Author's Note: I obviously do not own the Elder Scrolls Franchise. I apologize for the dig at a certain "President" but his lack of stability is getting to be a real problem. No more direct real-world references will be in the story.

Prologue

Sun's Dawn 4E 199

Nirn, a magical world filled with many different sentient races and interesting people. Most only shape the lives of a few; some shape the lives of many for years to come; a handful shape the lives of every mortal for generations; and then there are those that change the lives of both mortals and divines. At the end of the Third Age, there were three: Mankar Camoran, the one who started the Oblivion Crisis; Martin Septim, the one who ended the Crisis by becoming my avatar; and the Hero of Kvatch, who ended the Greymarch and became Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness. Before them, there was Hjalti Early-Beard, Tiber Septim, or Talos, the one who unified Tamriel under one rule and ascended and the Eight became Nine. All of them were given by the Divines the power to change history, for good or ill, at birth. Just like Rufus Allec, a soldier in the Imperial Legion and the Last Dragonborn.

Rufus is an exemplary soldier, skilled in both the Legion's sword-and-board style and the ruffians' sword-and-dagger style, an excellent archer capable of hitting an apple at 250 feet, and capable of using magic from every school but Conjuration. He is one of the best tactical minds in the Legion, capable of taking down ten bandits on his own using only the environment and a sword. Despite his young age of seventeen, he is already considered a prime candidate for promotion and likely to make General one day. But first he must accomplish his destiny as Dragonborn and fight with Alduin to determine the fate of th-"Yo, Akatosh, Rufus is taking a squad to wipe out a bandit hideout. Come on down and watch." ...I'll have to continue this monologue later.

Akatosh teleported to the source of the shout, arriving in the Chamber of the Divines, the main section of the Divine Hall, a transdiminsional area where we Divines watch over Nirn and its people. Mortal minds are unable to truly comprehend what they see here, even in descriptions. What a mortal would see is a tall white room with flowing arches on top. The room is empty save for seven pieces of furniture: three couches in an arch, a table in front of each couch, and a screen showing a squad of Imperial Legionaries gathering outside an old fortress. Eight of the seats were taken when Akatosh entered the room. As Akatosh took his spot in the middle of the center couch, he looked to the left couch where he saw Mara and Dibella arguing over something with Kynareth trying and failing to stop them. On his couch, Talos kept shifting his gaze between the screen and Dibella, who forgot that her top was open again, while Stendarr was looking everywhere but at Dibella. On the right couch, Arkay remained focused on the screen while Julianos and Zenithar were discussing Cyrodil's economy and education systems. Akatosh sighed at all of this and focused on the screen. "What did I miss?" He said.

"The Legion sent Rufus and his squad to get rid of some bandits in that castle. The bandits outnumber the legionaries 5-1 and have a better position," Talos said, now focused on the screen. "It looks like it will be a close fight."

"Isn't that Battlehorn Castle? The castle the Sheogorath owned while he was mortal?" Julianos asked, ending his discussion with Zenithar.

"It has certainly seen better times." Kynareth noted. "The castle looks as bad as most of the forts in Skyrim and they have not been repaired in centuries." The rest of the Divines agreed but said nothing as the fighting started. After half an hour, only two legionaries were left against fifteen bandits hiding in the grotto. The two legionaries still standing were Rufus Allec and a battlemage, Viridis Fortuna, who were healing up at the only entrance to the grotto.

Mara worriedly broke the silence, "This is getting a bit too close for comfort."

"They can still win this," Stendarr stated. "After all, Rufus has our favor and is the strongest fighter there."

"But will that be enough?" Arkay muttered.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Viridis asked, healing his arm as he spoke. This mission was not going well for the Legion. First, the report that said there were only thirty bandits here missed an additional seventy bandits. So, rather than a simple mission of taking down bandits through superior discipline and skill, it was a desperate struggle just to survive, let alone take down the bandits. Out of the twenty legionaries sent to take the castle, only Viridis and Rufus were still alive. 'The only good part is it looks as though the rumors about Rufus's skill were true,' Viridis thought. 'I've never seen anyone fight like that, charging into a group of ten opponents and killing them without taking a single hit.'

