Books of Skyrim

by Bethesda Softworks

  Would find Ellabeth's and her love, the great Nienolas.

  Behind the second lived a ravenous demon.

  And behind the third, an exit to freedom.

  She must choose a door, and to aid her decision

  If she pondered too long, the axe'd make a division.

  Lorinthyrae wept, and Ellabeth felt contrite,

  And opened the door to her immediate right.

  It led to the moors, and as she slipped through the gloom,

  She advised Lorinthyrae to likewise abandon the room.

  Lorinthyrae ignored her and did not feel her will bend.

  Nienolas was largely behind the first door she opened.

  IV.

  Ellabeth had lied; there was no demon of lore.

  The top third of Nienolas was behind the third door.

  Third Era: An Abbreviated Timeline, The Last Year of the First Era

  by Jaspus Ignateous

  It has been said that "citizens of the Empire who make the same mistakes as their forebears deserve to suffer the same fate." And while this may be true, it's hard to deny that the Empire's history is so long, and our forebears have made so many mistakes, it's sometimes hard to keep track.

  This work is meant to serve as a concise compilation of the Empire's most recent events, in this, our current age - what we refer to as the Third Era. It is a period of time that has as yet comprised less than five hundred years. But it should at least serve as a starting point for those who wish to study our Empire's vast and varied history. And maybe, just maybe, prevent the repeat of a previous disaster.

  It is also worth noting that when viewed in such a succinct structure, one truly gets a sense of just how often our great Empire has changed leadership. Indeed, it can be argued that much of the Empire's history in these past five centuries is the changing rule of that very Empire itself.

  First Century

  - 3E 0 - Beginning of Third Era, when all province in Tamriel are unified

  - 3E 38 - Death of Emperor Tiber Septim, and crowning of Emperor Pelagius

  - 3E 41 - Assassination of Emperor Pelagius, and crowning of Empress Kintyra

  - 3E 48 - Death of Empress Kintyra , and crowning of Emperor Uriel I

  - 3E 64 - Death of Emperor Uriel I, and crowning of Emperor Uriel II

  - 3E 82 - Death of Emperor Uriel II, and crowning of Emperor Pelagius II

  - 3E 99 - Death of Emperor Pelagius II Dies, and crowning of Emperor Antiochus

  Second Century

  - 3E 110 - War of the Isle

  - 3E 111 - Knights of the Nine founded by Sir Amiel Lannus

  - 3E 114 - Reported death of Empress Kintyra II

  - 3E 119 - Birth of Pelagius III

  - 3E 121 - Uriel III Proclaimed Emperor

  - 3E 121 - War of the Red Diamond

  - 3E 123, 23 Frostfall - Actual death of Empress Kintyra II, in captivity, in secret

  - 3E 127 - Death of Emperor Uriel III, and crowing of Emperor Cephorus I

  - 3E 137 - Death of Potema, the Queen of Solitude

  - 3E 140 - Death of Emperor Cephorus I, and crowning of Emperor Magnus

  - 3E 145 - Death of Emperor Magnus, and crowning of Emperor Pelagius III

  - 3E 153 - Death of Emperor Pelagius III

  - 3E 153 - Katariah takes throne from husband Pelagius, becoming Empress

  Third Century

  - 3E 200 - Death of Empress Katariah, and crowning of Emperor Cassynder

  - 3E 202 - Death of Emperor Cassynder, and crowning of Emperor Uriel IV

  - 3E 247 - Death of Emperor Uriel IV, and crowning of Emperor Cephorus II

  - 3E 249 - Invasion of the Empire by the lich, Camoran Usurper

  - 3E 253 - Camoran Usurper controls the Dwynnen Region with "Nightmare Host"

