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Eve of War [Abandoned]

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  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited April 2015
    Edit: Nevermind.
    Post edited by elminster on
    lolienWithinAmnesia
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    Neat idea with returning Centeol to her normal stature. I wonder, though, if simple Remove curse should be enough for this. I thought that maybe some ancient spell found in, let's say, in Ulcaster Ruins or in Thalantyr's stash could do the trick. One of Netherse origin maybe?
    lolienWithinAmnesiaArtona
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited April 2015
    Irenicus could have been a much weaker mage when he cast this curse on Centeol however her appearance, lack of ability to cast spells, and need for spiders to feed her prevented her from finding a cleric to assist her. For instance the exile could have left him drained from a power standpoint, making his curse not nearly as effective as it might have otherwise been.

    There are also some issues regarding when exactly this marriage between him and Tanova took place (which is relevant because it establishes how old Centeol would be). It is possible that in the hundreds of years he has no doubt lived there was a period (prior to his official exile) where he wasn't living in Suldanessellar, so really we don't know for sure how powerful he really was at the time this cursing happened.

    Edit: Then again he wouldn't have the name "Irenicus" until after his exile.

    So basically this has a whole bunch of consistency issues :)
    Post edited by elminster on
    JuliusBorisovlolienWithinAmnesia
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited April 2015
    Update: Yea so anyways I'm not expecting to have phase 1 of the mod finished in time for this weekend. But I think I can have it done by the weekend of the 25th (of april)or so.
    Post edited by elminster on
    JuliusBorisovCrevsDaaklolienWithinAmnesia
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    @elminster seems very intriguing. I can see that many important figures can end up dead in your mod. I like that, it adds gloomy atmosphere to BG1. Now, as for Bassilus quest. Is this glowing man really Cyric or is all of it just a Cyric's sect plot? Is all of it just a scheme of an unstable god who ran into some setbacks in Zenthil Keep? Or maybe a rival sect is planning to root out Tynnos and his followers doing some damage to inhabitants of the Sword Coast along the way? I would like to see some connection with BG2 part, if you even plan to do Part II. I would like to see some fancy intrigue instead of work of a god if you ask me, at least not direct one. But, on the other hand, it could be great opportunity for Cyric to find out, that there's Bhaal child in the picture, who can be of a nuissance in the future.
    JuliusBorisovCrevsDaaklolienWithinAmnesia
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited April 2015
    Whether or not its actually Cyric at work will be cleared up in BG2EE if I do a subsequent mod for it.

    But suffice it to say
    what you experience has more to do with the "Journal" possessed by Bassilus than by any direct involvement by Cyric in your affairs (due to you being a bhaalspawn). During his own period of madness Cyric placed some sort of imprint on the item himself that leaves the person holding it subject to terrifying visions. Even people near to it see it as a journal and not the device that it really is. Bassilus at some point came into possession of this artifact and thinking everyone was dead he fled.


    Also I'm looking to make possessing the journal in your inventory a required part of whether or not you can access the new areas (mechanically I'm basing this off the rope in Ust Natha in BG2). This should hopefully make things a bit easier on my end (in case people decide they are going to just pitch the journal after reading it).
    JuliusBorisovCrevsDaaklolienWithinAmnesia
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    edited April 2015
    elminster said:

    @Bengoshi @Cahir Since you seem to be the more active commentators on here I wanted to get your thoughts on this (though anyone is free to chime in).

    Thanks a lot! I'm always ready to help:)

    So I'm working on the Bassilus additional quest thing. Basically the general questline for it will be as follows (warning; pretty serious spoilers)



    1) You can talk to Kelddath Ormlyr in the town hall about Bassilus (you can also hear about him as usual from the commoners and anywhere else you might have heard of him).

    Fine and adequate order of things


    2) You kill Bassilus and pick up his journal.

    An interesting idea

    3) You return to Kelddath to figure out what it all means (you don't necessarily have to though if you can figure out what it is saying).

    Absolutely natural order of things

    4) You travel to the Mountain of Skulls.

    Exciting staff

    5) You explore the region you find yourself in. This includes finding horribly disfigured bodies (with very descriptive causes of death) and fighting a number of Cyric's followers (largely clerics with a few assassins). You also see very strange things in this area. Things that make you wonder what is happening. Eventually right before entering the stronghold you find Tynnos Argrim. Who you then kill.

    Exciting staff

    6) You enter into the stronghold.

