Quest Proposal: An Ordinator's Legacy

battle_bison · Post by **battle_bison** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:09 am

-Post edited after Silvone, Garriath, Indoril and Mad God's comments-
I recently claimed a retired Ordinator general's manor in the city of Almalexia thinking it would be a lot of fun. I had no idea how much fun it would be. I came up with a quest proposal I feel is pretty good. I will however require some ideas from people regarding names and lore and whatnot. Here's what I have:
Title: An Ordinator's Legacy
NPCs Involved: A retired Ordinator general: Relor Sedam, an old student of his who is living in exile: Nassel Omvani, a high-ranking temple officer: Harves Gerdo
Story: The first time you meet the Relor in his house, he gives you a tiny quest to go get him a new quill because he is writing his memoirs and has snapped his. You leave and find him a quill, obviously.
Once you return, you hear a scream from upstairs. You run upstairs to find him just at the top of the stairs, dying. It forces a conversation and he tells you that Harves Gerdo murdered him. He says you need to find the proof and his memoirs will help. He then dies before your eyes. You can then take his stuff, one item of which is the key to his room where you will find his memoirs. Upon reading them it updates your journal with the relevant information. It talks about his favourite apprentice, Nassel Omvani; goes through some battle stories and then unfolds the corruption of Harves Gerdo.
Harves ordered Relor and Nassel to arrest someone (need a name again) for murdering a diviner in the temple. Almost a year or so later, Relor found out that it was infact Harves who killed the diviner and killed the man they arrested to cover up the killing. The only person he ever told was Nassel.
Together, Relor and Nassel suspected him of other corrupt deeds. They tried to present their case, but Harves pulled some strings and lied his way out of it. He successfully accused the apprentice of being unfaithful and the apprentice fled into a life of exile. Conveniently for the player, directions on how to get to him are contained within the memoirs.
Relor had recently been getting close to getting the proof he needed and Harves found out, so he caught Relor off guard and murdered him. You and Nassel are the only ones who could expose Harves now.
You must seek out Nassel Omvani and find the evidence on Harves. The evidence includes the warrant of arrest, the prison log regarding the execution of the prisoner, the ledger for the temple showing misdirected funds.
Once you have these, you are confronted by Harves the next time you are in Almalexia. He tells you that everything is not as it seems and that a closer examination of Nassel is in order. You can choose to believe him or not at this point.
If believing, you find the warrant was made at a much later point in time than the prisoner's execution. This is found by bringing it to a master book keeper somewhere in Morrowind and having them compare the ledger to the warrant. You also find that the ledger was faked.
If you present the evidence against Harves, he is executed. You are met outside the courtroom by a blades agent who has been sent to give you the emperor's disapproval; Harves was responsible for informing the Emperor of the temple's activities and Nassel Omvani knew this. The guilt of putting an innocent mant to death as well as crippling the empire is the punishment.
If you take the evidence against Nassel, you get the reward and Harves is a free man. The apprentice is executed, leaving his house and hideout untended for those who wish to take up residence.
Reward: A special, unique shield that fortifies your intelligence because of your pursuit for the truth, awarded by the temple leader.
New things of some importance: Relor's memoirs (I or someone else could write them), a place of residence for the yet unnamed apprentice somewhere in the wilderness, the shield (which needs a name as well)

Think it could work? Only problem is it is for Map 3 and I don't think those quests are available yet.
As an afterthought, maybe Relor's ghost could even come back inside his house and talk to you?
Also, I'm done the interior, so should I wait until those memoirs are written to submit my interior?

Silvone Elestahr · Post by **Silvone Elestahr** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:24 am

Pretty interesting. I like it. Nice and deep, different.

Garriath · Post by **Garriath** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:27 am

I like it. However, I think it would be even better if it involved a twist near the end. Say, Harves is really innocent, and its the apprentice. Or at least discovering what led this mer astray. I really think it'd make for an even better plot.

The Mad God · Post by **The Mad God** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 2:39 pm

I think it sounds pretty good. The only thing you might want to reconsider is the Blades Operative. I think instead, you could set up the trial of the Temple Official, and have him tell everyone (including the player) where to find the real evidence, but be disregarded by the authorities and executed. (I'm rather fond of public executions, so that may just be my bais. I've been looking forever for a chance to script that event.)

Anyway, that gives the player the twist (and subsequent guild for condemning an innocent man), and doesn't involve secret Blades operatives or the Emporer himself intervening in this petty (by the Emporer's standards) matter.

Take from that what you will.

battle_bison · Post by **battle_bison** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:03 pm

I have added the execution, though I'm not sure whether the temple does the whole public execution thing. I'd imagine more of a quiet prayer service for the one to be executed followed by a swift death, something which that player will not get to witness.
Also, if it is Harves who tells the player where to find the real evidence during the trial, it wouldn't effect the player much since he already confronted you when you enter Almalexia and told you that there is more you should know.
It seems to me that a spy is the only one who could know, which is where the Blades come in. Maybe the Emeperor does in fact care about treachery at a high level in the temple? If that's not enough, perhaps the man mentioned who was wrongfully arrested and executed was someone of high importance in the empire going undercover and the apprentice was part of one of the "bring down the empire" type guilds that people bring up here. Then this could even be a guild quest for the Imperial Legion about keeping the empire alive in Morrowind.
If you don't like the whole imperial ivolvement/dependency that I suggested here, though, it can be removed. Input?

Indoril · Post by **Indoril** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:22 am

They would probably not drag him away. An Ordainator would kill him on site or a Morag Tong Assassin would do the job.

battle_bison · Post by **battle_bison** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:24 am

The morag tong assassin wouldn't exactly be being sneaky if he did it, and they are quite the covert group. Also, why it be probable for an ordinator just to kill him on site?

The Mad God · Post by **The Mad God** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 2:47 pm

For one thing, that's how they handle it when the player gets a death warrant.

As for the Morag Tong, they are are a covert group. They pride themselves on their ability to kill without their presence or activities being known. Dispite their legal status, it's a matter of pride to execute a writ without being reported.

I'm still not too keen on the Blades operative, but as long as there is a good reason for him to be involved, then I can let it go. One good explaination I can think of is to have Harves be an Imperial informant, or an old friend of the Emporer. (He could have saved Uriel from an assassination at some point in the past.) This gives the Emporer a good reason for being interested in the fate of a high ranking member of the Tribunal Temple.

battle_bison · Post by **battle_bison** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 5:55 pm

Just giving this a little bump. I'm also wondering if I should wait for these memoirs to be written before submitting my claim or if they will be added with the quest. By the way, I still need a good name for the apprentice.

Garriath · Post by **Garriath** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 6:18 pm

Nassel Omvani?

Oh, and I really like the updated quest. Very fresh and exciting.

battle_bison · Post by **battle_bison** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 4:40 pm

Thanks everybody, quest is updated and nearing what is in my mind a complete proposal. I still need to find out if I need to wait for those memoirs to be written to submit my interior.