Much Ado about Snow Elves
by Little Baron

"It has been a millennia since true Snow Elves gazed up at the sun of Skyrim. Present day Falmer are evidence of their tragic demise and artifacts of their existence have all but disappeared from living memory... until now. Calcelmo, mage scholar of Markarth, has uncovered a weapons cache that resembles nothing he has ever seen. He has burning questions, and you have helped him before in the Dwemer ruins of Nchuand-Zel. Will you help him once more? Scholarship has it's dangers, but it has its rewards as well�.
-- (Many thanks to Aliera Caine for this description and help fleshing out the quest's story!)


This lore friendly mod comes in two versions:

(1) A medium length quest and 100% custom snow elf weapons or
(2) weapons only.


�WEAPONS ONLY� version

The 'weapons only' version of the mod has Ghorza, the blacksmith in Markarth, selling basic snow-elven weaponry that Calcelmo's expedition has discovered. The courier should send a reminder letter to the player that this is the case, but regardless Ghorza will have a few items immediately and they will get replaced every couple of days.

The weapon set is complete, i.e, there is one of each type of weapon found in vanilla SKYRIM. They are 100% new meshes and have scabbards, blood decals, etc. They can be honed using Moonstone and Silver Bars. They cannot be forged. No perk is required to upgrade the weapons. They are comparable to Daedric items in rarity, cost and damage.

Falmer Loremasters are also lurking in Dwemer ruins, and may have a few Snow-elven items on them.


With the 082412 version of the mod, the weapon set and shield are now re-colored to more closely match the Ancient Falmer armor available in the Dawnguard DLC, and have been renamed from �Snow Elven� to �Ancient Falmer�.


�QUEST� version

This is the 'full' version of Much Ado. The player must complete the vanilla quest �The Lost Expedition� before the quest will initiate, but it does not matter if the mod is DL'd before or after you have completed �The Lost Expedition�.

Calcelmo of Markarth will send you a letter asking you for help finding some Snow-Elven artifacts he has learned about while working on his 'Falmer Translation Tome', which is part of the vanilla storyline. Calcelmo will also let you know that weapons are available via Ghorza the Blacksmith just as they are in the �WEAPONS ONLY� mod.

If you choose to help Calcelmo, you will end up exploring 4 entirely new dungeons, may uncover up to 8 unique and powerful artifacts of Snow-Elven design, will discover 4 new types of creatures thus far unknown in SKYRIM, and interact with several new Dwemer devices and other puzzling objects. At the end of the quest you are also granted a special power related to the Falmer. All the weapons and the power will always be available to you as long as you keep the Much Ado Master file enabled, even if you disable the quest.

The quest is fully voiced using the actual voices of the original NPC actors involved.



CONFLICTS:
There are currently no verifiable /known conflicts BUT Both version of the mod modify one Falmer encounter list.

The QUEST also makes some changes to a few interior and exterior cells, as few changes to as few cells as possible. Nonetheless, mods that also change these same cells MIGHT cause problems.

Modified cells: [spoiler] Mzulft Storage Room, Winterhold Arcaneum, Understone Keep, Sightless Pit, Irkinghand Exterior, Aftland Exterior
[/spoiler]



INSTALLATION: for NEW USERS (Either version)



Simply use NMM or place all the files into your SKYRIM/Data folder. Make sure that the .esm and .esp included in your version are both activated in the DATA interface of the SKYRIM launcher. Remember, when you are done with the quest, you can disable the Quest.esp (Plugin File) and you will still be able to keep anything you found and any power you may have gained. The .esm (Master File) must always be activated if you wish to keep these, however.

****INSTALLATION for PREVIOUS USERS (Weapons Only)

You should be able to safely replace the old .bsa's and .esm, .esp. in order to experience the new Post-DG look of the weapon set.

****INSTALLATION for PREVIOUS USERS (QUEST version)

**If you have already started the quest using a previous version:

DON'T INSTALL THIS ONE. Just finish the one you've got, disable the quest when you are done and replace the master file and .bsa to get the updated post-DG weapon look.

**If you installed the previous version but never attempted the quest:

1. DELETE ALL the MUCH ADO files from your SKYRIM/DATA folder
2. Load up your last save-game.
3. Save over it.
4. Re-install the files that came in the new version you downloaded.
5. Enjoy!



