Been looking for this soundtrack. And your point is so true. Especially with Serena and the northern lights and stars. It's as incredible as discovering something beautiful in space
@@G_Silent well technically the betrayed are still snow elves, tho now I try to make it sneaky with them since I think gelebor said they were getting more advanced with time (and it shows), its useless ethics in a video game but I like to do it that way bruh
The story of Dawnguard, all of Dawnguard, is one of tragedy. This song perfectly encompasses it all, and it plays amidst the ruins of the story's greatest and most impactful tragedy. It opens with the Vigilants of Stendarr, an order originally founded after the Oblivion Crisis to protect people, being destroyed by vampires, but not after it had fallen to not much more than hypocritical witch hunters. Then you come across the Dawnguard; an organisation of Vampire Hunters, composed of many who have lost family to vampires, lead by a man so dead set on destroying all vampires he can't tell friend from foe. An organisation of vampire hunters built from the ruins of another order that fell from grace. Next you discover Serana, a woman who has been entombed in a crypt for over 4000 years to discover her family is still broken, and the world is no better than it was when she went to sleep all those years ago. All she wants is a family, parents who care about her, a peaceful life, but she knows that she can't have that anymore. Then there's Harkon. A man so obsessed with a prophecy that his family, his own daughter, became nothing more than tools to him, to the point where after thousands of years apart from his own daughter the first thing he asks her is if she still has the Elder Scroll. There's the Soul Cairn, which is itself a realm of tragedy. Filled with lost souls trapped there after deals gone wrong, fights lost, or tricked in the pursuit of more power. They're forced to roam a hollow realm where they are seen as little more than currency and sustenance for the beings that reside there. You meet Valerica, a woman so frightened and fixated on making sure her husband fails in his obsession that she would lock her daughter, who she claims to protect, away forever just to prevent him from succeeding. She made her daughter miss thousands of years of her life, for what? Nothing had changed in her life by the time she awoke again. After comes Durnehviir, a dragon that sought to stand out and prove his power amongst his kin by commanding legions of the undead, tricked into endless servitude by uncaring masters until he can no longer return to the skies he misses because staying there would ultimately kill him. Shortly after is Vyrthur's tragedy. Turned into a Vampire by one of his own initiates, Vyrthur is forever separated from the thing he held most dear; his god. Vyrthur was once able to commune with Auriel, in his words he "had the ears of a god", but as soon as he was betrayed and turned to a vampire his connection to Auriel was cut off. Whether this was Auriel's doing or not is irrelevant, Vyrthur believed that he had been betrayed and cast aside by the very god he had dedicated his life to, and he swore vengeance. So he waited, for millennia. Yet when the chance came for him to finally get revenge, he was cut down by someone allowed into the Vale by his own brother. Finally we have the greatest tragedy, that of the Snow Elves, for whom Gelebor is the voice. The Snow Elves were once a proud, powerful, and beautiful race, with architecture and craft of a kind unlike any other. Who knows exactly why they attacked Saarthal, perhaps they wished to steal the Eye of Magnus for themselves, perhaps they wanted to protect the world from it. Either way they could not have forseen the retaliation this evoked from the Atmorans and later the Nords. How could they have forseen that this one action would provoke a genocide of their people? When they turned to their fellow Elves for help only one offered them shelter, the Dwemer. But then the Dwemer betrayed them, and blinded the entire race, permanently, and made them slaves. There the Snow Elves toiled in the deep until they rose up in rebellion to fight masters that vanished from existence shortly after. Forgotten and alone these Betrayed rebuilt and relearned, forever a shadow of their former selves, until one day a tribe or warband descended upon the Forgotten Vale where they slaughtered possibly the last surviving remnants of the Snow Elves they once were, because they had long forgotten that they were once the Snow Elves themselves. The stories Skyrim told seemed shallow to me as a kid, but now that I'm older I've begun to realise just how potent some of these really are.
Thank you for summarizing one of my favourite DLCS of all time - Dawnguard. The stories are very deep and interconnected. There's a hope at least that some female is hiding somewhere so Snow Elves can try once again to emerge as a race... one baby step at a time.
I've been playing skyrim for years, and I'm currently playing on a playthrougg that i am utterly attached to. It's on survival difficulty, so no fast travel, which makes my progress to place to place rewarding. I can't wait to go to the forgotten vale and be like, "Holy shit i need a rest"
Actually if you read the books in the game about that topic... You can see that when the Nords came to atmora they began building cities and growing in numbers. I think they didn't mind living with the Elves back then. Now the Snow Elves got scared, with their growing numbers and such. So they attacked out of fear that the Nords will overrun them and it was called "The Night of Tears". Elves slaughtered everyone who isn't a Mer except for Ysgromar and his 2 brothers which escaped the slaughter. They came back to atmora and Gathered an Army called "The Five Hundred Companions" to Return to Skyrim and Avenge their fallen... They avenged their fallen 10 folds. Seeing they cannot beat the Nords... The elves retreated to the Dwemer Cities... But that, my friend, is a different story.
Disclaimer: Please excuse me if my Elder Scrolls lore is a little rusty, I play the games a lot but have encountered people on the web whose knowledge of this amazing game series dwarfs my own knowledge. Main point: Has anyone ever thought it was interesting how the Mer populations, especially the Altmer, consider men to be chaotic in nature because they serve Shor aka Lorkhan, but the very history of the Mer themselves suggest their civilizations can create just as much or more chaos than humanity's? The history of the Chimer, whom later became the Dunmer, the Orsimer, the nature of the Bosmer and their wild hunts. The disappearance of the Dwemer, the corruption of nearly all of the Falmer race, the Maomer who I have never encountered as I do not own ESO but from what lore I have read on them seem to be no better. The Ayleids and their slave empire, and finally the latest incarnation of Meric chaos the Thalmor and their maniacal plot to "restore balance" to Mundus. While the human empires do have an effect on Nirn it seems to me that most, with the exception of Tiber Septim, do not have the world changing effects that Meric interventions possess. Even Tiber Septim's discovery of Numidium is a direct result of Meric meddling because Numidium is a Dwemer creation. I am not trying to be anti-elf, but I just find it strange how afraid they are of humans whom they consider chaotic, but the mer themselves actually cause more chaos, whether directly or indirectly, to their surroundings than humans do.
Deep, sad, glorius. Jeremy has got the point: render the Falmer civilization and his infamous fate. This music speak for herself, reaching what words or images cannot touch.
@GreenTea damn I had no clue. That happened to one of my close friends classmate, even though he didn't told the school board they were fake allegations and they never had any evidence that he was guilty they still expelled him. I hope to God Jeremy doesn't have to go through that
*What Jeremy Soule said about this piece* : What does music sound like in my dreams? This composition "appeared" to me as I dreamt I was a disembodied spirit flying over a beautiful and mountainous world. Coincidentally, the fan video here reflects a touch of that experience. Often a challenge for me with dreams is in transcribing my experience once I'm awake enough to logically function... As too much logical thinking can fry any memory of a dream. To avoid losing dream music forever in a post-awakened haze, my first step is to concentrate on recalling the strongest emotions I experienced in the dream. Emotions in dreams are like emails. And if emotions are the emails, the details of dreams are (sort of) carried in attachments to emotions. Why is this? Our brains always seem to dream emotionally. Emotion is what I believe is the top of dream hierarchy. It's why the feeling of a nightmare lasts even as we can't remember what scared us in our sleep in the first place. So in other words, these emotions are the psychological breadcrumbs that can take you back to where you once belonged. Once there, attempt to recall your music (even if it is on a dreamy rooftop somewhere) and write everything down... Immediately. And this probably goes without saying, but always keep a notepad, iPad or some kind recorder next to your bed. Doing so just might help you bring another world into ours. Happy dreaming
I have the same problem, I'm not a composer but I'm fluent in musical notation, I hear a lot of beautiful music in my sleep and then when I wake up I can only remember about 3 seconds of it.
It's fucking amazing. I had some dreams so fucking outlandish and weird feeling-wise I just had to write on some notebook what I remembered more than a few times.
I've played all the TES games (From Arena to Skyrim) and the Forgotten Vale when you get to the glacier with the music at 2:45 is by far the most beautiful place in all of TES. It blew me away.
This song is so sad, yet so beautiful. The story of the Snow Elves is so tragic. Such a beautiful and powerful race before they were twisted and distorted into the monsters they are now.
@@twiddlerat9920 Maybe the snow elves have their propaganda? I don't think Nords would start a genocide and chase em so hard..something must've clearly pissed em off...it means the elves started it.
@@jayeezus As far as i know, Snow Elves were the ones who started the conflict between them and Nords in the first place. They were the original contenents of Skyrim once. Then Nords came. There were no conflict before. But Snow Elves started to see Nords as a threat in time and raided a Nord settlement, slaughtered everyone in there including women and children. Thats the start of this conflict and Ysgramor led Nords to victory. Then according to this, Nords really pissed off and started a campaing of genocide on the Snow Elves. So the elves brought this on themselves. Maybe this would have happened even though the elves would have done nothing but still, they gave Nords an excuse to fight them.
The dawnguard DLC was exactly what i was looking for. better than dragonborn. A follower that felt like a human, not some robotic npc. The whole epic journey to the forgotten vale is also my favorite mission in the entire game and ill never forget it. The lore was also very good.
