A New Daedric Prince

[krimzin]

lol, bob was pretty funny though. but it takes the seriousness from the quest. a bit. Maybe he can be "Gilgamesh" some sumerian king turned demi-god, not him but the name. Or Izdubar as he was accidentally called, which sounds like a good Dremora name. Or just call him Ealdor's Herald.

 

Also, about Tharn. He should have his own little place in the Imperial Palace. I'm thinking somewhere in the palace basement that leads to an alternate version of the imperial palace, slightly different, and having Tharn in place of Ocato. So just duplicate the cells in the imperial palace and have some kind of portal/hatch that leads to the alternate palace basement and back to the original palace basement. Since Tharn has magic that lets him create his own dimensions and create epic illusions, this could be the True Palace, being that this is what the palace really looks like when not obscured by Tharn's magic. Once Tharn is dead, or sometime before, the player, and maybe Tharn if he's alive, will move to the original palace, and the portal to the True Palace will disable, making the regular palace be the True Palace, and Tharn's illusion will be broken. Then Tharn gets brutally killed. :biggrin:

 

Also, if someone is good at meshes, I think it would be awesome to have the imperial palace guards in the alternate palace be skeletons wearing imperial palace armor. I don't care if they're hostile or not, preferrably not, as they would still technically be the same guards, just with their true appearance unmasked.

 

As a matter of fact, the alternate palace should contain a bunch of things that are somewhat the same but more aimed at evil, i.e. the torches have blue flames, instead of a giant club in the basement, a giant bone, random blood puddles, dead people who Tharn didn't particularly agree with, statues of Daedric Princes, especially Mehrunes Dagon, etc. but nothing too drastically different.

[krimzin]

Actually, scratch the portal idea. Ealdor should give you a scroll or something that teleports you to the real palace. like a scroll of truth, like the lens of truth from zelda. That way, there's no idle going through portals and back making it less believeable. Just have Ealdor tell the player to meet him in the palace's basement, have him give you a scroll there, and use the scroll to transport to the True Palace, though seemingly the player just unmasks Tharn's magic with the scroll of truth. Then you can't return until you've dealt with Tharn. That seems like it would flow better. I might be able to make that part. Actually, maybe "Bob" can be the one to give you the scroll. Ealdor's too hardcore to waste time playing delivery boy. :mage: lol

[DagonTheranis]

If you know your lore, tharn created his illusions with the help of the staff of chaos. The only one he pulled of on his own was making his face look like the emperor's, and any magic user could see through that.

[zprospero]

@dagondagon1

Tharn originally drained all the power from the staff and placed it in the Jewel of Fire

when he split it up and hid the pieces so no one could use it against him. Perhaps he did

the same here? Maybe a jeweled necklace? Then his powers would be much greater.

We must also remember that Jagar Tharn has no corporeal form, the Staff of Chaos

destroyed that completely. So if he possesses Ocato and once you exorcise him he,

Tharn, teleports you to a different version of the palace where he has a new body waiting

for him and then you fight maybe it might make a little more sense.

 

@krimzin

I think we'll just call Bob his herald, considering that hating you and doing nothing are

two things Dremora do quite naturally anyway.

 

Actually, one of the reasons Ealdor uses you and his herald is that he can't go into the normal flow of time,

and, yes, he wouldn't bother to deliver things either. The tower was sent into the normal flow of time and is kept

there by that Sigil Stone atop it. Ealdor is unnaturally preserved and I think that he would age into dust if he

entered the normal world, which is part of the reason why he calls you out to help.

 

When Jagar Tharn originally took over the palace he did replace all the guards with demons. It might

be easier if they were non-hostile Dremora however, but the skeletons in full armor would be interesting.

It might be possible to extract the skeleton mesh .nif file and use it instead of the humanoid mesh. I think

the changes should be relatively slight, just enough to give you the idea that "this is creepy and wrong," like

the blue flame in the lights, and after Tharn is dead Ocato, unpossessed, returns and everything goes back to normal.

We might want to limit the number of rooms we reproduce for this, since you're really only there to fight Tharn.

 

Yes, please, if you want to start working/experimenting with anything, don't wait for me,

that goes double for anyone wanting to write some scripted Chronomancy spells. The way

I made my originals was to have it add a lesser power (like the Atronach sign's Absorb Magicka)

for a timed period (or forever), but it would be nice if you could go in to the spellmaking menu

and combine the chronomancy effect with the fortification or damage that you want to affect.

 

@grmblf

I agree with you about that song.

[krimzin]

ok, well i kinda have a chronomancy spell. i'll try and fit it into a real magic slot but no guarantees. basically you just cast it and the target is frozen there in that pose until the effect wears off, completely open to attack.

[zprospero]

All right, unsurprisingly, the way I thought might work for the skeletal guards

didn't. It was missing bones and just ended up crashing the CS.

