THE RUINED-TAIL’S TALE GUIDE

"Ruin. A name that held so many connotations associated with all forms of chaos and
despair, a name that was synonymous with darkness, desolace and destruction. Yet it
was a name that -when spoken by his Shadow- comforted the Argonian no matter
what the situation..."…”

-Ruined-Tail’s Tale

CONTENTS:
I – Foreword
II – Walkthrough
III – Reoccurring Characters in The Fiend Saga
IV – Technical Troubleshooting
V – Additional Information

I - FOREWORD
As most of those that frequent TES Nexus or the TES Forums would know, I’ve
always harboured a certain level of despise for Ruined-Tail’s Tale (RTT). The fact of
the matter is that due to my own doubt about whether such a MOD would ever
become popular, I opted to include many elements that I consider to be cliché, mass-
market orientated, and hollywood-esque - All things that I despise in the various text-
types. And it is perhaps for these reasons that RTT has been infinitely more popular
than my other MODs (The Butcher of Armindale, The Legacy, Tears of the Fiend and
Malevolent).

However, the fact of the matter is that out of everything that I have created, Ruined-
Tail as a companion is someone that the majority of players can connect with, and his
progressive story (beyond the dialogue elements) serves only to bolster the emotive
connection many have come to feel for the unfortunate Argonian. In other words, as
much as I’ve tried to develop emotive contexts within my other MODs, it is only in
Ruined-Tail’s Tale that I have ever truly succeeded in the task, as demonstrated by the
feedback I receive en masse every day.

So, in light of that revelation, coupled with the completion of my other Modding
projects (not to mention the new techniques I have learned from working on Tears of
the Fiend and Malevolent) it makes sense that the next task should be a complete
resurrection of Ruined-Tail’s Tale. Not merely a “touch up” to improve the various
elements, but starting fresh from a blank .esp, and with almost every line of dialogue
rewritten or edited in some way. This would be my opportunity to create the Ruined-
Tail’s Tale that I can actually be proud of, and can live up to the expectations of the
many players of my other MODs (and earlier incarnations of Ruined-Tail’s Tale, back
when it was the epitome of “modern companion MODs”).

This is my chance to retell Ruined-Tail’s Tale.

II - WALKTHROUGH

The Arrival:

Make your way to the Arena district in Imperial City. As you stand facing the
entrance to the Arena itself (within the Arena district) Ruin is off to your right, near a
statue and a tree.

As you approach him he will attempt to start a conversation with you. During this
conversation, provided you don’t tell him that “you aren’t interested” or “you work
alone” (which ends the conversation, although you can restart it by talking to him
again) you dialogue choices don’t really matter. At the end of the conversation you
will have a chance for Ruin to join you in your travels.

Immediately after Ruin joins you, he asks to travel to the Tavern of the Batted Dragon
just west of Imperial City (near Wawnet Inn) to collect his equipment. You don’t have
any real control over Ruin’s “companion” functions until after you have been to the
tavern, so I would suggest travelling there immediately.

The Tavern of the Battered Dragon:

Upon entering the Tavern Ruin will suggest that you acquire a room for the night, and
promptly seat himself at the table in the centre of the room. Speak to Ra’shana and
purchase yourself a room for the night. When you have the room key in hand, take a
seat at the table adjacent to Ruin and talk to him to continue the quest.

He will ask you a few moral questions pertaining to good and evil within society.
Your answers to these questions (and others throughout the quest) will ultimately
effect Ruin’s development as a character, as well as his opinion of you. I’m not going
to tell you which options to choose to achieve the “best” ending, as “best” is a relative
concept, and all you really need to do is choose answers that reflect your character’s
personality, and Ruin will “develop” accordingly.

When the conversation is complete Ruin will go upstairs to sleep, leaving you to do
what you want. I advise talking to everyone in the Taproom first –in particular the
four members of the ShadowSeeker Party (Twilight, Midnight, Gloom and Shade)- in
order to gain insight into some story elements that will come into play later in the
MOD. When you are done, head upstairs to the room next to Ruin’s, and “use” the
bed in order to sleep.

You will be awoken from your sleep to find the Tavern on fire. Head immediately
into Ruin’s room and wake him up (you can choose to leave him in the Tavern if you
want, but as you can imagine it doesn’t end particularly well), and then follow him
through the flames and out of the Tavern.
Once outside, speak to the various patrons gathered to watch the Tavern burn, and
when you are ready talk to Ruin to continue your travels together.

Companion Converse I:

There are a total of 8 conversations with Ruin that take place approximately every 500
seconds or so. These conversations (and the associated timer) will no take place if
Ruin is not following you, however the timer will resume whenever he starts
following you again. In other words: if Ruin isn’t with you, the timer that instigates
the conversations won’t count down, but to the same extent you won’t *miss* any
conversations.

Conversation number 6 (the conversation AFTER the one where Ruin confesses that
he is being sought by members of his former Sect, and tries to leave) will not occur
until both the 500 second timer has elapsed, and the player has been in combat (in that
order.) Specifically because the relevant dialogue that follows pertains directly to the
reset combat bout.

As mentioned previously, I’m not going to tell you which lines of dialogue leave a
“good” or “bad” impression with Ruin, other than to say that a little common sense is
all that is necessary. Likewise, if you *want* to make an evil Ruin, lead his mind to
think on evil thoughts via your choices in these conversations.

After the completion of the 8 conversations, “rest” in a bed or bedroll to trigger the
next portion of the quest.

Ruin Leaves:

You will awaken to find that Ruin has run away during the night, but has left his
journal. If you look at the journal you will find the necessary hints as to where he has
gone.

“I will return to where my relationship with my friend first started.” – Imperial City,
where he first met you.
“After that there are six possible routes in which I could head…” – The six main
roads leaving Imperial City, as seen on your in-game map.
“…and indeed one path is as good as another, yet I am partial to blue. Perhaps it is
fate leading me into destiny, that my favourite colour should also determine where I
spend the rest of my life...” – The Blue Road leading East-North-East to Cheydinhal.

Travel to Cheydinhal. As soon as you enter the city you will receive a quest update
indicating the likely location Ruin will have gone. Follow the quest pointer to the
Rock/Tree near the river that runs through Cheydinhal, and you will find Twilight of
the ShadowSeeker Party there sitting upon a chair.

