Now that my Nocturnal character has advanced to becoming a full-time NPC, it's time to open this thread to track progress on the mod.
I've done enough world-building for now, having converted a couple of Oblivion worlds into islands in Evergloam (Nocturnal's realm) and Moonshadow (Azura's realm). That meant replacing all textures, swapping Oblivion rocks for regular ones, removing all creatures and plants, and then replanting more appropriate ones. The castle and palace were added and furnished, and some new races and creatures created, and outfits, and furniture, and portals, and ...
Now I'm starting to create quests. The first one has the player woken up by Nocturnal when he/she sleeps at the Guildmaster's quarters after becoming the new Gray Fox.
She summons you to her shrine outside Leyawiin, where she opens a portal to Evergloam. There's a castle on an island there, with a small number of Daedra Seducers as guards. Her realm has no sun (or moons) so is permanently in a slightly foggy darkness. Terrain uses Ordered textures, and all that grows is fungi, mainly the mushroom trees from SI, but also using the Tamriel ones, such as stinkhorn and enteloma. No enemies wandering around (yet?)
Nocturnal sets you the task of stealing the giant crystal ball from the basement of the Imperial Palace. Because it's so large, you need a Bag of Holding, and a special scroll, to get it out of there. As a Daedric Princess, Nocturnal has sufficient magical power to enchant the thing, something no mortal mage could manage.
She'll be using it to scry for items that she wants the player to steal or recover, each of which will add a separate quest.
Some of those will likely be Daedric Artifacts that have appeared in earlier games, but weren't in TES IV : Oblivion. At some point, one of the quests will take you to Azura's realm of Moonshadow, via a portal in Nocturnal's secret castle basement. I'm currently thinking it will involve recovering her Crescent (counterpart to Azura's Star, still trying to decide what it does). Since the castle is not in Tamriel, portals to other worlds aren't restricted the same way. In particular, Mehrunes Dagon's Deadlands are accessible from Evergloam or Moonshadow. The player can always go to SI via Tamriel, so no direct portal would be needed.
In Moonshadow, you'll emerge on an island that is permanently going through sunrise or sunset. You come in at the top, and her "beach hut" is a small palace off the coast, facing east to catch the sunrise. I've used Gold Coast terrain, and fall foliage to make best use of the gold/pink natural lighting. There's an underground section of the route down the mountain, which may get adversaries added. Her guards are again Daedra Seducers, but there's also a Winged Twilight waiting around to run errands for her.
Azura's island also has a cave, separate from the tunnel, that could have its own denizens that might be hostile. Nocturnal's currently does not, but has the opportunity for adding them. Those would give me the opportunity for local quests to interrupt the main sequence.
Screen-shots of the first quest:
http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/images/EV01_1.jpg - Burk seems to have stars in his eyes.
http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/images/EV01_2.jpg
http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/images/EV01_3.jpg
http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/images/EV01_4.jpg
"Burk seems to have stars in his eyes." - BWAAHAA! I saw them too, lol.
GAAAAAH! Does having SI mushrooms mean having SI is a requirement for the mod? Urk?
I am loving this mod, can't wait to hear about the quests! Hope Clark gets to visit, lol. Awesome, AWESOME job you are doing on this mod, I am loving it!
http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/Docs/WingedTwilight_lg.jpg
I'm desperately in need of creatures for Evergloam and Moonshadow that aren't essentially bare-breasted women, but lore dictates Winged Twilights for Azura, and the only Daedra I've found connected to Nocturnal were the Seducers. The caves may just get wild animals, as nothing else seems to fit. A few deer belong on Moonshadow Island, but I'm not sure what the equivalent harmless creature would be in Evergloam.
LOVE the Winged Twilight, they should come in both male and female (with the males tackle as well done as if AlienSlof herself made them, lol.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOT !!! (That is for the SI not being required, or for AlienSlof's boners, lol).
