Prologue

Our story begins eons ago, in a small temple in the southern mountains of Skyrim. The walls of the antechamber were covered in carvings of past high priests, from the ceiling hung drapes and banners. Fires roared from their sconces in the corners, casting eerie, intertwining shadows from the nine people gathered there. Eight figures were surrounding a kneeling bound man, clothed in rags. The eight were clothed regally, one might even say like kings, each of them wore a mask. The bound man glared through dirty brown hair with burning eyes. Once, before the war, he had stood among these men and called them friends. The men around him were the eight High Dragon Priests, and the bound man was disgusted with what they had become.

Otar the Mad in a mask of Malachite. Raghot of rage in an Orichalcum mask. The brutal Hevnoraak in his Iron mask. The Glorious Mage Morokei in his Moonstone forged mask. The sorrowful Krosis in a rusted iron mask. Vokun the shadow in his Steel mask. The horrific Volsung in his mask made of Corundum. Standing before the bound man, and holding a large scroll, was Nahkriin the vengeful wearing a mask of Ebony.

For what seemed like an eternity, they stood like that. The bound man glaring at the priests and the priests staring back, the masks made it impossible to tell just what emotions their faces betrayed. Nahkriin broke the silence, "For your crimes against the Dov, you are stripped of name, rank, and of your mask. Your name and face will be stripped from all records and your mask sealed away. You are now Govegein, the Outcast. And you shall suffer the same fate as our master Alduin, firstborn of Akatosh." He paused a moment before Krosis spoke up.

"Do you have any last words before your sentence is carried out, Ko- I mean Govegein?" He seemed almost forgiving in his tone, as if this whole thing could be fixed with just a few petty words. Krosis had spent too much time in the wilderness. He barely even knew of the horrors that were committed by the monsters in this room, himself and the bound man included.

The bound man stood, and Raghot and Hevnoraak moved to restrain him again, but Nahkriin raised a hand to stop them. The ragged man did not look like any of the Atmorans, who had settled the area, or even like any of the mer who lived there even before the Atmorans. The Yokudans were as alien to him as the rumored lizard and cat people from the southern lands. He was tall, taller than any of the priests and lean, they all knew that if it weren't for his healing magic, he would be covered in the scars of countless battles. His ears came to a slight point at the top, and his eyes were blue, like many Atmorans, yet wreathed in gold.

The other Priests knew that his lineage was shady, he was found by Paarthunax in lands west of the temple they stood in now, looking again at his face made them uneasy. He spoke, "We all know that while Miraak was insane, but he knew that a shift in power was coming. That the mortals, once oppressed by the dragons would rise up. We can no longer be bound by the Dov. Now with the end of Alduin, the uprisings of man will soon follow. Your cult will not last, your kingdoms will fall, and you will be driven out of your temples. You cannot prete-"

"Enough! Your lies and treachery end here!" shouted Nahkriin as he held up the Elder Scroll and began the incantation. He finished with, "You are banished! Govegein, we shout you out from all our endings until the last!" The Scroll burst into light with these last words and the light enveloped the bound man and he disappeared. Nahkriin rolled the scroll up and held it away from himself as if it was a dead skeever, "Send this filthy thing to the Dwemer, let them do as they please with it."

"He is wrong right?" Volsung asked, "We all know the prophecy the Dwemer told us when they read the scroll, Alduin will return." He looked at the others as he took the scroll.

"Yes," Rahgot replied after a short pause, "we will just have to prepare for that, no matter how long it takes." In a flourish of black robes, he turned to leave. He could barely stand the presence of the other priests, and the outcast was right, they have a war to prepare for.

"Actually I might have a few ideas on the subject, especially after examining the heretics of Solsthiem," Hevnoraak stated before beginning his theories.

So . . . yeah re-working the story. I wanted to try to describe our main character better, maybe allude to some other strains in the dragon cult. What do you guys think? Improvements cannot be made without criticism, and if you're not improving, you're dead.