A changeling's visit to Skyrim

Later down the road, our heroes finally reached the small village Ivarstead. Though calling it a village was being generous, for it looked to be no more than a group of houses, an inn, and a saw mill.

As the group entered town, they saw two men talking on the stone bridge leading to a path up the mountain. They were talking about the Greybeard’s food supplies, the climb of the seven-thousand steps to High Hrothgar, and how the path was too dangerous in order to make the journey. But being ever helpful, Stross, Fenora, and Lydia offered to make the delivery on their way up.

Well… when I say offered, I really mean being thrown the bag of food and sent on their merry way before they could retort.

But luckily the path up the mountain was quite peaceful, they even met a couple of other pilgrims/illegal poachers on the way up; meditating on the stone tablets that dotted the path. Our group of heroes also took the time to read these tablets as they continued on their way.

The complete story they told goes as such (though I might be paraphrasing)… *clears throat*

-In the beginning Akotosh created dragons and the dragons took over the world by shouting at things.

But Kynareth didn’t like all her little humans getting shouted at, so she gave them the power to yell at stuff too, and with the help of Paarthunax they told Alduin and his chums to GTFO.

Driven to greed with their new power they proceeded to take over the world themselves (geez, it’s Animal Farm all over again).

The most powerful among the mortals of The Voice was Jurgen Windcaller, but when he and his army got their butts handed to them at the battle of Red Mountain he went through an existential crisis for like seven freaking years.

What he learned from all the thinking he did was that “The Voice is worship; follow the Inner path, and speak only in true need.”

Basically, don’t abuse your power, ‘cause that’s not cool, bro-

…

Anyway, like I was saying. There was basically no danger on the path up to High Hrothgar. Until they ran into a big, furry tri-clops that kept singing a song as it beat our heroes into the snow-covered ground.

Which song, you ask? This one.

So after spending a few hours dealing with the frost troll, (because let’s face it, they’re all severely under-leveled right now) they made it to the monastery. And hey, now we can get some actual dialogue in this chapter, YAAAAAYYY.

Stross, Fenora and Lydia dragged themselves up to the doors of High Hrothgar after barely surviving the climb.

“Here my thane, I saved the last of my health potions for you.” Lydia said as she passed Fenora the jar of pink liquid.

“Thanks Lydia, I owe you one.” Fenora took the bottle and rubbed its contents on her wounds.

“That thing was a brute!” Stross exclaimed as he looked over the new cracks in his shell from where the troll had punched him “I thought you said they were weak against fire.”

“They normally are.” Fenora told him “Maybe it didn’t work because it’s so cold up here.”

Whatever the reason, they had all taken quite a beating, and were glad that they had finally reached their destination. Walking up to the imposing metal doors of the monastery, they soon found another obstacle in their path; the doors were locked.

“Oh great, how do we get in?”Stross asked as he looked around for another entrance.

“We probably need to let them know we’ve arrived;” Fenora guessed “use the knockers.”

Stross did as he was told.

Fenora slapped him. “The ones on the doors you idiot!”

“I couldn’t resist.”

Once inside the stone halls, they were greeted by four monks in stylin’ black robes.

“Greeting travelers, I am master Arngeir.” one stepped forward and introduced himself “I assume that one among you is the dragonborn.”

“That would be me.” Fenora answered.

“I sensed as such, it is an honor to meet you. You must have many questions, but first we must test your thu’um to prove that you truly possess the gift.” he explained.

“Thu’um? You mean shout fire like those dragons do?”

“Yes, among other things. A thu’um is the outward projection of one’s inner power. Being dragonborn, you have the ability to use this power without the training that all others require. Simply focus on the shout, and release it.” Arngeir told them, his voice in a loud whisper “Now dragonborn, give us a taste of your power; as masters of the voice, we can withstand it.”

Fenora focused hard, her thoughts moving back to the word wall in Bleak falls. Doing her best to push away all other stray thought and focus on that one word, she took a deep inhale.

“FUS…” the first word came, followed quickly by two others “RO DAH!”

Fenora didn’t know why she said the other two words, but as soon as she said the first, her mind just sort of knew that something was missing and filled in the blanks. Looking up, she was shocked to see each of the Greybeards as well as her own companions laying on the floor.

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry.” she apologized as she helped them to their feet “Wait, I thought you said my shout wouldn’t affect you.”

