Cirinel Direnni - A Skyrim Follower Mod

A DIrenni's Debt: Overview
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This is a mod aiming to place a unique character into the world for players to find, interact with, fight alongside, and grow to love as they roam the land of Skyrim. It features original quests, custom dialogue, unique world interactions, and commentary on existing quests and actions the player can take.

The project revolves around Cirinel Direnni, a high elf on the run from her Thalmor kinsmen. Players will find her just outside of the Thalmor embassy, freshly escaped and equally freshly wounded, and will earn her undying gratitude and loyalty by aiding her.

The rating for this project is PG-13. Cirinel doesn't swear or get explicit, but the writing features heavier themes such exile, loss, and the effects of torture.

Who is Cirinel Direnni?
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Cirinel is an Altmer from the Isle of Balfiera, an island situated in the province of High Rock. Her family is of noble standing, her clan responsible for revolutionizing the fields of conjuration magic and alchemy, a fact she remembers well—even if the elves of the Altmer homeland do not.

The daughter of a Direnni heiress and a Summerset merchant, Cirinel had a cushy life. She's learned in song, history, and most of all magic, and has trained well in the use of war axe. That all came crumbling down, however, during a diplomatic meeting between her parents and the Thalmor: the representatives sent to strongarm her family into an alliance insulted them one too many times, and Cirinel reacted impulsively.

She'll tell you she went and freed their captives out from under their noses out of spite.

Is that the truth? Or the words of an elf too scared to face the consequences of her actions head-on?

Regardless, the Thalmor have it out for her now. She fled to Skyrim, only to get caught and brought in for interrogation, tortured for the locations of her missing relatives. She's managed to escape, albeit robbed, bloodied, and down one eye-

-until her luck finally turns around as the Last Dragonborn stumbles across her.

What all do you have planned for her?
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This is a follower mod, meaning she follows the player everywhere they go, so the more reactivity she has to the world around her, the better. Currently, that involves:

• Idle dialogue for each of the nine holds, as well as the towns and cities within them

• Reactions to the time and weather

• Idle dialogue that changes depending on what kind of dungeon she's in or near

• Reactions based on what race the player is and what factions they're part of

• Personal conversations

• Four unique quests

• Commentary on existing quests

• A few custom interactions that let the player ask her for spells, interact with her horse, and possibly involve her in the quest to sneak back into the embassy she escaped from

• (Hopefully, in the far future) interactions between her and other custom follower mods

What kind of quests can I expect?
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Her four planned quests are as follows:

1. A Direnni's Debt: This is her introductory questline. The player will find her, help her retrieve her things from the Thalmor, and she'll pledge her loyalty and be willing to follow them around Skyrim thereafter.

2. Nothing to Worry Over: Cirinel is scared of horses. This quest involves conquering that fear, at least enough that she can ride a summoned horse to follow the player around with.

3. A Direnni's Disgrace: The truth of her imprisonment, and the effects of what she's done that she has to grapple with. This can be considered her "main" quest, and involves guilt, grieving, and a skeleton in her family's closet that shakes her entire worldview.

4. Bride of Balfiera: This is an unmarked quest in-game, but is centered around courting her. You can't just win her heart by donning an Amulet of Mara, she has standards!
   Note: Romance will NOT involve anything 18+. This is flirting, and potential marriage.

What are you looking for in auditions?
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Cirinel is a spirited noble with a penchant for chaos. Ideally, her voice would be:

• Semi-sophisticated: She's an aristocrat, but one with a degree of separation from all other Altmeri aristocracy. She needs to have an air of sophistication about her that doesn't come on too strongly to reflect both her status and her distance.

• Energetic: She has a lot of fire in her, and that especially shows in confrontation. Combat has her enjoying every swing of her blade, arguments are passionate, and excitement is palpable.

• Smooth: When she's not being cocky or impulsive, she has an air of alluring confidence to her. This is a woman who's learned from an early age that where action fails, words win, and has built that into her everyday speech.

• Capable of grief: As mentioned above, a lot of the drama of her character revolves around loss, both of her family and of her statue. She needs to sound convincing when the mask of self-confidence starts to slip and the guilt underneath begins to show.

• Either an American English or British English feminine accent: She falls in a weird middle ground as far as accents go. The Thalmor, from Summerset, all speak British English, and a very small number of high elves + the vast majority of Bretons (who she shares a province with) speak American English. Her father probably has a British accent, and her mother probably has American, so I'd like her to take after one of them.

Other nice-to-haves (optional, but a bonus when auditioning):

• Capable of singing: Cirinel's favorite song is "The Star-Eyed Bride of Alinor," and I'd like to have her sing it at some point.

• Able to guess at pronunciation: I want to have her occasionally say a few words in Elvish, which doesn't have a set way of being spoken in-world.

• Able to speak nonsense with emotion: Like the point above, I want her to be able to speak occasional Elvish. If the line is meant to be said in frustration, I want the player to be able to tell that she's frustrated, even if they have no idea what she's saying.

• Knowledge of Skyrim/Elder Scrolls lore: It'll be helpful to have reference on how she should feel about a given topic or event.

Any other requirements?
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1. Have a discord or email: This is how I'll contact you about your lines.

2. Have a good microphone: I can handle noise reduction and normalization and other editing, so long as your voice comes through clearly without any peaking, popping, or background interruptions.

3. Be 18 or older: I want to avoid any technical messes that might come with working in a professional capacity with a minor.

4. Be as prompt and transparent as possible: I don't have a deadline for when this mod is to come out, and I'm flexible with scheduling and times, but I do need to be able to implement the lines to continue my side of the work (writing, coding, testing, debugging).

5. Be willing to commit: Cirinel is the main character of this mod, and as such, she's going to have a lot to say. I need someone who's willing to stick with her for a long time to see her development through.

As a final note, please keep in mind that this project is unpaid. This is a hobby of mine that I'm doing for fun.

If you have any further questions about the project, feel free to send me a message!