Reflecting on it, probably the best faction questline I've played in Morrowind so far, with the textual depth of Morrowind but something like the dramatic sense of the later games. The quest design was so good, I learned to love the waiting and I have to praise the writing some more. The use of familiar characters with some new ones breathed so much life into the corners of Vvardenfell, the various plot threads tied together so nicely by the end and all the side stories left me with a lot of love for random npcs. Now for a very, very long rest of comment here with full story spoilers:
Spoiler:
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My fave side story that was totally unexpected was everything with Sorkvild in Dagon Fel. It wasn't just a step to our end goal with a diversion but its own thing that made me smile throughout. Many other moments like this, like the back and forth around Avon Oran's social club, Eloroth's story which was the one that really made me pause and read all the text we had on hand two times over, Larrius Varo's downwards spiral - he was a truly great... rival, nemesis? he was great - the complex relationship with Attelivupis disenchanted from love who still set out for revenge against us, Ikran as just as great of a foe with such an exciting long winding corridor of a story before we crossed blades, and NEBIA... her story stuck with me, I was so happy to see her alive and well behind the cornerclub counter. I feel even though originally we were using her as a vulnerable person at the time to hurt a more powerful person, we had become friends by the end and of the many guildmates lost, she prevailed. They're all very "human" characters, mer and "nemer" included for lack of a better way to put it.
The recurring characters, quest givers like Orvas, Gurak, Banor, and so on were all just so well done. For example with Orvas, it's a similar approach to his (apparent) lackey from the main game, Sjoring Hard-Heart, his story and motivation unravels by the end for a grand showdown because there's only one way out at this point... but better done in every possible way, we spend more time with him for better or worse and meet him so that it can hit us in retrospect. With his backstory here, his rash and senseless behaviour, how he spirals from tense to paranoid makes so much sense, he was never really in his element as he seemed to be. He's cruel enough for this lifestyle if anything, but in the way of the little noble second son who was aware of the ultimate price his father paid for his position... and found that to be the point where something is unacceptable, of all things. He's afflicted with the same destructive love for his family, father at least, as Vedam, which makes their alienation from each other even sadder.
I roleplayed a character who was part orsimer and part dunmer, so the friendship we ended up developing with Gurak got me as a surprise, was truly character-building and emotional. By the back end of the story I gladly cut through the whole of Fort Moonmoth to free him unscathed. His friendship with Orvas stuck with me too, and watching it fall apart... I remember a comment on this page I saw before I played, that it didn't make sense, and I had to disagree because it doesn't track with what I see real people say and do. It also dug into another quirk of his character in the original game, that philo-orcish flourish from the "true nature" book which sticks out in his religion-themed bookshelf at first, to his original orcish armour and the Tong's work with the orcs of Vvardenfell more than any other population outside of dunmer. I really loved Gurak, my character was certainly a better friend than Orvas in the end but it's a cutthroat life here in the underworld and we were all played by a greater force.
An experience I remember when my bounty was up to somewhere under 20k, kill on sight with Imperial guards and seemingly the Great House ones too, I was freeing the slaves from Ules Manor after the councilor's mysterious disappearance and they had the usual "the notorious outlaw! get me out of here!" dialogue that I really read in different light for this context. Freeing slaves on the side really helped me in the end which I wasn't counting on, to convince Ilmeni to leave Vvardenfell. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to kill her too as she was already one of my dearest npcs, and the different options to deal with her were great. To no surprise with this trajectory my character as Kingpin decided to take the Tong in the way of helping commoners and freedmen under the Empire's yoke (not for long!) through ways they can. How popular that decision was, not sure, I'd expect more infighting but it's good to have a daedroth by your side.
Vonos is just a super fun character, his appearance still startles me but he's just a part of my Vvardenfell now and Vile's realm of Oblivion is poorer for it. I wondered how good his Orvas impression could really be, but then it struck me it doesn't matter, we ended up killing or otherwise removing so many people who were in close contact with him and could know better. All around well played by Clavicus Vile and friends. This whole spiral of events was full of suspense and surprises at every turn. Like with Nevena Ules, she was so out of left field for me as my impression of her from the game was close to Orvas if anyone, alienated from her fellow councilors, even Velanda Omani. It's one of the many points that had me spinning theories, like whether Vonos manipulated her with the purpose of pulling the rug underneath her for his and Vile's greater plan, to me it's a marker of good and engrossing writing.
The sequence near the end where we start by fighting Orvas but end up with a gauntlet of the many enemies - and friends - we've cut down in our path was really something else. One of the most frantic and definitely coolest experiences I've had in a game in recent memory, it struck me so deep that everything in that playthrough after was tinged with melancholy. I couldn't finish the Hlaalu questline for a few reasons even before the assassination of the duke - maybe the brothers will find some respite in the afterlife - but I'd have loved to see Velanda Omani as Grandmaster, I think she becomes one and I just didn't check. And by the time we got to the Clavicus Vile plot, I wished I'd joined the Fighters' Guild, maybe the Thieves' Guild too - if it works, it works - to see if there's anything new going on with Eydis Fire-Eye. All of this makes me want to replay the questline with a new character, but I'll take some more time for it to set in.
In the end, one question. What is the white material in the new ebony armour variant supposed to be? It's such a beautiful set, I always see it as some kind of fluffy fur or wool and think well that can't be right, but I still love the idea. I'd endorse this over and over if possible.
Thank you immensely for your well-written review. I've never received such an awesome comment on my mods before, so thanks a lot for bringing a smile to my face. You absolutely understood what I was going for, even with the details I thought might be less noticeable. It makes the year worth of planning all worth it!
The white material is chitin if you look close enough. I think RV is thinking of retexturing it, so it will be interesting to see how that turns out.
