Tamriel Rebuilt is an ambitious, 20-year-old modding project for TES III: Morrowind that adds the mainland of the province to the game. We develop the mod as a series of fully realized expansions complete with thousands of interiors and NPCs and hundreds of quests. Currently, about 40% of the province’s mainland has been released to players and our next updates will bring that closer to 50%.

In September, we filled you in on how the assets and art department has been doing since July; this time, we’ll do the same with mod implementation – i.e., our exterior worldspaces, interior locations, NPCs and quests.

Once again, huge progress was made in these past months, especially on our upcoming Dominions of Dust and Embers of Empire expansions! In brief:

• After a major crunch-time effort by many of our quest developers, nearly all of the innumerable questlines for both the Dominions of Dust and Embers of Empire expansions were completed! Mind you, many of these still need to be thoroughly playtested and reviewed, which may take a few months yet, but that progress is ongoing.
• The exterior worldspace for our Hlan Oek expansion – the next one right after Dominions and Embers – is now nearly finalized, as are all required interiors for the newly revamped town of Hlan Oek. This meant that dialogue and NPC addition for this area could begin and is, indeed, already making good progress.
• The first new exteriors for the revamped Sundered Scar region, planned to be an Embers-like expansion just to the east of Old Ebonheart, have started development and are looking mighty fine.
• All critical exteriors for the Narsis expansion are now finished, including the grand metropolis of Narsis itself, Morrowind’s second biggest city. Dozens upon dozens of its new interiors have recently been completed, too, with many more coming in the next months.
• Exteriors progress in our Kragenmoor/Othreleth Woods expansion, the last remaining bit of southwestern Morrowind, is picking up as our exterior developers figure out the final look for this dense mushroom woodland.

For a (much) more detailed breakdown, read on! This time, let’s walk through the various expansions on our roadmap one by one. When visiting the below links to our claims browser, beware of spoilers and keep in mind that the text and images on the linked pages often do not represent the current or finalized state of the respective claims.

The final bits of Dominions, our biggest landmass release since Sacred East in 2012, are finally coming together.

All exterior tweaks prior to release should now be finished. Embarrassingly, Why noticed that Uman, a small Redoran settlement in the Velothis, had no road connecting it to the rest of Redoran lands or, really, to any of our soon-to-be-released landmass! Thankfully, Chef went to the rescue and the issue is now fixed. He, furthermore, reworked what used to be an unnaturally straight border between the Roth Roryn and Armun Ashlands regions to be more varied. This wasn’t a major issue in-game, but it does help our overview maps look better.

The last straggling interiors in Dominions, too, are nearing the finish line, almost all being in the Velothi Mountains. Several items have been merged since last time, including two caves by Denis418 and Fremennik – the last one overrun by goblins of the Iron Claw tribe; two ancestral tombs by Khazar and Aidan1470; the glacier-entombed Daedric ruin of Anashbibi by Mark; a remote Velothi tower for a reclusive Breton mystic, also by Mark; and several dwellings of the fierce Malahk Orcs in their hidden settlement of Mazkun by Khazar, Mark, and MinerMan60101 (reviews by Cicero, Vern, Mark, Jackimoff Wackimoff, MinerMan60101, Peter a.k.a. PeterFargoth).

Still pending review or in development are four caves – a hermit’s cave and a pilgrimage location, both by RDV, a frost troll’s lair by Brannon the Ilk, and the Iron Claw goblin tribe’s main location, a huge multi-cell cave by Phenoix12.

Taniquetil has been going through the to-do list by merging many of the above-listed interiors, tweaking many others (with help from MinerMan60101 and Jackimoff Wackimoff), and NPCing those that still lack their inhabitants. Cicero, likewise, added several creature spawns throughout the wilderness and Why NPCd the Mazkun orc village. Some NPCs and creatures are still left to be added, but many less than before.

More than a month ago, we set an internal deadline of September 20th for all remaining questlines in both Dominions and Embers to be completed. And it worked! A ton of the claims that had been sitting in limbo for a while, or that had been asymptotically approaching completion for months, are now officially finalized. There are a few stragglers, but even these should be finished in the coming days. Now comes the final bit – getting all of these playtested, reviewed and merged into our files.

Warning, the below links to the quest claims contain major spoilers.

• The first one of the major questlines to get finished recently was that of the Orlukh vampire clan by Mortimer. These orcish vampires, former legionnaires all, bear a special hatred towards the Dunmer. Should you become one of them, expect to bathe in the blood of their enemies. This questline was reviewed by Dev Shah and is now ready to be merged.
• In the Andothren Temple questline by Why (pending review), you will meet an assortment of odd characters and slowly discover that the head priest is perhaps too eager in soliciting donations from the local citizens.
• The first of Rats’ two epics in Andothren, the Fighter’s Guild questline, will have you crack skulls, investigate deaths, and recover artifacts for the Hlaalu bigshots.
• Also by Rats is the very recently finished Andothren Thieves Guild Questline, where you help rebuild the city’s shattered guild.
• The Andothren Mages Guild by Taniquetil is a relatively high level adventure, where the guildmaster asks your assistance in a series of increasingly dubious Daedric investigations.
• The Volenfaryon quest complex, originally by Rats and recently completed by Jani, takes you to the Armun Ashlands, where the Ishanuran Ashlanders, a rogue tribe ruled by a mabrigash, and a reclusive mage are all about to clash.
• The Andothren House Hlaalu questline by Jonado and Jackimoff Wackimoff, which is still awaiting some final tweaks, will get you involved in the dangerous inner circle of Andothren politics. This is the first new Great House questline that TR will release since the relatively small Telvanni quests last added in 2012!

