Who tends the Draugr? How can swords kill them? : V

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:16 am

The draugr have been asleep for several hundreds of years. The draugr sleep unless disturbed, yet there are fine embalming tools and lit candles and torches.

Who is responsible for maintaining the draugr crypts? Who lit the candle? Who makes sure the torches are in burning condition? Whenever I enter, the torches are lit and candles are often present, I can understand that a torch can burn for extended periods of time, but the candles and lamps could probably last 300-400 hours at max.

And why does draugr die when, for example slitting their throat? It's not like the are dependent on oxygen, right?

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 6:00 pm

ancient dragon magic

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 6:49 pm

Who is responsible for maintaining the draugr crypts? Who lit the candle? Who makes sure the torches are in burning condition?

The same guys who play the battle music for you.

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 6:41 am

Verysimilitude is not always desirable in a fantasy game, or we'll end up seeing numbers, equations, formulas and anatomy where we're supposed to suspend our disbelief. The only thing of what you imply that would make the draugr dungeons better for me would be less light, I'd like darker dungeons for the creepy factor.

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:47 pm

The same guys who play the battle music for you. :smile:

haha good thinking

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:36 pm

Its in a book, research on Draugr if iam not mistake. Basicly the Draugr tend to their Lord and he maintains a small piece of lifeforce in them, just enough to keep them walking. something like that.

The explanation is in the game, you just need to be lucky and stumble upon the book explaining it.

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 8:24 pm

And why does draugr die when, for example slitting their throat? It's not like the are dependent on oxygen, right?

Unless they added kill cams for stealth kills on non-humans, the slit-throat animation does not trigger for draugr.

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:08 pm

There was a book about it in game but i don't remember it's name. According to the book Draugrs are mummified to slow down decay and at the start they were more human in appearance that one wouldn't notice they were dead at all. So from the look of it they're not tended that well at all.

The draugrs aren't vengeful zombies as well they cary the same duties that they used to cary out when they were alive. It's even possible that they're not zombies at all but more sentient undeads(like liches or vampires) since they talk and able to cary out complicated tasks including tending and serving the dragon priests so it's very possible that some of them can be tending others.

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 1:48 pm

Unless they added kill cams for stealth kills on non-humans, the slit-throat animation does not trigger for draugr.

He was talking about generally just swinging your sword at their throat.

But how can undead things die anyways?

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:15 pm

The book is "Amongst the Draugr" and it's very rare indeed.

Draugrs sustain themselves, albeit their life force slowly wanes with time. They also maintain the tomb (hence the lit candles and torches) and occasionally venture outside: this explains why in these ancient tombs there is some 'modern' loot like imperial outfits, books written in the second and third era and fresh potions. Probably the spark of intelligence they seem to still possess manifest itself through hoarding of resources and junk as if they are still stockpiling food and comfort even in the afterlife.

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:39 pm

He was talking about generally just swinging your sword at their throat.

But how can undead things die anyways?

I know right if there Undead dosn't that make them alive? and if the answer is no how can you kill them unless there alive?

Unless they come back to life..but then they'd be Allive then you'd kill them and they'd be dead right? or would they just be undead?

Im confused lol.

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:32 pm

The book mentioned in previous posts: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Amongst_the_Draugr.

They do seem to be conscious undead:

...the only utterances they make seem to be in that heathen tongue that I can't even pronounce... I learned more of their intentions towards me from their general movements and tones rather than specific words.

They don't just "sleep until disturbed". It's apparently just coincidence that they're (usually?) all dormant when the player finds them:

Every day, a different set of draugr would awaken, shamble their way to the sarcophagus of their priest, and prostrate themselves before it. Several hours of this, followed by a meticulous cleaning of the area. It would appear that the adherents of the dragon priest continue their worship of him in death, which would also explain the ferocity with which they defend his chambers.

From the text as a whole, it is apparent that nobody tends the draugr for it is the draugr themselves who tend the dragon priests. The torches and candles are presumably for their own use; as far as I am aware, it hasn't been stated that draugr have any form of night vision, so they would need light sources to avoid accidents while making their way to and from the dragon priest's chamber.

