Priority:
Stage:
- Merged
Development Progress:
Merged into:
Claim Type:
Faction:
Area:
Location:
Description
This is a small Hlaalu outpost with two buildings, which are connected by a basement, and an egg-mine. This outpost lies on the eastern end of a forgotten stretch of the Veloth's Path pilgrimage route. A tunnel will later be added that will connect the outpost to the Armun Ashlands, through which Veloth came before they were ashlands. The Hlaalu now use the tunnel for smuggling, either being unaware or keeping silent about its significance. (This is just for background information; it should not come up in dialogue).
Here are the original claims. There are notes about key placement and such here, so be sure to check them:
https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=24181
https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=24182
https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=24183
For a mess of tips and requirements: https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/forum/npc-claim-guidelines-wip
The owner of this outpost is something of a local kingpin whose influence extends past his (or her) apparently modest means. His front is operating a decently sized kwama mine on site.
He acts as a sort of fixer for various trading companies such as the EEC, helping them dodge tolls and taxes, smuggling out agents who get in trouble, greasing wheels diplomatically, that kind of thing. He keeps the tunnel secret from his business associates, so there's some mystery about how he is so good at what he does (and to be fair a lot of it is skill). It is not clear how much he is working with the Hlaalu Council Company or how aware they are of his operations. The kingpin is not necessarily Dunmer; I wouldn't mind making him a fleshed out, non-joke Bosmer male.
The mine workers, while dirt poor, are looked after well enough and quite loyal to the kingpin. There are no slaves, really for fear that they will escape and reveal the tunnel, but the kingpin would try to pass it off as philanthropy to conscienscious business associates.
The guards have relatively good gear (consider using some of TR's new Kragen bonemold among a broad variety of other pieces) and are a tough lot players would not want to mess with. One could provide training, which would be all the services the place has to offer.
This claim mainly needs a few unique greetings, backgrounds and my trade entries, as well as little secrets, little advice, and perhaps latest rumours. There could be a someone in particular entry about the kingpin, and the kingpin could perhaps have a broader range of dialogue, but nothing too elaborate is needed, and this outpost will likely be fleshed out with quests later anyway.
Comments
Granted directly to mort as
Granted directly to mort as he expressed interest on Discord.
Thanks for the thorough write
Thanks for the thorough write-up. I'm definitely going with non-joke bosmer male.
A few things I'd like clearing up:
-the end of the mine terminates in an unlinked door - presumably that is to connect to armun ashlands? on merge I can add a very simple "this door is blocked" script to prevent the illusive "door to nothingness" if you'd like.
-The name of the settlement is....? I can think of a name on my own, but structure-wise, does it make sense to name it like, "Gul-Amun" or some hlaalu sounding name? I assume it doesn't appear on any maps, but as per Morrowind convention the player is psychic and knows the name of everything instantly. Maybe the name should reflect the Bosmer? I could see him renaming it if only to keep it off the grid, so to speak.
-The int descriptions mention putting the key in the inventory of the smugglers only, not on a table. I'm going to do both but have it owned by them. Gives the player more options via murder or theft.
-Should there be a plant obscuring the mine door?
-Are the smugglers in the cave near the AA exit friendly to the player? You can get into the lower eggmine just by walking there, maybe if you levitate up there and start asking questions they'll be very terse with you, then attack if you don't leave (and are non-Hlaalu)
-do the regular egg miners know about the tunnel? they might notice the extra activity there but not know why, maybe if they're pretty dense. I wouuld imagine they serve double duty and assist in ferrying illicit goods through the tunnel in exchange for a tiny fraction of a cut.
- no slaves at all ever? or like, a house slave but no eggmine slaves?
1. Oops, I missed the door
1. Oops, I missed the door when checking in the CS. Yeah, script block it.
2. Not sure about the name, I was originally thinking just [kingpin's name]'s Outpost, but perhaps something Dunmer would work better. Perhaps use 'Neen' which means (I think) path. (I've seen Seyda Neen translated as true path or something similar). I'm fine with leaving it to your judgement either way.
3. Sounds good.
4. Hm, that would make the mine more suspicious. Maybe put a strongman there who forcegreets the player on approach or something?
5. What you wrote sounds good.
6. They know but are loyal. That's why there are no slaves at all; they would inevitably find out about the cave, and they can't be trusted to keep quiet about it, especially if they escape or are freed by abolitionists.
7. Which answers this one. Even household slaves will recognize all the stuff going in and out of the mine, etc. I'd go with an employed maid/servant if you want household staff.
merging notes: cell names:
merging notes:
cell names: Neen, Manor; Neen, Guard Tower, Neen Eggmine, Upper, Neen Eggmine, Lower (or something like that, I don't remember how eggmines are named)
don't forget to give ownership of items to npcs
the door to the mine needs to be moved out slightly
the door in the lower eggmine needs a Blocked script (I can't do that from within the esp because you need to remove it and put in a unique/blocked variant etc)
Piggy-backing your merge
Piggy-backing your merge notes to add this: the locked Worn Cavern Door connecting the Upper and Lower eggmine along the secret route currently needs to be unlocked/picked twice: once on the way in, and once on the way out. This should be corrected on merge.