    Exciting staff

    7) You find yourself in what looks like the first floor of the friendly arm inn. As you approach the front of the tavern you notice however that even after clicking on them the commoners around you pay you no heed. Its almost as though they don't even know you are there. At the counter you see a man glowing in purple and black. Its Cyric (or at least you think its Cyric).

    Tension!

    8) You can choose to talk to "Cyric" or not at this point. He basically just gives you very cryptic responses meant to mess with you a bit (and some of your responses will be based on your wisdom and intelligence scores, as they will determine whether or not you can comprehend what is happening to you). You can also optionally choose to go up a set of stairs nearby.

    9) If you go up the stairs you find yourself in a similar looking room. Yet everyone here has been replaced with a blurry, ghostly figure and the map itself appears as a map would during a dream cutscene (sepia coloured). "Cyric" is no longer present at the counter, and in his place a ghostly form of Bentley Mirrorshade is present. None of these ghosts seem to pay you any mind.

    10) You leave this strange place (you can talk to the ghosts first if you so choose) via the same stairs you came from (there is no exit to the outside world here). This brings you back to the inn floor you initially entered (the one where "Cyric" is present).

    8-10 look fine!

    11) If you still have Bassilus's journal with you then "Cyric" then tells you that everyone here deserves to die. He says that he will give you a magical item of great power if you choose to kill them all. If you don't have his journal on you and you talk to him you will instead find yourself suddenly appearing in AR5200 (the area you leave from to get to the stronghold).

    If you do have the journal however you can either

    a) kill each and every one commoner here (and then talk to Cyric about it).
    b) leave

    If you kill named individuals they will still be considered to be dead if you ever travel to the friendly arm inn again.

    12) When you leave from the stronghold, assuming you still had the journal when you left, you'll notice that it has disappeared from your inventory. In its place is a strange rod like device (which from what you can tell has been depleted). On the device are the markings of bassilus which detail how he got to Beregost. Its as though Bassilus had been sketching his journey onto this device, with the assumption that what he was holding was a journal.

    13) Players who chose to kill everyone can return to the Friendly Arm Inn. Upon arriving there they will be greeted by someone exclaiming how a horribly tragedy has taken place in the inn. Everyone on the first floor of the inn, including Bentley, have been killed. The circumstances of their death are equally a mystery to most, as it is if they simply died suddenly with no clear cause.

    Gellana is absolutely devastated of course and many in the keep are questioning just exactly who was responsible (many suspect it was necromancers at work).

    11-13 and the whole quest: An unexpected couse of the events. I would still add to the end of the quest some kind of an explanation for the player that this thing can not be ever tried again. Without it, I think we cannot fully understand why such a great power couldn't be used by other forces on the Sword Coast, by Sarevok for example.

    One of options can include a severe penalty to stats - such as the Rod of Terror does



    I've answered in the spoiler so that it could be safe.
    elminsterCrevsDaaklolienWithinAmnesia
  • ShinShin Member Posts: 2,345
    edited April 2015
    As an aside, there's an old mod called Thalantyr Item Upgrade (http://www.shsforums.net/topic/57944-thalantyr-item-upgrade-updated-again/) which is something like the BG1 version of BG2's item upgrade mod, allowing for Thalantyr to improve/combine several magical items. With the current plan to have him assassinated, this would possibly be worth working around (maybe Mellicamp can take over the item upgrading if he survives) or at least mentioning so people who install both mods don't get an unpleasant suprise.

    Anyway, I recently started a new playthrough at a very slow pace and am still in the early parts where the stage is getting set - commoners talking about the crisis, messengers running back and forth between BG and Amn, and so on; and thought again about how cool it would be to have things like that reflected in the game to a greater degree. So once more, good idea.
    elminsterCrevsDaaklolienWithinAmnesia
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    I have to say that it's perfectly understandable.

    Although I have to repeat that the idea you have is amazing and must be released eventually. I believe that your work on this mod, among other reasons, played a part in those "other rather obvious commitments":)

    Let's cross fingers and wish that this mod work will finish one day and won't repeat the fate of enhancing the Ascension mod by Cuv.
    ShinelminsterWithinAmnesiaCrevsDaak
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    @Elminister So my friend, what is this -'Mountain of Skulls'- area to look like from a map perspective? Is its' fate to be a reused area as in likes of most all of the areas of the Unofficial Original Baldur's Gate Expansion: The Dark Side of the Sword Coast and or as to akin to your Friendly Arm Inn 'Temple' section 'fiasco'?

