This is going to be a player built observatory located near Tel Uvirith. I originally envisioned this as an extension of Tel Uvirith, so the quests I had planned were for Telvanni only, but I think I'm going to extend it so that a non-Telvanni player can either help build it, if they're not great-house affiliated and benefit from their services, or perhaps even conquer it if the player has joined another great house, or make it available as a quest from the Mages Guild. I haven't worked out all the details yet. For the moment, I'm just building the thing and making it all work. The quests will come after.

The Tel Uvirith Dwemer Observatory is located in Molag Amur, north of Uvirith's Grave. If you are running BuUG, don't worry; it is located just outside the city walls on a hilltop between the two nearby Dwemer ruins. The observatory has a telescope, an orerry, a Dwemer museum, a library, and a workshop.

I have a brief idea of the quests already. A scholar from the mainland arrives in the port of Ebonheart, and has petitioned the Duke (I'll try to make this compatible with the Duke's replacement for RoHT as well) to allow an extensive research project culminating in the Dwemer Observatory. The Telvanni were the first to lend their support, but if the player is not Telvanni, then the Mages Guild soon takes an interest and tries to muscle their way into the project. You will be sent into Dwemer ruins to collect artifacts and parts to help build the Observatory and furnish its museum, and also be asked to make a significant donation to the cause. Master Aryon will even make replicas of some if his rarer Dwemer artifacts if you're really really nice to him (this won't be a faction requirement, but you're going to have to butter him up big-time if you're not Telvanni).

Tower denizens will include a few scholars, including the newcomer from the mainland, and a few services (yet undecided, but repair and enchanting come to mind), as well as a few Dwemer centurions. If you're Telvanni, there's already precedent for the centurions, but I'll add a quest involving Edwinna for the non-Telvanni to build them. I may also enlist the aid of Yagrum Bagarn in the construction of the Observatory and Orerry. I haven't added any npcs as of yet. For all your hard work, you will be named the benefactor of the Observatory (I'll even give you a nice plaque with your name on it). It's generally intended to be a late game money sink however, so don't expect a lot of loot from the quests...in fact you'll be donating most of your loot from raiding Dwemer ruins to the cause.

Without further ado, here's some screens of my current progress:

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/2937/dweobserve1.jpg (I couldn't make MGE's draw-distance work on these activators for some reason).
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7149/dweobserve2.jpg
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/9880/dweobserve3.jpg Includes a guest book (that the player can sign...I'll work out the scripting for this somehow), and another book (not shown) providing a mission statement of the Observatory.
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/8631/dweobserv13.jpg
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/174/dweobserve4.jpg (lower floor)
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/3541/dweobserve5.jpg
http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/385/dweobserve6.jpg
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/3710/dweobserv14.jpg *updated
http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/406/dweobserve8.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/4159/dweobserve9.jpg
http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/3616/dweobserve10.jpg I will be scripting the orerry so that it rotates when a crank is activated. There's a dynamo in the room that powers it.

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/549/dweobserv12.jpg *updated

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3897/dweobserv15.jpg
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/884/dweobserv16.jpg
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/1340/dweobserv17.jpg

I still need to fill the library with books and stuff.

Awesome idea, and I think a non-Telvanni method of doing it is great, I almost never play Telvanni (Hlaalu is where it is at for me), and they get enough love on things as is by my book.

Personally, I would prefer a less Telvanni area as well, since that area is so desolate and something like a museum should be more accessible to the masses. Near something on a vanilla travel path I think would be better, perhaps, even if it stays in a Telvanni area (though not directly AT any particular travel location, as having to make a small hike to see it seems logical). Perhaps another method around this would be a means of travel there once the location is established for ease of access of tourists could be done, added by the mod in a few towns around Vvardenfell.

Anyways, just my initial thoughts, this is a great project either way

I could add a Mages Guild type travel service quite easily. I do like the current location though, and there will be enough backstory for it being there even if the player is non-Telvanni.

Also, Observatories are often built in out of the way places to avoid light pollution.

Oh, and I just thought, by adding fast travel there, it makes Tel Uvirith a viable vacation home for the non-Telvanni who's conquered it.

