This does sound excellent! :nod:

When I first found this I thought Beth had been quite clever. H? Helseth or Hler?
I was stunned to find that Helseth's minion just up and confessed, and then expected me to trust him/Helseth!

You might like to add back some kind of ambiguity here. Does give some plausible motives for going along with some things to try to get to the bottom of events.

Perhaps you could try to convince him that you're working against Helseth, and ask him for any more dirt he has on the King that could be useful to you, in return for helping him escape? (If he's skeptical, you could always point out that you could just kill him if you were working for Helseth.)

Thanks - some cool suggestions

Location: Royal Palace Throne Room, Tienius Delitian

If you get the message from Tienius to speak with Barenziah, it only means that you are about to be sent over to the Temple to complete more quests. This is not a real quest. Nothing will update in your journal when you speak with her. Your work on the Monarchy side, for now, is done. Speak with her in her chambers, and she'll let you in on the fact that there are two opposing sides, and to not be judgmental until you figure it out for yourself. She wants you to go over to the Temple and speak with Fedris Hler, who will offer you more quests. Don't worry about going back to Tienius after speaking with Barenziah. He won't recognize that you did and keep sending you back.

Keep as is - Berry's a great character


Location: Temple Reception Area, Fedris Hler

The first time you visit Fedris Hler in the Temple's Reception Area, you'll receive a quest from him. He believes King Helseth is training goblins for use in his army. Almalexia is worried that Helseth will lose control over the goblins and that they will attack the city. Your job is to kill the two goblin warchiefs, and while you're at it, see if you can find and kill the two Altmer trainers as a bonus.

You can find the goblin army if you go down a trap door in one of the corners of Godsreach, enter the West Sewers, and from there find the entrance to the Battlefield. Once you're in, the two warchiefs are located in the area named "Tears of Amun-Shae." Find the two trainers by entering an area off the battlefield named "Teran Hall", and fall down through an invisible floor around the corner at the three way intersection to a room with goblins. Follow that corridor around to another door which leads you to the two tough trainers, Armion and Yarnar. They look like angry humans in armor and they'll double team you, so be prepared to use a few potions.

Your journal will be updated when you complete either of the two tasks, so report back to Fedris Hler when you're through looking around. If you manage to take the life from the Altmer trainers as well, he'll give you a very solid 15,000 gold, the largest gold reward in the game. Selling some of your named artifacts to the Museum Curator in Godsreach can get you even more, up to 32,000.

Speak to Hler once again and he'll tell you that Gavis Drin, Almalexia's head priest, wants a word with you. He's in the Lord Archcanon's section of the Temple, to the left of the entrance.

Leave unchanged


Location: Temple Reception Area, Fedris Hler

Though Fedris actually initiates this quest, it's Gavis Drin who appoints it to you and to whom you report to when you're finished. Your mission is to rid the Shrine of the Dead underneath the Temple in the old ruins, from the undead liches who have stolen the power from the area. If this can be done, the area can be reclaimed, and the power restored to the good of Mournhold.

First, enter the Temple Basemant alone, from the section at the back of the Temple through a trap door leading to the sewers. Follow the sewers in the general direction East and then back south to the Temple Gardens. Follow the linear Garden path to the Temple Shrine, and be prepared to fight a few liches at the same time, who all like to cast Summon Greater Bonewalker. Your journal will update when you've completed the task.

After you've cleared the area, backtrack to the Office of the Lord Archcanon, and pick up Urvel Dulni, a timid fellow, and choose the option "travel together". Take him down to the same area of the shrine carefully so he doesn't get stuck, and he'll perform the ceremony. After your journal updates, you can take him back up to the same room to complete the quest by talking with Drin, who rewards you with a weapon.

Speak to Drin again and he'll field you back over to Fedris Hler for another assignment.

I particularly like this part. Leave it alone


Location: Temple Reception Area, Fedris Hler

Hler wants you to retrieve an artifact called "Barilzar's Mazed Band" for Almalexia, who has been pleased with me so far. If you speak with Gavas Drin after this, he'll fill you in on more information about the Band. This quest, you'll find, is fairly easy and short.

Barilzar is located in a newly opened area underneath the Temple, which you can access through the Temple Basemant trap door. Once down in the sewers, head Northwest to the door to the Abandoned Crypt. Find a ladder nearby the entrance leading up to another section of the Crypt, and follow that around until you reach the lich lord Barilzar. He'll initiate dialogue with you, and then attempt to end your life. That can't happen, so reverse his intentions, and then take the Band from his body.