A gentle animal that is not a deer? A bunny rabbit? A chicken? A cow? Oh - goats. They fit in any realm!
Bats for Evergloam maybe?
How about foxes? And maybe butterflies could become luna moths.
Well, I would still like to see a Horned Twilight!!
Now don't get Azura going! She's a demanding woman at the best of times.
She'd want one of http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/images/WingedTwilightMaleCensored.jpg standing next to her bed, ready to fulfill her slightest whim.
ghastley, let’s not underestimate Azura. It’s my belief that she would require at least two.
ETA: On a real keyboard now. Looking great, especially those claws and feet! (And that’s quite an impressive censor bar.)
Does anyone have experience of using a modded bow with its speed altered? One of the quests I'm adding will retrieve Nocturnal's Bow of Shadows, which the Lore says confers fortified speed. Since a weapon can only have damage enhancements, I'm intending to have the speed on the bow itself, rather than affect the user. The enchantments will be Silence and damage health, making it a good mage-killer weapon.
I'm hoping to make this something like a cross between Farwil and Culotte, in that you have to rescue someone from an Oblivion world, and the opposition's all on the way out. She's the one that Nocturnal gave the bow to, but you have to find it, and her armor, before rescuing her, so she's equipped to help fight on the way out. If she survives, Nocturnal may let her keep the bow, even if you gave her another.
I've already cloned an Oblivion world, and chained the Bosmer up where the Dremora can have their way with her. I still have to place the extra Dremora that will appear once she's released, so she hasn't been able to use the bow yet.
Azura's quest will recover her crescent, which gets filled with magical energy the other way. The one that Skingrad mages use. That's why Azura gives the star away, but keeps the crescent for her own use.
Forgot to mention: Thanks to mr_siika, Evergloam now has Ravens circling over the castle, and the entry portal. I also have bats ready to install in a cave somewhere nearby.
Moonshadow has some deer roaming around, and I'm weighing the choices for who stole her crescent, and where it's hidden. I have a cave on the island that hasn't been populated yet, so it will probably get used, but it might only be part of the path.
The ravens sound cool!
Regarding speed and bows. . .
If you are talking about the bow conferring a bonus to the user's speed attribute, then I defer to SubRosa.
If you are talking about bow speed, I believe increasing a bow's speed from its default of 1.0 will simply speed reload and bowstring draw time, allowing the shooter a faster rate of fire - but not affecting the arrow's speed through the air.
If you increase an arrow's default speed from its default of 1.0, the arrow will travel faster through the air. This will affect its trajectory and take some practice relearning how to aim longer shots.
Since Buffy uses the equivalent of a .50 caliber sniper rifle for a bow, it could make sense to slow her bow speed and increase the speed of her arrows. . . but we just leave 'em both at default.
I've added a cave to the island near the back of Evergloam Castle, and installed some bats. They're there, complete with fireball spells, to try and keep a lid on the vampire problem. Since Evergloam is in permanent darkness, it's a magnet for all the homeless vampires that can find their way there. Nocturnal suspects that Sheogorath sends any that get into his realm over to hers. Did you ever see a vampire in the Shivering Isles? Didn't think so!
The bats are all in a special faction that has -100 disposition modifier to the Vampire faction. I'm not sure whether it means the bats hate the vampires, or the other way round, but it should persuade them to fight each other when they're in range.
The cave system re-uses parts of Underpall Cavern, so there's a fort ruin part where there are vampires, and no bats. I'm thinking that Nocturnal might offer a bounty on Vampire Dust, like Roland Jenseric does, maybe the same amount, so you don't prefer one to the other. However, that's for after the initial quest to go to the cave, which I'm still working up. I need a reason for the continuing nuisance of vampire presence to have crossed a line somewhere, to get Nocturnal angry enough to do something extra. Maybe an attack on one of her Seducers?
I love the idea of Sheo sending vamps to torment, and the bats hating the vampires! That must be very cool to sneak in and watch the action!
