Factional & Major Questlines For Map1
Moderators: Haplo, Lead Developers
Factional & Major Questlines For Map1
Ok, our misc questing and the main quest are both going well, so it's time to begin discussing this kind of thing. I've compiled all of the old questlines except Molag Bal cultists into a document which you can find attached to this post. Have a read through and tell me what you think of them.
I haven't read all of them myself, but I like what I've seen of the Temple line that Starcrunch wrote, which is based around a conflict with Molag Bal cultists, a faction who could definitely be a great USP for TR, and whole lot of fun to play and to mod.
The FG line is now obsolete to a ceratin extent, but it wasn't terribly strong anyway.
As far as guildhalls and other such faction locations go, this is where we stand right now:
-FG: Firewatch
-MQ: Firewatch, plus very small presence in Bal Oyra
-TG: Firewatch
-IC: Firewatch, small shrine in Bal Oyra
-IL: Firewatch, Bal Oyra. (Not a priority, as much of the MQ is the kind of stuff the legion handle)
-MT: New guildhall should be added in PT
-TT: Ranyon-ruhn
-MB: Their old main base is now used for the MQ, but we could easily change Yashazmus ruin to be a Molag Bal shrine and move them there.
-Telvanni: everywhere bar Firewatch and Bal Oyra.
I consider the Telvanni to be a bit of a special case here, as they are pretty much the only faction with any real power on map1, something that we should try to represent. What I would like to have for them is this:
-The MQ (Telvanni side is nearly all done, just need to do some int work for it and two more quests)(Note that Rathra is the only Telvanni Lord of any real importance in this line)
-Chores to be given out by the Mouths
-A minor questline based around a power struggle between Eldale and Bal Gernak. (He should have gotten the Master position, but there was soem finagling that led to Eldale getting it) (4-5 quests per side, outcome changes Mouths in the Council House and some dialogue)
-A questline for Master Vaerin based around the Indoril trying to build more temples. (On map2, so it's not important until we get there)
-A possible later questline based around taking Dral's place on the Council. (Only possible after finishing the other Telvanni lines)
The first question that we have to ask is this: what exactly do we want to focus on? More miscs? More factions? A second MQ? (third, fourth, fifth )
I haven't read all of them myself, but I like what I've seen of the Temple line that Starcrunch wrote, which is based around a conflict with Molag Bal cultists, a faction who could definitely be a great USP for TR, and whole lot of fun to play and to mod.
The FG line is now obsolete to a ceratin extent, but it wasn't terribly strong anyway.
As far as guildhalls and other such faction locations go, this is where we stand right now:
-FG: Firewatch
-MQ: Firewatch, plus very small presence in Bal Oyra
-TG: Firewatch
-IC: Firewatch, small shrine in Bal Oyra
-IL: Firewatch, Bal Oyra. (Not a priority, as much of the MQ is the kind of stuff the legion handle)
-MT: New guildhall should be added in PT
-TT: Ranyon-ruhn
-MB: Their old main base is now used for the MQ, but we could easily change Yashazmus ruin to be a Molag Bal shrine and move them there.
-Telvanni: everywhere bar Firewatch and Bal Oyra.
I consider the Telvanni to be a bit of a special case here, as they are pretty much the only faction with any real power on map1, something that we should try to represent. What I would like to have for them is this:
-The MQ (Telvanni side is nearly all done, just need to do some int work for it and two more quests)(Note that Rathra is the only Telvanni Lord of any real importance in this line)
-Chores to be given out by the Mouths
-A minor questline based around a power struggle between Eldale and Bal Gernak. (He should have gotten the Master position, but there was soem finagling that led to Eldale getting it) (4-5 quests per side, outcome changes Mouths in the Council House and some dialogue)
-A questline for Master Vaerin based around the Indoril trying to build more temples. (On map2, so it's not important until we get there)
-A possible later questline based around taking Dral's place on the Council. (Only possible after finishing the other Telvanni lines)
The first question that we have to ask is this: what exactly do we want to focus on? More miscs? More factions? A second MQ? (third, fourth, fifth )
- Attachments
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- Questlines.doc
- (140.5 KiB) Downloaded 206 times
"It’s all been such a mistake. We were once little shrew-like animals. That would be so much better."
-Ophelia Benson
-Ophelia Benson
As I mentioned in the brief discussion in q1-60-mis, Morag Tong should be dealt with province-wide, instead of by region. The reason for this, other than the fact that that's how beth did it, deals with the scripting for redeeming writs. If you'd like, I can take another look and maybe it *can* be done easily enough by province.
Regardless of the decision, I do think that the morag tong should have a guildhall in PT, but there's no reason to hide it as per Sload's suggestion. Most of the guildhalls were in the open on Vv, except for Vivec, because the grandmaster was there.
Edit: Also, the questlines seem a bit long. I realize that quests are a lot of fun, but if I'm not mistaken, Morrowind generally had no more than five quests for any one guildhall (exceptions include IC, where everything was concentrated in Ebonheart, and Morag Tong, which was province-wide as specified above (Different guildhalls gave the same writs.)) I think we should trim them a bit, possibly adapting the cut quests for other areas. Remember that we still have five more maps, and some areas won't be as Empire-unfriendly.
Regardless of the decision, I do think that the morag tong should have a guildhall in PT, but there's no reason to hide it as per Sload's suggestion. Most of the guildhalls were in the open on Vv, except for Vivec, because the grandmaster was there.
Edit: Also, the questlines seem a bit long. I realize that quests are a lot of fun, but if I'm not mistaken, Morrowind generally had no more than five quests for any one guildhall (exceptions include IC, where everything was concentrated in Ebonheart, and Morag Tong, which was province-wide as specified above (Different guildhalls gave the same writs.)) I think we should trim them a bit, possibly adapting the cut quests for other areas. Remember that we still have five more maps, and some areas won't be as Empire-unfriendly.
Imagine my insult to find that "Raw Glass has no effect on you." I became very huffy at the implication that my intelligence could not be lowered further. Then again, I did just eat a piece of glass.
- Nomadic1
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I never liked the FG questline. No faction should ever try to take on the Telvanni head to head - they are just far too fucking powerful. Some of the other FG quests weren't all that bad though and we could definately implement some.
For the Morag Tong, we could delay adding any quests for them until we have properly decided whether to do them guildhall by guildhall or have a wide-reaching one. But I do feel as though the mainland is too big to have just one string of quests. To make it seem like stuff happens there though, we could add one or two misc quests into the guildhall.
For the Morag Tong, we could delay adding any quests for them until we have properly decided whether to do them guildhall by guildhall or have a wide-reaching one. But I do feel as though the mainland is too big to have just one string of quests. To make it seem like stuff happens there though, we could add one or two misc quests into the guildhall.
<insert witty signature here. i might spend time trying to come up with something, but its not like anybody reads these anyway>
Well, if we do decide to have a province-wide MT guild, we could just put placeholders in for writs that occur on other maps. We put in a dialogue flag that says 'THIS SPOT RESERVED FOR A WRIT IN MAP 3. THE CORRESPONDING QUEST HAS BEEN MARKED COMPLETE TO ALLOW YOU TO CONTINUE.' The reason for the capitals is, of course, so we can find it easily.
Imagine my insult to find that "Raw Glass has no effect on you." I became very huffy at the implication that my intelligence could not be lowered further. Then again, I did just eat a piece of glass.
Or you could have the MT divided by larger juristictions. For example, Maps 1 and 2 could go together, Maps 3 and 6, Maps 4 and 5. That way, you wouldn't have to make six different MT segments but also wouldn't have to make it so all-encompassing. The areas would end up being roughly the same size as Vvardenfell, which makes sense.
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A quick word on many things.
General: Groza is probably right that some of the quest lines are a bit long and should be trimmed.
The Temple/IC/Molag Bal: This line is pretty complicated, unfortunately I only wrote the Temple and IC line and have mangaed to lose the Molag Bal line wirtten by Theo (and maybe some others too). It's pretty involved and a new location need to be found for the cult. The quest can work without a Molag Bal Cult quest line (that is without the PC being able to join them) but it would probably be weaker.
The FG: I have already made the first 3 quests of that line (maybe even the first 4). None of them are inapproropriate for the map and it's before the main plot kicks off, so they can be reused if people desire.
Telvanni: The most important series in my opinion (Your house is your family; they are the organization that the PC has the most stake in, or at least that's how I've always felt with my PC's). These guys are so much fun to wirte for. I really would like to NOT sanction the knocking off of Lord Dral in a quest line. I always liked the idea that the highest position the player can achieve is Master (or maybe Magister). I also once had an idea for a quest line for Map 2 that would involve the player becoming the Lord of the Darconis Tower (and that this would be the PC's route to a Mainland Stronghold). It would also allow for the Telvanni influence to increase in Darconis (as in FW). I have some docs on this somewhere, I came across them the other day and will post them up sometime, though this is admitedly down the road (map 2). Also for the map 2, Telvanni have the Great Telvanni Library, which I made a questline for but never posted (it's about 5 quests). I like the conflict between Eldale, and Bal Gernak, but I always considered Eldale to be among the more able (if younger) Telvanni Mistresses, do you actually mean that Bal Gernak is more talented than Eldale or that he just *thinks* he is?
Telvanni/MG: I made a map 1 misc quest that has two additional quests for the player if they are part of the MG or Telvanni (they can only do one if they're part of both). This tells a story of spying and double crossing that gets the same man killed regardless of path (he's playing both sides). The telvanni contact for this quest is Eldale's mouth. I can't recall the MG contact but it's in a thread just a few posts down (call "Killing the Messenger"). It might be nice to have some of the Telvanni and MG quests play against each other for the guild lines, but care has to be made not to work around the main quest changes to map 1.
Morag Tong: Never really liked their quests, mostly boring assassiations, little room for background (since you normally kill and don't ask why), so I can't really be trusted to say anything nice about them. Plus tons of people seem to adore this cliched consept so this'll probably be the only thing I say about them... Oh except this: Targets of the Morag Tong should be Dunmer. The armistice allowed the Morag Tong to continue opporating amongst the Dunmer Great Houses but only amongst the Dunmer (and only in Morrowind). The Morag Tong should abide by this agreement because they are honorable. If you feel the urge to off the Duchess of Firewatch (or some other Non-Dunmer), Resist! That's a quest for the Dark Brotherhood (who have little powerbase in Morrowind and probably no quests in light of the Tribunal expansion).
Thieves Guild: Might be nice to set up another local criminal syndicate to compete with them...like the Cammona Tong on Vv. Otherwise they ought to be largely concentrated only in Imperial locations on Map 1 and 2 (Darconis and Firewatch), this makes them of pretty limited scope, then again that can still proved for some nice quests. I can't see them trying challenging the Telvanni and they just seem like the kind of organization that would draw the ire of the Telvanni. I imagine Map 3 as being one of their big locations (both Almalexia and Ebonheart are there and they could probably hid in a city as big as Almaexia and Ebonheart is a natural location for the Thieves Guild).
Imperial Legion: Not sure, they are mostly featured in the MQ, and are not a major force in Map 1 (or Map 2).
-Starcrunch
General: Groza is probably right that some of the quest lines are a bit long and should be trimmed.
The Temple/IC/Molag Bal: This line is pretty complicated, unfortunately I only wrote the Temple and IC line and have mangaed to lose the Molag Bal line wirtten by Theo (and maybe some others too). It's pretty involved and a new location need to be found for the cult. The quest can work without a Molag Bal Cult quest line (that is without the PC being able to join them) but it would probably be weaker.
The FG: I have already made the first 3 quests of that line (maybe even the first 4). None of them are inapproropriate for the map and it's before the main plot kicks off, so they can be reused if people desire.
Telvanni: The most important series in my opinion (Your house is your family; they are the organization that the PC has the most stake in, or at least that's how I've always felt with my PC's). These guys are so much fun to wirte for. I really would like to NOT sanction the knocking off of Lord Dral in a quest line. I always liked the idea that the highest position the player can achieve is Master (or maybe Magister). I also once had an idea for a quest line for Map 2 that would involve the player becoming the Lord of the Darconis Tower (and that this would be the PC's route to a Mainland Stronghold). It would also allow for the Telvanni influence to increase in Darconis (as in FW). I have some docs on this somewhere, I came across them the other day and will post them up sometime, though this is admitedly down the road (map 2). Also for the map 2, Telvanni have the Great Telvanni Library, which I made a questline for but never posted (it's about 5 quests). I like the conflict between Eldale, and Bal Gernak, but I always considered Eldale to be among the more able (if younger) Telvanni Mistresses, do you actually mean that Bal Gernak is more talented than Eldale or that he just *thinks* he is?
Telvanni/MG: I made a map 1 misc quest that has two additional quests for the player if they are part of the MG or Telvanni (they can only do one if they're part of both). This tells a story of spying and double crossing that gets the same man killed regardless of path (he's playing both sides). The telvanni contact for this quest is Eldale's mouth. I can't recall the MG contact but it's in a thread just a few posts down (call "Killing the Messenger"). It might be nice to have some of the Telvanni and MG quests play against each other for the guild lines, but care has to be made not to work around the main quest changes to map 1.
Morag Tong: Never really liked their quests, mostly boring assassiations, little room for background (since you normally kill and don't ask why), so I can't really be trusted to say anything nice about them. Plus tons of people seem to adore this cliched consept so this'll probably be the only thing I say about them... Oh except this: Targets of the Morag Tong should be Dunmer. The armistice allowed the Morag Tong to continue opporating amongst the Dunmer Great Houses but only amongst the Dunmer (and only in Morrowind). The Morag Tong should abide by this agreement because they are honorable. If you feel the urge to off the Duchess of Firewatch (or some other Non-Dunmer), Resist! That's a quest for the Dark Brotherhood (who have little powerbase in Morrowind and probably no quests in light of the Tribunal expansion).
Thieves Guild: Might be nice to set up another local criminal syndicate to compete with them...like the Cammona Tong on Vv. Otherwise they ought to be largely concentrated only in Imperial locations on Map 1 and 2 (Darconis and Firewatch), this makes them of pretty limited scope, then again that can still proved for some nice quests. I can't see them trying challenging the Telvanni and they just seem like the kind of organization that would draw the ire of the Telvanni. I imagine Map 3 as being one of their big locations (both Almalexia and Ebonheart are there and they could probably hid in a city as big as Almaexia and Ebonheart is a natural location for the Thieves Guild).
Imperial Legion: Not sure, they are mostly featured in the MQ, and are not a major force in Map 1 (or Map 2).
-Starcrunch
Yes, I did remember reading that the MT only target dunmer someone on TIL, but one of the "advanced" targets in Vv is Varro, the imperial who asks you to clear out the Camonna Tong in Balmora. I should check the CS and see if they said anything in particular about that.
Honestly, I haven't actually read through the questlines posted yet (primarily because, as I said, they're *long.*) I will do so shortly.
Honestly, I haven't actually read through the questlines posted yet (primarily because, as I said, they're *long.*) I will do so shortly.
Imagine my insult to find that "Raw Glass has no effect on you." I became very huffy at the implication that my intelligence could not be lowered further. Then again, I did just eat a piece of glass.
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They don't, and we (I mean TR) fought about this for ages in the old days... the side against killing non-Dunmer won IIRC (then again I was on that side so maybe I'm misremebering ). I don't really care, but killing non-Dunmer should at most be an advanced quest like the it was in Vv (also I think the advanced quests were just a bit of a last minute addition, a kind of "hmm we need someone big to kill at the end! I know we'll knock off Varro, Therana, Baladas, and umm... well I can't recall the fourth guy). Anyhow no big deal, as I don't really plan on being involved in any Morag Tong discussions this time around. Incidentally I've never done any of those as those three folks are my favorite NPC's in the game (Varro's quest proposition to kill of the Cammona Tong is my favorite dialogue in all of Morrowind).
