The Dalmer Child ((Working title))

[LadyShadowOfDreams]

This is a mod that I have had in mind for a... Very, very long time, which I am just now starting to work on. It will add a new child, who will be, for the start, a follower who cannot fight, who you can move into your home. I plan to make her some clothing of her own, but that is a goal that is rather far off.

The plotline of the mod is below.

In Windhelm, you will find posters up on the walls, requesting help finding a missing woman. If you go looking for the person putting the signs up, you will learn that they were put up by a dunmer woman, dressed in begger garb, living on the street, who has come to Windhelm looking for her sister, who had gone missing years ago, having finally been able to get to Skyrim to search for her. She had intended to search for her herself, but she has become ill since arriving in Skyrim, and no longer has the strength. She promises to reward you if you help her, and gives you a copy of her sisters last letter to her, which mentions a man who the girl had befriended, whose home she was going to visit.

Going to the home, you learn that it is really a dwemer ruin, which in locked. You will have to break the lock to get in, and once inside, you will find signs of habitation. Food on the tables, mead, and a bedroom that is well furnished. Further in, you will see a man- whose race I have not yet decided- standing on a raised platform, facing away form you. The platform overlooks cages full of falmer, which can be opened by either pulling a lever or triggering a trap.

Speaking to him, you can demand to know where the woman is, but he will refuse to tell you, only saying that she has served a greater cause. He will promptly demand that you leave. You can agree, and the conversation will end, with him turning away from you without becoming hostile. (You can still kill him, of course!) If you do choose to leave, the quest will not complete. If you refuse, he will become hostile, and trigger the trap that opens the cages before he attacks you. (I plan for you to be able to kill him before he triggers the trap, if you're fast enough, but I'm not certain I can.)

After you kill him, and explore the room, you will find a table with his research journal on it, which will be flagged as a quest objective. Reading through it, you will learn of his fascination with the falmer. You learn that he decided that he wanted to learn what the falmer originally looked like- but there was one problem. A big one. There -aren't- any falmer who look that way anymore.

He came up with a plan. An insane, crazy plan. He would breed a falmer with another elf, figuring that this would result in progeny that looked more like the original falmer. It details how he has settled on taking a dunmer from Windhelm, since no one would care if a dunmer disappeared there. You learn that he earns the trust of the missing woman, luring her to his home- and then forces her to breed with a falmer. He treats her as a test subject, keeping her carefully monitored throughout the pregnancy, before leaving her to die after the child is born.

This unlocks a new quest objective, which is to find the body. You find it in a room off to the side, a note clutched in her hand telling you about her ordeal and the name of the child. You need to take her necklace to bring to her sister, and a new objective will open up- to find the child.

You find her in the final room of the dungeon, in a cage that hangs from the ceiling, with a straw mattress, a wooden tray with very basic food on it, and a chain that can be pulled to activate a 'shower' of sorts. The door is locked, and you have to pick the lock to help her out. When you speak to her, you will tell her who you are, and that you are taking her to her aunt, in Windhelm, at which point she becomes a temporary follower.

Back in Windhelm, you find that the dunmer woman has succumbed to her illness- but there is a note nearby, telling you that she has hidden a bag of gold outside of Windhelm, and thanking you for helping you find her sister. At this point, there are three things you can do:

• Add the child as a follower- she won't be able to fight, and she won't count towards your follower count, but you can make her carry your s#*!.
• Adopt the child- which will probably be more, script wise, setting your home to be at your home. ((You'll need to lead her to your home and tell her 'this is your new home' to set her home.)
• Or send her off to Honorhall, like the rest of the orphans.

I plan to, -eventually-, add in another quest for her to make her a proper follower, but that is a 'if I can manage it' feature. I plan to use SkyKids to make the child, but if anyone knows any other childmods that work with blind eye textures, I'd appreciate it.

I do not have names for ANY of the characters yet. Name suggestions are VERY welcome!

[Ph0rce]

Interesting concept, and I wish you luck.

 

Only caveat I have for you is that it goes against the lore of the TES universe; When a female on Nirn gives birth to a child, that child is born of the same race as its mother. That would mean that the child of a betrayed Falmer and a Dunmer would still be a Dunmer. The only exception to this rule seems to be during the absence of linear time (a Dragon Break, or during the Merethic Era before linear time was established), given that a joining of Nedes and Altmer during the late Merethic produced the hybrid race now known as the Bretons. Personally it doesn't bother me, but it may bother some. Nevertheless, I'll be keeping an eye on this.

