Saddest/Disturbing/Creepy moments in Skyrim

[Lavellan]

Mostly focused on sidequests and/or small details in the game, rather than parts of the main campaign - but feel free to share whatever!

I always found parts dealing with the Falmer to be very creepy, disturbing, and sad - like in Tolvald's Crossing, where you can find the ghosts of dunmer refugees that died before they could get safe harbor in Skyrim, after they were killed by the Falmer, but especially the story of Frostflow Lighthouse, where a Redguard family is captured and killed by Falmer. I always found that one to be really chilling, especially in one of the letters, where you can read their daughter's last words:

"They took Father.
There had been some others they brought down but they led them off and all we heard were the screams and now Father is gone too. Oh gods why didn't I listen to Mani? Father's fever was getting worse and kept mumbling about daedra. I don't know where he was hiding it, but I think I know why he left me this dagger."

I think I find the Falmer so creepy since they remind me of The Descent and they also have basically super big earwig monsters, and I really, really hate earwings. That, and you don't really hear about people who survived dealing with the falmer. Despite being in a lot of caves and dwemer ruins, Falmer still seem to have much of a very "mythical" status in Skyrim for the common person - obviously scholars know of them, and probably alchemists (due to them selling falmer ears), but there seems to be a lot of ignorance/denial when it comes to them. I really wish more in the game related to falmer specifically was there - I know there is some in Dawnguard with the Snow Elves, but I kind of wish there was something more/more elaborate for the Snow Elves/Falmer specifically rather than being apart of something focusing on vampires.

In addition, I did find Ansilvund to be really sad too - Lu'ah story is pretty tragic with her efforts to try to bring her husband back to life.

Otherwise I really like some of the small additions here and there throughout the game, which sometimes are my favorite - like the shack at the vampire lumberjack couple that holds bloody rags, beef, venison, but also the bloody bones of humans, or the existence of Anise, who is a lone, old woman who is hiding her intentions on becoming a hagraven. I really find those things to be really fun to find, and they can really set an environment. Though, I'll be the first to admit - I really wouldn't have minded more elaboration of "witch cults" (Hagraven or necromancy) in Skyrim. I know they're pretty straightforward, but I think it would have been interesting with quest lines specifically related to them, since what is in the game is pretty far and few between. The most I can think of right off of my head is stuff like "The Savior of Selveni Nethri" and "Repentance." Most of the time you just find necromancers that are little more than bandits, but I think it would be interesting if there was a fleshed questline interacting with them - with or against them. Like being able to be a witch/necromancer/etc or a witch hunter.

How about you?

[Sarin]

Blood on the Ice and whole Soul Cairn business from DG are two extremely creepy moments. In BotI, when you finally find out why, and Soul Cairn...well, you have to see. I don't want to go into details yet, because they'd spoil it.

[legoless]

Soul Cairn...well, you have to see. I don't want to go into details yet, because they'd spoil it.

You can use

Spoiler:

tags if you want. I didn't find the Soul Cairn to be all that creepy.

[noobishlord]

Does Hermaeus Mora count for disturbing and creepy? It's kind of his shtick.

As much as I love it because of the acting alone, Sheogorath's commentary in his questline is definitely on the slightly disturbing side. Though, again, it's his shtick.

Actually, I might as well toss a blanket "insert daedric questline" here thing. Except perhaps Malacanth's. It's pretty straight-forward and "normal," really.

[Imbalance]

I found many of the whys and wherefores of Skyrim's quests to be more grim than its predecessors. Psychologically, the choices were more difficult to commit to, I had to trot out that old "just ones and zeroes" chestnut to justify many of the actions I took. That's saying something, because Skyrim featured much more shady ambiguity in the main questlines, too.

The worst example, I think, is what Herma asks you to take from the Skaal, and their chieftain understanding that it must be done despite the enormous generational efforts that had been spent to keep the prince from it.

[Starfang]

Any forsworn or hagraven fortress, I found the Hermaeus Mora quest at Alftand to be particularly disturbing; reading the journals of the crazed Khajiit, finding the dead brother and the other one out of his mind, not to mention the only survivors of the caravan are fueled with paranoia into killing each other and you.