-Starcrunch
-Starcrunch
Alright, taking a few pointers from Beth's work (reference: UESPwiki)
House Telvanni: Apart from Aryon, as he is your mentor, most Telvanni councilors had three quests for you. Two were given by their mouths, and one in person. I recommend a similar setup, though we can stray a little bit if we wish. The main quest would be the equivalent of Aryon's quests, though Rathra's mouth might still have a couple of quests for the player.
Tribunal Temple: Each questgiver gave four or five quests in Morrowind, and with the exception of the High Fane there was never more than one questgiver at any one location. While I could see questline like this in, say, Necrom, it seems like an awful lot to put in a temple-light area like Telvannis, especially with only one temple available. Sorry Starcrunch, but I think this one either needs to be moved to Necrom, where it could even form an integral part of the map2 MQ, or severely cut down.
Morag Tong: including the initiation Writ, there are 12 "regular" writs in the game. There are also 9 "special quests" by Eno Hlaalu (usually pertaining to weakening the dark brotherhood in some way or other; only two are assassinations, per se) and 4 Grandmaster Writs: Varro, Therana, Bero, and Demnevanni. Our landmass is, what, twice the size of Vvardenfell? So we probably want about twice as many total quests. That would be 50. I would say no more than ten "special quests" and 5-10 Grandmaster writs, with the balance being standard writs. That's five or six standard writs per map, but they shouldn't be in a regional order.
Fighters Guild: This one seems to break my "rule of five" by having roughly eight quests per guildhall. This questline is a bit long, and as Nomadic said, the fighter's guild can't hope to take on the Telvanni. Especially not on their home turf. I think we could probably salvage a couple of these quests, but overall this needs an overhaul.
More comments to come, but for now I'm off to bed as I work in the morning.
House Telvanni: Apart from Aryon, as he is your mentor, most Telvanni councilors had three quests for you. Two were given by their mouths, and one in person. I recommend a similar setup, though we can stray a little bit if we wish. The main quest would be the equivalent of Aryon's quests, though Rathra's mouth might still have a couple of quests for the player.
Tribunal Temple: Each questgiver gave four or five quests in Morrowind, and with the exception of the High Fane there was never more than one questgiver at any one location. While I could see questline like this in, say, Necrom, it seems like an awful lot to put in a temple-light area like Telvannis, especially with only one temple available. Sorry Starcrunch, but I think this one either needs to be moved to Necrom, where it could even form an integral part of the map2 MQ, or severely cut down.
Morag Tong: including the initiation Writ, there are 12 "regular" writs in the game. There are also 9 "special quests" by Eno Hlaalu (usually pertaining to weakening the dark brotherhood in some way or other; only two are assassinations, per se) and 4 Grandmaster Writs: Varro, Therana, Bero, and Demnevanni. Our landmass is, what, twice the size of Vvardenfell? So we probably want about twice as many total quests. That would be 50. I would say no more than ten "special quests" and 5-10 Grandmaster writs, with the balance being standard writs. That's five or six standard writs per map, but they shouldn't be in a regional order.
Fighters Guild: This one seems to break my "rule of five" by having roughly eight quests per guildhall. This questline is a bit long, and as Nomadic said, the fighter's guild can't hope to take on the Telvanni. Especially not on their home turf. I think we could probably salvage a couple of these quests, but overall this needs an overhaul.
More comments to come, but for now I'm off to bed as I work in the morning.
Imagine my insult to find that "Raw Glass has no effect on you." I became very huffy at the implication that my intelligence could not be lowered further. Then again, I did just eat a piece of glass.
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Telvanni: I think straying here may not be a bad idea. I don't think the MQ really brings the players rank up too much (and it doesn't provide a tower, which should be a major part of advancing past Master status in Telvanni), and doing an odd chore here or there shouldn't qualify them (for higher status) if helping in the MQ doesn't. On the other hand I think this is an issue for Map 2 once it's in quest phase, and the suggestion for low level chores may be quite good until that time.
Temple: I agree, moving it to Necrom would be a good idea. I don't think it should be the MQ of map 2; however, as Necrom is only one city on the Map and the quest doesn't have much to offer as far as interaction with other major factions in Map 2. This of course would require a rewrite to a small extent, but we could still use some of the M1 pilgramige sites. The only Temple presence on Map 1 I'm aware of is in Ranyon Rhun.
EDIT: Hmm... on the other hand the logic of the quest line is partially lost if it is based in Necrom... it really hinges on the Temple NOT being a major faction; I'm afraid it really has to be scrapped if not used on Map 1 (or perhaps later in Dres territory). No daedric cult is going to be able to operate like this in Necrom's orbit...this quest line hinges on weakness of both the Empire and the Temple coupled to Telvanni Apathy with reagards to daedra worshopers (who are at the very least bright enough not to screw with House Telvanni). This quest would play out much differently if a contingent of Ordinators were on hand (i.e. the Ordinators arrive and kill everything that moves, not really a whole lot for the PC to do without making the Temple seem incompetent and I'd rather not do that, too many faction lines already hinge on incompetence of a faction).
Morag Tong: Seems like way too many to me...really 50 is an awful for just one map.
EDIT: Or did you mean all of the Morrowind Province? Then it seems like too few.
-Starcrunch
Temple: I agree, moving it to Necrom would be a good idea. I don't think it should be the MQ of map 2; however, as Necrom is only one city on the Map and the quest doesn't have much to offer as far as interaction with other major factions in Map 2. This of course would require a rewrite to a small extent, but we could still use some of the M1 pilgramige sites. The only Temple presence on Map 1 I'm aware of is in Ranyon Rhun.
EDIT: Hmm... on the other hand the logic of the quest line is partially lost if it is based in Necrom... it really hinges on the Temple NOT being a major faction; I'm afraid it really has to be scrapped if not used on Map 1 (or perhaps later in Dres territory). No daedric cult is going to be able to operate like this in Necrom's orbit...this quest line hinges on weakness of both the Empire and the Temple coupled to Telvanni Apathy with reagards to daedra worshopers (who are at the very least bright enough not to screw with House Telvanni). This quest would play out much differently if a contingent of Ordinators were on hand (i.e. the Ordinators arrive and kill everything that moves, not really a whole lot for the PC to do without making the Temple seem incompetent and I'd rather not do that, too many faction lines already hinge on incompetence of a faction).
Morag Tong: Seems like way too many to me...really 50 is an awful for just one map.
EDIT: Or did you mean all of the Morrowind Province? Then it seems like too few.
-Starcrunch
For the Morag Tong quest, I advise taking a leaf from Oblivion's Dark Brotherhood quests and spice them up a bit. The idea of bonus if the murder is done a certain way (without being noticed, without killing anyone else, leaving a signature item on the scene, bringing something back, etc.) is worth some consideration.
For example, a contract may request that someone is slain by a special weapon, provided to the Morag Tong agent when he accepts the mission. This would tie to a little backstory behind the contract (to continue my example, it can be motivated by revenge, and the weapon then belonged to someone the target betrayed).
For example, a contract may request that someone is slain by a special weapon, provided to the Morag Tong agent when he accepts the mission. This would tie to a little backstory behind the contract (to continue my example, it can be motivated by revenge, and the weapon then belonged to someone the target betrayed).
Yes, 50 was for the whole province.
Edit: That was an estimate considering that the landmass of the mainland was about twice that of Vvardenfell. Looking at the map again, it seems I underestimated. 75-80 might be more in line.
Edit: That was an estimate considering that the landmass of the mainland was about twice that of Vvardenfell. Looking at the map again, it seems I underestimated. 75-80 might be more in line.
Last edited by groza528 on Fri Feb 09, 2007 1:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Imagine my insult to find that "Raw Glass has no effect on you." I became very huffy at the implication that my intelligence could not be lowered further. Then again, I did just eat a piece of glass.
I am now working on recreation of the Molag Bal quests. I still can remember some basic outline of the non-conflict part (the confclict one was part of Starcrunch's IC x TT quests and was made by him, so I guess you might have it somewhere). I will post the outline soon.
The Fighters guild was my job, but it is not my idea that it involves conflict with Telvanni. It was a general consensus that each questline on map 1 has to have 10+ quests and has to contain some conflict with Telvanni or whatsoever. (Look at MG, IL...)
Also many people wished to have some conflict inside FG and some MG influence in it. So I gathered some isolated misc. quest ideas and added the surrounding plot, which reveals how manipulated, crazy and insane must have members of FG become first, to challenge Telvanni and makes it at least a little believable, I hope-
If you want to use only some mercenary quests of it (1-5, 7 are good ones, I believe) I will be a bit sorry because of the big efforts I invested into assembling of the plot and characters so that it held at least a little bit together, but anyway - my wish was that there were only 5 mercenary quests for M1 FG originally as well and recently my wish is that there were no Mx versions of vanilla guild quests at all if possible, so it is up to you completely, which quests you want to make.
EDIT: Another problem with such a number of quests: Location and NPC conflicts! The MB really had to be in Lambinatha, as
it is quite hidden location. Yashazmus is place of Mehrunes Dagon worshippers who kidnap Melie in Lost Fiancee quest in GS outline. Perhaps completly new site will be required and some NPCs will have to be altered as well. (Mistress Eldale will have some parts in Main Quest and Gah Sadrith quests as well so...)
The Fighters guild was my job, but it is not my idea that it involves conflict with Telvanni. It was a general consensus that each questline on map 1 has to have 10+ quests and has to contain some conflict with Telvanni or whatsoever. (Look at MG, IL...)
Also many people wished to have some conflict inside FG and some MG influence in it. So I gathered some isolated misc. quest ideas and added the surrounding plot, which reveals how manipulated, crazy and insane must have members of FG become first, to challenge Telvanni and makes it at least a little believable, I hope-
If you want to use only some mercenary quests of it (1-5, 7 are good ones, I believe) I will be a bit sorry because of the big efforts I invested into assembling of the plot and characters so that it held at least a little bit together, but anyway - my wish was that there were only 5 mercenary quests for M1 FG originally as well and recently my wish is that there were no Mx versions of vanilla guild quests at all if possible, so it is up to you completely, which quests you want to make.
EDIT: Another problem with such a number of quests: Location and NPC conflicts! The MB really had to be in Lambinatha, as
it is quite hidden location. Yashazmus is place of Mehrunes Dagon worshippers who kidnap Melie in Lost Fiancee quest in GS outline. Perhaps completly new site will be required and some NPCs will have to be altered as well. (Mistress Eldale will have some parts in Main Quest and Gah Sadrith quests as well so...)
- Attachments
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- MB.TXT
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Last edited by Theo on Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
THEO
The Telvanni should be our main focus here, and they're so fragmented that we can have multiple questlines for them. We have one (the MQ) that deals with them fighting with the Imperials (But largely just looking for more power, the Imperials happen to be in the way ) There will also be a questline based around Vaerin's conflict with the Indoril. The rest of their quests should be based around internicine warfare, with each main player having their own agenda.
This is how I see the main players in House Telvanni:
-Rathra: Power-hungry, very smart, very bitter and willing to do anything for power. Probably holds more sway than anybody else on the Council, but also has enemies. (Master rank, Tel Ouada)
-Mithras: cares about this subjects (in a strange way, rather like you or I would care about an ant farm) Is more concerned with stability than anything else. Not held in very high esteeem by the rest of the Council, he's seen as quite weak. (Master rank, Ranyon-ruhn)
-Eldale: New, ambitious and talented. Very high opinion of herself in general. Has some powerful friends that managed to ensure that she got the seat ahead of Gernak. (Master rank, Gah Sadrith)
-Faruna: Pretty much oblivious to the world around her. Spends most of her time in her lab with her maneater plants, which she sees as her children. Not much of a political role that I can see, as of yet. (Master rank, Tel Oren)
-Rilvin Dral: Head of the Council, but doesn't pay any heed to it these days. Completely ignores politics, and his area is so deep in Telvanni territory that there is no outside influences. He hasn't left his tower for years, spends large amounts of time in his ever-changing pocket-world. (Arch-Magister rank, Port Telvannis)
-Bal Gernak: Angry. He's angry that the Council promoted Eldale in his stead. He's angry that nobody seems to notice how prosperous Gah Ouadaruhn is these days. He's powerful and power-hungry. (Wizard, Gah Ouadaruhn)
-Master Vaerin: Wants to be left alone by the Temple. His family were the strongest supporters the Temple had in Telvanni lands, but he hates them. This means he could be trying to rid their influence from his lands and destroy the local peasants' beliefs. (Master, Alt'Bosara) (This is very much my own ideas, and not near as settled as the others)
-Nerrusa (I think that's his name, he's the Mad Lord of Darconis anyway) This guy is absolutely nuts. His tower is right beside the crumbling old Imperial stronghold of Darconis. I can't see him having any real agenda as such, but maybe Starcrunch's idea of taking his stronghold would be fun to implement. (And then doing quests that involve corrupting the Imperials in Darconis even more)
-UNNAMED: Whoever owns Tel Muthada. I can't remember there being any lore for what goes on here.
On Bal Gernak & Eldale:
The brown book mentions that Eldale is "a former mouth of Altmer descent" Bal Gernak has a bigger town under his control, and he seems older, so I can't imagine him not being a bit miffed by this Altmer upstart taking a Council seat ahead of him. This is mentioned in his dialogue, if you manage to get his disposition up good and high. Being able to change the composition of the Council would be a nice effect for the player to have on the area. (Simple enable/disable and some journal-based local dialogue)
On Dral:
I don't think the player should be able to bump this guy off. I see him as being the mainland equivalent on Fyr, in some ways. What would be nice would be some quests where the player has to returun to his pocket world, in order to be allowed onto the Council or something.
On Mouth quests:
Two apiece sounds good. It would also be a nice way for the player to build up the rank needed to work for Rathra. (Not high, rank 4)
On the MQ:
Won't give the player more than a few ranks, as it's mostly Rathra's pretty highly secret plotting.
On the Great Library:
Place could have some interesting quests. Could you post up the old line if you still have it?
On Telvanni strongholds:
I think the player should be able to get a second stronghold on the mainland. Crunch's Darconis idea is a pretty good one, but it would destroy a great character (the Mad Lord) An alternative would be to give the player a new tower in Bahrammu. It has nobody watching it, and no real governmental presence. (Except for the tax collector who's there for a later quest hook) Using Bahrammu would have the advantage of allowing the player to see their stronghold go up.
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The FG line will need to be largely re-written. The first few are good, but the central premise is quite weak. Goons for hire just don't attack ancient uber-wizards and live. (yes, the FG are hired goons )
I really like Starcrunch's TT/IC/MB line. Yes, the Temple gets a bit too much of a look in, but that is kinda the point of the line, that they're bit players. Perhaps we could make the conflict part of the FG line tie in with this one by making them be the muscle for the cult. (Some small changes to IC & TT lines would be needed)
As far as a location for the cultists goes, we can always build a new ruin. (I think that an obvious ruin with a hidden extra part would be a nice idea, use movement scripts instead of doors, so you wouldn't be able to see the blatantly obvious yellow square on the mini-map) Map1 is kinda short on daedric ruins anyway.
