Tes4Mod:Order of the Dragon/Hinrich the Lion, Book II

And so Hinrich spent several years in the Raven Branch monastery, soaked in work and effort, strengthening his mind and filling his thoughts with content. He spent many hours in the library, looked at the books and turned their leaves in a fervent thirst for knowledge. He loaded the food that was brought by ships and brought the huge barrels from the brewery back on board.

One day, a knight came by Raven Branch who had sworn allegiance to the dragon god, and so belonged to the Order of Akatosh. He came to study the deeds of God and to discover the legends of the Empire. The Library of Raven Branch was known throughout the empire for its rare books and scholars came from everywhere to read them. But it was the first time that a knight had renounced his duty as a soldier of God in order to have time for pious reading in books. That man came with a cargo ship, wrapped in peasant clothes and with a pain-contorted face, little handsome as the squire at his side, who staggered with a large chest on the gangplank. Hinrich, who did not forget his duty despite his amazement at this unusual sight, ran to the squire and wanted to rid him of his burden. The man in airy simple clothes stepped between them and told Hinrich to find another crate. This one was too heavy for him. So the unequally packed pair went to the tavern and left Hinrich behind, confused.

The next morning he found himself in the library, pondering and lost in the writings. He loved the smell of the ink, which was as strong as a pervasive fog here and ran through the memories of what had been written like a red thread. Suddenly and without any footsteps or similar announcement, a voice rang out behind him: "Do you have some light for me, my young brother?"

The face of the person opposite was almost completely shrouded in darkness. Hinrich took his candle and gave it to the stranger. Now he recognized that light-soaked face; it was that of the man who had forbidden him to help his supposed friend the day before. "Thank you, brother. What is your name?"

The man seemed friendly and so gave Hinrich his name. "Will you not show me the library? There are... really a lot of books in these walls. I would need years to find those that I have to read, if I want to become a better servant of Akatosh."

Hinrich led the man - whom he now recognized as Aldrecht - around, showed him the shelves with the most interesting books, and eventually led him to the writing rooms. There Aldrecht finally told him about his life as a knight, and that he had decided to live far away from the battles for three years. The young monk was very impressed with Aldrecht and the fervor and passion he described with his experiences. He himself had always only read about the glory of battle and the happiness of victory in books or learned of it by hearsay. Aldrecht had fueled his love of adventure, a real man's thirst after glory. He had not gotten much of them so far; his experiences were always restricted to the interior of the monastery walls or the mountain mines, in which he had to work as a child. Hinrich wanted to feel freedom on his lips. So he finally asked Aldrecht, if he could not teach him swordsmanship. He initially had concerns about this request, since the abbot would certainly have something to say about it, but Hinrich assured him that the Abbot was privy to everything. In fact, the abbot knew only of physical training exercises in one of the basement rooms, to whom he had given his agreement with joyful view of the knight's social standing. Nevertheless, the workouts began immediately the day after. They practiced initially with wooden swords, but Hinrich learned quickly and so the two blunt swords of iron were very soon made an integral part of the exercises.

Now it happened that Aldrecht ate with the abbot at night, and he thought to take this opportunity to praise his student's great talent in the use of the sword. The abbot jumped up, outraged at these words, and sent his guards after Hinrich. That one appeared immediately and, expecting this situation, had already concocted a few arguments and a few good reasons himself. So he asked, without hesitation and with heartfelt sincerity, to serve the dragon god from now on as his champion and to be allowed to join the Order of Akatosh. Aldrecht was quite surprised and advised Hinrich to sit down and consider what he had just done. That one was full of euphoria to have finally gladly expressed that which burned so brightly in his heart. He sat down and eagerly awaited the words of the abbot: "You, brother Hinrich, lied to us, did not tell the whole truth, and now that you're caught, you want us to let you embark on a self-chosen path? And you, dear knight, did not even consider it necessary to personally ask our permission. You would leave an inexperienced young boy whose euphoria produced screams so loud that he revealed himself to even the apathetic as foolish."

"You are right, Father. I'm sorry to have acted so stubbornly."

"Unfortunately, this realization comes too late. We stipulate that you must leave the monastery tomorrow. You, Hinrich, will be prohibited access to the library and you'll clean the vegetables in the monastery kitchen for four full moons. Now you should return to your studies and think about what has happened."

So Aldrecht boarded the ship to Blacklight the following day, the tottering squire with the big box on the back at his side. A last look back and the ship disappeared behind the Raven rocks. Aldrecht entered his cabin and found the smiling Hinrich:
"What are you doing here? You have betrayed your abbot! You've betrayed your god! And if I help you, I'll be just as guilty."

"You should only take me to Blacklight; from there on, I'll take everything into my own hands."

"But the abbot will know about it, and you can believe me that he will then not let you out of the monastery walls until your hair is graying. And I'll have to leave the Order, because I you helped escape before your just punishment."

"I'm going to ask to be admitted to your order and expiate my guilt towards Akatosh there. I am sure that the abbot's justice will be done."

So Aldrecht was cajoled and Hinrich eventually left the monastery and came to Blacklight.