Gods Among Men

Loading Screen… High Elves reside on Summerset Isles...

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Krest scooped up a spoonful of his breakfast grain and shoved it into his mouth, swallowing hard. He quavered as a chill surrounded him. Saadia sat down across from him, grabbing ahold of an apple turnover. He took a gander, fixating on the lineup of meats hanging on the kitchen wall. The tick of the ornamental clock as time whisked by.

"How's everything?" Saadia took a chunk out of her pastie. "You look awful." A few crumbs fell from her mouth.

Krest pushed away the bowl of ground cereal. "I'm surviving."

Saadia picked up a newspaper and skimmed to the poetry section. She took a few more bites out of her pastry. "I've spoken to Ulfric about the elven slaves. Even told him Dibella commanded the slaves in this city be freed. His response was that he doesn't have much control over the 'indentured servitude' and elven persecution. Of course, he's lying."

Someone should just destroy this city and free the slaves, a sinister idea suggested. The smell of baked bread and ambrosia billowed from the ovens. Balagog was cooking something delicious.

"The Ayleids and Direnni had Nede and Nord slaves. The Direnni had a problem of widespread race breeding. Treating Nordic women like animals. So, I understand the Nords would want revenge. But becoming your enemy just fuels the endless cycle of revenge. Who cares if you have pointy ears or round ones? Then don't get me started on the Altmer and their 'holier-than-thou' attitudes." Saadia finished her treat with a sour look on her features. "Speaking of them, what do you think life is like for the High Elves? Having to live a thousand years and all?" She pondered aloud. "I've heard some were even alive to see the conquests of Talos, or Tiber Septim as you Imperials say."

Krest's response was cut short when Dibella strode into the dining hall. She sorted through the bits of lembas bread on the counter before settling on a banana. Peeling it and taking a bite. Physically speaking, Dibella seemed around thirty-two years of age, ten years his senior. As she had a fully matured body, light lines on her forehead and crows' feet at the end of her eyes. The latter seemed more of stress than anything. She had none of the naivety or immaturity of youth about her, but instead an aura of wisdom, strength, and motherhood. Her actual age was obviously likely thousands or more like the other Divines.

Krest flushed red when the goddess gave him a look before walking off back to the hall.

Saadia was smirking coyly. "You know I think she knows your name."

"What?"

Krest rinsed the taste of grains from his mouth via a tall glass of water he poured through the crystalline decanter. They got up and put their bowls away in the basin, striding off towards the communal chamber after that.

When they got there Krest noticed Dibella, Idrasa, and Ancano. The former was doing some sort of free-spirited dance. Krest calmed his breathing, goosebumps drawing up his arms as he slithered into a corner, as far as possible from Dibella, where it was harder to notice him. He wouldn't inflict his presence on them.

Idrasa was talking, seeming the worst for wear, "I also wish to reunite my parents and bring them here."

"Who are your parents, Idrasa?" Dibella itched her chin with a finger as her dance drew to a close.

"Felen Relas, a member of the Mages Guild in Anvil and Seryne Relas; she's actually mentioned in the book, Breathing Water." Idrasa cracked her knuckles.

Dibella's smile rippled up her handsome jaw. "I'll see what I can do. After we deal with why I'm here."

Idrasa curtsied. "Thank you, goddess." Krest realized Idrasa was the only one here younger than him. She must've been nineteen while Ancano was like twenty-five. "Do you have any children or parents, Lady Dibella?"

Dibella bit her lip at that, her eyes darting off to the floor panels. "Anu the Everything is the parent to us Aedra, the best I could ask for. For Anu is neither man nor woman. I do have my own children too. Three. I had a daughter with my ex-husband, Magnus, the Daedric Prince Meridia. I have a mortal Kreathmen son with Stendarr who is three, Erp Amore, heir to Anvil's throne. I also have a Reachmen daughter with Sanguine who is nine, Sibylla Amore. She is living with me in Aetherius. Though, right now Mara's looking after her."

"Sanguine?" Saadia tensed.

