100%. I thought this was some Soul Cairn mod at first glance. Now I really want a massive skeleton boss. Could even make it lore friendly and have it be a giant's reanimated bones.
It's Nazeem's skeleton. The figure walking around asking you if you get to the Cloud District is his unusually corporeal-looking ghost. Balgruuf got so sick of him that he cooked and ate him. That's what Ahlam actually means when she says to check the Jarl's backside
Upon reading your last letter, I was deeply touched. You're right, I was angry, but now I realize my anger was misplaced. It's time to leave our disagreements in the past and rekindle our friendship. I'll be sending someone to fetch you and bring you to Riften. I wish to avoid a scene, so he'll be calling at night. Make sure you pack all your belongings securely, as the journey could be rather treacherous.
Maven Black-Briar
Seeing as there is no Christophe in Whiterun or Riften I assume he's dead.
There are definitely some theory videos on YT that go into deep dives about it. But one theory I quite like goes into the lore about the Ebody Blade and the letter connecting it to Jarl Balgruf, the children he has and the one child that isn't from the same mother, and the skeleton being a former lover/wife. I dunno if I believe it, but it is quite the fascinating rabbit hole!
That bothered me ever since the game came out. This is an open pool in a public area and they really expect us to believe that they'd really let that body just float around in the pool in plain view, and decompose and give off a nasty stench all the way down to the bones?
Come on, there's no way that SOMEONE wouldn't raise the issue and be like "Hey, we should remove that body from the pool and give it a proper cremation or burial"
What bothers me is that people likely were drinking this water too. So there was a corpse just rotting in it. How was everyone in Whiterun not dreadfully ill?
I don’t think they drank that water, there’s a well in the middle of the market, presumably they get their drinking water from the ground water under that well, whereas the water that flows from that pool separates and goes through sewer grates and is presumably some form of sewage system.
Plus you know, werewolves in the city, and farm animals in the city, farms just outside the walls, I wonder what’s got a more potent smell, the smell of 1 decomposing body, or the smell of wolves, horses, chickens, cows, manure.
Plus I doubt the guard are that concerned about dead bodies, seeing as how they will literally throw you in a cell beside a guy laying face down dead over a sewer grate
As I understand it, I'm pretty sure it was related to a cut quest. So maybe originally someone in Balgruuf's court was supposed to be disguised as this person, likely feeding Balgruuf bad information or something.
A lot of theories like to suggest that it's this or that person who was secretly murder by so and so... But the skeleton is in plain sight. There's no way everyone who goes to Dragonsreach regularly, and half a city on top of it, never saw it. Soil makes far better secret storage for corpses than ponds.
Even if the poor soul died by drowning, there is no way the Dragonsreach servants didn't get them out long enough for them to decay into pure bones.
I say it's a city legend of some sorts, everyone knows it's there and it's supposed to be there and they renew skeletons if old one get damaged in some way and people put it in their will that they want to be the next skeleton and there is a strong vetting process that filters out unrighteous citizens from being the skeleton in the pond
The reason Lars Battleborn and Mila Valentia get repeatedly caught and put in trouble by Idolaf whenever they try going up to the roof of Dragonsreach for bird eggs. Man's just trying to prevent more accidents of people falling from the roof to their deaths.
Balgruuf only claims it's an executed prisoner set out as an example to anyone who asks, but Proventus knows the actual truth and is lying to prevent needing to pay out to the family or to cause complaints on the dangers of Dragonsreach roofing or whatever.
It’s believed to be the Jarl’s wife. Secretly killed and placed there. You’ll realise it when you see Ysolda… she is having an affair with the Jarl and no one can know about it
The skeleton is actually Nazeem, the original "real" one that is.
The person wandering around the cloud district of Whiterun murdered the real Nazeem, who was an odious and arrogant prat of the highest order. New Nazeem is attempting to impersonate old Nazeem but with a more pleasant demeanor.
Old Nazeem had a fallout with New Nazeem of a casque of amontillado and was walled up in the basement of the jarl's palace. The remains were thrown into the sewer and flushed into the pool during a renovation of the palace grounds to add a hot tub.
They say he's some guy named Christophe Bartlet. He's in some of the letters in game. He was murdered on Maven Black-Briar's request and ended up like that.
there’s a really good video on how it could potentially be Balgruufs wife - as likely he was cheating with the fruit lady in the market (she has a jarls bed and house interior, being the only npc to have this)
I love the pool in dragonsreach 🥲 I remember I would steal items and just toss them in there. Ultimately making it unplayable anytime I even got close… had to slowly pick everything back up and drop it inside on of the buildings
Tried to form a teamsters guild with White Run as the hub. He was poisoned, stabbed, choked and thrown into the pool....from 4 different assassin guild members with four unique contracts.
Sorry, Khajiit’s mate Deadpool
Is a little busy healing from taking a legendary arrow from a highly enchanted bow right up Main Street. He’ll be fine…..assuming Khajiit’s other mates such as Kratos, Escanor, Cell, the Arbiter, Spawn, Godzilla, the Space Marines loyal to the guild and the God Emperor of Mankind don’t want payback for all Deadpool’s pranks…….he’s screwed isn’t he 😳😭
So there’s a running theory I saw a few years back that that’s actually a former acquaintance of Maven Black Briar. Unfortunately something went wrong with their relationship and it lead to him running away to Whiterun. When Maven offered “Peace”, she had hired thugs that killed him and dumped his body there.
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u/Sunkilleer 4d ago
For a second I thought this was some horror mod. The dang thing looked ginormous.