Don't Panic!
I'm not lost, and I haven't given up...and as usual I'm gonna be honest...I'm a bit stuck with the feeling of having written myself into a corner, or that I am about to...and those who have done the main Morrowind quest know that the game itself is not offering much help. Somehow 'Arvil walks in, hands over a fistfull of coins, and the centuries old Telvanni councillors forget their animosity towards the Mage guild and go with the program' just doesn't seem like it would sit well. I've got some ideas, but I need to work through them a bit before I commit to them or I could be in a real bind next week.
posted by Tim | 5:16 PM
12 Comments:
One solution seems the simplest : remember that the Telvanni are only a 'house' in the loosest sense of the word.
Each Telvanni mage-lordlet rules over their own tower-town. They are united by their belief in magicka and it's ... uses. As Arvil Bren learned already, they do not believe in it's commercialization.
As Archmage , if Arvil Bren wanted the Mages Guild to survive any transition to a Vvardenfell without the support of the Imperial Legions, he would have to seriously considering restructuring the Guild. However, to do that blindly would seem weak.
A demonstration of ... power ... on the other hand, would be in line. The Telvanni are pragmatic above all else. If an offer to alter the way the Guild worked was offered to the Telvanni and they refused it, and then , say, Gothren and his tower turned to a blazing cinder, along with the cooporation of Aryon and Baladas, the Telvanni might agree to compromise.
you could always launch a reign of terror: Join or DIE! or if you want something that will flesh out nicely, have it seem that you are playing the lords aginst each other and then when more of the troublesome lords are destroyed and the vvardenfell branch of the house near collapse, you can come sweeping in like a savior and propose friendship and peace.
Hummm Hummm... Well I suppose You could say that Neloth asks you to acquire The Robe of Drakes Pride, Dratha could ask you to collect the Amulet of Flesh Made Whole and Therana might ask for 'ash yams' (Auriels Bow)... but the others? No ideas here. Sorry.
I know these quests are only given to you if you are part of House Telvanni, but you could make it seem like they ask Arvil anyway.
Sarethi coulf point you to Baladas (he's living in redoran territory since centuries, odds are the concilor know this) and Aryon (he's the most open-mined of the lords).
Maybe Diviath can porvide some help if he find ituseful or interesting.
Actually,given the persona of some of the Telvanni it doesn't seem out of place to buy off one or two of them.Read this as:buy off lord Neloth...afterall,he's got the biggest tower of the Telvanni and he always came across,to me at least,as I don't know,HUGE ego or some such!He would gladly accept a bribe from one of his biggest rivals,if only to make himself feel more powerful.ie,sees the giving of coin as "fear" on the Guild leaders part...Arvil doesn't seem like the type that would let ONE wizard in the world think less of him or the guild.If nothing else,perhaps you can exaggerate this tribute to a small king's ransom instead of the 1000 or so coins that will do the trick.
The other Telvanni lords aren't so demanding,iirc,except for Gothren,who will have to be killed (no way around this...he will simply keep putting off any decision regarding the naming of a Hortator!)All in all,I think if we can get at least one great battle between Mage Guild and Telvanni we'll be happy,right guys/gals? :)
As for filling in the spot left by the now dead Gothren,perhaps mention Aryon taking control of Tel Aruhn...that would be fitting because as someone else mentioned already he's a cool and agreeable sort.Or Baladas might decide he's spent enough time in Gnisis and will govern the town.
As for getting to these points,maybe have Arvil tough it out by moving from town to town in a blind desperate attempt for progress.Who knows...might even lead to some side-adventuring!
Hope some of these ideas help you out.
The Telvani should make some sort of demand or test that is not in-game.
1) Come up with your own unscripted quest on their behalf.
2) Have the Telvani demand that something change in the power structure or alliegance of the Mages' Guild, perhaps an official cut from Cyrodiil, something that will benefit them immensely and place the Guild in a position of near-dependence upon them. Let Arvil struggle over whether the Mages or prophesies are more important. Or are they both critical and worth the black mark of waging a war of coersion against the Telvani like someone else proposed?
3) Use Bloodmoon in this slot. This could be something like the Biblical incident where Saul tells David that sure he'll let him marry the princess if he goes off and kills a massive amount of Philistines. The Telvani give him a huge task to a remote area that they know is suffering from terrible problems in the hope that it will either keep him far from them and his precious Mages' Guild or get him killed. There could also be some sort of condition about him placing his Mark in their building to prevent him from using it to ease his journey in any way other than return after its completion.
Wow, my comment Monday was spot on, wasn't it?
As far as I'm concerned, Tim, take all the time you need to work this out. Writing's got to be a lot tougher when you have to create the plot rather than working from a script.
As I recall, Master Aryon is a rather open minded bloke when it came to all things 'outlander' - who would probably be pursuaded to cut Arvil a deal.
Maybe in return for 'removing' Gothren - thus opening Aryon's way to take control of the Telvanni - he would name Arvil as Horator. As for the other councilors... well the death of their leader (and the presumably stronger ties between the Arch-Mage and new Arch-Magistrar) would most likely keep them in line.
This is a tough bit.I've thought about your comments Tim; why don't you post an "abbreviated " version of this bit of the story, and then "re-post" it later with a fuller version, when inspiration has dawned? You might find as you continue writing on in the journal, that this part becomes clear in retrospect? It is quite a challenge, this bit - to make it sound plausible and feasible.
_ Angela
- Angela
no chance in it being solved with a game of cards or something?
If you've been playing Morrowind lately, don't! Play or do something else, and then come back to the drab world that is Vvardenfall (you'll have to excuse me, I'm taking a break from playing Oblivion, and Morrowind doesn't seem worth the effort of pushing the on button right now)
-Noozooroo
Actually I've been fighting Oblivion installer bugs all day long and thinking I should have waited for the first patched version.
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