Almalexia Thieves Guild

Developing the city of Almalexia. Currently on HIATUS.

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Rats
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Almalexia Thieves Guild

Post by Rats »

Here's a proposition for the Thieves Guild in Almalexia.

The questline will consist of (1)+6 quests revolving around the conflict between Camonna Tong and Thieves Guild as well as hinting an internal conflict caused by the Guild's new leader in Narsis.

Do comment.

pdf tl;dr:

The Almalexia guildhall is in a theatre. I propose this be the interior: [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=21848]i3-627-Ind[/url]. It doesn't have a corresponding exterior building atm, but i suggest building number [url=http://imgur.com/a/sIeCS#7]#4 on Alma Local Map #7[/url]. The interior will need soome changes to fit this exterior (or vice-versa).

Here's a quick quest list with minimal summaries:

TR_m4_TG_Surru0: The Oldest Trick in the Book
Find a hidden stash of jewels inside a book. For low-ranking members only.

TR_m4_TG_Surru1: Not One for Speeches
Sabotage a Guard commander's speech by replacing the speech parchment with a banned page from the "Real Barenziah".

TR_m4_TG_Surru2: Acquiring Ordinator Armor
Steal Ordinator armor for future use.

TR_m4_TG_Surru3: The Exchange
Ransom a guild member from the Camonna Tong. Note: this quest needs a rather very specific cave interior for it.

TR_m4_TG_Surru4: The Masquerade
Dress up as Ordinators, enter a CT cargo ship and kidnap one of the CT members. Note: this quest needs one of the ships in Almalexia to be of Camonna Tong

TR_m4_TG_Jikhu1: Finding Arnie the Scrib
Locate the legendary former TG leader.

TR_m4_TG_Jikhu2: Good Thief, Bad Thief
Interrogate the kidnapped CT member.

TR_m4_TG_Jikhu3: Breaking the Fourth Wall
Assassinate a CT kingpin during a theatre performance. Note: this quest needs a sewer system that leads to the CT theatre interior cell [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=12097]i3-46-Ind[/url]
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Tyrant
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Post by Tyrant »

Looks great. Looks like a fun questline. I'd be curious to see how a functional interrogation mission in MW would work though.
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Post by Theo »

This is what I call an outline for a guild. We should have such similar document for other guilds too.
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Re: Almalexia Thieves Guild

Post by roerich »

Great job, Rats!
Rats wrote: TR_m4_TG_Jikhu3: Breaking the Fourth Wall
Assassinate a CT kingpin during a theatre performance. Note: this quest needs a sewer system that leads to the CT theatre interior cell [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=12097]i3-46-Ind[/url]
This was exactly what I had in mind with this int. A sewer entrance could surely be implemented, but the int is seperated into a "commoner" floor and a "rich" floor by a locked door. I assume the kingpin would be placed on the balcony, locked off and with a guard on the outside, and not sitting in the audience. The player would either need to target him from one of the other balconies with ranged weapons, or another solution would have to be found. The central balcony is intended for a CT kingpin anyways, with high security, skooma and a khajiit skull being there.
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Post by Yeti »


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Post by Rats »


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Post by Theo »

You could also include two-stage quest including preparation for some heist:

Your goal would be to steal some item from a residence of some high-ranked Indoril. This may or may not relate to the overall plotline with camona-tong conflict (maybe getting some rare piece of the armor from the retired officer in order to pull the con at the ship)

1) Obtain an information from majordomo of this noble, who is currently drinking in a pub.

This will be dialog only quest so you can go a little bit more creative here:

- Depending on your speechcraft skills you will get a set of possible replies (high speechraft/intelligence may filter out silly options and/or add new more viable ones.)
- Also during a conversation you may buy him some drinks, which will raise his disposition, but beware to buy him ones that he likes (you need to deduce it from his talk) and not to buy him too many or he passes out.
- If you are female you may try to flirt with him (success depends on your personality and his level of intoxication-disposition).
- etc.

(Maybe make the conversation proceed just once right from the greeting until goodbye so that the player has no chance to use standard persuasion and has only one try).

