Druadach Highlands (Sky_xRe_10) [Scamp]

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worsas
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Druadach Highlands (Sky_xRe_10) [Scamp]

Post by worsas »

A claim for updating the area labelled 10 on this map:
[hsimg=]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/223 ... claims.jpg[/hsimg]

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Scamp
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Post by Scamp »

I shall claim this.

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roerich
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Post by roerich »

I will grant you graceful grantage!
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Scamp
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Post by Scamp »

I daresay this is finished as well now; changelog should be mostly the same as with the last mesa. The barrow area needed some additional work to make the terrain edges work properly. Should be good to go now.

Btw, I did not take any cells from the Dragonstar claim.
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roerich
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Post by roerich »

As I said on IRC, this is really top notch work. The purely Reachman village is my favourite of all our Reachmen villages - everything from the combination of meshes used, the landscaping, to the placement of the buildings feel perfect. Ideally I would have liked to see a bit more trees here, but I must say it looks good. We can probably put up interior claims as soon as we have the area fully conceptualized.

Like the southern mesa (Briag Cnoss), this mesa should have a name referenced in lore and dialogue, but not in region cell names. I propose "Darvacriag" which translates to "Border rock" or "Cliff's end" or something to that effect. We should also have names for the villages (not necessarily cell names), the Breton tower, the Nordic barrow and perhaps the stone formation.

This mesa is probably the most rural area we have so far. The natives live in relative safety and isolation, and are free to practice hedgewizardry and their weird cultic religion. The Nords rarely bother with the tenious journey up the cliffs, but occasionally a "tax patrol" decides to pay the two villages a visit. The Nordic understanding of tax collection differs from the Imperial standard of Processus Vitellus, and is probably closer to the terms "raid" and "robbery", leaving the natives with relatively cold feelings towards their Eastern overlords.

If the player should feel like a stranger among the Reachmen, this mesa and the wetlands valley would be the places that are most extreme about this. The Direnni ruin could be home to a Hagraven, and the Stonehenge-like neolithic formation could be a place where nightly rituals take place (aggressive and frenzied masked cultists spawning at night). The Villages should mostly feel unwelcoming to the player, but could have a few misc quests that would lead to access to services and perhaps a witch trader with unique spells and enchanted goods. Quests from the Guild of Mages or Nord authorities could send the player here.
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worsas
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Post by worsas »

Scamp, would you be prepared to set up interior claims for the houses, ruins and caves added by this mesa? I'm not sure what the plans are for the Direnni ruin or the Reachmen living here.

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Scamp
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Post by Scamp »

Yes sure, although I believe we should discuss some of it before opening any claims.

The Direnni village should have one hut dedicated to the cult rituals performed on the hill, containing tools, ingredients and other items possibly related to the wizardry. One NPC could be something like a trader to the player, so the corresponding interior should be reluctantly designed for this purpose, although the service will not be granted immediately without the locals gaining the player's trust. I feel this could work similarly to the questline where you become Nerevarine of the Ashlander tribes, with individual mini-quests for different villages where gaining trust in one area would not immediately enable services in every Reachman village on the northern mesas. This should definitely not be needed for the villages on the southern mesa, where Reachmen are used to living and trading with outsiders.

Now for the ruin itself roerich's idea of a Hagraven having taken shelter here doesn't sound too bad. I don't think this needs to be very big, just big enough to give players more of an idea of this aspect of Reachmen culture.

The other village will be fairly standard I suppose, though I'm open for any suggestions if there's anything particular that it needs.

I feel like the barrow has probably been abandoned for quite a while, with Nords rarely travelling this far into the west in such a remote area. This could be reflected very well in the interior. I also feel like the barrow doesn't need to very big, since it looks like when it was built most of its former glory was supposed to be shown on the outside. I imagine the inside being similar to Gyldenhul Barrow. Not big, but filled with offerings and such.

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Post by Scamp »

Alright. Here are some ideas. I'm not big on the lore, thus you may feel free to add anything important that would be missing, or even correct obvious mistakes on my part.

Village 1 (Direnni)

[hsimg=]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/418 ... nvil01.png[/hsimg]

1. Direnni ruin interior. This should be home to the local matriarch, who is a hagraven. I suggest she lives here alone and secluded, sought out by her people when the situation demands it.
2. This could be a communal hut where folk gathers in the evenings after they have performed their rituals on the hill. Some may sleep here, too.
3. Reachman herder
4. Reachman commoner.
5. Reachman hunter. Stays out long and often, perhaps even participating in some of what seems to be cultist madness around the stone formation.
6. Reachman commoner.
7. Reachman trader, or possibly a tradehouse altogether. This is the place outsiders will be accepted the most, if at all. At the very least players will have to prove they're trustworthy before services will be offered to them. (Witch-?) Trader has connections to the other village on this mesa.

