In the deepest depths of a cave in Vvardenfell, the two adventurers stood before a crude doorway carved into a rock, flanked with ornately decorated, cubist masonry – a telltale sign of Daedric architecture.
It had taken them three days to get this far into the cave. One entire day had been spent helping the third member of their party out of the cave and to a healer in Vos after he had fallen down a ravine obscured by shadows.
"By the Gods, we've found it…" one of the adventurers said reverently. Beyond the doorway was a huge natural cavern, lit as bright as day by a dazzling, Sun-like light radiating from a similar doorway at the far end of the cavern.
The pair heard a noise behind them. They turned around to see two Imperials in white robes, crossbows levelled at their heads. It was the last thing the two adventurers ever saw – their bodies were never found.
In the early years of the Fourth Era, a little-known Dunmer author and wizard known as Sevri Gimothran published a short book called 'The Mysteries Of Tamriel'. It was simply a list posing questions which nobody has ever arrived at a satisfactory answer to. For a reason I cannot explain, two of these stood out to me.
The second line on page 3 of the book reads, "Where did magicka originate from?"
Halfway down page 5, a question is posed, "Why are Wayshrines found only in Cyrodiil when the Nine Divines are worshipped all across Tamriel?"
That night, I had a dream. I saw nothing but blackness but I knew I was dreaming. I was seeing the end of all time, the complete destruction of reality itself. I knew somehow that it was linked to what I had read in Gimothran's book earlier.
The next day I set out on a journey to find answers. I am not a wise man, nor a rich man. I'm a gardener, and a man of simple life and pleasures. My name is Erris Spires, and this is the tale of how I discovered the dagger being held to the throat of the world.
