WIP Pozzo's Rise of House Telvanni v1.3
History:
Long ago, Pozzo devised a mod that would allow the Archmagister of House Telvanni to gain considerable influence on Vvardenfell by completing a series of quests to undermine the Empire and strengthen House Telvanni: Rise of House Telvanni was born.
On Oct 22nd, 2003 Pozzo released v1.2 Beta of this mod to the public. Shortly afterward, he left Morrowind modding and also this mod as a Beta. In June 28th, 2006, Karpik777 rediscovered it and presented his find to the Morrowind community. Despite its Beta status it was received very well, so after fixing the most pressing errors and balancing some over-the-top rewards, Karpik777 re-released it as version 1.21. From then on, the mod saw a quick succession of updates.
On Jul 7th, 2006 Karpik777 fixed a couple more errors that SkyShadowing had found before. The next day, he released it as v1.22 on Planet Elderscrolls, thus making it available to the entire community again.
On July 31st, 2006 Aeroldoth volunteered to fix the mod's spelling and grammatical errors. As he put it: "I LOVE to fix spelling errors, or rather, I HATE to read them." He finished this endeavouring assignment within a month, so that on August 25th, 2006 a completely proof-read v1.23 saw the light of day. In addition to proof-reading, he also fixed a lot of the mod's errors.
On Feb 17th Karpik777 fixed another quest breaking bug and released v 1.24 to the public.
That was about the time that I set eyes on this beauty of a mod. I played it and liked most of it. So I began to fix any error I could find. I also removed the formerly incorporated "Of Human Bondage Mod", thus creating what was to be v1.25. On April 20th, 2007 Karpik777 uploaded it to Planet Elderscrolls.
I was honestly flattered by that and since I really liked - and still like the mod - began to ponder how it could be further improved. On July 8th, 2007 finally, almost exactly one year after Karpik resurrected the mod, I announced that I had taken up work on it again.
Now, on Jan 15th, 2009, I'm still working on it , but I'm trying really hard to finish my work on it.
What is this mod about?
Rise of House Telvanni is a mod for the Telvanni Archmagister. By a series of quests and political decisions the player can either lead House Telvanni to political predominance or expand it moderately. Depending on the player's decisions, House Telvanni will gain one to four new strongholds, topple or leave alone the Mages Guild, crush or support the Twin Lamps, take over or lose all influence in the East Empire Company and shake Vvardenfell's Grand Council to the core.
What's new in v1.3?
Nearly every quest from previous versions has been expanded, either by a bit of dialogue and atmosphere or by adding new tasks for the player. In addition, there are a couple of entirely new quests, a lot of them centred around House Telvanni's new members.
The changes in detail
Quest: Gothren's successor
Freshly instated into office, the player needs to http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/WIP%20Rise%20of%20House%20Telvanni/MallamRyoninFarasholeinthewall.jpg http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/WIP%20Rise%20of%20House%20Telvanni/BolsIndayn.jpg http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/WIP%20Rise%20of%20House%20Telvanni/ZubadaiahinTelMora.jpg (3 screenshots) for the late Gothren.
What has changed: Bugfixes
Development Status: Complete and Tested
Quest: Dealing with the Mages Guild
Rivalry with the Mages Guild has reached a new climix. The Telvanni Council wants them http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/WIP%20Rise%20of%20House%20Telvanni/MGVivecburning.jpg and http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/WIP%20Rise%20of%20House%20Telvanni/MGBalmoraburning.jpg - except for two prominent scholars: Edwinna Elbert and Skink-in-Tree's-Shade. It's up to the player to either fulfil or deny that demand.
What has changed: If the player decides to crush the Mages Guild, Edwinna Elbert and Skink-in-Tree's-Shade will eventually demand a tower of each own. This will be handled in later quests (see below).
Development Status: Complete and Tested
New Quest: Ghosts from the past
This is an entirely new quest. The http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/WIP%20Rise%20of%20House%20Telvanni/ZubadaiahinTelAruhn.jpg calls the player for assistance: She has been attacked by a group of deranged mages. In order to find and hunt them down, the player will http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/SummoningChamber_active.jpg, confer with http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/WIP%20Rise%20of%20House%20Telvanni/Zafirbel.jpg and finally face Zubadaiah's assailants in the lost Daedric Realm of http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/WIP%20Rise%20of%20House%20Telvanni/Pergamaea.jpg.
