Redoran plotline

[Razorwing]

This is my first draft of the Redoran mini-main quest regarding the war with Skyrim. Needless to say a few issues need to be resolved and kinks ironed out, so please don't take this as me saying "this is how it will be". As much fun as I had in thinking it up, modding a quest is a hundred times harder than describing it, so I'm humble about the prospect of revising them. Feel free to pitch your own quest idea, letting us know where in the plan it would be spliced in.

[title]1. Reclaiming the Ancient Gate (link to old draft)[/title]

My old draft was just an idea I had in my head back then, but with a few changes I think it could be a good starter quest. Not an ideal one as far as starter quests goes, but going by what Bethesda said the war between the Nords and House Redoran has already started. So, when the player arrives in Soluthis, the situation is that the Ancient Gate has been conquered by the Nords, which is tantamount to a declaration of war. House Redoran don't want to sit idly by and wait for the first town to be burnt down to find out if it's a serious war effort, or just a whim of a rogue barbarian warlord. So, the player would be quested to free it and return it to Redoran control.

[title]2. Rise of the Militia[/title]

Evidence from the Ancient Gate gives strong indications that there lied more behind the occupation than some simple-minded barbarian warlord looting it. The warriors were well-equipped and had stocked the Gate with food, horses, and other supplies that hints that an invasion may be imminent.

[blockquote]This is my interpretation of the new lore; feel free to offer an alternative explanation if you disagree:
- The Empire chooses to remain neutral in the conflict. They care little for the ebb and flow of territory between the Provinces as long as everyone pays their taxes, the goods keep flowing, and Imperial property is left alone.
- Hlaalu and Redoran have always been at each other's throats, and have no intention of allying with House Redoran now.
- House Indoril, traditional allies of House Redoran, lies in ruins and are powerless to defend from Hlaalu and Dres encroaching on their lands.
- The Tribunal is destroyed. Almalexia and Sotha Sil are dead, and Vivec is missing. The Nerevarine is somewhere on Akavir.
- In short, House Redoran are on their own in this conflict.[/blockquote]

With a Nord invasion deemed imminent, Areya scrambles to found and assemble a Redoran Militia. Riders are dispatched to the villages to spread the word, which in practice means that at the start of this quest, posters become enabled in Redoran settlements calling for volounteers to make their way to Soluthis and sign up. It also means that everyone in those settlements will know about the scrambling of forces when the player arrives.

The player is quested by Areya to go to nearby Maar Mok to see what they can do to help the budding Militia. When he arrives and speak with the locals, he'll be told to seek out the village smith. The smith tells the player about the iron mine south of town; it was owned and operated by the Vobdas family, who's last member died twenty years ago without leaving an heir. While the villagers squabbled over who would take over the operations, a Necromancer seized the opportunity to set up his base there. The Necromancer has led a reclusive life so far, but woodsmen have told tales at the tavern that the reclusiveness is not so much to let him focus on research as it is to amass a skeleton army and take control of the area.

Said and done, the player will travel to the mine and annihilate the skeleton army as well as the Necromancer. Ownership of the mine is then assumed by House Redoran, who employs locals to mine ore which is then supplied to the smith, who starts crafting weapons for the Militia.

[title]3. Drowned salvation[/title]

Areya thanks the player for getting the weapons production up and running. He mentions that a handful of warriors have already distinguished themselves over the others, and wants to ensure that these Heroes (as he calls them) have the very best equipment in a future battle. Areya reminisces that a galleon sunk off the coast of Ebbedin some years ago, which might have been carrying suitable accouterments. The player is to go to Ebbedin and talk to the locals about it.

In Ebbedin, the player will find an old, weary sailor who was an actual eyewitness to the incident, which he observed from his fishing boat all those years ago. He'd just finished emptying his fishing nets and was heading back to shore to avoid the mounting storm when he spotted the galleon in the distant. He says he heard something about the 'ebony shipment having to reach Vvardenfell' shortly before it capsized. The sailor was too old even back then to investigate the treasure himself, and his daughter's a skooma addict, so he'd been biding his time until his grandson came of age and could dive for it. But with the recent events, he says, whatever treasure the galleon was carrying has to go to the Milita, else his grandson would have no future at all let alone one with riches.

