Skyrim

[Galrina]

Ed.Rw 090219: This thread became the embryo of the Skyrim for Oblivion project.
Galrinas' original post continues after this.

Unfortunately I'm beginning to think there is no room for Danath and I in ST. First, I am not interested in building more Redoran or Hlaalu cities, my first love is the Nords. Second, from the looks of the areas being claimed by Blacklight and all the rest, we'd be hard pressed to find a place to put Samhain Isles. Third, I'm seriously considering leaving Samhain Isles in Morrowind and instead, work my way through Skyrim. (This would definitely be a problem since Blacklight will be claiming the eastern portion of Skyrim according to your maps.)

I've been researching (as much as possible) the Skyrim province and it intrigues me, especially since there is so little lore about the area. hehe.. I would also get to build a whole lot of mountains, which as everyone knows, is my pet obsession.

I do enjoy talking to the few of you I have "met" so far, but I don't really feel I have a place here in Silgrad.

Is there any way for us to work together given my goals and yours? Please let me know your thoughts on this.

Lacey.

[Quentin Fortune]

This is something that really saddens me, but I refuse to believe that we won't find a solution.

Alright, first thing that comes to my mind is that I'd like to hear more about your project, it would make it easier for me to see what can be done.

Second, I remember that Razorwing had a few ideas where Samhain Isles could be located

Off the top of my head I can think of three possible locations that you guys might find suitable for Samhain Isles in Oblivion;
1) In the Inner Sea.
2) Situated north of Blacklight (and thus a neighbour island to where Solstheim is supposed to be).
3) in mainland Skyrim; either transformed as normal land, or as an island in an inland sea.

So, as you can see (and as I see it =) ), option 3 could bring us together.Third I don't think that Rodan would mind when you two are taking a shot at the Skyrim part ... how did he say it himself?

3 - Open exterior modding for anyone interested in designing wilderness areas and city modding when we have new Redoran and Nord models to work with. Also, open ideas to where placement of dungeons, ruins and anything else that will make it more interesting.

And if it means that we have to do all of Skyrim to make you stay ... so be it. It has been so much fun with the two of you and I would really hate to see you go, but I think that I've got a few points that will provide us with a good base for a discussion ... at least I hope so.

Please, tell me what you think about it.

Greetings

Quentin

[Galrina]

Okay, perhaps a lil background on Charles and I.

Charles is of Nordic descent, I am of Celtic descent. Over the years we have been delighted and amazed at how the two cultures overlapped and adapted to each other throughout history. The end result of this being that between the two of us we have learned a lot about ancient Celts and Nords.

I am 50 years old and, thanks to my closest companion: Arthritus, I have a lot of time in which to do nothing, or play with things on the computer. Even that gets to be too much at times, however I do tend to have more time than I know what to do with on this beast.

I have been a gamer since DnD and raised a full complement of gaming children. While the boys were in high school our house was often the site of weekend long marathons of Final Fantasy, SimCity, Art of War and many other games. Now that I no longer work, I am again a gaming nut from hell.

Enter Morrowind and our discovery of Nords and Bretons (Celtic/Gaulish).

Samhain Isles is our version of how an isolated Nordic/Celtic society would develop. The main storyline goes something like this:

A small group of Nordic adventurers are shipwrecked during a terrible storm on the shores of a previously unknown island. Upon exploring the island the survivors discovered the ruins of ancient Imperial seeming forts and a small scattering of Breton-like inhabitants. Over the long years the two cultures have intermingled and a distinct Nordic culture has developed, one with decidedly Bretonic (Celtic) overtones.

The harshness of the mountains girdling this island chain, as well as it's location off the main shipping lanes, has left them isolated and unknown to the rest of Tamriel. In the third age the people of Samhain Isles are once again forging out into the seas in search of new trading partners and new knowledge. With them they bring their own unique offerings and lore.

That's how Samhain Isles began.

Now, while I'm waiting for Oblivion to come out, I've been doing some new Nordic style items as well as trying to dig out some lore on the Nords. I've learned that compared to the other humans on Tamriel, little is know of the Nords since their downfall in 1E. They have been content (to all appearances) to contain themselves in their own home of Skyrim and leave the rest of Tamriel to its own devices.

I want to try and create (or recreate) this Nordic province, complete with books, lore, legends and of course, it's starkly beautiful mountainous terrain.

