Modders have put an awful lot of effort into making sure Skyrim has continually evolved and expanded in the years since it was first released into the world.
Many have focused on changing the game by adding new challenges, tougher bandits, and unique gear to it, with a few even going as far as giving the Dragonborn the chance to heal NPCs without accidentally enraging them or watch one gradually restore a ruined house.
If you’re someone who loves giving the province’s iconic cities regular makeovers to ensure your Tamrielic tourism never gets dull, a new mod might be worth taking a look at.
Feel like the Jarls of Skyrim’s smaller cities are long overdue some palaces that reflect their status?
The mod in question is called ‘Nordic Jarl Longhouses’, and is the latest work of modder Skyfall515. Some of their previous projects have given Whiterun some more realistic defences and made the prospect of sleeping in a stone Dwemer bed slightly more enticing.
This time, with some help from other modders, they’ve replaced the exterior model of the slightly disappointing buildings that house the Jarls of smaller settlements like Falkreath and Winterhold, the vanilla versions of which lack their own distinct style of architecture, as is present in larger cities like Solitude and Windhelm.
“No longer will the Jarl’s place of residence and business (be) a common-looking thatch hut,o” declares Skyfall515 of their creation, adding: “The Jarls’ Longhouses now look more prestigious and truly Nordic in appearance, with higher quality shingle roofs, ornamental Nordic woodworking, and a lookout watchtower atop the building.”
Designed to be ideal for those modding the game to create a ‘vanilla plus’ aesthetic, the mod comes in two different versions, with one omitting some hold-specific banners and decorations in order to avoid clipping issues with the architecture and landscape changes enacted by some larger scale location overhauls, like JPSteel2’s ‘Cities of the North’ and Archinatic’s ‘The Great Cities - Minor Cities and Towns SSE Edition’.
Thankfully for those using ‘JK's Skyrim’, both versions of the mod are fully compatible with the changes Jkrojmal and Teabag86’s work makes to the locations affected.
Meanwhile, if you’re after a way to switch up your next trip to one of the province’s larger cities, you might also want to grab Jkrojmal’s latest mod, ‘JK's Riften Outskirts’, which will make arriving in Skyrim’s crime capital feel a bit more special.
Regardless of whether you’re congratulating Jarl Siddgeir on acquiring some digs that don’t look terrible when compared to the manor you’ve built on his land, make sure to follow us for more updates on The Elder Scrolls 6 and the interesting world of Skyrim modding, including our top mods of the month.