Change of Plans

In the process of revising Ald/Bal to be more complex in their conversations, I want them to also be 'aware' of other people and their motives. For example, right now, there's an interesting situation that can arise where you talk to Daubarth when you first enter town, say, when you've come to join the College, go up, join, watch the presentation, decide to explore, and talk to Aldous, and you'd stumble upon him having a conversation with Balis on their personal project's current affairs, maybe. Assuming they're in the courtyard, that conversation eavesdropping is just for flavor/life. Anyway, let's say you get close to Aldous, and then he begins talking to you, and introduces himself. The player gets the objective to get the notes from Hagannius, and decides for whatever reason to go there and do that. Time passes, the player returns to the College. In place of the regular Aldous/Balis/Archmage(The player is new, so Aran isn't dead yet) combination in the Courtyard, it's Aldous/Sigver/Aran. The player hears Sigver saying some prayers or something, talks to him and learns about the necromancer in the hall, might recall how they met Daubarth personally in town a few days ago (The priest mentions him by name, since Daubarth had a conversation with him, which could also potentially have been eavesdropped), and talks to Aldous.

Aldous is overjoyed, tells the player that the notes lead to Mount Anthor, and then when they're heading off, he tries to find Balis. Balis is in the Hall of the Dead, so Aldous heads there, but then Balis says that he's preoccupied, and asks Aldous if he'd be willing to help. Aldous says that his quest is far more important and storms out, but he isn't mad but rather giddy, perhaps because he thinks that a necromancer preoccupied with Balis down in the Hall would be fun to deal with once his Warlock's Ring ritual succeeds. Aldous is intelligent and sees how strong an adversary Daubarth is, and thinks to himself how it'd be an excellent challenge for him once he goes through with his ritual. t's more like a "Keep him here, it'll be a fun challenge to deal with him afterward the ritual." than "You've abandoned me, Balis. Even after I helped you with your machine. Fuck you." Anyway, let's assume the player isn't a complete troll and hasn't been to Bledaen's Tomb, taken the ring, and neglected to tell Aldous of either of those facts for the duration of the game up until now. Once Aldous and the player get to the end of Bledaen's Tomb and Aldous gets the ring unimpeded, he remarks on how nothing holds back his ritual now, and offers the player the opportunity to witness the grand event in the Midden. There's a generous window in between this opportunity going forward on its own, which results, currently, in Aldous dying, the Ring being destroyed, and the Ethereal Crystal being dropped. Though it could be more interesting to have him survive the assault and be found in a wounded state, with the Crystal on his person, in the corner of the ritual room's chamber. He'd quip at the player for not assisting him in that case, I think.

Anyway, we get back to Winterhold, and Daubarth hasn't progressed in his ritual. He needs 3 Filled Black Soul Gems, but since Balis is there, it's a stalemate, since no guards go down to deal with him. Had Balis been dead, Sigver would've asked the Jarl for help, and he'd send a contingent of 3 guards down.Those 3 guards would be slain and fuel Daubarth's magic, allowing him to continue forward with his ritual, using his own blood. This would result in a Stage 2 Ritual, where both the Hall would be raised, and the Spectral Longboat with a ghastly outside on the coast, which would accost the townsfolk. The player goes with Aldous to the Midden, and allows Aldous to go through with his ritual. The Ring is destroyed, the Spectral Guardian is summoned, and is slain by the cumulative effort of Aldous and the Player, and Aldous remarks on how he's gained power through his act of arcane catharsis, despite the destruction of the Ring and death/release of the Spectral Guardian. He then attempts to pick up the Ethereal Crystal from the Spectral Guardian's remains, as a sort of memento, even though he doesn't know of its usage back in Bledaen's Tomb. If asked about it, he gives the option to give it to you, since he doesn't see a usage from it other than as a paperweight.

I'm conflicted what Aldous should do after this, though.
1.) He has another quest where he works on a Lift Other spell, which is like Telekinesis but on people. It's brought up briefly in the aftermath of the conversation as his future potential goal.
2.) He could look for Balis, and perhaps add or interlude in the matter of Daubarth. Balis is pretty much his friend, and was interested in Aldous' experiment, but definitely not so much in the Warlock's Ring personally.
3.) Something else?!