AN: 'We already know all this, we've played the games, why are you telling us?'

Firstly, to establish the character: I can begin to present here a nexus of scepticism, piety and curiosity that will shape Harald's character. Also however, to misinformation and bias in narration. I'm not a fan of unreliable narration, but you'll get more if you read it critically.

Secondly, because tes lore is questionable. More on this in later chapters, but I want to introduce the idea of actors' dichotomy between material desires and metaphysical necessity that's at the heart of a lot of Tamriel's events.

As always, reviews welcome, let me know what you think about anything in particular that appears important, unusual or controversial to you.

-x-

They rose early in the morning. Harald was used to getting up at dawn, but it seemed Master Vinothren was not, and Harald had the unusual experience of being the first person awake. He sat for a while in thought in the room they had got at the Traveller's Rest.

Master Vinothren had described it merely as an 'inn' but Harald hadn't seen a larger single building in his life. It was a high as two barns stacked on top of each other and had many other buildings clustered about it, leaning against the main structure like drunks might a tavern's wall. There was a bakery, a farrier, a stable and a number of standing posts, but what purpose they were for Harald knew not. Perhaps travellers who couldn't stay tied their horses there instead of bringing them all the way into the stables.

Apart from the wonder at staying in the enormous inn, Harald was quite content. His legs felt a bit sore from riding the horse all day yesterday, and he imagined they would only feel sorer when they reached the Ironic Abbey later in the day, but he did not think he would be riding anywhere after they got to Wayrest, so he could rest there.

He heard a yawn as Master Vinothren awoke. "Good morning Harald." He said, and rubbed his eyes.

"Good morning Master Vinothren." Replied Harald brightly.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Not long. I always get up early."

Master Vinothren nodded to himself, "That is well; one can accomplish much if one is awake before other men. Remember that."

Harald dutifully committed it to memory, he felt there was a second meaning behind the words aside from the obvious, that if you were awake and others weren't then you'd be able to do things before them. Harald wasn't sure what, but it seemed a good thing to remember.

"Go downstairs then and tell the innkeep to send make us some breakfast, and a meal that we may eat later on the road."

Harald nodded, and left, he had already dressed, he had not known if they would leave early, and he was used to going out without his breakfast, it was nice to be able to eat something more than a crumb of bread and cheese.

The common room below had only a few patrons about, there was a man in robes in a corner drinking from a goblet, his face in the shadow of a hood, which he had not taken down, which was very rude. A person should always take off their hat when they came into a building. Perhaps he was a wizard. How exciting!

Tearing his gaze away from the rude hooded man Harald set out between tables and great wooden pillars holding up the ceiling to find the Innkeeper. He remembered a large moustached man from the previous night that had shown them to their room, his size should make him easy to find.

The Innkeeper was indeed standing behind the bar, and Harald wandered up to him, climbing onto a low stool so his head would reach above the rim.

"And good day to you young Master," remarked the Innkeeper, "Has your Master sent you down?" he asked.

"Yes," Harald replied, "he wants breakfast."

"And you'll be hungry yourself I don't wonder."

Harald nodded, "And he said to make us something we can have on the road later."

"Did he indeed? Well I shall set to that right quickly, if you will take yourself back up I will send something up after you."

Harald thanked the man, and, task accomplished, returned to the room. He paused outside, not knowing whether he should knock. Harald was not in his own home, and he didn't think he knew Master Vinothren well enough, only having met him the day before, to just walk in. So he knocked.

"Enter!"

Harald pushed the door and saw that his guardian was finishing dressing, but almost as soon as he had opened the door he heard the Innkeeper coming up the stairs with their food. The man bustled in with a tray in one hand and a folding table in the other, he set in down between the two beds and kicked it up with his foot, still holding the tray of food, which Harald thought was a most impressive feat.

"Here you are sirs," the Innkeeper said, and turned to Master Vinothren, "The rest of the food for the day will be ready by the time you depart."

"Excellent." Stated Master Vinothren, "Have my horse saddled and before the Inn." And he waved a hand and the Innkeeper went out bowing as he went. He waited till the door closed and then looked over the breakfast. "A decent spread." He remarked, tearing some bread in two.

Harald looked over the table; there was dark barley bread, cheese, and two bowls of porridge. There was also a jug of water and two goblets, and another small pot with a clear, golden liquid in it.

Harald followed Master Vinothren's example and tore off some bread, chewing it thoughtfully, and then nibbling some cheese. He observed Master Vinothren drizzling the golden syrup onto his porridge, then swapping the bowls and doing the same with the other bowl.

