The Shrine of War
is a large, downwardly spiraling series of keyed hallways that
encompass a central shrine. My initial goal of this zone was to test
to limits of interior open space, with the massive internal shrine
being constructed of imperial foundations. The relatively large room
size, used in combination with a dark fog and low level environmental
lighting, has given the illusion of a very massive internal room,
something not found in Morrowind. The Shrine of War is located
in the mountains west of Tel Vos.
The beastiary of
the Shrine of War consists of an array of undead creatures starting
with forgotten pilgrims, sauntering eternally in these imperial
passages. Ghosts accost you as you search for the keys to the
balconies overlooking the shrine below. Forgotten spectators line the
balconies, and do not like to be bothered. Several static bosses are
encountered on the way to the bottom of the shrine, with several also
spawning on scripts. The spells of the creatures in the shrine are
varied, but have a common theme of attribute destruction. Bring your
potions! The loot encountered in the shrine is hard to get, but worth
the fight.
By placing keys on creatures
located far from the doors that they unlock, one is left with the
sense that this zone is truly massive. Using the strategy of making
the player backtrack is an important tool in producing an epic feel to
a zone. Introducing a rudimentary puzzle solving aspect to the dungeon
leaves the player with the dilemma of having to think about where they
have been, and where they have yet to go. As mentioned earlier, the
use of keys in Morrowind was lacking for the most part, and I have
taken this aspect of RPG play to another level in the Shrine of War.
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