Today, despite years of playing Oblivion, I stumbled upon, for the first time, Lost Boy Cavern. If it had been full of punk teenage vampires it would have been an awesome nod to the old 80s film, but what I found was almost as good and very intriguing. Deep within the cave. . . the cave turned out to be an underground fortress. And in the fortress was a necromancer's lair, but this lair had a story to go with the enemies. A lich named Erandur was plotting against the mages guild (this Archmage destroyed him of course, with a little help from a Xivalai friend), there were letters detailing his intent to attack the guild, and praising the ruin of Kvatch. There were also notes from a former friend of his who had sought aid in winning Erandur back from evil from The Mages Guild and had not received it, and who had latter fought Erandur and tried to escape, but had failed. And in a secret throne room at the back of the fort, there was Erandur himself, by name. If he he'd had a special skin (as the last Ayelid king should have) it would have been AWESOME!
Does anyone know if Erandur is tied to a quest that I haven't unlocked, by the way>?

And then there is the giant slaughter fish beneath the undersea caverns that lie beneath the lair of the Daedra binding wizard Fathis Arnen. . . a cave which DOES have a tunnel that leads to the open sea.

So all this to ask and say, before this thread is erroneously moved to Oblivion's thread. . . who else LOVES finding the unexpected when exploring. When the forts are not just arranged differently and inhabited by different factions of the generic monsters and semi-hostile NPCs, but where some of them have distinctive histories all their own that can be read and seen! When they have rare creatures, or are themselves rare oddities or forgotten relics?
WHo else loves stumbling upon a hidden plot against a major guild that no member of the guild has given you a quest to foil?

Just saying.

There are over 100 points of interest.

I think it goes without saying that this is exactly what the majority of us want to see. With extra level designers, more handcrafting of the world, and the 'points of interest', I think quite a few unique areas and ideas may be included

What's your point? (no pun intended)
I thought he was talking about hidden easter eggs that cannot be found easily on the map.

It's just part of what makes the Elder Scrolls series great and what separates it from more linear RPGs which may have a better story, but less to explore or discover.

Well I have no doubt that they will include things that I am not expecting to find. Whether or not anything is truly complex, deep, intriguing, mysterious, or totally unpredictable, well I wouldn't hold my breath, as you say. Games can only be so complex.

Sure every now and then I find a funny looking fish or a cave with a silly name, or even a series of diary entries that detail a failed attempt at something cool. I doubt you will get much more than that, though.

Who said they were going to be easy to find? Are you saying hidden easter eggs aren't interesting?

Yes please :intergalactic:

But will they actually be interesting??? :wink_smile:

I have a feeling we're not on the same page. I assumed you meant something else. :mellow: My bad.

We had more like that in Fallout 3. Most of the dungeons having small messages, e-mails, secret quests, unique items. So I'm pretty sure we will have more like that in Skyrim.

Also I think that the word walls are going to be like this. I doubt all the dungeons will have one or that we will know the location for all of them, so there might be surprises when we find one during dungeon crawling.

Todd mentioned as an example of a point of interest... a necromancer alter or something out in the wilderness. That doesn't sound very interesting to me...
I hope there will be more interesting stuff though. Sure hope so. Otherwise I'm not sure what Bethesda is thinking

+1

Ehh, somewhere in between. Easter Eggs can be awesome treasures and wonderful indeed, but the term has come to suggest silly goofs that, while technically part of the lore by default, some want to not give lore status.

I mean things that are rare and wonderful and draw you further into the greater folklore of Elder Scrolls.

An ancient Falmer Ruin hidden in the mountain peaks, and deep within, the remnants of the race. :cold:

Perhaps some lair that lets into a vast underground or mountain fort, inhabited by a swollen cult of Daedra Loving conjourers ruled over by a Dremora Valkynaz and an Aureal Golden Saint, both bound to Nirn.
:bowdown: :bowdown: bliviongate: :tops:

The Megacreatures of course, in deep caverns and the deep sea ( but no Shelob sized spiders,please. Lol)


Secret plots by cults, by necromancers, by cecessionists, by Altmer etc. :whisper: :chaos: or :whisper: :angel: , depending on the variables and viewpoints.

Secret plots by individuals aspiring to dreadful goals. :mohawk:

And on and on, ad infinitum. . . or at least, ad copious.

Theres gonna be some cool finds in Skyrim. That is certainly something I love when a game has those kinds of elements in it. Ive barely discovered all that Skyrim has to offer myself.

Sweet! Good to hear definitely.

AWESOME! And thank you sir for dropping in with a word of wisdom. My thanks to you! (Along with continued prayers for every type of Daedra, as summons, as long term Nirn bounds etc.) Aureal and Dremora for the win!!! bliviongate: :celebration: :foodndrink: :trophy: :tops:

You deserve three good smileys! :intergalactic: :intergalactic: :intergalactic:

i remember in OB as you head up from the imperial city to chorrol and you stray left on the path after the big fortress to find a pond with a body in it.. on the body there is a note saying i have watched you all these years meet me in chorrol by the big tree i will be holding a lily.. or something like that. i could never figure out what happened because no one was ever holding a lily but stuff like that gets me so interested in the game. i hope there a tons of subtle stuff like that in skyrim

Wonder if they will have something as odd as http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Reign_of_Grelok


[Thank you Vsions, you made my day.]

I'm still finding stuff in Morrowind, so when people complain about exploration, obviously they haven't explored at all :tops: Heck, I thought the Wild Wasteland skill in New Vegas was pretty cool when it came to places and easter eggs. Will there be something like that in Skyrim (Not to sound unrealistic of course :B)

any chance on you guys making my vision a reality? i foresee a giant bull mammoth at least 2x normal size covered in bone white fur and old battle scars its skin littered with arrows and even the occaisional javelin it will be called The Pale one and it will be found near solitude in a hard to reach area

Careful. If he becomes too famous, Hircine might send someone after him. And that would be bad.

This thread reminds me of that unmarked quest to kill that stupid invisible troll in the mountains in Oblivion. I never found Lost Boy Cave, I'll have to take a look at that when I install the game next. But, yes this would be awesome and I really hope they add something worth scouring the entire map for.

Lost boy cave is near Malada. Roughly due South of it I believe, and east of The Shrine to Peryite. It is in a really quaint little fairy tale valley/ditch, dark and close. I only recently found it for the first time, despite thousands of hours of play and vast exploration. Also interesting? In the Niben Bay there is an undersea entrance to Fathis Arnens' submarine lair. Watch out for the beast that guards it.