Foreword:

Seventy three years after the Oblivion Crisis and thirty years since the Umbriel Crisis. There are many tales of Tamriel, both told and untold. Many have lived through times both terrible and inspiring with tales to tell and there are others with the burning urge to see those stories recorded for all to see. At times, the lines between the storyteller and the tale become blurred.

Authors note: With some artistic license, all reasonable effort made to maintain general parity with existing canon established in Oblivion, The Infernal City/Lord of Souls, and Skyrim. That is, where absence of detail leads me to be plausibly creative, I try to at least avoid 'contradicting' known lore.

Rated M for mild adult content.


Although it should go without needing to be stated, let it be said: Bethesda owns The Elder Scrolls and all related materials. I am merely contributing my own interpretations in a public forum and no profit is derived or intended from my work.


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Additional note: This story follows on very loosely from my previous tales, featuring some earlier characters in peripheral roles. Even so, some effort has been made to allow this story to function as fully stand-alone.

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Wisdom in Words: An Elder Scrolls Tale

Greg J Miller

~O~

Chapter 1

Middas the 18th of Sun's Height 4E73 Morning

Just like the one before that, the previous evening had remained uncomfortably warm throughout the hours of darkness. The heat of the day was nothing terribly uncommon for that time of year in the heart of the Cyrodiilic Empire. Even so, the nights were not usually quite so intemperate. Most days, a good breeze blowing across Lake Rumare could be counted upon during the late afternoon to alleviate the summer heat and provide for somewhat cooler evenings. Only just the week before, that was certainly the case. However, after a very warm Sundas and even warmer Morndas, it seemed as though the summer days were not given to providing for any immediate mercy.

After a night of restless sleep, Nikula Pinewatch arose and headed for the small bathroom in the family home, situated on the western outskirts of the village of Weye. After attending to immediate concerns, she cleaned up at the washbasin, repeatedly splashing water upon her face in an effort wash away sleepiness.

Weary eyes gazed back at her from the small mirror affixed to the wall. In that lighting, her eyes seemed a slightly darker shade of brown. Perhaps more like her father's eyes than her mother's lighter coloured orbs of amber. Of course, Nikula's eyes commonly seemed just as changeable as her mother's. Oftentimes mostly reflecting a lighter shade of brown and other times seemingly tinged with green and yellow.

Brushing loose locks back behind her slightly angular ears, she observed how the morning light coming in through the high window also seemed to make her hair appear much darker. Though not quite as fair as her mother's colouring, Nikula's hair was not nearly as dark as her father or brother, with their brown locks. Her hair generally appeared quite fair in brighter lighting. She'd considered using potions to adjust the colouring to reflect that of her mother's, as she'd done once or twice before, but in truth she was far too lazy to really bother with that.

Returning to her room, Nikula dressed for the day. By her reckoning, even at that relatively early hour, it was far too warm to even consider wearing trousers. She readily opted for a lighter cotton dress with a thin waist tie. The unpatterned pale blue garment hardly seemed outwardly fashionable, but she didn't care. At that particular moment, Nikula was only longing for the distant return of winter days and much cooler weather. Even something vaguely resembling the milder days of spring or autumn would have suited her just fine.

As she fastened the buckles of her sandals, she could tell that the house was likely fairly empty. She could hear some noisy crows arguing somewhere outside, but the family home was otherwise mostly quiet. She expected that her father was already out looking to the small fields behind the house or else tending to the cow or chickens. It was also likely that her mother had already departed to go over to the Wawnet Inn to see Belwen. Whether her brother was yet up and about remained unknown. He needed to get over to the schoolhouse in the Temple District of the city. Though it somehow still seemed to fall to her to observe that he did so, she hardly cared whether he made it on time or otherwise. She had her own concerns to see to.

Making her way to the kitchen area of the farmhouse, Nikula found that a jug of fresh milk had been left sitting atop the icebox. That indicated that her father had already passed some time tending the cow. There were still some seasoned sweetbreads in the breadbox. She took one of them to eat, then poured some milk into a mug. That would easily suit her for a quick morning meal before heading off for the day.

Just as she was near to finishing her food and drink, Erik hurried into the kitchen area, still fastening the buttons on his shirt. His unruly mess of brown hair made it seem that he'd emerged from his bed only moments before.

Neither of them spoke to one another as her younger brother hurriedly poured out some milk for himself, then started stuffing a bread roll into his mouth.