Development Status: Complete and Tested
Quest: The Wards of Trine: Star of Zafirbel
This is the first of three visions that Therana will have in this mod. Each leads to a powerful artifact, once owned by a founder of House Telvanni. The Star of Zafirbel is located in Pergamaea.
What has changed: This quests is now woven into the "Ghosts from the past"-quest. I wanted to have some background for the Mages there, and I'm quite content with how it turned out.
Development Status: Complete and Tested
Quest: Acting against Imprudent Imperials (Dealing with the EEC)
After those internal affairs, it is time to expand House Telvanni's economical influence. To achieve this, the player must eliminate the East Empire Company's leader, Canctunian Ponius, and http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/WIP%20Rise%20of%20House%20Telvanni/MehitabelLlaras.jpg.
What has changed: In previous versions of the mod, this was a simple "go-to-Ebonheart-and-kill-Ponius" mission. In v1.3, the player may still kill him in person, but that will lead to an official enquiry during which the Telvanni spy will be forced to go into hiding, thus bereaving House Telvanni of every influence in the EEC. In order to get the full benefits out of this quest, Ponius needs to be murdered silently without causing any suspicion. The player will track down a http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/TelAzura_Ranos.jpg, http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/TelAzura.jpg and brew a strong and furtive poison.
Development Status: Complete and Tested
Quest: The Wards of Trine: Cube of Uvirith
Therana's second vision sends the player to a dangerous place to retrieve Uvirith's powerful cube.
What has changed: Some dialogue for the player's personal advisor.
Development Status: Complete and Tested
New Quest: A Mechanic's Dream
This quest will only begin, if the player has crushed the Mages Guild and recruited Edwinna Elbert into House Telvanni. Edwinna's platform in Sadrith Mora has become too small, and she wants a http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/Tel_Dwemeris_access.jpg to pursue her studies. Her plans are ambitious, so she needs some assistants. It is the player's task to find her four suitable candidates and ensure a steady supply of tools. Depending on the EEC-quest's outcome, there are several ways to do this.
Development Status: Complete and Tested
Quest: Building Tel Llarelah
Tel Aruhn's new mistress Zubadaiah has brought her prot?g? Uvoo to Vvardenfell. This young and aspiring Wizard has chosen Dagon Fel as his tower's location. Unfortunately, the soil isn't as fertile as he imagined, so the tower's growth rate is very slow. Zubadaiah asks the player to help Uvoo grow his tower.
What has changed: Depending on how you played the EEC quest, you can either collect all ingredients for a growth potion and have a master brew it or you can have your personal alchemist do all the work.
Development Status: Complete and Tested
Quest: The Wards of Trine: Telvanni's Chalice
Therana's third and last vision sends the player to yet another Deadric Realm. Therein lies Lord Telvanni's chalice, guarded by a horde of Daedra.
What has changed: The Storm Monarch carries an artifact that will become important for Skink-in-Tree's-Shade's quest.
Development Status: Complete and Tested
New Quest: A new member: Skink-in-Tree's-Shade
This quest will only begin, if the player has crushed the Mages Guild and recruited Skink-in-Tree's-Shade into House Telvanni. In earlier versions, http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/SkinkinTelKR.jpg moved to Tel Aruhn without ever having a place to live at. In v1.3, he'll get fed up with that situation and leave without notice. The player needs to http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/SearchforSkinkstep1.jpg. In the meantime, Skink has managed to grow http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/TelKR_EndStage_02.jpg at a rather dangerous spot. He is disappointed and enraged at House Telvanni in common and the player in particular. It will take some time and effort to appease him and convince him to return into the House. Among other things, he demands help for a fellow Argonian who is trying to grow himself a http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/TelaseroafterStoh-GeiExterior.jpg.
Development Status: Complete and Tested
New quest: A new Member: Edwinna Elbert
This quest will only begin, if the player has crushed the Mages Guild and recruited Edwinna Elbert into House Telvanni. On a trip to nearby Nchuleft, Edwinna will encounter some uncommon Dwemer spectres. Her carelessness will have a http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/Edwinnaandhershadow.jpg, and the player will need to go to great lengths to help her exorcize her Demon. You will need to enter her mind and liberate her mind while maintaining your own sanity. You will be assisted by http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/eerieconference.jpg, who has a rather uncommon and unexpected history. I might use that history for a future quest.
