your pulled from your cell and are taken through corridors in a dark dank prison. you can hear coughing of the sick, moaning of the tortured, and screams of the insane. the guards leading make petty conversation. they throw open a door and your blinded by the light for a few seconds. when your vision clears you see a huge crowd of people before you and your led through them. they curse you, throw things at you, and make racial slurs.

you make it up to the gallows where the executioner is preparing another prisoner. he puts him on his knees with his head stretched across a block. he checks his axe to make sure its sharp, gets into position to the side of the prisoner looking towards you, grins wickedly at you and swings his axe. you see the head separate and role into the crowd where its graved and thrown around.

your shoved forward and are led to him. he says a few remarks before he kicks you to your knees and shoves your head to the block, the blood from the countless others before you stain it, you struggle but the guards hold you in place. in third person you see him raise his axe in first person you see his shadow doing so and rite at the apex of his lift where he would drop it a tremendous roar blasts through the crowd and fire erupts through them and you see a dragon sweep down breathing fire among them.

in the chaos you gain full control of your character and have to escape, taking armour, weapons, and supplies from fallen guards and spectators. your goal is to escape and kill the dragon when you do you absorb the soul. the law keepers pardon you of your crimes for killing the dragon and the grey beards detect your absorption of the dragon soul and begin calling you.

I like the idea of the dragon's shadow passing over the platform as it flies by. That would be wicked intense, in my opinion.

I really think that killing a dragon in the tutorial would take away from the 'WOW!' feeling: I mean if you can do it as a level 1 what's the point in leveling? You can kill these mythical beasts with untold power with no skills or training!

And besides, as others have said, that opening pushes the main quest in your face far too much: it would be impossible to try to role-play a believable character when they start off knowing that dragons are invading and they are the only one who can stop them...

I like the idea of the dragon's shadow passing over the platform as it flies by. That would be wicked intense, in my opinion.

This. For some reason everyone assumes that you WILL be executed.

I have just had another thought:

I'm sure I read somewhere that the Blades were hunted down or some-such which is why Esbern is the last... What if he is to be executed aswell as you and he somehow escapes and so do you in the chaos... Dragons could be in there somewhere too I guess...

This would be good if it had Esbern in it since its been confirmed that he saves you. I imagined it like the beginning except for the part with the dragon. Instead mine goes like this:

As the executioner raises his axe, you hear the twang of an arrow and a sharp grunt. You can see the shadow of the executioner reach around and grab an arrow thats sticking out of your back and fall to the ground with a great thud. Chaos ensues as the crowds just witnessed a murder and you're afraid that you might be next. But then you see somebody coolly walking towards you among the chaos. The strange man kneels down and unhooks you and says, "come with me." Then you go through a sort of tutorial type thing as you have to escape aided by Esbern until you're free. And then you go on your merry way doing whatever it is you want.