Chapter 54 - A Visit by Grams
Author's Note: I named my characters well before I even contemplated doing fanfic in the ES universe. So when I decided to name Yssha after my Oblivion character Ysshaya, it was no problem for me, since they'd never meet. Now that they're both in the story, it could become a problem. I hope this makes it better for readers.
Partsu - An interesting idea, but given my personal feelings about the DB, probably not. Yssha would just have to go after them again. Plus I'm having enough trouble with what's going on about ten chapters upstream ...
When they got home that evening, the dragon on guard duty grinned at them. "Drem, Dovahkiin. You have company inside."
"Drem," Yssha replied politely. "Do you know who it is?"
"She named herself Ysshaya."
"Grams!" Yssha slid off Odahvinng, and ran inside, followed by her team.
"Grams?" Marcurio chuckled.
"Yes." The Champion of Cyrodiil met them, grinning. "I'm that to all the little ones, except on formal occasions." She turned to her descendant. "How is everything, youngster?"
"Not bad, Grams," Yssha replied. "I just defeated a Thalmor idiot mage, and the Psijics named me Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold. Yes, me. How did you get here?"
Ysshaya laughed. "Dragonback, how else? Used the red signal, and one of your Skyguard patrols from Northwatch Keep investigated. They were willing to bring me here. On the way, we stopped to rescue some prisoners from a Thalmor column. Your men were kind enough to let me have a couple of them."
"Do you have any particular reason for coming, or is this just a visit? You are more than welcome either way, of course."
"A little bit of both," Ysshaya said. "I wanted to see how you were doing - pretty well, from this house and property. And I need to learn more about this Dragonborn thing, since Titus is planning to use me for liaison with Elsweyr, High Rock, and Hammerfell, maybe Morrowind and Black Marsh later. He'd send you, but it's more important that you do the things only you can."
"Oh, we are doing very well," Yssha said. "I have homes in every Hold except Whiterun and Winterhold; I gave the Whiterun one to my Housecarl when she was disabled in battle and got married. If I need to stay there, I have an apartment in Dragonsreach. Winterhold is so diminished by the Great Collapse that there is nothing available there."
"It sounds like we won't need to send equivalency stipends for any who do their adventuring here, then."
"True," Yssha agreed. "This is my primary home, but that leaves six for adventurers to use. Assuming it remains wild enough for adventuring, that is."
Grams chuckled. "Oh, it will. Oblivion, Cyrodiil is the most sedate of the provinces, and quite a few still do their year there. You'll always have bandits, necromancers, wild animals and the like. Pickings may not be as rich, but still plenty for adventurers to do."
"Well, so how would you like to learn about what I do and am like? I could tell you, of course, but if you would care to come out of retirement for a week or so - ?"
"I was hoping you'd ask. Doing is the best way to learn something, after all."
"The only problem is that the dragon who insists on carrying me can only hold four, so we will need to use two."
"Maybe not," Nevan said. "I'd like to spend some time at the College training, so unless you object, she can take my place. I can also make use of the Library there to learn more about this world."
"Make that 'us', Serana said. "I've got four thousand-plus years of history to catch up on myself, and I'm not doing much of that doing dungeon runs."
"You should have said something," Yssha said. "Much as I appreciate your company and help, it is important for both of you to know this world as it is now, and my first months here were with only Marcurio at my back. Certainly, study with my blessings. If Urag threatens you with atronachs, ignore it, but do treat his books like delicate things, for they are his passion."
"Honest-to-gods paper books?" Nevan nodded. "Don't worry. Most of the 'books' in my world were electronic and easily replaceable, but ones on paper were common enough I know how to treat them. We'll leave in the morning, then, and get the guard dragon to give or find us a ride."
"That sounds well. Take as long as you need; I expect to spend most nights here, as usual. Or will you be coming back in the evening as well?"
Nevan shook his head. "Serana may, but I plan to stay at the College. I'm pretty sure Urag will let me use that storeroom again, and with the warmth enchantment on my armor, the cold there won't be a problem."
Serana smiled, a little. "I think I'll stay, as well. Using a dragon to travel back and forth for convenience, instead of on missions, seems selfish, especially as the patrol area increases."
"Okay, what's this with a guard dragon?" Ysshaya asked. "It seems like overkill, out here away from any town."
"My first dragon vahriin insisted on it," Yssha replied. "It does no harm, and it keeps him and my commanders happy. Besides, we do have feral dragons still, and giants, and Ahkrinbo's team cleared out a too-close bandit nest I was unaware of."
Grams shook her head sadly. "Has your situational awareness degraded that much?"
Yssha was indignant. "I was unaware because they did not show themselves with the construction here going on!"
"Understood." Grams grinned. "Got you going, though, didn't I?"
Yssha knew better than to protest the unfairness, since Grams knew her every touchy point from her kittenhood, and that would simply have gotten something like, "So? Life isn't fair. Deal with it!"
