Wow, this AD questline in Greenshade seems loooong

It basically has 2 arcs packed into a single zone.
Malabal Tor is short to make up for it, though. :V The "main" quest part, at least. Still the usual content, though.

Huh...I don't think I ever noticed the battle lines that Lyris spouted off, or I quickly forgot about them. Yikes, those are cringy.



A late reply on my part, but thank you Grits.



That's an interesting point you make, mALX. After all, two years of torture at the hands of the Daedric Prince of Schemes and his lich lackey that tried to usurp him will do that to you in Sai's case. Should I ever play through the main quest again, maybe that character will use these rationalizations to sacrifice Sai or Lyris.

So after Cincinnatus's wonderful outing with his guild, he decided to make way for Orsinium again. Upon entering the city he received his own Echalette, and he became quickly enamored with it. I'm not sure what name I'm going to settle on yet, but one idea that sounded cool came--Arkanon--to me earlier so Cincinnatus is going to stick with that name for now. May not even sound cool later on.


Also, I want to gauge the opinions of the ladies and gents here about something. It is something I have mixed feelings on. Forgive the long blocks of incoming text.

What are everyone's thoughts on the whole premise for how a character can do another Alliance questline? The whole "Meridia has cast a spell on you so other people don't see your true nature" thing? On one hand, it feels a bit contrived and way too convenient, but on the other hand I guess it would be hard to come up with another reason for your character to be able to travel to another province relatively without hassle and it is nice to be able to see what the rest of Tamriel has to offer. But there also seems to be a bit of...complication about it, at least in my case.

So before our guild meeting, earlier this week Cincinnatus made his way over to Auridon. He had heard about the beauty of the Summerset Isles and wanted to see it for himself. He ran into some battles, of course, and while annoyed that his sight-seeing was interrupted he didn't take too kindly to the Veiled Inheritance attacking innocent villagers. So he rescued the town of Silsailen, and the boss of that quest (unfortunately some other player killed him when I was in the room so I didn't even get to attack him and that part of the quest ended, which was a little annoying, but anyway...) had written a note that described me as a "maddeningly altruistic Argonian." A nice touch, although it seems to go against the whole shielding-of-your-real-identity thing.

And then at the Quendeluun (?) wayshrine, I found an Altmer who's daughter was kidnapped. Naturally, Cincinnatus goes to help out. He finds the daughter, who then mentions her brother was taken. Turns out the brother is in league with the Veiled Inheritance and...the Ebonheart Pact. I initially went through with the quest and freed a fellow Argonian there too, but eventually I abandoned the quest because I didn't think doing it would suit Cincinnatus's character. But I'm debating even that now. Maybe it actually would suit him. After all, the initial thought was that he would be appalled at the Pact's partnership with the Veiled Inheritance after his earlier run-ins with them, but they are still Pact members. It was also hard to not notice the fact that they did not register that I, too, am part of the Pact, and I was not given the option to tell that Argonian I freed that I was part of the Pact (in fact, I explicitly had to say that I wasn't). Perhaps I'll go back to the quest later, but for now I'm just going to pretend the thing I originally set out to do is done.

So anyway...

Am I thinking about this too much? Is there something I am missing the whole masking-of-my-identity-by-Meridia thing? And I understand it is a lot of work to code in more voice acting lines and dialogue options to suit other Alliances (like telling that Argonian that I was also Pact, for example, or other people like those in Silsailen acknowledging that I am part of the Pact as some examples).

In the words of many of the NPCs in Morrowind: please, share your thoughts.

I’ve always refused to allow TES lore or the games themselves to interfere with Buffy’s adventuring.

Some examples:

The three alliances mean nothing to Buffy. She has never bought into the concept of loyalty to any organization, be it political or guild. Her only loyalties are to individuals. She takes quests to help individuals. Just as she travels times and worlds, she has no problem adventuring in differing alliances.