Maybe they could have made a thrall or prisoner of a Seducer and the Player has to rescue them?
I’m with mALX on the quest rewards. Summon Seducer or (Winged Hottie for Azura) would be an awesome reward for finishing the questline, and a free bed and safe storage to use while visiting the realm would be a great way to say “you belong here” after a quest or two. Weapon rewards would probably only get used if they looked cool, like a black version of glass or something.
Decorative items, different clothes, and alchemy ingredients are what brought my characters back to the Shivering Isles. I could see wanting to return to Evergloam to hunt shadow cats, harvest black mushrooms caps and mist weed, and search for the illusive Summon Bat (or Summon Raven) spell tomes. If you have a settlement there could be a merchant selling Stygian Brandy and Ebony Ale.
Now I'm trying to think of a fun alternative bounty Nocturnal could offer on vampire dust for those who are already rich. Of course talking to Nocturnal is its own reward, but still.
Oh, instead of a reward she could give predictions into the Player's future like that lady in the Leyawiin Mages Guild does - each time you come back she gives a different prediction (as long as it is past 24 hours game time since you asked her last). It is based on what stages of what quests the Player has done, I think. If nothing has changed she can tell them to go do something and come back, lol.
Enchanted arrows would also be a welcome gift, since they get used up. I’m trying to think of a blessing Nocturnal could give that would help a thief but not just duplicate the skills they’ve already mastered while pursuing the TG questline. Maybe a day-long Shield effect.
I like the idea of summon spells for the questline final rewards. A lesser duration for Azura's, as it's only part-way through the series, like the two levels of summon you get in the SI. Since I have both genders of Winged Twilight, I'll give the player the choice.
Decorative items is a good idea. Azura has that special blue Ayleid ware in her palace, and could give the player a planter with some (unique new?) useful ingredient plant in it. I can probably find something appropriate for Nocturnal, too. Maybe those exotic drinks. Guest rooms in the residences means a bit of rework for the interiors, but could be possible. Evergloam castle already has a few spare doors, and Moonshadow Hall has adjacent islands that could get a "beach hut" added.
After the first quest, I think Nocturnal should make sure the player has a night-eye enchanted item, so that the glare of a torch or light spell doesn't annoy the Seducers. I'm working on the script to lower their disposition if the player lights the place up. I'm not sure how to work out if the player already has something, other than being a Khajiit, of course. It may be sufficient to check if the player has night-eye active when he talks to her in the castle at the end of the first quest. If he has it, but isn't using it, that will serve to point out the error, even if the "reward" is redundant.
I think I have my reason for the "hunt down the vampires" quest. When you rescue Cyndil, she stays at Evergloam Castle so that Nocturnal can check her out for PTSD. That was mainly so that I could end her following the player, but it also provides a magnet for the vampires, who need mortal, not Daedric, blood. They've just taken refuge from the daylight in her realm up to then, but Cyndil's presence changes things.
I had thought about Nighteye, too. It’s likely that a thief will have either Alchemy or Illusion to solve that problem, but a cool enchanted item would still be very appreciated. Maybe something like those goggles Teresa uses, or non-armor gloves enchanted with both Nighteye and Detect Life? That would make my little sneak very happy since the game doesn’t allow two effects on self-enchanted apparel. Plus a Detect Life boost is always welcome.
Come and get it!
I've put together an alpha version 0.1 so that folks can give me some feedback. For mALX, I've included an alternate plug-in that doesn't use SI assets, so anyone should be able to use this. You will need a character that has completed the Thieves Guild quest-line, or nothing will happen!
It's an adult mod, with Daedra seducer guards patrolling naked except for their sandals and wings, and Nocturnal and Azura are habitually topless. A Bosmer you have to rescue is chained up with her legs raised in the Dremora Citadel. The scamps there are also abusing the other female prisoners.
