Skyrim patch files suggest Snow Elves, crossbows for DLC

The recent Skyrim patch contains file strings that suggest downloadable content will feature Snow Elves, crossbows and more.

Skyrim fan Kerellan poked about in patch 1.5.26 update file and posted the findings associated with "DLC01" on the Bethesda forum.

Included is mention of Snow Elves, a Snow Elf prince, crossbows, new vampire feeding animations, and something prefixed "RF".

THERE MAY BE SPOILERS AHEAD.

The mysterious Snow Elves were a race of elf, or mer, who lived in the land of Skyrim before the Nords. They became the twisted Falmer after hundreds of years spent underground as slaves of the long-lost Dwemer.

The Snow Prince led the Snow Elves in a war against the first humans in Tamriel. He was killed in a brutal battle, causing the Snow Elf effort to collapse. The Nords then launched a counter campaign that slaughtered thousands of Snow Elves, who fled underground to the Dwemer. But the Dwemer, the closest thing Skyrim has to dwarves, betrayed the Snow Elves, forcing them to eat fungi that turned them blind, sparking their devolution.

In the period in which Skyrim is set, the Snow Elves are no more, but one quest ends with the player in a cavern dominated by a huge Snow Elf statue, perhaps of the Snow Elf prince himself.

The mention of crossbows suggests the addition of a new weapon type into the game. New vampire feeding animations is self explanatory. RF remains a mystery, but some have speculated it relates to the initials of a new follower.

Developer Bethesda aims to announce more information on the long-awaited Skyrim DLC next week.