Of the smaller miscellaneous quests, two were recently merged into our main plugin: The Statue by Sultan of Rum (reviewed by Dev Shah and Why), in which you help a Temple acolyte in her hopeless task of ridding Omaynis of its famous statue, and Poisoning the Well by Jackimoff Wackimoff (reviewed by abby), wherein a young Ashlander seeks to wreak vengeance on the Hlaalu.

Many other one-off quests were recently finished, but are still awaiting playtesting and review: Ancestral Guidance by crdgdr, a Nerevarine quest where you help a recently formed tribe of Ashlander survivors solidify their new identity; The Rivaling Alchemists,  by Jonado (partially reviewed by Rotouns and Jackimoff Wackimoff), wherein you solve an impasse between Andothren’s established alchemist and a new rival; Pursuits of the Seedy by Jani, being essentially a mini-game in an Andothren tavern (make some cash, but be careful to not be too successful); Shorted a Kwama by Taniquetil and PoasterToaster, wherein you lend a helping hand to a merchant who is particularly bad at counting; A Nirn-bound Saint by Rats, where you help a Golden Saint escape her sad predicament; and Guar Sabotage, Jonado’s quest claim from last year, now updated with tweaks, where you engage in more shenanigans for Bol Salvani of the scrib pie fame.

Deserving special attention is the Monastery of Saint Felms in the Roth Roryn region. This location, built by Nemon, was originally meant as a way to preserve a wonderful 2009 interior by Hemitheon (later revamped by WindEole), which was displaced from its original location in the grand Roth Roryn redo of 2009-2010. Perhaps reflecting its convoluted real-world origins, its backstory was always muddled – for a while, it was to be an Indoril-sponsored ordinator training compound, turned abandoned, then turned into a Sotha Sil monastery – so this impressive location had been left as a bit of content hole.

This changed due to a recent influx of new quest developers, which allowed us to squeeze in a questline for the monastery. Dissatisfied with the location’s lore, however, Cicero first rededicated it to Saint Felms, the warrior saint, in a much better fit to the themes of the Roth Roryn region. In what must be a record time from idea to execution, hardycore then implemented a small questline, where you will be asked to ritually reenact St. Felm’s martial prowess. The questline was then reviewed by Mortimer and is ready to be merged.

Jackimoff Wackimoff is still working on the Tower of Contemplation, a room of meditation for the monastery’s warriors, which will replace what used to be a small library of absurdly rare tomes – hardly a St. Felms forte.

Finally, it must be said in perfect honesty that Roth Roryn’s exterior landscapes and many of the Dominions’ interior locations still contain rough edges inherited from the expansion’s 2006-2019 pre-history, when our current quality standards were not yet in place. Still, these issues have not been deemed great enough to delay release any further – owing to the amount of ancient work that had to be redone, Dominions has been a difficult expansion to develop, and our exterior and interior teams are happy to move on, as much as our players are to get their hands on this expansion sooner rather than later. Any remaining stylistic issues are to be addressed in a future release.

Exteriors in Embers of Empire are complete, except for the tweaks being made by Taniquetil as she polishes the expansion that she herself started two years ago. She is also making innumerable interior and dialogue touchups throughout Embers, as well as integrating new additions and fixes from Tamriel_Data, merging interiors and adding missing NPCs. Cicero, too, has contributed by sprinkling several new artifacts around Telvannis.

Aside from that, almost all of the remaining interiors for Embers, mostly on the wild western coast of Telvannis, have now been merged (almost all reviews were done by MinerMan60101, some by Vern and Peter):

• three Daedric ruins: two of them by Am’Shak, including a Molag Bal shrine infested by a coven of whiches and a Malacath shrine home to an orcish cult, as well as another Molag Bal ruin by Lucevar;
• three Dwemer ruins: two of them by c0dacan0n, including the original home of Firewatch’s crown jewel, the staff of Oathrung, and a polished version of a good old ruin made originally in 2005 by Aaron, as well as a tiny Dwemer tower by Saddboye;
• a chimer stronghold by Fremennik, inhabited by a group of Nord pirates;
• the extensive Sarrunabi Caverns by c0dacan0n, the lair of a powerful necromancer;
• two shipwrecks, including the TEM Predator’s Gold by Syzygy and TEM General Symmachus by Aidan1470 – both sunk in the defence of Firewatch from general Casik’s forces during the Simulacrum;
• three ancestral tombs by The Laughing Gnome (being the final resting place of Saint Taldeus), Frun1987, and Hemaris, respectively;
• two egg mines, both by Aidan1470;
• and, finally, Exovian is still working on the Firewatch sewers, which may or may not be included in the expansion, depending on how fast the claim is done.

Quests for Embers are at a similar stage as those for Dominions – that is to say, following our internal deadline, almost all of our remaining pre-planned questlines were fully implemented:

• The Firewatch Fighters Guild questline by abby is already merged (reviewed by Mortimer). Originally made in 2007 by groza528, Bloodthirsty Crustacean and Starcrunch, the Firewatch Fighters Guild was one of the most beloved of old TR’s adventures, and as such, the new version has seen relatively minor changes. Guildmembers in Firewatch will be well-rewarded – after all, business is booming as most people distrust the local Dustmoth Legion.
• Another merged questline is the Firewatch Thieves Guild by pralec (reviewed by abby). This one is almost brand new, although it borrows a little from groza528’s original 2007 version. This is a straightforward series of heists, culminating in a complex double-break-in at the College of Firewatch.
• The Firewatch Mages Guild by Taniquetil borrows some from Starcrunch’s and Bloodthirsty Crustacean’s 2007 version (in fact, theirs was the very first questline to be merged into TR). Taniquetil’s modern version is a high-level adventure centering around risky daedric politicking by Gindaman, Firewatch’s Archmage and one of Morrowind’s most powerful summoners. It was very recently reviewed by pralec and is ready to be merged.
• Still pending review is the Firewatch Imperial Cult questline by Delemis and pralec. Being a combination and rework of the old Firewatch, Bal Oyra, and Helnim Imperial Cult questlines made in 2007-2009 by Jedak, steady_eddy, gro-Dhal, and Bloodthirsty Crustacean, it will have you tend to the sick, gather alms, and seeking out sacred artifacts, in a way reminiscent of the vanilla Imperial Cult.
• Unlike the previous ones, the Firewatch Imperial Legion questline by Kevaar, viol, and abby does not have an antecedent – Firewatch was always conspicuously absent of Imperial Legion content. In this new questline, you will choose a side by either helping clean up the highly corrupt Dustmoth Legion or wallowing in the corruption yourself. It was recently reviewed by Dev Shah and is now ready for merging.
• The Helnim Fighters Guild questline by abby, just reviewed by Mortimer and waiting to be merged, borrows from the original 2009-2010 version by Paw-prints-in-the-mud and Beave and focuses on the close business relationship of the imperials in Helnim and Master Darrythi in Tel Gilan.

