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Story, perks/skills, gameplay, magic section and additional quality of life improvements to be made
"The true enemy won't wait out the storm. He brings the storm." - Game of Thrones
Foreword:This is a new rendition of my first build that I originally posted way back in 2015. I made a remastered version of this using Ordinator last year to help bridge me back into the building scene after taking a several year long hiatus from the Character Building community. With an accompanying backstory and in-depth exploration of what makes this character “The Stormrider”, I hope to make the build what I have always envisioned it to be.
Current story to be ignored. This space will be filled with excerpts from my "Story of the Rider". Detailing Joramund's backstory.
The legends tell of a time when Skyrim was thrown into darkness and the skies were torn asunder. The dead roamed the land in droves spreading famine plagues and death wherever they went. All at the behest of the one known only as the Stormrider.
The story of the Stormrider begins with a man who was betrayed by the priesthood of Talos when the White-Gold Concordat was signed. His fellow brothers at the temple bent knee to the Thalmor invaders and when he would not, they exiled him. In his anger he flew into a rage and slew them one by one for their treachery, leaving the temple in flames. He wondered aimless for years trading his help, his blade and spells for megor rewards. He never stayed in one place long, for fear of the thalmor who were certainly after him.
Many years later still bitter from the white gold concordat he decided to venture through the treacherous slopes of the Jerall mountains to Skyrim. After some days he reached the border and was caught in a skirmish between Stormcloak Rebels and the Imperial legion. The sound of a bugle in the distance echoed through the mountains "ahoooooooo". The air was bitter cold and the clang of steel and cries of dying men were carried on the wind. As he observed the battle he saw an imperial officer had impaled a Stormcloak on the end of his spear, the mans lifeblood was flooding out onto the snow where it steamed. To the right of that scene a Stormcloak caught an Imperial in the head with his mace sending her helmet and bits of gore flying before she crumpled. He had seen enough he unfastened his shield, drew his blade and charged into fray. He slew two Imperials before they knew what was happening the next saw him coming. The Imperial side stepped his strike and followed with a swing of his axe. He raised his shield just in time, the axe bounced off of the shield stagerring the imperial who had not anticipated the block. He took the oportunity to quickly thrust his sword into the imperials chest. Turning from the dying man he saw a monstrous Orc bringing down a war hammer towards him it was all he could do to move out the way, the blow glanced off his pauldron forcing him to drop his sword from the force. The Orc glowered at him menacingly thinking him to be without means of attack. He blocked one two and three swings of the war hammer with his shield and saw the orc drop his guard for an instant. Lashing out with his shield he sent the orc staggering a few steps back, enough time to charge up a bolt of lightnng and send it fourth exploding from his palm with an ear spliting "CRACK" the Orc wailed in pain and dropped his hammer. With smoking armor and the scent of singed flesh the Orc let out a bellow of pure rage and charged at him franticly tackling him to the ground, the Orcs strength was overpowering and soon he found the brutes hands about his neck. With his consciousness flagging he charged another bolt with the last of his strength and let it fly, the orcs body went limp forcing the last of the air from his lungs, turning the world around him into darkness..
When he came to he was bound and fettered in a carriage with some Stormcloak soldiers. He was to be executed at Helgen for aiding Stormcloak "traitors" he found out from one of the other prisoners. Soon they dismounted the carriage and were being read thier sentences. He prayed to Talos for help but there was no answer, an Imperial nudged him along with his spear. The headsman had just finished with one of the prisoners and now it was his turn, begging for mercy from any who would hear it. His answer came as dark whispers of Molag Bal who offered him the power to claim vengeance if he would do his bidding and be his vessel to bring doom and destruction unto the lands of man and mer. He accepted Molag Bals terms and as he did his blood boiled, his consciousness waned and he felt the power inside him grow. When he awoke, Helgen lay in smoke and ruins, he the only survivor with corpses piled around him and the taste of blood in his mouth…...
He is commanded to travel to the Island of Solstheim to seek out visions that will fulfil part of the pact he made with Molag Bal and bring him closer to his vengeance. Molag Bal shows him the power that lies within the Black Books scattered across the island. He must steal the knowledge from another Daedric prince Hermaeus Mora, in Molag Bal’s name. He then set forth to conquer this new found power and crush all in his path. After conquering the final book and destroying Mora's champion he receives another vision. He saw himself wearing the fabled Jagged Crown, leading an army of vampires and undead against the living under a blood red sky. Feeling the power inside himself grow as well as his ambition he no longer just wanted revenge against the empire; he wanted all of Tamriel to know his wrath.
