Where Were You When the Serpent Broke?

#Where Were You When the Serpent Broke?
^a ^collection ^of ^multiple ^accounts ^of ^the ^Soulburst

##Aurelius Aelius, Imperial Mananaut, Slipstream Realm:

“I was at-Void, on a simple training mission, when it struck. Everything happened at once. From below, from Nirn, massive mana-gales began bombarding the ship. Scanners erupted with enormous Daedron spikes, then systems began failing, one by one. First was Inertia Dampening and Magical Suspension, then Ego-Field generators, and finally the entire damned manasail array was ripped off. At that point, the ship began to fall. Most of the crew panicked, but those of us with sense rushed to the Belief Engine. A direct Warp through manual nilgularity was our only escape.The Dreamsleeve was inaccessible, preventing telepathy, and the Chief Belief Officer wouldn’t be persuaded to wait for more crewmen. I arrived just in time to link hands with my fellows and attempt to warp to nearby Nirn. Miraculously, we materialized together in the skies far above the White-Gold, but then we were instantly scattered, blasted away from the epicenter of some magical calamity. That momentary view of the Eternal City still haunts my dreams. I awoke some days later, having been pulled from the Abecean by a trade ship of the Daggerfall Covenant. As of now, I have had no contact from my fellow Mananauts.”

##Tenurr-Ma Sallidad, Warden of the Varl’ya Clan, Elsweyr:

This one was in his place, as were all of this one’s clan, when disaster struck. Most Khajiit watch only the moons, but these ones watch the stars, the backdrop of the ja'Kha'jay, and they show us our place. We are a mystical clan, and all felt the blast of sickening magicka erupt from the north. For weeks after the dunes shook with anger, but far worse was the sky. The Serpent gleamed enormously like 4 pale, false moons, writhing as it grew and shrunk and grew again, and we knew that men had broken the world once more. Ah, but that is why Khajiit was made, yes? When the Clan Mother recovered from her sickness, she ordered all able ones to begin enhanced cultivation of moonsugar on a scale this one has never seen. She has not revealed why we are stockpiling the sugar, but Clan Mother watches the true moons anxiously, and this one can only think there is a connection. Perhaps she has a plan. It would not be the first time Khajiit has mended the world, and it will not be the last.”

##Anya, former cultist of Meridia, Skyrim:

“We were at our prayers when Priestess Leah began screaming. She normally led us herself, but had chosen Orpheus to do so in her stead, complaining of a mild headache. For a moment I thought she had gone mad, but we all soon noticed the smoke streaming from her ears and eyes. Orpheus and the other healers rushed to her aid, trying to channel or chant or pray, but she shoved them away with inhuman strength, screaming that she couldn’t stop, couldn’t control! Suddenly, her head burst into flames from the inside, and a wave of force knocked us all away. She collapsed to the ground, crumpling and writhing like a singed insect, filling the antechamber with an overwhelming heat as her body caught fire. I don’t know when the tremors began, but they continued for days. At first we thought our Lady was angry with us, that we were the center of this event, and Her silence seemed to prove this. But soon news of further magical calamities reached us. Most of the acolytes fled the mountains for the cities. I too soon decided I had to return home, and that’s where you’ve found me in this Gods-forsaken world.”

##Lord Marius Corvinus, Elder Council, Cyrod:

“Only a fool wouldn’t have seen it coming. Oh, I don’t mean the Soulburst specifically, but you didn’t need a Moth Priest to see disaster was imminent. Sigh. When Varen first claimed the Ruby Throne, I thought Akatosh had smiled on this land once again. However, he almost immediately began consorting with the wrong people. That’s suicide in politics. First was that batty, lurking elf, then the wretched Tharns. He even married one, sat her by his side to whisper into his ear tales of Dragonborn and holy knights! To feed his obsession with the Dragonfires. I advised him to leave well enough alone, to focus on the future rather than the ancient past, but his ears were closed to me. It was a recipe for disaster, so I settled my affairs and quietly returned to my estates in County Cheydinhal. I was hardly missed. A year later, when the tremors hit and the anchors fell, I was here, leading my people. Our walls and homes stood strong, and our warriors repelled the Daedra. We are, perhaps, the last free city of the Heartland, and we intend to remain so.”

^Publisher's ^Note: ^The ^Imperial ^Offices ^of ^Provincial ^History ^are ^actively ^researching ^the ^historical ^event ^known ^as ^the ^Soulburst, ^circa ^2E ^580, ^and ^paying ^500 ^Septims ^for ^contemporary ^records ^of ^the ^event. ^Please ^see ^your ^local ^Office ^of ^Imperial ^Commerce ^for ^details.