Audioload731

1. Jul 09, 2017 Forgotten city mod endings?.SPOILERS!. posted in General Skyrim Discussion: I was just wondering if anyone else played the forgotten city mod where youre in the time looped dwarven city. I hear it has multiple endings depending on what course of actions you take. Mine ended with me freeing that one girl who was abducted as a sex slave, who then killed the jarl and got everyone out of.
2. Aug 31, 2017 praise for the forgotten city 'The story here is, no doubt, the best of any Skyrim mod. It's so good, that it really reminds me of Blockbuster movies like Inception, Interstellar, and especially Edge of Tomorrow, and it's so cinematic as well, especially the custom composed soundtrack.'

I just finished Forgotten City but am disappointed I got a bad ending. I got all of the immaculate armor, spoke to the arbiter to try to convince him to break dwarves law, he said no (maybe my speech level was too low?), killed him, took his helmet, went back through the portal and showed him his helmet and then he ended dwarves law.

And now for something different. Probably the best way to introduce The Forgotten City.
I can't help wonder to what extent the recent batch of 'campaign' mods for Skyrim have popped up solely based on their fan-driven development cycles coming to a natural end, or whether the imminent release of Fallout 4 has helped spurn dedicated modders into crunching down before a hefty chunk of their target demographic moves on to play in the radioactive sand.
You'll find them listed under 'quest' or referred to as 'new lands' mods on Nexus. I prefer 'campaign' - large-scale, ambitious content packs that come with their own locations, featuring one or more quest threads and aim to provide upwards of several hours of gameplay. Bethesda broke silence on Fallout 4 at E3 earlier this year and, in the following months, Skyrim Nexus got hit by a few such large scale releases, things like The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal, Summerset Isle, Darkend and now The Forgotten City.

