Chapter 2
4E 190 Times were getting harder, news of Thalmor justiciars hunting down Talos worshipers was everywhere. At first it was only a few of the more active worshipers in far off places in Tamreil and so I felt safe hiding my faith, but then there was talk of farmers outside Whiterun being taken. Worse than that though were the offers of rewards to any who helped reveal a Talos worshiper. The terror of it was starting to affect my sister and I, we both talked to as few people as possible and when we did, we watched our words carefully.
For a little while I thought the Thalmor would stay outside of the cities and for a it did make me feel a bit better as it seemed to be true. The day came though that an odd order was placed at the forge, lots of chains and shackles. I made them yes, but with every blow of my hammer I could feel them tighten around me.
That night after the town was asleep I went to the Shrine of Talos as I did sometimes to pray. "Oh Lord Talos, protector of man, protector of Skyrim, hear my prayer. Soon Elves will come to take your followers away, I pray for strength and your protection for my sister and I." That's when I heard footsteps behind me, I turned around to see a young man about my age. Idolaf Battle-Born had often come to the forge; in fact he owned the second steel sword I had ever made. Seeing him here though was bad, no doubt he had seen me and heard me praying, but what was worse is that he was an Imperial lapdog just like his father.
"With so many Talos worshipers being found," he said with a sly grin "and such a reward for those who find them, I'll bet I'd get a good bit of gold for you." He looked at me now like a wolf looks at a fresh kill.
"Idolaf," I said try to keep my voice firm, but it sounded more like a desperate plea, "if you have any honor then I beg you, forget this."
"I'm sorry Siglak, but you had a chance to forsake the false god. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go." I only had a belt knife but I still began to draw it, passing guards made me stop though. If I killed him then I would be locked up and there would still be a chance that the Thalmor would find Veroth and I. We needed to get out of the city tonight.
Running back to the inn I woke Veroth and told her what had happened, her face went white. I told her the only thing we could do was leave and go north. We gathered up our belongings and started for the gate, but the gate was where my plan failed. Into the city marched the Thalmor Justiciars clad in black cloaks or golden colored Elven armor. We were too late, they had arrived and when we tried to leave the guards told us that no one was permitted to leave the city until official orders from the Jarl were given.
All hope was gone now, soon the Justiciars would take us to the Nine knew where. A few days pas though and no one was taken, but every day more Justiciars came into the city. It wasn't until the eve of the Midyear Celebration that they finally struck. I came home from the forge when I saw my sister in chains standing in front of the inn. I reached for my belt knife but before my hand was even on the hilt I felt a blow hit me in the back of the head, then there was nothing.
When I finally came to I felt shackles around my wrists, the same ones that I had made. The dim light of torches revealed that I was in a cell, and the yellow clad guards indicated that it was in Whiterun. "Veroth," I shouted but no one answered "Veroth!"
"They took everyone in her cell an hour ago, or at least it feels like it's been an hour." A familiar voice said. I turned to see Crofta, the captain of the guard, standing there wearing chains like me. "They'll probably come for us next, the Thalmor are systematic like that."
"You're here, but why?" I asked.
"When they were rounding up Talos worshipers my name came up, it was never really a secret though." He looked at the ground with a sad look, "I can only thank the Nine that I could hide Lydia from all of this." Guards opened our cell door and began dragging us to our feet. "Looks like it's our turn for whatever happens."
We were escorted into the blinding sunlight and led before the statue of Talos where a Thalmor woman spoke. "You are all here for the same reason; each of you worships this false god. Tiber Septim was no god, this was just a lie created to make man feel superior to all other races. This false sense of superiority is why the Great War started, but through the fighting we have come to realize that without Talos the races can better accept one another. You however would cling to this self-righteous man's legend; this threatens the very balance of unity in Tamriel, therefore you must be removed from civilization so that you cannot cause harm to those around you. Take them away."
As we were led away I looked up at Dragon's Reach and Saw Jarl Balgruuf, despite the pleas for help that came from the crowd he just stood there. It was the first time that I thought about it, how the leaders we thought we could trust had truly abandoned us.
