Author Note
Don't worry I am still working on my Jump Chain story, but I have been writing Jump Chain since late last January, nearly a year now, so it's time for something different.
I've been meaning to write this story for many years, and now I am finally forcing myself to type it up. I will write this damn story.
This should be a fun read. Dragonborn Gothic is going to fight and sometimes fuck his way across Skyrim while looting ancient tombs for cool stuff and slaying dragons in the hopes of becoming powerful enough to save the world. And that's just the first story, he'll have to deal with that other Dragonborn guy at some point.
Dragonborn Gothic 1 - World-Eater
Part 1
Roads. Skyrim.
I was slowly coming to. I felt as if I was escaping sleep rather than simply waking up from it the way a person would most mornings. What helped with this process was the fact that I was feeling rather uncomfortable. I wasn't lying in my warm bed, I was sitting up, and I was in motion, my body was getting jolted about. Which worried me a little as I shouldn't be moving around like this while still sleeping.
When my eyes opened everything was a hazy mess that made no sense, at least to start with. After blinking a few times, then everything came in to view, and I did not like what I was seeing one bit. This was not my bedroom, this was not my little house that I lived alone in, I didn't even think that this was my world.
Before long I found out that I was sitting in the back of a carriage, and that my hands were for some reason bound by a length of rope, as were those of the other men who were being transported somewhere along with me. This should have made me cry out in fear, or at least feel some level of panic, but I felt oddly calm.
Which didn't seem right. I wasn't at all scared. In fact I felt good, stronger than normal, and I had more energy. As I looked down at myself I noticed that I seemed to have lost some weight, which was a plus in all this, but it was overshadowed by the feeling inside. Something had changed about me, and I felt that it wasn't simply a physical thing.
Inhaling deep I found that I could smell the nature around me, the scent of plants, mostly the trees, was carried on the wind. Alas the people around me didn't smell nearly so good. Clearly they'd not bathed for some time, and they looked as they'd been sleeping rough.
It wasn't until now that I realised my predicament: I was being transported as part of a convoy, if two waggons and some escorts could be called that, and as a prisoner. Looking over, I saw a man, who was fair-skinned and who had a well groomed beard. He was bound and gagged. He looked oddly familiar.
As for me I wore a simple pair of jeans, a black long sleeved t-shirt, which was under light blue shirt. There was also a leather belt around my waist, and I was wearing a leather jacket. Oddly the clothes were dirty, and I felt as if I'd been in them for a while. If there was anything in the pockets I didn't know as right now I couldn't check.
Funny thing was that these were not the clothes I'd gone to sleep in, so not only had I been kidnapped, and changed in a ways I didn't understand, someone had dressed me in my own clothing. This was all somebody's idea of a sick joke, it had to be be.
"Hey. You! You're finally awake" someone said to me "Name's Ralof. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, just like us...and that thief over there"
The well built blond haired man lightly jerked his head, gesturing to a bruised and dirt-covered man who was not like the others, he was too skinny, as for this clothes they were very different that those worn by the blond haired man, his clothes were more like a uniform, were as the thief was dressed in little more than rags.
"Damn you, Stormcloaks" said the thief "Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell".
Realisation hit me with all the force of a punch to the gut. I now understood where I was, and what was about to happen to me. This was the opening of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and I was on my way to be executed along with the rebel Stormcloaks.
Again this should have made me feel fear, despair, or at least upset me, and while I did feel deeply concerned by current situation, that wasn't a strong enough reaction given the dire situation I had found myself in. I should be in denial at this point, or be upset like the thief, instead I found myself thinking about how I might survive if Alduin starting wrecking shit up before my head was placed on the chopping block.
"You there, you and me. We shouldn't be here" protested the crook "It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants".
I saw Ralof smirk.
"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief" he said.
"Shut up back there!" one of the Imperials ordered.
