Tirdas 25 Last Seed
Today was very much one of suspense, for until Esbern has been recovered, there is little else I can do to further the dragon investigation. All I can do is wait for Gissur and my subordinates to return. In short, I am without power, and nothing good has ever come of that. This became painfully obvious this morning, when my high mages delivered their long-awaited situation report. It seems even here in Skyrim, with the best literature that could be recovered from Cloud Ruler Temple made available, that sparse headway has been made.
There's nothing in the way of tangible source material. With every line of inquiry that is pursued, it always comes back to the same damned prophecy. I was directed by my procurement specialist to one text in particular, The Book of the Dragonborn,by one Prior Emelene Madrine. It originates from within the Order of Talos, a certain heretical cult I took particular pride in expunging during my time as Third Emissary to Cyrodiil. I determined from my extensive interrogation work that said order was essentially a front for the Blades, so this is the closest we have to material from the 'dragonguard' themselves.
Most of the text was to be expected of a Blades agent, complete with the time-old convoluted history of the Empire and wishful thinking we've all come to loathe. But in spite of the clamorous efforts of the carpenters Enilroth has under a non-disclosure contract to repair the damage of whatever spell was cast in my basement at the weekend, I persevered until the end. Here I found the important part, the 'Prophecy of the Dragonborn' itself in writing.
When misrule takes its place at the eight corners of the world,
When the brass tower walks, and Time is reshaped,
When the thrice-blessed fail, and the Red Tower trembles,
When the Dragonborn ruler loses his throne, and the White Tower falls,
When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless, bleeding,
The World-Eater wakes, and the wheel turns on the last Dragonborn.
It's obvious that the less than subtle symbolism found here refers to a selection of assorted historical events, including the eruption of the Red Mountain in Morrowind, the Aldmeri Dominion's glorious conquest of the Imperial City and the advent of the Stormcloak rebellion here in Skyirm. In itself, this appears somewhat unremarkable, that is until one considers when this text was supposedly authored. It dates back to 3E 360, long before these events could have been predicted, and the prophecy itself is supposed to be much older in itself.
I suspect somebody may well have modified the text later, or altered it in the process of producing later editions. Or perhaps not, for what really astounds me is that this book, which I'm assured has remained unaltered in the Thalmor archives for 16 years, contains a reference to the death of King Torygg, who was assassinated only a few months ago by Ulfric Stormcloak. The next event: the awakening of the world-eater, the dragons. It just seems too uncanny to be a mere coincidence. It's the kind of foresight that could be imbued by nothing less than an Elder Scroll. Perhaps there could be truth to this prophecy yet.