This is something I’ve been working on while taking a break from other things. I thought it would be fun to replay Skyrim on my Switch and give myself a set path to take instead of taking on everything at once. Then I decided it would fun to keep “a journal” from my character’s perspective, starting a bit before the date of the game’s first day.
I don’t know if it’s anything that would interest anyone else on here, but I thought I’d share. Some entries aren’t very long at all, but they all will be fairly quick reads.
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A Khajiit in Skyrim
Chapter 1 - Introduction of Self
3rd of Last Seed, 4E 201
My name is Ambrose Umbranox, and I am Khajiit. If you thought, “but that is not a typical Khajiiti name,” you would be correct. Umbranox is Imperial. When I was but a cub, I heard whispers of my lineage, however true they may be. Many moons ago, my ancestor was in Cyrodiil on business. I have come to conclude that this “business” was nothing more than petty thievery, but that is unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Because what she found is what lead to me being here, or should I say who.
My ancestor had a secret affair with the leader of the Thieves’ Guild, the Gray Fox. She kept a journal of their encounters, one I so had hoped to find, for it holds possibly the answers that I seek. For shortly after she found herself pregnant, before she could tell him, the Gray Fox… changed. Her notes suggest she thought it was a joke at first; he got someone else to don the Cowl to trick her. Her memories of her lover started to blur, but her written words remained. She clung to those, aware that her descriptions of the man she spent many nights with was now different. His build, his voice, his scent. This was not the same person. She was driven mad by this, and her child was born in secret to be raised by another.
Now, I do not believe my ancestor to be crazy, you see. The legend of the Gray Fox states the Cowl will erase the wearer’s identity, even going as far to alter memories that others may have of the individual. I believe that the Gray Fox that came back was a different person than my ancestor knew. But where did her lover go?
Her child grew to connect the pieces as well, and gathered more pieces of his own that seemed to fit the puzzle. His mother’s journal was all he had of her, his adoptive parents believing it would help him know her spirit. Through this book, she helped her son from beyond the grave. The Guild spoke often of the shadows that hide you and slipping away into the night, and he couldn’t shake that feeling like it was right in front of him. Until he travelled to the city of Anvil.
My lost and abandoned ancestor grew up loving puzzles as his life was the biggest one of all that he hoped to solve one day. He studied the works of scholars far and wide, learning the deepest secrets and ancient languages of Tamriel. So when he noticed that the thrones of Anvil were sat upon by a couple by the name of Umbranox, he was… intrigued.
The first day he visited the castle, he just sat on a bench in the Grand Hall, watching the royals perform their duties. A few guards questioned him, but his intellect opened many doors for him and usually cleared him as it was unlikely that a scholar could be trouble. The next time he visited, he brought the journal, noting side by side the similarities in his mother’s description of his father and the now-older man seated in the Throne of Anvil.
Could the Count have been the Gray Fox? My ancestor certainly thought so. Enough that he started using the name Umbranox for himself, and made sure it was passed down with the story of our lineage. For if a man can be both a Count and a Thief, then one can be anything they so wish.
As for me? This one just wants to travel while I can still see it. I’ve heard there are some ancient ruins from many civilizations up in the Skyrim territories. I’m about to celebrate another year in this existence, and I think it’s time I take that step forward. My ideal trip would be through the Pale Pass, but I hear it has caved in. Maybe I could find a way in? We shall see.
