IMPORTANT: Chapter III has now been released! Chapter III includes this Chapters I and II in it, so I very much recommend you download that instead of this!

Includes Chapter I. Continue Daumbra's story, and obtain new gameplay mechanics (sword throwing, sword riding, mind control, etc) through an epic quest professionally voiced by Kerstyn Unger (you've heard her as Serana) and Shawn L. Koch. This is much larger than Chapter I and has many possible endings -your choices really do matter.

Honored to have won Mod of the Month for April 2021!

(Now backported to Skyrim LE courtesy of Doctor Shekel. Also available in French, Chinese (2), Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean and Russian)

CHAPTER II TRAILER



(Did you like it? You may like the Chapter I trailer too. Chapter I is already included in this mod.)

SUMMARY

This is not a short story - even though it's just three quests, I estimate the total playtime is roughly equivalent to a small vanilla questline (think Companions). But the story is focused entirely on Daumbra: the newest incarnation of the cursed sword Umbra, whom you may have heard of. She can be your follower, but she can also be your weapon, and there are several mechanics which I think are somewhat new to Skyrim modding, such as riding on her like a hoverboard, or throwing her like a javelin (and then she fights the baddies at the spot where she landed), mind-control, and so on.

I was lucky to have the voice-acting talent of Kerstyn Unger (whom you most likely have heard as the voice of Serana, or in other great mods) and Shawn L. Koch -his impression of Clavicus Vile was *chefs's kiss*, and his other character, I guarantee you, you will either love or hate, with a passion. 

The mechanics all have custom animations by Netwalker123 and tkuku -everything is really smooth (and I got inspired in the first place by his work). 

Everything is lore-friendly.


NEW MECHANICS

By the end of Quest 1:

• Summoning her to your side: Simply use the summon spell.
  

By the end of Quest 2:

• Wielding her as a long-range sword: Try the standing attacks for extra range.
• Riding on her at high speed like a hoverboard (she rides on water, too): Simply sprint while wielding her.
• Summoning her directly to your hand to wield her: Simply use the summon spell with one hand free.
  

At the start of Quest 3:

• Throwing her like a javelin: Hold the "Activate" key for a second, while wielding her, then release. Combining this with the summon-to-wield above is very satisfying.
  

At the middle point of Quest 3:

• Mind-controlling enemies: If you permit her to, whenever an enemy temporarily defeats her, she will take over his mind when he picks her up off the ground. You can also ask her to "play dead" for the next fight, so someone picks her up.
  

Three quarters into Quest 3:

• The [Spoiler] Mechanic: Oh, you will like this. Trust me. Please use the spoiler tag in the comments if you wish to talk about it.
  

Near the end of Quest 3:

• Fiery Power Attack: At the cost of some stamina, your power attacks will basically act like fireballs going off on your enemies' faces.
  

Lastly, she gains new Perks as you level up -mostly from the Two-Handed Skill Tree, but there are a few pleasant surprises -read the article for more details.

CHOICES MATTER

The mod has multiple paths and multiple endings to suit your values and point of view. You may find some decisions harder than others. Characters who always try to do "good" will hopefully learn how flexible those principles are... or not! I suggest saving before important decisions. There is one ending I consider canon, which in my opinion is the happiest of all (and the path where you also see the most content) but there are many, many other endings before it, which some may consider appropriate depending on how you're roleplaying your character.

Join us at https://discord.gg/52qUTXu and go to the spoilers channel to chat about these things -the moral dilemmas in this mod are by far my favorite topic :)

Most of the mod has quest markers, and for the few places that don't, simply play Skyrim as normal as possible. Things will happen in time, guaranteed. If you get stuck though, join us in discord and I'll help you.


HOW TO START

• If you've never played Chapter I before (don't worry, Chapter I is already included in this file) look for the "There Is No Umbra" book which appears in common loot. There's also a copy on Farengar's desk.
• If you've already played Chapter I, simply talk to Daumbra: "May I ask you a question?" then "May I wield you with my own hands". Nothing will happen that exact instant, but events will be set in motion and the quest will come to you shortly. This will also give you the new sword-hoverboard-riding feature.
  

HARD REQUIREMENTS

• Dynamic Animation Replacer - this is a gem, everybody. I've met people who are leery of it -perhaps they fear it's like FNIS or Nemesis which requires doing special tasks with every install/uninstall: that's absolutely not the case. DAR is one of the most plug-and-play gems I've ever seen, safe as can be, and totally required to see the sword's unique, custom animations.
• SKSE - You probably already have this -it's a must for PC modding since many years ago.
  

SOFT REQUIREMENTS

• Spell Perk Item Distributor (SPID) - Did you know there's no way to add a Perk to an NPC other than through the Creation Kit? That used to be true until this mod came along. I use it to pass Perks from Daumbra to the NPCs she controls. More and more mods are using it; I highly recommend it. 
  