I ignored the further protests that the thief was making and looked around the town that we had just arrived in. I saw an Imperial officer make a salute as he greeted a man who appeared to be the leader.
"Hail, General Tullius!"
The man who wore more fancy armour than the others, nodded at the lower ranking soldier and returned to his conversation with a woman who had yellow skin, as well as sharp features that were accentuated by the black and gold outfit that she wore. If I recalled correctly she was a Thalmor, which was a group of elves who were basically Nazis in a fantasy setting.
Within the next few moments all the prisoners were made to get off the waggons. Which wasn't so bad as at least now I could stretch my legs. I'd started to feel a little stiff, unsurprisingly the transport we'd been using hadn't been designed with prisoner comfort in mind.
"What's happening? Why are we stopping?" the thief asked.
I noted that the man eyes were darting around wildly, and I wondered if I should tell him to stay calm. If he hung out at the back of the group he might still survive this. If he ran while everyone was distracted by the big scary dragon he had a chance of making it if he was fast on his feet.
"What do you think? End of the line" said the Stormcloak.
The soldiers made us line up, which I felt was super British as we were lining up for our executions, or at least we were queueing up to be sorted out before getting our heads chopped off.
When I got the front of the line I found an heavily armoured female, and a more lightly armoured man who was writing something on a scroll. Our identities were checked, and while I wasn't on the list they decided to kill me anyway because more the merrier I guessed. Also for some reason I couldn't fathom they thought my name was Gothic, and that I was a renegade from Cyrodiil. Neither of which was true. However protesting seemed like a rather bad idea, it was better to wait for the dragon and let the more noticeable people lose their heads.
"Step toward the block when we call your name, one at a time!" the armoured woman yelled.
The brown haired man read from one of the scrolls.
"Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm!" he called out.
The Nord leader was bound so he couldn't speak, but that didn't stop others from voicing their opinions on the guy. Not all of them were supportive. A few of the locals did no like the man one bit.
"It has been an honour.. Jarl Ulfric" one of the Stormcloaks whispered.
The Imperial man spoke the next name on his list.
"Ralof of Riverwood!" he said loudly.
The man called Ralof moved towards the chopping block, and the soldier in brown armour scribbled some more words on his scrolls.
"Lokir of Rorikstead!" he said next.
The horse thief Lokir did not face death with dignity.
"No! I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" he protested.
He ran past the scary armoured lady, and up the incline.
"Archers!" she yelled.
When the arrows found their target no one screamed, and no one cheered.
"Anyone else feel like running?" we were then asked.
Of course no one did, they wanted to die with what little grace the Imperials offered them. What prevented that was General Tullius who decided to give Ulfric a public scolding, adding insult to what was going to be a fatal injury if that dragon didn't turn up soon.
"Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero" the general was saying "But a hero doesn't use a power like the Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne. You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down to restore the peace".
I heard it, a roar of some kind that echoed across the sky, and I figured that it came from the mountains. I could feel it deep down, a dragon was coming. Of course I'd know about this, but I was somehow feeling it. Which was another sign of how much I'd changed since falling asleep last night.
"Did you hear that?" the man with the scroll asked.
It struck me that his name was Hadvar. I'd suddenly remembered that.
"Ignore it" the general ordered "Carry on".
The armoured woman clapped her fist against her chest-plate.
"Yes, General Tullius" she said.
As a hooded priestess was interrupted by an impatient Stormcloak, and another roar echoed through the sky.
"There it is again. Do you hear that?" Hadvar asked,
The Stormcloak who refused to have his Last Rites crouched down and willingly placed his head on the block.
"My gods are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?" he mockingly asked.
The armoured woman, who I was almost sure was called Lucretia, placed her boot at the fool's back, keeping him in place, not that she needed to. Then she nodded to the headsmen, and the axe was raised. It came down and a man died, as cheers and insults filled the air. I barely reacted at all, which was in of itself was worrying. I'd just seen someone die, it should be affecting me.
