DEPENDENCIES!

(This should be fixed but just in case its not) If he doesn't respond to you right away, you should save and reload the save. That should fix any issues of him not speaking to you.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Do I NEED to start a new game/save?

NO, you do not.
Though it is recommended, it is not in any way required. He makes a lot of unique comments throughout the main story and some of the bigger side questlines but you do not need to hear them if you're already deep into the story or have beaten it.

2. Is he with the Stormcloaks/ Is he only for Stormcloak playthroughs?

He has no allegiance to either side.
He doesn't get angry or upset if you choose the Stormcloaks or the Empire. He does comment on them, but he trusts your judgement as Dragonborn.

3. What if I don't play as the Dragonborn?

Then unfortunately this mod isn't for you ):
He comments on the fact you are dragonborn throughout the playthrough, and his initial reasoning for fighting by your side is because you are the dragonborn. You can ignore this if you want, but its up to you.

4. Does this work with the latest update / Does this work before the latest update?

Let me know your experience
I know it works on the latest update as for Feb 18, 2023 (version 1.6.1170), and it also works for 1.6.1130. For any later you may need this mod to backport it to an older version

5. Is he marriable?

Not with this mod, no.
He's also in his 50s and isn't really looking for love anymore. He's ready to die a valiant death and go to Sovngarde. Unfortunately ): dont mean to be so grim.

Ask me ANY questions you may have! If asked enough I'll put it in the FAQ! ENJOY!!!