Integration - The Stranded Light file

Author: bg2408

Introduction
Years before Uriel Septim's death Talos appeared before the Nerevarine, foretold that the Empire is about to end. More so, that it is time for a change - but without knowing, which form the change may take. "Young folks should try some new ideas. Could be messy. But change is never pretty."

In the wake of Uriel Septim's death, Cyrodiil is in turmoil. A city annihilated, guilds in open and secret wars with rivals and old enemies. Everyone knows, or thinks they do. Rumors run wild. The Black Horse Courier is always after the latest 'news'. Yet there is more here still, a light rising, intertwined with shadows. A wind of change blows through Cyrodiil. New powers rising. Old ones returning. Some fading away into obscurity.

Old rules still apply, hiding what (or who) should not be visible to the public. Yet some rules are ignored, simply because they're bad for business. And other rules are gone, swept away -- Mehrunes Dagon is not the only Daedra interested in Mundus, though intentions and actions differ.

There are questions so obvious none ever asked.
* Decades ago, during the Imperial Simulacrum, different breeds of Elsweyr's people could be found in Cyrodiil. Now all save one disappeared, making the Suthay-raht a synonym for Khajiit. Why did this happen? And can it be reversed?
* Most elven races were assimilated into the Empire, but not all. What happened to the others? Centuries ago a war was fought between the Altmer and the fourth elven race known to exist til today. Only a freak storm caused by the Psijics pushed the invaders out of Tamrielic seas. Are they really gone?.
* A millennia ago Sheogorath tried to stop another Daedric Prince by filling a hole with clowns. He failed. And as the other Daedric Prince approaches again, the domain of Sheogorath changes - an event that has always affected Mundus, too. Now the other Daedric Prince is rising again, what consequences may arise for Mundus?
* At the beginning of the second era, it's twelfth year, Tjurhane Fyrre died - last known Ayleid in Cyrodiil. Was he really the last one?
* Since time immemorial, Skooma seeps out of Elsweyr like sweet poison into the rest of the Empire. In the waning years of the third era, will the Renrija Krin succeed in spreading it even further?

Details
Integration: The Stranded Light includes more than 30 quests with a strong emphasis on thinking, character interaction, choices, consequences, and lore. It delivers a seamless integration of Cyrodiil and Shivering Isles along with other lore races. A new, joinable guild plays an important role in many of the quests, which are unlike any in Vanilla Oblivion: A bit thinking, often multiple solutions, quite heavy on social skills. It also reaches beyond the typical mold of quest mods, seeking to enrich the existing game world as whole.

The quests in Integration: The Stranded Light don't all follow a single storyline. It's more like a collection of short stories than an epic novel. Here's a small sampling of the variety you can expect.

Requirements, Download and Installation
Due to its broad scope, Integration: The Stranded Light has more requirements than most standalone quest mods. It requires:
- Oblivion version 1.2.0416 (latest official patch).
- Race Balancing Project 10 or later
- Less Annoying Magic Experience 1.61 or later
- Official Expansion: Shivering Isles

Installation is simple: Copy both bgIntegrationEV.esp and, if you're not using Elys' universal silent voice, the Sound folder into your Oblivion\Data folder. Then check "bgIntegrationEV.esp" and make sure that it loads after both Race Balancing Project and Less Annoying Magic Experience.

Future
This mod uses a "sliced" quest mod development. Integration: The Stranded Light grows in time. Whenever there are a new couple of quests ready, there's an update (called "slice") - always easy to add, always a complete package (all previous slices included in each update), which just keeps getting bigger.

Media
Trailer

Known issues and incompatibilities
- Open Cities is extremely likely to cause problems, at least with some quests. I fear a patch will be necessary.
- there are NO conflicts with FCOM or Unique Landscapes.
- if you don't fulfil the above mentioned requirements, your game will crash.
- some dialog responses from the player seems like a bit too short. Unfortunately they had to be shortened - player responses can only be about 40 characters long, so no way for the player to give elaborate answers. Game limitation.
Please report any bugs and issues you'll find in Integration's release thread.

Background and features
What can you expect when playing Integration: The Stranded Light? The most important goal of this mod is to bring in new (although some would say "missing") kinds of quests into The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Quests with multiple solutions, using skills and accomplishments in dialogs, riddles and other possibilities to think. Which I'm unwilling to spoil.

Although, if you really must know... (I don't recommend reading this)
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- a new joinable guild, which you can help growing. With visible impact on their headquarter.
- remember Morrowind's "Guild Guide" travel system? Now you can institute one in Cyrodiil too!
- memorable challenges and rewards, thanks to using LAME's resources and scripts.
- believeable unique NPCs. Your actions can even change some of their lifes!
- a lot of dialog, often taking into account your deeds, skills or other characteristics.
- similar to the "Guild Guide" other features are there to enrich the world, e.g. the new guild's HQ can also be used as a new home.
- and, of course, even more. Enough spoilers for now.
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Acknowledges
- thanks to Bleral for all the new resources: Paintings, book arts, faction and quest icons, all are his work! Many thanks!
- JonSatriani, Plangkye and kalikut for the Telvanni Tileset Modders Resource
- thanks to phoenix1213, Rubinchen, Bleral, YX33A, and Lingwei for testing
- dev_akm, lilith and daemondarque for helping to formulate a better introduction text
- Steve Carrow for making tes4gecko run with my mods (creating silent dialog files and all that)
- Mortazo for his "treatise on daedra of the lesser variety"