Skyrim...god, love that game. Top tier content. If you haven't played it, go do so right now. Its an experience all must have. Anyway, here we go!
I could barely move.
Not that it was a new development or anything. I had been confined to a hospital bed for...some amount of time. I don't remember when I first got stuck in here. When was it?
Ah, whatever. Not like knowing would change anything.
Friedreich's Ataxia.
A genetic disease that attacks the spinal cord and parts of the brain. That's what the doctor told me. Leads to loss of sensation in the extremities. So far, it was only my legs. Though, because of the disease, I am likely to die young.
I don't want to die.
That's terrifying. The thought of dying made the skin that I could still feel crawl. What happened after death? Was there a god? Maybe there's more than one? Or maybe I'll be reborn into a different world. Kind of like those transmigration fanfictions. They were pretty fun to read. However, I prefer to play games. And as my hours spread across the Elder Scrolls franchise implied, that series is my favorite. Ten thousand hours spread across the games.
I had done every quest, beaten every boss, seen every ending to every little thing, visited all locations, said and heard every line. I had done it all. But my favorite is definitely Skyrim. The world called out to me. I felt connected to it in a way. More than any other of the games. This one I had played every story I could of thought up. From my first argonian, Gresh the Bone-Cruncher, to my assorted elves, my many nords, to my very first Skyrim character ever. I named him Thaion. He's a black-haired nord with blue eyes. I decided to become a vampire lord and a mage. Maxing every magic tree took some time, but it was well worth it.
I hummed as Steam started on my gaming laptop. My parents bought it for me about four years ago. From there, I found Morrowind on YouTube. I fell in love with the series right away. Most of my time on it was spent either playing the games, or reading about the universe's lore. I ran my fingers over the textured plastic. It brought me a sense of comfort. Much better than the feeling of hospital bedding and the metal railing.
A small smile graced my lips as Steam opened. I immediately went to the library tab. I only had a few games and the only the Elder Scrolls games had more than two hundred each. The least one with the least amount of time was Arena. That had two-hundred and forty-three hours. The most was Skyrim. Eight-thousand three-hundred and sixty-two hours.
When I discovered mods, the time I spent on Skyrim jumped up much higher. My favorite mod was definitely the Inigo follower mod. His personality, his lines, his quests, all of it was amazing. By far, Inigo was one of the biggest reasons I kept playing Skyrim over and over again.
I hummed as I clicked the button to play the game. I felt goosebumps form on my arms as the familiar music started. The same black screen appeared for a moment before the game's logo was there. I smiled as it loaded. My cursor moved towards the "Continue" button and-
My vision blurred.
What?
My whole body started to lose feeling. The infernal beeping of the heart monitor that I had been around my whole life started to fade away. My hand slowly moved to my chest and-
Oh.
I couldn't feel my heartbeat.
No! I still have to finish this run!
I couldn't read the text on the screen anymore, much less play.
The heart monitor's sound slowed. I vaguely heard the door slam open, the kind doctor and his nurses rushing in with a crash cart. Before my eyelids closed, I saw them rip my hospital gown off and press the two pads to my chest. I felt a small jolt pass through my body, but it did nothing to stop my eyes closing.
I felt pretty tired...just one little nap couldn't hurt, right?
Right?
"By the Nine!" I heard Rashim shout. One of the caravan guards. He was built like a tank with muscles comparable to an orc. I heard the sounds of struggle as I ran towards the middle of the caravan. The sound of steel-on-steel made my skin crawl. After that, there was a groan and the flop of a body. It did not inspire confidence in me.
I heard other shouts throughout the area. Magic spells and weapons clashing together alongside the yells of my family. Curses of the language of the khajiit, Ta'agra, streamed out of their mouths. That was followed by aggressive hissing.
Though, he heard other hissing that was definitely not of a khajiit.
Vampires.
I looked around the surrounding area. Me and my surrogate family of khajiit tradesmen had been traveling between Winterhold and Whiterun when we got attacked. I didn't remember any damn vampire attacks in this area!
The bright moon was high in the sky. Stars were scattered around. They painted wondrous pictures for all who observe them.
