Silgrad Tower from the Ashes

Official 'Black Marsh' Interior Claim for Stormhold: Stormhold Mages Guild

---

[/HR]

Stormhold Mages Guild
AVAILABILITY: Completed by jucklesjenk

---

[/HR]




(Please excuse the unattractive CS screenshots.)

---

[/HR]

Description & Details

---

[/HR]

Stormhold is Black Marsh's Jungle City lying in the Northern reaches of the Naga-Cradle Jungle. It is an entrypoint to the mountains and a common location for the more enterprising traveller. Much of it is built upon the existing Barsaebic ruins which are still very much in evidence, both in the ramshackle architectural design and through the complex Undercity network.

It was the scene of the most spiritual successes in terms of trying to 'tame' Argonian culture and belief as it was at one time under the influence of missionaries of the Nine Divines. This is the second strongest influence that is at work in city, giving rise to the Cathedral whose brazier serves as a beacon to those lost in the Jungle.

It is a source of considerable trade and yet has a history of foul diseases. Consequently, places such as the 'Hospice of Mara' have been set up to deal with this. However, it is not without influence and holds considerable sway in the diplomacy between Argonia and the foreign embassies, the most controversial of which remains to this day: the Morrowind Embassy, a base for the once-despised Dunmer who were at one time a blight on Stormhold's horizon. Being a border city, it is also rich in trade, culture and commerce.

This interior claim is large and contains the Mages Guild originally set up by the very first modder of Stormhold, GreyWizard. Although it has some features already created, the Guild is nonetheless quite bare and will need 3-4 mages adding. These are likely to be Imperial-style mages with perhaps one Argonian who, if not a shaman, is nonetheless informative on Argonian magic practice. The Guild itself is more of an experimental zone and training centre so the idea of education and research should be in evidence with plenty of paraphernalia and books, a little like a library.

---

[/HR]

At-a-glance Details

---

[/HR]

Interior Name:2BMDZStormholdBravil04
Region: Naga-Cradle Jungle
Settlement: Stormhold
Architecture: Bravil-style interior.
Exterior cell coordinates: (-2,23)
Claim Size & Difficulty: Large (but not necessarily difficult).
Inhabitants: The Mages have not been created yet.
Mission Connections: None as yet.
NPCs: 1. The NPC(s) must have (full) dialogue and AI. Don't forget the pathgrid for them. The NPC's name may be created or requested as necessary, so please discuss this and other details in the claims discussion thread ('General Info' below).
General Info: Please keep up to date on associated topics in the: Claims Discussion Forums .

---

[/HR]

How to mod your interior

NB: Please note that some Stormhold interiors contain copies of vanilla interiors for those wishing to 'mass-mod' (see the thread in the interiors section for details). This is not a highly recommended strategy to modding but, in practical terms and if needing to create Imperial-style interiors (as some in Stormhold are), it can prove to be very useful and time-efficient. If not using this strategy, please delete either some or all of the existing clutter and then begin.

Interior modding carries with it the same responsibilities as it does on our father project, Silgrad Tower. This means that there will need to be NPCs, Containers, Lighting etc. For a really nice checklist that is very, very thorough, try this one from Zurke: A handy checklist to create an interior for ST . Zurke is the most experienced and prolific interior modder I know of so it's all good advice.

---

[/HR]

Cluttering your Interior

Please try to use the BM objects as much as possible. And try to consider the story behind the owner of the building (which you may adapt unless stated) and add clutter as appropriate to them and the particular locations. This might include foodstuffs, flora, cutlery, paintings, tribal items, custom furniture, bedding and maybe a desk if this interior involves using the NPC as a trader.

Please remember to light the area. Argonian or Imperial lighting can be used. If you have any further suggestions, requests for models and so on then please consult this thread: Furnitures & Clutters . Just ask if you have any special ideas for extra models.

Have fun! :goodjob:

Can I take this as my Black Marsh debut?

Also: Is there an existing Mages Guild Faction, or do I have to make one?
Do I have to make dialogue and/or any quests?
Is there already a MG MQ that may require me to check characters essential?

Quote:Originally posted by jucklesjenk
Can I take this as my Black Marsh debut?

Granted. :check: Good choice!

Quote:Originally posted by jucklesjenk
Also: Is there an existing Mages Guild Faction, or do I have to make one?
Do I have to make dialogue and/or any quests?
Is there already a MG MQ that may require me to check characters essential?

Check out this thread for information regarding the Mages Guild: Faction Brainstorming Session 05 - the Mages' Guild . No, we have not set up the Factions yet but you're welcome to get started on them. A while back, I added weapons, staffs, armour and so on that would hopefully build up towards giving a set of options for Guild members that would help the PC to identify them on sight.

I'm very hazy on the details of setting up Factions. I'd have to go back to the CS wiki on that but here's the full list of Factions: List of Factions . You will notice that there are no details on the Mages Guild as such but take a look at the part about 'Bhuru Shaman' and you'll see why. This, of course, doesn't mean that there is no Mages Guild Faction but simply that they share the questline of the Shamans. The plan at the moment is to merge the questlines once a certain point is reached in each.

You don't have to create questlines seeing as this is just the interior claim but see how you go with the Factions and then we can see where to go with it if you wish to take it further. Deeza's ideas in the thread above would be great and there is some room for your own ideas in there as this is not a fully established way of going about doing these quests. However, what Deeza suggests about 'killing crocodiles for our anatomy class' sounds like a good way to get started....but bear in mind that we're still in the process of adding creatures.

