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Dsurion
2012-03-13, 01:57 AM
The Premise!

I'm a huge fan of the Elder Scrolls series. Almost fanboyishly so. I pitched the idea of running a campaign set in Morrowind (during the eponymous game's timeline, all the while purposely avoiding the main questline) a very long time ago to my old group. We got half a session into it, and the group died. I hated putting it on the backburner, but I have a group that wanted to try it out again, and I decided it might make for an amusing campaign journal.

Just a note to those who aren't familiar with the series: I'm going to try to add links whenever unfamiliar terms come up, but that may just mean later editing them in. when in doubt, search the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages Wiki (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Morrowind).

I also got a bit more inspired to do it when I saw LordOfBones's Elder Scrolls homebrew (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229947), as well as Morph-Bark's Thu'um (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224359). /plug

The Setup!

Our band starts out stepping off a ship that has just arrived at Khuul of Morrowind. The East Empire Trading Company (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:East_Empire_Company) has taken an interest in the recent halt in kwama (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Kwama) egg production and hired a team of troubleshooters.

The Cast!

Willhelm, a Nord (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Nord)trained in the Way of the Voice (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Way_of_the_Voice).
Tsavi, a Khajiit (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Khajiit)who is "all too often mistaken for the wrong person"
Arwen, a Bosmer (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Bosmer)with too much time on her hands
Dendsa, a Redguard (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Redguard)who just wants the money
Lysona, a Breton (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Breton)that just wants to help people.

Karthag Point

As the group steps off the ship, they overhear a conversation between the shipmaster and another Dunmer (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dunmer)regarding fishing Orcs (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Orc)from the waters around Karthag Point every time they cast a line, along with a joke that they wish more outlanders would do the same. Disregarding the jab at their expense, the group heads on to check out the rest of the village.

An Angry Nord

Not long after they start walking, Willhelm notices an angry man glaring at him. Not being one to ignore a brother Nord's problems, he walks straight up to him and asks how he can help. After a brief tirade, Willhelm learns that the priestess (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Tribunal_Temple)from Gnisis came to Khuul after being petitioned on behalf of the recent surge of Blight (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Blight)diseases suffered by the miners, and that she decided to use this man's home while he was out fishing. He doesn't want to enter his home to find he catches the remnants of the Blight, so he's been de facto kicked out until the source of the disease is cut off.

Priestess From Gnisis

Inside, the group meets with the priestess the Nord spoke of, as well as three miners with open sores their faces.

"May I help you?"

"We're here with the East Empire Company about the Egg Mine."

"By Almsivi! It's about time someone - anyone - is willing to do something about this. I came here at the behest of a miner who walked all the way to Gnisis in this condition, with the intention to clear out the mine and cure the Kwama Queen herself. By the time I got here, there were so many afflicted, I had to spend all of my time and resources just keeping these mer from getting worse! I even brought a scroll to cure her in case something like this happened, but no one's been willing to go back into the mine to use it. I'll gladly offer it to you if you'll get it done."

After accepting the scroll, they opened the door.

"Oh, outlanders? One more thing... Those who spread words of the Tribunal's generosity and capability often find themselves richer in life."

An Offer He CAN Refuse

Not long after the group set foot outside, the Nord, standing against the wall with his arms crossed, motioned for attention, and kept his voice low.

"So. She wants you to go in, do her work, and give her the credit for some extra pay. You know what? I'd pay to see the kwama exterminated from that mine. Then maybe Thongar would have demand for some shipments of food and these damned Dunmer would eat something else for once."

"Sorry, I already promised I'd do one job. What's a Nord without his honor?" Willhelm piped.

The Nord only scoffed and walked away.

A Man of Wealth and Taste

Not so far away, another Nord, this one dressed in fine furs, was spotted walking around looking far into the distance worriedly.

"Can we help you with something?"

"Well, word was that a bunch of Imperials with the East Empire Company were supposed to show up today. I wanted to meet with them, but I had to tend to a shipment coming in by silt strider for far longer than I'd have liked."

"We're not Imperials (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Imperial), but we're with the Company."

"Good! Come inside then, a feast on me."

A short trip later and they were inside the mudbrick-style tradehouse. At the table, they ate up kwama eggs, freshly baked bread, and scrib jerky, as well as their choice of mazte and flin for drink.

