Luftahraan mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

If you want to join the project then please visit the application section on our forums!

The city of Luftahraan was founded in 1E2165 by a Nordic warrior named Luharaan who, tiring of the political intrigues of Skyrim, forged his own city state to the west of the country.  Establishing his rule under the title of Sovereign on 16th Sun’s Dawn 1E2167, Luharaan proved an efficient ruler, quickly establishing trade routes with neighbouring countries and fortifying his newly crafted state.

Luharaan ruled the city as Sovereign for just under 10 years, before disappearing in unknown circumstances. Rule passed to a family of prominent noblemen in the city, and thus began the long, unbroken line of Sovereigns that have ruled Luftahraan to this day. The 54th Sovereign, Karsten Otherin, rules in Luftahraan as the dragons take to the skies across Skyrim, but it is a very different city now. The power of the Sovereign has been squandered by poor decisions in the past and a host of factions vie with each other, each planning to pick clean the carcass of Luftahraan when Karsten’s power fails.

The foremost of these factions is the Kaldr. Created by Sovereigns past as a means to secretly gather information on goings on in the city, the Kaldr were later militarised and used to put down insurrections. Finely crafted into a weapon of espionage and assassination by a series of tyrannical rulers, their power increased until one Sovereign adopted the head of the Kaldr and named him his heir. Despite only ruling for four years before handing power back to the previous Sovereign’s younger brother, from this point onward the power of the Kaldr overshadowed that of the Sovereign. Despite desperate and concerted attempts to tip the balance back in the favour of the ruling family, the Kaldr remain a powerful force in Luftahraan, and not one entirely beholden to their so-called Lords.

Against this backdrop of internal strife, the people of Luftahraan are beginning to raise their voices – crying out in anger over the repression and taxation enforced by Sovereign Karsten in an attempt to secure his rule against the machinations of the Kaldr. This rebellion is small and poorly organised but, with the right allies and the right funding, the voice of the people could indeed overshadow that of their leaders.

And, towering above all of this discord, sits an ancient relic of times past; an edifice of the Dwemer. Superficially, the tower is controlled and guarded by Karsten, but in reality these guards are watching over a door that they themselves cannot open. The tower is locked, but the possibilities of what could remain inside have further fuelled the fires of conflict already sparking across the city. Whatever it may be that the tower contains, surely whoever controls the tower would control the city? Rumours abound, and, as those rumours begin to spread across the border and into Skyrim, yet more eyes turn toward Luftahraan.

The project started February 23rd 2012 on a forum called Facepunch. The early foundations of the city were developed by Oskutin, who took initial charge of the project. All Facepunch users could contribute to the project at will and it became quite fairly popular within the Facepunch community.
Over time, development of the project became more complicated and haphazard as more people contributed.

Oskutin handed over the reins to Wheeze in June 2012 and realising that this chaotic "free contribution" method of development was not going to result in a professional and cohesive product. To this end, he organised and formalised the development process, created a website and created a team that is now known as Archon Entertainment.  This team is the team developing the project today.

• An entirely new city, around 2 or 3 times the size of Whiterun, on the northwest coast of Skyrim, including surrounding lands and villages.

• An extensive and compelling main quest with several different routes to completion, and various endings depending on player choice.

• A great many side and miscellaneous quests, with more becoming available as the main quest progresses.

• Well over 100 fully voiced NPCs to fully populate the large city and neighbouring farmsteads.

• A new joinable guild, the Marauders, with their own main questline and island base. The Marauders are primarily a group of Nordic raiders, with some Redguard corsairs mixed in.

• A fully integrated arena, where the player can bet on fights and participate himself. The arena features in the main quest and will also be a frequent point of conversation amongst the populace.

Wheeze (the Project Lead) often streams himself working on luftahraan whilst talking to his viewers and answering any questions. You can check out his twitch.tv channel over at: Twitch.tv

Archon Entertainment also has a YouTube channel