Upon returning to the mainland he began his quest to divide and conquer the land, where he would rule with chaos and fury for several years under an apocalyptic darkness. With the land now in ruins and his quest for vengeance fulfilled, Molag Bal came to him one last time. With satisfaction he stated "I gave you what you wanted in your mortal life and your soul is now mine". Infuriated by the final betrayal he tries to resist but is overwhelmed by Molag Bals power. Only then did he realise the true scope of what he had done and how the power he had taken had corrupted his very being. In a fit of melancholic anguish relents and resides himself to the fate of Coldharbor for eternity.Overtime, order is returned to the land. But None will forget the cold blooded legacy of the man who came known as The Stormrider.
All of the mods I am using here are availble on Xbox One and PC.
Nord Vampire: With Imperious races installed Joramund will start out with a 25% resistance to frost, a pasive effect known as the "Purge" which allows him to single out 3 races to do 30 percent bonus damage to at levels 10, 20 and 30 (I chose, Altmer, Bosmer and Imperial) An innate ability to do more damage the lower his health gets, And finally an unlockable power called "Avatar" which he can use to regenenrate stamina and magicka once a day. With Sacrosanct installed being a vampire will allow Joramund to reanimate one slain enemy per battle for free, using the power "From Ancient Soil"
Name: Joramund - Stormrider
Gender: Male
Age: 52
Standing Stone: Atronach
Religous Views: Molag Bal and Talos
Morality/Personality: Chaotic Neutral, descending to Neutral Evil as his vampirism evolves. The dissolution of the worship of Talos and the events of the great war led to Joramunds rather stoney outlook on the world. He is a man who does not care for the day to day of those around him. He works his bounties for the coin, not out of a sense of honor. After becoming afflicted with vampirism he slowly but surely will lose any semblance of remorse and symapathy, falling to the afflictions baser traits. All that remains of the man he formerly was is his hatred for elves and disdain for an empire who failed it's people.
House of Horror's: "House of Horror's" is an obvious one to do and good to pick up early on as the Mace of Molag Bal has some pretty powerful enchantments on it and looks pretty sinister to boot.
The Jagged Crown:You infiltrate one of the two opposing factions and use their information to find the Jagged Crown for yourself. Once the crown has been found you should slaughter all who remain in the barrow, and leave Skyrim to it's infighting with the empire (The more chaos the better). The Jagged Crown will be a symbol of your dominance over the people of Skyrim. You can also obtain the first word to "Slow Time" on this quest.
Dragon Born Quest Line and Black Book Quests: At Molag Bals behest you set out to the island of Solstheim in search of the elusive Black Books, eliminating any opposition in your quest to domination. The forbidden knowledge in the Black Books are essential to gain as they will unlock true power and potential of the Stormrider
Dawnguard Questline (Volkihar Side):You hear whispers of vampire hunters banding together to deal with the growing menace. As a newly turned vampire yourself you are just gaining an appetite for the new powers you have inherited and have no want of any pesky humans foiling your plans of chaos. You go to their fortress to speak with their leader who does not seem to recognise you for the beast you are. He tells you to seek out Dimhollow Crypt and that the vampires seek something within. With a toothy grin you depart for the crypt, where you find Serana and learn of a prophecy to send the world into darkness.....
Finding words of Power/ Thunderchild: Joramund will seek out and find as many words of power as he can to strengthen his th'um. Thunderchild is rewarding in that the more vanilla shouts you unlock, the more Thunderchild shouts you unlock whenever you meditate at the High Hrothgar Library. Pursue all of the Thunderchild quests to unlock powerful bonuses like; "Way of Peace" When out of combat shout cooldown reduced to 10 Seconds (unless it is above 60 seconds). "Thundering Echoes" First shout you use in combat has no cooldwn. "Storm Crown" When entering or leaving combat cancels any active shout cooldown. These are just a few of the unlockable abilties, there also over 20 new shouts learn as well, so embrace your dragon blood and get to shouting.
Armour
Abyssal Crown - (Dragonplate Crown) Joramund can get this during the quest "The Jagged Crown". With the dragonplate helm mod installed he can craft his own Jagged Crown with the Dragon smithing perk after completing the quest.Enchanted with Deep Breath it gives Joramunds shouts a 10% chance to have no cool down.
