TEARS
of the FIEND GUIDE
CONTENTS:
1. Tears of the Fiend
Foreword
2. Tears of the Fiend
Walkthrough
Chapter I - Ehothorn
Chapter II - The Hunt for Allecia
Ehothorn
Chapter III - The Relics
Chapter IV - The Ruins of Armindale
Chapter V - The Legacy
Chapter VI - Dreams of Armindale
Chapter VII - The Butcher of
Armindale
Chapter VIII - The Demon Inside
Chapter IX - Grudges of the Past
Chapter X - The Butcher and the
Fiend
Chapter XI - Tears of the Fiend
Final Words
3. Tears of the Fiend
Epilogue
4. Tears of the Fiend
Story-So-Far
5. Tears of the Fiend
Trivia
6. Tears of the Fiend
Troubleshooting
7. Editing, Using and
Distributing
TEARS
OF THE FIEND FOREWORD:
Tears of the
Fiend is a first for Oblivion Modding, it is a rarity in the Modding world, and
it is even rarer still in the professional game development scene. This is due
to it's level of depth, the complex multi-layered nature of the path
progression through the MOD, and the vast (dare I say bilbical) levels of
dialogue and story relative to the size and scale of the quest itself. When I
look at Tears of the Fiend, I think of it as a homage to the often unnoticed
and underrated storytelling games (such as Baldur's Gate, Planescape
Torment, Pathologic and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth) and to the
often overlooked storytelling MODs (such as Westly Weimer's "Solaufein
MOD" for Baldur's Gate 2), which take near incalculable amounts of time to
create, and yet will only ever remain popular to a select few players due to
their non mass-market orientation. These games and MODs defined by own approach
to Modding and thus will always serve as indirect inspiration for everything I
do. I can only hope that Tears of the Fiend resides on a level of achievement
next to these outspoken gems within the gaming world.
Many of
you may have played The Legacy, others may have played The Butcher of
Armindale, and as a result of this much of what you will see in this MOD will already
be familiar to you. Tears of the Fiend is a convergent-storylines MOD (and also
a continuation of both MODs), not an entirely new storyline from scratch. What
has changed between The Legacy and The Butcher of Armindale (aside from the
fact that the stories occur together) is how the two MODs interrelate to one
another. Actions in The Legacy section of the MOD affect The Butcher of
Armindale section of the MOD, and vice versa. Most important however, is that
actions in both MODs (and the combined actions as a result of both MODs) will
affect the Tears of the Fiend section of the MOD. If you were to draw a
topographical mind-map to represent how the different elements of the MOD
relate to one another, it would look something similar to a spiderweb in its
intricacy. When you have completed the MOD, I actually suggest having a read
through the Walkthrough in its entirety in order to understand the different
elements, and the different paths through the MOD. It also gives you an
opportunity to determine how successful your path through the MOD was.
Finally,
I can only say that I hope you enjoy the MOD. I hope that you consider the
storyline at length even when you aren't playing it. I hope that the main
characters mean enough to you that they become synonymous with exploring
Tamriel. And I hope that you genuinely feel regret when the MOD is over.
Because if you -the responder- are experiencing this things, it means to me
-the creator- that I have succeeded at what I set out to do. That alone
justifies all that I have done to bring Tears of the Fiend to life.
TEARS
OF THE FIEND WALKTHROUGH
First of
all, I would like to point out that Tears of the Fiend, and the 3 MOD's that it
essentially encompasses (The Legacy, The Butcher of Armindale and Tears of the
Fiend) are an extremely difficult series of MODs to write a walkthrough for,
due to the numerous possible paths through them. Unlike many story-driven games
these days which give an illusion of choice, yet very little changes based on
your actions (thus remaining linear on a global scale), in Tears of the Fiend
the choices you make DO matter. Following one path will mean you don't see its
alternate paths, and thus you will not see the dialogue or events associated
with that unseen path. Now, since many choices change how events unfold in
Tears of the Fiend, you can appreciate that a walkthrough for it cannot simply
have a single linear "right" path. Aside from a few paths which
result in failure, the majority of the paths remain "right"
regardless of whether they are good or evil. The only thing that changes are
the end results. Thus, to make this a TRUE walkthrough, I have written it to
encompass all possible paths, with explanations as to how to achieve each.
As a
result of this, you will notice that many sections of the MOD -especially those
in which different choices will result in different paths- tends to look
similar to a "choose your own adventure" book, with many instances of
"If you have done <this>, go to <here>." Remember
to read it in the same manner as you would a "choose your own
adventure" book, and not as you would a conventional walkthrough. Reading
this walkthrough from top to bottom will make next to no sense whatsoever, and
thus would be a pointless venture. Hence, if you are told to "Go to
Chapter III - Part 2" do exactly that.
Additionally,
for the first part of the MOD (Which encompasses The Legacy) there are two main
variables that your choices through the progression of the MOD will change.
These are the Information Pool and the Evil Meter. The Information Pool will
determine how much time you have at the end of The Legacy section of the MOD
before Allecia is killed, with the higher the number resulting in less time to
complete the section. The Evil Metre on the other hand determined whether or not your character
will be able to resist his/her “darker impulses” in the final section of the
MOD, and once again, a higher number limits your overall options.
CHAPTER I - Ehothorn
1.
With the
MOD enabled, find yourself a safe place to rest (an Inn or Tavern will suffice)
and rest for a period greater than 2 hours. You will be awoken by the arrival
of an Intruder by the name of Edward Pellew, whose introductory speech more or
less sums up the underriding premise for the entire MOD. At the end of his
speech he will attack you. All you need to do to end the fight is hit him 5
times, and he will surrender to you.
If you
are a low-end character and are having trouble defeating Pellew, the best
strategy is a "Hit and run" attack, or alternatively try switching to
a Bow and attacking from a distance. You will notice that different Inns and
Taverns have a slightly different layout for the "rentable rooms."
Try to find one which has a reasonable amount of running space, or enough objects
that you can exploit the pathing in the close environment in order to avoid his
hits, and deliver yours in return.
After the
fight Pellew will speak to you again, and you will need to determine what to do
with him. You can choose to kill him (which will eliminate him as an opponent
later in the MOD, yet will permanently damage your characters alignment,
bringing you closer to the "Evil" ranking and subsequently limiting
the possible endings you can receive), or you can choose to let him live (which
leaves him as an opponent later in the MOD, yet preserves your alignment
regardless of what it is.)
CHOICE
1: Let Pellew Live
- +1 to Information Pool.
CHOICE
2: Kill Pellew - +1 to Evil Meter.
Once you
have made your decision, Pellew will leave and you will be pointed towards your
next objective in the Quest.
2.
You will
be advised via the Quest Update that you need to seek out books on Edward
Pellew, and Quest pointers will indicate the 4 likely book dealerships. I can't
actually TELL you which book dealership to go to since it is randomised, but
eventually you will locate the correct one. When you have found the correct
dealer, purchase the book "Pellew and Other Children's Tales." Read
the book and you will be advised to seek out the Imperial Registrar in the
Prison District of Imperial City in order to learn more about your heritage.
The
Registrar can be found wandering in the courtyard outside of the Prison tower.
Speak to him to learn that the Imperial Registrar has no record of your
heritage.
IF YOU
KILLED PELLEW: You
will be prompted at this point to try inspecting your body for any
distinguishing marks when next you rest. You need to rest in a "safe
place" to trigger the next section.
IF YOU
LET PELLEW LIVE:
You will be advised that "perhaps an idea will come to you when you
rest." You need to rest in a "safe place" to trigger the next
section.
3.
IF YOU
KILLED PELLEW:
Every time you rest, you will be given the chance to inspect your body for any
distinguishing marks or traits. The chance of locating a distinguishing mark is
based off a simple probability algorithm, but the odds of you finding something
increase noticeable every time you attempt to search yourself. Eventually you
will locate a series of distinct Runic symbols, and will be advised by the
Quest Update to seek out the Professor of Religious Symbology in the Arcane
University. Continue to CHAPTER 1 - PART 4 from here.
IF YOU
LET PELLEW LIVE: When
you rest, you will be approached by Edward Pellew once again, who will tell you
a story which serves as an analogy to your present situation. He will offer to
search you for any distinct markings which might serve as a link to your
heritage. From here you can choose to Kill him (which will eliminate him as an
opponent later in the MOD, yet will permanently damage your characters
alignment, bringing you closer to the "Evil" ranking and subsequently
limiting the possible endings you can receive), You can refuse his help (which
makes it slightly easier for Pellew to track you at the end of the MOD), or you
can accept his help (which makes it significantly easier for Pellew to track
you at the end of the MOD.)
CHOICE
1: Accept Pellew's
Help - +2 to Information Pool.
CHOICE
2: Refuse Pellew's
Help - +1 to Information Pool.
CHOICE
3: Kill Pellew - +1 to Evil Meter.
IF YOU KILLED PELLEW: Every time you rest, you will be given the chance to inspect
your body for any distinguishing marks or traits. The chance of locating a
distinguishing mark is based off a simple probability algorithm, but the odds
of you finding something increase noticeable every time you attempt to search
yourself. Eventually you will locate a series of distinct Runic symbols, and
will be advised by the Quest Update to seek out the Professor of Religious
Symbology in the Arcane University. Continue to CHAPTER I - PART 4 from
here.
IF YOU
REFUSED PELLEW'S HELP:
Every time you rest, you will be given the chance to inspect your body for any
distinguishing marks or traits. The chance of locating a distinguishing mark is
based off a simple probability algorithm, but the odds of you finding something
increase noticeable every time you attempt to search yourself. Eventually you
will locate a series of distinct Runic symbols, and will be advised by the
Quest Update to seek out the Professor of Religious Symbology in the Arcane
University. Continue to CHAPTER I - PART 4 from here.
IF YOU
ACCEPTED PELLEW'S HELP: Pellew will search you and eventually locate a series of distinct
Runic symbols, which he will document for you. He will then advise you to seek
out the Professor of Religious Symbology in the Arcane University. Continue to CHAPTER
1 - PART 4 from here.
4.
You will
find the Professor of Religious Symbology just inside the first tower in the
Arcane University. When you speak to him he will reveal to you that the Runic
symbols read "Ehothorn", and will ask you where it is you located the
symbols. You can choose to tell him if you want, but it only results in +1 to Information Pool with
no benefits to you in return. From here you will be advised to seek out the
Imperial Registrar once again.
Upon returning to the Imperial Registrar you will be advised of
one Allecia Ehothorn, who lives in a residence known as the Ehothorn Estate in
Cheydinhal, and is reputedly the only surviving member of the Ehothorn family.
From here you are advised to travel to Cheydinhal and seek out Allecia
Ehothorn.
CHAPTER II - The Hunt
for Allecia Ehothorn
1.
When you attempt
to enter the Ehothorrn Estate you will find that it is locked. If you have a
reasonable lockpicking skill you can break in that way, or else you will find
the "Spare Estate Key" hidden under a rock just near the entryway.
Once inside, the information that you are looking for is resting atop a desk on
the Second story. You will find a book entitled "Ehothorn Family
Tree" and an "Ehothorn Crypt Key." Upon reading the
"Ehothorn Family Tree" you will notice that all of those listed are
women, and furthermore, it is more of a list than a family tree (with those who
had died beforehand "crossed off" and those who are "yet to
come" listed underneath. At this point you will be advised to seek out the
local Bartender to learn more about the Ehothorn Family.
Upon
speaking to the Bartender, you will learn that the Ehothorn family has always
been small, and seems to have been cursed with ill luck as tragedy resulting in
death always prevented the family from growing any larger. The Bartender will
suggest that you visit the Ehothorn Family crypt for more information about the
Ehothorns.
The
Ehothorn Family Crypt is just behind the Ehothorn Estate (near the Cheydinhal
city wall). Using the stolen Ehothorn Crypt Key, enter the Crypt and have a
look around. The first thing you will notice is that the Crypt is entirely
empty. Despite the fact that this is supposed to be a Family Crypt, no
Ehothorns have ever been buried here. This should suggest to you that there is
only one Ehothorn in existence: Allecia Ehothorn. At this point you will be
prompted to confront Allecia Ehothorn. Head into the Estate to meet her for the
first time.