Which was true, and not likely to change to match her preferences. So she changed the subject. "I believe I need to know as many Shouts as possible before the Second Great War becomes much more open, so I was planning to visit Master Arngeir in the morning and ask for a location."
"I'm your student this time," Grams said, shocking her. "I don't know anything about Shouts, or Dragonborn." she paused. "Have you run into any Daedric Princes?
"Nocturnal, yes. I am, in a very limited way, a Nightingale, but she was not allowed to claim me beyond the limited bit required to return her artifact. I cannot be sure, but I believe one or two others may have been discouraged from contacting me, and that I have been guided away from others."
"Discouraged?" Grams looked disbelieving. "Tell me!"
"Well, I was in the Bannered Mare inn in Whiterun, when a man named Sam Guevenne proposed a drinking contest. I was going to refuse, but before I could, he left."
"Sam Guevenne?" Grams laughed. "That's Sanguine. Consider yourself fortunate that he backed off. His tricks tend to be nasty."
"Which is why you warned us against getting involved with any of them," Yssha said. "You know Talos has spoken to me."
"Yes - everyone does. I would suspect Akatosh/Martin is keeping an eye on you as well, though he hasn't said."
Yssha sighed. "And you warned me against coming to the Divines' attention, at well. I do not seem to have been terribly successful, there."
"When They decide to take an interest, you don't have a whole lot of choice," Grams pointed out.
"Also true," Yssha said. "Well, I am for supper, then bed. You will meet my mentors tomorrow."
It was a beautiful day when the Dragonborn, Marcurio, and the Champion of Cyrodiil emerged from Lakeview Manor. Odahviing understood her usual schedule, so he was waiting when they went outside. He nodded to them, and greeted Ysshaya. "It is an honor to meet Dovahkiin's illustrious ancestress."
I'm honored as well. We didn't get to meet at Imperial City, so I'm pleased at this opportunity." She grinned. "Yssha was named after me, and a lot of people have trouble keeping our names straight, so feel free to call me Grams, like she does most of the time."
Odahviing cocked his head. "Dov are not usually so informal, but perhaps I will; the names are very similar. I understand Vuljotnaak brought you here, so you are familiar with flight."
Grams nodded. "And I enjoy it. If I get sent on as many diplomatic missions as I think the Emperor has planned for me, I'll probably beg for dragon transport. Any place I've been, I can teleport to, but my first trip out of Cyrodiil wasn't until a bit over a month ago."
"We generally have several unpartnered dragons, and you are here, so you can come back. Do so whenever you wish such transport, and it will be provided. Dovgrahaak and I handle such assignments."
"Thank you, I'll do that."
He turned his attention to Yssha. "Where to, Dovahkiin?"
"Grams needs to learn about me, so unless you know where there's a Word Wall I haven't visited, High Hrothgar to speak to Master Arngeir."
"Since I do not know all the ones you know, that would probably be best." He turned his attention back to Grams. "I hope you have a warmth enchantment on that armor. It is quite cold up there."
"I do; Yssha warned me and let me use her arcane enchanter. I'm fine."
"It is well. Mount, and we go."
Yssha grinned when Grams stood before High Hrothgar. She'd tried to describe it the previous evening, but no description could do it justice. "Not pretty, but impressive, as you said," Grams commented. "Why even monks would build in such a hostile place is beyond me, but then we've all done things others wouldn't understand."
"I shall wait," Odahviing said. "Your talks with Arngeir are usually quite brief."
"Unless Grams gets curious," Yssha said.
"I will take the chance," Odahviing said drily. "If I begin getting bored, I will leave until you call me."
Yssha led the way into the building, bowing when she saw Master Wulfgar. "I introduce my greats-grandmother, the Champion of Cyrodiil. Can you point us to Master Arngeir?"
He nodded, then beckoned them to follow him to the dining area, where the other three were gathered at the table. Yssha repeated her introduction, then asked, "Have you heard more Words of Power?"
"We have felt the whisper of a Word. Give me your map, and I will show you where its echo can be found." He did so, then looked at her thoughtfully. "You asked me your destiny, once, but I could not tell you. I believe you have found it, Dovahjud. You have replaced Alduin, returning the dov to their intended course."
"Yes," she replied. "Odahviing was granted an insight to that effect. It is ... difficult to accept, and I pray daily to Talos and Akatosh that I be preserved from his corruption. I would appreciate your prayers to that effect as well."
"You will have them, Dovahkiin. To Kynareth and the rest." He paused. "It would do no harm to ask for such prayers at any temple you visit. The Nine answer prayers, but they do wish to be asked."
Yssha bowed. "I shall, then, Master."
"And so will I," Grams put in. "Since I'm the Divine Crusader, Temple priests are pretty willing to listen to me."
"But he also said that we would not have Divine intervention in the war, because if we handled it properly, we would not need it, and most things are left to us. As I think it should be. I am ... less than comfortable with the intervention I have been receiving, but I must confess, I have needed it."
