Effects of the Elder Scrolls Content . It is widely known among scholars that the Elder Scrolls entail a certain hazard in their very reading . The mechanism of the effects has , at present , been largely unknown — theories of hidden knowledge and divine retribution were the subject of idle speculation with little investigation . I , Justinius Poluhnius , have undertaken to thoroughly document the ailments afflicted by the Elder Scrolls on their readers , though a unified theory of how they manifest continues to elude me and remains a subject for future study . I have grouped the effects into four , finding that the avenue of experience depends largely upon the mind of the reader . If this is unclear , I hope that a proper dichotomy will lay it plain . Group the First : The Naifs For one who has received no training in the history or nature of the Elder Scrolls , the scroll itself is , effectively , inert . No prophecy can be scried nor knowledge obtained . While the scroll will not impart learning to the uninformed , nor will it afflict them in any adverse fashion . Visually , the scroll will appear to be awash in odd lettering and symbols . Those who know their astronomy often claim to recognize constellations in the patterns and connections , but such conjecture is impossible to further investigate since the very nature of this study necessitates unlearned subjects . Group the Second : The Unguarded Intellects It is this second group that realizes the greatest danger from attempting to read the scrolls . These are subjects who have an understanding of the nature of the Elder Scrolls and possess sufficient knowledge to actually read what is inscribed there . They have not , however , developed adequate discipline to stave off the mind - shattering effect of having a glimpse of infinity . These unfortunate souls are struck immediately , irrevocably , and completely blind . Such is the price for overreaching one ' s faculties . It bears mentioning , though , that with the blindness also comes a fragment of that hidden knowledge — whether the future , the past , or the deep natures of being is dependent on the individual and their place in the greater spheres . But the knowledge does come . Group the Third : Mediated Understanding Alone in Tamriel , it would appear that only the Cult of the Ancestor Moth has discovered the discipline to properly guard one ' s mind when reading the scrolls . Their novitiates must undergo the most rigorous mental cultivation , and they often spend a decade or more at the monastery before being allowed to read their first Elder Scroll . The monks say this is for the initiates ' own protection , as they must have witnessed many Unguarded Intellects among their more eager ranks . With appropriate fortitude , these readers also receive blindness , though at a far lesser magnitude than the Unguarded . Their vision fogs slightly , but they retain shape , color , and enough acuity to continue to read mundane texts . The knowledge they gain from the scroll is also tempered somewhat — it requires stages of meditation and reflection to fully appreciate and express what one saw . Group the Fourth : Illuminated Understanding Between the previous group and this one exists a continuum that has , at present , only been traversed by the monks of the Ancestor Moth . With continued readings the monks become gradually more and more blind , but receive greater and more detailed knowledge . As they spend their waking hours pondering the revelations , they also receive a further degree of mental fortitude . There is , for every monk , a day of Penultimate Reading , when the only knowledge the Elder Scroll imparts is that the monk ' s next reading shall be his last . For each monk the Penultimate Reading comes at a different and unknowable time — preliminary work has been done to predict the occurrence by charting the severity of an individual monk ' s blindness , but all who reach these later stages report that the increasing blindness seems to taper with increased readings . Some pose the notion that some other , unseen , sense is , in fact , continuing to diminish at this upper range , but I shall leave such postulations to philosophers . To prepare for his Ultimate Reading , a monk typically withdraws to seclusion in order to reflect upon a lifetime of revelations and appoint his mind for reception of his last . Upon this final reading , he is forever blinded as sure as those Unguarded ones who raced to knowledge . The Illuminated one , though , has retained his understanding over a lifetime and typically possesses a more integral notion of what has been revealed to him . It is hoped that this catalog will prove useful to those who wish to further our mortal understanding of the Elder Scrolls . The Moth priests remain aloof about these matters , taking the gradual debilitation that comes with reading as a point of pride . May this serve as a useful starting point for those hoping to take up such study . - - - - Dictated to Anstius Metchim , 4th of Last Seed in the 126th year of the Second Era