Central storyline planning

Any province related discussion not fitting into other categories
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roerich
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Central storyline planning

Post by roerich »

This thread is used to plan the central storylines that will unfold in SHotN, documenting the central players and their goals and motivations as well as planning the rough outline of what a main quest should look like, what events will happen and so on.
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roerich
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Post by roerich »

The setting/themes

The Reach
  • The aftermath of war
  • Uneasy peace
  • Cultural and ethnic conflict
  • Lingering animosity and bloodfeuds
  • Tradition versus change
  • Fragile power
Haafingar
  • Expansionism
  • Political maneuvers
  • A new order
  • Strength and dominance
  • Reviving the past
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Post by roerich »

Characters

Central players

King Thian of Haafingar

The wolf of Haafingar, third son of King Eyrfin, is a shrewd political tactician and the current ruler of Haafingar-Dawnstar. His rise to power and the following strengthening of Haafingars' influence has been a major power change in Skyrim, establishing Haafingar as the dominant hold over the old competitors Winterhold and Whiterun. He clings to Atmoran traditions, but uses western, Imperial diplomacy and political tactics. He has recently married Queen Macella of Dawnstar, thereby cementing control over the majority of Skyrim's coastline. He has also annexed a number of Imperial fiefs in and around Haafinheim, for example the Varus Towers that stands on the mouth of the Karth, guarding trade by boat with Markarth and Karthwasten. This has allowed him to put King Barda in a stranglehold, as he can tax the trade to his liking and effectively blockade the river if a war with the Reach is to come.

Short term goals
  • Weaken the Imperial claim on Whiterun Hold, with the goal of eventually adding it to his domain as a client state of Haafingar. He secretly funds the Hörme resistance, who raid and attack Whiterun and outlying settlements on a regular basis, making an opportunity to finally swoop in and put down the resistance, proving the Imperials unable to defend the hold. He's also buying influence by backing anti-Imperial clans and nobles in the hold, furthering their influence. Eventually he'll need to assassinate the Lorkhanite priestess Jsashe.
  • Weaken the influence of the Kingdom of the Reach for the same reason. He has numerous spies and agents all across the Reach, working to put either Alarod or Jarla Jona on the throne after the aging King Barda, as Alarod would be easy to control due to his weak nature as a ruler, and Jarla Jona as she will create strife and possibly start the war again which will weaken the hold by more warfare. She might possibly even join Haafingar out of her own will, as she is also pro-expansionist. He might support a few Redguard insurgence groups as well, just in order to create chaos.
  • Annex Roscrea and an Imperial controlled area between the fort west of Falkirstad and the High Rock border. He already rules Jehenna which was conquered in the Bend'r Mahk war, thereby dominating that entire region as well.
Long term goals
  • Thian dreams of reestablishing the first empire, and his immediate long term goals are getting crowned High King and going to war with High Rock once again, putting the area east of Wayrest and north of the Bjoulsae under Skyrim's yoke. He is basically unstoppable, and his end goal is freeing Skyrim from being under Imperial rule. He knows that time is running out on Septim's empire, and he wants to make sure that Skyrim will come out strong and self-sufficient after the collapse.
[horizontalline][/horizontalline]

King Barda of The Reach

Bardas reign has been mostly centered around rebuilding the Reach and the newly conquered lands after the war, as well as maintaining the uneasy peace in this region of conflict. He inherited the throne about a decade after the war, from his father King Vyrnod. The peacekeeping has been a troubling task due to resistance groups, infighting between Nords and keeping the warlike Reachmen tribes in line. [WIP]

Short term goals
  • Preparing a good heir to the throne. Currently his son Alarod is next in line, but Barda is afraid that the young hedonist who has lived a life of luxury is unfit to rule, and will deliver the hard-won power right into the hands of King Thian or back to the Crowns of Hammerfell. He ponders making Jarla Jona his heir, adopting her and declaring her to be the intended heir. His other solution is making his second son, ???, the heir instead, by ordering Alarod to join the Imperial Legion, effectively disowning him. [WIP]
  • Secure the road network of the Reach, which is currently very dangerous for travellers, thus hindering trade to flourish. Redguards, Reachmen, Orcs and lawless Nords all roam the wilderness and ambush trade caravans which has caused an official Imperial travel warning which has been active since the days of the war.
  • Root out the Redguard insurgence terrorizing the cities of Karthwasten and Dragonstar, constantly proving a source of conflict and destabilization. He knows that Jarla Jona's head-on approach is unsuccesful and only works to further anti-Nord sentiments among the culturally diverse population in the cities. He wants to capture the ringleaders, hoping to at least put a stop to the worst violence. His advisors have urged him to consider employing groups such as the Dark Brotherhood in achieving this.
  • Solve the Old Hrol'dan situation - a number of Reachmen tribes have gathered and retaken this ancient city with hopes of independence. While the region is officially under the reign of Falkreath Hold, it's promixity to Felsundhal, Lainalten and even Markarth and Karthwasten proves a danger. As does the Reachmen getting ideas about independence, as it could spread among the general Reachmen population. He will need to figure out how to apprehend this situation without starting a territorial war with Falkreath. As a side note, Falkreath is deliberately turning a blind eye against this, as they have little interest in the region (Sundered Hills), but have an interest in The Reach being weakened. They are also not worried that an independent Reachman kingdom would make too much trouble in the south and east, but rather northwest where the rest of the Reachmen dwell.
Long term goals
  • Securing the independence of the Reach from it's neighbours, and maintaining the peace that is currently very fragile, allowing the region to prosper.
[horizontalline][/horizontalline]