Speak to Twilight and you will learn that he had ventured out of the ShadowSeeker
Headquarters (which is the building just West of his current position) when he came
across Ruin. He also provided Ruin with a good location to make his camp outside the
city. Twilight will provide the directions to locate Ruin’s camp, slightly South West
of Cheydinhal city.

After you have finished talking to him, Twilight will return to the ShadowSeeker
Headquarters. If you are interested in learning their location, follow him until he
enters one of the buildings.

The Cheydinhal Ambush:

Leave Cheydinhal and follow the map marker to Ruin’s encampment South West of
the city.

Upon arriving you will find Ruin asleep on his bedroll. Talk to him, and convince him
to remain with you (you can choose to cut him loose at this point, but it essentially
ends the quest).

After convincing Ruin to stay with you, you will be ambushed by 3 Shadowscales (1
Assassin, 1 Archer, and 1 Battlemage). Now you know what Ruin’s “dark past” was,
and precisely what “Sect” he belonged to. Dispatch the 3 Shadowscales, and search
the body of the Battlemage to find a note written in code. Talk to Ruin again and he
will attempt to decode the note for you. He also advises you that you can “talk later”
about your relationship with him.

The Anvil Ambush:

Rest in a bed/bedroll for a time, and you will be awoken by Ruined-Tail who has
discovered the code used in the note. But before he tells you what it says, he wants to
talk to you about your relationship.

It is at this point where you will also discover what “variant” of Ruin your previous
conversations with him have created, based on how he responds to certain things you
say. You have the option to refuse to talk, in which you essentially “negate” any
“companion” related developmental dialogue, but continue his quest, or you can
decide to listen to what he has to say, and respond accordingly. In reality, (and
depending on which dialogue options you’ve chosen in previous conversations) you
can essentially follow a “Romance” path, a “Friendship” path, an “Infamy” path, or
you can rid yourself of his presence once and for all. Note, however, that the
Romance path has additional dialogue and sequences.

When you have finished discussing your relationship, Ruin will translate the note for
you, which instructs the assassins to find a Shadowscale Dead Drop in Western Anvil.
Ruin informs you that you should attempt to intercept the Dead Drop, so that you can
learn what the Shadowscales hunting him have planned.

Travel to Anvil, and follow the quest marker to the location of the Dead Drop. If you
are having trouble finding it, it is in the Western most corner, in a small alcove in
which you have to open a wooden gate to access, resting in a “hollowed out” tree
stump, up against the city wall, adjacent to the Anvil Town Guard Barracks in that
part of the city.

After finding the Dead Drop, Ruin will speak to you again in which he learns that the
Dead Drop was a trap. But before either of you can flee he will be hit and killed by an
arrow. Destroy the Shadowscale Archers, and be sure to loot your equipment from
Ruin’s body (otherwise you will lose it.)

Rest in a bed/bedroll for a time to trigger the next part of the quest.

The Abyss of the Faithless:

You will awaken in a “dream”, in which you are in the Abyss of the Faithless (those
of you what have played The Butcher of Armindale and/or Tears of the Fiend will
recognise the location, as well as some of the Souls wandering the Abyss.)

Head down the stairs to the fog covered flats inside the crater, and follow the wall to
your immediate left (around the various collapsing buildings) until you find a
collapsed portion of the wall with a burnt-out house nearby. Climb up the angled
portion of the house onto the remains of the second-story, and jump across to the
collapsed part of the wall. Follow the wall upwards and leap onto the main wall where
you will find an Undead form of Ruin waiting for you. (Those of you who have
played Redemption in Tears of the Fiend will note that it’s the same place Ruin can be
found when you travel to the Abyss with Cleon.)

Talk to Ruin and he will tell you that he is damned to the Abyss of the Faithless
because of his disgust/distrust of the Gods of Tamriel. He’ll also beg you for help to
free him from this place.

After the conversation ends, The ShadowSeeker Gloom will arrive in the Abyss via a
portal, speak to you briefly, and then drag Ruin into the portal before leaving himself.
Soon after you will awaken from your dream, with an update advising you that you
are certain that the Shadowscales will be coming for you.

The Note:

Rest in a bed/bedroll once again, and you will be awoken by a Shadowscale Silencer,
who will speak to you briefly and then poison you.

You will now be given an opportunity to fight the Silencer, yet all the while your
“poisoned” status will grow rapidly worse (as determined by the AMOUNT of
blurriness you see.) After approximately 40 seconds, the poison will do it’s job and
you will die, so you essentially have 40 seconds to kill the Silencer and drink the
antidote. If you are having trouble killing him on your own, rest in a public place so
that when you are attacked the Silencer, the city guards (and other NPCs) will help
you fight him.
After killing the Silencer and drinking the antidote, you will find another letter written
in code on his body. You need to apply the solution to the code that Ruin told you
about previously. In case you have forgotten, the way to decode the letter is to take
the first 2 letters from every word, and put them together to form the complete
sentence.

The decoded letter reads:

If you are reading this then you are as tough as I feared.

Your friend is in great pain and only you can end it.

Drop this note where you first met him to see him again.

-X

Travel to the Arena district of Imperial City, and drop the Assassin’s Letter in
approximately the same location as where you first found Ruined-Tail (near the Statue
and the tree.) If you have dropped it in the right location, a Shadowscale by the name
of “Smells-Of-Death” will appear and speak to you.

You can choose to kill him if you really want, but it essentially ends the quest, so
instead comply with his wishes, and let him blindfold you and take you to the
Shadowscale Stronghold.

The Shadowscale Stronghold I:

You will arrive in the ShadowScale stronghold with Smells-Of-Death in front of you,
carrying a torch. You will be stripped of all your equipment. Follow Smells-Of-Death
as he travels through the Stronghold, taking notice of a chest behind a locked
portcullis (with two candles on top of it) as you head through the entryway, and also a
lever adjacent to a raised portcullis as you head into a passageway to the right of the
entryway. These two articles will become relevant later.

Eventually you will arrive at a Church to Sithis, and Smells-Of-Death will stop by his
master, the Dark Hand “In-Death’s-Embrace.” Talk to In-Death’s-Embrace and after
asking you a moral question, you will learn that Ruin has been resurrected by
necromancy. The conversation will end, and the other Shadowscales in the Stronghold
will file into the church and seat themselves at the pews. Eventually Ruin will arrive,
and will speak to you. Choose whatever dialogue options apply to you, and afterwards
Ruin will attack and kill Smells-Of-Death, before being killed in turn by In-Death’s-
Embrace.

