Declassified Documents Concerning the Final Days of the Royal Imperial Mananauts, Part 4
13 Frostfall, 2E 1, Official Incident report
Captain Julius Corretus, Imperial Legion, Special Security Director, Royal Imperial Mananauts
On the morning of 13 Frostfall, myself and two other security officers traveled approximately 28 miles from the south side of the main Manannaut compound to investigate a report by one of the scientists that there was evidence of an Elvan presence in said location. Reports indicated that said, previously mentioned, location was the site of a number of loud, explosive nosies and bright light. There was reasonable suspicion that this sight was the base of operations of the Elves, and a small team was dispatched to gather covert intelligence and observation. Aside from provisions, all three members of our team were equipped with camouflage amulets. The team consisted of myself, Josiah of Sentinel and Georgios Clovos.
The journey to the location took approximately six hours on foot, and was uneventful. Upon reaching the location, we arrived to observe a large excavation site with a series of temporary structures erected around the site.
Our group planted ourselves on an obscured cliff face approximately 10 acres away from the central excavation area from which to observe the operations. Our view was obscured, and we spent approximately one hour in that location, unable to observe anything of significance. There was activity, but for what end, we were unsure. After that hour, our observation was interrupted. A party of approximately half a dozen elves passed a few yards past our location and attacked. Clovos was lost in the ensuing battle, and Josiah and I were both captured and bound by the elves. We had bags placed over our helmets and were taken two hour's distance away, then deposited in a small iron room, with our blindfolds removed. The room was bare, save for a slightly dislodged panel. I observed this, and was able to cut my bindings using a sharp edge from the dislodged panel. I freed Josiah, and the two of us were able to pry the panel off, revealing that the system of walls within the structure were hollow, and able to fit a man. The two of us, crawling through the facility's walls, managed to escape the compound. Observing the nirnset in the west, we concluded the facility was south of the Mananaut compound, and traveled north. Traveling for two hours, we managed to rediscover the excavation site. Unable to stop, as the site was still manned, we avoided detection and made our way make to to the Mananaut compound.
Throughout this ordeal, we were able to avoid questioning, and giving any specific information about our operations. However, it is now a known fact that the elves are aware that we are aware of their presence here.
13 Frostfall, 2E 1
Josiah and I agreed to remain silent about the details of what occurred. I was afraid that the Potentate would deem the mission too risky, and end the operation. I feel, factoring in what occurred, the Elves must be stopped. I believe that their success would not simply mean the end of the empire, but far greater consequences for the entirety of Nirn. I do not believe the Potenate would understand this. Josiah's fears though, are far more bizarre. While our ordeal was certainly jarring, his reaction has gone beyond one that a trained military man should experience. He has spent the last day muttering to himself, shaking and has seemingly not slept or ate. I confronted him about what was troubling him, and his only response was to tell him a story. Apparently this story was a tale passed along in his family, a story shared by some Forbearer clans of the Redguards. The telling of this tale, he claimed, was outlawed by the Crown government of Hammerfell in the early days of the landing of the Redguards in Tamriel, and thus has almost died out, and is not known to many scholars. He claims that our experiences with the strange Elf that confronted us in the Altmer compound confirm this story. I can't possibly see this as true, it is just entirely not possible.
The story goes that the Redguards, in their original homeland of Yokuda, for many years fought a war with a group of “left-handed elves”. He implies that the neither the elves, nor the redguards were originally a monolithic race, but due to years of war, the various men of Yokuda became one. The elves became two. Both groups guarded their own “tower”. One group, the “snake-elves”, fled into the sea and took their tower with them. The other, the “left-handed” elves remained and fought the Redguards. The Redguards were outmatched by the elves, for they were masters of the sword and possessed weapons of “of orichalc”. The tide changed when the Redguards were gifted with the weapons and techniques of the elves. The Crowns attribute this gift to an avatar of the Redguard's war god, but Josiah claimed that these gifts were instead given by one of the elves' own. This elf was the ruler of a petty Elvan city-state, Josiah referred to him as the “Shaazdeh”. He taught the Redguards how to defeat his kin, and they destroyed all of them, save for the Shaazdeh. Centuries later, the Reguards warred among themselves, and the Shaazdeh returned. He came to a band of sword-singers fighting in the war, and promised them that the defeat of their enemies lay within his people's tower. The sword-singers arrived at the tower, and fought their way through legions of left-handed ghosts, to reach the top. At the top lay the keystone of the tower, Josiah referred to it as the “nothing-stone”, the “first germ” and the “prime atomos”. The stone was unbreakable, but the Shaazdeh taught them to use the “Pankratosword” and split the atomos. It was however, a trick. The deed was done, and the act summoned the “Terminal Fungus” or the “Myco-Nimbus”. Josiah associated this with the Redguards' snake-deity Satakal. The initial act killed millions, and the rest were forced to flee to Tamriel as the continent began to sink, following the path of the snake-elves.
I know what Josiah means to imply, but I cannot believe him. I consider myself well-read, and have never heard this story before. Most of its contents sound like fantastical drivel, and make little sense. What as a “terminal fungus”? Why would this elf betray his own race? What would have been the significance of this tower? I believe that Josiah's addled mind simply fabricated this story. Josiah is not as battle-hardened as I, and I fear the torture we experienced was too much for his psyche to handle. I did not mention this in the incident report, I know how the legion often does nothing for those suffering from mental aliments. He would have likely been removed from duty and left out in the streets. I cannot let such a fate befall him, as he has served loyally. Likewise though, I can no longer trust him on missions for the time being, his performance ability has almost certainly been compromised.