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", indicating that they may have been created by the Aedra.

The influences of the archivally historic Elder Scrolls cannot be understated. Once a prophecy contained in an Elder Scrolls is enacted in Tamriel, the text of the parchment becomes fixed. All readers ingest the same divine message. It becomes a historical document declaring the unequivocal truth of a past event. Scholars cannot argue the bias of the writer of an Elder Scroll. Not even magic can affect the word written upon those ancient pages.

Any person gifted with prescient powers is able to interpret the contents of the Elder Scrolls with practice. However such insight into the inner fabric of reality comes at a price as each new foretelling and interpretation strikes the reader with blindness for a greater period of time, 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.

Trivia

 * One of the Thieves Guild quests in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is to steal one of these scrolls.
 * Attempting to read from an Elder Scroll in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will blind the player for several seconds.

Skyrim:

 * The coming of Alduin to Skyrim was foreseen by the Elder Scrolls prophecies.Elder_Scroll.jpg