“The shout, yes, but not all of these urns and flowerpots lying around.” Arngeir clarified, gesturing to the pieces of furniture that had been sent flying in all directions by Fenora’s thu’um “Your voice is powerful dragonborn, and your knowledge is impressive, but perhaps we should take the rest of the training outside.”

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

They entered into an open courtyard filled with a variety of training areas for practicing thu’ums. Next to it were areas for meditation and study.

“Here we are. This is where we practice and hone our shouts.” Arngeir led them to an area with a mechanical gate at one end

“You’ve demonstrated your thu’um well dragonborn. Now we will see how well you learn a brand new shout.”

“How do I ‘learn’ a shout? The last one I got from a wall in a tomb.” Fenora told him “I don’t have to go delving into more do I?”

The Greybeards all shared a chuckle at this.

“Oh of course not, we’ve got them all written down for study.” Arngeir handed Fenora a book of the dragon language “You’re the first dragonborn to be revealed in centuries, but hardly the only person to come here to learn of the voice. Like the others before you, we wouldn’t make you risk your lives simply to hone your power. That would be ridiculous!”

“Ridiculous, and tedious.” Another of the Greybeards added, the ground shaking slightly in response to his voice.

Our heroes breathed a collective sigh of relief at this fortunate news.

“Still, don’t believe that it will be easy to master the voice. You’ll need to learn the meaning of each shout, and feel it resonate and explode within yourself to even begin to learn it. Once you have felt the word within you, then you can begin to focus it, and let it burst forth from your inner being as a thu’um.” Arngeir explained the process. “With practice, you’ll gain experience, and your shouts will become more powerful. Of course, as a dragonborn, you’ll also be able to absorb the essence of dragons you defeat, adding their own experience to yours.”

“Umm…” Stross raised his hand.

“Yes? You have a question.”

“Bow chicka wow-wow?”

“Indeed.” Arngeir said with a smile “Let’s begin shall we?”

The first new shout Fenora was taught was the ‘whirlwind sprint’. After a few minutes of studying the shout, she was ready to give it a try.

“Right then, Master Borri will demonstrate how it’s done.” Arngeir said as Borri stepped up to the posts, aiming for the cooler full of nord mead on the other side of the gate.

The gate opened, he timer clicking down the second before it closed. Borri summoned the thu’um, the words “WULD NAH KEST” leaving his mouth as he traveled past the gate at a speed that would make even Rainbow Dash jealous. Stross watched with amazement. He’d seen the effects of these dragon shouts before, but this shout seemed to be a different concept entirely.

“So instead of sending the shout in a directional area of effect, this one takes the user and propels them forward.”

“How many different shouts are there?” he asked.

“There are many; some we have written here, but the true number are beyond counting. For ordinary people it would take years of intense training to master the use of even one.” Arngeir said as he handed Stross a copy of the book “However, I sense there is something different about you.” he said as he saw the disappointment in Stross’s eyes “You may have a larger role to play in things to come then most would realize.”

Fenora tried and failed to use the whirlwind sprint. Several more attempts yielded the same results before one of the Greybeards handed her a sealed package.

“What’s this?” she asked as she looked through the contents. Inside was a coarsely ground herb of some kind.

“It is a special reagent we use when meditating on words of power, dragonborn.” Arngeir explained “It helps to clear the mind, but unfortunately, it isn’t cheap.”

Behind him, a woman in purple robes and a wizard’s cap threateningly clapped her hand with a crowbar.

“D- don’t worry now, Matoya.” Arngeir stuttered “I’ll pay you by the end of the week, I promise.”

“Oh you’d better, or your ass is mine.” Matoya said before leaving.

And so, for the rest of the day Fenora practiced new shouts, some were more difficult than others, but she was getting better.

Youtube Video

Insert whatever wacky hijinks you want into this part, I couldn’t think of anything good. Sorry.

As the day slowly crept below the horizon once more and night fell across the land, Fenora and the others headed back inside the monastery. Stross went to return the book to Arngeir, but he allowed him to keep it, asking only that Stross keep it from falling into the wrong hands.

“Thank you for the training masters, but I’ve gotten distracted. Back to the main reason we came here, a dragon named Alduin has returned, the people say I’m a dragonborn from some old legend, and I need to know what it means. Is it really a sign of the end like everyone is saying?” Fenora asked them.