@@ladyselin35 Daedra HAS power on Nirn. It's not exactly obvious in Skyrim but during the House of Horrors quest Molag Bal can flicker the lights, shake the house and levitate objects but this is a smaller example. As for bigger examples, Boethiah literally consumed a demi-god (trinimac), made him the Daedric Prince Malacath and corrupted his High Elf followers and created the race of Orcs. Azura cursed the Chimer (High elves that travelled to Morrowind) after Almalexia, Vivec and Sotha Sil used the heart of lorkhan to become gods and turned the entire Chimer to Dunmer (dark elves), Mehrunes Dagon literally stepped on Imperial City on his own, true form. During the second era Molag Bal started the Planemeld to combine Mundus and Coldharbour into a single realm, Sheogorath threw a gigantic meteor to Morrowind (Baar Dau) which crashed after Vivec died and caused the Red Mountain to erupt and all Dunmer to weaken which also started the Argonian Invasion to Morrowind (Red Year), Peryite caused the Knahaten Flu which basically divided Elsweyr (Anequina and Pelletine) So yes Daedra have reach to Skyrim, Tamriel, Nirn and basically the entire Mundus lmao
@@ladyselin35 I know I am about 11 months late to the party but I hope you see this I am actually proud of myself about how I remembered all those lore (shouldn't fill my brain so much with these things probably but its fun lol)
This song really evokes sorrow for the loss of the Ancient Falmer civilization, but it also invokes a sense of majesty and wonder at what ancient Snow Elven civilization was once like throughout the lands of Skyrim.
The level of emotions running through my veins when hearing this theme is so high it gives me a chill vibe, on both meanings of the word. Peaceful but cold. It's like the world ends and I'm ok with it. Brilliant piece of music! Far better music than the commercial stuff they repeat over and over on the radio.
I remember playing Dawnguard for the first time and seeing the Soul Cairn and the Ancestral Glade and being like “whoa, these new locations are fuckin amazing!” I was not prepared for the Forgotten Vale at all. Holy shit. To this day I dont think any game can top the feeling of finally making your way out of that cave and seeing all of that wonder as the most beautiful and haunting music fades in. The more I think about it, the less words come to mind to describe it, so I’ll just say that the Forgotten Vale is simply incredible and it will probably always be my favorite game location ever.
By the Nine, I don't think I have ever seen a sight so beautiful in Skyrim before, and this music, it's almost like a choir of Elves chanting the holy words of Auri-El.
It was truly an experience stumbling into the glacier valley, near sunset, seeing the gorgeous string of waterfalls, the high snowy peaks with clouds streaming off of them, and hearing the swelling chorus of voices in this masterpiece. It was truly an emotional, nearly spiritual, experience. I absolutely adore this DLC. The best follower (Serana), the best locations (Forgotten Vale and Soul Cairn), my new favorite weapon (Auriel's Bow...I'm a wood elf rogue), and this masterpiece of a song (my new favorite game soundtrack song ever). I'm so glad I got to experience this for the first time while playing the Skyrim Remastered on PS4, and not during my 500 hours of playing the base game on PS3.
It's such a magical experience, the whole dawnguard quest line, you start in the light, as a vampire hunter, then you delve into the dark, cold vampire world and meet Serana, then you go into her family's castle, into its old, forsaken ruins, and finally into the Soul Cairn. It feels af if you were constantly descending until you reach the bottom of the well, and you have to bravely face the eery, empty, hopeless world that is that place and continue on your journey. And after that, it's a climb back into the light, with a clear lead to Auriel's bow, after the lovely Ancestor Glave. Then you follow into the darkfall passage, and meet that snow elf. It felt so magical. The whole journey through the Forgotten Vale filled me with joy and will to continue the quest and stop Harkon's plan from darkening the sun. Even though the Vale was old, filled with Falmer, and the sad echoes of the Snow Elf people themselves, the whole area just feels so glorious and meaningful, as if Auriel himself is guiding you somehow, into finding his weapon, and keep Tamriel safe from the vampires. Simply phenomenal level/world building and pacing. People really misjudge how good Skyrim is sometimes.
+HassouTobi Agreed, and Serana is by far the best NPC in the game. I felt for her to the point that I couldn't be a vampire hunter, and instead became one myself so that I could continue to adventure with her through the storyline because I wanted to discover more with her and about her. I love that they really greyed the lines there, making you want to abandon the "good" vampire hunter route because you cared about one of the vampires. That Vale though...combined with this music, has been the most enchanting and magical moment for me in the nearly 800 hours I've played this game.
I personally like the idea of a vampire hunter that never really hated vampires and just wanted to keep the world from being destroyed. That's how I tried to play, but your idea sounds interesting too. IMO that was really the best DLC...Dragonborn was cool but it did not have the same amazing passing/questbuilding as Dawnguard.
It pains me to think that some people actually hated Touching the Sky. They don't know what art is. They don't know what a truly beautiful and tear-inducing quest is. I felt so strongly for Knight-Paladin Gelebor that I almost couldn't stay as a vampire out of respect for his brother, and yet I couldn't bear to remain as a vampire hunter because of Serana's heart-wrenching story. It's polarizing, and it shows quality writing.
"I left earth somehow when I wrote this. Actually, this is one of the best of my early “dream transcriptions” (DT). This music actually came to me in a dream and somehow I was able to transcribe it to pen and paper before it vanished from my mind. I’ve become better at this over the years... I used this DT technique extensively for The Northerner Diaries. As I’ve said before, emotions are the main drivers of dreams. Therefore, I find that the details of dreams play a secondary role to emotions. This is why we sometimes wake from a nightmare in fear but we have no recollection of the actual events that occurred in the dream. But if one can really concentrate on the emotions of the moments immediately after waking from a dream, the recollection of details can emerge and be committed to written records. More specifically, when transcribing the music of dreams, a composer has to follow a path that is linked by residual emotions... all in those precious few waking moments. Emotions really are the guiding companions of memories. They hold the secrets to find any corresponding notation. And while musical notes are embedded to emotions, they also decay rapidly as a result of their subordinate role to emotions. So first, I try to really understand what I’m feeling, and then the memories that originally invoked those feelings become tangible enough to allow conscious recollection and transcription. Dream transcription in music can lead to some interesting results. DT takes a little practice but anyone who composes music may find this to be a valuable technique." - Jeremy Soule (on facebook 1/aug/2018 ) Posted this here in case people without facebook or not following him wanted to see.
I'd never played dawnguard fully until last year. And when I arrived in the Vale I was struck by its beauty. But I wasn't ready for the music. I just stopped moving for a moment, simply listening, watching the snow and the frozen ruins around me. I felt so moved. This level is so well designed and the story around it is really interesting. But this music elevates it to another level. You can feel the tragedy of the snow elves' civilization having fallen apart, being reduced to being blind monsters crawling in the dark, incapable of recognising their own people and culture. You see remnants of what they used to be, wise and powerful but you cannot ignore the fact that they are forever gone. Whatever remains is frozen in time in this forgotten vale. Forgotten just like they are, even by what remains of their people. And this piece manages to emphasize all of this. It is brilliant.
This melody reminds me of my demised dog. Just a couple of months ago I was replaying Dawnguard. She was sick, both she and I knew that her end was drawing near; she was old and fragile. The song dawned on me a sensation of hope and serenity, but also fear of the unknown, of what lies beyond. Amazing piece that reaches beyond its reality.
Skyrim has always stood head and shoulders above much of the video game world in the quality of it's score but this takes it to a whole new level. It's one of the most hauntingly beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard.
We went from Hellish scenery of Lifeless Desolate Wastland Hell Soul Cairn to Breathtakingly Beautiful but Semi-Lifeless Desolate Frozenland of Forgotten Vale. This contrast struck hard to us player's heart. BGM has a touch of Post-Apocalyptic feel that matches perfectly with the landscape, giving us some level of somberness as we adventure through the Vale.
I will never ever forget what it felt like playing this level for the first time one of the most emotional and special moments I have ever played in a videogame. From first walking out and seeing that glacier to travelling the vale seeing what became of the falmer this music could not have been more beautifully placed.
+Becky This is why Skyrim is a legendary masterpiece, unfourtunatly this feels like ending of good things, i'm praying that Bethesda does a simulair job on tes6 then Fallout 4 because obviously they lost their touch on fallout 4.
Some people will argue that Dragonborn was best dlc, but imo both Dawnguard and Dragonborn were on equal grounds, the questline for Dawnguard was abit more better but Forgotten Vale will always remain in my memory as really beautiful and atmospheric area ever made.
Whenever I listen to this song I always envision the ending of humanity. It is a song that is pregnant with meaning. To me it reveals the beauty of the Falmer culture but also their cruelty, and ultimately the cruelty that was their end. What they did to the Nords of Saarthal was unacceptable, they truly had no reason to attack other than blind fear. Equally unacceptable was how their Meric brethren, the Dwemer, treated them. I am aware that there exist finer points to the lore of the Elder Scrolls but I am just expressing my opinion with the knowledge that I currently possess.
Colin Sowers No, they did'nt thought that initially. But after the Night of Tears the elven slaughter began and skyrim slowly turned into an atmoran colony.
I know that this is an old comment that speculates about a fictional universe, but I would like to point out that saying that the Falmer deserved extermination due to past violence or starting the violence is akin (Godwin notwithstanding) to saying that the Jews deserved their fate in the Nazi Holocaust because of the historical violence of the Semites. People of any race (even non-human in the hypothetical universe which has elves) deserve to be judged individually and not by which groups they belong to. In addition, such retributive tribal thinking as was clearly displayed in real history and ES history has only ever led to more violence and greater human rights violations.
Dragonborn is a masterpiece, but the Snow Elf story, lore, items and locations (and this song) made Dawnguard my favourite DLC of all time. I wish i could forget all of it, so i could experience it's magic for the first time again.
I tell you, that level was like something out of the Silmarillion, how Tolkien described the first ages of man and elf. In fact, I woudn't be surprised if that was the source material the developers used. It certainly brought back memories of reading it to me.