"I was trying to get him to be good. Our romance didn't pan out, but our daughter calmed his heart. She visits him regularly," Dibella affixed. "We've been trying to get the allegiance of the Daedric Princes. Magnus; Dagon, was persuaded by Akatosh at the end of the Third Era when Akatosh sung to him. I've swayed Sanguine, Hircine, and Azura. Clavicus Vile is next on my list. I've suggested Akatosh speak to Malacath since he was once Trinimac. The rest of the Daedra either don't care or hate us outright." Dibella stretched her arms behind her back.

Saadia grinned. "Pray tell, how did you ever sway the mighty Hircine?"

"Mmm. That Hircine," Dibella sighed, "now that's a man who knows how to pleasure a woman." Dibella bit her lip lustfully. "He's a softie on the inside though. What about you, Saadia?"

Krest's nose twitched in annoyance, and he reminded himself of his mantra. A warrior like me doesn't need a woman's love. My heart is made of stone. No… I have no heart. For I am a warrior. Hate. Hate is all I need. For hate is all I've ever received.

Saadia waved some moths out of her face. A lot of the Ancestor Moths seemed attracted to her for whatever reason. "Maybe."

Dibella and Idrasa exchanged half-glances. "Is he handsome?" The former questioned.

"As if you chiseled him from marble yourself, Mother." Ancano blushed deeply as Saadia smiled at him.

"Krest, come here. Join us!" Idrasa called.

Krest stood up and walked over.

Dibella stared him down, and soon enough his heart was thumping nonstop, trying to break his ribs. He looked away in shame. "Idrasa, go get him an amulet of mine."

Idrasa acquiesced and set off.

"Krest, if you intend to serve me and help us, I need your loyalty." Dibella stood tall and despite her only being one inch taller, he felt very small and shrunk inwards, gazing at the floor. "Bow to me. Worship your goddess."

Krest hesitated, he wasn't expecting that.

"Do it. Submit to me," she demanded without raising her voice. Krest rested his forehead to the cool, watery tiles, kissing Dibella's feet. He heard her smirk. "Good boy. You may rise."

Krest got up and Idrasa tied an Amulet of Dibella around his neck. Similar to the one she, Saadia, and Dibella herself wore. Though, Dibella's was slightly different, modeled like a crown for a queen. The one Krest adorned was a choker more than anything.

"You belong to me now. Me alone," Dibella commandeered with hardening eyes. "The men's variant of the amulet is supposed to be tighter around the neck," she added with a coy grin.

Krest tipped his head in agreement and resumed his position in the corner of the room. He felt as if some sort of spell had bound him.

Saadia, scrunching up her face and fluffing her weave, flocked towards Dibella. "After all our correspondences, I never thought I'd actually meet you face to face until I died. One of the Eight." Krest noticed that Dibella and Ancano both beamed when Saadia saidEight. His eyes wandered back to the figure of Dibella. Her muscled curves, the veins and light hairs on her arms, the bounce of her short golden curls. He pried his sight off her and onto his own palms wired by circuits where there should be veins. "So, explain to me, what is life in the heavens like?" Saadia put her face in her hands.

"The best experiences here but much more," answered Dibella. "None of your mortal limitations. No one causes trouble because once you've seen it with your own eyes, nothing else can compare. You reap the fruits from your life here. Everlasting fulfillment, adventure of sights that no place on Nirn can compare to. Unlike this world which is tainted with Lorkhan's limitations. Even us Divines are weaker here, mortal-like just with enhanced abilities. Another reason we wanted the prisoner sent here. Only Anu is all powerful and all seeing, after all."

"Is that all you can say?" Saadia brushed the crumbs from her robes.

"Better to experience it yourself than get my second-hand account. In a nutshell, it is love and light. Everyone deserves to be loved. A shame so many forsake that love for material gain." Dibella patted the outline of her mane. "Lots of cute boys too, that's for sure."

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" Idrasa was suppressing a laugh behind a coy grin.

The sunshine outside speckled in through the windowing of the temple and Krest had to lift a hand to ward off the blinding nature of it. Not everyone deserves to be loved, Krest vehemently disagreed, tyrants and abusers deserve to be ripped apart limb from limb.

