A four-bedroom mansion at Understone Keep.

This mod was created for the Skyrim Real Estate Underground Homes Challenge.

Choice of Files (Nexus only)

Version 1.4 (main file) adds a new portal deck to the exterior of Markarth, right near the stables. It is initially invisible - when you pull the lever to enable the portal cubes in the dungeon, it appears then. If you use the alternative (optional) version, it is visible all along.

ACCESS:
Go to the ruins of Nchuand-Zel (through Understone Keep, under Markarth). The excavation site has uncovered an elevator descending to the depths beneath the city (directly to your left near the entrance), though nobody has yet dared to see where it leads. You can move in right away - though there is a quest of sorts, it's designed to let you take immediate residence for those who just want to enjoy their new home without any fuss.

ROOMS/AREAS:

• reception hall with dining area
• grand hall for entertaining
• study
• lounge
• master suite with en-suite bathroom
• double bedroom w/ half bath
• twin bedroom w/ half bath
• spare twin bedroom
• sauna
• pool
• blacksmith forge and accessories
• display hall with mannequins
• practice area with dummies and weapon racks
• smelter, alchemy and enchanting stations with indoor herb garden
• grand kitchen
• servants' quarters/barracks

FEATURES:

• non-respawning clutter: you can clear stuff away in the main house and it won't come back. (*NOTE* - the alchemy satchel DOES respawn, as do the items on/near the dining table, and the wine and mead barrels)
• working taps and light switches
• non-aggressive "pet" Dwemer bots

FAQ:

- Who's been feeding the plants?
-- See the little Dwemer Gardener balls in some of the plant pots? They maintain the eco system

- Why don't the automatons attack?
-- They weren't programmed to hurt anyone - just to go about their business

- Why hasn't anyone else claimed the palace for their own?
-- The ruins have only just been uncovered and frankly everyone's too scared of the spider to go near it

- Why do parts of the palace glow different colors?
-- It's magic. The Dwemer may be masters of technology, but Radac Nchuand-Zel meddled with the arcane

- Why is everything in pristine condition if it's been untouched for hundreds of years?
-- The automatons kept it tidy

- Is it navmeshed?
-- Of course!

- I'm upgrading from version 1.3 and have already pulled the lever - will the exterior appear?
-- If you don't see it right away, just pull the lever again to disable everything, then pull it again to get everything back

- I don't want an exterior to my underground home
-- Please use version 1.3

IDEAS SHAMELESSLY STOLEN FROM THE OTHER ENTRANTS:

SoLo, who inspired me to swap the lever tap for a valve tap.
CerebralDreams, who inspired me to add the little magical light by the indoor herb garden so you can see the plants better.


SPOILERS:
KNOWN ISSUES:

• Sometimes the deed won't appear in the game - I have no idea why
• The mannequins move when you leave the cell but are frozen in a new position when you return. It's Doctor Who levels of creepy. This mod aims to fix that: http://www.skyrimforge.com/mods/vanilla-mannequin-script-fix/

VERSION HISTORY:

1.4 - some dynamic lights swapped for fxglow objects so avoid flickering where lightmarkers overlap; exterior teleport deck added to Markarth Stables
1.3 - plugged a hole in the ceiling in the barracks
1.2 - lighting enhanced, 'do not settle' added to apples in master bedroom
1.1 - some of the lever taps swapped for valve taps, roombound correction


http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/20235/ (version 1.4 and previous versions)

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=81159880

(Screenshots on download page)

I will check this out! Thank you, Your Highness.

This is a fantastic home with some incredible features! I particularily love the little dwemer gardening balls, so cute!

Hehe I'm so pleased you like it /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Neat idea for a house mod princess. Thanks for sharing. /banana.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':banana:' />

Thanks.

Ugh - my most hated thing to post:

A couple of people have reported that their games have been crashing at Understone Keep. This mod doesn't actually alter Understone Keep but does alter NchuandZel01. I don't know what I could have done to make it crash, but I do need to know if other people are getting crashes and if my mod is to blame. Any suggestions on how to fix it would be appreciated.

I crashed every time I tried to enter Understone Keep, but I have had a hellish time adding house mods to my game without it crashing all the time anyway, so I thought it was just my game playing up. /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':smile:' /> It stopped after I uninstalled the palace and reverted to a clean save though, I was able to enter the keep after that with no problems.

You're welcome. /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':smile:' />

I can try to reproduce this issue, because right now I'm in front of an entrance of a Nordic barrow ruin which isn't that far from Markarth anyway so why not. I'll let you know how it goes.

OK ... thanks.

The advice I'm getting on Skyrim Real Estate is that it might be a game issue (savegame bloat) rather than a mod issue, so I need to be sure that it is actually my mod that's to blame.

I toured this mod several times with no crashing, it's a great mod. /yes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':yes:' />

No crashing here either. Relatively old save (lvl 53).

Maybe ask the people who are getting crashes how big their save games are then? Or asking them to start new games and going to Understone Keep to see if it crashes.

