Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Bethesda Studios and I own nothing except for the OC and plot. This is a non profit work.
Summary: When Alduin returns to the land of Tamriel to once more rule his dragon priest awaken from their slumber. Vokun the dragon priest of shadows has awoken to serve her dragon master once more in hopes of becoming whole again. But the untimely arrival of the Dragonborn at the High Gate Ruins forces Vokun to do what she must to survive. Even if it means joining alliances with her lords enemy.
Genre: Action/ Adventure
I am working on re-writing the first 8 chapters of the story in hopes some of my simple errors will be fixed. The changes do not affect the story line and mean it is possible to ignore the re-write, though not suggested.
Also I struggled with making this chapter all in dov language. Not because I couldn't but because a lot of it is just Vokun talking to herself. So it would make sense that her words wouldn't require a translation as they are mostly thoughts. In later chapters there will be more dov language, I am sorry. Your just gonna have to deal with it until our hero meets his newest companion. 3
Don't forget I love the comments, even the ones telling me about errors! If my grammer mistakes aggravate you too much, well you should totally help beta read~
Centuries ago, the land of Skyrim was ruled by a very different master, the dragons. The World Eater claimed the land as his own and began to subject the mortals below to his rule. While there was distain to Alduin's rule, some stood in allegiance to the god, enforcing his every whim. In time Alduin would select eight individuals, blessed by his power, to rule the lesser creatures of the land. These rulers would become known as the dragon priest the highest authority in Tamriel. For years the people suffered under the rule of the dragon priest in silence. The fragile peace existed merely due to strength, while the inhabitants had the weapons of war they lacked the ability to truly slay their dragon overlords. Although the priest seemed like easy targets, their legions of followers made the task too difficult for the small groups of resistance. For generations nothing changed, until Paarthunax a dragon, began to teach the men the way of the Thu'um. Four brave warriors spent years in training, hoping to one day out destroy their dragon oppressors. At the throat of the world the revolution began. While the four warriors where stronger than others who had fought against Alduin, even they were no match for the first born of Akatosh. It was by an ancient magic known only as the Elder Scroll that the group was able to lock Alduin within the voids of time to never be seen again. The dragon priest that controlled the holds fell next, some died in the battles for their lord while others went into hiding. The remnants of the dragon gods rule was lost to time becoming nothing more than simple folklore.
It had been centuries since the dragon priest had help rule the people and lands. Those that had been revered as the rulers, masters…even gods, now laid in an immortal never ending sleep. As their power began to crumble the priest sought out magic known to bring its host immortality, twisting and breaking their souls to resist the call of Sovengard. All this in hopes that one day the black dragon would call their names to battle against those that had defied him. It seemed the world eater had truly been lost forever, that the priest of old would never awaken.
In the year 4E 201 a dark figure arose into the sky at the Throat of the World. The Dragon Gods voice shuddered out across the land of Tamriel as he began to set the land of Skyrim into chaos. The call of her master was irresistible and without hesitation the old soul returned to the body it had once abandoned. It brought a breath of new life to the ancient bones that had been laid meticulously locked away. Though life had been granted once more to her fallen form, it was not a welcomed experience. The world eater was supposed to be gone forever, locked away in the voids of time. Those were the words of the hero's that had stood and won against the dragon god. She was supposed to be granted eternal freedom for this tiring war. Yet here she breathed again, in a manner of speaking. Old bones began to grow warm as her soul filled the forgotten vessel. Time had not been kind to her ancient body. What had been soft pale flesh tinted with hues of red had rotted away years ago leaving only remnants that clung to her brittle bones. Ebony hair as soft as silk that traced down her back as a secondary cloak had been lost to time. Clothing that had been created from the finest material in Tamriel, regal in its form, which once marked her as the Dragon Priest of Shadows laid against her bones in tattered shreds. If Alduin could see the state of his rulers, how fall they had fallen in his absence, Vokun would surely be slain by the benevolent god and his rage.
This was not how she was supposed to awaken to the world. They had performed the ritual perfectly, promising a body as youthful in death as in life. All that had been left to her followers was the process in which they feed their fallen leader the energy of their own souls. A simple task that they seemed to have neglected in her absence. How could followers so loyal to the priest neglect her so blatantly, did they truly not care what happened to her body? Was it possible that she had out lived her followers, that the legions she had controlled where nothing more than a few souls wandering around in the dark? Years spent in this disintegrating slumber had drained away the magicka stored away her bones. The decay to her body made movement an impossible dream. Hours spent trapped, paralyzed in pain. Each second began to wear on the priest mind. It toke every ounce of energy she could form to let loose her hoarse hushed voice. Even as the volume increased from a whisper to a scream the followers loyal to her never emerged from the shadows to her aid. For days, possibly even weeks Vokun laid in her sarcophaguses building her strength in hopes of freedom from the confining stone prison.