2.
Upon
re-entering the Ehothorn Estate you will be confronted by Allecia Ehothorn. The
dialogue will progress for a time, in which you will learn that Allecia is the
only Ehothorn, and she changes her name periodically to avoid suspicion (thus
suggesting that she has lived for generations.) She will want to know you story
and will request that you team up with her to track down your heritage.
Refusing to provide her the information or join forces with her doesn't
actually change anything, but it gives you an opportunity to put off the
continuation of the quest until later if you want. Once you leave the Estate
will Allecia, there is no turning back.
Towards
the end of the conversation you will encounter the first of the
"Flashbacks" in the MOD. You will be taken to the Ehothorn Estate as
it was many years ago, and will eventually encounter a younger version of
Allecia Ehothorn. This Flashback serves as the first clue to the link between
Allecia Ehothorn and your character.
Once you
return to the real world, you will depart the Ehothorn Estate will Allecia to
begin the next section of the Quest.
CHAPTER III - The
Relics
Allecia's Conversations:
For as long as this section of the MOD is running (up until the
encounter with The Fiend) it is possible to experience four supplemental
dialogue's with Allecia that will help to clarify precisely who and what
Allecia is, as well as her involvement with you, and other aspects of her past
From the moment you are tasked with following Allecia to the
Cheydinhal main gates, the timer begins. Every 1000 seconds you will see a
spell icon appear advising you that Allecia wants to talk. Speaking to her will
allow you to choose what questions you want to ask her, and it is possible to
ask the same question twice if you so choose. This can only occur 4 times
however, and since there are 4 possible questions it is usually a good idea to
ask each of them once as opposed to asking the same question four times.
The actual dialogue options you choose in these conversations make
no difference whatsoever to the rest of the MOD.
1.
Departing
from the Ehothorn Estate, follow Allecia to the city gates. There she will
reveal to you the location of the ruins of the former Ehothorn Estate, and
suggest that you take the lead and journey there with her. Travel to the Ruined
Ehothorn Estate (with Vanilla Oblivion you will likely only encounter an Imp or
two as you journey there.) It should be noted that the quest pointer for the
Ehothorn Estate is deliberately wrong at this point, and you will need to
search around slightly for the ACTUAL location of the Ehothorn Estate. You can
find it nestled up against a hill, a short distance from where the valley in
the vicinity of the Quest Pointer levels out.
Upon
arriving at the estate, Allecia will start a conversation with you. During the
conversation you will experience the second Flashback, in which you will once
again return to the Old Ehothorn Estate, as it is attacked by two unknown
individuals, who subsequently set fire to the estate in order to kill you. When
you return to the real world, Allecia will speak to you once again, and you
will be advised to search the area for any clues which may link you to the
Ehothorn Family.
There are
actually two items you are looking for, and both are in the same place. As you
look at the "front" of the Ehothorn Estate, you will notice a ruined
tower leaning against the roof of the estate on the right hand side. Crouch
down and slip between the gap created by the ruins leaning against the estate.
Just inside the gap you will see a "Rune-Covered Tablet" resting atop
a rock, and amongst the grass next to the estate (about a metre in front of the
tablet) you will find a "Burned book." When you have both of these
items in hand, return to Allecia.
She will
explain to you what each of the items are, and suggest that if you want help
identifying the significance of the runes on the Tablet, you should return to
the Archaeologist Expedition that is about to leave Cheydinhal. Just after the
conversation finishes you will be attacked by a number of wolves. Remember,
Allecia is NOT invulnerable, and if she dies the quest is over. You need to draw
as much attention from her as possible (by dealing as much damage to as many of
the wolves as possible) and endeavour to take the hits FOR Allecia.
With the
wolves dead, return to Cheydinhal (I'd suggest fast travelling.)
2.
The
Archaeologists will be marked on your map if you have The Legacy Quest
selected, but they can be found just inside the entrance closest to the Ruined
Ehothorn Estate. Speak to Archaeologist Bsarnn, and he will reveal that the
Tablet is from the Ruins of Armindale, an expedition site that -coincidentally-
they are headed to at this very moment. Bsarnn will ask how you acquired the
tablet, If you tell him that it is a "Family heirloom" you will gain +1 to Information Pool with
no benefits in return. If you choose any of the other options (all lies) it has no
detrimental effect. From here you will be given the choice as to how you want
to acquire the location of the Ruins of Armindale Excavation Site. You can
trade the stone tablet to him in return for the information at a cost of +1 to Information Pool, or
you can refuse his help, and can steal the map at the cost of +1 to Evil Meter. If you
opt to steal the map, you will find it sitting atop a crate just behind the
Wagon. Be careful, however, as being caught stealing is a crime.
With the map in hand, head to the Ruins of Armindale (Excavation
Site) on the map, just north of the Imperial City.
CHAPTER IV - The Ruins
of Armindale
1.
When you
first arrive at the Ruins of Armindale, Allecia will initiate a conversation
with you, after which she will suggest that you both enter the Ruins. Once
inside you WILL be attacked by numerous undead (called "Scourge of
Armindale") who CAN quite easily kill Allecia. There are two tricks to
getting through this section. First of all, you can cast either Convalescence
or Shield on her to make her a bit more durable, or -and this is the method I
usually use- simply charge ahead, and endeavour to kill the undead (or grab as
much attention as possible) before she arrives. It is actual possible to kill
all the undead in this section of the Ruins of Armindale before she reaches any
of them.
Make your
way through the ruins and you will eventually arrive at a door. Allecia will
initiate a conversation with you here, and will suggest that you continue on
ahead while she stays behind and sets up camp.
From
here, travel on alone into the Deeper section of the Ruins, following the
linear path of the caves. Eventually you will come to a rock wall that prevents
further progression along the tunnels. If you wait for long enough, (usually
only a few seconds) the quest will update, and you will be advised to return to
Allecia. Travel back to Allecia and speak to her. She will advise you to rest
rather than continuing the delve deeper into the tunnel system.
When you
sleep, you will experience the third flashback. In this flashback you will
witness a "dreamlike" fall of Armindale, in which Cleon, the Butcher
of Armindale, speaks to you as if you are his master. This flashback will also
initiate the quest "The Butcher of Armindale" in which you are
advised that if you wish to learn more about the Butcher of Armindale you
should speak to the Archaeologist's when they eventually arrive. At the end of
the dream, you will return to the real world as normal, and Allecia will
initiate a conversation with you. She will give you a "Mining Pick"
and you will receive a Quest update advising you how to use it.
Return to
the section of the Rock wall that prevents you from progressing further into
the tunnel system, stand there for a few seconds and when prompted choose to
"Set to work on the Rock wall." Like searching yourself for any signs
on your body earlier in the quest, the chance to break the rock wall is based
on a probability algorithm. If you fail, just keep trying again and again, and
eventually you will break through.
Inside
the rock wall rests the remains of the Armindale throne room (where you were
when you spoke to Cleon, the Butcher of Armindale in the 3rd Flashback).
Sitting just in front of the two thrones is a "Broken Enchanted
Blade." Pick up the blade, and attempt to continue further down the tunnel
system. Once again you will be blocked by a rock wall, and after a brief period
of time you will be prompted to return to Allecia and show her the broken blade.
Upon
arriving back at Allecia's campsite (which is getting more and more homely with
every journey deeper into the mine), Allecia claims to recognise the blade, yet
advises that seeking out it's owner can wait until you have finished your
exploration of the Ruins of Armindale. Once again she will advise you to sleep.
When you
sleep, you will experience the fourth flashback. In this flashback, Allecia
wants to show you something. As she runs off, chase her up the staircase and
along the ridgeline to the lookout, where you can initialise conversation with
her. At this point she will reveal what is quite possibly the most important
piece of information (as far as "solving" the mystery of your
heritage goes) you have received so far. When you wake up, she will speak to
you once again.
Return to
the throne room again, and -in the same manner as before- set to work on the
Rock Wall. Eventually you will break down the rockwall, and you can progress
into the next room. There you will find a locked "rune-covered door"
and 4 books sitting on a "Sundial"-like object. This particular room
is commonly known amongst The Legacy fans as "The Sundial Puzzle."
Attempt to "use" the door, and once again you will be advised to
return to Allecia.
Upon
returning to Allecia's campsite, you will find that the Archaeologist's
expedition has arrived. Bsarnn the Archaeologist will speak to you and will
lock the door to the deeper section of the mines to prevent you from returning.
Speak to Allecia and she will advise you to track down the owner of the Broken
Enchanted Blade you found earlier, by tracking down the one who enchanted it in
the first place. She will refer you to an enchanter in the Market District of
Imperial City.
If you
speak to Archaeologist Biff at this point, he will offer to tell you the story
of The Butcher of Armindale. Listen to his story, and at the end of it you will
receive the next quest update for the Butcher of Armindale quest. In which you
are advised to speak to Phinteas in First Edition in the Market District of the
Imperial City to try and track down a book on The Butcher of Armindale.
NOTE:
While you TECHNICALLY can work your way through The Butcher of Armindale quest
from this point, I would suggest waiting until you have finished The Legacy
section of the MOD first. For the purposes of continuity in this walkthrough, I
will be doing exactly that.
2.
When you
speak to the Enchanter, he will advise you that it was indeed him who Enchanted
the blade, yet he will not give you the information for free. At this point,
you can choose to tell him WHY you are seeking the blade at the cost of +1 to Information Pool, but
at a severe discount to the price of the information, or you can simply pay the
full price of the information. Once you have the information, he will tell you
that the blade belongs to Maris the Hunter who lives in a cabin just outside of
Bruma. You will be advised to head there next.
As you approach the cabin, if you chose to kill Pellew at the
start of the MOD you will see a shrine honouring him just to the right of the
cabin itself. Be sure to investigate the shrine and take the Sword of the
Celestial from it. This sword is ESSENTIAL if you want to get the
"best" ending to the overall MOD.
Upon attempting to enter the Cabin, you will be waylaid by Maris
the Hunter. He will admit ownership of the blade, and demand that you tell him
your story. After telling him your story, he will share with you an analogy
that HE thinks appropriately fits your situation. After this, he will throw you
out of his house. Any attempt to return to his house results in him throwing
you out once again.
The trick here is to be patient. Eventually he will emerge to go
hunting, and it is then that you can sneak in. I find that between 2200hrs and
0100hrs is the time that he most often leaves his cabin. Once you see him
outside, sneak into the cabin, and travel down to the basement where you will
find his journal. After taking his journal you will be prompted to show it to
Allecia.
Return to the Excavation Site and you will find that Allecia is
nowhere to be found. Talking to Bsaarn reveals that Allecia had stuck past him
while he was hard at work, and she hasn’t been seen since. From here you have 3
options. You can pay the Archaeologist to give you the key to travel deeper
into the Ruins of Armindale, you can steal the key from the Archaeologist for +1 to Evil Meter, or you can kill the
Archaeologist and take the key from him for +2 to Evil Meter,
NOTE: If you are going to kill the Archaeologists, you MUST speak
to Archaeologist Biff about the Ruins of Armindale (and learn about Cleon, the
Butcher of Armindale) before you kill them, otherwise the quest will end with
The Legacy.
Once you have the key, travel through the Ruins of Armindale to
the Sundial Puzzle, where you will find Allecia waiting for you. Talk to her,
and she will advise you that the time has come to try and crack the code that
will let you into the next section of the mines. She also offers a small hint
about how to break the code.
If you want to solve this section of the puzzle yourself, then do
not read on until you have made it inside. If you are confused (or can't be
bothered trying to work it out) a comprehensive explanation of the Sundial
Puzzle resides below.
The Sundial Puzzle Explained:
During the course of your journey so far, you will have come
across an archaic runic writing at several instances. The number system behind
this writing is the key to getting through the locked door.