"Just give me a minute. Let me think," Rufus responded, looking away from Viridis. 'This is not going to be easy,' Rufus thought as he mentally tallied up the remaining bandits. 'If my math is right, there are between ten and twenty bandits left. We would be able to handle them if it wasn't for their boss.' Rufus suppressed a shudder remembering the bandit chief turning the fight against the legionaries by burning six soldiers alive with a single fire spell followed by his sword being used to decapitate two more in three seconds. 'We have a couple minutes before they come out of the grotto and we can't make it back to Chorrol with them on our tail. We have to take them in the grotto but we have to prevent any of them from getting past us and getting help from nearby bandit camps. We need something to...' his thought trailed off as he spotted a sealed bucket of red dye. Rufus smirked 'That will do.' "Viridis, cast a fire rune a few feet behind us," Rufus said as he grabbed the bucket and opened it.

"Just what are you planning?" Viridis asked as he set the rune on the ground. Rufus was silent as he used a weak fire spell the heat up the bucket before pouring the contents over the rune and three feet towards the entrance, covering the rune completely. He then used a Frostbite spell to cover a six-foot section of wall in frost and then placed a Frost Rune inside that section. "I get it, by using the dye and frost, they will not be able to tell where the runes are placed and they would set them off no matter how they tried to get through." Viridis said. "How are we getting out or dealing with the bandits?"

"We will fight them further in. I will take any of the warriors and their boss in close quarters so he can't use that spell again without killing his men." Rufus ordered. "While I take them, you need to eliminate any mages or archers they have left. Once they are down we team up on their leader and kill him." Rufus drew his sword, " Let's go."

The two of them started moving to the grotto. When they arrived, Viridis spotted a problem. There was a cracked crystal in the center of the room that was giving off waves of magicka. "Careful," Viridis warned, "if we hit that crystal with anything, it could explode and take out the entire castle." Viridis also noticed a large number of rune spells scattered throughout the room but had no idea what they were supposed to do. While he spoke, Rufus counted fifteen bandits: ten armed with axes and maces, two with a bow and arrow, two ready to use spells, and the bandit chief wearing heavy armor with a mad-looking face on the chest and wielding a sword with golden dragon heads on the crossguard. In addition, there were several crates scattered throughout the room that would make for great cover. There was also a balcony around the room that the mages and archers would find useful.

"Get them!" the bandit chief shouted from his spot next to the crystal. Ten of the bandits rushed forward while four more ran up to the balcony and the chief remained next to the crystal. Rufus charged at the bandits, sword and dagger drawn, while Viridis zapped one of the mages before taking cover to avoid an arrow. Rufus was a blur of motion, dodging or parrying every attack coming at him until he had an opening where he cut a bandit's throat before resuming his defense. Viridis charged up an Ice Spike spell and fired it at one of the archers as he ran to a nearby crate, smirking when he heard the spike impact the archer's skull. As Rufus took another bandit down, the chief readied his fire spell and aimed it at Rufus...and the remaining bandits. "Burn!" he shouted as a wave a fire came from his mouth. Rufus quickly put up the strongest ward spell he had and barely blocked the spell. The six bandits in front of him, however, were charred to a crisp. Two bandits managed to avoid damage due to being behind Rufus and his ward spell.

"To Oblivion with this!" the male bandit shouted as he ran out followed by the female bandit slowing down only to make a rude gesture towards their former chief. Less than a minute late, two explosions, one fiery and one frosty, were heard, followed immediately after by two screams. The bandits' shock at the team-killing gave Viridis a chance to hit the remaining bandits with a bolt of lightning and a ball of fire leaving the chief as the last one standing.

"Viridis get back. Focus on healing me and I'll deal with this scum!" Rufus yelled. Rufus charged at the chief and swung his sword at him only to be blocked by a plate gauntlet. 'This will be a close one,' Rufus thought as he blocked the bandit's sword. 'I may have the advantage in speed and agility along with two weapons to his one but he has heavy armor with few openings while I'm stuck in standard-issue leather and his sword is enchanted with fire damage.' There was another flurry of blows all parried by Rufus or blocked by the bandit and his armor. 'This isn't going to work. At this rate Viridis will run out of magicka before this guy goes down.'