This only has the first three quests, so you won't get any quests for Azura yet. However, you can use "coc MoonshadowEntrance" to go wander around her realm and visit her in her beach hut. It does have things like loading screens, and local maps, but the caves and paths have no inimical wildlife.
I suppose you could also use "coc EvergloamEntry" to go there if you don't have a suitable character.
http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/Download/Evergloam.7z (50MB) - BAIN archive, and since it uses some commonly used modders' resources, I'd recommend using BAIN to avoid problems with other mods that share them.
http://ghastley.org/oblivion/docs/evergloam.html - There's a link to the Azura's crescent quest, but until it's created, that link will be broken. You may find a few more "not yet implemented" bits.
WOO HOO! DL'd it; will have to find an old save to use (I think I have one that was through the Thieves Guild quest). If I can't find one, I'll choose an old save and play through it.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT !!!!!!!!
It's all Acadian's fault.
Hee! Buffy's passion comes back to haunt her!
Fortunately, she's an illusionist and not a destruction mage. Yikes, such passion channeled into destruction could be really dangerous!
The http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/Docs/AzurasCrescent.html is now implemented, but I'm still doing a bunch of cosmetic changes in Moonshadow, as well as prep-work for future quests. The Seducers and Twilights' wings are now animated at last, and I've created the Summon Twilight spell, as the reward for that quest. It will probably be adaptable for a Summon Seducer one later.
The Cyndil rescue quest has been tested with Cyndil getting pushed into the lava, so that the bow is not retrievable, and all the outcomes tested. I still need to adjust the rewards for that one, so that you get more for bring back both Cyndil and the bow, and a bonus if she has it, not the player. I'm thinking Gold rewards, higher than any merchant would give for the artifact, and maybe having Nocturnal buy any other artifacts you have as well (any that are acceptable for the MQ that is). Most characters seem to just have those on display, as the enchantments aren't what they use.
First quest will net you a ring with Night-eye and Fortify Sneak. I tried it with Night-eye + Detect Life, and the result was unpleasant. Those are two things I prefer to use separately.
Bat cave quest gets you continuing rewards of Vampire Dust bounty + enchanted arrows at the smithy, so there's nothing at completion.
1. Do I have to re-download the mod to have this quest added?
2. Do the Twilights and Seducers "Tackle" raise and lower with the wing animations? (Just kidding, I've obviously had too much coffee already today, lol)
You will, but it's not packaged up yet. Moonshadow needs more work, before I can release the next part. It needs a lot more trees, and creatures in the caves.
I don't want to release too often, either, as each time I have to re-delete the SI content from the Evergloam area, to produce the non-SI version. I'm trying to automate that, but haven't yet.
The skeleton I found for the wings also has extra bones for moving other anatomical details, but I don't have any animations that do so.
http://ghastley.org/oblivion/download/Evergloam020.7z - with animated wings, Non-quest voices (Standard greetings etc) for the seducers and twilights, and the EV04 quest added.
Again with a non-SI esp for those who need it.
I found that Tes4Files was including a lot of things that weren't part of the mod, just because it couldn't rule them out. Like all the landscape LOD I'd built for Valenwood and Elsweyr, not just the new worldspaces, and all the animations, even though only a few were needed. So this time I deleted any files that weren't needed and it was more than I'd added. All of Moonshadow was included in the first one, but there was no quest to get there, so the only new stuff was dialog text and quest stages, which are small.
Now I've mentioned it in the FF thread, I've started work on the EV05 quest. The player is tipped off by Ulliceta gra-Kogg, the Orc magister who was denounced (falsely) as a necromancer, about the Chrysamere being smuggled through Cyrodiil. I need a way for the player to help her cause once he's recovered the sword, i.e. help her prove she's not a necromancer.
Any ideas? Preferably something that needs thief skills, of course.
I'm now thinking that I mix those two thoughts.
