Redoran quests

[bob196045]

Originally posted by Shakes
Thanks bob.

As it happens I've just finished uni exams for the year and would definitely like to help out with quests as much as I can. I'm a programming student so give me a couple of days to refamiliarise with the construction set and scripting language and I can help out with implementation/testing too if you'd like.

I've visited these forums a few times over the last few months but havent even had much time to play oblivion (let alone mod it), but I really love all of your work here and would like to contribute as much as I can.

Ill work on some dialouge/planning for these two quests and come up with some more ideas. Are there any late stage quest plans that would be a good template to work with?

Super !

Thanks for the Cudo's on our efforts, we have a good bunch of folks here

Thier really isn't alot on the quest dev side that is near completion, have a look around at some of the ideas we've come up with and if one of them fancy's you claim it. And of course add some of your ideas as well.

I am still trying to figure out how to mod quests OB, I was without a system that could handle it for many years So I really didn't make an effort to read any of the tutorials Makes it very difficult to mod a quest for a game you can't even play hrug: but I do what I can and theirs lots of good helpers around

btw, if you havent been yet, please visit this post to get your modding ID

Modders' abbreviations


Thanks Much


Enjoy
Bob

[Atreides]

So my quest ideas are still too complicated/difficult to implement I gather... :poorme:

I'll see if I can come up with something more simple so you guys don't go nuts with scripting hehe.

[Razorwing]

Originally posted by Atreides
The question I asked about the Empire at least is because as an Imperial player, I was curious for some insight as to how House Redoran might treat me in the mod; from this I can come up with better suggestions for quests. Of all the Morrowind Houses, I like Redoran the best and I wish there was some way to gap the differences between Redoran and the Empire, particulalry after the events of ES 3-4. I always found it somewhat unrealistic that my extremely Imperial Nerevarine which was both head of the Legion and Imperial Cult was so readily accepted by House Redoran who supports independece and the Temple; same with isolationist Telvanni.

There are tensions between House Redoran in Soluthis and the Imperial powers that rules Reich Parkeep - and legally the overall city, even if the law is enforced by local guards there. One way it's apparant is that the factions have a strong dislike of one another game-wise, and I'll also weave that aspect in in dialogue and quests when I can. I have one planned that would demonstrate the strife, whereby a Dunmer citizen tries to commit suicide, a Redoran guard tries to talk him down and an Imperial guard almost gauds him into jumping. The Redoran have a much stronger dislike of Nords in our mod, but no-one's precluded from going on the Redoran main-quest or forced to do extra tasks, simply because it'd get complicated and the end result of the work at least right now would be much lesser than modding another quest in the main story.

I like your quest ideas. I found them to be logical and well-thoughtout, but perhaps a bit brief given their technical complexity.

Shakes: The scout ship idea sounds interesting

[Atreides]

Thank you Razorwing for the kind words.

I only presented an abbreviated general overview of the quests I was suggesting to see if you liked the ideas of them and could find them useful. I also figured you may want your official writers to develop them, molding them to your own vision and changing/adding/substracting were you feel necessary. However if you would like a more detailed elaboration, then I can certainly try to expand into specifics instead of having them being so open. I also tend to ramble on as you can see and didn't want to clutter the page with so long a post

I'll work on finer details and post expanded versions of what I put here and see if you like them and can use them.

[bob196045]

Originally posted by Atreides
So my quest ideas are still too complicated/difficult to implement I gather... :poorme:

I'll see if I can come up with something more simple so you guys don't go nuts with scripting hehe.

Nope, just short handed on modders who can impliment them, most are busy building stuff and I'm still learning


Enjoy
Bob

[Shakes]

I definitely like Atreides idea of house hlaalu involvement. perhaps it could involve a house hlaalu axiom - money solves everything. hlaalu could be funding a nord clan who is losing control of their own turf due to infighting and lack of economy, a la the US funding israel. once redoran confirms this, the course of action taken will be to eliminate hlaalu involvement; thus cutting off the money the nord clan has been equpping/bolstering its army with and making it easier to deal with the invasion. Shortly after should feel like the real turning point in the struggle. So here is a basic timeline of the questline:

1. Starter quests
2. Discovery of minor nord invasion
3. Strengthening house redoran
4. Nord Pillage of town
5. Weakening of nord invasion forces/gathering of intelligence
which leads to
6. Discovery of hlaalu involvement/funding
7. Stopping of hlaalu involvement
8. Striking back at nords
9. Main nord attack on a city
10. Finale

