The Story of a MadmanEdit
An old man is sitting down in the Market District of the Imperial City, he has never been seen in the city before so he must have gotten here on foot, but he looks so weak and old that it seems he could not have possibly gotten here. He begins to mumble to himself, then he yells so loud with a young voice that the entire city hears, and is drawn towards him. "Gather around children, for I have a story to tell. It is a story of the greatest madman of all time! So great, that the first Sheogorath himself was amazed by his insanity. Our story starts in the year of 405 of the Third Era. A mother is giving birth in her small cottage located in the wilds of Cyrodiil."
Chapter 1: A Birth of MadnessEdit
The Imperial woman is surrounded by her family, all of them comforting her as she goes through the pain of labor. The baby comes out, and the family is in rejoice.
"At last my child is born" The father said,"Look at him, he's got my eyes, and he already has some of my face."
The mother looks at her family "Oh, what should we name it?" She says while panting furiously.
"I think we should name it Jaden, after my father." Says the father. "Jaden Rosh, son of Joseph Rosh and Lynda Rosh. Yeah, I like the ring to that."
"OK, how would you like that little Jaden?" The mother says to the baby. The baby's eyes light up as she says that. It giggles. "Aw, look, he likes it!"
That night, the mother begins to sweat profusely. The father wakes up as she starts to talk in her sleep. In an odd voice with a dwarvish accent she says "Your child shall not be normal, he shall be overcome with madness. As he ages, he shall become more and more powerful, until he is practically a demon. At that time he will leave you, and at that time you will lose everything." Her eyes begin to glow a bright white, and an image beams out of her pupils. Above her, a hologram stands. It shows the face of a man with a beard, smiling evilly. The children, hearing the commotion, burst in. The oldest brother is carrying the baby.
The floating face's eyes open, and look at the baby. The eyes of the image are catlike. "Hello there little one," it says,"I hope you enjoy your madness." The image disappears, and the mother's eyes go back to normal. The father feels her forehead, she is in a fever.
The next morning the family is catering to the mother. They are so busy working on her fever that they pay no attention to the baby. As they run around getting cold water and food for the mother, the baby is on the kitchen, drawing something in the dust on the walls with his finger. At 9:00, the mother dies from her fever. The grieving family walks out of her room and notices what the baby wrote on the wall. Sprawled across the wall, in the dust, the words "The first obstacle in this child's path of madness has been removed." are read. The father, recalling what the voice said last night, suddenly realizes what it meant.
The father, having fallen to the ground from shock, gets on his knees and says "We have to do something about this."
Chapter 2: The Obstacle CourseEdit
6 Years passed after that fateful night, and the baby has become a boy. Even though he is only 6, he is very strong for his age, but he has no idea about his odd fate. The family goes on in life as if nothing happened, telling young Jaden that his mother died from a fever, which is partially true. But secretly, the father and his other sons were planning on killing Jaden, as to prevent the prediction from coming true.
The day was the 1st of Heartfire, 3E411 (3E=the third era). Jaden walked into the kitchen as it was lunch time. His father is cleaning the clay plates. "Father, you know tomorrow is my birthday"
"Yes I know son, and believe me, I am getting you a wonderful gift. A gift so great it's to Die for"
"Yay!! Daddy's getting me a good gift!!" Jaden runs outside the cottage. Joseph calls the older boys inside, telling them to 'Let Jaden play alone' as a cover-up.
"OK boys, tonight's the night we end it all. Let me go over the plan one more time. To prevent that demon-thing from interrupting us, you will put a holy cross on his chest, that should stop him from using his damn demon magic. You will tie him to his in his sleep, then wake him up saying it's a surprise 'minute of his birth' gift. He will be overcome with joy, but then you will pull out your daggers and cut him up like the daedra he is!! After that, we will toss his body into the nearby river, and throw in our neighbors' ceremonial dagger, to make it look like they did it when the body floats down the river near Bravil. Those damn neighboring farmers have been encroaching our lands, so we will kill two birds with one stone."
"Yes father."
"Good, make me proud boys."
---12 hours later---
Jaden is sleeping on his bed. The brothers walk in the room and loosely tie him up. When they tighten the rope, he wakes up.
"What are you guys doing?"
"It's your 'on the minute' birthday surprise, close your eyes, otherwise you won't get the present."
"Oh boy!!" He closes his eyes tightly.
The brothers lay the cross on his skin and expect his skin to burn, but nothing happens. They don't worry about it, and the oldest brother gets the dagger. Jaden opens his eyes just a little bit and sees his brothers with a dagger. They notice that he saw them and the older brother instantly thrusts towards Jaden's heart. The dagger pushes right through, like a key into a lock, but something is wrong. He is not acting anything at all. His eyes Become catlike and the knife floats out from his chest. The wound reverses itself and heals instantly.
