Better Cities:The Legacy of Ardan

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Kill King Ardan. Quest Giver: Ma Syd Jun in Bravil Location(s): Halls of Lôrn, Ardan's Tomb Prerequisite Quest: The Bloodscript Reward: Blood Castle ID: BANBravilBMTrial

Quick Walkthrough

1. Find all three books.
2. Follow the ghost to Ardan's Tomb and use the books to gain access.
3. Make your way through the tomb and kill King Ardan.
4. Claim your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough

Ma Syd Jun tells you that you have to find Ardan's tomb and kill him, and gives you a book titled Songbook of Ruun. In order to unlock the tomb however, you need three special books. You already have the first, The Bloodscript; the second, The Book of Ruun, is in Aina the Mad's house, and the third—The Book of Rites—is in the Ayleid ruin near the entrance to the Halls of Lôrn.

While you are carrying any of the three special books, they will speak at midnight. Also, once you have the Songbook of Ruun, the ghost of a woman named Nuun will appear near you every night while you are outside, speak some words in Ruunic, and then walk off. Nuun will lead you to Ardan's tomb; the best way to get there is to follow her from Bravil; it isn't far from there. The tomb is located in the middle of Niben Bay, east of Bravil, southwest of the door to the Shivering Isles, and north of Bawnwatch Camp.

Go straight in towards the altar; you'll get a journal update. Wait till midnight, then the books will speak. There are three walls here; each book destroys one wall (though not in order—each is keyed to a specific wall). There, you'll see a bunch of skeletons worshipping at an altar. Go forward to the altar and stand directly in front of it; the middle section of the wall to your right will rise. Go through there to another room and stand on the Daedric text on the floor near the northeast wall until another secret door opens, leading to the entrance to the Lower Level.

The Lower Level is small and fairly easy; you're looking for a pressure plate in the pit below the walkway. This opens the gate barring the way to the Hunter's Realm, but it also enables some invisible Shadow Hunters. Fortunately, you can tell they're nearby by the sound they make.

The Hunter's Realm is a very difficult labyrinth, made more so by the fact that the local map is obscured. There are also lots of traps and invisible Shadow Hunters. The exit leading to Ardan's Tomb is in the southwest corner.

Once you get to Ardan's Tomb, walk straight up the stairs toward the throne, where Ardan awaits. You'll be briefly frozen in place while he delivers his monologue, then he'll attack. Kill him, then return to Ma Syd Jun to let him know it's done. He'll send you to Castle Bravil, where Nanya will reveal more of her past and also how to visit Blood Castle, which she offers to you as a reward. The quest will be completed as soon as you arrive in the courtyard of Blood Castle.

Journal Entries

The Legacy of Ardan (BANBravilBMTrial)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		How am I supposed to make sense of this Songbook of Ruun? If I am supposed to make sense of it. Hm. What if I am not? Maybe the secret of the book is not the book itself. So, I have to find Ardan and kill him. He is already dead, so he must have a tomb - where is that tomb and how do I get into it?
20		The Book of Rites and guess what - it makes no sense again. For what do I need books I cannot understand?! Should I just carry it around with me?
30		"Anantos yuurim tuuhl". A sentence I hear quite often lately - whatever it means. At least I can read it. And listen to it. Hm. Listen to books. That is something new to me. Maybe the sense behind this all hides not in the lines, but more in the spoken words. I hope nobody wants me to say this. But to listen... Hm. When did that voice come again?
50		The entrance to Ardan's tomb. And now? How should I open it? No key. No lever. A straight plain wall, which would need quite a big hammer or a strong arcane spell. Hm. Maybe no spell... maybe the right words would open it. I have a lot of Ruunic words here now. Which one is the right one? I will not stand here for days and read words in a language I cannot read, that is for sure. There must be a trick behind it. And I will find it!
90		Ardan is dead, and I am on my way out. Not feeling so good about it, but what he said made sense, somehow. But he left me no choice. And he called me 'a blade'; that is insulting, at least after how hard it was to get to him. The dark deed is done. The king is moved out of the path of fate and Ma Syd Jun will know about it soon.
100		What? No reward from my 'dearest friend'? Just another riddle: I must find the keeper of the secret of Ruun, and I should look at the castle next to Bravil. This must mean Bravil Castle itself.
110		Nanya met me in Bravil Castle, and revealed that she has a refuge away from Tamriel where survivors of Ruun live in peace. Named Blood Castle, I can travel there by polishing the object found with her diary. Nanya also said that I can live there in her place, as she will not be returning.
120	Finishes quest	After polishing the whistling skull, I have been transported to the courtyard of Castle Blood. I should take a look around and see what my new home has to offer.

Notes

• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in random order.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• It is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage BANBravilBMTrial stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages. See SetStage for more information.