Your goal is to make him reveal as much of information you may need as you can. Some ideas what he could tell you:

-There is a back entrance to the residence through the garden door and he has a key, which he always carries with him (you may try to pickpocket him, or just take it from him once he passes out).
- This guy will also tell you that the item you need is stored behind a secret door in masters bedroom. In order to open them you must move some specific book in the bookshelf, but he does not know which one (you may do some investigation in the residence itself for clues).
- He tells you that there is a window at 6am and 6pm each day when there is an exchange of guards patrolling around masters chambers, when this part of the building is unguarded.
- etc.

2) As a second quest later you can use this information to steal the precious item. Make sure each information gained makes the quests substantially easier, but it should still be doable with high sneak skills without the information as well.
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Post by rot »

Stealing armour and parading as Ordinators could be a fun show of audacity if there was a grander endgame objective for it, like stealing something big from the Temple. Say, something to help in the last quest...
TR_m4_TG_Surru4: The Masquerade
How about an optional, skippable preliminary bit: getting an actor to play the part of the Indoril guards / getting one of the actor retainers for the TG theater to prep the thieves... respectively lifting or alleviating any Speechcraft requirements for the bluff.

Some ideas for misc thieves quests:

- Illegal Remedy
A sick young noble is held in bed, possibly against their will, by concerned comrades (or unaware parents... their affliction seemingly cannot be cured by magic, what could it be yadda yadda...) The TG knows what's what: you have to sneak or somehow get in, and slip them some skooma to relieve the withdrawal symptoms (eg seemingly cure them) and maintain the addiction (wouldn't want to lose that customer!)

- Theft Insurance (role-reversal, other side of the extortion theme)
The CT just achieved a rather high-profile heist (a painting, an original copy of a book, random item that belonged to a famous character...) in the Foreign Quarter, from a merchant who does pay the Guild's protection fee - bad publicity. You can perhaps just spread lies among the other merchants to try and turn this around, but a more interesting option is to actually honor the implied warranty: tracking down the special item in another city, and bringing it back to the merchant. Some way to go about this: posing as a trader to approach the item (/buy it and retrieve the gold...)

- Cleaning Up The Act
You're tipped off about a guard search incidentally happening in a street where the Guild keeps a handy deposit. Clear it of all traces of licentious activity and get out unnoticed before they get there.
(obvious items: skooma/sugar, lockpicks, ... ; less obvious gear like daggers, cowls)

- Free the Arch-Mage
(optional, post-endgame high-level quest depending on the state of the MG questline)
A little spontaneous show of good will between the Guilds can't hurt. You're tasked with freeing/assisting the Archmage (if he does indeed start out in jail, as has been mentioned). Obviously you find out when getting to him that he's only staying there of his own free will, can conjure whatever he fancies and doesn't require any assistance. (or maybe just asks you to fetch him some wine :p)

Very vague ideas: a Thieves Guild traditionally relies on beggars for its information network. Not something that could work off the bat in Almalexia, where local beggars would be kept busy by Indoril pseudo-charity and/or default to siding with the CT. Something could be made of that?
- relying more on prostitutes- Some task to negociate an exclusivity agreement with an unaligned brothel? Introducing some workers to richer customers? Find out some well-to-do Dunmer deviant has a penchant for beasts?
- trying to turn CT support. ex: One beggar is a peculiar CT informant (outlander, or casually very pious) - find out what makes it so (skooma addiction); promise him a better deal on the Guild's side (easy) or get a healer to treat him (hard or expensive), either way making it possible to get info from him in the future
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Post by Haplo »

If the Daedric artifact is still in play, then perhaps the stolen armor could be used as a cover to steal highly controlled documents from a Temple vault or somewhere (a la Vatican Archives); the document(s) in question dealing with said artifact and how to destroy it/control it/counter its influence. Alternatively the documents could speak to the whereabouts of another, more desirable artifact.
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Post by rot »

Sasquatch's dwemer lantern reminds me of an idea for the TG / Nocturnal... artifact to help in the last quests - a shadow lantern (to hide you from vaernima while in her realm?) giving a darkness cover = Sneak bonus.
not sure whether negative-light lanterns work right when held in vanilla...
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Post by Rats »

Pitting Nocturnal and Vaermina against each other (or rather, having Nocturnal and Vaermina pit the Guild against itself with their influences) just made the potential Thieves Guild main plot infinitely more interesting.

The Shadow Lantern is too good an idea not to use.
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