Again, though, thank you for your comment. I really appreciate your such well-written review! :)
After I hand in Bad Business in Pelagiad, is there a trigger to continue the mod? I tried sleeping and talking to different Camonna Tong members but nothing else happens
Really good faction mod but there is one thing that really breaks immersion for me - it's inconsistencies in dialogs when referencing someone, like someone mentions specifically a man and then use "them them them", Orvas Dren talks about a woman, says specifically "woman" and then again "them them them" not "talk to her" but "talk to them", not "make her spy" but "make them spy" and so on and so on. What's the reasoning behind this? He/she does not present in english any more? And it's not even a case of someone with unidentified gender or something like this when it would be justified. So why do it?
Figured out how to fix it. Now im having another issue. Gurak is a Hostile NPC so i had already killed him in my save, is there no way to progress? I used Placeatpc and did some quests until i needed to check up on business in ald ruhn. But now hes gone again. And if i place at pc again the quest doesnt work
This mod or Join The Camonna Tong? I'll be playing as a dunmer and would like to know opinion of someone whos played trough both. I'll also be using Improved FIghters Guild which is supposed to work together with both of these with a patch.
98 comments
The recurring characters, quest givers like Orvas, Gurak, Banor, and so on were all just so well done. For example with Orvas, it's a similar approach to his (apparent) lackey from the main game, Sjoring Hard-Heart, his story and motivation unravels by the end for a grand showdown because there's only one way out at this point... but better done in every possible way, we spend more time with him for better or worse and meet him so that it can hit us in retrospect. With his backstory here, his rash and senseless behaviour, how he spirals from tense to paranoid makes so much sense, he was never really in his element as he seemed to be. He's cruel enough for this lifestyle if anything, but in the way of the little noble second son who was aware of the ultimate price his father paid for his position... and found that to be the point where something is unacceptable, of all things. He's afflicted with the same destructive love for his family, father at least, as Vedam, which makes their alienation from each other even sadder.
I roleplayed a character who was part orsimer and part dunmer, so the friendship we ended up developing with Gurak got me as a surprise, was truly character-building and emotional. By the back end of the story I gladly cut through the whole of Fort Moonmoth to free him unscathed. His friendship with Orvas stuck with me too, and watching it fall apart... I remember a comment on this page I saw before I played, that it didn't make sense, and I had to disagree because it doesn't track with what I see real people say and do. It also dug into another quirk of his character in the original game, that philo-orcish flourish from the "true nature" book which sticks out in his religion-themed bookshelf at first, to his original orcish armour and the Tong's work with the orcs of Vvardenfell more than any other population outside of dunmer. I really loved Gurak, my character was certainly a better friend than Orvas in the end but it's a cutthroat life here in the underworld and we were all played by a greater force.
An experience I remember when my bounty was up to somewhere under 20k, kill on sight with Imperial guards and seemingly the Great House ones too, I was freeing the slaves from Ules Manor after the councilor's mysterious disappearance and they had the usual "the notorious outlaw! get me out of here!" dialogue that I really read in different light for this context. Freeing slaves on the side really helped me in the end which I wasn't counting on, to convince Ilmeni to leave Vvardenfell. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to kill her too as she was already one of my dearest npcs, and the different options to deal with her were great. To no surprise with this trajectory my character as Kingpin decided to take the Tong in the way of helping commoners and freedmen under the Empire's yoke (not for long!) through ways they can. How popular that decision was, not sure, I'd expect more infighting but it's good to have a daedroth by your side.
Vonos is just a super fun character, his appearance still startles me but he's just a part of my Vvardenfell now and Vile's realm of Oblivion is poorer for it. I wondered how good his Orvas impression could really be, but then it struck me it doesn't matter, we ended up killing or otherwise removing so many people who were in close contact with him and could know better. All around well played by Clavicus Vile and friends. This whole spiral of events was full of suspense and surprises at every turn. Like with Nevena Ules, she was so out of left field for me as my impression of her from the game was close to Orvas if anyone, alienated from her fellow councilors, even Velanda Omani. It's one of the many points that had me spinning theories, like whether Vonos manipulated her with the purpose of pulling the rug underneath her for his and Vile's greater plan, to me it's a marker of good and engrossing writing.
The sequence near the end where we start by fighting Orvas but end up with a gauntlet of the many enemies - and friends - we've cut down in our path was really something else. One of the most frantic and definitely coolest experiences I've had in a game in recent memory, it struck me so deep that everything in that playthrough after was tinged with melancholy. I couldn't finish the Hlaalu questline for a few reasons even before the assassination of the duke - maybe the brothers will find some respite in the afterlife - but I'd have loved to see Velanda Omani as Grandmaster, I think she becomes one and I just didn't check. And by the time we got to the Clavicus Vile plot, I wished I'd joined the Fighters' Guild, maybe the Thieves' Guild too - if it works, it works - to see if there's anything new going on with Eydis Fire-Eye. All of this makes me want to replay the questline with a new character, but I'll take some more time for it to set in.
In the end, one question. What is the white material in the new ebony armour variant supposed to be? It's such a beautiful set, I always see it as some kind of fluffy fur or wool and think well that can't be right, but I still love the idea. I'd endorse this over and over if possible.
Thank you immensely for your well-written review. I've never received such an awesome comment on my mods before, so thanks a lot for bringing a smile to my face. You absolutely understood what I was going for, even with the details I thought might be less noticeable. It makes the year worth of planning all worth it!
The white material is chitin if you look close enough. I think RV is thinking of retexturing it, so it will be interesting to see how that turns out.
Again, though, thank you for your comment. I really appreciate your such well-written review! :)
Problem is, there's no dialogue options at all!
I'm on OpenMW if that makes a difference.
The mod looks awesome, I'm excited to play it!
is it compatible with BCOM ?