Speaking of traveling times and worlds, that is why Buffy and Acadian can adventure so readily in games such as Oblivion, Skyrim, ESO and even Baldur’s Gate II and Diablo II before that. Acadian is why Buffy exists – he is her creator. More importantly, only her creator can take her existence away. She knows that if she is vanquished, she will lose her memories but Acadian will retain them and the pair will appear again – somewhere, sometime – perhaps even beyond Tamriel.

Though some in ESO tell Buffy that her ‘soul’ is missing, she knows that is not the case. What they might call her soul is the spirit she shares with Acadian. No one besides Acadian could ever remove that from her. Certainly not some pissant Deadra Lord or a worm like Minnie Marco.

Buffy does not ascribe to the Green Pact, though she is deadly serious about the respect she feels for both trees and animals. Her respect is manifested in a manner consistent with the early tribes that inhabited the great plains and forests of America though – not the nonsensical Green Pact. She honors the bounty of nature by using only what she needs – be it plant or animal.

In Buffy’s world, the term soul trap is a misnomer used by those not fully trained in enchanting and other such arcane manners. (Note that I'm talking about white soul gems; black ones are indeed dangerous and she will not touch them.) Buffy realizes that what is harvested by a white soul gem is not the soul but the residual magicka released upon death. That magicka is of no more use to the dead creature than their flesh or pelt. As such, she honors them by using what they no longer need.

This is a late night post so I'll do my best to keep it coherent. I warn you, though, one time, in the middle of the night, my mind was blown by the fact that, yes, I wear glasses.


It's definitelly contrived and they could have done better, particularly because certain NPC's ACTUALLY RECOGNIZE YOU FROM THE COLDHARBOUR SEQUENCE FOR SOME REASON. It could be that it's only meant for your home alliance--in case you do skip quests with characters involved and they take notice, but due to how messy it could get, you get it regardless of whether or not it's your own alliance. (Example: Some lady from the Daggers in Rivenspire recognized Hates from the negotiations. Hates is EP.) It gets weird because the idea is that you're sort of...sent back in time? At least while you're in the Alliance's lands? Characters who should be dead are alive, and everything SHOULD be before the Coldharbour thing. "What if you had washed up in a different shore," and all that (I believe Cadwell said that?)




Oh my god! So this might be a spoiler for that quests, but it actually becomes really ridiculous.

L M A O (spoiler image, put here cause putting the link inside the spoiler doesn't work???)


Yes, probably thinking too hard. Meridia's "your identity will be masked" is just a handwave for you being able to do the other questlines as if you started out in that alliance...which you can do whenever now anyways. I guess now it's a way to explain why you're suddenly back in time, where if you do all 3 at the same time it's just that you haven't gotten to that point yet. (Oh geeze, does that open a new can of worms...)

So ignoring the obvious...technical difficulties, take it as a "what if" scenario. That's what I did. The entire Squad did each other's alliances, but it didn't happen in "real time." More like a simulation, I guess. 'Course, random NPC's mentioning "your" exploits might shatter that illusion as well. Yes, even random NPC's will remember what you did in alliances that aren't yours. Good jorb, Meridia.

It's a mess, like pretty much anything resembling a coherent timeline in ESO. This is why it's a commonly held belief it takes place during a Dragon Break. Papa Akatosh is having some issues.

This post has been edited by monkeyemoness: Jul 9 2017, 05:52 AM

Multiple Feng-Do pics inbound. Standby...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not like a hardcore role-player. My roles that my characters (at least "main" ones) take are more malleable, not really fitting into a tidy box. The progressively greater emphasis on role-playing is a recent development for me.

In any case, it isn't really the lore that dictates what I do. There might be little things here and there, but other than that I usually do what I think suits the character regardless. My main heroes most often tend to be "vigilante" types who take justice into their own hands, sometimes extra-judicially.

Perhaps I should stress that Cincinnatus isn't loyal to the Pact just because it's the Pact, although it may seem otherwise the way I write down his adventures. It's more a matter of the Pact being what he sees as the best way to seeing his vision for himself, the Saxhleel, and Tamriel being realized. But he won't just turn a blind eye to any wrongdoings the Pact does simply because it is the Pact, which is why I was debating how to go about the quest I mentioned earlier.