The documents are in the IC somewhere, perhaps multiple locations, but the "shady dealings in the O&C basement" were Ulliceta storing corpses to be shipped to her lab. She'd provided Talasma with cold storage facilities in the basis of being able to use them herself. Mariette found out and the documents are letters from Mucianus thanking her for her help, as well as evidence that the bodies were donated to Ulliceta for her medical research, with agreements about proper disposal after use, so that the necromancers couldn't use them.
Nope, Mariette and Mucianus are out. You can do these quests without starting the MG ones, so you won't know about either of those characters. But I can create other necromancers to take their places. Same thing will work. May even be able to do so without names, so they can be identified as M&M later.
I think I have this one worked out at last.
The mages' quarters at the Arcane University provide no personal storage for the staff and students, so they'd want somewhere off-site for that. Ontus Vanin retired from the University and is now antagonistic to MG members. Add these two together, and OV quit when necromancy was banned, as he disagreed with the way the ban was enforced, making practitioners and researchers alike into pariahs overnight. Some of the mages had left stuff in his basement, and that includes a mage's robe, a necromancer's robe, and a letter from M to M complaining about Ulliceta's getting all the best corpses, and destroying them when she's finished with them.
I still have some clean-up and packaging to do, but I should have a new version to try in a couple of days. Doc is http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/Docs/Evergloam.html and for this quest it's http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/Docs/Chrysamere.html
Edit: Make that available now. You can get beta version 0.3 http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/download/Evergloam030.7z Once again, there are SI and non-SI esp's. Install only one. If the non-SI users get a WTF mesh, let me know where!
Next quest I'm working on involves http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/images/MysteryWoman.jpg, who is shown at the Wobbly Goblet to avoid providing any additional clues with a location. I'll let you all guess who she might be for a day or two.
She's a character from an in-game book, the name of which you may be able to determine from a clue in the picture, although she's not yet wearing a black velvet cloak, because I haven't made one so far.
No, I meant that a Redguard doesn't live as long as an elf, and she IS a Redguard.
I think you'll need to identify the city she's from first.
Is it Haballa?
This is AWESOME !!!
I just took Roger Ro'Jhirr through the new quest, doing "Canvas the Castle" at the same time. That only tests some of the alternative dialog, so I need to do it again with another character who already did it, and a third time to account for the option of Chanel being banished, and another mage taking over her job. I'm also revising Haballa's AI to let her get at least some sleep while she's waiting for the player to do everything.
Once I've done that, there should be a new version to test.
Wow. I'm mostly following along from a 'Ooh, look at the pretty pictures' perspective, but Ghastley Enterprises sure seems to be producing some professional quality mods. I only have your Falkreath mod, but even that small mod nicely showcases your rich talent.
WOO HOO! I love that you are going through all the possibilities that might cause conflicts!
I always wanted to make up some weird consequences for each decision the Player makes as far as going the hero path or going the evil path; or searching for a (treasure or whatever) and searching in the wrong place.
In my village mod I hid a treasure, and every wrong place you looked had a trap that would transport you somewhere (like to the bottom of a tower filled with deep water, and the exit was at the bottom), etc - those kind of consequences. It was one of the things I loved so much about Fallout 3 - you never knew whether 3 Dog would be on your side or against you on some of those quests, lol.
I am SO excited over this mod!
I'm likely to take a laptop to England next week, and work on the Evergloam mod while I'm there.
I have an idea for Nocturnal founding the Nightingales (as seen in Skyrim) just before the Oblivion crisis, and inducting the player and Cyndil to replace two that just died in Skyrim. Dralsi, the daughter of Barenziah and Drayven Indoril, is the third, and she can come to Evergloam for it. The two ghosts might be there, too.