Saadia blanched. "If a boy's innocence is his treasure? Does that make you a treasure-hunter, Lady Dibella?"

"You cannot hunt something that already belongs to you." The ends of Dibella's lips tugged upward.

Krest paled, but his cheeks tinged pink.

"What about the other gods? How are they?" Ancano stuck his nose in the air.

A flash of light permeated from the center of the antechamber, blinding the view. A bluish-white portal like the one Dibella had stepped through appeared, a gateway to Aetherius, and out came two figures. The first was unmistakably the legendary dragon-god of time, Akatosh Bormahu also known as Auriel. In his ruby-red robes with long golden hair and beard that fell to his chest. Golden eyes and a crown that resembled dragon horns projecting from his skull. He was six-two in height and seemed a mix between a Nord and a High Elf. Krest made out the distinct pointy-ears and elven curvature of his jaw. But the nordic Aldmer had the eyes, nose, and cheekbones of a Nord, along with a fair bit of muscle despite his older age.

So, unlike Lorkhan, Akatosh is accepting of man and mer, Krest deduced given the mer-man's appearance.

The next figure to exit was tall, incredibly buff, and had a chest full of hair. Resembling an Atmoran, Tsun Zenithar, god of trials, work, and commerce. If the stories were true, it was evident this once Shield-Thane of Lorkhan had repented and switched sides to Akatosh, along with his twin, Stuhn Stendarr, and Lorkhan's ex-wife, Kynareth Tava.

Idrasa, Saadia, and Ancano got up and greeted them. The latter was latched onto Akatosh in an embrace that would make a leech blush. Meanwhile, Tsun marched over to Dibella and grabbed her around the waist, kissing her full on the lips, his thick but groomed beard engulfing her chin. She snaked her hands around his buzzed scalp. Krest flinched.

Envy skinned him like peeling a fruit with a knife. - Akatosh jostled over to him with Ancano, forcing Krest to recompose his standard look of apathy.

"Are you the Praetorian. Any idea where the prisoner went, my boy?"

Krest shook his head, taking in Akatosh's apple scented perfume and glittering robe buttons. Krest steeled the ball of nerves in his gut. I have to be the Dragonborn, it's the only way I'll matter.

Dibella swept aside her bangs. "That brat is completely incompetent; he lost the prisoner twice."

Maybe she'll be nicer to me if I'm the Dragonborn too.

Akatosh's visage became crestfallen. "Please be polite to my children, Dibella."

Dibella glared at Krest for a moment. She clenched a fist and moved inward to the main conversation. Krest slumped off into the angular portion of the room, taking a seat next to a portrait of one of the previous Sybils of Dibella from ages long past. The Nord girl in the painting was his age. She was peeling oranges over a basket in the photographic art.

"Now, I must ask you all to listen in." Akatosh puffed up his chest as everyone took a seat. "Here is what is going on and what we're going to do. - The being I cast out from the sun a while back was Talos Stormcrown. Talos is not who we thought he was. He has tricked us for over an era, for he is the trickster, Lorkhan, in a renewed form."

Wait, what!? Krest's world collapsed.

Akatosh danced around, beard, hair, and robes twirling. "He He He He! Spin the web we shall, spun what has already begun!"

"He does that," Tsun clarified to everyone in the room.

"Well yes, anyhow, Lorkhan Shor is my fraternal twin brother, a Serpent born to Sithis; chaos incarnate. Just as I am the Dragon born to Anu; love incarnate. Sithis took a bride for himself, a Knev woman from one of the previous kalpas and conceived children with her. That woman was Mephala, the Mother of Night. Those children were Lorkhan and much later a few of the Daedric Princes. Just as the Aedra and I were born to Anu the Godhead," explained the dragon god.

"How are you twins?" Ancano asked. "You look nothing alike, and you have no blood relation."

