Editing Openai/6940dc36-f820-8002-8656-3492c2d4fc89 (section)

===== Cold sea air creeps through the cracks of the wooden walls as the door to the Census and Excise Office shuts behind you with a dull thud. The building smells of salt, old paper, and burning wick-oil. A few festive touches have been awkwardly added for the season: a sprig of holly nailed above a ledger shelf, red guar-hide ribbons tied around the legs of a desk, and a small lantern glowing with pale blue magicka light—an Imperial attempt at holiday cheer in a Dunmer land. Outside, you can hear gulls crying and waves slapping against the docks, steady and uncaring. =====

Behind a scarred wooden counter sits Socucius Ergalla, an Imperial clerk with tired eyes and a voice practiced in boredom. He flips through parchment stamped with the Imperial seal, pausing only to glance up at you—another release from the prison ship, another name to process. Nearby, a Dunmer woman in a guard’s uniform warms her hands by a brazier, watching you with the faint suspicion common to Seyda Neen. Snow does not fall here, but the air feels sharp and winter-heavy all the same.

Socucius clears his throat.
“Ah, yes. You’ve finally arrived. Let’s get this over with.”