20th Last Seed

'Are you sure your father won't mind you borrowing that wine?'

'You worry too much, Lalaine.' Phane set the keg on the table and placed three tankards in front of it. 'He'll never even notice that it's gone. The old man spends most of his days blind drunk anyway, he'll think he drank it himself.' He sat down and wiped his brow. 'Where did we get to?'

'Khargol was travelling to Whiterun, to tell the jarl of the dragon attack at Helgen.' Lalaine moved her tankard underneath the keg's tap while Phane poured.

'Quite right,' said Drelis. 'Again, we have the housecarl Lydia to thank for recording Khargol's actions before he arrived in Whiterun; it seems she was genuinely interested in how he had come to Skyrim, so she wrote down everything he told her.

'The road between Riverwood and Whiterun is fairly quiet. There are some notes about wolves and waterfalls, but nothing significant. On the road, Khargol met an imperial couple headed to a very important wedding at Solitude; a Companion named Aela who had slain a giant; and the owner of the Honningbrew meadery. When he arrived at the gates of Whiterun he was warned by a wagon-driver about a family feud going on in the town - the Greymanes and the Battleborns. It didn't seem important to Khargol at the time, but eventually he discovered its significance.

'Even from beyond the walls, the jarls' hall of Dragonsreach must have looked very impressive. It has an interesting history, but that's for another time. One of the sentries on the gate told Khargol that there would be no entry into the town until the rumours of dragons abroad in Skyrim could be confirmed or denied; but he soon changed his tune when Khargol explained that he had to see the jarl about Riverwood's defences.

'I also note that Lydia disapproved of the jarl agreeing to close Whiterun's gates. She asks what use wooden gates would be against a creature that can both fly and breath fire. She suggests that the gates would either trap refugees outside the walls, or trap townsfolk within the walls if the dragon flew over the gates to begin laying waste to the settlement.'

'Was there a smithy in Whiterun?' Lalaine sipped her wine, still impressed by the number of books that Drelis had brought for just one story.

'Of course, and a fine smithy it was too. Warmaiden's it was called, and Khargol spent some time using both the smelter and the forge, selling what he didn't need to the blacksmith.

'Choosing not to be distracted by all that the town had to offer, Khargol headed up to Dragonsreach just as the heavens opened and it began to rain. I am sure Skyrim's rain is enough to drive even the hardiest orc indoors, and its snow doubly so. Within Dragonsreach, Khargol came face-to-face with Irileth, the jarl's housecarl.'

'What's a housecarl?' asked Phane.

'Housecarls are bodyguards and personal attendants to the jarls and thanes of Skyrim. They are sworn to protect their charges with their lives if necessary, and they are all capable warriors.

'Irileth was keen to see this heavily-armed orc gone from the hall, but Jarl Balgruuf the Greater asked Khargol to step forward and explain himself. The jarl was eager to protect Riverwood and to hear more about the dragon that had attacked Helgen. Khargol told him all that he could, and so the jarl introduced him to the castle mage, Farengar Secret-Fire.

'Farengar told Khargol about ancient nord barrows and crypts built when the nords still worshipped dragons and employed dragon priests as go-betweens between man and beast. He spoke of a stone tablet called a dragon stone which could be found in Bleak Falls Barrow, not far from Riverwood.'

'Hang on...' Phane started, but Drelis smiled held up a hand for quiet.

'Khargol had, of course, already delved into the depths of Bleak Falls Barrow. He produced the dragon stone tablet for Farengar to study, much to the wizard's delight.'

'That was handy,' chortled Lalaine. 'Can you imagine having to trek all the way back into the foothills just to find a dusty old tablet.'

'It was more than just an age-old relic,' explained Drelis. 'As I mentioned before, it acted as a map to the barrows where the shouts of the ancient dragon language could be found engraved upon those impressive walls.

'It was just then that a town guard rushed into the hall, shouting and waving his arms. A dragon had been spotted just beyond the walls at the western watchtower!'

Lalaine gasped, Phane grinned. 'At last! Come on, what happened next?'

