What makes or breaks it?: A Look at Morrowind (with a few mods)

After yet another long while, it is time to check in with Anna Valerian in my look at Morrowind.

As the reader can tell, this is a day without ashstorms present.

Talking to the local Fighters Guild leader, Percius, about the previous guild jobs from Eydis reveals further details of each job. Especially interesting is how several of those jobs aid members of the Camonna Tong and make Anna an accessory to the latter's crimes. Looks like that debt money job is one of extortion.

But enough of that, time to head over to Ghostgate. After heading up to the fort.

Looks like someone is present on the road near the fort. I wonder if she is in need of aid.

Of course she is in need. Rather ungrateful about getting aid though and impatient too.

Plus she thinks herself as superior to Anna simply due to being on pilgrimage... This is going to be a long and annoying journey...

Even the player character agrees. There are plenty of ways to go about this quest but seeing as Anna will eventually visit Ghostgate as part of her pilgrimage, she may as well escort that lady as well.

The building with the strange architecture in the distance is a Daedra ruin. Scattered throughout Vvardenfell are ruins housing shrines to the Daedric Princes, primarily the Bad Daedra. Various valuable items can be found in these ruins but so are various powerful Daedra that freely wander in and around these ruins. I recommend that new players only start exploring these places at levels higher than 10 if only to ensure that their weapon skill is high enough to reliably hit their opponents.

Giving the place a wide berth, Anna proceeds along.

In the distance, the reader can catch a glimpse of the Ghostfence, the barrier that shields Vvardenfell from Red Mountain and the evils that lurk in it. It does not stop the ashstorms or blighted creatures but it does something at least.

Speaking of ashstorms though...

Plenty of hostile wildlife to fight off too.

Like the usual cliff racer.

Nix-Hounds too.

The only difference is that Anna has to protect this useless waste of spa- I mean, useless pilgrim.

Good thing Anna bought this Heal Companion spell. A neat update from Tribunal is that health bars of targets appear upon attacking or casting spells on said targets. This includes friendly NPCs that are being healed.

Plenty of cliff racers to deal with.

Looks like a moment of reprieve...

Aaaaand here comes another cliff racer...

I wonder how do pilgrims succeed in their pilgrimages with cliff racers flying around all the time.

Hope Ghostgate is not far now... Between the cliff racers, ash storm and Viatrix (forgot to mention her name), this trip is turning into a disaster.

Looks like the path seems to be clear onwards. I wonder what is up ahead...

Looks like someone is in trouble! A lot of clanfears around him!

Now to draw their attention. Good thing Anna has her magic sword. I guess Viatrix can be a distraction while Anna pokes it. As long as-

Darn it!

Here is a close-up on the cliff racer.

After a while, Anna does take down the three clanfears and that cliff racer. Before she goes to speak to the Dunmer man, Anna ought to drop Viatrix off at the shrine past Ghostgate.

Which happens to be this giant structure here. The Ghostgate is the only way to normally enter into Red Mountain, the source of these ash storms and the Blight. The area in Red Mountain is highly dangerous which is why having some Intervention scrolls to escape is vital, especially for low levelled characters.

Viatrix however is losing patience... Anna probably thinks she ought to have ditched her at those Daedra ruins.

One design flaw present here is that the gates of the Ghostgate can be operated manually via switches that can be easily operated by anyone at the foot of these gates. The designers were probably counting on the creatures of Red Mountain to be extraordinarily stupid. Though the Ghostgate is filled with well-equipped soldiers so I guess that's one way to deal with that.

Within Red Mountain, the sky is red and the ash storms are at their peak.

Despite said storms, cliff racers are as active as ever.

Here is one of the shrine for the Seven Graces. It was probably placed not too far from the Ghostgate itself to ensure that pilgrims do not end up dying by venturing too far into Red Mountain.

Even as Anna receives her reward from Viatrix, cliff racers are still trying to hound her.

Well, time to leave Viatrix alone in Red Mountain. Hope a cliff racer finds her out here.

Good thing Anna keeps some spare soul gems on hand. It would be quite a shame to reach the shrine and not have the required offering.

The Shrine's blessings are a boost to maximum Magicka and a Shield spell. Useful for escaping the Ghostgate.

Heh... this means I can lock Viatrix in here. I bet she does not even know how to operate the switches.

Oh... better check on that Dunmer. He seems... nice...

Anna goes ahead with the retorts.

To be fair, it takes real skill to bleed to death. Firstly you must train yourself to be so stupid that you would ignore those open wounds. The next step is self-explanatory.

That or cliff racers. More cliff racers.

Possible is not a word to be thrown around lightly lest you lead up to a Kim Possible pun.

