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WiP Event Build: Daughter of the Masters

Tags: #Character Build Necromancer 
  • August 26, 2019

    This is a work-in-progress build and, as this is my first published build, I am trying to get a handle on layout, image placement, format, etc.  Please bear with me as I learn!  :-)

    Last Update:  12 Sept. 2019 

    Introduction (Lore)

      Eras had passed since the Ideal Masters, as they referred to themselves, had put off the corruption of their flesh and transcended into pure energy beings; becoming the immortal Makers of the Soul Cairn.  The Soul Cairn is a heaven of sorts, an otherworldly refuge dedicated to peace, love, eternal rest, and harmony.  However, the Ideal Masters, ever reluctant to expend their mana, found that their eternity was slowly diminishing.

    Fewer mortals sought their help each passing era, meaning fewer souls were finding rest.  In reality, the Soul Cairn was slowly shrinking, and the Ideal Masters appeared powerless to change that.  They needed more souls to save; more souls to serve them for eternity--so they began to hatch a plan.

     

    Backstory

    *** ART ***

    The knife plunged into Valana’s bare chest, but she was powerless to scream, much less move.  The paralysis elixir they had slipped into her drink had had its desired effect.  Her peripheral vision caught a brief glimpse of the black gem’s glow before darkness enveloped her sight.  There was a brief burning sensation as the gem tugged at her soul.  Then there was nothing.

    The Masters felt the approach of a soul, though this one was different.  It was no ordinary soul that had entered their realm.  This soul held great power, for the taint of the Aedra was upon it.  They knew the time had finally arrived to enact their plan.  They would begin extending their eternity once again; to aggrandize themselves once again.

    Prologue

    *** ART ***

    Months before, Valana had encountered two mages in a tavern in Riften.  She had briefly interrupted her travel to the College of Winterhold to meet with the Jarl’s court wizard, Wylandriah, though she proved quite useless.  That night, as Valana sat at the Ragged Flagon flipping through a tome she had picked up from Wylandriah earlier, the mages approached her.

    Striking up a conversation, she learned that they had once been members of the College, but had left to free themselves of the College’s limitations on magical research.  They also explained that magick was generally frowned upon in Skyrim, and they currently resided in a secured cave nearby where they could study undisturbed.  After several drinks and more conversation, Valana agreed to join them.

    Over the next few months, the mages helped Valana expand her magical knowledge and skills.  In return, she taught them the little she knew.  At night, she would also offer herself up as a form of recompense.  As Valana’s powers grew, so did her lust for more control.  Unrestricted, they practiced the spells on the local wildlife with increasing apathy.  Now blinded, she failed to see the real darkness that filled their heart.  When she realized their true motives, it was too late.

    One afternoon, the mages began discussing using people instead of animals for their research.  The small village of Shor’s Stone was nearby, and they felt the villagers and few guards could be overcome easily.  Valana hesitated, her conscience struggling hard to keep her from crossing this line.  She began providing excuses as to why this wasn’t the right time—she needed more training and better skills.

    After a few more minutes of refusing their proposal, the discussion ended.  The mages had agreed to hold off for now, but Valana noticed that their attitude toward her now seemed terse and callous.  She tried to put it out of her mind as she continued her studies.  That night, Valana had worked hard on preparing a wonderful meal for them.  She wanted them to know she was not angry with them and, deep down, she wanted the same assurance from them.

    They ate together at the small table, though few words were exchanged.  Valana tried her best to start conversations, often flirting with them and trying to sense a positive response.  However, she noticed that their thoughts seemed preoccupied, and they appeared to communicate with each other through subtle stares and nearly imperceivable nods.

    As the meal concluded, the mages once again brought up the idea of kidnapping people from Shor’s Stone and using them as test subjects.  Valana continued to oppose the idea, reiterating the same excuses she had given earlier.  The discussion quickly ended with the mages agreeing to forgo that plan.

    Valana had a sense of victory as the mages conceded to her concerns.  Remaining at the table, they began conversing about new research ideas.  Between the conversations and drinking, Valana felt that things were returning to normal.  Suddenly, she realized how wrong she was.

    She had initially written off the growing tingling in her extremities as the effects of alcohol, but it quickly progressed to lethargy.  As her body began tensing up, the two mages began smiling at one another.  They got up from the table and proceeded to drag Valana toward the back of the cave.  One mage stripped her clothes off while the other retrieved a tome and knife previously hidden behind the bookshelf and began drawing various runes on the ground around her with the knife.