Bring the Band back to Gavis Drin, and he'll tell you to, finally, speak directly with Almalexia in the High Chapel. You can access the High Chapel from any corridor if you simply take the stairs up, or even simpler, through the big doors in the Temple Reception Area.

Almalexia is pretty flippant about her reasons for desiring the Mazed Band, dropping the subject like yesterday's news, and blesses you with a new power, "Almalexia's Light", which restores 25pts to many of your stats once per day.

If you speak with her again, she'll not have anything else for you for the time being. Neither will Hler or Drin. Walk outside and speak with anyone. If they do not warn you that weird creatures are attacking the Plaza Brindisi Dorom, then rest somewhere and speak with people again.

This is the part I have the problem with, so will be the focus of the rewrite. She'll convince you that Sotha Sil's gone mad, and that she needs the band to protect Mournhold from him. Gavas will back her up, but Barenziah will tell you to exercise caution: Almy's deceived you once before, as Nerevar, remember. If you choose not to hand the band over, Almy will send an agent to steal it in your sleep (a "nightmare" wakeup popup)

Location: Mournhold, any Guard

After retrieving the Mazed Band for Almalexia, it's time for a cutscene of sorts. If you speak with any person outside, they should warn you that creatures have stormed the Plaza Brindisi Dorom on the south side of the city. You need to speak with a Guard, and they'll ask for your help.

Simply enter the Plaza Brindisi Dorom section of the city, and you'll be confronted with a scene of mechanized spiked creatures similar to raptors and scorpions fighting the guards. Help them dispatch the creatures (who are fairly tough and made to match your level), your journal will update, and then speak with any of the guards, but it matters which type of guard you speak with.

At this point, if you speak with a Royal Guard, they'll tell you to immediately report to Tienius Delitian in the Palace Throne Room, and alert him to the outcome of the attack. He would then have another quest for you. Or, if you speak with a High Ordinator guard, they'll tell you to report to Fedris Hler immediately, and at that point, he'll have another quest for you. Whichever guard you choose to speak with, you can go to either Tienius or Fedris for the next quest.

Fedris will tell you that this is proof of Sotha's madness

Location: Royal Palace Throne Room, Tienius Delitian, or Temple Reception Area, Fedris Hler

After the attack, depending on who you report to, Tienius Delitian or Fedris Hler, they'll send you to investigate the uncovered dwemer ruins of Bamz-Amschend and report back to them what you find.

If you go back to Plaza Brindisi Dorom to the rubble at the top of the fountain, you'll find a ladder leading down. This is the entrance. Once inside, walk through the cave-like corridor to the edge, and down below you'll witness Dwemer constructions fighting the same weird mechanized creatures you recently fought on the surface, and your journal will update. There's no sense in going down yet, but you can if you want to. Beware of the Centurion Archers, as they pack quite a punch with their Dart. Tips in the "A Show of Power section".

Report to either Tienius or Fedris, depending on the path you chose. Tienius will ask you to speak to the King Helseth himself, who has appeared for the first time in the Throne Room. Fedris will ask you to speak with Almalexia.

They both will give you another quest, but I'll outline paranoid King Helseth's quest first, "An Assassination Attempt", and then at any time, you can speak with Almalexia for her next quest, "A Show of Power", which you'll find in the walkthrough a few steps below this one.

Unchanged

Location: Royal Palace Throne Room, King Helseth

Unsurprisingly, another matter has come up. The King wants you to speak to an informant in the Winged Guar Tavern in Godsreach. He's an Orc and once you find him downstairs, speak to him about the subject "uncle's farm". He'll then tell you what you need to know. There's an attack planned, but not on Helseth. It's planned for Barenziah.

Report back to King Helseth this news, and he'll assign you a task. You're to go to Barenziah's quarters the following night (it doesn't have to be the following night, but can be the same night if it's still early in the day). Rest, wait or do something else in the meantime, and then walk into her quarters behind the Palace Throne Room, and through the Imperial Cult's office.

Once inside, close both wooden doors inside the anteroom, one just inside the entrance, and the other that leads to her bedroom with her inside. There's a screen on the left side in the near her bedroom in the antechamber, so hide in between the screen and her bedroom wall, and wait until 8 or 9pm. You can use the rest function to wait. As soon as it's time, your journal will update that you're in the right place. Approximately 20 seconds later, the door will open and the light will turn off. Wait for the assassins to notice you and then kill all three. Your journal will update, and then go back to Helseth to report the attempt. He'll reward you with a magical collar.