    Also, how about a Thalantyr resurrection quest presented by an again desperate Melicamp for his now deceased Mentor and Master The Late Thalantyr?

    *Que 'screaming unreasonable be-ranting woman in fierce tears crying speech'* Melicamp had dreams you know! He wanted to be a great wizard just like the Mighty Thalantyr! He looked up to him as a father and his only friend! You Monster! All he ever wanted to do was become a Wizard! *doubles over from crying and then with fire in her eyes looks up a Elminister* Quit watching A Game of Thrones and stop thinking that it is cool to kill everyone off 'just because everyone thinks that it the new cool way to thicken and advance the plot'! Why Thalantyr!? My favourite character!?!? Why!?! Why not so random Halfling that no-one even cares about!?! *Sob* Why are you so Evil Elminister! It's that new blue hue isn't it! *ear piercing screech to rival that of a wailing banshee* ISN'T IT!?!?! You have been corrupted with our fast money! Only the dark side deals with absolutes! You killed him absolutely and now are lost, lost!! Lost to the Dark Side!!! *further crying, a head down drooling in tears and mucous, bare knees to the ground while trembling hands lock tightly to Elminister's Knee and Adventuring Attire as he tries in vain to nervously shake the grieving woman's fierce grasp off* Why did you do It!?! Why did you have to Kill Poor Old Thalantyr!?!? WHY !?!?*crying intensifies* Now how can I buy the Claw of Kazgaroth!?! No one has that kind of money to spend at those low levels; It all goes to Platemail and Mage Scrolls!! How can Melicamp replace Thalantyr for a Spell and Item Vendor when all he knows is how to speak Chicken!?! *Uncontrollable tears stream down from large round grief stricken pearls* Who will listen to a chicken seriously about vendor prices for Magical Items?!?! You monster!! You Dreadful Monster!!! *Elminister appears to be morally shaken although he bolts on an exterior of awkward starkness and a hard face that is about to burst open wide like a doomed levy upon a tsunami. He spasticly kicks away the devastated crying woman into a faceful of tears and thick dark brown mud and hastily retreats away from his companions into the depths of a ubiquitous darkened street alley of Baldur's Gate with a stomach of churning regret and cheeks wet of pain and emotional anguish*

    Although on a sober note: Well Done @Elminister ! Although I would like a follow-up quest or rather a 'dark alternative' to his untimely death. A er, 'mission' if you will to bring Thalantyr back amongst the living; although no one said that he would be removed from the dead. I imagine a difficult an somewhat vague and mysterious quest(s) that start(s) within a funeral assembly and or a gathering in the honour of the fallen Grand Mage of Beregost. I envision something as of a start to this 'journey' or rather endeavour as to be of the sorts, as follows: *Everyone in that silenced, quiet and joy drained room began to accept the dreary and somber fate of the passing of that always Mysterious and albeit Mighty Wizard just outside of their quaint city of Beregost who's name shall be remembered as Thalantyr. Although as likes a death to corpse from a dark corner a decrepit chair squeaks away from a table wet with the rings of many a recent ale mugs arises a grey hooded stranger with whom none of the locals have ever seen of in these parts. He only has a few words on his mind, but words that could change the very ambiguous face of all whom share his audience.-A steadying although begrudging voice picks up a statement to fill an a entire room of turned heads- "There is a way to bring the dead back to life"...* (*cough* Baelnorn Lich Ceremony *cough*).

    Thank You for your Time and don't mind the wall of text:-S.
    elminsterJuliusBorisovlolien
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    edited April 2015
    So what are your guys (and mostly now 'Enmightied' @Elminister ) thoughts as to an 'alternative death' for Thalantyr from a 'friend' that shows up at the funeral with a 'solution' to the death of the Grand Mage? Say this mysterious 'hooded figure' is from the Anauroch and or The City of Shade.. Say as a favour or maybe say that he had or has some rather advantageous 'plans' for Thalantyr in this most auspicious of occasions. Although perhaps he wants to trade a 'reversed death' for some 'use' of the late Thalantyr's Magical Prowess with a particular 'task' for The Grand Mage that he has in mind. What do they say about Liches.. Who ever controls their Phylactery can decide whether they remain with the living or if they return to the dead?

