Skyrim Lets You Sell Drugs To Orphans
Tamriel can be a wild and lawless place. Whether it's raising the dead to do your bidding, dabbling in lycanthropy, or cannibalism, there are some pretty dark activities to keep you busy in The Elder Rings V: Skyrim. However, we draw the line at selling drugs to orphans.
Even 11 years after Bethesda first unleashed Skyrim onto the world, we're still finding things to do. Skyrim is rated M for Mature (17+) due to its themes of blood and gore, intense violence, sexual themes, and use of alcohol, but there's no mention of drugs. Maybe Bethesda should change its rating moving forward.
How Can You Sell Drugs To Orphans In Skyrim?
Posting on Reddit, u/MagnusIrony pointed to a bizarre incident where it's possible to sell drugs to orphans. Who would've thought it? In the clip, they come across the poor orphan girl called Sofie. You can usually find her selling flowers in the Stormcloak-controlled Windhelm. You can also trade with Sofie, but not all of these trades are strictly legal.
On Sofie's trade list, the hallucinogenic Sleeping Tree Sap and Redwater Skooma can be sold. For as long as we can remember, Skooma has been pitched as an addictive narcotic - meaning it can't be brewed in the alchemy lab. When it comes to Redwater Skooma, it's one of the most potent and is basically a form of Rohypnol that vampires use to incapacitate their victims before drinking their blood.
Players were shocked but unsurprised by drug-peddling orphans and their addictions in Skyrim. One redditor wrote, "Look man, she'll make a lot more money selling that than the flowers," while another grimly added, "One of those things where art imitates life. No one here can honestly say this doesn’t happen in real life, so if anything it just makes it more realistic." A third said, "I adopted her immediately after, and there's no way I'm giving my daughter generic, non-vampire brand skooma."
Does Skyrim Have A Problem With Drugs?
Click to enlargeOkay, so, Skyrim doesn't actively encourage you to sell drugs to kids. There aren't opium dens filled with KO'ed orphans, and the Dragonborn isn't some sort of fantasy Walter White. The reason why you can sell drugs to orphans is because Skyrim treats flowers as Alchemy Ingredients. Given that Skooma technically fits under the umbrella of a potion, that's why Sofie can buy it from you.
Apparently, drug problems are rife in all Bethesda games. Someone concluded, "You can sell chems and alcohol to the water boy in Fallout 4's Diamond City as well." We can't wait to hawk narcotic Moondust to little kids in Starfield. Ultimately, you can choose to save Sofie from her grim fate as a drug-addled orphan sleeping on the streets of Windhelm. Those taking an evil Dragonborn role-playing route will probably sell her all the Redwater Skooma she can drink.