When you have control of your character again, quickly loot the Equipment Lock-Up
Key from Smells-Of-Death, and take Ruin’s Tainted Heart from Ruin’s body. Run up
the stairs and through the raised portcullis, and his the adjacent lever (that I advised
you to take note of earlier) to lower and lock it. This will lock the Shadowscales on
the other side. If too many of them manage to get through the Portcullis before it was
lowered, raise it again, run back to the Church –enticing them to follow you- and try
again. The objective here is to lock as many as possible in the Church area, so that
you don’t have to deal with them.

With that task completed, head to the chest behind the locked portcullis, and use the
Equipment Lock-Up Key to open the door. In-Death’s-Embrace will probably teleport
to you at this point in time. Quickly open the chest to recover your stolen equipment,
and kit yourself up for combat. When completed, fight and kill In-Death’s-Embrace,
and take the Book of Recall and Mysterious Letter from his body.

Make sure you have Ruin’s Tainted Heart and the Mysterious Letter before
“dropping” the Book of Recall to teleport back to the Arena district of Imperial City.
If you don’t have these items you will end the quest.

After arriving back at the Arena, you will receive a quest update which advises you to
seek out Gloom of the ShadowSeeker Party –as per the Mysterious Letter- to see
about resurrecting Ruin.

Ruin’s Resurrection:

Travel to Cheydinhal and make your way to the ShadowSeeker Party Headquarters
(the location is marked via a Quest Marker.) Upon entering the Headquarters Twilight
will speak to you, after which you are free to speak to Gloom.

Talk to Gloom and learn about his involvement with the Shadowscales. Eventually he
will offer to resurrect Ruin for free provided that you can bring a Male Argonian
Body to serve as the replacement “vessel.” Gloom even tells you about a recently
buried Argonian called Missing-Tooth (players of earlier versions of Ruined-Tail’s
Tale will recognise that name) in the Cheydinhal Cemetary.

Provided you can swallow the moral implications of what you are about to do, travel
to the Cheydinhal Cemetary and find Missing-Tooth’s gravestone (it has an
inscription of his name and likeness, and you can always use the quest marker if you
can’t find it.) “Use” the gravestone, and then “use” it again to unearth Missing-
Tooth’s body. It will now be in your inventory (and weighs quite a bit.)

Travel back to the ShadowSeeker Headquarters and talk to Gloom again. After the
conversation ends, follow him into the basement, and watch the scripted sequence as
he calls Ruin from the Abyss of the Faithless, and forces him to occupy Missing-
Tooth’s Body.

After the sequence has ended, Gloom will speak to you briefly and then depart, and
you can now talk to the newly resurrected Ruin (in his new body.) Once the
conversation has ended he will be following you as he did before.

Companion Converse II:

As before, every 500 seconds you will receive an ability advising you that Ruin wants
to talk to you. There are 3 “normal” conversations in this section, which continue to
develop the true “story” behind Ruined-Tail’s Tale, specifically Ruin’s mounting fear
of the Abyss of the Faithless.

The fourth conversation (which happens after the time has elapsed again) will involve
Ruin requesting you purchase a book on the various Gods for him, so that he might
escape his fate in the Abyss of the Faithless. Agree to his task (you can refuse it if you
want, and he will eventually ask about it again in another 500 seconds) to trigger the
next part of the quest.

The Gods of Tamriel:

The quest marker advises you to go to Phintias in First Edition in the Market District
of Imperial City in order to purchase the book. Travel there (make sure you bring
Ruin) and speak to Phintias in order to acquire the book “The Gods of Tamriel.”

If you have Ruin following you, he will immediately start a conversation with you
and thank you for the book. If he’s not following you, the minute you tell him to
follow you again this conversation will take place.

After another 500 seconds, Ruin will want to speak to you again. During this
conversation he will advise you that he has found a God that he wants to “learn more
about” (though he won’t tell you which God it is), and thanks you for all that you
have done for him. He also tells of Nightmares he has been experiencing, in which
your partnership is brutally torn apart by a “darkness that sweeps across the land.”

This is a warning that the ending is coming, and –as Ruin says- make sure you are
stocked up on all the supplies you need in preparation for the coming showdown.

If you have engaged Ruin in the “infamy” or “friendship” path, the next portion of the
quest will trigger in another 500 seconds. If you partook in the “Romance” path, there
will be one additional conversation (in 500 seconds) after which a final 500 second
counter will trigger the next section of the quest.

The ShadowSeeker Party:

Once the final timer has elapsed you will be attacked by several Shadowscales, and
eventually knocked unconscious. You will awaken in the Cheydinhal Graveyard, with
Ruin missing. Soon enough Twilight will emerge from the adjacent ShadowSeeker
Headquarters and engage you in conversation.

He tells you that Gloom has been taken by the Shadowscales (and deduces that
Ruined-Tail has also been taken) because of Gloom’s involvement in resurrecting
Ruin, the new leader of the Shadowscales –Eyes-Of-Obsidian- has presumed that the
ShadowSeekers are now in league with you, and thus are a threat.
He advises you that the ShadowSeekers are going to try and free Gloom (or slaughter
the Shadowscales), and offers you the chance to join them. At this point you have to
choose whether or not to work with the ShadowSeekers.

Though it may seem a one-sided decision, there are “pros” and “cons” to choosing to
work with the ShadowSeekers or to work alone. These have been listed below:

Work with the ShadowSeekers:

• Easier battle through the Shadowscale Stronghold. (+)

• Some amazing scripted sequences (+)
• Very little “choice” in how you fight (-)
• Limited exposure to some areas in the Shadowscale Stronghold (-)
• More difficult “end battle.”(-)

Work alone:

• The ability to masquerade as a Shadowscale, and learn more about

Ruin’s past… As well as get through the entire “second area” only
killing one Shadowscale. (+)
• The ability to “choose” how to play through the Stronghold (Fight,
Stealth, deceive…)
• Full exposure to all areas in the Shadowscale Stronghold (+)
• Easier “end battle.” (+)
• Much more “skilfully demanding” if you choose to Fight or Stealth
your way through the Stronghold. (-)

If you choose to work alone, Twilight tells you the “strategy” necessary to get through
the Stronghold.

Regardless of your decision, Twilight will agree to take you to the Stronghold, and
will wait for you in the ShadowSeeker Headquarters.