The player is then left to his own devices on how to get to the treasure, but to be fair, Craighton's general store should probably carry potions of water breathing. The crew is still around, and fighting zombies on the seabed will probably be a new experience for the player.

Crates with ebony weapons and armor are scattered around the sunken galleon. The crates are special, and acts as misc objects, letting the player pick them up (because it wouldn't be fun to return the weapons two at a time). Stuff isn't as heavy in water either, so that could help explain why the crates are relatively light. When the player returns to Ebbedin the screen fades out, then fades in, at which time the crates have been removed from his inventory and are stacked on the beach; this time as proper crates with actual content. The villagers will of course understand what the player has done and why without any deeper explanation, if for no other reason than the sailor having told them. So when they've been dropped off on the beach the player can go straight to Areya, at which time the arrangements regarding their delivery has been taken care of.

The player's told to rest and relax and come back in a day. When he does, the Redoran Heroes will have recieved their equipment from the galleron's bounty. These Heroes will help out the player now and then.

[blockquote]
I'm not as sure about quest 4 and 5 as I am about the others. We could exchange them for other quest ideas if you'd like to pitch.

[title]4. Boring through the Utharghan mine[/title]

after repelled from the ancient gate, the nords have regrouped and are tunneling through the velothi mountains into a dunmer mine
ends with the player instigating a massive cavein

[title]5. One through the cracks (link to old draft)[/title]

An advanced scout troup had already made its way into Morrowind, and now they have attacked the farm. A 'calm before the storm' type of quest[/blockquote]

[title]6. Eye of the Needle[/title]

Optimism heralds the start of this quest. The recruitment posters have yielded a large number of volounteers, and the Maar Mok mine have supplied iron ore to the smith who've been cranking out swords on a regular basis. House Redoran's finest stands at the ready, clad in Ebony armor and wielding the finest swords and axes. The Redoran Militia is manned and complete just in time, and feels ready to take on the Nord threat. During a small ceremony in Areya's mansion the player is awarded his own Ebony accouterments, so he can take his rightful place among the other Redoran heroes.

Their bath of fire won't wait, either. A scout enters Areya's chambers (shortly after the award ceremony is over) and recants that he was exploring the vast Vorgan cave system, which runs under the Velothi Mountains, when he heard suspicious rumblings and hacking sounds beyond the cavern walls. Turns out that the boring through Utharghan mine was just a ruse, which helps to explain why they were so easily repelled. The real forces have been working to open up a broad passage linked to the Vorgan caves, allowing siege machines and numerous Nord warriors to pour into Morrowind. The player and the rest of the militia are dispatched to the Vorgan caves immediately.

The player can try to repel the hordes, but he won't succeed. When he gets within a certain distance of the caves, the Nords start pouring out. The first volley might see six of them, running towards the player. If he kills them, six more pour out, this time more powerful. If he kills them too, maybe ten even more powerful Nords pour out, but this time only five of them attack the player while the other five runs past him. It'll take a while to straighten out the details but the point is to either make the player retreat, or at least give him a logical sense that he failed to stop their advance, since Nords ran past him. His fellow Redoran heroes tells him they should return to Soluthis to consult Areya and regroup.

[title]7. From ashes to ashes, from defeat to glory[/title]

When the player enters Areya's chambers, he hears the general of the Militia inform Areya that the Nords have struck Maar Mok, burning it to the ground. The men who weren't killed where herded back to Skyrim in chains, to serve as slaves - or as the Nords would call it to enquiring Imperials, forced labour emposed on prisoners of war. The lingering Nord warriors have set up camp in the smoldering ruins, enjoying the spoils of war. A stake in every mouth and a woman in every bed. A concerned Areya turns to the player, telling him "You know what to do... may Vivec grace your path and bring you glory. My prayers are with you."

As the player leaves, the other Redoran heroes - the ones in Ebony armor - follow him on to Maar Mok, where he kills the Nords and frees the women.

