Life in the Eagle ' s Shadow Content . 1st Morning Star : A new year , and a new start . Sirune agreed to be my betrothed last night ! I ' m the luckiest mer in Mathiisen . I ' ve already made arrangements with Yondin to use the forge . I ' m going to melt down my father ' s old blade and use it as the base for a Ring of Mara . Mathiisen steel is good enough for the troops , right ? It will be good enough for my true heart . 3rd Sun ' s Dawn : The Heralds are shouting in every square across the island . There ' s a new Queen ! And we ' re now part of some kind of Alliance - with the Wood Elves and the Khajiit , of all people . " The Aldmeri Dominion " , they ' re calling it . I couldn ' t be prouder , but father has done nothing but grumble . He says letting " those kind of folk " onto the island will be bad for business . 10th Sun ' s Dawn : Sirune and I sneaked out in the middle of the night and made for Skywatch . It was so exciting , bedding down by the side of the road . Like we ' re in the Fighters Guild ! The handbills telling of the parade have been all over the island , and we decided we couldn ' t let something like this pass us by . I ' ll be thrice - cursed by the old mer , I know it . But damn him for a fool . Miss a chance to see Queen , the Mane , and the Bosmer Treethanes ! Not in your life . 11th Sun ' s Dawn : If today was any indication , Father was right . The parade was amazing , with Her Majesty leading a phalanx of Marines up the path to the gates . Then came the Treethanes , with their wily jungle rangers . Vinedusk , I think someone said ? And then the Mane , with those braids ! Amazing to see the Khajiiti warriors on display . Much more pleasing than the furry sneak - thief I caught with his hand in my coin - purse . I tried to catch him before he made off , but he dove between some of those damned dock workers who were so obsessed with their frog races they didn ' t even look up . And then he was gone . Sirune said it was all right , that we ' d just leave earlier than we ' d planned . Damn it . Just hate to let her down . 17th Sun ' s Dawn : Damn them all ! Everything has been a mess since Sirune and I came back from Skywatch . Father was furious that we ' d left , and when I told him how many coins that cat took . . . old bastard hasn ' t beated me like that I was learning the forge . Then , a few days ago , they pulled all of us into the forgemaster ' s office . Condalin has gotten word that , with the new alliance , tradesmer can start hiring some of " those folk " . Tossing a certain number of jobs to " them " would net you extra coin from the Thalmor . And so he dropped father ' s contract ! Been with the forge for decades , and now cat - men and cannibals are doing the job . All because of this damned alliance . Father ' s beside himself , about the steel more than anything . Says they won ' t know how to sure it right . Stars above , what ' s happening ? 2nd First Seed : My life is ruined . I ' m on the run , and everyone I knew and loved hates me . Damn the " Dominion " and our smiling Queen to boot ! It all started when the recruiter for the Battlereeve came to town . He was looking for volunteers for the Dominion military . When no one came forward , he said he ' d been empowered to take conscripts . He tapped me and Sirune ' s brother . He also grabbed the twins , Taleril and Tanaril . Shoved us into a line with a gang of others and started us down the road . We weren ' t a mile before Tanaril snapped . Went crazy , screaming about how he couldn ' t fight Dark Elves , that they use your body to hatch spiders in . He made a break for it , and a bunch of us used the chance to run as well . I ' m holed up in a cave near Silsailen . My father is penniless . My ride - to - be will son think me a traitor . The damned cats and runty Elves are taking over the island , and the military is putting children on the front lines . This isn ' t the homeland I grew up in ! 5th First Seed : I was reduced to trying to steal something for my evening meal , and - of course - I was caught . I slipped into Silsailen after dusk , the smell of some delicious whitefish wafting on the breeze . I hadn ' t eater anything worthwhile since the morning the recruiter came into town , when I had that delicious spiced bread Sirune ' s mother made . I slipped into town and tracked the smell to the local inn . I was trying to figure out how to get into the kitchen when a big beefy hand fell on my shoulder . One of the Canonreeve ' s men . He knew exactly what I was doing , almost like he ' d been watching me since I got into town . Now I ' m sitting in a cell underneath the reeve ' s manse , waiting his justice . At least they let me keep the journal here . Damn you , Ayrenn ! Damn you , Dominion ! 10th First Steed : My old life is over . And my new life under the Veil has begun . I turns out the Canonreeve himself , and honorable man named Valano , has experienced his own doubts about his future under the Dominion . He used to be a good friend to the Queen , even , but worries now the years have changed her . Valano is a member of a group called the Veiled Heritance . They ' re a group of freedom fighters , willing to do what has to be done . They ' re willing to make the hard choices , and stop the spread of foreign influence on our soil . I was brought up out of that cellar below Silseilen thinking I was going to do hard labor . Instead , I found a new family . Valano said he knew all about my problems , even knew that I ' d be taken by a Dominion recruiter . Said that he was willing to help , and hep me help myself . And I will .