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About this mod
The sequel to 'Buying Proudspire Manor as a Thalmor'.
This adds another roleplay option in my little series of Thalmor mods: The Quest "Missing in Action" is now completely Thalmor-friendly and hopefully suitable for your ruthless agent/Justiciar/official.
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
Please note: This changes the quest, assumes you are a Thalmor agent, and replaces or bypasses all non-Thalmor options. You should disable this mod before starting a non-Thalmor save. Also. My video is a total spoiler and covers the whole quest.
Cruelly destroy the wanted criminal Avulstein Gray-Mane by luring him away from the safety of Whiterun with the promise of rescuing his imprisoned brother, and make sure there are no more questions on Thorald's whereabouts.
Quest Spoilers:
In the original quest:
In the updated, Thalmor-friendly quest:
I really recommend not adding this mod mid-playthrough, and especially not after starting the quest
The new voiced dialogue was made possible thanks to:
Voice File Reference Tool 2
and
SKVA Synth - xVASynth for one or two lines
And what a wonderful pair of mods they are.
Thank you very much Netherworks, whose advice was incredibly useful when things broke. Which they do often when I make things.
Cruelly destroy the wanted criminal Avulstein Gray-Mane by luring him away from the safety of Whiterun with the promise of rescuing his imprisoned brother, and make sure there are no more questions on Thorald's whereabouts.
Biggest changes:
1. The entire quest is the other way around
By the end of my quest, the goodies are dead and the baddies (including you, hopefully) are still alive.
2. Missing in Action - Prologue
You have the option of collecting a lore-friendly reminder to do this quest in Solitude, where I recommend you go anyway, before beginning 'Missing in Action'. But you can also start the quest in the normal way, and the prologue quest will be ignored.
3. Agent Aldaron
There is now a new NPC who adds you to the Thalmor factions as often as you like (every six hours), if you're not sure if you're a member or not.
This should prevent any problems with hostility. Go and see Agent Aldaron in the Winking Skeever in Solitude. Your dialogue option 'Just reporting in' will get you added to the Thalmor Faction, World-Encounter Thalmor Faction
(I set it as "Just reporting in" so that you could be reporting in as normal between missions, or coming back from being missing yourself. Aldaron will help you clear everything up)
If you haven't started Missing in Action yet, Aldaron will give you an execution order for Avulstein Gray-Mane. Ask him "Anything I can do..."
If you get into trouble with the Thalmor at any time, even when the quest is not running, Agent Aldaron will always be in a good mood and will allow you to report in. The Thalmor have long memories and do not forgive, except when they're permanently stationed in a pub, in which case they forgive anything and have very bad memories, like anybody else.
4. Your friend, the Northwatch Guard
The Northwatch guard doesn't say "Halt" now. Introduce yourself, and he will recognise you and even give you a key. So you can use the front and back doors to the keep.
1. The entire quest is the other way around
By the end of my quest, the goodies are dead and the baddies (including you, hopefully) are still alive.
2. Missing in Action - Prologue
You have the option of collecting a lore-friendly reminder to do this quest in Solitude, where I recommend you go anyway, before beginning 'Missing in Action'. But you can also start the quest in the normal way, and the prologue quest will be ignored.
3. Agent Aldaron
There is now a new NPC who adds you to the Thalmor factions as often as you like (every six hours), if you're not sure if you're a member or not.
This should prevent any problems with hostility. Go and see Agent Aldaron in the Winking Skeever in Solitude. Your dialogue option 'Just reporting in' will get you added to the Thalmor Faction, World-Encounter Thalmor Faction
(I set it as "Just reporting in" so that you could be reporting in as normal between missions, or coming back from being missing yourself. Aldaron will help you clear everything up)
If you haven't started Missing in Action yet, Aldaron will give you an execution order for Avulstein Gray-Mane. Ask him "Anything I can do..."
If you get into trouble with the Thalmor at any time, even when the quest is not running, Agent Aldaron will always be in a good mood and will allow you to report in. The Thalmor have long memories and do not forgive, except when they're permanently stationed in a pub, in which case they forgive anything and have very bad memories, like anybody else.
4. Your friend, the Northwatch Guard
The Northwatch guard doesn't say "Halt" now. Introduce yourself, and he will recognise you and even give you a key. So you can use the front and back doors to the keep.
Quest Spoilers:
In the original quest:
Spoiler:
After discovering, via blackmail or burglary, that Thorald Gray-Mane is held by the Thalmor, you have these options:
1. you rampage through Northwatch Keep, either with Thorald's brother Avulstein, or alone, slaughtering everything in your path. Not good for your career if you are a Thalmor agent.
2. if you have the Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch, you can join the Imperial Legion, help General Tullius defeat Ulfric Stormcloak and end the civil war, and ask him for an Imperial Order to have Thorald released. Also not what you're stationed in Skyrim for, agent. Also, the Northwatch guard is annoyed about having to let him go and walks extra slowly just to spite you. I can't find any proof of this within the game mechanics, but that's exactly the sort of thing I would do.
3. There is a mod that removes the dialogue condition to win the war for the Imperials. But then you have to let a human out of prison and there isn't really a reason for that besides altruism, which might not interest you. - But here is the mod, in case you ever play a pacifist. Fix - Missing in Action
Show
After discovering, via blackmail or burglary, that Thorald Gray-Mane is held by the Thalmor, you have these options:
1. you rampage through Northwatch Keep, either with Thorald's brother Avulstein, or alone, slaughtering everything in your path. Not good for your career if you are a Thalmor agent.