@@nothinghqppened5519 I mean Todd Howard did watch Lord of the Rings before making Oblivion which changed Cyrodiil from being Jungle Rome to a generic fantasy land
This one of my favourite soundtracks from this game. I remember entering the Vale and being absolutely astounded at the beauty of the landscape. I feel like the Dawnguard's questline is so much better than the other two. I played the Dawnguard part, but I'm tempted to start the game again just to play the vampire part as well. Either way, a great story.
Here I am again, appreciating this masterpiece. This beautiful track perfectly paints a small picture of the now extinct Snow Elven culture. One of unique ancient beautiful magic, religious resonance and wisdom. We shall never see their like again. This entire section of the game was beautifully designed. Despite the Vale being RIGHT THERE amidst mountains in the reach, Bethesda truly made it feel like we stepped into an ancient forgotten slice of the world, detached from Skyrim's own reality. 💙
It was truly an experience stumbling into the glacier valley, near sunset, seeing the gorgeous string of waterfalls, the high snowy peaks with clouds streaming off of them, and hearing the swelling chorus of voices in this masterpiece. It was truly an emotional, nearly spiritual, experience. I absolutely adore this DLC. The best follower (Serana), the best locations (Forgotten Vale and Soul Cairn), my new favorite weapon (Auriel's Bow...I'm a wood elf rogue), and this masterpiece of a song (my new favorite game soundtrack song ever). I'm so glad I got to experience this for the first time while playing the Skyrim Remastered on PS4, and not during my 500 hours of playing the base game on PS3.
Such a magical and otherworldly piece, and it’s definitely my most favorite :’) I remember feeling such intense butterflies in my belly when I heard this song play as I entered the forgotten vale for the first time. Now every time I hear this song, I feel as if I’m floating and nearly on the edge of tears at the same time. It’s captures so much beauty and sadness and I absolutely love it. This whole quest line I was in love with! But I still feel that sadness for the snow elves :(
This song is the perfect lament for one of the brightest and majestic eleven race Tamriel ever knew. I remembered playing to Oblivion, spending long time near Aleiyd ruins in a contemplative way, trying to figure out how they lived, culminated then "disappeared". It was a great time but discovering the sorrowful and onirical beauty of the Forgotten Vale in DG really mooved me deeply : the falls, the landscape, the sunset and the red sky from the twilight, the Chantry of Auri-El... I even felt sorry for Vyrthur and Gelebor who both embodied the demise of their people : even if the last share a glimpse of hope for the Falmer's future, you feel sympathy for him. I'm not a believer but sure he suceeded to overcome his loneliness and despair in revering Auri-El, because sometimes faith is all what remains before giving up. You did a great work Jeremy Soule, can't wait to listen to your next work. Thank you Bethesda too, although your works are full of bugs you can give us a rich and entertaining time with TES games.
Gah, this brings good, and bad, memories. Coming from someone who gets jumpscared EASILY, those bloody Vale Sabercats scared me constantly. On the plus side, the Forgotten Vale is BY FAR my favourite place to just enjoy the environment around me. It's so beautiful~!
brocalfur oh my gosh. Those got me every time. I would always walk up so slowly to them, and when I did they never jumped... until I walked over to the next one and was caught off guard. Geez they were scary
You guys are crazy, the worst jump scare in Skyrim is turning around to find a falmer staring at you. They breathe so quiet that it's easy for them to sneak up on ya, the creepy dudes!
Late here but I remember the jumpscare I had in this area were those 2 silly dragons rising up from the ice sheets just below Auri-el's temple or something
The forgotten vale truly is a depressing place. To me this song represents the tragedy and fall of the snow elves into the twisted Falmer/ Betrayed. It's a beautiful location but is a wasteland of a once great civilization which has been destroyed. Knight paladin Gelabor is the only surviver and the only sane individual left in the entire vale. When thinking about the whole story it truely is very depressing. If the snow elves didn't attack the nords maybe they would of remained a powerful civilisation yet the dwemer destroyed them.
I actually never noticed the forgotten vale having an own ost until just now, probably never noticed it because the vale gave me this feeling of... loneliness, dread.... but also calmness, even though its so beautiful and eerie, its making me feel uneasy maybe its because of the build up of the caverns or maybe it is because of the feeling that for over 4000 years no one has been here, all thats left are the remnants of a ruined civilization and their twisted descendants as well as the one behind the downfall sitting on top of his frozen throne being literally one of the two remaining snow elves like they once were and his brother with gis twisted view of his twisted comrads.... its truly an amazing place and a shame that it makes me feel so uneasy but amazed as well, I love you Skyrim and I love you Bethesda, even though you are not the company you once were.... just like the beautiful race and culture of the snow elves.
When I first played Dawnguard, I thought it was kinda stupid, but just coming back to this place with this music; by far the best moment I've had in any video game.
The journey through the cave with Serana, not knowing what comes next and being greeted by the Forgotten Vale, one of the most unique and memorable moments, just pure and magical art. Cheers travelers 🍻
Sometimes this piece of music makes me reflect on the falmer and what their race went through. Sometimes this reminds me how great Skyrim is. And sometimes I hear they're reforming the Dawnguard. Vampire hunters, or something, in the old fort near Riften. Might consider joining up myself.
Let's not forget that the relationship between Atmorans and elves was fine until the Snow Elves Attacked Saarthal without provocation. While the Dwemer's cruelty was inexcusable, methinks the unfolding war made things complicated for the Dwemer, which could explain their cruelty toward the Snow Elves when they sought the Dwemer's protection.
+classydays43 That depends on whether the narrative we hear about the Snow Elves attacking Saarthal is legit or whether it's a myth perpetuated by humans to justify Empire (the First Pocket Guide which mentions it is massively biased against elves and it's based on a history written by the victors: Ysgrammor). We know from Skyrim that at least some aspects of that narrative are false: while the human accounts suggest that the elves attacked the city to commit genocide on a race that they felt threatened by, the events of Skyrim suggest that the war was fought over the Eye of Magnus. Who truly attacked/provoked who first isn't clear, and I can totally see the possibility that the Atmorans were aggressors - remember they worshipped Alduin and the dragons as gods at this point in history and were ruled by brutal and oppressive dragon priests.
+Tlevids It could be that the Dragon Priests used the Eye against the Snow Elves for reasons beyond me. Indeed, your point raises concerns over the origins of the known conflict, whether it was simmering since settlement or evolved from an otherwise petty dispute. Though between the Atmoran settlers and the Snow Elves, the Dwemer may have had an opinion of the war and followed the victor's potentially misconstrued denunciation.
+The Real Dovahkiin Miraak Not really, is one of the best and amazingly big games when it comes to lore. Surely within the top 3. But you're forgetting Warhammer (40k too) v:
Wow. Just did the Dawngard quest for the first time ever after playing Skyrim for years, it was beautiful and amazing especially the forgotten vale, the music is 👏👏👏👏
Doom Donuts yes....omg its beautiful I'm glad I'm back into Skyrim again. I remember playing Skyrim on PS3 when it first came out and I thought it was one of the most greatest games I have ever played. Definitely holds a special place in my heart and now seeing it remastered...I just have a loss for words of how amazing this masterpiece it is (I did cry tbh because of nostalgia) its worth every penny go buy it you won't regret it I promise you that.
This music came to Jeremy Soule in a dream. "This composition "appeared" to me as I dreamt I was a disembodied spirit flying over a beautiful and mountainous world. Coincidentally, the fan video here reflects a touch of that experience. Often a challenge for me with dreams is in transcribing my experience once I'm awake enough to logically function... As too much logical thinking can fry any memory of a dream. To avoid losing dream music forever in a post-awakened haze, my first step is to concentrate on recalling the strongest emotions I experienced in the dream. Emotions in dreams are like emails. And if emotions are the emails, the details of dreams are (sort of) carried in attachments to emotions. Why is this? Our brains always seem to dream emotionally. Emotion is what I believe is the top of dream hierarchy. It's why the feeling of a nightmare lasts even as we can't remember what scared us in our sleep in the first place. So in other words, these emotions are the psychological breadcrumbs that can take you back to where you once belonged. Once there, attempt to recall your music (even if it is on a dreamy rooftop somewhere) and write everything down... Immediately. And this probably goes without saying, but always keep a notepad, iPad or some kind recorder next to your bed. Doing so just might help you bring another world into ours. Happy dreaming!"
This game will be forever legendary even if ten years have passed. Mr. Soule soundtracks are incredibly beautiful. I hope he makes the soundtrack of Elder Scrolls VI they will be masterpiece of the same level as the skyrim, oblivion and morrowind
What a relaxing and atmospheric music. It is just perfect for the forgotten and sad setting of the last Snow Elf. Elder Scrolls music is just so damn beautiful.
Skyrim had such beautiful atmospheres and both Dawnguard and Dragonborn really helped to build on them, I got lost at so many different turns in the forgotten vale but it didn't bother me at all because I loved it.
Simram Whitham. You had literally the exact same reaction to this event as me. Although, I had no idea the forgotten vale existed at the time and thought it was just some other dungeon fetch quest. That one moment made dawnguard my favorite dlc of all time, save shivering isles. That moment when I exited was on par with stepping out of helgen for the first time right after school on november 11th. Maiq is done talking
My god I love this so much. Forgotten vale is just so wondrously disconnected from all of the province of Skyrim and it’s troubles. This music, which is heard only when one is in the Forgotten Vale, captures the idea and legacy of the forgotten vale perfectly. An untouched land of beauty and wonder, forgotten for thousands of years. This piece also reflects the aftermath to the tragic genocide and fate of the Snow elves. Crippled by the Nords and finished off by the Dwarves, it’s so heartbreaking to think how a once prosperous and wealthy race of noble elves were contorted, twisted and distorted into the now wretched, vile abominations that are The Betrayed.