Acquire whatever equipment you want, and when you are reading make your way to
the ShadowSeeker Headquarters and speak to Twilight. If you are going to tackle the
Shadowscale Stronghold alone, you can also use this opportunity to have Twilight tell
you the “strategy” to get through the Stronghold again.

After you have told him that you are ready, follow him outside where Gloom and
Midnight will be waiting with horses (there is an extra horse for you, just in case you
don’t have one.) If you are going to be fighting with the ShadowSeekers, all of them
will travel to the Cheydinhal entrance and mount up. If you are going in alone,
Twilight will head to the entrance alone before mounting up.

Follow him to the entrance and leave via the West gate. Once outside, mount your
horse, and follow Twilight as he makes his way to Imperial City, and the Shadowscale
Stronghold entrance.
The ride can take about 10-15 minutes, during which you might encounter a number
of monsters or bandits, and be forced to deal with them. If –for some reason- the
pathing of the ShadowSeekers bugs out, fast travel to the Western entrance to
Imperial City (near the Plaza District), and “wait” by the entry doors for a few hours.
This should force the ShadowSeekers to come to you.

After he/they arrive at the Western entrance (and provided you are in attendance), the
ShadowSeekers will dismount, and walk by foot into Imperial City. Follow them
through the city until they eventually arrive at the Waterfront District. They will head
out past the shanties on the outskirts of the city and up to a well on a hill that is the
entrance to the Shadowscale Stronghold.

Once there, Twilight will speak to you again and tell you that the Stronghold lies
down the well. If you are working alone he will tell you that he is going to wait for the
rest of the ShadowSeekers to arrive, if you are working together he tells you that he
will meet you inside. Whenever you are ready, “use” the well to head into the
Shadowscale Stronghold once again.

The Shadowscale Stronghold II:

As there are different routes through this section, I will describe each of the possible
paths using the following system:

BLACK denotes a “neutral” path, specifically for the SOLO options (not with the
ShadowSeeker Party.)

RED denotes a “warrior” or “stealth” path through the various sections of the
Shadowscale Stronghold. It’s focus is simply on killing the enemies, and acquiring the
keys necessary to venture into the next segment of the Stronghold.

GREEN denotes the “deception” path for the SOLO player. It’s focus is on getting
through the Stronghold by posing as one of the Shadowscales, and killing as few
enemies as possible.

BLUE denotes the “ShadowSeeker” path through the Stronghold, in which the player
fights with the ShadowSeekers to make it through the Stronghold.

Part 1: The Entrance:

As before, there are 2 Shadowscales (one Assassin and one Archer) by the main gates
at the entrance to the Stronghold. Kill them and take the Entrance Key from the
Assassin to open the doors into the Stronghold.

Once inside you will be confronted by two Archers, one Assassin and one
Battlemage. Open the portcullis to fight them, and when they are dead take the
Barracks Key from the Battlemage.
Use the key to unlock the doors to the left, and kill the three Assassins, two Archers,
and one Battlemage within the Barracks. When they are all dead, take the Main Door
Key from the Battlemage.

If you want to follow the “deception” path, take the “Strangely large Dark Hand
Robes” from the Battlemage, and put on the Robe and Hood to complete the disguise.
From now on the Shadowscales will presume that you are one of them, and leave you
alone.

Alternatively, if you simply want to slaughter the Shadowscales who are responsible
for all of Ruin’s torment, leave the robes on the Battlemage, and use the Main Door
Key on the main doors to head into the next section of the Stronghold.

Upon entering the Stronghold you will see Twilight, Midnight and Shade scouting out
the situation. Twilight will speak to you and tell you that they are going to rush the
entryway, after which Midnight will unlock the portcullis inside the entryway whilst
you, Twilight and Shade provide a distraction.. Follow them as they attack the 2
Shadowscales (one Assassin and one Archer), and after they are dead take the
Entrance Key from the Assassin to open the doors into the Stronghold.

Enter the chamber and try and draw the attention of the Shadowscales inside –I find
shooting at them with arrows, or casting on them is the most effective. Eventually
Midnight will teleport to the other side of the Portcullis and press the lever that
unlocks the door. With the door unlocked, head inside and kill the 2 Archers, 1
Assassin and 1 Battlemage. When all of them have been killed, talk to Twilight again.

He will advise you to head through the doors opposite and press the lever to lower the
portcullis near the Church (the one you lowered in your previous visit to the
Stronghold.) Do this, and after you return you will find that Shade has set up a
number of tripwires near the entryway to the Barracks.

Talk to Twilight again, and he will tell you that Midnight is going to lead the
Shadowscales out of the Barracks and into the entrance chamber, at which point you
will attack them. Whatever you do, do not walk into the trip wires unless you fancy
a coup de grace from the next Shadowscale that passes by.

After a time, Midnight will teleport into the Barracks. You will hear some fighting
taking place, and Midnight will return with 3 Assassins, 2 Archers, and 1 Battlemage
in close pursuit. Any of them that hits the Tripwire (to a maximum of 4 affected) will
be knocked to the ground, allowing you to finish them off with ease. When all 6
enemies are dead, take the Main Door Key from the Battlemage (ignore the
“Strangely Large Dark Hand Robes” as they are irrelevant when you are working with
the ShadowSeekers).

Twilight will talk to you again and tell you the strategy for the next part of the
Stronghold – Shade will be working with you, while Midnight will be working with
Twilight. Each of you will take a different door, with the objective being for you to
kill the Battlemaster (Thirsts-For-Blood) within 2 minutes of them killing the
Librarian (Seeker-Of-Knowledge) before Shadowscale reinforcements arrive.
When you are ready, head through the door on the left and into the next part of the
Stronghold.

Part 2: The Training Halls:

In this section here, if you kill either the Battlemaster or the Librarian and take longer
than 2 minutes to kill the other one, 4 Shadowscales (2 Assassins and 2 Archers) will
spawn at all 4 entrances (1 at each) every minute until you succeed at the task.

In the right halls –the Combat halls- there are a total of 4 Assassins, 2 Archers and 1
Battlemaster. Comprised of 1 Assassin wandering the main corridor you arrive in, 1
Assassin and 1 Archer in the “Armoury” room to your immediate left, and 2
Assassins, 1 Archer and 1 Battlemaster in the Practice Hall further down the corridor
to the left.