"You Imperial bastards!"
"Justice!"
"Death to the Stormcloaks!"
Now it was the turn of a man who wasn't a Stormcloak, he was a big fellow, and yet despite his size I hadn't noticed him until now. Could this be the Dragonborn?
I waited as the man was led to the block and made ready to die. I expected Alduin to appear any second now and save the day. Only he didn't and the man who might just have been the Dragonborn lost his hand, and with that the world was doomed.
Really I should have felt more upset about that, but since it happened to be my turn next I had other things on my mind.
"To the block, prisoner. Nice and easy" I was instructed.
I didn't move as before anyone could encourage me to do go anywhere, an evil looking dragon landed on a nearby tower
"Dragon!"
Everything went to hell, or at least close to it, and the only thing I was able to focus on was Ralof, who was motioning for me to follow.
"C'mon! The gods won't give us another chance!" he shouted at me.
Indeed they wouldn't.
"I'm with you" I said.
Before long I saw Ulfric who along with some others was taking shelter within what I guessed to be a watchtower.
"Jarl Ulfic, could the legends be true?" I heard someone asked.
"Legends don't burn down villages" was his reply.
Ralof then turned to me, having decided that it wasn't wise to stick around here.
"We have to get out of here. Up this way, let's go!" he shouted.
There were three of us who ran up the stairway, and soon there were only two as the world ending beast known as Alduin, burst its head through the wall.
"YOL... TOOR... SHUL!"
To me that hadn't just been the roar of a dragon. I'd heard the words that made up the Shout very clearly. I was so startled by this and what it could mean that Ralof almost shoved me back down the steps without me realising that was going on.
"Dammit! Get back!" he yelled.
As soon as the scary monster was gone we went back up the stairs, and I looked out of the huge hole that the World-Eater had just made.
"See that building right over there? It's kind of a leap, but you can make it!" Ralof assured me "You'll have to jump down and make your own way. I'll try to meet up with you once I help the others! GO!"
Without protest, I leapt through the air and landed with surprising agility considering that I wasn't in the best of shape even with the recent weight lost. Plus my hands were still bound which made it harder to balance.
When I got out of the broken building, which I had time to notice was an inn, I saw the Imperial, the one who'd been doing the paperwork, and he was calling out to a boy that was cowering in fear of the dragon. He managed to get the boy moving, and once that was done he turned his attention to me. Given all the chaos going on it was impressive how calm he was staying.
"Still alive, prisoner? Stay behind me if you want to stay that way!" he called out "We need to head through here! C'mon!".
I saw a man who seemed to be an elderly blacksmith tending to the traumatised child that had the Imperial had just been trying to help. I spent just a moment thinking that the scene should make me feel something, however it didn't, so I wondered if I was in some sort of shock. However I had no time to dwell on this as I had some more running to do.
By now were running along a wall that lead past a burning building, when the horrible beast landed and used its claws to clutch onto a wall of stone, and lucky for me its attention was focused on a terrified archer who was loosing an arrow in a desperate attempt to slay the dragon.
"ZU'U UNSLAAD, ZU'U NIS OBLAAN!"
The arrow flew straight and true, but I saw it shatter when it met the scales of the World-Eater, the dragon attacked back and burned the poor guardsmen, leaving only a charred corpse were a man had once stood. This was not something a person wanted to see, hear or smell.
"There's our chance!" the Imperial yelled "Let's move!"
The big scary dragon took off, flinging small pebbles and throwing clouds of dirt out in every direction. Which we used for cover, and soon we entered a courtyard which was a scene of utter mayhem. There were burned and mangled bodies strewn about, stragglers that were still struggling to understand what was happening, and the general who was trying to organise some sort of retreat.
"Hadvar! Move it soldier, into the Keep! We're leaving!" the high ranking officer yelled.
There was more running and then I saw that Ralof was approaching the both of us.
