Ah, I see.
What I had in mind for the exterior was, ideally, a sort of furnace/coal pit that he could heat iron with, along with an anvil to work upon. I can make room in his basement for it, if need be, but I'm having trouble finding any furnace meshes (ideally similar to the one found at the weapons smith in Ald-Ruhn, in Morrowind). Also, it would be nice to have a small awning with a table for display of merchandise just outside his house. That would be his actual shop front, and the interior would be for living and working on items. I don't know how viable either of those would be, though. I haven't really poked around his house's surroundings recently, so I don't recall any sort of a back yard or open area to stick these things...
The furnace could simply be located in the local iron mine, as well, and Relneth could make a trip there on a weekly basis (or more if needed) to make use of it. If that were the case, it could lead to some interesting twists in some quests. His shop closes down, because of an incident at the mine preventing the use of the furnaces, stopping his production. Player must investigate, to reopen the mine, so Relneth can resume his work, etc etc.
As far as the shopfront goes, unless there's a good reason for him to have sealed glass cases to display his merchandise, there'd be issues with having things out in the open while he was sleeping, and whatnot.
So... A furnace would be nice outside, the mine would work, I could force it into his basement (he'll need a chimney on his house, though...), or he could simply not have one a la A Fighting Chance in the Imperial City. A shopfront would be nice for him to work from, but there's issues with securing his merchandise, and I can work his upstairs into being a shopfront without too much effort.
As far as extra NPCs go, swell ^^ I've already got some semblance of a room set up for... whoever it ends up being... If the furnace is inside, though, that extra room is where it is going
igh:
Let me know what you think of the exterior, and I will finish up my interior based on that. =)
Edit:
Unless you've already, for whatever reason, begun to add in the exterior smithing area and/or shopfront, don't bother. I've worked them into the house
If you have, though, let me know that too, as I'd prefer to use them instead ^.^
Edit again:
I've added a chipper Argonian apprentice (the scandal!) to Relneth's repairs, and I'm having an AI issue. I would like him to gather ingredients from flora around Ebbedin from 7am to 2pm, and then head back into the shop for lunch. He heads outside ok, and even grabs the mushrooms growing on the side of a nearby barrel, but then he wedges himself next to that barrel =/ Is this merely a pathgrid issue with the exterior, and I should simply ignore it for now, or could there be another cause that I should be looking for?
On a side note, I'm not really clear on Ebbedin's stand on slavery, now that it is abolished... Should Relneth's and his apprentice's dialogue reflect some tension over Okan's race, or is it all nice and dandy in this Bright New Age?
Third edit:
On a related note to Okan-Shei's gathering issues, I am unsure how to make him deposit his finds into a container... Is there a simple way through AI packages to do so, or is something like that going to require some scripting? :eek:
Hopefully the last edit before bed... -.-
With merchant chests, should they be placed A la Oblivion, hidden outside the visible area, out of a player's reach, or more like Morrowind, where they are accessible by the player, although under heavy lock-and-key? Is there a standard that Silgrad Tower follows regarding that, or is it up to the individual?
I suppose, also, is there a better place for me to throw these random questions, or is simply editing my post as they pop up ok? ?(