  - 3E 267 - Defeat of Camoran Usurper Defeated

  - 3E 268 - Crowing of Emperor Uriel V

  - 3E 271-3E 284 - Various Conquests of Emperor Uriel Septim IV

  - 3E 288 - Invasion of Akavir by the forces of Emperor Uriel Septim IV

  - 3E 290 - Death of Emperor Uriel V, and crowning of Emperor Uriel VI

  Fourth Century

  - 3E 307 - Uriel VI gain full power as Emperor

  - 3E 320 - Death of Uriel VI, and crowning of Empress Morihatha

  - 3E 331 - Publication of the second edition of "A Pocket Guide to The Empire"

  - 3E 339 - Assassination of Empress Morihatha, and crowning of Emperor Pelagius IV

  - 3E 389 - Jagar Tharn betrays Emperor Uriel Septim VII

  - 3E 396 - Regional Wars Throughout Tamriel

  - 3E 396 - The Arnesian War

  - 3E 399 - Defeat of Jagar Tharn

  - 3E 399 - The founding of Orsinium

  Fifth Century

  - 3E 403 - Assassination of Lysandus, the King of Daggerfall

  - 3E 414 - Vvardenfell Territory opened for settlement

  - 3E 417 - The "Warp in the West" occurs

  - 3E 421 - Greywyn founds the Crimson Scars.

  - 3E 427 - Beginning of the Blight Curse in Vvardenfell, and arrival of the Nerevar

  - 3E 427 - The Bloodmoon Prophecy comes to pass, on the isle of Solstheim

  - 3E 432 - Publication of the third edition of "A Pocket Guide to The Empire"

  - 3E 433 - Assassination of Emperor Uriel Septim VII

  - 3E 433 - The "Oblivion Crisis"

  - 3E 433 - The Knights of the Nine are reformed

  Three Thieves

  by Anonymous

  "The problem with thieves today," said Lledos, "Is the lack of technique. I know there's no honor among thieves, and there never was, but there used to be some pride, some skill, some basic creativity. It really makes those of us with a sense of history despair."

  Imalyn sneered, slamming down his flagon of greef violently on the rough-hewn table. "B'vek, what do you want us to say? You asks us 'What do you do when you see a guard?' and I says, 'Stab the fetcher in the back.' What d'you prefer? We challenge 'em to a game of chits?"

  "So much ambition, so little education," said Lledos with a sigh. "My dear friends, we aren't mugging some Nord tourist fresh off the ferry. The Cobblers Guildhall may not sound intimidating but tonight, when the dues collection is housed there before being sent to the bank, the security's going to be tighter than a kwama's ass. You can't just stab at every back you encounter and expect to make it into the vaults."

  "Why don't you explain specifically what you'd like us to do?" asked Galsiah calmly, trying to keep the tone of the group down. Most locals at the Plot and Plaster cornerclub in Tel Aruhn knew enough not to listen in, but she knew better than to take any chances.

  "The common thief," said Lledos, pouring himself more greef, warming to his subject. "Sticks his dagger in his opponent's back. This may slay the target, but more often gives him time to scream and drenches the attacker with blood. Not good. Now a good throat-slashing, properly executed, can both slay and silence a guard and leave the thief relatively bloodfree. And after all, after the robbery, we don't want people seeing a bunch of blood-soaked butchers running through the streets. Even in Tel Aruhn, that's likely to warrant suspicion."

  "If you can catch your victim lying down asleep or resting, you are in an excellent position. You place one hand over the mouth with your thumb under the chin, then you use your other hand to slit the throat, and quickly turn the head to one side so the body bleeds out away from you. There is a risk here of becoming blood stained if you don't move the head quickly enough. If you're unsure, strangle the victim first to avoid the blood that tends to spurt out in three foot jets when someone is stabbed while alive."

  "A very good friend of mine, a thief in Gnisis whose name I won't mention, swears by the strangle-and-slash technique. Simply put, you grab your victim's throat from behind and while throttling him, you batter his face against the opposite wall. When the victim is thus rendered unconscious, you slash his throat while still holding him from behind, and the risk of staining one's clothes with blood is practic
ally nonexistant."

