Diary of Oblivion

Cheydinhal life was always good to me, but I desired more. I wanted to explore, fight, and defend the land of Tamriel from bandits, marauders, rogue mages and the like. I joined as a simple Legion Guard, not quite as good as my fellow soldiers, but I did my part.

It was difficult for a woman to join the Legion, since I am not skilled with with Heavy Armor nor a blade, in addition to my being a Dark Elf. I am more of a 'talk my way out of things' person, but I have some skill in Light Armor. I lied my way through, saying that I could wear Heavy Armor and use a blade. I persuaded Audens Avidius with my considerable charm, and a rather extravagant dowry of money, to allow me to join. I figured I would earn the money back soon enough.

Thus my dream came true. I was given a horse, a beautiful Cheydinhal black steed, whom I named Black Widow. I was given some Imperial Legion gear, and with some talent and a few favors from 'reliable friends', I was able to have it slimmed down to fit like Light Armor, but it still gives the protection Heavy Armor does. My sword however, I could do nothing about. My bow would have to be my lifeline until I actually learned how to use my sword.

It is with a shaky hand that I write something terrible. The Emperor has been slain! How could this happen? I found one of his sons, slain in the road. Wolves had found them before I did. It was a massacre, plain and simple. There were bandits in a nearby cave, and in my rage I slew them. It wasn't until later that I heard that Uriel Septim lay dead in the sewers, among rats. I rushed back to the Imperial City, arriving there in record speed. I have only been in the Legion for two weeks, but I learned the quickest ways across Tamriel rather fast.

The scene I saw was that of some horror novel. Corpses, upon corpses lay outside the door where our Emperor lay. Shattered steel, broken Iron, and blood enough to fill the Niben were outside the gate that led to his body. His weapon, a simple silver dagger, yet it had no blood on it.

How could the scores of enemies be slain by two men, Baurus and Glenroy? Glenroy was found unarmed outside the door, with many wounds upon him. He must have fought bravely, and slain many foes. Further in, Captain Renalt lay dead, a shortsword in her hand. There were a few bodies, and a couple of rats. A small side passage smelled rather foul, and after a brief look inside, I boarded it up. I saw nothing but rat carcasses, and a dead goblin. That was the work of a mason, not myself.

Later on in the investigation, it was found that the Amulet of Kings was stolen from the Emperor's body, and that an Imperial named Poliloko was in the cell containing the secret passage. This information was given to me by Valen Dreth, so I doubted it at first. I followed the trail through the sewers and out into the light, where I found some cloth Pants, and a Flax Shirt. I doubt a Blade would wear such clothing, and if they were to go undercover, I doubted they would just toss their clothing into the dirt.

This is where my trail went cold, I did not know where the prisoner went, or what he looked like. I did know his name, but not his crime, or how long his sentence was. None of the guards I asked could tell me either. He couldn't have received a pardon, but it is plausable. The Emperor could have pardoned his crimes, and had them stricken before he died. Why did the Imperial Poliloko run, though? Why did he not report the death, or stay and fight with Baurus? These questions needed answers, and I intended to find out.

I had almost forgotted about the bandits I slew, but the Watch Captain did not. I've been promoted, and allowed to be a plain clothes guard. I received word from Bravil that an odd gate had opened in the Niben Bay, and that several people had entered, including a 'Poliloko'. The man I sought was so close, and I rushed towards the gate. I took a small boat across, but the owner only took me three quarters of the way. I swam the rest of it. I rather hate peasants, they're so superstitious.

Gaius Prentus was the only guard stationed there, with a corpse and a rambling cat woman. Why he never disposed of the corpse, nor arrested the rambling cat woman, I do not know. I entered the portal, against the wishes of Prentus, and found....

