#✝︎ . ⌜ meta ⌟ . 𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥.

[cldhrbour]

important portrayal notes

below are just some canon divergencies or nuances that i want to make explicitly clear are important to my development of serana. these are all pieces i've built over the years that, if we're writing together, and especially if it's in any high fantasy verse where serana's backstory is a bit more in play, that i'd appreciate you know and accept. hell, these matter more to me over you knowing her general plot to begin with since that's easy for me to summarize to you. there's just stuff in the game i've gotten sick of as far as how it was handled and i want to make sure we're on the same wavelength when it comes to writing and plotting together.

most importantly: your character (mainly if you're an ldb or tav or inquisitor - esque character) does not get to kill harkon. i'm glad we're all finally at a point where we want characters to have agency in their story rather than playing 'side-piece' to main player characters and this is something i've harped on for literal years. this is serana's story, this is her trauma that she has to come to terms with and make the final decision that her father can't live any longer. you don't get to take that away from her. it's a perfect character arc for her to go through and thus, all other characters will play a side-role in the final battle at castle volkihar. you don't have the history with him. you don't have the memories she has and the emotions she's had to go through to get to this point. do you understand how much it takes to get to a place where you know you have to kill your parent and not only just that but actually do it to begin with? it's stupid to think that serana has all this rich backstory with her clan and parents just to have someone she met maybe a couple months ago come in and sweep it all away. give her agency, my fucking god. you got your hero moment defeating alduin, the absolute, corypheus, etc. let serana have hers.

in my canon harkon does kill serana in kind. their final moments together are supposed to represent not only serana finally needing to accept her father's megalomania will never be cured and that he isn't the same man who raised her, but also she needs to see that in his final moment of taking the plunge and killing her. it's one thing to battle with him and try to continue to reason with him, it's another to stand there seeing he actually staked you through the heart at a final grasp of power. this happens within seconds of each other, there's nothing anyone can do about it. granted, it's a cop-out for me that her mother is a notorious necromancer and can bring her daughter back over a couple of days, so her story can and will continue, but for all intents and purposes, these two kill each other.

this blog is castle volkihar favorable. i'm staunchly against the dawnguard, but more importantly against the extermination of serana's entire family leaving her with no one once the dust has settled. it's fine if your character is a part of the dawnguard, but understand that if there's no compromise between the dawnguard and serana to keep the rest of the coven alive if the vampires agree to follow her instead, then you abandon any further 'friendly interaction' with her once the battle at the castle is over. you don't get to have your cake and eat it too because 'vampires = evil' in this godforsaken, lack of nuance game. as long as the coven continues to live, serana will then take over her parent's role and lead the volkihars.

serana will canonically have two sets of scars. and only two, considering her ability to heal. one is a pair of burn marks at her hips from when she became a daughter of coldharbour and was assaulted by molag bal. this is something, in my own canon, every vampire with the title of daughter of coldharbour has. it's a mark the prince of domination wants to have on his property. the second will appear after being resurrected by feran and valerica, a pitted scar at her sternum where harkon attempted to kill her. both of them bleak reminders of her deaths.

as she continues to develop, and metas i have become more solidified, i will be adding to this list and i'll make sure to make a post/update everyone when it's been adjusted to reflect my current canon.

[cldhrbour]

there's no way that harkon named two death hounds. that was serana's doing. she noticed them first, the way they'd hover at her door, linger outside her room as dark protectors while she slept, eat at her feet with hums of contentment. death hounds are common amongst her coven. summoned first by valerica as she grew in her necromatic powers, the undead dogs served as guardians to anyone adventuring in the wilds of atmora and skyrim. while they are in various states of decay, they're texture is surprisingly more like snakes, rather smooth to the touch without any residue that lingers on ones skin. when they are stalking their prey they can temporarily turn invisible, moving between planes of existence before appearing to strike, but many prefer brute force and the thrills of the hunt so they'll simply chase what they're hunting.

