It was a peaceful night in Haven. In my favorite city in the land of my ancestors, a wood elf like myself could find any day peaceful here. Although not born here, I call this place home. But who am I? As previously said, I am of Bosmer heritage. My name is Ausko Cerden. Yes, I know that I don't have the typical last name of a Bosmer, and in fact it's a long story of how I gained this name. I don't think you would listen to the whole thing.
As I sit on the bench near the center of the city of Haven, my long, grey hair casting a shadow on my eyes, something catches my attention from the corner of my eye. A red headed Nord woman, with small streaks of grey near the roots and ends of her hair, walked up the small dirt path and sat next to me on the bench. She placed her head on my shoulder, and on instinct, I wrapped my arm around her body.
"Ausko. I do believe it's time to return home dear." she said with a hidden meaning in her voice. I guess Jode and Jone have their ways on women here in Vallenwood. I smirked, knowing that she still had the spark she had when we married.
I chuckled. She looked up at me as I looked into her eyes. "I'll meet you back at the house in fifteen minutes Iona. I have to wish someone farewell first." We exchanged a kiss, and she left, her ass swaying as if to tease me for later.
When she was out of veiw and far down the path to our retirement house/apocathery store, I looked up at the sky. A clear evening, both moons in sight. Hawks flew overhead, beasts roamed below. The trees and rivers of my homeland whirled and whistled, casting me a goodnight. My parent's way of watching over me in their afterlife.
It was well towards midnight. Iona and I were laying in our bed, naked under the sheets. She was asleep on my chest, her hair scattered accross myself and her own body. Gods how it had grown since we first married. She had changed her hairstyle many times in twenty three years. I keep my hair trimmed, but other than that, my small, almost completely grey beard was the only hair on my body that had grown over the years.
Iona's breaths were slow and heavy, a sign that she was sound asleep. With one hand, I cast Telekenisis on a journal book. With the other hand, I moved Iona and myself upwards so that I could read. A soft Magelight cast on the wall beside me, I had found over the years, is soft on the eyes, and so it wouldn't wake someone up like lighting a candle. I also wouldn't disturb Iona because I wouldn't need to move to get to a light source.
I read the title of the journal. A THIEF AND A NIGHT. I knew this book very well. After all, this was one of the biggest books to hit Tamriel since THE LUSTY ARGONIAN MAID VOL. 2. Besides, I had written this. It was an autobiography.
I opened the journal, which was my author's edition of this book, and read. My hand writting was left to be desired twenty years ago, but atleast I could still read it.
It was the first day of Frostfall, and I was roaming the borders of Black Marsh seeking a rare herbal medicine for an argoninan friend of mine to cure a poison. He was not the smartest argonian in the world, but he was my friend, and papa always told me to take care of your friends...
"Where in the Gods' names is this stupid plant?!" I shouted to no one in particular. I was venturing towards the border of Skyrim, when I saw the plant. It was in the grasp of a rabbit, who looked like it was about to eat it.
I moved towards it, and it saw me. I tried to get the rabbit to look into my eyes, so I could befriend the rabbit and tell it what I needed from it, but the dam thing just ran right over the border into Skyrim. I ran after it, stumbling from all the rocks and logs that were in my path.
That's when I cornered the rabbit. But the dam thing ran right into a crevice between two boulders, and popped itself underground. I tried to grab the rabbit near inside it's little hole, but it had already gone.
I started walking back towards the border when I saw a group of men in what seemed like blue lightweight armor, most of them wearing full helmets or hide helmets. They were muttering about something, and one of them spotter me staring at them. He yelled something racist about Bosmers, so I just ignored the group. However, this one man, tall and in some kind of clothing, came up to me and stopped me from passing back into Black Marsh.
"You there, Elf. Have you seen a Imperial diplomat come anywhere near here?" the man in clothing said.
"No, I have not, sir." I tried to push past him, but some random person, by the looks of him a Redguard, was stumbling up behind everyone. He fell down on the ground, wearing nothing but ragged clothes and shoes. Some of the others helped the Redguard up, and that's when everyone saw them. On the hill, and coming down the road, were a large group of almost all the humanic races. A flag flew with the sigil of the Empire, a sign that I had seen all over Tamriel.
The next thing I remember is waking up in a wagon full of other people. I looked around, and found my hands were tied. Ahead of me was another wagon full of people, with the Redguard and the man in the clothing I had seen earlier. He was gagged. Most everyone esle in that wagon was talking. No one in my wagon was talking.
We pulled up into a beat down looking fort town of some kind. A depressing sight. We stopped near the center of town, where an executioner was waiting with some sort of high-up from the Empire. One by one, we were escorted off the wagon, and were called name by name. My name was not on the list, and I don't believe the Redguard's was either, but we still got sent to the chopping block. A few seconds before I got off the wagon though, I saw a man try to run for it. They shot him in the back. Fucking cowards.
One man's head severed from his body, and the Redguard was called upon. As he knelt down, I looked in the distance, awaiting my death. That is when a black scaled figure flew from over the hill and attacked everyone. Confused and slightly scared, I ran for safety inside a house, farthest away from the carnage. What seemed like balls of fire rained down on the building I was in. It seemed like an eternity before the noise stopped.
I spent three days trapped inside that house, my only way blocked by a giant piece of what was left of the Keep. I had found a way to get my bindings off, a knife in what I assumed was the kitchen. I found a few pieces of sharp metal laying around and made myself a shiv, and found a bow and just about a dozen arrows in the basement, which was crawling with parasites. I guess they settled in after the town was attacked.
On my fourth day, I found a hole just about my size in the roof of the house. It was up quite a ways, but after stacking a bookshelf and a barrel together, I climbed out of that house. The reckage I saw was horrible. Burned down buildings, ruined gardnes, and bandits going through all the rubble to find things of value.
Now I know that it's not in my nature, being a Bosmer, to hurt living things without a good reason, but I couldn't care less anymore. I was miles away from my real home, and was not about to let a bunch of bandits take things off of innocent dead corpses.
Crouching low, and moving along the giant beam of the roof I had climbed onto, I readied my bow. It just felt natural, I guess. I took a deep breath and aimed my sights on the closest bandit.
My papa taught me how to shoot a bow back in the good old days, where we were a family. He told me to never command the moment when your fingers let go of the string, or your shot will end up terrible. So there I sat, my bow drawn and aimed at the neck of this Breton bandit.
He turned from his buddies and looked up towards the sky, yelling something about going to the next settlement to bed women. Disgusting. A pervert. That's when I let go. When his gaze fell from the sky and right on a Bosmer in prison clothes with a bow.
Right through his eyeball.
His fellow bandits all looked up at me, and took out their bows and began shooting at me. I'm not going to lie. One of them did have great aim. He almost cut my throat with an arrow. Feeling the wind pass my throat scared me even more than that dragon, I guess you could call it, did. So I ran back to the hole as fast as I could, and ducked inside of it. I crashed into the barrel on my way down, yes. But at least I would be safe.
I heard shuffling on the doorsteps. The bandits were yelling at each other about who kills me first. Grunts and little muffles of pain were heard as they removed the rubble from the other side of the door.
I panicked and hid myself behind the doors of the wardrobe of the house. When I saw the bandits come in, I took out my shiv. Even though I wasn't a Khajiit or Dunmer, I was pretty stealthy. One by one I took out the bandits, and made my way out of the horrible, burnt up, broken down city.
I made my way down the road until I fell over. A throbbing pain came from my right shoulder. I moved my left hand up to where it hurt, and when I pulled it infront of my face, there was blood on three of my fingers.
That's when I passed out...