Oblivion

About this mod

In this quest you will pick up the trail of an old legend from the Ayleid times of the 1st Era - a legend nowadays known only as a fairy-tale, a children's bedtime story called "Aaro and Dundellon". Follow the footsteps of this legend and you will gain a long-forgotten, powerful sword.

Requirements
Permissions and credits
Changelogs
Aug 16th, 2021 - Better Cities IC Imperial Isle patch is online!

Finally, this is compatible with the latest version of Better Cities - IC Imperial Isle.
You can download the patch from the "main files" section.
It fixes the conflict that caused visual glitches for Old Nadara's house and its surroundings.

BIG CREDITS to Vorians for supporting (and helping significantly in creating) the patch!


Feb 12th, 2020 - End of support for this mod :'(
Dear all,

it's nice to know that people out there are still playing some of my mods :)

However, I am afraid that I can't support them any longer. Unfortunately, I am far away from oblivion today, and I don't even have a proper installation of the game anymore to reproduce new issues, incompatibilities etc. Even less will I be able to implement new features.

All of my mods (see list further below) haven't been updated for years now, and I've obviously missed multiple important updates to related mods, OBSE etc. So it's very likely that incompatibilities have accumulated to a pile which I cannot address any longer - at least not without giving up other things in my life.

This all means that I'll have to make that long-feared hard and sad step after all.

Creating all of this stuff and supporting an evolving it over years has been a fascinating, thrilling part of my (at least virtual) life, but I just have to move on nowadays.

I am very sorry about this - it took me a long thought to make that decision. :(

I encourage everyone to take the sources from my mods to try to adapt them to more recent developments! I am sure that there are hundreds of gifted modders out there who can do it in an instant or two ;-)

Thanks to everyone who has contributed in any form to this!! Take a look at the long list of credits!

I'll still try to keep in touch here the best I can. Maybe I'll even have my own "nostalgic Oblivion playthrough" from time to time. I'll always be glad about mor "Oblivion talk", but only as a player. I won't be able to be an active modder for TES IV any longer.

Kind regards (with a bit of crying), 
jaime74


TOP HINT - WHAT TO DO IF BOTHIEL WON'T TALK TO YOU!

Dear all, here's some hopefully good news after a very long time of silence...

There's been a long talk (for months and years) about a nasty little bug in my quest that happens sporadically and prevents certain players from talking to Bothiel as a key NPC at a certain quest stage.

For anyone affected by this:
I have finally found the answer to this, thanks to patient help from a player named nekarisan.
 
The outcome is: Though, unfortunately, I will not be able to deliver a fix for it, there is a WORKAROUND using a plain and simple console command.
Simply follow the instructions given here in my walkthrough guide at chapter 9
 
You'll have to unfold the box labeled "Level 3: Tell me everything!" in order to see the fix!
 
Hope that this helps a lot of people!

Please endorse this mod if you believe that it deserves it!
Go hurt something!



(Title poster by Nichi21 - click image to enlarge)

Trailer on vimeo: Click to play!)

Watch more videos on my -> Elder Scrolls Channel

What's this mod about?

In this quest you will pick up the trail of an old legend from the Ayleid times of the 1st Era - a legend nowadays known only as a fairy-tale, a children's bedtime story called "Aaro and Dundellon". Follow the footsteps of this legend and prove yourself worthy, and you will gain a long-forgotten powerful sword, the so-called "Blade of the Haunted".

This quest isn't easy (at least I think so)! It does not always work along the standard mechanisms. Instead, it demands some decent experience in playing Oblivion, as well as some fun in meeting unusual challenges! Simply finding that sword won't be the solution! You will face a completely unexpected threat that needs to be overcome. Will you be able to defeat an ancient curse that has been lurking behind that old legend? Can you play the necessary role to escape from that evil trap?

Keeping in mind "immersiveness", I tried to respect some design principles to make the quest more challenging and entertaining:
  • You should have some fun in reading books, which means actually *reading* them (not just opening them and then waiting for some window message to explain everything to you).
  • There are no map markers. Any location can be found by reading books, talking etc.
  • Journal entrys will never tell you what you are *expected* to do! Instead, they only summarize what you have learned by yourself (always consider the journal to be your diary, not a "quest guide"!).
  • I tried to make very spare use of "quest items" (i.e. items that can't be dropped). So nearly everything can be dropped, sold, eaten (or whatever). Always be careful about what to give away!


The whole plot should take you at least 5-10 hours of gameplay, depending on your style of playing.
The sword itself provides some powerful abilities that go beyond usual magic weapons, so it should be a satisfying reward for the pain (apart from the fun of playing the quest, of course).
It will level up together with you afterwards, and it can also be customized with a spell, so it doesn't matter at which time you complete the quest.

Recommended Level:
Medium (10-15), though lower and higher levels should work as well.
Only when playing with Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul (OOO), you should consider starting at a higher level, because OOO adds some very tough foes to one of the locations involved in this quest!

Reviews
  • Alternative discussion thread at Bethsoft Forums
  • Video review by MHS on youtube. Spoiler level: EXTREME!
  • Video review by MorannMackay (Muris359) on youtube. Even more detailed, complete REALTIME walkthrough - very nicely done! Spoiler level: EXTREME!
  • Game and Mod Reviews - The Blade of the Haunted by macleodn. Spoiler level = moderate.

    Translations
    This mod is available in the following additional languages (without real voices):
    Be aware that these translations were created by other modders and all of them are based on older versions, so I cannot provide support for them.
    Please ask the translators first, if you are having problems.

