The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim features a vast open world populated by a variety of characters spread out across its landscape. The characters living in Skyrim need a way to communicate with each other, and so they rely on the courier system. Couriers travel Skyrim's game world with important letters and messages that they deliver to various characters, including the player-controlled Dragonborn.
Couriers in Skyrim take their jobs very seriously, relentlessly pursuing players until they've successfully delivered their message. Couriers in Skyrim have become a meme for how dedicated they are to their jobs, as they will put themselves directly in harm's way if it means that a message gets delivered in a timely manner.
A recent image of a Skyrim courier has been making waves on the game's subreddit, amassing over 2,400 upvotes at the time of this writing. The image is a perfect example of couriers going the extra mile to deliver their messages in Skyrim, as it shows a courier trying to talk the Dragonborn while both are underwater.
Reddit user JohnnyOaklegs, who shared the image, included the caption "Can't even go for a swim without receiving a package!" One user commented on the image and claimed that this happened to them once, and it even caused them to drown. While there are ways to breathe underwater while playing Skyrim, like by choosing the Argonian race, it's not an ability that's available to all characters all the time, and so drowning is a real risk if one happens to get caught up in a conversation with a courier while they're submerged.
Most of the time Skyrim players shouldn't have to worry about couriers causing them to drown, however. Unless Skyrim players are actively walking everywhere they go in the game, they will usually bump into couriers after fast-traveling to a city. Skyrim fast-traveling seems to advance time enough for couriers to catch up to the Dragonborn and deliver their messages, oftentimes giving players new quests in the process.
It will be interesting to see if couriers return in the next Elder Scrolls game, though fans will likely have to wait quite a long time before they find out. The Elder Scrolls 6 is reportedly still in pre-production at Bethesda, and so it will likely be years before it's released. While fans wait for more news on that, though, they are free to check out Bethesda's next game, which is the open world sci-fi RPG Starfield that's set to launch on November 11, 2022.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - Anniversary Edition is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.