Case and point good sir, case and point. Perhaps, though, you could try and set something up where all the Houses are trying to take a bid at this project, as well as possibly the Mage's Guild (representing Imperial interests), and allowing the player to be the deciding factor via a series of quests in who actually gets the contract.

Could also try to spread out the quests among a lot of different groups as well, having to get different items and such from all sorts of different NPCs associated with the different houses and factions, so no one player is at any more advantage than another. Granted, that could also be quite a lot of work too.

EDIT: Oh, and with the guest book, perhaps you could set it up as an activator that provides some scripting to give a dialogue box that gives the player some options. Initially it could be set to offer an option for 'Sign' and 'View'. Once the player does eventually select the sign option, they will no longer be presented this option on future visits. Viewing it would obviously open a book interface that showed the names, and I would imagine something simple as done for the release papers in CharGen could be done to get the Character name presented there.

Optionally, this could also update on a daily basis, every game day providing the player the ability to resign the book, and perhaps other names in the book could be generated on a random basis somehow.

Don't you mean Molag Amur? Mar is the town, Amur is the region.

This is looking great so far. I really like the Guest Book idea, Craigor made one at the Temple in his Gnisis Expanded mod and I totally fell in love with the idea ever since then.

^^Yeah, that's what I meant. I'm up waaay past my bedtime again. I've corrected it in the OP.



I like those ideas, and I really like the idea of creating either cross-faction conflict or co-operation depending on how the player wants to do it. I'm all up for a complex series of quests. That would take this mod one step above. I think there's a need for more cross-faction interaction in Morrowind. I like the idea of bids as well. The basic idea I had was the Telvanni take the project and begin construction, and the other houses (and the Mages Guild) get angry and demand that the Duke rectify the situation by allowing them to make their own bids on the project. The Telvanni of course, are a little reluctant, but their intellectual curiosity outweighs their reservations and they decide to co-operate in order to get the project done.

The Observatory itself will be factioned according to the player. The main scholar is from the mainland and has no cares for the politics of Morrowind. He just wants to be left alone to his research. The rest of them will be hired on, and I may have a different selection of NPCs depending on the player's faction. The Hlaalu would send people who are out to make money out of the venture. The Redoran would send guards and be more concerned with the preservation of history. The Telvanni would send scholars, or the Mages Guild would send scholars. How you play the game would determine the flavor of the NPCs in the Observatory.

I'll even be involving the Fighter's Guild, by trying to wrest the dwemer puzzle box back out of the hands out of that dude from the main quest, and perhaps the Thieves Guild by hiring them to steal a few things. And I may even add a quest to go canvasing for donations across all factions (who contain interested parties).

With the book, the first suggestion is really easy to script. It requires two books to be made. The first is scripted to allow the player the option to sign it, and if the player selects this option, the second book is enabled in its place. Having it updated every day would take some doing though, and is possibly beyond my current scripting skill. To get the player's name presented in the book, all you have to do is write %PCName in the book text.

Another dwemer quest mod, interesting I have used a lot of the ideas for my own dwemer faction mod regarding the quests (building dwemer constructs, interacting with the known dwemer experts, a story for the puzzlebox etc), I have no great houses involved, since the dwemer society is a faction in itself, which only interacts with the ruin robbers.
I have also included a dwemer mine and the excavation of a new dwemer ruin.

But seing this reminds me, that I should be finishing my mod soon when severel other large dwemer mods are in the making.

It's a shame that GDR fell into limbo. I have the first installment, but I won't be holding my breath for more. I always liked the idea of a dwemer society faction.

I've mulled over some of these ideas in my head, and I think I want to involve as many factions as I can in the quests no matter what faction the player is. That way I don't need to alter the quests too much, only the quest start will be different depending on your faction.

I'm still working out how I want to begin each quest. I'm thinking of having a different start for each great house and another for the mages guild in case the player decides not to join any great house. Perhaps a separate start for a non-factioned playing doing the main quest that will start after the player become hortator of all three great houses and is asked to help make peace between them because they're fighting over the project. I've not started on any quests yet. I haven't even added any npcs, as I'm just trying to finish the building and the scripting for some of the objects in it, so it's all pretty fluid at this point. I will be drawing out a full map of the quest paths before I start on them.