As her magic grew so did her ability to move. At first it was merely her boney fingers twitching as if a fair wind was playing tricks with the mind. It was in this silent wait that Vokun began to grasp the cause of her decay. It had not been the ritual that sealed her away but rather the stone and metal sarcophagus that had failed. As the sanctuary began to crumble due to time and the neglect of the inhabitants, the stone ceiling above began to break into her Throne Room. A slab of stone drug from the Druadach Mountains fell upon her aged coffin a crack formed into the stone stretching from the roof to the very bottom. While her vessel had remained untouched by the activity, the cage in which contained her was not as lucky. As time had progressed the humidity from their underground sanctuary began to slowly erode away the broken stone in the corner by her right foot. In its place a hole, the size of a gourd formed, exposing Vokun's fragile vessel to the elements. Who knows how long it would have taken for the dragon priest to become nothing more than dust in the wind.
A week trapped in silence proved to be profitable, if only in one aspect. While her decayed form was not improving as it should have, the ancient magicka that once accumulated through her veins grew stronger. Vokun was thus able to feed the spell upon her relic of a body, the end result was movement. The more she focused on that intangible force the easier her control came. It was all so familiar, something that had come to her with such ease at one point, like breathing. Yet now she fumbled like a newborn child with the power, trying to weave it over her old bones. Vokun lacked tendons and muscles, the basic meat required for every subtle movement. Regenerating the lost pieces would not be possible at this time, the magicka required for such a feet would take more than her body could hold. Instead she created a synthetic version, one invisible to the physical eye. Carefully she would weave the magicka in a way that allowed her to mimic what she lacked. The bones that laid so still slowly began to have movement, the faintest twitch would soon turn to a slamming fist.
Vokun had hoped that the sound of her thrashing body would have been enough to rouse the suspicion of her followers. The Throne Room was exactly that, a place for Vokun alone to inhabit. Her followers regarded the room as her personal area, causing them to fear being within its domain. Only a select few, her two generals, would truly feel comfortable entering the area.
When kicking and screaming did nothing to the stone tomb, Vokun was forced to resort to her magicka. Her own magicka was based mostly on destruction. Though she was not a one trick pony, and at one point in her life she had spent time reading through the various tombs of knowledge on spells. Although she never perfected some spells, betrayal had taught her the basics of conjuration. A spell that once uttered would rip the fabric of this universe allowing a creature from the plans of oblivion to walk their world while being sustained by her magicka, if only for a short while. While the creature born from fire was one of the weakest, it seemed to be the most logical step. The only other creature she knew to call forth was an atronach born of ice, and it would most likely crush her body in its attempt to slam open the coffin. While it was possible for her survive such a beating, Vokun was not one to test the limits of her magicka so early from being resurrected.
The dragon priest was forced to squish her body down to the bottom of the sarcophagus, were the hole from decay had formed. Thankfully most of her was only bone now, giving her the flexibility her fleshy body would have lacked in such a confined space. The real annoyance came from the dried skin that desperately clung to her bones. Originally when she awoke the skin seemed to only encompass her face, where there was less muscle and fluids to rot away at her paper like skin. Now though as her fingers stretched down to the end she could feel the skin ripping away. It shouldn't have hurt her, she didn't even have the organs to sense the pain she felt. Yet with each rip a burning sensation ran through her arm, the involuntary spasm of her muscles showed her bodies distress for such actions. It all had to do with the magic she was using, the magic that bound her body together for her eternal sleep. It allowed her to talk, though she had no lungs, vocal cords or tongue. To see the dark inside of her prison even with her eyes having rotten away long ago. Though she lacked the proper equipment for her body she could still use it. If one gifted in the arts of magic truly looked upon her they would see the ghostly spell that encompassed her body. It was magicka much like how the skeletal archers could move, even though they were nothing but bones.
This same magicka had grafted to what had been her skin. Though there was no pain from what had already been gone, what still remained seemed bent on torturing her. It was with the final tear around her wrist by boned fingers, that allowed the priest to stretch her hand down far enough to reach the hole. It would have been easier to summon the fire atronach inside her coffin, but what if it fool came forth from Oblivion inside the enclosed area. Her ornate clothing would have been burnt and her crumbling body would have sustained damage from the creature. It was worth the effort to make sure the oblivion spawn did not have the chance to destroy what little was left of her.