Nothing spectacular. The land looked like Morrowind, or at least what I had heard of Morrowind. I walked towards a little town nearby, and asked around. Apparently I was in 'The Fringe' and everyone was waiting for something. The people were startled by something, and after pressing them further, I learned that the town was recently attacked by Knights of some sort. Something called the Greymarch had started, and ended, and all was well in the realm. Apparently this 'Poliloko' was the new Sheogorath. This made absolutely no sense.

Something else that made no sense, as I was leaving I started talking to myself. Not in a crazed sort of way, but merely going over the facts of the Emperor's murder. The one man whom might know who did it, fled to a different realm to escape the law, then conquered that realm, seizing the land from a Daedric Prince, then fighting off another Daedric Prince. How was a lowly Legion soldier who could barely use her own sword supposed to arrest that?

Regardless, I must have mentioned Poliloko's name aloud, because a nearby tree jumped out at me, wished the new lord well, gave me a flower, then ran off. I, too, ran. Straight towards the portal out of here.

I arrive back in Cyrodill, and Gaius Prentus avoids talking to me. The corpse and rambling cat woman are STILL THERE, so I leave him to yell at the gate in vain. I avoid sending my findings to the Imperial City. Noone would understand what just happened there.

I hear word of the prisoner, or should I say Sheogorath, almost immediately. He has joined the Fighter's Guild. I thought the guild had standards? Well, apparently not. The man is a wanted criminal, who not only may have slain the Emperor, but also KILLED A DAEDRIC LORD AND TOOK HIS NAME AND MANTLE, THEN BESTED ANOTHER DAEDRIC LORD IN HONORABLE COMBAT.

What is he hoping to accomplish? Is he trying to tear the veil to Oblivion, and let loose monsters upon the land? Because I've seen them! Horrid things, worse than a Daedroth ever could be. Some sort of Atronach, but made of Flesh. It scares me. They called one of them a Gatekeeper, and I saw it tear through a small band of adventurers like it was nothing.

I got a few reports of goblins near Water's Edge, and as one of the Legion, I'm bound to help. I arrive too late. I see the Sheogorath Usurper, cutting down innocents with some sort of crystal sword, while a few other of the Blackwood Company with him. The Blackwood Company soldiers take off, while Sheogorath stumbles around as if in a haze.

I draw weapons against him, and he calls out to me. Not by name, or even species. He called me a 'foul goblin'. Either he is hallucinating, or he is indeed the criminal and scoundrel I make him out to be. We fight, my attacks fast but weak, his attacks strong but slow. We ended in a stalemate, him unable to attack me and myself being unable to do damage. He uses an invisibility scroll, and I lose him.

A few days later, I hear he single handedly killed all of the Blackwood Company, destroyed their sick Hist tree, and became the Master of the Fighter's Guild. My sources within the Fighter's Guild say that he was high on Hist when we fought, and it slowed him down considerably. Perhaps he really is Sheogorath, come to conquer our realm. I should probabily destroy this diary, and hail our new overlord.

I arrest Rienna, from the fighters guild, on sight now. She says the same sentence, all the time. "Master, what will you have me do?". Ever since her two companions died in Desolate Mine, she just hasn't been the same. She seems to follow him everywhere. It's a shame, really. She seems like such a nice person, but her mind just isn't there anymore. It's like she's been touched by Sheogorath.

I take back that last statement, she WAS touched by Sheogorath. I will say this though, he hasn't killed a town guard yet, although he surely has the ability to do so. If he finds himself on the wrong side of the law, he walks up to the nearest town guard, accepts the yelling that the guard gives even though he is only a few feet away, and pays the fine. Honest, he may be. A criminal, he still is.

I haven't heard much about Sheogorath in awhile. I could only hope he lay in some cave, dead from wounds or in some creature's stomach.

I should mention that there are a few people that the Legion says are 'special cases' for. J'Ghasta is one such person, and he turned up dead today. Apparently a fight broke out inside his house, and spilled out into the street. The guards were quick to the scene, and shot J'Ghasta to death. The man he was fighting with disappeared before the guards could find him.