Akatosh nodded. "We aren't biological twins. We are mirror twins. Born at the same time to different parents with opposite purposes. At the beginning of this Kalpa, in the Dawn Era, I set out to create the heavens with my siblings, but Lorkhan had other plans. He reshaped this world instead into his plane, born from his ideas while he fraternized with the likes of Namira, Azura, and Boethiah. Magnus and Kynareth agreed to his plans and thus he created his own plane of Oblivion, Mundus. And I created the spiritual plane, Aetherius, with my one and only love, Mara. The other Divines helped of course. Though, Lorkhan tricked us into creating his plane, thinking it would be another section of Aetherius, which entrapped our descendants into a life full of suffering and cost us much of our power, which we've since made good out of as a testing ground before eternal life in Aetherius. After the betrayal I aimed at compromise, but Lorkhan took my wife, Mara, as a prisoner of war and raped her, calling her his tear-wife, since she cried every time he took advantage of her. As well as holding Dibella as a sex-slave and banishing her husband, Magnus, initiating a war between my children, the elves, and his, men. Dividing us."

Krest clenched his jaw, imbibing the warm saliva on his tongue.So, Akatosh is really the greater of the two. After Lorkhan was killed, Akatosh adopted mankind as well as taking care of elves and dragons. Lorkhan would never have accepted elvenkind if Akatosh had lost. Lorkhan would've killed them all. It made sense now why elves, especially the High Elves, held such bitterness towards the races of men, particularly the Nords. They, the Nords, literally sung praises to the ultimate oppressor in the elven eye.

"We were just trophies to him on his delusional quest," Dibella affirmed, her eyes rotating. "Nirn was his vanity project. And he never created Nirn but rather reshaped it using our power. It existed before the ehlnofey wars in previous kalpas."

"Which would explain why Magnus aka Mehrunes Dagon wanted Tamriel back. He saw it as his own." Saadia rubbed her chin. "During the Oblivion Crisis twenty-two years ago. I was barely a teenager at the time. I still remember the fires and armies of Daedra outside Taneth."

I wasn't even born till a year later.

"Is that how you received those scars under your eyes?" Ancano nodded at the Redguard with a slight frown.

Saadia shook her head with a bittersweet grin. "I got them from my family. Though, the crisis did gift me this." She folded her sleeve, revealing a pinkish burn blazoned on her elbow. The whole room's heads either jerked back or reeled reflexively. "Miracle I survived."

Dibella and Akatosh exchanged knowing glances.

"Everything you've been through is preparing you for something, my child." The Chief of the Divines blinked away something in his eye, rubbing Saadia's upper back consolingly. "And well, not to seem rude, but I must divulge this information. The mythic war lasted hundreds of years, but one day a dragon infiltrated Lorkhan's palace and decimated his forces, damaging Lorkhan critically. The dragon was called Konahrik Iblis, meaning warlord. But he is better known as the Devil. The Dark Lord, the Enemy of Man. While Alduin was my firstborn dragon, Konahrik was the first dragon in recorded history."

Where did the Devil come from? Who is he? Krest imagined a pale elf with mahogany eyes and long black hair with demonic horns and a tail with long nails.

"However, the word Dragon was created in the First Kalpa to describe a mythical death lizard in the feudal ages of that kalpa. It was those legends that inspired Akatosh to become a dragon himself in the late Dawn Era, and to create dragons." Dibella smiled.

Ancano's eyes were narrowed. "Weird. Because dragons didn't exist yet in the Dawn Era, other than maybe Alduin. Maybe he's Konahrik."

"Actually, this was before Alduin was born," Dibella added. "Alduin was born to end the kalpic cycle as this is the fifth and final kalpa. After this kalpa ends in roughly one hundred and eighty years, only Aetherius will remain."

So, that means Konahrik was the first ever dragon. He was a dragon before Akatosh adopted it.

"Anu watches over all kalpas and created Sithis to be his opposite in the very beginning. Then Akatosh, Lorkhan, Magnus, Mara, and Dibella were the first gods, born at the end of the Second Kalpa. The rest of the Aedra and Daedra were born in the Third and Fourth Kalpas, barring the Daedra born in this kalpa." Tsun glanced around. "The first three kalpas were ruled by a now extinct race known as the Knev, Arkay was one of them. They resembled grey humans in appearance, but they are not man or elf. The Fourth Kalpa was ruled by Dreugh just as this one is ruled by elves and men."

