Prelude to the Heart of Smoke

Well, I had hoped to be able to keep posting lore on the Cimmerian under the page of the same name, but apparently you can only have two sections per page and thus I cannot add to it. So here we are with another installment of Cimmerian information. This time we go back in time a bit, before his full emergence as the Cimmerian.

The Dread Father
The scene opens with tranquility as Fleet stands on the shores of a lake, a Nirnroot glowing before him. He might even be thinking, "What is my role on Nirn? On Tamriel?" Unknown to him, a wraith-like figure watches from a distance, wreathed in darkness that seems alive. The next morning the group splits, the ladies taking the caravan Gypsy Eyes to distract their pursuers, while Fleet and Valfar set off for the ancient tomb of Jurgen Windcaller, Ustengrav. As they enter we hear Fleet's thoughts...

Fleet's Journal
''The Dread Father comes to me nightly, a shadow cloaked in black flame. Urging me ever onward, placing images in my mind telling where I must go and what I must do. Burn it down.''

''It has been months since I first wrote these words but the visions have returned more vivied than ever. The air feels colder. The knot in my gut tighter. Something is going to happen and it will be soon. M longsightedness, the gift, tells me this. I recognize now what I could not understand then...the feeling of change, the agent of chaos. This is the Dread Father at work, I can feel it.''

The awakening darkness...

The journey through the ancient tomb yields little loot. Perhaps because the true treasure, at least for Fleet, lies in the final resting place. Will this tomb become the crypt of two Tongues? Sithis waits...ready to grant the Heart of Smoke. After some hesitation and cautious observation, Fleet approaches a dark figure standing beside the burial vault of Jurgen Windcaller. He recognizes his god and falls to his knees in reverence. With his blessing, Fleet is ready to live or die according to the Dread Father's will and with one stroke, he is reborn inside even as his body crumples to the cold stone floor. His exterior transformation soon to come.