What’s more, two short new questlines popped up at the last minute, beyond our original minimum plan:

• We had been seesawing for a while on whether to include a Thieves Guild questline in Helnim. On the one hand, the old Helnim Thieves Guild by Shapeshifr, immortal_pigs, and 6+ (2010-2012) needed to be largely reimagined, as it was always incongruent with the released version of the city, relying on an old “Helnim Gambit” concept that was scrapped in 2010, and ending in a cliffhanger that was never to be resolved. Besides, the new, smaller Helnim is already so packed with content that it didn’t really need the questline. On the other, the Thieves Guild was old Helnim’s biggest piece of content and many returning players would likely end up disappointed if we decided to scrap the guild entirely. The question was happily resolved when one of our newer quest developers, pralec, simply ran out of claims to make, prompting a new simple questline to be set up, one which focuses on the guild’s reaction to a non-guild-affiliated crime spree in town. The claim was quickly finished by pralec and reviewed by Mortimer; it is now ready to be merged.
• Something similar happened with the Helnim Imperial Legion – as CogAndStar, too, needed a questline to work on, a short new Imperial Legion claim was set up. In this one, you will engage in entirely above-board Imperial policing activities, as a contrast to what is happening in Firewatch. The questline has already been reviewed by abby and is ready to be merged.

Embers is also filled with a multitude of miscellaneous quests, almost all of which are now fully implemented and most of which are even reviewed:

• Jonado and Envy123 finished a couple of miscellaneous quests for Firewatch, including a story of addiction (lightly based on a 2010 quest by immortal_pigs, The Greatness, and MSam) and the return of what must be the greatest of old TR quests – Gummidge, originally by Graff and groza528 (2007). Both of these were reviewed by abby and are now ready to be merged.
• Miner Problems by CogAndStar (reviewed by abby and ready to be merged) was an easy port of an old 2009-2012 Helnim quest by MMMowSkwoz and Zobator. This is now a poisoning story taking place in the lucrative Vantus diamond mine on the outskirts of Firewatch.
• Soul Swipe by hardycore (reviewed by Dev Shah and ready to be merged) is a simple thieves’ task, given only to members of House Telvanni. It is adapted from an old Helnim Thieves Guild quest by Shapeshifr, immortal_pigs and 6+.
• Still pending review is Double Meaning by crdgdr, being an exploration of the tense relationship between House Telvanni and Firewatch’s most prominent ex-Telvanni, the court mage Selura.
• In Helnim, two quests are offered in the tiny local Mages Guild: Starry-Eyed, a simple fetch quest by Evil Eye (adapted from a 2007 version by Bloodthirsty Crustacean), was reviewed by abby and is now merged. In Lamplit by Am’Shak, a rare Lamp Knight of the Mages Guild has been posted to guard the tiny Helnim guildhall; your job is to figure out why (pending review).
• Seeking a Friend by pralec (reviewed by abby) is a slight edit of a 2010 quest by MSam, wherein you help a Dunmer man in Tel Gilan find their old friend in Helnim. It is now ready to be merged.
• Dwemer Dealings by Wanax (reviewed by Dev Shah and ready to be merged) has you assisting the Imperial Archaeological Society in their investigation into the illegal Dwemer artifacts that have been flooding the Helnim black market. This one is based on 2008-2010 work by Bloodthirsty Crustacean and MSam.
• Complicated Competition by crdgdr is a different take on your standard alchemist rivalry. Starting in Tel Gilan, this one is a straightforward port of the lovely old 2011 quest by immportal_pigs, The Greatness, MSam and Bloodthirsty Crustacean. It was reviewed by pralec and is ready to be merged.
• Literary Critic by hardycore is inspired by old 2009-2012 quests from MSam, MMMowSkwoz, and The Greatness. Here, you can help a budding literary critic in Helnim submit their rather biting critiques of contemporary novels to the Ebonheart Bellman newspaper. This one, too, is still pending review.
• Four miscellaneous quests in Bal Oyra and Althoa by Wanax were reviewed by abby and are ready for merging. Two are in Bal Oyra, including the return of the infamous and nostalgic 2007 “Muskflies in Bal Oyra” quest by groza528 (now much less annoying), and a rework of another small 2007 quest by Starcrunch, where you help a tailor recover his lost cloth shipment. The third one explores the relationship between Bahrammu villagers and their Telvanni master at Tel Rivus (inspired by Ludovic’s 2007 quest) whereas the fourth one in Nivalis involves an orc accused of reaving (inspired by a 2007 groza528 quest).
• Ready for merging is also the Book of Worms by SACarrow and PoasterToaster (reviewed by Dev Shah and Mortimer) – a brand new quest for Althoa wherein you help Nira Uldram, the ruler of Tel Rivus, find an especially rare tome of the necromantic kind. PoasterToaster also made a follow-up quest as part of their showcase.