Speak to him again and he'll offer the next quest, that of proving your worth by fighting his champion.

Unchanged


Location: Royal Palace Throne Room, King Helseth

Once you speak to Helseth, he'll ask that you prove yourself by fighting his champ, Karrod, in a duel. He's the silent Redguard standing next to Helseth. You're to come back tomorrow prepared, and prove your mettle. You can rest somewhere, or simply wait until the next morning or day. A reader provided this tip: if you go to the Winged Guar tavern after receiving this quest and speak with the bartender, he'll offer to make Karrod tired with one of his girls, so that for the fight the next day, Karrod's weaker.

When you're ready, speak to Helseth again, and choose to fight Karrod. Helseth will step back and Karrod will brandish his weapon. It's now time to fight. This can be a tough fight on max difficulty, so be prepared with magic enchantments and a lot of potions ready just in case. Once his damage is low enough (100 or less), Karrod will surrender to your greater skills. Now speak with Helseth. He'll reward you with the Dagger of Symmachus, one of the items the Museum of Artifacts is looking for. A second word of advice here. Keep this Dagger along with one other elite item the Museum is looking for. Do not sell them, as you'll need two artifacts for a later part of the main quest.

At this point, Helseth might ask you to find out more information about Almalexia. If he does not, come back later and speak with him again when you need something from Karrod. For now, Helseth's quests are finished, so go and visit Almalexia, because she'll have something for you to do.

Unchanged

Location: Temple High Chapel, Almalexia

Almalexia wishes you to investigate the End of Times cult, as some of their members have been found dead in the city. One of them is the brother of Meralyn Othan, who is in the Great Bazaar. She also advises you to be wary of Eno Romari, the cult leader, but has no idea where to find him.

Speak with Meralyn Othan in the Great Bazaar. You'll find her on the great steps on the eastern side of the Great Bazaar. Talk to her about her brother and about Eno Romari and the cult. She'll tell you he hangs outside of the Winged Guar Tavern in Godsreach. Next, pay a visit to the tavern and you'll find a white-robbed man outside walking around. That's Eno. Speak to him about the "End of Times" and his "beliefs" and extract all the information you can from him.

Report back to Almalexia with your information, and she'll want to show this group her power by bring Ashstorms to Mournhold.

She explains it that she needs you to activate the device to point to the volcano so that the heat of the mountain can give the city the power it needs to function. That is why you find yourself pressing a button to a picture of a volcano on it.

Your next mission in this quest is to go back to Bamz-Amschend, the Dwemer Ruins in the Plaza Brindisi Dorom section, and activate the Karstangz-Bcharn, an ancient Dwemer device that controls the weather. She hands you a "powered Dwemer Coherer" to insert into somewhere.

Before you enter Bamz-Amschend, make sure you can open a door with a skill level of 100. It's easy enough to enchant a ring with the Open spell, but it should cost around 22-23k with a good disposition. There's an enchanter in the Craftsmen's Hall in Godsreach. Or, you might still have a scroll or spell handy that would do the same thing.

Within Bamz-Amschend are powerful Dwemer creations. One of them is a pure melee type called the Advanced Steam Centurion. They're much tougher and hit harder than the normal Steam Centurion found in the main game. The biggest threat however, comes with the Centurion Archers. They have a dart that not only does incredible damage, but has shock damage added onto that. At level 50, and at difficulty 100, with no enchantments against the dart, it only took 2 hits from a Centurion Archer to kill me. The best thing is to avoid their shots by either strafing toward them, and then counter-clockwise around them while meleeing them, or attacking them with spells. Easier is to protect yourself from shock damage and projectiles, and then go in and destroy them. They're not too bad but do pose a definite threat.

The first large room in Bamz-Amschend is Hearthfire Hall. Next, proceed to the Passage of Whispers, then Radac's Forge, and find a room that is blocked by a trapped door with a lock level of 100. Thanks to a reader submission, the "Dwemer key" to this door should be laying on a Dwemer desk in the room with the giant robot, the first room in the area. You can also open it in traditional fashion, using an open spell, scroll, security skill, enchanted "open" item, or some other way (I also found a key laying on the floor in the dungeon but it did not fit the door). Inside, you'll find a chest with 2 "Dwarven Satchels". Proceed further down the same corridor as the locked room was, and you'll end up at a dead end with some "collapsed rocks". Activate the rocks with the satchels in your inventory, and a prompt will come up asking if you want to place a satchel charge. When you place it, a timer will begin counting back from 5. Stand back from the explosion and then activate the new hole, and you'll crawl into the Passage of the Walker.