when she returns to the castle, its garan who tells her cusith and garmr hadn't left the castle walls, in fact they outright refused to once serana was locked away. which dwindled their supply of hounds since valerica nor serana were there anymore to summon them. it was serana that summoned these two as her first venture into learning necromancy from her mother. there wasn't necessarily intent to bond with them, but as she became lonelier and lonelier it was natural for her to offer them a quick pet on the head, toss a piece of carrion to them and then the bone once they brought it back. they bother were integral parts of keeping serana sane while she stayed at the castle alone. they would be at her hips while she explored the undercroft of the castle, would silently guard her from the balcony when she needed to sit alone on the beach, would listen to her as she read aloud the same old tome for the hundredth time, would sleep with her on her bed when the coffin became too suffocating. it wasn't the same as mortal contact, but it was something, and serana grew strongly attached to them.

in modern verses or period threads, they are glamoured as two doberman hounds who shadow serana nearly everywhere she goes. nearly everything about them seems normal, but if someone touches them and they haven't fed in some time, they will notice the dogs are strangely cooler than they should be. their leather collars are always shined as are the iron studs on them. they are hardly leashed and very well-behaved. so much so, that they make very little noise, even when they perceive a potential threat to serana. their growl is low, and hard to hear by normal ears but make no mistake they are always watching and will strike the moment her life is in danger.

[cldhrbour]

when i tell you i have a mix of perfumes that is EXACTLY how i imagine serana smells which is elizabeth and james both the french grey and the rose perfumes blended together. they're super earthy and floral and when you combine them its genuinely like how i imagine a romanticized graveyard smells? there's rose and geranium, lavender, musk, with woodsy, earthy and citrus undertones. it's so fucking intoxicating i can't properly explain how happy i was to just accidentally mix them together and--- ffffffff

[cldhrbour]

some small modern verse things i thought of on my walk

she is very much 'old money' (duh). quality fabrics that may look a little worn due to their use and durability, simple jewelry made of real metals and precious stones, very little regard for how much something costs. serana's own apartment is filled with furniture and decorations from throughout the centuries that she's had fixed up and reupholstered because she's owned them for so long she can't simply part with them and buy something new. no matter the cost, it's getting fixed until there's nothing left.

cusith and garmr are still death hounds, but glamoured to be seen as a doberman and rottweiler. they live with serana and she's rarely seen without them if she's on her own.

the family does still have a castle back in europe that they can go home to but they're typically scattered around the world or just flit to where they're comfortable even if just temporarily. they hardly live together anymore - though the higher officials of the coven are never far. serana has a floor-through apartment in the city where she lives on her own, even if her parents live in the same building or on a different street. it all varies depending upon how sick they are of each other whether they are close together or far apart.

there isn't any 'larger plot' to serana's modern verse. it'd be ludicrous to think with modern advances of technology and weapons that you could get away with a 'vampiric takeover', so like most vampire media that takes place in more modern times, it's more about smaller internal politics, be it in the family or between covens. depending upon whether plotting is allowing for urban fantasy or not, there can also be inter-species conflict. there's just no twirling-moustache evil coming from harkon in this verse.

[cldhrbour]

serana does sleep. granted, she doesn't need much, maybe a few hours at most. when she has settled into a rhythm, it's normally during midday, often from the hours of around 10am-4pm. but when she's adventuring, she'll take what she can get and sleep when it's convenient for everyone else. so long as she's covered, the sun doesn't harm her as much as it may harm younger vampires - though it still isn't advised that she walk around in shorts and a blouse when there isn't a cloud in the sky. (i'll have to do another little baby meta about the sun and it's affects on her since skyrim really said "sun? what sun?"). in the beginning of her vampirism, she slept in coffins the same as everyone else, but as time went on she began to miss the freedom of a bed. this lack of desire to be in enclosed spaces only worsens once she's released from her tomb. so much so, she develops claustrophobia and outright refuses to be in a coffin ever again. and yes, her king bed is covered in silks and soft fabrics, bountiful with pillows.