Despite getting started almost on accident, Embers of Empire is an expansion that we will be particularly proud of, as the content here reflects our most up-to-date quality standards – we hope you will enjoy playing it in the future as much as we are enjoying making it.

The next expansion after Dominions and Embers will see TR reach towards the south, fleshing out the shore of Lake Andaram, including the seedy Hlaalu trade port of Hlan Oek. TR has been working on the exteriors included in this expansion since 2017, but last year, as the assets required for the Othreleth Woods region were being finalized, we decided to add a buffer of exterior claims to the west of the previously finished lands, so that players wouldn’t have to stare out into the void as they go about quests near Hlan Oek.

Chef finished the northern half of this buffer, claim Thirr Valley 08, which is the first one to make use of our Othreleth Woods assets, helping define the canonical look of a region that will be the main focus of our exterior developers for the next couple of years. Recently, MinerMan60101 reviewed the claim and merged it into our Hlan Oek section file.

The second claim of the western buffer, Thirr Valley 07, was made more recently by Blackbird, a prolific TR exterior and interior modder from the late 00s and early 10s who has decided to return to TR. The claim was then reviewed by Chef and is already merged into our in-development section file. With that, the exteriors of the expansion are completed, barring future adjustments.

Most of the recent interior work here stemmed from an overhaul of the town of Hlan Oek, done earlier in the year by Vern and Chef, the aim of which was to make the locality more congruent with its planned themes. Although the majority of the overhaul was completed by summertime, some big-ticket interiors remained in development. Now, even those are done, and together with other previously reviewed interiors, they were all merged into the section file, following reviews by Vern, Mark, Peter, and Jackimoff Wackimoff:

• Hlan Oek’s governor’s manor by PartiallySane,
• the keep housing House Hlaalu’s main garrison in the city, made recently by Khazar, and a watchtower by Aidan1470;
• the Hlan Oek Tribunal Temple, the town’s most significant institution (aside from the Cammona Tong), made two years ago by mojo187 and recently expanded by Vern;
• the newly completed town sewers by Rats, Peter, and Khazar, crawling with the Cammona Tong;
• two taverns: a fancy Hlaalu cornerclub by Syzygy, refitted from a 2020 version by Phenoix12, and a much seedier Cammona Tong cornerclub, recently refitted by Nirvayn from TheDarkKnight’s original;
• two merchants, including a successful slaver’s business by Dubba_D, refitted from TheDarkKnight’s 2020 version, and a pawnbroker peddling fake artifacts, also by Dubba_D;
• a ship under repairs by Anneryl;
• and five residences, including the home of a rich Hlaalu merchant by Syzygy (refitted from an original claim by Evil Eye), a caravaner’s house by Tombomb47, a street trader’s residence by Syzygy, and two apartment blocks for the poor part of town by Syzygy and Fremennik, respectively.

Outside of Hlan Oek, some further stragglers got merged, including the Idathren Governors Mansion by Vern, transplanted from an older claim for Hlan Oek by TheDarkKnight; a Velothi tower home to the Kenassa Tong (a guild of free scholars) by Fremennik; two caves in the wilderness, including an underwater one in Lake Andaram by Syzygy, and one inhabited by a warlock coven, made by bDacc, and two ancestral tombs on Veloth’s path, both by Tiefling (reviews by MinerMan60101, Mark, Vern, and Cicero).

Some final interiors in the western side of the section file were only recently opened for work by Chef. While most of these are still awaiting claimants, a troll cave by Ataemus, two tombs in the Othreleth Woods by RDV, and a grotto in Lake Andaram by bDacc are already waiting for review.

With all of the above done, the Hlan Oek expansion is finally ready for its NPCs, dialogue, and, soon, quests – just in time for when the questing work of Embers and Dominions is winding down. In fact, pralec and Revane have already finished adding NPCs and generic dialogue to Hlan Oek and the new stretch of Veloth’s path. PoasterToaster is currently doing the same in the village of Idathren.

Finally, abby has been polishing her proposal for a House Hlaalu questline in Hlan Oek, which seeks to demonstrate the Indoril-Hlaalu conflict on the Thirr, whereas Taniquetil is doing the same for her Almas Thirr Mages Guild questline that focuses on research into soulbinding, and Vern on a small Almas Thirr Thieves Guild proposal.

The Hlan Oek expansion is, hence, in quite a mature state – hopefully its release cycle will go much quicker than that of Dominions, especially since the scope is considerably smaller.

The Sundered Scar expansion will be quite similar to Embers, in that it will overhaul some of our least successful older content – the lands surrounding the southeastern shore of the Inner Sea, just to the east of Old Ebonheart. So far, the expansion has only been in the conceptual stage, but this has recently changed due to Cicero’s efforts in getting the required assets ready. Hence, Sundered Scar has now officially started development.

Even before these latest developments, Cicero had already finished the first part of the expansion’s landmass, our new version of the island of Gorne in the Inner Sea, built mostly in the style of Azura’s coast. (Yes, we know that we already released an island of Gorne in another location in 2013. That island will be retained with some minor changes and a rename.) In addition to that, he has started work on the Sundered Scar proper, establishing the basic look of the region in claim 06. This claim is host to the largest of the region’s scathes – i.e., large sulfurous pools rimmed with geysers and steamers.

In parallel, Chef has started on claim 04 in order to establish the look of the region’s coasts. In doing so, he will also rebuild and upsize TR’s ancient shack-town of Darvonis in the Velothi style, to serve as an unofficial capital for the neglected Sundered Scar. Meanwhile, Denis418, fresh off his successful exterior showcase, is chipping away at claim 05, consisting of areas immediately to the north of Almalexia, including the new village of Varon. Finally, Selengor has now started on claim 03, the easternmost part of the Sundered Scar including the volcano Mount Telnaro and a new fortress, Farasimayn.