'Fill my wine cup for me and I'll tell you.' Drelis took a mouthful of wine and sighed contentedly. 'This next part of the story is taken from the personal records of Irileth, the jarls' housecarl. The jarl ordered Khargol to accompany Irileth to the watchtower to drive the dragon away from the town. Although he had fled from Helgen like anyone else with any sense, our hero was still the most experienced person in Whiterun when it came to dragons.

'Irileth took a small number of guardsmen with them to the watchtower. I cannot imagine their trepidation as they made their way along the road that night, torches in hand, the watchtower burning in the distance. The tower had become a ruin, burning and crumbling even as the party approached it. A lone survivor cowered amongst the smoking stones, urging them to flee before they drew the monster back.

'But it was too late. The beast descended on the soldiers, its black scales gleaming in the firelight, its eyes hunting the easiest prey to devour! It breathed its fearsome dragonfire, illuminating the night and filling it with a terrifying roar. Khargol ran this way and that, avoiding the fires and the dragon's great tail until he was close enough to take his axe to it.

'The soldiers used Khargol's distraction as an opportunity to loose arrows at it. As the dragon turned its head, Khargol climbed atop its craggy brow and drove his axe into its neck again and again until the monster gave a final, dreadful howl and slumped, lifeless, to the ground.'

'Wow!'

'That's incredible,' Lalaine breathed. 'He actually fought the dragon with an axe? How could you bring yourself to get so close to such a frightening creature? Wasn't he scared?'

'It doesn't say.' Drelis shrugged and spread his hands above the old diary. 'I can't imagine that he simply waltzed up to the dragon without a care in the world, but at the same time there is something to be said for our hero's courage and tenacity. Irileth's exact words are as follows "the orc showed little fear in the face of such a terrible beast. He spoke not a single word or battle cry as he took to it with his axe, hacking and chopping without remorse or hesitation. More than once he was caught by the dragon's fiery breath, but he shrugged off his injuries and continued his attack. When the beast fell to his furious assault, its skull cracked open, he simply stood and watched it burn away until it was naught but bones, a strange light in his otherwise dark eyes." But this is the really interesting part, listen to to this.

'As the dragon's body burned away, swirling streams of bright energy swept through the air and surrounded Khargol, filling him with some arcane force. He felt a power rising within in him and suddenly, without warning, he shouted the word he had learned in Bleak Falls Barrow, the thu'um of the dragon language! The soldiers saw it and called him dragonborn, although they could scarcely believe their own eyes.

'Irileth urged Khargol to return to Whiterun and tell the jarl all that had happened at the watchtower. But even as Khargol walked the road back to the town, the intrigue of the story deepens. There was a thunderous crack and a booming voice that echoed over the plains. "DOVAHKIIN!" the echoing voices called.

'The jarl was relieved to hear that the dragon was slain, and that Khargol and Irileth had survived. He and his court advisers told what they could of dragonborn and shouts and the greybeards of High Hrothgar. Hrongar, the jarl's brother, explained that the thunder they had heard after the dragon had died was the greybeards of High Hrothgar calling the dragonborn to their monastery atop the Throat of the World, the tallest mountain in Skyrim.

'For his bravery and service, Jarl Balgruuf named Khargol a thane of Whiterun and awarded him with the enchanted Axe of Whiterun.

'This is also where the records return to those written down by the housecarl Lydia. She meets Khargol that very night, and is charged with protecting him with her life.'

18th Last Seed

'I love warm mead,' Phane said, lowering his tankard and sighing contentedly.

'You love anything fermented,' Lalaine remarked.

'It should get us into the right frame of mind,' Drelis said, 'The following also comes from Lydia. It seems that Khargol told her quite a bit about his introduction to Skyrim and his first impressions of the place.'

'Didn't he keep his own journal?' asked Phane.

'What did I say about interrupting?' Lalaine threatened him with her tankard.

'What a terrible waste of mead!'

'Actually Khargol did keep a diary,' Drelis explained, 'but that wasn't until much later. Here, listen to this.