[title]8. Retrieving Dwemer equipment[/title]

The attack on Maar Mok is over and dealt with, albeit very little remains of the village and menfolk are in short supply. The Nords have pulled back with their slaves and other spoils of war, and seem to be gone from Morrowind - leaving Areya confused more than anything else. They would surely have sent an emissary if the war was over, so Areya is left wondering what strategy they are playing. In any case, he says, the Vorgan caves now pose an imminent threat and have to be sealed off permanently.

Areya believes this can be achieved by placing Dwemer groundmines at tectonically weak spots around the caves and detonating them with an Amskthangd device. Old rumors say that the Dwemer ruin northeast of Soluthis was home to some of the most advanced among Dwemer engineers, and if any ruin would have this kind of ancient mining equipment, that would be it. Retrieve the equipment and return here, he says.

[title]9. Payback through the caves[/title]

With the groundmines and Amskthangd device in his possession, the player returns to Areya to learn that the skope of his mission have broadened. He's now not only quested to seal the Vorgan caves, but also take the Redoran heroes with him and rescue the slaves from the barbarians' village on the other side of the border - as well as executing every single Nord there.

The player makes his way through the tunnels until he finds the exit to Skyrim. This actually leads to a separate worldspace, with the appearance of being a valley in the Skyrim-side of the Velothi Mountains. When he nears the village, he and the other heroes are attacked by several armored Nords with axes swinging. The slaves are held in cages on the edge of the village. The player gets to make a moral choice on whether to really execute the Nord peasants. Areya will be more pleased if he does, but the mission objective is to free the slaves (and guide them back to Maar Mok). Until they're freed the player won't be allowed to leave the worldspace, and at least one of them have to make it back to Maar Mok for the quest to succeed. The plotline will continue anyway but the player won't recieve neither reward nor praise if none of the Dunmers make it back alive.

The heroes stay behind in the village to round up all the possessions the Nords stole from Maar Mok, so they can be returned to their rightful owners. And loot the other possessions. A player who pays attention to detail would notice that the next time he sees the Redoran heroes they'll be wearing expensive rings and amulets, and some may also have upgraded their weapons. As soon as the player enters the Vorgan caves, the heroes are displaced to Maar Mok so they'll be there when the player returns.

As the player descends into the Vorgan caves, it turns out that one of the slaves is a miner - who thanks the player for getting him work in the Maar Mok iron mine. More than that, the miner can help the player identify the tectonically weak spots in the cave. In practice, this means that a number of activators become enabled that make it seem like there are cracks in the wall. The player clicks an activator to place a groundmine in it, and so on, until a message pops up telling him that all of the mines have been placed.

The player exits back into Morrowind, and activates the Amskthangd device (by equipping it in his inventory). SURPRISE!! The caves are sealed alright, but setting off the device caused the whole mountain on top of the caves to collapse. The miner quips, "Guess those mines had more bang than we thought, huh?". The caves are utterly destroyed, and instead the Nords have a flattened, wide plaza on which they can stroll right into Morrowind.

[title]10. The bath of fire[/title]

With the hit against their village and the newly-opened passage, it's no surprise where the Nords will be coming from.

When the player arrives in Maar Mok with the freed slaves he finds Areya there, who's overseeing the reparations. Areya acts almost like he's relieved over the mountain collapse, because it means there won't be any more surprises where the Nord assault will be coming from. Areya also sees a tactical advantage in the hit against the Nord village, because when the Nords come they will be furious and most likely charge right for Soluthis - opening up options for a tactical combat against the superior forces. "I hope you're prepared", he tells the player, "because they have most likely already begun marching towards us".

And indeed they have - there wouldn't be any wishy-washy failsafes like in the main game. When the conversation with Areya ends, the Nord forces start marching whether the player is prepared or not.

A smart player, probably one who's replaying it, would prepare before talking to Areya and then run straight towards the marching army. So, we have to factor that in and ensure that doing so would be tantamount to suicide, because unless you're Sauron you do not take on an army by yourself.

I hope to be able to carry through an old idea I had, to equip both the defenders and attackers in special, highly-optimized suits of armor to allow for a much more massive scale of combat than for example the defense of Bruma.

Anyway, I was thinking of dividing the Redoran defenders into three groups. Two of the groups, the archers and the mages, are situated on opposite sides of a gorge. The warriors are on the east side of the gorge, and the attackers are marching from the west. As they get within distance of the archers and mages, the defenders start to march to meet them while the two groups pelt the attackers with arrows and fireballs. Thus, the player can choose which group he'd like to assist by just joining up with them at their position and helping the defense.

