East Empire Company Brainstorming

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Steelgonads's picture
Steelgonads
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I think the EEC is a great subject for quests because its lore is very sparse and its type of activity can really provide some interesting mechanics. Trouble is, I haven't found any representation of the EEC in the TR mainland yet (I haven't looked everywhere, but it's huge!)

 

In the UESP website, we can see the following map for the EEC trade routes:

 

 

It's a bit hard to read, but I'd say that any city along the Inner Sea (besides Ebonheart Castle) is a candidate for EEC presence. If we go by the names written down on the map, then it would seem the trading hubs would be Blacklight and Necrom.

So my question is, will there be an EEC presence in the mainland, and if so, where exactly?

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If I remember correctly, there is a mansion for the Grand Factor (presumably the guy in charge of all EEC operations in Morrowind) in Old Ebonheart.

Pretty sure that map is one from the Fourth Era (think its an optional treasure you can get in one Skyrim's Thieves' Guild quests), so we can deviate a little from that.

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I'd suggest Helnim or Firewatch as possible trade posts then. Both have a mine (diamond in Helnim and Iron in Firewatch) and respectable docks.

Necrom does not seem like a good place to trade, unless you've got a huge shipment of burial urns to get rid of.

 

EDIT: Now that I see, Bal Oyra also has a boat moored and an ebony mine close by. I guess there's a lot of places to choose from.

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Merxia Vendicci in Old Ebonheart, inside the Grand Factor Manor seems to be the director of the EEC in the mainland. She lets you join the EEC but has no quests for you. I'm a bit afraid of starting what would probably be a whole questline.

Are there plans for a EEC questline?

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I'm not sure what future plans TR has for the East Empire Company, but they do have a headquarters in Helnim, and I believe you can take some quests there.

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Ah yes, they have a presence inside Helnim Hall. Thanks for the tips!

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Giving them a presence in Firewatch as well may be worth considering. I think the EEC should mostly operate on the coast, and as far as Imperal coastal settlements is concerned the list is rather short, so other than Old Ebonheart, Helnim and Firewatch the only real candidate I can think of is Cormar, which is probably too small, and that's assuming it stays Imperial (as I think it should). Teyn and Bal Oyra are, I think, too small.

For cross-provincial trade, I think Necrom would be an important stop, as would Port Telvannis, but I think more as places to resupply, and there's also an argument for keeping outsiders away from Necrom entirely.

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I think Cormar is a good fit as a minor/resupply stop because there are no other Imperial settlements in that corner of Morrowind (at least until the player builds up Raven Rock and I'm not counting Fort Frostmoth as a good stop over).  Comparatively speaking, that would be a long journey for EEC ships without resupplying, since the next major Imperial stop is Ebonheart/OE or maybe Seyda Neen as another resupply post.  Even if they are leaving from somewhere like Windhelm which is just around the corner.  I feel Firewatch and Helnim should definitely have posts being major Imperial cities.

On the topic of non-Imperial cities I feel Gah Sadrith should have a presence at least because it would provide lots of interesting trade opportunites for the company being an interesting place.  It could lead to some quest potential too if there is some resistance to setting up an outpost for the EEC in Gah Sadrith from local traders.  Port Telvannis and Necrom shouldn't have a presence though.  The latter because it would appear to ruin the mystique of it being such a holy place.  Pardon the exaggeration but the first image in my mind that conjures up is like going to a church and seeing a gift shop.  The former would be because, well...  Telvanni.

As for future areas, I think there should be a presence in Dres Tyr and in Narsis.  Narsis especially would produce interesting quests about conflict, with the only access by water having to go through Almas Thirr.

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I haven't found the time to catch up on this conversation, so I won't be chiming in just yet. But for those who haven't I recommend reading the thread on the old forum archives where the EEC was discussed as it contains some useful information on the faction.

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Yeah, Necrom is certainly up for debate, but if not Necrom then a designated port near Necrom, probably a Velothi town that acts as a sort of gateway to Necrom. (Swiftoak was in favour of that approach, while I personally think the dock area of Necrom shouldn't be treated as part of the holy city proper, and as such trade vessels would be tolerated there).

Note that Blacklight (one of the rare cases where the Imperial name could be used) would almost certainly be an important resupply port for the EEC, though I doubt they'd have any sort of permanent presence there. I think Cormar is a bit too out of the way to make for a good resupply port.

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I came up with this quest idea as a random Old Ebonheart quest, but considering it’s length and involvement, maybe it’d be better as an East Empire Company quest instead. One of the potential quest rewards is owning your own egg mine, and this would make more sense for a faction plot.

http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/forum/old-ebonheart-east-empire-clueless-egg-...

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why not make some dres city a port?

the ending of the words is almsivi

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Tear would be another port, yes; Tear → Necrom → Port Telvannis → smaller Imperial ports like Dagon Fel and Bal Oyra → Baan Malur would probably be the route inter-provincial tradeships take.

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How is the relationship between Outlanders and Tear going to be handled?

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Basically, Tear is not really the Dres capital, (they don’t actually have one), but a tradepost the Dres set up to do business with outlanders so that the outlanders wouldn’t feel obliged to delve into Dres territory to do business. It is also through Tear that the Dres trade with the Telvanni and mostly through Tear that they trade with the Indoril via Almalexia, and Tear could also serve as a checkpoint for Argonian slaves hauled into Dres lands from where they are dispersed to the Clansteads. In practice, this will probably mean that Tear, while still a Tier I city, will have relatively limited House Dres presence – at least of the higher ranks – and a relatively high amount of foreigners, including Sload. The EEC would just be another unsavoury foreign presence like the Sload. I’ve seen Casablanca mentioned a few times as a possible inspiration for Tear.

Putting that even more briefly, Imperial ships stopping over at Tear would probably be tolerated as long as that’s the only place they stop at in Dres territory. Which would work well enough for the Imperials, as they wouldn’t want to stop anywhere else in Dres territory even if they were paid a hefty sum to do so.

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I took the liberty to chane the thread title to be consistent.

Other than the question where they are based in Morrowind is “what do they trade in Morrowind?” I might have some ideas, but not much time right now to think them through and post about them, so just to get the ball rolling I’ll just start with some stuff I mentioned back on the old forums: Shipbuilding and unique Morrowind flora.

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I was about to write something and then realized the game put it better:

The East Empire Company is a monopolistic mercantile enterprise chartered by the Emperor and managed by a board of directors appointed by the Emperor. The Company has sole authority to trade in certain goods, like flin, raw ebony, raw glass, and Dwemer artifacts, and it also enjoys favorable tariffs and regulations for import and export of other common and exotic goods, like kwama eggs, marshmerrow pulp, saltrice, and Telvanni bug musk.

I’d tend to say shipbuilding – if we do go for that idea with Cormar or some place else – should probably be handled by a separate Imperial Charter Company.

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That makes sense. I wasn’t aware of the EEC’s monopoly on such goods. Makes for interesting conflict and quests, but also invalidates any ideas which I had up until now.