In line with this, i think my scout ship mission would be a good place for the player to discover the hlaalu involvement, perhaps it could be on its way to meet a known hlaalu powerbroker somewhere on vvardenfell to collect some sweet dineros. we can always discover about the garrisoned forces departing the nord town later, perhaps even from the hlaalu.

i can flesh this out a bit more and leave stubs where the actual quests can be put in provided no one is already doing this and/or dont have radically different ideas about the basic structure. i think this will definitely help with quest ideas if we better know their place in the grand scheme of things, and further development/changes to the questline should be easier to picture. who knows maybe im the only one who cant fathom something so grand without the skeleton there in front of me. hrug:

another quick idea i had was a raid/sabotage operation on a huge ram the nords are building hidden in a forest near one of the cities somewhere.

EDIT: just had a minor stroke of genius about hlaalu involvement:
house hlaalu is not fully aware of the invlovement - several prominent members on the mainland are secretly involved and fronting money, but obviously those in silgrad city would be HEAVILY opposed as they would surely be attacked - hence the secretiveness. so in short a faction of hlaalu is willing to let silgrad be taken as a sacrafice for the great weakening of redoran (whether or not they ACTUALLY let it plan to be taken, they could just be telling the nords this.). once the silgrad city offices are alerted, they want to immediately inform the rest of their house and have the situation rectified. perhaps the player can even escort the hlaalu messenger on this urgent mission to a boat on the coast waiting to take him to vvardenfell ,as they dont even know who they can trust in their office. the player and messenger can be followed and attacked by two hlaalu members from the office they just left! its all just so hlaalu :chaos:

[Atreides]

Awesome ideas Shakes. Well I worked on these for a while, hoping to expand on them from the general concepts I originally suggested. Naturally you guys can alter/add/substract wherever you guys feel necessary should you decide to use any of these; perhaps integrating them with Shakes' ideas as well as your own.

I apologize for the length of this post, but this is as detailed as I can get in terms of the story aspect of the quests, hope you can use something from here:

Main Quest ideas:

1) The Informant
a) Quest Giver: A Redoran Councilor

b) Purpose: Gather information about originally destroyed village

c) Details: This is an early mission, preferrably just after the discovery of the destruction of the Dunmer village Razorwing established as the initial Nord attack.

So far, there is no clue as to the identity of the attackers. So the Redoran Councilor assings the player to try to collect information about who could have destroyed the village. Since the PC is automatically a member of the Blades in vanilla game and I assume there will be Blades somewhere in Morrowind; the PC decides to use his contacts within the Blades to seek out the info; who better than the Empire's finest spy ring.

Unbeknowst to the PC, there is a traitor among the Redoran. It can be someone in the close employ and confidence of the Councilor; and if you want to add flavor, it can be a seductive Dunmer woman who constantly flirts with the PC since day one.

The meeting can be setup in any kind of anymous setting, from a campsite to a cabin in the woods; but obviously away from groups of people. When gathered with the Blades agent, the PC learns a little about the current situation in Skyrim, infighting between clans and rumors that perhaps a group of Nords have crossed into Morrowind. At this point, the information is vague and incomplete so the informant agrees to discover more and contact the player when more information is available.

After the meeting concludes, the agent and the PC are attacked by Dark Brotherhood assassins. While it will remain a mystery for now who hired them to kill the PC and agent, we of course know that it is House Hlaalu who strongly benefits the weaker Redoran gets and the more ground they loose. As Shakes suggested it could be certain people within House Hlaalu or it can even be sponsored by the Hlalalu Council under the table, in the public, House Hlaalu pretends to support their fellow Redoran Dunmer.

2) The Choice
a) Quest Giver: Redoran Councilor

b) Purpose: Reconnaissance of possible Nord camp

c) Details: I like this mission because it is not black and white, it's a moral dilema in cocnept; also depends how and if it can be implemented into the game. The witnessess I mention can either be farmers or fishermen, depending how you set up the areas; if they are near water or if they are in grasslands, if the Nords are moving by foot or by boat.

The Blades agent has sent a message to the PC involving local rumors that Nords have been seen making camp in the area nearby where the village was destroyed. The Redoran Councilor sends the PC to question the farmers/fishermen who related the rimors and see if he can locate the Nord camp.

