Hi, I'm just wondering if it is possible to join House Indoril? It seems like it must be possible somehow, because there are quite a few Indoril traders (e.g. around Roa Dyr) that say they will only trade with members of the house.
I'm doing a playthrough currently, with an Argonian warrior, and I couldn't figure out how to join, despite talking with House Indoril people quite extensively in Akamora and in many of the Indoril settlements on the East Coast of the Aanthirin. I did the quest for the person in Roa Dyr that involves investigating a supposed Hlaalu plot in Vhul. I also did all of the Indoril bounty quests and spoke with Indoril Ilvi afterwards. However, after the bounties ran out, there was no option to join the house and I wasn't able to find any further opportunities to do work for them.
I am a member of the Fighter's Guild - perhaps that and being an Argonian might have something to do with it (incompatible race/faction)?
In general, it seems much more difficult to join Indoril than the three houses in the vanilla game, each of which pretty much allow you to walk in the door and sign up. For Indoril, I don't think I was even able to find a conversation topic anywhere about joining.
Btw, if it is possible, I'd appreciate if people could try not to post spoilers (although 1 or 2 hints would be nice!).
2016-01-19 19:35
1 year 7 months ago
Short answer: not yet.
Long answer: There's a bit of an internal quibble going on on how to make the joining questline, as seeing as how Indoril and Dres are much more adverse to outlanders they probably also aren't so open to letting random people join them. Spoiler on plotline:
You "could" console yourself into the House if you wanted, but there's not really any quests or faction goodies set up for them yet.
2020-01-17 20:11
4 years 2 weeks ago
Hi Kevaar,
Thanks for the info. It's good to hear that there will be a way to join them, even if it's not implemented yet.
I appreciate the Indoril are more hostile to outlanders than the vanilla houses and certainly I had the strong impression that I was quite unwelcome, as I spoke to people in their settlements. However, for what it's worth, I think it's important that there be some way to get involved with them. Otherwise, it might somewhat limit the reasons to visit somewhere like Roa Dyr, aside from admiring the pretty architecture (which is gorgeous btw) and to have random abuse hurled at you ;-) . Although, I realize there are already some quests available, like the bounties, that don't require faction membership.
I saw on this page that Indoril membership may be linked to marriage to a particular NPC. That seems like an interesting idea; however, might that run into some complications with PC race or gender? For example, from what I experienced of them, it seems far fetched that the Indoril would tolerate of one of theirs marrying an argonian or khajit PC. Even a human Nord or Imperial might be a stretch. Likewise, would they be tolerant of a same-sex marriage, given they seem to be a very conservative faction? I don't know, maybe they would (although I don't think I saw any examples of same-sex marriages as I explored their settlements). Although, I guess that could be resolved by having two different Indoril NPCs of different genders that are 'available' for marriage.
What about allowing non-compatible-race PCs to join as lower-level hirelings, such as a hired hand or retainer? Perhaps advancement in the faction could be capped at a lower level for those that aren't eligible to marry into the house? In fact, on that page I linked there seems to me to be a contradiction: it says that the player must marry into the house; however only the Kinsman rank is described as being a member of the nobility by blood or marriage. So, doesn't that imply that the PC should be able to achieve the lower ranks (e.g. retainer or oathman) without marrying in?
One other comment: whatever option ends up being decided on, I think it would be really good to have some hints and rumors scattered around, regarding how to join the faction or who might be available for marriage.
Just some (hopefully helpful) feedback and thoughts, based on my recent playthrough and encounters with the Indoril :-)
2016-10-09 23:10
7 hours 51 min ago
Another reason they aren't yet joinable is that the house's capital, Almalexia, will be the last place we finish for a number of reasons[FAQ], and existing Indoril areas will need to be reworked to an extent to suit our final vision for the house (Roa Dyr and the surrounding Velothi settlements are more or less how they will end up under current plans).
tl;dr you have to wait quite a while
.