    Valana, now barely able to move her eyes, watched in horror as the mages began preparing the ritual.  The other mage walked over to the chest and withdrew a blanket.  Slowly, the blanket was unwrapped to produce a black soul gem.  The mage then proceeded to set the soul gem next to Valana’s paralyzed body.

    Once the ritual site had been prepared, the two mages began reciting an incantation from the tome.  Valana could barely comprehend the words they spoke.  Her mind was racing while her body remained utterly limp.  Now, even her eyes sat fixed, looking up at the ceiling of the cave.  Time itself appeared to stand still, though she continued to hear their chanting.  Suddenly, with deafening silence, they stopped.  Out of the edge of her vision, she saw the knife rising above her body before crashing down upon her.

    Epilogue

    *** ART ***

    This new soul would become the instrument of their return.  The Ideal Masters began their ritual at once, preparing to return the soul back to its body.  However, one of the Masters was also merging a piece of his soul with Valana’s.  This Master best recalled wearing flesh so long ago, and thus volunteered to split off a piece of himself to enact their plan.  He himself would use this soul and body to usher in a return of true necromancy; an age of the Masters.  By this, they would enlarge their eternity.

     

    The Character (Race, Name, Gender, Standing Stone, Stats, Morality and Personality, Difficulty)

    Race:  Dunmer (necessary for the gameplay)

    Name:  Valana (though you are free to use another name)

    Gender:  Female (though you are free to play a male)

    Standing Stone:  Ritual Stone (see the Mods section below)

    Stats: 4M / 1H / 0S (her body remains physically weak after her death)

    Morality:  Neutral Evil (see the Gameplay section below)

    Personality:  Valana, while not being completely evil, hungers for power.  The Ideal Master in her is egotistical (boastful), narcissistic (loves self), and conceited (superior).  (See the Roleplaying section below)

    Difficulty:  Master (for a reasonable challenge)

     

    Gameplay (Roleplaying, Her Start, “Decision Points”)

    *** ART ***

    Roleplaying

    Valana’s character gives the player lots of latitude in her roleplaying.  While she herself has a conscience that seems to resist becoming completely evil, she does have a growing lust for power and a blindness to the growing darkness in her heart.  However, she also has been tainted with part of an Ideal Master’s soul; selfish, devoid of empathy, seeking souls to enter the Masters' service.  In essence, she has split personalities that can come out as the player chooses.  Overall, though, Valana plays as a neutral evil character—helping others as long as it ultimately helps herself.

    As mentioned above, the Ideal Master’s soul will direct Valana along a relatively narrow path.  She will hate all things without souls, namely vampires.  She will always seek to ensnare the souls of enemies (see the Mods section – Apocalypse mod remarks).  She will seek to grow her power through magical knowledge.  She has a superiority complex and will look down on the necromancers in Skyrim as fools.  She will seek powerful souls for the Ideal Masters.  Finally, Alduin is a threat that must be stopped.

    ...

    One direct tie into mods is the Whispers ability from Imperious – Races of Skyrim.  When a target is identified, the Ideal Masters are singling out a soul that Valana will always diligently seek to ensnare (see “Decision Points” below).  While having a black soul gem is ideal, this is roleplayed as sending the soul to the Soul Cairn upon the death of the body.  Do not attempt to raise the fallen corpse.  That soul is forever bound to the Soul Cairn and in direct service to the Ideal Masters.

    Another direct tie into mods is the use of the Ritual Stone from Andromeda – Unique Standing Stones of Skyrim.  Valana has forever been tainted by both necromagick and soul magick, and this forces the corpses around her to become bound to her temporarily.  This power can never be deactivated, regardless of Valana’s “Decision Point” choices.

    ...

    Her Start

    Valana sat up, her body cold due to the damp conditions of the cave.  Without making a sound, she pulled the knife from her chest and looked over at the necromancer, who was busy mixing ingredients at the alchemy lab.  A wave of anger and disgust overtook her as she stood up.  Without hesitation, she attacked and killed the necromancer.  [Kill the necromancer using the knife or destruction magic]

    Valana stood naked over the corpse, rage still burning within her.  She looked down at her chest as her hand touched the wound.  Her skin, though scarred, had magically closed up.  Glancing back down to the ground where she had been, she saw the shattered pieces of the soul gem.  She walked over and smeared the runes with her feet, mixing the shards and dirt together.  She then returned her attention to the corpse.  Without hesitation, Valana donned the necromancer’s robes and boots.  This would protect her weak flesh and, hopefully, allow her to surprise the other necromancer.

