'Atmora' Mod Announcement

[blueshif]

.

.

.

.

.

.

ATMORA

A land forgotten by the gods. Where dragons fear to tread.

.

.

.

.

.

.

~~~~~~~~~////////////////////-_/-_/-_/-_/-_/-_/-_-\_-\_-\_-\_-\_-\_-\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\~~~~~~~~~

For hundreds of years in the Merethic Era, raiders crossed the Sea of Ghosts to invade Tamriel from the frozen lands of Atmora, becoming, after generations of living in our land, the Nords, Cyrodiils, and the Bretons of today. The last invasion - if that is the word for two ships, largely laden with corpses, begging to make port - occurred in the 68th year of the First Era. The description of the land these raiders had left changes radically over the years, leaving many to believe that it was gradually dying, smothered by frost. Expeditions to Atmora in modern times describe a place of permanent winter, with little life and no sign of human habitation. Whatever population did not succeed in fleeing to Tamriel doubtless succumbed to the ever-worsening climate many centuries ago.

- Imperial Geographic Society, A Pocket Guide to the Empire and its environs, 3rd Edition -

 

~~~~~~~~~\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\-_\-_\-_\-_\-_\-_\-_-/_-/_-/_-/_-/_-/_-////////////////////~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

 

 

Last night I awoke restless, compelled for no particular reason to rise, dress in my heaviest furs, and step from my tent into the cold moonlight. I trudged through the snow, drawn to a tall but dead tree near the edge of our camp. I felt a spontaneous urge to climb it and look South across the frozen tundra toward Windhelm in the distance. I honestly do not know why, I could not even see the city for the darkness. But if I could, I have no doubt my heart would feel as heavy for the thoughts that occupied my mind even without. I thought of the Palace of the Kings there and was reminded of my father and the epic stories he would weave of our people's hardships over all these centuries. That Palace exists, he said, as a testament to our survivability and a monument to the strength of our will.

 

Today that Palace stands lonely and ignored, surrounded by ignorant fools who won't stop jockeying for position long enough to recognize it. I thought of the shame the spirits in those stones must feel to hear what people passing in the streets below must speak of: treachery and division. It is true we have always been a people drawn to conflict, but we have always risen in unity to it, not crumbled into desperate isolation and individual weakness. As I write to you, even we of most proud pursuit must hide away like rats for fear of the scale, whether that be dragon above or serpent within. It is sad to have to fear what would befall our noble troop should the Jarl surmise our plans, though they be the only noble plans spoken anywhere in Tamriel these days. And perhaps the last... All that is tearing our people apart, Brother, is happening because we do not belong here.

 

As I was lost in quiet thought amongst the still branches of that tree above our camp, a stiff breeze from the North drifted in and chilled my ear canal, the whisper upon it turning my head to the Sea of Ghosts. The wind howled and my heart echoed in mournful yearning.

 

Atmora beckons. They call it an inhospitable wasteland, a place forgotten by even the gods, where dragons fear to tread. But I say, having bore the most hardy and capable beings in all of Nim, it is the most lush garden in all the world.

 

I want so badly for our homeland: to step foot upon the primordial savage soil from which our ancestor's bodies were constituted and to brave the harsh wilderness that once brought us together in collective suffering which, in turn, reared us into greatness. The gods pushed us out of that garden too soon, believing erroneously our people prepared to seek destiny beyond the sea. Somehow, we have lost the way; perhaps we were lost all along. I will not betray my honest heart in claim to know where we faltered, nor in the laying of blame. I stand with but eye upon the future, and solution I have no qualms claiming to spy. A return to the North, where life was senseful and our people shared a pure consesus of pupose. There, in nature's primal spark, we can start anew and rise again.

 

Here in my camp, I have three men and two women ready to set sail for Atmora, and a month's supplies to accomodate. My four captains each shelter a similar number wherever they may hide. I await your arrival to signal the others for our rendezvous on the shoreline to the North.

