Project Primer

In development since 2020, *Echoes of Barenziah* is a *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim* mod that overhauls the base game's Thieves Guild faction. By building on existing lore and a decade of fan favorite community-created content, the mod seeks to transform the vanilla Thieves Guild into a more complex, rewarding, and immersive faction.

The basis of *Echoes* is a combination of some fan-favorite mods to integrate, expand, and remaster the content. The mod also incorporates existing fan-written apocrypha from an active Elder Scrolls lore forum as lore, notes/books, and dialogue. By building on existing content, the mod is both a "love letter" to an incredible decade of modding, while also saving time on production by allowing a base on which to build. The first year of production was undertaken by a single mod author in order to prepare this base of content as a jumping-off point for a team of collaborators.

## Synopsis

***Main article: Thieves Guild Main Quest (TGMQ)***

In 4E 201, Skyrim’s Thieves Guild had enjoyed rekindled success under the five-year leadership of cutthroat kingpin Mercer Frey. At the crux of their bid for power, a string of bad luck has rotted the guild’s reliability from the roots and led to botched jobs for their largest client. From the success of a new recruit comes an opportunity for redemption– the chance to seize control of Riften’s political leadership, solidifying the guild’s stranglehold of the city. As the groundwork is laid, a mysterious adversary rises from the shadows to challenge the guild’s ascension. The recruit is charged with uncovering information about the assailant. By delving into the secrets of the guild’s past they discover the source of (mis)fortunes. Power, wealth, and freedom are within reach – if they choose to take it.

### What’s new in *Echoes*?

* ***A rework of the quest structure.*** Although many mods address mechanical pain-points of the Guild, this mod seeks to rethink the plot, introduce new solutions, and alter some pacing, motivations, and outcomes to address the problems at the source. For example, at the beginning of *Echoes*, Brynjolf does not approach the player at all, and it is up to the player to figure out how to get noticed and sponsored by one of the guild’s associates.
* ***(Im)morality with consequences.*** Existing mods add morally good choices to the questline; similarly, this mod offers more palatable options, but with consequences and trade-offs. The goal is to balance the different approaches to the quests so that one option doesn’t dominate as the obviously superior choice. This mod asks: can a thief be good? Does the end justify the means, and vice versa? How might a given situation allow you to ensure a certain outcome?
* ***Navigate cities and dungeons like a thief.*** Make use of a vast network of sewers and tunnels to pass unseen through cities. Sneak your way through major Thieves Guild quests where stealth-based play is expected and rewarded.
* ***Choose to destroy the guild… or not*.** As with other mods, in *Echoes*, players can take down the guild. While tempting, charging into the Ragged Flagon and murdering everyone doesn’t seem like the greatest strategy… so what about taking them down from the inside? With prodding, perhaps even Mjoll can be convinced that some thieving in the name of the greater good is forgivable.
* ***Build your network – choose your kingpins and informants*.** It’s time for Maven and other cronies to truly serve you or to take their leave… at your pleasure. As the guild regains footholds in major cities, you hold great sway over which relationships to strengthen and which to sever.

## Estimated Release Dates

***Main Article: Project Scope***

Given the exciting potential of the faction, project scope could very quickly balloon to unmanageable size. To combat this, *Echoes* is releasing in several stages, with the alpha release designed to obtain preliminary feature feedback. All release dates and content should be considered tentative and are subject to change.

### Tentative Release Dates

* December 2021 (Alpha Release 1.0)
* February 22, 2022 (Alpha Update 2.0)
* July 22, 2022 (Beta Release 1.0)

## Purpose

Thieving has been a mainstay of *The Elder Scrolls*, with many of the series’ most memorable characters and quests. With a nod to this legacy, the main purpose of *Echoes* is to breathe new life Skyrim’s Thieves Guild by enhancing the storyline, quests, locations, and characters.

Like Skyrim’s other factions, the game’s Thieves Guild reflects the crumbling state of the province in 4E 201, offering us a glimpse into one of the ways that Tamriel is decaying. While the rationale behind the darker methods and actions is justifiable, it was also somewhat disappointing for fans of *Oblivion*’s Robinhood-style guild or for those who disliked playing a thug.

Unfortunately, the storyline often left more questions than answers about the order of events, character motivation, and unrealistic choices made for the player.

For example:

* *Where did the guild’s vault of treasure come from and disappear to?*
* *Just what does Nocturnal give you in exchange for your soul?*
* *And why was Gallus’ suspiciously convenient journal accepted as evidence?*

In *Echoes*, players will experience a livelier guild with more satisfying progression. The main audience is the rogue at heart, but the mod also includes the option to destroy the guild altogether while experiencing a large part of the plot.

## Incorporated Fan Content

This mod is made possible by a decade's worth of community-created content. The mods and lore listed below are incorporated in whole or in part, with the goal to blend the environments together, integrate characters across locations, and remaster the content for consistency.

All incorporated content is integrated based on the corresponding permissions listed on the Nexus mod page as of November 2020 or via explicit permission from the author. If you have any questions or concerns about content permissions, please contact us.

### Included Mods

(Table forthcoming!)

* **Skyrim Sewers 4** by Viltuska
* **Sewers for Thieves** by rubypele
* **Following Mercer** by rubypele
* **Shenk’s Thievery Overhaul** by Enos Shenk with updates and port to SE by KellieAtTheLab
* **Outlaws Refuges** by Sokkvabekk
* **Unique Vampire Dens** by Gonkish

(Additional information forthcoming)

## Design Goals

### Complex Storytelling

***Main article: Story and Lore***

*Echoes* asks the player to consider what – and who – makes good thieves. What makes a truly great thief? Acquiring mountains of stolen loot, demonstrating incomparable skill, having the freedom to do and take whatever one pleases? Are the best thieves legendary and infamous, do they operate alone and unknown, or do they spin tales so that the truth isn’t all it seems?