One more mod follower will appear here, and a little more of Vardall's past actions will be show up.
Letting Sofia lead the way to High Hrothgar, Vardall and Lydia followed her through the varied landscapes of Skyrim. They didn't have any problems on the way, which was a very welcome rarity considering past events. Continuing along the road, the three arrived in yet another town, grayer in appearance and less prosperous if compared to Whiterun.
"Well... Falkreath. Still creepy as always." Sofia said in a humorous tone while Vardall observed the city.
"What's the story behind this place? I couldn't not notice all those graves spread throughout the city." Vardall asked as he observes with a certain discomfort all those graves.
Now it was time for Lydia to talk: "In ancient times, several battles were fought in Falkreath. Many people, both soldiers and the city's own population were killed and buried here." Vardall arched his eyebrows as he heard that. "Quite bloody."
Continuing their way for Falkreath, Vardall began to feel tired. He hasn't rested or eaten since after leaving Alvor's home, and his constant battles and mainly all the mana he has used during the fight against the dragon had left him quite exhausted.
"Hey girls..." Vardall's words called Lydia and Sofia's attention. "I know we need to go to this High Hrothgar as soon as possible, but what about we stop to rest in this city for a little? I haven't eaten something for a while and that battle against that dragon definitely exhausted me."
"That's actually a very good idea." Sofia said. "Our walk to High Hrothgar still will be quite long, not to mention the 7.000 steps to get there."
Lydia nods in agreement. "Let's go to the Inn. There we can eat something and rent a room to rest."
"Let's go then." Sofia started to walk to the Inn, as Vardall didn't know anything about this city, he just followed her and Lydia until Falkreath's Inn, called the Dead Man's Drink.
"What a name to an Inn." Vardall commented. Sofia just giggles a little. Inside the Inn, Lydia went to rent some rooms for all of them. Meanwhile, Vardall and Sofia just sit down in some chairs.
"How are you feeling with all this?" Sofia asked Vardall. "How so?"
"I mean... this. Being far away from your home, in a strange land, all this Dragonborn talk..." Sofia said. "To be honest, isn't being that bad. There are some strange things here and I'm getting confused about things very frequently, but until now it is good. I already passed through worse things back on Thedas" Vardall then has a little smile on his face, a smile that soon disappears.
"The truth is that... I've done some very bad things back on Thedas. Things that I deeply regret." He says in a very melancholic tone. "I lost everything because of my own actions. I lost friends. I lost my status and respect. And..." Vardall hesitates to speak, but continues anyway. "...I lost the love of my life. I have the blood of several innocents on my hands." Sofia widened her eyes and opened her mouth slightly at Vardall's words, but before she could question him about anything else, Lydia approached them.
"Hey, I manage to rent rooms to all of us. It's ours for the whole day." Vardall nods his head to Lydia and gets up from his chair. "Good. Thanks, Lydia. We're the rooms? I want to get some shut eye right now."
Lydia pointed to some doors close to them. "There are those doors there. Just choose one and relax." Vardall smiles. "Great." He then headed up to one of the doors, he opened it and saw a small room, with one chair, a chest, a bed and a little wardrobe. Vardall then turns himself to Lydia and Sofia. "I will rest for a while. Anything happens, let me know."
Lydia nods. "Of course, my Thane. Have a good rest." Vardall giggles a little. He still would need to use Lydia to call him by his name instead of Thane. Entering the bedroom and closing the door, Vardall quickly removes his armor and sword, leaving everything in a corner of the room. More comfortable now, he then lays on the room's bed and closes his eyes, having a very welcome sleep.
# # # # # # # #
As he advanced by the Circle of Magi library, Vardall was attacked by even more Templars. But even using their abilities to prevent Vardall from using his spells didn't save them, as Vardall used his greatsword, the Starfang, to defeat all of them. Seeing this opportunity, several mages from the Circle also attacked the Templars and ran away to escape the tower, so besides having to deal with an extremely angry Grey Warden, the Templars still had to deal with the other mages.
Cutting the head of a last Templar, Vardall continued to make his way to the Harrowing chamber, where Knight-Commander Greagoir was located. As he walked to the stairs, Vardall heard a Templar charging on him. He dodges the attack and sees who the Templar was, it was Cullen.
"Don't even try it, Cullen!"
"You're out of your mind!" Cullen shouted, as he tried to attack Vardall. "You already killed several of my friends!"
Vardall blocked Cullen's attack with the Starfang. "They deserved a worse fate than death! And if you don't want to join them, get out of my way!" He then pushes Cullen away, making him fall on the ground. Before Cullen could get up, Vardall pressed the Starfang's blade on his neck.