"Magnus, Dibella, Mara, and I were always fast friends," Akatosh described. "Lorkhan and I were friendly too, but he spent much of those early kalpas away from us. After we created magic and initiated the Third Kalpa, he spent most of his time playing hero on Nirn. Saving damsels, slaying monsters, bedding women, drinking mead, fighting men, and other things to fill his ego with. It wasn't until the beginning of this kalpa when Kyne breathed the ehlnofey into existence, that Shor and I became enemies."

"Wait, didn't Lorkhan create Nirn?" Krest asked. "How is that possible if it existed before he was born?"

"Anu created the planet, but Lorkhan brought the world into the Fifth Kalpa as the breeding grounds of ehlnofey," Tsun said. "Making him the alleged creator."

Akatosh articulated, "in the beginning, there was only Anu the Godhead. He created Sithis and Aurbis. Inside Aurbis, he created Nirn. This was before Aetherius and Oblivion existed. Nirn was filled with the Knev, the original inhabitants and the First Kalpa began. The Knev started as cavemen and eventually their society progressed into a feudal age as Tamriel was once, then eventually into an industrial age, then eventually into an age with high tech innovations of very advanced cityscapes, far more so than today."

Akatosh drew art in the air to depict the various ages of the First Kalpa. The final age was the most interesting. Impossibly high towers embedded with rows of windows, cities filled with pathways everywhere. Knev men and women traveling fast over the land in little ships that floated above the pathways while they talked into rectangular devices and sipped coffee made by machines in elaborate cafes. There were ships similar to blimps flying around their cities too. Krest was absolutely stunned by the sheer enormity and magnitude of what he was seeing. The Knev were bald and grey, resembling mortals in bodily shape but smaller and thinner. Though their ears were pointed, and their skulls were unlike either man or elf. In warfare, they used scopes to fire thin lasers similar to the arquebus in order to wage war from a distance.

Akatosh explained as he drew, and everyone listened.

The First Kalpa ended by erupting in a massive worldwide war. Knev countries used fast, flying ships to drop huge explosives on each other, destroying Nirn's landscapes and slaughtering millions. The Second Kalpa was only one age, a barren wasteland ruled by Knev bandits and mercenaries, who had regressed back to using bows, swords, and spears to fight as the technology of the First Kalpa was completely destroyed but remnants of their civilization remained. Cities were hollowed, decimated, and utterly eerie as most Knev had retreated underground.

Then the gods were created and sent to Nirn by Anu to stop the Knev's bloodlust and warfare, and they reshaped Nirn into the Third Kalpa. Magic was born and Knev society progressed into a dark age again very similar to Tamriel's earlier eras. Finally, a massive flood consumed the world, and the Fourth Kalpa emerged, ruled by a newly evolved race known as the Dreugh, who were born from the crabs and lobsters of the ocean. They eventually killed off the Knev due to their superiority in magic and combat. And lastly, the fifth and Final Kalpa came into being when Lorkhan reshaped Nirn into what it was now, creating new landmasses to replace the flooded continents the Knev had lived on as Kyne breathed elves and men into existence and the planes of Aetherius and Oblivion were born.

So, the world's going to finally end soon. No more kalpas after Alduin returns and eats the world in two-hundred years.

"This is simply amazing!" Ancano launched into a tangent, "if only there were a way to explore the ocean and recover the fragments of Knev society! They were quite the advanced civilization!"

Krest was speechless. He had always thought the world had started in the Dawn Era. But there were four other cycles of history that predated this current one. So, these were the secrets the Divines were hiding.

"So, what about the Devil?" Saadia cut in. She seemed a little shaken by the revelation as well.