    “Decision Points” (This section is undergoing revisions)

    Another unique aspect of Valana’s character is her use of “decision points.”  These are unique events in her playthrough where her path will begin to deviate (i.e., a "choose your own adventure" approach).  These points allow the player to reinforce the power of the Master’s soul this bound to Valana, or to empower Valana to overpower the Master’s soul (either for good or for bad).

    Choosing to reinforce the power of the Master’s soul will eventually make Valana a permanent slave to the Ideal Masters will.  She will no longer have Decision Points, but will always do the will of the Ideal Masters.  You will seek new souls at every opportunity, eventually becoming blatantly overt in your soul trapping exploits.  All of Skyrim is full of souls that need the eternal love and guidance of the Ideal Masters.

    Choosing the “good” path represents Valana’s decision to abandon the Ideal Masters and to fight against their evil, necromantic arts.  She will eventually lead her to stop using Soul Cloak as an auto-trigger spell, and she will no longer go after black souls. However, the mark of the Ideal Masters is forever upon her, so the Ritual Stone must remain.  Also, she will no longer go after the targets marked by Whispers (Imperious); thus, she will eventually lose all her powers and abilities, save Ashborn.  She will retain the ability to summon the minions of the Ideal Masters (i.e., Bonemen, Wraithmen, and Mistmen), though she will no longer reanimate humanoids.

    Choosing the “bad” path represents Valana’s decision to abandon the Ideal Masters while fully embracing the necromantic arts...

    As an example, here is one of her decision points (draft):

    Just before entering the Soul Cairn – Valana will not become a vampire, so she will allow a piece of her soul to become trapped inside a soul gem. [Pick an outcome]

     

    1.  This experience immediately reminds Valana of what happened to her as she was being sacrificed.  The memory flashback is so violent it provokes a strong wave of anger and disgust toward all necromagick.  While she is weakened, the fragment of the Master's soul within her is even more weakened, and Valana begins to overcome its influence on her. [Valana gains one good point]

    2.  This experience immediately reminds Valana of what happened to her as she was being sacrificed.  The memory flashback reminds her of the true power of necromagick, filling her with a strong desire for such power.  She feels the Master's soul fragment temporarily weakening and, using all her might, begins to overcome its influence on her.  She will not bow to the Ideal Masters! [Valana gains one bad point]

    3.  Immediately, Valana's soul is weakened while the Master's soul, realizing what was happening, protects itself and thus retains its strength.  This gives the Master the opportunity to crush more of Valana's resistence to influence of the Ideal Masters.  [Ideal Masters gain one point]

     

    ... (Describe the point system...)

     

    Mods (Essential, Recommended)

    *** ART ***

    Essential

    Imperious – Races of Skyrim: Makes the races of Skyrim unique and diverse by overhauling racial abilities, powers, and stats.  Valana, as a Dunmer, gains: 95/110/95 (H/M/S), Soul Guardian (expend some Soul Favor to grant a soul shield in combat), Ashborn (resistance to fire, increased while either Soul Guardian or Soul Walk is active), Whispers (the Ideal Masters mark targets to slay, granting more loot and Soul Favor), and Soul Walk (1/day, expend some Soul Favor to summon random invulnerable souls).

    Andromeda – Unique Standing Stones of Skyrim: Replaces the mundane vanilla Standing Stone effects with two new abilities per stone, enabling many new character builds.  Valana will use the Ritual Stone (located east of Whiterun), providing the following: Mara’s Mercy (approach a violently slain corpse to gather its memories, summoning it as a vengeful spirit in your next battle), Mara’s Veil (reanimation spells last 20% longer and work on targets up to 10 levels higher), and Requiem (unlockable; vengeful spirits gain 1000 points of health, and move and attack 50% faster-lasts 45 seconds).  She will never switch stones.

    Apocalypse – Magic of Skyrim:  Adds 155 new spells that are unique, balanced, lore friendly, use high-quality custom visuals, and blend seamlessly into the vanilla magic system.  If possible, use console commands to give Valana both the ‘Soul Cloak’ and ‘Ocato’s Recital’ spells.  Set Soul Cloak to automatically cast when entering combat to represent the Ideal Master’s knowledge of necromancy and their desire for more souls.  You can add other spells to trigger, but you can not remove Soul Cloak unless you choose the good path during a Decision Point.

