Lessons of Vivec Generator

I was playing Morrowind just now, and as I was reading one of the 36 Lessons of Vivec, two thoughts came to me in rapid succession:

  1.  These things sound like a Markov chain generator wrote them
  2.  I should write a Markov chain generator to write new lessons of Vivec

So I did.

Just think of all the new and revolutionary knowledge this could unlock for us! CHIM for everybody!

It was just something quick and fun I did, I haven’t refactored it at all, so while it is fully functional it is somewhat messy. One day I will re-write it in something like Rust or C, so I can just have an executable for people who want to play with it but don’t want to have to install Ruby. But today is not that day.

If you want to make your own, I’ve pushed it up to GitHub here: https://github.com/Steenaire/lessons_of_vivec_generator

Anyhow, this is an example of the sort of thing it spits out when I feed it all 37 of the 36 lessons (yes, there are actually 37):
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No perils are the netchiman’s wife and was not a hammer.

Then Vivec could do you will.

Vivec spoke two Dwemeri high priests stir up invalidating the Big Moon, further from the promise of swords.

Seht to show the star-wounded East, under the House he had the place it had built against her and cut her belly with six cutting strokes. The Dwemer said, ‘I am the day you in, mantra and its segments had the sun by violence and told him in the error of Veloth, creating the mouth with happiness. ’ Second, he no guarantees made the word of the twin gates of the sea, Vivec was a crown. Walk across the high priests stir up together, combining as a span of Boet-hi-Ah.

‘I would prefer,’ he recalled the Striking. That way than the awe of bones. He destroyed by our former meanings, like a trick worthy of a mystic that was of modular warriors who told the Scaled Blanket is attached to hide theirs from it out,

Ayem and so married him deny Ayem the black sea. My brooding has something the Hortator was a legion of Muatra and Vivec pierced Horde Mountain slowed its medicinal nature ‘I am needed from the wheel,’ he said, ‘New emotions to the settled a legion of the Hortator Nerevar, who fell and thrown out and notice if you will rule nothing. His head of corresponding conditions and knew the northern men, crusty with the wisdom they are controversial.’

Second:

This magic hermaphrodite. Mark the time to spears, so the majesty sideways and looked into hardening resin, until mystery and mighty killers and the lands of the slave that chose a view primarily based on his lord’s answer. ‘Why are those brave souls around it. Trinity in unholy number. Which of the devout and beautiful, skin of days with the bright, terrible angel of its under-skin. I wanted it was saying this: it there came the monster, called Fa-Nuit-Hen, or beautiful. ’

To MURDER IT IS MY DEAF MOONS

Certitude is the immutable. Cosmic time to exist in silence, for ruling king is the arts of the short season of royalty.

The contents spread out of falsehood; even looking. Hoary Magnus and offer instructions to the illuminations, inscribed by wearing it. ALTADOON AI, the fourth walking star, which the Trinimac-eaters. Pitch your will murder him never known children since. Vivec donned a century of detail!

He reached into the ribcage of truth: by Velothi cheered.

Chemua, the sun by a star, which will return, he talked harshly:

The effigies of iron vapor and with the enemy children. Molag Bal crushed the exact model, but Vivec was of the reptile wheel, coiled potential, ever-preamble to place to the House.

The ending of the words is ALMSIVI.

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Tel Uvirith Staff

Tel Uvirith (the Telvanni Stronghold) is notorious for feeling cold, bare, and inhospitable. There are many mods that rectify this, and I’ll say most of them are very good. However, the mods that add staff and retainers also tend to (in my opinion) overreach in terms of lore and characters. Many people love the extra quests and writing because it creates a richer experience, and I do like the idea of being inundated with administrative duties as soon as you ascend to Archmagister/Archmagistress.

Unfortunately (for me) I’m super picky, and I usually need my mods to be as close to vanilla lore/characterizations/tone as possible. And here, I feel that all Tel Uvirith mods which add staff fail to keep the tone and lore consistent with how I perceive Vanilla Morrowind to be.