Development Status: Complete and Tested
Quest: Removing an Annoyance
A Bosmeri preacher is slandering House Telvanni right on the streets of Sadrith Mora. Gothren seems either unwilling or unable to deal with it, so the player needs to step in.
What has changed: Not much, only some dialogue for the player's advisor
Development Status: Complete and Tested
New Quest: Freedom ... or something like it (The Twin Lamps quest)
The Council is at the end of its tether concerning the Twin Lamps. That organisation has pestered slavers for a long time, and the Council won't tolerate it anymore. It wants to see the Twin Lamps destroyed. But Aryon and the player's advisor have different thoughts: They actually consider to support the Twin Lamps in exchange for increased political influence in Ebonheart's Grand Council. The player has to decide about House Telvanni's stance on slavery. Will you decide to abdicate from slavery, find alternate means to do slave's work, appease Telvanni slave traders and convince the Council of your plans or will you concur with the Council's stance and destroy the Twin Lamps movement?
Development Status: Complete and Tested
New Quest: Investigating Pergamaea (the teleportation system)
Zubadaiah's prot?g?, Dagon Fel's master Uvoo requests permission to http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/UvooinPergamaea.jpg. He hopes to rediscover and restore an ancient teleportation system. He will eventually find an artifact which will teleport the player into the Daedric Realm of Nueranar where he/she will have to find a means to restore it to functionality. This quest will send the player on a paper chase through Vvardenfell.
Development Status: Edit Feb 04th, 2009: Complete and Tested
Quest: House Telvanni grasps Power
The final quest in recent versions had the player assassinate Duke Dren, so that his manipulatable daughter Ilmeni would take over his office.
What has changed: I have expanded this quest by a large bit. If the Archmagister would openly kill the Duke, that could be a reason for military actions. So the player will hire an assassin who would do the work and then go after the assassin to destroy him. The evidence will then be used to frame Orvas Dren as his brother's murderer. As soon as Ilmeni takes office, she'll be trapped in House Telvanni's claws, represented by a http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/Damania.jpg and a http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/bhlmods/GarosTulvroni_02.jpg.
Development Status: Edit Mar 18th, 2009: Complete and Tested
Added Mar 18, 2009: Final Reward
In recent versions, you'd always get the same reward at the end of the mod's main quest: The helm of Boethia's rock
What has changed: Depending on the player's performance on the earlier quests, the final reward can now range from a fool's cap to the helm of Boethia's glory plus a present from a mysterious admirer.
Development Status: There's one little issue with the second reward's script, but aside from that, its Complete and Tested
Added May 18, 2009: Misc. Quest: An Axe for an Axe
This is a completely new quest. It is a tweak of the well-known "Witches and naked Nord" quests. The difference is that the Nord is neither naked nor paralyzed and that both are now members of House Telvanni. So whose side are you going to take? This quest is made to be stumbled upon; it does not jump at you, but there are four different ways to begin it and four different ways to end it. Basically, I wrote it to provide some background for Elmera Indalas at Tel Koj-Ruskthss and Tjalk Strong-Arm in Tel Dwemeris.
Development Status: Complete and Tested
Added May 18, 2009: Misc. Quest: Till Undeath do us part
This is a quest for all the Vampire friends out there. The vampire ancient Alighiere has lost his sister, and if you ask insistently enough, he might tell you his story. If you decide to help him, you will be faced with a couple of very tough riddles, and there won't be any further clues. This is only a side quest, and if an ancient vampire is unable to solve those riddles, don't expect to do it easily. This quest provides a background for both Alighiere and Dhaunayne Aundae.
Development Status: Complete and Tested
What's to come?
Proofreading, troubleshooting, writing patches for "Havish" and "Twin Lamps and Slave Hunters" as well as writing the readme files and converting RoHT from an .esp file into an .esm file.
Briefly spoken: RoHT is almost ready for release. All that's left now is mopping up the debris left from writing it as well as polishing it a bit. My offer still stands: If you have some spare-time at your hands and enjoy throwing hammers around only to see if anything breaks, shoot me a message (either in this thread or by PM). I'll send you then send you the mod with all resources as it is now. I'll naturally credit you for your work.
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