    Alternate Start – Live Another Life:  Provides an alternative means to start the game instead of the intro sequence at Helgen.  Valana starts off as a ‘Warlock’s Thrall’ to fit her backstory.

    Recommended

    Starting Spell Choice:  Allows the player to choose one novice spell (or none) from each magic school.  You can easily forgo this mod and simply add the starting spells in using console commands.  Valana started off with Clairvoyance (the Master’s leading), Raise Zombie, Sparks, Healing, and Candlelight.

    Wintersun – Faiths in Skyrim: While the Ideal Masters are not tied to any of the Aedra or Daedra, it is somewhat fitting to allow Valana to follow the path of Mannimarco.  This doesn’t represent the worship of Mannimarco, but rather her connection to the Ideal Masters and their skill and aptitude in necromagick.  Should Valana use a Decision Point (see above) to turn to good, you are free to choose a new deity to worship.

    ...

     

    Perks, Skills, and Shouts (Major, Minor)

    *** ART ***

    Major – Conjuration, Destruction, Restoration

    Minor – Alteration, Enchanting, Illusion, Speech

     ...

     

    Equipment and Magick

    *** ART ***

    ...

     

    Quests

    *** ART ***

    Main Quest - Alduin’s return is a threat to the Ideal Masters eternity, so Valana will seek to stop him and capture dragon souls without hesitation.  Becoming the Dragonborn (the taint of the Aedra) will simply be a means-to-an-end for her.  She will openly embrace shouts, though is drawn to the darker shouts (e.g., Dragonrend, Drain Vitality, Marked For Death, and Soul Tear).  Should Valana choose to follow the good path during a Decision Point, her choice of shouts might change.

    Dawnguard - add note...

    Dragonborn - add note...

    Aedric / Daedric – Valana will have nothing to do with either the Aedra or Daedra.  The Ideal Masters are immortal and do not need any of them attempting to meddle in their affairs.  However, should Valana break free of the Ideal Masters during a Decision Point, she can pursue the Aedra (good) or Daedra (bad, with Mehrunes Dagon being a thematic choice if you truly hate the Ideal Masters).

    ...

     

  • August 29, 2019

    Alright Feint, sorry about the delay on the reply, I wanted to spend a bit of time reading this more than once just to soak it in a little bit. Even now I think some of my thoughts might be a bit jumbled so I'll start off by saying I really love what you've done so far, very interesting character and a really well written backstory.

    I like where your going so far, the backstory for the build is really well written and I think perfectly sets up the history of your character. I do have a few notes but I actually want to just wait and see where your going before I make those comments, they're the sort that might be fitting now but when you add more to the build you'll plug the hole/fix the issue I think I see, or elevate it into something that makes the build better. I'm very eager to see more of the build, and read more about this character so keep working on it mate :D

  • August 29, 2019

    Dragonborn2121 said:

    Alright Feint, sorry about the delay on the reply, I wanted to spend a bit of time reading this more than once just to soak it in a little bit. Even now I think some of my thoughts might be a bit jumbled so I'll start off by saying I really love what you've done so far, very interesting character and a really well written backstory.

    I like where your going so far, the backstory for the build is really well written and I think perfectly sets up the history of your character. I do have a few notes but I actually want to just wait and see where your going before I make those comments, they're the sort that might be fitting now but when you add more to the build you'll plug the hole/fix the issue I think I see, or elevate it into something that makes the build better. I'm very eager to see more of the build, and read more about this character so keep working on it mate :D

    Thanks!  I've been tied up with other things, so I haven't had a chance to move onto the next sections--mods and gameplay.  Those two are essential with this build, so I wanted to cover them next before getting into the character stuff.  They will really define how the character plays...and what the actual plan of the IMs is.  I'm going to stop working on the formatting for now and focus on content.  I'll add in all the fluff later!

  • August 30, 2019

    Thanks!  I've been tied up with other things, so I haven't had a chance to move onto the next sections--mods and gameplay.  Those two are essential with this build, so I wanted to cover them next before getting into the character stuff.  They will really define how the character plays...and what the actual plan of the IMs is.  I'm going to stop working on the formatting for now and focus on content.  I'll add in all the fluff later!