NOT REQUIRED BUT STRONGLY SUGGESTED

• Skeever - Mod of the Month for April 2021, the follower with the most lines ever made (15 thousand and counting) adds a thousand lines more to comment and advice every step of the way for "There Is No Umbra" Chapters I and II (and Kerstyn herself recorded over a hundred new lines as well). It was an honor collaborating together for the patch. You can download it from the optional files section. See the video at: https://youtu.be/GkZQBq_3pcw
  

• Vibrant Weapons - Combined with the FloatingSword_VibrantWPN_Patch.zip (included in the FOMOD installer), this will make her produce real light. Very cool. Don't forget to use the Power from that mod to enable effects on NPCs (note: if the light from Vibrant Weapons is too strong for you, there is now an alternative ENB Light patch from PraedythXVI also in the FOMOD installer. ENB Light is not as bright and works whether the sword is sheathed or not).
• Disable Follower Collision - it's a beautiful piece of SKSE witchcraft so that you will never again be blocked by your own housecarl while backing out of a small room!
• Equipment Enchantment Fix - This may help you if sometimes her flames don't turn on.
• Iconic's Azura's Star Dungeon Retexture - This will make your visuals match the trailer. It's so gorgeous.
• Your favorite ENB, since the flames of the sword do emit particle light. Looks very cool.
• Combat Gameplay Overhaul - or any other similar mod that makes you lean in the direction in which you are moving. This will make the hoverboard riding look and feel gorgeous -and you can wield her one-handed.
• Better Jumping SE - This will allow you to jump while in 'hoverboard' mode. Combined with CGO it makes for smooooth shock-absorption motion -see the video in the video tab.
• Immersive First Person View or Improved Camera - The combat custom animations are all 3rd person, but with these mods they can be 1st person too! 
• There is no (CC) Umbra - A kind soul made a patch that resolves the lore conflict between this mod and the Creation Club's version. 
  

COMPATIBILITY

There are some patches for minor things, like book covers, Atronach Forge recipes, or other quests which also touch certain vanilla points -nothing huge, all in the FOMOD installer. However, I've learned the following from helping people in discord:

• PCEA: PCEA is fine, but make sure it doesn't overwrite 2hm_sprintforwardsword.hkx so that the DAR version wins over and you can sword-surf
• SkySA: Same story: delete the SkySA 2-handed attacks and 2-handed sprint animations so you can use the ones from this mod.
• Replacers for Nocturnal's robe: Some of them cause CTDs (regardless of whether you're using this mod or not)
• AFT, NFF, etc: DO NOT import her into a follower management system. She has her own. Of course, you can have your other followers in your favorite follower management system, that's just fine, but not her. It would break things. The NFF patch is no longer required -uninstall it if you were using it before.
  

INSTALLATION
Just use your favorite mod manager to handle the FOMOD. It's safe to add to an on-going game, and as safe to remove as any other mod -your mileage may vary. Do not pack the loose files (using Cathedral Assets Optimizer or similar) as players report this has resulted in the DAR folders going missing. 


TROUBLESHOOTING

Check the Troubleshooting and Walkthrough article, or the video walkthroughs courtesy of GLEclipse Gaming. 

In general, make sure you have the latest version, make sure to never spawn anything from AddItemMenuMod, and make sure to never import her into a Follower Management System. Put the mod near the bottom of your load order, and if you played Chapter I, clean your savegame with Fallrim Tools.

If none of that helps, join us at https://discord.gg/52qUTXu and come to the help channel -I and others will try our best to help you.


QUICK Q&A

• Will this work in Oldrim, or VR or AE?
  

A: Yes and yes and yes. Doctor Shekel successfully backported this to LE and the FOMOD includes a patch (courtesy of Neochiken) that makes a certain feature work better in VR. SE and AE use the same version.

• Can this be an ESL?
  

A: Probably in the future. I could compact the IDs in CK and push it out as an ESL master but I don't feel the time is right yet. I anticipate possible changes and fixes if any bugs or incompatibilities are eventually discovered.

• Wait, how many scripts?
  

A: Relax, most of the files in the scripts folder are just fragments to advance the quests through dialogues, and the few that aren't don't do anything crazy like cloak spells or permanent onUpdate papyrus load. Everything is as safe as can be.

• I don't see her flames!
  

A: Did you also install the Vibrant Weapons patch in the Fomod? You also have to turn on the Vibrant Weapons effects for NPCs, using a spell power from that mod.

• I asked her to pick up a stack of 10 lockpicks, and she just kicked it, then it became 1 lockpick!
  

A: Yeah, I can't get around the way the engine handles stacks of items when picked up by a follower. Best if you never ask her to pick up anything off the floor anyway -furthermore, that 'kicking' process will break unique items by spawning a copy of them with a different REF ID. So yeah, it's totally safe to ask her to empty any container, or to harvest any plant, but it's not safe to ask her to pick up items off the floor. She has no pockets anyway.

