My (Rough) Theory for DLC: Dawnguard

Seeing that the world was supposed to end with Alduin destroying everything (sort of, since Alduin’s Wall foresees the Dovahkiin, although Alduin is still at the end of the prophecy regardless) the world is pretty much… lost at this point. Unless another prophecy comes up, everybody is freewheeling through Mundus without a prophecy to guide major events. Since every Elder Scrolls game has been leading up to this prophecy, and now that the big prophecy is finished, I think Dawnguard might be set in Hammerfell. Here is my rationale.

Whenever the mention of “dawn” comes up, it is usually referring to the very early time, or the Mythic Era. The oldest structure in Tamriel is purported to be the Adamantine Tower on the Isle of Balferia in the Iliac Bay near Hammerfell, dated back to that era. That tower is the closest thing to the “dawn” as you can get in Tamriel. Plus, we’ve already seen in Skyrim that there is a high amount of reference to Hammerfell already. The quest with the Redguard Maiden, the fact that there is already a preexisting “Redguard Outfit” when no other race gets that privilege, and the inclusion of curved swords (CURVED SWORDS) all show an odd, unexplained favoritism towards Hammerfell.

Then there’s the lore aspect, because the Adamantine Tower is where the gods converged to discuss the creation of Mundus. We’re already dealing on an epic scale with Skyrim, and we’ve interacted with Akatosh in Oblivion; I don’t see why a more divine storyline couldn’t be in the works. Plus, Adamantine Tower is where the gods cast Lorkhan’s Heart from, the very same heart that is discussed in the quest “Discerning the Transmundane.” That might just be the Devs wanting you to be familiar with the concept of the Heart, especially since the game forces you into that Daedric Quest on the course of the Main Quest.

There's also the theory that the Mythic Dawn may be featured again. Originally I thought the idea of the Mythic Dawn involvement to be silly; the game already addresses the cult in a Daedric Quest, and that’s the end of it. But the more I think about it, Dawnguard may actually tie in. If the Heart of Lorkhan really is a plot device in this new DLC, then the Mythic Dawn would tie in perfectly due to their desire to restore Tamriel to its “rightful owner,” Lorkhan. Not sure how that could play into a storyline yet, but it is definitely a possibility.

So let’s play around with this idea, guys! What do you think? Reasonable? Any ideas for a potential storyline taking place around this? Discuss at will, friends.

As much as I would like to think an expansion to Skyrim would take us to another province, I don't see that happening. The name is Skyrim for a reason, and I think any DLC has more potential for wrapping up the civil war/electing a new High King in a moot and combating the Thalmor directly.

Your theory sounds great for another game, but not an expansion. I like your thinking though

Will it include your toughest fight ever?

OT I think it might be too big of a concept to have just for DLC. I would rather have a whole game devoted to Hammefell. Nonetheless, good idea

Like the Idea. All i know is has to be near Skyrim that's for sure *don't know why* lol

And i also don't see why something that big can't be an Expansion. They did say it would be pretty big and meaty. So why not?

Based on the name, it could be something epic involving the Dawn Era, or it could be a castle near Dawnstar that you can get. It's a wildcard.

+1

This was a very enjoyable read, OP. You have some very good ideas, this is one of the few thoughtful DLC speculation threads out there, as well. It could be a possibility, as I'm sure the developers would love to recreate a portion of Daggerfall and Iliac Bay with their new technology. I personally am not too crazy about this, similar to what was stated above, I think that provinces should have their own games, not be in DLC. I would love to see TES VI: Hammerfell, and that might be less likely if they do a DLC about Hammerfell.

I also have my own brief speculations about the supposed 'Dawnguard' DLC. Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, is a very, 'Nord-focused,' game. With that in mind, along with that Dawnguard is a possible reference to the Dawn Era and the creation of Man, I think that Dawnguard will take place, or revolve around either Atmora or Yokuda. I believe Yokuda is another possibility because 'Dawn' is also a reference to the sun rising, and Yokuda is one of the western-most known islands.

Sounds interesting but like alot of people have said, it might be best to save Hammerfell for another Elder Scrolls game entirely.

It is afterall, one of the larger provinces. In fact, I believe it's only second to Cyrodiil.

I don't know if the DLC will be outside of Skyrim, but historically, expansions haven't been confined to the original continent of the game. Bloodmoon took place in Skyrim, technically, and Shivering Isles took place on a whole separate plane of Oblivion.

It's not unthinkable that this one could take place in a confined location in a different region (like Tribunal).

Let's go to Atmora, and meet some neanderthals (nedes).

I draw a blank really when it comes to Dawnguard. Usually I'm pretty good at conjecture, but I seriously have no idea. The only thing that even remotely comes to mind, involves the Thalmor and their so called use of "Dawn Magic" to restore Masser and Secunda after the 2 years of Void Nights. (4E98-4E100)

Point Lookout and Solsthiem were fairly large, a full island (or more if we wish upon a star really hard) is entirely possible, and the isle Balferia and the Adamantine tower could be amazing.