The book you found at the Ruins of the Old Ehothorn Estate taught
you:
1 - A circle
2 - A circle with a line through it
3 - A figure-of-eight
4 - A square
Now examine the strange mechanism with the 4 books resting upon
it. Allecia mentioned that it reminded her of a Sundial, and she was correct in
that assumption. The four books each rests at one of the most important points
on a Sundial - 3 O'clock, 6 O'Clock, 9 O'Clock and 12 O'Clock. Knowing the
symbol that represents 3 O'Clock (a figure-of-eight as learned from the book
found at the Ehothorn Estate) you can plot the shape of the Sundial. Thus, you
now know that:
3 - A figure-of-eight
6 - A triangle
9 - A B- Shape
12 - A COLOURED circle with a line through it.
Now, looking at the shapes you have, you will see only 1
consistency. Both the number 2, and the number 12 consist of a Circle with a
line through it. The only difference (which allows you to identify the
different numbers) is that the 12 is coloured in. Thus, colouring in the shape
denotes that it is in the "tens." for example, 11 would be a coloured
circle. 13 would be a coloured figure-of-eight and so on. Thus, the complete
number system that you have learned so far is:
1 - A circle
2 - A circle with a line through it
3 - A figure-of-eight
4 - A square
5 -
6 - A triangle
7 -
8 -
9 - A B- Shape
10 -
11 - A COLOURED circle
12 - A COLOURED circle with a line through it.
13 - A COLOURED figure-of-eight
14 - A COLOURED square
15 -
16 - A COLOURED triangle
17 -
18 -
19 - A COLOURED B-Shape
Now that we know MOST of the number system, the only thing missing
is the actual combination needed to open the door. This can be found on the
final pages of the Hunter's Journal, where he indicates the numbers "2.
14. 6." Those 3 numbers are the combination that you need to enter in
order to open the door. Or, as it would be written in the Runic number system "A
Circle with a Line Through It, A Coloured Square, A Triangle."
CHAPTER V - The Legacy
1.
After
making your way through the locked door (thus solving the infamous Sundial
Puzzle) you will enter the "mysterious chamber" for the first time.
As you approach the Altar at the end of the room, you will enter the fifth
flashback. In this flashback you and Allecia will be breaking into an orphanage
in an attempt to steal a child. Talk to her from the rooftop, and then climb
down the chimney pipe to enter the orphanage. You will need to fight 3 guards
in this section (don't worry, Allecia is invulnerable, even if YOU are not).
With the guards dead, "use" the door at the bottom of the staircase.
Allecia will speak to you briefly. When her conversation is finished, simply
"use" the door again the end the flashback.
When you
return to the real world, Allecia will speak to you and will identify the
orphanage in your dream. She will mark it on your map, and advise that you
travel there looking for clues. Make your way out of the Ruins of Armindale
(NOTE: Sometimes Allecia doesn't follow you at this point. If for some reason
she doesn't, you needn't worry, she isn't important to this particular section)
and head to the Ruined Orphanage she has marked on your map.
Upon
arriving, speak to the Caretaker, and learn from him the events that resulted
in the Orphanage's destruction. When you have finished speaking to the
Caretaker, Allecia will initiate a conversation with you, and you will finally
learn the truth of just WHAT is Allecia Ehothorn. With the greatest revelation
of the MOD finally completed, head back to the Ruins of Armindale, and make
your way to the Mysterious Chamber once again.
Upon
entering the Mysterious Chamber, Allecia will fill in the last of the gaps
regarding your Legacy, and will tell you to "lie upon the altar" to
finally face your past. Make sure you are feeling healthy, have all
self-buffing spells cast, and are generally ready to "run" before
USING the base of the altar.
2.
At this
point you will enter the sixth and final flashback. Before I begin explaining
this section, it is important that you understand how the "time
limit" works.
Depending
on how high the Information Pool is will determine how much time you have to complete this
section before Allecia is killed. The Information Pool represents the amount of
information you have given away that will allow Maris the Hunter (and Edward
Pellew if he is still alive) to track you down. The higher the Information
Pool, the less time you have to complete the sixth flashback before Allecia is
killed. The significance of having Allecia killed -aside from loosing a
companion- is that you will not be able to experience the final section of the
MOD (Tears of the Fiend.) If you gave away 5 or more pieces of information (in
other words, the Information Pool is 5+) you will have only 50 seconds to
complete the sixth flashback before Allecia is killed, beginning from when you
FIRST enter the "dreamscape."
The trick to getting through this in 50 seconds (aside from taking
every shortcut possible) is to also ensure that you simply "click
through" the Fiend's dialogue instead of reading it (I usually suggest
reading it the first time, then -if Allecia ends up being killed- going back
and clicking through it.) Also be sure that your character has a reasonable
Speed and acrobatics rating, and you take advantage of the other advice
outlined later in this section.
At any rate, after appearing in the Dreamscape, follow the series
of walkways (a few of them are dead ends) and try and spot corners you can jump
across as well as stairwells you can jump down (for later on in this section.)
Enter the caves, and continue through them until you come across a Dremora
entitled "The Fiend." Speak to the Fiend to complete the story of
your Legacy, and to determine where your future will take you. At the end of
the conversation you will have a number of different dialogue choices, however,
they will be limited depending on your progression through the MOD.
If the Evil Meter is Greater than or Equal to 2, you will have no choice but
to "Embrace" the Fiend. This denotes the "comparatively"
evil path you have taken through The Legacy. After this conversation is over,
you will be returned to the Mysterious Chamber. Continue to CHAPTER V- PART 3 from here.
If the Evil Meter is Less than
2, you will be able to CHOOSE to "Embrace" the Fiend, or not to. The
benefits that come from embracing the fiend is a suitable bonus to your
Oblivion "Infamy" ranking, and an ability called Dark Legacy (which
will be explained later.) However, you will NOT be able to progress through the
rest of this MOD with anything except "evil traits." NOT embracing
the Fiend gives you "good traits" including the ability to negotiate
your way out of the final encounter in The Legacy section of the MOD, as well as
several boons you will be given by the final protagonists in The Legacy section
of the MOD (not to mention a suitable bonus to your Oblivion "fame"
ranking.
If you choose to embrace the Fiend, continue to CHAPTER V- PART 3 from here. If
-however- you choose to defy the Fiend, read on.
The Fiend
will end the conversation with you, and the chase will begin. If at any point
the Fiend catches up to you, you will instantly be killed. Similarly, if you
fall off any of the platforms you will become trapped in the Abyss below. Thus,
this attempted escape needs to be done with utmost haste and with all possible
finesse. You need to cut every corner to take the shortest line through the
caves. You need to jump across corners on the walkways (rather than running
around them). And you need to jump DOWN the stairwells rather than running down
them. If you manage to do all of this back to the altar where you arrived, you
will succeed. And you will then be returned to the mysterious chamber.
3.
Upon
returning to the Mysterious chamber, you will be approached by the final
opponent in this section of the MOD. Who your actual opponent is will depend on
whether or not you opted to keep Edward Pellew alive at the start of the MOD.
Furthermore, depending on whether you completed the sixth flashback by
embracing the Fiend of escaping him will depend on your final path of
progression through the final encounter. And finally, depending on whether or
not you managed to complete the escape from the Fiend in under the required
time will depend on whether or not Allecia is alive.
If you
chose to embrace the Fiend, you will have a new ability now called Dark
Legacy. This ability GREATLY increases your Strength, Speed and HPs,
however while the ability is active your screen will be blurred (like in the flashbacks)
to represent the Fiend taking control. Furthermore, any "good"
aligned creatures around you (especially guards) will attempt to attack you if
you have the ability active. Be sure to use it discretely.
IF YOU
KILLED PELLEW: Maris
the Hunter will approach you, and speak to you for a bit. Depending on what he
says allows you to determine whether or not Allecia is dead. If he says
something along the lines of "we were in the process of chopping bits off
Quuarll when you interrupted..." that means Allecia is still alive. If he
says something else, that means she is dead. If you killed Pellew your only
option here (regardless of whether you are good or evil) is to Fight Maris the
Hunter. He is actually quite easy, being a rather typical archer with a few
simple healing spells. When he lies dead, be sure to take the bow from his
body. If Allecia is dead, continue to CHAPTER VI - Part I from here. If
you managed to keep her alive, continue to CHAPTER V - Part 4.
IF YOU
KEPT PELLEW ALIVE: Pellew
the Half-Celestial will speak to you (Maris the Hunter will be in the
background.)
4.
If you
managed to keep Allecia alive, you will find her hiding in the shadows of the
Throne Room in the Ruins of Armindale. If you get too close to her, she will
attempt to initiate a conversation with you. She will advise you that she wants
to kill you because you are an "abomination", and if you choose the
wrong dialogue options she will do exactly that (or else you will kill her.)
The "correct" path through the conversation is the one that perfectly
imitates what your pre-incarnation said to her during the fourth flashback.
"I can move quick with incentive," and so on. If you decide to kill
her, be aware of the fact that you will never see the final "Tears of
the Fiend" section of this MOD. If you keep her alive, you will gain
her as a permanent companion, you will also receive the "Call
Allecia" spell (allowing you to summon her if she gets lost) and also
ownership of the Ehothorn Estate in Cheydinhal.
CHAPTER VI - Dreams of
Armindale
1.
Assuming
you spoke to Archaeologist Biff in the Ruins of Armindale (before he was killed
by Maris and Pellew) you will have a quest update advising you to seek out
Phinteas in First Edition in the Market District of the Imperial City. Upon
speaking to him, ask him about the "Butcher of Armindale" and when
offered, purchase the book from him. Read the book to find that it has been
mutilated (and has missing pages), and speak to Phinteas once again to learn
the location of the missing pages from the book.
Travel to
Chorral, find Renoit's Books and speak to Renoit, who will advise you that
Kashaan the Rare Book Dealer (who reputedly has the missing pages) is out of
town. She will suggest that you sleep the night in the local Inn.
Rent a
room there or "rest" in a safe area and you will be taken into the
first of the Dreamscapes. In this dream you will witness Cleon's final farewell
to his wife Alleria before departing for the Siege of Armindale. After the
sequence is over, you will be returned to where you left off.
Now when
you return to Renoit's Books you will find Kashaan there. Speak to him and
either bribe of threaten him into giving you the missing pages. He will advise
you that a bandit called Shann (who operates out of Bruma) has the last of the
pages you need.
Read the
newly acquired pages, and rest again to trigger the second Dreamscape. In this
dream you will see Cleon, the Butcher of Armindale slaughtering the attendants
in the Throne room during the Fall of Armindale. Once the sequence is over you
will be returned to where you left off.
Travel to
Bruma, enter the Jarrel View Inn and approach Shann. He will attempt to flee
the moment he sees you. Follow him until he eventually gives up and attacks
you. Cut him down, and take the last of the pages from his body.
Rest
again to experience the last of the Dreamscapes. In this dream you will see the
conspirators who killed Cleon hiding his body. Be sure to pay attention as you
need to learn from this sequence where Cleon is buried if you wish to seek him
out.
2.
From the
third Dreamscape you will have been given the information you need to locate
Cleon's Grave. There are two necessary pieces of information which allow you to
pinpoint the location (although it is possible to find it with trial and error
if you only learn one of the pieces of information.)
1. Cleon's Grave is buried somewhere
under a Blacksmithy.
2. The Conspirator's who hid Cleon's
body were wearing Anvil Guard uniforms.
There are
actually two Blacksmiths in Anvil. The one that you are after is located in
Castle Anvil, just inside the castle itself, first door on the right. Upon
entering the Blacksmithy, if you enter the Blacksmith's chambers there is a
note on the table which tells you the specific location of the entrance to the
grave. Travel to the cellar room in the back, and look just under the edge of
the carpet in the middle of the room and you will see the hidden hatch leading
down to Cleon's Grave.
If you
managed to keep Allecia alive, before you can enter the grave she will initiate
a conversation with you, and will attempt to talk you out of resurrecting Cleon
the Butcher of Armindale.
