After an attempt at triple posting I decided to make a new thread... I will add some more Stonehaven castle NPC ideas here as I come up with. Sorry for the confusion.


This is about the priest at the church of Tabernacle in Stonehaven (not the Church Priest but the one just standing in there, green one). He is an elf named Coedwig(Co-ed-uig: means forest). Perhaps from the neighbouring Sinta wood. He is a priest of the elven God of Elmwood, Llwyfen (pronounced hloo-iven). He’s here to learn the teachings of Tabernacle.

The entire conversation below:

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(You approach a tall figure and find that he is an Elf. It is not common to see this proud race outside their sacred forest. He waves at you with broad smile)

Greetings. I see that you are a follower of Tabernacle. It is a great pleasure to meet you here. I am Coedwig, a priest of the Elven god Llwyfen. I am here to learn the teachings of the god of Tabernacle.

You ask: teachings?

Yes, words of wisdom. But alas, so far I have not been able to hear any particular teaching from the priests of Tabernacle. There seems to be none who ever had a direct interaction with the god.

You ask: interaction?

Yes, like seeing, listening, and talking to the god. Strange enough, none of the priest even knows the real name of the god of Tabernacle, and still call the god by the name of the altar! It seems your god has not revealed himself to anyone yet.

You ask: reveal?

In our legend, the tabernacle was crafted by Vashla, the Goddess of Vanity. Some elves believe that this goddess is the God of Tabernacle but I have confirmed that these two are totally different.

You ask: confirmed?

Oh certainly! Vashla was the Goddess of Vanity. What do you expect? It was very difficult to satisfy her appetite for praise. That was one of the reasons the elves of Eromir refused to worship her. I know it because I once saw the book of liturgy. (he chuckles)
Oh I shouldn’t make fun of a goddess. Anyway, the point is, deities do not change and Vashla wouldn’t have allowed her followers to worship her like you do. As I observe, you humans do not even have any other ritual then touching the altar, while fully enjoying his gifts.

You ask: gifts?

Resurrections, of course! A Great and powerful god he must be.
Hmmm . . . it leads me to wonder. If the god of Tabernacle is not Vashla, who is he then? What is his purpose and why is he helping you? Maybe human gods are different from Elven gods? Oh don’t worry, I was merely thinking out loud.


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The book of liturgy mentioned above is as follows (this is a book idea) I confess my lack of knowledge on English to make this as funny as I thought it would be . . .


Book of Liturgy, vol.1
: for the Priests and Congregation in Worship or Individuals in Every Instance of Prayer

PREFACE

EACH and every word in this and three subsequent volumes are to be sung at the beginning of every worship, ritual, ceremony, prayer and so on and so forth, dedicated to the most Beautiful, Bountiful, Graceful, Powerful, and Merciful Goddess Vashla, by each and every individual regardless of race, age, sex, clan, occupation, preoccupation, preferred weapon types, or level of training. WOE unheard of shall befall on those who chant any single syllable half-hearted, half-minded, half-asleep, or half-resting; or those who eat food - meat, vegetable and fruits -, lick candies, drink water or booze; or those who whisper, talk, shout, gaze at others, or engage in commercial transactions; or those who change rings, amulets, weapons, range-weapons or armours; or those who investigate their inventory, rearrange things in their pockets, pouches, sacks, bags, rucksacks or quivers, or count coins of copper, silver, gold, or mithril; or in any other unimaginable ways defile, neglect, damage or show disrespect to this book, a part or the whole of its contents, or a part or the whole of the procedure of worship, ritual, ceremony, prayer and so on and so forth, or those who omit any single word, or a comma, or a pause, or neglect an articulation of any capitalised letter or vowel sound as prescribed in ‘the Manual for Chanters of the Most Beautiful, Bountiful, Graceful, Powerful, and Merciful Goddess Vashla’ printed in three volumes.

ONE: THE PREPARATION FOR THE OPENING OF THE PRELIMINARY PART OF WORSHIP, RITUAL, CEREMONY, PRAYER, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.

Oh Great Goddess, the most Beautiful, Bountiful, Graceful, Powerful, and Merciful VASHLA, Who art The Only Truly Adorable, Enviable, Laudable, and Worship-able One. I, <your name>, [beat your chest now] an unworthy admirer of Thy Unbounded Greatness, praise Thee for Thy unsurpassed Beauty which can not even be thought to be compared to that of the goddess of love, or that of the goddess of hatred, or that of the . . .