That bit was so cool back in 2003!

From the passage, travel to the King's Walk, and then finally to the Skybreak Gallery. You'll notice in the Passage of the Walker another collapsed rock section that can take a satchel charge. This leads to the ancient daedric shrine of Norenen-dur, which you'll eventually need to go into for an ingredient.

In the large dome of Skybreak Gallery, destroy the Dwemer creatures in the room, and make your way up one of the many spokes to the center of the dome. Behind the hub is a "Junction Box". Activate this to place your powered Dwemer Coherer inside, and the machine will start up. Your journal will update, but don't leave just yet.

Behind the Junction box is a small platform with three levers. Across the Dome you'll see a large mural type painting on the wall. If you activate any of the levers, the mural will change to a different picture. You'll want to have the Volcano picture showing. The proper sequence is to hit the middle one first, then the right one, and then the middle again. Your journal will update again.

Head back to Almalexia because you've finished the quest. Speak to her again and she'll have another one, dealing with one of her mad ordinators.

Location: Temple High Chapel, Almalexia

After you've caused Ashstorms in Mournhold, speak with Almalexia again,

She'll try to convince you that the storms are necessary for the long-term survival of her people

and she'll fill you in that one of her High Ordinator guards, Salas Valor, has gone mad and poses a possible threat to her. She wants you to deal with him. These guys mean business. Salas Valor is perhaps the hardest fight in Tribunal other than a miscellaneous quest, and the two fights at the end of the expansion.

Be as prepared as you can, and go to Godsreach to talk with him. He's the High Ordinator near the middle of the complex in the glowing robe and equipment. Once you talk to him, he'll attack, so be ready before that.

After the battle, he's got some wickedly good items on his body. Be warned though, that if you wear any of his armor, and you talk to any High Ordinator, they'll attack you on the spot, unless they're the ones in the High Chapel.

Anyway, after finishing off Valor, return to Almalexia to be rewarded with a nice constant blessing. Your choices:

Skin like iron, please! (constant fortify 5 pts to unarmored, light armor, medium armor, and heavy armor)

Protection against paralysis, please! (constant protection against terror 20 pts)

Warm, reflected glory, please! (constant fortify health 10 pts... why this is not "reflect 10 points" I do not know, but it's health)

Uh... nothing for me, right now... but thanks.

Speak to her once again after your blessing, and you'll be informed of many things, including your next quest, "The Blade of Nerevar."

Location: Temple High Chapel, Almalexia

Speaking to Almalexia again enlightens you to a few things about your past life, and she'll tell you about the blade that you once owned in another life, Trueflame, who's pieces were once lost, but are believed to be in Mournhold. She gives you one piece, and your job is to find the two remaining pieces of the broken blade. Once you have them, you're to find a "craftsman" who is able to "forge the blade".

It's best to start with artisans who deal in unique items, or perhaps from an enlightened person who's possibly already been of help to you. Barenziah is one of those people. Find her in her chambers, and talk to her about the "pieces of the blade", and she'll say that Helseth's (former) champion, Karrod, has a interesting piece that matches your description. Go to Karrod and ask him about the "pieces of the blade", and he'll give you his piece willingly. If he does not talk to you about the subject, go over to King Helseth, and receive your next non-official quest, which is to find out information about Almalexia and her plans. Once you've done this, talk to Karrod again about the pieces of the blade and he'll now give the piece to you.

One other place deals in antiquities and rare artifacts. That's the Museum of Artifacts. Speak to the curator, Torasa Aram, who believes she has a piece around the same era, but that she won't give it to you without proper compensation. If you ask her about it, you'll need to donate a few items to the museum before she hands over the piece. If you still carry the Dagger of Symmachus that Helseth gave you, now would be a good time to talk to Torasa Aram and "donate the item" once you tell her about it. One more to go. If you have an item in your inventory that works, the item's name should appear as a subject in the conversation window, so simply talk about it and then donate the item for your second piece. If you still need another item, there's a book at the back of the museum that lists all of the artifacts that the Museum takes. One of these should do. One caveat, though. The curator does not take all the items in the book like she says. I'm going to assume that this is a bug since I and many others have tried a couple from the book that did not work. However, some items do work. If you have one of the items from the book, try it. Otherwise, there are other places on the web that tell you the locations of the artifacts, such as gamefaqs.