"If you don't want to join them: STAY DOWN!" Vardall shouted with a furious voice. Cullen could feel the very sharp blade on his neck and stayed paralyzed. Vardall then, seeing that he was losing his time, leaves Cullen and continues his way. But it seems Cullen didn't understand the message, as he took his sword from the ground and tried to attack Vardall's back. Vardall already predicted that, so he simply dodges Cullen's attack.
In a quick move while Cullen is with his guard down, Vardall stabs him with the Starfang right on his belly. Cullen grunts in heavy pain as he fells the blade enchanted with lightning runes pierce his body. Vardall removes the greatsword and Cullen falls on the ground, bleeding. He was fighting to stay awake, while he did this, Vardall moves until he stands before Cullen.
"Why...?" That's all Cullen manages to speak right now.
Vardall then closed his fist. "I don't owe you any satisfaction."
He then strongly kicks Cullen's face, right on his mouth, opening a wound on his lips that surely would leave a scar. Cullen then passed out, still bleading. Leaving him there to die, Vardall continued his walk to the Harrowing chamber.
# # # # # # # #
Once again, Vardall was haunted by dreams and memories of his past during his sleep, but this time it was much more tranquil if compared to the last one, but that doesn't mean it was good, far from that. Feeling himself much more rested and with energy now, Vardall knew it was the time to continue his journey. Wearing his armor and taking his sword, he then leaves his room. He immediately sees both Lydia and Sofia sit on a table, drinking something. He then approached both women.
"Then he awaked me up at the Whiterun stables. I was without any clothes, only in my underwear." Sofia was telling Lydia how she met Vardall, they're both talking so much they didn't notice Vardall close to them.
"Hey, Ladies." Vardall said, calling the attention of the two women. "Oh, hey Vardall. Had a good rest?" Sofia asks, Vardall then nods. "Yeah, I'm feeling much better now. We can finally continue our walk."
Sofia smiled. "Good. Me and Lydia here were already becoming bored here. Let's keep moving." As the trio start to move out Dead Man's Drink, they're approached by an Imperial blond man, using some very fancy clothes and with a sword.
"Excuse me sir. I don't normally do this, but... erm... have you got a moment to talk?"
The man clearly was shy, which caught Vardall's attention and made him smile a little. Vardall looked at both Sofia and Lydia, and they seemed a little confused about this.
He then turns his attention back to the man. "Are you flirting with me?"
The man became even more shy. "Flirt? No, I... ah... That wasn't my intention! Not at all! I just meant I have a... proposition for you."
Vardall's smile gets even bigger. "That sounds like flirting to me."
"No, not that kind of proposition! I meant I would like to do business with you... ah, not like that! Can we start again?" The man said as Vardall giggled a little. He also could hear Lydia and Sofia behind him, trying not to laugh.
"Relax, I'm just joking with you. Sure, we can start again. What's your name?"
The man became more relaxed with Vardall's words. "Oh, thank the Divines... right, let's have another go. Ahem."
He prepared his throat and started to talk. "My name is Lucien Flavius. I'm a scholar, philosopher, amateur mage, and something of a musician, though I suppose that more of a hobby."
"I couldn't help noticing that you seem... how can I put this... well acquainted with the less savory side of Skyrim?" Vardall arched one of his eyebrows. "I have already seen a thing or two... but what makes you think of that in the first place?"
"Well... your armor and weapons, your companies and... the fact you're a Nord taller than a High Elf." Lucien said. Vardall giggled a little.
"Yeah, I think all this passes that idea. So... what do you need?"
Lucien smiled. "I'm here on Skyrim on an expedition - academic mainly."
"I simply find this province fascinating! The fauna, the flora, the ruins - both Dwemer and Nordic - the architecture, the politics..." Lucien started to babble a little while Vardall only heard.
"Trouble is, I'm really not much of a fighter. I know a few spells and can just about swing a sword, but beyond that I'm pretty useless in combat. Skyrim is no place for a 'milk drinker' like me - not on my own, anyway! So I'm looking for someone to travel with." Now that called Vardall's attention.
"I suppose what I'm asking is, would you mind if I... tag along? I will of course compensate you most handsomely for putting up with me."
"Hmm..." Vardall thought for a while. "Sounds interesting. Thoughts?" Vardall asked Sofia and Lydia.
"We surely could use some extra help. Besides, he's promising to compensate us, so I think it's worth it." Lydia said.
"This Lucien sounds like a nice guy, and more gold is never a problem. So I said to take him with us." Sofia says.
Vardall thinks for a moment and reaches a conclusion. "Okay. You can travel with us."