Vokun could feel the familiar pull of magic as it encompassed her hand. It was warm to the touch and held a comforting feeling to her now. There was a familiar surge of the spell as she began to weave it, the dark purple glow encompassed her hand only once it was ready. The recognizable sound rang out within the throne room, once which seemed to be sweet music upon her ears. It toke only a second for the fire atronach to appear next to the old stone sarcophagus. Vokun could imagine the creature floating in spot looking around for its master. There was only silence as the spawn waited for something or someone to command it.
Her voice came out hoarse as she called to the creature to release her from her tomb, carefully. There was the sound of the creature's molten clad hands running against the stone filled the room. Though eventually the creature may have been able to paw through the stone with pure strength and fire it would not work anytime soon. The amount of magic she would have to waste recalling the beast would be astounding. It was overall a pathetic attempt by the creature that truly seemed to do little to nothing in her current predicament. The atronach was at least persistent and continued to try and scrape the stone lid off the top.
"Damn creature, use your fire if you need to. Just get me out …"
Her words rang out like venom showing just how short her temper had become. Vokun was so close to freedom that she could taste it. To have her last ditch attempt fail was not a comforting option. Her words seemed to be enough inspiration for the creature though. Vokun pulled her fingers back inside the hole of her prision just in time for the flame atronachs firebolt to miss. Again and again the barrage of fire continued to pour from the creature to its target. Slowly with every hit the stone began to grow warmer to the touch both inside and out. The stone was from the depths of the mountains, it was used to such intense heat. Unlike the mountains above, this stone was able to retain its heat. In a way the creature was creating a massive oven, for Vokun to be cooked inside.
"This is not working Oblivion creature…"
It had not been the sound of the creature slamming against the coffin that rose suspicion but rather the scent of smoke. In their underground fortress fire meant destruction and possibly the collapse of the tunnels. Those that followed her where quick to react now, the sound of feet against stone rained down upon them as they came to the door of the throne room. The creatures began to hit the door and within minutes the old lock could no longer takes the stress and shattered. Instantly there was a shout, something that had even startled Vokun. She had learned the language of the Dov in order to communicate with her masters, but never the ability to use the Thu'um like the Dov. It was a forbidden art, even to one as privileged as her.
The creature she had spent so long to spawn was thrown against the wall by the shout. With a ringing sound the atroanch vanished from Nirn retreating back to its home within the planes of Oblivion. Vokun shouted with all her might her hands slamming against the hot stone.
"Let me out!"
Her followers where still loyal enough that they moved closer to her stone prison. There was the sound of metal being pulled from its sheath. They seemed to be slamming their swords into the grove between base and top. A few seemed to hack away at the seal. While one smart person finally pushed their blade into the seal using all their weight to open the top. The ancient blade slid inside the tomb and began to wiggle back and forth to break the other part of the seal. The others toke hint and together three more swords went in, two on each side. Together they began to push on the metal forcing it to creak as it bent. "You are almost there…." She whispered out, her voice silenced in anticipation and fear as the seal began to break.
Finally with one final push the top popped off. A rush of stale air hit the dragon priest. Though there was the taste of decay and musk in the air it didn't matter to her. It was the air of freedom and it felt wonderful. For the first time in what she assumed to be a week her body was able to rise higher than four inches from the ground. She could bend up and actually sit. "Thank you….thank you." She mumbled in gratitude to those that saved her. Once the feeling of her new found freedom was over Vokun looked to her followers to express her gratitude. Even though they were not sealed away they too had the dried skin that seemed to pull away. Their bodies had exposed bone that was concealed mostly by their ragged clothing. The thing that struck her as odd was the glowing blue eyes they seemed to have.
Initially it had been her plan to awaken her army. They were supposed to slumber until the world eater sent her his messenger. At most there where only a hand full that were supposed to be awake the whole time, to maintain the temple and its creatures. Based on the clothing of her savors they were not the ones she left in charge. Had something happened? Had the nords above tried to remove all marks of the gods of this world? Was this all of her army left to rise again?
