WTF Is The Elder Scrolls Travels: STORMHOLD? - Bethesda's Long Lost 2003 MOBILE GAME

[@Camelworks]

Welcome ladies and gentlemen to The Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold. One of the long lost Elder Scrolls games. Released in 2003 for mobile only, it's little wonder no one has ever heard of it, let alone played it. 🐫 MERCH - camelworks.creator-spring.com/ 🐫 twitter.com/Camelworks 🐫 instagram.com/camelworks_official/ 🐫 www.twitch.tv/camelworks 🐫 kzbin.info 🐫 www.patreon.com/Camelworks 🐫 discord.gg/XDGWm72 Elder Scrolls Detective - goo.gl/ah5OBI Time stamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:24 - Sick Merch 01:26 - Stormhold, The Long Lost TES Game 03:15 - How To Get Stormhold On Mobile 05:01 - How To Get Stormhold Today 06:21 - Three Different Versions 07:05 - File Size 07:50 - Stormhold Story Plot 08:03 - Warden Quintus Varus 09:07 - Character Creation 09:44 - Warden's Camp 10:05 - No Game Sound 10:25 - Combat 10:52 - Magic Sucks 11:24 - Learning New Spells 11:35 - User Interface Menu Options 12:04 - Inventory Size 12:51 - Enemy Variety 13:19 - Exploration, No Map & Mini Map 14:14 - Finding New Dungeons 15:10 - Weapon & Armor Types 15:32 - Other Items 15:46 - Ailment & Debuffs 17:03 - Camping Cheese Mechanic 17:18 - Friendly NPCs & Aid Points 17:54 - Trainers & Gift Items 18:33 - Arantamo, Conjuration, Destruction & Speechcraft 18:39 - Celegil, Light Armor, Long Blade & Restoration 18:44 - Favela Dralor, Alteration, Illusion & Short Blade 18:45 - Vander, Axe, Blunt Weapon & Heavy Armor 19:11 - Beneca & Crystals 22:17 - Helga & Healer Services 23:51 - Actually Playing Stormhold 24:32 - Don't Die 25:08 - Warden Quintus Varus' Corruption 25:43 - Killing Varus & Beating The Game 26:54 - Game Review & Overview 29:32 - Unique Features of Different Versions 31:32 - Cut Content 33:40 - Morrowind Easter Eggs 34:31 - In Game Lore 36:08 - Story Investigation 36:22 - Built By The Barsacbic Aylieds 37:09 - Silyanorn Acorn / Library 37:50 - Stormhold Civilizations & races 38:20 - Ayleid Varla & Welkynd Stones 39:27 - The Seven Star Teeth 40:34 - Ancient Argonian Vakka Stones 41:15 - High Elf Culanda & Molondo Stones 41:36 - Altering The Enchantment 42:08 - Conclave Of Baal 42:43 - Moloch Baal / Molag Bal 43:17 - Hist Tree 44:22 - Priests Of A Forgotten Religion 44:51 - Storm Crystal Conclusion

[@rossemklyn401]

I still have a working N-gage and games on it xD

[@pisscvre69]

only camel could make a 40 minute video on this LOL I agree with your theory about the stone mostly, tho i think it could be that it started out as just a great welkened stone after all at one time all the alyied capitals had one ( i think ) then the stone was worshiped not made but part of argonian worship there, and the Baal guys could have courupted it at some point so in the end all of that history can fit into one story of how it happened if nothing else its my fav explanation regardless of if that was the intended story

[@ophiuchus1116]

Have you noticed The hint to Hammerfell & High Rock being 2 provinces you'll get to play in TES VI through the PC Anthology Disk collection‽ On the inside of the back of the casing holding the disks Hammerfell & High Rock are the only provinces fully shown without being at all cut off!

[@blue9393]

Do you use conditioner?

[@nottsork]

HOLDY SHIRT , is that what you look like

[@sirbillius]

If someone made a Skyrim mod of this like Skygerfall I'd be thrilled.

[@obtuse186]

Bethesda absolutely should do things like this again. A small self-enclosed TES story beats Blades every day of the week.

[@TheVioletBunny]

Anything beats blades lol that game is terrible and this is coming from a diehard tes fan.