As far as the Morag Tong go, we'll have to leave them out, at least for now. There's no way we can use them until we at least have map2 quest-ready. (Goes to hit up detailers )
This is how I see the main players in House Telvanni:
-Rathra: Power-hungry, very smart, very bitter and willing to do anything for power. Probably holds more sway than anybody else on the Council, but also has enemies. (Master rank, Tel Ouada)
-Mithras: cares about this subjects (in a strange way, rather like you or I would care about an ant farm) Is more concerned with stability than anything else. Not held in very high esteeem by the rest of the Council, he's seen as quite weak. (Master rank, Ranyon-ruhn)
-Eldale: New, ambitious and talented. Very high opinion of herself in general. Has some powerful friends that managed to ensure that she got the seat ahead of Gernak. (Master rank, Gah Sadrith)
-Faruna: Pretty much oblivious to the world around her. Spends most of her time in her lab with her maneater plants, which she sees as her children. Not much of a political role that I can see, as of yet. (Master rank, Tel Oren)
-Rilvin Dral: Head of the Council, but doesn't pay any heed to it these days. Completely ignores politics, and his area is so deep in Telvanni territory that there is no outside influences. He hasn't left his tower for years, spends large amounts of time in his ever-changing pocket-world. (Arch-Magister rank, Port Telvannis)
-Bal Gernak: Angry. He's angry that the Council promoted Eldale in his stead. He's angry that nobody seems to notice how prosperous Gah Ouadaruhn is these days. He's powerful and power-hungry. (Wizard, Gah Ouadaruhn)
-Master Vaerin: Wants to be left alone by the Temple. His family were the strongest supporters the Temple had in Telvanni lands, but he hates them. This means he could be trying to rid their influence from his lands and destroy the local peasants' beliefs. (Master, Alt'Bosara) (This is very much my own ideas, and not near as settled as the others)
-Nerrusa (I think that's his name, he's the Mad Lord of Darconis anyway) This guy is absolutely nuts. His tower is right beside the crumbling old Imperial stronghold of Darconis. I can't see him having any real agenda as such, but maybe Starcrunch's idea of taking his stronghold would be fun to implement. (And then doing quests that involve corrupting the Imperials in Darconis even more)
-UNNAMED: Whoever owns Tel Muthada. I can't remember there being any lore for what goes on here.
On Bal Gernak & Eldale:
The brown book mentions that Eldale is "a former mouth of Altmer descent" Bal Gernak has a bigger town under his control, and he seems older, so I can't imagine him not being a bit miffed by this Altmer upstart taking a Council seat ahead of him. This is mentioned in his dialogue, if you manage to get his disposition up good and high. Being able to change the composition of the Council would be a nice effect for the player to have on the area. (Simple enable/disable and some journal-based local dialogue)
On Dral:
I don't think the player should be able to bump this guy off. I see him as being the mainland equivalent on Fyr, in some ways. What would be nice would be some quests where the player has to returun to his pocket world, in order to be allowed onto the Council or something.
On Mouth quests:
Two apiece sounds good. It would also be a nice way for the player to build up the rank needed to work for Rathra. (Not high, rank 4)
On the MQ:
Won't give the player more than a few ranks, as it's mostly Rathra's pretty highly secret plotting.
On the Great Library:
Place could have some interesting quests. Could you post up the old line if you still have it?
On Telvanni strongholds:
I think the player should be able to get a second stronghold on the mainland. Crunch's Darconis idea is a pretty good one, but it would destroy a great character (the Mad Lord) An alternative would be to give the player a new tower in Bahrammu. It has nobody watching it, and no real governmental presence. (Except for the tax collector who's there for a later quest hook) Using Bahrammu would have the advantage of allowing the player to see their stronghold go up.
_______________________________________________
The FG line will need to be largely re-written. The first few are good, but the central premise is quite weak. Goons for hire just don't attack ancient uber-wizards and live. (yes, the FG are hired goons )
I really like Starcrunch's TT/IC/MB line. Yes, the Temple gets a bit too much of a look in, but that is kinda the point of the line, that they're bit players. Perhaps we could make the conflict part of the FG line tie in with this one by making them be the muscle for the cult. (Some small changes to IC & TT lines would be needed)
As far as a location for the cultists goes, we can always build a new ruin. (I think that an obvious ruin with a hidden extra part would be a nice idea, use movement scripts instead of doors, so you wouldn't be able to see the blatantly obvious yellow square on the mini-map) Map1 is kinda short on daedric ruins anyway.
As far as the Morag Tong go, we'll have to leave them out, at least for now. There's no way we can use them until we at least have map2 quest-ready. (Goes to hit up detailers )
"It’s all been such a mistake. We were once little shrew-like animals. That would be so much better."
-Ophelia Benson
-Ophelia Benson
Something I've tried with success on one of my pet mods (that I've neglected for far too long by the way, but I don't have much free times these days) is putting enable/disable scripts on teleporting doors.Ludovic wrote:(I think that an obvious ruin with a hidden extra part would be a nice idea, use movement scripts instead of doors, so you wouldn't be able to see the blatantly obvious yellow square on the mini-map) Map1 is kinda short on daedric ruins anyway.
Not only does it work as nicely as expected, but as a bonus, a disabled door does not reveal a yellow square on the local map; though the square appears once the door is enabled.
Perfect for locations that should only be discovered once triggered by a quest, or for hiding stuff. (For example, a script could enable the door once the player stumbles at a place where the door is really discovered, I've used that in labyrinths. Just at the last angle before the exit is in sight lies an unobtrusive activator that enables the exit door if GetDistance Player is small enough. The exit is thus impossible to find by looking at the map.)
For the sake of variety, I'll post my thoughts on the FG:
The Imperial Legion is being recalled to the Imperial Provence due to the growing unrest, and even with the duchess' strong leadership it was never too powerful in the Map 1 region anyway. That being established, who protects the law and does dirty work for the population? The Telvanni don't care, the Imperial Legion is too weak, so there is a niche. That's where the FG comes in, it sees the opportunity to get a foothold in the region and starts to become active. Maybe they would even hire locals who in turn would try and send aspiring adventurers over to the FG.
I was thinking that there would be a foreground of quests similar to the Bal Molagmar, where you try and get the locals to trust in the FG, from simple things like settling a mole crab rebellion, (just an example, I believe that a similar misc quest is already being made), to a mass clearing of smuggler dens. After the player does some of these quests and gets some rank, he is initiated into more plot based activities that have been going on in the background. I haven't put much thought into this part, but basically it might be anything from illegal scheming, like taking over the cleared smuggler dens and their underground slave trade, to the more direct route of knocking off weaker factions.
This idea is still very much in the making, and I'll need to change it a bit before it sounds right, but that's basically my idea.
The Imperial Legion is being recalled to the Imperial Provence due to the growing unrest, and even with the duchess' strong leadership it was never too powerful in the Map 1 region anyway. That being established, who protects the law and does dirty work for the population? The Telvanni don't care, the Imperial Legion is too weak, so there is a niche. That's where the FG comes in, it sees the opportunity to get a foothold in the region and starts to become active. Maybe they would even hire locals who in turn would try and send aspiring adventurers over to the FG.
I was thinking that there would be a foreground of quests similar to the Bal Molagmar, where you try and get the locals to trust in the FG, from simple things like settling a mole crab rebellion, (just an example, I believe that a similar misc quest is already being made), to a mass clearing of smuggler dens. After the player does some of these quests and gets some rank, he is initiated into more plot based activities that have been going on in the background. I haven't put much thought into this part, but basically it might be anything from illegal scheming, like taking over the cleared smuggler dens and their underground slave trade, to the more direct route of knocking off weaker factions.
This idea is still very much in the making, and I'll need to change it a bit before it sounds right, but that's basically my idea.
Re: Imperial guilds in general, and particularly the fighters guild.
We don't need every imperial guild in map 1 to be in an all-out war with the Telvanni. In Vvardenfell there was some conflict between the fighters guild and the thieves guild, but it took place over the entirety of Vvardenfell. The fighters guild vs. the Telvanni is a suicide mission, as has been discussed, and especially when you consider that they're mounting the attack from one guildhall.
The thing about the Telvanni is that yes, they're powerful mage-lords, but they can't agree on anything and therefore fight too much amongst themselves to be a major threat to the Empire. Remember, the rules of the Telvanni are that "Technically you're not supposed to kill fellow Telvanni, but if you do, nobody will really care." Sure, there may be some meddling and the fighters/mages would be forced to defend or counterstrike, but primarily, the fighters guild should either do simple mercenary quests or else find another target (cultists?), probably a combination.
Re: Tribunal Temple
I do like the questline, but as I said, it's a lot for a single temple. That's about three times what any temple on Vv gave. I would prefer to see such a long questline in, say, Indoril lands. We can still ask the player to travel to nearby Telvanni lands to deal with the cult presence.
In Telvannis, I would expect the Temple quests to reveal more around "getting the Temple accepted in Telvanni territory" as hinted by the brown book, discussion of Master Vaerin, and the renovated Lost in Translation quest.
Re: Morag Tong
As corrected above, the mainland is more than twice as large as Vvardenfell, so 50 quests might be a bit short. Agreed that we should hold off at least until we have a functional map 2.
Re: Mages Guild
In Vv, roughly 30 quests with a varying number per guildhall. Recommend 7-8 in Firewatch, *maybe* 1-2 from Bal Oyra. See above, probably don't want to tackle the Telvanni full force.
Re: Thieves Guild
5-6 quests in Firewatch, as per Beth's example.
The current questline seems... dramatic. There was no "invitation" in Vvardenfell, no tests. Also, I disagree that someone who just picks random locks isn't fit for the thieves guild. What I especially don't like, and this may just be a personal peeve, is timed quests. Admittedly, I made a couple of them myself (Sick Siltstrider, what what), but I think on the whole we should avoid them.
I have no problem with the smuggling. The part about being attacked by the legion is again, dramatic, and also a bit unbelievable. The thieves guild tends to keep outside criminals in check. As long as things don't get seriously out of hand, they would be the lesser of two evils, and therefore tolerated.
Re: cultists
I haven't seen a questline yet, but if I'm not mistaken the Molag Bal cultists are a relatively small and new organization, yes? As such, their primary goals should be expansion, recruiting, and defense. How widespread are the Molag Bal cultists, and weren't we discussing a cult of Boethiah at one point? If so, they would probably be a target of the cultists, as they are probably comparable in scope, and because it's established that Molag Bal and Boethiah don't get along.
Seeing as they're a new guild, they should have a fair number of quests, which depends on how widespread they are.
I also like the suggestion that at least one Molag Bal cultist be a vampire, as Molag Bal is supposed to be the father of vampires.
Re: Imperial Cult
Overall I like it as long as it jibes with the Molag Bal cultists line. Just make sure we don't go overboard on the IC on the mainland as a whole-- On Vv all the IC quests were out of Ebonheart, and while the mainland is a bit big for just one base of operations we could probably concentrate in three or so, which means it's ok for those questlines to be more involved.
It's perfectly reasonable that they should want to take out the cultists. Personally I think the temple should have little involvement in the conflict, as described above-- the Temple is trying to expand into Telvanni lands, the IC really has no chance of doing that until there's more of an imperial presence.
Re: Imperial Legion
The Vv IL questline was relatively short (19), so I doubt we should put much more in beyond the main quest.
I think we're in agreement on the Telvanni, so I won't go much into them. However, I did want to say that I love the conflict between Eldale and Gernak. That is precisely the type of in-fighting I would suspect from the Telvanni. And as mentioned above, they can meddle with imperial affairs, but other than Rathra I don't think any of them are about to declare war: I think the Telvanni basically consider themselves untouchable, and they'd rather keep to their research.
Also, don't forget that there is still that summon Herne spell Eldale's been working on. That could be used somewhere (not necessarily a Telvanni quest, maybe someone wants the Thieves Guild to steal it or something.)
Alright, am I forgetting anyone? I think that's about where I stand on the guilds right now.
We don't need every imperial guild in map 1 to be in an all-out war with the Telvanni. In Vvardenfell there was some conflict between the fighters guild and the thieves guild, but it took place over the entirety of Vvardenfell. The fighters guild vs. the Telvanni is a suicide mission, as has been discussed, and especially when you consider that they're mounting the attack from one guildhall.
The thing about the Telvanni is that yes, they're powerful mage-lords, but they can't agree on anything and therefore fight too much amongst themselves to be a major threat to the Empire. Remember, the rules of the Telvanni are that "Technically you're not supposed to kill fellow Telvanni, but if you do, nobody will really care." Sure, there may be some meddling and the fighters/mages would be forced to defend or counterstrike, but primarily, the fighters guild should either do simple mercenary quests or else find another target (cultists?), probably a combination.
Re: Tribunal Temple
I do like the questline, but as I said, it's a lot for a single temple. That's about three times what any temple on Vv gave. I would prefer to see such a long questline in, say, Indoril lands. We can still ask the player to travel to nearby Telvanni lands to deal with the cult presence.
In Telvannis, I would expect the Temple quests to reveal more around "getting the Temple accepted in Telvanni territory" as hinted by the brown book, discussion of Master Vaerin, and the renovated Lost in Translation quest.
Re: Morag Tong
As corrected above, the mainland is more than twice as large as Vvardenfell, so 50 quests might be a bit short. Agreed that we should hold off at least until we have a functional map 2.
Re: Mages Guild
In Vv, roughly 30 quests with a varying number per guildhall. Recommend 7-8 in Firewatch, *maybe* 1-2 from Bal Oyra. See above, probably don't want to tackle the Telvanni full force.
Re: Thieves Guild
5-6 quests in Firewatch, as per Beth's example.
The current questline seems... dramatic. There was no "invitation" in Vvardenfell, no tests. Also, I disagree that someone who just picks random locks isn't fit for the thieves guild. What I especially don't like, and this may just be a personal peeve, is timed quests. Admittedly, I made a couple of them myself (Sick Siltstrider, what what), but I think on the whole we should avoid them.
I have no problem with the smuggling. The part about being attacked by the legion is again, dramatic, and also a bit unbelievable. The thieves guild tends to keep outside criminals in check. As long as things don't get seriously out of hand, they would be the lesser of two evils, and therefore tolerated.
Re: cultists
I haven't seen a questline yet, but if I'm not mistaken the Molag Bal cultists are a relatively small and new organization, yes? As such, their primary goals should be expansion, recruiting, and defense. How widespread are the Molag Bal cultists, and weren't we discussing a cult of Boethiah at one point? If so, they would probably be a target of the cultists, as they are probably comparable in scope, and because it's established that Molag Bal and Boethiah don't get along.
Seeing as they're a new guild, they should have a fair number of quests, which depends on how widespread they are.
I also like the suggestion that at least one Molag Bal cultist be a vampire, as Molag Bal is supposed to be the father of vampires.
Re: Imperial Cult
Overall I like it as long as it jibes with the Molag Bal cultists line. Just make sure we don't go overboard on the IC on the mainland as a whole-- On Vv all the IC quests were out of Ebonheart, and while the mainland is a bit big for just one base of operations we could probably concentrate in three or so, which means it's ok for those questlines to be more involved.
It's perfectly reasonable that they should want to take out the cultists. Personally I think the temple should have little involvement in the conflict, as described above-- the Temple is trying to expand into Telvanni lands, the IC really has no chance of doing that until there's more of an imperial presence.
Re: Imperial Legion
The Vv IL questline was relatively short (19), so I doubt we should put much more in beyond the main quest.