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:31 am

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Amongst_the_Draugr

Beat me to it

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:55 am

Don't overthink it.

They're undead, the tombs magic, the embalming process preserved them.

And they die just as zombies die. The undead in skyrim can't survive being decapitated or shot in the head, injured to the point they can't live on.
Except draugr don't need shooting in the head to be killed, unlike some zombies.
They act more like the living than other undead.

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 1:56 pm

I find the idea kinda awesome - it allows you to explain why the dungeons aren't permanently dark or completely unkempt. I do wish we could have actually seen the draugr exhibiting this behaviour though. Would be amusing to burst in on one sweeping up the dust or lighting candles.

My question regarding Draugr is - Are they all that way for being dragon worshippers? Doesn't make sense when King Olaf appears as one, and he was anything but a dragon worshipper. Also, the draugr of Solstheim were simply cannibals, so are any nordic undead thralls who have been punished called draugr?

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:58 pm

Draugrs are once people right? Also, some draugr ruins are really old, perhaps older than tiber septim.
So...why are there septims in the draugr?

Also, i only seen 2 draugr dungeons(nordic dungeons i mean) that contain adventurers. So i assume that people(adventurers) dont dare to go into these tombs?

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 8:26 pm

Draugrs are once people right? Also, some draugr ruins are really old, perhaps older than tiber septim.
So...why are there septims in the draugr?

Also, i only seen 2 draugr dungeons(nordic dungeons i mean) that contain adventurers. So i assume that people(adventurers) dont dare to go into these tombs?

All the coins bearing a certain effige is an oversemplification. If we look back at human histhory, gold coins were commons and each state made its own; usually when a king died the new one would issue new coins with a new design. The old ones were still accepted though; when gold was the common economic standard the value of a coin was its value in weight.

Some clever kings understood this too well and started alloying gold with copper, nickel or silver, hence inflation was born!

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:26 am

draugr die the same way as pretty much any undead as far as i know

its basically a soul kept in a dead vassal by magical means, once the vassal is too damaged too hold the soul it releases and the vassal stays behind

or thats how i figured anyway

as for the candles and stuff, well, gameplay issues

if theyd leave every dungeon without humanoids in it pitch black people would complain about it, a lot

so they just added some lights, and left the tools around for added detail. would be rather silly if it would be just empty

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:00 pm

u can destroy undead not kill them

once the "body" suffers enough damage the moving force or spirit can't hold on to it, like the living sort of only they are harder to kill and are immune to disease, bleeding, poison, fatigue, and pretty much everything that needs living blood to affect

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:42 am

I still haven't got a Grand Soul Gem from Draugrs. Any one know which type has the grand soul?

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:09 am

On one hand your going into a crypt full of undead draugr and worrying about candles because its not realistic lol. On the other hand any good fantasy writer knows that the key to making it believable is to make it as realistic as possible. One of the things shown on that vid by Bethesda was dark dungeons so maybe thats something they will do who knows.

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 8:27 pm

I still haven't got a Grand Soul Gem from Draugrs. Any one know which type has the grand soul?

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Category:Skyrim-Souls-Grand
Deathlords and Death Overlords only if you're level 38+.

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:01 pm

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Category:Skyrim-Souls-Grand
Deathlords and Death Overlords only if you're level 38+.

I play on master, and the tombs are practically filled with deathlords, and they've only been giving me greater. Overlords, I've only encountered a few times, so maybe I ran out of soul gems by then.

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 4:15 pm

The book is "Amongst the Draugr" and it's very rare indeed.

Draugrs sustain themselves, albeit their life force slowly wanes with time. They also maintain the tomb (hence the lit candles and torches) and occasionally venture outside: this explains why in these ancient tombs there is some 'modern' loot like imperial outfits, books written in the second and third era and fresh potions. Probably the spark of intelligence they seem to still possess manifest itself through hoarding of resources and junk as if they are still stockpiling food and comfort even in the afterlife.

Exactly

» Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:35 am

This is my first post. Hi everyone. I just wanted to add that in the real world, according to ancient Norse legends, draugr could only be killed by weapons made of cold-forged iron. Also, in Norse legend, some draugr had the ability to shape-shift and appear as normal people, or even animals.