Expect much more movement on Sundered Scar following the release of Dominions and Embers!

The Narsis expansion will be our largest one in the near future and will include a huge chunk of Morrowind landmass to the south of Hlan Oek. The biggest news with the expansion is that the gilded city of Narsis itself, the second-largest in the province and certainly the richest, is finally exterior-complete! Chef labored for two years over this masterpiece, and the end result is worth every minute. Wolli’s modular Hlaalu architecture set shines best here, where wealthy councilors compete to build opulent manors and imposing towers. Despite exuding wealth, the city was designed from the ground up with performance as a central concern. As a result, the drawables count, which is the main issue in that infamous FPS-hog, Old Ebonheart, remains well within performant bounds.

With the city’s exterior complete, it was high time to prioritize filling out the nearly 200 interiors needed to bring it to life. And to say that the interior developers went to town would be an understatement. By current reckoning, 54 interiors in the city have been merged, a further 5 are reviewed but not yet merged, and 24 are finished, but awaiting review – all of this since early August. Furthermore, 15 Narsis interiors are currently in development. Yet, almost a hundred more are needed for this massive metropolis. In fact, Narsis claims are being opened up piecemeal – as both the Market and St. Veloth’s quarters are close to being finished, new ones were made available on the Narsis Waterfront and the rich Council Quarter up on the central mesa; the large Foreign Quarter still remains on the backburner.

Many developers have come together to make this feat possible, but the star among them is undoubtedly Khazar, who has made fully 41 of the claims listed above! Among many others, these include 20 residences, primarily apartments, for the town’s middle-class and poor inhabitants; two small tanna plantation farmhouses in the Market Quarter; five traders and service providers, including a store specializing in Nibenese imports; two taverns; the city’s nortwestern gatehouse and garrison, as well as four guard towers; the headquarters of the Cat Catcher’s Tong, a slave hunter company; the ancestral manor of the Omayn family, from before their move to Omaynis in the Roth Roryn; and, lastly, the entirety of the massive multi-claim Castle Narsis complex, just south of the city – this is home to the disgraced Duke of Narsis, Fethas Hlaalu, and one of the richest residences in the Narsis area. (We suspect the person “Khazar” may in fact be a consortium of elite interior developers under disguise.)

But other developers have been no slackers, either:

• Osidian has already finished 8 interiors for Narsis and is working on more. These include the primary Morag Tong hall of the Narsis District, displaying all of the tong’s edgy theatrics; the sewers of the St. Veloth Quarter, home to the Beggar’s Tong, and some work on the Waterfront sewers, host to a Cammona Tong stash; a tanna club/skooma den; a weaponsmith’s store; three residences for the city’s inhabitants; and a warehouse for the Hlaalu Council Company. They are currently working on the Council Quarter Casino – an expensive hotel and casino owned by the Cammona Tong that specializes in scamming outlanders.
• Fremennik has finished five interiors: the city’s biggest slave market; the hall of the Sailors and Shipbuilders Tong, acting mainly as a recruitment office and flophouse for sailors; an alchemist in the Waterfront Quarter; and two claims of residential apartments. They are currently working hard on what must be the largest interior TR has done in years – the Hlaalu Grand Council Hall in the epicenter of Hlaalu power.
• Aidan1470, too, contributed five Narsis claims – an inn by the drawbridge north of the city, a Cammona Tong-affiliated fletcher’s shop, and three residential claims – and is working on a waterfront sailor’s pub.
• Lucevar made three interiors in the city: a farmhouse for a drumpear farm on Narsis’ outskirts, an outfitter’s shop, and a couple of poor apartments.
• Aside from reviewing, Mark finished a major interior of his own: the Grand Bazaar, the most lively market in the whole province, containing a rich and ostentatious upper gallery and a more modest lower level. He is currently working on something equally ambitious, namely the manor of the Second Hlaalu Family – the richest residence in the entire province, and home of the Hlaalu Grandmaster. In addition, he is chipping away at a couple of apartments.
• Aveno contributed two ships: a Dunmer vessel transporting kwama eggs and an East Empire Company trade galleon.
• Maurvir has finished two interiors, one of them a rug salesman’s residence, the other a commoner’s home, and is working on a waterfront residence home to a cultist.
• Vern, although mostly focused on reviews, finished the underlevel of the Grand Bazaar. He also did some work on the Hall of Farmers and Labourers, an influential guild representing the interests of both the city’s farm owners and dock workers, and is now coordinating the development of a huge apartment tower in the St. Veloth’s quarter containing a market, two stores, and 20 apartments, mostly home to the poor or sketchy. The apartments are parceled out as individual claims to other developers.
• Exovian completed a small fishery run by the Brewers and Fishmongers Tong, and a couple of apartments in one of the towers in St. Veloth’s quarter.
• Nirvayn made two apartment residences, one for a member of the Astrologers Guild.
• RandomPal completed the St. Veloth’s quarter Council Club, a major dive bar and Cammona Tong hideout, and an enchanter’s shop.
• revenorror, typically an asset developer, tried their hand with a pawnbroker’s shop and the home of an agoraphobic Dunmer merchant-recluse.
• uikaii finished the Hall of Tanners and Miners, a guild which represents the interests of both the miners living in the squalor of St. Veloth’s quarter and the wealthy mine owners in the Council Quarter, and an apartment complex.
• Jackimoff Wackimoff is coordinating the second one of those huge apartment towers in St. Veloth’s quarter, containing 14 apartments of mostly poor residents, which are split out as separate claims.