I think we're in agreement on the Telvanni, so I won't go much into them. However, I did want to say that I love the conflict between Eldale and Gernak. That is precisely the type of in-fighting I would suspect from the Telvanni. And as mentioned above, they can meddle with imperial affairs, but other than Rathra I don't think any of them are about to declare war: I think the Telvanni basically consider themselves untouchable, and they'd rather keep to their research.
Also, don't forget that there is still that summon Herne spell Eldale's been working on. That could be used somewhere (not necessarily a Telvanni quest, maybe someone wants the Thieves Guild to steal it or something.)
Alright, am I forgetting anyone? I think that's about where I stand on the guilds right now.
Imagine my insult to find that "Raw Glass has no effect on you." I became very huffy at the implication that my intelligence could not be lowered further. Then again, I did just eat a piece of glass.
Oh, a questline for knights in shining armor, paladins, and such good guys.Gnomey wrote:I was thinking that there would be a foreground of quests similar to the Bal Molagmar, where you try and get the locals to trust in the FG, from simple things like settling a mole crab rebellion, (just an example, I believe that a similar misc quest is already being made), to a mass clearing of smuggler dens.
I thought I was the only one still playing this kind of character. Everyone else is all about playing moragtong murderers, treacherous telvanni, and iniquitous imperials.
If the Argonian at Bal Oyra offers any quest, it would be more a misc. quest involving him personally than an actual Mages Guild quest. It's not a guild hall, just a relay that was added mostly so that Firewatch's guild guide would have at least one travel destination...groza528 wrote:In Vv, roughly 30 quests with a varying number per guildhall. Recommend 7-8 in Firewatch, *maybe* 1-2 from Bal Oyra. See above, probably don't want to tackle the Telvanni full force.
It would be lovely to make the spell, but we would first have to create Hernes. The work of the LCE team for Oblivion shows it's quite easy to do, though. I could cobble a Herne model if I have a good source for the horns and antlers. Mmh, gotta take a look at those deer models...groza528 wrote:Also, don't forget that there is still that summon Herne spell Eldale's been working on. That could be used somewhere (not necessarily a Telvanni quest, maybe someone wants the Thieves Guild to steal it or something.)
On other points, I agree with Groza.
Gnomey, please don't diabolize the Fighters. Thank you.
Last edited by Gez on Fri Feb 09, 2007 6:03 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Ok, I've started to draw up some plans for what to do with the Bal Gernak vs Eldale. I just started some rough ideas, so I'll post them later.
Each faction needs a political role of some sort, so bearing that in mind:
Mages' Guild:
Small questline, bear in mind that they also feature in the MQ. Maybe we could manufacture a small conflict between them and the TG as their conflict section.
Thieves' Guild:
See above. In the long run, perhaps we do need a local dunmer competitor for these guys.
Fighters' Guild:
Hired muscle to help the IC against the cultists?
Molag Bal cult:
These should be one of the most interesting factions to play, to mod and to write. As such, they should offer an experience unlike any seen in any other faction, with every one of their missions being based around Molag Bal's sphere as the Lord of Rape. Which means we should be referring vaguely to somewhat dubious pleasures of the flesh that the cultists are engaging in. They should be pretty depraved and disgusting people, these cultists. Personally, I always found the idea of a "Lord Of Rape" to be a pretty horrific one, far more scary than something like Mehrunes Dagon. Dagon kills you, Molag Bal defiles you.
This is something that we should try to hammer home. The Temple and the cult should be coming across people who have been shattered by the actions of these sickos. The cult of Molag Bal should scare the pants off you, but do so without ever being so obvious as to refer directly to what they are doing.
These are not nice people.
Temple:
Perhaps it would be wise to cut down the Temple's role in fighting the cultists and focus them more on trying to expand their reach in Telvannis. Perhaps we could make the non-conflict part of Crunch's line now, and have the conflict part be coordinated from Necrom.
Imperial Cult:
Pretty much as with Crunch's line, though I would suggest moving some of the later duties to the FG, so that we don't have too many quests for such an insignificant(in map1) faction.
Morag Tong:
Can't do anything about them yet. I say we open that can of worms again when map2 is open for quests.
Each faction needs a political role of some sort, so bearing that in mind:
Mages' Guild:
Small questline, bear in mind that they also feature in the MQ. Maybe we could manufacture a small conflict between them and the TG as their conflict section.
Thieves' Guild:
See above. In the long run, perhaps we do need a local dunmer competitor for these guys.
Fighters' Guild:
Hired muscle to help the IC against the cultists?
Molag Bal cult:
These should be one of the most interesting factions to play, to mod and to write. As such, they should offer an experience unlike any seen in any other faction, with every one of their missions being based around Molag Bal's sphere as the Lord of Rape. Which means we should be referring vaguely to somewhat dubious pleasures of the flesh that the cultists are engaging in. They should be pretty depraved and disgusting people, these cultists. Personally, I always found the idea of a "Lord Of Rape" to be a pretty horrific one, far more scary than something like Mehrunes Dagon. Dagon kills you, Molag Bal defiles you.
This is something that we should try to hammer home. The Temple and the cult should be coming across people who have been shattered by the actions of these sickos. The cult of Molag Bal should scare the pants off you, but do so without ever being so obvious as to refer directly to what they are doing.
These are not nice people.
Temple:
Perhaps it would be wise to cut down the Temple's role in fighting the cultists and focus them more on trying to expand their reach in Telvannis. Perhaps we could make the non-conflict part of Crunch's line now, and have the conflict part be coordinated from Necrom.
Imperial Cult:
Pretty much as with Crunch's line, though I would suggest moving some of the later duties to the FG, so that we don't have too many quests for such an insignificant(in map1) faction.
Morag Tong:
Can't do anything about them yet. I say we open that can of worms again when map2 is open for quests.
"It’s all been such a mistake. We were once little shrew-like animals. That would be so much better."
-Ophelia Benson
-Ophelia Benson
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Ludovic wrote: -Nerrusa (I think that's his name, he's the Mad Lord of Darconis anyway) This guy is absolutely nuts. His tower is right beside the crumbling old Imperial stronghold of Darconis. I can't see him having any real agenda as such, but maybe Starcrunch's idea of taking his stronghold would be fun to implement. (And then doing quests that involve corrupting the Imperials in Darconis even more)
-UNNAMED: Whoever owns Tel Muthada. I can't remember there being any lore for what goes on here.
On Telvanni strongholds:
I think the player should be able to get a second stronghold on the mainland. Crunch's Darconis idea is a pretty good one, but it would destroy a great character (the Mad Lord) An alternative would be to give the player a new tower in Bahrammu. It has nobody watching it, and no real governmental presence. (Except for the tax collector who's there for a later quest hook) Using Bahrammu would have the advantage of allowing the player to see their stronghold go up.
I'm actually working on a narrative along that deals with these lines, but have not worked out details. The old ideas for the Mad Lord ended in his death anyway (i.e. he's a fun character, but at the end of the fun he dies, either by the PC's hand or getting eaten by somehting nasty). Also he does not hold the rank of Master (he had been demoted) and he was positioned in Darconis by the machination of Eldale (perhaps we should make this Rathra now...) to cause trouble for the Imperials.
The narrative will also deal with Fort Windmoth and Tel Muthada as well. The Unamed person at Tel Muthada I'd like to have be rank Wizard, and on the lookout for a promotion (which they hope to secure via the PC's aid, in return for helping the PC of course).
This quest will also hinge on the PC NOT being allowed to get a rank higher than Wizard before the fall of the Mad Lord, and will utilize the mad lord to a much greater extent than simply murdering him! Hopefully I'll have a detailed line by tommorrow evening to post up a coherent idea.
I'm also thinking about the Eldale conflict, but have no ideas yet.
I really like Starcrunch's TT/IC/MB line. Yes, the Temple gets a bit too much of a look in, but that is kinda the point of the line, that they're bit players. Perhaps we could make the conflict part of the FG line tie in with this one by making them be the muscle for the cult. (Some small changes to IC & TT lines would be needed)
As far as a location for the cultists goes, we can always build a new ruin. (I think that an obvious ruin with a hidden extra part would be a nice idea, use movement scripts instead of doors, so you wouldn't be able to see the blatantly obvious yellow square on the mini-map) Map1 is kinda short on daedric ruins anyway.
I'm really glad you like the plotline . I think we should handle this in two parts. The first phase works quite well (with pilgramiges and all that other intro stuff) on it's own and should be made. The second phase should wait until we know we've implemented the other questlines. Then if there is someone who wants to do it we can worry about the complicated conflict part. I'm warry of moving it to map 2...this would basically be an Ordinator matter then (and the PC is not an Ordinator). The idea with using the FG is good, but I'm not sure it will be easy to implement as most of the interacting quest lines prohibit dual affiliation, while this naturally does not...
Wait I've had a terrific IDEA. We set the later phase based in Necrom, but Lord Vaerin won't allow the Temple to send troops and ordinators across his land to cleanse the cultists. This explains why the PC may still be involved in the later phase of the quests (and as a bonus adds a route for launching the Temple side of a short line with Master Vaerin).
-Starucrunch
What is your opinion on the Molag Bal questline I posted above? People here speak as if it was not there So far it is just a proposal for discussion based on what I remember original questline and structure of the cult were. You can also search archives for Daedric worshipers discusion and Codex of Molag Bal thread.
THEO
Oh wow, I completely glazed over it. Sorry!
Reading now.
Edit: Looks like a good line. This is the one questline I've seen that I think could stand to be *lengthened* because it is a brand new guild to TR, but I do like it. Here are a few more specific comments:
- How much do the other factions in the game know about the Molag Bal cultists?
- Molag Bal's sphere is domination and enslavement. Do you really think it would be acceptable to allow Salms Alan to leave the cult?
- I'd like to see more dealing with the vampires. Molag Bal is supposed to be the father of vampires; perhaps you could persuade some of the local vampires to join the cult. Perhaps, as in the DB in Oblivion, you will be given an opportunity to become a vampire.
- I would suspect that if a daedra came to Nirn, he would do more than just hide out and violate the Duchess of Firewatch... It would probably be better to either a) summon an aspect, like Hircine in Bloodmoon, or b) Somehow send the duchess to Coldharbour (MB's corner of Oblivion, for those who don't know).
- What happens to Firewatch when the duchess dies? She does die, I presume? Does someone else take over? If so, how does that affect the main quest, if at all?
Also, re: conflict between thieves and mages
I think this is fine, as long as we don't make it the entire questline. Have a couple of quests pitting them against each other over maps 1 and 2 (and maybe more.) I probably wouldn't put more than one quest per guildhall of this nature, possibly excepting quests from some boss like Gentleman Jim. The reason for this, of course, is to avoid having three quests in Firewatch where you're asked to steal from the mages guild, and also to show that the thieves (I relate better to thieves than mages, but all of this goes both ways) have other interests to pursue.
Reading now.
Edit: Looks like a good line. This is the one questline I've seen that I think could stand to be *lengthened* because it is a brand new guild to TR, but I do like it. Here are a few more specific comments:
- How much do the other factions in the game know about the Molag Bal cultists?
- Molag Bal's sphere is domination and enslavement. Do you really think it would be acceptable to allow Salms Alan to leave the cult?
- I'd like to see more dealing with the vampires. Molag Bal is supposed to be the father of vampires; perhaps you could persuade some of the local vampires to join the cult. Perhaps, as in the DB in Oblivion, you will be given an opportunity to become a vampire.
- I would suspect that if a daedra came to Nirn, he would do more than just hide out and violate the Duchess of Firewatch... It would probably be better to either a) summon an aspect, like Hircine in Bloodmoon, or b) Somehow send the duchess to Coldharbour (MB's corner of Oblivion, for those who don't know).
- What happens to Firewatch when the duchess dies? She does die, I presume? Does someone else take over? If so, how does that affect the main quest, if at all?
Also, re: conflict between thieves and mages
I think this is fine, as long as we don't make it the entire questline. Have a couple of quests pitting them against each other over maps 1 and 2 (and maybe more.) I probably wouldn't put more than one quest per guildhall of this nature, possibly excepting quests from some boss like Gentleman Jim. The reason for this, of course, is to avoid having three quests in Firewatch where you're asked to steal from the mages guild, and also to show that the thieves (I relate better to thieves than mages, but all of this goes both ways) have other interests to pursue.
Imagine my insult to find that "Raw Glass has no effect on you." I became very huffy at the implication that my intelligence could not be lowered further. Then again, I did just eat a piece of glass.
I'm going to start perusing in-game and try to develop questlines for mages and thieves... I may take some inspiration from the lines developed, but I'm thinking for thieves I'm going to focus mostly on magical items, seeing as it is Telvanni territory.
Imagine my insult to find that "Raw Glass has no effect on you." I became very huffy at the implication that my intelligence could not be lowered further. Then again, I did just eat a piece of glass.
The thieves don't get "ordered." They get hired. But yes, I do have a quest in mind in which the thieves were hired by one of the Telvanni councilors.
Imagine my insult to find that "Raw Glass has no effect on you." I became very huffy at the implication that my intelligence could not be lowered further. Then again, I did just eat a piece of glass.
Groza: Faruna might be a good choice for such a Councillor. She has little in the way of other roles. (She has a bit part in the MQ, but that's it)
Theo: I like the opportunities that some of the quests in that line offer, but I don't get the right feeling of depravity from what you have there. I would really like to expand what you have there to include some more ritual/worship based quests, while adding in some darker subtexts, hinting at the kind of perverted rituals that the cult of Molag Bal would be participating in. Also, Groza is making a lot of sense. Traitors to the cult couldn't but be killed. (That would make a nice quest too.)
Could somebody start throwing together some ideas for Telvanni Mouth quests? I'll make a couple of claims for them, if anybody is up for them.
Theo: I like the opportunities that some of the quests in that line offer, but I don't get the right feeling of depravity from what you have there. I would really like to expand what you have there to include some more ritual/worship based quests, while adding in some darker subtexts, hinting at the kind of perverted rituals that the cult of Molag Bal would be participating in. Also, Groza is making a lot of sense. Traitors to the cult couldn't but be killed. (That would make a nice quest too.)
Could somebody start throwing together some ideas for Telvanni Mouth quests? I'll make a couple of claims for them, if anybody is up for them.
"It’s all been such a mistake. We were once little shrew-like animals. That would be so much better."
-Ophelia Benson
-Ophelia Benson
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This is my quest line concerning the Telvanni and Darconis, I felt inspired and so finished it. I need to add three quests to Tel Muthada that are appended to the end if the PC wants to payback Llenari Telsaran with the PC's promissed support.
Introduction: Disposition of Forces near Darconis
Fort Windmoth: A de facto Telvanni stronghold. It is chronically understaffed and undersupplied, many of the soldiers are on the Telvanni payroll, and Arvs Rethrathi, the commander, is a member of House Telvanni in earnest. The fort is used to funnel Imperial supplies into Telvanni hands for clandestine operations. The game going on behind the scenes looks like this (pieces of this are available from the notes in the Windmoth interior, but its pretty obscure right now:
Darconis: This is the largest Imperial settlement in Telvanni territory. It has a minority Telvanni population principally clustered on the settlement’s east side, near the tower of Wizard Nerrusa (the Mad Lord of Darconis). Mining is the cities principal occupation, but it has provided only meager profits, and in particular the commoners are very poor. In addition disease is common, and Nerrusa has been making many problems for both the Imperials and the Telvanni. Civil unrest is high, particularly among the outlander poor, and it is threatening to boil over into riots. The “better†class of folks in Darconis believes the Telvanni are behind this unrest, which is for the most part false up to this point (excepting the trouble with Nerrusa). The civil administration led by the Duke or Governor of Darconis (unnamed as of yet) is inept at best and corrupt at worst. The city is held together by its military leader, the Knight Protector of Darconis (also unnamed), who is a true believer in the Empire. He has recently started a militia composed mainly of the local business owners (i.e. the “better†class) whose aim is to supplement the understaffed and patently corrupt lower ranks of the Imperial Legion. Recently when civil unrest reached a new height Fort Windmoth offered to send a cadre of soldiers to reinforce Darconis. These soldiers were ambushed and killed by House Telvanni on the orders of Arvs Rethari, then Telvanni retainers took their place, thus some Telvanni agents have slipped into the fold of Darconis’s legion force.