This is how Nick James Pearce, a.k.a. The Modern Storyteller and main architect of The Forgotten City, summarises his creation. He pitches us on what sounds more like a story-driven adventure game than Skyrim's standard Action-RPG experience, and I'm happy to say that he delivers. I've spent a few hours over the past weekend delving into what amounted to a multiple-solution story-driven puzzle that made running around to piece info together and open up progression paths altogether engaging.
The plot setup is quite straight-forward. City guards may have difficulty discerning whether you're a glorious hero or have fur coming out of your ears, but to Imperial deserter Cassia you're just the right person to fetch her brother from some dubious Dwarven ruins in The Reach. And so a courier reaches you with a desperate letter, also delivering a first bit of unexpected voiceover, and you get your plot hook. Once you arrive at the ruins, you end up leaping down the proverbial rabbit hole into a land of time-travel fiction, moral judgements, and thinly-veiled themes of social engineering and captive self-government right out of the Vaul-Tec playbook.
The Forgotten City shows you the consequences of a mysterious disaster and sends you into the bowels of an underground Dwemer City, whose inhabitants live under the auspices of an uncertain, draconian law, tasking you with figuring out what happened and how to stop it. Lined with motifs of responsibility and prejudice and slightly darker than Skyrim's usual mannerism, the narrative is not without its leaps, but its execution and scope stand out among what we've come to expect from quest mods in general. The Forgotten City will have you explore the backgrounds of its inhabitants and appraise their characters, taking gambles upon choices the results of which you can only make educated guesses on.
Indeed, different endings might take some trial-and-error, but not in the traditional sense of getting a fail state and loading. Rather, The Forgotten City leverages its time-travel theme in the form of an actual in-game mechanic. Depending on what choices you make, you may find yourself rushing back to when you'd started and, while the characters may have no recollection of you, the game and story certainly factor it in.
It's not merely an option to pull a blank slate, some roads to completion rely on your harnessing this ability. I've explored two different paths to completing the adventure, one took me just over four hours and the other nearly seven. But in only one of them did I elect to cheat Chronos. And this is really one of the stellar points of The Forgotten City - time-travel isn't a 'gimmick', it's a core mechanic that's clearly a focus of the design and development effort, yet it's also something that the author's perfectly happy to let you sidestep in the pursuit of your chosen solutions. For anyone worried that I might've just spoiled something here, rest easy, this state of affairs is suggested early on in the setup of the plot and it's contextualised.
I can't say just how many different paths and outcomes the mod features, as I've only experienced the two and I haven't seen a comprehensive walkthrough anywhere. Based on a little reading I did in the comments after the second ending I got, I'm led to believe there's quite a few different keys to the puzzle and plenty I haven't discovered. What led me to try a different path in the first place was that, upon getting my first ending, there was still plenty I'd encountered but hadn't gotten to explore. And it looks like other players are referencing yet more things which either I'd not come across or simply hadn't figured out what to do with.
What isn't quite as appealing, however, is the amount of time you'll spend running around trying to find that one NPC that you need and you just saw earlier, but now just can't seem to run into. The gameplay's designed around exploration and the player drawing their own conclusions. To this effect, it doesn't throw any quest markers your way, and this certainly makes sense for a lot of the tasks involved. Tracking down average inhabitants, though, dipping in and out of loading screens, trying to anticipate where their prescribed daily routines might have them idle about at a given time of day, is neither exciting nor challenging. I wouldn't be surprised if I'd spent more than half an hour of my total playtime just zipping past others, looking for this citizen or that, whom I really thought had the solution for whatever I was doing at the time. It's never a deal breaker, but it can put the occasional damper on your momentary excitement, since you'll spend quite a bit of time charging between characters as you piece together your understanding of how deep a pile you've gotten yourself into this time.
Combat, on the other hand, does not feature heavily. I've only gone through a handful of encounters, most notably one area with several groups of opponents strewn throughout. That's not to say that there isn't more of it along different paths, it's just what I found. It's also not a looter's game, so don't expect to go in and trip over unique items and mountains of valuables. Either that, or I wasn't paying attention. There are but a few things to be pilfered and they're tied into the story context.
Moving on to more technical and assets-related aspects, The Forgotten City is nicely self-contained and comes with no additional third-party dependencies. Just a .bsa and an .esp and you're good to go. And how does it hold up in actual play? Surprisingly well. Whenever I try mods like this, of this scope, I'm always treading carefully, fearful of breaking progression with an unanticipated step and only realising it further down the line. But this pack's solid - with 1700 hours claimed to have gone into its making and a small crew of beta testers hammering on it, it's given me nothing to gripe about. The select few bugs I've seen mentioned in the comments section I did not encounter, and the mod's potential for conflict is very limited, hooking into only on the standard courier character and a cell in The Reach before it gets going in its own worldspace.
And that worldpace is constructed primarily on standard Bethesda visual assets. Aside from a select few texture reskins, nothing drew my attention as being 'new', most of the City's spaces being a thoughtful arrangement of the same old run-of-the-mill Dwemer ruins and caves tilesets. The spaces feel good, though, detailed and sensibly drawn. If you're using an ENB mod, you may find yourself relying on torches more often than usual, as some of the City's interiors employ a powerful contrast of light and shadow, which is an excellent touch.
On the audio side we're faced with a completely different situation. First off, featured prominently on the mod's page, new soundtrack. And it's very,

Skyrim The Forgotten City

very

Skyrim Forgotten City Best Ending Guide

good! Fits the mood, doesn't distract, covers a wide range of moods and makes for an excellent impression.

