The Lost City of the Dead

[Spl1nt3rC3ll]

I know nothing about modding, so I thought I'd put this idea out there and see if it gets made. The description might be a little vague, I was hoping the community could flesh this out.

 

Ages ago, the Ayleids build a massive city on par with the Imperial City itself. The catch? It was build in an enormous underground cavern. The city was bustling and prosperous. It was sheltered from dangers such as the elements and outside attack. A stream of fresh water naturally filtered by the cave ran through the city, and a single fissure in the cave's ceiling allowed sunlight to filter down to the gardens. There was a magnificent palace in the center of these gardens, where the city's ruler lived. One day, however, every living being of the city disappeared, never to be heard from again. The city was never resettled out of fear of the previous resident's fate. It was abandoned, left to decay. Ages later, closer to the current Oblivion timeline, a group of settlers stumbled upon the lost city. Awed by it's beauty, and realizing it's potential for self-sustainment, they decided to stay. These settlers took up residence in the more structurally sound buildings along with shacks of their own.

Now, to the meat of the idea:

It is now current Oblivion day, and your character has discovered a network of caves, the path to this city. Fighting your way through rats and the like, you come upon a large, intricately decorated door. A lone figure stands watch next to the door, dressed in an unfamiliar city guard uniform. As you approach, you realize with horror that his skin is decayed and his eyes are dark and lifeless. You reach for your weapon, but before you can draw, he says "Greetings, stranger! You're the first traveller we've seen in years! Welcome to (city name), friend, I hope you enjoy your stay." Cautiously, you enter through the door and emerge on a cliff face. In front of you spans the cavern and the city. A long bridge similar to the Imperial City's leads down to the city gates. When you enter the city, you see the citizens going about their daily business: chatting about rumors, buying, selling, eating, reading, etc. All of these people are but skeletons, ghosts, and decayed flesh. The food is rotten and the plants are withered. However, the "people" don't seem to notice, and do not realize that themselves and everyone around them are long dead.

 

Like all cities, this will have a main quest and side quests given by the citizens. Here are my ideas for some of the quests:

 

Main Quest:

Obviously everyone in the town is dead and they don't realize it. You will uncover what happened to the past inhabitants and why these recent settlers are dead. A series of challenging quests will lead you to this revelation: The depths of the Ayleid structures beneath the city hold a gruesome secret. The ancient ruler built a magical war device that, when activated, emitted a wave of pure death. The victims' death is so sudden, that the soul doesn't have time to register it. Thus, any victims are doomed to live an eternal pseudo life. You must confront this ancient ruler with a powerful ethereal sword, as no other weapon can touch him. You then need to reverse the magical device's effects, restoring life to the settlers. A twist could be that, because the device kills without the victim realizing, the player was dead the whole time.

 

Side quests:

The "people" of the town seem unnerved by frequent visitors. "They walk around, dressed in black robes with strange symbols. They watch us constantly, observe our every move, write in their books and whisper." You are asked to investigate and deal with these strange people. Turns out, these are necromancers who have set up camp in the cavern outside the city. A city full of living dead, necromancer jackpot!

 

I can't really think of any other quests, but there's potential.

 

Also, here's a horribly photoshopped image to give you the gist of what I'm thinking:

http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FQN/FL9N/G8JEG1AO/FQNFL9NG8JEG1AO.MEDIUM.jpg

 

 

So, what do you think? Is it possible? Anyone willing to make this?

[kieranfoy]

You've rather perfectly described Moriarcis: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=17479

 

Well done!

[Spl1nt3rC3ll]

You've rather perfectly described Moriarcis: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=17479

 

Well done!

 

Huh, wow. I kinda figured there'd be something similar (like an underground city), just not quite as exact! :blink: Neat.

 

Edit:

After a quick glance, that mod seems more like a necromancer city of death. Not quite a city inhabited by people who don't know they're dead. I could be wrong, though.

[kieranfoy]

Still close. Inhabited by the undead, who all wear clothing and go on with their (un) lives.