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Teryn of Gwaren


JMarso

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Lord of Gwaren!

 

Intro:

 

One of the possible endings of DAO involves the character choosing 'a title and riches to go with it' as their boon for becoming the Hero of Ferelden. They are then granted the lands of title to Gwaren, in effect replacing Loghain as Teryn. We know that if they plan to continue later as Warden Commander of Vigil's Keep, they'll only have about six months on the job before changing venues again.

 

So what happened during those six hectic months in Gwaren? For a while now I've wanted to develop a mod involving the lordship of a terynir or arling- some of which we saw in Awakening, but this time with other challenges aside from the ever-present threat of a darkspawn horde rolling over the place. I've got a bunch of ideas rolling around in my head, but it's waaaaay too much work for one person, especially one whose knowledge of the toolset is in the fledgling stages. So I wanted to throw out some of my ideas and find out if there might be any interest in a team collaboration on such a mod. The best mods out there seem to be team efforts for the most part anyhow.

 

I'm going to outline some ideas in the following post; it's a fine line between showing where I want to go with the mod and giving away every plot detail, so if you aren't a modder and you might be interested in playing such a mod sometimes, be careful what you read lest you spoil yourself too much. I'll try not to give away the whole enchilada with my descriptions.

 

Basically though, what I'm aiming for is an experience that will vary depending on race, class, and gender, and the idea is to have something good for each possibility. The way an Elven teryn would be greeted would be substantially different than the reception the second child of Teryn Cousland would receive. And what would the Chantry think of a mage being handed any sort of title at all?

 

Characters

 

Some of the people of interest populating Gwaren would be as follows:

 

1. The Player: the PC gets first mention because the interactions with all the others will depend greatly on the PC's race, gender, and class.

 

2. The Seneschal of Gwaren

 

3. Knight Commander of Gwaren's remaining knights (those that survived Denerim and the Blight)

 

4. Captain of the Castle/City Guard

 

5. The Guildmaster of Thieves (a public, relatively popular figure leading a double life. He/she also has a relative who's involved in seaborne piracy, which is going to cause some problems for everyone...)

 

6. Mage Advisor assigned to Gwaren by the Circle of Magi. This character would be of the Loyalist persuasion with Aequitarian leanings- important for plot, because one of the big ongoing plotlines involves the fallout of Uldred's rebellion and the strife between the fraternities. This of course is prior to the meeting of the College of Magi in Cumberland that Wynne refers to in Awakening.

 

7. Head of the Local Mages Collective (Libertarian mage, whose identity would be generally unknown)

 

8. Revered Mother of the Gwaren Chantry- a powerful figure in her own right, akin to a bishop of sorts among the various Gwaren Chantries due to hers being the central Chantry in the Ternyr.

 

9. Knight Commander of the Chantry's Templars in Gwaren

 

10. A mage emissary from the Circle. This character, unbenknownst to everyone, is a Libertarian Blood Mage, evil in the extreme, and going to cause a whole lot of problems around Gwaren before all is said and done. A very Machiavellian sort of cat.

 

11. Jade and Amber of the Jade Tower: The former is the Arl of Burne, a warrior of some reknown. Amber is his sister, an Isolationist/Aequitarian mage with Libertarian leanings. Their holding will be the locale of a major quest-line.

 

12. The Arl (or Arlessa) of Gervais, another vassal state of Gwaren. Gervais and its Arl will be the subjects of a quest.

 

Factions:

 

The following groups/ alliances/ sub-states would exist in Gwaren:

 

1. The Arling of Burne

2. The Arling of Gervais

3. The Bannorn of Gwaren

4. The Thieves' Guild

5. The City Guard

6. The Mages Collective

7. The Merchants' Guild

8. Pirates

9. Qunari Raiders

10. The Chantry

11. Bandits

12. The Dalish

13. Surface Dwarf Traders (The lyrium trade)

 

Last but not least, another sub-group would be the PC's immediate advisors, consisting of the Seneschal, Captain of the Guard, Mage advisor, and so on. Of course, one or more of these characters might have multiple and/or conflicting loyalties, especially given the PC's involvement in the demise and/or banishment of Loghain, the HERO OF RIVER DANE!!

 

Quests

 

These are the initial quests/plots I've come up with- the list is by no means all inclusive. There would be essentially two quest-types here: the standalone sort, and the sort that tends to influence other events. This is also where the player character's background and alignment comes into play. Different plotlines will have different outcomes depending on how the player handles them, perhaps resulting in catastrophic collisions with other plotlines down the road. In the end, did the crown ask the PC to take on the Darkspawn in Amaranthine because they were so sorely needed, or because the crown had to do SOMETHING to get that train wreck of a Teryn out of Gwaren before the land went into full revolt?

 

Court Sessions:

 

There will probably be about three of these at various stages, to be used partially as 'mood setters' in which the Teryn's dispositions of justice or injustice shall be noted by his vassals. Does the teryn provide good lordship or poor? Is he/she worthy of loyalty or not?

