Second attempt at a Baluath Questline. While the previous attempt by Dillon was very good, it was huge, very difficult to review, and stylistically divergent from other TR questlines. Dillon wrote a shortened Baluath outline, which is given below.

Quest 1 - Troubles on the Road
Rumors in Arvud talk of the Baluath vampires and recent caravan attacks. You can narrow this to Armas Tyravel and Balvene Uvayn in Arvud to get a quest hook and the possibility of a reward if you destroy the vampires. This sends you to ask around Ishanuran Camp, whose ashkhan and wisewoman send you to Malawius Camp.

There, you either join the vampires or kill them. You can return to Ishanuran Camp and Arvud individually for small rewards should you kill them.

• This is the only quest that can stay mostly the same.
• Will shorten vampire dialogues and remove near-duplicates (e.g., werewolf detection).
• Remove the option to leave vampires peacefully if >level 15.
• Remove Armas Tyravel's need to see evidence of killing vampires, since vanilla NPCs usually take you at your word.

Quest 2 - Baluath: Hunting the Hunter
Kashshaptu is the de facto leader of the Baluath den. She wants you to unite her den with Ofelia's, a more powerful Baluath conjurer.

Speak to Ofelia in Kirikai and she will agree on the condition that you kill Darron Marceau, a vampire hunter staying at the Grey Lodge nearby. He is in a room at the lodge and you may have to kill the other occupants.

Return to Ofelia and she will teach you Vampire's Reign of Terror, a demoralize spell. She agrees to go to Malawius Camp and assume command of the combined clan.

• No dragging to cave segment.
• No weird lying on ground animation or alternate paths for how you hurt Marceau.
• No romance things here or anywhere from here on.
• Original next quest, Cattle Herding, is a straight cut.

Quest 3 - Baluath: A New Lair
At Malawius Camp, Ofelia tells you to clear out Ald Balaal as a new vampire lair. Go there and fight through the enemies until you reach the inner shrine. A daedroth named High Priest Kutag-Mal appears and confronts you as Molag Bal's champion.

Kill the daedroth and report back to Ofelia. The clan will move in on cell change. The quest completes when you talk to Ofelia. She tells you the statue spoke to Kashshaptu in the voice of Molag Bal, laying out the next steps for the clan. The reward is a bunch of vials of blood, courtesy of Etemmu and her cattle herding.

• No requirement to kill the other two named "triumvirate" Daedra at Ald Balaal, although they remain named for flavor. Everyone still disappears except a few servants.
• Kashshaptu still has the flavor text to elevate you via spell to the top level (due to interior design), but otherwise most of the gradual enhancements to Ald Balaal are cut or happen automatically during move-in without comment.
• Instead of gradually increasing cattle, you get 4 cattle in the pen area during move-in and Etemmu makes a first comment about catching them and maintaining that amount.
• Next quest, Consolidating the Clan, is a massive cut but a lot of the best parts are distributed into the next 2 quests.

Quest 4 - Baluath: The Sorceress of Arvs-Shadan
Ofelia tells you of Alvayah, a vampire being held prisoner in Arvs-Shadan. She wants you to free her and kill Malvenisa Lloryn, the sorceress keeping her.

Alvayah is found on the top level of Arvs-Shadan near Malvenisa. Malvenisa is non-hostile at first, so you can talk to her, although the dialogue is the same as usual (general interest in your condition and hinting at a vampirism cure). Alvayah is under a paralysis spell and cannot speak except for a few mutters about being paralyzed.

Kill Malvenisa and her two assistants and Alvayah will be free of the spell. She asks that you free the other two prisoners down below in the torture room, but this is optional. Return to Ofelia. If you come in Ald Balaal the usual way, you will run across Hannat-Tulu, an ashwalker. Ofelia will introduce him as a vampire who has just joined the clan. The reward is the spell Vampire's Seduction.

• No follower actions for Hannat-Tulu.
• Alvayah offers services at Ald Balaal, but her area does not dynamically change to show chest/potions.

Quest 5 - Baluath: The Solitary Savant
Ofelia wants you to climb the Velothi Mountains to a Dwemer ruin called Ngelfltingth and recruit Sathram Volos, an old hermit vampire. She expects he will want a nice study, so she first wants you to clear out some skeletons in the caverns below Ald Balaal.

Once the skeletons are cleared out, travel to Volos and speak to him. He hesitantly agrees to move in. When you return, Ofelia mentions another recruit they found: Velyn Thindo, a blacksmith. The reward is a unique heavy armor cuirass.

• Goruldir, Nabdanir, ashwalker scouts, and Ibinai vampires are fully cut.
• As stated above, Hannat-Tulu and Velyn Thindo simply appear and have no quests of their own. Ofelia joins in quest 1, while the Arvs-Shadan prisoners go their own way.
• Vrashammu is still present but unrelated to the questline. (Maybe an optional hook in the future to recruit her, but not now.)
• Uvayn is destroyed in the next quest instead of being recruited.

Quest 6 - Baluath: Amulets and Pacts
Ofelia says to speak to Kashshaptu about something that came up regarding Molag Bal. Kashshaptu tells you the Daedric Prince spoke to her again and demanded the clan to create clan amulets so they could reforge their old pacts with him. She sends you to speak with Alvayah.

Alvayah needs vampire dust of a new-blood for the enchantment. As she cannot see any of the clan destroying themselves, she hints at a rumor she heard: a nearby Baluath vampire who wants to die. This is Olmas Uvayn, the old governor of Arvud who was recently infected, hiding out in a tomb near Ald Balaal.

Go to Uvayn and kill him, after an optional brief chat (already implemented). Alvayah then finishes your amulet and gives it to you. If Uvayn was already killed, you can find the same vampire dust enabled in his room.

Talk to Kashshaptu and Molag Bal will speak through her as a conduit. He is delighted that the Baluath have regained some of their former influence and offers you a choice of powerful pacts to reforge first:

• Ash Mastery — A daily power that calls an ash storm in the Armun Ashlands for 30 seconds.This is supposed to be a localized event, not region-wide.
• Clan Mastery — A daily power to summon a vampire to your side at night or in ash storms in the Armun Ashlands for 30 seconds.
• Illusion Mastery — A daily power that grants Invisibility for 30 seconds.

These are all activated through the amulet.

• No Almas Thirr segment or sacrificing cattle.

The old quest file by Dillon is attached for reference and the old claim is here: https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/claims/baluath-vampire-questline