We got to have a chat with The Elder Scrolls Online’s Narrative Director Bill Slavicsek and Writer/Narrative Designers Juli Comstock and Andrew Sianez-DeLaO on the game’s recent updates, latest player feedback, and what the future looks like for the MMO and how it ties into future installments in the franchise moving forward.
10 years later, The ESO is still going and growing strong with their latest expansion having just released a couple of months ago. The developers, ZeniMax Online Studios, are looking like they still have no plans to slow down any time soon. In between major expansions, the studio has been constantly dropping micro content such as new companions, PvP maps, quests, store items, and regular hotfixes.
Update 44 was a massive update that brought in a whole host of new features and rewards to the base game. One of the major components of the update were 2 new companions, Tanlorin and Zerith-var. Here’s what the The Elder Scrolls Online’s narrative director and designers had to say about them:
When first conceptualizing Tanlorin and Zerith-var, what led the team to ultimately decide their specific class and race?
Bill: Our first goal is always to create unique and interesting characters and to tell unique and interesting stories in the world of the Elder Scrolls. When it comes to companions specifically, we want to make sure we’re doing something different from what we’ve presented before. Give players new options for the types of characters they want to befriend and adventure with.
Andrew: When we first imagined Tanlorin as a magic-user whose abilities were locked away by magical tattoos, we knew making them a High Elf would capitalize on that particular narrative, given their nature of taking great pride in magical ability. In terms of their class, we felt Tanlorin’s mix of Dragonknight and Soul Magic abilities spoke to their loud and brash attitude and explosive nature.
Juli: We knew that for this release, we wanted to add a necromancer companion. What ended up becoming Zerith-var was just one pitch among several different flavors of necromancer the team developed. We had a lot of discussions around him being our second Khajiit companion rather than using a race we haven’t seen as a companion before, but it didn’t make much sense for an Azurah-worshiping necromancer from the Hidden Moon faction established in Ashen Scar to be anything but Khajiit.
To keep him distinct from Ember, our first Khajiit companion, we made sure that Zerith had very strong ties to his homeland and culture. Even if that culture has changed dramatically from the time when he was alive.
What was the initial inspiration for the stories of Tanlorin and Zerith-var? And how do their storylines tie in or affect the narrative of ESO moving forward?
Andrew: For Tanlorin, from the beginning we were very interested in telling a spy story separate from the Eyes of the Queen. A group that was shaped by everyday Elves, like Tanlorin, in an effort to make the Aldmeri Dominion a more welcoming society.
With that in mind, what better villain to face off against than the first sparks of the Thalmor movement that will eventually shape Tamriel’s far-flung future? While that story will play out far beyond ESO’s time period, we felt it would be a great opportunity to give the players a glimpse of that future and be part of the initial fight against it.
Juli: Once we knew that Zerith was going to be a Hidden Moon necromancer from the past, the majority of his story unfolded from the idea of what a crisis of faith might look like for a follower of Azurah. Her worship demands acceptance, self-love, and forgiveness. In his story, Zerith grapples a lot with his purpose. Why was he sent back from the afterlife? Why to this now and this place? What events from his past led him here? And what must he do to move forward, now that he has a second chance to live?
In describing Zerith to other teams, I’d sometimes refer to Zerith in shorthand as “Khajiit Captain America.” Like Steve Rogers, he’s displaced by time, reckoning with what’s become of his homeland and trying to find his place in the world. I’m not sure how his storyline affects the narrative of ESO moving forward, if at all, but I’d like to think that his actions with the player and supporting characters might hint at the long-dead Order of the Hidden Moon rising again someday. We’ll see!
What made the team decide that Tanlorin was going to be an outcast as their backstory?
Andrew: With the Three Banners War heightening the tensions between the people of Tamriel, we wanted Tanlorin to exemplify an unyielding desire to make the world better for Elves and outsiders like them. That someone cast aside by their family can still want to make a difference, even if it means risking their lives for the sake of others. They are
compassionate and selfless not despite their being an outcast, but because of it.
Zerith-var offers a unique look at Tamriel’s second era, something that hasn’t exactly been fully explored all that much. Was there anything here in particular that drew the team to use it as the narrative structure for his backstory?