"Bring me my commanders…"
The old beings walked off back up the stairs in silence, leaving her alone for a moment. She was able to climb out of her tomb allowing her feet to touched the cold stone ground. It was odd to feel what resulted in her feet now. It was a strange that such a simple concept required such effort. While her mind knew the mechanical part of the process, the spell in which she had weaved upon herself had never been tested to this extent. Though Vokun could have spent hours going through the awkward phases of being alive like a newborn, there was work to do. The World Eater had summoned her to his side, and she had yet to respond to his call. Quickly she adjusted herself, moving her tattered clothing into place along with the mask of her title and 'crown'. There was a knock on the door and a minute later two men walked into her room their eyes emitting the same cold blue glow that she had seen before. Each man got to the bottom of the stairs and toke to one knee. Their head bent down to the ground waiting for her to acknowledge them.
This was one thing that Vokun had not grown used to in her time as dragon priest. The dragon's themselves where regal creatures with massive power. They expected their human servants to also show that same amount of fluid motion within their presence. The one that had worn the mask before her had loved to be viewed as a god by his peers. Too bad they didn't appreciate his vanity, it had been part of his undoing when they realized he was nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Quickly she dismissed their pose her hand flying to the side signaling for them to rise from their knelt position.
"Tell me what has happened. How long has it been, has anyone tried to open the tomb, and please explain to me your eyes…."
"We do not know, it has been years at least. New cities have risen to the west and the nords have moved close. But they seem to fear this area…..they have not attacked." The shorter of the two men found it fit to interject here. He was her second in command and tended to relay the information to the troops. "We do not know why our eyes are this way. Many awoke not long after you went to sleep. They whisper that they have been cursed by the gods for following you and the world eater." Her own 'eyes' rolled at the idea, "The gods fear the return of our lord. It seems in his absence though we have forgotten why they fear him. Do not allow him to hear you use of that informal title. He is Aludin first born of Akatosh to you."
Her second in command bowed down once more, "Yes of course, forgive me Vokun." "Geh fahdon."-"Yes friend." She responded once more her hand raised to dismiss the idea. Their lord was not there to criticize them. "This is why our tombs are underground. Too small for any dragon to get in and too deep for them to want to break into." A laugh echoed out of her commanders that filled the room. It seemed foolish that such sounds brought a smile to her face, she had grown soft in her solitude. "Explain to me one more thing my commanders. Why did those that freed me from my tomb utter a Thu'um? We were mortals, cursed to never use the words of the dov for power." This is when Avi'nk her first in command stepped forward before dropping to both knees. "My Priestess please forgive us. In your absence we have spent many years alone. Those that followed the other fallen priest came to us. Many refused to learn their words but a few…a few did. We tried to remove the ones that went against your words." This was when the second commander went down with his head held down. "But the Thu'um has its uses, and if Alduin never came forth again he would have never known."
"Mey jul. Nid jul tinvaak dov rotmulaag."-"Foolish human. No human shall speak the dragon words of power." In this moment she had begun to lose her temper. The words of the dov left her tongue and already she could hear Alduin's voice in her head. Her own voice lacked that deep booming sound of the dov. The way their voice seemed to roll across the ground filling the silence you had not realized existed till that moment. To hear her own voice udder the same words just seemed fake, a cheap impersonation at best. Weary eyes looked down to the two men at the ground begging for her forgiveness. "If Alduin never returned then I would not be alive now. You would be confined to this tomb until you finally tried to leave. More than likely you would not make it in this new world my friends, even with your newly acquired talent."
"We need to prepare for the war that will start once more. He will call upon us again and we must be ready to fight for our god. Begin to gather your armor and weapons and fix what we can. The rest we will have to take from the inhabitants around. Do not exit the sanctuary until I have approved it, we must be careful of what lurks outside our door. We can't allow for any weakness to break us." A sigh left her as she bent down to place her boned hands against the men's shoulders. "We must not use the Thu'um of the Dov anymore. There will be times where we will be seen outside our hiding place. The dragons will not tolerate our mockery of their powers. As of this point any man that uses a Thu'um will not be allowed in our ranks. I will have to kill them, or I will fear the dragon god's wrath upon myself. You can now leave, inform the others of my decision." The two men left the room, with their task in hand. She would begin to work through her books. There had to be a way to prepare this broken body that she now had. To not only look once more as a human, but to perform as she once had. If she is to work for her lord again she needed a body that could meet that demand.
Little did the dragon priest below know that within time the upper walls of her tomb would be pried open by a Nordic man. A clueless man who would not understand what he had stumbled across. He came in due to his curiosity and continued down in a quest of a scroll, believed to be hidden within her tomb. Secretly he wanted nothing more than to undo their work and bring down their god. Even if he had no idea that she was one of the many chess pieces upon the table. Just by stepping into her tomb, his world would be altered. The life he had, would never be the same after he crossed paths with the dragon priest below.