I thought I would try my hand at writing some fan fiction. This is the fist time I've tried anything like this so be kind, or don't, I don't really care. There will be spoilers throughout this diary with no spoiler tags.

Just some background on what I'm doing. This is a sort of diary for one of my characters, a Wood Elf called Link. Link is the same character I used to play Oblivion. I may one day replay Oblivion and recreate his story with a diary. I am also a console player so there are no mods. This will be an active thread with new pages from his diary added, comments are welcome and most of all I hope you enjoy.

One Last Adventure
A Bosmer Tail

I start this journal as a new chapter begins in my life cycle. This will also be my last as the end soon approaches me, I cannot hold death back for much longer. My body is old but my mind is as young as the boy I once was. I have managed to live long beyond my years, all of the people I once knew are gone. Time for one last adventure.

Sundas 16th of the Last Seed, 4E 201

As I crossed the border into Skyrim I seemed to accentually stumble into and Imperial Ambush. Out numbered I decided to surrender to the Legion to an officer called Somutius Mantedius. He though that I was somehow involved in the Stormcloak Rebellion, I tried to explain that I was a simple traveler making my way into Skyrim from Bruma, but he thought I was a spy so he slapped me in chains and set me off to Helgen where I would be tried and sentenced as a traitor and spy.

Morndas 17th of the Last Seed, 4E 201

After journeying though the night on the back of a horse cart I woke to the fresh air of Skyrim. I was in the cart with three Nords, a horse thief called Lokir, and two member of the rebellion. Ralof and a man who's mouth is bound, this was the leader of the Stormcloaks, Jarl Ulfic Stormcloak. My suspicions at this stage were confirmed, we were on our way to what the Nords call Sovngarde.

Once we arrived at Helgen we were catalogued and the Captain of the Guards called for my head. Being alive for so long made me not afraid of death. My life has been long and the one thing I have learnt about life is that you cannot escape death. You can prolong it well past you days but eventually death comes and take all.

I made my way to the block where the man in the mask waited. I got into position and thought about my life. The things I had done, the people I had killed and helped. My family and my friends. I regretted nothing, I lived my life the way I chose too, no compromise. I was just upset that I didn't get to die on my terms. But fate had another plan for me. If you can believe me this is truly what happened. A dragon came, a beast as old as time its self came and attacked the fort of Helgen. In the confusion I managed to escape into to a near by tower. After jumping from the tower and though the roof of a near by building I met the Imperial solider who was trying to execute me, his name was Hadvar. I followed him though the carnage to the other end of Helgen where we went through the keep. After making our way through the keep and through the cave we escaped out of Helgen. Hadvar said he had an uncle in a near by hamlet called Riverwood and he would give us food and shelter for the night.

We followed the path down to Riverwood keeping talk to a minimum, I think we were both surprise by what had happened. It was dark by the time we reached Riverwood. Hadvar's uncle was a Blacksmith called Alvor. He invited us into to his home where he gave us food and a bed for the night. He also had some old cloths. Hadvar and Alvor spoke about what happened and they asked me to talk to the Jarl at Whiterun. I respectfully declined wishing not to be apart of what is happening. You ask why did I not help, was I not curious? Yes, but one of the reasons I have lived for as long as I have is because I know when, and when not to get involved. Fighting dragons and saving the world is a young mans game.

Tridas 18th of the Last Seed, 4E 201

Before I left Alvor gave he an old bow with a few arrows along with a dagger he made. Riverwood was a nice peaceful town, it has a mill and a blacksmith shop, a general goods store and most importantly an Inn. Over the years I have become a bit of a drinks connoisseur, I especially have a taste for real ales and rare wines. I had quite a collection back in Cyrodiil and I hope to add more to it one day. On my way to the Inn I bumped into a fellow Elf called Faendal and he seemed quiet happy to see a fellow brother. The Inn was simple compared to those in Cyrodiil but it had an alchemy table. Alchemy has played an important part in my life and it's one of the reasons I am able to even write this journal. I first learnt of alchemy back home in Valenwood. A hunter in our tribe taught me how to make simple potions, we'd go out hunting putting the potions on the tip of our arrows before we'd take our shot, we never went hungry when he was around. I forget his name now as it was so long ago but he taught me a lot in my early years, enough for me to survive out in the wild on my own.

After spending some time in the Inn I got speaking to a bard called Sven, he would not shut up about his love for this shopkeepers sister. He told me that the Wood Elf Faendal was sniffing around and that she was destined to be with him. He asked me to give her a letter on behalf of Faendal. I took the letter but had no intention of giving it to Camilla, it was something about Sven I didn't like. Over the years I have developed good instincts and everything was telling me not to give her the letter. I told Faendal of Sven's plan and he asked me to give Camilla a letter he wrote on Sven's behalf instead. I was more that happy to. I entered the Riverwood Trader and there was some sort of problem between the two owners. From what I could gather something went missing, stolen form their shop, something quite valuable to them. They stopped talking once they saw me so I gave the Camilla the letter and she seemed very upset the Sven would say such things, but I knew the truth.

I spoke the brother, Lucan Valerius and he said something about a claw being stolen from his shop. He seemed quite desperate to get it back. Normally I don't like getting involved in such things but after being arrested by the Legion I had no money and very limited supplies, so I took the job. The sister was quite keen to come with but the brother was adamant that she stayed behind. He told me the claw was in a place called Bleak Falls Barrow, it was supposedly filled with the undead. I have experience in such things so wasn't really bothered but that doesn't mean you should get complacent, as soon as you do, you die. Camilla offered to show me to the edge of town and from there I took the road to Bleak Fall Barrow.

