To my dear son Edwin, 3E 433

I know it has been many years since we have seen one another. Nothing I can say will make up for my absence, and perhaps neglect, as a father. But, I would like to affirm that no period of time shall ever affect my love for my son. Yet it is also time that has made things difficult for me.

Within this letter is a tale, one which perhaps no one in all of Tamriel has any knowledge of, except for me and soon, you. I shall start from the beginning, on the day I left our home in the Imperial City. It all began when I was doing my usual routine of collecting alchemical ingredients from the nearby forest.

I was searching for some wisp stalks in an uninhabited cave. Traveling deeper and deeper into the cave, I began to notice strange occurances. At first, there were flashes of white light in far off areas of the cave, which I assumed to simply be some sort of hallucination from my extensive loitering within the cave. However, I began to feel a strange sensation, a sort of mental confusion.

I suddenly began to fall where I stood, a hole somehow appearing where there was once flat stone. I then noticed that I had discovered some part of the cave that seemed to have no other way in, an inaccesible chamber. I was excited and frightened at the same time. Before I could do some exploring to find a way out, there was a loud crack and the chamber began to glow a bright blue. The light was immense, so powerful that it's glow gave off heat.

When I was able to finally look upon the source of the light, I found something that would change my life forever. Before me hovered an orb which seemed to hold a magical flame within it. I was drawn to the orb, stepping closer and closer. Soon, my hands slowly extended, reaching out for it. The flames seemed to burn ever more brightly, as if they'd scorch me on contact. Without realizing it, I grasped the orb with both my hands and there was a blast of lightening that struck me, leaving my unconscious.

I awoke to find myself in the same chamber, yet also feeling different. I saw no hole above me, from where I had fallen in, yet somehow a door appeared at the other end of the chamber, where there wasn't one before. I approached it and stepped out. Instantly, I knew something was amiss. I briskly walked towards the Imperial City, and saw my feelings were true. Where the proud White Gold Tower once stood, now remained the enflamed ruins of the tower, with the upper section having collapsed.

My first thought was of the safety of my family, and I ran with haste. I soon began to heave and pant, as you now that my sedantary life style and calm explorations could in no way leave me in perfect physical shape. I feared the worst when I heard the clash of steel upon steel, and the cries of dying men. It was when I reached the gates, I learned all was not what it seemed.

As I cautiously navigated the streets, covered with flowing blood and dead men and mer, I saw something one could not possibly see in our times. The human bodies were ill-equipped, opposed to what you'd expect if the Imperial Legion had led this defense. Many had broken wrist irons on, and markings on their necks. On the other side, there lay the dead bodies of mer, though one's I'd never seen before. What gave them away was their arms and armor. They wore armor I had only seen once during my explorations, and then it was in terrible shape. The armor was elven, and characteristic of a specific group of elves, the Ayleids.

Aye. You may think and say that this could not be, as Alessia had led a rebellion and disposed of these vicious elven slave masters in an era many millenias ago. Yet I could not ignore what my eyes told me, for before me stood an army of Ayleids, in conflict with a group of humans. I instantly thought that perhaps I was in the times of Alessia and the slave rebellion. As I contemplated my situation, an Ayleid warrior spotted me standing among the broken bodies and began rushing towards me, his sword held to slice me in half. My fighting abilities are limited, for I am no warrior. Stendarr must have been smiling upon me, for in my pocket was a potion I had created in hopes of experimenting with. Seeing the Ayleid warrior approach closer and closer, I pulled out the jar and tore the cork out. Without hesitation, I drank the entire jar and in an instant, I was transformed and became invisible. I smiled, congratulating myself for fooling the Ayleid, but then I realized I had forgotten an important fact.

The Ayleid stopped in his tracks, and gave an angered growl. He calmly began to recite something in his own tongue, though I recognized the act of casting I spell. I quickly remebered how the Ayleids were attached magic, far more than that of even most elves. Not waiting a second longer for him to finish his spell, I began to run away, towards the gate I had come through. I did not know what spell the Ayleid cast, or whether it worked. I had managed to escape the Imperial City.

Things were not quiet outside the city either. Where there was once a tranquil forest and grassland around lake Rumare, now stood hundreds of tents surrounding the city. I at first thought that the humans were perhaps besieging the city, but as I came nearer, I saw only altmer and bosmer troops milling about. I was curious and decided to keep my distance as I watched them. I learned of their loyalty when a band of humans escaping the city ran straight into their encampment, to be viciously slaughtered by a barage of arrows, magic and spears. Cyrodiil had become a field of war, covered in chaos and ruins.

I checked my potion bag and found two healing potions, along with a mortar and pestle, and some nurioushment. At least I had possessed the tools, along with my knowledge, to use nature for my advantage. It was to be a long night, for which I remained carefully hidden. I knew the mer would be using detect life spells during their patrol, so I made sure to remain as far as I could. I slept uncomfortably that night, full of fear and shock.

The next day, I awoke to the sound of shouting. I quickly crawled up onto the road to get a view of the commotion. I found the source of the shouting, which seemed to eminate from the forest. A large group, or horde shall I say, of armored humans, who seemed to be Nords, poured out from the forests and charged straight into the nearest encampments, startling the sleeping mer and those who had not expected the assault.

I realized this would create an area of chaos and confusion, which would let me escape from this foul place, and perhaps find out where I was, or when I was. Maybe I would even get to meet the famed Alessia. I waited for the right moment, then ran across the road, stumbling over a rock and nearly rolling into a group of Bosmer warriors, who shouted at me, and fired their arrows right after. They all missed, and it seemed my unintended distraction allowed a small group of Nord archers to target those Bosmer and extinguish their lives.

While the battle continued, I managed to successfully make it past the camps. Now only one dilemma remained, and it was the question of where'd I'd go now. Before I could give it some serious thought though, there was yelling among the humans, which sounded like a call for retreat. I stood watching in awe, as the Nords charged back into the forest they came from, with a wave of intricate gold chasing behind them, the mer troops. Before they reached the tree line, the ground beneath the mer erupted into a trench of fire, engulfing all those unfortunate to be standing above the ground where the trench was.

In awe of the scene, I had become oblivious to two approaching Bosmers, who had their arrows ready to fire. One of them called out to me, most likely an order to surrender from what I could understand. I turned to look at them and only saw the cold in their eyes. It occured to me that I might actually die here, wherever or whenever I was. I thought perhaps my body would be found by historians of our time, and regarded as a simple curiosity. As these thoughts flashed through my mind, I saw a blur move across the two Bosmer, who abruptly collapsed to the floor, suddenly drenched in their own blood.

Whoever had killed the two Bosmer never appeared, and I had no time to investigate because at that instant, a Nord scout found me standing before the two bodies, and beckoned me to his side. I was hesitant at first, but from what I had seen, It was wiser to at least trust a human than a mer. It was then I unwittingly committed myself to my new fate on Nirn, one I would come to learn many years later, which is today. This shall be the first of many letters I write to you, revealing to you things I felt, I saw, I lived and I feared. My life, written in ink on paper.

May the nine bless and protect you,

Your Loving Father,

Caldius