"I don't believe you'll have had honey before." He said, "Eat quickly though, I want to be off soon."

Harald finished his share of the bread and cheese, took a gulp of water, and spooned some of the porridge into his mouth. The taste was very strange, he could remember having something like it before, but not where he had had it. It was not a bad taste though, so Harald had no trouble at all eating it quickly, and after he was finished he was sad it was gone.

"Finished? Well then, let's go." Master Vinothren said, and picked buckled his belt with his coin purse and dagger around his waist, he combed his fingers through his hair.

"You're an elf!" exclaimed Harald, seeing the tip of a pointed ear and Master Vinothren tied his hair back again with a ribbon.

Master Vinothren looked down at him with a frown and a wry smile. "Yes?" he said, "Did you not know?"

Harald shook his head, he felt stupid for thinking Master Vinothren was simply unwell. "I didn't know elves look like you do." He explained.

Master Vinothren raised his eyebrows. "Well…" he remarked, "I don't suppose there's any reason for you to have seen an elf before. Most elves do look something like you imagine, though there are differences."

"Are you like a Redguard?" asked Harald when they were walking down the stairs.

Master Vinothren laughed again, "No, though I see why you made the comparison, most astute of you." And he patted Harald's head.

Harald did not know what 'astute' meant, but he assumed it meant 'clever', and so was pleased. He had guessed that Master Vinothren was just an elf with dark skin like Redguards were men with dark skin. Yet then again he had seen Bretons like himself with ruddy skin, and the trader he had seen hadn't been that dark. Men's skin became darker during summer, and he'd heard in the land of Hammerfell that summer was without end. No doubt that explained their darker skin.

They went outside and Harald saw a boy standing with the horse and a bag of their food. Master Vinothren flipped him a coin and they climbed onto the horse. Harald didn't think Master Vinothren had paid the Innkeeper, but obviously he had, as they were riding away. Perhaps he had arranged it the night before, which was clever of him, that way they were able to ride away in the morning without needing to wait.

"We will not pass Firebrand Keep for some time yet," said Master Vinothren, "I think there is time for me to tell of the origins of my people before I tell you about the Knights of the Flame. Where to begin?"

He was silent for a few moments, then spoke again, "What do you know of elves Harald?" he asked.

Harald thought to himself. In truth he didn't know much, not having met many elves, but his favourite story was about them, so he told that instead.

"The men fought a war against the elves." He began, "And the men won, so the elves went away to their island with a tower. The island had a tower – not, the elves didn't take the tower with them." He explained, thinking he should clarify the point, "Anyway, the elves said 'Well, take the lands, we will give them back to the wilds', but the men didn't care so they farmed and fished and went about as they used to." Then there was a part Harald had never been sure of, about the towns and farmers, so he skipped it, "But then the animals came out of the woods and ate some of the men, so they ran away. So one day a farmboy went to the temple and prayed to Stendarr to give them mercy from the animals attacking them. So Stendarr send a giant hawk into the church and it said 'the animals are attacking because they think you are a beast with no name, so you must tell them you have a name' so the boy went into the forest and a bear came to eat him, so he said to it 'I am a man, who it is not lawful to slay, return to the wilds' and so the boy walked the wilds and they called him the Viridian Sentinel."

"Indeed." Said Master Vinothren after some time. He was silent after for a few miles, but eventually stirred, "That is not a story I have heard before, but it does not surprise me, there are some similarities with the tales of the Bosmer. Before you ask what a 'Bosmer' is I think I shall begin your education in Old Ehlnofic. I intend to teach you the language, as it is the purest and highest of all languages, and I suppose we shall begin now."

Harald said nothing, Master Vinothren had guessed that he didn't know what a Bosmer was, Harald assumed it was a sort of elf.

"Are you aware Harald that you are a Nord, of a different people than the Bretons surrounding you?" Master Vinothren asked.

Harald shook his head; he had never thought about it.

"Well you are, your Grandfather was, and your Father, and so are you, you will be larger and stronger than other men when you are fully grown, and you may not feel the cold as much as other men do. Nords are the purest race of men, and for that you should be proud, your people were created, it is said, atop the Throat of the World, which is the tallest mountain in the world, it is in Skyrim, you will see it one day."

Master Vinothren was silent for another mile or so, perhaps in thought, or maybe he was just giving Harald time to think.

"The ancient Nords spread and grew from their origins, and some departed to Atmora, which is a land to the far north, beyond the Shivering Sea. They built great kingdoms there, but a cataclysm (which is a sort of great misfortune) came upon the land, and they sailed under their king Ysgramor to Skyrim."