[krimzin]

yeah =[ i could've told you that. :( That's why someone needs to create an imperial watch armor mesh to fit skeletons. kinda like how midas' magic used elven armor. or the vanilla db armor on dark guardians. sadly, I have no idea how to make meshes

[krimzin]

Grr. changing the scale of some things, like skulls, messes with the collision data or something and my giant skull keeps falling through the floor :confused: but i think it seems to stay if its sitting on a few crates. same with the giant septim. :happy: oh and I think it's just about impossible to make chronomancy available for spellmaking. I could do armor and creature summons, but not chronomancy. >:( frustration. oh well, I think we just need a lesser power anyways, and i already have that. Now I need to figure out the slow time thing. that would have to be a greater power. It might be game-breaking if it could constantly be used. The chronomancy is too, but it's still borderline balanced so i think i'll keep it lesser power for now. maybe I'll add some kinda detrimental effect to make it a little more balanced, but balance isn't my focus right now.

[krimzin]

oh, and the reproduced rooms is just two as far as I can see. I just copied the basement and the main hall w/elder council chamber where Tharn will be. I'm just working on making them slightly more eerie and removing some things from the originals, like the glass of time and disabling a few doors so that you can't somehow exit the palace until Tharn is dealt with. And I need to make Tharn. My CS was being a pain yesterday so I never finished him. I can't remember, but I think he was a Breton. I should actually make him a different race and give him white eyes. that would be interesting. So far, here's how the scenario will work. let me know how you would change it.

 

You sneak into the imperial palace basement, as Ealdor instructed, finding his Dremora herald hiding in the shadows. He mumbles a few profanities and death threats to you and Ealdor as he gives you the scroll of truth and teleports back to Ealdor's keep. You must use the scroll, as the door locked to get back out, just so nothing weird happens. once activated, the scroll teleports you to the exact same place you're just standing, yet something is different. As you look around, you notice that the glass of time has been replaced with a large statue of Mehrunes Dagon and the other strange artifacts lying in the basement have been replaced with macrabe decorations and evil talismans. Before you can move, a palace guard walks up behind you. Startled, you look back at him only to realize that he is nothing more than an animated skeleton in palace garb. He doesn't attack, but instead, walks towards the door to the main hall and you get the notion that he wishes you to follow. You pass into the main hall as the guard leads you past several more of his skeletal comrades, who simply watch you hungrily as you pass. finally you reach the council chamber and the skeleton stands post at the entrance, seeming to bid you to enter. As you cross the threshhold, you see a figure clad in black robes sitting at the far end of the room, his eyes shine bright from under his hood. "I was beginning to wonder when you would see through my illusion." The figure rasps. you <say nothing>, "Who.. Who are you?", "Identify yourself!" "I have been waiting for you, hero. You've been a very good servant these past months. I chose my 'Champion' wisely. I must admit, I would never have thought it possible for a mere peasant to overthrow Mehrunes Dagon. But yet here you are." you say, "what do you mean?" "Allow me to explain... the end of the septim line has been planned out for some time now. Ever since I was humiliated those many years ago by Uriel's little pest, I've longed for vengeance. I was sent to the furthest corner of Oblivion, to the feet of Mehrunes Dagon himself. There, I made a deal with him. A bid for power. He was to return me to the land of the living, in the mind of a powerful political figure, Ocato, and I, in turn would help him orchestrate his invasion of Tamriel. But I would not simply stand idly by and let Dagon take Tamriel for himself, no. I've watched you for a long time. It was I who had you thrown into the Imperial Prison. I, who instilled your 'Prophecy' into the mind of Uriel Septim. Along with the help of Dagon's cult, I sent the Septims to their death. You were my insurance to make sure that the Daedric Prince would never get a hold on Tamriel once they were out of the way. Why else did you think you survived this long? And now, you've done your job, and once again, I, Jagar Tharn, am at my rightful place in the throne of the Emperor!" you say, "You used me Tharn... And now, I kill you!" "That's where you're wrong, my child. Kill him/her!" Tharn Teleports to the upper lever of the council chamber, out of reach and a flood of guard skeletons pours in to destroy you. Once their bones scatter the chamber floor, you run down the hallway, firing fireballs at the stragglers who attempt to slow you down. You run up the ramp to find Tharn at the top balcony. The railings have been removed, so you'd better be careful not to slip or you will fall to your death. Tharn, "<wicked laugh> I'll admit, you're resourceful, child. but your life is at an end. I will kill you myself." Tharn casts a spell that makes him at least 10 feet tall, he hurls spell after spell at you as you try desperately to dodge. You pull out the magic dagger Ealdor had given you to defeat the Battlemage with. You dodge a blast of lightning and sink the dagger into his flesh. Tharn retains his normal height and falls to the ground in a heap, then suddenly, bursts into flame as his skn is seared off, straight to the bone. You wait until the fire smoulders and you see his heart, still beating in his ribcage. You take it from his body, and feel a surge of energy. You are forced to close your eyes, and when you open them, you are standing back at the original palace balcony, the railings are back, Tharn's body is gone, and you still hold his heart. The spell is broken. Now to return the heart to Ealdor.

 

I've got spells that alter height. I can script Tharn to burst into flames and turn into a charred skeleton. however, I cannot make his heart in his ribcage. it will just be in his corpse's inventory. But I can most likely do everything else, short of voice acting and lip synch. someone else will have to do that. :happy:

[DagonTheranis]

Tharn is technically every non-beast race except imperial.