Skyrim: Faal Thur

Brom had another nightmare that night. This time he dreamt of torture; he was being tortured day in and day out. Memories of pain and loneliness were all that flashed through his head that night. Getting out of bed, Brom was more exhausted than before. He had put it off long enough, he needed to recover his memories.

He had one idea that might let him accomplish this. He needed to go see the Augur. The Augur is a non-corporeal entity who was once an accomplished Breton wizard. The legend goes that a failed experiment turned him into the entity. In the game, he was practically an all-knowing ball of energy. somehow, he can keep up with everything going on in Skyrim. Brom's plan was to trade him the knowledge of his past life for the memories he should have of this one. To do this he would have to travel to the Midden, an underground section of the college.

Brom left his small dorm room and walked down the stone hallway to Erin's room. Letting himself in he walked in while Erin was changing into her novice robes. Brom unaffected by this, only smiled on the inside when Erin froze like a deer in headlights and started blushing fiercely.

"Take this gold and find out what you can about the in and outs of the college, besides that, you are free to do what you want. I'll be back tonight."

Yeah, okay," Erin said in a daze.

Brom tossed her 500 septims and turned around and walked out closing the door behind him.

Erin was embarrassed and angry, he had just walked in unannounced and she was in her u.n.d.e.r.g.a.r.m.e.n.ts. But more importantly, he acted like it was nothing, he didn't even have the decency to look embarrassed. Erin tried ignoring the disappointment that she felt when Brom didn't even look anywhere but her eyes. She pushed the thoughts away, she told herself she didn't care if he thought about her like that.

Brom for his part could barely keep from laughing to himself as he walked through the halls towards the courtyard. She looked so fl.u.s.tered, and he thought he even saw disappointment when he only looked her in the eyes. He was not sure though, after all their relationship was not exactly normal.

Ignoring these distractions Brom went outside and stopped in the middle of the heptagon that was centered in the courtyard. He thought for a second and then walked to the left outside wall of the Hall of Elements. In the game, there was a trapdoor leading to the Midden from there. When he reached the area, there were the familiar crates. He pushed some aside and saw the trapdoor, but it was locked with a strong looking lock.

Brom only smiled and activated his blessing from the Lord Stone, the lock simply clicked open. Making sure no one was watching, Brom snuck into the Midden. This was technically off-limits, and, in the game, most people think it is a myth. Brom was not sure what would happen if he was seen sneaking in, so better to not be seen.

Upon entering the Midden, Brom looked around and noticed it was very similar to the game. It still had the dusty and dark dungeon feeling, with spiderwebs and some skeletons lying around. Brom continued with Flames cast so he could see; he noticed some long-since collapsed stone ruins, there must have been rooms down here at some point.

He continued through the maze of tunnels and caves that would have any would be explorer lost. But Brom had the backing of hundreds of times going through here in the game, making navigation relatively simple. He reached the door to the Augur within 10min of entering the Midden. Before he could knock, he heard the voice of the Augur in his head.

"There is no solace in knowing what is to come."

"My name is Brom and I would trade information with you for long lost memories."

"Still you persist? Very well, you may enter."

And with that, the door in front of him swung open. When Brom entered he noticed how much stronger the presence of the Augur was, he could almost feel the power radiating from the ball of energy in front of him. The door closed behind him and then the full pressure of the Augur entered his head and started going through his head. Brom screamed and fell to the ground. The pain felt like someone was slowly stirring his brain with a scorching cold knife. The pain receded and the presence of the Augur lessened.

"Sorry for the intrusion, I needed to know your intentions were true."

Brom stood on unsteady legs and wiped the blood that started coming from his nose.

"Next time, ask!"

"There will not be a next time. Now, what information could you possibly have that I do not already possess?"

"I hold the knowledge of another world, one much more advanced than this one. One where magic has not been tapped into. Yet, magical things exist in every home. I will give you this knowledge so you may study it. If you can return me my memories of this life"

"What do you mean by this life?"

"It will be easier to show you; you may go through all of my memories if you promise to fulfil my wish."

"Hmm, it is a deal. If you truly do have knowledge of such a place, I will give you a way to access your memories."

Brom nodded his head and relaxed.

"proceed."

The Augur entered his mind once more, this time it was less intrusive and forced. It still hurt, but Brom could stand it. After several minutes of seeing all of his past life's memories flashing in front of his eyes faster than he could process, the Augur withdrew. Brom held his head, he would have a terrible headache after this.

"What you say is true, another world. The possibilities this provides is limitless." The Augur said with emotion for the first time.

"Now, your turn. Give me my lost memories."

"I cannot. But I can point you to something that can."

"That was not our deal, but I have no choice so fine." Brom crossed his arms in annoyance.

"There is a scroll here in the Midden, travel further down and follow these directions"

After saying this Brom was assaulted with images of the Midden, different tunnels and doors. They led him to a collapsed cave. When he opened his eyes, he was outside the door. He tried calling for the Augur but he, or it, did not respond. Cursing Brom started following the directions the images gave him.

After several minutes of searching Brom finally found the collapsed cave, now he just had to get in there. He really hoped this scroll was worth it. If it was even there. Brom started using his hands, and pulled away the rubble. The thought of using Iron Fist did cross his mind but he did not want the entire cavern collapsing too.

So he labored, stone after stone, boulder after boulder, Brom cleared the tunnel. When his shirt was soaked with sweat and his arms and legs were trembling, he would heal himself with magic, regaining health and stamina. He continued this way for many hours before he finally cleared the way. Wiping his brow, he walked into the cave, he was going to be pissed if he did all that labor for nothing.

In the cave there were no other tunnels connecting and the rock seemed to be a natural formation. Brom saw a huge scroll covered in dust and small stones in the middle of the cave. Wondering how such a thing survived down here for so long, he walked towards it and uncovered it. Brom stopped stunned, he took a step back and laughed. This was no ordinary scroll; this was an Elder Scroll.

He recovered from his shock and picked it up. are scrolls of unknown origin and number which simultaneously archive both past and future events. They are unbreakable and can not be written on. They are fragments of creation from outside time itself, and their use in divining prophecies is but a small part of their power. Brom also remembered a warning, an unguarded mind trying to read an Elder Scroll would go completely blind forever, the effect irreversible.

Not sure what to do with this, Brom decided he would pay the Augur another visit. He headed back through all the tunnels and winding pathways. When he reached the door to the Augur's room, it opened before him. He stepped in, ready to get answers on why he was given an Elder Scroll.

"Good, you got it."

The Augur greeted Brom with this as soon as he walked in. The door had closed behind him again, but this time he didn't even notice.

"Yeah, I got it. But what in Oblivion am I supposed to do with it! If I read it I'll go blind."

"So, you aren't one of the usual idiots that come here, good. Now place the Elder Scroll within me."

"… that is kinky."

"Do you want your memories or not?"

"Fine, here,"

Brom tossed the Elder Scroll, the most valuable thing in the world, into a ball of energy with an attitude. He was praying that this was not a mistake, but he had to take the risk. These memories were important to his life, and who knows what else an Elder Scroll could tell him.

The Augur started glowing more fiercely than before. He was pulsing and the pressure from when Brom first entered the room returned, but tenfold. Brom immediately hit the ground screaming, his every fiber felt like it was being torn apart and put back together. His brain felt like it had completely torn apart, then each neuron put back together. Brom passed out under this immense pain after only a few seconds. His body simply could not handle it.