Well, better to admit now than later. To be safe, Anna will probably pass him a potion.

If the reader recalls from my previous part, this particular NPC is the NPC that man in the Ran in the Pot was asking Anna to look for. In addition if it were not obvious, this NPC is not from the vanilla version of the game. He is from a mod that I will reveal later on.

There are better ways at being a strong warrior, charging into Ghostgate is not one.

To be fair, fighting clanfears without enchanted or silver weapons is suicide. Anna is probably more surprised at how long he has stayed alive so she will probably flatter the guy.

Hopefully he goes into further details.

A week of training? Well there's your problem! You need to find a trainer and have a bag of gold at hand rather than training in the wilds.

Oh right, he is an Ashlander.

Anna will probably answer honestly. At her level, she probably would only enter the Ghostgate when necesary.

Training, eh? Now you are getting it.

As he puts it, his name is Julan. He is an Ashlander from the Ahemmusa tribe, or an outcast as he puts it.

He is also the titular NPC companion from a particularly good companion mod by Kateri that integrates the character into the Main Quest, providing him unique dialogue, opinions and questlines tied with said Main Quest. I have not actually managed to complete the Main Quest with Julan so far but from what I have played in an old playthrough before the save file became corrupted, he is well-integrated.

Interested readers can download the mod from the links below (all credit for the mod goes to Kateri):

http://lovkullen.net/Emma/Kateri.htm & https://bethesda.net/community/topic/48658/julan-ashlander-companion-2-1

Looks like Julan wants to check out the area past the Ghostfence.

As long as Anna does not need to see Viatrix, entering the Ghostgate should not be a problem. Meanwhile, here are some dialogue from Julan which are refreshingly different from the standard lines.

Interesting that Julan has disturbing dreams too. Note that he specifically mentions Anna's dream in detail. One good aspect of the mod I have encountered before is that the dialogue does reflect where the player is in terms of the Main Quest.

He also provides some insight into some side-quests. His advice is not always that useful though since he is an Ashlander rather than someone from the cities.

Curious... he seems rather defensive about the Nerevarine Prophecies...

Now for the rest of this dialogue. Note that he also has an option for repairing weapons in his dialogue table. Julan can do so but under specific conditions that I could not be bothered with to try out at the time.

Back into Ghostfence!

Based on how Julan handled those Clanfears, he begins to crumble as he approaches Red Mountain. He then asks if Anna would accompany him back as he prepares an Intervention spell.

Anna agrees as it is faster than walking. He then proceeds to cast an Almsivi Intervention spell for himself and Anna.

Bringing them back to Ald'Ruhn.

Looks like he has weird dreams that are affecting him. I wonder if they involve a commanding lady telling him that he has been chosen.

Anna will be nice and try to assuage Julan's concerns.

Looks like Anna will need to train Julan to progress further with his dialogue.

So time to get started. Using certain options in the dialogue table, Anna can train Julan in certain Skills provided Anna has a higher skill level than Julan in that Skill. So Anna's Long Blade skill is high which allows her to train Julan on wielding Long Blades.

So now he knows which end of a Long Blade you point at someone.

Also... how appropriate! You fight like a guar!

As the tip points out, Anna can only train Julan once a day so for more, Anna will need to bring Julan to a NPC trainer and pay for the training.

Well, now would be a good time to finish some quests in Balmore (and handle Caius's errand.

Arriving in Balmora, Julan expresses some concerns. Mostly on how he comes across to others in the city.

As mentioned before, Julan has unique dialogue that highlights his personality. Recall that he is an Ashlander that does not regularly visit cities. Naturally, he feels awkward walking into a city looking like a rural outsider.

Here, Anna decides to assist Julan with finding clothes more fitting of city-goers. If she remembers this request.

Now that a day has passed, it is time to try to bribe Sovor for the Nerano Manor key.

Or rather it is time for him to hear the Voice of the Emperor.

For a Camonna Tong thug, he seems rather receptive to the Emperor's voice. However, he does not seem to want to give up the key.

Here is a pointless picture of me thinking that I needed to buy something from him to proceed.

What Anna was supposed to do was to bribe him which causes him to give up the key.

Funny how he offers to talk about Morrowind lore but goes on to ask Anna to read a book.

With the key handed over, Anna receives some pay. Since she needs to do more jobs, Anna takes up another.

Seems like Habasi's friend is holding out on her on some Dwemer artifacts. So Anna is needed for the job.

With the spare gold, Anna can afford to pay for Julan's training.

Oh right, I almost forgot about the shield blessing from the Ghostgate shrine.

In certain places, new dialogue options can appear for Julan to allow him to remark on a situation. By the way, Anna is in the Mages Guild to see Sharn about the Nerevarine cult.