2020-01-17 20:11
4 years 2 weeks ago
Ok, thanks for the info. Yeah, it sounds like it'll be a while. I'll look forward to being able to join them some time in the future then
2015-08-10 20:50
3 weeks 13 hours ago
You are basically correct. Keeping to the spoilers:
The idea of locking out part of some factions to certain characters has been considered before, but I personally tend not to be very keen about the idea; I think 'impossible' should not be used lightly in an openworld sandbox roleplaying game, and if there is some convoluted route through which an unlikely figure could conceivably rise up in a faction I think it should exist. (For playable factions of course; unfortunately we can't make everything playable...). After all, the player character is the exception and not the rule, and becomes the Nerevarine despite being an outlander of any race or gender.
2016-08-26 05:46
1 year 11 months ago
A bit off-topic, but I have a small idea about Indoril...
How about instead of getting married we are getting adopted by some old noble? Like adult adoption was a thing in ancient Rome or, I believe, is still a thing in Japan. Some old noble could have lost all their heirs to House Wars (the said heir could be aswell alive and a target if we join another house, think Raynasa Rethan, Banden Indarys etc. from the vanilla game) and they could feel adopting Player Character is the only way to keep their name alive. Great House Indoril members could be calling PC a NobleSurname %PCName from now on too. And some other would call our adoptive parent an old fool and us a fake Indoril.
I feel like this would be less controversial than marriage whilst having a chance to also be more interesting.
2015-08-10 20:50
3 weeks 13 hours ago
It might be less controversial, but the flip-side of what I said is that if the player really wants to advance in those houses, the process may not be entirely comfortable. I find the 'baggage' of making it a marriage more interesting to work with, as it creates a particular bond to an NPC that the player needs to work around (and that I wanted to involve in the later questline). I personally feel that adoption may be somewhat of a cop-out, as the player seeking a patron is a common theme and such a figure is easier to ignore once they've served their purpose. Basically, I find marriage more interesting, especially if discrepencies of player race are addressed or at least acknowledged.
As for sex, there should probably be different partners depending on player sex.
2020-01-17 20:11
4 years 2 weeks ago
@Gnomey: Ok, thanks for the info. It seems like something similar has been suggested before then, about marriage being required to advance past a certain level.
I can understand the viewpoint that, for an open world game, all options should be open to the player and it might be undesirable to have some paths locked off completely, based on decisions that were made during initial character creation.
Although, I think it would not be unreasonable to have certain factions or questlines restricted to certain character builds, especially in a game that is so large and has so many options to choose from anyway. An example I can think of is Baldur's Gate 2. Although it wasn't quite the same type of open-world sandbox game, it had 'stronghold' questlines that were specific to the character class of the player. I felt that worked well, because it helped to differentiate different player types from each other and added unique options for each playthrough, which helped improve replayability. Although, they were careful to make sure that each class had their own stronghold quest, so they were all equally well catered-for.
Perhaps, rather than locking it off completely, advancement could be made more difficult for less 'desirable' races? For example, make the advancement skill requirements relatively easy for a Dark Elf character, a bit more exacting for a Human, and significantly more difficult to achieve the higher levels for an Argonian? So, it wouldn't be impossible, but it would be more difficult to progress, based on the racial choice.
2020-09-24 15:33
17 hours 16 min ago
sorry for undigging the thread, but has there been a final decision on this? Can u confirm that joining the House Indoril will be in fact through marriage or through different means?
I know I'm just some random from the internet that hasn't contributed anything to TR, but I really wouldn't want marriage to be a thing, but idk if you care.
life is brutal and full of zasadzkas
2016-01-25 21:01
5 hours 18 min ago
It's how nerevar became an indoril. So that will probably stay.
With your standards so high
And your spirits so low
2020-09-24 15:33
17 hours 16 min ago
Maybe I'll just explain my problem with marriage. Marriage is a way too complicated thing to be implemented by TR. I just cannot imagine it being pulled off in a believable way. Like, there are too many variables. What if PC never visits their spouse, what if PC kills the spouse, what if PC steals / attacks / etc. from the spouse? What if PC commits a crime at some point, will the spouse not care? And I cannot imagine how the dialogue would look like in a believeable way, that is not immersion breaking.
