AN ADVENTURER’S DIARY
Tales found clutched in Oscar’s hands after a hands-on adventure
Still washing the mud from swampy Blackwood (which we visited in an expansion last year) out of my ears, my landing at High Isle’s Gonfalon Bay promises a substantially brighter experience. There are holiday-blue skies overhead, and at my feet bright cobbles gleam in such a way I can almost smell the fresh sea breeze rolling in.
But before I can find an ice cream stand for a celebratory mint choc chip I’m already being waved down by Lady Arabelle Davaux. Part of the Society Of The Steadfast, she’s got some problems that need looking into. She’s expecting some ships that haven’t turned up owing to problems at the docks. Figuring out what’s going on gives me the lay of the land as I explore the nearby streets, hearing tell of a gang of knights in unmarked armour causing trouble.
I venture beyond the bounds of the settlement to poke my head into the lighthouse, which, thanks to some idol thievery, has been extinguished. Clues lead me to a beachside camp where I find members of the armoured group. In first-person I hack and slash my way through them with a great big sword, supplementing strikes with magic. Before long, I switch it up to third-person to more easily get an overview of the battle, dodging and interrupting attacks before they can land. From some letters I scoop up, it seems the knights are members of a group called the Ascendant Order, enacting plans to scupper some specific ships and then scoop up any shipwrecked survivors.
SHIP OUT OF LUCK
Returning to Davaux, she is not best pleased to hear about the Order’s involvement, having dealt with it in the past. She warns that though the organisation’s styled after Knightly Orders and claims to fight to free the people from Imperial rule, its members only want power for themselves. She’s perturbed to find them on High Isle in force already, and seemingly ahead of her plans, as the ships contained VIPs coming to discuss the Three Banners War, a conflict she and the Steadfast want to bring to a peaceful climax.
The Steadfast is not without allies, so she sends me off to liaise with some of them. First, Ryvana, a druid. The natureworshippers fled mainland Tamriel some time ago, but still remain in High Isle. Then, I meet up with Guild Magister Valissea and save her from an Ascendent Order ambush. With everyone in tow, Valissea’s able to lead us to our first mini-dungeon to locate the kidnapped shipwreck survivors. Beneath Abhain Chapel, this involves plenty of hacking and slashing as we fight our way through (and hoover up loot from the pockets of fallen foes).
EMPIRE STATE
Throughout I find more Ascendent Order propaganda, emphasising the group’s mission to topple not one, but all governments in Tamriel – “death to empires”. The order might have some points, but unfortunately its methods involve plentiful murder of innocents. And, typically, we’ve just missed their leaders, the Ascendent Magus and Ascendant Lord. Back in Gonfalon, it’s clear I’m in too deep to turn back and enjoy beachside ice creams. The path ahead will involve plenty more networking with the Steadfast elite in manors, and exploring caverns and fighting impressively strong crabs. But as I ride my horse through a field of sunflowers, there are still plenty of good vibes to soak up along the way.
“BEFORE I CAN FIND AN ICE CREAM STAND I’M ALREADY BEING WAVED DOWN BY LADY ARABELLE DAVAUX.”
says Lambert, “but there’s also kind of a seedy underbelly as you start to dig through and see that not everything is perfect in this place.”
BANNER MAIDEN
It’s in that muck of politics and clashing classes that the story starts to take shape. “We knew we wanted to tell a story that wasn’t this kind of cosmic threat that we’ve been telling over the last few years,” says Lambert. “There’s no big giant Daedra coming in to take over the world and destroy Tamriel. This is a grounded political-based story, and that’s kind of led into the tie-ins with the Three Banners War.”
Like High Isle itself, the historical Three Banners War is a big part of Tamriel’s history that hasn’t really been explored much until now. Lambert explains how the stage is set as the players join in events: “Each of the provinces is kind of split up into factions and alliances, all vying for control over the Imperial City and the Ruby Throne.” A group called the Society Of The Steadfast wants to bring things to an end with secret peace talks, while the Ascendant
Order, led by the mysterious black-clad Ascendant Lord, wants to make sure the Steadfast fails.
