The Dragonborn. That is what they call me. The Savior of Skyrim. I have been the Dragonborn for so long that no one knows my true name. It is hard even for me to remember who I am.
Who am I? I have many titles. Harbinger of the Companions. Listener of the Dark Brotherhood. Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold. Guildmaster of the Thieve's Guild. Yet all of these titles are not who I am. Who I am was buried a long time ago by the burden of a thousand watching eyes.
I asked Lydia, my faithful Housecarl, once who I was. She studied me carefully before answering. "You are whoever the people need you to be. If you are not what they need, that is what you will become. You are people's voice given form. You are the Dragonborn."
What she had said was true. I had changed many times through the years to become what the people needed. I had gone from a fighting rebel to a cunning politician when they needed stable leadership. I had become a thief when the people needed reminding that riches were not everything in life. I had become an assassin when the people needed to be protected from evil within their own ranks. I had become the Arch-Mage when people needed to be reminded that power came in all forms. I became a Companion when the people needed strength to look to.
I became all of these things for them. I cannot remember the last time that I became someone because I needed to or because I wanted to. It has been a very long time since I was afforded that luxury.
There were days when I missed being my own person, free to make my own choices without the fear of how it would affect those who had put their faith in me. There were days when I wished that I had never become the Dragonborn, that I had never even returned to Skyrim. But those days were few and far between. Because every time I gave voice to the needs of the people or defended them from enemies they could not defeat, I heard the gratefulness in their voices and saw it in their eyes. It was in moments like those that I knew I could never stop being the will of the people. I loved them too much. I am the Dragonborn. I am what the people of Skyrim need me to be. A hero.