Completed Let's Play Daggerfall

[Wyrmlord]

God damn, there is so much more to Daggerfall than I expected.

I had another save and another character where I was a werewolf. I was told of a cabal of Glenmoril witches in a city. The notice on the house said, "For Sale", but it was actually a hideout for werewolves. The werewolf/Glenmoril witch questgiver summoned the werewolf god, who instructed me to hunt down and kill a wereboar who is captured and imprisoned by werewolf hunters.

Once done, I was told to find another werewolf cabal in another city, not being told what or where the cabal is. After searching, I met a magical instructor in the mages guild. SHE turned to be the leader of the city's Glenmoril Coven, and on behalf of the werewolf god, she gifted me a ring that could help me control when I was or was not a werewolf.

Basically, in Daggerfall, the world was full of undercover werewolves, taking the guise of court advisors in palaces, mages guild instructors, fighter's guild instructors, ordinary residents, merchants, everything, you name it. There is a deep penetration of undercover groups in ways one can't imagine.

It was also pretty shocking to do a Mages Guild quest to put a prince to sleep, but to find that the prince's home was inhabited by people in dark, executioner's clothing and scythes. It didn't take much to guess that the prince's home was a secret hideout of a shady guild or undercover faction.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Back home in Wrothgaria.

Land of kilts, sheep, rocky mountains, endless fog, teacakes, strong accents, bagpipes, and ceilidh dancing.

Time to head home.

What's adae wit ye, Archmage, prancing into ye own home from ahint, all aglee?

Aff! It's a' ain home!

It's finally time to retire from this whole mess.

Wrothgaria is far from the civil war, far from the politics, far from the mess. Some time on the piano to quieten the mood.

And reading letters from old friends by the fireplace.

Back to work. Maybe it won't take long.

Ah, I almost forgot.

The Totem of Tiber Septim.

Time to take it from Daggerfall.

I haven't been here in a while.

Sir! I have orders explicitly forbidding you from this place. You can not pass!

: If it isn't the Emperor's whelp.

: The nerve of him showing up here.

: Don't wait for my orders. Battlemages. Kill him.

: I am taking the Totem of Tiber Septim from you. You will not win the war without it. And there is not a damn thing you can do about it.

We enter the castle dungeons by force, with the battlemages left clueless about where the Archmage is.

We see a giant container suspended from the ceiling. We can't enter it.

Let's try something.

There is a lever here.

We pull it.

*CRAAAAAAAASH*

The container has fallen right over the pool, and we can't escape.

We try to find an escape.

The first chain is shining and blinking. Is that a hint? We use it.

We are teleported on top of the container.

There is a lever to be pulled which shall remove the force fields.

Here it is.

I am taking it and going back...

...home.

Time to sleep.

After the Totem wakes us up from our sleep, we find assassins in the Archmage's room.

They are dead.

The Archmage's wife seems safe.

Now to figure out what to do with this damn Totem. It has to be given to royalty.

The Emperor is a thousand miles away in the Imperial City. How is he going to get it?

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[abnaxus]

What advantages/disadvantages did you pick for Belethor, btw?

 

[Wyrmlord]

What advantages/disadvantages did you pick for Belethor, btw?

 

[abnaxus]

Will you do an Arena LP after finishing this? The one from Elzair was never completed.

With sufficient knowledge of dungeon layout + Passwall it can be completed fairly quickly.

 

[Wyrmlord]

With the Totem in his possession, the Archmage is the most powerful man in Illiac Bay. This means that his retirement in his home of Wrothgaria is interrupted with letters.

Knowing full well that treason is a very bad idea, it's best to head to Chardale and hand over the Totem to the Emperor.

We go looking for Lady Brisienna in Chardale.

Upon entering the place...

: You won't believe who came here secretly with me.

: It has been some time, old friend. I have brought you the ring I promised. A token of our everlasting friendship.

: I know of it. A powerful artifact. This Totem is useless to you in its current form, you understand.

: I have arranged for Dowager Queen Nulfaga to arrange for your passage towards finding the Mantellan Heart. We'll meet later in Shedungent.

Time to enter using the old password.

The hardest part of our journey begins here.

We are teleported to another place in the midst of endless stars. We seem to be on top of a floating rock in a plane of Oblivion.

We see another floating rock higher up.

Let's reach towards it.

There is a lever here. We pull it, not knowing what it does.

