[WIP] Kragenir's Death Quest

[Povuholo]

Bethesda Forums Thread (Feel free to post there too, those boards are so fast that my thread is going to go down to the second page way too quickly :P)

 

 

Kragenir's Death Quest

 

A large quest mod within Cyrodiil's borders

 

Screenshots

 

This is primarily a quest mod, and a large one at that. But there's more, like new non quest related dialogue and books. If you check the progress update, you'll see that we're very close to finishing this.

 

The total number of quests, the way we calculated it, is 169. Because we didn't want a small quest to count equally to a very large quest when we started counting, the larger quests often count for more than one quest because they involve multiple tasks. You won't see that you've finished 169 quests in the statistics when you've done all the quests. But still, 169 is a lot don't you think?

 

I'm working on this together with Malchik, who wrote the books, dialogue, and the majority of quests. He's also the first person to test every finished quest after myself.

 

I've categorized the different parts of the mod for a good overview.

 

Kragenir's Death Quest: The Main Quest

Kragenir's tower has been sealed by the Knights of the Silver Nose, but as they die, the seals weaken... You must find the keys required to break the seals so you can face Kragenir inside the tower before he escapes. Or... Are you going to help him?

 

Find the three keys required to break the seals on Kragenir's Tower through a large series of quests, with a specific theme for each key. The number 7 seems to play an important role in the story somehow...

 

There are fairy tale (and other) references in the Main Quest, like the npc's Gladnaf, Gimlet, Pippit, Frood and Scam (Part of one quest), and the Sword of Jedd Eye. Most NPC's tell you more than what's essential to know for the quests, to give them more depth. There's a healthy (not overdone) amount of humour in the quests. The fairy tale element is the strongest at the start of the main quest, after that it becomes a little less obvious and IMO the further you get, the better the quests become.

 

Most references are not too 'in your face', only the 7 dwarves (Wood elves) bit, which is the beginning of the mod's main quest, is very obvious.

 

The main quest is only half of what this mod is about in the quest area: There are tons of new 'miscellaneous' quests spread across Cyrodiil. You probably won't find them all in one game, so you'll probably want to use this mod for multiple characters. And because you might not want to do the mod's main quest a second time (Or you don't like the idea of fairy tale/real life references in the game, which the miscellaneous barely have) you'll have the option to refuse the main quest right from the start. As for the previously mentioned miscellaneous quests...

 

Miscellaneous Quests

 

The number of Miscellaneous quests is at least as much as that of the main quest. This is how we organised it:

• Imperial City Quests: There's a new quest for each district of the Imperial City.
  
• Village Quests: There's a new quest to be started at every village, except for those in which the inhabitants are killed in a vanilla Oblivion (Meaning the original Oblivion. No mods.) quest.
  
• Seven Cities quests: There are two new quests per city, except for the above mentioned Imperial City.
  
• The Documents Quest: Documents found in vanilla Oblivion locations (that are visited during the mod's main quest) may lead to treasures. These documents are unrelated to the Main Quest and may be picked up at any time.
  
• The One Ring quest: Really really optional quest, this is for people who want to fully 'beat' Oblivion. This quest requires the player to collect several rings. To get all the rings, the player will have to finish all the guild quests, finish 'The Collector' quest, and all the Daedric shrine quests. It's not a very special must see quest, so unless you already plan to do all the quests I mentioned just now with one character, don't bother. Still, for those that do, it's a nice extra. :)
  

 

And then there are some more quests that you're going to have to find for yourself. ;)

 

The mod heavily relies on vanilla Oblivion NPC's: Almost every miscellaneous quest is given by a vanilla Oblivion NPC. However, the NPC's themselves are not altered, they are only given new dialogue. The mod's dialogue will disappear from the existing npc's topic list after his part is done. None of Bethesda's original npc's will be altered permanently by these quests, so there should be no conflicts with any other mods that change these NPCs either. Unless they kill them. :rolleyes:

 

Some of the miscellaneous quests fill in some gaps left by Bethesda. You'll also get to visit some of Bethesda's more unique dungeons that did not have a quest attached.

 

• There's a rumor in the game that Dro'shanji in Bravil has been hearing noises, but when the player would talk to Dro'shanji he had nothing to say about it. Now there's a quest to help him.
  
• There's the skooma dealing Orum gang in Cheydinhal which didn't have any quests attached to them... Until now.
  
• S'drassa, a member of the Leyawiin Mages Guild, is rumored to be working on a cure for Skooma addiction. Why not help him a hand?
  
• Jhared Strongblade, youngest member of the Knights of the Knights of the Thorn, is usually left behind while the other Knights go out to do good. He'd probably love to go dungeon diving with someone a few times.
  

 

 

Books & Dialogue

 

We didn't stop at quests. Aside from the books, letters and dialogue added for quest purposes, there's also the following:

• 15 unique 'full size' books. These can be bought in the different book stores of Cyrodiil, or found in some houses.
  
