Chapter 1


He woke to the sound of a gong. Looking around, he didn’t know where he was. He saw brown walls, and an open arch looking to be the place where a door might be. He saw he was lying on a crude wooden bunk, which was strange because he didn’t remember sleeping in a wooden bed before. Come to think of it, he didn’t remember much of anything. But maybe that was just the headache. He felt he had a terrible headache. Maybe if he slept some more the headache would go away.

He woke again. He saw people standing over him. They were talking about him, he felt it. But he didn’t understand what they were saying exactly. Almost like they were talking in another language. Suddenly one of the people turned towards him and looked him in the eyes. He was scared and suddenly felt his headache returning and found himself dozing off.

When he awoke again, he found himself alone. He remembered dreaming of strange creatures with red eyes. It almost made him smile, as he knew there were no people that had red eyes. That only existed in fairy tales. Luckily his head had stopped aching but the rest of his limbs were still sore. He tried to remember what caused the pain but he saw nothing but darkness in his memory. Slowly he tried to sit up against the wall. He saw there was a cup of water next to the bed. Must have been left there by the people that saved him. Gently he drank a bit but found himself still having trouble moving. After placing the cup back he decided he would be better off asleep.

He didn’t know how long he had been asleep this time but when he woke he found he no longer had pain in his body. He slowly eased his feet over the bed’s edge and tried to stand up. No pain left- he was sure of that, but he still felt dizzy when he stood up. He decided he really ought find where the people were so he could thank them and maybe they could call his parents. They must be worried sick about him. Slowly he made his way to the arch shaped doorway and beyond. He looked into some sort of hall with two other openings and one door.

“That door must lead outside,” he told himself. The hall and what he could see of the other spaces looked really odd to him. Where he grew up they didn’t have many buildings and he was sure he had never seen anything like this before. Walking on into what appeared to be the largest of the adjoining rooms, he saw two people standing talking to each other and he could hear the words but they were in that strange language again. They looked really strange, dressed in robes and one even had his hood over his head; “they must be monks,” he thought. He didn’t remember his town having a monastery nearby, though. Oh well, as he walked closer he saw the one without the hood had really strange ears; he had never seen ears shaped like that. All pointy and really dark. Must be some disease that caused it. Just as he thought that, the person with the hood said something, upon which the other one turned around and stared him straight in the face.

The shock was indescribable. He was staring into the face of an elf. A creature of fantasy, made up. Didn’t exist. Unable to cope with that thought, he ran back into the other room and toward the door. Opening it as fast as he could and slamming it shut behind him, he ran beyond the arch of a wall and onto a strange street. Nothing could have prepared him for that shock. He stopped, his heart beating in his chest. He looked out on the town and saw it was unlike anything he had ever seen before, the houses looked normal, two stories to some. One story to most. Shaped like some houses he knew, but the strange thing was that they didn’t have normal roofs. They all looked like perfect squares. And they were all colored the same light brown color as the house where he awoke and were made from a material he had never seen before. And the people he saw on the street looked like they were straight out of a story. Some were green, some were similar to elves, some looked just like him.

Looking at all that he was sure he had gone mad. Elves? Orcs? He was ready to scream when he saw a ray of light coming from the rock beside him. The light increased and shimmered until it changed into the shape of a woman, a woman more beautiful he had ever seen before. Try as he might, and he tried his best, he could not run away from her. Suddenly the woman spoke; “ Alexander” she called out. Who could she mean? Then he remembered, he was called Alexander. In that moment thoughts came back to him, of his mother at home baking fresh bread, of his brother and himself playing basketball, of his father in front of the TV looking at the news. And he remembered looking at the news himself, hearing such terrible news. Hearing how countries fought. How America had declared war on Russia. How there was constant coverage of that war and seeing the nuclear bombs explode.

Hearing the people scream and trying to find a place to stay. And again he saw the news, how countries chose a side to fight on and the countries that didn’t choose got destroyed by atomic bombs and worse; deadly viruses. He remembered the newsreader saying one of the warring countries has detonated bombs on the polar caps, and the world was being flooded. He couldn’t remember which country had done it though. And he remembered the last thing he saw on the TV, the announcement they had all feared; the confirmation of an atomic bomb heading to the province where he lived and the newsreaders urging everybody to run before it was too late. Then, nothing. All he remembered after that was waking up. And suddenly he was back on that street and looking into the face of that woman. “And thus you remember, Alexander” she said. “ you’re world was dying and I choose to bring you here rather then let you die. You may think kindly of me now for saving you, but I’m sure before long you may wish you had died instead.”

“Who are you,” he asked her.
“I am called Azura, queen of the night. I am what you would call a god and this is the planet I watch most, Nirn. You are now in a land called Morrowind, but a small province of a great empire.”
“Why have you brought me here and why do you say I may wish I was dead instead?”

“ I saw potential in you, potential beyond that of anyone I have ever seen before; I found myself drawn to you through space and time and when I saw your world dying and you about to die, I knew I had to act right away or leave you there to die and waste your potential. I brought you to the place where you woke up. A place that doesn’t even recognize my existence but was not deaf to the request of a woman who stumbled upon a hurt boy. I cannot say much on your potential nor on your goal here. The only thing I can do for you now is give you three gifts. The first gift I give you is the gift of speech; it will allow you to understand these people and they you. Talk to them, learn from them and maybe you will find why you are here. The second gift I give you is the gift of memory, it will allow you to remember everything that you read or hear from now on.

This will help you gain a quick understanding of this world and a faster way to become a part of it. The third and final gift I have for you is the gift of freedom. I will unlock a potential hidden deep inside you; that potential is why I was drawn to you and which in time will give you the freedom you need for your task should you accept it. For now, Alexander, I must go; know that you are in the city Balmora and that I will find you again when the time comes, until that time I wish you luck and goodbye.”
At that the woman calling herself Azura vanished and Alexander found himself able to move again.