[@battlebirdbricks8892]

Elder scrolls: Blades is a dumpster fire, not sure who decided that doing the same mission over and over and over again in essentially identical dungeons would be fun

[@Hero_Of_Old]

They could even outsource it to someone else whilst we wait for TES 6

[@SirDankleberry]

@@Hero_Of_Old They should outsource to Obsidian again. Worked well last time.

[@WretchedRedoran]

@@SirDankleberry Last time they outsourced to the original creators of the game series, but given that this is TES, not Fallout, I don't think it would go very well.

[@将軍九八.彁]

I bought this game back in the day and ran up my parents mobile and data bill. They were not happy.

[@Lord_Raymund]

Did they stop you from playing it?

[@dreadedworld8864]

Your old

[@kgraves119]

You’re young.

[@dancincoolkid]

I have so many questions! What phone did you play it on? Did you have any other TES game prior? Did it influence/sway your opinion about TES franchise in any way? What influenced you to get the game?

[@strixt]

Sure....

[@raylastname5864]

one thing you seem to have missed out about gaming in 2003. it was coming to an end, but still not un heard of for people to just own graph paper to make your own maps for games.

[@gurugru5958]

That would be properly DnD.

[@Cyrathil]

2:42 Am I the only one who heard the clicking sound and started freaking out because they remember back when getting calls used to cause interference in speakers? I started looking around checking my phone, then started worrying that my laptop was about the die. Then I rewound, noticed it was part of the video and that the games back then used midi sounds like that. This video truly is a blast to the past.

[@fonesrphunny7242]

MIDI on a phone sounded like this? o.0

[@cyberredpandas1903]

I believe the limited item capacity would come down to the size limitation of the game as more items would require more storage for a save file and Stormhold has a fairly large file size as it is as more J2ME games are around 20-50 kilobytes if my memory serves me right.

[@boot_boy_6945]

smh remember when developers actually cared about optimizing their games instead of selling glorified bloat ware?

[@feyfolken1655]

I didn't play Stormhold but I DID play Dawnstar on that little silver flip phone... it was interesting. Also, funny thing, while it may have been a limited platform I will say that pretty much all of my housemates at the time (there were like 5 of us) had the exact same phone, so we had to be careful that we didn't get them mixed up. I miss that little phone it was a good one.

[@Trisepta777]

13:17 It's doing that offensive hand gesture. I think it means "wight power"

[@Camelworks]

Green power

[@Lettuce_Play]

That is some super super duper impressive Elder Scrolls collection. I have some of those pieces in my collection as yours, but yours is VASTLY superior. Elder Scrolls fan over here as well :D.

[@Kernwadi]

“Money costs money.” -Bilbo Baggins

[@PhaseControlDNB]

That reminds me of the PSP port of Oblivion that never got fully developed. You can still find the demo version and give it a try, such a shame it was discontinued. BTW just an idea for you, Camel, maybe you'd like to make a video about it :D

[@Sanguivore]

I remember reading a preview for that game in some magazine back in the day. I had just gotten a PSP myself, so I was so excited for it to come out! I remember wandering what happened to it for years but hearing nothing more about it.

[@Jixxor]

I am certain this guy puts more thought into it than the devs ever did.

[@dovakarp2943]

This channel has fueled my love for writing, worldbuilding and ofcourse our beloved elderscrolls, thankyou so much cammed for the countless chuckles and just as many fantastic videos, keep up the incredible work - kova

[@blitzie66]

the most puntastic lore keeper i can think of

[@dovakarp2943]

@@blitzie66 he is truly an international treasure

[@adamcatley4784]

Obscure stuff like this is the reason I love the elder scrolls series so much. Trying this game out myself now

[@Here_is_Waldo]

Did you manage it?

[@adamcatley4784]

@@Here_is_Waldo yeah lol only took about 4 hours, just need to complete TES travels dawnstar then I've done them all

[@SkyrimExplorer]

2002 - since then I had Internet access on the mobile phone (gprs technology came out in my country and Internet in the phone started to make sense). Still never played then any other game than those built in the phone. Nice to hear about such games you are presenting

[@Proctor_Conley]

I just re-read "The Argonian Account" & this Stormhold Crystal explains the nations' dark tide.

