Cyrodiil/Harran's Journal

8, Frostfall
Half of our Legion has been ordered North of   to   to reinforce the border with Skyrim. There have been pockets of resistance throughout the province to the ban on Talos worship. That self-righteous Justiciar   fears that seditious thought will spread to Cyrodiil without swords to meet it, so he invoked the White-Gold Concordat. I received the order from our Commander this morning.

I have no love for the Thalmor, but orders are orders. We depart tomorrow, but I will spend tonight with my love   and our sweet  .   has promised to continue teaching Ellina to read in my stead. I don't think the old man has ever quite warmed up to me as family, but he's been a good grandfather to my daughter.

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30, Frostfall
We've been here for two weeks without incident. However, more news traveled in from Skyrim with a caravan of Khajiit. The group of Talos worshippers have declared themselves rebels against Skyrim's High King Torygg. They call themselves the Stormcloaks after their leader Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak of Windhelm.

The Thalmor have locked down the border at that news. No one allowed in or out of Pale Pass save for the Legion supply lines into Skyrim and the Thalmor's prisoners. I cannot even send word via courier to Lassinia.

I watched a cart of chained Stormcloak prisoners pass through, it seems that a whole camp was taken prisoner. Do they know of the pain they are causing, of the wounds they are reopening? The Great War was fought and won. I love Talos as much as the next Nord, but his death is a small price to pay for peace. Sellus may have been the one to push me to the Legion, but I enlisted to make Cyrodiil a safer place for my family.

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5, Sun's Dusk
We were on patrol when we found them. There were five men in the blue garb of the Stormcloaks, hanging from an old pine. The cold preserved their bodies well, but   had taken their legs. I recognized them from the prisoner transport. We were told they were to face trial in the Imperial City! The other men looked as sick as I felt. We knew the Legion was being lied to, taken for fools. The Thalmor are no peacekeepers, they are an occupying force.

We cut them down and gave them a proper burial, marking their grave with a mound of stones. We started back to the fort to bring the news to our commanding officer, but crossed paths with a band of Thalmor. They were escorting two prisoners, no doubt to meet the rope. We nodded at them as we passed, trying not to betray that we had found the others, but they knew. As we passed them, they attacked us from behind, shoving their prisoners off the road.

Only one of our men was lost in the end. Another two rushed back to the fort, naively thinking that the betrayal would be punished. I'm sure they met the same end as the hanged men. The two prisoners were wary of us at first, but eventually admitted that they were Stormcloaks taken prisoner at the border.

Knowing that we could not return and having seen the true face of the Thalmor, we asked to join them. The men spoke of a cave called the   that led through the mountains. It would bring us to Skyrim. We set out at once.

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15, Evening Star
I've been stationed here at the mouth of Serpent's Trail for two weeks. It seems that my familiarity with these mountains makes me more valuable on this side of the border. I can't contact my family for fear of their safety, but one of our spies has checked in on them for me and they seem to be well. Word has not traveled back to them of my absence.

I find myself reflecting on the oath I took when I joined the Legion. "Upon my honor," I swore. If I knew then what I know now, I would have spit at those words. Mede rules only at the Thalmor's pleasure. The Empire didn't win the Great War - they just postponed our death sentence. A free Skyrim is the only place left for my family.

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29, Evening Star
An advance scout has snuck past the border with a message: Jarl Ulfric is headed our way. If he plans to cross the border to Cyrodiil and the Legion have caught wind...

I dread having to turn my sword on my former Legion, but I have chosen my path. I hope that the Nine... no, I hope that Lassinia can forgive me.