Chapter 16 - A New Weapon
"Are you kidding me? That's why you did all of this?!" Serana roared angrily, lifting the undead Snow Elf by his neck with her bare hands, and as the (former) Arch-Curate Vyrthur choked and flailed helplessly in her grasp, Yang and Jaune couldn't help but agree with Serana.
After all, even discounting the fact that the whole Tyranny of the Sun prophecy that the Oblivion-damned elf (possibly literally) had written had ruined Serana's (un)life, wiped out the Skyrim chapter of the Vigilants of Stendarr, sparked a shadow war between the Volkihar Clan and the Dawnguard (which the trio had found themselves dragged into), and had forced Jaune, Yang, and Serana to explore countless ancient, exotic, and dangerous locations, fight innumerable powerful foes, all in the scramble for just the Scrolls... the quest for Auriel's Bow alone had been enough to drive the trio to the limits of their patience, endurance, and strength.
The scrolls had led them to Darkfall Cave, somewhere north-west of Dragon Bridge. At first, Jaune had wondered out loud why it had been called "Darkfall Cave". But as they'd crossed a rope bridge over a deep chasm, the ancient wood and worn ropes had given way, unable to take the weight of three people, and they'd found out that it had, indeed, been aptly named.
Fortunately, there'd been a convenient pool of water at the bottom of the chasm to break their fall.
Unfortunately, still water runs deep, and the underwater currents were strong and fast. As soon as they'd splashed into the water, the current had dragged them along, through a long and intricate series of partially-flooded tunnels deeper underground, past dimly-illuminated nests of horse-sized spiders, until it'd finally (and unceremoniously) dumped them out of an underground waterfall and into a pool.
Which was being used as the latrine for a nearby massive nest of cave trolls.
Who had still been there.
After recovering from almost drowning (Jaune had never envied Serana's lack of need for oxygen so much before then), almost being eaten, and wiping out a small army of trolls, they'd begun exploring to cave, trying to see if any part of it seemed like the ancient resting spot of a god's weapon.
It'd only taken them half an hour of exploring before they'd found something besides trolls; a warm orange glow in the distance, distinct from the sickly-green bioluminescence typical of Skyrim's cave fungi. Approaching it had led them to an ancient shrine of marbled stone, and while most of the surroundings had collapsed, the central structure remained intact.
Just in case they had any doubts, the shrine also had a symbol of the sun on it, just to show them they were on the right track.
Of course, the rundown shrine didn't actually have the bow. That would have been too convenient, too easy.
Instead, they found a pale-skinned elf, clad in armor as white as snow, sitting by a campfire, beckoning them closer with a friendly smile as he said: "Come forward. You have nothing to fear here."
The elf had introduced himself as Knight-Paladin Gelebor, and introduced them to the "Great Chantry of Auri-El".
Yang and Serana had immediately commented on what a dump the cave was (literally, in the corner where the trolls defecated in).
Things hadn't improved when he'd explained that he was a Snow Elf, though Jaune had managed to talk Yang down after pointing out that he had eyes, and he was talking, actually talking, and not trying to kill them, and things only continued to go downhill when Gelebor had explained the highly-complicated ritual needed to unlock the (Falmer-overrun) Chapel itself, so that they could kill his brother, Arch-Curate Vyrthur, and get Auriel's Bow.
Even Gelebor hadn't been able to deny that it had all sounded tedious and ridiculous, going to the different Wayshrines, filling a pitcher with water from basins in each of them, all to empty it out in front of the Chapel. In his words, "it's symbolic".
Finding out there were five Wayshrines, spread out beyond even the cave system? Almost as bad as finding out the first lay in a cavern known as "Darkfall Passage", which was supposed to represent the "absence of enlightenment".
In other words, a cavern full of total darkness, with hordes of Falmer between them and the next Wayshrine, which was only the first of five.
Fortunately, after hours battling through the Falmer-infested cavern, the first Wayshrine had finally brought them to a massive glacial valley, deep within the mountains.
The view was impressive, to be sure, but they had been far more taken in by the sight of a large open area. Yang wasted little time in Shouting for Durnehviir, who had quickly proceeded to fly them between the remaining Wayshrines, and straight up to the entrance to Auriel's Chapel.
He'd have flown them straight to the heart of the chapel, but he couldn't fit through the doors, wide and grand as they were.
