The prisoner's saving grace - internal freedom

A simple mod that gives the Dragonborn something to start his journey with. My first mod.

Do you remember how Ob's destruction started? You are a simple prisoner, guilty of an unknown crime, with no expectation of release. But, suddenly, the Emperor himself appears and leads you on a difficult mission, knowing that you are the only one to grant his dying wish. This mod aims to bring that epic feeling back to the beginning of a new way to play in Skyrim.

I took some inspiration (and a script) from "Optional Starting Spells". I've always liked the idea behind the mod, but I have other ideas on how to improve it to my own taste.

Rather than dropping a few spell tomes into a prison cell (where spell tomes are weird), I set out to find a way to immerse players in all of Immersion's foundational, novice-level spells in a way that made sense to begin with. Their story, a story that begins with an escaped prisoner.

The mod is designed to be used with Alternate Start, but this is not a hard requirement and there is a version that integrates its main functionality into the normal game start as well. Both versions perform the same actions at their respective starting locations; the Abandoned Prison or Helgen Fortress. Both versions are ESP-lite, so they won't count in your load order

So, to start our new story, a desperate prisoner finds the body of an unfortunate soul whose unfortunate act is to deliver a gift to the next person imprisoned there. The mage spent the last part of his life imbuing them with the gift of arcane knowledge. These spells will help you escape, but are not real gifts. The real gift is more.

I originally planned to write a simple poem in my notes, but then I got a better idea. The note left behind by the dead was inspired by Alan Moore's Valerie's Letter graphic novel V for Vendetta. I thoughtfully tweaked it to fit the game, giving our deceased mage some emotional backstory.

If you're unfamiliar and want to read the original version of Valerie's letters, here's the full text of the comic and movie.

Likewise, in the Mage's List you will find notes from the poem I originally intended to use. I feel like this ties in well with the magical theme of the spells you're given, as well as the theme of the game itself. This poem was written by Mary Elizabeth Fry in 1932 and is her only famous work. You can read it here.

Special thanks to:

srcanseco (optional starting spell).

Arthmoor starts as backup.

Reddit user /u/Btbgfl explained to me how to create a quest that adds a spell to the player.

Alan Moore and David Lloyd represent V for Vendetta.

Lilly and Lana Wachowski's film adaptations, and all their wonderful and illuminating work.

Bethesda continues to develop games.

The community kept the faith.

"The last inch..."

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Remember how Oblivion started? you were a simple prisoner, for crimes unknown, with no expectations of release. But suddenly the Emperor himself shows up and sets you on a great quest, knowing that you are the only person to carry forth his dying wish. This mod intends to bring back some of that sense of epic circumstance to the beginning of a new playthrough in Skyrim.

I took some inspiration (and a script) from Optional Starting Spells. I always loved the idea behind the mod, but i had some other ideas about how to improve it to my own taste.

rather than putting several spell tomes into a prison cell (an odd place for spell tomes), I set out to find a way to give the player all of the basic, novice-level spells immersively, in a way that felt meaningful for the start of their story, a story that begins with an escaping prisoner.

This mod is intended to be used with Alternate Start, but it's not a hard requirement, and there is a version that integrates its main features into the vanilla game start as well. Both versions do the same thing, in their respective starting locations; the Abandoned Prison or Helgen Keep. Both versions are ESP-lite, so they will not …