I find it very interesting how Buffy operates. Great insight into how she (and you) go about your way.



Hah, I was afraid my rambling wouldn't make any sense. And since it is late while I type this, this could be rambling too or I might forget something I wanted to say...

I'm not sure how to efficiently break up your quote into multiple ones so this will have to do.

I actually ran into Telenger the Artificer over at Ezduiin. Dude had no clue who I was. A bit disappointing considering the fact that I am the sole reason he is still alive after what happened in Coldharbour, but I guess we can let that slide.

I was actually thinking about Cadwell's words about that "What if?" scenario while I was typing out those walls of text. I guess it could work, although it would still be a bit complicated in terms of time.

...

For that quest specifically (I don't know if I should put spoilers, but just in case):


...

The Dragon Break thing does make some more sense now, but it always seemed to be an excuse for those who were just really reluctant to acknowledge ESO as canon. I suppose that's why so much of the records of that timeframe were lost to history in other TES games.

Taking it as a "What if?" scenario does seem to make sense, like based on what Cadwell said. Still would feel kind of weird to do it with this character, but maybe I'll decide to do it later. In any case, Cincinnatus is more concerned with traveling the world right now. There are a lot of places he wants to see (and of course, I do as well). There ought to be plenty of quests along the way that will make sense for Cincinnatus to do in terms of role-playing.

Okay, I really ought to turn in for the night. Hopefully what I just said makes sense and conveys what I wanted to say.

Right?

That isn't even the worst of them, there is one about her Axe improving their looks - etc. And they are repeated constantly throughout the tutorial Coldharbour ("Escape from Coldharbour" quest) = and after each and every time she says them, she laughs at what she has said as if she has said the funniest thing in the world. By the time I leveled up to 5 I was ready to sacrifice her without the quest, lol. (jk).




This post has been edited by mALX: Jul 9 2017, 03:23 PM

It wasn't just that Meridia cast a spell on you so no one would know your original Alliance; but that at the time you step into that portal in the Harborage = all the Alliances had already come together as one to take down Molag Bal; and one ruler was chosen (one you helped choose of the three Alliance rulers) to rule all of Tamriel from that point on.

(Misa was Ebonheart Pact, but she chose Queen Ayrenn to rule "One Tamriel")

So technically, when you step into that portal to visit those other provinces you are actually stepping back in time to BEFORE all that happened and seeing what was happening in those other Alliances before the big merge of powers to take down Molag Bal.

It is no different than when you were morphed into that male Orc to view the past (in Betnikh); everyone saw you as actually being that male Orc; and if you had a looking glass you would see a male Orc looking back at you in it even if you were actually a Nord female.

It is done through powerful magic and traveling back through time to the same point where you originally started helping your own Alliance.

Now = that is how the game did it/set it up, but in your own roleplay = you can do whatever you like with it for your own character's storyline.

** That is really funny about that note though - I never saw that when I did that quest! But that said, if you use the "Adventure Pack" from the Crown Store - it allows you to play any race in any Alliance; so you could conceivably be an Argonian in the Aldmeri.

And it is kind of revealing to see what your own side was doing overseas that you never realized - and it IS an injustice to others, even if they are considered "enemies." Sort of like mistreatment of prisoners of war, etc. A lot of the people being hurt were civilians. So do you identify yourself as "Pact" when even you don't like what you see they are doing (or are you a neutral being who just doesn't like to see innocent civilians abused by any faction?)

With me - I was always on the side of the innocents, no matter who was their torturer.



This post has been edited by mALX: Jul 9 2017, 04:08 PM

Ok here are some pics of Feng's tour in Greenshade:

All hail the Wilderqueen! (She was quite smitten with Feng, heh heh)

The Maomer unleash a horror from the deep during an epic sea battle!

Peek-a-boo!

Feng with Captain Jimila after our victory over the Maomer. (Feng likes Captain Jimila! )

Feng and Indaenir investigating corruption.

Indaenir taking the darkness into himself to save Valenwood.