Yes I would prefer to work together with you, to be honest. Much of my texturing, etc is on hold until I see what exactly Bethesda means by "more" Nordic meshes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I am hoping they will introduce the beautiful woodwork that the ancient Nords were once famous for. If they didn't .. well I have textures to correct that oversight. hehe

I was a website designer for years, a programmer before that (till I burned out) and have literally played with many versions of Photoshop since 3.0 till now. A few months ago I got myself a copy of Photoshop CS and have finally started trying it out (thank you Bethesda for inspiring me again), trying to remember as much as I can while learning all the new tricks. I haven't messed with it since 5.0 so a lot has changed. (I think I'll leave 3DS to Charles since he is used to working with vertices and splines and they just leave me gaping.)

At this point in time I am putting together a bit of the missing "lore" for Skyrim, in the form of books and ideas. I figure this is a relatively safe area to start in until Oblivion is released, mainly because up till now, Bethesda has left the Nords alone for the most part.

I think the difference in style from the elven/redoran/hlaalu and the nord/bretonic could make for a beautiful contrast to each other.

[Razorwing]

I'd hate to see Danath_in and Galrina leave us, and I hope we can work something out that doesn't compromise anyone's creative desires. Here's a quick sketch I made that might make the idea for our Oblivion mod a bit clearer. It only shows our base mod, not Blacklight or Velothi Mountains.

In TES III, our mod is basically a square with 100% Dunmer territory, but that isn't how the western border of mainland Morrowind province is meant to be. It's meant to extend westward quite a bit, and in Oblivion we'll really need to do that as there'll be a road connecting our landmass to Oblivion. If we aim to mod the whole Dunmer territory as it's meant to extend, that would leave a very unnatural [/]-like border between us and nothingness. In my third idea above that's where I pictured a potential site for Samhain, either as part of the land or as one or more islands in a huge lake.

No-one is forcing you to mod Redoran or Hlaalu stuff if you're part of the team. No-one could have made me mod caves in TES III as I abhorred that, and so from my personal experiences I don't believe in forcing modders to do anything at all. The best results comes when people mod what they feel like modding - when it stops being fun it's just a matter of time before the interest is lost altogether, I think, and that's a danger we always have to look out for.

From your description I firmly believe the Skyrim issue would do well in your hands, and if you would consider modding the roughly triangular Skyrim area in the crude sketch I'd be delighted, whether or not that turns out to be featured in our mod as part of a larger, separate Skyrim project

[Quentin Fortune]

Hehe ... where to start?

Samhain Isles is our version of how an isolated Nordic/Celtic society would develop.

I can't tell you how much I like that idea and I really hope to be able to see it. I'm really curious what the two of you are coming up with.

Besides ... I have a great interest in Celtic history myself, with the Bards as my focal point. (One of my Chinchillas is named Taliesyn ... *sigh* )

I want to try and create (or recreate) this Nordic province, complete with books, lore, legends and of course, it's starkly beautiful mountainous terrain.

Seems that I have to rephrase one sentence from my previous post:

And if it means that you do Skyrim to make you stay ... so be it. (Sorry, I couldn't resist) =)

Oh and where have you searched for Nordic lore so far? I might have a few links worthwhile to investigate.

I fear I have to end this for now, but my bed is calling me. Just let me say that it looks as if we could find a way for further cooperation and I'm more than looking forward to it.

Greetings

Quentin

[Galrina]

My thoughts (ideas) on Skyrim.

According to Tamriel Lore, High Hrothgar is the home of the Greybeards. The do not speak at all and live their lives in silence. My view of this place and it's inhabitants is that they would be monastic in nature. Their reason for silence is so they can "hear the voice of the sky". This silence and the fact that the Greybeards dwell on the highest mountain in Tamriel (not counting the volcano of Vardenfell), up the Seven Thousand Steps, will lend itself nicely to questing.

The 7000 Steps intrigue me and can be an almost insurmountable obstacle in reaching High Hrothgar.

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black[/HR]
From Tamriel Lore:
Throat of the World
The highest peak in the province of Skyrim (roughly in the center of the province) and the highest in all of Tamriel, not counting the Vvardenfell volcano in Morrowind. The legends of the Nords state that mankind was formed on the mountain when the sky breathed onto the land. The Song of Return tells of the Nords returning to their original homeland from Atmora when Ysgramor settled in Skyrim. Many pilgrims travel to the mountain and climb the Seven Thousand Steps to High Hrothgar where the most ancient and honored Greybeards live in absolute silence to become more attuned to the voice of the sky.