Abyssal Armor - (King Crusader Armor) Found behind the shrine to Talos in Deadmans Grotto or crafted with the Ebony Smithing Perk. (Torso - Fortify Stamina Regen, Boots - Resist Fire, Gauntlets - Fortify Magicka).
Weapons
Targe of the Blooded - A brutal shield Joramund uses as much as a weapon as he does for defence.
Stormblade - Joramunds wicked blade is easily able to smite his foes with powerful shock magick. Alternately a Honed Ancient Nord Sword with a lightning enchnatment will work just fine too.
Mace of Molag Bal -Evil, sinister and the artifact of his lord, it's a good option for crushing skulls.
Auriel’s Bow - Obtained through the Dawnguard questline use this with 'Blood Cursed Arrows' to darken the skies.
Other
Amulet of Talos - An old memento of a life he lived long ago. The amulet will supplement shout cooldowns.
Ring of the Beast - This ring resonates with a unearthly power granting it's wearer substantial fortitude.
Hodir's Th'um Notes -A detailed journal on all of the Thunderchild shouts. Can be found in meditation area in High Hrothgar library.
The Black Star - Take every opportunity to send the souls of the vanquished screaming to the Soul cairn, letting their pain and agony fuel your enchantments. (Make a special allocation for elves of the Thalmor variety).
There are a few shouts that are particualry useful for this build. But to really appreciate how awesome it can be I would highly reccomend using Thunderchild. Thunderchild unlocks many new shouts some of which go so well with the build it'd be hard to pass up. One example would be the "Stormblast" Shout, which imbues your weapon with lightning that is released on a power attack. And an ability to refresh active shout cooldown once a day. Thunder Child acompanied with ordinator truly makes you feel like a dragonborn, you can win entire fights with just your th'um.
Another mod "Rotmulaag" allows you to meditate on all of the shouts in vanilla Skyrim with Parthunax (Feim, Fus and Yol, are the only words you could meditate on in vanilla). The one to Call your attention to here however is "Strun" (Stormcall) which grants the "Stormtuned" passive that makes all Lightning spells and effects 25% more powerful in the rain. Rotmulaag is so lore friendly it litarally is a crime not to have it in your load order.
Stormcall - Joramund unleashes the power of the storm to smite foes and empower his lightning spells.
Soul Tear - Joramund can rend the soul from an enemy and raise thier corspe as fodder.
Dismay - The voice inspires terror and sends Joramund's enemies fleeing.
Marked for Death - Weakens and destroys any foes caught in it's blast making them easily fall to joramunds blade.
Dragon Aspect - Joramund uses the voice to empower him to fight with the vigor only a dragon could match.
Summon Durnehviir - Joramund calls fourth a mighty undead dragon to aid him in battle.
Bend will - Enslave and dominate mortals and even the dovah with this mighty shout.
Lightning Shield* - A lightning cloak that shrouds and protects Joramund from his foes.
Stormblast* -The th'um imbues Joramund's weapon with lightning striking down enemies on a power attack.
Spells - (Modded and CC content are marked with *)
Destruction
Chain Lighning
Lightning Storm
Lightning Cloak
Shock Nova*
Thunder Crack*
Conjuration
Reanimate Spells
Conjure Storm Atronach
Conjure Wrathman
Soul Trap
Other
Companions Insight
Seeker of Sorcerery
Secret of Arcana
Mora's Boon
Unyielding Storm Power Tome*
Attribute Distribution:2:2:1 (When Magicka reaches 250 points divide Health and Stamina as you see fit).
Major Skills:
Destruction:Destruction magick is the most outward way of channeling the Joramund's chaotic tendencies. His mastery over lightning shows his complete supremacy over the weather.
Conjuration:With his new found knowledge of dark arts, Joramund is able to raise powerful undead minions and summon Atronach's from Oblivion to do his bidding.
Heavy Armour:With his vast experience of war, Joramund has learned a few tricks on how to make better use of his armour.
Block:Joramund is very adept at using his shield. He is able to inflict grevious wounds, deflect any arrows to mitigate damage taken and keenly defend himself from physical blows and charge down any enemies in his path.
Minor Skills:
One Handed: No stranger to the blade, Joramund can competently use this skill to harry his enemies.
Speech:With the blood of the dragon the Stormrider can use the th'um to destroy his foes and even control the weather. None can match his th'um for shear power
Enchanting:This is how the Stormrider ensures that his victims can never find peace even in death, By banishing them for an eternity of pain and misery to the Soul Cairn he can use their agonized souls to fuel his own twisted venture for dominance.