[@iyziejane]

Interesting how the plot with the Warden and the Crystals distinctly sounds more like ESO than the TES series. Like they've had a portfolio of B stories laying around all these years.

[@BierBart12]

Todd Howard breathing down their neck

[@BranBal]

Isn't ESO part of TES series?

[@emeraldkoala2]

Running far enough away from enemies that you can just wait and instantly restore your stats is also a valid cheese strat in Skyrim. The more things change the more they stay the same.

[@noahtylerpritchett2682]

Moloch Baal being a interpretation of Molag Bal isn't out of the question.

[@OliveTheWitch]

The Baal thing sounds logical to me, Molag Bal is the corruption guy after all And even though Daedra worship is still a thing, the specific cult of Baal isn't

[@baalrog887]

I beg your pardon

[@OliveTheWitch]

@@baalrog887 I'm not sure what you are referring to

[@baalrog887]

@@OliveTheWitch I was making a joke based on my username, now I appreciate my username is Baalrog, not Baal, but I thought it was worth a punt.

[@danbauer3669]

Imagine if this was your first Elder Scrolls game and had shaped your view of the series. Sweet Dagoth Ur mask. I'll have you know that after owning the game for about 12 years and watching your video on the subject, I have FINALLY gotten a Morrowind playthrough going! Currently level 24 Nord (I just copied your character) and I've finished the Imperial Legion and Imperial Cult. My next moves will be the rest of the Daedric Quests and start the Morag Tong. It is a great game even though I'm playing on Xbox. Honestly, Morrowind was very difficult to get into but once I got the ball rolling, it's tough to put down. I did 2 playthroughs of Oblivion 10-12 years ago and too many playthroughs of Skyrim right up to a Skyrim Anniversary playthrough. Love the series! Love the channel! Keep up the good work, Camel!

[@Janoha17]

For Stormhold as a Skyrim mod, maybe something like Skygerfall, where the main quest serves as an alternate start.

[@Milk_with_chunks]

Guys, I think it’s time for bed…is what I’d normally say, but you’re still allowed up for a while more

[@Gubbins_McBumbersnoot]

Gee thanks

[@thedukeofcats6616]

When I finish this it was 1 past 11

[@buckashisensei]

Ya have any chunks in you milk

[@Miniyorkie07]

Thanks dad did you get the milk five years ago or?

[@UnswimmingFishYT]

Since Ayleids were probably barely an idea during development of Stormhold, and Argonians didn't have a lot of their own lore yet, due either to lack of it's appearance ingame or lack of it being written, the only explanations that make sense are that some Molag Bal priests made the Stormhold Crystal, which fits well since "Baal's" sphere includes corruption, which the crystal holds, or it was some other religious group we have no mention of in any game. Considering Molag Bal cultists, it seems right on the surface, particularly with that Conclave being produced close enough to the same time, but Bal's corruption tends to be philosophical, twisting good things to bad things. Vampires and his altered minions originating as better creatures fit well enough though, comparing to the warden who becomes some kind of monster. I think the most likely explanation is that whatever origin the crystal really has is intentionally vague and not meant to be figured out, and that the developers wanted a magic item that was interesting enough, without really affecting any plans BGS may have had for the lore. As far as some canon origin, I'd guess it was either Lilmothiit or Kothringi who made it, because one is extinct so early as to never be seen in a game, and all we see of the Kothringi is that one ESO quest, leaving the religions of both almost perfectly obscured by a lack of surviving relics from them.

[@LordInsane100]

Depends on what you mean by the Ayleids. It's probable the Ayleids were coming together by the time: Oblivion was in development, it had already been established that there had been a period of Elven rule in Cyrodiil preceding the First Empire of Man, and the name Ayleid had already been established as in use for an ancient elven group with an implied connection to Cyrodiill.

[@michaelmechex]

No way, I have actually played this! It must have been around 2013, I've seen it in the Morrowind installer and got curious. I looked it up, downloaded it and made it work on my Nokia C5, it couldn't have been very difficult to get running back then. I only played it for like 30 minutes though, because that game was the definition of unfun, unlike this video. Thanks a lot for bringing back this little memory!