The "grand chapel of Auriel", as it was, hadn't really impressed them. Sure, it was an ancient ruin of incalculable historical and academic value, one of the last remaining vestiges of the original Snow Elf civilization, and predated Man's arrival to Tamriel by Divines-know-how-long, but all Yang and Jaune saw was a dark old building full of ice and frozen falmer and their weird insect pets.
Also, the frozen falmer occasionally burst to life and tried to attack them if they got too close.
If it hadn't been for the fact that the frozen falmer had the strength of, well, ice, their sheer numbers in the unknown tight corridors of the ancient chapel might have proven dangerous. As it was, however, between Serana's and Yang's flames spell, and Yang's and Jaune's strength (which could cut through dragonhide), the frozen falmer served to do little more than waste their time and energy, as they suicidally charged the trio and died and droves.
Finally, after a few hours of swinging, hacking, slashing, chopping, and punching (Jaune couldn't help but be reminded of the Grimm), they reached what Jaune assumed was the inner sanctum, and found a Snow Elf lounging on a frozen throne, surrounded by hundreds of the frozen statues, protected from them all by a thick wall of ice. It didn't take a genius to figure out this was probably Gelebor's brother, Vyrthur; even if they couldn't see the family resemblance, there weren't exactly other Snow Elves left in existence.
At this point, despite everything they'd had to go through to reach Vyrthur, Jaune had been willing to try and talk the elf into giving them the bow. After all, Gelebor hadn't been clear on why his brother needed to die, and Vyrthur didn't seem to have actually done anything to them yet.
That goodwill and benefit of the doubt lasted until Vyrthur began monologuing about how the fools had played right into his hand, bringing a Daughter of Coldharbour right to him, and exclaimed that their usefulness had come to an end.
And then, in a completely expected manner, the frozen falmer and insects burst to life, and began swarming the only targets they could.
Unlike before, where they hadn't been particularly dangerous when their approaches had been restricted to a few directions, the large inner sanctum allowed them to use their numbers to their advantage, surrounding the trio and attacking them from all directions. And while they weren't particularly smart, they still possessed some measure of feral cunning, attempting to separate the three and flank them, attacking their backs while they were distracted.
It was a close thing, but it hadn't been nearly enough, of course. The trio had fought through armies of draugr, multiple Volkihar kill-teams, and Durnehviir and three Keepers of the Soul Cairn at once, and eventually the last of the frozen falmer were shattered or melted, and the exhausted and furious trio turned their attention to Vyrthur.
He'd tried dropping the roof on them, and blowing up the ice wall, sending icy shrapnel at the trio, but they'd eventually caught up to him, finally cornered him at the chapel's grand balcony, where he'd revealed he was a vampire, not under the control of the Falmer, and the architect behind the Tyranny of the Sun prophecy. And all because...
"What else was I supposed to do?!" Vyrthur shouted angrily, defiantly, as Serana continued choking him. "Auri-El betrayed me, abandoned me, allowed the infected Initiate to enter the Chantry, to infect me! I will have my revenge!"
Of course, as a god, Auri-El couldn't be touched by Vyrthur. However, his influence on the world wasn't beyond Vyrthur's reach; he'd planned to diminish Auri-El's influence over Nirn by corrupting his bow and blotting out the sun.
Yang could just kind of understand, even if she found it all ridiculous; she was Dragonborn, after all. Child of Akatosh and all. She'd probably be furious too if he suddenly turned on her, for something she had no control over, though she doubted Akatosh would do something like that, from the way he'd been when they'd spoken.
"Didn't you ever try curing yourself?" Jaune asked coldly, finding the elf's actions unbelievable. "Did you ever leave this place, to look for a solution to your problem?"
"Why should I? I served Auri-El faithfully; it was his duty to-"
"So you didn't." Jaune taunted, folding his arms. He thought back to his own life; he hadn't simply sat around waiting for the chance to go to Beacon, to become a hero. He'd actually had to take the initiative, made the choice to run away, to look up forgers for fake transcripts, cheap tickets from Ansel to Beacon. The elf, on the other hand... "You just sat on your ass the whole time, wasting years blaming your god for your inaction."
"How dare you! I-"
"And then what? You wrote a prophecy that ruined my friend's life and caused so much death and destruction... all so you could get petty revenge?" Jaune continued on, refusing to be interrupted. "And you didn't even try to fulfill the prophecy! You still just sat here waiting for a pure vampire to come to you! You're pathetic!"