“Are you mad?” he heard someone shout, “Running out like that and giving us such a scare.”
Alexander looked around to see one of the people from inside the building, the one with the hood over his face, standing before him and speaking to him. The funny thing was, this time he did understand him. Maybe that woman really did have some powers. The man kept on talking, while taking him by the arm and ushering him back to the temple.
“Who are you?” Alexander asked. “My name is Draval Andrano, I’m a priest of the Balmora temple.” “What kind of temple?” The priest stopped for a moment and looked at Alexander disbelievingly, “you really don’t know? Seems like you’re an outlander then aren’t you? Never mind. This is a Temple dedicated to the Lord Nerevar reborn. It is in his name we help everyone we can, outlander or not.” “But who is this Lord Nerevar reborn?” I asked while the priest was ushering me back into the temple. Looking pretty annoyed, the priest told me that I must really be an outlander then. He sat me back down onto the bed where I awoke and started telling me a bit about the place where I was. He told me about the original lord Nerevar and how he had been killed by the false god Vivec.

How Vivec had betrayed him and had shared power that belonged to the Lord Nerevar with two of his culprits; Almalexia and Sotha Sil. The priest told me how the three had called themselves the tribunal and had lived for hundreds of years in power here in Morrowind until another outlander came forth one day and was proclaimed Nerevarine by the nomadic Ashlanders and hortator by the three great houses. How he had gone to Vivec and gotten the tools to rid the world of the menacing Dagoth Ur and how by doing so, the Lord Nerevar had obtained immortality. The priest went on to tell me how the Lord Nerevar had gone on to confront Sotha Sil about his betrayal only to find that Almalexia had lost her mind and had killed him. Nerevar was left no choice but to kill Almalexia as well and upon returning to the island had confronted Vivec with this. Vivec then admitted to knowing that Almalexia has gone mad and he found himself too afraid to act against her. Upon seeing and hearing that and hearing Vivec admit to betraying the first Lord Nerevar, Nerevar reborn killed Vivec and proclaimed himself the new and only head of the temple,. removing the tribunal part of the name in the process.

“So where we were once served the Tribunal Temple, now we all serve the temple,” the priest finished. That was one thing I noticed from the start, no matter where I was or had gone one thing was still the same; the priests all talked endlessly and never got tired of hearing their own voices. Looking outside I found dusk had settled in. and I realized I was famished. Reluctantly it seemed, the priest provided me with bread and water, claiming the priesthood was forbidden to drink alcohol and any guest of the temple would have to do with what the temple had. Well as long as I was fed I was happy. After the meal the priest proclaimed it was time to sleep. Lying in my bed I thought about what had happened today, waking up in some strange land, seeing this woman who said she was a god, suddenly speaking an alien language as if it was my own and not even finding it strange, and realizing that in all this, the priest had not once asked me where I came from. Not once remarked how odd it was for me to appear out of nowhere and speaking a different tongue. And then there was that awful headache, I didn’t remember having it until that woman said something about a third gift. Unlocking a potential, whatever that might mean. I must have fallen asleep then because the next minute I was waking up to the sound of voices once again. I had almost thought it all to be a nightmare until I saw the face of that priest, Draval standing over me. “Wake up” he said. “Quickly now, get dressed. We have just learned of a high guest honoring us with a visit. We have learned of the arrival of patriarch Saryoni come to inspect our temple.” Slowly rising, I found my headache had only increased. I hadn’t thought it possible but it had. I made my way to what I had learned were the living quarters of another priest and the place to eat together. Eating quietly as the priests always seemed to do, I sat looking at them.

I still couldn’t grasp being here; I still did not realize it was only a couple days ago that I sat at home watching the news and everything was fine. And now I was here and this important person was coming to see me. Though much time to think it over I did not have because just then the gong was pounded and the priests scrambled up and started towards the entrance. I went with them to see this Saryoni and when I reached the door what I saw was an elderly man. Or not a man really, another one of the Dunmer as they call themselves. Dark Elves. I’m sure it will take a long time for me to get used to seeing them. That Draval Andrano was busy trying to impress the patriarch. If I didn’t know better I’d say the man in the door wasn’t just the patriarch but a god himself the way everyone was bowing down to him. Then he spotted me, I guess I was hoping maybe he would miss me and just move on. But here he came to me.

“And you must me Alexander, I heard about you. In fact the Lord Nerevar himself sent me to find you and take you to him. You must be honored as it isn’t often that the lord Nerevar sees one of so low a birth. I guess that’s why you’ve been having trouble sleeping isn’t it? I heard you have been lying awake for days now, but really don’t worry. I’m sure the Lord Nerevar will not take your less then noble birth or strange story too badly. He’s been known to be very kind, even more so to those that hardly deserve it.” And he went on like that for some time; I guess you can be sure I didn’t like him from the start.

In short he told me that he would be spending the night here and that tomorrow morning we would be leaving to Vivec through silt strider. As he made himself comfortable I asked Draval for a bit of money so I might go into the town to see what it was like. He reluctantly agreed- mostly because Saryoni nodded his approval.

This would be the first time I would go outside the temple and it scared me as I didn’t know what the city would be like. I’d only seen a small part of it that first time I went outside but at this moment I’d rather be outside in a scary city then inside with everyone watching me and that Saryoni looking at me like I was something that he had at times cleaned off the bottom side of his boot.

So off I went, and of course the first person I met was a scary looking Orc. I walked past him as fast as I could and in the hope that he wouldn’t be interested in me. He seemed to be waiting to be let into a store there. Having passed him I saw a street with some signs- those must be shops. I read an armorer, book store, and what appeared to be the guildhalls of the mages and fighters guilds. Well I certainly had no trouble figuring out what I would find inside there. I decided to go and check out the bookseller; inside I could have thought I had been at home were it not for that guard and the strange building I was in. At the back of the store was a large book closet with shelves containing all sorts of things. After having asked the bookseller if it was ok to touch and view them I opened a couple to see what was inside. I even read a little part of a book called vampires of Vvardenfell part 1. It appeared to say that vampires really did exist in this world. Well that would be something, meeting a vampire.