[@Smurfaliscous]

I played around with Stormhold a little bit a couple months ago, but I was having a lot of issues with key binding that made sense to me, so I gave up pretty quick. I will probably try again just for the novelty, but I really appreciate you doing the hard work to bring us the full breakdown!

[@Natsirt666]

I like the Hist Tree option, but you're right it's the most unlikely. Still, it would be the coolest one to have be canon.

[@lordedmundblackadder9321]

Just a note, Baal was a Phoenician god worshipped in Lebanon and North Africa prior to the founding of Christianity. He's also mentioned in the Old Testament and Torah.

[@kepler1377]

A new camel post is a happy day.

[@thespalek1]

Automatic subtitles just informed me that your name is Carol. Well that's new.

[@virtualwastrel]

I a classic Camelworks fan, on a new KZbin account. Learning of your new content style, have gotten whiplash.

[@4991ukasoy]

if you ever get to EST:Shadowkey and or EST:Dawnstar i've got a really good theory about the "Icetribe" js >.> Great video btw EDIT: wait Vakka stones being "Sunstones" from Argonian tribes that had some sun worship dose that mean some argonians worshiped Magnus?

[@CHEEBnRUN]

2:35 A+ for throwing the interference sound effect in there. Ah, I miss knowing when I was getting a call or txt message before my phone would even ring.

[@Kurt0v]

I just read about this game yesterday, crazy that you just uploaded this right as I was looking for a KZbin video about it lol

[@adamthompson6669]

Our Daedric lord has graced us with another great video. Thanks legend hope you had a good trip ✈️ 😃 thank you as always and keep it up. ⚔️ 🐉

[@nwjr2001]

The stuttery phone-to-desktop-speaker interference sound was a very nice touch. *chef's kiss*

[@codycarabotta5621]

"smaller than your will to live" Yup, you sold me right then and there Camel.

[@cheesus7672]

@camelworks Hey :) have you ever investigated Karthwasten in Skyrim ? I feel like there are hints that it is working with the Forsworns. In the mine there are training objects and weapons and on a hill before the village you find a ritual place with a lot of blood - like forsworn do. And the owner of the town is a reachman Preeetty suspicious

[@mifune423]

Camel still out here making ES content. An absolute legend.

[@magnetic_heart]

This was a great video! Love deep dives like this on obscure games! Subscribed!

[@ZingoBananaa]

9:40 >being woke >saying race doesn't matter pick one

[@dancincoolkid]

Love that you continuously played my favorite song from Daggerfal OST (I think it's called Sunny Day 2??) Thanks for that! Also as soon as you said it's 50% inventory management all I could think was "it's literally just TES Blades in 2003" lmao I can't tell you how long it took me to reach my character (and town) level in Blades, mostly just by waiting to accumulate the free items every day from the store to amass a huge inventory to sell, upgrade, buy potions etc just to be able to progress the story even a little! I mean I'd play a story quest once every few MONTHS because I didn't want to do any in-app purchases lmao 😅 and just for perspective, my Blades character is level 22 with town level 8, and I started in 2019.

[@evankellough8225]

I think this is related to the Star Teeth found in the third Elder Scrolls Travels game Shadow Key, Aetherial artifacts that are used to teleport to Umbra’ Keth, the main Antagonist of the game.

[@dyllanbitzer7215]

Could Alea Quintus from the abandoned shack in skyrim be a reference to the game Stormhold? Her last name is Quintus and the main villain in Stormhold is Quintus Varus, she is left to raise 6 children (possibly a reference to the 6 friendly NPCs from Stormhold) without a husband (could be referring to Quintus Varus being gone/deas at the end of Stormhold or the fact that anyone playing the game will abandon it due to how frustrating it is), and her semi-hostile attitude is most likely a reference to how frustrated and angry those who played Stormhold would be while playing it

[@ShadeMeadows]

I'm so glad ya are talkin' 'bout more Obscure aspects of TES! It's one of my favorite topics! Exactly like those 10 obscure TES creatures video!

