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• Personal Diary of Lyla - Part One Aug 25, 2012

  In the fourth era, Morrowind is words cannot express the amount of loss and pain my people have gone though. My families are all dead. I have no home. How I am alive, must be a sliver of mercy from the gods themselves. I take the clothes on my back and journey northto Skyrim.
  As I leave my land, I feel the cold of Skyrims white mountains over wash the hot and dry airs of Morrowind. The land could be described as dead and cold but one does not know death like one knows it from my land. Dry, empty and dark. That is the worst death; to be alone.
  Ive made camp just over the south mountains of Skyrim and I can hear fighting. Ill have to sleep cold to keep my fire from giving away my position.
  I had been caught, mistaken for a rebel, set for execution, escaped execution and a dragon attack! I got an incredible view into the beasts eyes from the block, where my head was restedjust seconds away from my own death. As the dragon demolished the town, Helgen, I escaped with the rebels I was caught with in the beginning. There was a king, or so the rebels called him, the True High King, Ulfric. He was handsome. His eyes were like the cold snow of his lands, yet warm like the fire of Red Mountain. I could tell his heart was in the right place for his people. Eventually I caught up with the Imperial officer who had captured me for my execution to begin with. I assume he would have kept me captive if we survived, so I left with one of the rebels from my cart, Ralof. He was very kind and smart on his feet. I wouldnt mind watching him knock someone off their feet in a bar fight sometime, just for sport. Ralof and I escaped and made way for his hometown in Riverwood. His sister, Gerdur and her family were very kind and helpful to get me on my way to continue my journey for a new life in Skyrim. I pray to the Nine Divines tonight, as I rest peacefully for the first time in ages.
  Ive been asked by the townspeople to stop by Whiterun to ask their Jarl for aid in the dragon crisis. Ive agreed to help and send word. I also promised a pair of siblings who run the local goods store that I would help them find a priceless item that had been stolen before I arrived. The sister was kind enough to give me directions to the Barrow in which shes sure the bandits had fled to. I set my course for northwest.
  Ive only just made it out alive from Bleak Falls Barrow; such a dark place. Bandits about and one was silly enough to take the artifact I was after for himself and ended up getting caught up in a gigantic spider web. Ive seen these odd creatures simple spiders at first until they spit their poison at you. I cut down Arvel the not so swift or intelligent as he ran right into a wall and knocked himself out. Im not going to bother with him again, hopefully, as I doubt he even made it out alive as I did. After I had cleared my way though to rouge bandits, I ran across undead. These are nothing like the ancestral ghosts and skeletons that haunt the crypts in Morrowind! Nonetheless, they were easy to kill with some fire. I found some time and light to read Arvels journal. His last entry is about the Golden Claw of Lucans; it was a key! More treasures and magic than I ever imagined in the caves of Morrowind, herself was in just this one place. I certainly have more taste for adventure now. After returning the claw to Lucan, I took my reward and sold my loot before making my way north to Whiterun. Not sure what to make of the stone tablet I found on one of the undead bodies. I assume I can fetch a better price for it than what Lucan offered.
