"Just what in Oblivion do you think it is?"

"I… I don't know. I've never seen anything like it before in my life."

Lyria and I stood at the top of a hill outside of Bravil, looking east over the Niben Bay. It was a cool, breezy evening in Hearthfire, Lyria's favorite month. Why was it her favorite month? Because it was her birth month, her birthday actually being today. Lyria dragged me out of her party to show me something outside the city, but we were distracted by what we saw out on the bay: a strange, new island. But it wasn't the island that intrigued us the most, it was what was on it.

"It looks like a big statue," I said, straining my eyes to focus my view. We could see it clearly from the hill, but it was still far off. "But of what?"

"I don't know," she said quietly. I turned to my Bosmer friend and looked at her face. There was a look on it that I'd seen before, and all of a sudden I knew what she was going to say before she said it. "Lets go check it out!"

Earlier That Day…

"Happy birthday to you!" I shouted, as Lyria blew out the candles on her cake. I'd had the best baker in Bravil bake it especially for her birthday. I figured, why not? Its not everyday that your best friend turns twenty years old, right?

Oh, but that's just like me to forget to introduce myself. My name is Rolith. I'm a twenty one year old Redguard, living here in Bravil. Actually, I'm from Anvil, but I've been traveling for a few years, raiding caves and ruined forts and selling the spoils. After four years of "vacation", as my parents call it to avoid ridicule from the neighbors back home, it was nice to take just one day to relax and have fun, especially since it was my best friend's birthday.

"Oh, you guys, thank you all!" squealed Lyria in delight. "It looks so delicious, I can't wait to slice it up and eat it!"

Our other friends, traveling warriors and merchants we've met over the course of our travels together, had come down to celebrate with us. By this point, the party had been going on for a couple of hours now. Everyone had a bottle of mead or ale in one hand or the other, and a couple of the Nords began singing traditional drinking songs, with a few others joining in despite knowing only four or five of the words.

Lyria stood up from her seat and picked up a silver knife. Today, like most other days we weren't out exploring, she wore a blue, collared shirt and a tan-colored skirt that she'd cut to show her legs up to just below her knees. She cut her cake into slices and began setting pieces onto plates, reserving the largest portion for herself. It was right there in the open, where anyone could've just came up and grabbed it. However, nobody did, and for good reason.

Lyria, despite being shorter that nearly every man in the room, could no doubt defeat each of them in unarmed combat. She was an expert in hand to hand combat and dagger fighting, and a master of archery. In fact, her keen eye and marksmanship saved my behind the first time we met, when we'd been enlisted by the Count of Chorrol to shut the Oblivion gate outside of his city. Those beautiful, light brown eyes of hers could spot a boar moving in a forest at almost a mile's distance. She kept her chest length reddish-orange hair up in a bun nearly all of the time, even outside of battle. Most guys we knew were afraid of what she could do to them, so they all did their best to stay on her good side. But what she had in bravery and fighting, she also had in kindness, caring, and eccentricity.

After cutting the cake, she put the knife down and ran over to me, jumping into the air and tossing her arms around me in a wild, rambunctious hug.

"Aww, thank you so much Rolith! I'm so glad you got so many of our friends to come all the way to Bravil for my birthday!"

I smiled, and laughed lightly. "Lyria, you're very welcome." I eased her back down onto her feet. "By the way, I forgot to mention that this house isn't owned by a friend of mine."

She looked up at me with a look of confusion and wariness. "Then whose is it?"

I threw my head back and laughed. "Ahh, Lyria, I love it when you think I've done something wrong. I own the house! I paid the Count a visit the other day and purchased it from him. I haven't brought you to it until today because the movers were still bringing in the new furniture. Say hello to our new home. Um, for now at least, until I can get that place out in Bruma that you liked."

Lyria took a step back, and even over the noise of the singing Nords I could hear her gasp in surprise. "Oh Rolith, that's so great!" She ran back up and hugged me again, wrapping her arms around my sides and pulling the fabric of my dark brown and black shirt. "But I thought you hated Bravil?"

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

She let go and stood back, a look on innocence on her face. "Well, remember that first time we came to Bravil? You said that it smelled like a sewer overflow, and that you couldn't sleep at night because of all the bug noises."

I carefully tried to remember that day, and I finally did. "I guess I just thought that it would remind you a little bit of your old home back in Valenwood." She responded with an expression that told me she was being very critical of my words, and she put her hands up on her hips to further show it. I quickly explained myself. "Umm, I mean, the way the houses are built, not the smell or anything like that, haha. I wanted to try to give you a little piece of home until we could get the money for a better place."

She smiled like she was about to cry. "Aww, Rolith, thank you. You're right, the houses do remind me a bit of my old home, I love it here!"

I laughed and scratched the side of my head. "Well, your welcome, Lyria. Now come on, lets get back to your party."

She shook her head. "Nuh uh, not yet. I've got something you need to see, come on!"

She grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the door. I stopped and pulled her back. "But what about the guests? Shouldn't we let them know? It is your party, after all."