Presuming that Erik wasn't at all likely to do it, Nikula placed the milk jug inside the icebox where it belonged, then rinsed out her mug before setting it back on the shelf by the windowsill.

She disappeared back to her room for a brief moment, then returned. After stuffing her coinpurse deep into her small leather satchel, she looked to her brother as she slung the bag over her shoulder. "Ain't waiting about for you, if you're not ready. I need to get to work on time."

Stuffing the last of his sweetbread into his mouth, Erik raised his eyebrows, then frowned as he chewed. Unable to immediately speak, he waved his hand to indicate he was just about done. He gulped the last of his milk down, still chewing on what he'd yet to swallow.

Nikula release an exasperated sigh, turning about to head for the door. "I'm going."

"Mmm'ready." Erik's hurried words slurred and merged. He still seemed to be struggling with what he was chewing on. He quickly grabbed an apple from a bowl and shoved it into his satchel, then rushed off after his sister.


It wasn't even near to eight yet and it already easily felt like it was approaching the heat of midday. Only maintaining a brisk pace along the stone bridge over the narrow of Lake Rumare provided some illusion of the movement of air. There was certainly no breeze at all to speak of just yet. Worst of all, it wasn't just hot. There was an uncomfortable measure of moisture on the air that made it feel even warmer.

Not long before, after departing the family home over the western side of Weye, Nikula moved quickly along the path toward where the branches of the Red Ring Road converged, forming the broad thoroughfare up the middle of the village. From there, the road led directly to the bridge across the lake to the Imperial City. Without speaking at all, her younger brother followed along just a few paces behind her.

The pair of siblings marched along like that in relative silence. Nikula only cast a fleeting sideways glance as they passed by the Wawnet. All of the shutters along the southern wall by the roadside were fully open. Though she hadn't actually noticed anyone inside, she was confident that her mother and Belwen were both in there.

Her mother had still been known as Monika Northwind back when she first took over the Wawnet, after the passing of the old Altmer woman who ran the place beforehand. Of course that was before Nikula had even been born, but she'd often heard tales of Nerussa all throughout her childhood. Added to that, Nerussa's ashes had remained in that urn placed prominently upon the shelf behind the service counter in the tavern area.

As Nikula understood it, that Bosmer woman who helped her mother run the place had also been there since Nerussa's time. Though it probably wasn't exactly the case, it did seem to her that Belwen had hardly changed in outward appearance since her earliest memory of her. Though Belwen had to be about forty, it did seem that Bosmer women aged rather slowly. By that measure, Nikula supposed that her somewhat rugged looking ranger husband had be a couple of decades her senior. Unless of course, certain Bosmer bloodlines aged more rapidly than others. Nikula didn't really know for certain and had never thought to directly ask.

Given that Monika Pinewatch was half-Nord and half-Altmer, her mother hardly looked much like her seventy-three years. If she didn't know better, Nikula would have thought her mother to be only a little older than Belwen.

Since Nikula was effectively three-quarter Nord, she expected that time would likely treat her rather differently. She supposed that she actually might be a bit like a Breton in that regard, since all Bretons held some elven blood in their lineage. Even so, many a Breton was said to live to at least a hundred or more.

She also recalled that her father had told her that his grandmother had been an Imperial. However, there wasn't really so much difference between the Nords, the Colovians and the Nibenese. Despite what might be claimed, all were effectively human of some shared heritage, however separated by the greater passage of time.

Whatever the case, Nikula had only eighteen years under belt, so the thought of growing old really seemed far from her current focus of concern. The only immediate matter upon her mind that morning was making it up to the Market District of the Imperial City on time and getting inside out of the oppressive heat of the day.

After dodging the horse shit along the roadway and avoiding a slow moving transport wagon on the bridge, they began the steep climb up toward the main gates of the city. The relative absence of busy traffic along the roadway seemed a stark contrast to that of the previous week, during those days just before and after the annual Merchants' Festival. Things would likely be even quieter on Fredas, with the Sun's Height midyear day of rest falling on that day. Still, that was only one day. After Sun's Rest had come and gone, activity would start to steadily ramp up again over Loredas and Sundas, then mostly return to normal by Morndas.

If only for a brief moment, the tall stone walls of the Imperial City provided just a touch of passing relief as the shadow cast below the western wall offered some shelter from the harsh morning sun. The weary guard standing by the gate offered only a silent nod of acknowledgment at their approach. Since he'd seen them many times before, there was no need to give the Pinewatch siblings any passing thought.