"Dammit Ralof, not this time! Out of the way!" Hadvar yelled.
He drew his sword and I noted that Ralof was carrying an axe. I'd really love a weapon right now, but no one seemed inclined to give me on. Not that I could have used it with my bound hands.
I ended up going with Ralof. He had, after all, helped me and seemed friendly despite the fact that I must look an Imperial to him. I followed the Stormcloak into a solid stone building, which offer some protection, although not much since I'd seen that the World-Eater could smash through stone walls.
As the door shut behind them, Ralof grabbed nearby plank and jammed it in the slide. At least that would keep any Imperials from following us, on the downside he'd also ensured that no civilians could escape the way we had. Which wasn't such a good thing.
"Let me cut those bindings" said the Nord.
Ralof approached me, while pulling out a dagger, which would normally make me nervous, but not this time. After a few moments of effort, the rope was cut. It fell to the floor, and then I was finally able to stretch my arms. An act that felt so good.
"You should take Gunjar's armour" I was advised "His axe too. he won't be needing them anymore"
The Nord walked over to his fallen brother's corpse, who had died in here while trying to escape I guessed, and knelt next to him and uttered words of respect. Then Ralof took the Stormcloak uniform off, and handed the items to me.
"Here," he said, once I had the armour "We have to get going"
I examined the tunic. It was clearly woven fabric, made to help a person resist the cold chill of Skyrim's winter weather. It also had an layer of chain-mail that mostly covered the stomach, collarbone, and shoulder area. While that was little in the way of protection it wouldn't be too heavy, and any defence at all was welcome in such a hostile place.
Once I was dressed I picked up the axe, and tested the weight. I was no warrior, but I could hit people with an axe. It wasn't a complicated thing to do.
Now that I was ready we made our deeper into what I assumed to be Helgan's Keep. A few moments after we got moving the two of us went quiet as just we'd heard someone heading our way.
"We'll catch them by surprise, get ready", the Nord whispered to me as he raised his axe.
The people heading our way sounded as if they were a man and woman, and it seemed the woman was the superior, or at least the more angry of them.
"Get this damn gate open!" she was yelling.
Upon seeing us the warrior woman unsheathed her blade, which gleamed bright despite how dark it was. The less experienced of the two soldiers looked as if might panic, but he pulled out his sword and got ready to fight. He charged at me and I backed away even my new Nord friend charged forward while bellowing out some sort of war cry.
Soon I was fending off the clumsy sword thrusts of the clearly inexperienced Imperial soldier, who didn't seem to really want to kill me, at least to start with, but within a very short period of time he got more eager to spill my blood. Which I didn't approve of as I liked my blood inside my body.
His actions forced me to defend myself with deadly force, and to that I drove the axe into the young man's head. Thankfully he died quickly, and by the time I was done killing my first human being my Stormcloak companion had finished his battle. This left me a moment to let the fact that I'd taken a life sink in somewhat, only it didn't have any negative effect on me. I was just glad to be alive. I wondered if I'd still feel that way once the adrenaline had worn off.
"Come one, grab whatever you need, and let's get out of here!" the Nord shouted.
I no desire to loot a corpse, that idea repulsed me, and this at least seemed like a reaction I would normally have. But that didn't stop me from taking a new looking mace, that was hanging on the wall. It seemed to be of better quality than the axe I'd been using, what they'd call castle forged steel in Game of Thrones I guessed, and a mace was just a metal club really so I should have an easy time using it.
Soon the two of us were running down a long stone hall into what seemed like the Keeps' basement. My Stormcloak ally stopped short of entering into the torchlight room upon hearing some Imperials struggling to dispatch a couple of Stormcloaks. We moved quickly, but with some stealth so that we could get a better idea of what was going on.
"Troll's blood, a torture room!" my Nord ally yelled.
With that he charged into the fray, but I hung back, remembering that there was a dead mage in one of the cells and perhaps a spell book. That was something I could find useful in the future.