Viridis had only a small a amount of magicka left when it happened. Rufus ducked a swipe from the chief, kicked his legs out from under him, then knocked the bandit to the left, away from the crystal. The bandit landed on the rune next to them. What happened next, Viridis could not have seen coming. The rune exploded and everyone heard a shout coming from the rune, "CHEEEESE!" Then dozens of cheese wheels came out of where the rune used to be, knocking the bandit's sword towards the crystal. Viridis cast his strongest ward spell just before the the sword hit the crystal and the crystal exploded. There was a bright flash, along with more "CHEEEESE!," and Viridis was knocked back towards the tunnel. But he somehow survived and had the strength to get back into the room. The room was covered in cheese wheels from all the runes going off. In the center of the room, there was a new crystal formation: the crystallized forms of the bandit and Rufus. As Viridis looked on in horror, a cheese wheel stuck to the ceiling fell down onto Rufus, causing his form to fall apart into a sand-like material. Viridis fell to his knees and yelled out in sorrow.

The Nine sat there in shock as their plan that they spent most of the last two decades working on was ruined due to Sheogorath and his obsession with cheese. Akatosh was clearly struggling not to start yelling so Dibella nervously asked, "Arkay, is there a way you could resurrect Rufus?"

Arkay sighed, "Unfortunately I cannot. Without a body to work with, I would be unable to properly attach his dragon soul along with all of his abilities and memories into a new body. Not to mention it goes against everything I stand for an-" at this point he was cut off by seven of the Divines yelling at him for using that as excuse. The yelling between the eight lasted a minute until Akatosh intervened.

"ENOUGH!" Akatosh shouted. The Divines stopped immediately as Akatosh continued in a calmer voice, "We have three years until Alduin returns which means we cannot start from scratch. Any sane plan will not work in this situation nor will any crazy plan we can think of will work." At this, many of the Divines shuddered, knowing what was coming. "Arkay, since you will not resurrect Rufus, you have the honor of bringing Sheogorath here." Akatosh commanded.

Arkay reluctantly got up and walked over to the door that magically appeared and entered the doorway. There was a slight pause, then the Divines heard the shouting, "Let go of me. I need to get back to my vacation and its insecurities, paranoia, night terrors, and the CHEEEESE!" They all turned to look as Arkay struggled to pull Sheogorath in while he held on to the doorway. Talos and Stendarr got up to help and between the the three of them, they got Sheogorath into the room and on a chair that also magically appeared facing the screen. "Just what is going on here..." Sheogorath trailed off as the screen showed Rufus's last fight. Sheogorath started talking as soon as the clip ended, "Let's see if I got what is going on. Your trained Dragonborn is dead and since Arkay is a stick in the mud, such a strange phrase that is. It doesn't even-" Akatosh cleared his throat and Sheogorath got back to the point, "...And since you do not have time to come up with a working sane plan in time, you need me to come with a mad scheme to fix things. Am I close?"

Akatosh reluctantly answered, "That is fairly accurate. We need a well trained Dragonborn before Alduin returns and we do not have the time to raise another one." At this Sheogorath smirked. Akatosh started talking again, "I take it you have a plan?"

Sheogorath's smirk grew wider, "I have a few plans but I only need one. I'll be right back." Sheogorath got up and ran towards the door he recently entered from. There was a shout of "CHEEESE," and he was gone.

Zenithar spoke up, "I bet we are going to regret this." The rest of the Divines silently nodded in agreement.

Earth, a mundane world with only one sentient race and many dull people. Many of its people struggle to survive, let alone make a difference to the world. It is a harsh world with several leaders who care more about their wealth and egos than doing their jobs and operate on a messed up "one step forward, two steps back," procedure. It is a dull world to live in. Fortunately, there are people with imagination who create worlds to entertain the masses, whether it is through literature, film, or games. Occasionally their "fake" worlds turn out to be just as real as the real one and one person is about to discover just how real one of them can be...