Enter
Cleon's grave, and head down the passage to the left, where you will see a
Skeleton surrounded by a number of potions. Look at the loot on the Skeleton's
body, and take the journal you find there. Reading it will reveal precisely who
the Skeleton belongs to, and what he was attempting to do. When you are ready
for the next section of the MOD, take the Potion of undeath from the Skeleton's
body.
3.
Upon
taking the Potion of Undeath from the body of the skeleton you will be
immediately relocated to the Abyss of the Faithless. Just after arriving you
will be approached by someone who looks extremely familiar. So very familiar
that this particular NPC just so happens to look exactly like you, and ALSO has
the same name as you. Talking to this duplicate reveals that he represents the
soul that originally owned the body (he calls it a vessel) that your character
now occupies. He will also advise you of where to find Cleon.
Follow
the blue fog across two bridges, and be sure to kill the two skeletons on the
second bridge before climbing the ridgeline of the crater. As you approach the
crater you will see Cleon and his Demon fighting against an army of undead, and
the Narrator will speak again.
Join in
the fight with Cleon and his Demon, fighting the Minions of the Abyss and being
VERY careful not to hit Cleon or his Demon. When all of the Skeletons are dead,
speak to Cleon, and after the conversation watch as he converses with his
Demons, before returning to speak to you. Once he has finished his conversation
he will return to speak to you, and the two of you will leave the Abyss of the
Faithless.
Upon
returning to Cleon's grave, Cleon will speak to you and eventually request that
the two of you travel together. You can turn him down if you want, but it
doesn't really do anything except stop the quest here. Once you have accepted
his partnership, you now have Cleon the Butcher of Armindale as a companion,
and will receive a new ability "Call Cleon" which will allow you to
summon Cleon to you.
CHAPTER VII - The
Butcher of Armindale
1.
During
your travels together, Cleon will speak to you at regular intervals. You will
know when he wants to talk because a new ability "Cleon wants to
talk..." will appear as a spell icon on your interface. The actual timer
that determines his conversation is set to 1500 game seconds, which equates to
about 20 - 25 minutes in real time. During your conversations with Cleon you
will be attempting to build a repour with him, however -due to his Malevolent
nature- this isn't particularly easy. An overview of how to complete each of
the conversations is listed below:
Beneath
each conversation you will see the responses that will affect how Cleon thinks
of you. If you come across a response during your conversations with Cleon
which you don't see listed below, that is because it has a neutral effect, and
does not change your standing with Cleon.
Conversation
1:
You
have a better idea? -1
I
don't care what you think. - 1
Very
well, I will follow your lead. - 1
Conversation
2:
They
seek only the fame and fortune. + 1
They
exist for that delusion. + 1
Having
no morals makes one stronger! + 1
Conversation
3:
They
know their God will reward them. - 1
You
are wrong. - 1
Conversation
4:
It may
be based on facts.
- 1
You
may be right. - 1
You
still had free will.
+ 1
Conversation
5:
You
could out-think your opponents. + 1
Conversation
6:
As far as
this particular section of the MOD goes, this is the penultimate conversation,
as it will determine your relationship with Cleon (and subsequently the
majority of your path through the closing stages of this section of the MOD.)
After a brief interchanging of dialogue, you will have the option to try and
convince Cleon to teach you his strategies. The possible options are outlined
below, as well as the conditions necessary to succeed at the task of convincing
Cleon to teach you. If you fail, you can still continue the MOD, but it will be
a more linear path as Cleon will harbour no respect for you, thus limiting your
approach to him.
Because
of the challenge it presents. - If your rating with Cleon is 2 or higher, this will
convince him to train you. If it is less than 2, you will fail to convince him.
I have
already immortalised myself... - If you rating with Cleon is 1 or higher, this will
convince him to train you. If if is less than 1, you will fail to convince him.
Because
I am an apt pupil.
- This will fail regardless of your relationship with Cleon.
I can
succeed where you failed... - This will fail regardless of your relationship with Cleon.
Conversation
7:
No
relationship changes.
Conversation
8:
No
relationship changes.
Conversation
9:
This is
only a brief conversation, in which Cleon will request that you return to his
gravesite for reasons which he will only reveal once you have arrived.
I suggest
ensuring you have any potions you may require, as well as any other combat
components necessary to ensure you will succeed in the upcoming encounter
before heading to Cleon's Grave.
2.
Upon
returning to Cleon's Grave, Cleon will initiate a conversation with you (if for
some reason he doesn't speak to you of his own accord, you should speak to him
instead.) The options you choose during the course of the dialogue don't really
matter, and at the end of the dialogue Cleon will fall to the ground to be
replaced with the Demon that you saw in the Abyss of the Faithless.
The Demon
that represents The Butcher of Armindale is similar to a normal Daedra with one
major difference. If you attempt to flee from him, he will turn himself
invisible, and teleport to your location. After which he will cast a fireball
spell on you and engage you in normal melee combat. He also has a lot of hit
points to make the fight more challenging (however, Wizard of Thay from the
ElderScrolls Forums has completed this fight with a Level 1 character, so he is
far from invincible.)
After you
deal a lot of damage, the Demon will fall to the ground dead. Soon after you
will be drawn into Cleon's Mindscape to confront the Demon Inside once and for
all.
CHAPTER VIII - The
Demon Inside
You will
arrive in Cleon's perverted version of the fall or Armindale. Flames, blood,
and the fog born of his deluded mindscape serve as the basis for this plane of
existence.
Just
after arriving you will see Cleon's Demon run off into the distance. Once your
controls are enabled, chase the Demon through the city of Armindale.
Periodically you will be interrupted by one of three versions of Cleon (Young
Cleon, Middle-Aged Cleon and Old Cleon) who will speak to you for a bit and
then die. Just after speaking to Old Cleon you will approach and Arena.
"Use" the Arena doors to enter the Arena itself.
Once
inside, you will see another version of Cleon (nicknamed the
"Referee") Speak to him to begin the final section of the
"Butcher of Armindale" section of the MOD.
IF
CLEON LIKES YOU: You
will know because the Referee will advise you of the fact that you are now the
General in command of the army. He will tell you that you need to order your
warriors to defeat the Demon Inside and it's minions, and will ask you how you
wish to position your archers. There are 3 possible endings that can be
achieved from here:
IF
CLEON HATES YOU:
You will know because the Referee will advise you of the fact that Cleon does
not respect you, and as such you will merely be a pawn to fight the Demon
Inside, not a General. You will be transported to the Arena floor beside a
somewhat cowardly version of Cleon. After he talks to you, open the gate and
advance on the TRUE Demon Inside... who just so happens to wear your face, and
just so happens to have Allecia Ehothorn at his/her side.
This is
actually a pretty standard fight (and MUCH easier to win than the 0.51 version
of The Butcher of Armindale final fight.) Just ensure that you attack your
duplicate (The Demon Inside) first. Once your duplicate is dead, Allecia
becomes vulnerable and will only live for a certain amount of time before dying
herself (regardless of whether or not you hit her.) This is indicative of
Allecia's attachment to your character, as you will have learned during the
course of The Legacy.
From
here, depending on whether or not Cleon lives or Cleon dies will depend on the
ending you receive.
CHAPTER IX - Grudges of
the Past
Pre-requisits:
To get this
section of the MOD you HAVE to have kept Allecia Ehothorn alive during
"The Legacy" section of the MOD, and you HAVE to have received either
the "Good" or the "Evil" ending in the "Demon
Inside" section of the MOD. If you have not met these pre-requisites, you
will not see the "Tears of the Fiend section" of the MOD.
1.
After
returning to the real world (if you have achieved the GOOD ending to The
Butcher of Armindale section of the MOD) you will now have both Cleon and
Allecia as your companions. This section is on a timer of 1000 seconds (which
equates to about 16 minutes) after which Cleon will demand to speak to you.
Initiate a conversation with him to begin the first dialogue from Tears of the
Fiend.
Cleon
will reveal that he knows about the influences your predecessor had on his
corruption, and will demand that you tell him the full story.
If you refuse to tell him
something: He will become angry and will walk off. This leads to the
"Recovery" variant of the storyline. Continue to CHAPTER IX: Part
2 from here.
If you tell him everything: He will be appreciative of your
honesty, and agree to continue travelling with you. Continue to CHAPTER X:
Part 1 from here.
2.
After
Cleon has left, a quest update will advise you that you might be able to find
him in one of the cities. Travel to the Imperial City Market District and you
will eventually be stopped by a member of the Black Horse Courier who will
provide you with the latest edition of the Black Horse Courier, and promptly
depart. Read the newspaper to learn that Cleon was last spotted in Cheydinhal
murdering two guards, and that the only witness to the murderer frequented the
local tavern.
Make your
way to the tavern in Cheydinhal and speak to the Barkeep (the same one you
spoke to regarding the Ehothorn Family). From her you will learn some very
basic information, and be advised to track down the Archaeologist who witnessed
the murders. However, after leaving the tavern you will be intercepted by a
guard by the name of Eladnimra of Noelc, who -regardless of what you say- will
believe you are resisting arrest, and will promptly knock you out.
You will
awaken in a prison cell. After a brief period of time you will be approached by
Eladnimra of Noelc who will threaten to do you harm unless you reveal
information about Cleon to him.
If you tell him about Cleon: Eladnimra of Noelc will release you
(remember to collect your equipment from the chest at the end of the Prison
Hallway). Head up to the entryway to discover that Eladnimra of Noelc was Cleon
of Armindale all along. Cleon will reveal his disappointment in your decision
to betray him, and after a long speech he will attack you. Killing him will end
the MOD, and will also result in Allecia Ehothorns death. If you receive this
ending, you can stop reading the walkthrough right now as this MOD has nothing
more for you to enjoy.
If you refuse to tell him about
Cleon: He will eventually leave, and return approximately 60 seconds later
to threaten you further. If at any point you reveal information about Cleon,
read the above result. If you remain silent, he will leave you alone, and
return again later. This time he threatens Allecia Ehothorn as well. You have
no choice but to say SOMETHING at this point. Tell him that you what you say
will mean nothing, as he "gets inside his opponents minds." After
this he will leave, and a short time later your cell door will open. Collect
your equipment from the chest at the end of the Prison Hallway, and head up to
the entryway to discover that Eladnimra of Noelc was Cleon of Armindale all
along. At this point you can choose to continue to travel with him, or refuse
his partnership. If you continue to travel with him, take the key he offers,
advice Allecia to follow you, and leave the prison to emerge in the outer
section of the Ruins of Armindale.
CHAPTER X - The Butcher
and the Fiend
1.
After the
Chapter IX - Part 1 conversation, or the "Recovery" (Chapter IX -
Part 2) section of the MOD, "The Butcher and the Fiend" section will
begin. The first conversation is on a 1000 second timer (about 16 minutes)
after which Cleon will want to speak to you. Initialise a conversation and
choose the dialogue options that best suit you (it doesn't really matter what
you pick.)
After
this, Rest for a while (or Wait). You may have to repeat the process several
times. Eventually you will be alerted to an argument between Cleon and Allecia.
Speak to each of them in turn, and once again, choose the dialogue options that
best suit you.
Once you
have spoken to both of them, Rest or Wait for a while longer, and eventually
you will be alerted to another argument, after which Cleon will initialise a
conversation with you, and will leave the group, advising you that if you wish
to seek him out you will find him in Three Sisters Inn in Skingrad. He also
demands that you leave Allecia behind if you choose to seek him out.
2.
Go to
Skingrad, tell Allecia to wait somewhere within the city. Go to the Three
Sisters Inn and speak to Cleon. He will advise you to follow him. Follow Cleon
out of the city and into the farming regions surrounding it. If for some reason
he begins to stray (or you suspect that his pathfinding has bugged out) simpy
talk to him to put him back on track. Eventually he will lead you to a derelict
barn, and enter a crypt hidden beneath mounds of overgrown grass. Enter the
crypt.
