#skyrim solitude

[lavendarr00]

Skyrim Scenery - Haafingar's Frozen Marsh

[firefly-factory]

"A Restless Night in Solitude"

or, "It's cold out here"

I realized I finished this a few days ago and never shared!

This is actually part of the story WIP that I posted several weeks ago, and I loved the idea of having Astra and Ondolemar spending some time outside in Solitude (in part to get away from the omnipresent perfume of the Thalmor Headquarters). Now this piece is extra special because I actually got to see the aurora!

Thank you @changelingsandothernonsense for suggesting I add some pink into the sky <3 I had been toying with the idea but wasn't sure if it would work, and your advice pushed me to try it (and I'm so happy with how it turned out).

A little bit of fluff and story for context under the cut <3

~

She was grateful for his company, but even more thankful for his silence, as they sat on the stoop of the Thalmor Headquarters. The air was frigid, and blessedly fresh, carrying the scent of settling frost. Flickering green aurora danced in the sky above, casting the night-lit city in vibrant color. Astra breathed deeply, enjoying the way the icy air burned her sinuses and chilled her lungs. It was grounding, comforting despite the cold. If she squinted, she could pretend she was back in Winterhold, or Windhelm at the very least.

She leaned back against the wall. Her fingertips and toes were starting to go numb, but it didn’t bother her very much. She’d been in Skyrim her entire life, and although she was no ice-blooded Nord, she tolerated the cold far better than most Altmer. Which reminded her . . .

She looked away from the aurora for a moment, glancing at Ondolemar. The poor mer looked miserable, though he was doing his best to hide it. He had his hands stuffed under his armpits and had tucked his feet underneath him and although she suddenly felt very badly for him, she couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her. She’d never seen him so entirely out of his element, so undignified. The laughter bubbled out of her like a kettle letting off steam, releasing the tension that had gripped her.

He started, eyes going wide for a moment before crinkling at the corners as he smiled. “Thank the Divines. I was half-worried you’d never speak to me again.”

[my-screenshot-dump]

[leolovesthings]

Solitude at night.

[kelleyblackart]

inktober day 14 - castle 🏰

my favourite place in Skyrim 🤍

[knightofleo]

Jeremy Soule | Solitude from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[prince-kittens]

A gloomy Solitude ☁️

[morpheus-somnium]

Solitude [modern au]

[masterlist]

Informations:

Population: 500 - 700k (Maybe close to 1 million? If we want to make it huge)

Hold: Haafingar

Jarl: Elisif, the Fair

High Queen: Elisif, the Fair

Headcanons:

So this is the Capital

Which is also a university town (well, college town)

So there would be a ton of people

Most cities in Skyrim are like those European big cities where you will see 17th/18th century buildings and houses (see the picture below) and modern building (also see the picture below)

(picture one: https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Társasházak_Magyarországon#/media/Fájl:Renovation_(1).jpg)

(picture two: https://modulo.net/en/realizzazioni/one-hyde-park)

There are 4 districts total:

There is the Docks-district/Docks-district

The docks are here, obviously

And the East Empire Company Warehouse

But the farms are also part of this district!!

It has like four-five bus stops (one at the gates, one at the start of the docks, and the others at the start of the roads that lead to the farms)

It kinda sucks to live here, because every time it rains all of the water will slide down here wash everything away it can

So there is a flood about every one or two years

The East Empire Company Warehouse is one of the best places you can work, because the salary is so high! Even if you are just loading up the ships.

There is the market district

This district’s outer layer (like the southern and eastern parts) has the modern buildings

And that is also where the farmers’ market is

There is the Solitude Shopping Center !!

The mall is huge, it has 4-6 floors. There is one floor purely for eating out, and one that has a cinema and the other part of that floor has an outside garden/park

The Dour-District

Every time there is an election for the city council members (where you have to vote for you own district's candidates and the top 2 or 3 gets in the council) you will see these huge promotion posters for Tullius, but.. he is the only one you can vote for in the Cloud District. There is sibling-rivalry in the Downtown, at least 10 different candidates in the Market, and even the Docks could get 4 people you can choose from, but the Dour District? Only him. Yeah, Rikke and Elenwen is part of this district, but Elenwen gets to be in the council because she is the Ambassador (and Rikke? tbh idk, i’ve been thinking about it for an hour, but she is also a council members but like for some other reason)

Downtown

Here almost everything remained the same (for example the Bards College and the Blue Palace)

Most street are walking-streets (you know where you can’t use cars, buses, etc)

The Blue Palace is so huge that you can see from every rooftop from the Downtown

There are only trams and buses, because you cant really dig a metro system under Solitude

Also Solitude has a very cool catacomb system! You can approach it from all points of the city if you know what to search for

Almost every single building is connected through that, so the Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood love to work here. They get inside through the cellar of the apartment complexes! However some newer (and safer) ones don’t have cellars, so they have to use their technology and wall-climbing skills.