She shook her head again. "Come on Rolith, we'll be back before they even know we're gone. Lets just go already!"

Now wondering, I asked "Where exactly are we going?"

"Ugh, must you make this so difficult?" she replied. "There's something in the woods outside the town I need to show you right now, so can we hurry up and go!"

I nodded, but then I looked over to the closet by the door. "Okay, but since we're going into the woods lets at least take our weapons. You know what we might find out there, and I don't want to be caught with my pants down by a bandit, or a troll or something."

She gave me a devilish grin, and replied "Oh of course, we wouldn't want to get caught now, would we…"

Confused, I asked "What do you mean by that?"

She returned to an expression of innocence, and shook her head, smiling. "Oh, nothing at all. Come on, lets get our stuff and get out there before someone sees us leave."

I opened up the closet, and grabbed my elven shortsword, my silver bow, and the Hatred's Soul arrows. I found them in the plane of Oblivion inside the gate that Lyria and I shut down during the Oblivion Crisis. I was nowhere near the archer that Lyria was, but I'd been getting better. Lyria grabbed her ornately carved elven bow, which was a gift from Daenlin, the Bosmer who owned the weapons store next-door, a quiver full of her specially ordered glass-tipped arrows, and her glass dagger. Now equipped for whatever we may find, we left the house without anybody even noticing.

Outside of the city walls, out of view of the guards and in full view of the bay, I stopped. "Okay Lyria, just where exactly are we going?"

She stopped, turned around, and sighed. "We're going out into the woods. There's something in a cabin that I need to show you! Its best we hurry up and get there, so that we can get back to the party sooner!"

That's when we saw it. A bright light came out of the center of the bay, attracting the attention of the two of us. We turned towards it, and just as soon as it was there, it disappeared, leaving behind an island with a rather strange statue in the center. We ran to the top of a hill overlooking the bay to get a better look at it. From up there, we could see the guards from the city gate running down to the shore, and decided to go see what they were doing.

We followed the two guards to a small boathouse, with a dock and a single boat outside. They were gathering oars, my guess was to row out to the island.

One of them noticed we were there and began walking towards us. "You two!" he shouted. "Get back, this is Bravil City Watch business, stay here."

"But we want to go see what that is too." I retorted indignantly. "As a citizen of Bravil, I want to know whats going on around my city." Lyria quietly snickered at this.

The guard stuttered, suddenly at a loss for words. Finally, he agreed. "Okay, you want to come with us, be our guests. I guess you're equipped enough if theres any danger, but be wary just the same. Grab a couple of oars from the boathouse and get in."

Lyria and I, suddenly distracted by the rush of a new adventure, completely forgot about what we were doing outside the city in the first place, grabbed the oars, and got into the boat. The four of us rowed out into the bay, and after awhile we reached the island.

It was made of rock, with some strange kind of moss covering it that I'd never seen before. Lyria had never encountered it either, and she was an experienced alchemist and botanist. More than that, though, strange mushrooms and other plants stood out. Some of them were dark, dreary colors, and others were bright, cheery hues. Either way, neither of us had ever come into contact with them. We walked up a path that seemed to have been cut into the rock, leading up the island to a top point.

Sure enough, at the top was the large statue that we saw from the shore. It wasn't like any statue I'd seen before. It was some kind of granite, cut into what looked like three different faces all attached together. The one of the left was a solemn, straight face. The one on the right was stretched into a teeth-bearing, wide grin. The center face, however, was clearly angry, as the mouth was wide open. Inside the mouth was what added an air of mystery to the island: a bright blue light.

The two guards, Lyria, and myself all stood outside the light, looking into it in clear awe and shock. Suddenly, the light began making strange noises, and the guards drew their swords. I followed suit, and Lyria drew her bow and nocked an arrow, aiming it into the blue. In a burst of light, a Dunmer appeared, in a strange type of clothing that I'd never seen before here in Cyrodiil. Just as soon as he appeared, he dropped to his knees and began wailing and gibbering.

Lyria and I lowered our weapons, not about to attack an unarmed man who was clearly out of his mind. The guards, however, took a different approach. They began to slowly walk towards him, weapons still out. The guard we spoke to began to talk.

"You there! Who are you, and where did you come from?"

The Dunmer looked up at the guard with an expression of mixed happiness and anger. "Its… its not right there. Y-y-y-you can't go in! Its madness, pure madness! Its all… its all wrong I tell you!"

The guard backed up three steps, and spoke again. "What's not right? What do you mean its all wrong?"

The Dunmer put his hands on the ground, then got up into a crouch. "STAY AWAY FROM ME! Y-you can't make me go back in there, I won't go back! I… I'll kill you all! Each and every one of you… you're all going to DIE!"

The Dunmer pulled a dagger from a pocket in his pants, and lunged at the guard, stabbing him in the throat. He stood up and set for the other guard, but the second he got into a standing position, an arrow to his lower spine put him back down onto the ground. Lyria had shot him, but he was paralyzed and not killed. She placed her shot perfectly.