If you check out the clothing section in the CS, you will see some of the old and new robes for mages which need to be associated with this Faction. As a Mage, you can also wield the Corralnium Nail dagger (see weapons section of the CS) along with Trollf's one-handed dagger (only for the more established mages) and, if you wish, the occasional vanilla dagger of your choice.

We have plenty of staffs but some of these will be used as rewards for quests. Trollf's enchanted moss staff is a basic one for Guild members. The same goes for the root staff whilst the top Mages might well carry a swamp staff. Bear in mind that the magical properties of these staffs have yet to be determined as we will have to get InsanitySorrow working on the scripts.

Finally, as per Deeza's suggestions, this is mainly a 'magical academy' but there should be a little space for some alchemical experiments as well so feel free to make use of such paraphernalia besides our own flora ingredients. You might even use the Hist Factory items that come originally from the Blackwood Company's basement as long as you don't put the Hist tree itself in there. Also, please try to make use of the Black Marsh clutter and other items (rugs, tapestries, cutlery etc.) to make the place look unique....tapestries 1-4 and 7 have been set aside as the most common ones for use in Stormhold btw.

Have fun! :goodjob:

I just opened the existing Stormhold Mages' Guild interior and I have a few points:

-One load door was a scripted Henantier door and wasn't linked to anywhere, should this be replaced with a door that is linked to downstairs (its space needs using as there is a doorway there but the other doorsaren't using door frames)?

-A mage is already placed in the cell and is using the vanilla mages guild faction. Should this be the BM mages guild faction as well or do I still have to make one?

-There is a mages guild teleport in the middle of the ground floor. Does this have a purpose?

Edit: Also, what rank should the guild hall leader be?

Good questions, JK. You should know that this interior is one of the unique interiors of Stormhold because it was set up by the very first modder of the city, GreyWizard, who has long, long since left us (even before I was here).

Therefore, anything such as the Henantier door and the teleport is expendable. If they're not linked, they're not important. The only problem is that when I 'inherited' BM I also inherited a lot of stuff that I didn't know much about....I was even lacking a lot of models and there were quite a lot of errors. If you wished, despite there being some items already placed, you could ditch the whole contents and start again.

However, it may be worthwhile checking out the mage. I've not investigated what the old team did with this Faction and I'd be hesitant to delete the whole Faction details if there are other Faction members somewhere I haven't checked as this will produce errors. Therefore, what you're best off doing is adapting the Faction details to suit your own (and our own) objectives.

As for the question about the rank, this merits some discussion in the lore threads as we may judge it best to reshuffle the vanilla ranking system. I know that Guild Hall leaders are ranked as wizards so it may prove best to choose that rank for the time being. The Mages Guild is, after all, a Cyrodiilic invention so the hierarchy would probably remain the same.

Perhaps we could use the teleport as a means to travel between guildhalls in Black Marsh, because it's obviously a very hostile and dangerous province and the mages will surely have set up a travel system, as they did in Vvardenfell. Also, in the faction brainstorming only 3 guildhalls are mentioned. If only these three are to be made, then it isn't messing up travel around Black Marsh too much and it allows easy transport between the major cities.

Whaddya think?

Edit: If the old team did make a faction, the mage wasn't a part of it - only the vanilla MG. I'll try and find if there is one tomorrow, though.

Edit 2: The faction brainstorming session says that "the Stormhold Guild is mostly a school, teaching tribal Argonians the ways of Imperial magic". This can easily be done, as I am adding a kind of lecture area, but it would probably require one or two "tribal Argonians" to come and learn from the ouside, as there isn't enough living space for more than 3 or 4 mage staff as it is, so if we do add students, they need to commute there every day.

Sure, that makes sense to me (the two edits). However, bear in mind that I'd like PCs to make use of the rootworm travel system as much as possible so it may make sense to have the portals but only once you are wholly accepted into the Guild and this may mean completing quests. I'd like PCs to have to pay for the privelege of using the 'rootworm express' as much as possible to make it harder and make travel more realistic...

In that case, maybe we could revert to the TES3 guild guide system of making a script that transports you to a guildhall through a dialogue option that only becomes available when you reach whatever rank is required.

I prefer the teleport option myself...although you got me thinking about whether the BM mage-teleport should be unique. I had been planning to use a strange, revolving cube to enter the Hist Dimension but later changed it to a more impressive-looking portal. At present, that cube remains but the texture is not showing. We could easily retexture the cube for use with the Mages Guild. If you'd like to take a look at the model, you can find it in the doors section of the CS and, if you open it in NifSkope, you'll see how it moves. Perhaps they discovered that the Cyrodiil teleport system relied on the presence of Ayleid artifacts in the surroundings. With only the Barsaebics in BM (and no Ayleids) then maybe they found another way....

That seems like a good, lore friendly idea. I'll take a look at this cube, then.
I don't have a clue about scripting, so as long as someone can make it so that the teleport can only be used after reaching a certain milestone, that's fine by me.

Also, are the afore-mentioned Argonian students still going to be used? Maybe they could live in a local inn or something. There isn't enough room for them to live in the guildhall, but it would definitely improve the atmosphere there if they turned up there.