Bound and Gagged

16th of Last Seed, 201st year of the 4th Era of Tamriel

At last! Skyrim sits just north of me. I've made camp here in the northernmost portion of Cyrodiil and will slip across the border tomorrow. I intend to head north towards Whiterun before traveling to Windhelm to seek out Ulfric Stormcloak and join his army in their battle to reinstate the worship of Talos in Skyim. Our own god being declared illegal was enough! But to allow a foreign power to travel across the Empire and take those who do worship him is too much. Ulfric and his army, the Stormcloaks, are even now fighting against the Imperial Legion and I intend to lend my magical powers to their arsenal. Talos knows they need it, my fellow Nords are widely known for their battle prowess but not their skill in the arcane arts. Hopefully I will meet with little resistance to my abilities as a wizard.

Tomorrow will be the true start to my journey!

17th of Last Seed, 4E 201

By the gods, daedric lords, and whatever else is out there! I am lucky to still have my head still attached, not burnt to a crisp, trampled underfoot, or eaten alive. They were legends, legends we were told! Pah!

I must be clear for posterity's sake. As I was slipping across the border I encountered a Stormcloak patrol. "What luck!" I thought, "I can travel with them to Windhelm and prove my worth along the way." To my absolute shock an Imperial ambush was sprung on the Stormcloaks, the Legion bust out of the pine forests and laid into the Stormcloaks. "My turn for a surprise," I thought. I began to rain down all the destructive spells I knew on the Imperials. It didn't last long, as more and more Legion troops poured out of the woods. The battle must have turned south as I was knocked out cold and awoke with a splitting headache in a wagon and my hands bound.

There were three men with me in the wagon, two Stormcloaks and a horse-thief from a village called Rorikstead. They brought us to a town called Helgen. I knew it from my maps, I had intended to restock on supplies there. Of my three companions in binds, one of the Stormcloaks was gagged. The other Stormcloak nearly headbutted the horse-thief when he asked about the gagged one, claiming that the man was Ulfric Stormcloak himself! It dawned on me why the Imperials were so tenacious in that forest, they were after the leader of the Stormcloak rebellion itself! Which could only mean that we would all hang. I was half right, we pulled up to a headsman's block as the thought crossed my mind.

The Empire had a damn list and rattled us off one by one, until the Nord calling off our names got to me, looked at his list and simply said, "Who...are you?" "Gods be praised!" I thought, I might get out of this yet. The damn captain sent me to the block anyway. I was the second man called to the block as the horse-thief died from an arrow after attempting to flee. Damned coward...

They pushed me down on the block, I watched the headsman's axe rise up. I waited for my life to flash before my eyes. I heard someone shout, "What in Oblivion is that!?" I beheld a legend then, a dragon crashed down onto the tower behind the headsman, the tremendous landing knocking him off his feet, sparing me the axe. It lest out a massive shout that sent men flying and set the clouds into a massive storm that pelted the ground with lightning while it flew around breathing fire, picking up soldiers and dropping them to their deaths.

Amidst this chaos I saw the other Stormcloak from my wagon, Ralof I later learned to be his name, calling to me to run into a tower. Ulfric was waiting for us there, this time without a gag. He responded to all our thoughts which were voiced by Ralof, "Legends don't burn down villages." We fled the tower, jumping down into another building. Somewhere along the way I got separated from Ralof and met up with the only Imperial who questioned my being there. Hadvar was his name, a good man, but fighting for the wrong side. We fled through the chaos, dodging the dragon seemingly at every turn. Noticing Ralof near the entry to the town's keep I broke off and followed him. Inside we found some respite.

Ralof cut my bonds before we headed further into the keep. We had to cut our way through a number of Imperials and even dealt with a torture room. If I ever needed any evidence of the Imperial's inadequacy, here it was. We fled into caverns long forgotten and emerged somewhere south of Helgen. The dragon passed over us one last time before vanishing in the distance letting out an enormous roar. Ralof led me down to the town of Riverwood, noting that this was neutral territory and to watch out for Imperials. His sister and brother-in-law live here in Riverwood and have given us shelter. I won't stay long, Ralof intends to leave with the dawn and head to Windhelm. Ralof's sister Gerdur has asked me to head to the city of Whiterun and beg the jarl for aid. I did gather some coin from the Imperials in the keep and will purchase a few things here and explore some before I head north. Damn Imperials took my spellbook anyway, from now on I memorize everything...