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My Dream Skyrim Mod, Peleos Snippet

My Skyrim modding debut. Peleos snippet.

Ryan Southwick

16 Jun 2026 • 5 min read

Skyrim (Elysium) Screenshot. Giddyup.

I've been playing Skyrim on-and-off since it first released on Nov 11, 2011—15 years now. What keeps me coming back are the robust mod packs (Elysium, LoreRim) that enhance almost every aspect of the game while leaving it with that core feeling of a vast, open world ready to be shaped by my deeds and imagination.

I was always puzzled why, despite a ridiculously huge modding community, that no one had ever developed a truly dynamic economy, with active traders and inventory based on production supply chains and a real supply / demand market. I wanted traders on the road to not just be scripted, but to be actually carrying goods from a supplier to someone who needs it. Who, if they don't receive it, disrupts some critical chain that needs to be filled or bad things happen. Where an unscrupulous player could disrupt that chain themselves and create artificial demand, and become a trader in addition to an adventurer if they so choose. However, I'd never done Skyrim modding. I was hesitant to reach into that box of nails, and could never muster the energy to dive in to figure out if it's feasible.

Until last week.

As of this writing, I have about half the mechanics in place for a living economy, and a proof-of-concept that it will work within the engine. By next week, I hope to have that plus a full mercenary economy (escort jobs, jarl bounties) that will give purpose to almost every NPC in the game, and base vendor inventories on what is actually produced / needed. Everything is based on needs, skills, and actions gated on exiting game factions to keep everything lore-friendly.

Ambitious? Absolutely, but I'm having the time of my life figuring it out.

Right, on to writing.

Travel and work have choked my available writing time, but I am still writing! Peleos is creeping toward its epic conclusion, and to celebrate that, this month's feature is an exclusive snippet. Enjoy!

Peleos Snippet
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Peleos Snippet

Every organization has at least one jerk, and Mars Colony's just happens to be at the top. This passage is the team's first meeting with Director Kiezik that... well, it could have gone better. 😅

“It’s good to finally meet you in person,” Kiezik said.

“Likewise, Director Kiezik.” It may have been petty revenge, but Seg let him hang for a full second before accepting with a firm Provider shake, clasped above the wrist instead of palm-to-palm.

Kiezik hissed a soft chuckle. “Oh, how amusing.”

Seg let it slide. He gestured to Val. “This is my advisor, Valerie Gannon.”

“A pleasure,” Val said with signature charm.

When she offered greeting, Kiezik rotated her hand and kissed the top with the oily grace of someone who had surprised many an unsuspecting woman. He could now add one more to that list. Val blinked rapid-fire at the drying splotch, no doubt struggling along with Seg to understand how he’d conjured the audacity to do so in front of the Grand Chancellor, let alone the luraelans.

“Good to see you again, Director,” Fi said, tearing his attention from Val. She held her hand out, palm down, bent at the wrist, ready for smooching.

Don’t you dare, Seg thought to Kiezik, feeling his blood pressure spike.

Kiezik turned his own hand to an awkward angle to match…

…and shook.

“Welcome back,” he said in a tone that offered none.

Fi appeared ambivalent to the snub and simply reclaimed her unslobbered hand, while Seg wrestled the suicidal urge to hurl Kiezik through the habitat wall.

“Director,” Val said with continued sweetness, “a question, if I may?”

“Yes, my dear?”

“Are you trying to be an ass? Or were you simply born with the manners of a cuckold draugr?”

“A… cuckold what?”

“A vengeful zombie of sorts from Norse mythology. I never believed in Valkyries, either, until I met Miss Fi, whose hand you have blatantly declared unworthy of kissing.”

“I was merely exercising caution. By rights, we should have quarantined the lot of you before setting foot in Mars Colony. Who knows what sort of harmful microbes these aliens have brought?”

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July 4–5 — BayCon. The Bay Area's premiere science fiction convention. Always worth stopping by for sci-fi fans.
August 27–31 — WorldCon. World's biggest science fiction convention, this year in the Anaheim Convention Center. I may attend this one.
October 22–25 — World Fantasy Convention. Another Oakland event. Lots of them there this year, it seems.