[MOD] Whispers from the East

Show off your mod creations or just a work in progress.
Sappho20
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2022 8:54 am

[MOD] Whispers from the East

Post by Sappho20 »

Whispers from the East
Or: Daggerfall a Morrowind story.

https://www.nexusmods.com/daggerfallunity/mods/370/

This Mod is a story told over many quests which is aimed at adding a bit more connection between Daggerfall and Morrowind so they feel more like part of the same world. It is my first attempt at a Daggerfall Mod (hopefully not too many bugs)

The Story:
Gilvas Hleran did not want to go to the Illiac Bay, he enjoyed his life in the Azura’s Coast region of Morrowind. But Gilvas had a sense of duty; when he found out about a group of fanatics that had gone to the Illiac Bay to murder what outlanders would consider random, innocent people, Gilvas had to try and stop them. Even if it would ultimately cost him his life.
Unfortunately for Gilvas, he found himself one step behind his foes, always arriving just after they had struck. One day however he got lucky and found out about a baby, their next target. Gilvas wasted no time getting to the child and arrived just as its would-be killers struck. In the ensuing fight, Gilvas managed to rescue the baby and escape, however he was mortally wounded in the process.
Wondering through the wilderness and slowly dying, Gilvas gave up all hope of saving the baby; until he came across you and with his dying breath asks you to take care of it.
What do you do?
Why are people trying to kill the baby?
What makes this baby special?
Who are you going to get to look after the baby?
Try and answer these questions all the while being hunted by a group of Dark Elf fanatics.

Important info:
Firstly, a big thanks to Cliffworms for his Mod- Famous Faces of the Iliac Bay. I have used many of the people introduced in this mod to get the player to visit places not normally seen.
I would also like to thank Jay_H and Hazelnut for helping me with writing these quests Your help has been amazing!

MOD Requirements:
This mod requires both Famous Faces of the Iliac Bay and Daggerfall Expanded Textures.

I have tried to give the player some degree of choice during the story. There are four possible endings, and you will get different quests depending on how you completed earlier ones. Although the differences can be limited, due to need to follow a main story. The quests are also made so that the story will continue if you fail or do not complete the quests. But the more you do the more involved in the story you will become. Also, failing to kill bad guys in one quest may lead them to appear in the next one on top of those already there. I hope to improve the Mod over time.
There are between 6 and 10 quests to complete depending on your choices.

Although the quests always start immediately, one after the other, they almost always have long timers before anything happens; more like the main quest with new quests starting after a few days/weeks after the previous one has finished. Although each new quest will leave a journal update recapping the previous quest, so it is easier to keep on top of what you are doing.
Gender/Race of the baby: I decided not to give the baby a gender or a race. This is so that the player can decide, Dark Elf female or Breton male, it’s up to you! It can make the dialogue a bit awkward sometimes, calling the baby, baby, child or it. But I felt it would work better if the player chose.

TO INSTALL: Extract the ‘Whispers from the Deep’ folder to /DaggerfallUnity_Data/StreamingAssets/Questpacks/. It will start automatically with a new character. On an existing character, use the console command startquest DW00000 to begin the events. The quest will begin in a month or so, in the wilderness. The long timer is so that it does not begin with a new character too early, and you may not know exactly when it will start.

TO UNINSTALL: delete the folder ‘Whispers from the Deep’ from the quest packs folder.

imsobadatnicknames
Posts: 371
Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2019 4:28 pm
Location: Colombia

Re: [MOD] Whispers from the East

Post by imsobadatnicknames »

I've been playing through this questline for a while and It's pretty good so far. A really cool mystery plot.
I do have a small suggestion to make. Maybe you could use conditions like "when pc enters/exits [place]" to control when different types of the baby's event text can appear? A couple times it has shown me a message that involves passers-by seeing the baby when I'm in the middle of a dungeon.
Released mods: https://www.nexusmods.com/users/5141135 ... files&BH=0
Daggerfall isn't the only ridiculously intrincate fantasy world simulator with the initials DF that I make mods for: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=177071.0

Sappho20
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2022 8:54 am

Re: [MOD] Whispers from the East

Post by Sappho20 »

Thank you for the feedback!
Yes, I will try and change the baby flavor text. At the moment it is only divided between day and night events. I have just written one for city events, so I’ll give it a test. I’m trying to add more choices to the quests so that you can have different journeys with multiple play throughs and add some timer quests so you are not so fixed in the province of Lainlyn. I’ve also found a couple of small bugs, a few spelling errors and I’m waiting to see if there is any feedback before I update it.

