An anonymous source — possibly the luckiest person alive — has already managed to get his hands on a copy of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and he or she has posted photos of every page of the game manual to prove it. You can view the entire set of images over on Imgur, but we're in no way responsible if Bethesda sends the Imperial Guard to your front door.
While nothing here is shockingly new, it's interesting to read official descriptions of the controls, menus, HUD, and in-game systems. Quite a lot of the game, from the cooking to the lockpicking to the dialogue options, seems to be heavily inspired by the Fallout 3 and New Vegas. If you ask me, they're welcome improvments over Oblivion's clunky approaches, and they should help to streamline the game considerably.
There's also a nice rundown of the crime system, which now centers around witnesses and per-town bounties, as well as further confirmation that the game will feature the option to add AI companions to your party.
Really, though, the most striking thing is how jealous seeing that manual on someone's coffee table makes us. With exactly a month until Skyrim's release on the PS3, 360, and PC, this just feels like the gods of Tamriel are taunting us.