When I exited the shop I found more time had passed then I had known about. I decided to go and eat something but maybe this time I would get something other then the poor temple food I had been eating so far. I found a Dunmer who appeared to be nice and asked him about the places where one might find a bite to eat. He recommended the eight plates, which I noticed was even near the temple so it would be easy to find my way back. The Dunmer did mention that things might get rowdy in there from time to time but that it wasn’t any better in the other places and it was the only neutral tavern in the city. After asking what he meant with neutral he explained there was a big feud between the thieves guild and the local Camonna tong and that being seen in either one of those taverns would mark me as a part of one of the two or at least a sympathizer. I definitely didn’t want anyone to think I was involved in either one of them so I went to the eight plates.


I later found I had chosen the right one as I found the bartender to be friendly; he didn’t even notice my strange appearance and come to think of it, neither did any other person I met. Upon looking into the room I found the reason to be obvious. There were people here that looked as human as I did. After asking I found they were called imperials and others were called Bretons. So at least I didn’t need to worry about anyone recognizing me as an outlander.

Near the wall of the tavern was a Dunmer sitting by himself; after I’d had my baked eggs and something called Shein I found myself more bold then before and approached him. I asked him what was with the down face and if I could buy him a drink. I had hoped I could get some more info out of him and I was right. In fact he just kept on talking until it was time to back to the temple again and get some sleep.

Lying in bed I thought what he had said over again, he had told me his name was Eddie but everyone called him fast Eddie, he wouldn’t really say why people called him that but maybe it was just because of his fast talk. He told me some things about the province, that the province was being ruled not just by the Lord Nerevar but also by the Five great houses, two of which really didn’t have any holding on this island, which I learned was called Vvardenfell. The houses were the backstabbing Hlaalu, the honorable Redoran warriors and the eccentric Telvanni mages. He had told me he was born a member of the Telvanni but due to some misunderstandings and some mix ups he had been barred from the Telvanni cities and forced to make his home here among people he considered enemies. Even though I had no doubt the mix ups and misunderstandings were not that at all and that this Eddie was guilty of everything he had been accused of, I still found I liked him a lot. He was very frank and it was clear that he still felt a great love for his house. He also told me he had nothing but loathing for this town and the people here; I wasn’t sure if I agreed with him on that but I did think I knew what he meant.

Right then my headache returned. I hadn’t felt it the entire day but now it was back with a vengeance; I really considered right then that it might be best to tell a priest about it but for all I know they would simply cut open my head and remove the problem. I didn’t think it impossible at all at this point.

I knew I hadn’t slept for long when I woke, again to the sound of the morning gong. This was really starting to annoy me, this waking up before the light to pray for the health of the Lord Nerevar. And after having seen the behavior of that Saryoni I knew for a fact that the Nerevar would be even worse.

After the prayer of the priests and the poor breakfast I went to meet Saryoni at the front door and together with him and his personal guard we made our way to what appeared to be a giant flea. Luckily I’m not a scared person by nature or I’m sure I would have been terrified of it. We got in what appeared to be a seat and before I knew it we were on our way. The view was great, I could see for leagues in every direction and I loved it. I didn’t even try to start a conversation with any of the guards or Saryoni as I didn’t want to hear more of how bad I was or how below them they thought I was.

So I sat back and just watched the landscape go by. It took my mind off my worries and off the headaches that just seemed to keep coming back. Before long we arrived at what they called the city of Vivec. It was gigantic. It seemed like a set of giant floating pyramids. And I was told they were called cantons and each canton had a different name, you had the foreign quarter open to anyone, the three cantons where the local representatives of the great houses were and the arena canton where there were actual gladiator fights to be witnessed.

Beyond those lay the st Olms and st Delyn cantons, named after some saints. And of course beyond that lay the temple canton where the high fane and the halls of justice and wisdom were. The first I was told was the site for the highest members of the temple and even included the office of Saryoni himself, the second was where the heads of the Ordinators were seated and the last contained the great library of Vivec. Upon hearing that last one I was tempted to ask if we could stop there before going to the Nerevar as I’d rather see that many books then a man god as most people seemed to think he was. When we had traveled by boat to the temple canton I saw another canton beyond that, it seemed the perfect place for this god and I was told it was the palace of Vivec. But I found we weren’t going there, instead we were walking to what I was told was the entrance to the hall of wisdom and even beyond. And next to that I saw another canton, I was told it had only been built a very short while ago and that the Nerevar had ordered it since he didn’t want to stay in the place where the traitor Vivec had lived.

