The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition Ashe - Crystal Heart Mod v1.0.2

Ashe is a fully-voiced Breton follower wielding a heavy sword in pursuit of vengeance. With over 3,000 lines of dialogue and an evolving ethical axiom, her story offers depth unseen in Skyrim as you help fulfill her father’s wish to 'live' and 'experience'—all while grappling with her self-imposed purpose of revenge.

What Does This Mod Do?
Ashe: Crystal Heart is a Skyrim mod that introduces Ashe, a fully-voiced Breton* follower with over 3,000 lines of rich, character-driven dialogue. This mod offers a deeply personal and introspective journey, delving into themes of identity, purpose, and morality—bringing a depth unseen in Skyrim.

DLC-Sized Questline
Embark on a DLC-sized quest spanning all of Skyrim, offering hours of new content—half the scope of Dawnguard. Uncover the secrets of Ashe's creation and assist her unique quest. Your choices shape her evolving ethical compass, leading to multiple outcomes. When vengeance is achieved, Ashe must face her past and forge a new purpose in a world that struggles to understand her.

Dynamic Super Follower
Ashe is a dynamic companion whose relationship with you evolves based on your choices. Unlock extensive features gradually, including:

• Training and Sparring: Improve your skills together.
• Custom Outfit System: Outfits change automatically based on location.
• Blacksmithing Services: She can forge and improve your weapons.
• Backpack Storage: Extra carrying capacity.
• Immersive Commentary: Reacts to your skills, actions, and locations.
• Radiant Features: Includes sleep, teleportation, and tracking markers.

Evolving Relationships
Develop friendship and romance organically. Ashe doesn't just throw herself at you; your actions genuinely influence the relationship dynamics, not just scripted events. The friendship and romance systems are nuanced, moving beyond simple binary choices.
Advanced Technical Enhancements

• Custom Animations: Exclusive to this mod, enhancing her unique personality.
• Next-Gen Visuals: HD textures, HDT physics support for hair and outfits.
• Compatibility: Built-in support for Open Animation Framework, OStim Standalone, and Expressive Facial Animations for lifelike expressions.
• Bodyslide-Ready Outfit: Supports all popular body types.

Original Design and Lore Integration
Ashe features an original character design blending JRPG influences with Skyrim's Celtic aesthetic. The mod seamlessly expands Skyrim's lore with believable integration, including NPC awareness and interactions in key locations like Solitude, Whiterun, and Riverwood. Explore hand-crafted locations designed with environmental storytelling in mind.

Renowned Voice Cast
Experience unparalleled depth with an ensemble cast of renowned voice actors, including:

• Anna Rust (Carnival Row, Cyberpunk 2077) as Ashe.
• Sean Chiplock (Genshin Impact, Re:Zero) among others.

Limitless Potential
With future content updates planned—companion banter with Serana, quest awareness, and additional questline material.

*She's not Breton in the conventional sense. Without getting into spoilers, play the mod to find out!

How Did This Mod Come To Be?
While Bethesda's Skyrim offered an expansive and immersive world, it often lacked depth in character development—feeling as wide as an ocean but as deep as a puddle. This gap inspired me to create the Serana Dialogue Add-On (SDA) mod. As an inexperienced modder and writer at the time, the early versions of SDA reflected my learning curve, and the writing left much to be desired. Through this process, I learned the importance of focusing on quality over quantity, recognizing that even in a free, community-driven endeavor like modding, players have high standards.

Ashe is the culmination of everything I’ve learned as a writer and mod author—a deeply personal project showcasing my growth. For what lies at the heart of this project, think of an SDA-esque experience but with a much bigger development scope, and much more complex, intricate writing. With Ashe, I challenged myself to create an original character with a compelling story, not just a quick release. She embodies all the features, passion, and technical prowess I've developed over the years. Ashe is both the culmination of my modding journey and a prototype for future projects, including my aspiration to develop an indie game inspired by creators like the person behind The Forgotten City.