Make your
way through the crypt until you find Cleon. Speak to him and he will advise you
that you are now in his wife's gravesite, and to enter the adjoining tomb to
"gaze upon the face of his beloved wife." Enter the tomb to find that
it (much like the Ehothorn family crypt) is entirely empty. Return to Cleon and
speak to him once again. He will reveal to you the extent of Allecia's
manipulation (and reveal her for the metaphorical and literal Fiend that she
is).
Mid-way
through the conversation you will be drawn into a Dreamscape which is
essentially the same as the first Dreamscape in which you saw Cleon bidding
farewell to his wife, however, this one will continue after Cleon leaves and
you will see who his wife Alleria really is. After this you will be returned to
the real world and Cleon will speak to you once again.
Cleon
will deliver his ultimatum: bring Allecia Ehothorn to the Ruins of Armindale
where she will face judgement at his hands for her crimes. After this Cleon
will leave.
Return to
where you left Allecia and speak to her. Regardless of what conversation
choices you pick, she will eventually agree to Cleon's Ultimatum and advise you
to travel to the Ruins of Armindale for the final confrontation.
CHAPTER XI - Tears of
the Fiend
Before
you attempt this next section of the MOD, make sure you have Edward Pellew's Sword
of the Celestial. If for some reason you don't have it, you can find it in
the following locations:
If you
killed Pellew at the start of the MOD: You will find the Sword of the Celestial in a shrine
dedicated to Pellew just out from of Maris's cabin.
If you
killed Pellew at the end of the MOD: You will find the Sword of the Celestial on his body
in the "Mysterious Chamber."
If you
left Pellew alive: Speak
to Pellew in the "Mysterious Chamber" to receive the Sword of the
Celestial.
When you
are ready to head to Ruins of Armindale, travel through the Excavation site
with Allecia Ehothorn following you, return to the Mysterious Chamber and
"use" the rune-covered door to the right of the Altar (as you face
the altar from the entrance to the chamber.)
As you
enter the next cave system Allecia will initialise a conversation with you and
advise you that she has poisoned you. She will speak for a bit and then leave.
After that you will be affected by a "drunken" effect due to the
poison. An interesting little trick is to "sleep-off" the poison
before entering the next chamber. To do this, rest for 3 hours, wait for 10
seconds afterwards, and rest for another 3 hours. You may need to repeat this
process a few times until you see a message advising you that the poison has
worn off. You don't NEED to do this in order to complete the next section (as
the poison will wear off eventually) but it definitely makes it easier to
complete the next section.
When you
are ready, be sure to save your game and enter the door at the far end of the
tunnel.
When you
enter, approach the front of the platform and you will hear Cleon delivering a
death threat to Allecia. Immediately run into the room to the left and
"use" the hatch. Sprint down the corridor, jump off the nearby
platform (don't waste your time running down the stairs), continue up the
ladder and out into the Arena again. Run towards where Cleon started (the gate
to your right) run up the fallen pillar and drop down into the gap created
between the platform and the gateway. Run down towards the Arena Bloodworks,
enter the door, ensuring you get a Torch out (if you don't have one already)
and ignite it prior to entering. In the next room, take the middle (largest)
passage, pausing before running up the other ramp (back into the Arena) long
enough to push the lever nestled in the corner of the room (to the right of the
ramp heading upwards.) Head up the ramp, and out the door back into the Arena.
If
Allecia is lying dead on the ground: You have gotten the "Cleon Alive, Allecia Dead
Ending." Refer to the section on Tears of the Fiend Endings
below for more information on that ending, and HOW TO AVOID IT.
If
Allecia is alive:
Talk to her and convince her not to throw away her life. After that, continue
below.
After
this, head back into the Bloodworks (with Allecia following) and draw the Sword
of the Celestial. Be sure to buff your character with spells and items, and
when you are ready return to Cleon's section of the Arena (where you crawled
through the gap) via the Bloodworks tunnel you first entered the Bloodworks
through.
The
moment you get too close to Cleon he will attack you. Similar to how Pellew
fights in The Legacy section of the MOD, you will now use the Sword of the
Celestial to try and cleanse the Demon Inside that represents Allecia from
Cleon. Every 5 hits you will see a message advising you that Cleon has gasped
out a part of Allecia's fiendish name. After repeating this process 3 times (15
hits in total) Cleon will stop fighting you and the next section of the fight
will occur. Remember, when fighting Cleon you aren't TRYING to deal too much
damage (it is actually possible to kill him) and the Sword of the Celestial on
it's own does next to no damage. All you need to do is hit him, and I
personally find that using "Hit and Run" tactics is the best way to
survive this fight.
If
Allecia dies before you hit Cleon 15 times: You have gotten the "Cleon Dead, Allecia
Dead Ending" as Cleon will continue to fight you if he succeeds in
killing Allecia. Refer to the section on Tears of the Fiend Endings below
for more information on that ending, and HOW TO AVOID IT.
If
Allecia is alive:
Continue below.
You will
now have a chance to confront the Demon Inside. Fortunately both Allecia and
Cleon are "Essential" now, and as such cannot be killed. The Demon
Inside fights EXACTLY the same way as Cleon's Demon did when you fought that
before the "Demon Inside" section of the MOD. For strategy on how to
defeat it, refer to that section of the Walkthrough. When you have eventually
dealt enough damage to Cleon's Demon (entitled Allecia Ehothorn) both Allecia
and Cleon will stop and wait for you to speak to them.
It
doesn't matter what order you speak to them, provided you definitely speak to
each of them before leaving the Arena. When speaking to Allecia the choices you
make don't really change much aside from some of her ending dialogue. However,
when you speak to Cleon he will mention that he is considering retirement. To
keep him in your party, you need to choose dialogue option that explains to him
his reasons for being in the Abyss (his Hubris), after which he will agree to
remain as your companion.
If
Cleon goes into retirement: You have gotten the "Cleon Retired, Allecia Alive Ending."
Refer to the section on Tears of the Fiend Endings below for more information
on that ending, and HOW TO AVOID IT.
If
Cleon agrees to stay with you: You have gotten the "Cleon Alive, Allecia Alive
Ending." Refer to the section on Tears of the Fiend Endings
below for more information on that ending.
Tears of the Fiend
ENDINGS:
What follows is a more detailed explanation of the possible
endings you can receive in Tears of the Fiend:
Cleon
Alive, Allecia Dead Ending - This ending is the easiest one to get (and unfortunately the most
unsatisfying, in my opinion.) Cleon will speak to you, tell you his
justification for killing Allecia, and continue travelling with you. You will
get to keep Cleon as a companion. To avoid getting this ending, you need to be
INCREDIBLY quick during the first section after you first enter the Arena. The
second you hear Cleon beginning his speech, start running towards the hatch.
You need to be "flawless" as you complete this section. Cut every
corner, jump down every ledge, and squeeze through the gap (after running up
the fallen pillar) in a single attempt. If you do all of this (and flip the
lever as soon as you are able to) you WILL be able to save Allecia.
Cleon
Dead, Allecia Dead Ending - A pretty simple ending. This means that Allecia has died during your
combined fight with Cleon, and as a result Cleon has fought you to death. You
loose both of your companions, and gain nothing in return. To avoid it, ensure
that you deal the 15 hits to Cleon with the Sword of the Celestial as
quickly as possible, and do your best to grab Cleon's attention from Allecia
during the fight.
Cleon
Retired, Allecia Alive Ending - Cleon chooses to retire from battle, and as such will no longer serve as
your companion. However, perhaps the best justification comes from the
knowledge that he retires to a life of peace and quiet and happiness -something
the Butcher of Armindale has never before experienced. To avoid this ending,
just ensure that you choose the correct dialogue path during the final dialogue
with him just after the defeat of the "Allecia Demon Inside."
Cleon
Alive, Allecia Alive Ending - The best possible ending to the MOD (in my opinion.) You manage to rid
Cleon of the last of his Demons (this one representing Allecia) and you keep
Allecia Ehothorn alive during the process. Furthermore, you managed to convince
Cleon not to retire into a life of peace and quiet. In this ending you keep
both Allecia and Cleon as companions, and your storyline and mark upon Tamriel
is yours to create from this point onwards.
Final Words:
And so it
is that you have finished the Tears of the Fiend MOD, and regardless of what
ending you have received you should be pleased to see that you managed to make
it to this particular section of the MOD. It is a long and difficult haul, and
features a higher word count than all of Vanilla Oblivion, yet hopefully you
have enjoyed the experience, and will enjoy keeping Cleon and Allecia as
companions (if you managed to do this.) I've had an amazing time writing and
scripting this MOD, and I harbour a great deal of pride in the completed work.
I can only hope that you managed to get as much out of this MOD as I put into
it, and that you found the story as it unfolds to be engaging enough to warrant
reading each and every line of dialogue. To me, that is reward enough for my
efforts.
If you
managed to get the "Cleon Alive, Allecia Alive Ending" I would
suggest reading the "Tears of the Fiend" epilogue contained elsewhere
in this guide. Though it takes a few liberties regarding how your character may
continue with Allecia and Cleon. Regardless, it is a short story that I wrote
one night at work, that I feel delivers the final necessary story element to
the epic Tears of the Fiend tale.
TEARS
OF THE FIEND EPILOGUE
The short
story that follows was created at a point during this MOD's development when I
needed a source of inspiration and motivation to continue. It takes some
liberties with how your character's story may have progressed after the events
of Tears of the Fiend, and also a few small liberties with The Elder Scrolls
lore, yet for the most part it is relatively canon to events that have
transpired, and Tamrielic lore.
“…As
usually happened when I concluded my tale and fell into silence in order to
appraise its impact on my eager listeners, I felt only disappointment welling
within me. Disappointment that always accompanied the vast oceans of disbelief
and scepticism that rolled across the crowd. Disappointment that not one of
them would ever appreciate the magnitude of the events that I had described,
nor would they ever comprehend it.
Not for
the first time, I wondered why it is that I devote so much of my time to
recounting the tale of my Legacy and how it wove in a tangled web around the
story of the Butcher of Armindale. Yet almost before the question had finished
forming, I knew the answer, and as it always did it came to me in the harsh
voice of Cleon: ‘To immortalise ourselves within the pages of history. To
ensure that our mistakes are never made again. To preserve the blood that was
spilled on the streets of Armindale.’ And so it was that with the voice that
had once haunted my nightmares still echoing in the cramped confines of my
mind, I resolved myself for the hundredth time to continue telling it. I would
tell our tale forevermore if that is what it took.
‘How long
has it been since you last visited the Ruins of Armindale?’ one grizzled,
middle-aged mercenary asked, draining the last of his tankard and slamming it
unceremoniously on the wooden tabletop as if to accentuate his question.
‘A few
years, or a few decades,’ I answered, somewhat cryptically. ‘Time doesn’t mean
as much to me now as it once did.’ And though the answering look was awash with
scepticism, there was more truth in my words than I could ever truly convey. In
the aftermath of the events that had transpired in the Ruins of Armindale, I
had found values that existed elsewhere in Tamriel, and not placed so much
emphasis on the passing of Time. To tell a tale such as I did required a suspension
of the mortal perceptions of Time, as it operated outside of what most mortals
would ever understand.
From the
back of the room I could hear the unmistakable mumblings of dissention. The
soft tremors of doubt and disbelief that would eventually evolve into a
fully-fledged earthquake if they were not quelled early. I had seen this
reaction from my audience countless times, and though it bothered me that the
citizens I had once fought to protect from the darker aspects of my Legacy were
so quick to discount my stories, I never let my feelings show on my face. My
outward appearance remained as unflinching and impassive as if it were
chiselled from stone.
‘In a
world filled with tales of Demons and Gods waging ceaseless war upon the face
of our brittle plane of existence, why is it that you are so quick to dismiss
one more tale of fantasy and legend? Could it be because your own lives are so
predictable and morose that you are incapable of suspending disbelief?’
Right on
cue, the two dark robed individuals who shared the table with me removed the
heavy-hoods that concealed their faces, and spun around on their stools to face
the roiling crowd.