I can see books and quests revolving around this ancient legend of where mankind originated. A search for an artifact to prove or disprove that Skyrim was the birthplace of man, for example.

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black[/HR]
Tamriel Lore:
Saarthal
The first city built in Skyrim after the arrival of Ysgramor. It has been located by archaeologists, in recent times, to be near the modern city of Winterhold. It was burned to the ground in the Night of Tears by the Elves years later.

I want to see these ruins. The potential for dungeon crawls, etc... yummy.

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black[/HR]
Other than these three I have several other ideas that will lend themselves to lore books and legends. I hope to be able to "flesh out" the history of the Nords in Skyrim, as well as bring at least some of their beautiful homeland back to life.

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black[/HR]
There are 8 or 9 major cities in Skyrim, and while I'd love to rebuild all of them I may be a little over-reaching in that. The area is broken into 9 Holds which I would deem are "areas" so to speak. The lore says they are regions or cities so it will fit. According to what I've been able to find out, there would be elvish as well as redguard influences, not to mention Imperial; the Nords did create the first human empire in Tamriel after all, and it was eventually the beginning of Cyrodil.

After the defeat of the Nordic line towards the latter part of the First Era, the elves and other races took over rule of most of the first empire.
(I'm getting a little foggy here, lol, need to wrap this up for now and get another coffee.)

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black[/HR]
Anyway, this is the beginning of my ideas/thoughts for Skyrim.

Lacey.



Edit 2005.10.01 02:09:
Razorwing that's perfect.

[Quentin Fortune]

So much for my bed plans (heck, it's weekend and it's a long one since this Monday is a holiday)

I had a quick visit at the Imperial Library and found this little excerpt among 'Famous places in Tamriel', which tells about the nine places where the Eternal Champion found the pieces of the Staff of Chaos (Arena).

Labyrinthian

"Stubborn grass and roots stand in the stiff arctic clime, refusing to yield. Ahead of you stands the entrance to the Labyrithian, testing ground of the Archmagus Shalidor. Within its twisted paths lies the second piece of the Staff of Chaos."

After Fang Lair, Ria Silmane made another visit to Eternal Champion. She said:

"It seems that you are well chosen. I see that you have won the first piece of the Staff. That in and of itself is not a simple task. Tharn it seems, is not as concerned with you as I had thought he would be. Perhaps he thinks you dead or lost in the sewers from which you escaped. That is well, for I have discovered the second piece's location. There was once a great maze, built by the Archmagus Shalidor to guard what he called, Glamorill, the elven term for 'The Secret of Life'. I know not the location of the great maze, which was called the Labyrinthian, but somewhere in its twisted corridors lies the second piece of the Staff of Chaos. Shalidor, according to the old texts, made his home in the Fortress of Ice. He would not have built the Labyrinthian far from his home. I would search to the north for such a place. I wish you well on your journey..."

The place is located in Skyrim province. To get the place, the Eternal Champion had to consult with Mages Guild in Winterhold which was in feud with the knights of Fortress of Ice. The mages wanted the champion to infiltrate the fortress to recover a magical tablet that would help decipher a part of the Elder Scrolls. This piece completed a map to the Labyrinthian.

Greetings

Quentin

[Razorwing]

I like your ideas Quentin, and I think it'll work out great.

Originally posted by Galrina
Razorwing that's perfect.

Cool

Ok, going by the excellent Tamriel Map by ArthmodeusD - which is based on lore, and which I find is the best map there is - the "road to Silgrad Tower" which I mention would lead from Cyrodiil into the extreme southeast corner of Skyrim, and then leading into the Morrowind province. So, one idea is that we could cooperate on the first stretch of the road, where you could mod the part that goes through Skyrim and we would then take over when the road exits into the Morrowind province. Tying in with that, perhaps you guys would consider Riften to be a good first project for your vision of Skyrim? Seeing as it's on the road and would be the first thing the player comes to, assuming we use ArthmodeusD's map for guidance and you think it'd be a good idea to cooperate on the road.

[Danath_in]

One of the things I would like to point out about the way I see the nords of tamerial is explorers adventures as well as masters of woodwork and adaptaion of building designes.

After a few hundred years of intermingling you would deffinetly see a merger of sorts of building design and matirial usage

[Galrina]

Damn you're good. lol Yup. Great starting point.

Edit: Thank you! I've been digging through the Imp Library and of course good ole MW and this is something I hadn't come across yet. I saw Labyrithian on the map but when I tried searching for it no such luck. lol