[cldhrbour]

thinking about seranas relationship to sex, i think the important thing is to establish context. because i know there’s people who may not know the implications we were given in the dlc. nor have i talked often about what i consider canon except to a select few. back in her human life there was inital courting to have serana marry politically, but that was quickly sidelined once harkon convinced valerica that they'd be better off petitioning the prince of domination. normally, harkon would just have to kill thousands in order to get his attention and request the gift of vampirism, but when he asks not just for himself but his wife and daughter as well, the prince wants a higher price. there isn't much known about the title of daughters of coldharbour, there is the following dialogue:

the ceremony was degrading. we all participated in it. not really a wholesome family activity but i guess that’s what you do when you give yourself to a daedric lord.

the first vampire came from molag bal. she was not a willing subject.

to make a long story short, serana's first experience with anything sexual was unfortunately being sexually assaulted by the daedric prince. it's something that serana has very mixed feelings about. on one end this was her god, and there was a sense of honor and duty attached to it to help her family. on the other, it was clearly not a good encounter and is the only physical scar she carries on her hips where he had grabbed her (until harkon kills her).

ever since then, serana hasn’t really pursued sexual encounters and with the drama happening within her family (and never having anyone really get close to her in order to form a bond that would lead to such) it’s fallen to the wayside. in truth, she is for all intents and purposes a virgin but I want to make something explicitly clear: she isn’t naive. she knows what sex is, know the mechanics, knows the how and why. this isn’t an innocent, childlike virginity. just one of circumstance. it’ll mean she’s a little clumsy, she won’t be skilled at the flow. it just calls for a little patience from the other party.

as far as the act itself, understand that in almost every situation, serana will need to be the one in control. she needs to feel like it’s her choice every step of the way and it needs to be as far removed from her experience with bal as possible. most of the time this will mean she has to be on top instead of smothered beneath someone else’s body. (this is flexible with women.) it doesn't necessarily apply to just kissing or oral, mainly just full sex. once she feels safe with someone positioning can change up, it's really just the initial encounter so that she can establish a good experience and trust. she's a switch, but leans towards a soft dominant where she's all about praise and teasing. as her sexual relationship with someone continues, she'll be comfortable being more experimental. encouraging bloodplay of some sort, to edging, to shibari. there's more i'm sure, but haven't thought too much on it.

[cldhrbour]

just thinking about serana's powers and how powerful she is. yes being a vampire lord helps , but even prior to being changed , i think she was on her way to be a powerful caster. the family structure strikes me as harkon being a fighter-type while valerica serves as more of a wizard-type , and with a closer relationship in general with valerica there was likely expectation she'd follow in her steps. she was studying under her mother , in addition to any normal tutelage under personal educators within the lordship.

she had a natural affinity for necromancy , as her mother did and she had interest in learning destruction magic but never got to do so because the focus of the family began to shift more towards gaining molag bal's attention. only when they're gifted vampirism is she able to practice her casting again , and leans in to a more ice-focused destruction. obviously the rest of her powers were supplemented by her new undead state. most of the specifics below are inspired by this mod - however something to keep in mind is how powerful vampire lords are but unless provoked , serana typically isn't pulling out all the stops. in fact , it will likely be rarely seen until her final battle with her father because she knows that he has the same strength as she does.

magical powers

ice magic ,.., her preferred form of spellcasting , serana is usually seen in battle surrounded by ice and snow in one way or another. most typically she'll form a dagger of ice and use it in close combat since she can be very mobile on a battlefield with her vampirism. however , if she's told control a crowd , then her spells take a form of storms or barriers of sharp ice. if she has the time , she'll also create shields of ice if a companion seems like they're about to get hit. in rare cases , she'll get a little creative by creating forms of transportation with it ( like bridges or inclines ) so that her friends can move around easily or get to places they couldn't've otherwise. a visual of this would be how sypha casts from castlevania.

