Senchal Quest: The Gold Cat

[Deeza]

Here's an idea I've been thinking about for a while - seeing JKJ's screens of Senchal reminded me of it:

A lot of people in Senchal say the Gold Cat has done wonders for the city. Now it is clean, crime-free and rebuilt with modern buildings. Where there once were slums, there is a utopia, a resort paradise for the elites of the Empire. And the scourge of the skooma trade has been removed from the city forever.

But some people disagree. They say the reason the streets are free of crime is that the thieves and murderers who used to rule the streets are now the Gold Cat's private guards. The city is quiet and peaceful only because the Gold Cat's informants and spies are everywhere, and people who disturb the peace disappear. They remember the beggars and addicts being cleared out of the slums by force.

The question is: who does the player want to believe? Is Senchal's miraculous transformation just too good to be true?

My basic idea for the quest is that the player is confronted with a moral choice: does the good the Gold Cat is doing in Senchal make up for the devastation his gangsters cause around the rest of Elseweyr? The main character in the quest will be an ex-guard of the city, who was fired for asking too many questions about certain criminals being let off the hook by the Gold Cat's private guards. He has joined forces with a ruthless Imperial customs officer, who is determined to shut down Elseweyr's skooma trade no matter what the cost to the locals who depend on it.

The player starts out working for the Imperials, being hired (if they have a clean criminal record) to help them out on raids which target the Gold Cat's moonsugar fields and skooma factories. Once the player is trusted, they are ordered to infiltrate the Gold Cat's organisation - where they learn his side of the story.

Ultimately, the player must choose which side they stand on - will they help the Imperials take down the Gold Cat, or join him as a partner in his organisation?

[DarkAsmodeous]

Her*

[Ja-Kha'jay]

sounds like a great start, flesh it out a little more and we'll go from there

[Deeza]

The Gold Cat's a she? Who knew? Just goes to show, never assume... I might work that into the quest actually, could be quite funny if the Imperials have always assumed it's a guy and that's why they've had no luck finding her.

Anyway, here we go:

Quest One: The Scapegoat
The player hears, whilst wandering around Senchal, about a troublesome old city guard who was recently banished from the city for corruption. Interested, the player goes to find him, in his home, a shack in one of the villages near Senchal. The old Khajiit, clearly a drunk, says that the opposite was true - he was the only guard in the city who stood up to the big boss, and was punished for it. He asks the player to find proof he was set up to clear his name, which isn't too hard to find (a bit of burglary in the town watch headquarters will find incriminating documents). On returning to the ex-guard, who now seems a lot more sober, he explains that the evidence will do no good - the Senchal guards are bought and paid for by the Gold Cat. He reveals that this was a test, and that his new employer would be interested in meeting the player.

Quest Two: Mr Encivilus and his Merry Men
The player goes to the Customs and Excise building in Senchal with a letter from the old Khajiit guard, which they present to the Chief Officer, the rather sinister Mr Encivilus. He explains about the origins of Senchal's economic miracle, and the sinister trade that funds it. " The skooma trade is going on all around us," he says, "But everybody's either been paid to look the other way or too scared to speak up. But not me." Demanding the player prove his commitment, he sends the player with one of his "Merry Men" hired mercenaries to bust a tavern in Rimmen that's a front for shipping skooma across the border. The player must find a secret trapdoor to a skooma den underneath the tavern to complete the quest.

Quest Three: The Exchange
Mr Encivilus sends the player back to the Khajiit ex-guard to see what news he has managed to dig up. Turns out the rumour is that a major trade between some Cyrodiilic bandits and a representative of the Gold Cat will take place in a few weeks' time close to Riverhold. The player needs to find out where by searching among the lowlives of Orcrest.