Juli: Zerith comes from the First Era, where he was connected to the Order of the Hidden Moon. We were drawn to the idea of this character out of time as it allowed us to examine the current state of Elsweyr by contrasting it with the past Zerith knows. We liked introducing the Inquisitors as “enforcers of faith” within the Torval Curiata to serve as secondary antagonists in the questline.
Zerith arrives to our time pretty distraught—his order has vanished, little remains of the sixteen kingdoms that he knew from his time, and worse, the threat he thought he sacrificed himself to end has resurfaced in the Second Era. We liked the idea of the player helping him find guidance through these troubles and see that remnants of faith in Azurah still persist with Krin’ze and the Twilight Cantors.
Given how ESO takes place hundreds of years in the past before the mainline games, you’ve had quite the creative freedom when it comes to the writing. But with the upcoming Elder Scrolls 6, has the ESO team been in close coordination with Bethesda for potential lore tie-ins?
Bill: ESO’s position in the greater Elder Scrolls timeline gives us both some level of creative freedom but also a responsibility to point toward the games set in the world’s future. We try to keep both these things in mind with everything we do, and we keep in close contact to ensure consistency in the lore and timelines. Elder Scrolls 6 is a BGS game however – a different team and a different studio.
Now that the player base has had some time with the Gold Road, was there anything that stood out from the community in terms of feedback for where the ESO storyline is going?
Bill: We’re extremely happy with how Gold Road turned out and the reception it received from the community. From revisiting locations from Oblivion to introducing a new Daedric Prince, Gold Road covered a lot of ground! We listen to the community and constantly bring what we hear into our planning and brainstorming meetings. But as for anything specific, we don’t talk about future content until after official announcements are made. So, stay tuned! There’s certainly more to come for ESO!
After a decade of ESO, it looks like the team is still hungry for more. What were your personal favorite narrative beats throughout the years and is there something you would want to revisit or potentially develop moving forward?
Juli: In tallying examples for this question, I realized I’m clearly affected by stories that involve a character making some sort of major sacrifice. The main quest from the launch game, Rivenspire, Murkmire, Summerset, Reaper’s March, and the Imperial City zone stories come to mind as the favorites I had before I came to work at ZOS.
Not sure that I can speak too much about what we might develop moving forward, but I found it really rewarding to establish Zerith-var as an expansion of an already great stand-alone quest. It’s definitely something I’ll keep in mind as I get to work on more companions and on other content.
Andrew: It was an amazing experience being able to bring players to the realm of Apocrypha. Hermaeus Mora’s Endless Library has always been a personal favorite and our Necrom release holds a special place in my heart because of it. In terms of what I’d like to see developed next, I’d personally like to spend more time in Hircine’s Hunting Grounds and see what’s hidden in that forest.
Bill: I love our character-focused stories, from the somber and serious to the humorous and light-hearted. There’s room for all that and more in the Elder Scrolls. There’s always a new place to explore and a new story to tell. I want to not only keep on surprising our players, but to surprise ourselves. That’s what makes the work fun and rewarding!
What about the Elder Scrolls universe that drew you into becoming the The Elder Scrolls Online’s narrative director and designers that you can’t find anywhere else?
Andrew: What I love about the Elder Scrolls universe is that it’s a fantasy world that doesn’t just feel like the Sherwood Forest or Medieval Europe. Working on ESO offers the amazing opportunity to tell grounded, human stories in environments that are almost alien at times. From planes of ink black seas to homes built inside colossal mushrooms. What’s not to love?
Juli: Companions! I’ve been lucky enough to work on two companions up to this point, and I love how deeply personal their questlines get to be. I also like how the companion’s attitude toward the player changes because of the player’s behavior, or the things they’ve been through together. It makes even small actions in the world feel like they have weight and consequence. I enjoy playing ESO on multiple characters, so different characters have different preferences for companions based on what I imagine their personalities to be.
Bill: I love telling deep, rich, complex stories. ESO is such a great platform for writers and narrative designers because of the way it approaches story. And while I helped develop that in my years on the team, it was already baked into the process when I arrived. For us, story is key. As long as that remains true, I’ll keep helping to craft tales of
comedy and tragedy in the varied realms of the Elder Scrolls Online.
If there’s anything to take away from what The Elder Scrolls Online’s narrative director and designers have been saying is that the game is not going anywhere, anytime soon. The Elder Scrolls Online is available on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation with over 22 million players.