Harald was secretly pleased he had not had to ask about what the word meant. Even in the short time he had been with the elf, he had found himself often feeling uncivilised or stupid around Master Vinothren, for not knowing the large words he used.

"However at that point Skyrim was peopled by elves, so Ysgramor called the land 'Mereth', meaning 'Elf Land' in his language. You must remember Harald," and Harald made sure to pay attention, "Always call an 'elf' a 'mer', it is rude to call someone an elf, especially to their face."

Harald again committed it to memory, again feeling stupid for calling Master Vinothren an elf before.

"Anyway, Ysgramor's men went out and made war on the Falmer, which means here 'Snow Elves' and afterward spread out across Tamriel. You will note that I have mentioned the Bosmer, and the Falmer, this is the manner in which we refer to elves in this era, 'Bosmer' means 'Wood Elf' because they live in the woods, there are also the 'Altmer' which means 'High Elf' both because they are very tall, and because they are a very high-minded and noble people, or at least they say they are."

"Are they actually though?" Harald asked.

"It depends who you ask." Replied Master Vinothren, "It is true that they keep to the ancient customs of the Aldmer, meaning the 'First Ones', more than the other merkin, and it is true that they are very powerful and learned, and as such the Altmer consider themselves the true line of lineage going back to the beginning. More than that, you must judge for yourself. There are a large number of groups that claim to be the true line, the Altmer are only the most powerful."

Harald nodded, it seemed to him that the Aldmer, these First Elves, had had many children, who had formed the different groups of elves, and now that they squabbled over their father's possessions as it were.

"Now we come to my own people, you believe I was somehow a Redguard elf did you not, well you were right, in a way. The Redguards are a different sort of men to the Nords, Bretons and the Cyrods, whom you may know as the 'Imperials', however long ago they were likely the same people, the Dunmer, my people, meaning 'Dark Elves' but also 'Cursed Elves' were once a group of Altmer who worshiped different gods to the Altmer, as such they were persecuted and so Veloth, a great priest and prophet, led them away from their home across Tamriel to a land called 'Dwemereth', which you can tell was ruled by the 'Deep Elves', also called the Dwarves, which I will tell you of another day, Veloth's followers made alliance with the kings of the Dwarves, and there great friendship between the two peoples. However, the leader of those who were to become the Dunmer, who was a great soldier and king called Indoril Nerevar, was betrayed by his three friends, Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil, and they killed him and stole his power. For this the goddess Azura punished the elves, and said to them 'May the eyes of the Changed ones be turned red and their skin blackened as their hearts, a curse upon these folk forever more' and so the Dunmer became known as the Cursed Folk."

"Why did they kill Indoril Nerevar?" asked Harald, if they were his friends he could not imagine a reason. He also did not think it was right of Azura to have punished everyone for only a few of them who committed the crime.

"No-one knows truly, perhaps they thought he was becoming too powerful a king and wanted that power for themselves."

"But why did the goddess punish all the elves then? If it was only a few of them that killed him?"

"Some believe that there was a greater sin among the elves of the time, however there is no proof either way, it is also interesting to note that the Dwemer disappeared at the same time the Dunmer were cursed. However, Azura is also a Daedric Lord, who are known to be treacherous."

Harald thought that seemed reasonable, he knew lots of stories where there was a particularly sinful family or village and the gods destroyed it, even though there might have been some there who were innocent, the priest had always said it was because the innocent had been slothful and not sought out the evil to stop it. Harald suddenly saw that it was the same in the story of the Viridian Sentinel, Stendarr had only helped the farmboy when he asked for help, not when the elves had unleashed the beasts on the people.

"And what happened in the end?" asked Harald, usually the priest who give some moral sentiment at the end of a sermon, he expected the same, presumably the three betrayers would be punished.

"At the end of what?" Master Vinothren said, seeming not to understand.

"The story! How did the gods punish them after?"

"Oh, well… about a hundred years ago Nerevar returned and killed Vivec, and Sotha Sil was driven mad, Almalexia killed him, and was herself killed by the returned Nerevar. Then Nerevar sailed to Akavir."

Harald nodded, that was proper, the gods had clearly punished Sotha Sil with his madness, and caused the others to be killed also. He'd never heard of Akavir, it was probably some other land that the Nerevar had decided to go conquer, or something of that nature.

"Now," Master Vinothren said behind him, "I think we will run for a while, hold on tight." And he spurred the horse forward.