Unchanged

Speak with Almalexia again. She'll ask you to stop Sotha Sil, the other god besides her and Vivec. He's apparently gone mad, just like Salas Valor. She wants you to find him, and reason with him, but to use force if necessary. Sotha Sil is in Clockwork City, and Almalexia will transport you there when you're ready.

(By popular demand, I'll insert a sequence where you meet Sotha early on in your quest. He'll not talk with you for very long. He'll give you the brush-off, but you'll have a small chance of convincing him, in which case he'll run off to "mount defences". Either way, you won't see him again alive.)

Ending: unchanged

Except: I'll filter the bloody awful "Almalexia" dialogue to stop it happening all the time, and you'll occasionally be able to convince people of what you've done.

Everything sounds fantastic. oo:

This last part I quoted, though - I know the Morrowind Patch Project already handles filtering that dialog. Will there be conflicts if both are run at the same time? :unsure:

I like the idea of convincing people of what you've done. I bet the Telvanni and the Dissident Priests will be all like "Woot!" And the Ordinators will probably try to attack you for blasphemy. I bet that Her Hand you had to kill probably figured out Almy was nutso, and that's why she wanted to kill him, to prevent him from telling and/or convincing other people about her madness.

The only problem I see with this is that if I decide to portal out to Magas Volar after getting the Mazed Band and leave it there, there's no foreseeable way any NPC could ever access it without being able to teleport to specific sections of Oblivion. I'm not literally suggesting that ridiculous scenario as one that warrants consideration, I'm just saying the Nerevarine could foreseeably dump the Mazed Band off somewhere crazy rather than keep it on his person and risk something like that happening.

This is quite certainly splitting hairs, however.

I think there's taking account of player decisions and then there's being silly. It wouldn't cross most people's minds to do that (Magas Volar) and I think you do just have to draw a line and say "well, if you do that, you screw up your game". That is a choice too.

Actually, it's pretty easily solved: if you don't have the ring on your person, you just have a "dream" in which you are notified that Almalexia has used her powers to obtain the ring. You're not told how - she's a god!

Hehe, I knew it was an inplausible scenario, it was just one I felt the urge to share because I am so rarely that clever. I'm not a modder, so I just assumed you couldn't script dropped inventory items to disappear because I'd never seen it myself. But if anybody can work it out, it's you.

Hi

Just an update since I'm being PM'd about it:

I've actually been away on vacation for a bit hence lack of updates. I've made a fair bit of progress on this, but you can't really do screenshots so I won't really keep people updated about it. You'll see it when it's done.

I also have a lot of playing to do - Mothership Zeta for Fallout 3 - so i'll be busy for a while.

Princess,

Don't mean to bother you but I have a question. For the Goblin army quest, would it be possible to add a conversation with Tienius, where you warn him about the temple's knowledge of the Goblins, and their plan to kill them. And maybe have a conversation where he thanks you for notifiying him, and that he'll arrange for the Goblins to be moved to another area outside of Mournhold, with a few bodies left behind to make it look as if you killed them.

For those few, who like Helseth it would be nice to have an option not to betray him, by killing off his pets.

I always hated how when you say nothing for me now but thx you couldnt go and ask her agian. Could you perhaps change this?

I wish there was an option for: "I don't need your blessings, false god."

Or one for "Reward me, if you must." My atheist leader of the Imperial Legion was very skeptical about 'goddesses' handing out favors.

All great ideas

I'm holidaying in Cyrodiil right now, after I was cruelly abducted by aliens in FO3 (HOW RUDE!) but when I get back to this I'll be sure to include those things.

For going to Sotha Sil perhaps why not give the option to refuse Almalexia and have her take it well, but then get dragged off in your sleep, similar to the way you're taken to the hunting ground in Bloodmoon, ie wake up to perhaps a fabricant hunched over you and then a teleport? Make it seem like Sotha Sil himself summoned you.

That's not a bad idea - but then again, she needs the ring, doesn't she? Or has she stolen it and transported you in your sleep? That'd work.

The recent discussion about an Alternate Tribunal Main Quest reminded me of this thread. Have you made any progress on this?

None whatsoever.

I'm not in a Morrowindy place at the moment, so my MW projects are on hold until I feel inspired again.

Yeah, I saw Archemaestro's thread. Looks interesting - can't wait to see what he does. I felt relieved for a minute ("phew! That saves me a job") but it looks like they're covering totally different ideas. Ah well.

I'll update the topic whenever I'll have a working Mehrunes Dagon creature and maybe a living Sotha Sil.