• What level should I be before starting the quest?
  

A: (courtesy of 777sage): That varies, if you are playing mostly vanilla - as long as you are strong enough to get a lot of dragon souls you should be fine. But you don't have to be a Dragonborn to start it.

If you are playing with Requiem, wait until you are between levels 45 to 65. But you can awaken Daumbra starting any time. This is because in order for you to complete it favorably, you'd have to be strong enough to face even the weakest dragon which is at level 80 (Requiem is hard, kids). Obviously, this is assuming you won't use console commands.

• Any tricks or tips to enhance the hoverboarding/hoverswording experience?
  

A: (courtesy of actiontheory): If you use Smooth Jump Attack, you can perform this jump attack without breaking your flow while surfing. Just keep holding the sprint button while you perform the jump attack, and when it finishes, you'll hop right back on Daumbra without any jarring animation breaks.

As of version 1.24 you will not receive fall damage while hoverboarding, and you have a slow-fall effect, like in Morrowind.


CREDITS

• Netwalker123: without his flying sword animations this simply wouldn't be possible. Do you know that the entire hoverboard-riding thing came up as a result of a single comment he threw away in our Discord once?
  

• Kerstyn Unger: she is the best voice actress many of us have worked with. I kid you not when I say I had to take little breaks while editing when the intensity of the emotions she poured into her voice lines got to me.  
  

• Shawn L. Koch: whatever else you believe, his Clavicus was spot on, and he also did Ulves and the other character. His range is that good. Whoever hires him next will be lucky. Also an author!
  

• Cinnamine for the sword model, Trion77 for the beautiful pulsing textures, and PraedythXVI for not just making the weapon available as the stunning Abyssal Greatsword and Eyes and Staves of Magnus HD but also making their permissions so generous that modders like me could use them. I searched for and found many, many beautiful unique swords in the Nexus, but the fact that this one had such open permissions is what made me choose it. Creative Commons, people!
  

• jg1: for being equally generous with the permissions for his flaming effects in the stunning Vibrant Weapons. When you see the sword light up a dark cave is because of this guy.
• Grebjac -what an amazingly talented musician -great ideas too and a wonderful artist to collaborate with. I feel his music really captured the emotional moments of the story.
  

• The entire team of people who helped me test this. They endured CTDs so you wouldn't, and beyond that, they gave me amazing ideas that got implemented in the mod:
• Ckord: gave me the idea to have a non-dragonborn path for quest 2. Don't miss her underrated Thalmor Dialogue and Quests!
• jdauley: helped me polish the good ending, and became our first Patron!
• zoneofdarkness: inspired the spoiler mechanic with a single dark comment, and then gave me the idea for the last epic battle.
• pega3: helped me fix a bug that would have been a showstopper -seriously, I would have canned the whole thing if that hadn't been fixed.
• 777sage: had some amazing ideas about potential bad endings, and was the inspiration for the mind-control feature.
• UltimasPrime: was so, so very thorough. The bugs he found, I swear, I wouldn't have, and I've tested this thing day and night since December.
• JackTheDave: joined us after release, and quickly and thoroughly tested update 1.05. Thanks Jack!
  

• Bethesda. I don't always agree with them, but this game has stood the test of time. Going nine years strong.
  

• The Skyrim modding community, in particular Dragonstar's discord (PM for invite).
• Vilidran-liemertha for the generous permissions for their Ebody Edge sword, which allowed me to offer an optional replacer in case you prefer a more traditional aesthetic. 
• DrMonops for various compatibility patches ("Wintersun - Faiths of Skyrim" and "The Choice Is Yours").
• TotalInsanity for his generous permission to TDN Equipable Horns -which included the ones Clavicus uses.
• T Kuku for amazing, awe and story-inspiring combat animations and idles, free for modders like me to use even though they're not in the Nexus.
• Xiderpunk for Feminine Pickup Animation SE.
• ArngrimEinherjar for Sexy Sit Animations (conversion).
• Jocximus and HHaleyy for Lifelike Idle Animations by HHaleyy for SE.
• langnao for Girly Animation.
  

WANT TO HELP?

Please know that the most expensive part of modding is paying for voice acting. Voice actors 100% deserve it. I can only imagine a world where I can spend all my weekends writing quest mods, safe in the knowledge I can pay my people for their awesome work. 

Would you like to thank my voice actors for the tremendous work they do? Please join my Patreon.

Hey, want to chat about Daumbra? It's one of my favorite topics; come over to discord! https://discord.gg/52qUTXu .


AD TIME

Check out my other mods:

• Melee Power Knockback - It makes it so your power attacks send the enemies flying -and you can get knocked back by them too. Totally configurable.
• Knockout and Surrender - So you don't have to murder-hobo your way through Tamriel anymore; now you can choose to spare or knock-out (but not kill) enemies that surrender.
•