 

Subplots:

- Grazing disputes

-Taxation

-Droit de Signeur (rape case in the Bannorn)

-Bann-ditry (handling poor lordship on the part of vassals)

-Dispensing proper measures of justice to criminals

-Petitions by the Dalish

-Petitions by subjects, mostly to serve as plot hooks/ quest givers

 

 

The Blood Mage

 

The emissary from the Circle Tower is not who or what he appears to be. His goal is to incite mages into a full revolt against the Chantry, and he will be working behind the scenes in Gwaren to accomplish this. He is an old acquaintance of the Court's mage advisor, it is true, and thus will have his ear, at least initially. But there are other local mages to influence as well, not the least of whom is Amber of the Jade Tower, sister to the Arl of Burne. This will be a long-running quest line, with potentially a very interesting outcome if the PC happens to be a blood mage too! (Or even just agrees with the Libertarian philosophy!) This plot would be fed to the player at several different points in order to make it long-running.

 

Subplots:

-Murdered templars

-Isolated veil sunderings

-Collaboration with the thieves guild to deal in stolen lyrium

-The seduction and fall of Lady Amber

-Fighting alongside Gwaren's forces during the Qunari Raid, perhaps tipping his/her hand.

 

Qunari Raid!

 

The Gwaren coastline is subjected to a raid in force by the Qunari. Relatively straightforward quest that will involve the Teryn leading a large force in a large battle. Factors which may influence this plotline include how the Teryn has been handling his subjects in terms of lordship and taxation and such: will the Banns show in force and fight willingly, or will the Teryn have to bribe, cajole, or worse still, face the Qunari horde understrength?

 

Bandits in the Brecilian Passage

 

Straightforward plotline involving bandits preying on trade. Of particular interest to many parties here is one particular case, where a caravan of surface dwarves transporting lyrium for the Chantry is waylaid. Where that lyrium ends up will be of great interest to many parties, and may even cause political ripples in the city itself. How the teryn handles past cases will determine the severity of banditry in the ternyr, and how in turn the vassals react to the teryn.

 

The Beast of Gervais

 

Standalone module involving some sort of werebeast molesting the population of that Arling. The Arl, bled dry by the Blight, petitions you for aid. Finally, a vacation from court intrigues!

 

Trouble with the Dalish

 

Everywhere you go, there they are! These problems may be minor or they may be huge depending on your character's race and disposition. Elves and elf-friends will find the Dalish more trusting than callous human lords. In addition, how the teryn deals with banditry in the ternyr will have a serious impact here.

 

Subplots:

- Bandits vs the Dalish

- Halla poaching

-Bandits framing the Dalish?

-Dalish aid against the Qunari raid?

 

The 'Halloween' Quest

 

I'm not sure what form this will take just yet, but a standalone module with the mood of the Blackmarsh: a haunted mansion, and lots of undead with some sort of custom bogeyman like a vampire analog or a particularly nasty Arcane Horror/ Revenant style boss. Gotta keep the ternyr free of these types if you want to keep your oath to the vassals!!

 

The Cairn

 

These gloomy hills on the edge of the haunted Brecilian Forest have long scared away travellers and locals. Something wicked lies there, and its power is growing bolder and more dangerous. A short standalone module.

 

Revolt!

 

The end-stage of an evil PC's handling of affairs in the arling. Be prepared to deal with pitchforks, feathers, and hot tar!

 

 

The Summons

 

The endgame module. Life is either better or worse in Gwaren depending on the player, but now a summons has come from Denerim: the player is once again needed in their capacity as Grey Warden, far to the north in Amaranthine. Who shall rule Gwaren as regent in their absence?

Edited by JMarso
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Forgot a couple quests:

 

Pirates

 

Sort of a seaborne/coastal parallel to the bandit plotline. The catch: the Guildmaster of Thieves is a close relative of a certain pirate captain. If the captain is brought to heel, will it distrupt the delicate balance in the city between the Watch, the Merchants, and the Guild?

 

The Thieves Guild of Gwaren

 

Perhaps not a quest unto itself, but the guild and its members will play a role in several plotlines, be it as quest-giver, plot-driver, opponent, or ally. Sometimes maybe a little of all four!

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Companions:

 

Haven't devoted much thought to it yet. Some places would lend themselves to certain main characters becoming temporary companions, but it would be fun to have more permanent companions.

 

Not sure about feasability, but retaining Leliana, Roland, Wynne, and/or Zevran might be interesting. Others might include:

 

1. A City Elf turned Dalish archer/ranger type- perhaps one of your 'Forest Reeves'. Could help interact with the Dalish, Bandit, and Beast of Gervais plotlines.

 

2. An apprentice mage of some sort, perhaps an assistant to either Amber or your Court Mage.

 

3. If not the Guard captain or Knight Commander himself, a loyal squire, young, relatively inexperienced, and eager to please. Don't know if it would be more fun as a male or female, elf or human.

 

4. A few wicked analogs of those above for the morally challenged. :)

 

 

All the stuff in the above few posts is a broad outline. There would obviously be some minor characters, maybe some comic relief, a romance or fling potentially, and a couple of those really short quests in the same vein as paying 80 sovereigns for workers or finding granite for the walls at Vigil's Keep. This is obviously a really ambitious project, and a few days before DAII hits the stores might not be the best time to float the idea. But for any modders out there that might be interested in joining a team to make this happen, keep it in mind and post your ideas here!

Edited by JMarso
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