Roth-Roryn

The Roth Roryn region near the town of Menaan.

Gridmap cut-out showing the extent of the Roth Roryn region.

Roth Roryn is a rocky badlands region in the Mournhold District, split in control between House Hlaalu and House Redoran. It is wedged between the wastelands of Armun Ashlands to the south, a stretch of the Velothi Mountains to the west and Clambering Moor and the Inner Sea to the north.

The region is furrowed with hills and ridges, some eroded grasslands, and canyons. The major river Priyai flows through there, although the name ("south of the Roryn") is derived from the Roryn river, one of its tributaries that forms the northern border of the region.

Beset by an absolute epidemic of bandits, the region has never been heavily populated and has always been favoured by recluses. The wilderness is mostly challenging (upper-mid level). Trade mainly passes through the east.

Roth Roryn also contains a few scattered settlements and farms, especially in the relatively lush northern area where it touches the Inner Sea. The centerpiece of the region is Andothren, the largest Dunmer trade port on the Inner Sea and one of the major cities of the Hlaalu.

Narratively, Roth-roryn serves mostly to illustrate Velothi history, the Hlaalu takeover of Redoran and Indoril lands, and the continuing side-lining of the Ashlanders.

History

Before the War of the First Council, Roth Roryn was very sparsely inhabited by Velothi and (in the Velothi towers), proto-Telvanni, and some proto-Redorans.

After the War of the First Council and withdrawal of most of the proto-Telvanni to Port Telvannis, the Indoril took control of much of the region, governed from Tur Julan.

After the Armistice, the Hlaalu grabbed all the former Indoril land here. The Ashlanders were pushed into the region ahead of the Hlaalu settlement, and continue to be pushed into the region’s extremities.

Plan

Interiors

Dominions of Dust shipped with many, many old interiors that are not up to modern standards, most of them in the Roth Roryn region. The worst of those were the several all-rocker caves, but perhaps even the majority of the wilderness interiors need to be revisited. Vern has compiled a list of interiors that need redo on the forums, and claims should be made available as soon as there are no more pressing claims available.

Exteriors

Overview of claims for the Roth Roryn exterior overhaul. The ones with asterisks were more or less completed in 2021, and don't need full claims.

Like with the interiors, the Roth Roryn exteriors were largely made in ancient times (2010). The region was given a new coat of paint in 2019 by Nemon, but old design issues persist and need to be fixed to make the region shine.

Cicero started an overhaul of the exteriors in 2021 that delivered some results, but that was halted to allow quest development to continue unimpeded. The overhaul will continue soon, but will have to wait until Othreleth Woods and Sundered Scar exteriors are far towards completion.

Exterior claims have now opened up again for the areas that were not completed in 2021. The areas that were completed will still need a once-over, if even just to add our new Hackle-Lo variants that were added since last time, but this may be best done as a separate .esp.

Briefly, the changes needed:

Replace or remove flora and assets according to the exterior design guide below.
Make (much) better use of the terrain, instead of the over-reliance on rock meshes. Don't be afraid to massively rework the landscape in order to achieve this – some places need complete gutting and rebuilding.
- Replace large old cliff meshes and stacked terrace cliffs, preferring to use terrain, or if really not possible, Wolli peaks.
- Fix all instances of spiky terrain.
- Make sure the landscape is easily navigable and points of interest are readily accessible.
- Add visual blockers and make sure the landscape is enjoyable even with low view distance.
Fix vertex paint usage.
Fix the roads:
- Sink the roads like is done in Vanilla West Gash.
- Make sure path use terrain and only very rarely cross on meshes.
- Concentrate the detail on roadsides.
- Add more paths going to points of interest.
Cull most rock groups, leaving only a few that compliment the scene (e.g. bled into small hills on roadsides).
Reduce waterfalls, especially if they only feed small puddles.
Add sound effects where missing (e.g. bridges, waterfalls).
Replace the St. Felms

For a fuller list and examples of the kinds of issues that need to be addressed, see Cicero's original thread (but never mind the semi-claim-system he set up back then).

Quests

Roth Roryn has a ton of wilderness quests already (perhaps even too many). Andaram expansion will add more in the settlements.

Monastery of St. Aralor could do with a quest, given its cool dialogue and prominence.