necromancy ,.., thanks to her mother and her vampirism , serana is very skilled in the undead or anything in passing death. most often she'll raise corpses to aid her in fights. she can also drain life from someone via touch and replenish her own well , or just spread death with her touch. this will usually just look like accelerated aging until someone is no more than dust. again , used very often in combat and she's highly skilled at it. serana can raise lesser creatures with ease , like animals or people , and given a few additional seconds of time and effort on her part she can also raise larger creatures and beasts. after meeting durnehviir , she does have the goal to eventually be able to raise a dragon from the dead should the need arise and visits him often to learn.

vampiric powers

blood magic ,.., a very similar type of magic to her necromancy , serana does have a close relationship with blood itself. she doesn't use it as much , but if she's close to starving ( or if an enemy is particularly frustrating ) and if someone is wounded or actively bleeding , serana can pull that life force from its source and take it on herself , drinking it to gain strength. if she doesn't need it to feed , she can create a spike or dagger from it and use it to impale her enemies.

bats ,.., a simple term , but not only can serana take on the form of a flying fox bat , she also has close relationships with bat creatures. she can call them in a time of need in order to blind opponents , to confuse them or to protect her if she's mortally injured. her own bat form is usually used for reconnaissance and stealth. if she needs to see a situation and assess its danger level. in some instances , she will also transform into a bat if she's injured and tired , this way the smaller body can heal a bit quicker than her mortal form.

mist form ,.., most often used as a means of teleporting , serana's body can turn into formless mist. she not only can take no injury ( and cause no harm ) like this , she can also use it similarly to the above bat form in a stealth manner. when she is shifting across a fight , it will look to most mortals as a misty , dark form. one moment she's there , the next she's somewhere else.

enthrall ,.., vampire lords have a natural 'charm' to them in order to lower defenses of mortal creatures and potential prey. this is more subtle than a full on 'enthrall' which is more akin to "charm person" where the vampire is actively utilizing their powers of the mind and making someone more malleable to suggestion. many vampire lords use this as a way to keep a thrall with them at all times in order to feed , others can use it to rise to power and more with some creativity. serana is most often utilizing this as a way to get information or to ease someone's emotions if she feels she needs to. when it comes to her natural 'charm' , the closer she gets to someone , the more likely she'll mention it to them , understanding the risk of them being turned off by it or becoming potentially angry. understand that this isn't necessarily something she can control , it's almost like a natural pheromone that allows a predator to feed more easily. if you've read salem's lot , it's exactly that. something that neither predator nor prey can control or control their reaction to.

domination ,.., this is a mix of telekinesis and a stronger form of the above. domination doesn't allow for any control of the mind other than what the vampire lord wants. they own every part of you. where enthrall can leave someone numb and unresponsive or have no feeling whatsoever ( because it was more of a suggestion or making someone placate to demands ) this particular power they are completely aware but can't do anything about it. there is a voice in their head and they become simply a receiver and speaker of that voice. with that control , a vampire can lift the mortal and manipulate them as they see fit. their body is not their own nor is their mind. this is something entirely gifted by molag bal , the prince of domination. as far as serana and how she uses it , she will never think of using it on people she is close to. this is only for fighting purposes , usually on lesser beings. many times , and most simply , she's getting into the mind of someone and telling them to end their own lives.

vampiric lord form ,.., when things are looking rough , or if she needs to move in a way that her speed/mist form won't allow for , serana will transform into a bi-pedal beastly bat. standing at about 8 feet tall , with leathery wings , a bat-like face with a collar of fur around her neck , this form can take on many creatures , especially ones airborne. she also will use it in dire times of need where maybe someone is falling or to fly them to safety from a rather precarious situation. this form can teleport in a cloud of smaller bats. in most storylines , serana doesn't use this form until it's clear who and what she is amongst the people she's traveling with , in order not to scare them. she's in full control in this form , it is still her , and she can change at will.