Yang found herself agreeing with Jaune, even if she thought they were probably lucky that he had been so pathetic. So what if Akatosh hadn't been there one time? Even infected, he would still have been him. He would still have had a choice. Serana also nodded along, glaring hatefully at the elf who'd torn her family apart with his prophecy.
"Enough!" Vyrthur roared. "I will not be talked down to by some child, let alone be stopped by one!"
"What about someone like me?" Serana asked softly, a dangerous edge in her voice, as Vyrthur began struggling furiously. "You've been waiting for someone of my blood to come along? Let's see if your blood has any power too it!"
Arch-Curate Vyrthur, despite millennia of inactivity, was still an ancient vampire and the former high priest of a god, with all the strength, skills, and experience it implied. His flailing legs made contact with Serana's midsection, and with a burst of telekinetic magic to increase his force, he kicked off of her, weakening her grasp, before sending another wave of force in a radial direction around him, knocking her back and freeing him.
Vyrthur wasted little time, his predatory instincts combining with his rage, and he quickly made for the person who'd pissed him off the most.
There was a time where Jaune might have hesitated, such as when he'd first come to Skyrim. Over a month fighting bandits, vampires, and the occasional cultists of Miraak's, however, had hardened him, and he wasted no time in raising his shield and bracing himself for the charge.
Vyrthur's first punch barely moved him, but as he counter-attacked with a thrust, Vyrthur swiped at the blade, parrying it with his bare hands, before preparing to launch a gust of freezing wind at him at point-blank range, not allowing him the chance to dodge.
Then Yang punched a hole through his ancient chestplate from behind him, before ripping his heart out. His eyes widened, as he felt Yang's touch, the Dragonborn's touch, in his last moments. Scion of Akatosh that she was, her touched carried a hint of Akatosh's divinity, of Auri-El's presence.
It was a presence he'd recognize no matter what, even after all millennia, the Betrayal, the time he'd spent deprived of it, and even as she crushed his heart, even as the unlife that had kept him going all this time drained away from him, he looked back to the Inner Sanctum one last time, to its ruins, the dead Betrayed, to the symbol of the sun... to the symbol of the god that he'd always thought had abandoned him.
A tear fell from his ancient eye, and with his last breath, he murmured: "Auri-El, forgive me..."
Yang panted as she looked down at Vyrthur's corpse. Intellectually, she knew that Jaune was in little danger from Vyrthur, between his shield and his Aura. After all, she'd help train him, been with him since the beginning, watched as he'd grown from a naive boy into a warrior, a killer. But, seeing the vampire deflect his blade, seeing it channeling a spell into its free hand... she'd suddenly lost it, suddenly rushed in.
Jaune and Serana both joined her, looking down at the body, but while Serana kicked him once before spitting on his corpse, Jaune looked at the brutal wound, and asked: "That... was a bit much, don't you think?"
Yang winced, but was spared from having to respond as a structure in the grand balcony, a shrine like the Wayshrines they'd visited in the past day, began rising out of the ground. As the three immediately turned to the shrine, Gelebor walked out, holding an ornately-carved metal bow, before halting, looking at the chapel, and the body they surrounded.
"So, the deed has been done." Gelebor murmured sadly, approaching his brother's body. He knelt down, and respectfully closed his brother's eyes, before looking back to the trio. Noticing their looks of disbelief towards the wayshrine he'd walked out of, he quickly explained: "The restoration of this wayshrine means that Vyrthur must be dead and the Betrayed no longer have control over him."
The trio looked at each other, exchanging a look, before Serana reluctantly spoke up: "The Betrayed... weren't to blame."
"What?" Gelebor blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"He was a vampire." Serana explained. "He controlled them."
"A vampire?" Gelebor repeated, examining his brother closer. After a moment of studying the body, he closed his eyes, and sighed: "I see. That would explain much. Deep inside, it brings me joy that the Betrayed weren't to blame for what happened here."
"Really? Why?" Yang spoke up, confused as to why Gelebor seemed happy that his brother had apparently betrayed his faith and the survivors of his race.
