Introduction

Ahh, Blood on the Ice. A thrilling quest in which our hero, the Dragonborn, hunts down a mysterious killer that's been chopping up young women in Windhelm. Not a bad quest, but some aspects of its execution felt a touch... lacking. Mainly, in the Dragonborn's conversation with Wuunferth the Unliving.


The Problem

When we meet the resident court wizard, we have to mention the rumors that he dabbles in necromancy, to which he replies, "I beg your pardon? Necromancy? I am a member of the College of Winterhold, in good standing! They haven't allowed necromancy for hundreds of years!"

Now here's the thing-- he's wrong. The College does allow necromancy. Practitioners are strongly discouraged from flaunting it, sure, but it's not forbidden at all. What's up with that?

Moving right along, he asks us to describe the amulet. Which is fine, cool, makes sense. Even if our description of the amulet is a touch off-- I'll worry about that in a future update. The player dialogue now fully describes the amulet, eliminating the need for Wuunferth to guess about the carving. Right now, let's keep talking about our dude Wuunferth. After hearing the Dragonborn's description, he replies, "I know it well. Or at least, I've heard of it. I would wager that carving once depicted a skull. That is the Necromancer's Amulet, of legend."

I'm sorry, it once depicted a skull? It still does! It may be old, but not so much that the skull is unrecognizable. The way Wuunferth talks about it, you'd think it'd been worn down to a little nub. Even the vanilla textures aren't that bad--it's still very obviously a skull! And furthermore, (thanks to a point by aragonit), which is it? "I know it well", or "I've heard of it"? Seems like there's two conflicting statements there. If he knows it well, that'd imply he's come across it before. On the other hand, having at least heard of it would make more sense. Now, he will acknowledge it as a legendary artifact, but without the confusing statements.


The Solution

First, to fix Wuunferth's false claim that the College doesn't allow necromancy, I addressed his attitude toward the Dragonborn. Instead of being offended that you'd make such an accusation (although he has every right to be so), Wuunferth will now just be exhausted.

"Bah. You've been listening to the townsfolk, I take it? Those buffoons would rather soil themselves over rumor and gossip than simply ask for the truth. Hmph. Don't let their ignorance rub off on you."

Much better! And much more polite! Remember, there have been rumors swirling around this guy for years. I'm sure it gets old, but considering the general population's view of magic, I doubt many people have the guts to talk to him about it.

Next, about that amulet! It's a little beat up, but it's not unrecognizable--which the player's dialog will now reflect. Wuunferth will muse to himself for a moment, and then the quest will proceed as usual.

"I see. Very interesting indeed. That would be Mannimarco's relic, right out of the old legends. The Necromancer's Amulet. ... Not a very original name, if you ask me. Which you didn't."

Much, much better! A more consistent conversation, in which good times are had by all!


Installation

As with most mods, just use your preferred mod manager. Or if you like to live dangerously, manually insert it into your data folder.


Uninstallation

Once again, remove it using a mod manager, or delete the voice files and .esp from your data folder.


Compatibility

Should be compatible with just about everything, unless it changes the same voiced lines or dialogue topics. XEdit is your friend!


Known Issues

As I'm no master of xVASynth, Wuunferth's lines don't sound 100% natural.

Anyone who wants to make a fix for these and upload it is welcome to do so!


Credits

Dan Ruta for xVA Synth
Bethesda for Skyrim and the CK
You for stopping to check out this mod!