Now here is Anna attempting to unlock something in the Mages Guild. One annoying aspect about guild chests here is that even if you were a member, it is treated as a crime if you took something that was not in the guild chest or tried to unlock anything but the guild chest. Granted, it is fair that you should not be allowed to take the belongings of other members plus the way Oblivion and Skyrim 'fixed' this by allowing the player to practically take every guild item upon joining was not a good fix in terms of immersion.

Looks like Sharn wants Anna to retrieve the skull of Andrano from the ancestral tomb of the Andrano family. Since Anna will be robbing a tomb, Sharn provides a couple of scrolls and an enchanted weapon (a pathetic one if I might add). Talking about necromancy with Sharn does cause her to be specific in her denial. Hmm....

Julan does not approve of grave-robbing. He is a Dunmer after all.

Soon after picking up the Colovian fur helm from somewhere (one of the guild chests if I recall correctly), Julan begins making fun of Anna for having one. Anna then can engage Julan in a confrontation to force the hat on him. I am unsure of what stat determines victory but here, Anna won so Julan has to wear the hat.

A quick jog to Pelegiad.

Now for a reminder that Anna happens to be a woman for readers who do not remember.

I bring that up because of this guy: Nels Llendo.

Now Nels is a bandit but a gentlemanly one. Meaning he is the kind of bandit who politely asks for money rather than demand it. If the player character is male, Nels asks them for their money or their life. For females like Anna, he becomes entranced by their "beauty" and so, merely asks for a kiss. Julan interjects on how ridiculous this request is.

Seeing as it is merely a kiss, Anna complies which makes Nels's day. He asks that she look up him up if she ever goes to Pelegiad. Also Julan, you ought to be the last person to bring up not knowing where someone has been considering your origins.

Even Anna comments on Nels being an awfully nice chap for a bandit.

Over in the distance is the small town of Pelegiad. There are no silt strider ports, guild guides or temples here which makes it difficult to go to. Still it is a quaint little place.

A short distance away from Pelegiad is this woman.

Maurrie here is looking for a bandit. While not Nels, it seems that the bandit robbing Maurrie follows Nels's modus operandi though the former is a lot more better at robbery than Nels. In this case though, the bandit had charmed Maurrie and left her completely smitten ignoring her stolen jewels. Now she wants to find the bandit so that she can express her feelings for him.

Anna accepts the request. Partially due to being a romantic and more likely, hoping to net a reward from this.

Now to set up my own marker in the local map.

Being able to set up my own markers (along with editing the description of the markers) in maps has always been something I enjoy in games.

Now to get back to business.

Grave-robbing for Sharn.

I keep forgetting how dark these places can get.

Looks like someone else tried to rob the tomb to. However, this someone did not make it far.

Boy this place is dark.

Not dark enough to obscure the skeletons though. Seems Anna's sword does not have enough charges in it.

Silhouetted in the shadows is a bonewalker. These enemies are quite annoying.

Mostly due to how they damage attributes. Here Anna's endurance has been damaged.

Luckily there are shrines in these tombs that heals attribute damage.

The torch helps a little.

But the lack of a a shield is an issue.

Good thing Anna is not alone here.

Indeed with that hat, Julan certainly stirs up feelings in his opponents. Mostly amusement.

Now to move on.

To yet another... BONEWALKER!

In one of the chambers, Anna locates this rather pathetic dagger.

And the skull of Andrano. Exactly what the orc healer ordered.

The chest here has some acceptable random loot.

That is something to consider, Julan. Good thought.

And now for another lesson from Vivec.

That bonemould helm is Medium Armor and since Julan has proficiency in Medium Armor, I took that Colovian Helm from him. Rest in piece, Colovian helm. Oblivion got rid of you from some reason.

With the skull in pack, Anna can bugger out of that tomb and back to the greenery of the Ascadian Isles.

Since Anna did promise that Maurrie to search for her bandit, she heads into the nearby tavern. Perhaps Nels can lend her a hand seeing as he is a bandit too.

Not the Dunmer Anna is looking for but this Dunmer is an Ashlander so he has things to say.

Nels is here too but all he does is provide training so no leads there.

If Anna was a male, Ahnassi here would become his 'special' friend.

I am not even kidding here: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Ahnassi,_a_Special_Friend

Now we find Nelos Onmar. He even identifies himself as Nelos.

Now to confront him about Maurrie and... he claims to have been entranced by her too. Not entranced enough to not rob her but enough to recall her. Recall her to court her that is.

Now that we are in a tavern, Julan seems to want to relax. With a nice jug of sujamma.

Or several jugs. Enough to make him drunk off his rump.