(Line Break)
Wilderness. Skyrim.
After what felt like a day or two spent underground we finally made it outside, and after avoiding death by dragon, killing some Imperials, then slaying some giant spiders, and creeping past a bear, it finally struck me that I was really in Skyrim.
This wasn't just some dream, in fact if anything it seemed more real than anywhere else I'd ever been. Which was both cool and worrying. I was indeed in the world of Elder Scrolls, and that was totally awesome for sure, as it a world full of magic and wonders, however it was also full of scary monsters that would want to kill and eat me, maybe not in that order.
Ralof moved quickly as he went and hid behind a rock, while beckoning me to do the same. As we hid, a shadow flew over us, and an ear splitting-roar as loud as thunder filled the air.
Then I saw the dragon, really saw him, and I discovered that Alduin looked far much larger in the flesh, even up in the air he was a terrifying sight to behold.
"There he is" my Stormcloak friend said "I think he's gone for good this time".
We waited until the dragon was totally out of sight before moving.
"Come on, we can catch a break in Riverwood, my sister Gerdur lives there" the rebel warrior told me "She'll help us, I'm sure, but we need to move quickly, it will be dark soon, and this land is dangerous enough during the day".
Together we jogged down the hill's rough path, through brush and down a dirt trail. While I was sure that we were both feeling tired the Nord didn't stop until we came across trio of three stones.
When I realised what they were I walked over to the ancient pillars, and saw that each one had a crude figure carved into it. There was a man who wielded a staff that had a crystal of a sort on top, another who wore a cloak and had a dagger in hand, and the last showed a man clad in armour, who had an axe ready for battle.
Becoming a crook held no interest for me, and while the idea of being able to cast spells was highly appealing, I knew that I had to be practical about this. Given the amount of fighting I would have to do just to survive in this world the warrior stone made the most sense. Not that this would stop me from learning magic sometime in the future, it was just that there was little point selecting the Mage Stone if I died before I could reach the College at Winterhold.
With that in mind I touched the standing stone with the warrior on. Immediately I felt my arm start to tingle in a pleasant way, and then some of sort energy coursed through me as a beam of energy shot off into the sky. The symbol lit up, the figures joints showing as dots, and then slowly the energy faded away.
"Good choice" the native man praised.
My new found status as a warrior was tested we encountered a pair of hungry looking wolves that circled us for a few moments before they pounced.
Ralof managed to cleave one across the face, as it leapt at him, but that was all I saw of his fight as I needed to focus on the animal which was going to try to make a meal out of me. With skill and strength I'd not either possessed before now, or had been unlocked by touching the stone, I brought my mace crashing down on the skull of the wolf. The beast yelped and fell to ground, now clearly dead.
"That was.. exhilarating" I said.
Rather than reply my new friend went and started skinning the creatures. I was a little grossed out at first, but as he worked I became impressed with his level of skill. Clearly he'd done this before, and in short order we had two pelts of wolf fur that were surprisingly not covered in much gore. One of the pelts ended up in my pouch of holding, which I'd gotten from the dead mage whose stuff I'd found in the torture chamber back in Helgan. The other Ralof took for his own purposes.
Once the grizzly task was done, the bodies of the wolves were thrown into the bushes for scavengers to pick at, the Nord and I got back on the path. The journey to the settlement took longer than I expected as and it was starting to get dark by the time we entered the village,
"Aye, that's it alright. Let me talk first, I'll need to explain you to my sister, if I can" my companion said.
I wasn't offended as I must look like quite a site to the locals, an Imperial in Stormcloak armour, bloody, battered, bruised, and with strange clothes under the armour.
"Good idea" I said.
And with that we walked into town.
(Line Break)
Riverwood. Skyrim.
After spending the night in the Inn, which had given me a chance to get a badly needed hot meal and to read my spell book, I headed for the local store. I'd been able to pay for my room last night with gold I'd looted from the chest of confiscated goods in the torture chamber back in Helgan, but I would soon need more money.