[@spector103]

Omg why did you have to remind me of the beeping sound your TV made when you got a text? Lol that's a blast from the past

[@RadioactiveHax]

Omg I finally saw the madman who made that apocrypha video

[@TheBandoBandito]

I definitely remember downloading old Java games on old flip phones well before the smartphone was a thing.

[@smallturismo7944]

Ah shit here we go again, 03:00 a.m. dinner while enjoying this masterpiece! 🍷

[@adodge2]

2:35 the little RF interference sound

[@SkyrimExplorer]

Nice touch imo

[@zeretom]

¡Gracias!

[@DavetheNord]

Another superb video sir!

[@dankhill7917]

8 year old me would have loved this for road trips. They should make another mobile game similar to arena/Daggerfall

[@zigomarhuntandotherthings221]

You can tell which NPCs give the most points for a Gift Item based on their greetings. For example, Arantamo will mention being taunted by guards with baked goods, and he gives 3 points for the Aeder Cake

[@lawrencesteel1940]

Lovely to have an upload. You look good bro

[@wolfie992]

At this point I'm not listening for Skyrim. Your voice, your words; everything about your videos is wonderful.. absolute ASMR. Puts me to sleep in a good way. I love it!! :)

[@Sauspreme]

dang 2003 is when i got my first cell phone. Crazy that a game like this was available back then. Even if i had known about it, I'd probably still have been T9 texting Super Troopers references to my friends instead :-P

[@raphaelfaure4759]

For the Conclave of Baal, I don't know for sure, but it could be a reference to the Canaanites God "Baal". According to Britannica : "Baal, god worshipped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities, especially among the Canaanites, who apparently considered him a fertility deity and one of the most important gods in the pantheon. As a Semitic common noun baal (Hebrew baʿal) meant “owner” or “lord,” although it could be used more generally [...].The worship of Baal was popular in Egypt from the later New Kingdom in about 1400 BCE to its end (1075 BCE)."

[@finalbreath15]

I remember buying a flip phone version of Oblivion, pretty sure it costed like $3000 and my mom was ripsh*t when she presented me the bill. I didn't know about this though.

[@DStrormer]

Were I a more skilled modder I'd love to remake all 3, Stormhold, Dawnstar, and especially Shadowkey.

[@_Beastie_]

This was a good video to watch whilst drinking a monster, eating a pie and have a cat in my lap :)

[@Mary_Beth_Reimer]

Thank you Camel! I honestly had never heard of this!

[@nataliecontra1495]

Ennodius Papius! Ever wondered, what's behind this quest? Who was he? What about the items behind the waterfall nearby? Are they connected to him? In what way are they connected? What was he doing out there - alone? Did he really hope the dark brotherhood won't find him there? Why was he in Skyrim - when and why did he leave Cyrodiil? And WHAT - in Oblivion's name! - did a mere lumberjack do, to make people PAY for him TO BE KILLED?! It would be great if you make a video about him. Or - if his background is somehow "too short" or can't be revealed -. a video about all the "small" "in between"-killing missions.

[@That1Outlander]

Cannot wait for his dawnstar/shadowkey videos ♥ camel you rule man

[@That1Outlander]

Ngl,I'd kill for a full in depth review of redguard. No one plays all the side quests in their videos and they are missing out on such amazing stories from a place we hardly know about.that being stros m' kai

[@statiic_hydra8678]

You’ve heard of Skyblivion, now get ready for: Skyhold (Stormrim?)

[@joshmakarenko5809]

BRO I PLAYED THIS!!! and yes, for the time, being able to get a mini TES fix anywhere ON YOUR FLIP PHONE when the best mobile offering I had played was a SEGA handheld which was dedicated and couldn't be snuck in at school at that point absolutely slapped

[@kgraves119]

“Do you remember 2003?” … Uh… my itty bitty baby brain remembers the last six months of 2003, yeah. :D

[@killerbeast3198]

wow im really early nice to see ya man

[@sagacious03]

Great video! Thanks for uploading!

[@ryeastra262]

I like how you’ve become so animated lol

[@ophiuchus1116]

Have you noticed The hint to Hammerfell & High Rock being 2 provinces you'll get to play in TES VI through the PC Anthology Disk collection‽ On the inside of the back of the casing holding the disks Hammerfell & High Rock are the only provinces fully shown without being at all cut off!