Tel Muthada: This is a Telvanni town that is home to a small Imperial outpost (like a small version of Wolverine Hall). The town is clustered around the tower of Wizard Llenari Telsaran, who badly wants to be elevated, so she can call herself the Mistress of Tel Muthada. The Imperial outpost is understaffed, but well run and the soldiers are loyal to their commander (unnamed) if not the Empire. There is some tension between the Imperial soldiers and the commoners but not nearly as much as in Darconis, or other places. The Legion mostly minds its own business, but can be counted on to kill bandits and monsters when they appear. The commoners don’t love the Empire or support the Imperials here but they don’t resent it to the same level as other settlements (i.e. the Empire has done a good job here of winning over folks or at least not losing them). Llenari can’t stand being under the Imperial boot, as she like to think, and wants them gone. She believes she can do just a good of job protecting her town as the Empire (and she is not wrong on this point, despite her bluster).
NPC Synopsis
Eldale: Councilor who engineered sending Nerrusa to Darconis to cause trouble for the Imperials. She is the one giving the overarching quest unless the PC has helped Bal Gernak take her place.
Rathra: Councilor who engineered the Firewatch campaign where the PC first distinguishes himself. Eldale once served as her mouth. While they are not exactly trusting of one another they do see expanding Telvanni influence as good policy.
Arvs Rethari: Knight Errant of Fort Windmoth, who is really a Telvanni. He is fastidious and direct. He easily impresses others and is held in high regard by most Imperials.
Knight Protector of Darconis: He’s a true believer. He really believes in the goodness of the Empire and will do anything to promote it. He will bend rules and break them at will, but never for personal gain. It is always in service of the Empire. He would burn villages and slaughter peasants for the good of the Empire. He is given to monologues, but should come across as methodical, intelligent, and sophistic in his reasoning. He should not be easily tricked (in the quest line it’s more that everyone else is tricked and he can’t swim against the tide, and as he tries he becomes tired and makes an error). He is not easily angered, but his inability to confront the Mad Lord in infuriating. Needs a name.
Governor or Duke of Darconis: This man is a foppish noble who received his position via nepotism. His interests are women, men, wine and money in that order. So long as he has those things he is easily controlled. His family is powerful; however, and both his parents are members of the Imperial Court. He was stuffed here to spare them embarrassment (and thus he resents them, rightfully), but they would not react kindly if he were murdered. Needs a name.
Llenteris Nalteren: Ranking member of the Telvanni agents in Darconis. Dies, before the PC ever meets him.
The Agent: A Telvanni retainer who helps the PC throughout the quest line. He is dry and boring, but intelligent and a capable administrator. If the PC wins he becomes the Governors aide. Needs a name.
Nerrusa: A Telvanni of rank Wizard, demoted from the council after he became mad. He is commonly called the Mad Lord of Darconis. He is an expert in creatures in addition to being very knowledgeable about magic. His instincts are top flight, even if he is incoherent and any attack is met with swift, cunning, and overwhelming force. He is very clean, and values cleanliness and speaks elliptically and poetically on all subjects. He is given to writing meaningless or often childish poetry for hours on end. He rarely leaves his tower, but everyone knows not to cross him. He’s loved by none, feared by all.
Llenari Telsaran: Wizard ranked Telvanni. She wants to be on the council and can’t stand the Imperial presence in Tel Muthada. She should be a competent administrator but brutal, and far less subtle than Rathra or Eldale. If she were a councilor her magical prowess would be on the low end of the spectrum (more like Mithras than Nerrusa or Dral).
Telvanni Infiltrators of the Imperial Legion: Right now simply generic, they came here as part of the ploy with Fort Windmoth described above. They should number about 5 or 6.
Plot Synopsis: The Darconis Gambit
General Information:
Requirements: MQ on map1 completed successfully for Mistress Rathra (or for Master Mithras, so long as Rathra does not know the PC betrayed her)
Story: If Eldale is still a councilor then Rathra tells the PC is told to visit her after finishing the MQ on map 1 and helping the Telvanni successfully (or if Rathra's plan fails but she does not know the PC was behind it). If the PC has placed Bal Gernak in Eldales’ stead, the PC is given this quest by Rathra herself. Eldale is the architect of the Darconis strategy, including the placing of Nerrusa in the tower there to cause problems. The PC is told that they will be assuming command of the Telvanni operation in Darconis, with the goal of bringing the Imperial forces to heel in that region. Also there is a cryptic hint that the reward for success will earn the PC a place on the council. The PC is dispatched with a sealed letter to Arvs Rethari at Fort Windmoth. If they open the letter nothing bad happens, Arvs in fact complements the player, saying that any sane Telvanni would do the same. The letter simply introduces the PC to Arvs who tells the PC of the disposition of forces and offers the support of Windmoth if the PC needs it, then he tells the PC the name of his contact in Darconis. The PC travels to Darconis where local quests take place. This quest is not closed and it is the overarching quest for the whole operation, all other quests take place under the auspices of this quest. It is closed when the PC has successfully forced the capitulation of Draconis to de facto Telvanni rule.
D1: Contact
Requirements: Letter in D0 delivered to Arvs Rethari.
Story: The PC cannot find his contact in Darconis, and asking for the man results in responses to the effect that his location is unknown. A few seconds later an Imperial Soldier will appear behind the PC and tell them that the contact named, Llenteris Nalteren, has been captured and is being held by the Knight Protector. The soldier is one of the Telvanni, from Windmoth; Arvs had sent along a messenger to the other Telvanni in Darconis informing them that the PC would be arriving (the PC only knows the name of the contact). This soldier directs the PC to a civilian on the Telvanni side of Darconis (who I’ll call the agent and is currently unnamed). The agent will tell the PC that they have been unsuccessful in procuring the release of Llenteris by the usual means. The agent has hatched a plan to free Llenteris, and strike a blow to the Imperials at the same time.
D2: Prison Break
Requirements: D1 complete
Story: The Telvanni have been planning a mass prison break for sometime to embarrass the Imperials in Darconis. The agent suggests using the prison break as a distraction, to get into the prison and free Llenteris, who is being held in its most secure cell (and under the eye of competent gaurds). This then takes place in two steps. First the PC must procure some supplies, he is told to find 5 scrolls of divine intervention and 1 scroll of recall, meanwhile the agent will procure 5 long swords for use in the prison break, he also gives the PC a legion uniform (from Windmoth), and a closed helm to wear so he won’t be recognized during the break. The PC can get the scrolls from Windmoth if they can’t find them elsewhere. Then the PC needs to help prepare for the breakout, which will occur at a set time, during daylight hours for maximum affect. The agent takes the 5 divine intervention scrolls and gets them delivered to the prisoners who will escape. Meanwhile the PC places the swords in a barrel near the site people appear when they use divine intervention. Also the PC must find a soldier in the Legion who is loyal to House Telvanni and tell them when the break will occur so that the soldier can be on the lookout and sound the alarm (thus allowing for a distraction!). Then at the appointed time the PC should be near the prison, when the alarm sounds (a sound effect, and some gaurds scripted to run toward the Imperial Cult chapel) the PC should enter the prison and bluff, bribe, or sneak his way through the prison to Llenteris’s cell. When the PC opens the cell he finds Llenteris dead. Entering and searching the body causes the PC to be hit by a major dispel magic effect, and a silence effect. The door shuts and locks and the Knight Protector force greets the PC, he gives a long monologue about the Empire and its virtues. He then makes it clear that the PC is about to be killed. Now the PC has a recall scroll and they had better use it, otherwise after 5 seconds the trap is sprung and a paralysis effect is applied (that is instantly reapplied if the PC tries to dispel it). The knight protector then carves up the PC with his sword. If the PC escapes and was wearing the helmet/guard uniform his or her identity is unknown and they proceed to D3. If they failed and were identified during the breakout they are sent home. If the PC enters the prison early there will be two guards flanking Llenteris’s door (who will not be bribed or tricked); in addition more guards will be found throughout the prison. If the PC does not enter the prison at all, the quest is failed but they may proceed to D3 (is angry the PC didn’t try but has learned Llenteris was already dead so, it was probably best that he not enter the prison). If the PC does not deliver the swords the prisoners are all slaughtered and the Legion is not embarrassed, the PC is admonished but may continue to D3. If the PC does not find the Telvanni legionnaire the break out is a clean get away, but there is no reduction in the number of guards in the prison, the last scene does not occur, but Llenteris is found dead (it’s like what happens if they don’t search the body). The prison break is discovered some hours later. In any event a new latest rumor springs up in Darconis.
NOTE: The Knight Protector knew Llenteris was a Telvanni spy and that someone would be coming for him, so he contacted the MG to get there assistance in constructing this trap. He recognized the mass breakout as a diversion and came immediately to Llenteris’s cell; he was not, however, tipped off and the PC was in no way betrayed. If the PC does not check the body the confrontation doesn’t occur (as they don’t enter the cell) and the end quest dialogue should reflect this, though it has no material differences for the rest of the quest line.
NOTE2: This probably sounds like a lot of work, but it’s really not that complicated to script, there is a lot of dialogue to write however, and a number of contingencies that must be considered in dialogue. Also the reason searching the body triggers the Knight Protector’s bit is that this is the one way of guaranteeing the PC is in the cell, and the trap is supposed to be in the cell, thus if they don’t search the body this won’t play out. It’s kind of annoying but I’d imagine 90% of folks will search the body, and the slightly different dialogue arc at the quest close will cover up the other 10%.
D3: Unto the Brink
Requirements: D2 complete
Story: The agent explains the trouble with the Knight Protector and that sadly murdering him in public is not an option. What is needed is a method to embarrass him, and then he can be pushed aside. With the Knight Protector gone, manipulating the weak civil government will be easy. The agent will suspect that Nerrusa can be used to the benefit of the Telvanni. The quest revolves around performing four tasks for the Mad Lord, which the legion can’t quite control, eroding the public confidence in the Knight Protector. On one side the PC works the mad lord quest line creating havoc, without being caught of course, and on the other the agent attributes the crimes to the Nerrusa. The legion can’t openly attack the Mad Lord, as he is far and away the most powerful NPC in Darconis, and not even the Knight Protector would last more than a few seconds against the Mad Lord and he knows it. This quest remains open until the 4 quests are complete.
NOTE: There is an old quest line for the Mad Lord, if someone posts it, we may be able to incorporate some of that (or replace some of these).
ML1: Trust
Requirements: D3 initiated
Story: Nerrusa lives in his tower, which is filled with monsters, the PC needs to cut his or her way to the Mad Lord first, but when they get there they discover that Nerrusa distrusts everyone, and he won’t deal with the PC. The PC must first calm him so he is slightly more trusting, if no more coherent. The answer to this problem is a calm humanoid spell, but it must be cast while Nerrusa is not watching, or he’ll know what’s going down (if the PC fails, they can try again the following day). Nobody will prompt the player on what to do; they have to work this one out on their own. If the PC asks, the agent will suggest using something to calm him down, though he has no idea what will do the trick. After he is calmed successfully this quest is marked as complete and the PC moves instantly on to quest ML2.
ML2: Divinity of the Guar
Requirements: ML1 Complete
Story: Nerrusa wishes the people of Darconis to witness the splendor of the divine guar so that they too may know knowledge by worshipping the beast. The PC is told to lead a guar now found just outside the tower to the center of the slums area (it’s just a normal guar if you’re wondering…). To lead the creature the PC should use a command creature spell. Once in the slums the PC should release it. This is all as per the Mad Lords instructions. There should be a few commoners around, doing nothing. People will be annoyed by the guar but not particularly bothered by it (no they won’t drop to the knees and pray). The PC will be asked when it’s following him what is going on, and he should explain that the moronic beast has been following him since he passed near the Mad Lords tower. After releasing the guar the journal will suggest visiting the agent (if the PC isn’t smart enough to do this… well then I don’t know what to do). The agent suggests trying to work the guar into attacking the commoners, but tells the PC to make sure that he or she is not seen or detected doing it. The agent says he’ll alert two of the guards secretly working with the Telvanni to be around so they can put on a good show for the survivors. The PC should use a frenzy creature spell cast while not being observed (either by sneaking or a chameleon spell) to get the gaur enraged. It will attack and kill one or two commoners, while the others scatter (perhaps three or four escape). The guards do nothing to intervene at first, after a death of the commoner(s) they come in and kill the beast (the PC should observe, not interfere, doing so might cause the quest to fail). Then one will be overheard observing with great mirth what wonderful sport the creature had provided them. After the event is over (or before if the PC prefers) they should report the death to the Mad Lord and proceed to ML3.
Event: The agent spreads the story of guards allowing the guar to kill and maim the commoners. He also spreads a rumor that the guar came from the Mad Lord, and that the Imperial Legion is either unwilling or unable to stand up to Nerrusa.
ML3: The Heart of the Matter
Requirements: ML2 Complete
Story: Nerrusa is pissed about the guar’s death, but mid tirade he suddenly switches tracks and demands the PC bring him the heart of something. He isn’t very clear about what and speaks about it only elliptically. In the end it really doesn’t matter what the heart is, because he won’t want it, but the PC must first puzzle out a possible answer and obtain that heart. The agent can’t solve the riddle either, and it’s up to the PC to suggest the solution (the correct answer is irrelevant, but the PC needs to suggest that they obtain the heart of a kwama. If the PC chooses a different answer, he can go out and get that answer, but the agent can’t figure out how to use this to the Telvanni’s advantage (and there is no way to do so; this counts as one of the PC’s failings to embarrass the Empire if they choose badly). If the PC chooses a heart of a kwama, the agent has an idea, not just the heart of a kwama but a kwama queen! Darconis is built upon mining and some of the mines are egg-mines. The agent wants the PC to impersonate the Mad Lord while moving through one of the local egg mines, killing kwama at will and then attacking and killing the queen. This will damage the economy of Darconis, and hurt both the Telvanni and the poor in the slums, putting them in the same boat (they get to see that the Mad Lord is genuinely insane, not a Telvanni Spy who only hurts Imperials). But how does the PC impersonate the Mad Lord? The agent advises that the PC travel to Tel Muthada to see Llenari Telsaran, whose specialty is illusion and alteration magic. She agrees to help the PC by brewing a potion that can allow them to transform into the Mad Lord but they must bring her a personal item, like a brush, that belongs to the Mad Lord. The PC needs to return to the tower and procure the brush, with perhaps a small obstacle to obtain it. The PC returns with the brush and she brews the potion, but the PC must agree to help her rid Tel Muthada of its small Imperial presence when he or she finishes in Darconis (the PC need not honor this promise, but failing to do so angers Llenari Telsaran). The PC should take the potion (which lasts only a short while, and is done by scripting) and then enter the mine and do their worst, but spare the workers, so they can tell stories. If they don’t make it to the end but are not seen, the Empire is not properly embarrassed, if the PC is detected in their normal form the quest is over. When the PC returns with the heart the Mad Lord doesn’t care. The PC should leave a poem allegedly by the Mad Lord at the scene.