"I don't know who he is, but because of him, I got the idea to craft a mask which grants the user the ability to transform into a dragon, and thus this mask is called the Mask of Akatosh. It is how I am able to shapeshift into a golden dragon." Akatosh pulled it out from under his robes. Golden bronze with two horns curving up under the jawline. "After Konahrik all but killed Lorkhan, the latter's wife, Kynareth betrayed him and handed him over to us and we held a council where we killed him. His remaining generals, Tsun and Stuhn switched forces when they realized Lorkhan's inherently selfish and lustful nature. You see not only was he an advocate for the apartheid and genocide of elves, he also held an insatiable lust for controlling women. Why do you think so many men value domination, drinking, power, violence, and sex above all else?" Akatosh's face darkened. "They imitate their idol, Shor."

Dibella crossed her arms and leaned on Tsun's broad shoulder. "Shor was the one who took some of the wandering ehlnofey from Tamriel to Atmora and banished the Aldmer living there. Then he went back to modern day Skyrim and lived in a palace called Idavoll until Konahrik came and commit genocide, killing all the wandering ehlnofey in ancient Skyrim. Make no mistake, Konahrik is no hero for stopping Lorkhan. They are both evil."

The god of elves, men, and dragons moved with ethereal grace, his perfectly polished locks flowing with lustrous blond undertones that made an admirer want to sift their fingers through it, as if it were saffron.

"Do you want to know how to judge a man?" Akatosh questioned seriously. "Observe how much he values a woman's heart. That will speak immensely of his character."

That was left in the air to dry a bit.

Akatosh continued, "we agreed to kill him by tearing out his heart and shooting it across the sky. So, we did. Trinimac tore it out and I fired it away. Lorkhan's body was ripped asunder and became the two moons, Masser and Secunda. His blood rained on the ground for forty days and became the ebony ore veins. His heart fell in Resdayn and became the Red Mountain. His mind became the illusive third moon, and his spirit a formless wraith on his throne in Sovngarde. Hence why anyone can sit on his throne, in fact, a mudcrab was sitting on it, last I checked before I destroyed the throne."

Tsun shook his head. "No, the reason anybody can sit on Shor's Throne is because he is the throne. His spirit is Sovngarde itself. He is the realm just like he is the moons."

"Technically that's incorrect. Now he is only Talos. The moons and Sovngarde are just husks or discarded vessels," Dibella added. "Same for his heart."

"How did he come back then?" Krest prodded. "Talos was a man. How is Lorkhan Talos?"

"We thought he died, but that was our mistake. It seems Lorkhan's will for revenge against Konahrik, and his godly nature gave him the strength to reincarnate, and he did: as his moon body, he was reborn, for gods cannot die. King Harald Hand-Free, thirteenth in the line of Ysgramor, also known as Harrald Hairy Breeks. He was Lorkhan's first reincarnated avatar. Harald spent his life killing many of the remaining Snow Elves. He shed his skin and became Hanse Foxtrot, Jarl of Ocearan, also known as Hans the Fox. For Shor was called a fox in the Atmoran pantheon. He shed his skin and became Pelinal Whitestrake; Pelinal the White Snake. You see, Lorkhan as Hans had found the Elder Scrolls of Reman and Technology and utilized them to travel to the future and meet Reman Cyrodiil. He loved Reman like a brother and corrupted him. But Reman did eventually repent of this. Pelinal went even further in time to the reign of the Septims and got geared out in cybernetic enhancements then went back in time and fooled us he was a robot hero from the fictious 'ninth era', so we gave him the Amulet of Kings, which I'd made, and each Divine blessed his armor, and he became Pelinal the 'Divine Crusader'. He was a trickster, after all. We tasked him with saving men from the Ayleids, and aiding the Second Dragonborn, Saint Alessia. We did not know his true identity. Pelinal Whitestrake, who went onto commit genocide upon thousands of elves and Khajiit until he was defeated. I had to step in myself to prevent him from slaughtering all the Khajiit. After the savageness with which I saw him kill elven children, rape elven women, and torture elven men, I knew his hatred stemmed from something deeper. Not only from without, but from within."

"His genocide on elves was in retaliation for Konahrik's genocide on men, no?" Saadia prompted. "Tiber Septim also commit genocide on the Altmer. I guess that makes sense, given they're the same person."

