Many years have passed since Emperor Martin Septum fought along a hero, whose name was unknown, to defeat the daedric lord Mehrunes Dagon. The war was over though we had no emperor. Or so we thought. However, the descendants of the living cult members have banded together to get rid of those strong enough to oppose them. The Guild Leaders. This all began 13 years ago with an attack on Bruma. They burned the city to the ground. Then it all ended. Or so it seemed.
Smoke and fire raged around me. People were running, screaming and panicking. Men and women in red robes marched through the city. These looming figures were, to a child of six, as large as gods. I was hidden beneath the rubble of the Talos chapel. There was a girl my age hidden with me. Her glossy black hair reflected the flames of the burning city. She began to scream as one of the unholy figures threw aside the body of a tall Breton man. I too began to scream.
Tirdas 12:01 am Imperial City
I awoke with a yell, trembling, covered in an icy sweat. I sat bolt upright in my bed, my breath coming in shaky gasps. "Raithe? Raithe! Are you alright?" My father's voice called to me in the dark.
"Y-yeah, just a nightmare." I lay back down. I was 19 almost 20 and I still had dreams of that day in Bruma. My adoptive father, Aeran, a redguard, stood above me, a grey cowl tucked carefully under one arm. "The dream again?" He asked. I nodded. "Just try to rest Raithe, I will see in the morning. It will be okay." Aeran smiled warmly in his fatherly way, and left my room. That was the only time he was wrong.
Tirdas 6:15 am
It was beginning to rain as Aeran's body was brought in through the door. Verimas, my father's right hand man, a Bosmer (like me but a full Bosmer instead of a bastardized breed. I'm half Dunmer) was found beside my father's body, unconscious, and beaten. Some assumed it was murder, most I think at the time. However, when Verimas awoke, He told a different story. He and my father were trying to return from a successful night of raiding, when Aeran had stopped and fallen to the ground. He was paralyzed from a spider bite. When Verimas had tried to grab my father and run, fearing that the Imperial Legion had finally caught up to them, a spider daedra and a red robed conjurer. While the spider viciously attacked Verimas, the conjurer stabbed my father ferociously several times before disappearing along with the spider. It was too late for my father Verimas said. My father had seemed to accept that he was at death's door. He died minutes later. Verimas went quiet and asked everyone to leave. Save for me.
"Raithe, before your father died, he asked me to tell you two things." Verimas reached beside his bed, and produced a grey cowl. "Wear it well and may shadow hide you." Verimas' breathing started to become harsh and shaky. "H-he said that" Verimas coughed violently, and closed his eyes "Tell Raithe, to find…" Verimas tried to continue but I couldn't understand him through a series of harsh coughs. The only word caught was "Sufferthorn" Verimas coughed a few more times, each becoming progressively softer than the last. I tried to call out to Kaane our healer but Verimas grabbed my arm. "No, Raithe, my time has come." He whispered "I can see my wife again, and your father, my best friend." I cried as the only words I could choke out were "Shadow hide you, faithful Verimas"
Morndas, 1:15 am
It took me almost a year to find the Sufferthorn.
It was in Cheydinhal, at the Riverview Manor. The Sufferthorn was an elfin dagger which was in the possession of an almost total recluse woman. The manor wasn't even guarded. I began to wonder why my father had wanted me to find this dagger. The lock on the front was one of the easiest I had ever picked. I was beginning to become wary. The house was beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside. The floors were immaculate and kept free of dirt and grime. The main staircase was carved in a traditional Dunmer pattern, and very striking on the dark cherry wood. What struck me as odd however was how empty the house seemed, it almost looked un-lived in. The house seemed quiet and lonely. I quickly searched the main floor, but the dagger, or anything to prove anyone actually lived here was not to be found. It would have to be upstairs. I prayed quietly that the owner wasn't home, but I figured I was out of luck as usual. There was no lock on the door, so I slipped quietly into the room. The room appeared to be a study/bedroom. In the farthest corner I saw that the woman was asleep in her bed, but on the table next to her was a curiously curved dagger, The Sufferthorn. Moving as quietly as I could I crept towards the dagger. I reached slowly for the blade, as my fingers curved around the blade, I felt a curious pain on the back of the neck, and the world slipped away into blackness.