I thought the 'special case' people were the Dark Brotherhood. Obviously I was wrong, as it just looked like the assassin got more than he bargained for. If the town guards hadn't saved him, J'Ghasta would more than likely still be alive.

I heard reports of a large scale Skooma den near Bravil, so I went to investigate. I made a stop at the Lucky Lady statue, to make a wish, then was almost on my way when another man came up and began praying, actually pushing me aside. I was in plain clothes, but I was still a Legion guard nonetheless. I halted when I recognised him. Ungolim, a special case.

Then I saw it. The Atronach, made of Flesh. The man, Ungolim, did not. He was thrown several feet backwards by a upward kick. The assassin, fitting the description of the Bruma killing of J'Ghasta perfectly, was none other than Sheogorath. Guards immediately gathered around, bows drawn to kill Ungolim.

He died from arrows, the Flesh Atronach, and occasional sword strikes from Sheogorath.

Lucian LaChance appeared almost as soon as Ungolim died. Lucian was so close I could almost touch him. The special cases were all almost dead, and Lucian was just a heartbeat away from joining them. There were enough guards to end two cold hearted killers in a fell swoop, but the other guards dispersed, saying that their job was done.

It wasn't done! Lucian LaChance, a known Dark Brotherhood member, talking to Sheogorath, telling him to go kill someone else RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! Have you all gone insane?!

Sheogorath is the Daedric Prince of Madness, so I would have to believe so. I should also note, that he looked a bit pale. It was rather dark, so I was unable to see very well, but he was very....pale.

I left Bravil. Sheogorath more than likely knows I'm on to him. I don't hear from him for a few days, and eventually Lucian is found dead, and three more of the Dark Brotherhood are found in the Larsius River. I think he killed them all, hopefully that is the end of the Dark Brotherhood. I guess I doubted him, maybe he is on a path of virtue to make up for all his crimes.

I recently heard that he joined the Mage's Guild. I have honestly never heard of him use any sort of magic other than an occasional healing spell. As soon as he joined the Mage's Guild, I begin hearing reports of Necromancers. His joining seemed to have agitated them somehow.

Perhaps they wanted Sheogorath to join them? As far as I know, no Daedric Lord finds the undead very appealing, and Meridia seems to despise them. Perhaps they wanted to even the odds, since Sheogorath has a Flesh Atronach and that Gatekeeper thing. Why not just send them all to the Shivering Isles, and have Tamriel in relative peace? I've heard the screams, even past that gate. Xaselm, or wo I hear it called, is some sort of torture chamber where a crazed Sheogorath loving Dark Elf conducts experiments on the living and dead. I'm pretty sure Manimarco would just LOVE to have a talk to her. Think of all the things they could teach each other?

Actually, that's a horrible idea. Necromancers allowed to roam free, conducting experiments on the dead without consequence? That cannot be allowed to happen.

Nothing really important to note, except that there are reports of an Imperial wearing some sort of sap armor riding a unicorn through the county. I...don't know what to say, but all the reports say it is Sheogorath. If he is the Prince of Madness, he's playing it off REALLY WELL. A bit too well, as a matter of fact.

The Bruma Mage's Guild was attacked, and reports say that there was only a single survivor. This troubles me.

There was also an undead assault in Skingrad as well, along with multiple thefts. The Fighter's Guild and Mage's Guild were both robbed in the dead of night by a Vampire. I hadn't seen any action in quite awhile, so I left immediately for Skingrad.

As soon as I arrived, and talked to both guilds, did I realize the truth. Sheogorath had 'borrowed' all the materials for both guilds to pay for his house. The man had a CASTLE in a different realm, yet he had to resort to petty thievery. It would have made sense to return to his own realm, get some of that weird black armor or that tree sap armor, return to the Imperial City and sell it for massive amounts of gold. It is possible, but I am not quite sure why he did not do it.