'This must have been the eighteenth of Last Seed that year. Khargol was introduced to Ralof's sister, Gerdur, and brother-in-law, Hod. He spoke fondly of Hod so I presume they struck it off and became fast friends.'

'Maybe they had a drinking competition,' suggested Phane.

'Maybe. In any case, Khargol put his orcish muscles to use chopping wood and hauling lumber for Hod in the woodyard. He also met the village smith, a man named Alvor, and forged an iron warhammer that he was particularly fond of. Lydia mentions that Khargol was already familiar with blacksmithing, so one would presume that he worked as an apprentice in Orsinium.

'At any rate, Khargol also met the local trader, Lucan Valerius, who took Khargol for an adventurer or sword-for-hire and asked him to retrieve a trinket that had been stolen from his shop. The item in question was a golden claw, and it had been taken by thieves who then hid in a place called Bleak Falls Barrow, an abandoned old temple from time beyond memory. The barrow had an interesting history, but that comes later. Despite his original intentions of moving to Skyrim to pursue smithing rather than battle, Khargol agreed to climb up to Bleak Falls Barrow and retrieve the claw.

'Khargol might have been used to the climate of the Wrothgarian Mountains, but Skyrim's wind blew snow and ice mercilessly as he ascended the mountain slope. The warhammer must have felt like it was frozen in his palms when he finally reached the barrow, but I'm sure he was glad of it when he encountered the bandits who had stolen the claw!

'Khargol fought his way into the barrow. He had some experience with warhammers and battleaxes, and he had little to worry about from petty thieves and their meager equipment.

'Within the ruins, our brave orc warrior found one of the bandits stuck in the webbing of a gigantic frost spider! Such a terrible creature might have slain a weaker opponent, but Khargol's orcish rage gave him the strength to slay the monster and free the unfortunate thief. Lydia suggests that the thief was unwilling to part with the claw, and tried to double-cross Khargol. More fool him. Khargol chased him down and took the claw by force, leaving the thief in a pool of his own blood.

'Deeper within the ruins, Khargol found the dead themselves defending the secrets of Bleak Falls Barrow. Undead nords, called draugr, attacked him in the catacombs; but their old bones shattered and their dried skin split under the weight of Khargol's warhammer.

'Finally, after battling fearsome draugr and avoiding deadly traps, Khargol found the door to the inner sanctum of the barrow. The golden claw itself proved to be the key to unlocking the door; it appears that the bandits stole it from Lucan in Riverwood with the intention of using it to unlock an even greater chamber within the barrows.

'The inner sanctum was some kind of ancient nordic shrine to the dragons they used to worship ages ago. There was a wall engraved with writings in the old dragon language, and its power drew Khargol like a moth to the flame. When he was close enough, the mural bestow upon him the power of the dragon tongue itself! The power to shout the dragon language and invoke its power, like in the stories of King Wulfharth.'

'That's amazing!' said Lalaine. 'I've read The Five Songs of King Wulfharth, but didn't the thru'um require a special power to use? It wasn't just knowing the dragon language that allowed him to use the power of the voice was it? Something else was required.'

'Ah, I see you have read more than just novels and play-scripts.' Drelis took advantage of the pause to sip his mead. It had gone cold, but remained sweet.

'More than just the one about the argonian maid at least,' laughed Phane. Lalaine picked up one of the books to hit him with but Drelis grabbed her arm.

'Not that one, if you please,' he retrieved the book and placed it on the far side of the table. 'That one is particularly important. In fact, all of these are important. Without them, I would only be able to recount the empire's loose records of what happened in Skyrim around the time of the stormcloak rebellion and the return of the dragons. Do you want to know what else Khargol found in Bleak Falls Barrow?

'From a sarcophagus in the middle of the chamber rose a draugr overlord much more powerful than the ones gro-Mashnar had faced so far. It used the shout that Khargol had just learned, and Khargol learned that it was a power to be respected. After a bloody struggle, Khargol finally defeated the undead monstrosity and took its enchanted axe as a trophy.

'He also found a stone tablet with what appeared to be a map etched into its surface. He took it out of interest before leaving the tomb with perhaps more questions than answers.'