"I never introduced myself. My name is Thongar, I run this establishment. It's not much, especially seeing as I'm the only real businessman in Khuul, but I try my best to see to it that people's needs are reasonably met." He shifted forward, "Of course, there are always the rumors about what happens when they're not."

"Rumors?"

"Ahem," he wiped his face and swallowed. "Oh, yes. Almost everyone believes there's some kind of smuggling going on around here - and it's not entirely unreasonable. Fishermen keep long hours, and no one questions them being out from before dawn 'til after dusk, and there are plenty of things coming and going that I had no hand in dealing, though that last part, at least, is easily explained away. Still. Sometimes there's a lot of noise and crates late at night." he stared them straight in the eyes, "Later than a fisherman should be awake." Thongar leaned back in his chair. "If you hear or see anything, I only ask that you cooperate with Ondi," he pointed at the Nord woman clad in Imperial Steel, "in taking care of the matter." The rest of the meal was relatively good-natured, and once the plates were empty, Thongar stood up and announced he'd be happy to help if they needed any goods later on.

Tsavi noticed a Khajiit pacing about the room and inquired, "Does it need assistance?"

"Khajiit is here to buy supplies, not talk to strangers."

Tsavi was at a loss for words at the stranger shrugging her off.

"Shotherra does not have time for this!" she declared before continuing to pace about.

Disheartened, Tsavi returned to her comrades, who were already engaged with the Nord woman, Ondi, only to catch the end of a sentence, "...You know, the Legion rewards citizens who keep the emperor's name in good standing. If everyone were to know that the Legion and the Company were responsible for getting the mine up and running again, it would put his name in good standing. Catch my meaning?" Smiling, Tsavi left with the rest of the group.

A Mer and His Guar

Not long after setting out for the egg mine, a man in chitin (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:MW_ChitinArmor.jpg) armor, presumably Dunmer due to constantly referring to them as outlanders, mentioned he'd be willing to pay good money if they happened to see his packguar anywhere along the road - the price of the guar (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:MW-creature-Guar.jpg), in fact. He mentioned being attacked by a particularly nasty pair of nix-hounds (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:MW-creature-Nix_Hound.jpg) farther along, that his guar must've run away in the chaos. Arwen tipped her hat as she passed.

Ravenous Rats and Guar Tears

Spotting a group of rats around a bend, Tsavi hissed at the filthy disease carriers. Most of them ran. But two large rats remained, standing on their hind legs and watching her every movement with malice in their eyes. Both got the jump and closed on her and immediately attacked her legs. One took a sharp bit at her left ankle, and the other started running up Tsavi's right leg. Arwen shot a bolt straight into the rat still on the ground and sent it writhing. Willhelm ran in and took a swing of his axe to the one climbing up his ally, but stopped short when he realized he almost knocked out Tsavi's knee. Dendsa tried to make a grab for the rat, but it darted up Tsavi's leg. Lysona readied a bolt of fire and waited for a better opportunity. Tsavi snatched the rat into her claws and crushed it with a vengeance. Even the rats are bolder in Morrowind, it seemed.

Not too far off, they saw the corpse of a guar. Tsavi decided to investigate. When she poked at it with her claws, it started moving - though it was clearly still dead. And then it stopped. She poked it again. Movement again. She let a kick fly, and a blood-covered rat ran out of a large cut in the creature's side. Being fond of guars, Tsavi was saddened at it's death. And the profit loss, if it was that particular pack animal.

Arwen's ears perked up at a familiar sound while Tsavi was busy. Something was crying, and she instinctively ran after it. Just behind the hill she was standing on was another guar. This time, it was fully outfitted with a saddle and saddlebags, and a sword lay nearby on the ground. If this wasn't the one, Arwen would eat her hat. She saw a large gash on the side of its leg that could only come from the kick of a nix-hound, and did her best to soothe the beast while Lysona patched up the wound. Arwen personally led the guar along for the rest of the walk.

Close Encounters of the Kwama Kind

A quick quarrel with a few easily dispatched kwama foragers not long after meant they were getting close to the mine, so they pressed on. At the door of the mine, the group saw a lone kwama worker, almost madly clawing at the entryway, though not otherwise appearing dangerous, Willhelm thought, so he cracked the door and let it in. He only got about five feet in before he realized precisely how dark it was, and so he sent in the eyes and ears of Tsavi and Lysona to scout ahead. When they returned, the rest of the group lit torches and plodded along, further into the darkness, leaving the packguar behind. At the second doorway, Willhelm remarked that all of the torches and lamps were out. They saw the same worker from earlier scratching at the door, so Willhelm let it in again, immediately running off to a corner filled with egg sacs and started tending to them.