Mod Requirements
This mod works right out of the box with no hard requirements. However, my mod integrates with others pretty well, so please read below to see what they are!

Mod Integrations (Optional)

• Nemesis and DAR/OAR – For custom animations. Without the mod, you won't be able to see some unique flavor/dialogue/combat anims.
• HDT-SMP – For outfit and HDT hair physics support. Without the mod Ashe's hair will still work, it'll just be static.
• SKSE – For additional functionality. (Mainly for backend mod checks)
• EFA (Expressive Facial Animations) – Improves facial animations. Non-EFA setups are also supported.
• RSkyrim Children Overhaul – For a "non-potato head" patch for Remy. Without it, Remy will look like any other Skyrim child.
• OStim Standalone – Enables animated romance scenes. Without this, romances will fade to black.

WARNING: Do not try to control Ashe with options from other mods. (AFT, NFF, UFO, etc...)
You will break her mind!
This applies to any custom companion with their own AI. You’re welcome to use any mod alongside Ashe, but don’t force her into external follower control systems. She’s designed to ignore most other mods if left alone and comes with her own set of customizable options.
To access her options, use her BIOS Menu or interact with her through dialogue. These settings are tailored to her character and story, offering features like combat preferences, outfit changes, relaxing, and more.
For the best experience, let Ashe be Ashe!

Compatibility
Ashe offers extensive content while remaining lightweight on performance and highly compatible. No intrusive or wild edits have been made.

• Main conflicts may arise if another mod edits the same locations used by Ashe.
• If you encounter a conflict, let me know, and I’ll consider creating a patch.

Quick Installation Instructions (PC)

1. (Optional) Install the soft requirements.
2. Download and install the FOMOD.
3. Run through the installer options.
4. Place Ashe near the bottom of your load order. This ensures her mod wins conflicts, which is critical for her questline to function correctly.
5. Bodyslide Setup:

• If you chose a custom outfit, build meshes in Bodyslide.
• You can select between heels or non-heels for Ashe’s boots.
• While the mod functions without Bodyslide, skipping this step may result in minor seams, clipping, or mismatched body meshes.

• Prologue Saves: Use at your own risk! To upgrade from the Prologue mod, dismiss/disable Ashe, travel to a new cell, uninstall the old version, and then install the new version.
• Closed Beta Saves: Generally safe to update, though some fixes may not retroactively apply based on quest progress. Refer to the changelog for details.

Dialogue Voices:
The impressionist voices were carefully crafted with attention to quality and consistency, ensuring an immersive experience. If they are not to your liking, a patch is available to disable them; however, I encourage you to try them out first. For unofficial AI voice patches, permissions are open—please contact me directly to discuss.

Quick Playthrough Hints:

• Play the game, I'll hold your hand (just a bit) hahaha.
• If you can't find them, she's hanging out at the Winking Skeever in Solitude.
• You'll need 200 gold to recruit her.

FAQ:

• Q: Where do I find Ashe?
• A: Check out the "Quick Playthrough Hints" for details.
• Q: Can she ride a horse?
• A: Not yet, but horse-riding support is planned for a future update.
• Q: How do I start Ashe's questline?
• A: Once she’s in your party, chat with her, and her story will naturally unfold! During this initial rapport-building phase (before her main quest), some dialogue options may require a short wait (usually 24 hours).
• Q: I personally don't prefer Ashe's outfit. How do I change it?
• A: You can change it through her outfit feature, enabled a bit further into her rapport-building phase! You can then have her wear anything you want!
• Q: I modified Ashe myself, and now she’s not working.
• A: Unfortunately, I can’t provide support for modified versions of Ashe. Such changes are unpredictable and difficult to troubleshoot.
• Q: I’m a modder or voice actor with a custom follower mod. Can our followers interact?
• A: That sounds amazing! Send me a PM, and I’d be happy to collaborate on setting up interactions.
• Q: Can I create a patch or translation for Ashe?
• A: Sure! I’m generally happy for people to make patches or translations as long as you contact me first to discuss your plans. This helps me keep track of modifications and provide better support. Don’t worry—I won’t bite!
• Q: Can I create a fan AI-voiced patch?
• A: Not for the new characters added by the Ashe mod. The voice actors I hired do not consent to AI use, and I’m firmly against AI voice acting without original artist approval.
  For vanilla NPCs, you may create an unofficial AI patch using Bethesda voices, but only with my permission. Do not train AI models on impressionist voices from this project, as they are actors I hired who also do not consent.I will not be involved in AI patch development or provide support for it. Proceed at your own discretion.
• Q: Is this mod still being worked on?
• A: Yes! While I’m currently focused on SDA 5.0, I’m also working on mini-patches for Ashe. Once SDA 5.0 is complete, Ashe will take center stage alongside my Aela mod production.
• Q: Can you ESL-ify this mod?
• A: No. The mod is too large for that, both now and in terms of planned updates. ESL-ifying it would risk breaking saves.
• Q: "Your mod crashed my game!"
• A: This is unlikely, as the mod has been extensively playtested. If you suspect the mod is causing crashes, I’ll need a detailed crash log showing the issue and methods to reproduce it, confirmed by other users.
• Q: "I’ve noticed a bug or improvement opportunity in the mod."
• A: If you’re sure the issue is caused by my mod and not a conflict or load order problem, first ensure you’re using the latest version of Ashe. If the issue persists, check for existing reports and add your input, or create a new post with detailed information.
• Q: How do I start the romance?
• A: There are two ways. You can flirt with Ashe during her main quest, or use a secret (but story-accurate) shortcut for those who don’t want to wait. Either path leads to a romance mini-quest at the story’s conclusion, with variations depending on your choices.
• Q: Can I “cure” her “vampirism”?
• A: That’s spoiler territory! While there are no immediate plans, I’d need to explore whether it fits her character and story before implementing it.
• Q: I’m using an older version of Skyrim SE/AE. Will Ashe work?
• A: Yes, she will work with any version.
• Q: Does Ashe have custom names and conversation content?
• A: She eventually will, but as per Nexus rules they won't be discussed here. Get in contact with me (outside of Nexus). 
• Q: Is this mod lore-friendly/immersive?
• A: It's a valid question! Ashe’s creation involved careful planning to fit within Skyrim's world. However, for a unique character experience, some creative liberties were taken (mostly with her art style). That’s why I describe her as "lore-adjacent." Even purists might find her story of vengeance and self-discovery compelling—give her a try!
• Q: Will I like the writing in this mod?
• A: Expect a darker, more mature character exploration. Think SDA's focus, but with sharper writing.
• Q: What’s with her outfit/art style?

A: Her unique style has an in-game justification, but I understand if it doesn’t fit everyone’s tastes in a strictly lore-focused playthrough. As mentioned earlier, if you don't like her outfit, you can trade her something else via the outfit feature.

• Q: Ashe's outfit nipples are inverted!
• A: Bodyslide Preset issue (not my mod's). Set the "Gone" nipple sliders in Outfit Studio to zero.
• Q: Why do followers travel with me to dream sequences in Ashe's subconscious?
• A: This is a known limitation and something you’ll need to suspend disbelief for when playing.
• The vanilla game has a script to dismiss vanilla followers during specific transitions, but custom followers like Ashe operate outside that framework. Detecting and dismissing them reliably without directly managing the framework is challenging.
• SPOILER TERRITORY/FAQ BELOW:

Q: Why is Ashe's age set at six years?

A: Ashe's story starts six years ago because I wanted to balance the darker aspects of her backstory with her current character development. She is born as a fully-formed adult, with adult emotions and a mature worldview. Setting her creation at six years ago allowed her story to feel grounded while avoiding overly grim implications—like suffering for 26 years straight, which would have made her a far less enjoyable character to interact with. Additionally, tying her origins to a more recent timeframe ensured key characters, like Canas, were still around to handle her maintenance and guide her journey.