NOTE: If this can’t be done convincingly by scripting then Llenari will brew a series of long lasting chameleon potions in exchange for the PC’s future aide, naturally in this case the PC will be able to decline and still complete the quest.
Event: The agent spreads the story of the Mad Mage’s crimes and that the Telvanni are contemplating sending a force to rid Darconis of this nuisance since the Imperials don’t look to be doing a very good job of policing their own city.
NOTE: If the invisibility option is used above, the agent spread the rumor that only a wizard of the Mad Mage’s power could slip past all those people and kwama undetected and killed the queen.
ML4: On the Feeding Habits of Dridrea
Requirements: ML3 Complete
Story: Nerrusa shows the PC his latest pet, a Dridrea. He wishes to see it fight and then feed on a suitable target. If the PC returns without a target the Mad Lord unleashes the beast on the PC, and the Empire cannot be embarrassed in this quest, the Mad Lord isn’t that disappointed by the Dridrea’s defeat. The PC should go to the agent for help choosing a suitable target; the agent suggests using one of the Imperial legionnaires who are secretly working with House Telvanni. The PC is sent to one, and convinces him/her to accompany the PC back to Nerrusa’s tower. The Dridrea attacks and kills the guard, and the Mad Lord is ecstatic. It then turns on the Mad Lord, and he slaughter’s it with ease; he is not at all put out by this. The PC should take the legionnaires equipment off the body and leave (the agent has already informed the PC of this plan). He will meet the just outside the tower and give him the bloody gear. Then the PC should go and find the Knight Protector of Darconis, who will follow the PC (with a bodyguard) to the Mad Lord’s tower where he will find the bloody gear (arranged by the agent, of course), and a strange poem written in the Mad Lord’s style. No NPC’s should be outside near the tower during the Mad Lord quests. After he arrives on the scene the Knight Protector launches into a monologue about a lot of innocent people dying at the hands of Nerrusa. This marks the completion of D3 as well as ML4.
Event: The agent spreads rumors that not only can the Imperials not protect the town, they can’t even defend themselves. Fear of the Mad Lord is at an all time high.
D4: Telvanni Justice
Requirements: D3 Complete
Story: This quest is brought about by speaking with the agent after D3 is complete. It’s now time to solve the problem of the Mad Lord. After allowing the people to stew in the rumors and fear for two days (the local weather will be scripted to rain for those two days), at about high noon the PC is to walk through the town in full Telvanni regalia with two Telvanni guards (meanwhile the agent has slipped in and warned Nerrusa of the approaching party, the rain will break and the sun come out as the PC proceeds through town). An Imperial legionnaire will alert the Knight Protector of this Telvanni delegation. He will stop them as they enter the Telvanni side of the settlement and demand to know why the PC is here. The answer is irrelevant; he won’t stop the PC, though his reaction will be quite entertaining if the PC answers that he is there on the authority of the Parliament of Bugs to arrest Nerrusa for crimes against the people of Darconis. The PC continues and just before the tower awaits the Mad Lord himself (he was warned and goaded to come out so the battle can be done in public). This is the showdown moment where the PC goes toe-to-toe with Nerrusa (whose battle plan will have a bit of scripting to make him more intelligent at choosing spells). If the PC retreats all is lost, if the PC wins he looks the hero. This battle is tough and the PC has to be a real force to have any hope of winning it without being clever and prepared, i.e. using some potions to nullify Nerrusa’s magical barrages and also finding a way to stay one step ahead of whatever nasty things he summons.
Event: Leaflet’s throughout town describe the PC’s victory over Nerrusa, and the end of the reign of the Mad Lord. The people should be more respectful toward House Telvanni now, but they shouldn’t love them or say they’re wonderful, just less openly hostile. They’d rather have the Empire do its job than come under the Telvanni, but if they have to choose between no peace or safety and that offered by House Telvanni, they’ll choose the Telvanni. The Knight Protector (and the Imperial administration is terribly embarrassed by this turn of events). Also the agent starts rumors of a fresh rebellion brewing in the slums.
D5: Telvanni Compassion
Requirements: D4 Complete
Story: The agent believes that it is time for the endgame; the idea is to goad the Knight Protector into doing something unreasonable, then the player show him mercy. With rumors of rebellion brewing in the slums the Knight Protector dispatches troops and the militia door to door to find the traitors and bring them to justice. The PC is to plant evidence of the rebellion in three shacks in the slums before the search (he must do this undetected). Meanwhile the agent travels to Fort Windmoth to bring Arvs Rethari to Darconis (as he’ll be needed). After the PC plants the evidence he is to return to the agent’s location (somewhere on the east side of Darconis) to find the agent and Arvs. Now the PC and Arvs need to enter the slums, as they do so the three “traitors†are lined up under guard. The Knight Protector gives a monologue about loyalty, virtue, and the Empire, and then kills each prisoner (“As it must be done…â€Â). Arvs will then speak saying he is visiting Darconis to request supplies, but never expected to find the Knight Protector murdering unarmed prisoners, he orders that the guards take the Knight Protector into custody. The Knight Protector then speaks saying they were traitors and that he did what was necessary to defend the Empire. A guard then says there was no evidence against these men, and a general melee breaks out between the Imperials, some on one side or the other. The PC’s job is to intervene and stop the melee without anyone dying, this shows a caring side to the public, and exposes a squabble amongst the Imperials (2 or 3 NPC’s on each side in this fight). An area based calm humanoid or paralysis spell will do the trick (the agent advises the PC to have such a trick up their sleeve incase it comes to blows). While the legion is being stupid the PC loses ground if they murder folks, as the commoners aren’t sure which side is correct. The quest is lost if either the Knight Protector or Arvs dies. After calming everyone (or paralyzing one side or the other) Telvanni guards move in and take the Knight Protector into custody, who now goes quietly. Henceforth he can be found in the Darconis prison, and the player can murder him if they like (the agent will make it sound like a suicide).
Event: After this event and the player’s behavior, the PC is regarded highly by commoners in Darconis, even if the Telvanni are still treated with suspicion. Since there were witnesses the rumor of the players power and benevolence spread.
D6: Telvanni Peace
Requirements: D5 Complete
Story: The spineless governor is still protected by Fighter’s Guild thugs. The PC can handle these thugs in one of two ways…he can go to the guild house and speak to the leader, explaining what is going to occur if the Fighter’s Guild stands between House Telvanni and the Governor of Darconis. The master of the guild gets the point and the goons are recalled. Alternatively the player can kill the goons, his or her choice. The PC then speaks to the governor and makes it clear how things will be from here on out. The governor agrees so long as he gets to keep his house and can continue to have fine alcohol and women (the PC should agree to this and there is not a lot they can do about it accept kill the Governor which is unacceptable). Completion of this quest marks D1 as complete and allows the PC to return to Rathra or Eldale and report success. Here are the concessions the governor makes:
Requirements: D6 Complete and the PC achieved the Rank of Master
Story: This is more like an event; the PC can spends some money to restart the egg mine they destroyed and can also pay to import cure common disease potions into Darconis. This makes the populace think more highly of the PC (who is the Mage Lord of the city). It has no real affect if the PC does not decide to do this, but if they do colonize the mine again it will provide the PC with more weekly profit.
I'll post Tel Muthada once I've got the details worked out. Comments and welcome, as always. Also I'll think about the mouths, but I need to worry about and finish my misc. quest for PT first.
-Starcrunch
Introduction: Disposition of Forces near Darconis
Fort Windmoth: A de facto Telvanni stronghold. It is chronically understaffed and undersupplied, many of the soldiers are on the Telvanni payroll, and Arvs Rethrathi, the commander, is a member of House Telvanni in earnest. The fort is used to funnel Imperial supplies into Telvanni hands for clandestine operations. The game going on behind the scenes looks like this (pieces of this are available from the notes in the Windmoth interior, but its pretty obscure right now:
- 1. Naleth Llarni (A Telvanni agent at Windmoth who works with Arvs Rethari) puts Servam Nieries (corrupt smith) in contact with the local Telvanni (for a small fee).
- 2.) Servam sells Imperial armor/weapons to these Telvanni (for a big profit).
- 3.) Naleth or the Telvanni inform Arvs Rethari of the deal.
- 4.) Arvs demands a sizable cut of Naleth's profits (say 50-60%).
- 5.) Arvs funnels this bribe back to the Telvanni clients (minus a small cut for himself)
Darconis: This is the largest Imperial settlement in Telvanni territory. It has a minority Telvanni population principally clustered on the settlement’s east side, near the tower of Wizard Nerrusa (the Mad Lord of Darconis). Mining is the cities principal occupation, but it has provided only meager profits, and in particular the commoners are very poor. In addition disease is common, and Nerrusa has been making many problems for both the Imperials and the Telvanni. Civil unrest is high, particularly among the outlander poor, and it is threatening to boil over into riots. The “better†class of folks in Darconis believes the Telvanni are behind this unrest, which is for the most part false up to this point (excepting the trouble with Nerrusa). The civil administration led by the Duke or Governor of Darconis (unnamed as of yet) is inept at best and corrupt at worst. The city is held together by its military leader, the Knight Protector of Darconis (also unnamed), who is a true believer in the Empire. He has recently started a militia composed mainly of the local business owners (i.e. the “better†class) whose aim is to supplement the understaffed and patently corrupt lower ranks of the Imperial Legion. Recently when civil unrest reached a new height Fort Windmoth offered to send a cadre of soldiers to reinforce Darconis. These soldiers were ambushed and killed by House Telvanni on the orders of Arvs Rethari, then Telvanni retainers took their place, thus some Telvanni agents have slipped into the fold of Darconis’s legion force.
Tel Muthada: This is a Telvanni town that is home to a small Imperial outpost (like a small version of Wolverine Hall). The town is clustered around the tower of Wizard Llenari Telsaran, who badly wants to be elevated, so she can call herself the Mistress of Tel Muthada. The Imperial outpost is understaffed, but well run and the soldiers are loyal to their commander (unnamed) if not the Empire. There is some tension between the Imperial soldiers and the commoners but not nearly as much as in Darconis, or other places. The Legion mostly minds its own business, but can be counted on to kill bandits and monsters when they appear. The commoners don’t love the Empire or support the Imperials here but they don’t resent it to the same level as other settlements (i.e. the Empire has done a good job here of winning over folks or at least not losing them). Llenari can’t stand being under the Imperial boot, as she like to think, and wants them gone. She believes she can do just a good of job protecting her town as the Empire (and she is not wrong on this point, despite her bluster).
NPC Synopsis
Eldale: Councilor who engineered sending Nerrusa to Darconis to cause trouble for the Imperials. She is the one giving the overarching quest unless the PC has helped Bal Gernak take her place.
Rathra: Councilor who engineered the Firewatch campaign where the PC first distinguishes himself. Eldale once served as her mouth. While they are not exactly trusting of one another they do see expanding Telvanni influence as good policy.
Arvs Rethari: Knight Errant of Fort Windmoth, who is really a Telvanni. He is fastidious and direct. He easily impresses others and is held in high regard by most Imperials.
Knight Protector of Darconis: He’s a true believer. He really believes in the goodness of the Empire and will do anything to promote it. He will bend rules and break them at will, but never for personal gain. It is always in service of the Empire. He would burn villages and slaughter peasants for the good of the Empire. He is given to monologues, but should come across as methodical, intelligent, and sophistic in his reasoning. He should not be easily tricked (in the quest line it’s more that everyone else is tricked and he can’t swim against the tide, and as he tries he becomes tired and makes an error). He is not easily angered, but his inability to confront the Mad Lord in infuriating. Needs a name.
Governor or Duke of Darconis: This man is a foppish noble who received his position via nepotism. His interests are women, men, wine and money in that order. So long as he has those things he is easily controlled. His family is powerful; however, and both his parents are members of the Imperial Court. He was stuffed here to spare them embarrassment (and thus he resents them, rightfully), but they would not react kindly if he were murdered. Needs a name.
Llenteris Nalteren: Ranking member of the Telvanni agents in Darconis. Dies, before the PC ever meets him.
The Agent: A Telvanni retainer who helps the PC throughout the quest line. He is dry and boring, but intelligent and a capable administrator. If the PC wins he becomes the Governors aide. Needs a name.
Nerrusa: A Telvanni of rank Wizard, demoted from the council after he became mad. He is commonly called the Mad Lord of Darconis. He is an expert in creatures in addition to being very knowledgeable about magic. His instincts are top flight, even if he is incoherent and any attack is met with swift, cunning, and overwhelming force. He is very clean, and values cleanliness and speaks elliptically and poetically on all subjects. He is given to writing meaningless or often childish poetry for hours on end. He rarely leaves his tower, but everyone knows not to cross him. He’s loved by none, feared by all.
Llenari Telsaran: Wizard ranked Telvanni. She wants to be on the council and can’t stand the Imperial presence in Tel Muthada. She should be a competent administrator but brutal, and far less subtle than Rathra or Eldale. If she were a councilor her magical prowess would be on the low end of the spectrum (more like Mithras than Nerrusa or Dral).
Telvanni Infiltrators of the Imperial Legion: Right now simply generic, they came here as part of the ploy with Fort Windmoth described above. They should number about 5 or 6.
Plot Synopsis: The Darconis Gambit
General Information:
- 1.)Any time the PC needs to procure any equipment, supplies, potions or whatever he or she may do so at Fort Windmoth.
- 2.)A number of quests rely on embarrassing the Imperial Legion (or civil administration) in Darconis. The player may fail any one of these quests, failing two results in the PC being recalled by Mistress Rathra or Eldale.
- 3.)Occasionally the player must do something in secret, or without his identity becoming known. Failure results in recall by Mistress Rathra or Eldale.
- 4.)The PC is in charge of this operation, occasionally he or she will need to figure out what to do. They can always request advice from the agent, but his advice may not always be the best.
- 5.)This is a continuation of the Main Quest line on map 1. This operation is in part a test by Rathra and possibly Eldale of the PC’s level of competence (and his level of danger to them!). They are monitoring the situation but the PC does not report to them. The quest is playable if the PC sided with Mithras in the MQ, but Rathra does not realize she was betrayed.
- 6.)The reward for success in this operation is a chance at a seat on the Parliament of Bugs (and to be confirmed as the new Mage Lord of Darconis). But this quest in itself is not enough; the PC must secure support amongst the rest of the council and the approval if Archmagister Rilvin Dral. Success here will win you support from Eldale and Rathra (if Bal Gernak is now a Master, the PC probably has his support instead of Eldale’s). Additionally the PC has probably lost the support of Lord Mithras (by rejecting his proposal during the map 1 main quest). The others should be dealt with else where.