Tim Ross, a highly intelligent man stuck in a dead-end career, was a bored man. Due to his low paying job, he was unable enjoy a life above that of an average college student. With nothing to do after work, he played games. His favorite was Skyrim, a game that he played so many times that he knew every secret in the game. To keep having fun with the game, he downloaded mods. One mod in particular changed his life forever.

"'Enhanced Sheogorath's Daedric Artifact Quest', that looks like it will be fun." Tim started to download the mod and once it finished and he set it up, Tim started playing. After ten minutes he made it to Sheogorath's place and began the quest.

"Ah good you finally made it. I've been sitting here waiting for ten minutes just eating this cheese," Sheogorath said, sitting at a table loaded with cheese. Tim said nothing as he waited for the dialogue prompt to show up. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? I'll chase it off with... oh you're waiting for the dialogue prompt. Well, there is no prompt, there is only...THE WABBAJACK!" Sheogorath summoned the Wabbajack to his hand and fired a blast at the screen, passing right through it and hitting Tim, causing his world to go black.

When Tim woke up, he was in a featureless void. "What the hell just happened!?" he shouted.

"You entered an interdimensional void between your world and Nirn," Sheogorath said, appearing in front of Tim, causing him to try to jump back, but with nothing to push off of, he stayed where he was. Sheogorath floated backwards and spoke again, "Listen, this isn't a game anymore, you are going to have to become the Dragonborn and try to save Tamriel."

"Three questions. Have I gone crazy? Is this a one-way trip? Why me?" Tim asked.

Sheogorath pondered for a moment and answered, "Maybe, yes, and we need a fast learner to fill the role. The Nine had a trained warrior ready to step into the role. But after a mishap involving bandits, a magic crystal, and cheese, he died and Arkay was too uptight to revive him."

Tim sighed and responded, "Okay, I'm in. What do I have to do?"

"Surprised you agreed so easily. Perhaps you truly are mad."

"The way I see it this is the best option. The country I'm from has gone crazy so this offer gets me away before we destroy ourselves. If the country does not get destroyed, this will be far more interesting than the boring life I have there. And, finally, if I have gone crazy, this fantasy is better than whatever happens back home." Tim concluded.

"Well then in that case we have some time to get you ready. Time to make your new body."

"Just use the appearance of the character I used in game," Tim stated. Suddenly, Tim's body changed to a new form. It was a Nord with some Imperial traits, slightly below the average Nord height with a medium build, shoulder length reddish-brown hair and blue eyes. "Okay that will do. Can I have some basic spells to start out with?"

"Sure you can," at this, Tim successfully backed up. "I'm not doing that old trick. And there is one issue we need to discuss."

"What is it?" Tim said, still keeping his distance.

"Sending you in isn't going to be that simple. It will cost you most of your memories, both of your life and of the game."

Tim thought about it and responded, "Is there a way to be sure I will keep a memory of the game?"

"Of course, but it means you only get one in-game memory in addition to the spells your new body has already." Tim thought for a minute and told Sheogorath what he wanted to keep. Sheogorath grinned, "That should be useful. Now all we need is your new name."

"Just call me Ignis."

"I'm back and I brought the cheese," Sheogorath said as he entered the Chamber of the Divines carrying a stack of cheese wheels."

"Did you seriously leave just to get cheese?" Talos asked incredulously. "What is your plan to solve the Dragonborn issue?"

"Just sit back and watch while eating cheese. Wait, no, while I eat cheese. I already got a new Dragonborn ready to go and sent him to Skyrim for training." Sheogorath said as he sat down. The Divines turned their gazes towards the screen.

Akatosh thought about what he said and asked, "Sheogorath, where did you send him in Skyrim?" Sheogorath shrugged as the rest of the Divines looked at the screen now showing Ignis trudging through the snow as several wolves approached him from the front. "Sheogorath, if he dies to this I will make it my mission to ensure you never get cheese again for as long as Tamriel survives."