  "The classic technique, which requires less grappling than my friend's variation, is to place one hand over the victim's mouth, and then saw through the throat in three or four stroke rather like playing a violin. It requires little effort, and while there's quite a bit of blood, it all jets forward away from you."

  "There's no reason when one knows one is going to be slitting some throats not to take some precautions and bring some extra equipment. The best neck-hackers I know generally carry a bit of wadded cloth on the aft-side of their knives to keep blood from getting on their cuffs. It's impractical for this sort of assignment, but when you're only anticipating one or two victims, nothing beats throwing a sack over the targets head, drawing the string tight, and then supplying the killing blow or blows."

  Imalyn laughed loudly, "Can I see a demonstration sometime?"

  "Very soon," said Lledos. "If Galsiah has done her job."

  Galsiah brought out the map of the guildhouse, freshly stolen, and they began to detail out the strategy.

  The last several hours had been a whirlwind to all. In less than a day, the three had met, formulated a plan, bought or stolen the necessary ingredients, and were about to execute it. Not one of the three were sure whether confidence or stupidity were driving the other two, but the fates were aligned. The guildhouse was going to be robbed.

  When the sun set, Lledos, Galsiah, and Imalyn approached the Cobblers Guildhouse on the east end of town. Galsiah used her cachous of stoneflower to mask their scent from the guard wolves as the three passed over the parapets. She also acted as lead scout, and Lledos was impressed. For someone of relative inexperience, she knew her way through shadows.

  Lledos's expertise was demonstrated a dozen times, and the guards were of such a diverse variety, he was able to demonstrate all the means of silent assassination he had developed over the years.

  Imalyn opened the vault in his unique and systematic method. As the tumblers fell beneath his fingers, he softly sang an old dirty tavern song about the Ninety-Nine Loves of Boethiah. He said it helped him focus and organize difficult combinations. Within seconds, the vault was open and the gold was in hand.

  They left the guildhouse an hour after they entered. No alarm had been raised, the gold was gone, and corpses lay pooling blood on the stone floors within.

  "Well done, my friends, well done. You learned well." Lledos said as he poured the gold pieces into the specially designed compartments in his tunic's sleeves, where they held fast with no jingling or unusual bulges. "We'll meet back at the Plot and Plaster tomorrow morning and split up the bounty."

  The group parted ways. The only person who knew the most covert route through the city's sewer system, Lledos, slipped in through a duct and vanished below. Galsiah threw on her shawl, muddied her face to resemble an old f'lah fortune-teller, and headed north. Imalyn headed east into the park, trusting his unnatural senses to keep him away from the citywatch.

  Now I teach them the greatest lesson of all, thought Lledos as he sloshed through the labyrinthine tunnels of sludge. His guar was waiting where he left it at the city gates, making a laconic lunch of the chokeweed shrub to which it had been leashed.

  On the road to Vivec, he thought of Galsiah and Imalyn. Perhaps they had been caught and brought in for questioning already. It was a pity he couldn't see them undergoing interrogation. Who would break under pressure first? Imalyn was certainly the tougher of the two, but Galsiah doubtless had hidden reserves. It was merely intellectual curiousity: they thought his name was Lledos and he was meeting them at the Plot and Plaster. The authorities wouldn't therefore be looking for a Dunmer named Sathis celebrating his wealth miles and miles away in Vivec.

  As he prodded his mount forward and the sun began rising, Sathis pictured Galsiah and Imalyn not undergoing interrogation, but sleeping the good deep sleep of the wicked, dreaming of how they would spend their share of the gold. Both would wake up early and rush to the Plot and Plaster. He could see them now, Imalyn laughing and carrying on, Galsiah hushing him to avoid bringing undue attention. They would take a couple flagons of greef, perhaps order a meal -- a big one -- and wait. Hours would pass, and so would their moods. The chain of reactions that every betrayed person exhibits: nervousness, doubt, bewilderment, anger.

