The Ilsamiren Wars, An original fantasy concept Options

[Ilsamir Lord]

Hi everyone!

I posted about the mod here a long time ago, but I couldn't find the old thread.
I thought you might like an update, so here you go!

Over the past weeks I have been trying my hand at some modelling, along with my brother, and we have produced more than 10 models so far. None of these are skinned yet, so we're looking for someone to help us with that. Here is a sample of our work (click on the thumbnails to read the text):

During this time I've also been writing the story of Udeval, the main character for the Oblivion mod. Besides this I have completed a banner for each faction and I've named all 81 settlements and provinces, as well as 30 or so geographical features, for the map. Below is the province map (annotations for which can be found here ):

We really are going to need a mapper to help us out with this! So if you know anyone, or can do a little yourself that would be great. Just PM me at our forums.

The geographical map is also to be found through that link.

This post has been edited by Ilsamir Lord: Jul 7 2006, 05:48 AM

[Venerable Aegis]

woah, I just saw a larger view of one of your models and saw that this was going to be a mod for both M2:TW and Oblivion! That's a pretty big venture, and I wish I could help. I'm pretty big on both the Total War series and TES myself.

I'm not much of a skinner even though I have recently tried it. Maybe I can work on one of your models and see how I do.

This sounds real innovative and original, and I'm already interested in your mod's storyline. I'll try to help all I can.

This post has been edited by Venerable Aegis: Jul 7 2006, 08:24 AM

[Ilsamir Lord]

Gee, that would be nice if you could help. PM me your email and I'll send you one of the models for you to have a go at.

I'm glad the story interests you .

[Ilsamir Lord]

Is anyone else interested? I'll post a more complete run-down shortly, once the ES Forums are back online.

[Ilsamir Lord]

This is

THE ILSAMIREN WARS

An original total conversion project for the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Medieval II: Total War.

Sundry Information
The mod is not based on any film, book or period in our history. The setting, factions and religions are entirely original. All designs, though influenced by real life equivalents are also original. The concept for this mod came to me after years of toying with a fantasy concept, originally I was planning on writing three novels, but that did not eventuate. I have developed religions, cultures and even the beginnings of two languages relating to this concept and I suddenly realised that a mod was the way to make it public. A dual-engine development will allow for the story to be presented on both a macro and micro level.

Background
The world of the Western Continent is generally peaceful, but for the occasional raid on the Ilsamiri by their neighbours of the Northern Kingdom and the Seaborne. These raids have of late become increasingly regular and organised, however, a poor omen. Meanwhile, the Ocean Tribes conduct their civilisation quietly among the Islands of the Dividing Sea and the Southern and Western Kingdoms carry out their trade and agriculture under stable rules, but they too are increasingly threatened, largely because of their close relationship with the Ilsamiri.

On the Eastern Continent, the Mekathenain civilisation is preparing a mass exodus. They have been driven to abandon their once fertile land by the encroachment of the desert from the centre of the continent. Rain has not fallen on their farms for almost 100 years, and so they have constructed a mighty fleet of ships and assembled a vast force for the colonisation of as yet undiscovered lands.

Note: Some of the terms e,g. the Malice, are the closest possible translations from the Ilsamiren terms. For example, the people of the Northern Kingdom do not worship what the Ilsamiri call the Malice.

Time Frame
As the mod is in a fantasy setting the timeframe is not particularly important. The period of conflict which the mod is concerned with begins in the 7,032nd year After the Fall. The mod ends with the destruction of the World by the Weaver.