If possible, try and kill everyone in the rooms EXCEPT for the Practice Hall (where
the Battlemaster is) without drawing the attention of the occupants of the Practice
Hall. If you can successfully do this, head back to Entrance to the Stronghold (though
the doors you just came though) and head over to the right hand halls via the right
door.

In the right halls –the Library and Lecture Halls- there are a total of 3 Battlemages, 2
Assassins, and 1 Librarian. Comprised of 1 Battlemage wandering the main corridor
you arrive in, 1 Assassin and 1 Battlemage in the first alcove up the stairs (the Library
and Study Hall) and 1 Battlemage, 1 Assassin, and 1 Librarian (Seeker-Of-
Knowledge.)

As with before, try and eliminate all of the Shadowscales except for those in the same
room as the Librarian. If you can do this, you can now attempt to kill the two
keyholders without having to worry about all of the additional enemies joining in the
battle. I would suggest killing the Battlemaster first (as he is hardest), ignoring the
other Shadowscales and running into the Library to kill the Librarian second as
quickly as possible. If you aren’t certain you can kill all of the additional
Shadowscales, take the two keys and use them to get through the double doors and
into the Arena section of the Shadowscale Stronghold.

With the Strangely Large Dark Hand Robe equipped, the Shadowscales in this section
won’t attack you.

Ensure you go through the left door when you leave the Stronghold Entrance, which
puts you in the Combat halls in the new section. Take the first set of stairs to the left,
and enter the Armoury. Immediately in front of you on the table is “Thirsts-For-
Blood’s list”, take this.

Head back into the corridor and the second left, bringing you into the Practice Room.
Speak to Thirsts-For-Blood and ask him about the Arena Key. From this you will
learn that the Arena can only be accessed for the “Trials.” Now ask Thirsts-For-Blood
about Ruined-Tail, and when the topic appears ask him about Ruin’s combat abilities.
You will now learn that Thirsts-For-Blood often spars with the Trainee Shadowscales.
You will now have the option to ask Thirsts to spar with you. Do this, and he will lead
you into an adjacent “sparring room”, you will also learn that the Shadowscale
Hierarchy won’t hold anything against you if either of you die during training…
Helpful, no? When you are both in the room he will attack you. When either of you
are down to 1/3rd your total health he will stop fighting, but you don’t want the
fighting to end, do you? Attack him as he attempts to leave and take his key. Because
he has died during “sparring” there won’t be any repercussions for his death.

Return to the main corridors, head back to the entrance section of the Stronghold and
go through the doors on the right. Take the first right and go up the stairs, go through
the two sets of doors and approach Seeker-Of-Knowledge who is standing in front of
the lectern. Speak to him and ask him about the Arena key. Because you have learned
about the trials from Thirsts-For-Blood you know that that is what you need the key
for, and because you took Thirsts-For-Blood’s list from the Armoury, you have the
list of names of those who are preparing to undergo the trials when Seeker-Of-
Knowledge asks for it. As a result of this, you get the Librarian’s Key.

Use the two keys to pass through the double doors and into the Arena section of the
Shadowscale Stronghold.

You will enter the Combat Halls section of the Training Halls with Shade following
you. If you look through the Portcullis to the right you will see that Twilight and
Midnight have arrived in the other half of the Training Halls (the Lecture Halls). Your
objective here is to kill the Battlemaster –Thirsts-For-Blood- within 2 minutes of
Twilight and Midnight killing the Librarian –Seeker-Of-Knowledge.

On your side of the halls there are a total of 4 Assassins, 2 Archers and 1
Battlemaster. Comprised of 1 Assassin wandering the main corridor you arrive in, 1
Assassin and 1 Archer in the “Armoury” room to your immediate left, and 2
Assassins, 1 Archer and 1 Battlemaster in the Practice Hall further down the corridor
to the left.

Try and avoid killing the Battlemaster until after you hear the “gong” and receive the
message advising that Twilight and Midnight have killed the Librarian. Instead, try
and pick off all the other Shadowscales except for the Battlemaster while you wait,
and use Shade as a distraction to stop the Battlemaster from attacking you. When you
hear the gong telling you the Librarian is dead, go all out and cut apart Thirsts-For-
Blood.

When he is dead, take the key from his body. You will receive a message advising
you that Twilight has unlocked the other doors using his own key taken from the
Librarian. When you are ready, head through the double doors and into the Arena
section of the Shadowscale Stronghold.

Part 3: The Arena:

After entering the Arena you’ll find that the two keys taken from the Battlemaster and
the Librarian (or the 1 key, if you are working with the ShadowSeekers) have
vanished. Approach the Arena and the Portcullis gate will automatically lower,
revealing the ShadowSeeker Party (including Gloom, who has obviously been freed
from the Shadowscales) striking a rather predictable team pose.

Twilight will start a conversation with you in which you’ll learn that ultimately he
plans on silencing you and Ruined-Tail (and Eyes-Of-Obsidian, the Shadowscale
Dark Hand who is locked up in the prison area) in order to ensure that the rest of the
Dark Brotherhood –their contractors- don’t learn of their treachery against the
Shadowscales.

At this point you have 3 options. You can fight them, you can bribe them (if you have
enough money), or you can attempt to use your influence as the Listener for the Dark
Brotherhood (assuming you have achieved that rank) to convince them to leave you
alive. To bribe them you will need at least 1000 gold. Paying Twilight any less results
in him attacking you.

If you manage to convince them not to fight you, Twilight will give you the Prison
Complex Key and the ShadowSeekers will depart… Never to be seen again (you
hope.)

If however, you decide to fight them, you may be in for a tough battle…

Twilight is a fairly standard Warrior, deliberately designed to be bulky, fast and “up
close” so as to obscure your view, disrupt your attacks and prevent you from attacking
the others.

Shade on the other hand, will attempt to attack you from behind while you are
engaged with Twilight. He will cast an invisibility spell on himself until he is within
attacking distance, then attack quickly and powerfully. If you attack him directly he
will flee, trying to get you to chase him (and leave your back exposed to Twilight’s
attack) or to forget about him long enough for him to get back to attack you.

Midnight is a fairly standard spellcaster, and will do little more than blast you to
oblivion with ranged spells, and summon the occasional creatures to make your life
difficult. However, she also serves at the Healer of the party, and can dish out some
pretty top-notch healing spells on herself and the rest of the party.