They died clearing the Twilight Sepulchre of draugr, and the place is not complete. Nocturnal still needs a few things to put the final touches to it. Cue a few fetch quests in Cyrodiil. Once all pieces are in place, a portal can be opened (the Ebonmere) and all can travel to Skyrim - although they won't get outside, just into the interior cell, which keeps it consistent with Oblivion. If the Oblivion Twilight Sepulchre looks just a bit like part of the Skyrim one, all differences can be put down to later remodelling. With at least one woman among the Nightingales, redecoration will be constant.
Now to go read and visit and get ideas for the Oblivion quests.
I took one of my old Oblivion characters for a wander around the dungeon I'd built for the next quest of Evergloam. It's supposed to be the beginnings of the Twilight Sepulchre you visit in Skyrim, and you'll get there direct from Nocturnal's realm, instead of crossing the Cyrodiil border. The entrance is still being dug out, and there are still a few draugr (skellies with armor) and regular skeletons to clear out before it's usable as a shrine. I'd intended to post a few screenshots, but I hadn't installed Fraps properly on the laptop, so the captures weren't captured. I did decide that the dungeon wasn't large enough, and so expansion has begun.
I'd like to match the layout of the Skyrim dungeon as closely as possible, to at least suggest that this is the ancestor of the later one. Obviously the tilesets are different, but architecture gets repaired and rebuilt, so that's not a big deal. I'm also trying to create an Oblivion version of Nocturnal's statue from Skyrim, without actually using the same mesh, as that's a significant item along the path. I may just have to place a plinth, and put something in her dialogue to say that a statue is coming.
Once this stuff is done, I think the Evergloam mod will be done enough to release at the Nexus. The quest line will have a purpose, and a reasonable conclusion, with the formation of the second Nightingale Trinity.
Latest Evergloam now available!
http://ghastley.org/Oblivion/download/evergloam040.7z lets you become a Nightingale after you defeat Ogrim the Restless and reclaim the Twilight Sepulchre for Nocturnal.
When I played through the final quest I felt it was a bit of an anti-climax, so I'll want to beef it up later. I'll probably make the dungeon larger and have some of the sections be closed off by rockfalls after you leave, so that it isn't larger than the Skyrim version. But I want your feedback first, so give it a try!
I originally made the NonSI version included for mALX, but I think she wasn't the only person without the DLC, so it has been kept up-to-date with the base. Hope she re-appears to try it!
Yay, this is exciting! I’ve installed the regular version with BAIN and Kanet is ready to go. She’s getting her tasks directly from the Grey Fox now and has already fenced enough to move her through the end quests. I’ll report on her progress.
Thanks, ghastley!
@Grits: Thanks for the feedback. You've reminded me that Azura's supposed to get a second quest that she'll reward with a key to the guesthouse. I already created that - complete with interior cell, and Twilight attendant and key - but haven't designed a quest to get it. There's a cave on the island that was built with a view to its being the location of the quest, but it's currently empty.
I'm also starting to rethink the linearity of the whole thing. It might be nice to have more than one of Nocturnal's quests pending at the same time, if the player prefers. The way the EV00 quest works now, you don't get a new quest until you finish the prior one. That's all controlled in the script for that (hidden) quest, and could easily be adjusted. EV01 - Things That Go Bump In The Night - has to come first, but not all the others need to be chained in a fixed order. Origin of the Nightingales probably needs to be last - or at least after a quota of other quests is done - as you get a faction rank from it.
Edit: Some thoughts on the second Azura quest. This can happen any time after the first, and would be started by Azura sending her Winged Twilight messenger to you. Unlike Nocturnal's use of Amusei (and Methredhel indirectly) this could be anywhere, at any time, after the appropriate time has elapsed since the Crescent quest finished. You'd still have to go there through Evergloam, as that's the only portal.
One of her Daedra Seducer guards has run off with an overgrown imp, because Azura's been monopolising the male Twilights since she got her crescent back. The imps have her imprisoned in the cave, and it will be similar to the Cyndil rescue in having the imps appear after you find the victim, so she needs protecting, as well as just fighting the imps.
