A Visit From the Prince

          Hermaeus Mora came to me. Hermaeus Mora actually came to me.

          Ok. Let me explain. I had a dream last night, after Dora and I argued over chopping the firewood. In the dream, I was doing my usual rounds during a late night shift. I had to patrol the perimeter around the marketplace. Then suddenly, a body of darkness, like a gate into the abyss, appeared before me. I thought the darkness would pull me in; I thought I was going to die for sure. But then a voice came, from the body of darkness.

          “Hello again, Faustus.” It spoke to me. “I am Hermaeus Mora, the daedric prince of knowledge and memory. But, I’m sure you already know that.”

          At that point, I thought he was coming to reclaim the scroll. But as you can see by the fact that I’m still writing, that was not his intention at all. Instead, he wanted me to continue writing. He wanted me keep recording these events. After all, the attic of a common guard’s house is hardly a fitting place for a daedric artifact of that power.

          Hermaeus went on to explain the power of the scroll, to make sure that I use it to its full potential. The scroll is powerful indeed, from what he claimed. Apparently, it has the power to alter fate and grant the bearer that which he desires most: wealth, knowledge, meaning, and so on. The scroll does this with one condition: that the bearer record how it happens. It demands the bearer to write in it the events of his life. This is so that others can see and fulfill their own desires.

You see, there’s more than one scroll in existence. In fact, there are over twenty, but each in a different place and a different time. Hermaeus Mora created these scrolls a long time ago, to teach mankind about themselves, for that is the knowledge that is worth knowing above all: to know thyself.

The scroll not only allows the bearer to write on it, but also reveals the stories of others. And so, every time the bearer opens it, he or she, can see, hear, or watch someone else’s story. When it is blank, it is thus the bearer’s turn to write. The scroll, which might not be even a scroll at all, manifests itself in different forms. So far, after already seeing the stories of my fellow writers, it looks like Hermeus Mora’s artifact is referred to as a “computer” in a different time and place.

          I must conclude for now. It is now morning here in Whiterun. I rushed to write this after waking up. My shift starts shortly, and I must tell Darien of this news.

2^nd of Last Seed, 4E 201