flames of coldharbour ,.., gifted from the plane of coldharbour itself , these flames are not ordinary fire , but those of where serana was reborn. blue and purple in color , these flames burn hotter and melt most things almost instantly. serana has to call to the prince himself for these flames , and most often is gifted them without question. this very often has the volkihar clan thinking that she is favored amongst the others who have been christened by their god. either these flames will be used as many other fire-based powers are with a ball being shot at her enemy , or if she's surrounded , serana can have them shoot out from her at the center in a large sphere or wall of brilliant blue.

[cldhrbour]

so let me ramble about how awful the logistics are at the end battle, way more specifically about getting to the castle. while i hate the location and just overall pathetic excuse for an island concept of the castle, there is one major advantage that we just gloss over and that's it's near inability to be snuck up on. being in the middle of the ocean forces anyone getting there to take boats and we've established when you bring serana home that there are guards at the gate. it is also so stupid to assume that once serana leaves the castle again and you start getting attacked by spawn that not only does harkon know what you're doing, but that he wouldn't up patrol outside on the battlements and beaches. granted, you have that mini fight at the very beginning when you get there but that's not what i'm talking about. if patrols are increased, there's no way and no reason they wouldn't a) see you coming and b) sink those fucking ships are you kidding me? that solves eVERTHING????? harkon is supposed to practically be a warlord. he should be skilled in planning battles and that one fucking thing keeps the entire fight from happening, even if he still has to deal with getting his daughter or wife.

then i ask. . . why didn't he?

because he was distracted. serana staying at the castle once dropped off meant not only that she could check in and see if the plan to get the prophecy started was still underway, but that she could start lobbying some of the court to move against her father. looking at who she has to choose from, i think garan, feran and rargal are pretty good choices. garan just for his standing as being harkon's immediate advisor (and to me it's clear he has some softness towards serana, even if it's little), rargal would have issue with supply chains once the sun was blotted out, so appealing to that should be easy, and feran really doesn't care about internal politics, just studying his alchemy so suggesting the prophecy puts that at risk is the angle to take (and it automatically has ronthil at your side as well). so if they're on her side, it's easy enough at that point to have them weaving within the court while serana is out of the castle (be it in skyrim, bg3, dragon age, etc).

getting information back to them is as simple as sending rargal out to collect thralls with his lackeys and meeting up with serana. to that end, when the entire group is ready to make a move on the castle, it's up to the three court members to stage a distraction so they can get in without the risk of boats sinking or anyone getting killed prior to being shoreside.

[cldhrbour]

i like thinking about vampires and their relationship to blood, at least in my interpretation. like the main thing to remember is that, like all creatures, blood is the life force that drives vampires. they need it to survive, but they need to take it from others in order to do so. as far as general feeding, for serana, that's not very hard. find a bandit, find a burglar or some lowlife, and drink until they're dead. no side effects, nothing to manage. but someone who offers it? a friend who needs to be kept alive? well they become a part of each other now. bonded eternally. she's alive because their blood is keeping her body animated. they feel pain, serana will feel it. they feel pleasure, she'll feel it. while she's respectful about it, if she wanted to, she could clue into their thoughts and emotions. (mind you, she will typically not unless given express permission to do so, she does have manners after all !)

now, when she shares her blood? specifically with another mortal? a small portion of it without them being close to death in the way of making new vampires? not only does vampires blood heal wounds quicker when applied to the skin, it also has minor hallucinogenic effects when ingested by a mortal due to being in a supernatural body for some time. it's rare that serana will share her blood that way. to heal someone, that's a no brainer. she'll do anything to help her loved ones, of course sacrificing some blood means nothing to her. but typically sharing her own blood only comes from a desire to have that level of intimacy with a person, to be bonded together by having each other's blood in your veins.

[cldhrbour]

tags.