I'm trying to think of a practical way of complicating the quest by making the Imp boss hostile to the player, but the hostage doesn't want him killed. I can get double use of the same real estate if you have to get her back to Azura first, and have her remove the spell that made her fancy him, and then go back and punish the Imp boss, who will have a fresh bunch of minions to help him. Maybe he'll be essential until you finish the first half of the quest? Then I have to stop him leaving the cave and chasing you.
There are two potential rewards. You get the key to the guest house (which has a Twilight attendant in residence) from Azura for killing the imp boss, and a "Summon Me" spell from the Daedra Seducer you rescued (if she survives the ordeal).
Quick question. Is there something I’m supposed to do to trigger the Sepulcher quest? If not it seems that Amusei might be having trouble getting to Kanet, or maybe it hasn’t been long enough since she finished The Sentinel Painting. That was two (or three, I’ve forgotten) game nights ago.
Oh, I just saw your April 11 edit about Azura’s second quest. I’ll be back tomorrow with more brain cells functioning, lol. Those are great rewards!
Ooo, that’s a tricky situation for Clark! I was thinking a Paralysis spell to keep the Captain out of the fight until the boss is down, but of course that would not encourage her to follow the player afterward. She’d probably be even angrier. I’m looking forward to whatever you come up with!
Since she's there because her "Allure" spell backfired when the Imp boss reflected it back at her, the simple answer is to Dispel it. However, I want Azura to do that when you take her back, so that she can suitably chastise the Captain, and give you the summon spell.
I may need a custom spell, just for this purpose; perhaps given on a scroll, like I did for the Bag of Holding, and equally restricted for target. Casting it switches her obsession to the player, and perhaps it's a "cast on self" that just needs her to be near enough to notice.
Edit: That spell probably does need to be cast on self to avoid her reflecting it. Does Atronach interfere with cast on self?
Reviewing the plan of the cave (cloned from Timberscar Hollow) I noted that there were two major side-passages, and I'd used the original boss location to place the Captain, and her Imp captor. The other one that was just acting as a false path, and nothing else. So I made an Imp Queen by re-shaping the model appropriately, and installed a locked gate to separate her from the rest. I'm currently considering the possible variations on why she's locked away.
1) The Captain locked the gate to her quarters so she wouldn't interfere with her plans for the chief drone.
2) Boss drone found out how to lock the gate. He's unusually intelligent for an imp, and thinks the Captain is prettier than the Imp Queen.
3) Gate locked itself when it swung shut. Imps can't figure out locks, so they've been feeding her through the gate's bars. Imps want Captain to unlock it.
4) Queen locked it, because she doesn't like current boss drone.
Queen could be ally or enemy, depending on chosen scenario, but most likely hates the Captain, as a rival. She could still be pro-player, for extra confusion.
Captain has no lock-picking ability, and does not currently have the key. If she did have it before, she lost it as part of the spell incident that left her enthralled to the Imps.
I have the Captain behaving neutrally. She doesn't fight for or against the imps, and they don't target her. That can change, for example when the player casts the spell to make her follow.
---
I'm trying to make this a two-visit quest: first time using stealth to extract Captain, second time force against the imps. Each half gets rewarded, so it's effectively two quests. However, I can't see a way to prevent the player from short-circuiting the plan by attacking the imps on the first visit. I want them to be hostile if the player is detected, but I also need them to be there when the second visit is made. Perhaps only Boss Imp is enabled on first pass, and visit two is to release the Queen? Imps can stop attacking player when she's out, much like defeating the Shaman ceases goblin hostility in the Goblin Wars quest.
Just released http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/45232.
Thanks to Grits for the beta-testing!
I hope the general public doesn't keep me too busy to do the Skyrim one!
Congrats on releasing 1.0! This was a lot of fun, ghastley.
Sorry I completely missed your edit in the post above.
Kanet will continue to visit your Daedric realms, and I’m already looking forward to your Skyrim TG extension.
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