Anoriath

'Anoriath was a Bosmer male who is one of the possible subjects of the Nerevarine Prophecy whose conjectural existence is one of the questions posed by the Uncertain Sign Dragon Break. Anoriath was a traditionalist Green Pact Bosmer who was displaced from Valenwood during the events of the Five Years War and War of the Blue Divide, eventually becoming a vagrant survivalist in Cyrodiil. He enters the stream of events that are warped by the Uncertain Sign Dragonbreak after being imprisoned in the Imperial City prison as the result of a drunken bet gone quite awry. In spite of his background, Anoriath was considered by his contemporaries to have been a profoundly unserious elf.

He was an Archer born under the Steed Sign.

Biography

Early Life

Anoriath was born in 3E 290 near Silvenar, though much of his early life appears to be unclear and unrecorded. It is likely he lived a life very typical of contemporary Bosmer, though some of his writings take special care to highlight his love of hunting. Anoriath fought briefly in the two major wars toward the end of the fourth century CE, though his precise service remains unrecorded, and describes the resulting decision to leave Valenwood as "the prey's retreat".

He does not seem to have lived well in Cyrodiil after fleeing Valenwood, and describes himself as "living rough" during that time period. The most noteworthy incident is of course that which lead to his imprisonment in the Imperial City prison.

Imprisonment and Deportation to Vardenfell

Anoriath's personal history joints to the history of the Uncertain Sign Dragon Break after his imprisonment in the Imperial City Prison in the late fall of 3E 426. He remained in prison for several months before being assigned a parole that would lead to him being sent to Vardenfell. Anoriath describes the incident leading to this arrest as "a great farce". Imperial records record only an assault and the destruction of property at the Merchants Inn in the imperial city, but Anoriath describes the incident much more candidly.

To begin with, everyone involved was quite drunk; the orc most of all. If he felt anything at all it was the next morning and merely the aftermath, which believe me was just as much for the best as it was responsible for what happened next. I won't deny being quite drunk as well - no sober hand in the Green is going to make a mistake like that, let me tell you. So anyway, the orc was quite certain he'd have the better of me in a contest at the shortbow, which of course I couldn't simply allow to stand. Everything was going fine at first; apples off of the banisters and one another's heads. It was only his brilliant idea to grip a jug in his arse. I must've had the Lies of Lorkhan pulled over my eyes to miss a shot like that. One arrow, four holes later and the whoreson threw an entire table at me, if you please! It was just as well the Guard finally stepped in at that point. Saved the old sod's life.

Evidentally, the orc held some fear for Anoriath, who accepted parole to Vardenfell rather than a straight release.

Role in the Dragon Break

Because of his arrival on 17th Last Seed, 3E 427, at the Customs and Excise Depot of the Imperial service in the village of Seyda Neen, Anoriath satisfies the condition of being a subject of the Uncertain Sign Dragon Break. His actions from that point onward become ambihistory.

Explorations of the Ascadian Isles Region

Anoriath's arrival in Sayda Neen was a welcome one for him, as he did not enjoy the relatively brief seabourn leg of the journey, complaining frequently of seasickness and nightmares. He recounts the period after disembarking relatively fondly, and we know from the journals of others that he had an arguably positive effect on the community, though not without both edges of the dagger, as it were. He solved the murder of Processus Vitellius, but may also have been implicated in the continuing harassment of his fellow bosmer, Fargoth. It does appear, however, that he may not have taken his charge from the Blades especially seriously as it took until the second day of his stay in Morrowind for him to have even left the township, and he did not appear at his intended destination, Balmora, for several days. Along the way, he is known to have spent a considerable amount of time "exploring" (and often times plundering), a number of underground sites he came across - both caves and crypts. Surviving records from the period indicate that he intimated to his parole officer that he considered this a period of good sporting, and these sorts of extended outings and rangings would become de-rigeur for him.

Working with the Balmora Fighter's Guild

Records of the Imperial Fighters Guild do show quite a bit of activity figuring Anoriath. It seems he took up with their cause fairly early on in his explorations, and he fulfilled a number of their contracts without issue, such as the removal of kwama poachers from Shulk Mine. One mission on behalf of the guild took him to Caldera, and this was his first real stumbling block of his new adventure, purportedly having spent "all I had on potions and scrolls" and still scarcely managing to survive the encounter, which had pitted him against a number of thieves - purportedly aligned with House uesp-l:Telvanni - who were stealing from the Ebony Mines. As a result of this mishap, Anoriath seems to have withdrawn from urban society after returning to Balmora to collect on the contract.

It is believed that during the explorations he engaged in at this time he uncovered the location of a lost Hlaalu mine.

Personality

Anoriath is a playful sort who tends to gamble above his station when it comes to chansing adventures, leading him into scrapes. He's goodhearted, but not necessarily good, and has many broad definitions of "fair plunder". Now well outside the Valenwood he no longer fully keeps the Green Pact, but seems to have a generous interpretation of the traditional "Rite of Theft". Unserious as he is, he's not strongly compelled by the instruction to serve as a imperial stooge while in Valenwood and sets off almost at once for high adventure rather than anything else.

Trivia

• Though a combat specialization like Iacobus Tenura, Anoriath was created to test out the marksman skill options as well as to retain some use of the survival modifications used by the player and to help tune their settings, after the inappropriately aggressive default configuration lead to the decision to disable it for Iacobus, Seeks-his-Heart, and Adyne Mathendis.
• Anoriath is a manifestation of the continuing habit of the player that "fundamentally, all roads lead to Ranger", a tradition that has followed him life-long through RPGs of all kinds since he was in elementary school.