I haven't been to Markarth in a while but I'll try and tell you if I get any crashes. Level 51 and many hours, but save game is ~11-12MB, so no real bloat.

@princess: That might take a while, because I ran into a CTD issue in my game that needs to be solved first unless someone know the exact 'coc' (closest location to Markarth) command in the console.

Oh, well you could go to markarthaskreuhc1 and then backtrack to Understone Keep from my entrance hall?

BTW I've just uploaded version 1.3 - I'm not sure what horrifies me more; that I didn't spot a ruddy great hole in the ceiling of the barracks, or that you didn't, either!

I thought you knew the console code for Markarth Horse Stables, but I guess that doesn't work for the 'coc' command. Oh well I'll figure it soon enough.

In a spirit of experimentation I uninstalled all but one house mod (I had 4) and then re-enabled the palace to find no problems whatsoever, so it was definitely Skyrim's fault and not the mod. /biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> I've only got 20 or so mods and they seem to work well together, but apparently it won't tolerate more than a few house mods being active at any time.

Thanks Princess. /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':smile:' />

I think you have a bigger problem than a hole, because when I was travelling towards Markath I couldn't get across this bridge without a CTD no matter what I did it still crashed.

http://www.tesvskyrim.com/screenshot-1058-1

I even remove a couple of mods still crashed, but when remove yours then no crash so that must something in Markath that your mod overrides its properties in on way or other.

I just don't believe it's possible that my mod is causing that crash. If you'd like to explain to me how, then of course I'll look into it, but since I did not alter any bridge in any way or make any changes whatsoever to the area in or around Markarth beyond a minor alteration to add an entrance in that one cell (NchuandZel01) that isn't technically part of Markarth to start with, it would seem to me absolutely impossible that I could cause a crash issue outside of the town itself.

Other people have now come back and said that they've played my mod without crashes, so I think it must be your savegame.

Thanks for trying, anyway.

It could be my savegame that's too bloated. I wonder if you alter any specific water references in the NchuandZel01 cell or anything else?

You can't see of that picture, but there is actually a waterfall on the left side and there is also water under the bridge.

The easy way to check whether it's a savegame issue is to load a really early save - just out of Helgen - and coc into the cell and then walk back out through Understone Keep. I don't alter any existing water references, I just add in new ones, and those just use default values so it's not going to mess with anything outside that cell.

In terms of it being a savegame issue, none of Bethesda's games like you adding or removing mods. It was worst with Morrowind - basically you couldn't add or remove a mod to an existing save without some sort of weirdness and the more you added or removed, the more it messed up. In Oblivion, you'd get missing doors or even sometimes missing walls, or you'd enter a cell and just start falling through space. I have no idea what sort of corruption you get in Skyrim, but I've had to abandon a few saves due to crashing issues - basically, the only saves I use now were made before the Creation Kit was released, so I know they're "clean", but because using Quicksave etc also corrupts savegames I try to use the earliest save I can when testing mods.

Sure I can do that but since I haven't discovered Markath nor Understone Keep yet, so how can that be part of it then. Ah... that might be a big problem since I'm using Arthmoor's Open Cities Skyrim mod plus his Live Another Life mod and he has already Markath as an open cities and I know the water mod can sometimes cause a lot of trouble.

Fortunately I don't use the Water mod, but I've already removed a couple of mods in my game since I read about using mods that was tweaked by http://www.darkcreations.org/forums/topic/1799-skyrim-handling-compressed-records-do-not-use-tesvsnip/ which isn't recommended. So that could be the culprit of bloated gamesaves.

Hmm ... well, I'm no expert, either, but I'm pretty sure that bloated saves are just a feature of the game itself - especially since it's not actually designed to accommodate mods being added and removed mid-game. You can get away with it for a bit, but the only way to be sure that your save isn't to blame for any weirdness is to start a new game. That's why when you start using mods, you pretty much stop playing the game, because your level 20 save is effectively worthless.

I was thinking about doing something like that, but right now I've other duties on MMH well you know http://www.fliggerty.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=88&t=5191. I'll keep you posted if and when I have more useful facts to add on this *oddites*. If that's okay with you. /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':smile:' />

Sure, that's fine - thanks for the feedback anyway /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

New version 1.4 adds an exterior elevator/portal/decking area to just next to Markarth stables.

Even though this is one of my favorite of my own mods I wasn't using it because without an exterior it's inconvenient and I just forget it's there. So the new exterior is small and unobtrusive but it's an easy place to get to and it feels more like it has a physical presence in the world.

At Nexus you have a choice of files: the main one, where the exterior is initially invisible - you enable it by pulling the lever in the dungeon - or the alternative where it's there all along (in my mind, my character constructed the deck from salvaged parts). If you really don't want the exterior at all, just grab the previous version.

I've also tweaked the lighting a little bit. I've made it slightly lighter and swapped some of the dynamic lights for fx glow objects to stop that flicker from overlapping light markers.

Screenshots on the download sites (see first post)

Enjoy!