Oddkell: A Custom Skyrim Follower

I've had some stressful work writing taking up most of my writing time, but I'm done with ArtFight and so I'm finally working on my boy!

I'm booping back and forth between the main quest and the Thieves' Guild questline today.

Oh, thank you, this was so sweet- you made my day!

I have about 420 lines written for Oddkell right now, about 200 of which are implemented.* (For context, Xelzaz has something like 9000 lines, and Lucien has something like 5000.)

I'm calling Oddkell Beta 0.5 ready when I've got the main quest fully implemented- which won't be before July or August, at the absolute earliest- and I'll probably share a build around then using Google Drive or something. Oddkell 1.0 will go on the Nexus and will have the MQ, plus an attempt at the politics quest, plus whatever other quests I can scare up.

...I'm a student, so I can really only work hardcore on personal projects over the summer, and I have... a LOT ... of personal projects. Including some that are paid work. But I have not forgotten about our boy.

Oh gosh, thank you! I'm glad someone else likes him!

I'm excited for a lot of things about Oddkell. But my absolute favourite thing I can share that isn't a major spoiler is The Writing Project I Work On When I Am A Bear Of Very Little Brain, AKA:

THE PHONE BOOK OF YSGRAMOR

Context for the unfamiliar: The Five Hundred Mighty Companions or Thereabouts of Ysgramor the Returned, aka: the Phone Book of Ysgramor, is a patented piece of Michael Kirkbride Original Flavour Batshit. It's a recounting of the history of said 500 original Companions, as told by a researcher who got a little too lost in the Nordic oral history kalpa sauce.

Oddkell is of the opinion that every True Nord should be able to recite the list of the original 500 Companions. And I have based the list he can recite off of the Phone Book of Ysgramor. If you ask him to put his money where his mouth is, he will do so:

ODDKELL: With pleasure.  [clears throat]  ODDKELL: The Five Hundred Companions of Ysgramor bold, Who turned back to Tamriel and reclaimed their home: Yngol and Ylgar, Harbinger's sons,  First and the last of the heroes to come. Then comes the count of their tear-wives four:  Alleir and Tusk Widow who her name foreswore; Vramali the Quaking, and Jarli-al the Bore,  Their wine-wives, Mjarili-al, Elja Hate-Basket, And brave Ingridal who lost her casket, Their shield-wives bold, and never beaten,  Shanjenen the Echo-Eaten  And She-Whose-Name-Stays-in-its-Cradle.  Next of the Mighty, strong and able,  Are Ysgramor's twenty-two oracle aunts: Unalt and Hrim of the Seven Chants, Fjoril and Kjhelt of the Cult of Orkey, Ingridal Wine-Drummed and comely Fjorli, Mjemk and Soress-li who never did yield,  Khela and Akhela with geas-traded shields, Vemmab, Vashina, Frekshild, and Nem-yet,  Chemua of secret songs unneeded yet,  Anshalf who stole Towers from a Karstaag-man,  Borgasa and Dahna, who daedra outran.  …Have I proved myself yet, or do you want to hear more?  > Keep going. I want to hear more. No, that's enough. PLAYER: Keep going. I want to hear more. ODDKELL: All right, but don't say I didn't warn you.  Then came the Five Eldest Thunder Shield Women,  Whose names were forgotten and thus never written.  Then the Harbinger's Totem-Uncles Ten,  Whose names we remember but won't chant again. Ysgramor's Torc-Nephews: Khaalthhe the Pard, Alabar Odd-Colored, Clever Man by blood, Hegm the Deaf, of the Hegms the greater,  Bjurl who Heard Enough to Let Hegm Know Later;  Next in the number his Nieces-of-Snow,   Thuum-cursed to silence and still as a stone:  Teb and Mbjanal and Fehg-fegh the Deaf,  Tsjari their Speaker with war on her breath;  The creatures who swore to the Hoary King troth:  The Hoagbellows Goat, Hans the cunning Fox, Fefmem and Gemalleir, the glow-eel two-headed, Who slaughterfish, crabs, and Falmer all dreaded, Bjorga-mawr wild, the Definite Leopard, Hgmm the Snake and Febhradrneed the Cloud, Jeorr the Rabbit-Hawk, Heimnelraw the Regular Hawk, Rackety-Nix who the skalds say could talk, Gremfell the Wicker-what, which no one could name But was counted among the Mighty all the same,  Dyssl-veb the Bear with devil-scratched tusks,  Casket-Jane his wine-wife who filled all his cups,  And Ysgrim Ysgramorsbelt, counted as clan,  Though it never lived as beast or as man. ODDKELL: …That's Ysgramor's immediate family. There's about four hundred more, shall I go on? Yes > No PLAYER: No, I've heard enough. ODDKELL: All right. If you are ever interested, I'm happy to recite the rest of it. 

I'm still trying to implement the absurd quantity of sayable names I gave Oddkell...

I'm making sure I have all the lines of VO I recorded plugged in in the Creation Kit...

By popular demand (mostly on Reddit), I've made a devblog for the Skyrim follower I'm working on.

Meet Oddkell.

Oddkell is a Nord priest of Arkay. He's an undertaker, a bookworm, a trans man, and as true of a Nord as he can be, given the circumstances. He's from Windhelm, and he loves his hometown, but he's deeply conflicted about the War.

The relationship you build with Oddkell will change both him and the Dragonborn forever.

Oddkell's inspired by the great custom followers like Inigo, Xelzaz, and Vilja. He's opinionated about everything from books and booze (he likes spiced wine) to Nordic ruins and the politics of Skyrim. Traveling with you will broaden his horizons; he might change his mind about any of these things.

Oddkell will ask you about yourself. He'll tell you stories about growing up in Windhelm. He'll note down enemies' cause of death based on the weapon you're holding. He can react to the world in general and his beloved Windhelm in particular.