Chapter 1: Synthesis

Where am I?

The stranger woke up without a clue as to what had happened. He laid on the ground, robes caked with dirt and tattered around the sleeves. The harsh cold he was accustomed to had been replaced with a lukewarm breeze, and the eerie silence that came with it caught the weary man off guard.

Where are the dragons? Surely, I would have heard at least a roar by now.

His thoughts were met with only more silence. Picking is back up off the ground, the stranger sat up and surveyed the surroundings. He was in a densely populated forest, which felt odd given the lack of wildlife. The closest animal to him was a lone bird that sat perched upon a branch about one hundred meters to his left. To his right was a small pond, but he could not make out the sound of any fish, something he was quite capable of doing. Almost directly above him was the sun, barely shining through the canopy of leaves that obscured the man's view.

At least one thing has stayed the same. Glad I've got that going for me.

Deciding he'd had enough of sitting on the ground and get his robes any dirtier, he walked over to the closest tree and began to climb it. The task proved to be quite an easy feat, as any young man of his physique should expect. Resting his head against the base, he began a routine meditation session. He found that, at times of uncertainty, clearing the mind and focusing on the task ahead proved to be the best method of relaxation.

Now let's see…where exactly could I be?

He knew without a doubt that this land wasn't Skyrim. While he'd only been there for three years, his time there had proven to be quite memorable, and the space he now occupied certainly didn't fit that description. And that included Solstheim, although his time there was much more limited.

Could I be near Cyrodiil?

He quickly ruled that possibility out. Even if his adventures in Skyrim had lasted another decade, he was sure he'd never forget the sweet smell of his homeland. The scents that he was now faced with were completely new. Seeing as he hadn't really been anywhere else, a sudden realization hit him.

I'm not in Tamriel, am I?

It was an excessive and overly dramatic question given the man's immediate situation, but even the books he had read on the history and geography of the continent didn't quite match his newest setting. The lack of animals was even more disturbing.

Alright, think. Is there anything I can do that will show me the way?

It hit him. With a faint movement of his left hand, he cast a Clairvoyance spell, and a beam of light snaked down the tree and through the forest. The man smiled slightly.

Glad I visited that dusty old College in Winterhold. I thought that measly spell would never come in handy. Guess they taught me something valuable after all.

The smile soon faded with sound of a growling that snapped his concentration. At the bottom of the tree was a pack of hungry animals, which he discerned to be wolves. He counted six of them. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, the man raised his right hand and snapped his fingers once. Immediately, the six wolves each fell over dead, their bodies impacting the ground without a sound. A few seconds later the bodies were encompassed in light and spontaneously set aflame. It took about a second for the burning corpses to crumble into ash. And with that, the man recast his previous spell and continued meditating.