"It does not necessarily involve killing. Animals are not edible."

"Does feeding feel like anything in particular?"

"To me or to them?"

"Either."

"For them, it is a sharp pain in the neck. For me, it is like drinking a fine wine, with various subtleties of flavor."

"Fascinating. I'm not sure where - the local vampire I know - gets their meals, but I wouldn't mind donating a small amount, in exchange for answers to my questions - how old are you, by the way?"

"Several Eras, though I've missed much of worldly events."

"Wonderful - I desperately want to ask you more, but I should probably be a proper hostess now. Non-vampire food's this way, you guys are welcome to anything, I can cook if you don't want something just out of the icebox - beds are through there, there's also a crafting room this way - that door over there leads to the library, and the museum proper."

Elana would like to go look at the library.

Mal shows her it. It has three stories, with Significant Books on display on the first and third, and copies plus less significant books on the second floor (she'll need permission to handle the ones on the first and third floor, but the second floor's fine for browsing), with unsorted books in the books stacks below the library, plus some paintings and a jewelry display in the stairwell.

"The armory's also through the door next to the safehouse door, and the main hall of the museum can be accessed through there, and the doors in the back on the first and second floor lead to Dragonborn Hall."

"Dragonborn Hall?"

"Celebrating the accomplishments of the dragonborn and displaying any artifacts related to the dragons. Right now all that's in there is the robes and masks of some dragon priests, though."

"I thought the dragons' return was a fairly recent phenomenon?"

"The museum's been opened only relatively recently, too. I think it's been a year now? Used to be a temple, so we didn't have to bother with construction. And there's older artifacts, from back before the Dragon War."

"Of what nature?"

"The various artifacts associated with the dragon priests, mostly."

Hmm... Nope, still more interested in the books. She'll skim the first and the third, see if there's anything interesting on the second, and then take a look at the stacks.

There's a number of books on the history of Skyrim and Tamriel, one on famous artifacts, various books about dragons and the dragonborn, several about the Dwemer, a small handful about vampires in various places, some biographies and journals, and works of fiction.

She starts with the histories and the artifacts and cross-references to the biographies, attempting to put together a view of what overall has happened in the world in the past few thousand years.

A lot has happened, though none of the books cover recent events like the return of the dragons. The founding of the Empire in Cyrodil, the dissolution and then refounding of that empire, disappearance of the Dwemer, many wars, the Wolf Queen, the Dragon Breaks, the Oblivion Crisis, the White-Gold Concordant and the Great War between the Empire (which has a long and bloody history itself) and the Thalmor. 

Somewhat surprising the world is intact, given all that.

There are often mentions of a singular hero barely averting disaster, usually whose name has been lost to history.

That sounds fanciful and unlikely.

There is some debate apparently about whether said hero actually always existed, but some of them are accepted as probably or definitely existing - the Nerevarine, the Hero of Kvatch, the Champion of Cyrodiil (may or may not have been the same person as the Hero of Kvatch), and Martin Septim among them.

One history book discusses that the more recent cataclysmic events might be part of an old prophecy (of dubious but definitely ancient origin, possibly either an Elder Scroll or the Akaviri) - 

"When misrule takes its place at the eight corners of the world

"When the Brass Tower walks and Time is reshaped

"When the thrice-blessed fail and the Red Tower trembles

"When the Dragonborn Ruler loses his throne, and the White Tower falls

"When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless, bleeding

"The World-Eater wakes, and the Wheel turns upon the Last Dragonborn."

Prophecies. Bleh.