  The sun was fully risen when Sathis reached the stables of his house on the outskirts of Vivec. He reigned in his guar and filled its feed. The rest of the stalls were empty. It wouldn't be until that afternoon when his servants returned from the feast of St Rilms in Gnisis. They were good people, and he treated them well, but from past experience he knew that servants talked. If they began to connect his absences with thefts in other towns, it was only a matter of time before they would go to the authorities or blackmail him. After all, they were human. It was best in the long run to give them a week off with pay whenever he was out of town on business.

  He slipped the gold into the vault in his study, and went upstairs. The schedule had been tight, but Sathis had given himself a few hours to rest before his household returned. His own bed was wonderfully soft and warm compared to the dreadful mattress he had to use at the canton in Tel Aruhn.

  Sathis woke up some time later from a nightmare. For a second after he opened his eyes, he thought he could still hear Imalyn's voice nearby, singing The Ninety-Nine Loves of Boethiah. He lay still in his bed, waiting, but there was no sound except the usual creaks and groans of his old house. Afternoon sunlight came through his bedroom window in ribbons, catching dust. He closed his eyes.

  The song returned, and Sathis heard the vault door in his study swing open. The smell of stoneflower filled his nose and he opened his eyes. Only a little of the afternoon sunlight could pierce the inside of the burlap sack.

  A strong, feminine hand clamped over the mouth and a thumb jabbed under his chin. Just as his throat opened and his head was shoved to the side, he heard Galsiah in her typical calm voice, "Thank you for the lesson, Sathis."

  Timeline Series

  Volume 1: Before the Ages of Man

  By Aicantar of Shimerene

  Before man came to rule Tamriel, and before the chronicles of the historians recorded the affairs of the rulers of Tamriel, the events of our world are known only through myths and legends, and through the divinely inspired teachings of the Nine Divines.

  For convenience, historians divide the distant ages of prehistory into two broad periods of time -- the Dawn Era, and the Merethic Era.

  * The Dawn Era *

  The Dawn Era is that period before the beginning of mortal time, when the feats of the gods take place. The Dawn Era ends with the exodus of the gods and magic from the World at the founding of the Adamantine Tower.

  The term 'Merethic' comes from the Nordic, literally, "Era of the Elves." The Merethic Era is the prehistoric time after the exodus of the gods and magic from the World at the founding of the Adamantine Tower and before the arrival of Ysgramor the Nord in Tamriel.

  The following are the most notable events of the Dawn Era, presented roughly in sequence as it must be understaoo by creatures of time such as ourselves.

  The Cosmos formed from the Aurbis [chaos, or totality] by Anu and Padomay. Akatosh (Auriel) formed and Time began. The Gods (et'Ada) formed. Lorkhan convinced -- or tricked -- the Gods into creating the mortal plane, Nirn. The mortal plane was at this point highly magical and dangerous. As the Gods walked, the physical make-up of the mortal plane and even the timeless continuity of existence itself became unstable.

  When Magic (Magnus), architect of the plans for the mortal world, decided to terminate the project, the Gods convened at the Adamantine Tower [Direnni Tower, the oldest known structure in Tamriel] and decided what to do. Most left when Magic did. Others sacrificed themselves into other forms so that they might Stay (the Ehlnofey). Lorkhan was condemned by the Gods to exile in the mortal realms, and his heart was torn out and cast from the Tower. Where it landed, a Volcano formed. With Magic (in the Mythic Sense) gone, the Cosmos stabilize
d. Elven history, finally linear, began (ME2500).

  * The Merethic Era *

  The Merethic Era was figured by early Nord scholars as a series of years numbered in reverse order backward from the their 'beginning of time' -- the founding of the Camoran Dynasty, recorded as Year Zero of the First Era. The prehistoric events of the Merethic Era are listed here with their traditional Nordic Merethic dates. The earliest Merethic date cited by King Harald's scholars was ME2500 -- the Nordic reckoning of the first year of time. As such, the Merethic Era extends from ME2500 in the distant past to ME1 -- the year before the founding of the Camoran Dysnasty and the establishment of the White Gold Tower as an indepenent city-state.