An Animal's Grim Abode

An Animal's Grim Abode is a side quest available in. The quest can be started by talked to either Inalzin near the Star Haven Wayshrine, or Narama-ko outside of the Abode of Ignominy.

Background
A traveler bade me seek out a suspicious Khajiit lurking near the Abode of Ignominy.

Quick walkthrough

 * 1) Talk to Narama-ko
 * 2) Find Memory Stones: 0/4
 * 3) Find Marzula-jo's Notes
 * 4) Talk to Narama-ko

Walkthrough
Inalzin is concerned about a suspicious character he saw camping outside the old temple of the Abode of Ignominy. Because of the cave's old use as a worshiping place for Mafala, he asks you to find out the reason the female Khajiit is spending her time there.

"Greetings, walker. You are not also going to the Abode of Ignominy, are you? As its name implies, it is a moonless place full of forgotten secrets."
 * What seems to be the concern? "This one saw a stranger setting up camp outside the cave nearby. Local legend says that Mafala-worshipers used to lurk there. Risen dead too, I think. To venture so close to such a place …. It does not seem wise."
 * What did this person look like? "A Khajiit woman—Cathay by the look of her. She wore the attire of a sorcerer, but then, I could put on a tin crown and claim I am an Emperor. She strays there heedlessly or lingers with bad intentions. Either way, no good can come of it."
 * All right, I'll look into it.

Head to the entrance of the Abode of Ignominy. Narama-ko, the Cathay Inalzin was talking about, has set up her camp just outside the ruins of the temple. When she is questioned, she explains that her reason for being there is to look for a way to resurrect a frog. She explains the cave was used by a well-known sorcerer named Marzula-jo, and she has been looking for his notes. However, she is too scared to go inside the temple, so she asks you to go in her stead.

"Who are you? Did Caldathir send you? Well, don't even try to stop me!"
 * No one sent me. What are you doing? "Oh. Well then. Greetings! My name is Narama-ko, and I intend to walk right into this spooky cave and find the works of a brilliant Khajiiti mage. Before you ask, yes, it is full of slavering undead. And yes, I am petrified to the point of weeping."
 * What are you looking for, specifically? "You mean to help? Well, I guess there's no harm in delegating. According to my research, a powerful wizard named Marzula-jo used this place as his laboratory. If you find his notes and any memory stones he might have left behind, I'd be indebted."
 * Fair enough. I'll gather Marzula-jo's notes and memory stones. "Thank you for looking into this, walker. I can't wait to rub this discovery in that sour-tongued Caldathir's face! It's always "Be careful with this!" And "Don't meddle with that!" He's just a fat, old bully!"
 * Why do you want this Marzula-jo's notes? "According to my research, Marzula-j0 had a great fondness for animals—just like me! He even discovered ways to bring them back to life. At least, I think he did. Fuzzy on the details. Anyway, his notes and memory stones should hold the answers!"
 * You want to bring an animal back to life? "Yes. You're not going to scold me like Caldathir, are you? It's just a frog! A single, hoppy little frog. What harm could that do? Anyway, he's the one who made me kill the poor thing! And for what? A water-breathing potion. I can't even swim!"
 * Isn't that necromancy? "I mean ... sort of?"
 * You'd be bringing a dead thing back to life. That sounds like necromancy. "Well, Guild regulations clearly state that manipulating white souls—the lesser souls of beasts—is completely fine. True, the bylaws don't explicitly endorse putting little white souls into frog skeletons, but they don't prohibit it either!"
 * "My High Elf alchemy professor. And a heartless, saggy-faced brute! I'm a member of the Mages Guild, you see. To progress, I have to show proficiency in potion-making and such."
 * Why do you dislike Caldathir so much? "He's a meanie! Every potion we make includes some terrible reagent, like a baby newt, or a sweet little toad. I don't even like to hurt fleas, let alone innocent amphibians!"
 * What can you tell me about this place? "It's called the Abode of Ignominy. Say that five times fast! I did a bit of research before I set out, but I didn't find much. A few cryptic references to a temple that collapsed into a sinkhole, or some such."
 * A temple to what? "Well, when the name includes the word ignominy, it's a safe bet that it's nothing good. I found a reference or two to Mafala, the Clan Mother of Dark Secrets. Probably something to do with her. Gives me the shivers!"

After talking to her, head inside the cave. There are a total of four memory stones scattered across the ruin, telling the story of Marzula-jo's failed attempt at resurrecting the Senche tiger Sugarsnout. The ruin is filled with reanimated undead that you will need to fight off while getting the memory stones. In order to view the story in the correct order, start from the north road of the temple. In order for the vision of the memory to appear, get the memory stone quest item.

The first stone shows Marzula-jo grieving over the loss of Sugarsnout. Collecting the stone will trigger the memory to be shown: Marzula-jo: "Oh, Sugarsnout. My sweet boy. I don't ... it's not fair. You were so young. I'm going to fix this, boy. I'm going to bring you back. I promise."

The second stone is located in the same room as the delve's boss, Zaorir, along with the skeleton of Sugarsnout. Marzula-jo's Notes are found in the same location, and provide further insight on his story. By collecting the stone, the following vision can be viewed, of Sugarsnout attacking and ultimately killing Zaorir: Marzula-jo: "No, Sugarsnout. Stop! You're killing him! I never intended—what did I do wrong? This isn't you, sweet boy! This isn't you!"

Further down the path, the fourth stone is found, showing Marzula-jo trying to fix his mistake by resurrecting Zaorir, although it appears that he had also been suffering from the same aftereffects as Sugarsnout. Marzula-jo: "Now, this is a little unorthodox, but I just felt horrible about what happened. Bringing you back to life is an imperfect solution, I know, but I am confident you'll get used to this ... new beginning?"

The last memory stone is of Zaorir eating from a corpse of a Khajiit he supposedly killed. After Marzula-jo pleads him to stop, Zaorir sits up, and runs towards him, attacking him. Marzula-jo: "Zaorir, no! Stop it this instant! Please? No, no, no! Don't do that. Don't—"

After viewing all four stones, as well as reading Marzula-jo's notes, head towards the exit of the cave and report to Narama-ko your findings. She will be elated with the news and thank you, despite the warnings about the drawbacks of the technique.

"Bright moons, you're back! Not that I had any doubts, mind you. So? Success? Did you find Marzula-jo's notes and memory stones?"
 * Yes, but his work didn't turn out well. He resurrected his pet senche, and things went very poorly. "A senche tiger? That's remarkable! If he managed that, a frog should present no challenge at all! Thank you so much, walker. When I publish about this, I'll be sure to mention your contribution. Ha! I can't wait to see the look on Caldathir's face!"

Reward

 * Skein-Woven Grips
 * 73–302