[Cassandra]

I found many of the whys and wherefores of Skyrim's quests to be more grim than its predecessors. Psychologically, the choices were more difficult to commit to, I had to trot out that old "just ones and zeroes" chestnut to justify many of the actions I took. That's saying something, because Skyrim featured much more shady ambiguity in the main questlines, too.

I couldn't have said it any better. There was definitely a much darker side to a lot of the quests and locations in Skyrim.

I personally find Blackreach quite creepy. Sad, as well. That sense of a dead civilization that lingers... It's really cool, but I don't like spending a ton of time there.

[AKB]

Ol' Paarthy. He's spent entire ages on that mountain, just waiting. And it is for his, and the world's, greater good.

[MetaCthulhu]

Forelhost. All the dead kids.

[Aarah]

Anytime you come across a corpse that has a letter written to a family member is very sad. Especially the ones that say something like 'I hope to see you soon' and you know they never will, and their loved one will never get that letter.

[LugkAgumbuk]

Anytime you come across a corpse that has a letter written to a family member is very sad. Especially the ones that say something like 'I hope to see you soon' and you know they never will, and their loved one will never get that letter.

True. there is a lot of that in skyrim.

I even feel sorry when I wipe out Pinewatch for the Bandit Leader

[Fiar]

Creepy moment for me are going through a Draugr lair at dark with no music. Just ambience, and I have Sounds of Skyrim, and that just makes it even more unnerving. I won't lie, I've jumped at Draugr because of this.

Second one is clearing a bandit lair, going back through only to hear voices....And quickly realizing you simply missed one or two. I've paused for a bit a few times, cause I wouldn't put it past Bethy to add in a haunted bandit lair.

[MidbossVyers]

Most of my ES scares are jump scares (such as an ogre being not quite dead in Oblivion). Given that I throw in my lot with vampires and necromancers, I don't find too many things conceptually scary. That being said, the Dragonborn DLC kinda showed me why House Telvanni accepts vampire members. Given Neloth's experiments, there are more screwed up things than vampires in that House: http://uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Experim ... ubject_(B)

[Secret Magic User]

Red Eagle. That one kills me everytime. He's a hero who gave everything for his people, who is a legend of the region. Yet he's simply trapped in a dusty, sealed tomb, and it's up to you to put him down for good, regardless of the fact that he'd tirelessly fight for his land and descendents.

Honestly, I think it would have been so much better if you could wake him in order to gain him as an ally (or face him down as an enemy in some settlement siege) in the civil war, or in an assault on a Thalmor stronghold.

Everytime I get through witH the fight, I manually carry every skull and his weapon to his coffin, and then place bottles of mead in it, as a personal offering.

[Mordred]

The first time I found Meeko by the side of the road & he leads you back to his shack.
Going inside and realizing he led me back there to find/help his master, then reading the guys journal entry about Meeko having to fend for himself now.

The whole thing really bummed me out because I have a golden retriever whose the best, most loyal dog I've ever known.
Can't. ever imagine my dog being left on his own like that.

[Chaos the N'wah]

More of a random unplanned sad moment; I was on my way to retake a fort from the Stormcloaks when I ran across some npc with his horse getting attacked. Killed his assailant and proceed on to the fort. Slowly trying to snipe, I notice a man on a horse again get attacked near the fort (not sure from who), but after the battle, he's no where to be found, no body, no horse.

So I move on to the next quest, it's another fort take over in the same hold. I arrive and am told to sneak in, but I have no idea how to get in from the quest prompt. After some scouting, I see something on a spike barricade "waving," so I sneak over to investigate. What I thought was waving was in fact the back legs of a horse randomly swaying with the rest of its body impaled on the barricade and on the ground nearby was the same npc, both dead.

Just wasn't their day. I still don't know how the horse got that way...a load error that caused both barricade and horse to load in the same space due to the quest...giants killed them and they just happened to land there?..it'd be a weird coincidence.

[SCarverOrne]

Widower Asgeir will have returned to Riften and will never speak of the tragedy again, while his deceased wife will be buried in the Solitude Catacombs, still wearing her wedding dress.

verbatim from the UESP wiki Vittoria Vici page.