• 100 new rumors added to NPC's for more rumor variety. These are not voiced (but they are lipsynced), but if you really can't stand that there is the option to disable them.
  
• Extra dialogue, mostly for all those boring NPC's at settlements with only a rumor topic. A lot of npc's who don't have anything else to say than the regular rumors topic will get 2 new topics: <village name> (Say something about the village/settlement/location) and <own name> (Say something about their own background). Each will also get an unique rumor that is specifically for them. So this is something like the less generic NPC's project from morrowind, on a much smaller scale. It will be included as an optional esp in case there are people who don't like the idea of having non voiced acted dialogue in the game that stays in the game forever. Note that the 100 new rumors ARE in the main esp, but they can be disabled if desired.
  

 

 

A few more things:

 

• The mod won't require Shivering Isles, or the latest official patch (Though at least 1.1 is recommended).
  
• There is not going to be voice acting, because there would be around 2500-3000 (estimate) lines that would have to be voiced, which is just not doable. However, the dialogue will be lip-synced so the talking NPC won't look like a statue.
  
• Anything I mentioned can still change.
  

As for compatibility, I'm doing my best to keep this as compatible as possible with everything. So far I haven't discovered any major conflicts, though there are a few with the Unique Landscapes mods. These issues will be solved. As for OOO and other major overhaul mods compatibility, read this post (it's a few posts down from this one).

 

 

Progress

 

(June 4th, 2009)

 

Mod's Main Quest - 100% completed!

'Easter Egg' Quests - 100% completed!

Miscellaneous Quests - 100% completed!

Rumors and extra dialogue - 100% completed!

Books and other non quest related things 100% completed!

 

Status: 'Finishing'. ETA early August!

 

 

Here is the text of Larrion's Diary, which you will encounter in the first quest of the mod's Main Quest. It was written by Malchik, who also wrote most of the dialogue. It has a few of those hidden 'real life/fairy tale references' I mentioned earlier. Enjoy :)

I grow old. I am more than ever aware of my mortality. In my youth and maturity I did many heroic deeds but who will remember them when I have gone? They should be remembered, not just for myself but for the brave companions who together made up the Knightly Order of the Silver Nose.

 

This will be a memorial to all of them.

 

It all began some forty years ago. We were little more than a disorganised rabble of layabouts who used to hang around the inns of the Imperial City and jeer at the citizens. Sometimes we'd do a little work but mostly we scrounged what we could and scavenged the sewers.

 

Who knows what we would have gone on to become without the arrival of the Aripotah, the mage who was to become our inspiration and founder of the order.

 

I remember his arrival as if it were yesterday.

 

Agilius Pranko had just placed a chamber pot on the top of the White Gold Tower when the mage appeared, walking purposefully towards us. I don't know what it was that made us look at him twice – surely not the spectacles? Perhaps it was the oddly shaped nose. Of course we did not know then that the nose was attached to the spectacles and came off with them.

 

Still, this part of our history is less than heroic as we elected to give him a drubbing for looking so ridiculously studious. When we knocked off the spectacles we saw the silver nose. It made him altogether more interesting. So we dusted him down, put his fractured arm in a splint and took him to The King and Queen for a jug of ale.

 

He told us the story of the nose; how he'd lost his own because he kept sniffing some strange substance. I can't remember what it was called but it sounded like it ought to have been some perfectly harmless soft drink. Then I got rather confused because we hadn't stopped at one jug of ale. I recall that the wretched schoolgirl swot Hermione Cinna turned up.

 

Aripotah muttered darkly about Hermione certainly being a Cinna, which we all knew anyway. Apparently she had introduced him to some heroine or other and this was what ultimately led to the loss of his nose. I can't say I understood half of what he was talking about. And yet the subject of heroism having been raised...

 

And that's when it was set up. The Knightly Order of the Silver Nose: an underage wizard and a score of drunken wastrels!

 

Ah, but what it was to become....

 

The diary goes on to describe the deeds of derring and do that the knights dared and did. None of it mentions seals. Eventually you find the reference.

 

I do not know what the evil was but we have done as Aripotah commanded and left him alone to face it. This was no act of cowardice. We begged and pleaded with him not to be so foolhardy but he would not be swayed. Using out individual tokens we forged three great seals. After he had gone inside the tower to face whatever lay within, we sealed the doors forever.

 

Three of us were entrusted to carry the keys to unseal the doors and told to secure them beyond reach. However, no protection could be regarded as completely sure and, as Aripotah pointed out, they could be lost or destroyed. To reforge any one of them we would need the seven tokens. Each knight was to be responsible for his own token. The exception was Aripotah himself. As he was going into the tower to face the unknown his token was needed outside. It was entrusted to me.

 

At the mage's request we then divided our forces into three groups comprising the seal makers and travelled to distant parts of Cyrodiil to secure the seals so no one could gain access to the tower until Aripotah called us together again.