And yes, The Forgotten City also comes with a complete package of voiceovers. Here things are a bit more of a mixed bag. Some performances are superbly delivered and recorded whereas others, though not for lack of effort, feel much more homebrewed and hamstrung by the limitations of available recording equipment. Still, practically everything's accurately voiced and even things you didn't quite expect, like some letters.
What I mentioned earlier, about the time-travel mechanic clearly being a priority in development, stems from a definite standout feature of the mod - its scripting. In the context of one particular event, I saw an area swap time states in a literal flash... lighting, clutter, population. I'm still wondering whether it was an elaborate sleight of hand, a camouflaged level load with a position reset but, either way, it was a marvellous trick done to great dramatic effect. There's plenty going on in the City, and it manages wonderfully.
Bottom line, where do we stand? It's an excellent piece of work - creative, polished and stable. You won't find much of the regular Skyrim gameplay in The Forgotten City, but if you want a change of pace with an interesting plot, plenty of exploration and impactful character choices, this is an absolute gem and stands above the competition I've seen. If you can gloss over the varying grade of the voiceovers, there isn't much to single out The Modern Storyteller's creation as a fan-made piece of content rather than a first-party piece of DLC. It's pretty great, really, and worth checking out!

Part I: LINK

Part II: LINK

This is the 3rd part of a multi-post series on the Skyrim mod, “The Forgotten City”.

There are SPOILERS… however, there will be some end-of-quests SPOILERS. There won’t be any major plot spoilers, unless ABSOLUTELY UNAVOIDABLE. Turn around – and check out some other posts on my page! – if you don’t want to read any spoilers.

3. a) More people

I talked to Domitus, plus a few more Forgotten City (FC) citizens.

*Domitus (in Citadel):

• Domitus is the #2 in charge. He is not afraid to let you know it, either.
• He is very conceited – his basic first responses to you can be summed up as: “how dare you approach me and ask me anything? Get back in your place!”
• he did ask demand that I go to the Palace and retrieve an Immaculate Dwarven Helmet that was on the other side of a gate at the entrance.

This was not as “exciting” as I thought it would be. What it made me do is refrain from shooting Domitus in his mouth with my Fire Enchanted bow. However, no option of implicating Domitus popped up. Maybe I missed something?

3 Others:

Jeshol (met in Tavern) was tickled that I “asked how an old lady was doing”. She is a street sweeper and either a worshipper or priestess of Mara. She does mention Dooley and how he’s living in a cave of sorts, outside of town, homeless because he can’t work (the Jarl basically exiled him). Luki (met near Habiq’s shop) is a not-too-social alchemist and healer. She hates all people but heals and makes potions because “someone has to”. She chides the Jarl and his “cronies” for laziness (sense a theme here…).

Dwemora (above; met in the Citadel) is the Jarl’s adoptive, bored daughter. She is not allowed out of the Citadel. She also calls the Jarl and friends “lazy”. To spice up her life, she wants to see what happens when you offer Ashanshi some Skooma.

I then went to the first person that I met in the FC: Gulvar.

*Gulvar (in tavern):

• was a farmer from the Whiterun area
• father was killed by bandits; mother died shortly thereafter
• farm was repeatedly raided. Gulvar then killed one of the bandits that knocked on his front door; the other bandits knocked him out and kept him alive while they killed the rest of his family and burned his farm down
• he started stealing, didn’t like what he had become; wandered Skyrim until he found the FC
• **mentioned that the Jarl would get what was coming to him

That last line moved Gulvar to the top 1 or 2 suspects. He seems like he is barely repressing his fury.

3. b) More Places

I’d talked to about 15 people, so I started looking through houses and areas.

I didn’t find anything of note on the outside (minus Dooley).

I did find some things of interest indoors, however.

Ulrin’s House:

*Another SPOILER Warning*

I was checking in here to see if I could find some info about him and his missing wife. Maisi. Instead, I found a door to the Underground Tunnels, hidden under an animal skin. Be very careful with this door: if you click on the skin, you’ll take it… and break the Dwarves’ Law. Once you open the door, you’ll find yourself in a ring of tunnels, with about 12 offshoots and short hallways branching off. About 8 of those offshoots lead to doors that lead up to various houses and stores… but they are all locked. There are also a few Skeevers, scattered around the tunnels. They shouldn’t be a problem. I hope.

On your travels throughout the ring, you should come upon some human remains, along with some gold and a piece of equipment. You have to identify those remains. Also, you will be attacked by a horse-sized Giant Skeever. This is not as easy of a fight as you would think. When you defeat it, make sure to loot the corpse. You will find a Locket that belongs – belonged – to Maisi. Putting 2 and together should identify the remains that you found earlier. Report your findings to Ulrin…. or hold on to the Locket until you have finished a few more quests.

