The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal

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The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal

Developer(s)	Bethesda Softworks
Publisher(s)	Bethesda Softworks
Engine	Gamebryo
Latest version	1.4.1313
Release date(s)	/ November 6, 2002 June 5, 2003
Genre(s)	First/Third person RPG
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Teen (T)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Xbox
Media	1 CD-ROM
Input	keyboard and mouse

The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal was the first expansion for Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. It takes place in the temple/city of Mournhold, the capital of Morrowind, located in the larger city of Almalexia. The title refers to the three "Living Gods", known as the Tribunal.

Instead of directly modifying the original game world, the city of Mournhold was only accessible by teleportation. While the city of Mournhold appears to be similar to the open-air towns of the original game, Mournhold is actually akin to an interior room. Players cannot levitate while in Mournhold, because levitation would reveal that the "sky" of Mournhold is little more than a ceiling. Should a player go over the walls of Mournhold (using spells or scrolls such as Scroll of Icarian Flight) they will find the area of Mournhold they were in floating in an endless ocean. The other districts of Mournhold will be absent from the ocean. This was probably done because the original game included only Vvardenfell, and Mournhold, in the fictional geography of Tamriel, lies on the mainland and a considerable distance inland.

The most notable aspect of Tribunal is the modification of Morrowind's journal system. In the original game, a player's journal can become extremely lengthy and cumbersome. Tribunal allows a player to sort his journal by quest (instead of chronologically sorted) in order to determine what is required for a specific quest. Another notable feature of the expansion is the Museum of Artifacts. The owner of the museum will pay the player half of the value of an artifact (up to 30,000 gold) for one of the very rare artifacts of Morrowind. This is more than the player can get for the artifact at any other store. The museum starts with one artifact (Stendarr's Hammer), and puts the new artifacts on display cases as they are sold to the museum.

Many players were disappointed with Tribunal, for a number of reasons. Morrowind itself was rich to explore, whereas Mournhold is a small town with little to explore effectively. To make matters worse, Morrowind's open-ended nature was sorely lacking in Tribunal's quests. Regardless of the player's choices, the player must work with two diametrically opposed groups to beat the game. While there are minor optional quests to accomplish, many of these quests are Fedex Quests which require little thought.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Once Tribunal is installed, the game will start after the player takes their first rest after the installation. The player will find him/herself being attacked by an assassin, which is later revealed to be a member of the Dark Brotherhood, an assassin's guild that spans Tamriel. Once in Mournhold, the player will investigate the ancient sewer to locate the Dark Brotherhood, complete side quests, find more powerful weapons and armors, and even to explore the clockwork city of Sotha Sil.

Overall, Tribunal is 'supposed' to take place after the events of the main Morrowind plot, though the player can start the game before finishing the main campaign of Morrowind. With the destruction of the Heart of Lorkhan, the former Living God Almalexia was released from her immortality and seeks ways to retain her power. While it is believed during the plot that the secretive god Sotha Sil is behind attacks on Mournhold, it is eventually revealed that Almalexia murdered Sotha Sil and used his biomechanical creatures in order to instill fear in the town.

The player, the alleged reincarnation of former Tribunal ally Indoril Nerevar, is attacked by Almalexia when he/she discovers that Sotha Sil is dead. By killing Almalexia and, if the player murdered Vivec in the course of Morrowind, he/she essentially accomplishes one of the prophecies of the 'Nerevarine' - the death of the ALMSIVI Tribunal.