"Because that means there's still hope." Gelebor replied, looking towards the chapel's symbol of Auri-El with a sad smile. "Hope, that they might one day shed their hatred and learn to believe in Auri-El once again. It's been a long time since I felt that way and it's been long overdue. My thanks, to all of you."
"You're, uh... welcome." Jaune answered, more out of politeness than anything else. It felt weird, being thanked by someone for killing his brothe and then revealing to him that his brother was an evil vampire who controlled the Falmer, rather than having been corrupted by them, but then again Skyrim was a weird place. He certainly didn't feel like a hero, but he understood the necessity of it.
"You risked everything to get Auri-El's Bow, and in turn, you've restored the Chantry." Gelebor proclaimed, holding out the bow and a quiver of arrows. "I can't think of a more deserving champion to carry it than you, any of you. If you wish to learn more about the bow, or obtain more Sunhallowed Arrows for it, I'd be more than happy to help. You've but to ask."
Yang gripped the proffered bow and quiver gently, and immediately felt a connection to it. Holding it was like standing in Martin's presence again; the divinity was clear, albeit muted. The bow itself, meanwhile, was light, but sturdy. She didn't think Serana could touch it, since she was a vampire, but she wondered if Jaune could use the spare weapon. After all, he'd been training to be a Huntsman; he should have learned how to use a bow, right?
Serana looked at the artifact with a mix of awe and distaste, before curiosity took over, and she asked Gelebor: "So... what can you tell us about Auriel's Bow?"
"The bow was said to be carried by Auri-El himself into battle against the forces of Lorkhan in ancient and mythic times." Gelebor enthusiastically explained. "Its craftsmanship has no equal anywhere within Tamriel and possibly beyond."
Jaune looked at the bow, and nodded in agreement. At the very least, he hadn't seen anything like it in Remnant.
Serana, meanwhile, impatiently pressed on: "Yes, yes, that's very interesting, but what can it do?"
Gelebor looked disappointed that his history lesson was being halted, but he continued: "The bow draws it power from Aetherius itself, channeling it through the sun. Therefore, when an arrow is loosed from the bow, it produces a magical effect very similar to being burned by fire."
Serana blinked, tried to imagine the effect that would have on her (and vampires in general), and shuddered. "Sounds... powerful."
"That's actually only a fraction of its potential. With Sunhallowed Arrows, you would be able to produce a much more spectacular effect... causing bursts of sunlight to envelop your foes. The sunbursts would certainly hurt anything, but is especially devastating to the undead."
Serana could definitely believe that, having been on the wrong end of the sun a few times before. Auriel's Bow was certainly a powerful artifact... but what did it have to do with the prophecy? With her blood? She had to know, if only so she knew what not to do. "The scrolls... I mean, Vyrthur, said something about using blood?"
Gelebor gave her a long look, as he processed her words, but apparently chose to give her the benefit of the doubt, as he explained: "Well, using an arrow with the bow that's been dipped in blood may cause it to function differently... corrupting its purpose. That's, of course, if you're foolish enough to try it."
Serana got the implied message loud and clear, and thanked him for his time while privately vowing to never let her blood get anywhere near the bow. She then walked away, dragging Jaune and Yang, and began: "Well... it's not as shiny as I was expecting... but we have the bow."
"Yes, leech, we know." Yang replied, rolling her eyes.
Jaune, however, caught the subtext, and asked: "So... what do we do now?"
"I think we all know... it's time to face my father." Serana answered resolutely. Thanks to Jaune, thanks to his concern, his confrontation with her mother, she'd found the courage to face that simple fact. "If we don't, he'll keep chasing us for the rest of our lives."
"If we do, he'll have to die." Yang chimed in with a frown, folding her arms. She still remembered the creature they'd faced, when they'd first rescued Serana. Even with their new weapon, even with their strength, she didn't know if it was enough.
"I know. I've been thinking about this for a long time." Serana admitted. "It's... it won't be easy. But I don't think we have much of a choice. No. This has to end, here and now."
"It does." Jaune agreed, stepping forward, placing a hand on her shoulders, and he reassured her: "And we'll face him. Together."
Serana smiled at him, and her smile turned into a smirk as she saw Yang roll her eyes as she tried to hide her upturned lips. Then she thought about the coming battle, and frowned. "If we head back to the castle and kick the front door in, we're going to be knee deep in his friends. Let's head back to Isran and let him see what we've got first. I'm betting he'll lend us a sword or two."