Around 3:15 was when I was listening to Gelebor explain the fate of the snow elves, and it was at this precise moment of the soundtrack that really captured how powerful and in depth his words were meant to be. Dawnguard has got to be the best DLC I've ever played for a game, ever. Good show Bethesda
As many times as i've been here i never once just sat and listened until a few months ago. I feel really bad for missing out on such a beautifully haunting track because now when i DO sit and listen it brings up a lot of memories...
When this music began to play, I knew something pretty cool was approaching. After killing the frostbite spiders and turning that first corner, my god, the scenery of all the waterfalls and the gigantic icicles was fantastic and beautiful. Jeremy Soule has done it again.
This music recalls very unpleasant memories from my time in the Forgotten Vale. I had the hypothermia mod Frostfall on; I had no firewood to make a fire and the only one I found in the Vale was all the way in the Falmer camp just before the Inner Sanctum; had to turn off hypothermia death in the mod menu to actually play the fucking thing. Not to mention SkyDie with its ridiculous damage. The modded Vale's a pure clusterfuck that felt awesome to overcome.
Did anyone else feel really sorry for Vyrthur? I mean this whole part about Snow Elves and the end of their civilization was heartbreakingly sad (even though they attacked the Nords first), but his fall somehow hurt me the most. Servitude to Auri-El ment everything to him, and was probably the only thing that could bring him some comfort and keep him sane while watching this valley collapse and seeing how his own race degraded, but he lost his touch with the god because he got turned into a vampire. I don't think Auri-El really abandoned him, I think he simply couldn't interact with him anymore because he was corrupted, but I can understand his anger. I just wanted to hug him after I heard his story. But no, that option was not available.
***** To be perfectly honest, not my best post, really. Not enough cheese references. But oh well, what can I say, dear mortal, I have a soft spot for tortured souls. And argonian concubines.
Evhan the Infidel Well I tend to abandon my followers for a decade or two... Or ten... Even daedras have to go on vacation sometimes. I don't see why it's such a big deal for mortals, it's not like they'll all go (even more) insane from despair or anything. Oh, wait...
Skyrim's design is a carefully selected balance of harshness and beauty, bare emptiness and lush richness. It captures the essence of ice in all its aspects. But no place in all of Skyrim amplifies these exact traits quite like the Forgotten Vale. For being much smaller than Skyrim in its entirety, it feels like this little place is trying to concentrate all the aesthetic aspects which make Skyrim... well Skyrim. If you ever find yourself tasked to explain the appearance of Skyrim in a single image, just take a screenshot of the icy river in the Forgotten Vale.
While I think the Dawnguard dlc was a pretty big miss, bethesda nailed it with the forgotten vale, the lore, the scenery, the music. Its a small glimpse into the wild history of TES, I just wish the rest of the dlc felt like it, but the soundtrack there is my favorite elder scrolls track of all time, its mysterious, sad, and gives me the feeling of finding something phenomenal. Enough of the dweeb talk, this music rocks
You know coming back to this in 2023. Playing Skyrim again (with 2,000 mods, yes 2,000) and waiting for Starfield. I am reminded why Bethesda is so legendary. They truly know how to put you into a state of complete awe.
I first was amazed by the beauty of the soundtrack and then wanted to collect the tomes and paragons but still was still amazed by the soundtrack on multiple playthroughs. By far the best part of any Bethesda game.
2:40 - Even a deaf person would feel what Jeremy Soule was trying to say by creating this piece of art. I don't understand why would Bethesda make such dumb decision to cut Jeremy out of the TES 6. Jeremy elevates the series from 7/10 to 10/10 in a heartbeat. You think I remember some quests from Skyrim? You think that's what gets me excited for TES6? NO! It's the fucking music god damn it! The nostalgic soundtrack was the best part. Jeremy was born to do this! He is THE composer.
When I first reached the Forgotten Vale I just stopped walking and listened to the song over and over, then I needed to search it up on TH-cam so I could repeat the process.
My favourite area in Skyrim and also my favourite quest. Great level design looking back on the beautiful area you have just traversed, but most of all what a track to accompany the traversal, really is beautiful work.
getting to the forgotten vale for the first time was amazing. it wasn't even that different from some of the landscapes you'd seen before, but just that feeling of being the first one to discover it in thousands of years combined with this music was just great.
I don’t know if I’ve commented on this before, but I swear to god, this is the most tragic story in the entire game. I hate the Falmer until I played this quest.. now I look at them and feel nothing but sorrow and pity for them. It’s not their fucking fault! It’s not their fault that they’re like the way they are! I feel like it’s a duty of mine.. putting them out of their misery....
Theres a mix of beauty and sadness to this song. Idk why, when I close my eyes to this song, I envision a world lost, covered in darkness, pain and weakened by ages of turmoil and hate. And a glimpse of light coming down slowly from the sky, god himself touching a wound, retaking back what he once created. Like a parent burying or holding his own child with sadness and sympathy.
I don't know how Bethesda did it but when you go to the vale, you can literally just feel the fact that no one has set foot in the vale for thousands of years. It just feels like this is the furthest you can possibly get from humanity.
The whole of the Dawnguard DLC questline was born to be presented as a AAA movie poster, with the forgotten vale taking the centerpiece, and the Dragonborn in full Dawnguard armor and Serena slap dab in the middle of it.
I wish this and the rest of the DLC soundtracks were added to Spotify. I'm blessed to live in a time with Jeremy. Imagine how astonished Brahms, Debussy and others would be to have someone put headphones on them and show them this
One one Saturday of the last winter, I made a second trip to the Forgotten Vale, it was magical. The ambience, the nature, everything was so unique. I went for paragons. I remember that day, it was dusk, I was listening to my favorite YouNow streamer while I was playing it. At that evening, there was a football match of the team that I support. My team won. What a perfect day that was.
![Forgotten Vale (Extended Version) - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [Dawnguard DLC] OST](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7nmBFQB6eGg/mqdefault.jpg)
![Forgotten Vale (Extended Version) - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [Dawnguard DLC] OST](/img/tr.png)
![The Witcher 3- Wild Hunt OST - Hunt Or Be Hunted [HQ] [Extended]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cOlgo8frvrU/mqdefault.jpg)
Bethesda should be really proud of this level. It's by far one of the most beautiful worlds ever made for a video game.
+vars280287 and the story was so dramatically epic when you come to this place it brings a lot of emotions!
Been looking for this soundtrack. And your point is so true. Especially with Serena and the northern lights and stars. It's as incredible as discovering something beautiful in space
What your favorite race ,my Snow elf
Varun and it all comes to a sad end when you kill the second last snow elf, an era of Skyrim we’ll never see again.
@@G_Silent well technically the betrayed are still snow elves, tho now I try to make it sneaky with them since I think gelebor said they were getting more advanced with time (and it shows), its useless ethics in a video game but I like to do it that way bruh
The forgotten vale is by far the most beautiful and magical quest in skyrim
pppaaaooo13
x2. Except you can't rest anywhere
+brocalfur Werewolves don't need rest
"Touching the sky"
True, the entire quest chain felt more engaging than the standard fetch this/kill that.
I loved most parts of the quest, except for darkfall cave
“Caves? Oh no, the chantry encompasses far more than just a few caves, as you’ll soon discover.”
Where is that from?
@@tamiloxd7168 knight paladin gelabor says it to you before you enter darkfall caves first shrine of auriel
@@thomasquinn1370 ohh yes, of course. I don't play the main questline for a half year. I am currently trying to get all the achivements.
The story of Dawnguard, all of Dawnguard, is one of tragedy. This song perfectly encompasses it all, and it plays amidst the ruins of the story's greatest and most impactful tragedy.
It opens with the Vigilants of Stendarr, an order originally founded after the Oblivion Crisis to protect people, being destroyed by vampires, but not after it had fallen to not much more than hypocritical witch hunters.
Then you come across the Dawnguard; an organisation of Vampire Hunters, composed of many who have lost family to vampires, lead by a man so dead set on destroying all vampires he can't tell friend from foe. An organisation of vampire hunters built from the ruins of another order that fell from grace.
Next you discover Serana, a woman who has been entombed in a crypt for over 4000 years to discover her family is still broken, and the world is no better than it was when she went to sleep all those years ago. All she wants is a family, parents who care about her, a peaceful life, but she knows that she can't have that anymore.
Then there's Harkon. A man so obsessed with a prophecy that his family, his own daughter, became nothing more than tools to him, to the point where after thousands of years apart from his own daughter the first thing he asks her is if she still has the Elder Scroll.
There's the Soul Cairn, which is itself a realm of tragedy. Filled with lost souls trapped there after deals gone wrong, fights lost, or tricked in the pursuit of more power. They're forced to roam a hollow realm where they are seen as little more than currency and sustenance for the beings that reside there.
You meet Valerica, a woman so frightened and fixated on making sure her husband fails in his obsession that she would lock her daughter, who she claims to protect, away forever just to prevent him from succeeding. She made her daughter miss thousands of years of her life, for what? Nothing had changed in her life by the time she awoke again.
After comes Durnehviir, a dragon that sought to stand out and prove his power amongst his kin by commanding legions of the undead, tricked into endless servitude by uncaring masters until he can no longer return to the skies he misses because staying there would ultimately kill him.
Shortly after is Vyrthur's tragedy. Turned into a Vampire by one of his own initiates, Vyrthur is forever separated from the thing he held most dear; his god. Vyrthur was once able to commune with Auriel, in his words he "had the ears of a god", but as soon as he was betrayed and turned to a vampire his connection to Auriel was cut off. Whether this was Auriel's doing or not is irrelevant, Vyrthur believed that he had been betrayed and cast aside by the very god he had dedicated his life to, and he swore vengeance. So he waited, for millennia. Yet when the chance came for him to finally get revenge, he was cut down by someone allowed into the Vale by his own brother.