Quest Four: The Plantation
Pleased with the information, Mr Encivilus rewards the player and starts to prepare for intercepting the trade. In the meantime, he wants to hit the Gold Cat where it hurts. He's managed to coerce a captured gang member into revealing the location of a major moonsugar plantation in the Tenmar. The player's orders are to destroy it. However, when they arrive they find a small community dependent on selling the sugar for their livelihoods. Orders are orders, but this may leave the player doubting how far Encivilus is willing to go...

+++At this point, the Gold Cat has started to get pretty annoyed by the player's interference, and periodically sends a couple of goons round to rough the player up, more as a test to see how much they're capable of than anything else.+++

Quest Five: High Noon
With preparations made, it's time to deal with the cross-border exchange. First, the player, the ex-Guard and some of the Merry Men must kill and replace the Gold Cat's goons, then take their place for long enough to convince the Cyrodiilic bandits to go ahead with the deal. Then, take them out as well, making the place look as though they killed each other in an argument over payment.

Quest Six: Joining the Gang
Encivilus is not happy. Despite his efforts, the flow of drugs into Cyrodiil has barely been dented. He is convinced that there is only one option left - infiltrate the Gold Cat's organisation and take it down from the inside. The player is given this task, as they are new to the province. The player has to track down the Gold Cat's men in Senchal and convince them that they are a mercenary and that working for Encivilus was an attempt to get noticed by the Gold Cat. If they're satisfied that all the player wants is money, one of the Gold Cat's lieutenants sets them a task to prove they're willing to follow orders without question.

Quest Seven: Rite of Passage
The player is given the task of wiping out a rival skooma gang, who apparently make drugs so impure they kill half their clients in the gutters of Cyrodiil. The Gold Cat considers such deaths bad for business, and wants the player to make an example of the gang. They are hard to defeat, and if the player succeeds, the lieutenant, impressed with the feat, welcomes the player to the Gold Cat's business.

Quest Eight: Redistribution of Wealth
The player is given a simple task - collect the money for the Gold Cat's protection racket from Senchal's businesses. They must then deliver it to the various charities the Gold Cat funds in the city. Apparently the Gold Cat wants the player to recognise the good works that the skooma trade pays for.

Quest Nine: The Village
Asked to check what happened to a skooma factory that's fallen behind schedule, the player goes there to find the workers and guards alike have been massacred by Encivilus' Merry Men. But someone else is there - the player finally gets to meet the Gold Cat herself. She explains that she knew all along why the player wanted to join her organisation, but respects their abilities and hoped she could convince them to switch sides by showing them the true face of Encivilus' war on skooma. The Gold Cat finishes by saying the player may choose as they wish, but they must make their choice soon.

Quest Ten: Choices, Choices
A ship crammed with skooma has been run aground on the coast of the Quin'Rawl peninsula. In reality, though, this potentially huge haul is a trap to lure Encivilus and his men into committing all their resources to an all-out battle. Having witnessed Encivilus' brutality, the player must decide if the ends justify the means, and whether to warn him. Depending on the player's decision, they will either help the Gold Cat's men ambush Encivilus at the boat, or join the Merry Men in an attack on the Gold Cat's estate in Senchal. The questline ends when either Encivilus is dead or the Gold Cat surrenders, remarking to the player that she hope they can live with what Senchal will become without her guidance.

If the player decides to help the Gold Cat, they get a house in Senchal and a weekly cut of the Gold Cat's profits. If they decide to help Encivilus bust the Gold Cat for good, they get a rich reward from the Imperial Governor, as well as an official title in recognition of their help.

[Ja-Kha'jay]

excellent work, me i'd side with the gold cat. but thats the beauty of choice.

[Senten]

wow,Deeza!You are really nice,keep it up your creativity! :goodjob:

[Deeza]

Originally posted by Ja-Kha'jay
excellent work, me i'd side with the gold cat. but thats the beauty of choice.

Now that I think about it, my usual character would probably play both sides off against each other, then escape with all the money and a ship full of skooma...

Now if only we could somehow allow the player to have the option to do that as well, we'd have every possible outcome covered.