I vote for the Mage's Guild quest line to only be available once the player has reached Archmage status. As far as I know there are no Archmage-only quests, and this type of thing would fit really well, I think.

Agreed on this. I also like the idea of choosing the faction that you choose you help.

Sounds like some brilliant ideas here - this is gonna be a must have mod

I agree. It's perfectly suited for after the player has researched the disappearance of the dwarves, been elected "chair of dwemer studies" and gotten that crazy Archmage Trebonius out of the way.

For Hlaalu and Redoran, I think I'll place some documents in Tel Uvirith for the player to find after disposing of Reynel Uvirith which they can then use to storm into Ebonheart and demand a bid on the project. After all, with Reynel Uvirith out of the way, who else is going to take on the project. There's a sudden opening for the position.

For the Telvanni, they will be forced to involve other factions in their project due to requiring more funding. These other factions will demand a little piece of their own in return.

In any case, it's up to the player to decide who's involved and who is not and that will determine who moves into the Observatory as representatives and services. If the player doesn't want to involve any other factions, then you will have to put in more gold to fund it yourself. So you have a choice, either get funding from other factions and turn it into an ambassadorial scientific community, or pour more money into it yourself to retain your house or guild's grip on the project.

Edit: Some more thoughts. A player in the mages guild will start the quest from Edwinna after becoming Archmage. She will demand your attention, be furious that the Telvanni had started this project, and demand that you petition the Duke. For any faction (including Telvanni), involving the mages guild will give you the fast travel service to the Observatory, and travel to the museum will be conducted at the mages guild halls. (I'll make an add-on for RoHT players that will take care of this in another way if the player has helped destroy the mages guild.)

The Duke will not have a lot of involvement other than introducing you to the main quest giver, who is the scholar from the mainland. I've decided that he (or she...haven't decided yet) will be an Altmer: being a race with enough intellectual bent and with equal pull within the Imperial and Dunmer factions. He or she will be a fairly crabby individual who has no time for all these political squabbles getting in the way of the project, and wants you to sort it all out in any way you can. Any time (s)he has a concern, whether it's more great house squabbles getting in the way, a lack of funding, or requiring dwemer materials and artifacts, (s)he will voice them to you. By hiring a project foreman, you will be able to delegate some of these tasks to others as well.

Edit2: I've decided to give each faction their own area of the tower.

These are the main areas that will be built regardless of which factions are involved:

- The Main Foyer and Museum
- The Observatory
- The Orerry
- The Library (I may give this build to the Tribunal Temple...I haven't decided)
- The Workshop (though this area will have a creature builder from the Telvanni)

The Mages Guild - Adds fast travel services to the tower.

The Hlaalu - Adds a pub to the tower, and some merchants (maybe even a merchant who sells "replica" dwemer artifacts and other souvenirs).

The Telvanni - Adds working dwemer centurions to the Observatory, and an NPC in the workshop who builds them.

The Redoran - Adds guards to protect all the dwemer loot. Perhaps a small shrine (undecided on that).

Just a little bump because I added a new screenshot to the OP. I've completed the tavern (am still working on the library). It's not too lively looking without any npcs yet, but it's getting there.

I need a name for the tavern though. The Dwemer Obervatory Tavern as it's currently named is just a placeholder until I think of something better.

Hmmm, some ideas for a Tavern Name:

The Gateway to Aetherius (Emblem of the Sun)
The Attendant Spirits (Emblem of the Moons)

Both of those make relations to the Tamrelic views on the cosmos.

I like those both. The Attendant Spirits is even a bit of a pun. I was thinking of something kind of cheesy like The Golden Hammer, seeing as the tavern is built by the Hlaalu to make money, and they think they can rake in more by focusing on the dwemer museum rather than the observatory itself, leaving the observatory to those egg-heads in other factions. I'll have to think about that. I haven't named it yet. I'll mull over these ideas for a couple days.

Also, you'll notice the Hlaalu get an actual build while the other factions make other additions that don't require one. I figured I'd give the Hlaalu some love.