(It continues in like manner for pages after pages. You begin to sympathise with the elves of Eromir who refused to worship Vashla)


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@ mods: please do edit/delete/separate/merge as necessary.

It looks like I have chased others away from this forum, so this time I will spam it big time. :wink:  

It's a mixture of background story, quests, NPC story ideas for Stonehaven Village(SHV) and Castle(SHC), but could not find a right thread.


a) SHV Background


Stonehaven village started as a base camp for woodcutters who used the remaining structure of an abandoned stronghold. With the re-development of Stonehaven after the war more woodcutters arrived and the village expanded.

Then, about 10 years ago some of the orgres and giants moved down and occupied the ‘Old Out Post’ and harassed the woodcutters. Then from about five years ago a dragon was spotted in the Nyrrwood. Then Council of Stonehaven decided to send rangers to protect woodcutters while they were working in the forest.
 
A more serious problem started about three months ago, when the woodcutters began to disappear without trace. Total 5 of them went missing after then went back to rest in their huts. People began to circulate stories of hideous demons and most woodcutters abandoned the village taking their families with them. The woodcutting operation stopped totally. Only Bakon the supervisor of the woodcutters and Elroth, the secretary of the Guild of Woodcutters, are still in the village hoping for the situation to change.


b) Orgres and giants

A clan of giants moved down to the forest looking for better hunting ground some 10 years ago, joined by a group of orgres. They generally remain in their cave but come out occasionally for hunting, which they do in a large group commanded by a clan leader. They are not evil in nature but they never got along well with humans. They also believe that woodcutters reduce their hunting ground. The Stonehaven Council is not willing to drive these orgres out. Some members of the Council believes that it is possible to make peace with the giants in the Cloud Mountains, and many agrees that bringing them to total submission by military campaigns will not be possible for many years to come.

Yet guard commander Lepash has another idea. He believes that negotiation is not an option with giants, as they are divided among themselves into too many clans with no one prominent chief among them. According to some reports he had, their clan unity depends on the horn each clan leader carries: it is only when the horn is blown that any cooperation is seen among the giants – whether in hunting or fighting. Therefore, when Lepash came to Stonehaven village as part of his routine recruitment tour, he thought it a good occasion to study the clan horn for future war with the giants. This, he believes will also solve the giant problem for the village. He cannot use the Stonehaven army without express permission from the Council, but none can stop a mercenary ‘voluntarily’ helping the village.



c) Dragon in the swamp

The Dragon seldom came out of its hole but when it does it provokes such terror among the woodcutters that makes them reluctant to go to work for several days. Even some rangers, who were sent to protect woodcutters during their operation, are scared of the dragon and Gehl the Warrior, who is the leader of the rangers, finds it difficult to command them with the Dragon prowling about.



d) The murderer

Balkoth, the Magistrate of SHV, made an enquiry into the recent disappearance of the woodcutters and found out that it was not a monster but a gang of thugs that were responsible for the kidnap and murder. Lez, the archer, has seen three suspicious figures sneaking about near Lonan’s hut. When Balkoth heard the description from Lez, he immediately knew who they were, as he had encountered them before. When he was an Assistant Magistrate in another town, he was after a gang who associated with kobolds. On that occasion, he lost one of his closest friends to Zelath the Battlemage and he himself was severely wounded from Fathin’s arrow. He does not know their motives or whereabouts of them, but he is determined to bring them to justice this time. For this he needs evidence that will prove their involvement in the kidnap of woodcutters.

<quest>

Balkoth tells you to find them and if possible, evidence and their motives. You kill all three of them and find a letter in Vologlan’s body. You bring it back to Balkoth. Balkoth reads it and finds that someone ordered them to kill woodcutters. Moreover, he finds that the letter is written on a piece of high quality paper, only used in the central ruling bodies of Stonehaven government. He senses something big lying behind this case, but thinks it impolitic to chase the matter further without evidence. He asks you to keep this matter a secret.

Later, (when you gain some more level and are not likely to come to Stonehaven village to train) he finds out that the handwriting on the letter matches that of Tashitar, a member of the Council and asks you whether you could help him to get an evidence once more.

You cannot break into Tashitar’s house but notices that a woman named Myriam living next door (the one with a hole on the floor atm) complains of some strange noises from her wine cellar. You go down to investigate and accidentally knocks a wall down to uncover a passage leading to the basement of Tashitar’s house, which is full of orcs and drows from Demon Plane. You finally confront Tashitar himself who had been under control by a high priest of Moroch. You also find a letter written in demon tongue.