And they are also connected through rooftops?

The main tram goes from the inside of the gates to the middle of the downtown

So gates only have their base, but not not the actually gate (???) like there are no door, to keep people out, so it’s kinda like a bridge? (idk if y’all understand what i’m trying to describe 😭)

The train connects all bigger cities (like Markath, Riften, Falkreath, but not Dragonbridge or Ivarstead), but if you want to go to Solitude with train you have to go the Markath station or get off at Dawnstar, Whiterun or Morthal and use a coach

The FireFest is held on the square next to the Bard’s College. The citizens of Solitude either love it, because it’s fun, the music is good and the food is delicious, or they hate it because it’s so loud that you can’t sleep and the festival held between 22 pm and 4 am. After the ceremonial part (where they burn king Olaf on the stage) the (former) students of the College perform their songs.

Solitude is also the fashion capital!! Taaire and Endarie are fashion designers, they own the brand Radiant Raiment. They hire many models, although most of them are altmers or orsimers, because they are really tall?

Also, imagine that you are a bit shorter bosmer, breton or khajit, you are around 156.9 cm (5 ft 2 in) and suddenly you bump into one of the models, who are about 195 cm (6 ft 4.8 in**)** tall on average, but they are also wearing 13.5 cm (5.3 in) tall heels, because they are on their way to work, so they are just towering over you

The fashion week is also very fun, but most of the attendants (who aren’t residents of Skyrim) are freezing even if they are holding the event in a warmer month

Elisif knows literally everyone. Like small town-type knows. She knows where the residents live, work, study, spend time around. She thinks it will help her become a better Jarl of Solitude

There are rumors about the Blue Palace having ghosts. And a vampire living there. And many-many more. And only some know the truth about these rumors.

But youngsters will often try to get through the locked doors.

there are also debunking videos about them 😭 like sybill vampire theory debunked ("So we can confirm that Sybill isn't a vampire, but a woman with anemia.")

The Blue Palace totally has an official cat (like a literal cat, not a khajit) or a dog that "helps the Jarl in her activities" (it's a service animal!! :D)

Elementary schools often have a trip to the Blue Palace, just like they do irl to the parlaments. And the kids just love to meet with the service animal! They always take pictures of them and rarely Elisif lets some kid pet it

An other tourist attraction is the Dour Castle which also has a Museum of Military History. It showcases mostly Skyrim's history of warfare which is long 💀

There is also a small museum to the Bard's College, a normal sized museum to Solitude and a huge natural history museum

About tourist attractions; you cannot visit the catacombs. Officials will tell you that it's because of it's construction and that they don't want people stuck in areas in case the ceiling starts falling off, and they don't want people wandering in the unexplored areas. But you will hear some people (mostly shady people) talk about how there is something down there.

There are at least three big theaters inside the downtown, 90% of the people working there are from the Bars's College (actors, custome designers, even the cashiers)

You will always find street performs here (they earn a smaller fortune, probably more than what a mercenary earns)

The hospitals are beautiful there. If you get out a crypt alive, but with serious injuries you can almost forget that you are in a hospital, and not a museum or gallery.

Or you might wait for an MRI while watching a huge painting of the gods on the ceiling

(the MRI is a dwemer invention btw)

There is a huge square in front of the Blue Palace filled with statues of heroes and jarls and thanes and all kind of famous people. A statue of Torygg is already in progress, and you can already see the place they will place it; it's filled with flowers and candles.

[prismaticberry]

Anyone wanna go for a swim?

[a-wobbity-space-for-everything]

[aldruiel-scribbles]

Sometimes I imagine a farmer, dying in the mud, in the dark, a vampire taking his life. He had gone to look for his runaway cow, by Talos he couldn't lose more cattle or how he would feed his daughter. There, in the mud, in the dark, as he closed his eyes he saw the dancing lights of the Blue Palace.

The random citizens of Morthal fantasizing about how life in Solitude would look like.

It often crossed my mind how the poor folk living in the monster-ridden nature's ditch must feel like living in the shadow of the grand and majestic capital of Skyrim.

_______________________

The finishing is heavily inspired by the wonderful @kalihoffs and her series of Skyrim holds posters.

[molags-balls]

Solitude in Unreal Engine 5 by Leo Torres

[cozydragonart]

Another Skyrim Painting, the Katariah in port at Solitude. Watercolor 10x14

[my-screenshot-dump]

[leolovesthings]

Does the good ol' Holds work with the new fancy moving boatsies? Yes, yes, it does indeed.

What is shown here is Solitude docks, which has its own little space, and you can see boats from inside there.

If anything, the only semblance of a conflict for boatsies I've seen so far was Turns of Seasons with its ice floaties. Meaning the boats would simply cut through the ice on the water with ease. Which is fine, nobody cares. Such a fine mod.

[hadvarandralof]

arrow in the knee or whateva