If there's any Redoran in the thread, what do you guys want out of the Observatory? I added the Redoran as guards, but there's way more potential there. I'm just not familiar enough with the Redoran to come up with something really interesting. I've played through the Hlaalu, the Mages Guild and the Telvanni to completion, but haven't gotten around to playing the Redoran yet.

I like the idea of The Golden Hammer as well, works well for a Hlaalu establishment really, and your reasons behind it make perfect sense (to be honest, I just keep forgetting about the museum aspect myself, as I am too personally stoked about the Observatory).

I'm stuck in your boat with the Redoran though, never played them through House wise (only ever got through Hlaalu and Telvanni so far). Might need to do some reading up and see if I can come up with any ideas to toss your way.

Thanks! I'd love to hear what you can come up with. I'll do a bit of research myself into the matter as well.

I guess I'll stick with The Golden Hammer then. I think I can dress the place up a bit (the walls are kind of bare) with some statics of dwemer weapons and armor on the walls. A couple crossed warhammers, some dwemer shields, and the like.

Actually, just sitting here thinking about it, I remembered in your first post (I believe) mentioning something about having a shop that sells replica Dwemer equipment. Perhaps this would be a good facet for the Redoran to fill. As I recall, they are rather of an honorable warrior archetype, so this seems it may be fitting for them (and help them generate some needed funds in their competition with the other Great Houses). In this case, I almost think that The Golden Hammer would be a better name for a shop of that nature (as they would certainly be selling some replica golden Dwemer hammers).

Anyways, just wanted to toss that one out before it slipped my mind

Hmm, well it's not so much a shop but a table in the main foyer, so it wouldn't need a name. I was going to give the gift shop to the Hlaalu as well, but I'll think about giving it to the Redoran if I can't think of something more suitable.

So far the Redoran are contributing guards and a repair service. I don't want to add a temple shrine or anything like that, which would also be suited to them, because that doesn't really fit with the theme.

Haha, I just had a thought. Perhaps the Redoran replica armorer can sit by the Hlaalu replica artifact merchant in the foyer and they can yell at each other. But instead of arguing that the other is selling cheap replicas, they can yell at each other for not selling cheap replicas and dealing in illegal trade.

No offense, but The Golden Hammer doesn't seem like the greatest of names for the Tavern.
(although I admit The Sable Dragon wasn't a very original name either )
I was thinking maybe something like The Rusted Eye or The Ether's Edge, since it's an old observatory. Although, with House Hlaalu involved, The Golden Hammer does make sense.

Just throwing out ideas

The name of the tavern isn't set in stone yet. I'm always welcome to more suggestions.

Still coming from an astrological perspective (as it is an interest of mine in Elder Scrolls mythos, and I know pretty little about the Dwemer myself):

The Cloven Duality

Perhaps a sub-level of the observatory could be a Redoran-run retreat for fighters with perks for House members. Maybe someone from Redoran would have the skill to replicate/make new Dwemer weapons by using old scrap metal. There could be a couple trainers, some practice dummies, and sparring with Dwemer weapons. Maybe some Redoran fighter-scholars could use this space to study nearby ruins to try and figure out ancient Dwemer battle tactics or something.

I think I'll go with the Redoran smith/armorer. The training area seems a bit much, as I want to keep the mod focused on the observatory and museum (though having a place to buy drinks out in the middle of nowhere is a necessity for me, which is why I added that). I have already added a forge and anvil to the workshop that would do quite nicely. I think it would be nice to be able to buy dwemer armor and weapons in the game. I'll just stick to the standard dwemer armors and weapons with the same high prices rather than creating replica items. They're replicas in name only. That's just so they remain fully compatible with all the excellent texture replacers out there.

I'm all for adding a Redoran scholar to the library though. I've gotten some headway on the library. There's a main area, and a closed off area for the scholar from the mainland, who doesn't want to be bothered by anyone. Perhaps I'll place him in the observatory itself, but his office is still located in the library. The main area will house scholars from the Telvanni, the Mages Guild, the Redoran, and the Hlaalu depending on who the player decides to let in on the project.

Updated the OP with more screens. The library is ready now. It just needs to be filled with books and stuff.