Lucien opens a big smile on his face. "Oh, splendid! Here's some gold for you already. This is going to be quite the adventure!"
Lucien then delivers a bag with several gold coins to Vardall, a good amount. He then puts it with the rest of his coins.
"Alright, let's go Lucien. We had a place to go." Vardall said as he, Sofia, Lydia exit the Inn, with Lucien following them.
"Fantastic! We're going now?" Lucien asked.
"We're going to High Hrothgar." Sofia said. Lucien only arched his eyebrows. "High Hrothgar? The place where the Greybeards live?"
Vardall nods. "Yes. It's a long story that we can explain to you on the way, but we need to go there."
Lucien smiles. "This should be interesting."
Before continuing their trip, Vardall goes to Falkreath's blacksmith and buys a full iron armor set for Lucien.
"Here, this is for you." Vardall then gives the armor to Lucien.
"Heavy armor? It makes me very tired, but it will keep me safe..." Lucien then wears the armor. As he already had an iron sword, it was not needed to buy him a weapon.
"I'm ready. Let's go." Vardall nods with Lucien words.
"Good. Come on." Then Vardall, Lydia and Sofia leave Falkreath, now with one more companion with them.
# # # # # # # #
"So, Lucien..." On their way to High Hrothgar, Vardall knew that was the perfect moment to know more about their new companion. "...Where are you from?"
"Oh, me? I'm from Cyrodiil. Born and raised in the Imperial City." Lucien said with a smile on his face.
"Ah, the jewel of the Empire. Never had there, but I always wanted to." Sofia said with a smile on her face.
Vardall remembers the long talk he had with Sofia, where she explained to him a little of what all she knew about Tamriel. She mentioned a little about Cyrodiil, The Empire and the Imperial City. She said that, being the capital of the Empire, Cyrodiil once was the most powerful and influential province of all Tamriel, which honestly reminded Vardall of Orlais and the ancient Tevinter. But now, thanks to the war that happened between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion, Cyrodiil being all that powerful today is one big doubt.
"Any family there?" Vardall said as he looked back at Lucien.
"Yes, my parents. My mother is a retired Captain of the Imperial Legion and my father is a scholar, just like me. In fact, it was because of him that I decided to enter the academic world."
Vardall arched one of his eyebrows. "And your mother accepted this decision of yours?"
"Hmm? Oh yes, she did. Even being a former member of the Legion and a veteran of the Great War, she accepted my life decisions and always supported me. In fact... I think she's relieved for me to have followed my father's steps and not hers. She never liked to see me in danger."
Vardall giggles a little at Lucien's words. "And yet you're here with us."
"Well... I can't say she supported me coming to Skyrim. But that's why I'm with you, guys. To stay safer than if I was alone." Lucien said as Sofia arched one of her eyebrows. "I don't think that was for the best. Trust me, it seems that our friend here always attract danger, no matter what." She said as she pointed to Vardall.
"Hey!" Vardall thought a little, reminding of all the problems he had back in Thedas. "Well... I think that's true."
Even with this, Lucien was calm. "Part of my travel here to Skyrim is also to learn how to be an adventurer and be braver. I never said I wanted to be totally free from danger."
"Even if that danger is a dragon?" Lydia enters the talk as she asks Lucien. That seemed to put a little of fear in the young Imperial.
"D... dragon?"
"Yes, dragons. We don't know how, but it seems they're returning." Lydia said.
"I thought it was only a rumor..." Lucien looked a little scared.
"It's no rumor, we all saw it with our own eyes." Vardall said as he pointed to both Sofia and Lydia. "I was there when a dragon attacked Helgen, and was I who killed a dragon that attacked a watchtower near Whiterun."
With Vardall's words, Lucien's fear was replaced by curiosity. "Wait, what? You killed a dragon? An actual dragon?"
Vardall nods in confirmation. "Yes, I did. I didn't do that alone, but I did most of the heavy work."
"This... this is incredible." Lucien now was shocked. "I thought that only..." He stopped talking as he connected the dots. Vardall killing a dragon... Him going to High Hrothgar right after the Greybeard summons the Dovahkiin after centuries...
"Hey, Lucien..." Vardall's voice called Lucien's attention. He looked back to Vardall, who looked very concerned for him. "Everything okay?"
Lucien didn't talk for a few more seconds. "I... I can't believe it... You're Dragonborn?" He said that looking directly at Vardall.
"That's what I'm hoping to find out." Vardall said with conviction. "I don't even know for certain what a Dragonborn is, since I never heard anything like this." For obvious reasons.
"I'm hoping that these Greybeards have the answers I'm looking for." He said. "Are you still willing to come with us?"