There was a huge door there that looked like the entrance, a huge double-sided door with what appeared to be a moon and a star painted upon it. In front of the door were four Ordinators. As Saryoni went to pass them and enter the door one of the Ordinators told me that the Lord Nerevar had seen fit to see me without the company of Saryoni. Anyone not paying attention might have missed it but Saryoni got a look in his face as if he had been slapped. I liked that Ordinator right from the start I must say. And then I was beyond it, ushered in by the Ordinators and leaving the patriarch at the door. I really had no idea what to expect, I hadn’t even heard what race this mighty lord was or what he looked like, I was sure that if I saw an Orc sitting on a throne there I would run out of the building. After walking through a little corridor I came to another set of doors, again with that moon and star painted on them- this was it. I was about to put my eyes on the living legend himself, the person the temple worshipped, the king god of the province, the Lord Nerevar reborn, and was sure I’d never been more wary of a meeting. The door opened and I saw a room beyond it and at the end of the room a person clothed in very strange-looking armor, he turned and.
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At this point I feel the need to explain a few things, looking back at these events after such a long time I know I have left out some answers, but the main reason I did that was because at that time I didn’t have the answers myself, I didn’t know why I reacted so naturally to all these strange things that were happening, I didn’t know why I wasn’t going insane, I didn’t know why I was having these headaches and I didn’t know why I didn’t just run when I had the chance since I was so terrified of meeting the Nerevar. It might have been my natural sense of taking things as they come, it might have been some magic spell from this Azura and it might have been I was in shock. In fact I still don’t know the entire story myself but I do know I was terrified and knew that I was saved at the same time, because I had no doubt that what this Azura had told me was true. And I guess the reason why I wrote it down the way I remember it was because I wanted to give you all a very good idea of what I was feeling. Of course now so many years after that sitting in my home I can say I no longer look upon Orcs as all bad and I judge them as I judge every other person. Oh, but I hope I didn’t keep you from the story, hope you weren’t too interested in the identity of the Nerevar. And no, to put the ones of you that have at one point or another come across this world yourselves at ease, the Nerevar wasn’t called “Fargoth,” no.

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This man that called himself the lord Nerevar reborn turned and I looked upon the face of a young man, he looked very human and he later told me he was a Breton. He had long flowing white hair bound together in a ponytail and piercing blue eyes. He came to me at once and grabbed my hand, said he was pleased to finally see me and that he hoped that Saryoni hadn’t been too strict with me. He laughed a lot and made me a bit more at peace here. He asked me if I wanted a drink while we talked and all the while didn’t stop talking himself. He was very pleased to meet me he told me for the tenth time all the while ushering me to a chair and giving me that drink. He told me his given name was Arthur but nowadays everyone referred to him as the lord Nerevar. I was feeling bold by his reception so I asked what had happened at the door. After he had heard my tale he laughed and told me that before his coming the temple had used the Ordinators for all their work. This was the choice of Vivec and after he had come he had changed that custom right away. He made himself the immediate head of the Ordinators and even reinforced them with troops of the house Indoril who had always remained loyal to the Nerevar even when he wasn’t around. Of course the temple didn’t like this change very much so an Ordinator overruling the patriarch was poetic justice for the Ordinators.

But then he got serious; he asked me for everything I had experienced since coming here because he wanted to make sure he had the right person here. After I told him he thought for a moment. I also noticed he looked especially close at me when I was telling the part of my story about Azura and her appearing to me. He then began to tell his own tale, first of how he had become the Nerevar and that he started out as a prisoner until he was released on the orders of the emperor to perhaps fulfill the prophecy of the Nerevarine. And he told me how scared he had been when he had faced Dagoth Ur; looking back I think the main reason for that tale was to put me at ease and to let me know that I wasn’t the only one to fear things. After he had finished his tale I found I liked him and was glad that he hadn’t turned out to be someone like Saryoni. He then stood up and asked me outright: “Well Alexander, you’re here and I don’t see you being able to get back or go anywhere else anytime soon so what are we going to do with you?”

Well, I obviously didn’t have an answer to that, so the Nerevar asked me if I wanted to see the city and maybe even meet a couple of the natives. I of course wanted that, yes, as I had heard about all sorts of nice locations here, the library of Vivec, the arena with the gladiator fights and when I was in the bookstore in Balmora the bookseller there Dorisa Darvel told me about Jobasha’s bookstore here known to have more books in a single store then any other anywhere. So after the Nerevar assigned me a personal bodyguard I went out into the world, and decided to go to Jobasha’s first as I knew if I entered the library here I would not come out until after dark. Another surprise awaited me there; when I entered the store I came face to face with one of what were called Argonians; I was scared at first but when the Argonian saw the Ordinator he immediately named me Alexander and welcomed me. When I asked how he had known who I was he said the walls have ears in Vivec, whatever that might mean. Well even though his appearance seemed rather odd, from what I noticed about his behavior he seemed to be a nice enough guy; he told me his name was Huleeya and that he had once been saved by the Lord Nerevar so any friend of the lord Nerevar was a friend of Huleeya’s. And of course the bookstore itself was very nice to look at. When I went to the other end of it I met Jobasha, who turned out to be a Khajiit. After having seen the Argonian first I knew not to judge him on appearance.

Jobasha, what can I say about him. It was clear he was a book lover very much like me, but looking in his eyes, seeing how glassed over they were, it was clear to me he was fond of some kind of narcotic. It was good to know something like this existed here as well so I would know not to just eat anything that was offered to me.

Of course I didn’t have all the time in the world so, with much effort, I was able to drag myself away from the bookstore only after swearing that I would return before long for a more thorough “examination”.


Next my personal guard showed me where the arena canton was and where the gladiatorial battles were held. Upon entering the arena pit I knew immediately that something was amiss. I heard a lot of screaming and I saw a mob of people near the back of the pit. Many of them had long sticks or spears in their hands and were poking at something, or more accurately someone.

My guard told me to stay put while he got more Ordinators to help him and solve whatever problem there was here. But being as stubborn as I am, I of course did no such thing and instead moved closer to see what was going on. What I saw filled me with outrage; an elderly woman was backed up against the wall, bleeding from several places already, and the people around her were still poking at her with those spears.
Without even thinking about it and before I realized it, I was moving through the mob, shoving people this way and that, slapping the spears away and standing between the woman and the mob. Even as I reached her I found I was too late already; she slowly slumped to the floor, hardly breathing anymore. I dropped down on my knees and held her in my arms. Her blood was soaking my clothes but I hardly noticed. What would drive people to doing this to a harmless old lady was beyond me. And as I held her, she whispered her final words to me “thank you” and then she was gone. After what felt like an eternity but really only lasted for a minute or so I gently laid her down on the floor and stood up. I shouted to the people around me, asking why would they do this. But all they gave me was a look of apprehension. Then suddenly one after another began once again to lift their spears but this time they were all aimed at me. I have no doubt things would have gone very bad after that had it not been for the group of Ordinators that burst into the pit right then, headed by the Lord Nerevar himself. It only took him a second to realize the situation and he ordered the Ordinators to form a protective circle around me.