"I don't think that's going to be enough." Yang interjected. "The Dawnguard's only, what, two dozen men? Even with their hounds and trolls, they wouldn't be enough, not if we're sieging that castle."
"Well, what else can we do?" Jaune asked. They knew Yang was right; it was a fortress on an island in the middle of nowhere; they'd gotten lucky once, with a single rowboat and only three people, but security would've increased after they'd escaped on Durnehviir's back. At the same time, for both the sake of Skyrim, the world, and Serana, they had to stop Harkon somehow.
Yang grinned at Jaune, and replied: "We might know someone."
=JORRVASKR, WHITERUN, THREE DAYS LATER-
"Ah, Dragonborn! Welcome back!" Aela greeted Yang enthusiastically, as she entered Jorrvaskr for the first time since she'd gone to visit the Greybeards. She felt like there was something nagging at her mind, something she was supposed to do for the Greybeards, but she decided to ignore it for now. After all, compared to what they were about to do was definitely a lot more important.
"Oh, the Dragonborn's back?" Ria looked around excitedly, from her seat at the table. "It's been a while! What have you been up to?! We've only heard rumors of you and Jaune for the past month or so... speaking of which, is Vomit Boy still with you?"
"Oh, hey there, Ria." Jaune spoke up with a friendly smile and a wave, entering the Companion's mead hall after Yang. "And believe me, you wouldn't believe me if I told you..."
"Okay, now you definitely need to... who's that?" Ria's voice, usually warm and friendly, suddenly became as frosty as a Skyrim winter, as she spotted the third member of the trio entering Jorrvaskr.
Serana noticed the suddenly hostility too, and flinched, as a confused Jaune quickly explained: "This... is Serana."
"She's got a request for the Companions." Yang added helpfully, secretly amused by the surprising hostility Ria was directing at Serana.
"Oh?" Aela raised an eyebrow. She wasn't exactly thrilled by Yang's and Jaune's new companion, though she herself couldn't answer why, but she was a lot more adept at controlling her passions than Ria, a necessity for someone of her position. "And is the coin worth it?"
"I figure the fight will be." Yang answered with a feral grin. "Tell me, have you noticed any vampire attacks lately?"
"Just all the time." Aela scoffed.
Ria nodded behind her. "Yeah, it seems like we get requests to help the guard these days... between the war, the dragons, and the vampire attacks, things... haven't been the best these days. I hear it's much worse, where the skirmishes are taking place, though..."
Yang hid her wince, and silently vowed to make the trip to Kynesgrove as soon as Harkon was dust. Out loud, she merely said: "What if I told you, I knew how to stop the vampires?"
The room went silent; even Njada Stonearm (who'd been feigning disinterest), Torvar (too drunk to care), and Tilma the Haggard (the ancient caretaker of Jorrvaskr) stood (or sat) just that little bit straighter, ears perking that little bit more.
"Is that what you've been up to?" Aela asked, raising an eyebrow, though she felt a feral grin of her own threatening to grow on her face.
"It's a long story." Jaune answered tiredly. "But yes, we know where they are, and we know how to stop them. The key's this bow-"
"By the Nine, boy, what happened to your sword?!" A voice thundered from the back, as Eorlund Grey-Mane, the blacksmith of the Companions, entered the mead hall, and spotted the young crusader and his weapons.
"Wha-what?" Jaune stammered, confused, as Eorlund marched towards him.
"Why are you using malachite glass like an elf, instead of good Nordic steel, boy?!" Eorlund repeated, grabbing the sword Jaune had gotten from somewhere in Blackreach. "And the condition this sword is in is terrible! Haven't you been maintaining your blade at all?!"
Jaune winced, feeling like Glynda Goodwitch was lecturing at him (in Port's volume, no less), but he also knew keeping quiet was the worst option of the lot. So, to everyone's amusement, he gulped, and answered: "My previous sword broke when we were fighting against some giant robot-"
"A Dwarven Centurion, Vomit Boy." Yang supplied helpfully.
"That, yes. And I found this in a nearby cave." Jaune finished lamely.
Eorlund looked him over, before nodding in satisfaction. "Good. Knew you weren't the kind for brittle blades when I met you. And why's your sword in such terrible condition?"
"... army of frozen falmer." Jaune shrugged.