[LadyShadowOfDreams]

It goes against the lore? s#*!. Well, I think I can maybe work some magic-bullshit into the equation- spells cast upon the child in the womb, to change the way it works, possibly- probably- spells that enhance the falmer features.

[Hallgarth]

Interesting concept, and I wish you luck.

 

Only caveat I have for you is that it goes against the lore of the TES universe; When a female on Nirn gives birth to a child, that child is born of the same race as its mother. That would mean that the child of a betrayed Falmer and a Dunmer would still be a Dunmer. The only exception to this rule seems to be during the absence of linear time (a Dragon Break, or during the Merethic Era before linear time was established), given that a joining of Nedes and Altmer during the late Merethic produced the hybrid race now known as the Bretons. Personally it doesn't bother me, but it may bother some. Nevertheless, I'll be keeping an eye on this.

Pelagius the Mad would contradict that. His mother was Altmer, yet he was still born human. I would say that in ES canon, that the mother's genes are stronger than the father's making them more likely to take on the traits of the mother than the father. But this is clearly not set in stone. So a Falmer/Dunmer (with dunmer mother) doesn't necessarily have to be born Dunmer.

[Ph0rce]

 

Interesting concept, and I wish you luck.

 

Only caveat I have for you is that it goes against the lore of the TES universe; When a female on Nirn gives birth to a child, that child is born of the same race as its mother. That would mean that the child of a betrayed Falmer and a Dunmer would still be a Dunmer. The only exception to this rule seems to be during the absence of linear time (a Dragon Break, or during the Merethic Era before linear time was established), given that a joining of Nedes and Altmer during the late Merethic produced the hybrid race now known as the Bretons. Personally it doesn't bother me, but it may bother some. Nevertheless, I'll be keeping an eye on this.

Pelagius the Mad would contradict that. His mother was Altmer, yet he was still born human. I would say that in ES canon, that the mother's genes are stronger than the father's making them more likely to take on the traits of the mother than the father. But this is clearly not set in stone. So a Falmer/Dunmer (with dunmer mother) doesn't necessarily have to be born Dunmer.

 

True, though to be fair Pelagius was a Septim, and Dragonblood does tend to trump everything else. Then again lore in the ES universe is hardly static, particularly since most of the old writing team left after Morrowind. Also, I'm hardly an expert on lore so I'm sure that there's something out there that could negate the lore issues. Personally I had an idea for something like this back in Oblivion. Though the concept eventually took on a different form (and then was promptly shelved), the initial idea involved a mage creating a localized Dragon Break around an ancient artifact; an obelisk that seemed anchored in time (whole thing was inspired by the Yesterhaven DLC for Dungeon Siege). A later concept involved a type of magic called "Blood Alchemy", where a rogue mage was attempting to perfect the race of Mer, and had impregnated women and then used blood alchemy to alter the baby into the planned result.

[LadyShadowOfDreams]

Okay, so what I am getting here, is that the child always being the race of the mother, isn't necessarily set in stone. That's good to know.

An update on the mod itself: I will not be using Skykids after all. I -did- receive permission from the mod author, but the mod is INSANELY complicated to install, and conflicts with ECE, which is... Aurgh. So, if anyone knows a good child mod for me to use, please, let me know! I have a friend who will be attempting to make me a custom model for her, but all the same, I would like to have a back up option.

I have been working on writing the scripts, as well as making the other two NPCs. I have someone for the researcher's voice already picked out, and someone for the child, but I still need someone for the woman. As well, I still need to name all three of them.

So basically! Progress has been made, but not much.

Edit: I have written out all of the dialogue now, and the writing in the journal and notes. Also, I have named all the NPCs.

Edited July 18, 2014 by LadyShadowOfDreams

[Ph0rce]

What about RS Children?

[LadyShadowOfDreams]

RS Children? ...Hm... I'm going to try that one, thank you.

 

Update on the mod: The appearance and stats for the researcher has been set, as well as the appearance of the quest giver. It's coming along nicely.

[Hallgarth]

If you want a unique looking child (and aren't bothered if they use the default child body) I can put a morph together for you. I'm working on a child mod, that uses the default children meshes as a base, and that will add elven children. (and if I can get it working, beast race children also)

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/1801225-wip-elf-children/ - here's the topic.

Edited July 20, 2014 by Hallgarth

[LadyShadowOfDreams]

That would be BRILLIANT. Would she be able to wear armor, and possibly custom clothing I make her?