Smithing:Taught from a young age how to work the forge, Joramund has no truouble maintaining and improving his equipment as needed. The new arrival of dragons has also presented him the oppurtunity of crafting with their hides and bones.
Some of these abilities seague really well together, for example I've used Charging Storm to finish an initial wave of enemies then used call of the abyss on them and then proceded with unholy terror on the next group. In some cases if your in an area that is heavily populated and you can find a choke point you can use this combo to great effect and maybe even get to throw Ascension into mix as well.
Ascension -Dragon Aspect + Wrathman + Storm Atronach + Stormcall + Secret of Arcana + Storm Tuned and Lightning Storm.
Joramund sends fourth his thralls to distract enemies while he hangs back to charge up and unleash a devastating blast of lighting storm that evicerates all it touches.
Charging Storm - Lightning Cloak + Lightning Shield + Unstopable Force and Shock Nova or Chain Lightning.
Joramund charges through his foes wreathed in a cloak of lightning and when in the middle of the fray unleashes a devastating explosion of lightning.
Wrath of the Storm - Stormblast + Stormblade + Power attack and Thunderstruck
Joramund smites foes down with a blast of lightning from the skies that channels through his blade.
Unholy Terror -Marked for Death + Dismay and Force redoubled or Unyielding Storm
Enemies flee in terror only to have their life force sapped away from them. Those who return will quickly fall to Joramund's relentless onslaught.
Abyssal Anguish -Reanimate Spell or Conjure Wrathman + Undead Crown + March of Oblivion
Raise and summon powerful un-dead minions to sew destruction and disarray amongst Joramund's enemies.
Gameplay:
Joramund will use a vast array in his arsenal to power through his quest of destruction. Including the power of Lightning, whether it come from blade, spell or th'um (He is The Stormrider after all). The art of Conjuration to raise the fallen and summon creatures to do his bidding Joramund knows his way around the field of battle and thus has many years of experience with martial combat, the upkeep of armours and use of heavy armors. His dark grasp of shunned arts allows him to use the souls of fallen enemies to weave magick into his weapons and armor making him a true force to be reckoned with.
Joramund will often use a shield in one arm and spell in the other. Charging into the midst of a group of bandits then hitting them with a blast of the Shock Nova spell is quite satisfying. and when his magicka is running dry you can always unsheath Stormblade or unleash the power of the th'um to loose even more elemental fury on his opponents. See a bunch of dead bodies on the ground? They're no use just laying there, hit them with a necromancy spell so they can be used as fodder against your foes. Remember, your not here to coddle the people of Skyrim your here to enslave and destroy them.Years of bitter resentment and the fallacy of the Empire mixed with the "gift" of vampirism and the blessing of Dragonblood has absolutely corruted Joramund beyond redemption.
Part of the beauty of this build is that you can swap between a full on tank to hanging back as support for your minions semlesely so gameplay seldomly becomes repeatitve. Any opportunity to divide the land and sew the seeds of discord should be made paramount.
Joramund has an insatiable lust for power and is never truly satisfied. Whether it be learning new shouts to increase the effectiveness of his Thu'um or searching Apocrypha for forbidden knowledge he will always hunger for more.
Followers/Summons:
Serana- A daughter of Coldharbor, and talented Spell Blade.
Death Hound - Loyal undead beasts that fight with an otherworldy ferocity.
Zombies/Thralls -Joramund Can raise the corpses of the fallen or enthrall the minds of the weak with his th'um to destroy any who would oppose him
Wrathman - Joramund can call fourth this sinster creature straight from the Soul Cairn.
Arvak - A Flaming Undead Horse, the perfect mount to inspire terror.
Storm Atronach - A poweful elemental daedra, empowered with lightning.
The story behind this character is largely based off of the album “Night of the Stormrider" by the metal band “Iced Earth”.
The remaster of this version for ordinator took awhile to do but was so very worth it. It is a blast to play and goes so well with mods. Thank you to Curse Never Dying for helping me with the original concept for this build way back in 2015. It was my first build and getting help from some of the vetran members of the Skyrim Blog really helped to shape my building style and make me feel welcome. Thank you to Lee and Kendrix for encouraging me along with Joramunds backstory.
Disclaimer: I take no credit for any of the art or pictures displayed in this build. All credit should be given to thier respective artits (except for the ingame screenshots that was me).
I hope you enjoy playing this as much as I did. Please feel free to leave a comment letting me know your thoughts.
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I havent got the time to keep it going, but as far it feels very good and fun!
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