If the Dunmer are defeated, there's two options I can see. One is that a Nord archer shoots the player with a single kill-shot. The other is that Soluthis falls under Nord control. The latter would take a lot of work and open up for logical problems - for instance, if they claim Soluthis, wouldn't they continue the war effort? Should we have to commit to modding that even though all players are likely to reload from the last save if they failed? Killing the player on the other hand would ensure that we wouldn't have to take into account what would happen if the quest failed, but also ensure that the player can't win automatically.

If the attackers are repelled and the player completes the quest, the Nords lose their interest in the war. There would be a ceremony in Areya's chambers where a sullen Nord offers a peace treaty, followed by the player being named Hortator of House Redoran as well as recieving the title of Master - and thus being awarded a Master's Helm, when one is modelled.

[Green @nt1-n00b]

*Quote after repelled from the ancient gate, the nords have regrouped and are tunneling through the velothi mountains into a dunmer mine
ends with the player instigating a massive cavein*

Quest 4 if expanded upon with more detail such as maybe a boss and a secret passage via a cave-in under the player; player steps on rocks the rocks fall down underneth the player and you need to find a different way back up. and other such things could make it a decent quest. the massive cave-in could be from the nords tunneling and the seconed would be from some natural underground cavern.

[KuKulzA]

I few specific points, otherwise I like the ideas...
[1] Maar Gan, as in one on the mainland? cause there is a miner/warrior outpost town called Maar Gan on Vvardenfell... I don't want the player to think he needs to run back to Vvardenfell... that's pushing it...
[2] You should put a personality behind the Nords... make them being led by X and make it like a contest of wills, the Nord's and Areya's... both being very accomplished Fighters.... but maybe the reason why you can't join the Nord side is cause this Nord is... a worshipper of Mehrunes Dagon and merciless... I dunno just a way to explain it...
[3] Is the Blacklight region involved? If so then Cormaris View should be involved in this as it is a lake-side fortress-city... according to my conceps of it at least...

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[/hr]
I think Soluthis SHOULD be able to be taken or "occupied" and all the townsfolk will retreat to the Parkeep.... and I think Areya should hint to this in the beginning of Quest 10 saying...
"___, you have served your House well, but should we fail to stop the Nords at Soluthis, then the Saints help us we'll have to fight a guerilla war...."

so that leads to quest 11, 12, and 13...
[title]11. Let's Fight Them Dunmer Style[/title]
You are told to meet in a small clearing in the Forgotten Forest called the Resdaynia Field where Dumac and Nerevar helped to turn the tide of war against the Nords. It will be marked with a Triloth with the images of Nerevar and Dumac. However when you reach the triloth you hear a voice telling you to hide on the edges of the clearing. Areya tells you to redeem yourself for the loss of Soluthis.
A Nord band is camping nearby, you need to lure them to the clearing where they can be ambushed. So you go to the camp which is very noticeable due to all the chopped down trees around it and a large bonfire. The sentry will stop you and tell you you have two choices, surrender and be enslaved or fight the entire camp. You wil not be able to fight the entire camp as they will keep coming from beyond the camp (Nords who got awakened by the noise and came to the camp). You need to lure them to the clearning not far away. Or you can turn yourself in and they will ask you where your friends were, you tell them and they tell you to lead them there.
Once at the Triloth, you need to make a run for the forest since Redoran armed with bows will start shooting the Nords from the forest and the Nords will be massacred.
[title]12. You've Bitten More Than You Can Chew[/title]
Now that you have helped divert and destroy a large part of the Nord force actually in Morrowind, you and Areya turn your attention to Soluthis. The Parkeeps are being besieged... you must surround the city and charge in and route the Nords, plain and simple. However what will happen is before you kill every last Nord, a lone Ordinator defending the Temple will be killed by the Nords... the tricky part is some of the Nords are inside the buildings and holding people prisoner in their one homes, when you comeinto Soluthis and kill the Nords outside besieging Parkeep, the ones inside the homes will pop out..
anyhow you will succeed in the quest and people will start rebuilding Soluthis and Reich Parkeep. However the death of the ordinator has significance... and that will lead to the last guerilla war quest.
[title]13. From Zero to Hero[/title]
You meet Areya on a large hill. They have drawn the last Nords to battle. They are on one hill, and you and the Redoran on another. Areya says that she wants you to lead the Guar-riders to the enemy's left flank and she will advance with the infantry to fight the frontlines. However your group is outnumbered, but this is the last chance and the last blow to save this region of the Redoran district.
So the battle begins and the sheer numbers of the Nords are giving them the upper-hand. However suddenly a horn blows in the distance and (when the Redoran force is down to 1/2, Nord force will respawn until then) a group of Ordinators will appear behind the Nord force at the bottom of the hill and charge in and help the Redoran destroy the Nords.