Though it appeared all the fight had gone from the commoners upon seeing their king and god. The Nerevar immediately demanded to know what was going on and after some awkward silence one of the commoners came forward and quietly spoke to his liege. I could not hear much of what they were talking about but I heard the commoner say the words disease and infected more then once so I knew it had to be bad whatever it was. And while the commoner was talking the Nerevar looked ever more worried. Also the Ordinators that just a minute ago had stood close by now started slowly to widen their circle around me. It was clear they wanted nothing more then to run away from me but their honor held them. Just then the Nerevar came to me and asked me if I was ok. After having confirmed that he gave orders to one of his men to return to the temple canton and have a pyre built. Then he bent down and picked up the body of the woman and asked me to follow him back to his palace. I asked him what the commoner had said and had there been something wrong with the woman, but he would not answer me. He told me we would speak of the matter later when the right time had come.

Whatever it was that had scared the Ordinators and the commoners, it was clear the Nerevar himself did not worry about it being contagious. Walking back beside that before so talkative Nerevar and hearing the sound of his silence and also not knowing what had been wrong with the woman was one of the scariest moments of my life. Arriving at the temple, my eye immediately caught the sight of a pyre. Apparently they wanted to waste no time burning the corpse of the woman. The Nerevar laid her gently on the platform on top of the pyre and after saying a few words, cast a burning torch into the wood of the pyre.

I stood there looking as the flames engulfed the body wondering if I was going to end up like her in just a short while- hunted down by a group of commoners and slain like an animal, and then burned. Luckily I hadn’t had a lot of time to think about it when the Nerevar spoke up: “That woman was infected with a disease called Corprus. It is easily transmitted and there is no known cure. It is both a blessing and a curse, a blessing because it grants immortality and immunity to every other disease from the moment you get it, a curse because it drains your intelligence until you’re a mindless creature forced to roam the earth like that forever.” The only thing I could think of after hearing that was asking if there really had been no one that had ever been cured. “The only person Alexander, that has ever been cured of the disease is standing in front of you. All the other subjects that tried the cure were not affected by it, it only worked for me in all those years that we’ve tried to cure it. “
“But what can I do, where do I have to go?” I asked the Nerevar, and he said that the only place I could go was Tel Fyr, and the corprusarium of Divayth Fyr, but that we would speak on this on the morrow.

I was assigned my own room and a comfortable bed this time, and lying in it I was close to tears. Just when things were looking up a bit I had to be the brave one and save some disease- carrying woman. And now where do I go? To some corprusarium. I don’t even know what that is. I guess the only good thing was that that night I did not have one of those so common headaches, though I knew I would have gladly traded them for a cure to the disease.

Waking up I found someone had taken my clothes and had laid out new ones; they looked pretty fancy for my taste but since it was all there was and I didn’t feel the need to walk around in the nude I put them on anyway. I found my way back to what appeared to be the room mostly used by the Nerevar and together we sat down for breakfast. True to his word he told me all about the Lord of Fyr that morning.

It appeared this Divayth Fyr was one of the oldest people in the world. Not just the province but the entire world. 4000 years old and with all the power and knowledge befitting a man of that age. He had been a friend of the Nerevar, giving him the cure to Corprus and finding the Nerevar to be the first to respond to the treatment. Divayth had then supported the Nerevar even when he had to kill the Achmagister of the house Telvanni; Gothren. Though if truth be told, there was never any love between Gothren and Divayth to begin with.

After the Nerevar had become the hortatory of all the houses and later the ultimate ruler of the province, it became clear to him that the Great Houses could not be without leadership. So he appointed the councilor Sarethi to Master of house Redoran, made councilor Curio head of the house Hlaalu and wanted to make Divayth the head of the house Telvanni. Well it appeared neither Divayth nor the other councilors thought it was a good idea. Tel Fyr was in the next months flooded with assassins from one councilor or another until Divayth made it publicly known that he would not under any circumstance accept the position of Achmagister. This put a stop to the assassin attacks but the Nerevar insisted that Divayth at least became a councilor. He reluctantly accepted but not before saying that he would not deal with the Nerevar anymore. This of course gave the Nerevar a big dilemma, he had forced Divayth into doing something and had lost his friendship, but now he needed his help again to help me.

The Nerevar gave the order to start packing, it seemed even with the problem he had with Divayth, he wouldn’t let me go alone and would come with me. That made me feel a bit more comfortable. The Nerevar was the closest thing I had to a friend here.

After some servants had packed the bags and made ready to accompany us, we slowly made our way to the nearby docks. Seeing as he was the Lord Nerevar he had his own ship and we were taking that to travel out to Tel Fyr.

Sorry, Alex, but I can't read that now, no matter how much I would like to read it. When I have some more free time, I will certainly read it.

if I may say so, it can be better if the writers do not post entire chapters at a time......several parts would increase the reader-friendliness

I've read it from begining to end and its a really good story. It explains what happens after the end of the game or atleast some of it which is good. My only complaint is where your character comes from which is our world but in the future (I assume). Apart from that when is your next part coming out :goodjob:

Great idea, Alexander. Kind of like Slavatore's spearwielder series. A modern day man thrown into a fantasy world.

Ready for chapter 2!!

