Quest for new armor-weapons

[gdarknight]

I'm working on a very elaborate set of armor and weapons, but I suck at doing quests (I know how, I just suck at developing a good story). I would love to have a great quest to fit the armor, and would appreciate any help that I can get.

 

 

[zeralesaar]

Oooh, that's a very lovely armor! Am I right in assuming it's for DU? It looks perfect for a sort of fallen crusader or other paragon of corruption...

 

 

As for a storyline, maybe I could help you there. Did you have any base concept in mind? Also, what sort of story do you think would fit it best?

[gdarknight]

Yes, this armor is intended to be part of Darkness Unleashed, but I will release is as a stand-alone mod.

 

As for the story, I'm open to ideas. The only thing I was thinking about right now is having some sort of curse on the armor, where it buffs certain stats, but reduces other stats if you remove the armor or it gets too worn.

[zeralesaar]

Interesting. I like the idea of the curse; that gives some substance to a sort of "dark pact" aspect for the story. Since that and the armor would both roll in quite well with a fallen paladin...

 

--

 

Balen Velius looked around him at the cold, age-old stonework of the Ayleid ruin. The pale stone, carved ages ago, now bore his own markings in many places; scrapes and cracks from his frustrated outbursts, a failed attempt to tally the days he'd been there, and the mad ravings born of his confinement.

 

At one time, Velius had been a paragon of good, a pillar of the community, and well on his way to leading the Cyrodillic Order of Holy Knights of the Nine Divines, colloquially known as the Paladins' Order. He had saved villages from assaults by necromancers, banished interloping Daedra to Oblivion, and protected the weak during his entire life. Now, however, things were very different.

 

Velius, on his last mission for the Paladins' Order, had been asked to stop a cult of Sithis-worshipping murderers; they were not Dark Brotherhood, they simply killed for the thrill and dedicated their murders to the lord of the void. The mission had been going well at first. Balen, accompanied by two fellow Paladins, had tried to negotiate the cessation of the cult's activities. When this proved futile, they tried to demand it. Their vehement demeands, in turn, had caused the affair to come to blows, a bad thing for the sorely outnumbered trio of holy knights. Fighting off the cultists with their blades and conviction, the paladins lasted long in the furious battle...but it was to no avail. Velius was knocked unconcious and bound for a sacrifice to Sithis; his companions had been slain protecting him.

 

When he awoke, Velius was somewhere...else. He stood on a small, thin pillar in the midst of a vast ebon nothingness, and he quivered when he realized that he was within the Void itself, the sphere of Sithis. Suddenly, the terrible form of the god loomed up before him, its robe tattered, face bandaged, and heart cut out just as was depicted in statues. from the robe and fingers of the god hung strands of bones and skulls, corpses and other macabre accoutrements; they remained, however, but an afterthought in the face of the dark glory of Sithis himself.

 

"By the Nine, I deny you!" cried Balen Velius. His faith was weak in this place, however, for he knew he must already be dead, not to mention believing inwardly that the Nine must have forgotten him to allow his soul to fall prey to the Dread Father.

 

Suddenly, the void seemed to erupt into fire and chaos, churning and being sucked into the empty heart of Sithis. The great being spoke, his voice as cold as death and silky-smooth.

 

"You tread in the domain of the Dread Father, foolish paladin. You sought to strike down my followers...but your Divines pale in comparison to me. Your denial is weak and pathetic: I can see into your heart, where your faith is thin and your fear waxes in sight of me. I could consume you, mortal, or force you into the eternity of servitude that awaits many who are sent to the Void by my chosen, the children of the Night Mother..."

 

The god seemed to become horribly still and silent, as though contemplating something for a moment. His voice then echoed out once more. "No...neither of those fates is yours. You will return to the land you defended, to your precious Cyrodiil...and you will then serve me. You shall be a dark knight, dedicated to my service and malevolent toward all life. You will feed my Void with the souls of the living to please me. This is my curse and blessing unto you, fallen paladin."

 

Suddenly, the discord of the Void ceased, and the avatar of Sithis vanished. Balen was once more alone in the black infinity, but he was now changed. Looking over himself, he saw that his gleaming white ebony armor had changed to a magnificent-but-terrible black monstrosity, laden with spikes and tangibly oozing the very primal essence of hate. He himself was different, as well: his hair was now long and white, his eyes were a terrible black, and his flesh was as pale as the snow of the Jerall Mountains. Where there had once been the warm and glowing presence of his faith in the Nine, now there lingered a gnawing hunger. From deep within himself, Velius felt the will to consume all life hungrily snarling. he took up his sword, now a warped and blackened blade, and hurled himself off the pillar with a primal scream. Everyting went black.

 

When Balen Velius opened his eyes, he found himself in a small settlement, the scenery around him resembling that of Colovia. He looked around confusedly, and his gaze fell upon several villagers who were huddled inside a nearby farmhouse's doorway. They all averted their frightened faces, and the middle-aged man standing with them ushered his wife and children inside. The man, swallowing a few times and wiping his sweating palsm on his russet tunic, took a deep breath.

 

"Foul revenant, I invoke the name of Akatosh, lord of the Divines and patron of our village, and banish thee!" the farmer shouted. He then drew a crudely forged iron shortsword from a sheath on his hip, licking his lips and brandishing the pitiful blade with uncertainty.