Requirements: MQ on map1 completed successfully for Mistress Rathra (or for Master Mithras, so long as Rathra does not know the PC betrayed her)
Story: If Eldale is still a councilor then Rathra tells the PC is told to visit her after finishing the MQ on map 1 and helping the Telvanni successfully (or if Rathra's plan fails but she does not know the PC was behind it). If the PC has placed Bal Gernak in Eldales’ stead, the PC is given this quest by Rathra herself. Eldale is the architect of the Darconis strategy, including the placing of Nerrusa in the tower there to cause problems. The PC is told that they will be assuming command of the Telvanni operation in Darconis, with the goal of bringing the Imperial forces to heel in that region. Also there is a cryptic hint that the reward for success will earn the PC a place on the council. The PC is dispatched with a sealed letter to Arvs Rethari at Fort Windmoth. If they open the letter nothing bad happens, Arvs in fact complements the player, saying that any sane Telvanni would do the same. The letter simply introduces the PC to Arvs who tells the PC of the disposition of forces and offers the support of Windmoth if the PC needs it, then he tells the PC the name of his contact in Darconis. The PC travels to Darconis where local quests take place. This quest is not closed and it is the overarching quest for the whole operation, all other quests take place under the auspices of this quest. It is closed when the PC has successfully forced the capitulation of Draconis to de facto Telvanni rule.
D1: Contact
Requirements: Letter in D0 delivered to Arvs Rethari.
Story: The PC cannot find his contact in Darconis, and asking for the man results in responses to the effect that his location is unknown. A few seconds later an Imperial Soldier will appear behind the PC and tell them that the contact named, Llenteris Nalteren, has been captured and is being held by the Knight Protector. The soldier is one of the Telvanni, from Windmoth; Arvs had sent along a messenger to the other Telvanni in Darconis informing them that the PC would be arriving (the PC only knows the name of the contact). This soldier directs the PC to a civilian on the Telvanni side of Darconis (who I’ll call the agent and is currently unnamed). The agent will tell the PC that they have been unsuccessful in procuring the release of Llenteris by the usual means. The agent has hatched a plan to free Llenteris, and strike a blow to the Imperials at the same time.
D2: Prison Break
Requirements: D1 complete
Story: The Telvanni have been planning a mass prison break for sometime to embarrass the Imperials in Darconis. The agent suggests using the prison break as a distraction, to get into the prison and free Llenteris, who is being held in its most secure cell (and under the eye of competent gaurds). This then takes place in two steps. First the PC must procure some supplies, he is told to find 5 scrolls of divine intervention and 1 scroll of recall, meanwhile the agent will procure 5 long swords for use in the prison break, he also gives the PC a legion uniform (from Windmoth), and a closed helm to wear so he won’t be recognized during the break. The PC can get the scrolls from Windmoth if they can’t find them elsewhere. Then the PC needs to help prepare for the breakout, which will occur at a set time, during daylight hours for maximum affect. The agent takes the 5 divine intervention scrolls and gets them delivered to the prisoners who will escape. Meanwhile the PC places the swords in a barrel near the site people appear when they use divine intervention. Also the PC must find a soldier in the Legion who is loyal to House Telvanni and tell them when the break will occur so that the soldier can be on the lookout and sound the alarm (thus allowing for a distraction!). Then at the appointed time the PC should be near the prison, when the alarm sounds (a sound effect, and some gaurds scripted to run toward the Imperial Cult chapel) the PC should enter the prison and bluff, bribe, or sneak his way through the prison to Llenteris’s cell. When the PC opens the cell he finds Llenteris dead. Entering and searching the body causes the PC to be hit by a major dispel magic effect, and a silence effect. The door shuts and locks and the Knight Protector force greets the PC, he gives a long monologue about the Empire and its virtues. He then makes it clear that the PC is about to be killed. Now the PC has a recall scroll and they had better use it, otherwise after 5 seconds the trap is sprung and a paralysis effect is applied (that is instantly reapplied if the PC tries to dispel it). The knight protector then carves up the PC with his sword. If the PC escapes and was wearing the helmet/guard uniform his or her identity is unknown and they proceed to D3. If they failed and were identified during the breakout they are sent home. If the PC enters the prison early there will be two guards flanking Llenteris’s door (who will not be bribed or tricked); in addition more guards will be found throughout the prison. If the PC does not enter the prison at all, the quest is failed but they may proceed to D3 (is angry the PC didn’t try but has learned Llenteris was already dead so, it was probably best that he not enter the prison). If the PC does not deliver the swords the prisoners are all slaughtered and the Legion is not embarrassed, the PC is admonished but may continue to D3. If the PC does not find the Telvanni legionnaire the break out is a clean get away, but there is no reduction in the number of guards in the prison, the last scene does not occur, but Llenteris is found dead (it’s like what happens if they don’t search the body). The prison break is discovered some hours later. In any event a new latest rumor springs up in Darconis.
NOTE: The Knight Protector knew Llenteris was a Telvanni spy and that someone would be coming for him, so he contacted the MG to get there assistance in constructing this trap. He recognized the mass breakout as a diversion and came immediately to Llenteris’s cell; he was not, however, tipped off and the PC was in no way betrayed. If the PC does not check the body the confrontation doesn’t occur (as they don’t enter the cell) and the end quest dialogue should reflect this, though it has no material differences for the rest of the quest line.
NOTE2: This probably sounds like a lot of work, but it’s really not that complicated to script, there is a lot of dialogue to write however, and a number of contingencies that must be considered in dialogue. Also the reason searching the body triggers the Knight Protector’s bit is that this is the one way of guaranteeing the PC is in the cell, and the trap is supposed to be in the cell, thus if they don’t search the body this won’t play out. It’s kind of annoying but I’d imagine 90% of folks will search the body, and the slightly different dialogue arc at the quest close will cover up the other 10%.
D3: Unto the Brink
Requirements: D2 complete
Story: The agent explains the trouble with the Knight Protector and that sadly murdering him in public is not an option. What is needed is a method to embarrass him, and then he can be pushed aside. With the Knight Protector gone, manipulating the weak civil government will be easy. The agent will suspect that Nerrusa can be used to the benefit of the Telvanni. The quest revolves around performing four tasks for the Mad Lord, which the legion can’t quite control, eroding the public confidence in the Knight Protector. On one side the PC works the mad lord quest line creating havoc, without being caught of course, and on the other the agent attributes the crimes to the Nerrusa. The legion can’t openly attack the Mad Lord, as he is far and away the most powerful NPC in Darconis, and not even the Knight Protector would last more than a few seconds against the Mad Lord and he knows it. This quest remains open until the 4 quests are complete.
NOTE: There is an old quest line for the Mad Lord, if someone posts it, we may be able to incorporate some of that (or replace some of these).
ML1: Trust
Requirements: D3 initiated
Story: Nerrusa lives in his tower, which is filled with monsters, the PC needs to cut his or her way to the Mad Lord first, but when they get there they discover that Nerrusa distrusts everyone, and he won’t deal with the PC. The PC must first calm him so he is slightly more trusting, if no more coherent. The answer to this problem is a calm humanoid spell, but it must be cast while Nerrusa is not watching, or he’ll know what’s going down (if the PC fails, they can try again the following day). Nobody will prompt the player on what to do; they have to work this one out on their own. If the PC asks, the agent will suggest using something to calm him down, though he has no idea what will do the trick. After he is calmed successfully this quest is marked as complete and the PC moves instantly on to quest ML2.
ML2: Divinity of the Guar
Requirements: ML1 Complete
Story: Nerrusa wishes the people of Darconis to witness the splendor of the divine guar so that they too may know knowledge by worshipping the beast. The PC is told to lead a guar now found just outside the tower to the center of the slums area (it’s just a normal guar if you’re wondering…). To lead the creature the PC should use a command creature spell. Once in the slums the PC should release it. This is all as per the Mad Lords instructions. There should be a few commoners around, doing nothing. People will be annoyed by the guar but not particularly bothered by it (no they won’t drop to the knees and pray). The PC will be asked when it’s following him what is going on, and he should explain that the moronic beast has been following him since he passed near the Mad Lords tower. After releasing the guar the journal will suggest visiting the agent (if the PC isn’t smart enough to do this… well then I don’t know what to do). The agent suggests trying to work the guar into attacking the commoners, but tells the PC to make sure that he or she is not seen or detected doing it. The agent says he’ll alert two of the guards secretly working with the Telvanni to be around so they can put on a good show for the survivors. The PC should use a frenzy creature spell cast while not being observed (either by sneaking or a chameleon spell) to get the gaur enraged. It will attack and kill one or two commoners, while the others scatter (perhaps three or four escape). The guards do nothing to intervene at first, after a death of the commoner(s) they come in and kill the beast (the PC should observe, not interfere, doing so might cause the quest to fail). Then one will be overheard observing with great mirth what wonderful sport the creature had provided them. After the event is over (or before if the PC prefers) they should report the death to the Mad Lord and proceed to ML3.
Event: The agent spreads the story of guards allowing the guar to kill and maim the commoners. He also spreads a rumor that the guar came from the Mad Lord, and that the Imperial Legion is either unwilling or unable to stand up to Nerrusa.
ML3: The Heart of the Matter
Requirements: ML2 Complete
Story: Nerrusa is pissed about the guar’s death, but mid tirade he suddenly switches tracks and demands the PC bring him the heart of something. He isn’t very clear about what and speaks about it only elliptically. In the end it really doesn’t matter what the heart is, because he won’t want it, but the PC must first puzzle out a possible answer and obtain that heart. The agent can’t solve the riddle either, and it’s up to the PC to suggest the solution (the correct answer is irrelevant, but the PC needs to suggest that they obtain the heart of a kwama. If the PC chooses a different answer, he can go out and get that answer, but the agent can’t figure out how to use this to the Telvanni’s advantage (and there is no way to do so; this counts as one of the PC’s failings to embarrass the Empire if they choose badly). If the PC chooses a heart of a kwama, the agent has an idea, not just the heart of a kwama but a kwama queen! Darconis is built upon mining and some of the mines are egg-mines. The agent wants the PC to impersonate the Mad Lord while moving through one of the local egg mines, killing kwama at will and then attacking and killing the queen. This will damage the economy of Darconis, and hurt both the Telvanni and the poor in the slums, putting them in the same boat (they get to see that the Mad Lord is genuinely insane, not a Telvanni Spy who only hurts Imperials). But how does the PC impersonate the Mad Lord? The agent advises that the PC travel to Tel Muthada to see Llenari Telsaran, whose specialty is illusion and alteration magic. She agrees to help the PC by brewing a potion that can allow them to transform into the Mad Lord but they must bring her a personal item, like a brush, that belongs to the Mad Lord. The PC needs to return to the tower and procure the brush, with perhaps a small obstacle to obtain it. The PC returns with the brush and she brews the potion, but the PC must agree to help her rid Tel Muthada of its small Imperial presence when he or she finishes in Darconis (the PC need not honor this promise, but failing to do so angers Llenari Telsaran). The PC should take the potion (which lasts only a short while, and is done by scripting) and then enter the mine and do their worst, but spare the workers, so they can tell stories. If they don’t make it to the end but are not seen, the Empire is not properly embarrassed, if the PC is detected in their normal form the quest is over. When the PC returns with the heart the Mad Lord doesn’t care. The PC should leave a poem allegedly by the Mad Lord at the scene.
NOTE: If this can’t be done convincingly by scripting then Llenari will brew a series of long lasting chameleon potions in exchange for the PC’s future aide, naturally in this case the PC will be able to decline and still complete the quest.
Event: The agent spreads the story of the Mad Mage’s crimes and that the Telvanni are contemplating sending a force to rid Darconis of this nuisance since the Imperials don’t look to be doing a very good job of policing their own city.
NOTE: If the invisibility option is used above, the agent spread the rumor that only a wizard of the Mad Mage’s power could slip past all those people and kwama undetected and killed the queen.
ML4: On the Feeding Habits of Dridrea
Requirements: ML3 Complete
Story: Nerrusa shows the PC his latest pet, a Dridrea. He wishes to see it fight and then feed on a suitable target. If the PC returns without a target the Mad Lord unleashes the beast on the PC, and the Empire cannot be embarrassed in this quest, the Mad Lord isn’t that disappointed by the Dridrea’s defeat. The PC should go to the agent for help choosing a suitable target; the agent suggests using one of the Imperial legionnaires who are secretly working with House Telvanni. The PC is sent to one, and convinces him/her to accompany the PC back to Nerrusa’s tower. The Dridrea attacks and kills the guard, and the Mad Lord is ecstatic. It then turns on the Mad Lord, and he slaughter’s it with ease; he is not at all put out by this. The PC should take the legionnaires equipment off the body and leave (the agent has already informed the PC of this plan). He will meet the just outside the tower and give him the bloody gear. Then the PC should go and find the Knight Protector of Darconis, who will follow the PC (with a bodyguard) to the Mad Lord’s tower where he will find the bloody gear (arranged by the agent, of course), and a strange poem written in the Mad Lord’s style. No NPC’s should be outside near the tower during the Mad Lord quests. After he arrives on the scene the Knight Protector launches into a monologue about a lot of innocent people dying at the hands of Nerrusa. This marks the completion of D3 as well as ML4.
Event: The agent spreads rumors that not only can the Imperials not protect the town, they can’t even defend themselves. Fear of the Mad Lord is at an all time high.
D4: Telvanni Justice
Requirements: D3 Complete
Story: This quest is brought about by speaking with the agent after D3 is complete. It’s now time to solve the problem of the Mad Lord. After allowing the people to stew in the rumors and fear for two days (the local weather will be scripted to rain for those two days), at about high noon the PC is to walk through the town in full Telvanni regalia with two Telvanni guards (meanwhile the agent has slipped in and warned Nerrusa of the approaching party, the rain will break and the sun come out as the PC proceeds through town). An Imperial legionnaire will alert the Knight Protector of this Telvanni delegation. He will stop them as they enter the Telvanni side of the settlement and demand to know why the PC is here. The answer is irrelevant; he won’t stop the PC, though his reaction will be quite entertaining if the PC answers that he is there on the authority of the Parliament of Bugs to arrest Nerrusa for crimes against the people of Darconis. The PC continues and just before the tower awaits the Mad Lord himself (he was warned and goaded to come out so the battle can be done in public). This is the showdown moment where the PC goes toe-to-toe with Nerrusa (whose battle plan will have a bit of scripting to make him more intelligent at choosing spells). If the PC retreats all is lost, if the PC wins he looks the hero. This battle is tough and the PC has to be a real force to have any hope of winning it without being clever and prepared, i.e. using some potions to nullify Nerrusa’s magical barrages and also finding a way to stay one step ahead of whatever nasty things he summons.
Event: Leaflet’s throughout town describe the PC’s victory over Nerrusa, and the end of the reign of the Mad Lord. The people should be more respectful toward House Telvanni now, but they shouldn’t love them or say they’re wonderful, just less openly hostile. They’d rather have the Empire do its job than come under the Telvanni, but if they have to choose between no peace or safety and that offered by House Telvanni, they’ll choose the Telvanni. The Knight Protector (and the Imperial administration is terribly embarrassed by this turn of events). Also the agent starts rumors of a fresh rebellion brewing in the slums.
