The Dwemer Update (Part 1)

Things have slowed down since the last update, as most of the ZNPC team has been busy with finals. However, everything should be back on speed by the time I post the next update. As slow as its been, there's still been a little bit of progress.

Two new NPCs, both Kothringi Dawnguard members, have been written up, and dialogue for Valion's crewmen is just about finished. Also, we've gotten a new, sleeved variant of Ancient Falmer Armor for the Snow Elf colony guards! 

Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to start any of that Dwemer stuff I mentioned in the last update. But I did say I'd have more details, and I'm a man of my word! First off, we have the Dwemer Workshop. Its only denizens are an old Dwarf and his daughter, who will be marriageable after a short quest. The old man sells unique Dwemer items, such as a mechanism that can automatically pick locks, or a sword that causes steam damage. He can also modify Dwemer Apex staves by optimizing them (making them lose charge more slowly, but reducing their damage/duration) or by overclocking them (Increasing their damage/duration, but making them lose charge more quickly). For brevity's sake, that's all of the Dwemer stuff I'm gonna talk about in this update. In the next one, I'll talk about the Dwemer followers we have so far.

Now for the Cepheus update. This week we have the Aetherius Stone, which is unlocked after completing 20 quests.

• Aetherial Rain - Summon a swarm of magic anomalies for 120 seconds.

So these anomalies aren't exactly like the ones encountered in the College of Winterhold questline. These ones do almost no damage, but their attacks apply a stacking debuff of 5% weakness to magic for 10 seconds. And while this effect is tailored to benefit mages most of all, anybody who uses enchanted weapons can benefit from it.

That's it for the Aetherius Stone. In the next update, I'll talk about the Jode Stone and its warrior-boosting power, Jode's Vigor.

So many bullet points

It's been a busy two weeks, but I've still managed to get a decent amount of work done, most of it being dialogue. The Thalmor Shipwreck is now complete, and its associated quest should be finished any day now, which will leave only one more quest to do in Valion's questline. I've also come up with names for the four Snow Elf colonies. They are:

• Fieryn 

• Khardil 

• Mafreth

• Sepredium

Each colony name has a root in Aldmeris, the language that the Snow Elven language is a dialect of. If you translate the name, it might tell you something about the respective colony.

We're also gonna have some cool Dwemer stuff coming in the next couple updates, such as a General Zod-esque follower with a Dwarven metal arm, a workshop complete with an old man who will modify Dwemer staves as well as sell some unique mechanical items, and a new way to acquire Mihail's Dwarven Power Armor. I'll likely have more details in my next update.

In other news, I've decided to do with Cepheus what EnaiSiaion did with Andromeda, and detail one stone with each update up until the mod is released. This week's stone is the Jone Stone, which can be acquired after completing 10 quests.

• Jone's Shadow - Move 10% faster and become invisible while sprinting for 120 seconds.

In Oblivion, the first three stones were designed to predominately suit classes falling under a specific archetype, while still providing something that every class can benefit from. I tried to keep that in mind when creating Jone's Shadow. This ability, in my opinion, has two main uses:

• Giving stealth-based players a break from having to sneak to remain undetected

• Making it easier for all players to escape from enemies when low on health

There's also more to the power than its description suggests. Firstly, the only way to break the invisibility is to stop sprinting. But as soon as you start sprinting again, the invisibility will return. Also, your movement is muffled, and the invisibility effect used actually gives you a fortify sneak effect. 

So that's it for the Jone Stone. In the next update I'll detail the Aetherius Stone and its power, Aetherial Rain. You magic users out there will like this one. ;)