    Hah, that's fair and not a bad idea. It's always a better idea to get the core content down and then worry about the precise formatting, especially because, well builds can end up a bit wordier than planned which, generally effects the presentation a fair bit so, yeah get the content down then get into the fun stuff later :) I'm going to be very interested in those upcmoming sections then, Mods and Gameplay can be really fascinating so I can't wait :D

  • Member
    August 31, 2019

    The backstory is fittingly dark, Feint. Very cool! I feel sorry for Valara, she should have continued on to Winterhold. Personally, as soon as the word "cave" was mentioned I'd have noped away from the converatsion.

  • September 9, 2019

    I just modified my previous backstory (mostly edits, though the plan of the Ideal Masters is now revealed) and added a lot of content, including the "decision points" concept.  I will continue adding more content and updating the date at the top.

  • September 11, 2019

    Damn Feint this is a really interesting update, took me a bit to read but I'm hardly complaining about having more of this build :D. I think you've really sold me on the concept of the build with two 'little' details (well, one little, one large). I think the idea of Decision Points being included are really interesting and create a much more dynamic building style than most builds I've read. I'm sort of wondering if there's some way to hide the results from the reader and creating a sort of Choose Your Own Adventure book styled series of events. So, when I'm reading the build I can see that there are all these decision points but they aren't directly written in the build, maybe links to various...blog posts? Other discussions? pictures in an album that's hidden? Don't know about the exact method, but then when I play the build I can choose each decision without knowing the result. 

    Just think it could be a really interesting addition to the build, but as you can tell it's pretty hard for me to work out logistically. Also not entirely sure I explained the idea perfectly (which isn't uncommon for me)

    Uh, the other thing that I really enjoyed was the use of Ocato's Recital Soul Cloak as a roleplaying tool, I think so far the auto-cast spells haven't been used in this manner before and it's just really fascinating as a RP tool. I think that's where this build is definitely shining so far, it's just a really interesting approach to roleplaying that so far is working out really well in my opinion. 

    Great update Feint, and can't wait for more :)

  • September 11, 2019

    Dragonborn2121 said:

    I think the idea of Decision Points being included are really interesting and create a much more dynamic building style than most builds I've read. I'm sort of wondering if there's some way to hide the results from the reader and creating a sort of Choose Your Own Adventure book styled series of events. So, when I'm reading the build I can see that there are all these decision points but they aren't directly written in the build, maybe links to various...blog posts? Other discussions? pictures in an album that's hidden? Don't know about the exact method, but then when I play the build I can choose each decision without knowing the result. 

    Just think it could be a really interesting addition to the build, but as you can tell it's pretty hard for me to work out logistically. Also not entirely sure I explained the idea perfectly (which isn't uncommon for me)

    Thanks, Dragonborn!  The 'choose your own adventure'-style approach is what I was aiming for.  I need to ponder your ideas about a 'hidden' approach to choices.  Of course, that opens up the possibility of much more depth on how things progress.  Instead of multiple, possible black-and-white effects, it could be a much more gradual approach to her either regaining herself (good), losing herself to herself (bad), or forever becoming a pawn (IM's win).  While there is no way I could ever test out all these possibilities before the event ends (now at the end of October, right?), it gives me some very interesting possibilities to play around with.  Thank you, again!

    I have already added another 2-3 decision points, so this approach is becoming more viable.  Now, how to hide the choices/results...  Off I go to dream...

     

  • September 12, 2019

    Thanks, Dragonborn!  The 'choose your own adventure'-style approach is what I was aiming for.  I need to ponder your ideas about a 'hidden' approach to choices.  Of course, that opens up the possibility of much more depth on how things progress.  Instead of multiple, possible black-and-white effects, it could be a much more gradual approach to her either regaining herself (good), losing herself to herself (bad), or forever becoming a pawn (IM's win).  While there is no way I could ever test out all these possibilities before the event ends (now at the end of October, right?), it gives me some very interesting possibilities to play around with.  Thank you, again!

    I have already added another 2-3 decision points, so this approach is becoming more viable.  Now, how to hide the choices/results...  Off I go to dream...

    Totally what I was thinking, just in general really, I think it would be really awesome if this ended up as a really versatile playthrough where it's almost a bit like playing a game that...wrote in actual options, damn okay it just makes me sad for Skyrim a little bit. But yeah, I think by hiding it you could be really versatile and create something awesome here :D

    Oh, and yeah I think we will boost the end date to October 31st, just makes sense considering the timing and the fact that everyone seems to be about the same stage on their stuff.