IncriminatingEvidenceInc

You should be able to play with your old saved game, but make sure you back it up, first. You might not want to keep our mod as a permanent fixture at the time being since it is still a work in progress.

Tales and Tallows: Deathbell, Chapter I: Tolls of the Deathbell (WIP), has been updated! Thanks and apologies to all who have been waiting for SOMETHING to come out, hehe. We're excited to be moving forward with our mod, and we'd love to hear your thoughts if you want to test it out! http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/14633/?

Chapter I: Tolls of the Deathbell contains a short but complete quest with multiple endings, depending on how you want to treat the situation. We love to give the players options, but at the same time too many options can make the scope of the project too big for us, so we hope this is a good balance. Of course, the other chapters will have different ways for the player to complete them, and the player's action from a previous chapter can affect future chapters. :)

Hey, guys! I know it's been a while (TOO long, am I right?! :wink: but things have really started picking up for Tales and Tallows: Deathbell. We've conquered the major hurdle of scripting, and Chapter I: Tolls of the Deathbell (WIP) will be coming out in about a week. We have a new blog up that you can visit and follow to keep up-to-date with our progress at Tales and Tallows: Deathbell. Come check us out! Much loves, and thanks so much for being patient with us!

Progress is slow. One half of our team has been working on a post-graduate degree, which is taking up a lot of her time. We're still adding bits here and there and haven't closed the project. Although there has been a lot going on outside of our modding lives, we're not giving up on this. We'll see how the summer will turn out for us.

Thank you for the book recommendation and your thoughts, Kelsey473. One of the things that bothered us about the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim was how the members gloated repeatedly on how "evil" they were. It seemed to make them juvenile and shallow as characters, as if they were not acting out of a convincing cause or world view, but as if they were the developers' "evil" characters that had to project to the audience their evilness. The same can be said for "good" characters. What we usually find in video games are characters like Mary Sues/Marty Stus, the woman/object/woman-as-object on the pedestal, the evil overlord, and other stereotypes. Archetypes are not wrong--and probably not altogether avoidable--but if they are not elaborated upon or deepened, then they might become stereotypes. If stereotypes are not intentional, or don't seem to be intentional, then it damages our immersion. One of the sisters of Incriminating Evidence, Inc. does read up on WWII in general and on Nazis in particular for her other projects, so analysis on the SS perspective is not completely new territory, but she is always welcoming more information. We recognize that perspective, psychology, and philosophy are no small matter, and we continually keep that in mind while working on the mod.

We have uploaded a WIP file so that people can walk through the space and see the NPCs. The quest is not in the game yet, but we would like any feedback on the character or level design, or on anything else about the mod. The map markers are already revealed so that you can fast-travel to the Knights of the Circle Camp and the Ruins of Arkay, which are located north of Winterhold. The file is here on Skyrim Nexus: WIP Tales and Tallows - Deathbell

Thanks, all, for the replies! We read everything and take it into consideration, even if we don't respond directly to you. @Esteris Don't worry about our intention. We have ideas, but we're still brainstorming for later content, too, so any input is welcome. While one of us is working on the main file, the other one is working on the file that contains the later content, and we switch when we need to, so it's a seamless flow of development. @SinderionsBones The exterior and interior are nearly completed, and the characters are in place. We need to dig into the quest structure and get the quest going. The quest, dialogue, and the scripting is what will be the toughest part for us in terms of technical implementation. We have the initial story divided out into stages, but actually getting all that into the game and playable looks like it will be some work. Thanks for the tip about forum activity. We actually didn't know where the best place to post was, so we picked Nexus because this is the main place where we've been looking for mods. We've now posted on the official Skyrim forums.

Thanks for the interest and encouragement! It's good to know we have support from players who play mainly neutral characters, too. We're wondering what "dark" entails for some people, so let us know what it could be. Your ideas might influence our work, and maybe we can sneak in some of what you want out of the mod. For us, being dark is not so much about committing crimes or calling up the undead for evil's sake, nor is it about being a jerk to random people we meet, although those aren't particularly good things to do. "Dark" isn't always synonymous to "evil," either, but they are closely related. Lorcis has had a privileged life, so he tries to be civil when he can because there are times when he views certain events, like murder, as unnecessary, but there are also times when he enjoys psychologically tormenting his specimens in part because he learns about behavior--his specimens' and his own--and in another part because he does enjoy it. If you look at it one way, he's a researcher seeking to open up knowledge to those underprivileged masses that the player is usually slaughtering by the dozens in caves and tombs all over the province (because of the way Skyrim is built, not necessarily because the player wants to). In short, we fully support the idea that darkness or evil does not equate chaotic stupid. The vast majority of quest villains in Skyrim seem to fall into the chaotic stupid category, which is one of the reasons that prompted us to start up this mod for the public. We're wanting to bring depth into all the major characters through various means, such as the environment they're in, what's in their inventories, their idiosyncrasies, and so on, so that they develop beyond being "just the bad guys" without us telling players that. You can also choose to help the Knights of the Circle--and they aren't without their own quirks and vices, which aren't because they are part of the Order of Arkay, but because they are people in general. Now, the mod isn't going to be on a colossal scale. We just want to share a few stories and let the player feel like a part of them. But the idea behind it all is a prime candidate for being too long to read :) If all goes well, there might be something in our mod for everyone.

http://talesandtallowsdeathbell.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/header_713.jpg Skyrim Nexus WIP Tales and Tallows - Deathbell Blog Tales and Tallows: Deathbell About the Mod Tales & Tallows: Deathbell is a project that will allow the player to help build Deathbell, a secret association of practitioners of the dark arts. Deathbell's symbol is the deathbell, the flower that presumably grows where unfortunate deaths have taken place. The mod aims to challenge Skyrim's oversight of players who create dark-themed characters by giving them other dark-themed characters to interact with. The first step in the mod is to introduce the player to the organizer of the association--Lorcis Layeras, a Breton who believes he might be descended from Dremora--and to the recurring opposing force, the Order of Arkay and their Knights of the Circle. Lorcis and his collaborator, a Nord-raised-Imperial named Calberus Hallebarde, have taken over a secluded Temple of Arkay in Winterhold to stage an open source of learning for practitioners of the dark arts, but the Knights of the Circle have tracked them down and seek to reclaim their place of worship. Adrithel, the witchhunter Bosmer in charge of the Knights of Circle expedition, and her Knights have constructed a camp overnight and have created a blockade at the temple entrance. With supplies to the temple cut off, Lorcis’ annoyance and desperation grows. The mod will include retextured meshes and custom items, new locations, player rooms, and NPCs who offer services, give quests, and can be followers or be married. Future add-ons to the mod will involve other necromancers, warlocks, witches, vampires, and werewolves as they lend their services to and require services from Deathbell. Visit the blog, linked at the top of this post, for more information, screenshots, and the latest updates. About the Modders http://talesandtallowsdeathbell.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/logo_300.png Phantom Incubus, formerly known as Incriminating Evidence Inc., consists of two shady sisters who have fond memories of the feel of mysticism and camaraderie that was present in Daggerfall factions. We've been modding mainly followers and homes for our own use in Morrowind, Olivion, and Fallout 3, and now we're trying it again in Skyrim. This is the first time we're making something on a larger scale that we're planning to release to the public, and we'd like to have community input. We welcome constructive comments, suggestions, and concerns, and we'll gladly answer questions regarding the mod.