Finally we have the greatest tragedy, that of the Snow Elves, for whom Gelebor is the voice. The Snow Elves were once a proud, powerful, and beautiful race, with architecture and craft of a kind unlike any other. Who knows exactly why they attacked Saarthal, perhaps they wished to steal the Eye of Magnus for themselves, perhaps they wanted to protect the world from it. Either way they could not have forseen the retaliation this evoked from the Atmorans and later the Nords. How could they have forseen that this one action would provoke a genocide of their people? When they turned to their fellow Elves for help only one offered them shelter, the Dwemer. But then the Dwemer betrayed them, and blinded the entire race, permanently, and made them slaves. There the Snow Elves toiled in the deep until they rose up in rebellion to fight masters that vanished from existence shortly after. Forgotten and alone these Betrayed rebuilt and relearned, forever a shadow of their former selves, until one day a tribe or warband descended upon the Forgotten Vale where they slaughtered possibly the last surviving remnants of the Snow Elves they once were, because they had long forgotten that they were once the Snow Elves themselves.
The stories Skyrim told seemed shallow to me as a kid, but now that I'm older I've begun to realise just how potent some of these really are.
THIS. You are fricking right, everything is just fucked up in this DLC and i love it.
Men, I haven't words... Glory for Snow Elves 😭
The snow n/ggers deserved what they got
Thank you for summarizing one of my favourite DLCS of all time - Dawnguard. The stories are very deep and interconnected. There's a hope at least that some female is hiding somewhere so Snow Elves can try once again to emerge as a race... one baby step at a time.
It was such an amazing DLC to experience. I always look forward to replaying it after starting new characters.
It really felt like you travelled so far to get to the Chantry. It felt like you were miles away from Skyrim. Great level, great story too.
@GreenTea💚
Well, it's in the mountains between High Rock and Skyrim, if I remember correctly
I've been playing skyrim for years, and I'm currently playing on a playthrougg that i am utterly attached to. It's on survival difficulty, so no fast travel, which makes my progress to place to place rewarding. I can't wait to go to the forgotten vale and be like, "Holy shit i need a rest"
I thought the story with the snow elves was really sad. They must have had a very beautiful civilization. :(
Their fault for Attacking the Nords.
I thought the Nords were the ones who attacked the snow elves, after all the Nords didn't originate on skyrim, they came from atmora...
Actually if you read the books in the game about that topic... You can see that when the Nords came to atmora they began building cities and growing in numbers. I think they didn't mind living with the Elves back then. Now the Snow Elves got scared, with their growing numbers and such. So they attacked out of fear that the Nords will overrun them and it was called "The Night of Tears". Elves slaughtered everyone who isn't a Mer except for Ysgromar and his 2 brothers which escaped the slaughter. They came back to atmora and Gathered an Army called "The Five Hundred Companions" to Return to Skyrim and Avenge their fallen... They avenged their fallen 10 folds. Seeing they cannot beat the Nords... The elves retreated to the Dwemer Cities... But that, my friend, is a different story.
I thought the Eye of Magnus played a role in this narrative somewhere?
And man, listening to this song makes me want to play Skyrim again.
Disclaimer: Please excuse me if my Elder Scrolls lore is a little rusty, I play the games a lot but have encountered people on the web whose knowledge of this amazing game series dwarfs my own knowledge.
Main point: Has anyone ever thought it was interesting how the Mer populations, especially the Altmer, consider men to be chaotic in nature because they serve Shor aka Lorkhan, but the very history of the Mer themselves suggest their civilizations can create just as much or more chaos than humanity's? The history of the Chimer, whom later became the Dunmer, the Orsimer, the nature of the Bosmer and their wild hunts. The disappearance of the Dwemer, the corruption of nearly all of the Falmer race, the Maomer who I have never encountered as I do not own ESO but from what lore I have read on them seem to be no better. The Ayleids and their slave empire, and finally the latest incarnation of Meric chaos the Thalmor and their maniacal plot to "restore balance" to Mundus. While the human empires do have an effect on Nirn it seems to me that most, with the exception of Tiber Septim, do not have the world changing effects that Meric interventions possess. Even Tiber Septim's discovery of Numidium is a direct result of Meric meddling because Numidium is a Dwemer creation. I am not trying to be anti-elf, but I just find it strange how afraid they are of humans whom they consider chaotic, but the mer themselves actually cause more chaos, whether directly or indirectly, to their surroundings than humans do.
Deep, sad, glorius. Jeremy has got the point: render the Falmer civilization and his infamous fate. This music speak for herself, reaching what words or images cannot touch.
Andrew M thats exactly how I feel about this *-*
@GreenTea what?? Did Jeremy get in trouble??
@GreenTea damn I had no clue. That happened to one of my close friends classmate, even though he didn't told the school board they were fake allegations and they never had any evidence that he was guilty they still expelled him. I hope to God Jeremy doesn't have to go through that
*What Jeremy Soule said about this piece* :
What does music sound like in my dreams? This composition "appeared" to me as I dreamt I was a disembodied spirit flying over a beautiful and mountainous world. Coincidentally, the fan video here reflects a touch of that experience.
Often a challenge for me with dreams is in transcribing my experience once I'm awake enough to logically function... As too much logical thinking can fry any memory of a dream.
To avoid losing dream music forever in a post-awakened haze, my first step is to concentrate on recalling the strongest emotions I experienced in the dream. Emotions in dreams are like emails. And if emotions are the emails, the details of dreams are (sort of) carried in attachments to emotions. Why is this? Our brains always seem to dream emotionally. Emotion is what I believe is the top of dream hierarchy. It's why the feeling of a nightmare lasts even as we can't remember what scared us in our sleep in the first place. So in other words, these emotions are the psychological breadcrumbs that can take you back to where you once belonged. Once there, attempt to recall your music (even if it is on a dreamy rooftop somewhere) and write everything down... Immediately.
And this probably goes without saying, but always keep a notepad, iPad or some kind recorder next to your bed. Doing so just might help you bring another world into ours.
Happy dreaming
Isak Rousk holy cow is that real!?!
yes its real. He posted it on facebook long ago !
I have the same problem, I'm not a composer but I'm fluent in musical notation, I hear a lot of beautiful music in my sleep and then when I wake up I can only remember about 3 seconds of it.
Love that quote. The Skyrim score is beautiful.
It's fucking amazing. I had some dreams so fucking outlandish and weird feeling-wise I just had to write on some notebook what I remembered more than a few times.
I've played all the TES games (From Arena to Skyrim) and the Forgotten Vale when you get to the glacier with the music at 2:45 is by far the most beautiful place in all of TES. It blew me away.
Yes. That part is amazing. Then the overlapped melodies amidst the singing and strings. Wow.
+Soulece True
Damn all the TES games? I've only played morrowind, oblivion and skyrim
Lol its pretty rare for someone to have played all of them, congratulations ;)
Yes. This part is fucking amazing.
This song is so sad, yet so beautiful. The story of the Snow Elves is so tragic. Such a beautiful and powerful race before they were twisted and distorted into the monsters they are now.
The dwarves were cruel to the snow elves but they got what was coming to them because they committed genocide on the nords.
They attempted to commit genocide. If they actually committed genocide then there would be no nords.
@@pimplejuice8774It was likely propaganda, Or the story was changed to make the nords look good
@@twiddlerat9920 Maybe the snow elves have their propaganda? I don't think Nords would start a genocide and chase em so hard..something must've clearly pissed em off...it means the elves started it.
@@jayeezus As far as i know, Snow Elves were the ones who started the conflict between them and Nords in the first place. They were the original contenents of Skyrim once. Then Nords came. There were no conflict before. But Snow Elves started to see Nords as a threat in time and raided a Nord settlement, slaughtered everyone in there including women and children. Thats the start of this conflict and Ysgramor led Nords to victory. Then according to this, Nords really pissed off and started a campaing of genocide on the Snow Elves. So the elves brought this on themselves. Maybe this would have happened even though the elves would have done nothing but still, they gave Nords an excuse to fight them.
The dawnguard DLC was exactly what i was looking for. better than dragonborn. A follower that felt like a human, not some robotic npc. The whole epic journey to the forgotten vale is also my favorite mission in the entire game and ill never forget it. The lore was also very good.
I really think Dragonborn DLC shouldnt happen. Dragonborn cant be a slave to any daedra. Daedra has no power over Nirn. Yet Mora was threating us.
Serana, my child.
Also, dawnguard armor was _beautiful_
@@ladyselin35 Daedra HAS power on Nirn. It's not exactly obvious in Skyrim but during the House of Horrors quest Molag Bal can flicker the lights, shake the house and levitate objects but this is a smaller example.
As for bigger examples, Boethiah literally consumed a demi-god (trinimac), made him the Daedric Prince Malacath and corrupted his High Elf followers and created the race of Orcs. Azura cursed the Chimer (High elves that travelled to Morrowind) after Almalexia, Vivec and Sotha Sil used the heart of lorkhan to become gods and turned the entire Chimer to Dunmer (dark elves), Mehrunes Dagon literally stepped on Imperial City on his own, true form. During the second era Molag Bal started the Planemeld to combine Mundus and Coldharbour into a single realm, Sheogorath threw a gigantic meteor to Morrowind (Baar Dau) which crashed after Vivec died and caused the Red Mountain to erupt and all Dunmer to weaken which also started the Argonian Invasion to Morrowind (Red Year), Peryite caused the Knahaten Flu which basically divided Elsweyr (Anequina and Pelletine)
So yes Daedra have reach to Skyrim, Tamriel, Nirn and basically the entire Mundus lmao
@@ladyselin35 I know I am about 11 months late to the party but I hope you see this I am actually proud of myself about how I remembered all those lore (shouldn't fill my brain so much with these things probably but its fun lol)
This theme is what I look forward to most when playing the Dawnguard questline. It's one of my overall favorite parts of Skyrim.
It really is great.