We levitate even higher, and find portals or doorways hanging in the midst of space. They are blocked with force shields.

There is a second one too. It is also blocked. There is nothing here for now.

Looking down, we find steps on the island below.

Taking those steps down, we find a third floating island. It's guarded by a daedra.

I have no idea about the purpose of these doors, so I won't tamper with them until I get clues on what to do.

I levitate down further.

There is an opening on the third island from the top.

I pull the lever here.

I have no idea what it did, but I'll levitate down to an open doorway below.

But there is nothing here.

A seducer is walking in the midst of this dark space, without any ground on her feet.

She rips off her pants, which somehow reveals her wings. I have no idea how this works.

Levitating back to the very top, we find one of the doorways has opened.

It opens to a hallway.

We find one dead end.

Let's try the other way.

A seducer blocks our path.

We find a lever at the end of a hallway. We pull it, again not knowing what it does.

It leads to us being ambushed by a daedra lord.

Moving onward, we find yet another lever.

Coming out of the doorway world and back into the black space, we find that a new opening is available.

Once we enter, we are immediately teleported elsewhere.

It is a place of floating tombs and graveyards.

Here is one floating graveyard.

Let's inspect every single gravestone or object here.

I think that information on one gravestone may be useful.

Floating upwards, we find a pyramid. It is guarded by a lich at the top.

Since the trapway under the lich is closed, we ignore it and float yet further upwards.

There is a doorway here.

It leads to this room.

The pyramid is now open. There is an elevator here.

Inside the pyramid, we find a second elevator.

And a third one.

But the fourth one is blocked.

We missed something earlier. Time to float out of the pyramid and back to the gravestone area.

There was a lever we forgot to pull.

Back in the pyramid, the last doorway is open.

And it leads to this baffling place.

Let's walk down the floating path.

There is an upside down temple here.

We pull one lever here.

It opens a door on the other side.

Touching that blue mummy teleports us to a tiny room.

We take the only door that leads anywhere.

And soon arrive here.

We are greeted by what can only be called a flying "Prosper".

This area is like a burning pit of hell.

It all ends at the eyes of a "skull".

We speak to the first skull we saw and follow its instructions.

Then we go back up to the eyes, where we meet...

: Sheogorath? Prince Sheogorath?

: Who else?

Strange. We move inside, now that it's open.

There is an elevator. It leads down somewhere.

Here is the Blind God himself.

This is the answer I gave on my tenth attempt. All these screenshots really understate how damn difficult this whole level is.

The correct answer sends us here.

It is a tiny room filled with skulls. Clicking on one of the skulls teleports us here.

Running along these hallways, I don't when it happened, or how it happened, but I ended up floating here.

I am really clueless. Sorry guys, but at this point, I am forgetting what I was doing or how I did it. It was all "Trying everything that worked".

In the midst of this floating space, I find this object. I click it.

It sends us to this room.

Since I clicked on a crossbow to arrive here, that's what I say.

Jumping out of his room, this is where I end up again.

On this floating island, a doorway to a diamond is open.

Clicking on the diamond causes it to rise and all the floating islands to sink down.

It took me a whole day to figure it out, but I had to stand on the center of the big crossbow.

I click all the halberds until this happens.

A hallway filled with non-hostile daedra. I had no idea that a 52% Daedric skill is enough to keep you safe from these.

Finally, we get somewhere.

It is the Mantellan heart.

We grab it, make history, and get teleported back to Nulfaga's castle.

: Archmage, you did it! Come with me. I need you as my advisor in the easiest rebellion we shall ever crush.

SIX MONTHS LATER...

: It is so pointless. The Numidium will crush them.

: I am puzzled myself by the extent of their defiance. So many young men throwing their lives away for these treacherous nobles.

: We know we should not count on having this contraption help us forever.

: Yes. The Underking.

: He may soon alert to what we are doing with his heart. And reclaim what is his.

THE END

Thank you for watching this play of Daggerfall.

Daggerfall was released in 1996, and has been played by its fans over and over countless times since for the past 16 years.

We owe the existence of this timeless classic to the fertile imagination of Ted Peterson and Julian LeFay.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Will you do an Arena LP after finishing this? The one from Elzair was never completed.

With sufficient knowledge of dungeon layout + Passwall it can be completed fairly quickly.

Arena is too formulaic to warrant an LP.

I mean, the main quest repeats itself in the same pattern eight times over.