‘Leave
them be,’ one of them spoke in a harsh voice, seemingly devoid of any real
emotion. ‘You waste your efforts trying to convince this lot that there is
something more than their empty lives have offered them thus far.’ My companion
returned his mug to the table, making no conscious effort to impede the flow of
ale that gushed from the unsettled cup onto the already-stained table.
My second
companion smiled, and her eyes sparkled with the same inner fire that had
captivated me when first I met her. ‘Yes, you wouldn’t want to risk fracturing
their innocent perception of the world by removing the veil from their eyes and
exposing them to the truth. Come, my friend, allow your voice a moment to rest
and finish your ale before one of us does.’
Silence
ensued; the unsettled rumblings having vanished completely as their eyes
finally conveyed to their minds precisely what it was that they were seeing.
Both Cleon –the former Butcher of Armindale- and Allecia Ehothorn harbour
attributes that can only be described as unmistakable. And to the same extent,
seeing them in the real world for the first time is truly awe inspiring,
regardless of whether or not you choose to belief the stories about them. There
is something beyond mere mortality about them, and upon appraising the
crowd I knew that they could sense it as well.
I
struggled unsuccessfully to conceal a broad grin that snaked its way across my
mouth, feigning a look of resignation as I turned back to face my half-empty
tankard. ‘Perhaps you are right, my friends. I doubt that any of this lot has
the intellect to fathom the existence of The Butcher of Armindale and The
Fiend.’ And with that I pressed the mug to lips and drained its contents.
That was
how I had learned to win the crowd despite standing at the foot of a seemingly
unscaleable mountain when I first I began my tale. Tell them the story, then
follow up by showing them the story. Looking into the eyes of Cleon and
Allecia, even small-minded mercenaries could see the monolithic struggles that
the two of them had experienced. Looking into their eyes, the listeners could
see the truth of my words. It had worked a hundred times before, and as I had
expected it had worked now.
Out of
nowhere a serving girl appeared, and within moments all three of our tankards
were filled to the brim. Cleon took this as an invitation to continue drinking,
and promptly emptied his mug before turning to face me, his expression grim as
always.
‘Times
are changing; before long there will be none who remember the Fall of
Armindale. Perhaps the time has come for you to cease telling our tales, and
let the world move on as it is destined to do. Perhaps we three should fade
into obscurity and leave the historians to make up their own minds about us.’
‘You are
wrong,’ I said, somewhat venomously, this was not the first time that this
particular topic had arisen. ‘By remembering the past we will help people to
remember the consequences of such actions. We can ensure that such events do
not reoccur.’
Allecia
shook her head, her dark eyes betraying her thoughts on the matter even before
she spoke. ‘With every year that passes the impact of your story lessens, and
the number of people who believe the entire tale to be a fanciful fiction
increases. How long has it been since anyone even recognised you as the
Champion of Cyrodiil? Surely saving the world warrants more respect than that.’
I opened
my mouth to reply, yet strangely I could not find the words to carry through
with the argument. Like always, Allecia had summed up the entire situation with
a few simple sentences, highlighting the gravity of our position with the
perfect analogy. No one remembered who I was or what I had done only a few
years ago. No one cared that all of Tamriel had very nearly suffered eternal
torment at the hands of the forces from Oblivion. To the populace of Tamriel,
all that mattered was the future, the lessons of the past were quickly
forgotten, and so too were my stories.
For the
first time since I had last walked out of the Ruins of Armindale and thanked
the Gods that the world as I knew it had not come crumbling down, I genuinely
considered giving up.
Before
the Tears of the Fiend had washed away the centuries of pain and anguish that
had created the vast rift between Allecia and Cleon, the Butcher of Armindale
had been a man of fire and steel. Yet after, with his tale told, and his story
in its closing chapters, he too had considered retirement. Looking at him now,
with his grey hair and once hard-bitten face cursed with age, I suddenly felt
that same weariness wash over me and for the first time considered what it
might be like to settle-down permanently in the Ehothorn Estate. Perhaps my
days of adventuring were over as well.
The sound
of a chair sliding across the hardwood floor drew me out of my reverie and back
to the world around me. A stranger –similarly garbed in a dark cloak- had taken
a seat in the last position at our table, and was busily helping himself (or
herself) to an untouched loaf of bread that sat at the tables’ centre.
‘There
are other tables, friend,’ Cleon stated, making no effort to hide the malice in
his voice. Despite having rid himself of the Demon Inside many years ago, Cleon
had never done away with his aggressive tendencies entirely.
‘There
are indeed,’ came the gruff response, in a manner that made it impossible to
determine the speaker’s gender. ‘Yet I chose this one for a reason.’
‘Would
you care to share that reason with us?’
The
stranger stared critically at Cleon, and from where I sat I could see the
whites of his eyes. Finally he shrugged and turned to face me, an air of
seriousness surrounding the movement. ‘I believed your story. Once –not all
that long ago really- I helped shape the destiny of this world, and now I am
nothing but a myth, a forgotten relic. I know how quickly the populace becomes
unappreciative of those who do the most to serve it, and I know that the damage
done in the past drives you now to ensure that such damage never occurs again.’
In an
instant, the stranger had done precisely what was necessary to captivate me. I
was enthralled by him, eagerly awaiting his next words. Feeling a certain
kinship to this dark-robed individual and the similar pasts we shared.
‘If I
told you that there was a way to undo a single act, a single decision that had
brought about all of the destruction that you spoke of, would you take it?’
The question
stirred curiosity within me, and despite the impossible nature of the question
itself I did not believe it to be hypothetical. This stranger, this brother,
genuinely wanted to know the answer to the question. How fortunate it was,
then, that I knew the answer before the question ever arose.
‘I
would.’
Though I
could not see his face, I could tell that the stranger was smiling. ‘You would
be willing to do this, knowing that the lessons learned through the fall of
Armindale at the hands of General Cleon prevented such a thing from
reoccurring. You would seek to undo those lessons in order to save a few
thousand innocent lives?’
The
manner in which he spoke demanded that the response be considered at length,
and I had every desire to fulfil that request.
Though
lessons had been learned from Armindale, the fall of so prosperous a city had
had unforetold repercussions. It had weakened Cyrodiil’s economy to a point
that it had taken decades to recover. The weakened economy had in turn resulted
in a lower military budget, which in turn had led to the lack of Soldiers to
fight against the Hordes of Oblivion that Mankar Cameron had called forth. If
Armindale had lived, Kvatch may never have fallen, and the thousands of lives
that would be spared if Armindale was not destroyed suddenly became twice that
number. The Hordes of Oblivion may well have been beaten back much quicker, and
the devastation they wreaked may well have been negated. Perhaps Martin Septim
may even have lived to rule Cyrodiil and elevate the land to new levels of
social perfection. Though there was enormous risk in such a decision, I
honestly felt that the potential for reward was greater. Worth the risk, to be
sure.
‘Despite
all that was learned from the fall of Armindale, I think that I would still be
willing to change the decision that resulted in the fall of Armindale.’
‘So be it
then. Of all those in Tamriel who understand the magnitude of such a decision,
only you and I can justify the need to make it. We share unique insight that no
others do, thus we need to think and act in a manner beyond mere mortals.
Despite our own mortality, of course.’ He returned the now half-eaten loaf of
bread to the table, and crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Tell me, have you
ever been to Morrowind?’
I
frowned, remembering the Dunmer name for continent yet failing to understand
the stranger’s desire to use it in place of its more commonly accepted name.
‘You mean Vvardenfell?’
He tensed
up, and I sensed that the name of the continent was something he had struggled
with in the past. ‘I mean Morrowind,’ he countered, somewhat sharply.
‘Have you been there?’
‘No I
have not.’
‘The Gods
on Morrowind are closer to the mortal plane of existence than they are in
Cyrodiil. The God Vivic himself resides within the town named after him, and
other more benevolent Gods maintain direct links to their mortal followers.
Though the Gods will not play an active hand in shaping the destiny of this
land, they are not above granting a small boon to its saviours. Rest assured, I
speak from experience.’
His words
should have struck me as unlikely or impossible. Surely my own experiences and
dealings with the Gods and Demons of Tamriel were unique, and yet still I
eagerly awaited every word he spoke. I believed that he spoke truth.
‘Tell me more.’
‘If you
are willing to prove yourself, and you are willing to justify your decision
beyond doubt, I would guess that you may be able to earn a boon from one of the
Gods. But you have to be certain; you have to be truly dedicated to the task.’
His eyes –invisible as they were beneath the hood is his cloak- bore into mine,
gauging my reaction and struggling to read my intentions…”
***
‘…It
would be a lie to say that I didn’t have doubts at that point in time. Any creature
that harbours intelligence enough to call itself ‘sentient’ would have doubts
if it were placed in a similar situation. Yet as I reflected upon myself, and
considered all the elements to the equation I found that I unerringly came to
the same conclusion…’
I paused
for a moment, looking at the crowd gathered around the campfire and wondering
whether my story was having any impact whatsoever. What I saw did not fill me
with much hope. Hesitantly I glanced at Allecia, seated beside me atop a
long-dead tree trunk and gazing longingly upwards at the stars burning bright
in the night sky. As if sensing that I was looking at her, she turned to meet
my eyes and offer a small nod of encouragement before returning to her
star-absorbed vigil.
Taking a
deep breath, I continued my tale.
‘The
Stranger told me the specific details, and I listened to his every word as if
it were spoken from the mouth of a God. What he was saying was so incredulous,
so seemingly impossible and yet so decidedly real to me that I simply
could not ignore it. He told me of Morrowind –excuse me,- he told me of Vvardenfell
and of his experiences with the Gods that reside there. And though he never
did tell me who he was, to this day I have my own opinions as to his identity.’
I could
hear Allecia chuckling beside me. She did not share my opinions on the
Stranger’s identity, avidly believing that the individual I thought him to be
was nothing more than a mythological character. I think it amusing when I
reflect upon the fact that the populace of Cyrodiil now thinks of me as a
mythological character, essentially placing me in the same boat as the stranger
–by Allecia’s reasoning.
‘We
talked for hours upon hours. We talked until the black of night vanished and
the crimson radiance of a new day bathed us in its blinding light. And then,
once all that needed to be said had been said, the stranger departed and Cleon,
Allecia and myself retired to our shared room to plan the next step in our
journey.’
I could
see the attention of the massed individuals beginning to waver, and I knew that
I was losing the interest of the crowd. This particular section always fell
flat due to the lack of excitement or story progression, and so I did as I
quite often did in these instances and simply summarised it.
‘The
three of us travelled to Morr… Vvardenfell-‘ I hurried to correct
myself, ‘-and began our search for a God that could grant us our boon. In
truth, the details of our travels are quite inconsequential. We met with Vivic
–whom we found to be nothing short of an arrogant ass- and resumed our searches
elsewhere, before finally settling on the one God that had a demonstrated
involvement with the beings of the mortal plane: Azura. Azura, who worked
closely with the Nerevarine during the Dagoth Ur incident, and who has always
been reputed to be fond of the mortals of Vvardenfell. It was at great expense,
and after many trials and tribulations that we were finally granted the
opportunity to speak to with Azura in a mist-filled chamber deep within a
long-forgotten temple dedicated to her worship.’
I paused,
and used this opportunity to focus my thoughts. This was the aggregate, the
crucial element to my story that would determine whether or not it was embraced
by my listeners, or rejected. The telling of this section was paramount to the
effort of telling the story.
‘With a
Priestess of Azura guiding us, we called to the Goddess…’
***
“…In
truth, I had not expected to be able to speak directly to the Goddess. I had
thought that any conversation between us would take place via signs that the
Priestess would interpret, for even though we had spoken to Vivec in the flesh
–or spoken to his Avatar at least-, there was something truly immortal
about Azura, something beyond that which Vivec could convey. So you can
imagine my surprise when the Goddess answered my words directly, her distinctly
feminine voice echoing around the empty chamber.
‘You have
come a long way, Champion of Cyrodiil.’
Her every
word commanded obedience and loyalty, and I have vague images of dropping to my
knees and prostrating myself before her. Yet despite being in the presence of a
God, my only thought was: at least she remembers that I am the
Champion of Cyrodiil.
