Quest Plot: Book of Compelling Alteration (Needs Approval)

[Graff]

Okay, I've finished writing out the Alteration Book Quest from the framework Haplo gave me.

Book of Compelling Alteration Part 1

Questmakers: Stumpytheguar, Graff The Nord

NPCs Involved:
- Telvanni Sorceror, Dark Elf Male. Co-Writer and Owner of the Telvanni Book of Compelling Alteration. Rank 8.
- Breton Mage, Rank 1 of Mages Guild. Responsible for the theft of the book, a low-level mage, with little skill or magic.
- Gindaman, Firewatch Mage Guildmaster (Already Exists). Asks after a wayward novice, who disappeared a few days before.

Quest Outline

Telvanni Side

- Coming within the vicinity of the Telvanni’s tower/abode/etc, you “hearâ€Â￾ (i.e. a scripted box appears, telling you what you hear) shouts and magic blasts. Upon further investigation, you find that the sounds came from the Telvanni Alteration Master, who has destroyed most of his bedroom chamber in his search for the Telvanni Book of Compelling Alteration, an exceedingly rare book containing powerful alteration spells. He tells you he found footprints about the size of a Breton’s, and with Imperial-made shoes, and that he believes these belong to a certain novice at Firewatch, whom he had caught snooping in the area some days before. He offers you a substantial reward if you will find the book for him. If you agree, he will tell you to ask around before reporting back to him.

Mages Guild Side

- Speaking with the Guildmaster, he tells you he is concerned for a certain novice of his, who is known for the little pranks he pulls on Telvanni mages, so far the Telvanni haven’t been too bothered, but the Guildmaster believes this might have changed…pressed for further information, the Guildmaster admits that he knows of the current prank, the theft of the Telvanni Book of Compelling Alteration, a rare book of powerful Alteration spells, belonging to a powerful Telvanni Sorceror. The Guildmaster offers you a reward if you can find the novice and the book. He says that if the novice has used the book, he is sure people will have noticed, so you ought to ask around.

Rumours of the Novice

- Two farmers claim to have seen oddly coloured lights flashing in the windows of a certain house.
- A Scout says that he heard the Guard found a man paralysed in the same street.
- An Imperial Guard mentions that there have been a number of magic-related disturbances in that area of town.

Telvanni Side and Conclusion

- Once you have the three above rumours, you can return to the Alteration Master to report this information to him. He asks you to lead him to this house so he can deal with the Novice.
o Upon reaching the house, the player finds himself paralysed, and must watch on as the Alteration Master and Novice fight. Eventually the Novice succumbs and disappears in a green light.
o Once the Novice disappears, the Telvanni Master will thank you, and tell you to come to his tower to collect your reward. Upon entering the Master’s abode, he will give you your reward (possibly an increase in rank and a copy of a page or two (appearing as scrolls) from the book) before making a passing comment about the Novice being a lot easier to handle now. If you search well enough, you will find the Novice, somewhat deflated, inside a bucket. (Continues as Part 2 (a))

Mages Guild Side and Conclusion

- Once you have heard the rumours, enter the house. After talking to the Novice and convincing him to take himself and the book back to the Guild Hall, he will force a goodbye. Immediately after, you will be forced to defend yourself and the Novice from the angered Telvanni Master.
o If the Novice dies and you still recover the book, as well as driving off the Telvanni Master, you can claim a large fraction of the reward from the Firewatch Guild Master (i.e. The sum of money promised, but not the rank) (Questline ends…)
o If the Telvanni Master is driven off, with both the Novice and book remaining, you can claim the full reward from the Firewatch Guild Master (i.e. the money and rank). (Continues as Part 2 (b))

Book of Compelling Alteration Part 2 (a)

Telvanni Side

- Following your reward from the Telvanni Master, he offers you the opportunity to gain some extra work. In revenge for his maltreatment by the Mages Guild, he wishes you to steal a valuable (if useless) artefact from their guildhall, from under their very noses. The artefact in question is The Eye of Sjolvir, the last of the mortal remains of a great Nord Battlemage, a jewelled false eye with some small enchantments, which the Master plans to use as a stopper for one of his Brandy Bottles.
o He passes you a copy of one of the pages from the Book of Compelling Alteration, which offers full invisibility for a period of time long enough to grab the artefact and return to his abode. Success depends upon not being caught, so the Master will caution you on not using the scroll until you absolutely need to, to maximise the amount of time you have to leave the guildhall and return to the tower.
o If you fail to retain invisibility before you reach the tower, you will have failed the quest, however, it will not damage too much standing with the Master, and you can continue with his quests.
o If you manage to keep invisible until you reach the tower, you will be rewarded with a minor enchanted item, while the Master explains that this is simply the beginning of the confrontation between the Imperials and the Telvanni, and that, should you wish to be on the right side (i.e. his side), come to him for further work. (Questline ends…)