"... he's kidding, right?" Aela asked Yang, who shook her head.
"... I thought the falmer were just a myth, a bedtime story to scare little children..." Ria admitted, eyes widening with awe, before fully processing Jaune's words. "Wait, what do you mean, frozen?"
"... they'd been frozen for so long, their bodies became partially ice." Serana spoke up, as Yang shrugged and Eorlund pulled Jaune away.
"... how long are we talking?"
"Probably before Talos." Yang answered. "It was the only way we were getting the bow..."
"It's a magnificent bow..." Aela admitted, finding her eyes drawn to it once more. "Does it have a name?"
"History knows it as Auriel's Bow." Yang whispered quietly, and Aela's jaw dropped.
To her credit, she recovered from her shock quickly, and asked: "How much for it?"
"It's not for sale." Yang said, folding her arms. "We need it to stop a prophecy the vampires are after."
Aela knew a lost cause when she saw one, and while she'd normally have no qualms about trying anyway, something about Yang's tone made her concede the point. "All right, fine. We'll discuss the price after you defeat the vampires. Now, you said you wanted our help in fighting the vampires? What are we up against?"
"Fortress on an island in the middle of the Sea of Ghosts. Ancient clan of vampires known as the Volkihar Clan. And they want to use this bow to blot out the sun and enslave everyone else." Yang broke down the facts simply.
"The Volkihar Clan... they show up in historical records occasionally..." Aela replied thoughtfully, though she could feel her blood beginning to boil with excitement. "Anyone else joining us?"
"Just the Dawnguard, and whatever Vigilants we can find."
Aela couldn't hide her feral grin this time. She'd heard of the Dawnguard; she didn't like they fact they were competing for business, but she could respect their strength. More importantly, though... "Doesn't sound like much."
"It isn't." Yang admitted, before asking: "So, you in?"
"I'll tell Kodlak and the rest, but I think they'd happily do it for free." Aela could already smell the challenge, of blood flying everywhere, as their steel met ancient fang and magic. If nothing else, it would be glorious.
Yang grinned in response, before frowning as she realized her missing blonde. Looking around suspiciously (and especially at Ria), she asked: "Wait, where's Jaune?"
"Ah, don't worry." Aela reassured her. "Eorlund just wanted an excuse to give him something he's been working on all month. While you two are the newest Companions, the kill was yours, after all..."
"... what do you mean?" Yang replied, confused, while Serana leaned forward. Whatever they were discussing, it predated her joining them, and thus her curiosity was aroused.
"Remember that dragon you fought, when you first came here?" Ria answered excitedly. Yang nodded cautiously, which Ria took as an invitation to continue: "Well, after the guards dragged it's skeleton back, Eorlund thought it might make a good material to work with."
"... you're joking, right?" Serana spoke up first, as Yang was stunned speechless.
"Not really. Took a while, but he managed to get materials from Solstheim, and he said he finally made a breakthrough! Called it his finest work yet, though he says that about every sword he forges..."
"Hey, Yang!" Jaune waved at her as he re-entered the mead hall from the back. "Look at what Eorlund gave me!"
Yang's jaw dropped at second time, and Serana found herself torn. While she certainly enjoyed Yang being speechless, Serana had never been able to elicit such a response before. And all it'd taken was...
"Stronger than ebony. Heavier, too." Eorlund nodded approvingly, walking behind Jaune, as the room stared at the dragonbone blade. "It can take hits from a warhammer or a shield without bending, and if an enemy gets too close you can still hit them with the pommel or shove them away with it's weight. Much better than the lighter elven works, which are only good for cutting."
"Fits in my sheath, too! Thanks, Eorlund!" Jaune said excitedly, as he kept it away.
Yang couldn't help but smile, seeing him interacting with the Companions now, a lot more naturally than before. He'd be a fine Nord, if he was this excited over a new weapon. All she needed to do was get him to drink mead with her...
Yang was shaken out of her thoughts as Eorlund tossed her something else, and as she looked down she found a pair of dragonbone gloves. She looked back at Eorlund, who smiled, and answered: "You two killed the dragon; it's only fair that you get something out of it."
"How can we ever repay you?" Jaune asked.
"Boy, you've given this old smith the chance to work with dragon's bone. I've just revolutionized smithing in Skyrim!" Eorlund laughed, slapping Jaune's back. "Just take care of your blade, and use her well."