Yeah, it is all The epicness and awesomeness of Skyrim in just one piece of music.
As a long time Elder Scrolls fan, this Song still touches me in a way only Music ever could...
This song really evokes sorrow for the loss of the Ancient Falmer civilization, but it also invokes a sense of majesty and wonder at what ancient Snow Elven civilization was once like throughout the lands of Skyrim.
The level of emotions running through my veins when hearing this theme is so high it gives me a chill vibe, on both meanings of the word. Peaceful but cold. It's like the world ends and I'm ok with it. Brilliant piece of music! Far better music than the commercial stuff they repeat over and over on the radio.
I remember playing Dawnguard for the first time and seeing the Soul Cairn and the Ancestral Glade and being like “whoa, these new locations are fuckin amazing!”
I was not prepared for the Forgotten Vale at all. Holy shit. To this day I dont think any game can top the feeling of finally making your way out of that cave and seeing all of that wonder as the most beautiful and haunting music fades in. The more I think about it, the less words come to mind to describe it, so I’ll just say that the Forgotten Vale is simply incredible and it will probably always be my favorite game location ever.
By the Nine, I don't think I have ever seen a sight so beautiful in Skyrim before, and this music, it's almost like a choir of Elves chanting the holy words of Auri-El.
It was truly an experience stumbling into the glacier valley, near sunset, seeing the gorgeous string of waterfalls, the high snowy peaks with clouds streaming off of them, and hearing the swelling chorus of voices in this masterpiece. It was truly an emotional, nearly spiritual, experience. I absolutely adore this DLC. The best follower (Serana), the best locations (Forgotten Vale and Soul Cairn), my new favorite weapon (Auriel's Bow...I'm a wood elf rogue), and this masterpiece of a song (my new favorite game soundtrack song ever). I'm so glad I got to experience this for the first time while playing the Skyrim Remastered on PS4, and not during my 500 hours of playing the base game on PS3.
It's such a magical experience, the whole dawnguard quest line, you start in the light, as a vampire hunter, then you delve into the dark, cold vampire world and meet Serana, then you go into her family's castle, into its old, forsaken ruins, and finally into the Soul Cairn. It feels af if you were constantly descending until you reach the bottom of the well, and you have to bravely face the eery, empty, hopeless world that is that place and continue on your journey. And after that, it's a climb back into the light, with a clear lead to Auriel's bow, after the lovely Ancestor Glave. Then you follow into the darkfall passage, and meet that snow elf. It felt so magical. The whole journey through the Forgotten Vale filled me with joy and will to continue the quest and stop Harkon's plan from darkening the sun. Even though the Vale was old, filled with Falmer, and the sad echoes of the Snow Elf people themselves, the whole area just feels so glorious and meaningful, as if Auriel himself is guiding you somehow, into finding his weapon, and keep Tamriel safe from the vampires. Simply phenomenal level/world building and pacing. People really misjudge how good Skyrim is sometimes.
+HassouTobi Agreed, and Serana is by far the best NPC in the game. I felt for her to the point that I couldn't be a vampire hunter, and instead became one myself so that I could continue to adventure with her through the storyline because I wanted to discover more with her and about her. I love that they really greyed the lines there, making you want to abandon the "good" vampire hunter route because you cared about one of the vampires. That Vale though...combined with this music, has been the most enchanting and magical moment for me in the nearly 800 hours I've played this game.
I personally like the idea of a vampire hunter that never really hated vampires and just wanted to keep the world from being destroyed. That's how I tried to play, but your idea sounds interesting too. IMO that was really the best DLC...Dragonborn was cool but it did not have the same amazing passing/questbuilding as Dawnguard.
It pains me to think that some people actually hated Touching the Sky. They don't know what art is. They don't know what a truly beautiful and tear-inducing quest is. I felt so strongly for Knight-Paladin Gelebor that I almost couldn't stay as a vampire out of respect for his brother, and yet I couldn't bear to remain as a vampire hunter because of Serana's heart-wrenching story. It's polarizing, and it shows quality writing.
"I left earth somehow when I wrote this. Actually, this is one of the best of my early “dream transcriptions” (DT). This music actually came to me in a dream and somehow I was able to transcribe it to pen and paper before it vanished from my mind. I’ve become better at this over the years... I used this DT technique extensively for The Northerner Diaries.
As I’ve said before, emotions are the main drivers of dreams. Therefore, I find that the details of dreams play a secondary role to emotions. This is why we sometimes wake from a nightmare in fear but we have no recollection of the actual events that occurred in the dream. But if one can really concentrate on the emotions of the moments immediately after waking from a dream, the recollection of details can emerge and be committed to written records.
More specifically, when transcribing the music of dreams, a composer has to follow a path that is linked by residual emotions... all in those precious few waking moments. Emotions really are the guiding companions of memories. They hold the secrets to find any corresponding notation. And while musical notes are embedded to emotions, they also decay rapidly as a result of their subordinate role to emotions. So first, I try to really understand what I’m feeling, and then the memories that originally invoked those feelings become tangible enough to allow conscious recollection and transcription.
Dream transcription in music can lead to some interesting results. DT takes a little practice but anyone who composes music may find this to be a valuable technique." - Jeremy Soule (on facebook 1/aug/2018 )
Posted this here in case people without facebook or not following him wanted to see.
I hated this quest until I reached the Forgotten Vale... then it became a magical experience. And I have this music to thank for it.
Yeah the same happened with me
I'd never played dawnguard fully until last year. And when I arrived in the Vale I was struck by its beauty. But I wasn't ready for the music. I just stopped moving for a moment, simply listening, watching the snow and the frozen ruins around me. I felt so moved. This level is so well designed and the story around it is really interesting. But this music elevates it to another level. You can feel the tragedy of the snow elves' civilization having fallen apart, being reduced to being blind monsters crawling in the dark, incapable of recognising their own people and culture. You see remnants of what they used to be, wise and powerful but you cannot ignore the fact that they are forever gone. Whatever remains is frozen in time in this forgotten vale. Forgotten just like they are, even by what remains of their people. And this piece manages to emphasize all of this. It is brilliant.
This song is just beautiful
Agreed just gorgeous
This melody reminds me of my demised dog. Just a couple of months ago I was replaying Dawnguard. She was sick, both she and I knew that her end was drawing near; she was old and fragile. The song dawned on me a sensation of hope and serenity, but also fear of the unknown, of what lies beyond. Amazing piece that reaches beyond its reality.
My condolences
Dang so sorry
I have the same.
why the fuck were you playing video games while your dog was dying
She wasn't actively dying. Just old and frail. It was a long process.
Who else comes back to the forgotten vale to listen to the ost?
My favourite piece of music for the entire game, absolutely beautiful & perfectly immersive for that level. I will never forget this ever.
They really outdid themselves with this one you can tell just by listening that the vale is supposed to be sacred and holy
Yeah just in case the pilgrimage, wayshrines and the falmer church didn't convince you that it was a holy place
@@ripvanwinkle9935 look man, I haven't played skyrim in a while.
@@retroelite1019 OMG!!! How could you survive for this long without seeing seranas feet (sexy feets!! 🥵🥵🥵)
Skyrim has always stood head and shoulders above much of the video game world in the quality of it's score but this takes it to a whole new level. It's one of the most hauntingly beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard.
words can't describe this song
We went from Hellish scenery of Lifeless Desolate Wastland Hell Soul Cairn to Breathtakingly Beautiful but Semi-Lifeless Desolate Frozenland of Forgotten Vale. This contrast struck hard to us player's heart.
BGM has a touch of Post-Apocalyptic feel that matches perfectly with the landscape, giving us some level of somberness as we adventure through the Vale.
I haven't played Skyrim in nearly two years, but this place is calling me back. Time to begin a new quest!
I will never ever forget what it felt like playing this level for the first time one of the most emotional and special moments I have ever played in a videogame. From first walking out and seeing that glacier to travelling the vale seeing what became of the falmer this music could not have been more beautifully placed.
+Becky This is why Skyrim is a legendary masterpiece, unfourtunatly this feels like ending of good things, i'm praying that Bethesda does a simulair job on tes6 then Fallout 4 because obviously they lost their touch on fallout 4.
Just as serana said “it’s like a while other world...”
Some people will argue that Dragonborn was best dlc, but imo both Dawnguard and Dragonborn were on equal grounds, the questline for Dawnguard was abit more better but Forgotten Vale will always remain in my memory as really beautiful and atmospheric area ever made.
i think every elder scrolls fan will remember climbing that last hill and seeing the wide vale open up
Whenever I listen to this song I always envision the ending of humanity. It is a song that is pregnant with meaning. To me it reveals the beauty of the Falmer culture but also their cruelty, and ultimately the cruelty that was their end. What they did to the Nords of Saarthal was unacceptable, they truly had no reason to attack other than blind fear. Equally unacceptable was how their Meric brethren, the Dwemer, treated them. I am aware that there exist finer points to the lore of the Elder Scrolls but I am just expressing my opinion with the knowledge that I currently possess.
I think it was the Nords that started the war between them and the snow elves because they thought Skyrim's land was theirs by birthright.
Colin Sowers No, they did'nt thought that initially. But after the Night of Tears the elven slaughter began and skyrim slowly turned into an atmoran colony.
nerd
John Doe Nerds rule the world, you'd do well to remember that.
I know that this is an old comment that speculates about a fictional universe, but I would like to point out that saying that the Falmer deserved extermination due to past violence or starting the violence is akin (Godwin notwithstanding) to saying that the Jews deserved their fate in the Nazi Holocaust because of the historical violence of the Semites. People of any race (even non-human in the hypothetical universe which has elves) deserve to be judged individually and not by which groups they belong to. In addition, such retributive tribal thinking as was clearly displayed in real history and ES history has only ever led to more violence and greater human rights violations.