 

Velius then seemed to watch from within himself, unable to control his own actions, as he pulled his twisted sword from the baldric hanging from his shoulder. He took four quick strides, and his left hand flitted out, smashing the farmer's wrist against the bricks of the farmhouse wall. Balen could feel the poor man's bones crunch and crack as they broken under his grasp, and the farmer's wails of pain echoed chillingly in his mind. As he released the now-shattered hand, Balen slid his sword neatly into the anguished farmer's stomach. The man vomited blood all over the sword and Balen's armor, inspiring a terrible fury in the fallen paladin. He brutally wrenched the sword around in the farmer's gut, then tore it out of hit with a great upward tug that sundered his torso and neck. Next, Balen kicked down the door to the farmhouse with what felt like no effort, storming inside. He became as a tempest of wrath and death, butchering the farmer's family one by one and laughing insanely as their blood slicked his armor and sword. As he left the farmhouse, he noticed the two others present and proceeded to enter them, mercilessly cutting down the inhabitants. Then, once more, his mind reeled and his vision went black.

 

Balen awoke once more, now in an Ayleid ruin. Around him lay the corpses of fallen Mages' Guild mages, their bodies crossed with horrible wounds. His sword was still embedded in the back of one young Bosmer girl who lay slumped against a column. The voice of Sithis then sounded in Balen's mind.

 

"You have done well these last few years, my instrument, but it appears your usefulness has finally come to an end. I will leave you here, in this prison, with your immortality and the memories of the things you have done in my name..."

 

As the echoing voice went silent, Velius' mind was flooded with memories of hundreds of people that he had slain. He visualized their expressions of terror and pain, vivid as no memories had ever been before. Balen screamed, lashing out and striking the walls, floor, columns, corpses, anything he could find to exert his blind rage on. After several minutes of furious outpouring, he felt exhausted and sank down to his knees, crying.

 

What have I done...? How could the Nine let this happen to me? I did nothing but uphold their tenets, praise their names...I stayed true to my sanctified vows, protected the weak, gave to the poor...why is this happening?

 

Balen prayed to the Nine. He prayed that they would be merciful and spare him his eternal torment by sending a worthier paladin to slay him, or by at least letting something end his days. Days turned into weeks, weeks into years, and years into decades as he waited in the stillness and silence of the ancient ruin. The stillness, one day, was broken. A great crash, as of stone falling from a high place, shattered the silence.

 

Balen instinctively grabbed his sword and walked into the central chamber of the ruin; here, he saw light streaming down from a large hole in the ceiling. A rope came down, and on it slid a figure clad in dark armor. Sliding to the floor, the sinister being drew a weapon, its type indeterminable in the shadows of the hall where Balen lurked. The figure suddenly lunged at him, lashing out with brutal fury. Parrying blows and making a feeble attempt to retaliate, Balen knew he was overwhelmed. The power that his armor had once given him had now become a spiteful curse as it had suffered the wear and tear of his time in the ruin. He felt a searing pain in his arm and knew that he had been stabbed. There was suddenly a flash of light, and he was blinded. Within seconds, Balen's sword was struck from his hand and a mortal wound driven into his chest. He crumpled, drenched in his own blood, his vision fading...

 

--

 

 

How's that?

[AzirAphale001]

I think the word is wow. That sounds very good. You should be pleased with that story.

[gdarknight]

Is there a bigger expression than WOW!!!! I could actually see that as though I just watch a movie trailer.

 

Definitely a great back story. Will the player receive a note from the Dark Brotherhood (or a cultist) with instructions to retrieve the armor and weapons?

[zeralesaar]

:) :) :)

 

I'm quite happy you like it.

 

 

 

As for the way the player hears about this...hmm...I was thinking maybe a sort of "horror story" from a Mages' Guild member in one of the Guild Halls. After all, a whole team of mages being butchered and their captor sealed in by the only survivor would likely merit some memory, eh? Of course, it's been decades since anyone has entered the ruin in which Balen is trapped, so it would likely be thought of as a simple tale to frighten initiates. (And let's say, for the sake of argument, that any elves who might have heard the story have left the Guild Hall or died. That helps with their long longevity.)

 

Also, due to the way the hole-in-the-ceiling bit works, you may need to copy and edit a Vanilla tile to have a hole in the ceiling, or else find another way to simulate a hole (castlesecretblack + a few Ayleid ruin bricks could do the trick) for the player to enter. The ruin, since it wasn't entered by the front, should probably still be sealed.

 

If you want, I could create a small ruin for you to use with the jury-rigged hole.

[gdarknight]

Any work that can be done on the ruin would be appreciated. Perhaps the player could go through a series of small ruins scattered throughout the land in order to actually learn the location pf the main ruin (since it's just a tale, you need to track down a book/map).

[zeralesaar]

Hmm...true enough that it's a tale, but it's technically a ruin that's considered "local" for whatever Guild hall you choose. That would immediately narrow the search pattern for the place to within a short radius of the city. If you wanted to add some challenege, there are ways to compensate, of course.

 

Also, I should have clarified before, but that last section of the story was meant to be about the player killing Balen, hence the vague description of the attacker as a dark-armored figure with an ambiguous weapon.

 

Of course, to compensate for the lack of an elaborate search I can make a template for the Balen Velius NPC with custom combat styles and perhaps provide some sample enchantments of power for the armor that would help turn him up to 11; these enchantments would be "normal" since your curse/buff would be scripted.

[gdarknight]

That works. I can script a death for Balen that removes his version of the armor, and adds the player's version straight to them (with some cool visuals of course). That makes it true to the curse, that Balen's killer is automatically bound to the armor.

 

As for the main sword, your tale of the sword becoming "twisted" gave me a great idea for the actual design.