
Chapter 1: Beginnings
Dhaunare was in a daze after being captured by the imperials. How could I have gone wrong? Dhaunare wondered, mentally going over his whole plan to get to the college of Winterhold safely...
It all started many years before: Dhaunare was one of the rare few who showed enough promise to study under the Psijic monks in Artaeum. During those years, he studied extensively religion in Tamriel, its relation with magic, and centralized in the study of the "divines" of man, focusing much of his research on Talos. In addition he delved into the study of the Dwemer and Lorkhan. As his research became more and more "dangerous" to Altmer society, he was kicked out of Artaeum and out of the Summerset Isles altogether, an outcast. Moreover the Thalmor always had a bounty posted for his death, for who knows how many he could corrupt with his dangerous knowledge. Dhaunare fled to the Mages Guild in Cyrodil, where he continued his research of Talos until 175, where the White-Gold Concordat drove him out of Cyrodil. Hoping to take this opportunity to learn more about Lorkhan in the various dwemer ruins to the north, Dhaunare spent 25 years trudging the ashlands of Vvardenfell trying to get at some of the most valuable Dwemer sites known. From there, he went to Skyrim, hoping to get to the College of Winterhold in order to collect all his data that he researched in the sites. There he came upon a band of Thalmor also heading to Skyrim that instantly recognized him and gave chase. Dhaunare ran as fast as he could, right into an imperial ambush. Where he was mistaken for a messenger and clobbered right on the head.
Now awakened by the Nord opposite of him in the cart, Dhaunare regained his senses. The people around him were all talking, but none of this he even understood as he was focusing on the chase, the ambush, his eventual death, all the research... for nothing. Though part of the Psijics, he never delved too much into magic and only knew the basic destruction, illusion, and restoration spells. Suddenly, the cart stopped, a man's head got chopped off, and then it was his turn. Death was a moment away, until a black figure flew from the sky and shouted something. This was something he had only read about in some books, and Dhaunare thought it a fanciful tale, except for it was real... a dragon... alduin himself he mused, looking at the sleek scales and the overall unique shape, much different from the illustrations shown in the books. But he was free... and thus he ran... looking back every moment to see what kind of behaviors the dragon had, thinking about the fame that would come if he wrote the first TRUE book on dragons. Dhaunare was so enthralled that he did not notice Hadvar force him into the fort in order to save him from the fiery skies. Hadvar did free him, and they escaped the fort, fighting Stormcloaks and spiders, returning outside to see the dragon fly overhead. He went back to Riverwood with Hadvar, since Dhaunare did not know this place and chose the mage stone in order to help increase his magic skills faster (because, lets face it, he's not a warrior, and sneaking isn't his forte either [he couldn't steal a sweetroll to save his life]). Dhaunare and Hadvar went to Hadvar's uncle's house, where he was given the quest to go to Whiterun and warn the jarl about the dragon....
End of Chapter 1