"I owe you a drink, Eorlund." Yang nodded her head appreciatively, though internally she couldn't wait to try her new gauntlets on a Volkihar's skull. However, she couldn't help but think that she was missing something...
"Should I enchant your blade?" Serana offered, stepping forward.
Yang nodded approvingly, figuring that that was what she had forgotten. Most of Jaune's strength came from his Aura; she couldn't wait to see Serana's Destruction enchantment being overcharged by Jaune's Aura in the world's only dragonbone blade.
Between that, her gauntlets, the bow, and the Companions and the Dawnguard, she found herself feeling optimistic, for the first time, about their chances of success.
Author's Note: Originally, I wrote this chapter fleshing out the entirety of the Chantry exploration quest. But I scrapped it, because, well... just how long do you people want this chapter to be?! It'd have been between 15 to 20 thousand words if I'd done that! It'd have taken me weeks, if not months, to write!
The thing you have to remember about Nirn in general is that the Divines, and the concept of divine intervention, isn't quite as unbelievable as it would be in Remnant in Jaune's time (i.e. after the Brother Gods wiped out humanity and abandoned Remnant, millennia before the Fall of Beacon), or the real world. The world of Nirn is a world where daedra created portals to Oblivion in the middle of cities, and slaughtered countless civilians throughout the continent, before the last Septim Emperor of the Third Era became a dragon, a literal avatar of the chief god of the pantheon, and fought the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon in single combat.
Hell, even Yang, as the last Dragonborn, carries a spark of divinity within her as Akatosh's child, and thus any action she takes can be considered literal divine intervention.
And for Vyrthur, it'd be even worse. He was old and experienced enough to qualify as the Arch-Curate of Auriel, Chief Divine of the Elven Pantheon, in the Merethic Era, when Men first came to Skyrim. His status and the Snow Elf Empire he would have been a part of predate even the Dragon Cult's presence in Skyrim. He might even have been old enough to been there when Auriel supposedly led the charge against Lorkhan, before ascending to divinity himself (or so the elven myths go).
Anyway, my point is, imagine a religious and devout man, an apostle who might have even watched his lord become a divine, and spent centuries acting as the conduit between Auriel and the Snow Elves, bringing Auriel's message to his people while bringing his people closer to Auriel.
Then have him be let down, struck by a debilitating disease from one of his own initiates, one that he knew his god could have protected him from. After all, he had the ears of a god, an omnipotent being. And yet, his god didn't protect him, and when he prays his pleas seem to fall on deaf ears.
And then have him spend millennia watching his people's empire crumble around him, as the primitive monkeys they once culled and drove off the continent of Tamriel returned, seeking vengeance. Have him watch as the Snow Elves were driven into hiding, forced to seek refuge with the dwarves, before the dwarves betrayed them, blinded them with poison, turned them into the twisted Falmer. The Falmer who then attacked the Chantry and killed the last remaining Snow Elves.
I know that Arch-Curate Vyrthur wrote the prophecy before the Chantry was attacked, stopped caring about the last Snow Elves before they were killed, but the first point should be enough to illustrate why, despite his prior devoutness, he turned against Auriel and wrote the prophecy that would have limited his influence over the world, and why when Team Dragonborn meet him, his only words are justification, excuses, blaming Auriel for everything.
And I hope you can understand why Jaune finds it so ridiculous.
As for what the truth is? Did Auriel really abandon Vyrthur? Was it all meant to be a test of faith, where Vyrthur could have probably found a cure if he'd taken a day off to look for it?
I don't know.
I do find him sympathetic, however; I think I wrote the interaction between him, Serana, and the Dragonborn a lot better in my original Skyrim story, where the main characters actually have a reason to consider his plight. But Jaune is different; he doesn't care about matters of faith, and so it goes the way it does.
Also, while Jaune's now gotten over killing human and humanoid enemies, he's definitely not comfortable with killing in cold blood yet. Which is why I had Vyrthur break free and try to kill Jaune first, rather than simply have Serana snap his neck after they'd cornered him and he'd monologued.
And yes, Falmer attacks are actually not that common in Skyrim yet, during the time period. They're a growing threat, but between the war, growing banditry, dragons, vampires, and cultists, settlements going quiet and massacres aren't exactly unheard of, nor do most places have the resources to investigate.
