FMI - The Role They Were to Play

Please Note this mod is no longer updated on this page. For the most up-to-date version, follow this link:

https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/55695

Description

Before you have selected whether the character you play as will be male or female, the intro cinematic refers to them as "he," as follows:

"In the waning years of the Third Era of Tamriel, a prisoner born on a certain day to uncertain parents was sent under guard, without explanation, to Morrowind, ignorant of the role he was to play in that nation's history..."

Canonically, the Nerevarine is male, as he is referenced as such in later games (more info here). But in Morrowind, as with the other games, you can choose to play as a man or a woman, and NPCs refer to your sex correctly (typos and oversights notwithstanding). So why should the intro be any different?

Some might argue that "he" is a perfectly acceptable gender neutral pronoun, but this is not commonly used or known (more info here). Seeing as "they" is synonymous in this instance, I think it's better to avoid confusion, be indisputably enigmatic at the start of the game, and help put to bed a somewhat antiquated grammatical practice and be more inclusive of all players/Nerevarines.

The Nerevarine is also referred to as male in the "Seven Trials." I don’t see this as an inconsistency, or a reference to the TES canon of Bethesda's intent, just an expectation that can be gratifying to subvert if playing a female character, but check this mod out if you feel differently. The opening movie is not quoting any ancient Dunmeri lore text in the second paragraph AFAIK, It seems to be the game speaking directly to the player, which is why I thought it needed changing.

What Does it Do?

This mod changes the line to "ignorant of the role they were to play in that nation's history..."

I’ve taken the greatest care to ensure that video and audio quality are not compromised throughout editing and re-rendering the cinematic.

Please note that the screenshot is of how the video appears in OpenMW. Both this edited version and the vanilla video look equally more pixelated and low quality in the Vanilla engine for some reason (at least for me).

Optional Quieter Version

Your settings may vary but I've always found the intro cinematic a bit loud, with Jiub's voice seeming much quieter after you "wake up". So I've included an optional version where the audio is -8db quieter, I find this re-balances things.

Installation

If you are not using any kind of mod organizer type thing or OpenMW, make a backup of the original video first. Then copy the files from this mod into your Morrowind folder. You should end up with the mw_intro.bik file in the