The road to was long and it went up into the mountains, it was quickly becoming cold and my body was not yet use to it as I am used to warmer climates. My home back in Cyrodiil was a big mansions in a place called Skingrad, Rosethorn Hall. The air was warm and I took frequent trips to the port town of Anvil on the gold coast. The cold of Skyrim was not in my blood yet but despite my fingers and toes going numb I persevered up the path till I came to a tower on the cliff face. In my experience buildings of this stature do not say empty for long. There is always some gang looking for a base, so I tool the cautious route and avoided it. Before long I saw this grand building, I have seen some structures in my time but nothing quite like this. The entrance was fairly well guarded so there was no way I was getting into a straight fight with multiple armed bandits. Generally people who run head on into a battle outnumbered normally end up not being around to tell the tail. There are smarter ways to deal with such things. When faced with a group of enemies not being seen his the key to getting where you want to go. But there are questions you need to ask yourself before you make any decisions. What is the purpose of what I'm trying to achieve? To kill or to get past? As these are just guards killing them isn't really necessary if you just want to sneak past them. Also the more bad guys you kill the more attention you bring.

I like taking the high ground whenever possible, it just gives you the best sense of what you are dealing with, no nasty surprises. Guards normally follow a pattern and the higher up you are the easier it is to see if there any weak spots or holes you can get through. Once up high you could just start picking them off if you really feel the need to, a good archer could and I am a very good archer. But I only like to take a life if absolutely necessary, once you take a life you cannot take it back and you carry that for the rest of your life. But that is not to say I won't take a life, I will if I can see no other way around.

So I've sneaked round and climbed to the top of the structure, there is no chance of getting thought the big door without being spotted. In my youth I started to learn magic, some racers have a natural ability with magic and some don't. Bosmers usually don't so what I learnt took me years and a lot of reading books. I chose to focus of two schools of magic throughout my life. The one that is the most useful to me and has helped my in my career in acquisitions is Illusion. It has gotten me out of a few situations and into a few too. Casting a nice Fury spell on to an unsuspecting guard is a good way to cause a distraction. Unfortunately this will result in at least one death but never the less I managed to sneak past the guards and through the door.

Bleak Falls Barrow

Another two Bandits were on the other side of the door so another Fury spell took care of one and an arrow to the torso for the other. Now there are two type of archers, one that shows off and one that doesn't, I'm the latter. It is really exciting to read that I shot the Bandit in the head, but truth is that the head is quite a small target and even an experienced archer like my self can miss. So your best bet is to aim at the torso, less chance of missing and every chance of doing fatal damage. There are some people / animals out there that will take more that one arrow but the body is the best bet.

After making my way deeper into the dungeon I came across a Bandit trying to open a gate, it was an armed trap and he took a few dozen arrows. In old ruins such as these more often than not a locked gate is never just a locked gate. You're alway worth looking around as it could just save your life. There were some symbols above the gate and some moveable ones on the wall and I lined them and pulled the lever. Now I have been in my share of ruins but I do have a moment of hesitation before I pull any leaver, as it could be my last, but obviously this wasn't as I'm here writing this. I go though and head further in and then I hear the voice of a man, he sounds like he's trapped and scared. What he didn't mention was the giant Frost Spider that was hanging above me. The only advice I can give about Frost Spiders is that you need to watch out for their venom projectile, apart from that shoot enough arrows in them and they go down like everything else.

Caught in a web was a Dark Elf called Arvel the Swift, he said the claw had a secret meaning that could unlock a great power. He said if I cut him down he'd show me. Now there is no honour amongst thieves and I far as I know he was planning to slit my throat because people who search for great powers don't want to share that power and would normally kill to get it. In this instance I had no choice to cut him down no sooner I had he ran, so I unfortunately had to kill him, but he did have the golden claw. Now I'm not interested in great powers as they normally get you killed but as I was here I thought I'd carry on. Soon I found myself in a crypt, I'm not a fan on fighting the undead, normal magic doesn't work on them so really sneaking through hoping you don't wake up what is in there is your best option. It does take time but patients it the key to survival. Just take your time and make your way through.

I eventually came to a door which the lock had the shape of the claw. There were markings on the lock and on the claw so it was just a matter of lining them and opening the door. As the door opened I entered a room which hadn't been opened in centuries and the bats escaping gave me quite a fright. There was an altar in the middle of the room and one of the undead awoke from it but this one was different it had a some power that knocked me off my feet, I wondered was this the power that Arvel was speaking of. There was no way I could win this fight but one good thing about the undead is that they aren't all that bright. Running away and hiding is a good way to buy some time but it isn't a solution. Once out of sight casting a spell is a good idea, now yes undead are immune to most spells but cast any spell at a wall is a good way to divert attention. That then gave me the opportunity to take the high ground and shot a few arrows, before long the undead was dead.

I left the ruin and came out at the back of the mountain, it was the middle of the night and finding somewhere to sleep seemed like a good idea rather than going though the woods in the dark. At the bottom on the river bank was a fellow Bosmer, he was a poacher but he let me use his bed and he fished throughout the night. I slept well.

This is awesome. I am finishing my back story now and will start tonight. Thank s for sharing and look forward to more updates.