Lesser players

Jarl Horir of Felsundhal

Horir is gray, cold and callous - fitting traits for the ruler of the barren Sundered Hills. He is an aged warlord, half senile and confined to his hall in Felsundhal. His brother, Thane Forvol of Karthwasten, fought on the front line during the war while Horir remained largely at home ruling the county. He is an indifferent vassal of King Barda, not caring much for what transpires outside his realm, and could easily be manipulated by King Thain's agents. He has four children, all with disagreeable personalities. He isn't well-loved by his subjects, some of whom wish the more jovial Thane Forvol had become Jarl.
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Post by roerich »

Reserved.
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Post by Yeti »

Many thanks for compiling all these scattered lore concepts, roerich, along with adding your own touches. Its reassuring to see that we have such strong plans in place.

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Post by roerich »

No problem, feel free to add some comments or suggestions. What other NPC's could be considered central players? I think it's best that we focus on Haafinheim and the Reach right now, storywise and of course CS wise as well.
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Post by Yeti »

Quick character sketch I came up with:

Jarl Horir of Felsundhal

Horir is gray, cold and callous - fitting traits for the ruler of the barren Sundered Hills. He is an aged warlord, half senile and confined to his hall in Felsundhal. His brother, Thane Forvol of Karthwasten, fought on the front line during the war while Horir remained largely at home ruling the county. He is an indifferent vassal of King Barda, not caring much for what transpires outside his realm, and could easily be manipulated by King Thain's agents. He has four children, all with disagreeable personalities. He isn't well-loved by his subjects, some of whom wish the more jovial Thane Forvol had become Jarl.

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Post by roerich »

Great, I had initially planned for Felsundhal to be ruled by a relative of King Barda. But this is so much better.
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Post by Yeti »

Having them be relatives could still work, especially since Barda is letting Forvol teach his son. I kind of like the idea. Before the War of Bend'r-Mahk, The Reach only had two counties, so a family tie between the two Jarldoms would make sense for consolidating control. Distant cousins, perhaps? Maybe family marriages between the two Jarldoms are common, and we can have Barda's younger son unhappily betrothed to Horir's daughter.

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Post by roerich »

We could also have Horir and the majority of the clans in Felsundhal be very eager to butcher the nearby Reachmen tribes at Old Hrol'dan, not caring for Falkreath. This provides an unstable situation, easy for Thian to stir up trouble.
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Post by Yeti »

Yeah, that would indeed help add to the area's hostile atmosphere and set up a front for the conflict between the Nords and Reachmen.

How large a presence should the Empire have in Haafingar? As much as King Thain doesn't like the Empire and is actively opposing it, he definitely shouldn't have the power yet to expel all Imperial influences (legion outposts, magistrates, guilds) from the Hold. Doing so would likely cross a red line with the Empire and trigger a full-out invasion. His opposition should take more subtle forms, building up slowly to his eventual dream of independence.

If the rest of Skyrim is mostly loyal to the Empire, what reason does Thain have to dislike it besides his personal ambition? I'd rather avoid making him a copy of Ulfric Stormcloak.

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Post by roerich »

Good points.

Thian isn't openly hostile against the Empire. On the surface he is cooperating with the Empire, and he isn't (almost ever) breaking any laws when he takes influence from the Imperial administration. Instead he uses the bureaucratic machinery to bring his own people in different powerful positions, and finding loopholes in ancient treaties etc. He's also exploiting the fact that the Empire is largely collapsing slowly, perhaps corruption and indifference has been a byproduct of the Simulacrum in certain places, and perhaps Haafingar is one of those places. Just an idea.
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Post by Yeti »

Sounds like a perfect explanation to me.

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Post by Biboran »

The main quest can be connected to the main quest of Cyrodiil and Morrowind.
During the main quest Morrowind Caius says that is sent to the imperial province on important business. He can offer follow him and met him in Cloud Ruler Temple, when Nerevarine finished his quest here. Caius quests will take place across the province Cyrodiil. As an agent protagonist will have to eliminate the dangerous daedric cults, as well as to check the loyalty of Cyrodiil graphs. When the protagonist done with that, he will be called to the emperor.
As we know, Nerevarine traveled to Akavir during the crisis of Oblivion. In quests of the emperor, we learn why. I do not know what will be the true goal in the end. It can come up later. The main thing is that the Emperor sends the main character in Skyrim, learn the way of voice. This may be the main quest in Skyrim. (End of which may be a talk with the Paarthurnax, for example) And then come back to him for answers.

And so on, the main character will perform similar tasks from emperor throughout Tamriel.
Kill Dagoth Ur and Almalexia - Morrowind (MQ of TES3 and Tribunal (Tamriel Rebuilt))
Way of the Voice - Skyrim. (ShotN)
Something - High Rock
Something - Elsweyr

And so on. This may be the main quest of PT.

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Post by Renfrow »

I agree with the above posts, I think the head developers of every major province mod should meet up on a hidden forum or an IRC channel, and discuss what is going on. I would love to play all they province mods; especially on the same character; but I would love it even more if playing all these mods had a seamless narrative, and the main quests were connected with one another.

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Post by Togi »

Sorry for reviving a dead thread,but i have a new character idea

Jarl Yrsaud of Riften
Yrsaud is brave,ambitious and witty.He is also a veteran of the Wa rof Bend'r-Mahk.He has a younger sister named Greara .Both of them have a child.Yrsaud is a hereditary.His grand grandfather Roggelheim started this tradition

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