*Brandas’ House II

I didn’t remember that I had glanced in Brandas’ house previously, until I reread my last post. I’m glad that I went in again.

Most of the house is empty. There is a Lute in the corner, some food on the table, and a Last Will, next to the food:

This makes me feel better about taking those Boots earlier. 😉

On the stone bed… is Brandas! He wasn’t there before! He is mortally wounded: what isn’t wrapped in bandages, it looks badly burned, including parts of his face. he tells you that he is a Vigilant of Stendarr, sent to the FC (via visions) to stop “something terrifying and very evil under the city”. Unfortunately, the energies under the city nearly killed him before he could stop whatever is down there.

I now have to get back under the city – lower than the tunnels I just came out of – and find out what’s down there, survive the “energies” getting to it, and possibly stop/kill whatever *it* is.

Skyrim Forgotten City Best Ending

*Dooley’s Quest

Skyrim The Forgotten City Guide

I also decided to help Dooley find his treasure before taking on anything else.

The clue “hold your breath” pointed me to the lake at the back of the cavern. I brought one Potion of Waterbreathing with me – crap. Probably should have brought 3. Anyway: after swimming around for a little bit, I found a sunken house-type building, with an openable door.

Inside the Sunken House, there is a very tall cave, with an opening at the top, all under water. I used my Potion to swim to the top, where I was greeted with a ramp that spiraled out of the water, into an even bigger cavern, complete with those blue mushrooms that are pictured earlier in this post. There are barrels scattered along, as well as some Dwarven odds and ends (plates, cups, shields, etc.). At the top of the ramp is what appears to be an Argonian female, completely armored in Dwarven Armor (probably will be Ebony or Daedric armor, at higher levels). She wonders who you are and why you are here. If you tell her that “you are looking for a treasure chest”, she says that “we found it but can’t open it… we locked it in the Tower”; she then invites you to dinner. If you accept the dinner offer, she leads you to a campsite… in total view of 2 other figures; all 3 then attack you because “you smell delicious!”. If you answer “nevermind, I’ll turn back” or turn down her requests for dinner, she and her “sisters” attack.

I got killed a couple of times, even after using various Shouts, so I changed my strategies. Once the first Argonian started walking towards me, I backed down the ramp a few feet, putting the wall on the left between me and her sisters. Once she attacked, I filled her full of arrows, then immediately hid after she dies. She has a Tower Key on her. I then got by the lines of sight of her sisters and went to the right of the ramp, towards the aforementioned Tower.

Inside the Tower is the Chest, as well as some armor, another Chest at the bottom of a stair well, and some odds and ends laying about. As tempting as it is, do not take anything from upstairs, other than whatever is in the Chest. The Dwarves’ Law does take effect on the entrance floor of the Tower.

Inside the Chest is this:

So, no “treasure” but something possibly as valuable: a key to the locked gate at the top of the Citadel! Also, he explicitly warned me about the Jarl. Interesting!

Skyrim Forgotten City Best Ending Ep 1

I swam back to the Sunken House – nearly drowning – and back to the Lake. I let Dooley know about the treasure; he hoped that I split the “pile of gold and gems that I find” with him.

SO, I have 3 branches to do:

1. The Citadel: Accusations and The Locked Gate
2. The Palace: Get The Helmet
3. The Evil: Go Underground

I actually looked into the Locked Gate and…. well, you’ll have to wait for Part IV. I also have to make my accusation to the Jarl…. although, I don’t trust the Jarl much. And, I have to get that Helmet for Domitus, inside the Palace, not to mention find out what’s going on underground. Part IV will cover what happened with the Locked Gate and what I did with the accusations. My travels through the Palace may also take place in Part IV, but I can’t guarantee it. Part IV should be posted by Sunday night! Stay tuned!