"Wasn't Pelinal into men?" Ancano paused. "He was rumored to have loved a Nede named Huna Sporus."

"No, he was not," Akatosh corrected. "The Ayleids fabricated that to turn the Nedes against him. Prejudice against same sex couples was high at the time amongst the races of men since some of the Ayleids were in same sex relationships. Huna was just a brother to Pelinal."

"Lorkhan is incredibly obsessed with traditional 'manly' values." Dibella flexed her biceps in a cheap imitation of her ex-lover. "Lorkhan hated any man who wasn't a 'true Nord' in his eyes."

"But then Lorkhan came up with a brilliant plan, reincarnating simultaneously as three Shezarrines, which are another word for avatars of Lorkhan. Firstly, Ysmir Wulfharth, the last Atmoran, who was the spirit of Shor as Sovngarde. He became High King of Skyrim, spread propaganda that I was Alduin, my firstborn, when I am in fact not. He was trying to slander my name and demonize me. He hung and burned Alessian priests outside his castle in Hrothgar, raping many of the Alessian nuns as well, and killing countless Direnni who'd annexed portions of western Skyrim. Arkay and Alduin's ghost tried to stop him from committing these evil deeds. Granted, the Alessians and Direnni were pretty evil on their own merit too, so Wulfharth was seen as a hero for stopping them. He was awoken in the future twice, once to fend off an Akaviri invasion with Jorunn Skald-King, and the third time when Tiber Septim reigned as Emperor. When he came to be known as the Ash King or the Underking."

"Secondly, Lorkhan's mind was reborn as an Akaviri man named Vershu Arnand, also known as Arnand the Fox. He joined the early Dragonguard in invading Tamriel and elevating Reman to status of Emperor. He does this since he needs to make sure Reman's dragonblood lineage from Alessia carries on. Eventually he renewed himself as Versidue Shaie, taking control of the Empire for three hundred years before faking his assassination and becoming Chevalier Renald. Renald was quoted to have said, 'we shed our old skins and arose reborn in the service of his Empire and the coiled-king. I'll shed this skin as well, when it's time for a new beginning.'"

He wanted to ensure Alessia's Dragon bloodline carried through Reman, but why? For what end?

"Wait." Krest walked over to Akatosh. "Why didn't he use the Elder Scrolls to travel back in time to stop the Devil?"

Akatosh shook his head, smiling. "An Elder Scroll is not a time travel device. That would be impossible. Each specific Elder Scroll does two things, foretell a prophecy, and allow you to travel to the points in time it is in reference to and back. The Elder Scroll of Reman foretold of Reman Cyrodiil and allowed Pelinal to travel forward in time to meet Reman. While the Elder Scroll of Technology foretold of Tamriel's cybernetic future and allowed him to travel to the point such technology became widespread."

Hmm.

"I have a special punishment planned for Lorkhan, don't worry. Renald took the moniker of Zurin Arctus when he met the young Hjalti Early-Beard, the third Shezarrine of this trio, but the fourth total, including Pelinal," revealed Akatosh.

Krest let out a sigh, his shoulders melting. His mind throbbed. Green veins highlighting like vines up his forehead into the dark-brown forest that was his hair.

"Hjalti Early-Beard, better known as Tiber Septim, a Reachmen, though only in race. Orphan to a Nord father and Breton mother."

The dots and puzzle pieces were beginning to connect.

"Wait, wasn't Tiber Septim also a Dragonborn?" Saadia narrowed her eyes. "And only you can gift that to someone…"

Tiber was a Shezarrine-Dragonborn… Does that mean… If I'm a Dragonborn, could I also be a Shezarrine too? Krest felt the urge to retch, pain shuttling up his back. No, it can't be. I'm not that type of person, I've never killed anyone, I've never touched a woman. How could I be a-. Anxiety clawed at the abyss in his mind. The worst thing you can do is rip someone's identity from them.

Akatosh held a finger in the air. "Well, Tiber Septim was actually never a Dragonborn, he stole the power from another. It is IMPOSSIBLE to be both a Shezarrine and a Dragonborn. COMPLETLEY IMPOSSIBLE. It can NEVER happen. Ever. You cannot be oil and water concurrently."