Hey there! I just had a go at
Hey there! I just had a go at testing the outpost and mine's NPCs; here are my remarks and questions, regarding both NPCs and non-NPC aspects :)
Specific NPCs:
Overall remarks:
The names of the interiors are still WIP names (eg TR_i4-473-hla). Is this normal? (I'm new around here)It is (answered by Gnomey, below)Apart from Orns Aren, who has a very curt line about it, nobody in the outpost gives as much as a hint as to what this place is all about (in apparence or truth). Wouldn't a <location name> topic be nice to have, here?There's supposed to be one, but only if one of the miners spills the beans, which I couldn't get them to do. Mort is considering adding the topic from the get-go, with a bogus, cover-up answer at first (answered on Discord). The miners not spilling the beans still needs to be checked, though.Everybody, save for Hlana Droryn, as very generic latest rumors, little advice and little secret topics, even though the claim states those should be somewhat customized. Is this normal (because area-specific rumors and the like are handled in another ESP), or not?It is normal (answered by Gnomey below)Non-NPC notes:
None of the items in the outpost or the mine are owned, which means the player can steal everything in plain sight with no consequences. Is this normal at this stage of development? (again, I'm new)Mort mentions it as well in his merge notes, so it's all goodAh, I somehow missed mort's
Ah, I somehow missed mort's update. I'll need to check it out when I'm back at my computer.
Thanks for looking at it Telumendur.
The cell names will be changed on merge, so that's normal.
The claim description suggests unique entries for those topics, but they are not necessary and the description is a bit overenthusiastic. (Rather it lists dialogue that can be written rather than what needs to or necessarily should be written).
I'd have to check again, but I think Morrowind isn't very liberal with what places get location name topics and who gets dialigue entries for those topics. Specific place and someone in particular are generally the go-to topics for getting familiar with a given location.
Thanks for the clarifications
Thanks for the clarifications on the cell names and location-specific topics, Gnomey!
In this case, I feel like a couple unique entries should be written for the specific place and someone in particular topics (currently non-existent in the outpost), if only to present the player with an appropriate cover story as to what this place really is, and somewhat rudely tell him to go annoy people someplace else...
Also, regarding the fact that nothing's owned yet in this outpost: where in the development process is item ownership typically handled? On merge?
Typically in the NPCing stage
Typically in the NPCing stage, as before then the owners don't (usually) exist. Technically that's only important for merchants; faction ownership can be assigned earlier as the factions already exist, and for objects that are not for sale or faction associated it makes no real difference who the ownership is assigned to. In practice, it makes more sense to do it all at once when the NPCs are all there, though.
I didn't have problems with
I didn't have problems with miners spilling the beans - the Argonian in the lower egg mine "slipped up" and told me about Neen. After that, the topic was available as usual.
Copying my comment from
Copying my comment from Discord:
So, just to summarize where
So, just to summarize where this claim is at since I last looked at it:
Has been fixed:
Still remains to be checked/fixed:
I still can't get any of the miners to spill the beans on this place's true purpose. Atrayonis doesn't have this problem, though, so it may have been fixed in a not-yet-uploaded Hlaalu-Thirr or Mainland release file.Nevermind, this seems to have been a weird bug on my end. It works when I use Hlaalu-Thirr v.0056.Must be fixed on merge:
just for posterity before I
just for posterity before I leave for 12 hours:
the main complex is Aren Manor, the eggmine is Aren Eggmine (although maybe something different as an homage to his adoptive family or something)
The tunnel itself is called Neen, and that's the part that no one else knows about
Just had had an in-game look
Just had had an in-game look at the latest version: everything's good dialogue-wise, and I now reliably get the Argonian miner to tell me about Neen, which enables the topic in some other NPCs throughout the mine and manor. The new greetings added throughout the manor are a great addition!
I'll take a look again if you shuffle things around some more, as you hinted at on Discord, but if you choose not to, then I'd say this is good to go! (with the caveat that the lock on the secret door linking the upper and lower mine needs to be changed, as decribed elsewhere). I'm personally in favor of a couple short lines about Aren Manor, Aren Eggmine, and/or Aren himself, though. Just my two cents.
final uploaded -added some
final uploaded
-added some ownerships (double check)
-fixed some factions on npcs
-added more dialogue
-added local area topic
merge notes:
Aren Eggmine
Aren Manor
Aren Manor, Armory (i'm not attached to this name, but it's a combination armory on the second floor, storage, guest house, guard house below. Aren Manor, Guardhouse also works)
See previous merge notes too