V2 Beta 1.6.5 – The Will of the Crown Rises

This latest beta brings the single largest systems expansion since the launch of BHKS: TNG. With the arrival of Thenius Marbrand and the establishment of the Will of the Crown, your rule is no longer just symbolic — it’s administrative, economic, and deeply consequential.

Will of the Crown – A New Council Role

Meet Thenius Marbrand, a hardened Imperial quartermaster who now serves as your kingdom’s chief administrator. His systems form the backbone of Skyrim’s economic and civic future. With his help, the throne now commands:

• Weekly Expense Tracking: Guard wages, castle upkeep, infrastructure, and lighting costs

• Visual Kingdom Decay: Watch Skyrim fall into disrepair if you neglect the treasury

• Watchtower Construction: Build phased towers in every hold to expand royal presence

  

• Domain Upgrades: Invest in Highreach Granary, water-towers in Windhelm, Solitude, Whiterun and Markarth, and more to lower costs and raise approval

  

• Royal Decrees: Pass laws that reshape the realm, from censuses to wage reforms

• Desperate Measures: When the treasury dries up, extreme options become available—each with cost and consequence

• Advisor Upgrades: Improve Thenius to unlock new tools and cost-saving options

• Detailed Expense Reports: Know exactly where your gold is going, and why

Thenius can be recruited after speaking to Surgus, who will direct you to a remote camp in The Pale. To win Thenius’s trust, you’ll need to restore a bandit-infested watchtower and prove you can bring order from chaos.

New Feature – Royal Skyrim Guard

Once you’re crowned, every hold across Skyrim now flies your banner and adopts a new Royal Guard faction. These guards wear custom armor, speak with new dialogue, and serve you—not the Jarl. Expect to see them wherever your authority holds sway.

New Feature – Summon Council Bell of Ringing!

Ring this bell and summon any member of your council to the throne room. When activated a menu will appear that lets you choose who to arrive at your behest.

Other Improvements in 1.6.5.08

• Fixed quest startup bugs that prevented proper flow in some playthroughs

• Surgus dialogue should now work as intended across all scenes (marriage is still buggy and will be redone in next wave)

• Lady of the Lake will NOW properly appear - Escape Cidna Mine and restore the Gildergleam and then go find her at Coldrun Lake

• New MCM option to disable Highreach's statues for those that are bothered by them - but seriously go read the Highreach lore books scattered around the pool room and Noble bedrooms.

• Retextured thrones

• Highreach Keep exterior is now occlusion culled for better performance

• Interiors now use roombounds and portals, drastically improving frame rates inside the castle

• Numerous stability, visual bugs and logic fixes for better load order compatibility

The foundations of the realm have never been stronger. But power, once earned, must be maintained.

Let Thenius help you keep it.

– WinterishClover

P.S. Be sure to check out the Beta Testing Instructions on the Discord! It'll help you but it will really help me if you follow them!

P.P.S.S. update with the Hotfix - install and overwrite. This is a script fix to the approval system to prevent it from being recursive and overloading engine.