The PC questions the farmers/fishermen and learns that during a recent stormy night, large humans were seen making camp nearby the destroyed village and then moving onto the wilderness/down river. The witness states however that the storm was so bad that he doubts they got very far so they are probably making a new camp nearby. Recent Dunmer military activity in the region has prevented them to move openly since their initial attack and they are currently hiding and making plans. The witness who knows the area points out towards the best possible locations where they could make camp and remain hidden and thus the PC goes to investigate the places,

When the PC finally finds the camp, it is a Nord advanced scouting warparty. Meaning that there is a larger Nord Forward base of operations in Morrowind located elsewhere. The PC hides and observes the Nords, realizing that they will be sending a messager soon. The PC intercepts and kills the messanger away from the camp and acquires a letter to the forward base of operations indicating the scouting party has selected the next village to be destroyed and will continue on the move as soon as a second warparty meets up with them.

The PC takes this info to the Councilor. Here is the dilema; the Councilor is interested in finding the location of the forward base. However the warparties won't return there until after they destroy the target village. If the PC stops the attack on the village by warning them and setting up an ambush for the warparty, then the larger force in the forward base will know they have been compromised and move to even another location, plus the main force back in Skyrim will accelerate their attacks and invade even sooner; costing many more lives as the strung out Redoran are not in place to defend against an invasion this size.

Obviously the choice is whether to stop the attack on the village which then loses the opportunity to attack the forward base and results in much higher losses. Or allow the destruction of the village and follow the Nords to the forward base to learn its location. The PC then returns to the COuncilor and reports its location.

Basically this is really a no win scenario, no matter what you do the Nords will claim blood. The best option is to allow the death of the fewer villagers and learn the loaction of the base to prepare a counterattack and avoid a huge assault that will be the result of interfering with the destruction of the village.

3) The Pact
a) Quest Giver: Redoran Councilor

b) Purpose: Escort a Redoran emissary to a meeting with a possible Nord ally

c) Details: This is based on the premise that the village from above was allowed to be destroyed and the PC found the location of the Nord forward base and reported it to the Councilor.

A new message from the Blades suggests that a rival Nord clan or group of Nord clans back in Skyrim have offered to meet with the Redoran and propose an alliance against the invading clan. The PC is sent to escort a Redoran emissary to the meeting.

Again the location should be somewhere secluded. In route to the meeting, perhaps as the PC and the emissary rest at an Inn on the way, they are again attacked by DB assassins sent by House Hlaalu, though again it is still unknown to be them.

After the emissary is saved, the PC escorts him to the meeting where the representative of the Nords explains of the clan fighting and offers an alliance with Redoran to defeat their common enemy. The Nord allies will destroy the main forces still preparing in Skyrim while the Redoran destroy the forward base here in Morrowind. It's a good deal and the Redoran accept. Here the Blades agent, who brought the Nord ally from Skyrim and will escort him back, informs the PC that they have learned the Hlaalu have been sending the assassins and that there is a traitor among the Councilor's staff.

Upon returning to the Councilor and explaining this, the PC agrees to set a trap for the traitor.

4) The Traitor
a) Quest Giver: Redoran Councilor

b) Purpose: Ambush the traitor

c) Details: A pretty simple mission. The Councilor creates a "diplomatic package" that is set to be delivered to the rest of the Redoran Council. The Councilor creates it with his staff, where the traitor obviously is, and relies on the irresistable temptation this package will provide.

The package is left in a sealed armory or chamber, after all the Councilor is pretending not to know there is a traitor among them so it is left unguarded. The Councilor informs that the package will be delivered first thing the following morning. The PC is hidden here to wait for the traitor to make their move.

During the night, the seductive Dunmer woman or whoever the traitor is, enters the chamber and attempts to swap the package with another one and obviosuly steal the real one for the Hlaalu. The PC confronts the traitor and ultimately kills her. The Councilor's package was also a fake, just a decoy to draw out the traitor, in case that wasn't obvious; so there is no need to actually deliver it once the traitor is unmasked and killed.

Misc Quest:

1) Hero of the People
a) Quest Giver: Redoran Councilor

b) Purpose: Confront a Redoran Councilor

c) Details: This is another concept I really like but don't know if you guys want to or can implement.