Regardless, I organized a raid on his house. The first floor of his house contained little of actual value. Random peasant junk, and a suit of antique elven armor, stolen from the Fighter's Guild. Well, I cannot say stolen, as he leads the guild. He borrowed it from the Fighter's Guild, with the intent of personal glory, and depravation of learning for the future of Fighter's guild members. That sounds better.

The second proved a little more exciting, where we found his maid. She had fresh puncture wounds on her neck, and she seemed to be high on Skooma. When we asked her about Sheogorath, she knew little to nothing. We asked about the man by all his other titles, and she only recognised him as the Master of the Fighter's Guild, or so we hoped.

An odd thing was that she kept going on about giving her pie to 'Master'. She said he asked for it two to three times a day. By the gods, this man was insatable! He was a Vampire alright, and his lust for blood seemed only rivaled for his lust for the poor maid he hired. We took her into protective custody for her to recover from her skooma haze, and raided the last floor. Jackpot.

The first drawer we looked in had enough Skooma to kill a dozen men. A chest in a corner had body parts in it! Bottles of blood, bonemeal, and mort flesh, by the dozens!

There was a drawer full of gems just laying in a pile, most likely worth more than my entire salary, in my entire lifetime. Weapons sat gatherin dust that could possibly destroy armies. Jewelry, some priceless and others mundane, just sat amongst bottles of poison.

A Skingrad guard tried on a Blackwood ring, then caught fire and died. This place was a death trap waiting to happen. After filing all the reports, I was informed that the house I raided was not the house that contained undead. I pulled out a bottle of blood, and begged to differ.

I was, in fact, wrong. A house across the street, seemingly abandoned, contained some very powerful undead. Sheogorath broke into it after jumping from his balcony to that one, and ran out being chased by several wraiths. We rushed the building, cleared it of all the undead, and went our seperate ways. Sheogorath's maid recovered from her Skooma high, and sheepishly replied that she tried cooking a Shepard's Pie for the owner of the house, but could only find tiny little bottles. Sheogorath had apparently taken all the food, and left bottles of Skooma in their place. That poor maid.

We gave her a warning on the skooma, and to report to a guard exactly the moment the owner returns to the house.

Another thing should be noted. Piles of armor, and corpses have been piling up since Sheogorath's return from his realm. The corpses have all been sliced to pieces, and the armor is....better than its ever been. It's like he takes the armor from his dead enemies, fixes it, then leaves it in a neat little pile. Wouldn't it be profitable to just sell it? There have been reports of peasants attempting to follow Sheogorath's reign of destruction, taking all the goods left behind and sells them. The only problem being, he kills all the monsters inside the cavern, ruin, or fort. Not outside it. Most of the 'treasure hunters' are savagely eaten by some unnamed horror.

I would feel sorry for them, but ever since I took this case I don't feel much like anything. I've become obsessed, like Hieronymous Lex. Except that I am chasing a living, breathing God among men, while Lex is chasing a fairy tale.

Audens Avidius is dead. Apparently Sheogorath reported him for fraud, and another Watch Captain arrested him. The Watch Captain who arrested him is dead now, too. Audens attacked Sheogorath while he was eating dinner in the Imperial City. Sheogorath paralyzed Audens with a staff, and the other guild mages were upon him like a pack of wolves. It took me two hours to arrive, and the scene seemed to only have gotten worse. Not noticing the corpse, or not caring, the mages simply walked over it. They didn't even attempt to avoid it, they just stomped over the body.

I know first hand how corrupt Audens was, but without him I would be out of a job. Also, the man he was trying to kill is eventually going to cost me said job, but I digress.

I'm at Echo Cave. I....don't know what to say about it. They tried running. Honestly, they ran. They didn't make it. Footprints on the corpses of the Necromancers tell me that he used a Flesh Atronach. I heard he can only keep that thing in this realm for two minutes, once a day. He did it. He made it to Manimarco before the time ran out. Even the Undead, supposed to be fearless, ran into a lake surrounding Manimarco's lair and drowned.