I have always been an admirer of ships; I’ve often gone to a local marina museum to look at the old ships that were there; I’ve been on them and have pictured myself on them while they were sailing, but no imagining it could have prepared me for the real thing, as I made my way around the corner I saw the ship in full view, and it was great. Exactly as old and made of wood as I had imagined it to be. And as we made our way up the plank and boarded the ship, feeling the sea beneath it and knowing this was one of the things I had always wanted to experience, I was happy. For the first time since I’d come here I was happy. It didn’t take them long to cast off the lines and set sail, and then we were off. There was a nice sea wind blowing right in the direction where we were going. The trip itself wasn’t much; we had been sailing for a few hours and I hadn’t really seen anything but water and coast. Once in the distance I saw what appeared to be a tall tower, after asking about it I learned it was one of the many Daedric ruins that were to be found on the island. This one called Bal Fell. But what I saw after those hours of sailing really surprised me- I saw what appeared to be a mushroom combined with a tree. It looked green from the outside and had many spirals and looked very much organic.

I had never seen anything like this in my entire life, and yet to say I was scared by it, no. I found myself fascinated by the shape and wanted nothing more then to see what it looked like from the inside. I asked the Nerevar about it and he explained it was home to one of the Telvanni councilors and that Tel Fyr looked the same if a bit smaller; not so long after that there were two other views, the first was a giant statue of the woman that had told me some things when I first came here, and the second was the peak of yet another tower, I asked if that was yet another ruins, and was told it was the home of the dissidents. Yet another religion, it would seem, yet worshipping the same icon as the tribunal temple; the Lord Nerevar Reborn.

Not long thereafter we came to see many small islands. And I was told this is as close as the ship could get to Tel Fyr without stranding on the shallow ground. As the guards set about lowering a smaller boat to the water the Nerevar came to me where I was standing. He asked me of course how I was feeling with the disease but the truth was I really did feel good. Without the headaches and with the nice ocean air it was all looking good again.

Walking after him we boarded the smaller boat and set off towards Tel Fyr. The Nerevar had many packs with him so I guess he expected to stay for a long time, or maybe he expected me to stay there and had brought all those things for me- that was kind of depressing, to be left off. I really hoped he would not. But I understood only time would tell and that it was probably just my imagination to fear that I would be abandoned here.

Making our way through the scattered islands gave me a nice bit of time to look at the land here, it looked nice and I even saw some creatures native to this land. One looked like a giant worm and a guard told me that was just the basic version of it and that there were other versions more dangerous then this. I’d hate to meet one of those I’m sure.

Then when we made a turn, in full view right in front of me was one of those Daedric ruins. And ruins they were, broken in every part and with no wall left standing. It gave me an eerie feeling looking at that, and I could only imagine the horrors that must have taken place when they were still in use. But what scared me even more was the fact that I saw shapes and shadows moving among the ruins. Shadows of things I didn’t think I would like to see. Just then a creature flew from beneath the shadows to stand on the one of the crumbled walls. I’d never seen anything like this before and I will do my best to describe it. It looked like something similar to a bat, but then with another color, it had wings and the head of a woman. I think harpy would be an even better description then a bat. And right as it flew to the top of that wall, it made some gestures and a fireball flew right at us. This was unlike anything sane. And that’s what I thought, I must have gone mad. How can anyone just conjure up a fireball like that from thin air?

The funny thing was though, neither the guards nor the Nerevar seemed very worried about it. He stood up and I heard him mutter some words, then when the ball was just about to hit us and I was ready to dive into the water, the ball hit something in the air and vanished. I found my mouth stood open as I watched it, as fast as it had appeared it had now disappeared again.
Then the Nerevar muttered some more words and a giant ball of fire appeared just above him, and then with a word he sent it forth and it consumed the creature. The shriek it gave is something I would never forget, a shriek of final defeat and anguish. And just as the fireball hit I got stabbed with a gush of pain again in my head. Luckily it didn’t last long.

Sitting down as if nothing special had happened, the Nerevar gave the order to resume the trip. I dared not say anything the rest of the trip; here was someone I had started to see as a friend and he had done that. That’s when I realized this was the Nerevar and there was a reason why he was the leader of these people. It wasn’t something trivial to summon a fireball that I could imagine let alone one of this magnitude. But before my pondering got carried away too far, we came around a corner to see a great mushroom-shaped tower, similar to the one I saw earlier on the trip.

There was even a dock there and a woman who appeared to be the dock master. She bound the ropes of the boat and we set foot on land once again. Looking up I could only be amazed; the other tower had been so far away where this was right in front of me and looked majestic if a bit odd. I promised myself then that I would one day get myself one of these towers; of course first I would have to get through this disease but well, I can always dream can’t I?

Entering the tower we were met by a Dunmer woman. When she saw the Nerevar she threw herself in his arms; they were obviously old and good friends. They talked quietly for a bit and then they came to me, and she introduced herself as Beyte Fyr. The Nerevar asked her how Divayth was and if he was still mad at him for making him councilor. It seemed then that the two of them had had a bit of an argument the last time the Nerevar had been here.

We set off, and the Nerevar told me that Divayth was most always in his workroom located far above this room; walking through the corridors here really gave me the feeling we were actually inside something living, and that might just be the case, seeing the veins, it looked like this was grown especially for this purpose. Then we came upon another round door, this one leading to the upper chambers. This looked very much like what I had seen below with the only exception that: one, there was no almighty wizard anywhere to be found, and two, there was a round tunnel shaped hole in the ceiling. Looking around I did see everything I would expect a wizard to have, skulls, books, weird looking items and much much more.

The Nerevar then told me that to find Fyr , we would have to go even higher, as he would be found up there. Of course I said there was no way to get there as I saw no staircase or ladder or anything of that kind. But right then I saw the Nerevar lift off and he was floating a small way above the floor. He floated towards me and grabbed me and told me to hang on to him; I more then willingly complied and clenched onto him tighter then I’d ever clenched another man before. But it took less then a minute to get there I was put back down and looking through the corridor there I saw the back of someone that looked ancient. Just looking at the back gave me enough clues to know this was someone not to take lightly. He was dressed in what had to be heavy armor, it looked all black and red and very fierce. Spikes were coming out of it in all sorts of places, and why he would go through the trouble of even wearing that, was I guess for the same reason as why it scared me, to put fear into the hearts of anyone that came near him or his tower. Approaching him alongside the Nerevar was one of the bravest things I’ve done in my life, I felt my knees shake, my stomach was upset and I knew I could throw up any minute now out of fear alone.