Mages Guild Side

– The Mages Guild Master wishes you to recover the Novice from the Alteration Master’s tower, offering you a sum of gold to tempt you. Either you must convince the Alteration Master to return the Novice to his normal size, buy him back, or sneak him away.
o There is nothing to stop you attempting to buying or asking the Alteration Master for the Novice back, before sneaking him away. Convincing the Master will take a high Mages Guild Rank, a high Level of Speechcraft and a high fame rating. The Novice can be bought back, not for money, but by finding through the latest rumours that the Master is seeking two rare books (come up with these later, perhaps just two first-edition romances, ha-ha) which he will trade the Novice for.
o Sneaking out the Novice is perhaps the fastest option. Undetected, the player must first find the book inside the Master’s Tower, and bring it to the shrunken novice, who will pass you a copy of the relevant page from it, as well as the book. After casting the spell to return him to normal size, the Novice will ask you to lead him out of the tower, past various little beasties and guards.
o Outside the tower, the Novice will recall himself to the Guild Hall, just as the Master teleports himself right in front of you. Relieving you of the Book, he will explain that this is just the beginning of the battle between Imperial forces and Telvanni, etc, before attacking you. Should you manage to kill him, return to the Guild Hall, where Gindaman will explain that while the Novice returned seemingly in good shape, he developed complications from the spell and died soon after. Gindaman tells you the Master expected the MG to get back the Novice and probably sabotaged the spell. (Questline ends…)


Book of Compelling Alteration Part 2 (b)

Telvanni Side

– Leaving the Firewatch MG Guild Hall, a Dunmer hands you a letter before running toward the reception hall. The letter is a summons from the Telvanni Alteration Master, offering you a fee for appearing. The Letter suggests that the Master may have some employment opportunities for you, despite your previous disloyalty.
o On speaking to the Master, he reveals that he wishes to have the book back, and has attempted some peaceful overtures to the Mages Guild Master, though these have been unsuccessful. He is prepared to make one more attempt to buy the book back. He gives you a semi-powerful artefact and 5000 gold, telling you to offer these as payment for the return of the book.
o The Mages Guildmaster will not accept these as payment, and mentions that the book has already been moved to another location. Returning to the Master with this information, he will tell you his agents have mentioned a large patrol of Imperial Guards and Mages travelling southwards. He believes it is these people that are protecting the book. He tells you that he has lost patience with the Imperials, and the patrol must be killed before the book is taken back. However, you must wear full chitin and robes to avoid being recognised. Once you have acquired these, you must head to (certain cell two cells away from southern border)

Mages Guild Side

– After receiving your reward for saving the Novice and the Book, Gindaman will tell you return in two days for further work. Returning after two days, you find three Mages dead on the floor, with the Guild Hall strewn with paper, rubbish, etc. Gindaman explains that some assassins (possibly Nightblades?) entered the Guild Hall an hour before, killing the weakest members of the Guild, paralysing others, before searching the entire room from top to bottom. Other Mages found their rooms similarly searched and trashed. Gindaman suspects that they were searching for the Book of Compelling Alteration, which, thankfully, Gindaman had hidden in the abandoned warehouse scant hours earlier. He wishes the book to be taken out of Telvanni Territory, and has arranged for a squad of Imperial Guards and a hand-picked group of mages to accompany you. After speaking to their leader, you head to the south border of Telvanni Territory.

Final Confrontation

– As a Telvanni agent, you must kill every Imperial and Mage in the patrol, before returning with the book to the Master’s Tower.
– As a Mage Guild Member, a group of Telvanni Agents, dressed in Chitin/ Ashlander Costume will waylay you a short distance from the border of Telvanni territory, with a mass magical brawl let loose, once the Telvanni are dead, it is a simple case of handing the book over to a mage on the roadside near the border.

Telvanni Conclusion

– On returning to the Master’s Tower, you will be rewarded with (unique item, not uber, but powerful for middle-level character) and (decent amount of gold). The Master will also warn you once again about the rising tide of the Imperial/Telvanni battle.

Mages Guild Conclusion

– Returning to Firewatch Mages Guild with whoever of the guards/mages survived, you will be congratulated by the Guild Master, and according to the amount of survivors from the attack, you will be awarded X

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Points

- I realise that this sideways house wasn't planned, so I'll come up with something more reasonable soon.

-Is there anywhere suitable for a Telvanni mage in Map 1?

Graff.

[Veet]

I'm not sure the invisibility thing will work as explained when stealing from the mages guild because that effect tends to wear off when the player picks things up or activates things.

[Graff]

Right. Rather than leaving this here to gather dust, I'll post it inthe disussion page for someone else to improve and claim.

Graff.

P.S. Can a mod delete this thing?