Manimarco was found stripped of all his clothing, weapons, and items and found tossed into a firepit. This cave is creeping me out. It would be much better if all the ghosts and Lichs and Necromancers were all alive, at least I'd have something real to be afraid of. It is the distinct lack of all forms of life or unlife that is scaring me.

He was crowned Arch-Mage, then he disappeared off the map for weeks. Hopefully something happened in his realm that made him leave, or maybe he finished what he wanted to do in this realm, now he will retire to his castle in Oblivion and brag to any crazed loon that will listen how he beat everything and won the day.

I actually was able to fight off a few bandits using only my sword though. I'm getting pretty good with this thing. Soon I'll be cutting through foes like there's no tomorrow.

----

It's tomorrow, or actually the day after my last journal. There used to be stories of the Knights of the Nine, a great order of knights dedicated to the Gods. Sheogorath, a Daedric Prince, is now a Pilgrim of the Gods. He spent all these weeks visiting the wayshrines and praying to the Gods, and now he has the Helm of the Crusader. By the Gods, he wants to destroy everything I love, doesn't he?

Two weeks. It took him two weeks to do what the original order could not do in a lifetime. Apparently there is a disturbance near Anvil. Elves have started living in an old Alyied ruin. I don't know why this is much of a problem, but I went anyway.

When I arrived, there were Nine Knights outside, standing over a body. Upon closer observation, it was Sheogorath. I cried tears of joy, and they mistook my joy for sadness. I cried until I had to tears left, and they were gone. I was estatic, I had won. The criminal had been defeated, he had been slain.

The Watch Commander asked for a report, and I gave him everything I had collected on the 'escaped prisoner'. I told him everything, The Shivering Isles, how he became Master, his possible employ in the Dark Brotherhood, his killing sprees, about him becoming Arch-Mage, The Knights of the Nine, and eventually his death.

He was quiet for awhile, and he told me not to tell anyone about this. The Commander thought he was a hero! Damn it all, am I the only one who realized that he STOLE THE AMULET OF KINGS, SLEW A GOD, BESTED ANOTHER GOD IN HONORABLE COMBAT, COMMITTED MASS MURDER IN LEYAWIN, AND WIPED OUT AN ENTIRE CIVILIZATION OF ELVES.

The Commander says I need a break, and I gladly accept. This entire chase has given me tunnel vision. Things are happening that I'm missing. Kvatch hadn't been heard from in awhile, several important items had been stolen, and the Grey Fox was being talked about more than ever.

I'm staying in the Bloated Float in the Imperial City, its rather cheap and the Legion gets a discount, so I'm living here for almost nothing at all. I found a coin on the ground that I used to pay for a week's rent. Food isn't much of a problem, I can buy some decent food at the Bloated Float, or to the Market District.

Someone named Armand Christoph is apparently in the Thieves Guild, but I see him walking around with a torch late at night. One night I decided to follow him, hiding on the other side of the wall where he sat. Soon someone approached, someone in a Dark Brotherhood robe. I thought it was destroyed?!

I suppose not. Something that evil must have had a few survivors, Sheogorath must have missed one. I laughed to myself. A mass murderer out of work, resorting to thieving. The irony, since the Thieves Guild never killed anyone.

I heard a few names, including a S'Krivva in Bravil. Maybe this case would help me out of my depression, so I decided to grab my gear and ride for Bravil, but not before hopping over the wall and arresting Armand.

I hid outside her door, listening to her give orders. I heard many crimes being admitted to inside, and once the hooded figure left, I organized a raid and arrested her. The Bravil Guard thanked me for rooting her out, and she was tossed in the dungeon. I had a new lead, and this case was going well so far.

What was it? Two days? I got two high profile thieves, while Hieronymous Lex has been chasing the Grey Fox for years.