There were also a ton of one-offs finished, including a well-off tanna and corkbulb farmhouse by Blackbird, and several residential apartments by Denis418, Lumpag, rayetaspen, Thal (Fürst Thal), and Black0ut – the last one being an interior developer showcase. Still in development are the office and bank of the Hlaalu Council Company, representing the Hlaalu’s combined business interests across Tamriel, by Peter; the manor of the Sixth Hlaalu Family – founders of the Hlaalu Council Company – by PartiallySane; Narsis’ Mages Guild hall – one of the most important in the province, hosted in one of the city’s iconic towers – by Taniquetil; the lesser of Narsis’ two Tribunal Temples, being made as a showcase by our returning developer, Hemitheon; and two apartments being made as showcases by PoasterToaster and BobPage.

Many of the above-listed interiors were in fact refitted from among the hundred-plus interiors made in 2009 for TR’s prior iteration of Narsis. The ones used here were originally made by Aeven, Andres Indoril, agram, blackbird, Bero, C-A-G-E, Evil Eye, Haplo, Hemitheon, Katze, Kiteflyer61, Stryker, and Yeti.

Lastly, crucial in our development of Narsis have been the interior reviewers, Vern, Mark, Peter, Jackimoff Wackimoff, and Taniquetil, who have helped onboard and mentor so many of our interior developers, coordinated and organized all of the Narsis claims (together with Chef), and have gone into overdrive to ensure quality and stylistic coherence in the finished interiors.

Narsis, as massive of an effort as it is, is only one part of its eponymous expansion. Let’s turn to the other parts now, with equally good news – thanks to Chef’s recent efforts, all required claims in the expansion are now finished!

The area outside Narsis is divided into the Coronati Basin region and the Shipal-Shin, with a little bit of the Othreleth Woods thrown in on the side. Soon after completing the big city, Chef also finished the final outstanding claim in the expansion, Thirr Valley 06, which contains the wealthy town of Ud Hleryn in the Coronati Basin region, the mouth of the river Kanit, and a slice of the Othreleth Woods. A long time in the making, this claim first passed through the hands of Nemon and Gnomey, prior to being finalized by Chef. Furthermore, Chef reviewed mojo187’s claim Shipal Shin 10, holding the Septim’s Gate pass to Cyrodiil and some of the highest parts of Shipal-Shin.

Hence, in terms of exteriors for the Narsis expansion, all that is still required is reviews of two claims, potential tweaks to older Coronati Basin landscapes, and, if asset work permits, a buffer of Deshaan Plains to form a more natural eastern border for the expansion.

Together with the last bits of exterior work, Chef, Vern and our other interior reviewers have been scouting locations for interiors, brainstorming claim descriptions and putting them up on the website to make sure all needed locations in the Narsis expansion can be seen to by our interior developers. The latter have, in the meanwhile, been busily mopping up those claims already available.

The beefy town of Ud Hleryn is getting closer and closer to complete – the manor of a widely hated ex-Redoran lord, made a while ago by PartiallySane, was recently merged, as was the town’s Imperial Legion garrison by Ataemus (both reviewed by Mark). Additionally, two apartment buildings by Ragox and Denis418, and Exovian, respectively, are now awaiting review, whereas the town’s native Temple of Dibella received work by Vern, but is still in-progress.

In and around the Coronati Basin, some long-ago-reviewed interiors were finally merged, including the tower-manor of the lord of Ald Marak by Phenoix12, the last Redoran holdout in the Coronati Basin; a small plantation house by laflamenca; a fisherman’s shack by S’Wit; a bandit tent by Am’Shak; as well as two underwater grottos and a nix hound den, all by Ataemus. Newly made and reviewed interiors include the mansion of the governor of Othmura by Osidian; a tradehouse in Ald Marak by Vern, servicing Deshaan traders; a ruined Redoran hut by Denis418; an under-assault ancestral tomb by Ataemus; and a shipwreck in Lake Coronati by christixn (reviews by Vern, MinerMan60101, and Jackimoff Wackimoff). Finished and awaiting review are a destroyed Redoran guard tower by Snailsting; two ranch houses and a partially looted ancestral tomb by RDV; as well as an outlander-ran ranch complex, a lonely fisherman’s shack, plus various bits of three different Tanna, Suj, Corkbulb, and Hackle-Lo farm complexes, all by Khazar. Khazar has additionally made progress on another plantation manor, which is not yet finished.

In the Shipal-Shin region, a ton of “old” claims were finally merged, including all of the huge Adavrin Netch Ranch complex, parts of it made by Peter (1, 2), christixn (1, 2), and Fremennik; the Temple of False Thinking at the source of the Thirr river by Cicero; four different tent camps for the desert clans (formerly known as the Red Swarm Militia) by Anneryl, Khazar, Peter, and roerich; a storage house for a tanna farm by Jackimoff Wackimoff; and a small ancestral tomb by christixn. Among more recent work, the guardhouse at Stormgate Pass – a border post for travel to Black Mash – and two ancestral tombs, all by Khazar, were merged, as was another large tomb by Myxinidae. A manor for a wealthy tanna farm by Fremennik is also reviewed (reviews by Peter, Mark, Jackimoff Wackimoff, Cicero, and Vern).

Finished and pending review are several parts of the sprawling Vedas Plantation by Exovian and Khazar (1, 2) (Aidan1470 is still working on the manorhouse); the semi-humble manor of Mama Dren (including a guard tower) by Khazar, where the famous Dren brothers got their start; another smaller Drumpear farm by Khazar and Osidian; as well as two Velothi towers, one by Lumpag, housing a Dark Brotherhood cell, and another by Serpentbyte, home to a desert clan.

As the Shipal-Shin cave tileset is very close to the finish line, Chef has also put up preliminary claims for most caves in the region, to be opened as soon as the assets become available to our interior developers.

