After dismissing the popup, I looked up again to see that Alduin was still staring at me, having cocked his head slightly at my motion. For what felt like several minutes, I just sat there on my knees, paralyzed by fear.
Then a few people had the temerity to start shooting spells and arrows at Alduin, and he was distracted for a moment.
Without the fullness of his gaze upon me, I felt the fear subside slightly, and I took the time to get up and dash as quickly as I could to a nearby tower, across from the fortress keep. Of course, given Alduin's sheer size, this didn't actually mean that I had managed to escape from him. If he really wanted to, he could have simply reached across the courtyard with a claw and plucked me off the ground. But he was distracted, so I made it to the tower safely.
I wasn't the only one running, however. It seemed that in the chaos that the Stormcloaks had managed to free themselves from their binds, and when Ralof spotted me running towards the tower, he made to follow me.
"Quick! Follow the Dark Elf," he called back to his companions. "We can take shelter in that tower!"
I was the first one inside, and thankfully it was vacant. The Stormcloaks quickly piled inside behind me, Ulfric bringing up the rear.
Ralof closed the door, then turned to Ulfric. "Jarl Ulfric! What is that thing? Could the legends be true?"
"Legends don't burn down villages," Ulfric replied dryly. "We-"
"We can't stay here," I cut in, looking between the two. "That dragons so big, he could smash this tower to smithereens in an instant!"
"The Dark Elf is right," Ulfric nodded grimly, before looking around. "We need a path of escape..."
"You two!" Ralof pointed at two of the Stormcloaks who were in the tower with us, a man and a woman. "Go upstairs, see if you can find an exit."
The two turned to look at Ulfric, and he nodded. "Do as he says."
"Yes, Jarl Ulfric," They saluted, then turned and made their way up the stairs.
Looking around, I noticed that the only exit down here was the door we had just passed through. Unfortunately, it seemed that Alduin was still there, as I could hear his roars and the sounds of battle.
Suddenly, another popup appeared:
Quest Alert!
Quest Name: Unbound
Quest Objective: Escape Imperial Custody and a Dragon Attack.
Quest Rewards: Access to your race, stats, skills, and backstory. Access to Skyrim.
Objective Complete: Attend your own execution.
Current Objective: Survive and Escape the Fortress
"I'm gonna go with them," I said a moment later after dismissing the popup, turning and making my way towards the stairs.
"We'll stay here," I heard Ulfric say from behind me.
I shook my head and made to quickly run up the stairs. When I was close to reaching the second floor, the entire upper section of the tower, disappeared, wrecked by Alduin. The impact was powerful enough to send me tumbling back down the stairs a few steps, and I banged my head on the wall.
"Dark Elf!" Ralof called out, before running up the stairs to help me up. "Are you alright?"
I stood up and brushed the debris off my rags. "I'm fine, just a few nasty bruises."
"Nothing broken?" Ralof asked with concern.
"It takes more than a tumble to break Mer bones," I bit out sharply. "I'm fine, we need to get moving."
Ralof shook his head, and muttered under his breath: "I guess that's Grayskin appreciation for you."
"This 'Grayskin' also has sharp hearing, s'wit," I snapped back at him. "Now unless you pair of n'wahs want ot die, I suggest we get a move on."
Ralof's face turned a deep shade of crimson, and he looked like he was about ready to commit murder, when Ulfric intervened. "Calm down, you two. We need to focus on escaping."
"As you will, My Jarl," Ralof muttered.
"Fine," I pursed my lips.
"Come on, lets see what happened to the tower," Ulfric made to pass us, and we follow him up to the second floor.
It was when we were standing on the second floor that I saw what had happened: Alduin was still standing on the keep, but he had turned around, focused on the imperial forces that were trying to fight him. It seemed that his absurdly long, whip-like tail had brushed the tower aside when he had turned around.
It was when I was standing on top of the ruined tower that I witnessed the true power of Alduin for the first time: a cloud of Imperial Mages were levitating in the air around him, continually pelting his hide with spells, and a few hundred Imperial Archers were shooting at him with bows and arrows, and a few Imperial Legionaries had managed to get to the top of the keep and were trying to chip away at his feet.
However, they might as well have been tickling him, or throwing cotton balls at him, for all the damage they were doing, which was to say, none. Spells and Arrows bounced off his hide as if they were rubber bands, and the Legionaries were running themselves ragged trying to make the barest dent in his feet.
