An Old Man's Musings

An Altmer sits at the counter. He is old, impossibly so; he could have lived to have seen the Mythic with his own eyes. Or eye, at any rate. No eye stares forth from his wrinkled right socket, the organ clearly being torn out in some violent altercation. His wrinkled hands tremble as he sips his drink.

Who are you?

A builder, of sorts. I prefer the term "architect".

What is it that you do here?

Drink. A lot. You start needing it when you're as old as I am.

Doesn't that seem like a waste of time?

It doesn't. What should I do - find a trade? Earn coins stamped with the faces of worthless emperors? An honest worker's just as bad as I am; he just won't admit it to himself, that's all.

What's this about emperors?

Kings. Emperors. All of them, fools. They think they have power. I gave their kind real power aeons before they were torn from their mothers' wombs, and they squander it. Bury it underneath gold, borders and titles. Bah! If they understood the power they had, truly understood, they would cast all their crowns and house crests into the deepest depths of the sea!

When was your last job?

Oh, that was ages ago. A king commissioned this wildly ambitious project - you should have seen how enthusiastic he was. Got me all starry-eyed, too.

[He takes a swig]

What an idiot I was. I'll never do that again.

What went wrong?

It was...a collaborative effort, at its core. A lot of hands were involved. Some of them got misdirected. Cocky. Now it's fallen into disrepair, and no-one remembers the point of the whole thing anymore. No-one except me.

It's still standing, you know. The more I look at it, the worse I feel. I think it's high time someone tore it down. You young people have so many ideas nowadays; why not use one of those?

What would you suggest?

A few young folks have good ideas from time to time, but they always end up falling short somehow. I knew a lad in Vvardenfell...ugh, I had such high hopes for him, but in the end he was too caught up in the local politics. People, you know?

Another one, a kid from High Rock, showed more promise. As of what became of him,well...

[He stares at the gold coins on the counter and chuckles]