As well as the location, the Bretons, and the war, the All-Flags Navy also features – “…the largest Navy that ever assembled in The Elder Scrolls universe,” says Lambert – a natural fit for islands in turmoil. All these elements that have been on the periphery of existing Elder Scrolls games have been brought together to form a new slice of world and lore that feels right at home. “We were able to take really important pieces from the lore and weave them into this story and weave them into this area,” says Lambert.
“YOU GET TO SEE KIND OF THE OTHER SIDE OF THINGS, RATHER THAN ‘I AM WIZARD, I ZAP YOU WITH MY STAFF.’”
OH, LORD
Because of that focus, High Isle conveys the sense the power struggles are between real individuals and factions. As well as getting to grips with the Steadfast, you’ll build up an impression of the rival organisation. “As you go through the story, you learn more about what fuels them, what motivates them, why they are as troublesome and pesky as they turn out to be,” explains Lambert.
And while magic takes a back seat, that doesn’t mean the Order isn’t a threat. “Again, this is all more in the grounded reality so it’s not [that] the Ascendant Lord is, you know, an all-powerful wizard,” says Lambert. “The Ascendant Lord is a knight in armour, is exceedingly well trained, and is exceedingly good at martial combat. So, you get to see kind of the other side of things rather than ‘I am wizard, I zap you with my staff’, right?”
The struggle to end the war can be every bit as gripping to play through as dealing with the threat of some magical or supernatural apocalypse (if not more than). “It comes into the story and the storytelling and, you know, characters can be interesting without having world-shattering powers,” says Lambert. “What we’re really focused on this year is making the characters interesting, making the stories feel kind of like the stories we used to tell in the old days.” He compares the approach to early update Orsinium, which was focused around rebuilding orc culture.
HIGH AND FIGHTY
High Isle, and the Legacy Of The Bretons storyline that begins in it, plays to what Lambert considers the strengths of Elder Scrolls Online. As well as appreciating the freedom to go off and do whatever chapters they want in any order (you can jump right in with High
Isle, Summerset, or anywhere in between that takes your fancy), he says “I think players love the world because it feels like it’s believable.” Say what you will about
The Elder Scrolls, the world that’s been developed since 1994 has always been easy to get lost in. “You can go into a story and get multiple perspectives of that story told at the same time, so it feels very relatable. It’s like real life where there is no kind of omnipotent being at the top that says ‘This is the single source of truth’. There’s always multiple sides to any story, and we recreate that in our world,” says Lambert.
You’ll get two companions to provide fresh perpsectives close to home: Ember, a Khajit, and Isobel, a Breton. Each has their own storyline, and will assist you with tackling harder parts of the game. Lambert
“WHAT WE’RE REALLY FOCUSED ON… IS MAKING THE STORIES FEEL KIND OF LIKE THE STORIES WE USED TO TELL.”
says introducings elements like this has encouraged players to try more of what TESO has to offer. “In the last few years, we’ve focused more on giving players new ways to play the game rather than just ‘Hey, here’s the same thing over and over,’” he says.
HEART OF THE CARDS
One major activity being introduced in High Isle is Tales Of Tribute, a card game that enables players to get together and chat while slinging paper. “I could just walk up to you in game and challenge you to a match. So like you would a PvP duel, you can just duel over cards, right? It’s a really, really cool system. It’s meaty, it’s got lots of depth,” says Lambert. “And this is something that I’ve wanted to have – you know, this concept of tavern games or pub games or something like that – I’ve always wanted to have. It’s really cool that we’re finally able to do it.”
If more tavern games make their way to TESO, Tamriel could become a new local for many. As players are able to jump into the game wherever they want, each new expansion only brings more possibilities for how they spend their time, whether that’s treating it like an offline Elder Scrolls RPG and finishing quests, or taking part in activities with other members of a like-minded community.
“MMOs are a great way to socialise, or can be a great way to socialise, even if you can’t get out to do that, or don’t want to get out to do that,” says Lambert. “I think we’ve seen over the years, especially during the pandemic, with the influx of players and whatnot, just how important these types of things are for people.” Bring on June. We’ll all catch up on High Isle, have a pint over some cards, and wait for the Three Banners War to blow over.