If you complete the Galloper mission successfully be careful not to talk to Barenziah straight away. It’s a bug.
I might put a fix out sooner rather than later….

nicksta1310
Posts: 126
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2022 8:43 am
Location: Australia

Re: [MOD] Whispers from the East

Post by nicksta1310 »

Here's my feedback now that I finished the story.
...
Spoiler!
I like the idea of a multi-part quest that foreshadows the events in Morrowind. I also like the pace of the mystery unfolding and the ambush attempts along the way.

The Blades getting involved in the battle scene was a pleasant surprise, although it meant that I didn't have to lift a finger to win that quest (I assume that it wouldn't have been that easy if I didn't kill the Nightblade in "Meet the Parents").

While I enjoyed the final duel against the Ash Vampire, I was also lucky that I had an orcish dagger, because my dwarven claymore was useless against it, so maybe some advice from Barenziah (or someone else) about weapon materials beforehand would be helpful.

I didn't like the Ancient Watcher. Its involvement in the plot feels contrived and the character comes across as a bland version of Mannimarco. It took a while for me to realise that the Watcher was the lich standing next to the wraiths, because I thought the lich was just another henchman.

I don't understand the plot twist that Baron Shrike is in league with Sunyn. Why would the Baron ally himself to a serial baby killer while simultaneously wanting the player to hand the baby over to live in Scourg Barrow?

While I appreciate the effort you put into the branching choices to make the plot more interactive, I fear that it opens too many doors to continuity errors. My attempt to confront Baron Shrike after delivering the letter to Karethys is one example. There's no shame in making the overall quest more linear, if necessary.

I have some ideas for story changes, but I'll keep them to myself for now as I feel it would be presumptuous to suggest rewrites.

Overall, I enjoyed Whispers from the East, but feel that there's room for improvement.
...
I also noticed quite a few spelling errors. I'm willing to send some corrections, if you like.

Sappho20
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2022 8:54 am

Re: [MOD] Whispers from the East

Post by Sappho20 »

Thanks for the feedback!
I hope overall you enjoyed the story ;)
Yes, I would like to hear your ideas, it is always good to hear other people’s ideas, as you will have a different perspective than mine and I have already added a quest based on feedback.
Spoiler!
The Ancient Watcher is the UnderKing. The main quest mission he gives you is called the Ancient watcher. Also, in my mod he says 'Each event is preceded by prophecy. But without the Hero, there is no event', which is taken from the intro of Morrowind and attributed to the Underking
Yes my spelling is not great and my keyboard loves to miss 'o' a lot, :?
Send me where the spelling errors are and I will fix them.

nicksta1310
Posts: 126
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2022 8:43 am
Location: Australia

Re: [MOD] Whispers from the East

Post by nicksta1310 »

Sappho20 wrote: Thu Mar 02, 2023 7:22 pm Yes my spelling is not great and my keyboard loves to miss 'o' a lot, :?
Send me where the spelling errors are and I will fix them.
Okay, here's the thing. :oops:

I decided to check the punctuation at the same time as checking the spelling and went down a rabbit hole. I attached the results below. My edits are highlighted in yellow so that you can compare them to the text in your quest files.
nicksta_whispers-from-east_edit.zip
(158.48 KiB) Downloaded 85 times

Sappho20
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2022 8:54 am

Re: [MOD] Whispers from the East

Post by Sappho20 »

Thanks for the feedback, you really have gone through it with a fine-tooth comb! 😊 I will have a proper look through it and add the corrections 😉.

To answer a question you asked in the feedback: sera is a very polite Dunmer word for sir/madame, I imagined that Barenziah being the queen of Wayrest would have to follow court etiquette and speak ‘proper’ Wayrest. However, at the end I thought it would be nice if she called you sera as away of showing genuine appreciation for your efforts and for a second allowing the formal court persona to slip.

itscoldoutside
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2022 11:36 am

Re: [MOD] Whispers from the East

Post by itscoldoutside »

What's up?

I've been enjoying the mod so far, but I've gotten to the point where I'm supposed to meet the Ancient Watcher and the dungeon is just 3 rooms deep, with no Watcher in sight, like anywhere.

The dungeon is fully decorated though, I can tell that this was hand made instead of randomly generated

Is this a bug, am I supposed to wait longer, or is this something else?

nicksta1310
Posts: 126
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2022 8:43 am
Location: Australia

Re: [MOD] Whispers from the East

Post by nicksta1310 »

itscoldoutside wrote: Thu Jun 15, 2023 5:15 pm I've been enjoying the mod so far, but I've gotten to the point where I'm supposed to meet the Ancient Watcher and the dungeon is just 3 rooms deep, with no Watcher in sight, like anywhere.
You don't need to enter the dungeon. He's standing next to the wraiths.

itscoldoutside
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2022 11:36 am

Re: [MOD] Whispers from the East

Post by itscoldoutside »

What wraiths, I'm sorry? :)

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