Maelstrom

By Nachtdaemmerung

Uploaded for Skyrim in September 2019, this mod is not already quite famous in terms of endorsements – to say nothing of the number of videos featuring it already. Personally I love Nachtdaemmerung’s mods because often he takes the direct inspiration from Norse mythology that I was hoping for almost ten years ago when Skyrim was first launched. This particular mod is based on the Norse goddess/demoness Ran, the wife of the sea god Ægir, dreaded by Norse sailors. In Norse beliefs, those who drowned at sea spent the afterlife with her at the bottom of the sea; and her daughters, who all have names that refer to the waves, can pull sailors down.

Apparently, Norse sailors would sometimes beseech Ægir to keep his wife in check and thus grant them a safe journey. I fully admit, I don’t really know the precise Norse source for this practice – before playing the mod, I know it mostly from Viking metal: Thyrfing’s “Världsspegeln” :

While the characters are Norse, the story is the modder’s own creation. You follow a party of adventurers and cultists drawn by the same eerie (and brilliantly acted) voice you keep hearing. This voice calls you to explore ever deeper through a long, sometimes watery (but only rarely flooded) dungeon. There are many non-linear “puzzles” and at times the constant backtracking got a little samey, but the modder did a great job of creating a very compelling mood throughout the experience, and I really only got completely stuck at one point in the mod, quite early on where I wasn’t really backtracking enough. It’s also a companion mod, with one vanilla-voiced companion that follows you through the dungeon and the possibility of another companion at the end.

It’s not really very pacifist-friendly, though. Admittedly, you can bypass many of the enemies, and I don’t really object to the endless drowned dead and other varieties of (un)dead foes – they have a way of thanking the player for their release once (in some cases if) they go down. But you’ll also be fighting the nine Daughters of Ran to the death, and at one point fairly early, you have to kill a living person to obtain a key, or at least I couldn’t find it in his inventory when I pickpocketed him. Also, I hope I don’t spoil too much by stating that at the end, you have to make a choice that will end up with at least one person – if I can truly call both of them that – dead. (Or else abandon that whole savegame.)

Pacifist potential: 4/10

Final verdict: Eerie and compelling adventure with a scary, but interesting companion at the end. 8/10.