Waking up in Cyrodiil

You start off in Oblivion as a prisoner in a cell. You don't actually know why you are there, and I don't ever think that you are ever told. I suppose it is part of the role-playing experience that you don't know this, and can make up whatever you like. (Check out Zero Punctuation's review for his take on this: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/75-Oblivion)

Anyway, your cell just happens to contain a secret passage that the guards are sneaking the nearly 90 year old emperor out of, and they don't shut the door behind them. The emperor is voiced by Patrick Stewart, which would probably be instantly recognizable to anyway interested in playing a massive Bethesda RPG. So you follow the emperor for a little bit, then stumble into an area and clumsy learn to kill of rats and loot corpses and chests. After having learned the basics of the game you meet back up with the emperor and, he allows you to follow him - but not before you pick, I mean tell, him your astrological sign. These signs give you certain bonuses that can help you greatly throughout the game. I dithered a long time with choosing, because I was worried about making the wrong choice. I finally settled on the Warrior, simply because that is (mostly) what my character is. After following the emperor a little longer and watching his guards kill off some necromancers the assassins finally get to him. As he is dying he hands you his ancestral amulet and tells you to find Jauffre in Weynon Priory who knows where the royal bastard is stashed - who is now the heir to the throne.

Before you get to far you have to talk to the guards, who apparently don't mind you doing this very important task, and you pick your class. The guard makes a helpful suggestion based on how you've played so far, but I chose to totally ignore his advice and went with being a warrior, since I was already heading down that path.

You fight through some more rats and slog through some more sewers, and then you hit the quintessential moment of the game. So far you've been stuck in very small, cramped spaces, all of which are colored various shades of brown. Then you undo one last gate and tumble out into Cyrodil. It is breathtaking. I probably stood there for a good five minutes, just turning around and looking at the landscape. It all feels so huge, with the promise that you can really just run off and do whatever you want. It was at this moment that I realized the genius of this game. However, with a lack of imagination I just set out to do what I'd been told - finding the Priory.