Finally, Gloom, who has the ability resurrect dead party members, and also attack you
with the odd arrow or two from a distance.

Obviously the biggest threat is Gloom because of his ability to bring back the other
party members that you kill (which can be seen in action as he summons his “gate” to
the Abyss, and the soul of the dead ShadowSeeker runs towards its dying body), so
concentrate all of your attacks on him. He doesn’t have a great many Hit Points so it
isn’t overly difficult to kill him, however Midnight has a tendency to focus her heals
on him, so you may need to take steps to keep the two separated. Once Gloom is dead
the rest of the party can be dispatched at your leisure.

Once the ShadowSeeker Party has been dispatched, you will receive a quest update
and both Portcullis Gates into the Arena will open. Take the Prison Complex Key
from Twilight’s body, and use it to enter the Prison complex attached to the Arena.
Before you leave, take note of Ruin’s “old” body (his original one) on the altar in the
middle of the Arena. After entering the prison you will come across Eyes-Of-
Obsidian –the current Dark Hand of the Shadowscales- locked in a cell, and after
talking to him will receive the key to Ruin’s cell and have the opportunity to kill him
whilst he is still imprisoned (via several means). You can let him go if you want, as
ultimately it doesn’t change anything (at least for now).

Ruin is in the last cell in the complex, asleep on the bedroll. In the nearby chest you
will find his equipment he was wearing when you were ambushed, as well as a book
“Ruined-Tail’s Tale” and “The Gods of Tamriel” (which you gave to him earlier.)
Take the “Ruined-Tail’s Tale” book as it is important.

Talk to Ruin and you will find that he is “Undead” once again and completely devoid
of any rational thought. He will attempt to retreat to the body in the middle of the
Arena which he will defend every time you approach. You will receive an update
advising you that “perhaps you can use something to help him remember who he
was.”

Drop “Ruin’s Journal” (which you received when he first ran away from you) and the
book from Ruin’s cell “Ruined-Tail’s Tale” on the altar next to the body, and retreat
to the Arena walls. Ruin will stop fighting to read the book, after which he will
engage you in conversation and request your permission to destroy his bodys (both of
them) as his soul is no longer damned to the Abyss of the Faithless, and it is only the
shackles of Undeath that are binding him to Tamriel.

Say your farewells and watch as Ruin retreats to the altar, and sets both of his bodies
alight, burning to ashes. (This scene can get kind of laggy on some computers. If you
find it is laggy, just leave the cell (back into the Training Halls) and wait for a quest
update to relieve you of the lagginess.)

The quest update will advise you to recover the book “Ruined-Tail’s Tale” from
where you left it on the altar. Return to the Arena to find that the fires are gone and
Ruin’s bodies have vanished. Take the book, and head back through the Shadowscale
Stronghold to the surface, exiting in the Waterfront District of Imperial City.

There is one final “bonus” scene in this MOD. Rest in a bed/bedroll for a time and
you will be transported to the Afterlife (not the Abyss) in the Realm of Ruin’s chosen
deity. Explore the small corner of the Realm you can see and you will find Ruined-
Tail accompanied by Missing-Toth on a platform overlooking a cliff. Speak to Ruin to
enjoy your final conversation with your friend, after which you will be returned to the
“real world” and receive the “quest completed” update for Ruined-Tail’s Tale.

Congratulations on finishing the challenging, exhaustive and emotional ride that is

Ruined-Tail’s Tale. I hope that you managed to get everything out of it that I put into
it, and feel free to provide feedback on the Elderscrols Forums (
elderscrolls.com/forums ), TES Nexus Forums/MOD page
(http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3027 ) or via E-mail, MSN
Messenger or AIM (links at the bottom of this Guide, and in the RTT ReadMe)
provided it is CONSTRUCTIVE.
Thank you for playing, and be sure to check out my other MODs “Malevolent” and
“Tears of the Fiend.”

III – REOCCURRING CHARACTERS IN THE FIEND SAGA

Though Ruined-Tail’s Tale is not as obviously linked to my other MODs (Tears of the
Fiend and Malevolent) it is, nevertheless, a part of the “story canon” known as The
Fiend Saga. These 3 MODs are all intrinsically linked, with various elements crossing
between each of the MODs and numerous references made to characters and events in
each of them.

What follows are some of the major reoccurring characters from The Fiend Saga. I
have opted to include these details about their history and personas so that those of
you who have not played Ruined-Tail’s Tale, Tears of the Fiend or Malevolent will be
able to familiarise yourself with the characters who played important roles in the
events that have transpired.

Cleon the Butcher:

Also known as: “The Butcher of Armindale” or “General Cleon”

First appearance: The Butcher of Armindale
Primary appearance: Tears of the Fiend
Other appearances: Tears of the Fiend (The Legacy, The Butcher of Armindale,
Redemption, Tears of the Fiend) and Malevolent.
Personality traits: Cleon, the Butcher of Armindale, is a former general in an army
sponsored by a now forgotten city in Tamriel. He is a warrior by nature, renowned
for his beastial fighting style and unparalleled tactical prowess.

Born the only son to an impoverished family of farmers, Cleon became a Soldier in
order to escape the simple lifestyle his family has ultimately condemned him to. He
promptly rose through the ranks (with the help of an unnamed source, whispering all
manner of malevolent desires in his ear), and eventually gained the rank of General.
His abilities to second-guess his opponents (ostensibly by being able to empathise
with their situation, and thus anticipate their thoughts and relative strategy) left him
in charge of a besieging army as it laid waste to a number of cities in Tamriel. During
one of these sieges –an attack on the city of Armindale- the monster that had begun to
consume Cleon since he first rejected his families’ principles finally took control, and
he ordered every single occupant of the city slaughtered in order to prevent a possible
uprising, thus earning him his now famous moniker: “The Butcher of Armindale.”

Cleon himself is arrogant, self-obsessed, patronising and holds very little value in the
other beings on Tamriel. Yet his desire to immortalise himself throughout the pages of
history (born of a fear of being forgotten), as well as a deep-seated fear of the Beast
that lurks within him betray his humanity. From time to time his malevolent façade
will fail and he will open up, revealing his inner secrets for but a fraction of a second
before returning to his normal, aggressive state of mind.
Allecia Ehothorn:

Also known as: “The Fiend” or “Qurroll”

First appearance: The Legacy
Primary appearance: Tears of the Fiend
Other appearances: Tears of the Fiend (The Legacy, The Butcher of Armindale,
Redemption, Tears of the Fiend) and Malevolent.
Personality traits: Allecia Ehothorn (real name: Qurroll) is a Fiend from one of the
Planes of Oblivion who uses the appearance of an Imperial Female to aid her travels
through Tamriel. She is also a talented magic user; however her true prowess lies in
her skills at manipulation, coercion and deceit.