Then when we were almost upon him, I heard his voice boom: “ Why have you come here? Did I not tell you to stay away Lord Nerevar?” he spoke that “lord” with as much contempt as I’ve ever heard . It was clear he was not pleased with us being here and I’d much rather would have left right then, but of course I couldn’t- I mean no human had ever been able to float so it would be a long fall. The Nerevar answered: “ I come not for myself, but for this man. Alexander has the divine disease but this is not meant to be. Azura herself said that he is meant for something else.” “ To Oblivion with your Azura, I care not what some demented woman wants. Take him with you and be gone from my tower.” Taken aback, the Nerevar struggled for words but finally said, “ Well if our argument has clouded you from the suffering of others, then I will leave. Know that if more get infected, the blame will be with you Lord of Fyr.” That seemed to get a reaction from him, as he said right away; “ Fine then, leave the boy here and I will look after him. Just so long as you leave now. And don’t see my other daughters, I will not have it.”

Was this it then, was the Nerevar going to leave me with this Divayth Fyr, just abandon me like that? Well he walked up to me, grasped my hand, and told me he was sure things would turn out right. He then took of a ring he had on his finger and gave it to me; “ This once belonged to a usurper, I took it off after I had killed him, take it, I declare this yours now. My friend Alexander, do not fear, we will meet again and then the circumstances will be much better then now. Good luck to you”
And with that, he left me standing, alone with Divayth Fyr.

Going to have to start copying and pasting my comments from one forum to the other .

Or maybe just create a handy "cheat-sheet" of ready-made story responses suitable for all occasions.

Now, to stop spamming and say- you have a great talent and a real feel for the humanity of your characters. I can feel Alexander's anxiety over being "abandoned" by the first real friend he has found in this new world. Particularly difficult at the moment he is told he has a terrible disease. Good stuff.

Turning around and facing Divayth, I slowly approached him. There was little sense in postponing this and it wasn’t like I had anywhere to go to hide from him. Walking up to him I saw him grab some cloth and wipe it over his face, and then he turned around and looked at me. He looked like someone that had known so many years that the years didn’t count anymore. As a man having seen everything and knowing and understanding most things, he looked ageless and yet not unlike a nice old man you would expect to meet at the supermarket. Well, except for the long ears, and dark skin, and armor, and his facial expressions, but the rest, just like that. But what struck me most about him were his eyes- not only were they powerful looking, more so then anyone’s I had seen before that, but I also saw they were wet. And that told me more about him then anything else. This man must be more then 4000 years old, one of the most powerful people in this world, and yet he was but a man with feelings the same as others. Being as bold I have always been, I asked him outright why he didn’t just go after the Nerevar and speak to him. He answered determinedly, “ This Lord Nerevar must learn that he cannot force anything he likes upon people without consulting them first. When he learns this, then I will see him again, before that I will not.”
“ But that’s enough about that,” he said with a sigh. “Let’s look at the one I’ve heard so much about. The one that was the reason Azura kept me up nights just to make her point.” He slowly walked around me, observing it seemed every inch of my body. “ Yes you are infected with the disease, yes. And I just hope this god person told the truth when she suggested something to me. You’ve also been having headaches haven’t you?” Not waiting for my reply he marched to the table in what seemed to be his study. Not being able to think of anything better to do I followed him and looked at what he was doing; he was reading in a book written it seemed in ancient runes. And completely undecipherable. He was muttering to himself and I got the feeling it was about me he was muttering.

Then he abruptly stood upright. And looked at me with those piercing eyes of his. And in none too blunt a term told me to hold on to him, and I knew we were once again going for a ride . Sure enough, we left the passage and floated towards the hole in the floor. Down there and on the ground again he let go of me and said “Follow me.” In the adjoining room, which appeared to be his bedroom, there was an assortment of strange looking potions. Having lead the way, he stopped and turned around, looked me in the eye and spoke again; “Many years ago when the Nerevar came here and told me he was the Nerevar, he asked me for a cure. I thought he had lost his mind already and was in a delusional state thinking he was the Nerevar. I sent him down into the Corpusarium and told him to do an errand for me, expecting him not to be able to come back. I was surprised to find him once again standing in front of me. I’ve always been a man of my word so I gave him the cure, thinking it could not get any worse anyway. It didn’t. Instead he became the first to be cured. And now he has brought me another one. Also infected, and now he expects me to work a miracle and cure you, Alexander. Well truth is, I can and will give you the cure, but I can’t get it to work. So if the Nerevar made a mistake there, I can offer no comfort. Do you understand that?

I agreed and he told me to find a bed in the downstairs hall and get some sleep. Then on the morrow we would try the potion. I guess he wanted to give me a night’s sleep to think it over before I had to make up my mind. Well my mind did wonder that night, but when I awoke I found myself still determined to carry on with the attempt. And said so to Divayth. He nodded and told me to follow him.

We headed back down and went to the bowels of the building. There we found an Argonian guarding a wooden gate. In passing he introduced himself as Vistha-Kai and while walking on, Divayth explained that he had once been a slave, but then when Divayth had released his slaves, this one decided to remain as a way to pay for his freedom.



Right then in front of me a creature appeared. It looked human enough but it was clearly not that anymore. It smelled rotten and acted like it had no mind left, and I guess maybe it didn’t. And then from the other direction came another shape, this one only looked remotely human and terribly deformed.

