I have always wanted to play the quintessential scholar type character. This is something that I have been thinking about trying out for a while now but I am, frankly, unsure if its even feasible, given how Skyrim works.

I would like to make a character who is interested in unlocking mysteries and history of Skyrim. I know there are certain books that begin quests regarding ancient artifacts and such, but I am curious if there is other historical research that a character can do.

My question is, are there facts in the many books in Skyrim that can be verfied through traipsing around in dungeons? Is there mention of some random adventurer that died in random cave X that you can go and look for yourself, noting that the trap he supposely died on still exists? Or are all the books of Skyrim only there for entertainment value, minus the few that start you on quests?

I am unsure if I'm making sense, but the best description I can give is playing an Indiana jones type of character with a sprinkle of Lara Croft.

Does anyone have suggestions/knowledge regarding playing this type of character? Any and all advice is welcome and appreciated.

What you are proposing will be difficult as the "lore" is incoherent by design. I found this section of an interview with Douglas Goodall to be enlightening vis a vis the incoherence.


http://www.uesp.net/wiki/General:Douglas_Goodall_Interview


This incoherence by design makes the "lore" books virtually worthless as reliable history of our game world thus primarily they are entertainment. If you can track down which books Mr. Goodall wrote, then you may have a chance of discerning some truth.

Well, you can join the College of Winterhold, I love how huge their library is. If you have Hearthfire, get the Library upgrade for your East Wing, and definitely get Dragonborn, I've found at least 7 hours of books I want to read in Apocrypha.