But my biggest issue is that people implementing the marriage thing would propably create something that works well for them (for their character builds and for their personal preferences) but won't create anything that would work for other players. Like, personality / backstory wise they would create spouses that are appealing to them, but other players might be put off by this. I have already seen things like this happen, when some guys create some cute looking, young, innocent, naive girl as a female love interest, bc that's what they like, meanwhile the male love interest is some middle aged, not so good looking "expierienced" guy that is rather some kind of personal projection of the creator implementig it, rather than an actual man that people would want to date. Regardless, I just think that chances are, most people wouldn't be happy with the marriage possibilities and many would feel alienated. And I don't know how many women, or gay people work on TR, but I know it happens often that something is only created for the straight male audiance, while other audiances aren't being appealed to. And besides, just anyone could be unsatisfied with the marriage options, not just women or gays or smth. The other thing is, 2 love interest wouldn't be enough, there should be at least one young and one middle aged (and maybe even one older) potential marriage partner for each gender. So in the end, I feel like marriage is too hard and simply not worth it to implement.
And I don't want to accuse the TR team of anything. I just simply know things like this happen so I'm already wary of how a marriage could potentially look like. Also, the marriage option should also definetely be available for same sex couples since there is no evidance to believe that homophobia exists on Tamriel.
Another thing, what if the player is Dunmer? Would they need to marry into the house anyways? Also what if the player doesn't want any relationships or already has one with an another NPC? Could the player divorce their spouse at some point?
I feel bad, criticizing your decisions when I just registered a day ago and didn't contribute anything but I hope you'll understand.
life is brutal and full of zasadzkas
2018-08-13 09:52
2 hours 22 min ago
Oh see thats the problem right there, you think this is romantic marriage.
The Indoril are supposed to be the most traditional of the houses so blood connections are vital for advancment, hence the player needs to have some blood in the house rather than just getting adopted like is the case with the Hlaalu or Redoran, with marrying into the house being the only way and outsider can break in. The marriage in-question though is purely ceremonial, it is a symbolic step required to offically be part of your sponsors Household, not a romance or courting or anything along those lines. The player and their spouse quite frankly are not expected to like eachother or even interact much at all outside of exchanging vows, the player wont even be expected to do any courting as it will be arranged by their father (the players sponsor).
Unflattering though it might sound, the spouse is a means to an end, not an end in and of themselves as with a traditional gaming "romance". Which must be stressed as the same regardless of gender or sexuality, you are not doing this because you like the person, you are doing it because you wish to be a full member of the house. This will all be reflected in dialouge and also it will be pointed out that the Indoril do not have any expecations of you or your partner not taking on paramours who are more to your preferences.
And yes, this all very much applies for Dunmer as well, just being Dunmer isnt enough by any stretch as the player is of "uncertain parentage" meaning they have no clan or Bloodline they can call on, least of all one of the bloodlines that are in a leading position within the Indoril.
"Nomen album delenda est" - a great man
"Forum sigantures suck" - the same great man
2020-09-24 15:33
17 hours 16 min ago
Ok, I get it now. I'm not bothered by it, if it is made clear that the game doesn't want you to see it as a serious, romantic marriage.
Still, I think TR should allow for a same-sex partner as well. My games knowledge tells me that technically same-sex marriages have been possible in Morrowind for a long time, propably since always. You could argue that those examples of gay marriage (Overseer Shiralas and Varona Beloren from ESO) are all not prestigious enough and not from nobility, and actual nobles would be only accepting of straight marriage for reasons like children, etc. but not that there is evidence to suggest that.
life is brutal and full of zasadzkas
2018-08-13 09:52
2 hours 22 min ago
This is a political, not a "nobles" marriage (the player is very much not a noble), which means children are the point or at least the possibility of them for how the tradition works. Please note, an option to not consummate the marriage (and also later get it annulled) have been discussed as ways to make the matter less distasteful for players in your position, keeping in mind the partners in this scenario aren't likely to be keen on marrying an outlander either.
"Nomen album delenda est" - a great man
"Forum sigantures suck" - the same great man