“Yes, Alduin has returned to destroy the world of men. That is why you are here dragonborn, and why you must retrieve the horn of Jurgan Windcaller from its resting place in Ustengrav. With it you will be able to focus your power and defeat Alduin as it was prophesized.” Arngeir explained.

“Prophesized? You mean someone actually knew that this would happen?” Stross asked “How does someone just know something this crazy is going to happen?”

“Umm… magic maybe?” Lydia suggested.

“It was the leader of our order that foresaw it.” Arngeir told them “You may know the tale of how Alduin was first defeated and thrown from our world during the end of the dragon war. But that banishment was not permanent, for only three days ago he returned to our world, swooping down from the peak of the Throat of the world just as we all knew he would one day. But all is not lost, the fact that you are here dragonborn, proves that the prophesy was correct. You are the one who is to defeat Alduin and-

“Wait, what?” Fenora cut in.

“Yes, it is prophesized that when the world-eater returns, the dragonborn shall rise up to defeat him. While much of the world has let it pass into folklore, we’ve known of the truth for quite some time.”

“Not that part… before that.” Fenora’s eyes narrowed in anger “You’re telling me that you knew Alduin would return and yet you did nothing to prepare except sit around and wait for me to show up? You didn’t even try to stop him when you had the chance, with your power you could have at least done something! You knew he had returned for three whole days and DIDN’T EVEN TELL ANYONE!”

“It is not that simple, you must understand that we must remain passive, and not interfere with the ways of the world, even if it is to end. It is your destiny to defeat Alduin, dragonborn. It is not our place to-

“My name is Fenora!” she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the monastery and into the night sky “And don’t tell me it’s not your place to get involved! You live in this world too; you had knowledge and power that could have saved a lot of lives and you DID NOTHING! I don’t care HOW passive you are, THAT’S IRRESPONSIBLE!” her voice let out a massive shockwave of thu’um, sending everyone around her staggering back. “Do you have any idea what we had to go through just to prove the dragons really HAD returned? How long would you have kept this knowledge from everyone? If I hadn’t come when I did, HOW MANY PEOPLE WOULD YOU HAVE LET BURN because you consider it ‘not your place to’ DO SOMETHING?”

“My thane, control yourself! Your voice with tear down the mountain!” Lydia screamed as Fenora tore the room apart with her voice.

“Fenora, let it go!” Stross intervened “We’re here now, we’ll fix it ourselves! It’s not worth getting angry over.”

“Do you honestly think that all those people who DIED at Helgen, and who knows where else aren’t worth getting angry over?” Fenora accused “Do you REALLY THINK THAT- muph!

Fenora was forced to immediately cease her (really justified if you think about it) rant when Stross pulled her into a big sloppy kiss.

She felt herself relax almost instantly as she felt Stross’s cool, smooth scales push against her lips, his tongue pressing against hers, and the rush of pasty resin being funneled into her mouth and throat, stopping her from breathing, and… wait a minute- what?

Yes indeed, it seems that Stross took calming her down a step further, and turned what would have been an awkwardly romantic moment into a spontaneous internal strangling, complete with throwing up into her mouth.

“I’m sorry about that,” Stross apologized to the Greybeards as Fenora desperately tried to get air into her lungs “Fenora has some very strong objections when it comes to innocent people dying do to inaction.” he explained.

“My thane, are you alright?” Lydia asked. Fenora shook her head no as she began to turn different shades of purple.

“But you know, she kind of has a point. You could have at least given everyone reminders that- hold on Fen, I’m telling these guys off. Now where was I?” Stross continued obliviously.

“Oh right, maybe teach other people how to shout so that you basically have an army for when- I’ll be with you two in a minute, just take some deep breaths and calm down.”

Fenora managed to face-palm before running out of air and falling unconscious.

“Stross, Fenora can’t breathe. If she can’t breathe she can’t get air. She needs air to live, and if she can’t get air she’s gonna die. Help her.” Lydia deadpanned.

“Oh…whoops.”

So after saving Fenora from accidental asphyxiation, she was still out cold, but everyone decided that it was probably better to leave her that way for a while. And with that, the three made their way back down the mountain to prepare for the next leg of their journey, Stross being forced to carry their unconscious elf as punishment for nearly killing her in the first place. He’d make it up to her somehow though, that’s what friends do right? And doing someone a solid totally makes up for almost killing them… right?

“You’re screwed when she wakes up.” Lydia pointed out the obvious.