There have been scattered voices calling for a tiny Redoran questline in Bodrum.

Settlements

Concept for a new mesh for the Monastery of St. Felms by athcliath97.
Andothren – the largest Hlaalu port on the Inner Sea and one of their main metropolises.
Menaan – a small caravan town directly south of Andothren. Even more corrupt than is usual.
Omaynis – a mining town set up by the Omayn family near the Priyai river.
Savrethi Distillery – a major Hlaalu plantation in the relatively lush northeastern corner of the region.
Vathras Plantation – owned by Llaalsa Vathras, a high-ranking Hlaalu noblewoman. Her family has had a deep affection for their slaves going back generations, and as such, they mostly train household servants for the nobles of Andothren.
Bodrum – a dramatic town on the canyon of the Priyai river. The Redoran's main foothold in the region, and a quarry town.
Teyn – a small Imperial settlement on the Inner Sea coast. Originally developed as a straight-up mirror to Seyda Neen, we very much want to avoid that characterization now. The interiors will need an overhaul and its lighthouse needs to be replaced by one of MwGek's Nord lighthouse models. There is some grumbling that the existence of the settlement undercuts the characterization of Hlaalu integrating outlanders directly into their settlements. However, the current dialogue and quests are really good.
Fort Ancylis – one of the major Imperial forts in western Morrowind and the only one that is separate from Hlaalu settlements in Hlaalu lands.
Obainat camp – one of the mainland's main Ashlander tribes; a relatively new hodgepodge of old, defunct clans. In the southeastern corner of the region.
Monastery of St. Felms – an important monastery of the warrior-saint, dramatically sitting on top of a mesa above the Priyai river. Has a dedicated Temple questline. Used to be called Iliath in a since-reconsidered nod to Elder Scrolls Online. Still needs a unique mesh for the exterior.
Monastery of St. Aralor – another important monastery near Menaan, whose monks are largely Cammona Tong thugs. Has no quest currently, but some nice unique dialogue. Will need a total interior refit; the place is currently a hot cobble.

Exterior design guide

Ground Textures

T_Mw_TerrGrassRR_01 - fertile areas, close to water and the inner sea
T_Mw_TerrScrubRR - dry areas
T_Mw_TerrScrubRR_02 - very dry areas
T_Mw_TerrDirtRR**
T_Mw_TerrRockRR**
T_Mw_TerrRockGrassRR_01 - fertile but rocky areas
T_Mw_TerrRoadDirt_01 - minor roads
T_Mw_TerrRoadRR_01 - main roads

Terrain

Terrace cliffs should be used less frequently away from the water.

T_Mw_TerrRockRR**

Static Flora

flora_grass_01-04 - replace bc grass
T_Mw_Flora_Munzur_** - replace bush
T_Mw_Flora_TerrasTree_** - primary shroom tree of the region
T_Mw_Flora_TumtumParasol_** - bordering the Velothi Mountains Region, up to 3 cells away.
T_Mw_Flora_TreeCine_** - whole region, more frequent in fertile areas
flora_emp_parasol_** - use near the Priyai river and other bodies of water
flora_muckpod_** - by water, paired with muckspunge

Container Flora

T_Cyr_Flora_AloeVera** - Cyrodilic plant, part of the border mix mentioned in 2920, replace corkbulb in the whole region
T_Cyr_Flora_Mandrake01 - Cyrodilic plant, part of the border mix mentioned in 2920, replace heather in the west
T_Cyr_Flora_Stinkhorn** - Cyrodilic Fungi, part of the border mix mentioned in 2920, replace gold kanet in the west
flora_willow_flower_**
flora_black_anther_**
T_Mw_Flora_Blackrose**
flora_hackle-lo_**/T_Mw_Flora_Hackle-Lo** - replace kreshweed
T_Mw_Flora_TempleDom** - pair with T_Mw_Light_AanthirinMushroom light
T_Mw_Flora_Bluefoot** - pair with bc mushroom 128 light
flora_green_lichen_**/T_Mw_Flora_LichenGn03 - on rocks
flora_black_lichen_**/T_Mw_Flora_LichenBk03 - on rocks
flora_muckspunge_** - by water, paired with muckpods
flora_marshmerrow_** - by water, in groups
flora_saltrice_** - by water, in groups