Binary Swan

For this second and future posts I’ve decided to describe my actions in the first person rather than trying to take up the mindset of Hid. I got caught up in the excitement of being this type of character and I wanted to “role-play” more closely. Upon reflection this runs slightly against what I want to achieve with this series of posts which is looking at what mechanics are in place in Morrowind that allowed for a pacifist approach to playing the game.

The first quest for Hid from Caius Cosades of the Blades is meeting a contact in the Fighters Guild in order to gather information about two topics, The Sixth House and the Nerevarine. The contact wanted Hid to search the local Dwemer (Dwarven) ruins for a puzzle box, first before divulging any information. I accept and grab some supplies before heading to the ruins that lie to the east of Balmora. The two main purchases include an intervention spell that will teleport me back to the local temple once the puzzle box is found (no need to hang around longer than necessary) and some scrolls of Celerity, which boost your run speed for a short time.

As I approached the ruins I knew that the bridge would be guarded by a spell casting bandit. I elected to cast a shield spell, an inherent abilities of the Breton race, and simply run past up to the entrance to the ruins. Upon entering the ruins I noticed that I still had some time left on my shield so I used that opportunity to quickly run to the upper level of the area where I knew the box would be kept (I have played this first main quest mission many many times). The bandits on the lower areas were not alerted so I was free to loot some nearby shelves which scored me a dwarven spear, a nice piece of loot. I then prepared my intervention scroll and entered the next room on the left. Faced with a hammer wielding Nord bandit I quickly ran to the shelf where the box was sitting. I took some damage from physical hits as I prepared the spell and then instantly escaped to the temple in Balmora. Mission accomplished with no one hurt or killed.

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I went to the local shops to offload my loot and collect the information in return for the puzzle box. I decided to give Caius the information and set up the next Blades quest before going to work on my Mage’s Guild duties. After speaking to Caius I noticed to rest and heal but I was interrupted by the attack of a black clad assassin (I have Tribunal installed). Caius offered no helping hand so I fled the building to escape my attacker. This would happen three more times during the course of the session on odd occassions when I decided to sleep and heal. I went to the Mage’s Guild where I accepted my first duty gladly. I was to collect samples of four types of fungus found in the Bitter Coast area, a mission perfectly suited to my play style, no killing necessary. I used some cash to purchase a calm animal spell which would help me safely fend off attacks from kwama foragers and other creatures in the area. It was dark when I was ready to leave so I decided to nap in the city square until the morning. I was woken by the attacks of a forager who had entered the city. I ran away and found that the local guards quickly killed the attacking animal on sight. I had tried to calm the creature with my new spell but my poor Illusion skills meant that I couldn’t successfully do so before running out of magicka. I decided to nap again to restore my magicka before embarking on my noble mission. I was again woken by the attack of an assassin which the guards decided wasn’t worth their time to save me from. I was forced to outrun the attacker and leave town on my quest in an urgent fashion.

I left Balmora to the south and then headed West over the hills to the Bitter Coast where I searched for the fungus samples. I safely used the calm creature spell a couple of times to thwart attacks by some rats. Upon finding the samples I returned to Balmora by the route I had just taken. I decided from my previous experiences that I would need to work on my spellcasting skills in order to prevent any fatal failures. As I walked I kept casting the spells in order to help level up the skills which ran down my magicka. I slept to regenerate my magicka and was again attacked by an assassin. I fled along the river using my water walking spell to gain valuable distance from the attacker who was forced to swim. I got out of harms way but the soundtrack of the game let me know that he was still in close proximity. This could prove to be a continuous problem in Balmora whose guardsmen had a weird set of defence priorities. I got some health potions for my fungus troubles and quickly completed a simple mission that involved planting a fake gem in a rival mages desk. This coupled with my first completed duty allowed me to advance in rank in the guild gaining the appropriate benefits.

I retired to the bed at Caius’ apartment and was glad to see I wasn’t attacked as I rested and healed. I was glad to be able to complete these two early missions and maintain my pacifist stance. I also learnt that I would either need to improve my spellcasting skill, as my illusion and alteration spells thus far had been key to playing Morrowind this way. Therefore I will need to find a means to regenerate my magicka quickly so I can improve my skills through practise or find a source of income to purchase training for those skills. These present some interesting challenges for a Pacifist in Morrowind as loot has traditionally been gained by clearing out an area of both its treasures and those who are guarding it.