NPCs, dialogue, and quests for the Narsis expansion are still a ways off, but those developers more invested in Narsis have been bouncing around ideas for the main themes and protagonists of the city and its surroundings for a while. Some fruits of these discussions can be seen in Vern’s recent lore proposals, which lay out the eight families of House Hlaalu and the nomadic desert clans. abby has also already made proposals for the Imperial Legion questlines in Ud Hleryn and Narsis.

You can probably tell that the team is very excited to be working on Narsis in particular!

The Kragenmoor expansion, which will round out the final remaining bits of southwestern Morrowind, will take some years before coming to fruition. Although exterior claims for it were opened in early 2022, there wasn’t much movement on this expansion for a while, as other exterior work took precedent. Now, with Narsis exteriors all but finished, more attention has turned towards Kragenmoor as well.

In the north of the expansion runs the western stretch of the sacred Veloth’s path, starting in Shadowgate pass and going through Kragenmoor; the two linked claims remain claimed by Nemon, who has made substantial progress on the wilderness parts in the past year. In the past few months, other exterior claims along the road have picked up pace as well. S’Wit did preliminary work on Othreleth Woods 03, just to Kragenmoor’s west. In this one, Veloth’s path passes through the Othreleth Woods proper and the village of Hla Rud, which services the trade coming down from Shadowgate Pass. The path continues into Chef’s Othreleth Woods 04, where it passes rather close to a particularly dense and dangerous part of the woods. Chef finished most of the points of interest, including a Chimer stronghold and a Dwemer ruin, and laid down some of the woodland areas before turning his attention to other exterior claims. Finally, the path runs through Blackbird’s Othreleth Woods 05, before continuing on to our Hlan Oek expansion. This last claim is generally cleared of forest, as it contains the massive Narusa winery, controlled by one of the most powerful of Hlaalu councilors, which Blackbird has already laid out.

Towards the south, along the widest part of the Kanit river, is Fremennik’s Othreleth Woods 09 that includes a Hlaalu-aligned Velothi settlement, a Daedric ruin, the ruined Redoran fortress of Ald Lambasi and more. Most of the points of interest are mapped out and some of the woodlands built. To its west is the claim 08 by Saddboye, host to the Hlaalu village of Narun, a Mages guild outpost, and several plantations. Saddboye has finished the main parts of the claim, with wilderness detailing progressing steadily.

Nestled against Cyrodiil’s border is a relatively wild stretch of the Shipal-Shin region. Sevenup243 is building a large part of this subregion, directly north of the area slated for the Narsis expansion, in Shipal-Shin 11. This claim contains high-level ruins, goblin caves and desert clan camps, and is already quite mature with some more detailing needed. Tombomb47’s claim 13 just to its north is similar, but hosts a decent-sized plantation and windmill; most development focus so far has centered on building up the plantation. Finally, just south of Kragenmoor are Phenoix12’s Shipal-Shin claim 16 and the adjacent Othreleth Woods 02. The former is the furthest along among all Kragenmoor expansion exteriors, being nearly completed. It features a dramatic rise from the Kanit river valley floor to the highest parts of Shipal-Shin and the Velothi mountains. Nestled in the valley is the Hlaalu mining village of Salvelis. The latter claim is a deep and dangerous stretch of Othreleth woodlands; Phenoix12 just added one of Morrowind’s few Reman Imperial ruins in this location.

As you can see, the last great patch of unmade land in the southwest of Morrowind is finally starting to shrink as more and more of the Othreleth Woods and Shipal-Shin get detailed. Expect some changes here as we further nail down the final look of the mushroom forest and clarify the scope of this expansion.

Aside from these big-ticket expansions, there are our island mini-expansions, which made a little progress in the interiors department. Namely, Jackimoff Wackimoff just recently reviewed a ruined gatehouse by Evil Eye, one of the remaining interiors for TR’s version of Firemoth, whereas Osidian is working on Vadridan, a pirate-inhabited Telvanni tower on the island of Olanar, nearly on the edge of the world.

Unmentioned among all of the claims above is the massive effort that goes into fixing bugs and inconsistencies in the wider mod. Evil Eye has been most active in this regard, giving our dialogue and NPCs a much-overdue cleaning, heroically digging through two decades of cruft in our main plugin. Using the T_D Standards Validator, a program of his own making, he has been fixing object IDs to conform to our standards, re-filtering and making consistency edits to dialogue, adding missing scripts and items to NPCs, replacing redundant unique containers with suitable generic ones and much, much more.

Taniquetil, too, has been replacing deprecated items, adding in new stuff from Tamriel_Data, and fixing many item placement bugs. She has also made an effort to improve many of our travel networks, including the propylons.

Cicero made a variety of consistency edits to the mod, especially regarding all things Daedric.

abby, Why, and Jackimoff Wackimoff have merged most of the new quests so far, fixing the innumerable issues that arise when all of these claims are squeezed into a single plugin.

Finally, we should mention that MinerMan60101, always eager to improve our older work, took the drastic step of deleting every single rock arch of the Roth Roryn, Red Mountain, or Grazelands variety present on the mainland. These arches, a mainstay of vanilla’s West Gash region, were hugely overused in old TR. It turns out that with some minor edits to fix resulting voids, their removal leaves the remaining landscape much more pleasant to look at.

Lastly, we’d like to highlight the many new developers that have joined or are in the process of joining our team in these past few months. As you know, we ask prospective developers in roles that involve the TES III Construction Set requires to make a showcase – either an exterior claim, interior location, or quest – adhering to the TR standards and showcase guidelines. This is not an adversarial process; rather it’s a guided learning exercise, where we help potential developers build their skills. Happily, there have been a total of 24 new showcases since July 2022:

Exteriors

• Saddboye’s Azura’s Coast-style island passed a review from Chef, and gained them an exterior developer badge. Since then, Saddboye has claimed and made significant progress in Othreleth Woods 08, especially on the town of Narun.
• Denis418 submitted an island in the style of Bitter Coast, which was reviewed by Chef, too. After getting his exterior role, Denis418 has been working on the claim Sundered Scar 05.