Alduin, on the other hand, seem to be doing a great deal of damage to his foes: every now and then, he would gently flap his wings a few meters, which was enough to send a great windstorm at the levitating mages, sending them barreling off a few hundred meters, a few of them impacting the ground or houses or walls, and not getting up. Those that survived would come back and try to attack him some more.
While he was doing that, Alduin occupied himself with squishing the legionaries on the keep beneath him, but he took his time, as if he was a cat playing with his food, occasionally letting some of them escape by the skin of their teeth.
I only had a few seconds to take this all in before Ralof and Ulfric took off down a nearby wall that was attached to the tower, and with haste I made to follow them. Apparently there was another tower at the other end of the wall that they were running towards. We were halfway across the wall when Alduin flapped his wings again, and a great windstorm rose up around him, knocking the three of us over. Ralof and I were lucking to fall directly on the wall, but Ulfric, who had run a bit farther than us, had keeled over the edge and was now hanging from his finger tips from the wall.
Ralof and I quickly made our to help him up, but Ralof pushed me out of the way, making to help Ulfric all on his own.
"What the hell, Ralof?" I asked with annoyance.
"He's my Jarl, I don't need no milk-drinker Grayskin to help me," Ralof sneered after he helped Ulfric up.
"Fucking s'wit," I muttered under my breath as I watched Ralof help Ulfric up.
"This is not the time for arguing," Ulfric said after Ralof had helped him up. "Whatever differences there are between the two of you, settle them later. We have a dragon attack to escape."
"Yes, my Jarl," Ralof muttered contritely.
"Fine, lets go," I nodded, and turned to keep running towards the tower. Eventually we arrived, and I opened the door to find that this tower was also apparently vacant.
"What now?" I asked as the two nords piled in behind me.
Ralof looked around, before spotting something behind me. I turned to see what looked like an arrow slit, that archers would fire arrows out of.
"We can escape using this," Ralof said as he examined the arrow slit. "I can see a house on the other side, but it's too narrow. Ulfric, can you make it wider using the Voice?"
Ulfric nodded. "Yes. Both of you, get behind me."
The two of us nodded, and I made my way along with Ralof to stand behind him. Ulfric focused on the arrow slit, before closing his eyes and focusing.
"Fus!" He boomed a moment later. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then the stone bricks surrounding the arrow slit seemed to crack and break, before blowing outwards with rapid speed, like a leaf blower blowing leaves.
The word, singular such as it was, seemed to resonate deep within me, and I gained a deep and complex understanding of the innate nature of Force, which was what Fus meant.
It was the Voice. I was truly a Dovahkiin.
"Alright, Dark Elf," Ralof said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "You go first, we'll follow you."
I looked at him. He seemed sincere, but there was a smug tilt to his lips.
I sighed. "Alright, seems better than staying here."
I stepped up to the opening where the arrow slit had been, and spotted an open hole in a burning house, barely a meter way. It seemed a fairly easy jump. Nodding to myself, I backed up a bit to get a running start, only for the world to freeze and go grayscaled again, and a moment later, a popup appeared:
Distribute 20 stat points:
Primary Stats:
These stats can be directly upgraded by either leveling up to acquire points, or performing actions to directly add a point to the specific stat. Primary Stats are capped at 100
Strength: 5
Determines how strong you are: how much force you can apply with melee weapons, how much draw strength you can apply to bows, and how much you can carry.
Dexterity: 5
Determines how dexterous you are: how good your reaction times are, how quickly you can move, and how good your kinesthetic sense is.
Endurance: 5
Determines how much you can endure: How long you can carry heavy weights without needing to rest, the amount of pain you can endure without being debilitated, how much work you can do with out needing to rest, and your ability to endure awkward social situations.
Intelligence: 5
Determines how Intelligent you are: How readily you can absorb new information, how readily you learn new skills, and how easily you retain old information.
Perception: 5
Determines your ability to perceive the world: how readily you can distinguish signal from noise, how easily you can detect combat details, how good your peripheral vision is, and how far and wide you can see.
Soul: 5
Determines the nature of your innermost soul: how easily you can empathize with others, how much Magicka you have, and how readily you are able to mend or downplay the negative aspects of your personality.
Note: For every 20 points invested in a stat, you gain a special positive bonus related to that stat.
Note: you level up by completing quests for experience points. Does not affect skills.
Secondary Stats:
These stats can not be directly upgraded, but are instead determined by the factors of your primary stats.
