A recap of...
The Elder Scrolls V
Imperial soldiers have captured Ulfric Stormcloak and are preparing to execute him, along with the player who was caught up in the skirmish and mistakenly believed to be a rebel. Before the player can be executed, Alduin appears, attacking the imperial outpost and thus rescuing the player. The player escapes and warns Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun of the dragon attack. When another dragon attacks and is slain, the dragon's soul flows into the player character, causing the nearby guards to call them "Dragonborn". The Greybeards summon the Dragonborn to the Throat of the World, where the Dragonborn begins training in the Way of the Voice.
Delphine intercepts the Dragonborn on a training quest and arranges for the Dragonborn to infiltrate the Thalmor Embassy in Solitude, on the (mistaken) suspicion that the Thalmor are responsible for the dragon attacks. There, they learn that Esbern, a Blades lore master obsessed with the prophecy of Alduin's return, is alive and hiding in Riften. The Dragonborn rescues Esbern from Thalmor agents. Esbern leads them to an ancient Blade temple and a massive engraving depicting Alduin's prior defeat. Esbern deciphers that the ancient Nords used a special shout to remove Alduin's ability to fly and render him vulnerable.
Arngeir does not know the shout, which is called Dragonrend and violates the Way of the Voice. Arngeir sends the Dragonborn to Paarthurnax at the summit of the Throat. Paarthurnax reveals that no one living knows Dragonrend, but theorizes that the Dragonborn could learn it by looking through time at the summit, the site of Alduin's banishment. To do this, the Dragonborn retrieves the Elder Scroll used in the banishment from a massive subterranean Dwemer city. The Dragonborn returns to the summit and learns Dragonrend. Alduin attacks. The Dragonborn uses Dragonrend, and together with Paarthurnax, overpowers Alduin, who flees.
The Dragonborn's allies hatch a plan to capture a dragon at Whiterun. The Dragonborn helps negotiate a truce in the civil war to prevent either side from capturing Whiterun during this delicate operation. The captured dragon, Odahviing, questions whether Alduin deserves lordship over dragons. He reveals that Alduin has gone to recover his strength in Sovngarde, the Nord afterlife, where he feeds on the souls of the dead. Since the portal to Sovngarde cannot be reached on foot, Odahviing bargains for his freedom in exchange for flying the Dragonborn there. Entering Sovngarde, the Dragonborn meets the three heroes who had defeated Alduin originally. With their help, the Dragonborn kills Alduin and returns to Skyrim.
Upon learning that Paarthurnax is a dragon, the Blades are furious and refuse to associate with the Dragonborn further unless they slay him. When talking to Paarthurnax, he states it is wise not to trust a dragon as their nature is to dominate, but asks, 'what is better: to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?' leaving the choice to the Dragonborn.
Skyrim is set 200 years after the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, although it is not a direct sequel. Skyrim is a cold and mountainous region in the north of the continent of Tamriel. It has traditionally been divided into nine administrative sections, called "holds", each governed by a jarl from a larger town. Of these settlements, five including, Solitude, Windhelm, Markarth, Riften, and Whiterun—are larger and more powerful. The landscape is littered with forts, camps, and ruins, some of which were built by the now-extinct race of the Dwemer, or Dwarves. The Nords, one of the human races, view Skyrim as their homeland, though members of other races populate Skyrim as well.
Skyrim is a province of the much larger Empire, which comprises most of Tamriel. The Empire has recently fought a war with the elvish Aldmeri Dominion, who believe that they are racially superior to humans. While the conflict, known as the Great War, ended in a military stalemate after a hard-fought battle at the imperial capital, the greatly weakened Empire was forced to sign a humiliating peace treaty called the White-Gold Concordat.
While most of Tamriel worship a religious pantheon of eight deities, the Nords of Skyrim are accustomed to worshiping a ninth god, Talos, the deified Nord general who founded the Empire. The Dominion, led by the intolerant Thalmor sect, rejects this notion and its implication that a man became greater than any elf. They instituted a clause in the Concordat forbidding Talos worship in the Empire. Motivated in part by this condition, Ulfric Stormcloak, the jarl of Windhelm, leads a rebellion against imperial rule, with the holds divided roughly evenly between the two sides.
In the ancient past, dragons ruled over vast swaths of Tamriel. Their hegemony was overthrown when three human warriors threw the dragon ruler, Alduin, forward in time using an Elder Scroll, a powerful and mysterious artifact. When Skyrim begins, the survival of the last dragon, the sage Paarthurnax, is a secret kept by an order of monks called the Greybeards. Within their monastery atop the Throat of the World, Skyrim's highest mountain, the Greybeards dedicate their lives to the Way of the Voice, a discipline for powerful draconic spells called "shouts". Rare warriors are "Dragonborn", having the ability to learn shouts intuitively by absorbing the souls of dead dragons. Ancient prophecy maintains that Alduin will return to consume the world, and a "Last Dragonborn" will defeat him.
