This is my boyfriend's writing for a Build I made, for the next Build Event. The event theme is "Resurrected NPC"
Jagar Tharn is the Main Antagonist from the very first Elder Scrolls Game Arena. We wanted to do a more in-depth, "Vilified" Figure.
> I've attempted to ask questions to the people of Riverwood, but they look at me like a madman. I can't say I blame them. Asking questions which for them must be obvious would make me seem like a madman, perhaps a skooma addict who's spent however long in a dreamless haze. Questions will no longer suffice. Books will be my salvation.
> This village is tiny and there are but 3 books among the people of this provincial settlement, but those and what little information I have so far is slowly starting to pull together. As near as I can tell it has been 235 years since I...died? Would that be the right word? At any rate, the Tamriel I find myself in is one both familiar and unfamiliar. The Empire is a shadow of its former self, and it would seem that my fears have proven true. The prophecy which I worked so hard to avert, which I did everything in my power to forestall, has come to pass. Crisis after crisis has befallen the continent and now the world stands on the brink of doom.
> As a personal note, I will admit that there is a petty part of my mind that feels deeply satisfied. The fool Uriel VII is dead, not just dead but assassinated. His succession of heroes have failed both himself and the Empire. The only succor I can take, though, is that those who brought about my downfall are now long deceased, though recent events have left me feeling as if even that wouldn't be a guarantee of anything. To add to that, I have been vilified by history. I expected as much, but the fool Uriel was so thorough in his damnato memoriae that no one knows of the beneficence I brought in my governance. They only know that their hero emperor was saved by a champion, and the usurper was killed.
> Well, whatever the case, I suppose it's no use fretting about the past. If I am alive now at this most pivotal moment, then it must be for a reason. Perhaps the Gods themselves could see my worth even if the plebs could not.
> One nice thing about having suddenly come forth into existence is that I have no history and can invent one for myself. To the people of this time I am now simply Aymsu Survas, humble elf traveling the lands of Skyrim. I couldn't rightfully go about claiming myself to be Jagar Tharn, and even if I did then it wouldn't engender any affection even from these "Stormcloaks" who control the eastern half of the province. Of course, in their eyes I am already damned for being Mer. These Stormcloaks, as I have come to understand, hold fervently xenophobic and nativist views of themselves and Skyrim, restrained from expelling all non-Nords only by the need to focus their efforts against the Empire.
> This civil war speaks volumes of the depths to which the Empire has fallen. A single mad warlord, Ulfric Stormcloak, was able to upend the political order of Skyrim almost single-handedly. I don't doubt that there should have been some form of rebellion with how weak the Empire is, but even thirty years prior to the present Stormcloak cast Skyrim into disorder with his conduct at Markarth. They should have had his head the moment they captured him, but it would seem the Empire has no capacity to deal with traitors as they deserve, and now his hunger for power sets Tamriel to further bleeding.
> If there is any man who I can speak highly of it is General Tullius, who the Empire has tasked with restoring order to Skyrim. And he might have succeeded, too. That bizarre day when I awoke, Stormcloak was in the cart near me awaiting execution. Perhaps if the dragon Alduin had not suddenly intervened, his head would be divorced from his neck and the war would be over. If there were no alternative, I might stomach the idea of supporting Tullius as the new Emperor. He at least has a head on his shoulders. But all of that can come later. At present, I'm simply glad to have someone that gives me some hope that the Empire can be salvaged.
Replies