Beyond the main city gates, the familiar appearance of the Talos Plaza District opened up ahead. Unless there was something unusual to observe, Nikula hardly gave the place any thought as she passed through. Though it hardly seemed so crowded in the central plaza of the district, there were more than a few people out and about on the streets that morning, headed along in one direction or another.

Giving the front entrance of the Tiber Septim Hotel a wide berth, the oft-seen raggedy Colovian beggar made his way around the dragon statue feature at the centre of the plaza.

As a general rule, the beggars of the Imperial City tended not to bother any children on the streets. Though Nikula was no longer really in that category, when she was with her slightly younger brother, the beggars still seemed to treat her as such. Passing through the city on her own, that was not always the case.

Reaching the central feature of the plaza, that was where Nikula and her brother silently parted company. Erik headed off to the right for the schoolhouse over in the Temple District. Nikula continued onward in an easterly direction, headed for the Elven Gardens District, on her way for the Market District.

Passing through the gateway into the next walled section of the city, that primarily residential district really seemed no more crowded than the Talos Plaza District had been. Since neither of the two taverns by the central crossroads of that second district would be servicing much trade at that time of the morning, that was nothing out of the ordinary. Most of the people out on the streets of the Elven Gardens District were just on their way to somewhere else, just like Nikula.

She briefly observed a pair of younger Imperial children running at urgent pace, headed for the central district of the city. Evidently, they intended to cut across the open space of the Green Emperor Way to get to the Temple District. Unless it was already later than she thought, she figured they'd probably make it to the schoolhouse with time to spare, even without running all the way.

Only casually glancing upward to observe the sunlight reflecting off the walls of the White-Gold Tower rising up from the centre of the circular city, Nikula continued onward along the curving street past the homes of that district, headed for the gates to the Market District.

A broad shouldered dark-skinned Redguard man rushed past her carrying a large bulging sack slung over his back. He seemed to be in quite a hurry to get where he was headed. Presumably he was delivering something to one of the merchants.

After passing through the next gateway into the Market District, Nikula spotted some activity of a sort down the street off to her left. She noticed a few guards of the City Watch lurking about outside the door of the North Watch Tower, which straddled the wall between those two neighbouring districts. That wasn't really all that out of place. Nor did it seem so unusual to see that they were looking along the outer back street just beyond view with interest. She reasonably presumed that they were looking toward the door of the Crown's Hammer.

That particular place was easily known as one of the Imperial City's least accommodating drinking establishments. That was to say it was a rough place, commonly frequented by individuals of an unsavoury nature.

At the same time, it was also commonly patronised by members of the City Watch and the Imperial Legion. That was probably the only thing that kept the Crown's Hammer somewhat in line. Even so, it was not unusual for trouble to spill out onto the street when it erupted.

By her passing reckoning, it still seemed a bit early in the day for any serious trouble at the Hammer. Since those guards weren't actually rushing down there, she surmised that it probably wasn't anything of great concern.

Moving along the main street of the Market District, Nikula passed by the rows of stores on either side. Just behind the statue of a former Emperor, there were a few open stalls partially sheltered by the high roof supported by stone columns. Some of the vendors were already tending their stalls. Some had yet to arrive.

The pigeons foraging about on the stone paving was certainly normal for that time of the morning. At the same time, it was also fair to guess that all those birds would soon be crowding for whatever shade could be found around the eaves of the surrounding buildings as the heat of the day took full effect.

By Nikula's reasonable estimate, it was already far too bloody hot. She was fairly certain that it was even worse about the city streets than outside of it, with all that pale stone reflecting the sunlight, as well as absorbing and holding onto quite a bit of heat. There was something of the hint of a light breeze circulating in the Market District, but it made hardly any difference at all. As far as she was concerned, the quicker that she was off the street, the better.

After reaching the far side of the central crossroads of the district, Nikula turned left into the second line of stores on that northern side of the street. Her destination was right on the inside corner of those structures. Hardly breaking stride, she pushed open the door to the Black Horse Courier and headed directly inside.

~O~

Though I don't normally utilise chapter titles, since each chapter of this story had been outlined with a 'working title' during preparation stages, I thought I'd share the title at the end of each chapter. The introduction was simply entitled:

"Offspring"

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