Krest's shoulders slumped with immense relief. Oh good, I'm just Dragonborn then. He felt rather stupid now that he'd freaked out all within the span of a few words, enough to trigger him.

"The only Dragonborn in history have been Miraak Wyrmtongue, Alessia Perrif, Reman Cyrodiil, and Cuhlecain Sifr. The prophesied Last Dragonborn is among us in Tamriel, they are the one destined to defeat Talos Lorkhan." Akatosh ringed a ringlet of his hair. "In fact, the Redguard figure, the Hoonding, is just the Hammerfell title for Ysmir or Dragonborn. Diagna, the first Hoonding was just their name for Miraak. Frandar Hunding was actually Alessia. Reymon Ebonarm the Ebony Warrior is Reman Cyrodiil. Cyrus was Tiber Septim. A'tor was Cuhlecain."

"That would make Divad Belhazra, and that would mean Cyrus' sister was really Agnorith Septim." Saadia's eyes went wide.

"The Last Dragonborn is known as the Mahdi to the Redguard people and the Kalki to the Khajiit. Sword Singing is just the Thu'um. The Way of the Sword is the sword that is your tongue; The Way of the Voice. Making Way is referring to shouts. Being an avatar of the Hoonding is just their way of understanding a mortal blessed with the blood and soul of Dragons." Nodded Akatosh. Krest got goosebumps when he heard it. "It is important to understand Lorkhan is the bar for the ideal man in society. He wants men to be like him and follow in his example of seeking power and exploiting those they consider beneath them. But the greatest among you is the one who serves, not the one that is served. The first among you shall be last, and the last first."

There was a pause.

"Lorkhan took advantage of many women over the course of his many lives," elaborated Akatosh, "he has many descendants. I have only ever loved my Mara however."

Dibella crossed her arms. "Your ancestry doesn't define who you are or what choices you make. Minotaurs all have a little Dragonblood since they are scions of Belhazra, Alessia's son. People overestimate the importance of blood. Being Dragonborn isn't hereditary, neither is being a Shezarrine, or any chosen person. Akatosh chooses which people are Dragonborn, and currently there are only five Dragonborn."

I'm the fifth and final, decided Krest.

Akatosh straightened the gilded bow on his back. "Anyways, to help you understand easier, think of it as this; there was once a Padomaic god who was adopted by Anu; his name was Lorkhan. Lorkhan split himself into four different men and reconverged them as Talos and arose to divinity in his new form."

"Explains why he looked familiar," Tsun pointed out. "Now that he's full Nord again."

Akatosh summoned a pitcher of wine and four differently shaped but equally sized wineglasses. Setting them down on a stone bench. He poured wine into each glass until the glasses were equal and nothing remained in the pitcher. "The decanter represents Lorkhan's original Nordic form, divided into each cup. Each cup represents one of four Shezarrines; Pelinal, Wulfharth, Zurin, and Hjalti." Akatosh then repoured each glass into the pitcher, until the glasses were empty, and the pitcher was once again full. "This is what has happened, he just changed his name from Lorkhan to Talos. Add in a haircut and new armor and we didn't recognize him."

"Divide and conquer," Ancano pointed out.

Krest's heart sank. I admired you, I even worshipped you… I thought… I thought you were a true warrior, Talos. But you're really just a fraud. Krest stared at both of his palms, clenching them slowly. You're not a hero. You steal land, rape women, and slay innocent elves.

He could see Talos laughing at him behind the mind of his eye. Those damn violet eyes.

"I'm going to kill him," Krest whispered to himself. "I'm going to rip him apart limb from limb. I'll avenge everyone he's ever wronged. Every woman he abused, every elf he slew."

Even if it's the last thing I do.

And if the world stands in my way.

I'll make this whole world bleed.

~ § ó § ò § ~

A/N: A little too info dumpy I know. It won't happen again (probably). I hope you enjoyed the new lore I created for this story. I had a lot of fun writing it.