2. if you have the Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch, you can join the Imperial Legion, help General Tullius defeat Ulfric Stormcloak and end the civil war, and ask him for an Imperial Order to have Thorald released. Also not what you're stationed in Skyrim for, agent. Also, the Northwatch guard is annoyed about having to let him go and walks extra slowly just to spite you. I can't find any proof of this within the game mechanics, but that's exactly the sort of thing I would do.
3. There is a mod that removes the dialogue condition to win the war for the Imperials. But then you have to let a human out of prison and there isn't really a reason for that besides altruism, which might not interest you. - But here is the mod, in case you ever play a pacifist. Fix - Missing in Action
In the updated, Thalmor-friendly quest:
Spoiler:
After discovering, via blackmail or burglary, that Thorald Gray-Mane is held by the Thalmor, but which you already knew because you are the Thalmor:
You agree to meet Thorald's brother Avulstein outside Northwatch Keep, where you taunt him a bit, and kill him and any accomplices. Then you go into Northwatch Keep, after introducing yourself to the gate guard, and taunt and threaten Thorald until he gives you a secret code that will stop his poor aged mother from asking questions and causing a fuss. At this point, Thorald is expendable and you can let him live or not. I killed him once and the interrogator just shouted "Be careful" and didn't turn hostile. Poor Thorald will be disabled when the quest ends anyway, so if you don't want to get your hands any dirtier, just leave him to the interrogator.
Apart from the nasty quest journal entries, the quest is the same up until you get your options for getting Thorald back from Northwatch Keep. All other options are bypassed, except for meeting Avulstein outside the keep. After all, he's the brother you want, so you'll need to lure him there.
Show
After discovering, via blackmail or burglary, that Thorald Gray-Mane is held by the Thalmor, but which you already knew because you are the Thalmor:
You agree to meet Thorald's brother Avulstein outside Northwatch Keep, where you taunt him a bit, and kill him and any accomplices. Then you go into Northwatch Keep, after introducing yourself to the gate guard, and taunt and threaten Thorald until he gives you a secret code that will stop his poor aged mother from asking questions and causing a fuss. At this point, Thorald is expendable and you can let him live or not. I killed him once and the interrogator just shouted "Be careful" and didn't turn hostile. Poor Thorald will be disabled when the quest ends anyway, so if you don't want to get your hands any dirtier, just leave him to the interrogator.
Apart from the nasty quest journal entries, the quest is the same up until you get your options for getting Thorald back from Northwatch Keep. All other options are bypassed, except for meeting Avulstein outside the keep. After all, he's the brother you want, so you'll need to lure him there.
Things that stay the same
- Finding evidence of Thorald's fate
- You still get the quest reward
- The existence of permanently angry Thalmor on the roads who tell you to get lost and call you a pathetic excuse for an elf. I'm sorry about them. They're not very bright. There's a reason why you're entrusted with hunting down Avulstein and they're not. I tried to fix them, but this caused more problems than it was worth, and so I remade the whole plugin. If they annoy you, you can just murder them and then go and tell Agent Aldaron that it was an accident. I can guarantee he'll believe you.
Not Compatible/Possible problems
I really recommend not adding this mod mid-playthrough, and especially not after starting the quest
- The Choice is Yours by kryptopyr : This makes changes to Missing in 'Action' and people have reported that my mod doesn't work with TCIY enabled.
- Mods that also change the text or speech options of this quest - probably not compatibleCompatible
Mods that change the interior of Northwatch Keep - compatible. I haven't moved any furniture.Things to bear in mind - If you're playing through The Second Great War on the Dominion's side, I recommend doing Missing in Action before you start, because the humans have a habit of occupying the fort and Thorald won't be there. I'd say do it after, but even without mods, the Gray-Mane family have been known to ignore you if you leave it too long between getting the initial quest and meeting Fralia at her home.
- Any NPCs that are placed in the Northwatch Keep prison by other mods, who are hostile to the Thalmor guards, will also be hostile to you. The one that I found was non-essential, but you may end up in an endless battle-loop with an essential NPC.
The new voiced dialogue was made possible thanks to:
Voice File Reference Tool 2
and
SKVA Synth - xVASynth for one or two lines
And what a wonderful pair of mods they are.
Thank you very much Netherworks, whose advice was incredibly useful when things broke. Which they do often when I make things.
My Other Mods
Thalmor Dialogue and Quests
Adds somewhat random conversations, arguments and fights to the death between your delightful Thalmor agent and the people of Skyrim, the Imperials and the Stormcloaks. And a quest to train some aspiring agents and test the obedience of informants.
Buying Proudspire Manor as a Thalmor
Don't violate the White-Gold Concordat and enable a dead Talos worshipper and just threaten Jarl Elisif instead. Then gloat about it with your colleagues.
Thalmor Dialogue and Quests for LE
Buying Proudspire Manor as a Thalmor for LE
Adds somewhat random conversations, arguments and fights to the death between your delightful Thalmor agent and the people of Skyrim, the Imperials and the Stormcloaks. And a quest to train some aspiring agents and test the obedience of informants.
Buying Proudspire Manor as a Thalmor
Don't violate the White-Gold Concordat and enable a dead Talos worshipper and just threaten Jarl Elisif instead. Then gloat about it with your colleagues.
Thalmor Dialogue and Quests for LE
Buying Proudspire Manor as a Thalmor for LE