Dragonborn is a masterpiece, but the Snow Elf story, lore, items and locations (and this song) made Dawnguard my favourite DLC of all time. I wish i could forget all of it, so i could experience it's magic for the first time again.
2:45 is amazing
I tell you, that level was like something out of the Silmarillion, how Tolkien described the first ages of man and elf. In fact, I woudn't be surprised if that was the source material the developers used. It certainly brought back memories of reading it to me.
I imagine lots of ideas for things in skyrim came from middle earth
@@nothinghqppened5519 I mean Todd Howard did watch Lord of the Rings before making Oblivion which changed Cyrodiil from being Jungle Rome to a generic fantasy land
This one of my favourite soundtracks from this game. I remember entering the Vale and being absolutely astounded at the beauty of the landscape. I feel like the Dawnguard's questline is so much better than the other two. I played the Dawnguard part, but I'm tempted to start the game again just to play the vampire part as well. Either way, a great story.
Here I am again, appreciating this masterpiece.
This beautiful track perfectly paints a small picture of the now extinct Snow Elven culture. One of unique ancient beautiful magic, religious resonance and wisdom.
We shall never see their like again.
This entire section of the game was beautifully designed. Despite the Vale being RIGHT THERE amidst mountains in the reach, Bethesda truly made it feel like we stepped into an ancient forgotten slice of the world, detached from Skyrim's own reality. 💙
Never in my life as a musician have I heard such a powerful piece of music , along with the rest of the elder scrolls music . Phenomenal. ♥️
I feel sad always i go to Forgotten Vale, the theme, the story behind the race and the fact that probably we will never see more about snow elves.
Ahhh I wish I could play as a snow elf
@@adamfrost1881 you have mods.
It was truly an experience stumbling into the glacier valley, near sunset, seeing the gorgeous string of waterfalls, the high snowy peaks with clouds streaming off of them, and hearing the swelling chorus of voices in this masterpiece. It was truly an emotional, nearly spiritual, experience. I absolutely adore this DLC. The best follower (Serana), the best locations (Forgotten Vale and Soul Cairn), my new favorite weapon (Auriel's Bow...I'm a wood elf rogue), and this masterpiece of a song (my new favorite game soundtrack song ever). I'm so glad I got to experience this for the first time while playing the Skyrim Remastered on PS4, and not during my 500 hours of playing the base game on PS3.
This touches your soul.
* soule
Such a magical and otherworldly piece, and it’s definitely my most favorite :’) I remember feeling such intense butterflies in my belly when I heard this song play as I entered the forgotten vale for the first time. Now every time I hear this song, I feel as if I’m floating and nearly on the edge of tears at the same time. It’s captures so much beauty and sadness and I absolutely love it. This whole quest line I was in love with! But I still feel that sadness for the snow elves :(
This song is the perfect lament for one of the brightest and majestic eleven race Tamriel ever knew. I remembered playing to Oblivion, spending long time near Aleiyd ruins in a contemplative way, trying to figure out how they lived, culminated then "disappeared". It was a great time but discovering the sorrowful and onirical beauty of the Forgotten Vale in DG really mooved me deeply : the falls, the landscape, the sunset and the red sky from the twilight, the Chantry of Auri-El... I even felt sorry for Vyrthur and Gelebor who both embodied the demise of their people : even if the last share a glimpse of hope for the Falmer's future, you feel sympathy for him. I'm not a believer but sure he suceeded to overcome his loneliness and despair in revering Auri-El, because sometimes faith is all what remains before giving up. You did a great work Jeremy Soule, can't wait to listen to your next work. Thank you Bethesda too, although your works are full of bugs you can give us a rich and entertaining time with TES games.
Didn't even know this place existed in skyrim until 10 years later I played it for the first time. Safe to say I missed out
Gah, this brings good, and bad, memories. Coming from someone who gets jumpscared EASILY, those bloody Vale Sabercats scared me constantly.
On the plus side, the Forgotten Vale is BY FAR my favourite place to just enjoy the environment around me. It's so beautiful~!
Octavia Grundstück
Sabre cats? How about those gargoyle statues in Volkihar castle?
brocalfur oh my gosh. Those got me every time. I would always walk up so slowly to them, and when I did they never jumped... until I walked over to the next one and was caught off guard. Geez they were scary
You guys are crazy, the worst jump scare in Skyrim is turning around to find a falmer staring at you. They breathe so quiet that it's easy for them to sneak up on ya, the creepy dudes!
I kind of liked them Sabre Cats. Wonder why...
Late here but I remember the jumpscare I had in this area were those 2 silly dragons rising up from the ice sheets just below Auri-el's temple or something
Makes me really emotional
Me to but idk why
My first thought when stepping out into that wonderful, beautiful place: 'Holy crap, that's a lot of scenery porn.'
lol I call it eye candy.
Scenery porn is a technical term.
Diretooth Knox I call it optical orgasm, best felt over a dead body of defeated n'wah.
Absolutely incredible composition, majestic and moving.
I just completed the forgotten vale quest today, then I rushed to the TH-cam looking for this master piece
From 2:45 just gives me the chills. Skyrim is a great game and hope they can continue this expericene for TES6.
The forgotten vale truly is a depressing place. To me this song represents the tragedy and fall of the snow elves into the twisted Falmer/ Betrayed. It's a beautiful location but is a wasteland of a once great civilization which has been destroyed. Knight paladin Gelabor is the only surviver and the only sane individual left in the entire vale. When thinking about the whole story it truely is very depressing. If the snow elves didn't attack the nords maybe they would of remained a powerful civilisation yet the dwemer destroyed them.
I actually never noticed the forgotten vale having an own ost until just now, probably never noticed it because the vale gave me this feeling of... loneliness, dread.... but also calmness, even though its so beautiful and eerie, its making me feel uneasy maybe its because of the build up of the caverns or maybe it is because of the feeling that for over 4000 years no one has been here, all thats left are the remnants of a ruined civilization and their twisted descendants as well as the one behind the downfall sitting on top of his frozen throne being literally one of the two remaining snow elves like they once were and his brother with gis twisted view of his twisted comrads.... its truly an amazing place and a shame that it makes me feel so uneasy but amazed as well, I love you Skyrim and I love you Bethesda, even though you are not the company you once were.... just like the beautiful race and culture of the snow elves.
When I first played Dawnguard, I thought it was kinda stupid, but just coming back to this place with this music; by far the best moment I've had in any video game.
The journey through the cave with Serana, not knowing what comes next and being greeted by the Forgotten Vale, one of the most unique and memorable moments, just pure and magical art.
Cheers travelers
🍻
Sometimes this piece of music makes me reflect on the falmer and what their race went through. Sometimes this reminds me how great Skyrim is. And sometimes I hear they're reforming the Dawnguard. Vampire hunters, or something, in the old fort near Riften. Might consider joining up myself.
Your comment started beautifully, until it turned into a meme...
@@Vert_GreenHeart Every part of it is true though :)
This song almost makes me cry, not because its beautiful, but because those poor snow elves were betrayed and rendered as disgusting blind monsters.
Let's not forget that the relationship between Atmorans and elves was fine until the Snow Elves Attacked Saarthal without provocation. While the Dwemer's cruelty was inexcusable, methinks the unfolding war made things complicated for the Dwemer, which could explain their cruelty toward the Snow Elves when they sought the Dwemer's protection.
+classydays43 That depends on whether the narrative we hear about the Snow Elves attacking Saarthal is legit or whether it's a myth perpetuated by humans to justify Empire (the First Pocket Guide which mentions it is massively biased against elves and it's based on a history written by the victors: Ysgrammor). We know from Skyrim that at least some aspects of that narrative are false: while the human accounts suggest that the elves attacked the city to commit genocide on a race that they felt threatened by, the events of Skyrim suggest that the war was fought over the Eye of Magnus. Who truly attacked/provoked who first isn't clear, and I can totally see the possibility that the Atmorans were aggressors - remember they worshipped Alduin and the dragons as gods at this point in history and were ruled by brutal and oppressive dragon priests.
+Tlevids It could be that the Dragon Priests used the Eye against the Snow Elves for reasons beyond me. Indeed, your point raises concerns over the origins of the known conflict, whether it was simmering since settlement or evolved from an otherwise petty dispute. Though between the Atmoran settlers and the Snow Elves, the Dwemer may have had an opinion of the war and followed the victor's potentially misconstrued denunciation.
This is why Elder scrolls. It has the BIGGEST gaming lore.
+The Real Dovahkiin Miraak Not really, is one of the best and amazingly big games when it comes to lore. Surely within the top 3.
But you're forgetting Warhammer (40k too) v:
This almost like a religious experience, like, wow.
Wow. Just did the Dawngard quest for the first time ever after playing Skyrim for years, it was beautiful and amazing especially the forgotten vale, the music is 👏👏👏👏
seeing this place remastered...omg
IT'S OUT NOW!!
Doom Donuts holy fuck time flies by so ready for this. I honestly might cry...
:000 Have you got it yet?
Doom Donuts yes....omg its beautiful I'm glad I'm back into Skyrim again. I remember playing Skyrim on PS3 when it first came out and I thought it was one of the most greatest games I have ever played. Definitely holds a special place in my heart and now seeing it remastered...I just have a loss for words of how amazing this masterpiece it is (I did cry tbh because of nostalgia) its worth every penny go buy it you won't regret it I promise you that.
Same!! This was one of mt favorite areas. I didn't think this place could get more beautiful but I was wrong.
Just like serana says, “it’s like a whole other world” it’s so beautiful and frozen I love this dlc so much more than the others
3:08 from here on its so beautiful
This music came to Jeremy Soule in a dream.
