The Emperor,Titus Mede II lays slain by an unknown assailant. The Empire believe that it is the work of the Stormcloak rebellion and is thrown into disarray,having lost their leader while in the midst of a civil war. The Thalmor see an opportunity with the power struggle and install a new emperor who is nothing more than a puppet for the Aldmeri Dominion. With the puppet emperor acting on behalf of the interests of the Thalmor,he bolsters the number of legions deployed in Skyrim and allow the Thalmor more freedom in Tamriel. Together,they invade the rebel capital of Windhelm and swiftly and brutally quash the Stormcloaks. Ulfric Stormcloak;leader of the rebellion,is slain in battle,halting the uprising. The Empire and the Thalmor seize full control of Skyrim and all lands that hail to the false emperor. Then they began the systematic hunting of all those who opposed them. They purged Tamriel of any who questioned the motives of the new emperor and argued against the increased presence of the Dominion.

Most of Tamriel is secretly controlled by the Dominion,and no one dares to publicly oppose them. However,many groups have risen from the ashes of the Stormcloaks,away from the watchful eyes of the Dominion. Many are nothing more than vain political movements whose leaders are mysteriously found dead the next day. However,there is one that has managed to escape the grasp of the elves. This order has no official name,and it is only referred to in hushed whispers behind closed doors. The members consist of all manners of people;rebels,former soldiers of the Imperial Legion,and any who wish to fight for freedom from the Dominion. They work in the shadows,never seen nor heard. They blend into the masses,silently starting revolts against the elven oppressors and slaying Thalmor officials before escaping into the night. Many people do not know of their existence and only see the results of their silent war. However,they have many agents all over Tamriel. This order has no official name,but their members refer to themselves as "The Hidden Ones".

“The Thalmor are on their way here now,” said the haggard man,taking deep heavy breaths. He took a second to catch his breath and faced the group once again. “I was watching the Northern district of the city when a whole legion and those filthy elves came marching through the city gates. The Justiciar proclaimed that they were here merely for peacekeeping,but than he had the legion make a beeline straight here. I ran as fast I could to get here before them. We need to leave now!”
The group seated around the table started fumbling towards the back entrance of the establishment. All but one. He finished his drink of ale and then calmly stood up. He lifted his hood and walked towards the front entrance of the building and opened the door. The Imperial legion was on the other side of the street,but they were closing in fast. The hooded man walked towards the marketplace,making sure that his hood was low enough so that no one could clearly see his face. He strolled around the stalls,pretending to take a fancy to some fine jewelry. The soldiers reached the tavern and barged in.
“HALT! By the order of Emperor Septimius,this establishment's staff and patrons are to be arrested and all their properties be forfeit to the Emperor for the crime of treason and conspiracy against the Empire!” The man heard the people inside start yelling,insisting that they were but honest farmers and bar-maidens living an honest life,claiming that they would never lift a finger against the great Emperor. But the man knew better. He knew that that the people inside were lucky,because if the marketplace had not been busy,the soldiers would simply have killed everyone inside. He looked at the stall owner and saw that she was paying attention to the commotion coming from inside the tavern. He took one more look at the necklace. It was fine piece of craftsmanship and metalworking. It consisted of a fine silk wire looped to a moonstone centerpiece. The moonstone was engraved with a depiction of an upside down six-pronged star,a magical symbol. The owner must not have been very familiar with magic,thought the man,for anyone with even some magical knowledge would know what the arcane symbol was. He quietly pocketed the necklace and walked away before the woman could realize what had happened. He walked towards the city gate and stopped a few buildings away from it. He saw some soldiers guarding the gates,preventing people from getting in or out. He looked around,trying to find some way to slip past unnoticed. He looked at the city walls and noticed that the brick work was shoddy in some places. The walls had withstood many battles and sieges,but they finally fell a few years ago when the Stormcloak rebellion used catapults to break down a section of the wall. The invasion was a failure,and the wall since patched up,but it was second rate job because most of the workers had either fled or were killed in the battle. The man walked towards the wall,keeping to the shadows. The bricks were hastily put together,with some of the bricks being a different size from the others. He put his hand in one of the gaps and realized that there was just enough space for him to grab a hold. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him,and than started climbing.