The World
The world of the Ilsamiren Wars is entirely fictional. I will be posting a map shortly indicating the positions of settlements, province borders, forests and mountains but for now a description will have to suffice. The world consists of two continents, one in the East, one in the West, separated by a wide ocean. Throughout the ocean are scattered various islands. The Western Continent is divided among five factions and the Eastern has only one – though there are very few provinces here and all are coastal. The islands in the ocean are divided among two factions, the Seaborne in the North and West and the Ocean Tribes in the South and East. The Eastern Continent is almost entirely desert, the Western is largely green and fertile. There is a large forest in the South of the Western Continent and a mountain range separates the Northern Kingdom from the Ilsamir lands. Here is the map:

The Map

The Factions & Cultures
Each faction in the Medieval II version of the game will be playable and has its own culture (exploiting the six of BI and the other one found by Dol Guldur). In Oblivion these factions are encountered on a more personal level. The factions are:

The Ilsamiri
The chief Ilsamiren city of Darineth is built up from the ruins of an ancient city which was borne on the winds and woven of vapour. This ancient city fell some 7,000 years ago when the Malice wrought its evil upon the ancient people of the Weaver, casting away their magical gift and stripping them of their home in the skies. The Ilsamiri are the descendants of the Weaver’s chosen people and are proud to be thought of as such.

The lands of the Ilsamiri are not particularly fertile and the only major resource they have in plenty, iron, comes from the mountains to the north, which are increasingly difficult to hold against the Northern Kingdom.

Throughout the centuries the Ilsamiri have held alliances with the Southern and Western Kingdoms, relying on them for financial and agricultural stability while in turn offering the two kingdoms their unwavering military support.

Militarily the Ilsamiri are peerless. Their weapon smithing is second to none and their military technology is superb. Their armies are consequently quite small, but still offer great variety. Their lands are also home to horses, creatures found almost nowhere else, which provide their armies with cavalry.


The Seaborne
The ancient origin of this people is not known outside their closed society. In their lore, the Seaborne are said to have risen from the sea itself for they have always shared an affinity with it, mastering sea travel and warfare very early on. They still maintain land settlements, largely to supply their fleets.

Recently, their lords have become imperialistic and seek new lands in the West. To aid them in this they have some of the fiercest warriors in the world and the finest fleet to be seen upon the oceans.


The Mechathenain
A cursed people, rain has not fallen in their lands for more than a hundred years and they have had to eek an existence from underground springs and grain stores for all that time. In stead of focussing their wealth on the maintenance of these reserves, the lord of the Mechathenain ordered the construction of a massive colonisation fleet and with it would sail all those who would leave their blighted land.

The Mechathenain are not a war like people, in consequence their ways may appear naïve to those who are more aggressive, but should their wrath be incurred they are a fearsome enemy. Their military technology is not the world’s finest, nor are their tactics the best formulated, but their bravery and individual prowess can be unstoppable.

The Northern Kingdom
The people of the Northern Kingdom were once of the Ilsamiri, but while the Ilsamiri followed the Weaver, the people of the Northern Kingdom turned to the Malice, not that they see Him as such. The Ilsamiri hate the Northern Kingdom, largely because they perceive flaws in their own society in contrast to their enemy's.

The Kingdom of the North follows similar military codes to the Ilsamiri, relying on technology in stead of numbers. While the Ilsamiri have the horse, the Northern climate is not favourable for these animals, but the Northern Kingdom does have access to its own unique fauna in the form of the ethed.


The Southern Kingdom
The Southern Kingdom is the second ally of the Ilsamiri and provides its northern neighbour with a stable trading environment. The capital of the Southern Kingdom is the Port of the Empty Bay which is ideally situated for naval and commercial security.

The armies of the Southern Kingdom are rarely seen on land, they prefer to face their enemies on the sea if at all possible, but when forced to defend their lands, the Southern Kingdom is almost always on the defensive using heavy infantry almost exclusively.


The Western Kingdom
The Western Kingdom is the granary of the Western Continent and a close ally of the Ilsamiri. Since the earliest times these two peoples have been bound by an unwritten agreement; the Ilsamiri defend the Western Kingdom and the Western Kingdom feeds the Ilsamiri. This relationship has been remarkably stable thus far, but should one fail the other disaster would befall both.

The armies of the Western Kingdom are rather meagre, but they do have expert horsemen and archers at their disposal. Most of their men are lightly armoured and so a Western army is extremely mobile and is able to launch lightning attacks against an enemy’s unprotected flank.