"This composition "appeared" to me as I dreamt I was a disembodied spirit flying over a beautiful and mountainous world. Coincidentally, the fan video here reflects a touch of that experience. Often a challenge for me with dreams is in transcribing my experience once I'm awake enough to logically function... As too much logical thinking can fry any memory of a dream. To avoid losing dream music forever in a post-awakened haze, my first step is to concentrate on recalling the strongest emotions I experienced in the dream. Emotions in dreams are like emails. And if emotions are the emails, the details of dreams are (sort of) carried in attachments to emotions. Why is this? Our brains always seem to dream emotionally. Emotion is what I believe is the top of dream hierarchy. It's why the feeling of a nightmare lasts even as we can't remember what scared us in our sleep in the first place. So in other words, these emotions are the psychological breadcrumbs that can take you back to where you once belonged. Once there, attempt to recall your music (even if it is on a dreamy rooftop somewhere) and write everything down... Immediately. And this probably goes without saying, but always keep a notepad, iPad or some kind recorder next to your bed. Doing so just might help you bring another world into ours. Happy dreaming!"
This game will be forever legendary even if ten years have passed. Mr. Soule soundtracks are incredibly beautiful. I hope he makes the soundtrack of Elder Scrolls VI they will be masterpiece of the same level as the skyrim, oblivion and morrowind
What a relaxing and atmospheric music. It is just perfect for the forgotten and sad setting of the last Snow Elf.
Elder Scrolls music is just so damn beautiful.
This DLC came out when life was awesome.
I've never forgotten the feeling I had when this music kicked in. Absolutely mesmerising.
Automatron doesn't even come close to Dawnguard by far ! Skyrim was really the pinnacle of Bethesda
Well Far harbor does IMO and it comes close to Dragonborn too. But I do agree that generally speaking , I prefer Skyrim to Fallout 4.
Yea dude
Skyrim? Pinnacle of Bethesda? Uuuhh to each their own i guess.
indeed, despite automatron make a strong guard for settlement, that dlc make random event gonna worse
Skyrim had such beautiful atmospheres and both Dawnguard and Dragonborn really helped to build on them, I got lost at so many different turns in the forgotten vale but it didn't bother me at all because I loved it.
i got goosebumps bro what an amazing ost
Simram Whitham. You had literally the exact same reaction to this event as me. Although, I had no idea the forgotten vale existed at the time and thought it was just some other dungeon fetch quest. That one moment made dawnguard my favorite dlc of all time, save shivering isles. That moment when I exited was on par with stepping out of helgen for the first time right after school on november 11th. Maiq is done talking
My god I love this so much. Forgotten vale is just so wondrously disconnected from all of the province of Skyrim and it’s troubles. This music, which is heard only when one is in the Forgotten Vale, captures the idea and legacy of the forgotten vale perfectly. An untouched land of beauty and wonder, forgotten for thousands of years. This piece also reflects the aftermath to the tragic genocide and fate of the Snow elves. Crippled by the Nords and finished off by the Dwarves, it’s so heartbreaking to think how a once prosperous and wealthy race of noble elves were contorted, twisted and distorted into the now wretched, vile abominations that are The Betrayed.
Around 3:15 was when I was listening to Gelebor explain the fate of the snow elves, and it was at this precise moment of the soundtrack that really captured how powerful and in depth his words were meant to be. Dawnguard has got to be the best DLC I've ever played for a game, ever. Good show Bethesda
As many times as i've been here i never once just sat and listened until a few months ago. I feel really bad for missing out on such a beautifully haunting track because now when i DO sit and listen it brings up a lot of memories...
When this music began to play, I knew something pretty cool was approaching. After killing the frostbite spiders and turning that first corner, my god, the scenery of all the waterfalls and the gigantic icicles was fantastic and beautiful.
Jeremy Soule has done it again.
This music recalls very unpleasant memories from my time in the Forgotten Vale. I had the hypothermia mod Frostfall on; I had no firewood to make a fire and the only one I found in the Vale was all the way in the Falmer camp just before the Inner Sanctum; had to turn off hypothermia death in the mod menu to actually play the fucking thing. Not to mention SkyDie with its ridiculous damage. The modded Vale's a pure clusterfuck that felt awesome to overcome.
When you first walk over that small cliff past the frost spiders and the Vale suddenly opens in front of you. Beautiful. Just beautiful.
Did anyone else feel really sorry for Vyrthur? I mean this whole part about Snow Elves and the end of their civilization was heartbreakingly sad (even though they attacked the Nords first), but his fall somehow hurt me the most. Servitude to Auri-El ment everything to him, and was probably the only thing that could bring him some comfort and keep him sane while watching this valley collapse and seeing how his own race degraded, but he lost his touch with the god because he got turned into a vampire. I don't think Auri-El really abandoned him, I think he simply couldn't interact with him anymore because he was corrupted, but I can understand his anger. I just wanted to hug him after I heard his story. But no, that option was not available.
this coming from the lord sheogorath
***** To be perfectly honest, not my best post, really. Not enough cheese references.
But oh well, what can I say, dear mortal, I have a soft spot for tortured souls. And argonian concubines.
It's entirely plausible that Auri-El did abandon him. TES gods are very imperfect.
Evhan the Infidel Well I tend to abandon my followers for a decade or two... Or ten... Even daedras have to go on vacation sometimes. I don't see why it's such a big deal for mortals, it's not like they'll all go (even more) insane from despair or anything. Oh, wait...
***** Haskill takes care of the realm while you're away anyway, right? He loves it, I'm sure!
Skyrim's design is a carefully selected balance of harshness and beauty, bare emptiness and lush richness. It captures the essence of ice in all its aspects. But no place in all of Skyrim amplifies these exact traits quite like the Forgotten Vale. For being much smaller than Skyrim in its entirety, it feels like this little place is trying to concentrate all the aesthetic aspects which make Skyrim... well Skyrim. If you ever find yourself tasked to explain the appearance of Skyrim in a single image, just take a screenshot of the icy river in the Forgotten Vale.
Hearing this at summer, when I go at bicycle during holidays can really change your local world into the most beautiful place in the world. :)
While I think the Dawnguard dlc was a pretty big miss, bethesda nailed it with the forgotten vale, the lore, the scenery, the music. Its a small glimpse into the wild history of TES, I just wish the rest of the dlc felt like it, but the soundtrack there is my favorite elder scrolls track of all time, its mysterious, sad, and gives me the feeling of finding something phenomenal. Enough of the dweeb talk, this music rocks
The greatness and the sorrow at the same time
Poor snow elves. A sad history indeed. I wish they could regain their former glory in the next TES.
You know coming back to this in 2023. Playing Skyrim again (with 2,000 mods, yes 2,000) and waiting for Starfield. I am reminded why Bethesda is so legendary. They truly know how to put you into a state of complete awe.
I first was amazed by the beauty of the soundtrack and then wanted to collect the tomes and paragons but still was still amazed by the soundtrack on multiple playthroughs. By far the best part of any Bethesda game.
2:40 - Even a deaf person would feel what Jeremy Soule was trying to say by creating this piece of art. I don't understand why would Bethesda make such dumb decision to cut Jeremy out of the TES 6. Jeremy elevates the series from 7/10 to 10/10 in a heartbeat. You think I remember some quests from Skyrim? You think that's what gets me excited for TES6? NO! It's the fucking music god damn it! The nostalgic soundtrack was the best part. Jeremy was born to do this! He is THE composer.
What have you heard, did they confirm his guiltyness?
This music is out of this world.. literally, it's from Soule's dreams ❤
it perfecfly conveys the beauty and tragedy of this incredible story
Forgotten Vale composition is my absolutely favorite in Skyrim. Gives you an exact vibe of far lost and long forgotten. Breathtakingly beautiful.
When I first reached the Forgotten Vale I just stopped walking and listened to the song over and over, then I needed to search it up on TH-cam so I could repeat the process.
My favourite area in Skyrim and also my favourite quest. Great level design looking back on the beautiful area you have just traversed, but most of all what a track to accompany the traversal, really is beautiful work.
getting to the forgotten vale for the first time was amazing. it wasn't even that different from some of the landscapes you'd seen before, but just that feeling of being the first one to discover it in thousands of years combined with this music was just great.
I don’t know if I’ve commented on this before, but I swear to god, this is the most tragic story in the entire game. I hate the Falmer until I played this quest.. now I look at them and feel nothing but sorrow and pity for them. It’s not their fucking fault! It’s not their fault that they’re like the way they are! I feel like it’s a duty of mine.. putting them out of their misery....
Theres a mix of beauty and sadness to this song. Idk why, when I close my eyes to this song, I envision a world lost, covered in darkness, pain and weakened by ages of turmoil and hate. And a glimpse of light coming down slowly from the sky, god himself touching a wound, retaking back what he once created. Like a parent burying or holding his own child with sadness and sympathy.
I don't know how Bethesda did it but when you go to the vale, you can literally just feel the fact that no one has set foot in the vale for thousands of years. It just feels like this is the furthest you can possibly get from humanity.
This music creates a magical atmosphere. Making me imagining a strange local with some mysterious history behind it
The whole of the Dawnguard DLC questline was born to be presented as a AAA movie poster, with the forgotten vale taking the centerpiece, and the Dragonborn in full Dawnguard armor and Serena slap dab in the middle of it.
I wish this and the rest of the DLC soundtracks were added to Spotify. I'm blessed to live in a time with Jeremy. Imagine how astonished Brahms, Debussy and others would be to have someone put headphones on them and show them this
One one Saturday of the last winter, I made a second trip to the Forgotten Vale, it was magical. The ambience, the nature, everything was so unique. I went for paragons. I remember that day, it was dusk, I was listening to my favorite YouNow streamer while I was playing it. At that evening, there was a football match of the team that I support. My team won. What a perfect day that was.
Sometimes you just want to watch forgotten vale from the castle with serena