  Once I arrived in Whiterun, the city had been closed because of the dragon incident. I was able to persuade the guards to let me in, since I had witnessed the Helgen incident first hand. Getting an audience with the Jarl himself was a bit embarrassing, since his Housecarl, Irileth, is a Dunmer woman, like me. I spoke with his court about the dragon and the possibility of there being more. I was tasked to speak with the court wizard, Farengar, a Nord, like most of the population is expected to be. We discussed the ancient dragon burial sites and he informed me that there was a stone tablet, rumored to be in Bleak Falls Barrow that has such a map of these sites. Well, I happened to remember the one I found in my previous adventure there and showed it to him. It was the exact one he spoke of! What luck! We had just begun to get more into the subject and excitement as the Irileth came running in and told us of another dragon attack. So it had begun. The Jarl made me his Thane and I was appointed my own Housecarl, Lydia. Shes quite an honorable and loyal person. Ive never dreamed of having such a position. But, before I could get into marveling about the glory and all of my new title, I had my first big task to accomplish: killing that dragon. We had set out for the south tower, which was engulfed in flames before our arrival. As we searched for survivors they came out screaming that it was coming back. The dragon was huge and just as terrifying as the first one I had seen but there was something about this one. It was different. I remember the first one. It was much larger and darker; almost moreevil. I used my sparks spells against it as the rest of the guard attacked it with arrows, not daring to get anywhere near its jaws of swift and certain death. After a while of battling the creature, we finally defeated it, certain that wed sent its soul towherever dragons go after death. But no, suddenly, after its death, its soul, somehow, absorbed intome. I watched in horror at first as it came at me, unsure of this new magic and continued to watch it awe as I looked at the faces of my comrades, who also looked on with surprise, yet they had a look of knowing what was happening to me. As I checked myself for injuries, one of the men came up to me and started shouting about the Dragonborn. Apparently, this mythical person absorbs souls of the dragons and can perform shouts, the language of the dragons themselves. I performed one, sending a huge gust from the bottom of my being to a few yards in front of me, rattling the bones of the once powerful dragon that now lay in mere bones as if it had died ages ago. Irileth looked at me with suspicion, as anyone in their right mind from Morrowind would these days and sent me back to the castle to report to the Jarl. As I was approaching the town, the world shook with a voicejust like the shout I had done before. I never ran so quick in my life to get back to the Jarl. Thats when my entire world got more insane than it already was. In short, I am this Dragonborn and I have been summoned to the highest mountain in all of Skyrim, High Hrothgar. There I must speak with the monks who know the way of the voice, how to speak in these shouts. As I catch up on my last few days at the bottom of the thousand or so steps to the top of the mountain, I decide that I will explore Skyrim more before answering the summons of the shouting mountain-men. Ive only been here for a couple weeks and my fate is throwing me in all corners of the world it seems; time to rein it in a bit.
  Waking the next morning, I make my way back down the road I came into Ivarstead and turned my way to Riften. I wasnt entirely sure why I was pulled so much to that end of Skyrim, but I soon found out why. Its a thieves town! I knew something was up as soon as the guards wouldnt let me in the south gates. Once I got to the north gates, I caught onto their little scam. No good getting greedy as a thief. These men are simple guards. The amusement will never cease here I was soon approached by a man who had heard of my entrance and included me in his scheme to set someone up for theft. I had to give it some observation and thought before Id tell him yes, since Im a newcomer. However, I am no hatchling to being a pickpocket. I had to make my living that way after my family all perished and I was left on my own. I think its a good deal, though. Ill tell him yes after I have a chat with this man Ive met; Marcurio. I havent had a man make me blush like this since I was a young girl. Being a woman now, I have to keep on my toes and watch him closely with both eyes. Imperials have a sense of wit that can be rather feisty at times. Explains why I like him so much already. [Sketches a rough drawing of Marcurios face]
  After talking with Marcurio, he convinced me to hire him for an extra hand; although Im convinced he thinks hes been hired to protect me. I guess an ego boost is the least I can do for him after paying a hefty sum in the first place. I confided to him about my plan with Brynjolf, the man who was behind the scam at the gates and wanted me to help with the market scheme. He asked if he could watch me. I agreed, since I had already hired him and I doubt he would rat me out. Turns out he was doing some pickpocketing while I was doing my own job for Brynjolf. After we pulled it all off, we were told to make our way though the Ratway to the Ragged Flagon; a tavern below the city of Riften. Marcurio looked excited, whereas I had heard enough about the place to make me puke on a baby. After Marcurio convinced me to go with him, we made our way in, defending ourselves against lowlifes and skeevers (large, mean and ugly rats). Weve officially been given yet another task to shakedown some of the locals that arent paying their protection money. I guess this guild is a little rougher than the people give them credit for. No problem getting all of that done, but I discovered I have my temper still when someone tells me no. It was an ugly vase anyways. Now that Marcurio and I are officially In, we have our guild armor and have been set out on a task that even one of their higher ups, Vex, couldnt finish on her own. Shadows guide us.

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