To the left, they saw an opening to the main chamber - a sixty foot drop. To the right was a collapsed chamber, and ahead was likely the path that led to the queen. Willhelm decided to split up. He and Dendsa tied a rope around a nearby stalagmite to climb down and investigate. Tsavi was to try the stealth route forward. Arwen and Lysona stayed behind as ranged support.

An Injured Miner

Most of the sneaking was uneventful until Tsavi happened upon a ventilation chamber. She heard something moving and rolled behind a mound of dirt. Or rather, into it. A large number of scribs burrowed out and scurried away. Even disoriented, she saw a Dunmer sitting against the wall, with a boulder crushing his knee.

Voice barely a whisper, he called out to her, "Help... Can't move..."

She couldn't leave him like that, so the khajiit made back for Lysona.

Blundering In The Dark

Meanwhile, Willhelm and Dendsa climbed down the rope, one by one, after making sure the rope was taught and the knot would hold. All they could make out from their position was a broken ladder in front of them and a crate which they figured contained mining supplies. Being their only lead, the decided to look into it anyway. As they approached, another three kwama foragers crawled out from the dark and attacked...

Would You Like Scribs With That?

When Tsavi and Lysona got back to the miner, he was surrounded by scribs investigating the disturbance. while Tsavi shooed them away, Lysona was frantically debating in her mind whether she should risk the man's life in taking him back to the healer, or if she should just cut off his leg and then stop the bleeding - it didn't look like he'd be able to walk on it again anyway. She decided to break off the head of a pickaxe lying about and tie it around his leg as a makeshift splint for now and take him back to the entrance with the guar. It took the strength of both Tsavi and Lysona to hold the miner up, but they made their way.

Showdown!

After the wave of foragers were taken care of Willhelm and Dendsa stood back to back, blades at the ready. Then a pair of kwama warriors showed up.

"This isn't good. They think we're trying to kill their queen. They will NOT stop until we're dead - or they are."

Dendsa said nothing and redoubled her swords, the leapt for the attack. A fierce lunge, but one that did not pierce hide. Dendsa's warrior struck next, solidly landing a blow on her shoulder. Willhelm advanced on the defensive with his shield ready, and took a swing in a wide arc, straight into the creature's chest cavity, and sent it to the ground. Dendsa pulled back, feinted left, then struck true in the warrior's heart. It died almost immediately, but fell forwards on top of her, weight pinning her to the ground. Just as Willhelm shoved the kwama off of Dendsa, another warrior appeared. This time, Arwen was ready, and landed a bolt straight in one of its claws. Lysona had rushed back in at the sound of fighting, then loosed a spell that shattered a nearby column, shards of shrapnel directed at the recent kwama, all finding home in its body, spelling its doom.

A Cure For What Ails Her

Tsavi appeared, seemingly from nowhere and shouted, "Kill it! The queen is blighted! Tsavi gets paid more if it dies!" her claws protruding.

Willhelm stood between her and the queen. "I said earlier. I gave my word for a job. A Nord does not back down on his word."

Dendsa, Arwen, and Lysona said nothing.

After a brief staredown, Tsavi and Willhelm lowered their guards.

"Fine", the khajiit hissed, "But Tsavi expects Nord looks the other way when she finds gold of her own later."

Willhelm nodded to Lysona to use the scroll, and immediately the kwama queen calmed down and went to sleep.

Outside, the miner was placed atop the packguar for the trek back to Khuul. they met the chitin-wearing Dunmer from earlier and invited him to come with as they tried to get the miner some help.

Thongar's cheery greeting turned solemn as he saw the wounded man. The merchant immediately motioned the party inside and instructed him to lay him down on the bed. Lysona ran to get the priestess.

Hidden Agenda?

Once the miner was made comfortable, the chitin-wearing Dunmer stepped forward and gently pushed the others aside, and kneeled down, mask-helm obscuring his face. He seemed to scrutinize the mer for a while. "Veldyn. Veldyn Girith?" The mer made a feeble attempt at a nod of recognition.

Then he let out a scream as a dagger was thrust into his chest.