Health: 150
Determines how much Health you have: Health = 100 + ((Endurance * Soul)2)
Magicka: 275
Determines how much Magicka you have: Magicka = 100 + ((Intelligence * Soul)5) + Mer Bonus
Stamina: 150
Determines how much Stamina you have: Stamina = 100 + Endurance * 10
Regeneration: 10
Determines how quickly you regenerate your Health, Magicka, and Stamina naturally: Hard set to 10. One point of Regeneration equals 1 point of Health, Magicka, and Stamina regenerated per second of time. Points can be increased by enchantments and potions, as well as special techniques learned through quests.
Courage: 5
Determines your ability to resist fear. When facing a frightful event, object, or person, that event, object, or person produces a set number of points of Fear. For each point of Fear, one point of Courage is needed to negate it. Courage = (Strength + Endurance + Perception) / 3
Instinct: 5
Determines your ability to draw signal from noise: When observing a noisy event, object, or person, that event, object, or person produces a set number of points of Noise. For each point of Noise, one point of Instinct is needed to negate it. Instinct = (Endurance + Intelligence + Perception) / 3
Discipline: 5
Determines your ability to control your desires: When observing an object or person of your desire, that object or person produces a set number of points of Desire. For each point of Desire, one point of Discipline is needed to negate it. Discipline = (Endurance + Intelligence + Soul) / 3
Dodge: 5
Determines your ability to Dodge: Each point of Dodge increases your chances of observing a melee, range, or magical blow coming your way with enough time to dodge. Dodge = (Dexterity + Perception) / 2
Shield Block: 5
Determines your ability to Shield Block: Each point of Shield Block increases your chances of observing a melee, range, or magical blow coming your way with enough time to Block with a Shield. Shield Block = (Strength + Dexterity + Endurance + Perception) / 4
Ward Block: 5
Determines your ability to War Block: Each point of Ward Block increases your chances of observing a melee, range, or magical blow coming your way with enough time to Block with a Ward. Ward Block = (Dexterity + Intelligence + Perception + Soul) / 4
Parry: 5
Determines your ability to Parry with a Melee weapon: Each point of Parry increases your chances of observing a melee or ranged coming your way with enough time to Parry with a Melee weapon. Parry = (Strength+ Dexterity + Endurance + Perception) / 4
Hit: 5
Determines your ability to hit targets: Each point of Hit increases your chances of properly aiming at a target with a melee, ranged, or magical blow. Hit = ((Dexterity + Intelligence + Perception) / 3) / 2. Base hit is 50%. Hit is capped at 50.
Crit: 5
Determines your ability to make a critical hit when attacking targets: Each point of Crit increases your chances of getting a critical hit when attacking a target with a melee, ranged or magical blow. Crit = (Hit + Soul) / 2. Crit modifier: Base damage * 3
Well, this was certainly an odd time to introduce stats. Then again, I was about to jump from a tower to a burning building. Perhaps it was the perfect time to introduce them.
After considering it for a few moments, I decided to right away put 5 points each in Intelligence, Perception, and Soul, while placing 3 points in Endurance, and 1 point each in Strength and Dexterity.
I had already planned to play a mage style character, as I had always desired power, and becoming a mage seemed like the best option to do so.
My choices made, I looked at my stats again:
Primary Stats:
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 6
Endurance: 8
Intelligence: 10
Perception:10
Soul:10
Secondary Stats:
Health: 260
Magicka: 650
Stamina: 180
Regeneration: 10
Courage: 8
Instinct: 9
Discipline: 9
Shield Block: 8
Ward Block: 9
Parry: 8
Hit: 5
Crit: 10
Satisfied with my choices, I dismissed the popup, and the world started moving again. I stumbled a bit, before regaining my balance. A moment later, I ran forwards and jumped at the right moment, making a hard landing in the upper floor. I made some space and turned around, expecting to see Ralof landing behind me, but he didn't.
After waiting for a few moments, I walked over to the opening in the roof to see what Ralof was doing; it seemed that he and Ulfric were arguing. With a sigh, I turned and made my way down to the first floor and out the building.
I emerged into what appeared to be a side street, strangely vacant of people. I suppose that in all that time that I had been running around inside the fortress, the people had largely evacuated.
Suddenly, a popup appeared.
Quest Alert!
Quest Name: Unbound
Quest Objective: Escape Imperial Custody and a Dragon Attack.
Quest Rewards: Access to your race, stats, skills, and backstory. Access to Skyrim.
