Blackrose - Nobody's Knowledge (Redundant)

[crepe100]

Note: I'm trying to approach this quest as a one for high level players so excuse me if it seems a bit too harsh/stupid.

In Blackrose, a historian will approach you (need to think of a NPC we could use for it) and tell you that they wish to uncover the Black Marsh's lost histories of old race culture. S/he says that you should promptly investigate a some nearby ruins (need to think of a ruin for this, but it needs to look ancient). As you scratch the surface of the ruins you realise there is much more to it than above ground ruins. As you venture further into the ruins you discover ancient manuscripts that proclaim the return of the Swamp King, but no solid evidence of it. When you reach the bottom of the ruins and realise there isn't much left you decide to leave, but ambush! A group of (high-level) Argonian Cultists come through the way you entered, after the long fight you escape out of the ruins. You go back to Blackrose and you tell the historian about it, s/he talks to you about it then says s/he will follow it up, but in the meantime she tells you to investigate more into it, she suggests you go to one of the tribal argonian villages of the deep swamps and ask about this Swamp King.

You arrive at the village after a long-slog through hostile jungles and swamps you arrive at the tribal village (we need to get a village for this, but it needs to be slightly expendable) and the village elder greets you (needs a tribal name), you converse about the so-called Swamp King, he acts suspicious (well he has to doesn't he?), he says he will tell you more about it if you kill a heretic in the woods called Watches-and-Waits ( he is also obviously high level something like PC+5or 6). You go to his camp, at first he seems aprehensive to see you, but when you draw your weapon he realises why your there, you fight for a while, after killing him you retrieve a note of his body which says Watches-and-Waits has a contact in Gideon, but thats for later, the quest marker advises you to go back to the camp. After telling the elder you have killed the heretic he exclaims how rpud he is of you and then says no one will never learn of the past, as Watches-and-Waits was another explorer, and what the elder has gotten you to kill him, therefore destroying any knowledge that he may've had. Then he says it's all falling together bla-de-bla-de-bla, then realises your still an explorer looking for the history of the black marshes, he then attacks you because there is no need for loose ends (oh don't worry he's a fight-and-a-half he'll be something like PC+9 or 10).

After this you decide you should go back to the historian in Blackrose, you converse about it then s/he declares that you must go find this contact in Gideon and learn more of this Swamp King. You arrive at the contacts' house and everything is too eeyrie, it turns out the contact has been killed, and the assassin is still here (PC+7). After killing him you find an old gemstone on the assassins body, named the Greystone of Nak'halath, you go to the nearest place of learning (any ideas?) and they tell you Nak'halath is the name of some old ruins that lie outside of Gideon but they advise to be weary while travelling there, hmmm strange? You tell the historian about it and s/he says they will pay you handsomly if you go there and investigate, but they ask for the Greystone back (back eh, oh yeah there's a twist alright). You crawl through the ruins nothing is really bothering, no creatures or anything. You get to the bottom and there is a plinth, with a little Greystone shaped slot in it. The door behind you locks and you turn around and there is the historian. They tell you that the Swamp King was just a ploy to get people interested, long enough so she could activate the Greystone, they certainly are good at spinning lies aren't they? S/he places the greystone in the plinth and they exclaim that the ancient magic of Nak'halath is now inside them, everybody will bow down all the usuall. The big fight starts (PC +15, it is heavily advised that you stock up before going there), she has a handy unique spell that drains you stamina and magic, so it's going to be a melee, they will also use necromancing spells (skeletons and the sort) and once you slay her she has a lot of loot on her body and the sort, but the real treasure is knowledge. After killing them, a door opens on the other side of the room and in the room is an inscription on the wall, it says that the magic of Nak'halath will corrupt anyone if not careful, but it remains as an example for all curious races who dare explore the halls of Nak'halath, the inscription should also have some information about some ancient races of Black Marsh, more specifically the ancient magic of Black Marsh and so on.

What do you guys think for my first long quest. Although I know it needs more work, I think I have done quiet good.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

It certainly needs more work. The lore elements are what would make it happen, I think, so if you knew your stuff regarding ancient races and could develop ideas around this then it might take you in some interesting directions. I would advise gradually getting acquainted with the body of lore and it may spark off ideas that you can use to adapt this. As it is, the intrigue is merely a deception and needs a little more of something like characterisation or a grand unveiling of something of particular interest to the lore of BM.

When looking for locations, always use this: All Maps (REFERENCE ONLY - No Posting) . Not all dungeons are noted there but you can also find others in the esm and merely briefly describe the dungeon as you have done.

I've found that, with other's contributions, digging in the lore tends to produce the more sizzling ideas. I'm not a lore monkey myself but Deeza keeps me straight on that and we can work well by adapting some ideas.

So yeah, keep reading through stuff...it's encouraging to see that I can make sense of it all and uses some of the existing locations/ideas already. We've had some so-called members posting up quests that can't spell or write to save their lives and those guys don't have a hope, I'm afraid! As for myself, I like to write first then devise the quest so my better ideas emerge out of something I've written as lore or literature.

[crepe100]

Yeah I got to admit I think I should've read up on the lore before doing such a broad quest, but it just popped into my head and snapp before I knew it I was typing it down, but it didn't help that I was ultra tired at the time, i'll try and revise the quest and re-post what it should be like, or just edit the main post.

[Xae]

You might want to consider dividing up the text blobs into a list so that the sequence is easier to follow.

[Nero]

try out Xae guide to writing, it really helps

[Deeza]

Yikes, this is a lot of text! It was never developed further though (at present I find parts of it confused and difficult to understand), and the OPer has long since departed for parts unknown, so I think that we are justified in calling this one dead.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

I guess it could be adapted. I reassigned it to 'redundant'.

[Deeza]

Agreed. It could potentially be useful for inspiration I suppose.