Once people see Fang Lair and Labyrinthian, they will be alerted to the game's formula. They will know exactly how the rest of the game will play out. I mean, Arena has a lot of variety - from open outdoor levels such as Murkwood to mines such as Fang Lair. But its core formula is predictable. It would be like a KotOR or NWN LP.

Plus, I believe I mastered the game so well that it will probably end up looking like the Morrowind LP we saw recently.

PS: I don't think Passwall is all that necessary. I admit I fast-tracked two dungeons using Passwall, but minor perseverance can allow you to do without.

 

[SCO]

So the King of Worms and the Underking and the Gortwog are "from Tiber Septim line" that was said to be the only one that could safely possess the scepter? Or am i getting it confused with something else?

 

[abnaxus]

Great LP

Pre-Daggerfall:

Post-Daggerfall:

 

[Sceptic]

So the King of Worms and the Underking and the Gortwog are "from Tiber Septim line" that was said to be the only one that could safely possess the scepter? Or am i getting it confused with something else?

Neither Underking nor Mannimarco use the Totem to control Numidium, so they're exempt from the rule. Underking fuses back with the Mantella, which depowers Numidium permanently, and Mannimarco uses the Mantella's power to ascend to godhood, which again doesn't involve controlling Numidium. As for Gortwog... well, it's TES, where EVERYONE lies, including a talking magical totem.

Awesome LP Wyrmie

 

[Average Manatee]

The totem is supposed to be usable by anyone with divine lineage (Tiber Septim et al) or with great magical affinity (how the underking controlled it back when he was the archmage, and Mannimarco is obviously the next big mage in TES).

Gortwog is the odd one out. Some Daggerfall lore sources say that the Totem can be accepted by "royal blood", but even if that line is hidden somewhere in the game I imagine its supposed to refer to the Tiber Septim line and not just any old king of a backwater tribe. That said, Gortwog becomes a friend of the emperor during the story so it's not inconceivable that he operates it through a medium or something.

 

[Kayerts]

Apparently, the Daggerfall cluebook explains the whole backstory to the plot, and it's a bit different from what's been reconstructed here. There's some silliness about Lysandus faking his death, and Gortwog's orcs were the ones who actually killed him? Odd. That does leave open the question of who was the Daggerfall man we saw getting murdered in the portrait, though I suppose it could have just been some random guy.

edit: whoops, fucked up the link

 

[Average Manatee]

That makes no sense. If Lysandus fakes his death then why would his ghost roam Daggerfall? Keep in mind that the people of Daggerfall identified it as him, not some random asshole wandering the town screaming "vengeance!"

 

[Wyrmlord]

Post-Daggerfall:

Wait, Wrothgaria gets taken over by orcs and is put under orcish rule?

Damn, that's a plot for a whole new Elder Scrolls game RIGHT THERE!

Scottish/Celtic highland region with witches and druids. Conquered by a powerful orcish minority that rules over the Celtic human majority.

Only those Celtic nobles who betrayed their peoples and joined hands with the orcs are rewarded with large plots of land. Other Celtic nobles who fought them were dispossessed or exiled. Only half-orcish humans are allowed to be higher than humans in the social hierarchy. Speaking Orsimer is mandatory for anyone who wishes to be in a position of prominence. Under these harsh times, a group of Wrothgarian Celtic highland nobles start a rebellion against the orcs. They go to Nulfaga and other witches, and beg them to summon Skakmat and other powerful creatures in their war.

ELDER SCROLLS: WROTHGARIA! Bethesda should just do it!

 

[SCO]

Apparently, the Daggerfall cluebook explains the whole backstory to the plot, and it's a bit different from what's been reconstructed here. There's some silliness about Lysandus faking his death, and Gortwog's orcs were the ones who actually killed him? Odd. That does leave open the question of who was the Daggerfall man we saw getting murdered in the portrait, though I suppose it could have just been some random guy.

disregard soulless milking, achieve storyfag satiation.

ELDER SCROLLS: WROTHGARIA! Bethesda should just do it!

Part of the gloriously nonsensical "warp in the west" everything really happened school of lore management.

 

[Kayerts]

That makes no sense. If Lysandus fakes his death then why would his ghost roam Daggerfall? Keep in mind that the people of Daggerfall identified it as him, not some random asshole wandering the town screaming "vengeance!"