Lucien thought for a few seconds and reached a conclusion. "But of course I do!" He shouted, very excited. "Possibly be in the company of a Dragonborn? This is an opportunity I will never want to lose. Oh, so much I can learn with this... You can count on me for everything, boss!"
Lucien's happiness and enthusiasm was shared to Vardall, Lydia and Sofia, as all three smiled. "Now that's what I like to hear." Vardall said. Sofia then returned to the way they're previously walking.
"Come on. We're almost at the place where we can climb to High Hrothgar. Just follow me." She said as she returned walking.
"Okay, let's go, you both." Vardall said to Lydia and Lucien, and all of them returned to go to High Hrothgar.
# # # # # # # #
The four companions continued their walk until High Hrothgar, with Sofia leading the way. After some time of walking they all arrive in a small village on the side of a river and right on the foot of the mountain they need to climb.
"What's this place?" Vardall asked curiously to Sofia at the same time he watches the mountain they all will need to climb.
"Ivarstead. Basically serves as a rest stop for pilgrims that will climb all the 7.000 steps until High Hrothgar." Sofia explains. "Beside that, it's just another small and peaceful village. But it is not so peaceful after the start of the civil war." Sofia diz tristemente. "Even being relatively isolated, I know this village has seen some little battles between the Stormcloaks and the Empire. Several died in those battles, even innocent people."
Vardall heavily sighs. Even being someone who enjoys violence and defending an open war of the mages against the Templars and the Chantry as a way to achieve freedom, he never liked to see the people suffering, with fear of what tomorrow will bring. He knew it was something inevitable, people always die in big conflicts such as this, you can't save everyone, but that doesn't mean it was something he liked.
"Another nonsense war because of a stupid reason..." Vardall murmurs. "Even in another place, I'm not free from this."
Lydia heard what Vardall said. "If you allow me to say, my Thane... I don't think this war is for a stupid reason. The Stormcloak are simply trying to worship Talos openly, without any restriction from either the Empire or the Talmor."
"That's why this is stupid." Vardall answered quickly. "The main reason for this madness is religious. Religion for me is something stupid and that blinds you. You live your entire life in devotion to a God that doesn't even care for you, and maybe doesn't even exist. You let your actions be controlled by religion, and that also makes people suffer." He says with anger in his voice, closing one of his fists.
"I suffered because of that! Because of what some religion said, I was taken away from my family, without choice! I was locked away, without freedom or privacy for most part of my life and I saw friends suffering a destiny worse than death!" Vardall still had traumas from his time on the Circle's tower. Until today he was extremely thankful to Duncan and the Grey Wardens for freeing him from that prison.
Looking again at his friends, Vardall can see they are all a little scared of him. He then noticed what he did. "Sorry, I..." He tooks a deep breath to calm himself and opens his hand. "This is... a very delicate topic for me. Sometimes it makes me lose my mind."
Deep breathing once again, Vardall walks a little, going in the direction of the stairs they're gonna use to climb until High Hrothgar. "Come on, let's go. We have a mountain to climb." He then continues his way. Sofia, Lucien and Lydia look at each other, worried and scared by Vardall's explosion. Even so, they're not going to abandon him now, so they all start to follow him, ready to climb to High Hrothgar."
# # # # # # # #
The climb to High Hrothgar though a landscape of snow, rocks, trees and lots and lots of stairs was tiring and uneasy. Besides facing several wolves and bears on the way, all the group remained silent, as a consequence of the past events. Sofia, Lucien and Lydia still whispered something between each other, but Vardall remained completely silent. He was thinking about his recent rage explosion upon his new friends. Rage always was Vardall's closest companion during his life, being with him ever since, and growing bigger when he was trapped on the Circle's tower. His rage always took the best of him, making him do things he would never do under normal circumstances. It was because of his blind rage that Leliana did what she needed to do and he now was in another land, far away from his home.
But the reflective moment was interrupted when, continuing their walk, the whole group heard a roar close by, more precisely upon them. It was a roar that Vardall recalled very well, and hearing Lucien shout only confirmed his suspicions.
"Frost Troll!"
The troll jumped and abandoned the High Ground to the same level Vardall and his friends were. The first time he met one of those creatures, Vardall ran away. But now, he has more than decided to face and kill that thing. Pulling his Orcish greatsword from him back with his right hand, and preparing a fire spell on his left hand, he prepared for the battle.
The troll came to Vardall and tried to hit him with his big arms, but he dodged all his attacks. Taking the opportunity, Lydia fires an arrow on the creature using her bow. Because of the troll's strong skin, the arrow didn't penetrate very far on his body, but it was enough to cause some damage.