[@TheKfiecien]

Great video!

[@clobzz]

17:54 bro on the left looks like a chad

[@rivetsquid8887]

NonJapanese presmartphone games are such a wild rabbithole. The companies that gambled on them were way ahead of the curve and it's a bummer most of them are lost. Believe it or not, Neopets had a mobile game too around that time, it was similarly limited in phone and provider availability. There's still to this day, several owners and roughly a couple decades away, a section of the website inaccessible to players because it was for the mobile players. It's on the map n everything.

[@HaleyRaiford]

I feel like it would be cool if someone took TES Travels Stormhold, Dawnstar, and Shadowkey and remastered them. That way more people have the ability to play and experience the games (I know I would love to check it out). Also, it would be interesting to see how Stormhold and Dawnstar would look if it was updated with visuals similar to Daggerfall Unity. And maybe one could experiment with how the music might sound in them.

[@stevensines7026]

Where did you get the pocket binoculars? I haven't seen those in years. Talk about retro!

[@jamesbarnett5799]

"the game sounds like this:" My video started buffering, leaving me in total silence for like ten seconds 😂

[@jacobrigby3172]

What happened to your Elder scrolls travels Dawnstar video i vaguely remember it existed but cant find it

[@tahaistheboss98]

I'm so addicted to this channel, it's almost as bad as my skooma addiction

[@pulsefel9210]

if you mapped out the entire map you should be able to map it out completely in the creation kit. wouldnt be too hard for someone who actually knows how to work that thing.

[@grandmasteryoda6717]

Where is your video on TES Travels: Dawnstar? I would really like to see you cover that game.

[@RedemptionDenied666]

Quintus Varus give me back my legions!

[@littleewan7403]

My brain saw "WTF is" and instantly thought this was a new TB upload before i got really sad.

[@dolerulz]

You could find the .jar file back in the day. It ran on any mobile with java runtime.

[@cameronjadewallace]

Thank you camel, for saving me from Love, Death and Robots

[@cameronjadewallace]

Cool, I was first to comment and like!

[@FullOedipus]

Dear Camel. You are the best creator of Elder Scrolls content. Even better than Bethesda considering you don't need day 1 patches.

[@PhaseControlDNB]

Amazing find, Camel. By the looks of it, I suppose this is a J2ME game - Java game for phones that had Java interpreter. But it was too early even for that. It was like 2005/2006 when the boom of Java games for phones happened, mainly because this platform became common enough and almost everyone had such a phone in his pocket. I remember playing a whole lot of cool games and many famous PS2/PC titles getting J2ME ports (or remakes) including The Sims, WWE, etc. There are good J2ME emulators for Android now (probably iOS too) and you should try playing the game on your modern phone. Also one of the reasons for having support for a limited set of devices is because back in the day you've had to have a separate build of your game for different resolutions. Also probably more optimized builds for low end phones.

[@triplekil547]

Where did you get that Dagoth Ur head/mask?!

[@Albatross0913]

the intro felt like a fever dream, I think you might be hitting the skooma a bit too hard

[@AnastasiaBayer-mg2te]

Okay, weird and random request, but I would love a video on the phone game Andor's Trail. There's limited info about it online and the game isn't finished, but there's a lot going on there.

[@jacobmoss1069]

Hello Camel

[@namelessshinobi999]

That hoodie is actually sick

[@eqx7168]

I had no idea that Joe Rogan lended his current likeness to Bethesda in 2003. Back then he was on Fear Factor and had hair. 13:07

[@donaldreed1607]

Was anyone else surprised to see that camel looks like John Snow?

[@DavidTheConkerer]

"Pain in the Telvaani Towers!" 🤣

[@aliveandwellinisrael2507]

So, you're in prison, and you're forced to give the other prisoners 'gifts' and receive 'Aids' in return? Remember not to drop the Obsidian Soap

[@gam4rnay]

CAMEL DO BE FLEXIN HIS ELDERSCRO

[@rosashell4]

The enemy that he uses for the title looks like it's wearing a t-45 helmet.

[@sillyshazzie]

Woop nice tyvm, Love Ur work Sir 👍👏👏