The Ocean Tribes
The people of the southern and eastern islands of the Dividing Sea have quite recently formed a formal alliance, largely in a bid to repulse raids by the ever more aggressive Seaborne. This new unity is not only for protection though, the Ocean Tribes also share ancient cultural ties, presumably dating from a time when their islands were joined.

The military strength of the Seaborne is not great; they fight with stone weapons and wear armour of minimal value when faced with steel. They are great in skill however, and their light armour allows for rapid manoeuvring. Because of their island location, they have almost no fauna suitable for war, but do field, on occasion, small groups of men trained to control eagles and hawks (more information on these later. Too fantasy? Impossible with the engine?).


The Main Characters
The Oblivion version of the mod is played from one of three perspectives. Later the player can create there own character of any culture to explore the world more freely.

Udeval - A Morchanin Scout who serves the Ilsamiri as a spy under the king Ilahir X. He is slowly becoming more and more disenfranchised from any allegiance, whether to his own people - the Morchanin - or to the Ilsamiri. His story is the most neutral of the three.

Bezhir - a young Mekathenain who has been conscripted into serving as a sailor in the Exodus fleet. He leaves behind his mother, who refuses to leave the eastern lands, and journeys through the Islands of the Ocean Tribes before reaching the western continent and joining the war.

Veros - An Ilsamir captain. His story is one of battle and diplomacy.

[Ilsamir Lord]

This week's update will include a map of the Ilsamir capital and a new weapon or two. Stay tuned!

[Ilsamir Lord]

Fourth Weekly Update

Greetings all,

This week I'm presenting the first of the city plans as well as one new weapon.

Western Kingdom Axe

axes are the dominant type of weapon in the Western Kingdom as they require relatively little time or metal to make. This one is, of course, untextured, but will remain simple. Other axes will of course be much more ornate.

Now we have the city plans.

The Capital - Darineth and some of its Quarters

this first image shows the Ilsamir capital city and the surrounding geography as well as the arrangement of the inner walls. The second image shows a few of the quarters seen above in greater detail.

This city is #22 on the map ofprovinces and settlements - please note that the map will be changed slightly to fit with these designs.

Lastly we have a map of a second city, the City of Lechen Pass - #5 on the geographical map

There you go for this week. Check back next week for more!

[Ilsamir Lord]

Greetings everyone,

I apologise for missing last week's update, but I have a lot to show you this week to make up for it! Firstly we have a new concept to model render. On the left is the original drawing (by Kataphraktoi), from which the helmet has been modelled (on the right).

Next we have two more concept drawings, also be Kataphraktoi (click on the thumbnails for details):

It is worth noting that all the concept art presented here will be used for both the Oblivion and Medieval II versions of the mod. A complete list of concepts, containing 37 images and short notes on each image, can be viewed at our forums. That's all for this week!

Thanks for reading!

[Ilsamir Lord]

Greetings one and all,

And welcome to another Ilsamiren Wars update! This week I have three more work-in-progress models to show you as well as a new concept.

First up is the Ilsamir noble's mace. The Ilsamiri favour blades over maces, but these much more ancient weapons are often used in ceremonial circumstances by the aristocracy. This example has a shaft of hard-wood and a bronze head and pommel cap. The model is based on the concept on the right (by Kataphraktoi) which shows an Ilsamir nobleman in full hunting gear - the Ilsamir elite like nothing more than to go charging about the country-side in rich panoply .

Next we have two models for the Mekathenain culture - both in their WIP stages. On the left is the kind of sword used by the Hunters, an elite unit in the Mekathenain army (the concept for which can be seen at our forums). It has a simple handle of hard-wood and the cross-guard is reinforced with steel on its blade-facing side. On the right is an ancient form of knife used by the Lord's Men, another elite group, charged with the protection at all costs of the Lords of the Mekathenain. The weapon has its roots in the ancient days when the Mekathenain were no more than one of many nomadic tribes wandering the Rainless Wastes.

That's all for this week. Next week we may very well have some in-game shots of some of these weapons, reformatted and coded in by Kdar.

Until then,
Ilsamir Lord

This post has been edited by Ilsamir Lord: Aug 10 2006, 02:50 AM