The same unearthly voice that the mother spoke in comes out of Jaden. "Oh ho ho! You thought that you could kill this boy to stop my prediction from coming true? No no, daedric princes never let their pawns die while they are in early stages. I can see by the look on your face that you are shocked by this revalation. YES!! The person who is ruining your lives, and enriching this child's life, is I, Sheogorath! PRINCE OF MADNESS! Master of the mad, controller of the crazy, initiator of insanity!" His voice becomes booming and the father hears what is going on. "Sorry to disappoint you lads, but i won't let this one die. To me, you two are just more obstacles in the obstacle course! So, bye bye obstacle!" A powerful shockwave bursts from Jaden's body and kills the two older brothers. The walls crack and the house shakes. Sheogorath's voice speaks once more "Now hear me, Joseph Rosh. I know who you are, I know it was you who tried to get these boys to kill my newest pawn. If you try something like that, I'll rip your intestines out and skip rope with them! Tata!!" The voice vanishes, Jaden's eyes return to normal, and the house stops shaking.
Joseph sits in his bed, eyes popped open and bloodshot. "Dear Talos... what did i do to deserve this punishment!!"
Chapter 3: The Greatest Obstacle in the PathEdit
Joseph decided that something had to be done. He set out to Weynon Priory so he could find somebody to remove his son from existence. He travelled for 3 days, telling his son that he was going to town, and when he arrived at Weynon Priory, he spoke to Brother Piner.
"Excuse me, Brother Piner, I need guidance in this troubled time."
Brother Piner looked at Joseph oddly, and Joseph explained the entire situation. While speaking, Brother Piner began searching his quarters for a certain book. He found a book on daedra and their magic, and found a way to help.
"The only way I can help you is by casting a restricting curse on the boy, it is forbidden unless to be cast upon a demon or daedra, which this boy is, in essence. The curse will kill him if the procedure is done perfectly, if not, it will merely bind him to only be able to enter sunlight a day a year."
Joseph and Brother Piner talked about this for an hour, and decided that this was the right path.
"I have all of the ingredients for the procedure here. We should get moving right away."
Joseph and Brother Piner set off right away, they were to be, according to Sheogorath, "The greatest obstacle in the path."
As they left Weynon Priory, a mysterious man sitting down on the grass who had been gazing blankly into the sky for the past half-hour suddenly changed where he was looking, and focused on Joseph and Brother Piner as they set off into the distance. He turned around, picked up a staff that he had with him, and walked away. As he walked away, 4 imps appeared out of the shadows and began to follow his trail. Right as he went past the horizon, a strange Cloud followed Brother Piner and Joseph and darkened all that it passed over.
---3 Days Later---
Joseph and Brother Piner arrived at the Rosh house, Jaden ran out "Dad Dad!! You're back!!! Who's the bald guy in the robes!"
"Jaden, this is Brother Piner, he is here to help with our Garden Work."
Brother Piner gently pats Jaden on the shoulder and suddenly Jerks. He whispers into Joseph's ear "This boy is overcome with Daedra energy, he is infused to the core with this power, if he lives to the age of 18, he will become strong enough to kill all of Bravil in a night, it is good that we end this quickly."
Brother Piner set up the materials and the procedure on the Dining Table and began the basic ritual. All he was doing was cleansing the room of any demonic objects or energy so that Jaden would not have any power during the ceremony.
--Meanwhile, outside--
Joseph was playing with Jaden one last time before he died. He figured that Jaden deserved to be happy on the last day of his life, he did not deserve to die after all. It was not his fault.
They were pretending to be warriors in a great fight. Then Jaden looked at Joseph and said. "Daddy, what happened to Matt and John? I remember they were going to give me a birthday present, then I saw them holding a knife, then the next thing I knew, it was morning."
Joseph began to sweat, worried that his son knew something. "Um, you must have not remembered, they told you that you were going to be given your first Septims today, and here they are!" Joseph handed him a few Septims.
Jaden's eyes lit up like a candle "Oh boy, my first Septims!!! Thank you daddy!"
Brother Piner walked out of the house "It is time for the ritual's next phase."
Joseph nodded in agreement, Brother Piner and Joseph went back inside, they both carried out the table with the ingredients on it. Before Jaden could ask any questions, they set it down quickly and grabbed Jaden, they threw him to the table and tied him up quickly.
Brother Piner began the ritual, he lit 5 candles and laid them down in a Pentagon-shape, he then took a thin roll of cloth and Rapped it around each Candle, interconnecting them. The end result was a Pentagram star. He then lit the cloth on fire using one of the candles it was bound to, and the Pentagram lit aflame. All the time Jaden was screaming and crying, clearly confused with what was going on. Right as Brother Piner was about to begin the Incantation, a fireball flew right by Joseph's head.
"What the hell was tha-"Joseph was interrupted as a barrage of more fireballs came from the forest. At first, all that was visible was 4 imps, but as they came out of the forest, it became apparent to Joseph and Brother Piner that they were surrounded by maybe 1000 figures. Imps came pouring out of the forest, cheering and screeching. Some of them even talking, saying "For the Prince of Madness!!!" This was one of the few times an Imp has ever been recorded speaking a Tamrielic Language. They surrounded the men, but did not come any closer than 10 yards EXACTLY. A perfect circle was formed around them. And as the Imps fumbled about each other, more dark figures came out of the forest. People, crazy people talking to themselves, but they too were saying "Sheagorath... everything for the madgod."
