I’ve been playing Skyrim ever since 2011 and have seen nearly everything that the base game has to offer. Whether it is an obscure side quest, rare weapon, unique item, or secret followers, I’ve probably seen it. But the one thing I’ve never wrapped my head around is what is going on in Rorikstead?
The small, insignificant village located in the barren tundra just east of Markarth is really easy to miss, and even easier to simply ignore. There is only one quest that is exclusive to Rorikstead, which is when you help a farm hand named Erik become an adventurer by convincing his father he is ready and capable of such a life.
It is a simple, yet wholesome, quest that serves more as a reference to one of Bethesda’s superfans, Erik West, who unfortunately died from cancer before Skyrim was released.
However, there has also been a huge mystery surrounding Rorikstead. Namely, what on Earth (or Tamriel in this case) is up with the villagers in that town? There have been plenty of posts, articles, theories, and YouTube videos (such as this ten-year old Reddit post by /rohanivey or this video by Camelworks on YouTube) about the mystery.
Aside from Erik and his family, everyone there is either super creepy, suspicious, or they have some sort of unexplained magical power. First, I’ll start with Rorik, the grumpy “alderman”/man who founded the village. When speaking to him, he claims that he founded Rorikstead after he was injured fighting in the Great War for the Empire against the Thalmor.
(Bethesda-Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim-Rorikstead)
This would be an ordinary, forgettable conversation if it was not for the fact that Rorikstead has been a settlement for over 1000 years prior to Skyrim’s events. Yeah, this oddity is really easy to miss.
Now, it could be that he just meant that he re-founded the settlement (as it says on the Elder Scroll Wiki here), but even that is too much of a coincidence that a guy named Rorik just so happened to re-founded a settlement that was his namesake over 1000 years ago.
Anyway, another really strange person in this town is Rorik’s best friend and co-founded, Jouane Manette.
He is probably even weirder than Rorik. Far nicer and more welcoming than Rorik, Manette claims he saved Rorik’s life during a battle, then moved to Skyrim with him once the war was over. Like Rorik, it is just a little too strange for anyone to take him at face value. Plus, he creepily and suspiciously dismisses the Dragonborn’s question regarding how they were able to cultivate such unfertile land. He just says it was from “hard work and the gods’ blessing”, then goes off on another topic.
It is obvious that they are hiding something. But what?
If you check out the Reddit post or the YouTube video, you can see that the majority of the village houses contain soul gems. Now, maybe it is just a random occurrence from Skyrim’s item assortment script, but many people think that it has some sort of malicious significance.
There have been a lot of theories that the Manette, Rorik, and the rest of the Rorikstead villagers are some kind of Daedra worshipers, cultists, etc. And I think that is what Bethesda is hinting at, but I have a different perspective: I think they are a Dragon Cult.
I’ve seen this article talking about a different variation of the Dragon Cult theory, though I don’t think they are making sacrifices to Akatosh. I think they are doing it for a Dragon Priest, perhaps for the Dragon Priest Hevnoraak located in the tomb of Valthume. I’m even more convinced that they are trying to communicate or awaken this long-dead priest given how in the side quest (that accompanies the tomb), “Evil In Waiting”, the Dragonborn has to defeat the ancient spirit before he was fully awakened and unleashed onto Tamriel.
With how close the tomb is to Rorikstead, I can’t be the only one who thinks that this is just a coincidence.
This may also tie in how Sissel, one of the only two children in the village, has had dreams of Paarthurnax, a dragon nobody in Skyrim knows is alive (or even exists). Why her? I don’t know. But maybe because she is an outcast (as her father and twin sister abuse her) has something to do with it? Maybe her vulnerability and loneliness allow Hevnoraak to communicate with her?
(Bethesda-Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim-Rorikstead)
Thus, I would guess that priest has had something to do with her visions, similar to how the Dragon Priest in the Labyrinth was able to communicate with Arch-Mage Savos Aren.
Also, Jouane Manette may be teaching young Sissel how to communicate back with the priest, considering he has forced her to keep their magic-training lessons a secret. Moreover, there is a dragon burial only a few miles away from Rorikstead that houses the bones of a dead dragon (which Alduin resurrects later in the game). Maybe they were trying to awake it too?
Still, the one thing I can’t get my head around is if Rorik and Manette are original Dragon Priest cultists, how are they still alive? They should be at least 4,000-5,000 years old by the events of Skyrim. Are they also vampires, along with being dragon cultists?
Since Bethesda has not said anything about this mystery in 11 years, I don’t think we will ever know what really is up with Rorikstead.
(PS: It might also be a Sanguine Daedric Cult. His Daedric quest is only other quest that involves Rorikstead)
Images Source: Featured Image: (Bethesda) (Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim)
In Text Image 1: (Bethesda) (Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim)
In Text Image 2: (Bethesda) (Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim)
Other Sources: (Reddit) (The Mysterious Case of Rorikstead [Conjecture-heavy] : teslore (reddit.com))
(Camelworks) (Revealing Rorikstead’s Sacrificial Soil SECRETS – Elder Scrolls Detective – YouTube)
(What Some Nerd Thinks) (Skyrim: Rorikstead Is a Dragon Cult – What Some Nerd Thinks (wordpress.com))
