Chapter One, Part One:
Those who have died, live on in memories. Those who are forgotten, cease to exist. I am the last of my race, a Monli, and the last of The Explorers. I sit in a ruined tower, falling apart as the years go by. One day I hope this manuscript is found and read, and then my ancestors will live again in the memories of others. I begin this tale before The Aldmeri Dominion changed this world, before greed and need of power overcame us all. My name is Isabella Auduin and one day this will be read…
It started in Skyrim. I had been traveling from Elsweyr and had just made it past Cyrodiil. I was making sure The Empire had kept their end of the bargain. Before that, there were rumors the Khajiit held an object of great importance to the Aldmeri Dominion, but they did not. Nothing comes easy. To come back to the present...it wasn't long after I arrived in Skyrim I had met the Stormcloaks. Fools thought they could unite Skyrim and drive out The Empire, but even fools can be dangerous. I decided to join their party, and observe. They barely paid me any mind, and may have even forgotten I was even there at all.
You see, while my actions were well known throughout the lands, I was not. I'm an Explorer. Some may call me an Assassin, as I've killed plenty, but I used no daggers. What I used was magic. Messy, but effective and left no one alive. Some who know me question why I'd use magic of all things, but why ignore and not use my inner powers?
I planned to leave that night that I was captured. But, a girl that had recently joined the Stormcloaks, took a liking to me. It wasn't the first time a girl had fallen in love with me at first sight. And, she even impressed me and I'm not easily impressed. She had apparently been an artist for Elisif. She had drawn a rather good depiction of a man, the best I'd seen of one. The Men, according to legend, once walked the lands, until one of the Nine Divines freed the lands of their influence. While I was impressed and she was very pretty, I would only bring her sadness and death.
I tried not to get close to anyone, I had lost many close to me and it complicated things. So, I paid her no mind, except to make a short comment on her drawing. This seemed to frustrate her greatly that I brushed her off, but she eventually gave up her pursuits. Well, until she put moon sugar into my sweetroll. I remember nothing after.
Next thing I know, I had woken up to an Imperial ambush and felt unusually refreshed, given the circumstances. Ulfric Stormcloak was already bound and gagged. She barely put up a fight, nor did any of the other Stormcloaks fight. So much for their reputation. However, the girl who took a liking to me was nowhere to be seen. I thought it strange, but figured she had fled at the first sight of the Empire or to spread the news that Ulfric was captured. She was lucky to escape, in any case.
While I was a friend, in some sense, to The Empire and Imperial Legion, I was captured and treated as a prisoner the same as any Stormcloak. Besides, it wasn't like they knew who I was. However, staying with the Stormcloaks was worth it. I learned a lot of their leader, who was not as much as an enemy as I thought she was.
Time passed fast, as I thought of all the information I learned and my travels through Cyrodiil. Next thing I hear is a sound of a head being chopped off. This snapped me out of the day dream and the change of scenery was quite sudden. I found my head on the chopping block in middle of a town. I didn't realize I had day dreamed for so long. However, as the Aldmeri told me that they had returned or would soon return...and quite the coincidence it was at that particular moment...a dragon appeared! It was larger than I could have imagined! I did find it strange I could hear it speak...but, I brushed it off as my imagination and ran into a nearby tower with Ralof, with Ulfric already waiting inside. I felt they wanted to recruit me as a Stormcloak right then and there. I heard something from Ralof commenting on my looks...but, not very good timing with the dragon and all. Plus, my loyalties lied with the Aldmeri and to keep a watch over the Imperial Legion and Empire. Not join frivolous fantasies of the Stormcloaks.
It wasn't too long later, after dodging and avoiding the attacks of the dragon, I had joined up with Hadvar and was inside Helgen Keep. She unbound the chains on my wrist, and we fought our way through the keep and escaped. During that time, Hadvar talked of Helgen and her family there, and that I should join the Imperial Legion. But, the Stormcloaks were still in the back of my mind. A different people than I first expected and possibly even an ally...and I thought of that girl...
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