The link (which I messed up, it's fixed now) explains it. Sort of. Lysandus wanted to step down so that he could bang Medora in peace. Gorthyd and he came up with a plan whereby a poor noble's body would be used in lieu of Lysandus's own. Lysandus's corpse-double was both alive and one of Woodborne's vassals. The plan basically worked, as far as it went. The problem was that Lysandus had been refusing support for Woodborne's plot to become king of Wayrest, so Woodborne seized the day and had Gortwog's orcs kill him. The link seems to imply he could then blackmail Gorthyd into backing his claim, though I'm fuzzy on how that provided him with leverage.

 

[Sceptic]

I don't like the cluebook explanation because it directly contradicts some of the plot elements you see in-game, such as Gortworg trying to warn Lysandus of Woodborne's assassination plot. And the whole bit with faking his own death is pretty derp. The cluebook story seems to try to address the little "inconsistency" that everybody seems to think Lysandus died in battle whereas he was stabbed in the back, but the usual TES "everybody is a liar" explanation works much better and fits much more with the general conspiracy-within-conspiracy political intrigue of the game's story. As for the painting, there really is no other explanation for it, because otherwise why would Akorithi be so interested in it, and in particular in making sure you don't see it?

 

[Wyrmlord]

By the way, did this happen with anyone else?

Enemies just stop being hostile in the late game. After the running skill, stealth skill rises the fastest in the game, and lots of enemies just don't notice you. And if you are generally in the habit of keeping yourself invisible, then the results are similar too. And if you have a high Daedric skill, most Fire Daedra leave you alone. It's like enemies cease to be your concern after level 15. You are above and beyond them. You can just keep walking onwards ignoring them. The only reason to kill them is for resting.

Invisibility in Elder Scrolls: Arena was more-so a near god mode that could allow you to kill all non-spellcasting characters without them killing you. If you combine it with immunities from Necromancer's Amulet, Ring of Phynaster, and Ebony Mail, it becomes complete immunity to even spellcasters. That was...the easiest Elder Scrolls game AND the hardest Elder Scrolls game, depending on what build you had.

Strangely enough, stealth and invisibility in Skyrim too were near god modes which made fighting and killing superfluous and pointless. At just 60-70 Stealth, nobody notices you.

 

[Kayerts]

I don't like the cluebook explanation because it directly contradicts some of the plot elements you see in-game, such as Gortworg trying to warn Lysandus of Woodborne's assassination plot. And the whole bit with faking his own death is pretty derp. The cluebook story seems to try to address the little "inconsistency" that everybody seems to think Lysandus died in battle whereas he was stabbed in the back, but the usual TES "everybody is a liar" explanation works much better and fits much more with the general conspiracy-within-conspiracy political intrigue of the game's story. As for the painting, there really is no other explanation for it, because otherwise why would Akorithi be so interested in it, and in particular in making sure you don't see it?

Yeah, for a bit I thought Wyrmlord added the parts where Gortwog wrote that he was trying to rescue Lysandus, but all that's actually in-game. So that's a point against the derpy death-faking explanation.

On the other hand, the letters found in Mynisera's castle do give some hints of the death-fakery: there's a fragment where Lysandus talks about how no one would suspect that a king would give up his rule, which seems to imply he's planning to step down via some covert means. And there's the weirdness with his body, so who knows. I don't think this plot was meant to stand up to too much scrutiny.

 

[abnaxus]

ELDER SCROLLS: WROTHGARIA! Bethesda should just do it!

In Skyrim it is mentioned that Orsinium gets sacked again by the Bretons and Redguards, so...

 

[Elwro]

Congrats Wyrmie for a nice, condensed LP of a huge game! That's how it should be done!

 

[abnaxus]

I know, I know but didn't know where else to put this.



What's interesting about this video is that it shows that Daggerfall originally had a lot more cinematics with actors (you can see Lysandus and Medora Direnni for example). I wonder why they were cut, only the opening cinematic with the Emperor was left.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Yeah abnaxus, you often find there was more planned for Daggerfall than what made it to the final version.

New Bethesda at least keeps ambitions and expectations realistic.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Holy shit, I have zero memory of doing any of this.

I was looking for LPs of Elder Scrolls games, and forgot I made one of them? WTF?

 

[Wayward Son]

Holy shit, I have zero memory of doing any of this.

I was looking for LPs of Elder Scrolls games, and forgot I made one of them? WTF?

You know what this means? You should do it again so you can remember this time.
Edit: Also check my sig if you be wanting a poppin Elder Scrolls LP