[legoless]

Widower Asgeir will have returned to Riften and will never speak of the tragedy again, while his deceased wife will be buried in the Solitude Catacombs, still wearing her wedding dress.

verbatim from the UESP wiki Vittoria Vici page.

Just in case you forgot to loot it.

[Mordred]

Speaking to the "Creepy" aspects:

I'm one of the many "thousands of hours realtime" fanatic players. And even though I'm on 360, I only ever fast travel for emergency/Practical reasons. Gotta log out,some kind of glitch etc.
So I know the province WELL. All sorts of hidden paths and where alot of little ruins are etc. And night before last,I was creeping around the borders and regions of Falkreaths hold at night, lots of cloud cover and very dark.

I started heating that weird chittering/creaking noise skeletons make. And it wasn't real close,at first and I wasn't near anywhere there should be skeletons.
Then I stopped, and was listening to pinpoint the general direction and its getting closer and closer, but still real quiet.
No matter what I did to figure out what direction it came from I couldn't. And it kept getting closer, and louder. Till it was almost as loud as it would be if a skeleton was within 10-15 yards.
Then it got even creepier.
Detect dead? Nothing. Aura Whisper? Nothing.

That went on, me trying to find it. It following me. Until a little after the sunrise. It followed me for at least 25 minutes in rl time and I never fought or found a thing. Never had a single random encounter pop up, nor saw even a single fox or other Animal the whole time. And thats really abnormal in my experience running around in the wilds.
Freaked me right the hell out.
Going wandering again tonight through! Lol

[The SheoDovah]

Yesterday, I came across two dead lovers just above Old Holdran. It seemed that the Dark Elf had tried to run to grab his sword but was killed by the bear and his lover seemed to have been injured thus slumped against the log. I moved the dark elf's corpse and propped him against the log. His head leaned on her shoulder and goshdarn it, I almost cried because of it. I left the stash alone out of respect. I forgot Skyrim had little details such as this. I would have planted his sword in front of them but well, the game doesn't allow that. May the lovers rest in peace.

Ragnavald is quite tragic. Two people dedicated themselves to ensure that Oktar the mad never woke up then this [&@%!] guy/gal decides to undo their hard work and kills them. That's quite the dedication and potentially sacrifing access to Sovngarde itself just to ensure a mad dragon priest never rises again.


There's a fort in Markrath hold that has elemental spiders. The normal frostbites are hated by a lot of players and giant ones are even more hated. Most of Skyrim hates spiders as well so a mage decides that it wasn't creepy enough. No, let's make them magical! Dude, no! Spiders with stormcloak,flamecloak,frostcloak are disturbing if they became the new normal version.


As others said, that tower in Dawnstar. That poor girl had an awful choice after her family was killed. Either be killed by the Falmer or spare herself the pain and commit sucide. Bethesda could have made it a normal thing but I love little stories such as these.

Lucia in Whiterun has quite a tragic tale and no-one is adopting her! Kicked out by her relatives and forced to beg on the streets of whiterun. Granted, Whiterun is probably the best city to live in due to low crime, everyone being decent but still. A little girl with no home. Worse, The dovahkiin may not be able to adopt her because of limits. I really wish Bethesda did not do 4 kids as a limit. That said, I like to think that the Dovahkiin would have adopted her, trained her in the ways of the axe and gave her a future. Or at some point, Balgruuf is informed of it, he takes her in with the purpose of training her up as a Housecarl. I can see Balgruuf The Greater doing but still.


Helgen's fate. [&@%!] you, Bandits! What is a tragic scene is made even more tragic once you return to it. Just a destroyed town taken over by bandits and worse, it seems that they roasted some victims alive before spearing them. At least I killed every stinking bandit. Finding the Juniper Berry mead makes me wish I could give it to Ralof. Shame that it's not an option or that Ralof gets very upset about discovering it(i think, Vilod perished during the attack.) Heck, I wish Balgruuf sent a relief effort to the town despite it not being his hold as again, he seems the type to do so.