He landed on the other side of the wall with a light thud and a roll. He looked around to see if there was anyone on the road leaving the city. When he made sure that there were no more soldiers marching into the city,he got on the road and started walking towards the stables. There,he tossed a small bag of septims to the stable-master. The stable-master nodded his head and led a horse by the reigns to the man. The horse,a sleek black beast with a slim profile,neighed as the man jumped up onto the saddle. “Come on,Ebony,”said the man. The horse started moving trotting away from the city. He steered the horse towards the outer limits of the city,towards the forest. The night was still young,and the man appreciated the river that ran next to the city walls. It was not a big river,but the man had fond,albeit cloudy,memories of the river. Vague flashes of him as a young child playing in the water flashed across his mind. He remembered a woman on the banks of the river yelling at him to not go too far out. Was that his mother? He looked at her but couldn't quite make out her face. He spent a good long while looking at her face,trying to make out some facial features;her eyes,her mouth,her nose,he had to remember something about her.
“Hey! Halt I said!” The man snapped out of his trance and cursed himself for letting his attention lapse. He looked forward and saw a patrol of five Imperial soldiers on horseback. They were heavily armored and armed with spears. One of them,a captain by the looks of his over-confident and smug pose,snapped the reigns of his horse and approached the man,making sure to keep him at spear's length. “The border out of Whiterun has been temporarily closed due to an ongoing investigation of conspirators in the city. Only officials or those with an Imperial decree are allowed to pass at the moment. If you have such a document,please present it. If not,turn back.”
“Investigation? And what type of conspiracy do you mean?” The hooded man decided to play dumb,hoping to take advantage of the captain's self-entitlement. The captain smirked,obviously enjoying his position of superiority in not just authority,but of knowledge as well. He replied, “Yes,word has reached the Legion that a group of traitors has been discreetly meeting in the tavern in the city walls. From what we have been told,this group seeks to overthrow the Emperor Septimius and risk our relations with the Aldmeri Dominion. An Imperial legion has been sent into the city to rout out the traitors. And the borders have been closed to prevent their escape.”
“Ah,a fool-proof plan,”replied the man. “The soldiers arrest the perpetrators in the city,but if the criminals were not in the city,the border guards would prevent them from leaving. Making sure that sooner or later,they are found and punished. Surely a plan such as that must have come from a brilliant tactician such as yourself?”
The Imperial visibly livened up at the compliment and became jovial. “Well,unfortunately,I was not the one who came up with plan,but you are right that only a genius could have come up with such an idea. Between you and me,most of these grunts don't have half a brain among themselves. So it is up to people such as myself to make sure that they have some semblance of dignity and strategy.” The captain waved at the other soldiers in a demeaning manner. They grunted,seeming somewhat annoyed at the antics of their captain and this unknown stranger. The hooded man saw an opportunity.
“Of course! Everyone knows that the Legion would be nothing if not for the noblemen who graciously volunteered their services to the Empire. Without them,the Empire would surely have fallen apart before it became a proper empire.” The hooded man noticed the soldiers becoming even more agitated,whilst their captain was smiling and nodding in agreement. He pushed further, “Ah,but the common ranks are comprised of peasants and lowly thugs who had no other choice of profession. But not you,my good sir! I can tell that you are a man of culture and wits. Surely you must hail from some noble family in Cyrodiil? And how gracious I am to you that you decided to sacrifice those privileges and to lead this brainless fools in the name of the Emperor himself!” He took one more look at the soldiers and knew that he had achieved his goal. They were shaking with anger,furious at the sight that this nameless stranger was openly taunting them in front of their officer,their officer who obviously did not have a single care about what they thought.
“Shut up you!” One of the more older looking soldiers yelled before the captain could respond. “Who are you to mock me and my comrades,huh? We,who have laid down our lives for our family? For the Empire? For you?” The captain turned around,surprised at his insubordination.
“Stand down soldier. You will only speak when I tell you to do so.”
“And what about you? You're only here because your father paid the Legion to have you installed as a captain! You haven't seen any combat! You're too young to have been scarred by the civil war,and you were but just a baby when the Great War ended!You haven't seen your brothers slain in battle,seen them reduced to a pile of ash with but a flick of the wrist! And you have no sympathy for us! As we freeze to in our tents,cramped together,you enjoy your own personal lantern wrapped in a thick blanket in your own tent,away from us 'peasants'.”
The other soldiers started voicing their own opinions and agreeing with their comrades. The captain became flustered,losing his control over his ranks. “Quiet down! All of you! I am your captain! You shall address me with the respect that a captain deserves from his troops!” Unfortunately for him,his attempt at quelling the situation had the opposite effect. The troops only became angrier and started marching towards the captain. The hooded man silently stepped into the shadows of the forest as the soldiers advanced on their commanding officer. “Stop! This is mutiny! I'll have everyone of you thrown into the dungeons for this! Your bodies will be freed of your feeble minds!”
The soldiers rushed the officer,chasing him deeper into Whiterun. The hooded man stepped out of the shadows when they went far enough to not be of concern and looked back. The soldiers had caught the captain and were tying him up. They hogtied him and started dragging him by horse. The soldiers laughed with glee at the pathetic sight. He stayed and watched for a bit before he carried on.