I followed the hooded figure to Bruma, and watched him walk into a building. The owner sat outside, in the freezing cold without shoes or a robe. When I asked him if he was alright, he said he was fine. He never stopped shivering. We took him into custody, and raided the house.

All we found were a rather unremarkable man, sipping tea. I don't quite know who he was, but it didn't matter. This was a set up, the hooded man was onto me. Could it be that he was the Grey Fox? I had never seen his face, but I was quite sure that the 'Grey' Fox wore a Grey hood, not a black Dark Brotherhood robe.

Leyawin had spotted the thief in the Dark Brotherhood robes, but he or she had escaped. Not before an unskilled archer fired blindly at him or her, hitting him or her square in the ass. That could prove useful to my case, all I had to do was find someone with a limp.

D:

Why did you steal all my Skooma?!

Pest02 wrote:

D:

Why did you steal all my Skooma?!

The early bird gets the worm.

He's alive. By the Nine, Sheogorath has cheated death. The Count of Anvil mentioned Sheogorath lightly as I was questioning him.

Due to the 'Cause/Effect' nature of Sheogorath, I have reason to believe that not only is he in the Thieve's Guild, but he is the infamous Grey Fox. I just need proof.

I could raid his Imperial City house, but the waterfront peasants would find that offensive. His Skingrad house has already been searched, and all the drugs taken from him. His Anvil house is haunted, but it seems that it was haunted before he bought it. A good question would be why you would buy, and sleep in, a haunted house. Then again, why am I trying to rationalize the Prince of Madness?

I am receiving scattered reports from Kvatch. Sheogorath, or the Divine Crusader, or The Hero of Kvatch as he is now known, has found and closed an Oblivion gate. How could something like that even exist?

There was a survivor that Sheogorath found inside the gate, and together they walked to a tower inside it, and grabbed a small stone or something from it.

No really, the Boots of Kynareth allowed Sheogorath to WALK AROUND OBLIVION. Scamps walked lazily around lava pits, Spider Daedra curled themselves around into their webs, and Dremora simply talked about the time of day. This is getting ridiculous.

I've found a new breed of lizard. I call it 'stupidis lizardus-us'. It lives in the Temple District, and praises Sheogorath more than Akatosh.
Apparently Sheogorath found a Mythic Dawn lair, raided the place, and now the cave is crying blood into Lake Arrius. Not only is this an act of mass murder, most of the cult members wisely tossed their weapons aside in the hopes of mercy, but this is an act of ecological terror. The fish in the lake will not survive with all that blood pooling into it.

The followers of Kynareth should be furious about what Sheogorath did to that lake, and the followers of Stendarr should be furious that Sheogorath chased the ones who tried to flee down, and hacked them to death with his sword and mace.

It's getting easier and easier to see where Sheogorath is going, but getting harder and harder to follow. Once or twice I've sat outside the gate he was in, just waiting for him to come out. Time must be slower in there, or faster. Sometimes it takes a day, sometimes a week. He spent a month in there one time, at the gate near Bravil. I thought I had him there, but a gate opening near the Imperial City caught my attention.

There were eight Legion guards, including myself. We readied everything we could, gathering supplies to last us against an army. I donned my modified armor, and readied my bow. I was decent with a sword now, but not good enough to fight off a daedra.

We set out at the 3rd of Last Seed, and I could not believe that it had been almost a year since the Emperor died. We set out with this grim realization, and proceeded towards the black tower. Oblivion was a cruel place, we found a party of adventurers not far in, burned and broken. A few scamps lay dead, and a single Storm Atronach. We would surely prove far more successful than they.

Jirad and I talked, mainly about previous accomplishments. I brought up the Shivering Isles, and how nothing around me caused me any fear anymore. He won, however, when he said that he was the last surviving Legion soldier at Kvatch. He saw the smoke, and joined Sheogorath in taking back the town. His brothers were with him, the eldest falling first in the catacombs and the youngest falling in the courtyard. The entire assault was in vain, as the count lie dead when they entered his chambers. The way he talked about Sheogorath surprised me, and I might just have to change my views on him. I'm still going to arrest him if I ever see him.

