When Player first meet Ru in the Teahouse, he is a useless drunk who boasts that he is "just building up his courage" to go to closed the Great Dam and take on the pirates. Player can talk to him and easily be able to persuade him to take the Player up the river on his barge so that the Player can deal with the pirates. He promises to meet the Player at the dock and suprisingly, he will keep his promise. Once the Player arrive at the pirate island, he will just stand at the entrance waiting for the Player, but says he will use his paddle should any pirates approach him (they won't). Once the Player dealt with the pirates, Gao the Greater and Inquisitor Lim; Kang the Mad will fly you back to Tien's Landing. Ru will figure out that the Player has gone when he sees the Marvelous Dragonfly take off and go back to the docks on his own, but the Player can tell Ru that you're flying if you want. Once back at Tien's landing, the Player can talk with Ru again, either telling him that he is a useless drunk or encouraging him to give up drinking and become a sober, hard-working man. If the Player do the latter, he will thank you, declare that he is going to "find some unfortunate woman and make her his wife" and walk away, fading mysteriously into space near the docks.