Blinding light means it's done...

... and so is Indaenir?

The Heart of Valenwood restored to its glory!

The Mane in his snazzy Shogun Cat-sassin armor!

Queen Ayrenn receiving the good news from attendant Khajiit. Note Feng's good buddy Lord Gharesh-Ri to the right of the Queen! Awesome guy!

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Jul 9 2017, 04:50 PM

*Snip*

I've been doing this with Britta on her playthrough (Misa did hers before One Tamriel, though she just finished up with Cadwell's last week)

Britta is doing each starter island; then each starter zone, etc. It is like she has no faction or Alliance, and is there as all the battles are beginning and all the Alliances forming. I have been torn between continuing this way or going ahead and doing the Ebonheart/Molag Bal first; haven't decided yet. But so far I haven't found any problems doing it this way since every Alliance territory she takes on is at the same level of the war as the others; so there is no "time travel" needed.

*Snip*


Bold: Simulation = Wow, that was an Awesome idea! Like "Anchorage," in Fallout 3 !!!! Awesome way to look at it, I may have to incorporate that !!!





You captured some of my favorite quests in the entire game in these screens! (Wilderqueen & Maomer) Awesome shots! I can't get the one of "The Mane" to open up, but I loved all I saw!




This post has been edited by mALX: Jul 9 2017, 05:07 PM

The original was really dark so Khajiit deleted it in Imgur and replaced it with a lightened version so you could see it better. If you try it again it should come up for you.

Oh thanks for fixing that! Great shot of "The Mane!" I like his liony cat looks, lol.

Honestly, Khajiit likes Gharesh-Ri better. The Mane has a goofy voice, lol

Oh, thanks for the Greenshade shots, Khajiit! Buffy the templar is doing her Gold now in Grahtwood, so Greenshade is next. It is wonderful to sneak a peek since it has been so long since Buffy the sorc did the AD quests. One think I love about Buffy is that her attention span and memory when it comes to events is not very long. So as long as some time and other things have occurred in between, she won't remember the details of coming back to tred the same ground and quests again.

Heh, it is very clear that Feng likes Captain Jimila! Wonderful shots, and well-chosen to help showcase some of the large questibits in Greenshade.

Thanks A. There were more pics but Khajiit decided to withhold them because they were kinda spoilerific (even though this one is sure most everyone here has played through all the questlines before).

For the different Alliance questlines, if I went straight through them I would rely on the back-in-time simulation scenario combined with not looking too hard at the details to make it work. I think that allowing players to romp through all of the zones regardless of where they are in their Alliance story is well worth the head-scratching moments. Besides, my characters' personal stories are so muddled with what the games offer that I'm used to selectively ignoring dialog. Some days Jerric strolls through early Fourth Era Kvatch though he is in the ESO game. Some days he's in the game's correct time, cursing his invitation to Akatosh that lets him slip through the cracks and do the gods' biding whether or not he wants to. Occasionally he goes fishing on the Gold Coast, and daydreaming of the time before the Oblivion crisis takes him there. But tails sticking out of the Heritance "disguise" still crack me up.

There have been a few very jarring incidents. One was meeting an NPC shortly after their death had brought Jerric to near collapse. The NPC greeted him as if they had never met. This is of course how it's supposed to work, but it was hard to get over Jerric screaming WTF YOU'RE ALIVE in my ear while shaking the person's teeth out of their head at the same time he stood there on screen whistling with some casual reply in the text box. He should probably have listened better to Meridia.

Oh, also due to Jerric's inhabiting multiple character saves and shamelessly jumping questlines, he regularly fights for an Alliance that he just finished fighting against. This works because there is always someone fighting someone in his outside-the-game Tamriel, so he just jumps in where he thinks he fits best. It helps that he is not one to nail down all the details first.


Khajiit, great pictures of some awesome quests! Gosh I loved doing those. I love those shots of the sea battle!

Thanks G! That sea battle was Khajiit's favorite part of the questline!

That sea battle might have been my most favorite quest in the whole game!