With two more bards on the way after this one, I’ve probably gotten a little carried away. However, I couldn’t pass on the chance to add one with a Nord accent, which JLawrence Kenny manages to do with aplomb. This bard was included in yesterday’s update, although I’m still working on adding all the songs. Should travel on occasion, or be found at his home base at the college kitchen.

Technically, as with Fjona, Arisen1 never finished this character. What I did was cut out the half dozen lines or so that never were recorded. And yet, while the quest still functioned without the missing lines, there were still things that needed to be addressed, both with the writing and the audio quality.

So with Arisen1 absent, I had Alice re-record this NPC as well, and I really think the new version is better on all fronts. Originally, when Alice proposed using a Yorkshire accent, I wasn’t completely sure it would work, but hearing it in action does make Beatrice seem more like the “erstwhile savage” she claims to be. As always, the actor knows best.

The video is a prime example of the aforementioned improvements. Having her walk over to a standing Urzub really heightens the feel that they are giving a demonstration to the player. I also like how Urzub is a reluctant participant in her various antics, standing just long enough for her to finish her speech before returning to quiet contemplation. The poetry has also been altered to be more rhythmic, and I think the overall effect is a much better presentation of the character as a whole.

Every time I get the urge to go to Solstheim, I land on the dock, talk to the substitute mayor, and take about a dozen or so steps before I turn around and run. That’s because she’s still there, this sad puppy dog of an NPC, waiting for someone to adopt her. In fact, she’s been waiting for the better part of a year now, hoping I’ll get the motivation to finish.

The fact remains that I probably never will. And her presence makes it that I can’t play Dragonborn either, because I end up quitting the game and messing around with vanilla voice files for the rest of the day. But occasionally all this dicking around will result in a scene or two. Today was one of those days.

You’ll notice in the video Teldryn refers to her as an outlander, as that’s what she is. The story is she came to Solstheim about a fortnight before you did, although that’s given her enough time to get somewhat settled and be friendly with the other citizens of Raven Rock. In any case, long story short, here’s another video for the NPC that will never be finished. Unless one day I make so many of these it turns out she is.