Interiors

• RDV’s ancestral tomb showcase successfully passed Mark’s review. They have been especially productive since then, contributing six nicely made interiors – two Hlaalu ranches, two critical caves in the Velothi Mountains, and two ancestral tombs – and are working on a third tomb.
• Maurvir submitted a Hlaalu house and was promoted after review by Mark. They have finished two Narsis interiors since then, both of which are already merged.
• Nirvayn, a long-time friend of the project and concept art contributor, finally decided to contribute an interior showcase consisting of a Hlaalu dwelling. Promoted after a review from Vern, he has already finished three interior claims: two double residences for Narsis and a critical Camonna Tong Corner Club for Hlan Oek.
• uikaii submitted a Hlaalu interior and received a dev badge from Vern. Afterwards, they contributed two Narsis claims: the Hall of Tanners and Miners and a double apartment.
• Rayetaspen was on our Discord server for only a few weeks before they decided to join the project. With guidance from Vern, they become an interior developer in half a day. They have already finished their first claim – the home of a paranoid Khajiit in Narsis.
• Black0ut joined in September and finished their showcase in a matter of two hours, thanks in part to Vern’s quick feedback during the process.
• God Tartaros, who is new to modding in general, submitted their showcase to TR, but eventually continued it on the Project Tamriel side, where Taniquetil took responsibility for guiding them. The showcase is still in process.
• bDacc made a cave interior that passed a successful review from Vern. The following day, they proceeded with making more caves and have by now contributed two critical dungeon interiors in the Lake Andaram area.
• Bob Page, who’s been playing TR for some time, decided to participate in its development as well. For their showcase, they claimed a residential apartment in Narsis and are nearing the finish line with Vern’s aid.
• Hemitheon, an illustrious TR developer from more than a decade ago, decided to return to TR modding once again, and is doing a showcase to catch up with current standards. They claimed and made one of Narsis’ Tribunal temple buildings, for which Jackimoff Wackimoff gave them feedback. Temporarily hampered by an illness, Hemitheon is back in business and awaiting feedback on the latest iteration of the interior.
• Nats482, a long-time province mod participant, continued his interior showcase with extensive feedback from Taniquetil and Vern.
• Sand submitted a standard Hlaalu house for their showcase and were soon promoted following Jackimoff Wackimoff’s reviews.
• SgtSleepyHead submitted an interior with a dramatic backstory. Following a round of feedback from Vern, the next iteration of the showcase is awaiting a response.
• Aveno created a Hlaalu interior and were swiftly promoted by Vern. They then moved on to finish two ships in the Narsis harbor.
• Snailsting, our helpful beta-tester who has followed TR for four years now, created a Bitter Coast cave for a showcase and received prompt feedback from Vern. Following the feedback, they were promoted in less than a day, and have already completed a Redoran ruin for TR.
• Olórin, an experienced Beyond Skyrim interior contributor, decided to join Project Tamriel. Following review and promotion by Taniquetil, they were automatically promoted on the TR side, too.
• DangerDog, also active as an asset developer for the Summerset Isles project, submitted an interior showcase in Project Tamriel, too. After back-and-forth with Fremennik, they received a promotion and joined the team.
• PoasterToaster is currently tackling an apartment in Narsis as an interior showcase and is waiting for feedback.

Quests

• Boyos wished to become both an interior and quest developer. Their showcase quest is a delivery job in Dondril that may lead you to saving a lost miner. It was reviewed by Mortimer and gained Boyos a promotion.
• CogAndStar made a brilliant showcase starting in Seyda Neen that granted them a quick quest developer badge from Mortimer. In the month since, CogAndStar has created one miscellaneous quest for Firewatch and a short Legion questline in Helnim.
• hardycore submitted a short adventure in Old Ebonheart. After receiving their developer role from Mortimer, they have shown great zeal by making two miscellaneous quests for Embers and one short questline for Dominions.
• pkk provided as their showcase an extensive adventure involving stolen scholarly research; potentially a great addition to our Embers of Empire content. Mortimer led them through the showcase process and granted them a developer badge.
• Revane came up with a great quest for Necrom as their showcase, which plays around with the topic of ghosts and involves one of the shipwrecks in the region. Mortimer reviewed their work and promoted them to a quest developer. Following the showcase, Revane finished two NPC and dialogue claims in the Hlan Oek expansion.
• PoasterToaster bravely tackled not one but three quest claims for their showcase – a mercantile quest in Menaan and two adventures on the island of Althoa. Dev Shah and Mortimer then reviewed them and gave PoasterToaster a quest badge. Since then, this new developer has been writing and implementing general NPCs and dialogue for the village of Idathren in the Hlan Oek expansion, and has already finished the lion’s share of the work.
• FlinSunset, already an established quest modder in the TES III scene, applied to be a TR modder with a showcase quest where you help a Mages Guild member resolve a debt with the Camonna Tong. After a couple of rounds of iteration with Mortimer, FlinSunset successfully passed the showcase and become a developer.

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That’s it for the mod implementation progress this past quarter! As you can see, we are drawing quite close to finishing our double-expansions Dominions and Embers. We can still give no precise dates, as these reviewing-and-polishing stages tend to drag out. Still – expect to see the release sooner rather than later!

As always, consider joining our Discord server to chat with developers or to keep better up-to-date with our progress. And if you would like to help us along in recreating the mainland of Morrowind as Bethesda would have done it, please join our development team! No prior modding experience needed; Morrowind modding is quite easy to pick up.

Credits: Denis418 for research and screenshots.