Grams chuckled. "I'm pretty sure if you wanted it, you'd get less. But They have Their own purposes, too, and we know one of those is restoring the Empire to the glory it had before the Oblivion Crisis." She paused, thinking. "Maybe more so, with dovah help, in spite of the natural disasters we've been hit with."
Yssha nodded, then studied her map. "It looks like we're going to Shroud Hearth Barrow, just outside Ivarstead. That is right at the base of this mountain, but we will fly down; it is a long way, even downhill."
"You're the expert here, not me. We do it your way." Grams cocked her head. "To go off on a tangent, Marcurio, you look like an Imperial boy I knew. May I ask your full name?"
Marcurio shrugged. "Sure, why not? Marcurio Marcellus, formerly Julian."
"I thought you might be. You've matured nicely, young man." Grams grinned. "I think your father's starting to regret disinheriting you, now that you've turned into a legend along with my greats-granddaughter. Want me to talk to him next time I'm in Skingrad?"
Marcurio looked thoughtful. "I'm still not too happy with that, but ... I'd love to see my mother and sibs again. So please do."
"Consider it done. Now, shall we get to this barrow of yours?"
Yssha bowed to Master Arngeir and took their leave, exiting High Hrothgar to find Odahviing still waiting. He gape-grinned at them. "Good timing, thuri," he said. "Where to?"
"Ivarstead will do. We are going to Shroud Hearth Barrow, but it is quite close."
"An easy glide. Mount up, and we go."
The barrow wasn't particularly difficult, just disappointing. The ghost proved to be a man using a potion to make him look like a phantom, and a journal that said he was doing it deliberately, trying to find some sort of treasure in the barrow. They took the journal and potion, though the last didn't look terribly useful, and went to the Vilemyr Inn to give it to Wilhelm. He seemed to be embarrassed at his gullibility, and gave them a sapphire dragon claw key.
Well, Yssha thought, that must be the key to allow them through the puzzle door that had stopped them before, and deeper into the barrow. She accepted it, and after a meal, the trio returned. As she'd expected, the claw got them through the door, and they made their way through the deeper section until they found themselves at the bottom of a winding stairway over a grated area.
Avoiding the grate, which they agreed was most likely a trap door, they climbed until they reached a locked door. Normally Yssha would have picked it herself, but Grams wanted to try, and succeeded - unsurprising, since she'd been an experienced thief herself. Behind the door was a chest with decent loot, which the two Khajiit split.
Next was a door with an arrow trap triggered by opening it, which they waited out. More treasure, then they were above a pool of oil with several skeletons. "I will handle this," Yssha said quietly. "One of my Shouts is Fire Breath. Do you want to see a sample, which is all that is really needed, or full power?"
"Full power, please," Grams said. "I need to be able to tell Titus exactly what you can do."
"All right." Yssha inhaled, then Shouted, "Yol Toor Shul!"
Grams watched as a tremendous flame erupted from her descendant's mouth, destroying the skeletons and igniting the oil pool. She waited till it burned out, then said, "Are you all right?"
"I am fine," Yssha said. "Shouting is natural for me. It does not hurt, it uses no magica, and it is practically effortless."
"And damned impressive," Grams added.
"Not all are that spectacular," Yssha said. "Some have no visible effect whatever, such as Become Ethereal. But all of them are effective."
They continued through the barrow, fighting draugr, solving puzzles, and finding loot, until they came to a room that had the distinctive chanting of a Word Wall.
"What's that?" Grams asked.
"The normal way for me to learn parts of a Shout," Yssha replied, approaching the Wall. When she was within range, the blue-illuminated Word of Power pushed its way into her.
"Okay, I am now officially out of my depth," Grams said.
Marcurio chuckled. "That's nothing. Just wait till you see her Shout a dragon out of the sky and kill it."
She gave him a blank look. "What happens then?"
Yssha wanted to tell her to wait and see, but this was Grams, so she answered. "It dissolves in flames, and I absorb its soul. Until recently, that was the only way for me to understand a Shout well enough to use it. But either I have absorbed enough to understand without having to kill, or Bormahu - Akatosh - has granted me that understanding."
"Uh-huh. So what does that wall say, and what did you learn?"
"It translates as 'Here lies the body of Hela, friend to all beasts, servant of Kyne. May she find eternal rest in the Forest of Dreams.' I learned Kaan, a word of the Kyne's Peace shout."
"And Kyne is - ?"
"Kynareth, in Cyrodiil." Yssha found the chest that usually stood at a Word Wall and emptied it. "That is all, for here," she said. "There is usually a back door or shortcut out of Nord locations, so we do not have to backtrack."
"Over here," Marcurio called, and they joined him at a door that proved to be a shortcut to the first area, close to the entrance.
They stopped by High Hrothgar again on the way home, to get another Word Wall location, but decided to leave that for the following day. Yssha saw no urgency in getting them all immediately, since she was sure that even with dragon assistance, the Second Great War would last probably years. She could do other things that needed doing, unless the Emperor needed her for something. But Grams needed to see what happened when she killed a dragon, and Ancient's Ascent sounded like the kind of place they would find one.