Delphine intercepts the Dragonborn on a training quest and arranges for the Dragonborn to infiltrate the Thalmor Embassy in Solitude, on the (mistaken) suspicion that the Thalmor are responsible for the dragon attacks. There, they learn that Esbern, a Blades lore master obsessed with the prophecy of Alduin's return, is alive and hiding in Riften. The Dragonborn rescues Esbern from Thalmor agents. Esbern leads them to an ancient Blade temple and a massive engraving depicting Alduin's prior defeat. Esbern deciphers that the ancient Nords used a special shout to remove Alduin's ability to fly and render him vulnerable.
Arngeir does not know the shout, which is called Dragonrend and violates the Way of the Voice. Arngeir sends the Dragonborn to Paarthurnax at the summit of the Throat. Paarthurnax reveals that no one living knows Dragonrend, but theorizes that the Dragonborn could learn it by looking through time at the summit, the site of Alduin's banishment. To do this, the Dragonborn retrieves the Elder Scroll used in the banishment from a massive subterranean Dwemer city. The Dragonborn returns to the summit and learns Dragonrend. Alduin attacks. The Dragonborn uses Dragonrend, and together with Paarthurnax, overpowers Alduin, who flees.
The Dragonborn's allies hatch a plan to capture a dragon at Whiterun. The Dragonborn helps negotiate a truce in the civil war to prevent either side from capturing Whiterun during this delicate operation. The captured dragon, Odahviing, questions whether Alduin deserves lordship over dragons. He reveals that Alduin has gone to recover his strength in Sovngarde, the Nord afterlife, where he feeds on the souls of the dead. Since the portal to Sovngarde cannot be reached on foot, Odahviing bargains for his freedom in exchange for flying the Dragonborn there. Entering Sovngarde, the Dragonborn meets the three heroes who had defeated Alduin originally. With their help, the Dragonborn kills Alduin and returns to Skyrim.
Upon learning that Paarthurnax is a dragon, the Blades are furious and refuse to associate with the Dragonborn further unless they slay him. When talking to Paarthurnax, he states it is wise not to trust a dragon as their nature is to dominate, but asks, 'what is better: to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?' leaving the choice to the Dragonborn.
Skyrim is set 200 years after the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, although it is not a direct sequel. Skyrim is a cold and mountainous region in the north of the continent of Tamriel. It has traditionally been divided into nine administrative sections, called "holds", each governed by a jarl from a larger town. Of these settlements, five including, Solitude, Windhelm, Markarth, Riften, and Whiterun—are larger and more powerful. The landscape is littered with forts, camps, and ruins, some of which were built by the now-extinct race of the Dwemer, or Dwarves. The Nords, one of the human races, view Skyrim as their homeland, though members of other races populate Skyrim as well.
Skyrim is a province of the much larger Empire, which comprises most of Tamriel. The Empire has recently fought a war with the elvish Aldmeri Dominion, who believe that they are racially superior to humans. While the conflict, known as the Great War, ended in a military stalemate after a hard-fought battle at the imperial capital, the greatly weakened Empire was forced to sign a humiliating peace treaty called the White-Gold Concordat.
While most of Tamriel worship a religious pantheon of eight deities, the Nords of Skyrim are accustomed to worshiping a ninth god, Talos, the deified Nord general who founded the Empire. The Dominion, led by the intolerant Thalmor sect, rejects this notion and its implication that a man became greater than any elf. They instituted a clause in the Concordat forbidding Talos worship in the Empire. Motivated in part by this condition, Ulfric Stormcloak, the jarl of Windhelm, leads a rebellion against imperial rule, with the holds divided roughly evenly between the two sides.
In the ancient past, dragons ruled over vast swaths of Tamriel. Their hegemony was overthrown when three human warriors threw the dragon ruler, Alduin, forward in time using an Elder Scroll, a powerful and mysterious artifact. When Skyrim begins, the survival of the last dragon, the sage Paarthurnax, is a secret kept by an order of monks called the Greybeards. Within their monastery atop the Throat of the World, Skyrim's highest mountain, the Greybeards dedicate their lives to the Way of the Voice, a discipline for powerful draconic spells called "shouts". Rare warriors are "Dragonborn", having the ability to learn shouts intuitively by absorbing the souls of dead dragons. Ancient prophecy maintains that Alduin will return to consume the world, and a "Last Dragonborn" will defeat him.