 

Your Loving Brother,

Thorugar Rosgatheon

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon loading Skyrim with Atmora installed, the player experiences an invasive pop-up message explaining that a letter has suddenly appeared in his inventory and explaining briefly how this came to be. Guided by only a few paragraphs within this letter, the player can choose to seek out the camp of its author, Thorugar Rosgatheon, somewhere in northern Skyrim and embark upon an adventure to the most dangerous and extreme land in all of Nim, a place where gameplay is balanced to make end-game characters wish they could go back to the easy days of slaying dragons in Skyrim. :)

 

The concept of a mod based around Atmora was born out of my desire to create something professional and impressive in showcase of various creative skills I possess, but playable within only a few months time. Originally, I had thought to put together a simple quest mod within the confines of Skyrim. But to put it bluntly, I am impatient and want to begin work immediately. And no one can say definitively what exactly is or isn't already in Skyrim [NOTE: I wrote this up a week ago before all the leaks and whatnot], so I went through many ideas and kept coming to the same conclusion: that they could very well already be incorporated into the vanilla game or be inconsistent plot-wise with it. But one idea not bound by either of those fears stood out.

 

I wouldn't dare to ponder something as lofty as creation of a new landmass if the place wasn't just ripe for the picking. Geographically, Atmora is simply a colder, more rugged Skyrim, so no new environmental textures or meshes should have to be created. The place is (supposedly) uninhabited, so no cities will have to be built and few NPCs scripted. Any settlements that do exist would undoubtedly possess the Nordic architecture as it is already in the game. I do not plan to craft an entire continent by any means--only the land which is relevent to the mod's story, but(!) leaving the door open for future expansion. Which brings me to my next point.

 

I plan to roll the mod out in phases, episodically if you will. I am already in full-scale pre-production with my nose to the grindstone learning advanced Oblivion scripting, developing plotline(s), writing dialogue, and orchestrating music. 2-4 weeks after Skyrim's release, I hope to release a "Prologue" that takes place entirely in Skyrim and will introduce the central plot, new characters, some original music, some unique mechanics, and build up to setting sail for distant shores. I will release this "Prologue" to drum up public interest and to serve as a proof of sorts in attracting the quality help the the project will undoubtedly require.

 

That's it for now. Below is a link to a sneak preview of four WIP tracks from day-one work on the OST.

0:00 - 2:16 "Hope for the North (Theme)" WIP

2:16 - 3:08 Untitled WIP #1

3:08 - 3:38 Untitled WIP #2

3:38 - 4:19 Untitled WIP #3

 

'Atmora' Mod OST Samples @ Mediafire

Edited November 7, 2011 by blueshif

[headbomb]

Very cool concept.

 

If I can suggest, rather than make the letter appear in our inventory and then go BAM POPUP, how about you place it on the corpse of the first Nord you kill?

[blueshif]

Very cool concept.

 

If I can suggest, rather than make the letter appear in our inventory and then go BAM POPUP, how about you place it on the corpse of the first Nord you kill?

 

Well, the letter was meant for Thorugar's literal brother who has befallen a certain fate. Can't be just "any old nord" having it. But, yeah, I might do something a little more immersive. For instance, have a scene triggered the first time the player goes outdoors in a normal area. I'm just not a fan of having to know beforehand where to start a downloaded quest. I'm treating the project like a DLC for high-level characters, and have so far planned it to work in a way quite similar to how Fallout does these.

 

Also, I've answered some questions on my thread at the official Bethesda forums.

'Atmora' Mod Announcement @ Bethesda's Skyrim Forums

[ALittleBird]

And yet another mod I'm excited for.... my computer will crash :P

[Urwy]

This sounds really awesome!

but a question though...

 

The place is (supposedly) uninhabited, so no cities will have to be built......

Makes sense.. Although it might be a bit more reasonable to say that there are atleast traces of habitation; stone/wooden ruins, shipwrecks, statues? (completely encased in ice, partially snowed over or similar?)

 

That might give a better sense of history to the continent/area, and make it more interesting to explore.

 

2-4 weeks after Skyrim's release, I hope to release a "Prologue" that takes place entirely in Skyrim and will introduce the central plot, new characters, some original music, some unique mechanics, and build up to setting sail for distant shores. I will release this "Prologue" to drum up public interest and to serve as a proof of sorts in attracting the quality help the the project will undoubtedly require.

 

Hell, you got me interested already! :D (The OST alone did me in :P)

Eager to see the results!

 

(And another great forum thread to my watchlist ;) )

[SoberBarn]

Is this mod dead already?

[tredmillion]

it appears so xD

[Galacticat42]

Pity - it looked great.

[3EyeSudios]

Even though it is dead, wouldn't Yokura (yes it is a continent) be a more appropriate for what he had in mind?

[opsguy27]

Shame...I hope someone picks up the ball on this. A quest with an expedition back to Atmora would be awesome...uncharted terroritory, ancient artifacts, etc.