I assume that like in ES3, the Redoran quests will be given out by multiple Councilors. Using the idea Razorwing suggested about the attack on the Nord village after the defeat of the invaders; here's something that could be related.

Ok, so this Redoran Councilor is not the same that has been giving out the quests I mentioned above, or can be if you want. But assuming he's not the same guy; this guy is another Councilor who also has given out quests to the PC but these quests have gotten increasingly brutal in nature, culminating in the quest where the PC decides whether to destroy the Nord village or not.

So this other guy is a very famous Redoran war hero and popular in the Redoran Council. Lets say they have written books about his victories, poems and all that good stuff; a bonafied inspiration to the Dunmer and Redoran especially.

Of course as time has worn on, and with the destruction of the Daedra Invasion as well as the Nord attacks that occured just before; this guy has become increasingly stern in his beliefs that the only way to protect the Redoran is to act as brutal as those that threaten them; thus the as of yet indetermined number of quests he gives out, finishing in the Nord village scenario Razorwing mentions.

So the PC can do as this guy commands and kill the entire Nord village, perhaps it was a harbor for the original invaders at one point and thus this is retribution (Course the Councilor says its a precation of future invaders). If the PC destroy the village and kills everyone this guy's quests are complete,

However, the PC can choose not to destroy the village which is course civilians. And go to another Councilor, maybe the guys that sent the quests before, who is a friend of the PC by now; and explain about the out of control hero. The freindly Councilor instructs the PC to order the removal of the hero from his position, by force if necessary, as he has lost sight of the code of honor that rules House Redoran.

The PC then confronts the hero Councilor who resists being removed and accuses the PC of treason for trying to undermine the well being of House Redoran. The PC kills the hero Councilor and reports back to his friend. The PC is told that the Council has decided to bury the truth about the hero's actions, as exposing what he had become would shatter the already fragile state and countless centuries of inspiration he had given the Redoran people and Dunmer as a whole, not to mention House Redoran's honorable reputation. A new Councilor will take his place who is just and sane, while the hero will be buried with full honors as a hero and martyr, a victim of an anonymous assassin.

[Shakes]

Ive prepared this flowchart for the questline , incorporating all the ideas that we've discussed so far (except for my decoy caravan quest). This will hopefully help visualise the flow of the story, and make it easier to come up with ideas for the remaining quests as we can see where they fit in:

Redoran Quest Flowchart

The grey highlights on the right are the proposed 'extras' that will have to be done if the player tips off the next village to be attacked in 'the choice'. I tried to look for a way of incorporating the extra nord crunch as proposed by atreides without having another complete story arc. A couple extra missions (involving more spilled dunmer blood) as well as perhaps more random nord raiders about the countryside should do the trick.

@Razorwing - A really cool thing that would allow you to live out both your proposed ideas for the final battle would be to have 2 different versions depending on 'the choice' : one with the stronger nord force having broken through the city defences and having the battle take place on the streets, and the other with the weaker nord force fighting more on redoran terms outside the walls with our archers helping out from above. This would surely encourage replayability, especially since the affecting decision must be made so early in the questline.

Obvoiusly any of this can be updated/changed/removed - just let me know. Do you all like the way this is shaping up? If so I can write up a fleshed out textual version in line with the above flowchart.

[Shakes]

I have an idea for one of the 'strengthen house redoran' quests: cleaning out a cave where a high valued natural substance is farmed, so that house redoran can take over the commercial interests - after all, it is on redoran territory.

The occupants can be either nords (in which case the cave is near the border), or just random bandits. The substance can be something that only grows at the perfect climate provided by the cave, and in very shallow water.

@Razorwing - is there already a fairly unique, seldom seen cave flora that would be good for this, or alternatively could one be modelled?

Ive already designed such a cave on paper, and would love to have a go at modelling this with the moldcave tileset ive seen in one of the videos.

Another thing that occured to me is that we will need a side quest to do with being sponsored by the redoran council member once the rank of lawman is achieved in order to progress (i think its the 4th rank from memory), unless they offer you sponsorship once one of the current quests is completed.

[SACarrow]

Would bloat spore be appropriate for this? I just got a PM from ev1 and he said he had done some preliminary texes for that job. I haven't modelled it yet, but it looks like a 15-min job once I get my computer back.

Steve