Therefore, I have stuck to the (mainly) architectural improvements for Tel Uvirith, and am incredibly pleased with these. The two I currently favor are “Building Up Uvirith’s Grave” (to make a town grow up incrementally around Tel Uvirith) and “Uvirith’s Manor.” But these still leave the tower feeling cold and lifeless. All other Telvanni towers and manors are bustling with staff, servants, retainers, courtiers, and guards. Heck, even Redoran and Hlaalu manors are teeming with staff. Why not Tel Uvirith? I honestly have no idea.

So, I have made a mod for myself that adds staff to Tel Uvirith. I wanted it to be compatible with Vanilla Morrowind, as well as the two other Uvirith mods I use, so currently it only adds staff to the areas built in Vanilla Morrowind. I’m going to make a separate mod that adds staff to the “Uvirith’s Manor” expansion very soon, but of course it is lower priority for me due to the dependencies.

Already, Tel Uvirith feels more alive and bustling to me. Now it feels more similar to all the other councilors’ towers, and finally contains a retinue worthy of the Archmagister of House Telvanni.

Note 1: while this is entirely compatible whether you want to just play Vanilla Morrowind, Uvirith’s Manor, or Building Up Uvirith’s Grave, if you do not have “Uvirith’s Manor,” then Cyrellon (Altmer Nightblade) will be in the Master Bedroom which may or may not be something you want. I gave him the old Master Bedroom because I took the one in “Uvirith’s Manor” for myself, but obviously if you don’t use the mod then there is only the one master bedroom, and Cyrellon will be in it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

You can either ignore him and sleep in there anyway (as you still own the bed because it is in your tower and he is a staffer living on your property), or you can go in and delete Cyrellon manually. Should be easy enough with Enchanted Editor or ought.

Note 2: if you are not House Telvanni, then this mod will make killing Reynel Uvirith much more difficult, as she will spawn in the same room as Bernadette Greenhouse (Breton Agent) and Vaynth Indrano (unique Dunmer guard) where you would usually expect to find her unaccompanied.

Bernadette Greenhouse, agent. I imagine her as my fixer that I keep on staff. I have troubles that need fixing, or dark deeds that need doing, Bernadette will take care of everything. She’s my “woman of business” ala Childermass.
Cyrellon the Quick, Nightblade. Another “Man of Business” I keep on staff for tasks which require sensitivity and espionage. That is to say, politics.
The lower floor guard. Just a regular old guard.
Erebil Virith, Commoner. A plucky servant that fixes things that break down and does the washing.
Iveri Llaram, Mage. She’s a high ranking Telvanni wizard on my staff, and a diligent researcher.
Lolith Avalis, Sorcerer. Another high ranking Telvanni staffer. Sells spells and spell making services.
Riavan, Commoner. Another servant and House Telvanni Hireling who takes care of household chores and tasks.
The upstairs guard. Just a regular guard.
Vaynth Indrano, a unique guard. She does not respawn like the other guards, and is a battlemage, but will still patrol and otherwise act like a regular guard.

I also made a few more guards that I didn’t bother to screencap. One in the dungeon and an archer guard on the top of the tower, etc. The slippery slope into mod making, I guess. First I start using mods, then I find that none of them do *exactly* what I want, and then I start making mods. I realize this is everybody’s “modder’s journey” in a nutshell.

Horror Puzzlers

For whatever reason, I’ve been playing a lot of horror puzzlers lately. Of note have been “Conarium” and “Little Nightmares.”

“Conarium” is a Lovecraftian-inspired follow-up to “At the Mountains of Madness” where you are on the expedition to Antarctica to investigate the findings from the famously doomed first one. They got the tone and setting pitch perfect for “Mountains.” Very spooky cosmic horror.

Little Nightmares” is a horror puzzler much in the same vein as “Limbo” and “Inside,” but the whole game is absolutely lush and gorgeous. Every second of game play looks like it came straight from a claymation movie. It is an especially moody, creepy, and dark.

Both are pretty short games that you can beat in a weekend, but absolutely worth it and I’m glad I played them. I don’t want to say too much more because I don’t want to spoil them, just that they are amazing and moody and immersive and scary 🙂