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[/hr]

those are my ideas for an alternative way to fail in defending Soluthis but win in the end through tactical strikes and decisive uprising...

[noremorse]

I love it RW! :goodjob: I like yours too KuKulzA.

I would love to see not only extremely optimized armor, but maybe we could get very low poly generic warrior models that will be fighting much further away from the player. We could fit many many more on screen, and they'd be bunched up enough that it woudn't look too bad.

[KuKulzA]

maybe... or perhaps they are low-poly version when far away but when they enter a certain zone near the player they become regular-poly...
or we could do a sorta of battle-haze where there is a lot of dust and you can't see well anyhow :lmao:

[noremorse]

I'm just trying to imagine how awesome it would be to have much largers seeming battles like in the LOTR games. If we could pull off something even remotely close to that, it would be awesome. :yes:

[Razorwing]

Green @nt1-n00b: I like some of your ideas.

noremorse: Thanks! I don't know if there'd be much of a difference from a FPS-point-of-view between a low-poly armor and a low-poly warrior though? Because armor replaces body parts, so if an NPC is clad from head to toe in an armor comprised of a total of 1000 faces then as far as I know he won't use more than 1000 faces. If the AI can handle it, we should be able to squeeze in a couple hundred combatants with that kind of facecount. Then again because of the AI there might be a boon in switching the body parts on for instance the skeleton creature.

KuKulzA:
[1] Sorry no, I meant to say Maar Mok, the new little Redoran village southwest of Soluthis.
[2] Their leader just wouldn't factor in much in the draft, at least not until the final assault on Soluthis.
[3] I'm sure something can be spliced in before or after #3 when that time comes. The reason I didn't include it is because I have a dim view of everything regarding the Blacklight area, while it's much clearer to me down in the Silgrad area. Since I don't know much about it I don't feel comfortable writing about it.

I wouldn't have a problem with you modding those additional quests.

[TheImperialDragon]

Hmm... The only problem I have with these quests is that they're all bunched up together and they would probably take one evening to finish. I think there should be more quests as relief from the invasion, and have the player more significant than just a simple fighter among the Redoran, I think it would be good to have a quest where you go to the different cities and actually recruit your own batallion, and you can give them different sets of orders during the battle or something.

Also, as I mentionned above, more quests! Some like the guar herding quests in Morrowind, or the release of some slaves somewhere in Hlaalu hands... Maybe give some orders for the retrieval of an artifact for the Master's use or something... Just some more symbolic than anything else quests which define the faction.

I like the story-line though, sounds good. :goodjob:

BTW: Redoran might be able to recruit some members of the Fighters Guild for the Nord divisions with bounties, and the Imperial Legion could help maybe with some other Nord factions who want to take matters into their own hands with acts of hostility (ie holding a count hostage, that sort of thing). Maybe less so for the legion, but the FG would do some work of ridding Redoran of outlaw mercenary camps used by the Nords.

And for Maar Mok, how about you leave some of the quest-oriented buildings up, that way, the player can still complete those quests. (but do damage the building, like putting a hole in the roof or something) :yes:

[Ebonyknight]

I Didnt read it all but man Ebony IS RARE like really rare, i like this questline but maybe not ebony and some silver or something or rarebonemould to me i hate when say normal troops have ebonyarmor and what not thats just my opinion.

[noremorse]

Yes, that is a why only the finest of the soldiers get it. The regulars and militia don't.