Village 2

[hsimg=]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/418 ... nvil02.png[/hsimg]

1. Matriarch's hut. She's not here often; players are more likely to find her nearby in the ancestral sanctuary (#7, if it's a thing)
2. A Reachman carpenter. He's probably the guy working on these totem poles.
3. Reachman hunter.
4. Some sort of tinker; makes household items and other goodies and might offer services/training.
5. Reachman commoner. Sometimes helps chopping wood if needed, stacking any leftovers outside of his hut.
6. Reachman commoner
7. Since I doubt that Reachmen would do any mining here, I suggest this could be some sort of sanctuary devoted to the ancestors of this tribe. Probably sacrifices take place here, and the matriarch might wander off every now and then to listen to her ancestor's voices when if the time is right.

Wilderness

Cave 01

[hsimg=]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/41846147/cave01.png[/hsimg]

Not sure about this one. It could be home to frenzied cultists coming out only at night. Before their occupation, this might have been a cavern used as a storage area.

Cave 02

[hsimg=]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/41846147/cave02.png[/hsimg]

Since this is very far off, probably a very small, natural cave. Some hidden passage could lead to a wooden altar with some offerings and rare goodies.

Barrow 01

[hsimg=]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/418 ... rrow01.png[/hsimg]

A long abandoned place, quite small on the inside. Being in such a remote area, it has remained fairly well-preserved and no robbers have taken the long journey up the cliffs to lay their hands on the treasures the Nords have laid their ancestors to rest with.

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Post by worsas »

These Reachmen, even if withdrawn and traditionalist, should not be hostile. We do have hostile Reachmen in the Vorndgad Forest and in other parts of the Druadach Highlands, so there should be some contrast to avoid showing them as the one-sided aggressive savages.

In my mind it would be a good idea to have one house in village 2 as some kind of guesthouse where outsider that come to the village are allowed to stay for some time and as long as they don't cause trouble. The house would be empty and just called guesthouse when the player arrives. Despite this, I imagine the villagers to be otherwise cold to outsiders.

And there should be just one non-reachman somewhere around here. Just someone (Imperial, Nord, Breton... or Khajiit?) that has managed to adapt to establish him/herself. Could also be an foreign wife. Reachmen should never live purely among themselves, imo.

Apart from these points, I agree with your claim descriptions. Village 1 should maybe stay purely Reachmen and Village 2 having a guesthouse and a non-reachman somewhere.

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Scamp
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Post by Scamp »

worsas wrote:These Reachmen, even if withdrawn and traditionalist, should not be hostile. We do have hostile Reachmen in the Vorndgad Forest and in other parts of the Druadach Highlands, so there should be some contrast to avoid showing them as the one-sided aggressive savages.
You mean in regard to my cave 01 proposition? I suppose we can go with something different. I don't remember what I had in mind for it when I placed the entrance there.
worsas wrote: In my mind it would be a good idea to have one house in village 2 as some kind of guesthouse where outsider that come to the village are allowed to stay for some time and as long as they don't cause trouble. The house would be empty and just called guesthouse when the player arrives.
I'm not sure if they would build three big houses just to devote one of them to rarely seen outsiders. Perhaps one of the smaller huts (#6)?
worsas wrote: Just someone (Imperial, Nord, Breton... or Khajiit?) that has managed to adapt to establish him/herself. Could also be an foreign wife
I could imagine this person being married to one of the natives, like the tinker dude or the hunter (or perhaps he/she is either of these two in person?)

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worsas
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Post by worsas »

You mean in regard to my cave 01 proposition? I suppose we can go with something different. I don't remember what I had in mind for it when I placed the entrance there.
In my imagination, it would make more sense to have Reachmen hostile who are actually prepared to see intruders, while the inhabitants of this mesa get to see outsiders rarely and a single visitor most likely will not be seen as threat.

How about making this cave some kind of prison for villagers that have been contracted with Lycanthropy (wereboars). The place where these infected people are would be well-locked in the deeper parts of the cave and the other people in the village would be uncomfortable about mentioning their existence to outsiders, if at all. Maybe even the exterior cave entrance could be locked to show that this is nothing the villagers want outsiders to have their nose in.
I'm not sure if they would build three big houses just to devote one of them to rarely seen outsiders. Perhaps one of the smaller huts (#6)?
Good point. One of those huts would already do for what i have in mind.

Regarding the non-reachmen-person, there are really too many possibilities, and I'm not sure which would be the best fit:
- I could imagine either a Breton or Darkelf as a foreign wife.
- Or a high elf scholar who has been living among the natives for months to study the ruins of his ancestors.
- Or just a shaggy khajiit that happens to live in one of the villages, for whatever reason.

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Post by roerich »

Introducing some Lycanthropy here would be interesting. I can see some elements of the native culture celebrating lycanthropes, while others fear them.

A Khajiit, Breton or Redguard would be good here. I can see an Altmer scholar working as well, but there's a potential quest in escorting a scholar into a particular ruin in the wilderness.
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Scamp
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Post by Scamp »

Approved (I guess).

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