Objective Complete: Survive and Escape the Fortress
Current Objective: Survive and Find Hadvar
Huh, so I had to find Hadvar now? I guess he was the best chance of me escaping the place. Looking around, I wondered where the best place to find Hadvar would be… There were only two places that I could think of where he could be: He was either fighting Alduin with the other soldiers, or he was helping civilians evacuate.
Suddenly, a popup appeared
For making a logical deduction, gain +1 Intelligence
I rolled my eyes and dismissed the popup, before deciding that I would rather check with the evacuating civilians than go anywhere near Alduin. Choice made, I started heading in a southerly direction, cutting across streets to head towards to main south road in hopes of making it to the south gate.
It wasn't long before I came across a group of civilians heading in the same direction, with a number of soldiers besides them. None of them were Hadvar, unfortunately, but hopefully they might might meet up with another group of soldiers.
I follow them at a distance, being careful to avoid being seen. I wasn't sure how the soldiers would react to my presence, so I kept my distance.
Eventually, we arrived at the market square the Imperial Procession had passed through earlier, where there was a huge crowd of people trying to press their way down the south road out of the market.
The large group of people gave me pause. Such a large group of people could be little more than attention grabbing. If I was to try and enter the crowd myself, who knew what might happen if Alduin were to suddenly appear and try to burn them all to death?
Suddenly a Popup appeared:
For making a logical observation, Gain +1 Perception
I sighed and dismissed the popup, before retreating a bit and keeping a close eye on the crowd, hoping to spot Hadvar. The Soldiers were trying to keep the crowd organized, but it seemed that mere presence of a dragon was enough to cause mass panic.
Perhaps that was why the Imperials were fighting Alduin in the first place, to keep him distracted from the evacuation. Even from here I could still hear his roars and the sounds of battle. I turned around and observed the Fortress to get an idea of what was happening:
It seemed that the Imperials had stopped actively trying to kill Alduin and were now focused purely on keeping him distracted; The few mages left flying around were using loud and flashy illusion magics to draw his attention, while the archers were mostly focused on targeting his eyes to hopefully blind him.
There was no one left on the keep.
Alduin was still occasionally flapping his wings to push the mages away, but it seemed that the mages had adapted to it, as they would fly around in a circular pattern to disrupt the windstorm, and it was working for the most part.
However, I noticed something somewhat disturbing: every few moments, Alduin would turn his head to look in my general direction, only to be distracted by a mage casting a flashy spell.
Shit, he was on to me. I had to hide from him somehow. But how? It was obvious by now that he could somehow sense my soul… Oh right, hadn't an earlier popup said something about soul shrouding? But how was I suppose to do that?
Suddenly, a popup appeared:
Would you like to activate your Dragonborn Soul Shrouding ability? Yes/No
Warning: Soul Shrouding reduces your Magicka pool by 500.
Warning: Soul Shrouding for an extended period of time can scar the soul. 64 hours of Soul Shrouding = -1 Soul
Note: Upon completion of the starting quest, you will gain access to your character menus, which you will use to activate innate abilities in the future.
My eyes widened for brief moment, and a second later I clicked yes. I would worry about the warnings later. A moment later I saw a blue bar in my peripheral vision go down. Curious.
I came back to myself a moment later when Alduin suddenly roared more loudly than before, more angrily than before. He gave his wings a hard flap, sending a windstorm that was even crueler and harder than the ones before, before talking to the air.
The windstorm knocked me flat on my back, so I wasn't able to see what happened next, but I heard it.
"DOVAHKIIN, NIKRIIN!" Alduin roared at the top of his voice. "DOVAHKIIN, KOLOS HIN AHKRIN! LUFT ZEY, DOVAHKIIN!"
A moment later the windstorm abated, and I managed to sit up. I had heard the words and they resonated deeply within my soul. What Alduin had said was: "Dragonborn, Coward! Dragonborn, where is your courage? Face me, Dragonborn!"
Which meant that Alduin was enraged by the fact that I had shrouded my soul, and thus, hidden myself from him. Which mean he was no longer content to occupy himself with the Imperial Soldiers. Now he was coming for me.
Shit.
OO\Review-Answers/OO
The Hat of the Hats: I wouldn't say it's forcing it on him, it's more like it's something that become ingrained into his personality. He wouldn't remember not being Haughty and Arrogant. Also, I need to find some way to introduce negatives along with positives to keep things balanced, yah know. Thanks for the review.
Guest: You know who you are. Anyway, I can't say I'm planning to do any of that. Sorry.