 

I took the five members of my team north. The leader of the second team, Dummus Annox, went to the south and the third seal was taken east by Lemmy Attem. We were never to speak of how we secured our respective seals.

 

And so we waited and waited for a call that never came. At first we tried to maintain the three teams as they had been, forces to combat the evils of the world. But without the founder and guiding light the teams fragmented. And as the numbers grew smaller, the losses in the battles we tried to fight increased. Now old age and infirmity are slowly claiming the few of us who remain.

 

By chance I was passing the fateful tower earlier in the year and noticed that the seals were cracking. It seems they do not last forever but only for as long as we remain alive. If the seals break, whatever evil has been locked within for so long will be unleashed on an unsuspecting and unprotected world. We must act.

 

Of my own team only the Nord Bonehead the Brainless remains alive. He had retired into a religious community far in the north and taken a new name but I can leave him in peace. I know where our seal is. If anything should happen to me read the entry on the last page of this diary.

 

Dummus has died but I know at least two of his team still live. Ventus Verbosus is at Pell's Gate and Querulus Mona at Blankenmarsh. The former was the more reliable as I recall so I will visit him first. Of Lemmy and his team I know nothing. I only hope one of those I can contact has news. Whoever is left must accompany to the tower with the seals and deal with whatever remains within forever.

[Malchik]

I think that puts it very well.

 

You could amend the typos in the diary (my fault). All in the second part.

 

Using our individual tokens (not 'out' tokens)

 

Blankenmarch (not Blankenmarsh)

 

And 'Whoever is left must accompany me' (the word me is omitted).

 

I add this to save anyone else pointing it out to me but if you spot other typos feel free.

 

We do explain in game why there seems to be no Mrs Ottus's guide to Kvatch and why the Mages Guild makes no reference to a Kvatch branch. You learn about the shipwreck north of Anvil and hear what happened with the two ruined houses in the game. And there may be even more.....

[SickleYield]

Sounds great! I will follow it with great interest.

 

One thing: Snow White is written thusly. If you need someone to check the writing for spelling/grammar, I'd be happy to do that for you.

[Povuholo]

Sounds great! I will follow it with great interest.

 

One thing: Snow White is written thusly. If you need someone to check the writing for spelling/grammar, I'd be happy to do that for you.

Thanks for the offer, but Malchik is doing that already. Snow White and Snowwhite... I don't know. Both are used. But I guess it's officially Snow White.

 

You can test the mod itself if you want. Since Malchik wrote the quests and I made them we won't see every mistake when we test. Some quest instructions could be too vague for example. Tiberiu also wanted to do it, but that doesn't matter. You can do it too.

 

Malchik just told me he is working on even more quests. There won't be many vanilla npc's not related in any quest left after we're done! (Alright that's a little exaggerated, but there are many new quests!)

[SickleYield]

Great! Sounds like an amazing mod.

 

I don't normally volunteer for full mod testing because it tends to be time-consuming and I have a lot of projects (just released a small mod today over on CI), but if you actually need a second person I'd be willing.

[Malchik]

Snow White is correct and in the very best English grammar it's Dwarfs not Dwarves. Any testers will be encouraged to pinpoint typos and ambiguities in the writing as well as points which may be unclear as Pov has mentioned. When you are close to a mod it is easy to miss things. I have absolutely finished adding new stuff to the mod as of the last batch of quests. So the 'extras' section is now finite.

[Povuholo]

I have absolutely finished adding new stuff to the mod as of the last batch of quests. So the 'extras' section is now finite.

Really? :P

 

I added two new Screenshots to the gallery, showing the Daedra Zoo. I also updated the first post a little, changing a few things and adding filesize/dialogue lines number info :)

[Hsandman_1]

Love good story.

 

edit: nvm, i am blind :P

 

"There is no voice acting planned, because of the large amount of dialogue. I will lip-sync it though."

 

 

Looking forward to playing this :D Looks like nice mod.

[Povuholo]

Love good story.

 

edit: nvm, i am blind :P

 

"There is no voice acting planned, because of the large amount of dialogue. I will lip-sync it though."

 

 

Looking forward to playing this :D Looks like nice mod.

Well actually I just asked the Oblivion Voice Actor's Guild if it is doable. 1500-2000 lines of dialogue, and all races used... That's one hell of a job. So who knows... Maybe. Just don't count on it :happy:

[Povuholo]

A small update: the seven parts have been revised (and the filesize and dialogue line numbers have been updated :P).

 

Part 5: Imperial City Quests (instead of documents)

Part 6: Village Quests (instead of The One Ring)

Part 7: The Seven Cities Quests (Instead of 'all sidequests')

 

The Documents Quest and The One Ring quest are now considered 'Easter Eggs', more or less. Let's call that part 0. :P

 

Next update will have information on OOO compatibility, which is more complicated than 'nothing is broken'. We'll also reveal the number of quests the mod will have, and how we (well, Malchik) calculated this. And maybe a screenshot.