    Edit: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Thalantyr also Thalantyr "The noble archmage owned a -long dark staff of power- and took it on all his trips, whether it was to the town of Beregost or to a distant plane."
    So Thalantyr has a Very Powerful Magical Staff.. Maybe 'We' could see it later with all of this expanded fiasco with the Late Thalantyr, a Dubious Undeath Ritual and a Mysterious plot that leads to a veiled stranger from a far distant land...
    Post edited by WithinAmnesia on
    JuliusBorisov
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    When do you think that the Mighty Recently Azure Crowned @Elminister can reignite the blazer of development and press on to continue the adventure of "The Eve of War"?
  • ShinShin Member Posts: 2,345
    I think he's likely to check this thread anyway, but you know you're not spelling his nickname right, right?

    wubbleJuliusBorisovWithinAmnesiaCrevsDaak
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    edited April 2015
    Shin said:

    I think he's likely to check this thread anyway, but you know you're not spelling his nickname right, right?

    And the dastardly magic of mr. staying up wayyy to late strikes again! (I really got to give that '3-4 AM' guy a right whomping one of these days) I don't mind if I make a mistake there:-P I think that it is pretty silly and a bit funny that I spent all that time and forgot how to spell his name right!:P I guess there is kind of a spin to 'that old saying' to be learned here, Keep your main idea close, but your main audience closer:-)

    So let us keep those funny errors up just for scheetz und geegulz.. I hope @Elminster (I checked and I got his name right!:O) thinks that it is silly after reading this or I will look a bit stupid. Oh well that magics of the internet I suppose. Cheers everyone and have a nice day. *It is 3:21 AM again* Yeah I got to try writing these types of things at around 8 or 9 PM eh?

    Edit: I still find my errors very funny, thanks for pointing them out @shin :-P Silly Internets, Go home @WithinAmnesia 's Grammar you are drunk.
    Shin
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    I guessed that you would be cool over it. @elminster . Cool beans, Cool Beans.
    JuliusBorisov
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    edited April 2015
    @elminster Thalantyr talks to something underneath his pond? A water-bourne cursed girlfriend? Anyway here it is: "Thalantyr the Conjurer's estate was a dark, turreted stone building in the shape of an octagon. It was known locally as 'The High Hedge'. It overlooked a pond, which the wizard used to sit near and speak to something beneath the surface. The surrounding grasslands were known to be plagued by scorpions. Bears were also reported to frequent the area. The house itself was defended by two golems, that would tirelessly patrol its corridors. The interior was marked by a great crystal surrounded by symbols of the four elements; fire, air, earth, and water. The Conjurer is said to do business with anyone that offers magical trinkets. Other than that, Thalatyr is something of a recluse and isn't too welcoming of outsiders."
    Source: http://mashupforge.com/map/theswordcoast/#m=58816&x=-68.93471057&y=-25.18066406&z=5
    The High Hedge.

    Edit: And Scorpions! We need Scorpions! We Must Have Moar Scorpions @elminster !
    P.S. (I had to edit the first 'Thalantyr' for I originally typed "Thanatyr":-P) Maybe a silly gnome illusionist cameo who looks as an illusion of Thalantyr (and is mimicking the late Thalantyr) whom tries to take over his business with 'sub-par magic goods and knock-offs' after his untimely death, who knows, it was just a silly thought [it would be silly to see what Baelnorn Thalantyr would think after returning to the High Hedge only to find this impostor at his residence and his halfwit apprentice having the wool pulled over his eyes with the 'fake Thalantyr'].
    JuliusBorisov
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    Hey everyone. I know @Cahir in particular was really looking forward to this. Just figured I'd give a heads up and point out that I've updated the initial post of the mod to demonstrate its current status. I still am keeping more specific details regarding some of its main questlines (really I think all quest lines) under wraps but figured anyone interested may want to check it out.
    lolienCahirShinCrevsDaak
  • ShinShin Member Posts: 2,345
    Looks great. B)

    elminsterJuliusBorisovlolienCrevsDaak
  • GrammarsaladGrammarsalad Member Posts: 2,582
    edited July 2015
    This looks excellent! I suppose I should look somewhere other than just the general modding forum every once in a while. Consider me a cheerleader!
    elminsterJuliusBorisovlolienCrevsDaak
  • billbiscobillbisco Member Posts: 361
    Very Nice! I really like how you expand on the story and plan to make the endgame more open-ended!
    JuliusBorisovlolienelminster
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