[Quest Design] - Burying the Past

[arvisrend]

Inspired by, yet distinct from, [url=http://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=24769]The Undead Traitor[/url]:

After several generations, a Dunmeri family has returned to Vvardenfell from exile or diaspora. The questgiver -- one of the family -- has paid a visit to their family tomb, only to discover an angry ghost of the long-dead patriarch asking for bloody revenge against another family that he does not know (his ancestors who died before his age probably had cause to seek revenge, but noone told him the story). The player is to help put the ghost at rest -- either by serving the revenge he asks for, or by fighting the ghost, by somehow convincing the ghost (recall the Sailen quest), by convincing the questgiver that he should give up trying to please his long-dead ancestors, or in another way.

This could be a Temple quest (when the player is in a role to be sought out for guidance by laymen -- this should totally be a questline) or a misc quest. (Here the NPC does have a good reason to involve the player: He needs assistance or a second opinion, and the player, being a fellow immigrant, can help or at least sympathize. He is wary of involving a local, since failure to oblige an ancestor would only shame him in the eyes of the Dunmer.)

Notice that the objective of the quest is not to oblige the angry ghost, but to help the questgiver to find peace with his ancestors. Obliging the ghost can be one way to solve the quest, but should probably not be the main one; neither the heir nor the player is necessarily convinced that it is the right option.