Throughout decades of existence on Tamriel she has survived all manner of Demon
Hunts (often led by the infamous Fallen Paladin Edward Pellew) by pulling the
strings of those around her in such a manner so as to better serve her needs. She is
not above lying or double-crossing even her most dependable allies in order to ensure
her own survival, and her inherent beauty and skill at manipulating the spoken word
leaves all but the most steadfast individuals susceptible to her charms, and thus her
treachery.

Yet despite her tendency to embrace the evil aspects of her nature, Allecia secretly
harbours very mortal-like traits of loneliness and hopelessness. She knows the
monster that she is, and despises herself for it, ultimately remaining unable to break
free of her instinct to betray all others to ensure her own survival. She longs to be free
of the constraints her lineage has bestowed upon her, and hopes to find some way to
facilitate this

Edward Pellew:

Also known as: “The Paladin” or “The Half-Celestial

First appearance: The Legacy
Primary appearance: The Legacy
Other appearances: Malevolent and Tears of the Fiend (The Legacy, The Butcher of
Armindale, Redemption, Tears of the Fiend).
Personality traits: Edward Pellew was blessed (or perhaps cursed) with mixed-race
parentage, with one of his parents being Human and the other a Demi-God. Though
the specific details of his lineage remain unknown along with his early years and his
exact age (some speculate he has lived for more than a century) the later portion of
his life has become something of a legend.

A Paladin by trade, Edward Pellew used the limited powers granted by his Half-
Celestial nature to destroy Demons, Fiends and other such minions of Oblivion. He
earned some measure of fame during his quests (and was thus immortalised in a
number of fairy tales and children’s books, in particular: “Edward Pellew and Other
Children’s Stories”), but his true claim to face came from his relentless pursuit of the
Fiend Qurroll and her lover. Along with the help of Maris the Hunter, the two of them
spend decades tracking the two Fiends, during which time Pellew’s own beliefs were
called into question, and his wife and two sons died impoverished and neglected by
his mindless pursuit. Regarded by some as a “Fallen Paladin” due to his pretence for
using questionable tactics in order to achieve the “greater good”, Pellew’s advanced
age has only fuelled his desire to prove himself by stamping out evil wherever he sees
it.

In recent events, he has temporarily put aside his enmity towards Allecia Ehothorn,
and has returned to his estate in the Jerall Mountains to continue training his two
apprentices. Yet despite his apparent change of heart, Pellew conceals a very
tormented soul and will –if necessary- resort to whatever tactics he considered
appropriate in order to serve the “better good.”

Ruined-Tail:

Also known as: “Ruin” or “The Argonian”

First appearance: Ruined-Tail’s Tale
Primary appearance: Ruined-Tail’s Tale
Other appearances: Tears of the Fiend (The Legacy, The Butcher of Armindale,
Redemption, Tears of the Fiend) and Malevolent.
Personality traits: Ruined-Tail is a somewhat naive Argonian who –despite his
pretence to being opinionated- is actually quite susceptible to the influence of others.
He had a tendency to become quite attached to certain individuals, almost to the point
of becoming obsessed, and his timid, open-to-suggestion nature means that his own
beliefs more often than not echo those of the individual to which he has embedded
himself. Fiercely loyal, somewhat self-depreciative and ever a dreamer, Ruin
constantly finds himself conflicted by what he sees in the world around him, which
seems to conflict with his views of right and wrong –however influenced they may
have been.

Hatched and raised within the secretive ShadowScale sect of Assassins, Ruin –despite
being a highly skilled Battle Mage- found himself consistently at odds with the
authority that commanded the ShadowScales. His growing dissatisfaction born of the
Sect’s devotion to the Dark Father, and the many hypocrisies and injustices
associated with such blind, brainwashed belief as the ShadowScales received as
hatchlings. He chose to leave the ShadowScales and travel Tamriel on his own,
hoping to find someone who could provide him the tutelage necessary to survive as a
free citizen in the realms.

Yet for Ruin, survival is no longer enough. As his ability to separate dreams from
reality begins to deteriorate, his hopes and desires take priority of rationality and
survival. He longs to find his dreams, though he will admit to any who asks that he is
not entirely sure what they are.

IV – TECHNICAL TROUBLESHOOTING

QUESTION: I’m worried about MOD Conflicts, what “parts” of TESIV:

Oblivion does this MOD change?

The full list of changed “Vanilla Oblivion” areas are as follows:

Anvil World:

AnvilExterior01
AnvilExterior02

Cheydinhal World:

CheydinhalExterior04
CheydinhalExterior07
CheydinhalExterior08
CheydinhalExterior09
CheydinhalExterior10Arena

Tamriel:

CheydinhalWestGate
ICWaterfront01
ICWaterfront02
OBRandNB01
WawnetInnExterior
Wilderness (28, 23)
Wilderness (26, 19)
Wilderness (-2, 14)
Wilderness (-2, 15)
Wilderness (29, 22)
Wilderness (29, 23)
Wilderness (-1, 14)
Wilderness (30, 22)

QUESTION: The dialogue isn't staying on the screen long enough for me to read
it, what's going on?

ANSWER: The "silent.mp3s" are used to force each line of dialogue to stay on
screen for 8 seconds. If they aren't installed correctly, the dialogue will flick by too
fast to read.

The Voice files (Silent.mp3s) need to be placed in the following directory:

"Oblivion\Data\Sound\Voice\RTT.esp\<Race name>\<Gender>\"

It is also a known issue that foreign language versions of Oblivion need to have the
dialogue files renamed due to the fact that the directory structure is different to the
English version of the game.

For instance, these apply to Spanish Oblivion needs:

Argonian->Argoniano
Breton->Bret n
Imperial->Imperial (no change)
High Elf->Alto Elfo
Redguard-> Guarda rojo
Nord->N rdico

QUESTION: How come I don't hear any voiced dialogue?