    Helpful links
    • Full Walkthrough Guide (online version)
    • The armor in the title poster above is the "Heavy Sotonhorian Set" from Andragorns weapons and armors. The darker, ligher one worn by the pale Dunmer guy in various of the screenshots is Andragorn's Shdw_Armor set_Sotonhorian (this one is my clear favorite! :)).
    • The face textures in the title poster above are from Races and realistic faces, a mod which doesn't seem to be available anymore (I am glad about any information)


    Requirements
    • Latest official Oblivion patch (1.2.0416)
    • Shivering Isles (latest official patch).
    • OBSE v20 or higher (http://obse.silverlock.org)


    What's the "Blade Customizer"?
    After completing the quest and becoming the blade's new master, you will receive a Lesser Power that allows you to adjust the blade's attributes to your needs:
    1.) "Wield Mode" (one-hand or two-hand)
    2.) Damage
    3.) Maximum number of enchantment uses
    4.) Weapon reach
    5.) Weapon speed
    6.) Recharging speed

    Customizer video on vimeo: Click to play!)

    Watch more videos on my -> Elder Scrolls Channel.

    Incompatibilities
    There are some known possible interferences with other mods. Some of them are listed below.
    Refer to the readme for details. Most of these conflicts can be handled by regarding the instructions!
    • Take special care with Companion mods (like CM or others)! Follow the instructions in the readme about how to use them together with this mod.
    • Mods that are using sleep mode (like e.g. The Lost Sword of the Ayleids, Tears of the Fiend, See You Sleep,etc.). These do NOT break the quest. Just don't try to start the quests at the same time (read the instructions in the readme).
    • The same applies to several "Basis Needs" mods that require your character to sleep at regular intervals in order to regain fatigue or other physical attributes. Just turn these mods off before going to sleep until you've completed the quest.
    • Oscuro's Oblivion overhaul (OOO) users: Be aware of higher difficulty, as stated above!
    • Curse of Hircine - Resurrected: This mod is incompatible with CoHR prior to version 412. Any version from 412 or higher is fine. Please make sure that you're using the latest version.
    • Adense Epic Dungeon can cause slight pathgrid conflicts, and in combination with Unique Landscapes and the UL Imperial Isle Patch (see this thread for details) there are even major landscape conflicts. Use Adense Epic Dungeon patch by Pinkertonius to get rid of this.
    • Yakumo Isle - HotSpring and LittleHome places a column right through Nadara's house. Does no harm though (isn't quest-breaking), but looks a bit ugly.
    • A possible conflict with JRoush's Oblivion Magic Extender (OBME) is currently under investigation. See this post for more details. A patch is not available yet, so I recommend (for now) to disable OBME only as long as you're playing through the "nightmare" sections of my quest. I'll try to provide a patch in the future.


    Ressources and Credits

    Very special credits go to the following persons...
    • Conny for the quest icon, the sword's book painting in "Myth or History?", for reviewing the book and dialogue texts, and for sharing the same "Oblivimania"
    • Jaril and Conny for spending hours of beta testing together!
    • LHammonds for his human-readable OMOD tutorials
    • Ultramace for excessive testing and lots of inspiration
    • Nichi21 for the Japanese translation and the fantastic title poster
    • Trollkin for the excellent revision of the book texts!
    • Timberwolftrass2005 for the ideas about how to enhance the "Key Stone" handling
    • gamesrc and Dark dude for analyzing and reporting various bugs and mod conflicts
    • Freathof for finding a flaw in the questline and helping to fix it
    • Vorians for detecting two FormID bugs and detailed analysis with TES4Edit, and for helpful hints about UL compatibility
    • Nichi once more for detecting the "Nightmare vulnerability bug"
    • DarkRuler 2500 for creating the german translation
    • Aelita for creating the russian translation (including the walkthrough)
    • wverdin for helping me patiently with debugging strange mod conflicts, thus providing valuable input for the new "troubleshooting" part
    • wverdin once again for the inspiration for revamping the dream world with thunder and lightning
    • Tharaki for helping me detect and solve the "Curse of Hircine - Resurrected" conflict
    • LogicDragon for modifying his mod "Curse of Hircine - Resurrected" to make it compatible, and also for helpful hints about how to improve mine
    • J.R.R. Tolkien for Tengwar (my apologies for abusing it)
    • Rogem for politely revealing my unprofessional use of Tengwar in the Blade's inscription ;)
    • Alsiel for creating the chinese translation
    • Ipoopedmypants for suggesting the "disable recharging messages" feature (optional patch 1)
    • AnDorchadas for going even further and suggesting the additional "disable recharging sound" feature (optional patch 2)
    • MHS for creating the first video review on youtube
    • Murias359 for creating the second, full-length walkthrough youtube video
    • Pinkertonius for creating the Adense Epic Dungeon patch for Blade of the Haunted
    • The inventors of Shivering Isles for creating the Elytra, which is the most beautiful creature ever! ;-))
    • Bethesda, of course, for creating the game of the two centuries (this and the previous one)!


    More mods and other projects by me (jaime74)

    An Unexpected Company
    A small (but hopefully exciting) quest, in which you will find a wolf as a companion, including a few more hidden benefits and surprises.
    Uncover the mystery of a haunted house in order to find the wolf. You'll also have to perform certain additional actions to turn him into a companion. And finally, there will be even something more to discover...

    Northern Front FIXED
    This patch fixes a couple of issues in Northern Front by Mishaxhi. It has been released with permission from the author of the original mod.

    Ruined Tail's Tale - Unofficial Patch
    This unofficial patch tries to fix/bypass a quest-breaking issue in Ruined Tail's Tale by Simyaz, which occurs in some games around a certain quest stage.

    jaime74's Elder Scrolls Channel on vimeo
    Watch more videos about my and other people's mods for TES IV and TES V on vimeo.

    Robo Zer00 - Creating a Multiplayer Game with Unity and Blender
    This is something completely different! A funny, private, non-commercial game design project that I've been working on for months. Come and see if you like the previews...