Eventually our talk turned to war strategy. He wanted a direct assault, and the rest agreed. I wanted a more stealthily approach, and wanted to cause a distraction and sent a few to obtain the sigil stone. The group approved of my idea too, but were unsure of how taking the sigil stone worked. If they were too far away when the stone was taken, would they be left behind? I could not answer, so I agreed to their brute force plan.

The entire walk to the tower was uneventful. We counted adventurer bodies all the way to the door, and lesser daedra bodies among them. Seven dead adventurers so far, ten scamps, three clanfear, and that Storm Atronach.

Banos was the unlucky one to open the door, because he never did. He approached the door to open it, but was unable to react when it was thrown open by a flying corpse. Banos was knocked to the ground, and a clawed foot crushed him.

A Daedroth was even more fearsome than I ever imagined, but not nearly as bad as what I had seen in the Shivering Isles. I shot an arrow into its eye, but it shrugged off my blow like it was nothing. I was the best archer here, and my attacks were almost useless. This boded ill for us.

Luckily, the Sword skill of my fellow Legion outmatched my archery skill. Jirad was able to impale the Daedroth's foot into the ground, using his own sword, before he was knocked away. Liche, Vincent, Pargow and Killen attempted to slay the beast, while I made the grim realization that two Storm Atronachs, a Spider Daedra, and several Clanfear were being attracted to our fighting.

Arrows began raining down upon us, but not striking us. I took aim, but the figures were human. There were a few surviving adventurers left, and they seemed to have made a good archery nest on a tower balcony. The arrows they were using were possibly Daedric, but I wasn't too sure. I could only wish that I was up there too, but not for long. Soon after their assault, both bodies fell from the balcony. They did not fall near us, but rather into a lava pit. Whatever arrows they were using, they were gone now.

Looking back at my own situation, I realized that brute force would not win this day. I ran, past the slain daedroth, past my allies fighting the attacking force, past the attacking force, and into the tower. Traps sprung behind me, slaying anything that followed. The tower became more and more twisted, the walls oozing blood, human skin hanging on the wall, a small sitting area with a fountian. The sitting area made no sense, but I pressed on. I finally made it to the top, and could see the sigil stone. The area was too heavily guarded for me to go forward, and I could hear the stomping of enemies behind me.

I was trapped, unable to move forward onto the fleshy floor in front of me, and unable to retreat. I pulled my bow form my back, and said a silent prayer to as many dieties I could think of. Two Dremora with staves walked towards me, while several large Daedra struggled to fit into the small door.

The Dremoa offered me a chance to surrender. I shot the first one between the eyes, and the second one in the leg. The 'steps' were large spikes protruding from the walls. I heard noises of a fight outside, but did not immediately recogise the voices of my Legion allies. Jirad was the first of us through the door, while the others provided a distraction.

He stood near the center of the fleshy floor, and called out to me to take the sigil stone. He never saw the wounded Dremora with the axe, but I did. I took aim and fired, hitting the daedra again. It wore no armor, using a conjured axe to fight. With its last act, it slammed its axe into the fleshy floor, ripping it open. Jirad and it fell, and a sickening crash of armor told me that we had lost another man.

I made it to the stone, with a Storm Atronach and another Dremora after me. My fingers found their way around the smooth, warm shell of the sigil stone. I yanked it from its pedistol, and turned in time to be hit in the chest with a Daedric hammer. The hit was far too powerful, it knocked me off my feet, and into the ripped flesh floor. I fell, just like Jirad. Fire crept up the tower, engulfing it as the floor became closer and closer. If I outstretched my arm, I could have grabbed what was left of Jirad before everything went white. I tried, and my arm shattered.