02-19-2006, 06:17 PM
In the Main Quest thread, KuKulzA said that he wanted to do some ideas about Helseth sparking the House War, so here?s my first take on it for critique.
What is the key resource of Vvardenfell? The answer it seems to me is Ebony. In TESIII, the mines were strictly controlled by the Imperials with some minor illegal smuggling going on in groups like the Cammona Tong. With the Imperial forces greatly reduced in our revision, the Ebony trade seems the most likely explosion point for the rising House tensions. Picture the following?.
The Imperials have been forced to withdraw from Caldera, handing it over to the Redoran, whose traditional borders include the mines and settlement. Recognizing that elements within the Hlallu have long been trying to get their hands on the Ebony trade, House Redoran wastes no time fortifying their new source of wealth. Large contingents of guards are moved in, the city is gated, security at the mines is stepped up. The Hlallu perhaps try a few small things that only result in confirming the fears of the Redoran that their rivals will try to gain control of the trade. Of course the Empire isn?t happy to give up their corner on the Ebony market, especially to the anti-Imperial House Redoran. They would much rather have Caldera and its mines in the hands of the Hlallu, who would guarantee an Imperial supply. (Assuming that with the Temple?s reduced role, we use some means other than Vivec to get the PC to Vvardenfell and the Main Quest), the local Blades agents send a message to the mainland requesting additional men and resources. The request is conveyed to the PC after he wraps up the Oblivion MQ, as this is obviously a less-pressing matter than saving the Empire itself. The PC travels to Vvardenfell if he has not done so already, and makes contact with one of the local Blades, who briefs him on the House situation and specifically on the Caldera dispute.
The trouble shouldn?t begin until about the third quest, at which point, the Redoran in Caldera discover an Ebony smuggling ring. The incident also reveals that the operation is tied to Helseth, the Imperialized king of Morrowind and supporter of House Hlallu. The Redoran demand compensation, but Helseth insists that he is above the law. The Redoran declare that they will not suffer interference in their House affairs by an Imperial puppet and that further incidents will be met with retribution to those responsible, a not-so-subtle threat to the local Hlallu to the south of Caldera. (NOTE: if we want, we could also have this in the past by the time the PC arrives, either that or we could have it as a set of events which are occurring the first time the PC arrives in Caldera on assignment for the Blades.)
Needless to say, Helseth doesn?t take the threat well; he is king after all. A small group of Royal guards are sent to Vvardenfell as a visible show of force. They are stationed in Caldera itself, and allow traffic from Balmora to regularly go through the settlement. Smuggling and mutual distrust grow as a result. The Redoran are angry but cannot really do anything directly against Helseth, though the contingent isn?t really all that big in Caldera itself (it?s more the thought of what would happen as a result of doing something). Finally, an undisciplined Redoran guard gets in a fight with one of the Helseth guards. In the resulting brawl, the Redoran garrison arrests the Helseth contingent and locks down the city. Hlallu are expelled from Caldera and the area declared a no-travel zone for non-Redoran members.
The small faction within the Temple (possibly tied to the Nereverine) tries to send envoys to negotiate a settlement, but nobody cares. The Hlallu, backed by Helseth and their Imperial trading partners, are enraged and close their borders to the Redoran, trusting that their growing military will be enough to deter their more warlike rivals. Tensions build, other minor disputes between Hlallu and Redoran get brought into this and accusations get tossed around. Vivec is probably one of the hot spots, though the Temple Ordinators keep it from erupting into full-scale fighting. (You just don?t see a lot of people in other cantons, and if the PC has joined one of the Houses, he won?t get a lot of love in certain areas of the city.)
With the tension rising, something suddenly comes up on the mainland that persuades Helseth that he is better off being uninvolved. Perhaps a new supply of Ebony is found near Mournhold or the Hlallu city we plan to mod eventually in that area, thus lessening the value of Caldera in the eyes of the mainland. Unfortunately, things have progressed too far for the Vvardenfell Houses to care. War is all but inevitable.
So how does the PC fit into this whole mess? Well, under the Blades idea, he?d be sent in to verify the situation and bring back intelligence perhaps to someone operating in Balmora. To do this, perhaps the PC should be sent in under the guise of a Royal Guard. As soon as he arrives, however, the brawl breaks out and he is arrested, unless he is foolish enough to fight, at which point her automatically becomes a fugitive just as if he had resisted arrest in any other context. In the transition between arrest and jail, several things occur: the Redoran discover that you are not a Dunmer like all the other Royal Guards and interrogate you. Perhaps they discover that you are a Blade through mind-reading or intense torture or something. I think that the PC should be released with a warning since the Redoran don?t want to fight the Empire itself. The fallout though for the PC is that the Blades? involvement has been exposed, maybe even some of their members in Vvardenfell have been identified. The result is that the agents are crippled in their abilities, perhaps even forced to evacuate, leaving the PC on his own in the hotbed situation. The Nereverine is of course still there, but due to a conflict of interest, I think that the Blades no longer regard him as one of their own and he is left out of the loop. He?s probably one of the only ex-Blades to ever be allowed to live.
So what do people think? There are three areas to critique here: the set-up with Helseth, the Redoran and the Hlallu, the involvement of the Blades and the spying on Caldera as a Royal Guard until getting caught, and the idea of the Blades being exposed (in this or some other way) and being absent from the game either because of arrest or a return to the mainland and the PC being left to his own devices on how to handle the House conflict (gives him reason to choose sides, stay uninvolved, whatever he wants). This is an idea thread, so let?s here some alternative ideas too.
