Don't worry - it took me a long time to come up with something, but I'm pretty happy with how my Snake totem worked out.  I've got no desire to ditch the Serpent (at least as a symbol - the actual stone itself is of less concern to me).  

Good idea; this definitely is similar to the Arrowsworn in that they're both primarily non-stealth archers.  Of course, if you're good at sprint-shooting and dodging, you'll have a hard time leveling those other skills! 

Thanks for posting another great build; I always look forward to reading your work.

You mention that this character's at home in The Rift. With nine holds and nine totems, will each totem get a specific stomping ground?

Also, since I know you like Norse mythology, have you ever read anything about Palnatoki? He was a Danish hero mentioned in the Jomsvikinga Saga as a sort of Nordic William Tell, only with a bit more patricide thrown in. I was reading up on him to see if he'd fit for a build I'm working on, but I think he'd actually be a good match here.

I had thought about matching totems to holds, yes - but not really anything beyond a fleeting thought.  I had a hard time thinking where the Snake would live, for example... nothing seems to fit, and in fact it seems most likely that the Snake-inspired character would wander around, like the birthsign.  (Not that there's necessarily a link there... but maybe...)

I've never read the Saga of the Jomsvikings - it's on my to-read list, though!  

I have like two mods that adds some Scandinavian/Norse sagas, no Beowulf though. I've been thinking if making a build based on him, but your Swordthane's done it better

How do those mods work - do they add the sagas as books you can find in game?  

Definitely.  :)

Several builds will use Dragonborn content, since there's a ton of great stuff in there.  

Dawnguard is harder to fit in.  The Dawnguard questline is sorta meh in my opinion - it's great if you want to play a vampire hunter (or a vampire, I guess... never done that), but it doesn't give off an "Ancient Nordic" vibe.  Dawnguard overall feels much more "modern", if that makes sense.  

At one point, I had planned to run the Hawk through Dawnguard in order to get Auriel's Bow, since the bow's effect is tied in to the skies.  In the end, I decided that it would require too much lore-mangling for a character inspired by these old totems to be running around with Auriel's Bow.  Plus, Serana is just an immersion-breaker for me.

Anyway, I do plan to take at least one build into the Dawnguard stuff, but overall these totems are going to spend more time on Solstheim.   

Really fantastic write up Paul! The character seems really well balanced as well. This is one of those builds that jump off the page for me- I really click with the storm/sky themed spells/shouts and the transient archer theme- very avian. You put together builds that seem intuitive once I've read them, like- why hasn't this been done before, its so obviously perfect! Lightning and arrows and flailing talons! Awesome! Not sure if you could use this bit of info, but I played a bear totem character of sorts once( not so thoughtful as this)- and I found that wearing *tempered* Armor of the Old Gods turns the armor invisible unless you drop it and reequip. I used the gloves and boots, but they left the arms and legs visible this way. Wearing the fur armor (kilt/cape variant) and Stormcloak officers helm with them, I had pretty decent AR (not enough to really be bear-skin tough) but the aesthetic was awesome. Good to see another build by you, and if there are more coming in a series then I am a very happy camper.

It's funny you should mention disappearing armor - I'm currently experiencing an issue with amulets not displaying on my character at all.  I'll give the drop & reequip trick a try, thanks - didn't know that was an option.  

Thanks for the comment!  

ok, thanks! i'll definitely check out the lore topic.