Whether she
had intercepted my thoughts or I had spoken them aloud I will never know, yet
she answered them as if they had been directed at her. ‘Yes, Champion, that
is a part of the reason that I chose to speak to you. Only a select few are
blessed by my presence.’ Her every word was arrogant and patronising, and yet I
perceived no arrogance. She was simply stating a fact when she spoke to me.
‘You know
why I am here?’ I asked aloud, somewhat hesitantly at first.
‘I know,’
she replied, casting an appraising glance at my two companions who had wisely
opted to remain silent. ‘Tamriel owes you a favour, and since the populace of
Tamriel are not in a position to remember you, let alone grant a favour, I will
pay it for them. But tell me, are you certain that this is what you
want?’
‘I am
certain,’ I replied, steeling myself against what was to follow.
‘If you
are certain, then you had best tell your companions what change you would have
me make.’
Both
Cleon and Allecia looked at me expectantly, waiting for the answer that they
were sure was to come. We had only spoken on this topic once in all our
travels, and even then we had only spoken on it vaguely. I would ask that Cleon
never be made a General in charge of the army that would eventually lay siege
to Armindale. Cleon would simply remain an ordinary soldier –though still in
the thrall of The Fiend- and never amount to anything nearing the scale of the
Butcher of Armindale. The three of us had determined that this was the one
change that was least likely to cause a lasting –and potentially damaging-
impact on Tamriel’s timeline, and yet would still achieve our goal of restoring
Armindale.
But
little did my companions know that I had since concocted another change that I
had not deemed to tell them. A change that, while potentially more damaging,
would undo the damage that my pre-incarnation The Fiend, and Allecia Ehothorn
had caused more than two centuries ago. And now, as the Goddess waited
patiently, I was suddenly frightened at the prospect of revealing my deception
to my companions.
‘Tell
them, or say that harbour doubts, and leave this place,’ Azura prompted, her
will weighing heavily upon me.
I
distinctly remember taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, preparing myself
for the repercussions of what I was to ask. My mouth felt dry and my tongue
felt as if it had swollen to the point of filling my mouth, yet somehow I still
spoke, somehow I made the demand of the Goddess.
‘I want
you to altar the past so that my Pre-incarnation and the Fiend that would become
Allecia Ehothorn never decided that they would attempt to take control of
Tamriel. Instead, they decided to live out their lives in solitude on the
outskirts of Cheydinhal.’
I had
considered the numerous eventual paths that history may take from these
changes, and had decided that they were all positive. Regardless of our lack of
interference rumours would abound of two Fiends in Cheydinhal, and Pellew and
Maris would come to investigate. They would then kill my Pre-incarnation and
Allecia Ehothorn would use the body of a kidnapped orphan to grant new life in
the form of Me. Armindale would live, Cleon would make his own decisions in
life, and Tamriel would prosper.
Yet at
that moment, as I turned to stare at Cleon I saw only abject horror in his eyes
as he realised precisely what it was that I was asking. His mouth opened as if
to object, but he was cut silent by the Goddess.
‘It is
done,’ she stated simply, her tone unwavering. ‘The change is a small one, and
the repercussions are also small –else I would not have allowed it-, yet in the
end they will serve to better Tamriel.’
Her words
struck me like a blow to the face, and I blinked in astonishment. ‘The
repercussions are small?’ I asked, confused. ‘How can saving thousands of lives
be a small repercussion?’
She never
got the opportunity to answer –indeed she didn’t need to- as I was quickly
distracted by Allecia’s startled shriek from beside me. I turned to see what
was the cause of her surprise, and instantly felt my blood turn to ice at what
I saw.
Cleon,
the Butcher of Armindale was aging rapidly. His grey hair grew to shoulder
length, then began to fall out, tumbling effortlessly down the length of his
body to settle at his feet. The lines already marking his face became more pronounced,
transforming before our eyes into elongated wrinkles that criss-crossed his
face, quickly enveloping his countless scars. His stature gradually became what
I could only describe as ‘uncomfortable’ to behold, and he seemed to shrink in
size until he was shorter even than Allecia.
‘What
have you done?’ he demanded, his voice changing in pitch as it continued, yet
the angry temperament that fuelled it remained the same. ‘Now I’ll never have
known either of you-‘ His last words vanished into unintelligible huskiness
before falling silent entirely.
Cleon’s
eyes never left mine as his body wasted away into nothingness, and throughout
it all I felt only guilt. Eventually his eyes lost their focus as cataracts
grew across the once fiery orbs, and blindness set in. To me, his sightlessness
was no reprieve, as he continued to gaze at me unseeingly.
Finally,
his figure wavered and collapsed to the ground, his breath –the last breath of
the Butcher of Armindale- escaped in a ragged gasp, and then fell silent
forevermore. Cleon was dead.
I turned
back to Azura’s wraith-like form even as the skin from Cleon’s body vanished,
and the exposed bones grew dark and crumbled to dust. ‘What happened? Our
changes should not have resulted in Cleon’s death!’ I demanded, feeling hot,
salty tears welling up in my eyes.
‘Cleon’s
life will have resulted in death, because death is the only constant to a
mortal life. Something that neither you nor Allecia will ever understand.’ Her
words seemed sad, yet they held resolve. ‘Cleon died almost two-hundred years
ago at the age of sixty-seven. He ended his life in the same manner as he began
it: as a farmer.’
The pain
I felt could never be described in mere words. The sense of grief that followed
Azura’s explanation tore at my soul, leaving me empty inside, my heart aching.
I had set out to repair the damage that my Pre-incarnation had made, and only
ended up creating more mistakes.
‘What of
Armindale?’ Allecia demanded, a stream of tears tumbling unerringly from her
eyes. The Tears of the Fiend.
Azura
answered without hesitation, and to this day I remember wondering if a Goddess
could feel compassion in light of her words. ‘Armindale is a ruin, buried
beneath the mountains to the north of Imperial City.’
‘How
could that be?’ I demanded, turning to cast a final, forlorn look at the ashes
of what had once been the Butcher of Armindale.
‘Because
Armindale was destined to fall. Even without Cleon to lead the army, another
General –equally as skilled, though without the malevolent streak- stepped in
to take his place. And though the innocents of Armindale were spared the
General’s wrath, prompted by the Lord of the city –whom the General had
graciously spared- they rebelled against the attackers and were quickly
silenced. The city was destroyed in the resulting uprisings, and the army moved
on. Exactly as it had under Cleon’s command.’
‘But what
of Cleon, what happened to him?’
The
Goddess’s eyes burned with intensity despite the lack of physical substance.
‘Cleon left his life as a farmer and became a soldier. In the wake of the
destruction of Armindale he returned to his family’s farmstead –which he had
inherited- and there he remained until the day he died.’
‘But why?
Why would history remain the same despite our changes?’
‘The timeline
is as much a living entity as either of you. It can see changes that may result
in long-term damage, and it knows how to protect against the changes. Provided
the change is small, history will usually return to the original path that it
set upon in due time.’ She stared directly at me, an expression of sorrow
standing prominent on her mist-like features. ‘Why else do you think that the
Gods do not undo the damage that Tamriel has suffered throughout the eons since
its creation? A big change will do irrevocable damage. A small change results
in nothing. Time is fluid, like a river, and despite whatever deviations the
water may take during it’s descent from the mountain, it still ends up
returning the same path. Only a landslide can ever change that, yet not without
destroying the river itself.’
And so
the revelation was made. The truth was revealed, and the lesson that I had
never learned was finally taught to me. I had spent my entire life struggling
to make a mark on the pages of history –with Cleon and Allecia by my side-,
only to find that I constantly failed. And up until this point in time I had
never understood that these failures were due to the fact that in the vastness
of history, my tiny changes would never deviate the original course in the long
run. I was as destined to be forgotten as all others. And so, with my changes
impossible to unmake, there was only one question left to ask Azura:
‘If you
knew that our changes would have no lasting effect, why grant them at all?’ I
asked, my heart near breaking. Allecia beside me, similarly distraught…”
***
I was
interrupted before I could complete the story. A hard-bitten young Huntsman to
my immediate left rose to his feet and spat unceremoniously in my direction.
‘Your stories are fairy tales meant to scare young children, nothing more. If
you had presented yourself before us as a tale-weaver, then perhaps we would
respect your oratory abilities. Yet you began your tale under the pretence that
the events within had actually taken place, which is obviously false. I demand
that you move aside and let another share tales founded in truth with the rest
of us.’ A murmur of general agreement followed his words, and both Allecia and
I were prodded away from the centre-seat in front of the campfire.
Almost
before we had vacated the seat another body was resting comfortably atop it,
his mouth already open in preparation of his own –doubtless
heavily-embellished- tale. Moments ago I had been the centre of attention, now
I was forgotten in light of the new storyteller.
Standing
beside me, Allecia remained silent. Her eyes glistened with a certain sadness,
yet they harboured no surprise. Both of us had seen this before and she had
become accustomed to our tales being dismissed as fanciful delusions. I –however-
had not.
Time had
weakened the strength of my words, and now the Champion of Cyrodiil was a
near-forgotten myth. Furthermore, without Cleon beside me to offer a certain
level of reality to my stories they quickly descended into the realms of
fictitious tales in the minds of the people of Tamriel. To them, I was nothing
more than a middle-aged individual travelling with a young Imperial woman. To
them I was nothing.
‘You can
still tell me the ending to your story,’ Allecia prompted, grasping my arm and
forcing me to face her.
‘You
already know the ending,’ I argued, ‘you were an integral part of it.’
She
smiled, somehow remaining unperturbed by the obscurity in which we now shrouded
ourselves. ‘I know it, yet it never hurts to be reminded of it.’
I nodded
resolutely, and with the Morrowind shoreline lapping noisily in the panoramic
coastline that stretched endlessly before us, I concluded the story of my
Legacy for the final time.
‘Azura
responded to me question, her words forever shrouding my existence in shadows.
“I granted the change you desired because I knew that it would result in
only one lasting worthwhile change. I knew that for the first
time in his life, Cleon would be happy.”’
TEARS
OF THE FIEND STORY-SO-FAR
The story
that follows is the timeline of events leading up to when Tears of the Fiend
begins. All of the information contained within can be pieced together
throughout the Tears of the Fiend MOD, and has only been novelised for the
purpose of making it more interesting to read.
200 years
before the events of Oblivion, two Fiends left the Abyssal Planes to take up
residence in Tamriel. They named themselves the "Ehothorn family" and
established their estate several kilometres from Cheydinhal. The Fiend who would
later come to be known as Allecia Ehothorn was essentially the brains of the
partnership, where as her companion was the brawn. And though she was obviously
submissive to him, she recognized his weaknesses due to his lack of subtlety in
his approach.
Eager to
gain some manner of control over Tamriel, yet knowing that taking a direct hand
in conquering the realms would be suicide, the Ehothorns opted to use a more
subtle approach to achieve their ends. They found a young man who could be
easily coerced, and they began to train him in the ways of a leader. Their
victim was a boy by the name of Cleon, who had been born into a farming family
and longed for escape from his menial existence, and the opportunity to make
his name in the pages of history. So desperate was he to achieve greatness that
he was completely oblivion to the Ehothorns manipulating control over him, as
he evolved from a farming boy, into a soldier and steadily progressed through
the ranks.
At some
point in time his burgeoning abilities and insight as a tactician finally
removed the veil from his eyes, allowing him to see precisely how the Ehothorns
were controlling him. He refused to listen to their advice any more, and vowed
to make his name as a soldier in his own way. Knowing that they couldn't afford
to lose him after having invested so much effort, Allecia Ehothorn decided to
try a different approach. Without the Fiends knowledge, she created a new name
and image for herself -Alleria- and made herself an important figure in Cleon's
life, Eventually the two were married, and through subtle manipulation and
underhanded subversion she managed to sway Cleon back into the Fiend's thrall.