Willhelm wasted no time in rushing over to wrestle the Dunmer's arm away. He grabbed the mer's wrists and pushed him forward, only to get pushed straight back. He lost his footing and almost fell once. Twice. He was pushed back against the hearth in the center of the room, dagger aimed at his throat, then he let out a deafening, "FUS!" And the mer was off-balance. Willhelm rushed the Dunmer and landed a shoulder straight to the chest, he winded the mer before headbutting him to the ground. Arwen placed a foot on the dagger and kicked it away, far out of reach of both combatants.

The Dunmer wasn't out yet, as he continued to kick and punch his way on top of and below the Nord on the ground. The sound of heavy footstepts were heard as the door came crashing open. A steel boot cracked into the Dunmer's skull and sent him reeling, then Willhelm heard a sword being drawn. Ondi, the legion officer. She kept the sword at the mer's throat and threw a pair of manacles at Willhelm. He nodded, then rolled the Dunmer over with his foot and slapped the irons on the wrists of the would-be assassin.

As Ondi dragged him away, Tsavi saw an opportunity when she wasn't paying attention behind her and made a grab for the mer's coinpurse, and smiled a toothy grin. Willhelm was ready to groan, but then the color drained from his face. "Tsavi...!"

Tsavi bared all her teeth and growled, "Nord promised! Nord keeps his word!"

Willhelm slapped the coins out of her paws.

The insignia of House Hlaalu (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:House_Hlaalu).

SilverLeaf167
2012-03-13, 03:14 AM
It seems like this is just one session or something (or is the game PbP?)... it's probably kind of unnecessary to put every paragraph in a separate spoiler, especially if that results in a single session requiring over a dozen spoilers. Makes it kind of annoying to read.

I like it otherwise though, keep it up.

Anxe
2012-03-13, 08:41 AM
It seems like this is just one session or something (or is the game PbP?)... it's probably kind of unnecessary to put every paragraph in a separate spoiler, especially if that results in a single session requiring over a dozen spoilers. Makes it kind of annoying to read.

I like it otherwise though, keep it up.

I actually didn't read it for this reason. The internet is a lazy couch potato. The internet also likes to whine and complain.

Dsurion
2012-03-13, 10:44 AM
It seems like this is just one session or something (or is the game PbP?)...It's just the first session for now. These things take quite a lot of time to write up :smalltongue:


it's probably kind of unnecessary to put every paragraph in a separate spoiler, especially if that results in a single session requiring over a dozen spoilers. Makes it kind of annoying to read.I've actually always found using spoilers makes it easier to read, personally, but if that's so, I've removed all of them.


I like it otherwise though, keep it up.Thank you.

dsmiles
2012-03-13, 11:13 AM
I played in a ES-themed campaign once, but it was in Rolemaster/HARP. It seemed a better system to emulate the feel of the video games. I was a Redguard bounty hunter/archer, and my long-time partner was a Bosmer archer. We ran into a Khajiit runaway slave and a Dunmer freedom fighter. Long story short, one dead Daedra cult/slaver ring and a collapsed cavern later, we found ourselves on a stolen ship headed for Hammerfell. (That was the last we got to play, the GM got out of the Army and moved to Florida.)

Dsurion
2012-03-13, 11:28 AM
I played in a ES-themed campaign once, but it was in Rolemaster/HARP. It seemed a better system to emulate the feel of the video games.Oh, I only said I was inspired by the above homebrew, and thought I'd show it some love. I'd prefer to keep the system I'm actually using unknown, because the game itself is what's important.


I was a Redguard bounty hunter/archer, and my long-time partner was a Bosmer archer. We ran into a Khajiit runaway slave and a Dunmer freedom fighter. Long story short, one dead Daedra cult/slaver ring and a collapsed cavern later, we found ourselves on a stolen ship headed for Hammerfell. (That was the last we got to play, the GM got out of the Army and moved to Florida.)See that sounds like loads of fun to me :smallbiggrin:

You should have heard the intense bickering as to how the party should go about strategically lying to people to maximize their profits while one person was ignoring all of it and making a contingency plan for their escape.

SilverLeaf167
2012-03-14, 04:26 AM
Uh... when I said you shouldn't put it in a dozen spoilers, I was actually kind of implying one spoiler would be better. :smalltongue:
I personally find that the easiest-to-read format has each session in a single spoiler of its own.