Elder Scrolls



The Elder Scrolls are artifacts of unknown origin and quantity, being simultaneously archives of both historic and future events. The prophecies of the Elder Scrolls and the Heroes are interdependent; one cannot exist without the other. They are also known as the "Aedric Prophecies", suggesting that they may have been created by the Aedra.

Influence
The influences of the archivally historic Elder Scrolls cannot be understated. Once a prophecy contained in an Elder Scroll is enacted in Tamriel, the text of the parchment becomes fixed. After that time, all readers ingest the same divine message, creating a historical document declaring the unequivocal truth of a past event. Scholars cannot argue the bias of the writer of an Elder Scroll, and the contents of a scrolls, once solidified, cannot be altered by any known magic. It is known that the events which alter the linearity of time, known as Dragon Breaks, cannot be recorded or predicted by these scrolls.

Reading an Elder Scroll
Any person gifted with prescient powers is able to interpret the contents of the Elder Scrolls with practice. It is said that those with no ability see only unknown etchings and runes, often claiming to recognize constellations and birth signs. True insight into the divine contents comes at a price as each new foretelling and interpretation strikes the reader with blindness that gradually increases with each reading, while simultaneously granting them a broader view of the scroll's contents. Ultimately, the reader, having engaged in frequent acts of prophecy, is left bereft of their vision, forever after removed of their right to read the scrolls. By time-honored tradition only those of The Cult of the Ancestor Moth may read from the scrolls, the younger members caring for the elder as they gradually lose their sight for eternity. The loss of sight for the reading of an Elder Scroll is described as "a price," probably for the learning of what the Elder Scroll chooses to reveal to the reader. Some go insane from reading an Elder Scroll because, as the game describes, it is too much knowledge for some to handle. (The Dragonborn is able to read the Elder Scroll and walk away, with only limited vision for a short period of time, as it eventually goes away. This is depicted in the picture above.) When trying to read an Elder Scroll, all the Dragonborn will see is the incoherent scrawlings, that is seen above, in their line of sight.

Opinions of the Scrolls
The exact number of Elder Scrolls itself cannot be counted, as was proven by the Cult of the Ancestor Moth. Each attempt to quantify their number or even location causes the scrolls to change place and number, for no discernible reason.

The Greybeards consider the existence of the Elder Scrolls to be a blasphemy

The dragon Paarthurnax describes the scrolls as "Fragments of creation."

Cyrodiil

 * While on a mission for the Gray Fox, the Hero of Kvatch steals an Elder Scroll from the Imperial Palace. It is part of the quest "The Ultimate Heist". This Elder Scroll can be read.

Skyrim

 * The coming of Alduin to Skyrim was foreseen by the Elder Scrolls prophecies.
 * Septimus Signus read an Elder Scroll and went mad, eventually writing a popular commentary, called Ruminations on the Elder Scrolls on the abstract nature of the scrolls. During his experiments at an outpost, north of the College of Winterhold, he discovered that the Dwemer people developed a technology which allowed one to read the Elder Scrolls without side effects.
 * A dragon named Paarthurnax sends the Dragonborn to obtain an Elder Scroll, which would allow them to travel to the time when the Dragonrend shout was created. The shout was then used to defeat Alduin.
 * After obtaining the scroll, the Dragonborn may sell it to Urag gro-Shub for 2,000.
 * In the story of Dawnguard, the Volkihar Vampires lead by Harkon seeks an Elder Scroll from the Soul Cairn, The Main quest and Harkon daughter in order to end the tyranny of the sun. The Dragonborn may become a Vampire Lord and join them, or join the Dawnguard to put a stop to them. When the Dragonborn first meets Harkon's daughter, Serana, she is in possession of an Elder Scroll which is draped across her back in plain sight.
 * In Dawnguard, the Elder Scroll(Sun) owned by Serana says that Auriel's Bow is needed as part of Harkon's plan to black out the sun.
 * Also in Dawnguard, another Elder Scroll(Blood) obtained from the Soul Cairn says that Serana's blood is another key to black out the sun.

Bugs

 * Though it is actually not a true bug, after the Vampire Lord's quest line, you now have three completely useless Elder Scrolls in your inventory with no hope to drop or sell them at this time. Further patches to the game may alter this.The scrolls can be sold to the Moth Priest if you took the Dawnguard side..
 * You can turn in Two Scrolls(Sun and Blood) to The Moth Priest(tested only on Dawnguard) after the questline and the Third(Dragon) to Urag gro-Shub if you didn't give it to him after the Main Questline. This is all I know for the moment.
 * due to his becoming a thrall during the Vampire questline, it is impossible to sell the scrolls to Dexion if you sided with the Vampires.