After the Crazy people had entered, even more people came out of the woods. But these ones were different, they were not human, nor demon, they were something else. You could not even see their faces underneath the Robes and Hoods, when they took off their hoods as they got closer, it became apparent what they were. Dark Seducers, Golden Saints, both male and female, and even Cultists of Sheagorath, some of his most prized pawns on Tamriel. The ones who did not even bother recruiting people to the Madgod's army of insane, but people who clearly had an aura of power about them. The Dark Seducers and Golden Saints Formed an inner circle around Joseph and Brother Piner, and then the cultists Walked Straight up to them there were only 5 of the cultists, and each one was from a different province. Finally, a Lone Figure with a staff walked out of the forest. 4 of the imps in the crowd, ones that were larger and apparently more intelligent than the others, went to him when he raised his staff in the air. He walked out in the middle of the crowd, all of the creatures getting out of his way.
This man stepped right between Joseph and Brother Piner, both of them mystified. The man grasped something out of the air, a butterfly, and crushed it in his hand. While his hand was in that position, a green glow emanated apparently from the butterfly. It flew out of his hand as if it had not died. His hand still having green energy in it, he moved it down to Jaden and touched him on the forehead. Jaden's entire body glowed with runes and symbols. And the man took a step back.
"My lord Sheagorath has told me of this boy, he says that I am to kill anyone who interferes with his fate. You are interfering with his fate, I should kill you, but I believe you deserve a, demonstration of the power this boy has." From his voice it was clear that he was a dark elf, which explained the red glowing eyes leering from beneath his hood.
"Attention Cyrodiil!" He said, his voice mysteriously boomed. "You are about to witness first-hand the POWER of lord Sheagorath, I stand here, just southwest of Cheydinhal, about to witness my death, and also, my new life. This will be the most powerful event in the history of Tamriel." Jaden began to glow more brightly and hover a few feet in the air. "Prepare yourselves my apprentices, this blast will Kill everyone here except for this boy, but when we die, we shall be REBORN in Sheagorath's realm, as his heroes!!"
Jaden lifts even higher into the air, and he begins to convulge uncontrollably. Waves of energy start emenating from him, so powerful that many of the imps get knocked over by the blast. The table and ropes tying him to it completely shatter in mid-air, and he turns face-forward in the sky. His body in a cross position, his eyes glow a beautiful green. His entire body begins to glow and Everyone around him feels as if they are being sucked towards him. Then, complete silence across the entire world for a few seconds, the birds hush, the people stop moving and talking, even nature stops for this event. A cataclysmic explosion happens, incinerating everything within 100 yards of Jaden, everyone in that radius dies, and all of them are Reborn INSTANTLY in the Shivering Isles. Joseph goes along with them, Brother Piner however, does not. He is returned to Weynon Priory, he wakes up in his bed believing all of that to be a dream, and therefore he believes he saw the future. The explosion did not stop at that zone though, the shockwaves spread across all of Cyrodiil. Everyone felt a strong pressure push against them, many people fell over, a few houses in Bravil even toppled. And a mysterious green pillar appeared in the sky where the explosion happened.
---5 Minutes Later---
Jaden woke up, he felt different somehow. He remembered everything that happened, he looked at himself. Suddenly, he realized he was stronger, faster, smarter. His intelligence had increased by 1000%, he was a genius now, everything seemed so clear to him. He knew that he could not live normally, so he waited.
AftermathEdit
"Well my friends" The old man says "The rest of this story is long and tedious, so for today i will just tell you the part that was written in Secret Imperial Legion documents."
The following days after that, guards from every city gathered in Cheydinhal, they all formed a sizable army, and they stormed out of the city on the third day after the events. They rushed to the woods of the intial explosion, now this area is quite famous, southwest of cheydinhal, the mysteriously Burnt Woods. They were stunned to find a dirty boy sitting in the middle of the smoking woods, mumbling to himself. After he explained everything I just said to the guards, they made a few speculations on things there. Over the past few months, there had been a great amount of Daedra Sightings, all of them Imps. Those COULD have been the imps that appeared there, followers of Sheagorath. The staff of the mysterious wandering dark elf was likely the Staff of Sheagorath, which summons 4 imps of Sheagorath, and is cursed to be stuck to the hands of anyone who tries to get rid of it. And as for the Dark Elf, that could have been the "Prophet of Sheagorath" So many people had been talking about recently. He was going from province to province, city to city, speaking about Sheagorath, talking about his incredible power and that all would know it very soon. He was even casting magic no one had ever seen before. All of these events, matched up with a lot more reported Daedric Cult activity, could mean that Sheagorath had known of this day. Had planned for it, and had started all of these events, triggered them to happen.
The guards who went to the site that day all had this eerie feeling, as if they were being watched by the sky itself. To this day no one knows the cause of this.
"Now go children, leave me, tomorrow I will finish this story tomorrow, or another day, go and let an old man rest."
All of them left, loving that story and how detailed it was, many of them believed it. But one of the people who had listened to this man's story felt something familiar about it, and could not help but go out in search of more information on this story.