When you take the letter to Balkoth, he tells you that the letter contains a plan to assassinate king Adonis and the drows and orcs were sent through an underground tunnel for this purpose. Balkoth tells you that his promotion is imminent. He also promises to send a word about you to the Castle, and suggests that you should go and see the king.

You were not able to enter the Throne Room thus far, but when you talk to the guard in front of the castle after this the guard tells you that you have a Royal Invitation, and you talk to the King.

King Adonis thanks you and asks you to chose one of the three rewards (a ring, a weapon, or gold). Your deeds did more than saving one king’s life. King Adonis has long been under pressure by the other kings within the Thraal Empire who suspected that Stonehaven is using the Tabernacle and the mercenaries to strengthen itself. Now King Adonis has proof that the threat of Moroch is still alive.

Besides, you can now talk to Gargash, the old mage next to the King of course, who gives you another quest: find out what happened to Adrian.



e) Other characters in Stonehaven village

Endar is a priest who came to the village some years ago as a spiritual guide to the woodcutters. Around the time he arrived, some giant ants from the forest moved into the village and occupied the old well. He could not build a church in the town because the ants kept stealing building materials. Now the plan is totally abandoned due to recent crisis but he still wants the ant queen dead so that when the residents return he could start his own church.

Linkin isn’t happy with the mercenaries barging into his house while he’s resting. He thinks mercenaries are freak who don’t die as well as being rude, vulgar, dishonest, lazy and so on. But as you do one or more quests of the village, his attitude gradually improves and when you have finished Balkoth’s quest, (including killing Tashitar) he says he is honoured by the visitation of a hero and saviour of humanity and might even give something free, such as a bottle of booze.

Knoss hates escorting woodcutters. It’s boring, tiring and sometimes dangerous. He is especially afraid of the Dragon and has nightmares about it. He’s rather relieved that he doesn’t have to go into the forest to escort the woodcutters for the time being. Contrary to Linkin, his attitude worsens as you do more quests, and tells you that if the woodcutters return and he has to go on escort-missions again, the fault will be all on you.

Lez describes to you that she saw Fathin and co. running past near Lonan’s house but they disappeared without any trace into the empty hut. She tells you they smelt like kobolds and looked as if they been surviving on slimes.

Lonan likes it quiet without the woodcutters but now he has problem with a growing number of people snooping around. He's here because he needs some of the plants and critters only found in the Nyrrwood for his research.

How would players find the quest cave, etc?

Very nice job there, Scram. I have read it all.

@ russian

You are right. I wondered why nobody is saying that yet.

I write these things to practise me Inglesh, but post here hoping it might help Daimonin. Oh no, I don't mean to say that since I've written all these you should incorporate it in the game and make me a god. Ignore it until you are free to have a look, then if some of those I write gives idea to some of you, fine... if not, well it didn't work this time.

The only reason I stopped pm-ing or emailing these things is because I did not want to put pressure on a couple of devs, who might be busy with other things.

But I agree with you, it is way too long. I shall belay for the timebeing.


@ Cleopatra

These are merely summaries. Yeah, I don't believe it myself but I have even longer version written, with dialogues and something like a flow chart written. I need to brush it up a bit but I can send it if anyone want. I believe these are scriptable with the quest system that I have experienced in b4.

Ideally clues will be given by different NPCs, to encourage new players to explore, talk and solve stuffs while more experienced quests will require more concentration and perhaps notemaking even. The whole story will be presented bit by bit in a multiple series of short conversations.


@Talwoasc

The enigma of MMORPG is that those you kill keep come back to life to be killed again: like king Rhun with endless cloaks to reward his murderers.  :wink:  

Apart from this. . .  Woodcutters? oh.. of course, they shouldn't return to the village! For one, until all the quests are done, the village is still unsafe. When all of them are done (by one character that is), Bakon simply tells you: "Thank you very much. Your have done more than I expected. Now it is for us to find and persuade those wretches to come back and start working. *he sighs* It might take two weeks."

Thank you all for reading.. I really mean it.

Scram - if you want, you can send me them to me, I can put them to my test map. ( Already converted 3 of your backgrounds to conversation and 1 idea about Marble Toe, the testmap requires 3 passwords though. )

Scram - 5 ( if I'm right ) of your backgrounds & ideas are on the test server in my testmap, tell me if/when you want to take a look.