Lucien then fires a fireball on the troll, distracting him and Sofia takes the chance to approach the troll and use her sword to wound the troll's leg. Because of that, the troll fell on only one of his knees. Vardall then, seeing this, uses his greatsword to pierce the troll's chest, straight through his heart.
The troll falls dead on the ground. After some time to catch their breaths, everyone there looks at each other and starts to laugh.
"We... definitely made up a pretty good team." Vardall says while he puts his greatsword on his back.
"Definitely." Lucien says with a smile on his face.
"You and me? Obviously." Sofia says, confident.
"Indeed." Lydia says.
"I... sorry about what happened down there." Vardall said. "Is just... When my rage controls me, I'm not myself. It always takes the best of me."
"Everything's okay, Vardall." Sofia said with a smile on her face. "We all pass through moments such as that. I think I spoke for all of us that we understand." Sofia says and Lucian and Lydia nod in agreement. Sofia understands his reasons more than anything, since Vardall already talked to her a little about his life back on Thedas.
Vardall then gives a little smile. "Thanks." He then looks back to the trail they need to follow. "We're almost there. Let's keep going?"
"We're right behind you, Vardall." Lydia says. With their spirits reinvigorated, the group continue their way until High Hrothgar.
After walking for a few more minutes, the group finally sees High Hrothgar. It was a big and very imposing place.
"My first time in High Hrothgar... I'm so excited!" Lucien said, very anxious.
The group then approaches the doors of High Hrothgar and enters the place. The first thing everyone noticed was that the place was all carved into cold, hard stone, practically nothing other than stone, fire and candles existed there.
"Marvellous! Simply marvellous!" Lucien was admired by that place.
"Very impressive indeed." Lydia said, followed by Sofia. "What a boring place! I was expecting a palace made of pure gold full with the best drinks and foods of all Skyrim."
Even so, it was a really impressive place. While looking at everything, Four men, covered entirely by tunics called Vardall's attention. From that four men, one was coming in their direction.
"All of you, stay here. Let me talk." Vardall ordered his friends and made it his way to the man. Getting closer, he could see all the men were very old, with a big grey beard on their faces. The name Greybeards was well deserved.
"So..." The man started talking. His voice was calm, but exhaled wisdom, knowledge and respect. "A Dragonborn appears, at this moment in the turn of the age."
"You call me Dragonborn. What does that mean?" Vardall asked, curious to have an answer to one of his biggest questions.
"Patience. First we need to see if you truly have the gift." The elder said. "Show us, Dragonborn. Let us taste your voice."
Vardall arched one of his eyebrows. "My voice?"
"Strike us with your Shout, Dragonborn. Then we'll have time for answers." The man said.
"Okay...?" Vardall understood what he needed to do, but didn't know if it was correct to use a power he didn't know very much about, but knew it was very powerful, into some old men. But if that was what they wanted, he would do.
Vardall then deeply breathes, preparing himself to use that power once again. Then he releases. "Fus!"
His shout hits the Greybeard in front of him, making the older man stagger a little, but even so, he quickly retrieves his balance."
"Dragonborn. It's you. Welcome to High Hrothgar." The man said, quite admired.
"I am master Arngeir. I speak for the Greybeards. Now tell me, Dragonborn, why have you come here?"
"I want to find out what means to be Dragonborn." Vardall said, anxious to know a answer, any answer
"We are here to guide you in that pursuit, just as the Greybeards have sought those of the Dragon Blood that came before you."
Vardall widened his eyes with Arngeir's words. "D... Dragon Blood?"
Arngeir nods in confirmation. "Yes. A Dragonborn is a mortal being that possesses the blood and soul of a dragon. You're not the first, those with Dragon Blood always existed since Akatosh first bestowed that gift upon mortalkind."
Vardall was choked. Choked and non-believer. He had the blood and soul of a dragon? He found that almost impossible to believe, but... He had a strange sensation, a feeling that this was all true. And that name Arngeir said... Akatosh. He still hasn't heard it until now, but he felt it would be important later.
Vardall arrived here hoping to find answers, but now he has even more questions. Dragon blood and soul? Akatosh? Even the events in Amaranthine and talking with the Architect was less confusing than this. But this confusion also filled him with determination, determination to find even more answers to his questions. It looks like Vardall's fate was even bigger than he had ever imagined.
"You said the Greybeards are here to guide me in my pursuit... I'm ready." Vardall said, extremely determined. "I'm ready to learn."
Arngeir nodded his head respectfully and Vardall swore that he saw the glimpse of a little smile on the old man's face.
"Then let's begin."
Lucien I simply one of the best followers mod that ever exist. I can't play Skyrim without him.