It could also tie in with Skyrim's main quest (or the ending thereof), we never really got closure on that; and it just seems too ripe, important, and entirely unexplained as of yet, to not have any relevance to the story going forward through exapansions (it's clearly going to be dealt with eventually). If the Adamantine tower is involved and tied in with what I just mentioned, perhaps there will be some whole Akatosh/Alduin/dawn-of-time/Merethic-era stuff going on, which sounds very interesting to me.

I don't really want to see anything that ties into the Main Quest... I'm usually just not fond of "Bethesda Main Quests" For some reason. I find they put too much urgency which really throws off the pacing required to get svcked into a "Do what you want" RPG. Morrowind gets away with it, because up until maybe halfway in, you're in the dark about what's going on. Caius just wants you to get your feet wet, learn the land, which was probably one of Bethesda's narrative highlights.

I had the same problem with Solsthiem too though. The EEC was a much more compelling storyline than the Werewolf stuff, simply because it didn't shove it down your throat. I like the idea that Solsthiem had of two "Main" Storylines though, in that there was two long and compelling questlines to pursue. The rest of the expansions/DLC they've released has been too single-track, including Tribunal. While a lot of little independent quests exist, with all the meaningful content they release, you pretty much have to let yourself exist in one mindset or the quality of the content they deliver isn't particularly interest.

I like this theory, but isn't Adamantine in High Rock? Doesn't really change the concept much, though.

I definitely see how making the entire province of Hammerfell could be too unwieldy for a mere DLC, even if Bethesda has stated they're going big or going home. Perhaps they might just confine it to the Isle of Balferia, because I'm sure that island is big enough to contain a bunch of content on its own. The issue does remain of how to reach it, but hey, maybe a boat out of Dawnstar or something? That would also address the "confined space" comment that nerevarine1138 made.

Thinking a little more on this, I've got a couple more ideas.

1. ConnivingEagle you make a very good point about Hammerfell being a new game. I think that Hammerfell would make a much better standalone game than a DLC, mainly because the storyline is a bit too grand for a DLC. I still think it's the logical next step for the story progression, but going with a more Atmora-centric direction for this DLC would stay within Skyrim and expand on Nordic lore, rather than shift the lore in an entirely different direction. A friend and I have had many discussions about whether there's actually anybody left alive in Atmora, because a few sources make it sound like the Nedes went extinct. Maybe that's untrue?

2. Whatever the DLC is, I've realized that it will probably be a separate storyline from Skyrim's main story. The reason for this is that, if the new DLC plot was a continuation of the base game MQ, then it would require players to complete the MQ to play the DLC. For Bethesda's first Skyrim DLC I just can't see them doing that. More likely, it will be a seperate, but related, storyline that can be played at any point of the game, similar to most of the DLCs for Fallout and Fallout: New Vegas. Perhaps they will do a "Broken Steel"-type thing at a later date, but for this one it will probably be an independant story.

So we're looking at MQ-independant-but-related storyline that is also "big and meaty." Maybe the Dawnguard is a group of Nedic survivors?

Interesting, the dawn era is the only reference that I've seen that's similar to Dawnguard. The Adaminium Tower is also an interesting idea. You could do DLC in that area although how you get there and back is intersting. It's either going to be a carriage or a ship, probably the latter.

It's between High Rock and Hammerfell. I'm not entirely sure which province it's classified under. My memory wants to say that it's either contested, or that it's considered a "hands-off" area that isn't really owned by anybody.

Which could make it work for a DLC because it's not actually part of a province, if that's true.

I believe it's in the province of High Rock.

I don't agree with this because you destroy the Heart in Morrowind so it wont be coming back.

UESP seems to imply it's on and island at the edge of High Rock. It might be outside of any province, but culturally a part of High Rock, in the same vain as Solstheim.

I reference this because for some reason, Septimus Signus (batty as he may be) seemed quite sure of himself during "Discerning the Transmundane." Just seems odd to me, and so I'm speculating that it might not be as "destroyed" as we think. Plus, the fact that Keening is in the game as well as a reference to the Heart seems like Bethesda is foreshadowing something.

Personally, I want to see Solstheim come back. Fighting "Bloodmoon Werewolves" again with better graphics will be so much fun! + We have dragons now!

That heart blew up, fell into the lava, then got crushed by a giant statue thing.. I think it's dead.

The physical heart may be destroyed, but it's influence as a part of Lorkhan still exists. It is still "spiritually" alive, as is Lorkhan, despite the fact that he was dismembered and strewn across Tamriel.

Incorrect. Vivec's power came from that heart. If the heart's magical influence was still around then Vivec would've stayed Immortal but he became a Mortal due to his 'influence' being destroyed. Vivec mentioned this after the completion of that quest, if I am correct.

So basicly, that heart is dead and gone.