This is probably the first and last time I'll be posting in this forum (I'm hoping on the TES train with Skyrim) but I have played Oblivion a few times on my Cousin's console.

Summary:

So I go on one of the early "Red Dawn" quest where I am told to meet with the cultists after gathering 3 or 4 volumes of the Red Dawn books. I go to a cave and am forced to give up my belongings (Stupid me). Then I meet with the leader (I think) and he tells me to kill the sacrifice (I was an Argonian and a fellow Argonian still alive was tied motionless to a stone bed on the shrine).

Naturally I would never do such a thing, I fight back to the numerous cultists and die (I reload and choose not to give my belongings this time to have a better fighting chance).

This time I win and am about to free my comrade, but my cousins yell at me "Oh no he's going to escape, go after him! (The leader)"

The leader escapes and I find that behind me the wall next to the prisoner exploded and killed him... I am a horrible hero D: (Too much work to TRY AGAIN for the third time so I just let things be)

I...could have saved him...but I was greedy! Oh god what have I done?!


Wondering if anyone had a similar experience or would like to voice their opinion on my horrible uncorrectable actions?

Your cousins were probably screwing with you, cause the bad guy is supposed to get away.

But yeah, I actually liked that quest. It was one of the very few that actually gave you a decision to do something good or evil, rather than saying "you're good/bad, go here and do this, this and this exactly as we tell you to."

I made a bunch of different save files around this quest-line. What I did was agreed to murder the Argonian, but instead release him and take the book, making a mad dash for the exit. I wish I could defend the Argonian though, he is always doomed to perishing at the hands of the Mythic Dawn.

I've kept him alive a couple of times. The easiest way is if you don't give up your weapons. Just kill Harrow and fight your way in. Once you've cleared the shrine area of enemies, you release Jeelius and take the book. You have to follow him and protect him if you want to keep him alive. He will run right into the enemy and draw them back to you. It's possible to heal him enough to keep him alive, and to knock off the enemies one by one this way. If he escapes alive, you can meet him outside the exit, and he'll later reward you with some skill boosts.

The other way to do it is to buff Jeelius with shield spells and fortify health, and take the book before releasing him. If he's buffed enough, he can survive the statue falling on him. Or you can try to stand over him and have the statue land on you. Then you can leave him there while you clean out the way to the exit. This is a case of saving and retrying until he survives the falling statue.

I was once able to get him almost to the exit, but a Mythic Dawn agent jumped from the shadows. The Argonian ran out and I killed the agent, but when I left the caverns he was gone.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WAi2txkagVM/SKRzdrGq6uI/AAAAAAAACQk/F68gD-443Ok/s400/red_dawn.jpg

That's the way I like to do this quest.

Otherwise I think it's really difficult getting him out alive. Because you can't tell him to wait while you clear things out. Like most (or all) NPCs in the game, he acts really stupid around enemies. And he isn't well armed or armored.

I tend to take the book and run over and try to stand over Jeelius when the statue falls. Fortunately the damage to Jeelius is not scripted, so if you position your character right, your character can take alot of the damage and he can survive.

Hey, I do this too! But first, I enter all zones and snipe all targets so Jeelius can stroll out nonchalantly.