Harudegarn looked at Solknight with a smirk, he didn't figure the Imperial as one for small talk. "Hmm, well I studied in Daggerfall for a while, not something you should pass up I assure you," he said with a chuckle. "Anyway, when I turned 22, I enlisted in the Imperial Legion, they had an army parade through the city one day, and after seeing how glamorous it looked, I just had to join. After my training, I was thrown in a battalion as their Sorcerer, I can see why you wear heavy armor, you feel so damn protected!" he said with enthusiasm, looking down at his mere robes and frowning slightly. "So I'm posted in the Hills of High Rock, and we start getting complaints about..ehh, various raids on the rural villages by some...Barbarians," The Wizard glanced at Beast, not wanting to make him feel bad that he was an Orc. "I was involved in numerous skirmishes over a span of 3 years, to be frank, war is hell," the Altmer said with a bit of grimace. "All the death, seeing your comrades fall at your side, it starts to get to you. Of course its your duty to protect your own people, but this one day I remember..." he paused for a second, deciding if he should continue, Harudegarn decided it would explain a bit as to why he left.
"Two of my comrades had left for a routine patrol of the area, nothing unusual..until a few hours passed and we had no sign of where they went. A search party was formed, but yeilded no results. I remember it was very dark and cloudy, even for High Rock weather," Harudegarn added. "A few of us were sitting next to a fire when a soldier suddenly hollered out that he spotted something on horseback in the distance. I climbed up the watch tower to get a better look, it was an Orc on Horseback, his steed threw it's front legs in the air. Another horse was with him, but no riders. He slapped the horse, it took off towards our Fort, Ft. Glaurung, named after the Dragon that had terrorized Wayrest in the first era. The horse stamped into the front entrance of the fort, there were our two patrolmen, their bodies dragging behind the steed, mangled and mutilated...it was repulsive. This only pissed us off, so we saddled up, grabbed our swords and angrily rode off after the Orc. We finally caught up with him, but it was a trap, an ambush. Without warning, Orcs, trolls and goblins ran at us from all directions, encircling us. It was a bloody fight, but we prevailed. After counting our dead, one of the captains spotted smoke from a giant campfire, just over a hill, and ordered us to head towards it. We did as we were told, as all good legionaires are trained to do, and came upon a stronghold. My battalion entered it, finding nothing but Orcish women and children after searching the place. Apparently, all the men had gone to surprise us in that ambush. My Captain, enraged, ordered us to leave none alive. My fellow soldiers and I looked at each other, unsure on how to proceed. "You will kill these monsters or be charged with treason to the Empire! They are the enemy, nightmares that plague High Rock!" I remember he had said to us. "After much hesitation, the bloodshed begun; the women were..raped and mutilated, children torn apart, used by our archers for target practice...the whole place burned to the ground, their screams could be heard throughout the highlands," Haru stammered, the events tattooed into his mind. "After that horrible day, I renounced my enlistment in the Legion," the Wizard finally finished his tale. "I'm sorrow to dampen your spirits, but I had gone so long without telling anyone...please don't think differently of me my kin." Haru said with a tone of regret at his sins.