Finally,
with Cleon now ordained a General, the time had come for their march across
Tamriel to begin. Cleon led his armies to the city of Armindale and promptly
destroyed the city, slaughtering everyone. With the Fiend whispering advice in
his ear, he tore apart the city and demonstrated to the realms just how
dangerous an enemy he was.
He then
continued his march towards Imperial City, eliminating some of the smaller
cities and destroying all who opposed him. He was looking very much
unstoppable, however his own bad habits soon became his downfall. One night
while drinking with his soldiers in celebration of their latest victory he was
waylaid by a group of Assassins, forced into a back alley and murdered. His
body was then taken to the leaders in Imperial City, who decided on a somewhat
radical course of action. So desperate where they to prevent his return to the
realm (by resurrection or other means) that they took his body to castle Anvil,
and there he was entombed in an unmarked, hidden crypt beneath the Castle
Blacksmithy. Those who knew of his precise whereabouts took their own lives and
the secret of his tomb stricken from history.
Realising
how close they had come to being discovered, the Ehothorns opted to remove
themselves from public eye for a time. Knowing that their immortality would
draw attention over time, they decided to adopt new names (still remaining
underneath the Ehothorn Family banner) and created stories about how their
"parents" (former pseudonyms) had died, spreading this story
throughout Cheydinhal, and alleviating any concerns regarding the fact that
they did not age. Throughout the years up until the Player's discovery of
Allecia Ehothorn's true identity, Allecia would continue to use this naming
trend in order to maintain a certain level of anonymity.
Regardless
of this, rumours still abounded of a Fiend that had taken up residence on the
outskirts of Cheydinhal (though few in the town ever indicated that it was the
Ehothorns), and eventually the rumours attracted the attention of Edward Pellew
- an aspiring Hero who had been blessed (or cursed) with Celestial blood,
granting him ridiculously long life, and a certain level of control over
Fiends, Demons, and the downright Evil. As a hero, Edward Pellew had been
constantly met with failure, and so desperate was he to make a name for himself
(and thus live up to his ancestors ascendency) that he swore to eradicate this
Fiend and free Cheydinhal forevermore. Travelling with him was Maris, a Bounty
Hunter (or Hunter as he called himself) who had become enraptured after seeing
Pellew's abilities in action, and had volunteered to serve as Pellew's
companion in his quest to rid Tamriel of all fiendish entities. The two of them
began tracking down the Fiend's trail, which naturally pointed them in the
direction of the Ehothorns. A number of close calls saw the Ehothorns evading
Pellew and Maris by the narrowest of margins, and Pellew's desperation
increasing to dangerous levels.
In a
dream, Allecia Ehothorn prognosticated (prophesised) her companion's demise at
the hands of Pellew and the Hunter, and so she delved deep into Tamrielic lore,
and knowledge of the occult, searching for a way for him to escape his fate.
Finally, she found her answer, and approached the Fiend with her idea. the two
of them would begin a process that would transferred the Fiend's soul from his
body to some manner of catchment device, and would then transfer that soul into
an empty vessel - the body of a child- which would essentially allow the Fiend
to live on after death.
Needing a
place to complete their work, they opted on the Ruins of Armindale, and
constructed a chamber there in which they could begin the process of preparing
for the reincarnation. The two of them snuck into an orphanage not far from
Imperial City and kidnapped a child of suitable age and appearance whose body
would serve as the vessel for the Fiend's pre-incarnation. In order to escape
pursuit by the guards, the Ehothorns set fire to the building and left it to
the burn to the ground.
Yet while
they escaped, their actions did not go unnoticed, drawing the attention of
Pellew and Maris (who at this point were struggling to discern where the
Ehothorns had been hiding all this time). They followed Allecia and the Fiend
back to the Ehothorn Estate, and waited until Allecia left the Estate on an
errand. They then burned the building to the ground, killing the Fiend and
completely destroying the Estate.
Allecia
fled to the Ruins of Armindale where she began the process of transferring the
Fiend's soul from the catchment device to it's new vessel - the body of the
child. The process of this forced the original soul out of the body, thus
killing it and sending it to the Abyss of the Faithless - the realm in which
those who have made no patronage to a particular God are sent to live out
eternity after death. However, before the process could be completed Maris the
Hunter attacked Allecia, breaking his enchanted weapon in the process and
destroying the catchment device. Allecia fled with the child, narrowly managing
to escape Pellew and the Hunter.
Knowing
that she would not be able to run forever and unsure as to whether or not the
reincarnation of the Fiend had succeeded, Allecia decided to leave the Child in
an Orphanage in Imperial City, branding him with a number of runes (which read
"Ehothorn") that would guide the child down the path of his Legacy,
should his memory remain in tact.
For a
time Allecia roamed the lands of Tamriel, however a conversation with a former
Argonian Shadowscale (Ruined-Tail by name) revealed to her the importance of Home.
She returned to Cheydinhal, and there she constructed a new Ehothorn Estate,
continuing the charade of the "cursed Ehothorn Family", which always
resulted in only one family member being alive at any one time. Though she knew
that Pellew and Maris may well strike at her, she doubted they would do so
while she remained in the open. And without a reason to attack her, she felt
safe enough to remain in the Estate. And so it was that she remained there,
biding her time and hoping that her Companion's, -the Fiend's- reincarnation
would return to her with his memories restored and his desire to remain with
her intact.
Soon
after this Maris and Pellew parted ways. Maris opted to return to life as a
Bounty Hunter -having seen Pellew as being nothing more than an abject failure
in light of Allecia's escape, and the devestation that was caused to the
Orpahange before they managed to eliminate the Fiend. Where as Pellew continued
his hunt for the Child that Allecia had left in Imperial City. He knew the
race, the gender, and the Legacy of the Child -which he did not doubt would
begin to show itself in time, manifesting as a seemingly unbeatable individual
who would doubtless leave his mark on Tamriel-, yet there was no way for him to
locate the Child until the Legacy had begun to manifest itself. He devoted
himself to discerning all the potential candidates within Imperial City, and
removing names from the list as they fell out of contention. During his search,
his poverty stricken family (a wife and son) dies of illness due to having no
money to pay for treatment. This in turn was due to Pellew having squandered
the family fortune in his hunt for the Fiend.
And so
the Player's tale began. He defeated Mankar Cameron and Dagon, placed Martin
Septim on the Throne and closed shut the gates of Oblivion forevermore. The
Player made a name for himself, and demonstrated that he harboured something
more than that of an ordinary mortal citizen of Tamriel.
And all
the while, Edward Pellew watched closely...
TEARS
OF THE FIEND TRIVIA
TEARS
OF THE FIEND TROUBLESHOOTING
QUESTION:
I’ve played The
Legacy and/or The Butcher of Armindale. Is there any way I can skip through
those sections of this MOD, or use my existing save to determine what part of
the story I am up to?
ANSWER:
No you can’t. The
reasoning behind this is twofold: First of all, the way Oblivion works prevents
separate .esp files from interacting with one another –thus, TheLegacy.esp or
TheButcher.esp cannot interact with one another, and certainly cannot interact
with TotF.esp. Secondly, Actions in The Legacy and The Butcher of Armindale
section of Tears of the Fiend now shape how the rest of the MOD plays out,
meaning that Tears of the Fiend has to be played in its entirety.
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\TotF.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 applies to Spanish Oblivion needs:
Argonian->Argoniano
Breton->Bret
n
Imperial->Imperial
(no change)
High Elf->Alto
Elfo
Redguard->
Guarda rojo
Nord->N
rdico
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 TEARS OF THE FIEND it is for approximately 8 seconds.
QUESTION: How come I don't hear any voiced
dialogue?
ANSWER: For THE BUTCHER OF ARMINDALE
section of the MOD, most of the NPCs are voiced except for some parts of
Cleon's dialogue. In THE LEGACY and TEARS OF THE FIEND sections, nothing is
voiced. The voice files you installed 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 TEARS OF THE FIEND it is for approximately 8 seconds.
QUESTION: On some of the books I receive
during the quest I see no text or pictures OR when I open them Oblivion crashes
to my desktop. What's the problem?
ANSWER:
That means that you
have installed the pictures in the book to the wrong location. The correct
locations is: Oblivion/Data/Textures/Menus/Book/TheLegacy/
QUESTION:
Oblivion crashes
to the desktop any time the FLASHBACK spell icon appears, what is happening?
ANSWER: This bug is the bane of my
existence. The Flashback/Dream sequences use a series of effects that increase
the demand on system resources to dangerous levels. Strangely, most crashes
occur on either very LOW-END PCs, or very HIGH-END PCs (usually with 2GB+
memory), with MID-RANGE PC's working fine. As of yet, no one has managed to
determine why this problem occurs. In THE LEGACY I created an alternate version
of the .esp file which was a "low-end" version designed specifically
to counter this particular problem. If I receive enough instances of the
problem reoccurring in TEARS OF THE FIEND I will do the same.
QUESTION:
Whenever I
enable the TotF.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 TotF.esp (the opposite to however you had it set up before.)
QUESTION:
I am at a
crucial part of the MOD, yet whenever I speak to the necessary NPC he says
"I HAVE NO GREETING" or just makes 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 Tears of the Fiend, and
testing to see if the problem still occurs with the other MODs disabled.
QUESTION:
Allecia and
Cleon's Pathing is kind of buggy. How can this be fixed?
ANSWER: As NPC pathing relies on the
pathnodes within Oblivion to move, it can't really be fixed. For the most part
Allecia SHOULD "warp" behind you when you get too far away from her,
and she will warp to the player when you trigger certain key events, or reach
certain key locations (to avoid you having to wait for her to catch up.)
QUESTION: During the final encounter with
the Half-Celestial and/or the Hunter, I return to the “Mysterious Chamber” only
to find that I cannot do anything, and none of the NPCs present will speak to
me. What should I do?
ANSWER: This is a REALLY annoying bug that
is caused by the way the Oblivion Engine handles scripts relating to the
player’s character’s state within the game world. There is no simple fix for it
from a MODding perspective, but fortunately all you need to do to bypass it is
to bring down the console by pressing “~”, typing “enableplayercontrols” and
pressing “Enter.” (Obviously without the “ “).
QUESTION: My game won’t save and results
in really strange video errors after I have recovered Cleon from The Abyss of
the Faithless. Why is that?
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 it’s 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 encounter Cleon in the Abyss of the Faithless.
QUESTION: Allecia/Cleon have become
invisible after entering a new zone/cell. What’s going on mate?
ANSWER: This has been a problem with
Companion MODs in Oblivion since its release. There is no known fix. Simply
change cells or fast travel and the NPC will be restored to you.
QUESTION: Allecia/Cleon have become stuck
when trying to exit a certain quest-specific chamber part way into the MOD. How
can I resolve this?
ANSWER: If the chamber you are talking
about is the one that I am talking about, there is an alternate exit door aside
from the one you came into the chamber via that was included for exactly that
reason. Simply exit via it to ensure your companions follow you.
QUESTION: Does this MOD work with
Shivering Isles?
ANSWER: Sort of. You can run the MOD in
parallel to Shivering Isles, however you cannot bring Allecia or Cleon to the
Shivering Isles themselves, and I’ve had reports that even bringing them close
to the Shivering Isles portal can cause the game to crash. In other words, if
you want to run this MOD with a Shivering Isles version of Oblivion ensure you
avoid everything Shivering Isles related.
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 THE LEGACY
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 LEGACY forums on
elderscrolls.com.forums (just do a search for Simyaz to find my thread) so that
myself, Wizard of Thay, Arilita or AndyW can try and resolve the problem.
EDITING
USING AND DISTRUBUTING
I really
don't care where or how you distribute Tears of the fiend, The Legacy or
The Butcher of Armindale provided that you don't change the attached
ReadMe's (all 3 of them) and you don't remove this guide or 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.
Tears
of the Fiend, The Legacy and The Butcher of Armindale are Copyright © 2007 Paul 'Simyaz'
Thomson
I
would also like to put forward a special thanks to: Arilita, Wizard of Thay, and dev_akm
from the TES forums (elderscrolls.com/forums.) Without your help this MOD would
never have eventuated.