What is the key resource of Vvardenfell? The answer it seems to me is Ebony. In TESIII, the mines were strictly controlled by the Imperials with some minor illegal smuggling going on in groups like the Cammona Tong. With the Imperial forces greatly reduced in our revision, the Ebony trade seems the most likely explosion point for the rising House tensions. Picture the following?.
The Imperials have been forced to withdraw from Caldera, handing it over to the Redoran, whose traditional borders include the mines and settlement. Recognizing that elements within the Hlallu have long been trying to get their hands on the Ebony trade, House Redoran wastes no time fortifying their new source of wealth. Large contingents of guards are moved in, the city is gated, security at the mines is stepped up. The Hlallu perhaps try a few small things that only result in confirming the fears of the Redoran that their rivals will try to gain control of the trade. Of course the Empire isn?t happy to give up their corner on the Ebony market, especially to the anti-Imperial House Redoran. They would much rather have Caldera and its mines in the hands of the Hlallu, who would guarantee an Imperial supply. (Assuming that with the Temple?s reduced role, we use some means other than Vivec to get the PC to Vvardenfell and the Main Quest), the local Blades agents send a message to the mainland requesting additional men and resources. The request is conveyed to the PC after he wraps up the Oblivion MQ, as this is obviously a less-pressing matter than saving the Empire itself. The PC travels to Vvardenfell if he has not done so already, and makes contact with one of the local Blades, who briefs him on the House situation and specifically on the Caldera dispute.
The trouble shouldn?t begin until about the third quest, at which point, the Redoran in Caldera discover an Ebony smuggling ring. The incident also reveals that the operation is tied to Helseth, the Imperialized king of Morrowind and supporter of House Hlallu. The Redoran demand compensation, but Helseth insists that he is above the law. The Redoran declare that they will not suffer interference in their House affairs by an Imperial puppet and that further incidents will be met with retribution to those responsible, a not-so-subtle threat to the local Hlallu to the south of Caldera. (NOTE: if we want, we could also have this in the past by the time the PC arrives, either that or we could have it as a set of events which are occurring the first time the PC arrives in Caldera on assignment for the Blades.)
Needless to say, Helseth doesn?t take the threat well; he is king after all. A small group of Royal guards are sent to Vvardenfell as a visible show of force. They are stationed in Caldera itself, and allow traffic from Balmora to regularly go through the settlement. Smuggling and mutual distrust grow as a result. The Redoran are angry but cannot really do anything directly against Helseth, though the contingent isn?t really all that big in Caldera itself (it?s more the thought of what would happen as a result of doing something). Finally, an undisciplined Redoran guard gets in a fight with one of the Helseth guards. In the resulting brawl, the Redoran garrison arrests the Helseth contingent and locks down the city. Hlallu are expelled from Caldera and the area declared a no-travel zone for non-Redoran members.
The small faction within the Temple (possibly tied to the Nereverine) tries to send envoys to negotiate a settlement, but nobody cares. The Hlallu, backed by Helseth and their Imperial trading partners, are enraged and close their borders to the Redoran, trusting that their growing military will be enough to deter their more warlike rivals. Tensions build, other minor disputes between Hlallu and Redoran get brought into this and accusations get tossed around. Vivec is probably one of the hot spots, though the Temple Ordinators keep it from erupting into full-scale fighting. (You just don?t see a lot of people in other cantons, and if the PC has joined one of the Houses, he won?t get a lot of love in certain areas of the city.)
With the tension rising, something suddenly comes up on the mainland that persuades Helseth that he is better off being uninvolved. Perhaps a new supply of Ebony is found near Mournhold or the Hlallu city we plan to mod eventually in that area, thus lessening the value of Caldera in the eyes of the mainland. Unfortunately, things have progressed too far for the Vvardenfell Houses to care. War is all but inevitable.
So how does the PC fit into this whole mess? Well, under the Blades idea, he?d be sent in to verify the situation and bring back intelligence perhaps to someone operating in Balmora. To do this, perhaps the PC should be sent in under the guise of a Royal Guard. As soon as he arrives, however, the brawl breaks out and he is arrested, unless he is foolish enough to fight, at which point her automatically becomes a fugitive just as if he had resisted arrest in any other context. In the transition between arrest and jail, several things occur: the Redoran discover that you are not a Dunmer like all the other Royal Guards and interrogate you. Perhaps they discover that you are a Blade through mind-reading or intense torture or something. I think that the PC should be released with a warning since the Redoran don?t want to fight the Empire itself. The fallout though for the PC is that the Blades? involvement has been exposed, maybe even some of their members in Vvardenfell have been identified. The result is that the agents are crippled in their abilities, perhaps even forced to evacuate, leaving the PC on his own in the hotbed situation. The Nereverine is of course still there, but due to a conflict of interest, I think that the Blades no longer regard him as one of their own and he is left out of the loop. He?s probably one of the only ex-Blades to ever be allowed to live.
So what do people think? There are three areas to critique here: the set-up with Helseth, the Redoran and the Hlallu, the involvement of the Blades and the spying on Caldera as a Royal Guard until getting caught, and the idea of the Blades being exposed (in this or some other way) and being absent from the game either because of arrest or a return to the mainland and the PC being left to his own devices on how to handle the House conflict (gives him reason to choose sides, stay uninvolved, whatever he wants). This is an idea thread, so let?s here some alternative ideas too.