Fang Lair

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roerich
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Fang Lair

Post by roerich »

[hsimg=]http://www.uesp.net/w/images/e/e2/AR-quest-FangLair.jpg[/hsimg]

I had some ideas for if we choose to include Fang Lair. Most importantly to put it in a fake exterior cell, explained as being completely remote and unreachable, as well as protected from levitation magic by strong illusion enchantment.

This way we won't need to either move the ruin north or expand our lands too much into Hammerfell. And it can be more rewarding needing to work hard to find the ruin instead of just levitating into the mountains.

Finding the ruin will be very hard, like it was in Arena. You will need to seek out the Orcish tribes dwelling in the eastern Dragontail Mts. and hope that they will want to help you. You will need to employ Orcish scouts and Reachmen sherpas in order to traverse the mountains and brave the hidden tunnels that leads to the location of Fang Lair.

I have made a proof-of-concept cell which I have attached. Cell name: "Sky_Fang Lair" Disregard rock placement, terrain mixing, distant land being needed etc.

[hsimg=]http://i.imgur.com/zvnLGB1.jpg[/hsimg][hsimg=]http://i.imgur.com/5Y2Uq6E.jpg[/hsimg][hsimg=]http://i.imgur.com/7jTRqRB.jpg[/hsimg]
[hsimg=]http://i.imgur.com/4w6MtDn.jpg[/hsimg][hsimg=]http://i.imgur.com/EolN2B7.jpg[/hsimg]
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Fang Lair Test.ESP
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berry
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Post by berry »

Oh boy, I like it. That tune immediatly played in my head when I saw these concepts. It looks so magnificent, like a Nirn Tower for the Reach. I vote to include it, perhaps as a late game epic dungeon of "mystical" branch of Reach main quest. Old Azra can tell player to go here, in order to get some obscure Rourken knowledge.

I have to admit I hated these fake exterior cells in TES V, it felt very disappointing and immersion breaking to struggle to reach the highest mountain in search of a hidden valley behind, only to find it's not really there, despite the map telling otherwise. But in this case, we can make it work I think, given how unique and well protected this place supposedly is. We can also say it's indeed further deeper in Hammerfell, and embellish PC's travel there with a messagebox detailing their harsh travel there.

This proof of concept would need more pipes, antennas and so on, to make it more in line with TES III Dwemer aesthetics, but I fully approve it otherwise. Makeshifted Dwemer 'generators' can be spread along the valley, buzzing and disabling levitation, as you said.

Also - these local sherpas you hire, would react to this place with superstitious terror.

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roerich
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Post by roerich »

berry wrote:I have to admit I hated these fake exterior cells in TES V, it felt very disappointing and immersion breaking to struggle to reach the highest mountain in search of a hidden valley behind, only to find it's not really there, despite the map telling otherwise. But in this case, we can make it work I think, given how unique and well protected this place supposedly is. We can also say it's indeed further deeper in Hammerfell, and embellish PC's travel there with a messagebox detailing their harsh travel there.
Indeed, I'm not too fond of fake exteriors either. But in this case it's the only way I can see it work. Dragonstar can be discussed if it's Hammerfell or not, but Fang Lair is through and through in Hammerfell, and not in the Reach. If we were to include it as a regular exterior, we would need to build miles and miles of Hammerfell in our Skyrim-centered mod. With the proposed solution, we could have a memorable dungeon and associated quest. Perhaps even flesh out Orcish and Rourken culture. I was thinking to have the Fang Lair as a release on it's own, including the Orcish camps, the tunnel system, part of the Dragon's Tooth Valley and of course the Fang Lair dungeon in itself. Like a mini DLC.
berry wrote:This proof of concept would need more pipes, antennas and so on, to make it more in line with TES III Dwemer aesthetics, but I fully approve it otherwise. Makeshifted Dwemer 'generators' can be spread along the valley, buzzing and disabling levitation, as you said.
Please, the concept is just so I wouldn't have to draw everything. My objective is just to show "fortress here" (hopefully remniscient of Arena-Fang Lair), "bridge here", "cliffs here", "scale like this" etc. Everything would need changing, but in general I think Volenfell-Dwemer should have some architectural and cultural differences from Vvardenfell/Morrowind-Dwemer. So we might need new models, although I'm sure there are plenty of readily available Dwemer assets floating around.
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R-Zero
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Post by R-Zero »

I like this idea, and the look of this mockup.

Just in case, there is a bit of info on Fang Lair in King Edward, Part VII.
"Mats says Fang Lair is an old dwarf mine, but there's supposed to be a dragon there now, and the dwarves are gone. Moraelyn looks real interested at the mention of a mine, and asks what they mined there. Mats says mithril and gold.

"Moraelyn says, 'Hmmmmm.'

"The mithril had him interested. We couldn't afford really good weapons. And mithril's scarce, but it's light to carry for its worth, and easy to mine and work if you know how; and he did. He didn't believe in the magic blade or the dragon, but he thought the mine might be real. Mining's in his blood, as it is in all the R'Aathim, the royal Kin of Ebonheart.

"It took us a couple of months to get there. We couldn't afford horses. We never would have found it without the map. It's tricky country, full of canyons and hidden valleys. We sure never expected what we saw when we did get there. You could see the towers from the canyon mouth, way back in there. Dark elves live right in caverns if they mine, but the dwarves had built a hall over the top of their mines. It's a pretty thing on the outside. Narrow towers, and arched bridges between them. Delicate looking; you wouldn't expect work like that from Dwarves. Merged right into the rocks too. And there was a big stone dragon mounted above the gate.

"'There's your dragon, Mats,' I said. The inside wasn't much to look at, just rock wall. The doorway was enormous, but the doors were gone. There was a balcony running right around a big open pit ... probably the start of the mine, turned into a hall. And right in the middle was more treasure than you can imagine ... piled up almost like a haystack that'd been flattened out. And what had flattened it was a golden dragon curled right over it; we didn't even see him at first, 'cause he blended with the rest of the gold. Well, we just froze in place. We hadn't seen a sign of live dragon outside. The place smelled of brimstone, but most mines do. And there that dragon was, just lying there. And it's gotta be two miles to any kind of shelter.

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Post by Yeti »

To be honest, this sounds like far too much work for something that has little to do with Skyrim. We have enough major landmarks to plan and implement without adding to the list.

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berry
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Post by berry »

You're such a joy-killer, Yeti. :)

The way I see it, including Fan Lair just to include it would be indeed a waste of resources, but if somewhere down the road of designing questlines we decide we need an obscure, big, classic dungeon crawl? Then I'd say going with Fang Lair would be more interesting than making new, half-baked place on our own.

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roerich
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Post by roerich »

What berry said. Also, I wouldn't mind seeing it as a standalone mod dependent on SHOTN.

Perhaps we can outsource the job to Trainwiz. :-D
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