I'm setting up my windstad manor as my trophy home (armory, trophy room, greenhouse) and i'm trying to place the ebony blade in a display case which as you know is very frustrating to do in skyrim, when i hear this shrieking sound. Its my new female bard (sorin i think) and she's singing ragnar the red...horribly. I mean i've heard other bards who are pretty bad but something about her voice was really annoying me so i stopped what i was doing and went to tell her to stop her shrieking and play an instrumental. I went back to my display headache, this time trying to place the mace of molag bal in a case and i hear it, she's started singing ragnar the red again! I tried to tune it out and finish what i was doing when i looked at molags mace and thought thats enough. I equipped the mace which i never use, walked over to her as she was wailing the part "Ragnar was boastful no moooooree" and smashed her annoying mouth in with the mace so she was no 'mooooree'...peace at last


is anyone else here bothered by how bad the bards are? taverns are 1 thing but i expect the bard that will sing in my home which i visit daily to at least know how to sing. I mean where did they find some of these "singers", are they just beth employees who believe they can sing good because they sing in the shower? nails on a chalkboard have more music to them then this bard, she was unbearably bad so i had to permanently fire her.

also i know its probably been asked elsewhere but in time can i hire a new bard or is it this one only? if i was on PC i would mod the malukah cover songs for my female bards and pretend her effects are the halls of my home causing some serious reverb

Haha, I actually like that bard. She's a terrible singer, but it sort of gives her some character.

Each house gets one set bard, by the way. Windstad Manor has Sonir, Heljarchen Hall gets Oriella, and Lakeview Manor gets Llewellyn.

Lol, I did the exact same except with Llewellyn. Molag Bal to the FACE.

Are ANY of the hireable bards any good? Or should my Dragonborns just go to a tavern when they want to hear music?

haha nice...nothing says s.t.f.u like molags mace to the face

If you don't mind asking for some instrumental music every time you go home, they are almost bearable.

I would rather just fire the bard than kill them, but I can put up with them.

And if you want to get your ebony blade in a display case it has to go corner to corner, you will never get it in straight because it is longer than the case (unless there is a display case longer than usual some where). Do not try and cross it with Dragonbane, no matter that they look nice and you can get them both in there, you will break the display code on at least dragonbane, it will hang out the side of the display case and never sit right in a weapon rack or on a weapon plaque again. So when experimenting with display cases always save just in case. And if your treasure falls through the case (or hangs out of it), just go test it on something else to be sure it still works like it should. if you cannot get a weapon to sit in any of the set display devices, try a table.

Most (all?) of them share the exact same voice anyway.

firing them doesnt have the same satisfaction as molags mace to the face

yea i did get the ebony blade angled into a case but thats only because it doesnt stay on any weapon racks and the mace of molag bal clips on my wall mounts so i tried to case it but now i started using it ever since smashing my bards face in with it ha...i was saving it for my orc character because i want to make him dual weild maces but it feels right in any hand

You know, I didn't have a problem with the bard I had... What I DID have a problem with was the fact that bethesda failed to set the bg music to go silent when the bard starts playing, so it was such an awful cacophony that I ended up sending them on their way.

It could be worse. there is a certain orc bard in skyrim who is so terrible at his job the Dark Brotherhood actualy had to hold a lottery to see wich petitioner got answered. You could've gotten him as your house bard .

As for termination policies my fav is still having a follower tag along outside, summoning Odahving and casting frenzy on said anoyance. Nothing says "You're Fired!" like a blast of dragon breath from a lvl 73 deathmachine

It's too bad we cant hire Karita from Dawnstar to be our bard.

Bards... all that mirth and singing... bah!

Welp, there goes my option then. That bard's worm food. I desperately wanted Shadowmere.

Least your bard actualy played more than one song. Mine played one song then disappeared. Guess he heard what was happening to the other bards and ran for it?

Where is that orc, have to go an hear him.

The inn in Morthal.

The only good bards I've heard are Talsgar the Wanderer (haven't seen him since the civil war ended though ) and Luaffyn in Candlehearth Hall. They seem to be the only ones that don't pause between every verse like they're trying to remember how the song goes.

It certainly explains one of the Dark Brotherhood contracts to assassinate a Bard.
How does one determina a worst bard when bad singing is enough to make one want to smash their head in?
The guy had a rep as the worst bard in skyrim.

Ask him to sing for you. You'll see. Hopefully you're not easily traumatized.

i determined that with sonir ha so im sure an orc singing is also worthy of molags mace to the face...i killed him without hearing him so i cant say if he's worse then sonir but if so it must be painful


i was just wondering why they can't let us go hire a bard of our choosing? i would hire that skald warrior bard from markath..he can sing and fight for my family when im not around

The problem with an orc bard is that he may svck, but no one dares tell him.

I kind of like the one from Whiterun myself. Wish I could hire him.

No, he's worse. He doesn't sing the same songs as the other bards; he tries to make it up as he goes. Which is a cool thing, if you can pull it off. Lurbuk can't. He stumbles over his verses and forgets his rhymes, with many a "er" and "um"... it's just awful.

Even the innkeeper couldn't stand him.
I'd hire him though, just for his comedic value... if he hadn't drank that bottle of poison that somehow ended up in his pocket, that is.

If all they did was play their lute, then I would hire them. But I hate the songs, so I won't ever hire one.

I actually like most of the songs. However, "The Dragonborn Comes"... no. Very few people can sing solo a capella (one voice, no instrument) and sound good. I'm a trained singer, and I won't perform thus.