u/SkyrimSplicer

Thought I would try fulfilling a request made by IgnoreMeImANobody that was posted in this thread earlier.

In essence, you will be able to understand what Alduin and (to varying degrees) Sahloknir and Paarthurnax are saying if you have absorbed the souls of at least 20 dragons or more. Alduin also has a new dialogue line upon sensing that you do indeed comprehend his words.

This currently only affects scenes located in quests MQ106 and MQ206.

It does not touch combat dialogue.

I have left the audio "loose" (no archive) just in case I decide to later add on to it.

It currently does not require any DLC to run.

Lines that were already a mix of English and Dovahzul have been left untouched, because the added translation made them sound a tad redundant when read.

Comprehension of the Dovah is available for Skyrim Special Edition (tested on 1.5) and for classic Skyrim, too.

The reason I ask is because I am attempting to connect up some confusing dots where Serana's in-game dialogue is concerned.

Tamriel has many different types of vampirism, and the book Immortal Blood makes mention of a fair few, but the details are rather scarce.

During a conversation about her childhood, Serana has this to say about roaming the castle grounds:

"It was a little... quieter... back then. Guess a little vampire girl was enough to scare off the rats."

The idea of Serana being a vampire as a small child has always confused and horrified me due to the ritual connected to being a Daughter of Coldharbour. However, if she and her family were vampires before that, say, from what Harkon would describe as a "disease", then it would start to fit together.

Among the many other types of vampirism that exist within Tamirel, perhaps there is one where aging (slowly or otherwise) is part of its makeup. Babette is clearly not of this possible strain because she has never aged in her two-hundred-some years of being a vampire, but what if Serana and her family were?

Serana describes the powers of vampires outside of her own family's pure blood strain as "watered down". If you are already a vampire when Harkon first meets you, he says you are "no true vampire" because you have simply "contracted a disease". It would certainly make a great deal of sense for both of them to view with disdain something they consider vastly inferior to what they have long since acquired. Experience is the best teacher, after all.

Since Harkon's bite replaces your original vampirism with his own, something of that nature could also have taken place within in his own family circle when they underwent Molag-Bal's ritual.

As Harkon says, "Accept my gift and I promise that you will learn the difference."

What are your thoughts on this possibility?

Edit: I wanted to clarify that I believe that Serana was originally born human, but that she possibly may have been turned into a vampire as a child by Harkon or Valerica when they contracted a "lesser" strain, sort of like how Helgi was almost turned into a vampire by Laelette during the Laid to Rest quest. The Molag-Bal ritual would then have taken place when she was much older.

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Sources - Voicelines:

Accept my gift and I promise that you will learn the difference. ID: dlc1vq02_dlc1vq02harkonpla_000142de_2.fuz

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You contracted a disease, perhaps, but you are no true vampire. ID: dlc1vq02_dlc1vq02harkonpla_000142de_1.fuz

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It was a little... quieter... back then. Guess a little vampire girl was enough to scare off the rats. ID: dlc1vq04rn_dlc1vq04rnpcund_000176a5_2.fuz

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This isn't that watered down child's power that you simply contract from another vampire. We're pureblood creations of original vampires. ID: dlc1npcmen_dlc1npcmentalmo_00019510_1.fuz

The title says the essential stuff, but I have now replayed the Walking With Spirits quest and chatted with the cathedral denizens more times than I'd ever care to admit.

After harvesting the seeds, I basically had a 50/50 chance of any save made instantly corrupting and crashing to desktop. It became 100% after talking to Nadine and asking her to remove the quest-related scar.

Couldn't fathom what it could be (I have very few mods), until I realized that though my character had the scar, she still had a full head of hair and that her hat was equipped even after waking up on the stretcher.

Thought it couldn't possibly work, but reloading a save from within the Sacred Bog and then making darn sure to take the hat off before harvesting the seeds solved it. Every save has henceforth been successful and corruption-free!

Lesson learned: Show respect and doff your hat when in the presence of the mighty Mother Punga. Your save files will thank you.