21st Last Seed

Phane fidgeted in his seat. 'Khargol is taking all this in his stride isn't he?'

'What do you mean?' asked Drelis.

'Well, I mean he traveled to Skyrim to start a new life, as a blacksmith or ironmonger I presume; but since crossing the border he has been up for execution, foiled a bandit plot, explored a forgotten tomb, learned an ancient magical power, slain a dragon, and been elevated to the status of thane. I'm guessing that he didn't just pack it all in for the quiet life he originally sought out, otherwise you wouldn't still have a dozen books lying in front of you.'

'As always Phane, your brilliance seems undeserved of someone with such low aspirations.' Drelis smiled and picked up his wine cup. 'Consider that orcs have been known to be natural warriors, adventurers, and fighters. They are capable of living in harsh conditions through the most trying of times; ideal candidates for the trials Skyrim had to offer. Khargol gro-Mashnar may have wanted to be a master smith when he first arrived in Skyrim, but now he is being called dragonborn and seeing things that no one has seen for thousands and thousands of years. Do you know whom had the honour to be the last dragonborn in Tamriel?'

'Martin Septim!' Lalaine cried. 'He was the last of the Septim bloodline wasn't he? The last Septim emperor.'

'Quite right, and that was almost two centuries before Khargol was even born. If you, Phane, were the first dragonborn in Tamriel for two hundred years, what would you do?'

'I'd get people to respect me, surely,' Phane thumped his chest, grinning broadly. 'If the emperors used to be dragonborn, why not elect me emperor if I'm dragonborn too?' He laughed at his own joke, much to the chagrin of his friends.

'I'm glad the responsibility of battling dragons never fell on your shoulders, Phane.' Lalaine pulled a face and shook her head slowly. 'What happened next, Drelis? Did Khargol go straight to High Hrothgar to meet the greybeards?'

'I'm glad you asked,' said Drelis, returning to his place in the old journal. 'Jarl Balgruuf had much to say about dragonborn, it seems. The jarl, the castle steward, and the castle mage, all told Khargol what they could about dragons, dragonborn, and the greybeards.'

'So, who were the greybeards?' asked Lalaine. 'We know they live in High Hrothgar on the Throat of the World, but what do they have to do with the dragonborn?'

'Ah, well Lydia writes that Khargol spoke of them as "masters of the voice", the power to shout in the ancient dragon language. You see, it is not necessary to be dragonborn in order to use a thru'um, and the greybeards dedicated their entire lives to studying it. To be summoned to High Hrothgar was a great honour.

'Khargol spent the next day in Whiterun, buying supplies and trying to find out as much as possible about the journey that lay ahead of him. He visited Jorrvaskr, the mead hall of the Companions. The Companions function in a similar way to the empire's Fighters Guild, but Khargol did not make much progress with them. He found the Companions brusque and stand-offish. You might think that an orc would shrug it off and sign their charter regardless, but Khargol was looking for help climbing the Throat of the World rather than the responsibilities of joining a warrior company.

'Lydia also mentions that Khargol said the companions "reminded him too much of Orsinium," and that "he was no longer a mercenary, blind to all but gold," which probably reveals a little about his history, don't you agree?

'The companions did help in some small way, however. Just beyond Jorrvaskar, the master smith, Eorlund Grey-Mane, worked the Sky Forge, making the finest weapons and armour known to Skyrim. Khargol was eager to learn from the likes of Eorlund, but little is revealed about what they discussed. From Lydia's scant records on the subject, it appears that Eorlund dismissed Khargol as an amateur and did not take him seriously.'

'That's a shame,' mumbled Lalaine. 'I suppose being dragonborn doesn't guarantee that everyone will take you seriously.'

'Quite, but Khargol's smithing days are not yet over. He simply picks up the trade a little later on.

'There were a few other events of small importance in Whiterun. Khargol got into two fist-fights in the Bannered Mare tavern, spoke with a pair of armed redguard envoys who claimed to be searching for a fugitive from Hammerfell, and aided a priest named Andurs who, in Khargol's opinion, "sounded more like a thief than a priest" although he does not go into detail as to why.

'After preparing for the journey ahead, Khargol spent the night in the Bannered Mare. The next morning, he requested that Lydia accompany him on the road to High Hrothgar.'

'Now we're getting somewhere!' cried Phane, rubbing his eyes. 'What time is it?'

'Is that the sun?' Lalaine asked, startled by the glow of dawn that was creeping in through the shutters.

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.'