**If you installed a previous version and are now starting a new character to play with:

1. DELETE ALL the MUCH ADO files from your SKYRIM/DATA folder
2. Re-install the files that came in the new version you downloaded
3. Enjoy!

NOTE: The 1.7 patch causes any mod's dialog to not show up until a save and reload has been done with the mod already installed. If you planned on getting the quest going right away, keep that in mind.


KNOWN ISSUES(Contains Spoilers):


Quest path targets will not lead you directly into the Winterhold Arcaneum. This is a vanilla issue. Also, if Urag is for some reason not in the Arcaneum when you enter it, he may not show up as a quest target. The quest will still proceed as expected, however.

There is one small area where a follower will not be able to follow you, because followers cannot jump upward.

The ambient sound from having cast the power will continue for a while after it has elapsed. Again, this is a vanilla problem, as the sounds are added only via the game mechanics and not via a script.




PROBLEMS/COMPLAINTS:




I have tested the mod as thoroughly as possible. I have ensured that all required files are in the .bsa and have tested the mod with an otherwise empty Data folder and found it does work as intended. I cleaned the mod using TesSnip to make sure there was nothing in it that shouldn�t be.

Skyrim is an unbelievably buggy POS. I love it, but it is. Therefore, problems you may have in many cases are going to be related to vanilla bugs or mod conflicts that I can do little about. Sometimes, it's just not going to work for you.

Before you post a complaint, please be sure that:



1. You followed the installation procedures outline above, including having started with a clean save, and have verified that everything is where it should be and activated correctly.

2. If your problem is that the QUEST never started, make sure that you completed The Lost Expedition and have waited at lease 48 game hours. The courier also has to find you outside in a safe city, as he does in Vanilla SKYRIM.

3. In your complaint please state something like �I read steps 1-4 before posting and I am sure it's none of those things�. Otherwise my only response will be to point you to this list.



CREDITS: Many, see the credits section on the mod page!

PERMISSIONS:Do not redistribute in whole or in part without my permission. If you are unable to contact me for permission, my default answer is NO.



Update 062912 (06-29-12)

UPDATE 062912 - Many thanks to those of you who pointed out the issues that needed to be fixed!


1. Re-engineered the way Calcelmo took the 'artifacts' and subsequently updated the quest, due to some problems with it sometimes not proceeding as expected.

2. The enchanted weapons included in the quest mod are now upgradeable.

3. The doors to the new dungeons will now be open for re-exploration after the quest is finished, if you choose to keep the Quest .esp enabled.

4. All weapons and shields included in the Quest mod now reside in the .esm, so after playing through the quest mod it is safe to deactivate the two .esp's if you want to squeeze in one. more. mod. Without at least the 'weapon only' mod, however, Ghorza will stop selling the weapons. Which reminds me...

5. The weapon set is now available via Ghorza gra Bagol [The 'outside' Markarth blacksmith] instead of Moth gro Bagol [The one inside Understone Keep]. This is an attempt to avoid a CTD bug some people experience when entering Understone Keep. I had noticed there was a problem with Vanilla Moth needing some kind of extra reference, and eliminating him from my mod seems to have helped at least one person who reported the CTD bug.[/color]
6. Added a redundancy
6.'On Pick Up' for quest items so that they would hopefully not fail to update the quest as intended when they are 'taken'.
7. The artifacts can no longer be dropped by the player until they are meant to be dropped.

7.Other miscellaneous tweaks and optimizations not worth mentioning.


Update 082412 (08-24-12)

1. If Ghorza dies, her assistant will start selling the artifacts within two days.
2. Navmeshes were tweaked to allow followers to follow you wherever possible.
3. Weapon textures were re-colored and otherwise tweaked so they match the new DG Ancient Falmer content.
4. Weapons and Shield were named from �Snow Elven� to �Ancient Falmer�, again to match new DG content.
5. The end scene was reworked and the story aspect of the quest was fleshed out. Much credit should be given to Aliera Caine for her help in this regard. It is now EPIC.
6. Numerous visual effect and scene optimizations were made.
7. Issues with the ice not melting properly have been addressed.
8. Many spelling and grammar issues were addressed, thanks to the astute observations of SpiderExpert.
9. Some puzzles were clarified to avoid new players spending hours of time searching for things that did not exist.