ANSWER: Due to the difficulties in finding reliable voice actors to voice the many
thousands of lines of Dialogue in Ruined-Tail’s Tale 3.0, the vast majority of the
MOD is not voiced at all.

QUESTION: What is with the voice files that don't have any sound?

ANSWER: They are "silent.mp3s" and are used to force the dialogue text to stay on
screen for a specific amount of time, in the case of Ruined-Tail’s Tale, it is for
approximately 8 seconds.

QUESTION: Oblivion crashes to the desktop whilst in-game. What’s the

problem?

ANSWER: There could be any number of possible reasons for this, but some of the
more common ones are:

• Oblivion is not patched to 1.2

• Ruined-Tail’s Tale is not at the top of the MOD load order.
• You are running a MOD that conflicts with Ruined-Tail’s Tale - Try
temporarily disabling all MODs except Ruined-Tail’s Tale and seeing if that
works. If it does, try adding back in each of the MODs one at a time until you
find the one which conflicts.
• Your computer does not have the necessary performance to run Ruined-Tail’s
Tale – Bare in mind, many of the scripts in Ruined-Tail’s Tale are amongst
the most complex ever written for Oblivion, and they do tend to cause system
slowdown in some instances.
• God doesn’t like you – Sometimes such things are out of our control. If you
have met all the above criteria and are still having problems, try E-mailing or
messaging Arilita or myself and we will see what we can do to troubleshoot
your problem.

QUESTION: Whenever I enable the RTT.esp file, Oblivion crashes at the main
title screen. Is the MOD bugged?

ANSWER: No, it's not bugged, this problem happens when you have Knights of the
Nine installed. The solution is to change the load order of the MODs, placing KotN
either before or after RTT.esp (the opposite to however you had it set up before.)
QUESTION: Some of the scripted sequences seem to run really slow. What’s
going on?

ANSWER: Script cycling is your problem. The Oblivion Engine slows the number of
times that it cycles through a script (reads the script from top to bottom) as more
scripts (in other words, more MODs) are added, or if it determines that the computer
system is starting to suffer slowdown. Normally, it should cycle once per second (or
very close to it), but as the script cycling starts to decrease it can drop as low as once
every 3-4 seconds, meaning that fast-paced sequences start to look ridiculously slow.
There is no fix for this problem.

QUESTION: When I speak to MOD-related NPCs in certain locations they just

say "I HAVE NO GREETING" or just make ordinary "idle" conversation with
me. Why is this?

ANSWER: There are two reasons that this commonly occurs. First of all, MOD
conflicts often result in this problem in dialogue-intensive MODs (I have no ideas.)
For the purpose of testing I'd suggest disabling all MODs except for Ruined-Tail’s
Tale, and testing to see if the problem still occurs with the other MODs disabled.

QUESTION: Some of the NPC’s pathing is quite buggy. How can this be fixed?

ANSWER: As NPC pathing relies on the pathnodes within Oblivion to move, it can't
really be fixed. I’ve endeavoured to include enough correctly placed pathnodes to
avoid problems, but at the end of the day it comes down to the AI pathhunting to
determine whether or not it encounters problems.

QUESTION: My game won’t save and results in really strange video errors at
certain points in the quest.

ANSWER: In order for this MOD to work you NEED to ensure that you have
updated Oblivion to 1.1 or above. If you are running 1.0 (or its’ many unpatched
derivatives) you will encounter this problem. If you have this problem, and have only
just noticed you have yet to patch it, acquire the patch from
http://elderscrolls.com/downloads/updates_patches.htm, and load up a save BEFORE
you start Ruined-Tail’s Tale.

QUESTION: Does this MOD work with Shivering Isles?

ANSWER: Technically yes. Theoretically speaking it should work OK, but I

wouldn’t suggest trying to do any of the SI-related quests whilst travelling with
Ruined-Tail.

QUESTION: I'm having a strange bug that hasn't been covered in the README
so far. What should I do?
ANSWER: First of all, DISABLE any MODs you are running and load up a save
BEFORE the bug occurs. Try running Ruined-Tail’s Tale from there and see if the
bug repeats itself. If it DOES, then I suggest you send me an E-mail at
Simyaz@bigpond.com OR drop by the Ruined-Tail’s Tale threads on
elderscrolls.com/forums (just do a search for Simyaz to find my thread) so that Arilita
or myself can try and resolve the problem.

V – ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

CREDITS:

Paul 'Simyaz' Thomson - Project Leader/Creator, Writer (Dialogue, Quest, In-Game

Books, References, Source Material), Lead Scripter/Programmer, Mapper/Level
Designer, Sound Editing.

Arilita - Lead 2D Artist, Lead 3D Artist, Loremaster, Playtester.

Wizard of Thay - Playtester.

Persian Paladin – Playtester.

Zlob – Playtester.

CONTACT POINTS:

E-mail: Simyaz@Bigpond.com
MSN: Simyaz@Hotmail.com
AIM: Simyaz0

For technical assistance, or to post comments about this MOD, my main threads can
be found on Elderscrolls.com/forums (just search for “Simyaz” to find my various
MOD threads). I also regularly check the relevant MOD Threats at
www.tesnexus.com

OTHER MODS BY SIMYAZ & ARILITA:

Tears of the Fiend – http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11598

Malevolent – http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=17781

EDITING, USING AND DISTRIBUTING:

I really don't care where or how you distribute Ruined-Tail’s Tale, provided that you
don't change the attached RTT ReadMe and the RTT Guide, and you don't take undue
credit for the MOD's creation and development. Feel free to use my script and NPCs
all you want, but PLEASE don't plagiarise my story/dialogue. Obviously I can't do
anything to stop you, but seriously, there can be no justifiable reason to steal my
writing. Basically, as long as you aren't going to publish any changes to this MOD
(By posting it online or distributing it in any way) I don't care what changes you
make.

If you want to translate any of my MODs into another language with the intent on
using it for something other than personal use (distributing) be sure to contact me at
Simyaz@Bigpond.com first for permission, and the relative conditions associated
with the translation.

RUINED-TAIL’S TALE is Copyright © 2007 Paul 'Simyaz' Thomson

I would also like to put forward a special thanks to my co-developer Arilita, She has
been working with me on my MODs for over year and a half now, and without her
tireless assistance, motivation and dedication, none of my more recent MODs (Tears
of the Fiend, Malevolent or Ruined-Tail’s Tale) would ever have seen the light of day.
Thank you.