This thread is there to give people who could not take part in our last online meeting a place to provide feedback on what has been discussed in it, before any decisions are finalized. Any feedback here will be reviewed at the start of next week’s meeting, after which this thread will be archived and replaced with a new thread for that meeting.

Meeting Summary

1. What is the identity of the region? This stage is about establishing the general appearance of the region.

The region contains two rivers: the larger Pryai river and the smaller Roryn river. ‘Roth-Roryn’ means ‘south of the Roryn’, and is the Redoran name for the region.

1. Who inhabits the region?

The region is generally sparsely populated, with some Redoran inhabitants in the northwest and Hlaalu plantations in the southeast, and a few scattered Ashlanders.

Roth-roryn would also be home to some cave-dwelling Velothi, mostly in the vicinity of House settlements, major roads and Velothi towers (which, in the latter case, would then also be inhabited by Velothi), with less than (say) five dwellings to one cluster. (Incidentally, the region should have more Velothi towers than it does).

In Hlaalu territory there would be smugglers and other shady figures. The main road between Velothis and the rest of Morrowind does go through Roth-Roryn, so one would expect bandits there as well.

There may be cultists in the the Daedric ruins of Roth-roryn, but aside from the ruin in central Roth-roryn they would not be hostile. (At least not initially). If there are any cultists in the ruin in Redoran territory, they should be closely monitored by House Redoran or the Temple.

2. What are they doing there?

Velothi are just eking out a living, the Ashlanders are trying to stubbornly avoid assimilation, the Hlaalu are trying to establish plantations and exploit the region, the Redoran are trying to keep hold of the region and keep its inhabitants (so mainly the Velothi) safe.

3. Who used to inhabit the region (especially before the War of the First Council)?

Before the War of the First Council, the region was very sparsely inhabited by Velothi and (in the Velothi towers) proto-Telvanni, with some proto-Redorans.

After the War of the First Council and withdrawal of most of the proto-Telvanni to Port Telvannis, the Indoril took control of much of the region. The Indoril may have built at least one chapel in the region from which to govern the local population.

After the Armistice, the Hlaalu grabbed all the former Indoril land. The Ashlanders were pushed into the region ahead of the Hlaalu settlement, and continue to be pushed into the region’s extremities.

4. What did they do there?

Aside from the above, not very much. Roth-roryn had always been a backwater. Folks there just minded their own business for the most part.

5. How densely populated (and where) is the region?

The region is very sparsely populated, wedged between the Armun Ashlands, a thin stretch of the Velothis and the Ascadian Bluffs. Most of its population lives at the edge of the region, especially towards the east where the region opens up.

2. What is the layout of the region? This stage is about discussing the implementation of the region in broad strokes.

1. How would the things within the region (dungeons, settlements) be arranged?

Most settlements would be located along the major road that goes through the region, aside from the general Hlaalu plantations in the east and settlements around Velothi towers.

2. How do we want the player to experience the region in-game?

The player would probably mostly just follow the major road through the region to get to the actual important places, but through wanderlust, quests or general adventuring should be encouraged to delve off the beaten track and hopefully get lost. The region is intended to be rather confusing, especially the central canyon bit.

The region is generally arid, unwelcoming and mid-level, by and large unremarkable, but might have some more impressive locations in its furthest reaches.

Various Topics

Summoning was debated. Contract summoning and the fact that summoning in cities should be illegal (there is a mod for that, but it’s not in the vanilla game), as well as the legalities and the temple’s views on summoning were discussed, but no conclusion was reached. Telvanni summon, have contract summons, and sell spells, the Temple has two contract summons, but does not sell summoning spells (the Dremoras under Vivec and in Maar Gan), and the Mages Guild employs and teaches summoners.

Daedric Cults are supposed to be more diverse. An idea would be to have a Cyrodiil-style Daedric Cult in western Morrowind, which includes a greeter/teacher, contract summons who just sit around and do their thing, as well as a reasonably non-hostile athmosphere. Similarily, a cult worshipping an anticipation could exist with the knowledge of temple higher ups, worshipping the Triunes a bit less and their anticipations a bit too much. A player quest or questline could be to judge them heretical (or not).
That should stand in contrast to Daedric ruins in the Indoril lands, which are either cleared and empty, or closely monitored by the authorities.
In general, cults or heresies or all kind should be written down, as we might want to revist the eastern coast of heresies later on, or flesh out other branches of the Dissident Priests.