A hundred years ago, there was a great civil war that tore the Empire apart. Brother fought against brother, father against son and daughter. Many Nords of Skyrim believed the Empire too weak to defend them from the tyranny of the Aldmerri Dominion. Ulfric Stormcloak, the Jarl of Windhelm, challenged the current High King to a duel in the Old Way. Ulfric used the power of the Voice to knock Torygg over, before running him through with his sword. The Imperials and their allies accused Ulfric of murder. Soon after, hostilities began between the Stormcloak Rebels and the Imperial 4th Legion.
On the third of Last Seed, the Stormcloaks and their supporters believed all to be lost when Ulfric was captured near Darkwater Crossing. Two weeks later, Ulfric and those captured with him, plus a horse thief from Rorikstead and a refugee from the unrest in Bravil, were taken to Helgen to be executed. No one knows the names of the soldiers in the first prison carts. The men in the final cart, they will be remembered for ages to come. First there was Ulfric. To this day, there are still many in Skyrim who laud him as a hero. Then, there was Ralof of Riverwood. By the end of their conflict, he would rise to be the second most powerful man in Eastmarch until their fall in late 4E206. The thief, Lokir, will be remembered simply because the fourth man would never forget him, and made sure that he was remembered. This fourth man was Jyrik, a man with no family who was mistaken for a rebel, and many to this day have mixed feelings for his actions. Upon arrival at Helgen, the horse thief tried to escape, but was cut down before he had gone a hundred paces. When Jyrik was called to the chopping block, the unthinkable happened. Alduin, the ancient dragon - beings believed to be the stuff of legends - appeared. Jyrik, along with Ralof and a low-ranking Nord Legionairre named Hadvar, escaped the destruction of the town. Jyrik soon found that he had an incredible power inside of him.
On the 29th of Last Seed, Jyrik went with a detachment of Jarl Balgruuf's guards to protect the Western Watchtower from the dragon Mirmulniir. Once the beast was slain Jyrik absorbed the its soul, and unlocked his power as Dragonborn. He went on to become a great hero, defeating Alduin, Miraak and the Aldmerri Dominion. But while he was busy helping the people of Solstheim, he seemed to have forgotten about those who suffered every day with the war raging on. When Jyrik returned to Skyrim in 4E210, Ulfric and Ralof had been dead for four years, and the Rebellion had come to an end. On the second of Sun's Dawn 4E212, the Empire went to war against the Aldmerri Dominion with the Dragonborn leading the attack. Less than three years later, the Treaty of Alinor was signed, stating that the White-Gold Concordat was nullified. Jyrik had one son before being killed by an assassin's blade on the 17th of Last Seed, 4E217.
My great-great-great-grandfather ended wars. But while he was starting a family of his own in Solstheim, he left one that would become like a festering wound for Skyrim. After Ulfric's death, the Rebellion may have officially ended, but many longed to taste the freedom from tyranny that they had glimpsed during those brief six years. My name is Bjorn, and this is my story.