Divayth told me not to mind them, and just walk on. They would never harm him, he said. Well I believed him, but then it wasn’t them harming Divayth I was concerned about. Walking through yet another door, several hallways and then around the corner, we came to stand before someone that looked half man, half spider. I have no better explanation for it as the man had no legs but rather the legs of a spider under a steel contraption. He politely introduced himself as Yagrum Bagarn. He told me he was the last of the Dwemer, or dwarfs as they were often referred to. Being the only living member of his race wasn’t enough sorrow for him; he also got infected with the disease and now had to spend the rest of his life here in this dungeon like room. Sure he had Divayth and I have no doubt Divayth made sure he wasn’t lacking anything, but to live out your life and live under those circumstances was unpleasant by any standards.

After Divayth asked him a question in an unknown language, Yagrum opened the chest standing next to him and got out a bottle. Divayth explained that this was the only remaining bottle of what had cured the Nerevar. And he again assured me that he knew nothing for certain and had no way of knowing if this would work or not. And that if it didn’t then there would be a time when I would be roaming these caverns myself. He said it in a way that made me sure that he was not just trying to get me to feel better. Then he gave me the bottle, and told me I could drink it anytime I saw fit. Well, holding it in my hand and looking at it, I knew my salvation or demise lay inside. To live forever as myself, or to become mindless, to carry on with my life or not, all of my faith lay in the bottle there. Finally gaining the courage, I opened it and downed the contents.

At first I felt nothing, and I was about to tell Divayth with resignation that it apparently hadn’t worked, when I felt a surge of energy coursing through my body. It seemed it started at my throat and worked its way down before coming back up all the way to my head and brain. I felt like I was dying. The pain was unbearable and I’m sure I wouldn’t still be here had the pain not stopped at that moment. And for a moment I stood there, looking at Divayth and just about to thank him when the headaches returned, and not just returned but ten times as strong. Having been troubled by them from the start , I had been glad this disease had gotten rid of them but it seemed with the disappearance of the disease, the headaches had returned. Sinking down onto my knees, I realized with some morbid humor that I had been wrong, the disease wasn’t the thing that got me, it was the headaches after all.

Barely able to move I saw Divayth approaching and he was kneeling down before me; he told me in a stern voice to repeat after him, and then he spoke in an ancient language. I later found it was Daedric he had spoken in, and he told me time and time again to repeat after him. After he had said this thing for about 5 times I took his advice and repeated after him, getting it right only after trying in vain for some time, and I found suddenly the headaches were subdsiding and I could think more straight. Even though they disappeared I found myself repeating the words, hoping that if I said them long enough I would never again have the headaches. Divayth approached me then and softly spoke to me, he told me from now on I need not fear those headaches again, they were gone and would not return.

He asked me if I remembered what Azura had said on that day not so long ago and I remembered her telling me about a gift to be unlocked. Then he told me in simple terms; “It seems you have finally unlocked your gift, Alexander.” Not knowing what he meant, I asked him, and he spoke; “Do you remember having to hold onto me when we flew down from my study? Well this time you’re not needing my help for it.” at that I looked at him strangely, then a thought came to me and I looked down.

I found myself floating. And that’s when I passed out.


Here Ends Chapter 1

Excellent description of the strength of Divayth's character- he really comes alive through your words. Also interesting to see the changes Alexander is going through and how he reacts. Good work.

Great story.

I can't wait to find out if Alexander's gift is more than levitation!

Marvellous story alex! Really intriguing, You have the ability to write in a way that makes Alex-in-the-story real vivid and very easy to acquaint to.

I´m looking forward to the next episode....

"When he awoke again, he found himself alone. He remembered dreaming of strange creatures with red eyes. It almost made him smile, as he knew there were no people that had red eyes. That only existed in fairy tales."

Albinistic people have red eyes.

Pink

I have but one thing to say to that

Holy f****** s*** that is a long time to wait for an update, it been a year but I want to see what happens after passing out. I really want to point out this story to those who want a shorter story to read, but want something of quality writing.

Pherhaps you've missed this then:
http://www.waiting4oblivion.com/forums/ind...howtopic=42&hl=


The second chapter of my tale, afterwards I kinda lost interest in my writing due to the obvious poor quality of it, so you'll have to wait a while for anything beyond that I'm afraid

Poor quality?
You're gonna need a better excuse than that mate, you've already shown us you can write so get on the third chapter!
Or don't thats really up to you but I'd hate to see this discontinued.

indeed, I don't thing that it is not any lack of ability with writing that is the problem, but I understand losing interest.

Btw, I didn't learn how to write a sentence until the fifth grade. And if you read my fanfic critically I can bet large sums of money that I don't acctually have that one could find it to be riddled with sentence errors. I do very well for someone who has had a learning disability in writing, but for a sophmore in college it is very substandard.

Ehhh Alex...not to be rude or uncensetive, but...have you been drinking lately...or banged your head. Your writing is not god at all. It's SUPER. You have nearly the same genious type of writing, that OverrideB1 and Treydo...and you see how good they have fared. Please write more, we're counting on you :wink:

As for myself, I dont think my story is near as good asyour's, minkey's, Treydog's and Override's, but I post it beacuse:

1:I like writing.
2:Other people like it.
3:I inspire other to start their stories ( or so I hope )
4:I hope that one day it will be accepted into the fanfiction section on the main site.
5:The sheer amusement of the replyes that come in.

So there you have the reasons I write, I do not believe my story is even close to the best ones here, but I try to make it so.Hope you will continue on your story ( you were one of the persons that made me write my own .wink: ), as I really...I mean REALLY LIKE IT.

:clap: :clap:

That last chapter was the best, with Divayth Fyr - you did an excellent job with his character!

This is a theme I have wanted to do for a long time, a regular person being transported (time/space wormhole type thing) to Cyrodiil and finding themselves in the strange world - you did a great job with this, I hope one day when I do mine I can do as well as you have - Awesome Write!


(and yes, I do realize I am a necromancer everyone, lol)