IMO this is a mod that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. Originally uploaded for old Skyrim in November 2014, this mod is barely younger than the other mods I’ve played (and older than the Forgotten City) but has far fewer downloads and endorsements. In one sense this is very understandable. The voice acting of the main NPC and quest giver is… uninspiring. Also, said main NPC is a descendent of a very minor Oblivion character, and the whole quest line focuses more on smaller affairs of everyday characters rather than epic, world-upending events. Finally, the whole mod is, in general, much more similar to vanilla Skyrim quests than some of the other mods out there; in fact, in this sequence of 6 quests, most are explicitly inspired by Oblivion side quests. This is both a strength and a weakness – it provides nothing as unique as, say, the Wheels of Lull; but the experience also blends in much more seamlessly with the vanilla game experience.
Interestingly, one of the things I saw some players complaining about on the mod’s Nexus discussion tab, was how an early quest couldn’t be completed without killing a bunch of “treasure hunters”. This puzzled me, not just because I’ve been feeling rather in the minority asking about this sort of thing, but more so because there’s actually no need at all to kill said miscreants. You can sneak past them, Calm, Fear or Paralyze them with spells or enchantments – probably largely just sprint past them, even. Either way, there are no keys or quest items you have to relieve them of, so you don’t need to kill or Pickpocket them. Lilya was even able to steal the one quest item you need from a drawer while the Bandit Chief – I mean Treasure Hunter Chief, sorry – was asleep in her bed just next to it. At 1 PM in the day. Sorry guys, but if you’ve put ANY planning into your Pacifist character, then this quest is perfectly pacifist-friendly. (Admittedly Lilya then proceeded to wake said Bandit – I mean Treasure Hunter Chief up and fry her to ashes with shock spells, but that’s just her particular appetite for Destruction.) The real issue the forumites had was, perhaps, that there’s no exposition explaining why a band of Treasure Hunters (who are really just re-named Bandits) will attack whenever they see another treasure hunter (you). Honestly though, it makes perfect sense if you think about it. Most likely, they simply don’t want to share their findings with someone who isn’t a part of their gang. Which is fine, really. I mean, I don’t really see the Dragonborn being willing to distribute all her coin throughout the dungeon’s band of Losers Anonymous either.
Where this mod shines, in my opinion, is the level design. The mod provides quest markers for the entrance to the new areas, but then requires actual exploration sometimes aided by drawn maps. This exploration is sometimes quite interesting and sometimes contributes to some cool storytelling if you pay attention, read books etc. I apologize if I’m about to spoil a little bit of that first quest, but we need an example. After the Treasure Hunters, that first dungeon has a neat underwater maze which can tax your supply of water breathing if you neglect the parchment map. And, if you read the the obligatory ringleader journal, the reason why said Treasure Hunters haven’t penetrated deeper into the ruins is as simple as it is telling – they just can’t swim, the poor devils. (Honestly a bit surprising that they are literate enough to keep journals, but it seems to be an established trope of the Elder Scrolls universe that Journalkeeping 101 is taught to every nobody in Tamriel, sometimes at the expense of skills one would expect ruffians to find more directly useful.)
In short, the dungeons were simply very enjoyable to explore and puzzle out, and their layout frequently helped tell a story slightly differently from how the vanilla dungeons go. There’s also several moral choices to make and you can go on a killing spree or take a non-lethal route. Apparently though, there’s no rule without exceptions. The location of one person you’ll be trying to find is at one point jarringly at odds with the kind of person she is supposed to be and this time I’m really not sure if this is a clue that this appearance is an utter charade, or if the modder just completely forgot the dungeon/storytelling synergy that he’d been doing so well up to that point. And there is also one life you’re going to have to end if you want to continue with the last few quests in the mod.
Pacifist Potential: 9/10. You do have to poison a drug dealer’s personal supply at one point, so it’s not for complete pacifists. You’ve got to dig the irony though, and I like that it’s a more indirect approach rather than a straight-up attack, so that a completely stealthy character with zero combat skills is as good for the job as any seasoned killer. This theme also ties in with how the whole questline involves dealing with a rather shady character – which unfortunately means following it all to its logical conclusion may not really be in chracter for a “lawful good” type of Dragonborn. But nonetheless, you have to give the mod credit for giving you a lot of choice and except for that one poisoning mission, you can complete the rest of the quest chain peacefully and/or sneakily.
Final verdict: Excellent level design that helps tell a story (with one exception). Fits seamlessly with vanilla Skyrim, but therefore also not as unique. Although I actually enjoyed this more than the Wheels of Lull, in terms of effort and overall quality I’d have to give it a slightly lower score: 8/10.
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