Things got worse still as we were dragged north west. Some of those who were taken captive were too young or too old to make the trek. I still remember one old man collapsing from exhaustion, but we didn't stop to wait for him. A Thalmor guard unshackled him, slit his throat and began to walk as if nothing had happened, leaving the body to rot. That was what happened to any who could not walk any further, even the children died in such a manner. The guards did not care as long as we kept moving. We even marched through the night, but when the sun came up we had finally come to our destination. Of all the ships in the Solitude harbor, only one flew the Thalmor flag. They loaded us onto this ship where quarters were tight, the air smelled fowl, and we had to share space with animals being transported.
"Where are they taking us?" I asked Crofta.
"Rumor has it that there's a prison on some miserable and uncharted spit of land in the Topal Bay; prisoners go in alive but come out dead if they come out at all. They say it's the most guarded place in Tamriel and no one can escape it, supposedly it's a place where men go mad, and it's like walking through the Gates of Oblivion. If I was a Thalmor—and thank Talos I'm not—I would take us there." Those words filled my nightmares for the whole voyage which was too long for all of us to survive. Food supplies ran low and even with the little we were fed they still couldn't feed us all. They started with the people on death's door, and then they moved on to the weakest looking. Every time they took someone I thought of Veroth and wondered where she was, or if they had already thrown her overboard.
Time lost meaning during the voyage, the only light we saw was from torches that guards carried when giving us food and water. It could have been months for all I knew, but one day the Thalmor started dragging us above deck and although it was not all of the things that Crofta said it would be, it was still like walking into Oblivion.
Fist we were herded like cattle into a large building where we each received a mark by our left eyes. It was to mark us as prisoners if we ever escaped though no other humans would ever recognize these marks. From there we were striped of anything that we still had after the journey. Once we had been marked we were taken across a long drawbridge that went over a large spiked pit, and on both sides stood a guard tower where archers stood ready to kill anyone who tried to run. On the other side of the bridge were the largest gates that I had ever seen. The gates opened to reveal a massive complex of cells which stood three stories high.
In the open area at the center of this prison we were lined up to wait for a black clad Justiciar to appear. "My name is Rulindil and inside these walls my word is law. Any disobedience will be punished severely. You are Talos Worshipers, not fit to live in societies of any race, not fit to live by your own laws, not fit to live at all. The fact that I allow you to live is not an act of mercy however, it is so that you can be cleansed and shown your proper place in the world. Every day before the sun rises, five of you will be selected while the rest of you will be taken to the mines where you will stay until the sun sets. The five who were selected however will be escorted to the purification center to be cleansed of their unholy beliefs. Now, time to be escorted to your cells." Mine was only a little taller than I was and there was nothing but a bucket that smelled putrid. The cell was hardly wide enough for me to sit down in, and even then I had to tuck in my knees. The walls were hardly solid in most places, iron bars filled in these great holes.
"New arrival eh?" I turned my head to see there in the cell next to mine was the most wretched man I had ever seen. His hair was thinning so much it might as well have been gone; his teeth that grinned at me were crooked and yellow. But the features that stood out most were the scars that covered his entire body. I realized I was staring and tried to apologize be he waved it away. "Most newcomers stare at my scars in fear, and it only gets worse when they think about where they came from." Where they came from, I had a few guesses and they turned my stomach. "Most of the people here have scars, but I have this many for a good reason." He directed his gaze at a passing guard patrol, "Ten years of torture and they still haven't 'cleansed' me. Sorry, I often forget that new arrivals aren't use to this yet. On a different note though my name is Acilius Bolar, but you can call me Scar, everyone does." It was odd to see an Imperial man here, I had always thought that all the Talos worshipers taken would be Nords that were scattered throughout Tamriel.
"I'm Siglak," I said trying to be polite.
"Well Siglak, may the blessings of Talos be upon you. Oh don't be so surprised, I'm still a priest of Talos no matter what they do to me. Life was better then, what was it like for you?"
"Well I had to work hard to support my sister and myself, but I still loved being a blacksmith." By comparison those days when I worked most days and trained with Lydia on all the other days seemed perfect, at least then I got paid for my work and didn't sleep in a cage.
"Oh a smith then, that would explain the broad shoulders you have. You should tell the guards that tomorrow, it might keep you out of the mines if you're good enough." The next day I took his advice and sure enough I was kept out of the mines so that I could forge steel weapons for the Thalmor, in an odd way it felt good to be doing something so familiar, until I thought about where these weapons would go. Every night I found myself wondering how many Thalmor I had armed, somehow the Thalmor managed to ruin the only thing that still gave me purpose.
Hey guys, sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. Please read and review, I like hearing what you think =)
