xanderdunn
commented
10 years ago Story: This quest focusses on Korvar's attempts to locate more information on the seal inside Arkngzul in an attempt to break inside. Davyn Llervi, the Dwemer scholar, assures him that with such a prototype and some time he will be able to break the seal. It also features a large dungeon that is the last the player will enter before Arkngzul - this dungeon is mostly mines and cave sections, but has a small Dwemer portion near the end. It also gives the player a chance to learn more about one of the more infamous periods of Luftahraan's history both first and second hand - from the memories of Korvar, an active participant in the period, and from exploring an area that has laid undisturbed since they reached their conclusion.
With the rest of the coronation guests gone, Korvar will dismiss the guards and begin a discussion with his council members. He will ask Davyn Llervi if he has had any luck in his study of the seal under Arkngzul and the various items that have been recovered by the player during his work for Kyras Varandar.
Davyn will say that he has made some progress in understanding how the seal was constructed, and how he could maybe disable it, but that he can't work out how he would be able to interface with the mechanism the magic sustains. He says he would need to be able see how the Dwemer made the mechanism in the first place in order to get a better idea of what to do, and suggests that if he could find something like a prototype mechanism he would be able to gain access to the facility.
The councillors (Davyn, Voreno, Francois and Korvar) will talk for a while about possible locations of such a prototype facility for a while, before Francois remembers that he heard some people in the arena discussing an accident a few weeks ago where a basement in a house in Luftahraan collapsed opening up an old mining shaft. Some people ventured inside to explore it but never returned. He suggests that it may be a long shot, but that it is possible the Dwemer would build their initial outposts near the planned location of the final Tower - the presence of Dwemer animunculi would certainly explain the disappearances.
Korvar will ponder for a while and agree that it is a long shot, but decides that since they have nothing else to go on at this point that it is worth the player having a look around.
He will then stop for a longer time, and consider his words carefully, before explaining a bit of the history of Sovereign Yorgen and, more importantly, the vampire Salren, his direct predecessor as Sovereign for his first reign, and the most infamous Sovereign Luftahraan has had.
Korvar will explain how Salren filled abandoned mines beneath Luftahraan with political malcontents and used them as both labour and fuel for many of his esoteric magical experiments.
He doesn't think many of Salren's creations will still be there, but suggests that, whether the desired Dwemer prototype can be found or not, it may be of use to their expedition into Arkngzul if they can get their hands on some of the vampire Sovereign's weapons or spells. Sovereign Yorgen has been accused of many things since his death by the betrayed citizens of Luftahraan, but none have ever doubted his genius.
Before the player leaves Korvar will warn them of the extensive and labyrinthine nature of the old mines, and also suggest that they have a look at the seal inside Arkngzul if they haven't already, so that they will recognise something similar if they find it.
The player will then head into the basement that caved in and clamber down the scree with some NPC miners who have their own orders from Korvar to excavate certain areas of the old mines. They will accompany the player for a short while but then move off and do their own things. (These miners serve no purpose other than to flesh out Korvar's plans for these old mines).
The mine dungeon itself should be extensive and labyrthine, with many small, confined passages that turn backwards and forwards and meet up again. It should be easy for the player to get lost, and they should be warned of this before entering. Navigating this section of the mine is one of the main challenges of the dungeon.
There are no enemies at first except for a dew Skeevers but, as the player approaches the end of the maze section, they begin encountering ghosts of starved citizens from the reign of Sovereign Maecaras, Yorgen's predecessor.
Eventually the labyrinth will open out into a series of large chambers, the entrances to which are blocked by ancient barricades that have begun to collapse under the weight of history - some will be impassable, but the player can break through others.
These large caves will be full of old, crude houses hacked into the stone itself and built from rotten wood and crude stone, many of which are still inhabited by the ghosts of their former occupants, together will all of their possessions.
All of these ghosts are just dead peasants, effectively, but some variety should be added to ensure the encounters stay interesting. This is not a combat heavy part of the dungeon, though, so the player should be able to avoid many of the fights if they want to, although there should also be some areas where fighting is necessary.
After breaking out of the other side of these ghost filled areas, the player should find themselves around an immense cavern with one side filled with rubble. This is where Yorgen's sorcerous dragon was created, and the far end of the cavern was destroyed when it was released. Much of the infrastructure used to construct it should still be present, although destroyed in many areas.
There will be many smaller caves off of this room, and man-made structures extending out into the main cavern that are filled with Salren's experiments, many of which will fight the player. The main enemies in this area will be atronachs but also some ghosts and perhaps unique enemies if possible.
These areas should contain a lot of magic and alchemy related loot, and perhaps some unique potions/spells as well for players that explore more.
Whether they explore or not, players will notice a large hole that has been gouged into one of the walls near the collapsed section of this cave, presumably by one of the dragon's claws - Dwemer architecture is visible through the cave-in, allowing the player to enter a small Dwemer dungeon section with a few traps and simple animunculi, which ends in a room with a small, de-activated version of the seal inside Arkngzul.
The player will be able to pick up some parts of this and should then bring them back to Korvar in Sovereign Hall.
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