The surviving guard sheathed his sword, kicked the dagger away from the Dunmer, and knelt by his slain partner's side, tears slowly making their way down his face.

"Rest now, Prentius. You're at peace now my friend." He stood and turned to us. "I suggest the two of you leave. Whatever is through that, well, light is dangerous. This man is clearly out of his mind. I'll stay here to warn others of what might happen if they go through."

Lyria and I turned to each other and looked into the other's eyes. I could see in hers that she wasn't about to leave, and neither was I. We never backed away from an adventure before, and whatever had caused this guy to lose his mind must have been one hell of an adventure. I turned to the guard. "We're going in. Don't try to stop us."

He was taken aback by my decision. He shook his head, and replied "Be my guest. I'm going to stay here. If you two come out like that guy," he pointed to the dead Dunmer, "then I'm going to have to do take you down."

We nodded, and approached the light. Lyria and I reached into it at the same time, and suddenly I felt an overwhelming tingling sensation throughout my body. I'd had the pleasure of being with many women on my adventures, many of them adventures in their own right, but those feelings were nothing like this. It was like an intense euphoria, like my whole body was being massaged by soft, caressing hands. However, at the same time it was the most oppressing pain I'd ever felt, like I was being beaten with heavy maces over and over again all around my body.

Just as soon as the feeling began, it was over. I was standing in a dark, nearly empty room, with Lyria at my side. On the far side of the room was a single, solitary door. In the center of the room was a table with a book and a strange, pyramid-shaped timing device. The needle moved from left to right, ticking with each movement. It was pretty annoying, to be honest. On the near side of the table were two chairs, and on the far side was a Breton in another chair. He was thin, gaunt, and balding. He wore a black and red robe, and wore it well.

"Please, sit down. Lets try to be civilized here, shall we?" He spoke with a bored drawl, like we were annoying him in some way.

Lyria and I looked at each other incredulously, smiled, then sat down. "What is this place?" I asked the Breton.

"This is his Majesty Lord Sheogorath's realm. Its known by some as the Madhouse, and known by its residents as the Shivering Isles." he replied in the same drawl. "My name is Haskill, I am Lord Sheogorath's personal aide and servant. At the current moment, however, you are in the Fringe, a sort of test area."

"Okay Mr. Haskill," said Lyria. "Why did the island appear in the bay?"

He sighed. "There's no need for the 'Mr.' part of it, you may simply call me Haskill. As for the reason it appeared, there is a dark time coming in the Isles. That is all I can tell you at the moment. Lord Sheogorath is searching for a mortal 'champion' to aid him in stopping this event. However, it appears two of you have answered the call. This makes my job so much easier."

I could easily read the sarcasm in his voice. This guy either didn't want us here, or didn't want to be here himself. "Okay then," I said, "what do we have to do?"

Haskill sighed again. "Lord Sheogorath sends his invitation to his palace in the capital city of New Sheoth, on the other side of the Isles. Presuming you survive the journey, he wishes to have an audience with you. However, you are free to deny this invitation and return to the realm of mortals if you wish. The decision is up to you."

I turned my attention to Lyria. "Well? What do you think?"

She turned to me, and smiled. "Are you kidding me? Daedric lords, strange lands, and crazy people? You know I'm in this."

I laughed. "Ah Lyria, you make me laugh so much." I turned back to Haskill. "Fine then, Haskill. We'll accept the invitation. Tell Sheogorath that we'll meet him at his palace and speak with him."

Haskill sighed once more. "Alright then, I will let him know of your decision. Welcome to the Isles."

He stood up, and walked to the door. When he opened it, no light came through. It was just a black, empty void. He stepped into the void, and shut the door. Lyria and I stood up, ready to follow him, but then we heard a noise.

"What the hell is that?" Lyria asked.

I listened closely. "It sounds like wings, like an insect or something."

The sound got progressively louder and louder, until it seemed like the entire room was fluttering. Suddenly, a stream of light broke through the wall. Another came through the wall on the other side. More beams burst through the walls as the fluttering grew louder, and suddenly the room erupted in light. The walls began to slowly turn into bright, fluorescent butterflies, who flew off into the distance in a great, black cloud. After a few seconds, I got used to the burst of light, and my eyes adjusted. What I saw completely struck me.

We were on top of a hill, made of the same rock and covered in the same mossy grass as the island in the bay. Towering high were gigantic mushrooms hundreds of feet high. The roots twisted and rolled across the landscape, creating a maze-like landscape.

I looked at Lyria, who was still in awe at what she was seeing. "Lyria, are you okay?"

She nodded, turned to me, and smiled. "Yeah, I'm good. Look over there. Do you see those buildings over there?"

I put my hand over my eyes and squinted to block out the low sunlight coming over the hillside. I looked in the direction Lyria was pointing, and I saw what looked like a two story building, with two or three others around it. If there were people there, they might be able to direct us to New Sheoth.

"Come on, Lyria. Lets go."