And drunk enough to revive the Colovian Helm!!! ...While mentioning someone named Shani.

Even the journal notes what he said.

To sober up, Anna talks Julan out on a walk and into a kwama forager.

The 'stimulating' battle seems to have awakened poor Julan.

Asking him about Shani reveals who she is. An ex-girlfriend of sorts.

Wonder if Julan's mother may come up.

Essentially, he and Shani drifted apart as he dedicated himself to training for... something. He is not saying what it is but it was serious enough to ditch a woman. Anna obviously would not be pleased.

I wonder what Julan feels is so important that he would break off romantic relationships.

At least we could look up Shani if we ever do wander there.

Returning Nelos's note to Maurrie fills her with sheer joy. As a reward, she attempts to set Anna up with her friend in Tel Branora. It's... something. I guess Anna will need to look him up if she ever drops by Tel Branora.

A quick stop in this cave ought to net some rewards.

On the bright side, Anna did find a man. He just would not be of any use.

Ah... I do like how good the sky looks with the improved graphics. Though to be fair, the vanilla skies were quite good too.

Time for a quick walk.

And there is another pilgrim in trouble too. At least she seems polite.

Since Anna has her own pilgrimage to the Fields of Kummu, she may as well guide Nevrasa there too.

I need to get Night Eye for Anna soon.

Or increase the brightness next time.

Guiding here there nets Anna some gold.

So Anna proceeds to offer muck to the shrine obscured by darkness here.

I need a lantern.

On the bright side, the shrine provides a Feather blessing on Anna, allowing her to carry more items on her person.

Walking further ahead, Anna comes across this man. It seems he and his friend were observing mating kagouti while on their way to Vivec but when they turned hostile, they fled in opposite directions.

Now Anna has to find him in this pitch black night.

At this rate, she will probably find the kagouti before finding Thoronor's friend.

Oh, here he is.

Too bad, Anna has no spells like that.

Since we do not have any Invisibility or Chameleon spells or potions, Anna will have to drive away the kagouti.

So we fight the kagouti.

Both of them.

With Julan's help, the kagouti are slain. So we can escort Edras.

He still finds them fascinating. Shame we had to kill them.

Anna's reward is an amulet of slowfall. Useful in a pinch.

Now to head back to Balmora.

After another cliff racer...

Before going back, there is a quick stop to make. Another tomb, in fact.

Said tomb is near Seyda Neen.

The Samarys Ancestral Tomb.

It is a standard tomb.

With a not-so standard urn.

Said trapped urn contains this handy ring, the Mentor's Ring. That is a 15 point boost to Intelligence and Willpower that is constantly active. That is a useful artifact to have.

First time players should consider heading for the tomb if only for the ring.

With that, Anna heads back to Balmora with the Almsivi Intervention. Julan will follow due to his AI being able to follow with Almsivi too.

Speaking to Sharn nets more points on the Nerevarine cult.

Her own report is more extensive than Hasphat's at least:

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Nerevarine_cult_notes

Bringing Julan to Caius causes Caius to tell you to get rid of him. Nice that the modders coded that response in. After all, why would a Spymaster speak about important matters in front of NPC companions that are not privy to such matters?

So, Anna will need to find Julan in South Wall later.

With that, Anna is promoted to Blades Apprentice. Her reward are additional Interventions scrolls. To be fair, such scrolls are useful.

While Julan got wasted at South Wall, it seems that he is suspicious of Caius.

Nothing that a good night's rest would not cure though.

In the early morning, Anna gets her next job from Eydis after forking over Desele's 'money'.

After getting some of her money, Eydis assigns Anna to kill an orc living in Balmora. A known outlaw.

She happens to live in the tower-like house near South Wall.

Speaking to her reveals that she is a barbarian but nothing more on her being an outlaw.

What I did not show here is Anna going to Percius in Ald Ruhn. He does confirm that Dura gra-Bol is an actual outlaw with a legitimate bounty on her head.

So Anna taunts her until she snaps.

And then Anna kills her with Julan's help.

We get some gold and that concludes our jobs from Eydis. At least until Anna advances in rank.

So Anna goes off to handle some jobs with the Mages Guild. Firstly, she must attempt to convince a Telvanni wizard named Llarar Berelloth to join the Mages Guild or kill him if he refuses while making sure that we collect the guild dues from a researcher named Manwe who lives nearby.

Even in a seperate universe, the Valar cannot catch a break.

Asking Julan about this nets these responses. As for his questions, I may have to kill you if you grin that much in front of her again and no, I left them back in the basement dungeon.

Now to get some more sleep, if only to allow Anna to use Voice of the Emperor again. I wonder what do the people think of people who sleep in inn rooms for the whole day.