D5: Telvanni Compassion
Requirements: D4 Complete
Story: The agent believes that it is time for the endgame; the idea is to goad the Knight Protector into doing something unreasonable, then the player show him mercy. With rumors of rebellion brewing in the slums the Knight Protector dispatches troops and the militia door to door to find the traitors and bring them to justice. The PC is to plant evidence of the rebellion in three shacks in the slums before the search (he must do this undetected). Meanwhile the agent travels to Fort Windmoth to bring Arvs Rethari to Darconis (as he’ll be needed). After the PC plants the evidence he is to return to the agent’s location (somewhere on the east side of Darconis) to find the agent and Arvs. Now the PC and Arvs need to enter the slums, as they do so the three “traitors†are lined up under guard. The Knight Protector gives a monologue about loyalty, virtue, and the Empire, and then kills each prisoner (“As it must be done…â€Â). Arvs will then speak saying he is visiting Darconis to request supplies, but never expected to find the Knight Protector murdering unarmed prisoners, he orders that the guards take the Knight Protector into custody. The Knight Protector then speaks saying they were traitors and that he did what was necessary to defend the Empire. A guard then says there was no evidence against these men, and a general melee breaks out between the Imperials, some on one side or the other. The PC’s job is to intervene and stop the melee without anyone dying, this shows a caring side to the public, and exposes a squabble amongst the Imperials (2 or 3 NPC’s on each side in this fight). An area based calm humanoid or paralysis spell will do the trick (the agent advises the PC to have such a trick up their sleeve incase it comes to blows). While the legion is being stupid the PC loses ground if they murder folks, as the commoners aren’t sure which side is correct. The quest is lost if either the Knight Protector or Arvs dies. After calming everyone (or paralyzing one side or the other) Telvanni guards move in and take the Knight Protector into custody, who now goes quietly. Henceforth he can be found in the Darconis prison, and the player can murder him if they like (the agent will make it sound like a suicide).
Event: After this event and the player’s behavior, the PC is regarded highly by commoners in Darconis, even if the Telvanni are still treated with suspicion. Since there were witnesses the rumor of the players power and benevolence spread.
D6: Telvanni Peace
Requirements: D5 Complete
Story: The spineless governor is still protected by Fighter’s Guild thugs. The PC can handle these thugs in one of two ways…he can go to the guild house and speak to the leader, explaining what is going to occur if the Fighter’s Guild stands between House Telvanni and the Governor of Darconis. The master of the guild gets the point and the goons are recalled. Alternatively the player can kill the goons, his or her choice. The PC then speaks to the governor and makes it clear how things will be from here on out. The governor agrees so long as he gets to keep his house and can continue to have fine alcohol and women (the PC should agree to this and there is not a lot they can do about it accept kill the Governor which is unacceptable). Completion of this quest marks D1 as complete and allows the PC to return to Rathra or Eldale and report success. Here are the concessions the governor makes:
- 1.)The agent becomes his “advisor.â€Â
- 2.)He accepts a new legion commander, who is more reasonable, i.e. prefers gold to glory.
- 3.)The Telvanni now administer all the mines. The EEC still gets a cut, otherwise too many questions would be asked. The governor is head of the local EEC, and these mines have never proven very profitable and so are low on the EEC’s priority list.
- 4.)All Imperial raids and actions against the Telvanni cease in the Darconis area.
- 5.)In a face saving maneuver the Governor acknowledges the right of the Telvanni to the East side of Darconis (while in reality all of Darconis is now under Telvanni control). This move is also designed to try to mend fences and bring about stability to the region.
Requirements: D6 Complete and the PC achieved the Rank of Master
Story: This is more like an event; the PC can spends some money to restart the egg mine they destroyed and can also pay to import cure common disease potions into Darconis. This makes the populace think more highly of the PC (who is the Mage Lord of the city). It has no real affect if the PC does not decide to do this, but if they do colonize the mine again it will provide the PC with more weekly profit.
I'll post Tel Muthada once I've got the details worked out. Comments and welcome, as always. Also I'll think about the mouths, but I need to worry about and finish my misc. quest for PT first.
-Starcrunch
Last edited by Starcrunch on Tue Feb 13, 2007 5:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Molag Bal:
Yes, these are just poor remnants of the original questline I remember and have to be enlarged. So far I think there are more opportunities especially here:
DISCIPLE: Instead of just assembling the coven, you would have to do some cultist stuff as well to perform the initiation ritual (enslaving people, dark magics, whatever you want).
WARLOCK: Here is also a lot of space for quests in service for the vampire member. As a warlock you would be given your own coven to command, you could negotiate with vampires and take part in cultist stuff again to be initiated by ritual into the secret circle. The vampire motive can be developed in its fullness here.
HIGH PRIEST: Also lot of cultist quests available here. As for the Firewatch Duchess, it was Starcrunch's idea before she was engaged in some other essential quests. I think some other NPC could work as well, but the Duchess looks nice.
As to the traitor element:
ACOLYTE: Yes, your master clearly asks you to kill Salms Alan for his failure and if he will realize you failed to perform this order he will kill you as well. But the choice is still yours if you listen to him or let Salms Alan go and bring false evidence of his death. As soon as Trivra Andoril discovers you let Salms Alan go free, he will consider you traitor to the cult as well.
Telvanni mouth quests: My 2 quests for mistress Faruna are in design.
Starcrunch: Very impressive! I will have to read through that more carefuly later to make some comments.
Yes, these are just poor remnants of the original questline I remember and have to be enlarged. So far I think there are more opportunities especially here:
DISCIPLE: Instead of just assembling the coven, you would have to do some cultist stuff as well to perform the initiation ritual (enslaving people, dark magics, whatever you want).
WARLOCK: Here is also a lot of space for quests in service for the vampire member. As a warlock you would be given your own coven to command, you could negotiate with vampires and take part in cultist stuff again to be initiated by ritual into the secret circle. The vampire motive can be developed in its fullness here.
HIGH PRIEST: Also lot of cultist quests available here. As for the Firewatch Duchess, it was Starcrunch's idea before she was engaged in some other essential quests. I think some other NPC could work as well, but the Duchess looks nice.
As to the traitor element:
ACOLYTE: Yes, your master clearly asks you to kill Salms Alan for his failure and if he will realize you failed to perform this order he will kill you as well. But the choice is still yours if you listen to him or let Salms Alan go and bring false evidence of his death. As soon as Trivra Andoril discovers you let Salms Alan go free, he will consider you traitor to the cult as well.
Telvanni mouth quests: My 2 quests for mistress Faruna are in design.
Starcrunch: Very impressive! I will have to read through that more carefuly later to make some comments.
THEO
- Bloodthirsty Crustacean
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One thing I would like to see for Telvanni is just as many "miscellaneous" quest givers as possible. In the LGNPC mod, PAX Redoran, you have all the standard House quests, and then some 5 seperate mini-questlines given by various House Redoran reps. in each Redoran city. In addition, there are several misc. quests specific to Redoran given out as the player advances.
This is a standard I would love to see TR live up to (though it is a lot).
Also, seperately, if you need any people to help speed up the implementation (not story-line writing etc.) of quests on Map 1, I would be more than willing to help. I am experienced with writing dialogue and quests in the CS, though I'm probably not creative enough to make up my own, TR-worthy quests.
Sorry if you've already got all the help you need!
This is a standard I would love to see TR live up to (though it is a lot).
Also, seperately, if you need any people to help speed up the implementation (not story-line writing etc.) of quests on Map 1, I would be more than willing to help. I am experienced with writing dialogue and quests in the CS, though I'm probably not creative enough to make up my own, TR-worthy quests.
Sorry if you've already got all the help you need!
a man builds a city
with Banks and Cathedrals
a man melts the sand so he
can see the world outside
"They destroyed Morrowind? Fiddlesticks! Now we're going to have to rebuild it again!"
with Banks and Cathedrals
a man melts the sand so he
can see the world outside
"They destroyed Morrowind? Fiddlesticks! Now we're going to have to rebuild it again!"
Alright, here's my proposed mages/thieves lines. A bit of conflict and I make use of that "Summon Herne" spell without having to actually model a herne (that's the quest from the Telvanni concilor, so it had to be Eldale.)
Criticize to your heart's content, and please try to suggest a nickname for Silniel (like they have in Vvardenfell: "Sugar-Lips" Habasi, Aengoth "The Jeweler.")
Criticize to your heart's content, and please try to suggest a nickname for Silniel (like they have in Vvardenfell: "Sugar-Lips" Habasi, Aengoth "The Jeweler.")
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- ThievesAndMages.txt
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Imagine my insult to find that "Raw Glass has no effect on you." I became very huffy at the implication that my intelligence could not be lowered further. Then again, I did just eat a piece of glass.
- Thrignar Fraxix
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We always are looking for more helpBloodthirsty Crustacean wrote:Also, seperately, if you need any people to help speed up the implementation (not story-line writing etc.) of quests on Map 1, I would be more than willing to help. I am experienced with writing dialogue and quests in the CS, though I'm probably not creative enough to make up my own, TR-worthy quests.
Sorry if you've already got all the help you need!
Reviewing Administrator
Morrowind Reviews: 1640
Completed MW Interiors: 29
The just man frowns, but never sneers. We can understand anger, but not malevolence - Victor Hugo, Les Miserables
The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power - Brutus, Julius Caesar
Fun is bad - Haplo
Morrowind Reviews: 1640
Completed MW Interiors: 29
The just man frowns, but never sneers. We can understand anger, but not malevolence - Victor Hugo, Les Miserables
The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power - Brutus, Julius Caesar
Fun is bad - Haplo
@Bloodthirsty Crustacean: I'd love to have somebody else to help out with quests. Simply make yourself a showcase with a simple quest plugin,(On Vvar, or better yet, on map1) and I'll review it. Remember that not every quest needs to be complex and also remember that there will be plenty of opportunities to implement quests that are written by others, if that's what you're into.
@Groza: That's a good solid line you have there. The only change I'd make would be to ensure to add dialgue about how Eldale is disgusted to be dealing with Imperials. Also, I was planning to use the necro in Sagea for the Bal Gernak VS Eldale line, as that place used to have a quest based around imperial soldiers comign to kill that guy. I'd suggest that you use the cave of Middanecne, it's one I made way back when that has a necromancer in it.
@Theo: I'd like to use your skull quest as an initial quest for Gernak, as it hinges around him being a necromancer. If you're doing quests for Faruna, remember that she's the "botanist", she keeps man-eating plants which are the focus of her attention.
@Starcrunch: That's a beautiful line you've got there
I've got to go to class now, but I'll post up some suggestions and the bones of the Bal Gernak/Eldale line later.
@Groza: That's a good solid line you have there. The only change I'd make would be to ensure to add dialgue about how Eldale is disgusted to be dealing with Imperials. Also, I was planning to use the necro in Sagea for the Bal Gernak VS Eldale line, as that place used to have a quest based around imperial soldiers comign to kill that guy. I'd suggest that you use the cave of Middanecne, it's one I made way back when that has a necromancer in it.
@Theo: I'd like to use your skull quest as an initial quest for Gernak, as it hinges around him being a necromancer. If you're doing quests for Faruna, remember that she's the "botanist", she keeps man-eating plants which are the focus of her attention.
@Starcrunch: That's a beautiful line you've got there
I've got to go to class now, but I'll post up some suggestions and the bones of the Bal Gernak/Eldale line later.
"It’s all been such a mistake. We were once little shrew-like animals. That would be so much better."
-Ophelia Benson
-Ophelia Benson
Yeah, I was wondering about the guy in Sagea, since he had a "Q" in his name. Is Midannecne the one that's really close to the edge of the world (that is, the spot where map 1 and map 2 meet?)
Imagine my insult to find that "Raw Glass has no effect on you." I became very huffy at the implication that my intelligence could not be lowered further. Then again, I did just eat a piece of glass.
Make it a recall potion... Because you can't use scrolls when paralyzed!Starcrunch wrote:He then makes it clear that the PC is about to be killed. Now the PC has a recall scroll and they had better use it, otherwise after 5 seconds the trap is sprung and a paralysis effect is applied (that is instantly reapplied if the PC tries to dispel it).
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@Gez: You're right! I might change it... But they are supposed to use the scroll before they get hit by paralysis (they have 3-4 seconds after the monologue). If they are still in the prison cell when the paralysis effect hits death is supposed to be all but assured. On the other hand changing it allows me to apply the paralysis effect immediately (which would be logical from the standpoint of the Knight Protector) and still allow the PC to escape. I'm just not sure enough people would know they could use the potion...I mean it doesn't really make since that you can drink a potion while paralyzed (even though you can). Perhaps the agent could suggest a potion so the prisoner can escape even if paralyzed (giving the PC a hint if they read the dialog)?
@Groza: Looks pretty good to me. One potential implementation problem though. the woman stuck to the ceiling will have to be in a room with a really high ceiling for the PC not to notice her (or perhaps right above the PC's head when they enter)? What is keeping them from calling out, wouldn't she have cried for help when they came to look for her before (or when the PC enters)?
@Theo: I haven't gotten to your Molag Bal cultist line yet, but hopefully will have time to read it over lunch, since I'm not very busy today.
@Lud: Can't wait to see what you've got for Eldale and Bal Gernak.
-Starcrunch
@Groza: Looks pretty good to me. One potential implementation problem though. the woman stuck to the ceiling will have to be in a room with a really high ceiling for the PC not to notice her (or perhaps right above the PC's head when they enter)? What is keeping them from calling out, wouldn't she have cried for help when they came to look for her before (or when the PC enters)?
@Theo: I haven't gotten to your Molag Bal cultist line yet, but hopefully will have time to read it over lunch, since I'm not very busy today.
@Lud: Can't wait to see what you've got for Eldale and Bal Gernak.
-Starcrunch
- Bloodthirsty Crustacean
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When done, should I post that in the Showcase forum?Ludovic wrote:@Bloodthirsty Crustacean: I'd love to have somebody else to help out with quests. Simply make yourself a showcase with a simple quest plugin,(On Vvar, or better yet, on map1) and I'll review it. Remember that not every quest needs to be complex and also remember that there will be plenty of opportunities to implement quests that are written by others, if that's what you're into.
But basically, I don't want to step on anyone else's toes creativity-wise, but just want to help take some of the pressure of you guys and get some quests implemented.
If/when I do send in a sample, a helpful guide on what to do next (if I'm accepted) would be nice.
Thanks for your consideration Ludovic!
a man builds a city
with Banks and Cathedrals
a man melts the sand so he
can see the world outside
"They destroyed Morrowind? Fiddlesticks! Now we're going to have to rebuild it again!"
with Banks and Cathedrals
a man melts the sand so he
can see the world outside
"They destroyed Morrowind? Fiddlesticks! Now we're going to have to rebuild it again!"
Yes.Bloodthirsty Crustacean wrote:When done, should I post that in the Showcase forum?
We still have room for more toes, don't worry.Bloodthirsty Crustacean wrote:I don't want to step on anyone else's toes creativity-wise
Well, the showcase process usually involves people telling you if there are errors or other things to fix or improve in your submission, and after that, you get promoted to modderhood and get to see our quest forums with lots of unimplemented quests waiting for a claimer...Bloodthirsty Crustacean wrote:If/when I do send in a sample, a helpful guide on what to do next (if I'm accepted) would be nice.
- Bloodthirsty Crustacean
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- Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 7:30 pm
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Thanks for the reassurance, Gez.Gez wrote:Yes.Bloodthirsty Crustacean wrote:When done, should I post that in the Showcase forum?
We still have room for more toes, don't worry.Bloodthirsty Crustacean wrote:I don't want to step on anyone else's toes creativity-wise
Well, the showcase process usually involves people telling you if there are errors or other things to fix or improve in your submission, and after that, you get promoted to modderhood and get to see our quest forums with lots of unimplemented quests waiting for a claimer...Bloodthirsty Crustacean wrote:If/when I do send in a sample, a helpful guide on what to do next (if I'm accepted) would be nice.
I'll just upload what I've got in the showcase forum, then.
a man builds a city
with Banks and Cathedrals
a man melts the sand so he
can see the world outside
"They destroyed Morrowind? Fiddlesticks! Now we're going to have to rebuild it again!"
with Banks and Cathedrals
a man melts the sand so he
can see the world outside
"They destroyed Morrowind? Fiddlesticks! Now we're going to have to rebuild it again!"