Leave Solstheim's western port of Raven's Rock and head north, past the Spriggan hunting grounds near the mountains at the island's centre, and you could be forgiven for thinking that you're exploring Skyrim's iceberg-haunted coast. Head in the other direction, however, and the terrain takes an unearthly turn.
Ash from the perpetually smoking Red Mountain due south has reduced the island's forested vales to a muted grey desert, broken by the monstrous caps of fungal buildings erected by Dunmer wizards. The fauna is equally bizarre - among other creatures, you'll encounter magic-wielding clumps of sentient dust, huge aerial jellyfish, and writhing, tar-soaked Lurkers. Setting for both Skyrim's Dragonborn pack and Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind's Bloodmoon add-on, Solstheim literalises a transition of sorts between the weirder, cultish Elder Scrolls of the Xbox era, and the roaring populist beast the franchise has become.
Hitting the books
The plane of Oblivion in question is Apocrypha, home of the pseudo-intellectual Daedric prince Hermaeus Mora, and it leaves Dawnguard's mildly disappointing Soul Cairn for dust. The landscape is composed of sedimented, molten lore tomes, their spines protruding from sickly mats of tendrils. Whirlwinds of loose pages drift along undulating walkways, and clogs of Lovecraftian matter known as Seekers spit balls of twisted light from afar. There are reasons to explore beyond enjoying the revolting aesthetic - the words of a new Shout can be prised from Hermaeus Mora's clutches, with a little help from a friendly tribe of Nordic survivalists known as the Skaal.
The Shout in question eventually gives you the power to ride dragons, directing them to targets rather than controlling them directly in the manner of a flight simulation. That's the cherry on a fearsomely large cake of new spells, Shouts, weapons and items. Enterprising blacksmiths will make a beeline for the new armour varieties - couple a nice thick sheet of Stahlrim and Bonemold with the Dragon Aspect shout, which applies a Mr-Hyde-esque layer of prowess to your existing capabilities, and you'll be untouchable in a fray.
18 comments so far...
DarthTwitch on 10 Dec '12 said:
*Daedric, but yes, I agree fully. I've been having a lot of fun with this one, especially with the
*MINOR SPOILER*
Daedric "mule" you can get as a reward.
OXM ETboy on 10 Dec '12 said:
Correctified.
Metalrodent on 10 Dec '12 said:
sounds interesting, but the high price is seriously putting me off
CunningSmile on 10 Dec '12 said:
It's £13 for something bigger than most retail releases. By my reckoning it's a bragain.
lazercut123 on 10 Dec '12 said:
My cock is 13 pound and bigger than most retail releases, but people aren't using that. ( although that is probably because I am 14). HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
CunningSmile on 10 Dec '12 said:
Dude, see a doctor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephantiasis
EdDeRs1 on 10 Dec '12 said:
TROLL ALERT! I REPEAT TROLL ALERT! ABANDON FORUM!!!! THE TROLLS HAVE FOUND OXM! I REPEAT ABANDON FORUM!!!!!!
OXM ETboy on 10 Dec '12 said:
WHAT WHERE
CunningSmile on 10 Dec '12 said:
That's just Lazer, he has a potty mouth occassionally but isn't a bridge dweller.
Unless you mean the first guy, who is pretty articulate but writes everything in bold for some reason.
DGR1980 on 10 Dec '12 said:
Dude NSFW!
LUCASH525 on 10 Dec '12 said:
i don't get Elder Scrolls DLC very often but this looks extraordinary but like ever one else has said £13 ermm no thank you
golliwoza on 10 Dec '12 said:
A month wait for me
God I am so lonely.
Tomgar24 on 10 Dec '12 said:
I found Dragonborn well worth buying, the powers you get from Hermaeus Mora add a really cool flavour to the game especially. And some of Neloth's dialogue and quests were hilarious with (shock!) great voice acting. Miraak could have been a little better developed though but yeah, much better than Dawnguard...
lazercut123 on 11 Dec '12 said:
Thank you so much, you know who I am...... OMG, cunning smile recognises me, it's time to partay... Alone.
CunningSmile on 11 Dec '12 said:
I could go off you
lazercut123 on 11 Dec '12 said:
Sorry fellow forumers, I am in a weird mood for this article, but the technical issues should be rectalfied soon (yes, I did actually men rectalfied then, it wasn't a typo)
DarthTwitch on 20 Dec '12 said:
Sorry, writing in Bold is now classed as trolling? Because I haven't written a single trolling word on this site. Looks like you were trying to bait me with this post...which would make YOU the troll here.
But nice try.
Grummy on 22 Dec '12 said:
No, just no. Stop being so sensitive, he only pointed out that Lazer can be a plonker, but isn't at all a troll, and is clearly saying that the ONLY thing you do, so far, that is somewhat out of the ordinary is type in bold. That's not in any way a suggestion of trolling behaviour, just an observation.
Seriously, back down a bit. Also, a suggestion if I may, your sig you've recently added about the typing in bold could be seen as a deliberate attempt to piss off people who are taken aback, or unused to seeing someone always type in bold. If you want to type in bold then fine, go for it, it's just a quirk of your posting style and it doesn't hurt anyone. However, having a sig telling people to 'deal with it' smacks of you being oversensitive to the non-issue of your typing in bold, and wanting to challenge people over it. You're making an issue where non exists. Seriously, I'd delete it otherwise all it will do is rub people the wrong way. To put it another way, it's troll baiting dude, we don't need it.