[WIP] Sayid the Warlord - Standalone Follower and Quest mod

[DeltaWulf]

Disclaimer: This is still very much an "alpha" stage mod, however the follower is complete and his dialogue is ready. Questing and scripting is in progress now.

http://i58.tinypic.com/2mgpph.jpg

Ever wanted a follower that could become as much a part of the story as you? Something more than, "Hi, follow me!" on first meeting them? An in-depth backstory that meshes into your own, but still feels like an ongoing independent adventure by itself? Sayid has you covered.

Planned features on final release:

This mod is primarily focusing on the endeavors of Sayid the Warlord, a former mercenary leader, outlaw, and soldier. From the moment you meet him, you'll be introduced to his history and progressive story, taking you to the frozen northern wastes to claim vengeance on an old "business partner". Sayid will regularly receive correspondence from his mercenary band as well, originally headquartered in the deserts of Elsweyr, with information about his old squadmates, who will later be recruitable as secondary followers to begin your own mercenary band from his hardened veterans. Once you've rediscovered his old den in Skyrim, you might gain access to some unique equipment, and also use it as a base of operations where your mercenaries will stay when they're not on duty. If you decide to let Sayid go about his own business, he might go on patrols with his squad on his own, to kill bandits and collect their bounties, which you will be able to claim a part of as a source of income.

In combat, Sayid prefers a one handed sword and shield, with his own unique combat style, however he is equally skilled in all physical martial arts. He is good to use as a tank in large fights and can absorb very large amounts of punishment before falling. He is fast, will take advantage of any staggering enemies, and will also block their power attacks with a heavy bash. As someone who enjoys fighting very much, he is incredibly aggressive and might even win some fights entirely on his own by mercilessly hacking up the enemy.

As a fully voiced follower, Sayid will speak on his own about various things or even relate stories about his past while adventuring. He's very blunt and upfront about a lot of things and will sometimes remark about people he's met in Skyrim during his own travels before he joined you, usually humorously. He will openly insult enemies to their faces when fighting, even dragons, because he knows that, in the end, whatever he might lack in finesse he can make up for with force.

Current status:

The mod is currently a WIP, I am the only one working on it as of now and so far I'm beginning to learn the more complicated techniques for scripting to flesh out his quests and other features. I may release Sayid as a standalone follower before a full release, if there's enough interest in him as an NPC or follower himself, including his outfit and AI package, but without the dialogue or quests (MaleBrute would be his default voice, it already has some amusing lines of its own). As I am very inefficient at creating meshes and textures for custom equipment, he will be wearing Letho's armor and Iorveth's bandana from The Witcher 2, ported to Skyrim by L0rd0fWar, which he has graciously given modders the permission to use in their own content (his ports can be found here: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/5588/?). The weapons I hope to use are Khajit Yatagan and An-Xileel Cleaver from Unexpected Blades, a set of incredibly well done weapons by naranjisimo and testhc (that can be found here: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/21857/?), however I haven't been able to get into contact with either of them about them as of now, but hopefully can soon.

If anyone would like to volunteer their time towards any part of the mod, I would be grateful for the help. I fully expect to complete the mod on my own, regardless of help or not, however. It just might take a little longer.

CREDITS:
L0rd0fWar's Witcher 2 ports: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/5588/?
naranjisimo and testhc's Unexpected Blades: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/21857/?