As I walked to the traders place of business I was met by the sight of an argument. A man with short black hair and a face that had a lot of stubble on it stood behind a counter. Across the room, stood a woman who had her black hair up in a bun, and who wore a fairly decent looking brown dress. What I also noticed was the plate that was in the woman's hand. I didn't think she was going to carefully store it away.
"It's just a damn CLAW!" the woman called out.
She threw the plate, the man ducked as the thrown item shattered when it impacted the shelf behind him.
"Damn it woman!" the man yelled.
His attitude changed as soon as he saw me.
"Oh, hey there stranger" he greeted "The mame's Lucan, and the lady with the strong arm is my sister, Camilla".
So they were siblings fighting not lovers quarrelling. I'd suffered through both so I knew what it was like to have something breakable thrown at you by an irate female.
"Whaddya need?" he asked.
I noticed that by now the local woman had sat down and began knitting, or seamstressing, or whatever it was they called clothes making around here. Either she didn't want to argue in front of a stranger, or she'd calmed down very quickly.
As for me I began to empty my pouch of holding of everything I didn't want to keep. This included the mage robes I'd looted, some weapons I'd liberated from the Imperials, as well as a few other objects native to this reality, such as the Stormcloak armour.
Since this didn't add too as much gold as I'd hoped I was forced to part with most of what I'd brought into this world, which was for the best really, as my phone's battery had already died, and my wallet which contained money was about as useful here as a pile of leaves. I even handed over my shirt to the trader as it was of fine quality, at least compared to the stuff around here, but I kept my boots, jeans and t-shirt as I could wear most of it under the armour.
Still what was junk to some was treasure to others, even the pen in my pocket was unique here, and I was amused by the store owners efforts to act as if the items I laid before him were next to worthless, but he wasn't as subtle as he might like to think so I able to barter and get a bit more gold for my stuff.
This was good because I was going to need a proper set of armour if I was going to have any chance to reach the World Wall in Bleakfalls Barrow. As to why I needed to go there, well there was a chance that I was the Dragonborn, it would explain a few things, although not nearly enough, and if that was the case then the world might not be totally doomed after all.
"I couldn't help noticing your argument" I said the business man "Is it something I can help you with?".
While I didn't actually care about these people, the world was going to end if I didn't do something, and since I was stuck in this world I should at least try to save it, if only for my own sake. With this mind I figured that getting the golden claw quest was a good a place as any to start.
"Uh, oh that. Well our golden claw was stolen" I was told "My sister here says I should just 'let it go'. Like hell I will! That thing has been in our family for generations, and I'm not about to forget about it!".
I nodded as if I understood.
"Any idea where it went?" I asked.
As if I didn't know.
"We're fairly sure that it was that sneaky Dark Elf," Lucan said. "He came in earlier in the day, looked around a bit, and he asked how much I wanted for the claw, but he didn't press the point when I told him it wasn't for sale. He must have come back during the night and picked the lock on the door".
The elf was part of a group of bandits who should already be up at the Barrow.
"Faendal told me he'd seen the Dark Elf later," Camilla, said taking up the story, "up on the mountain, heading for Bleak Falls Barrow. It must be where he's hiding out".
As I'd expected.
"I'll recover it for you" I offered "I need to take a message to Whiterun, but I get the claw for you when I return. I doubt those bandits are going anywhere".
The man's eyes widened, and then he smile.
"You will? Great! Thank you so much, I will definitely repay you!" he promised.
I saw the woman, who I remembered was called Camilla, roll her eyes.
"Oh, brother" she muttered.
I'd seen that expression on the face of both of my sisters at some point. I also noticed how she smiled at me just a little as I turned to leave, intending to go see the blacksmith for some armour. I got the feeling that should I return with the claw that she wouldn't be rolling her eyes at me. She might even give me a proper smile.