Right now though, I was trying to find the little ones. The children of the caravan. They rode in the wagon in the very middle, right between the wagons with the most valuable items. They also had Rashim by their side to both entertain them and protect them. Right now though? There was flames licking every inch of the both ends of the caravan. The ones with the least important items. Things like firewood and the like.
I nearly tripped over a lump on the ground that I didn't see. I looked back and my core twisted.
Rashim was lying there in a pool of his own blood which colored the snow, his steel armor sprayed in red blood. There was a look of surprise etched on his face. When my eyes drifted lower...
...his throat had been torn out!
It took me several seconds to force myself to keep moving. Rashim was like an older brother to me. He taught me quite a bit. Mainly how to fight. It was always quite fun.
No point in getting distracted.
I passed a few more corpses, mainly of mercenaries we hired. I didn't care much for them. They stayed purely for the coin.
When I finally reached the wagon for the little ones...
I fell to my knees, eyes wide in horror.
They're all dead...
I scrambled over to the nearest. He was one of the oldest. His name was J'ahza if I remember correctly. He was a nephew of of our smith. His simple clothes were smeared with blood and scratches. My shaky hands hovered around a large burn centered on his chest. It was the site of a lightning bolt spell. The burn went down to the ribs.
Tears prickled at my eyes as I weakly crawled over to the next on all-fours. I picked up the small body of the little khajiit girl. I cradled her close. She had a slash on her neck. Her name was Adani. I stroked her light brown fur carefully. I had taught her how to read and write. This time I couldn't help it.
Tears escaped my eyes as I held the dead little khajiit girl close. I thought of her as a little sister.
After a few minutes of that, I set the corpse down, investigating the rest of the wagon. It had been tipped over. Going by the crater, it was the result of the first fireball thrown at the caravan.
"Ziss!" I couldn't help myself as I yelled the curse. If Rashim were still alive, no doubt he'd wipe my mouth out with soap. That wasn't very pleasant.
I walked around the bottom of the wagon; now the side, to the top; now the right side.
The sight was entrenched in my mind. I turned around, leaning again the wreckage of the wagon. I held my mouth closed. I would vomit otherwise. My whole body was shaking uncontrollably.
Fuck.
I slid to a sit against the wagon, my eyes skyward. What mattered anymore? The little ones were dead, no doubt none of the non-fighters are even fighting to stay alive at this point. So, what was there to fight for?
My thoughts were interrupted when S'ato crashed through the brush beside the road. He was locked in vicious sword-to-sword combat with a pale skinned nord. He looked nonplussed, as if this were all just a distraction. S'ato was one of the oldest members of the caravan who still fought. He used a steel sword. His leather armor had several cuts on it from the vampire's sword. The golden earrings in his ears flashed in the glow of the flames eating away at some of the wagons.
The moment the fight got near, I pulled myself up to my feet. Maybe the rest were dead, but all that mattered was I had someone!
I looked around quickly, spotting the corpse of a mercenary in the snow, I snatched up his iron sword. It was utter garbage, but it was better than being unarmed. I rushed towards the fight between the vampire who wore some sort of strange light armor. It was kind of like dyed leather, but clearly it performed much better. There were a strap running across the chest and a belt with several pouches on it. The vampire's forearms had some sort of black wrapping keeping his black sleeves from getting in the way. Dark metal pauldrons topped off the look. They looked brutal yet elegant.
S'ato and the vampire entered a blade block, S'ato grimaced as he was rapidly being pushed back. Despite using both arms, the vampire only used one, and seemingly pretty lazily at that.
Whatever, so long as he was distracted, I could get a hit in. Between me and S'ato, we may be able to send at least this one to Oblivion.
I charged as hard and fast as I could, blade pointed at the vampire's ribs. Due to my height, it was about as far up as I could go while still putting all my power into it. The vampire's eyes widened as he tried to leave the blade lock. S'ato pushed against the vampire, putting him off-balance. Just in time for me to strike!
Shlick
My blade pierced right through the vampire's side, going nearly through him. I let go of the hilt and backed away. I got him! Now, S'ato can-
Cracklecracklecrackle...
Lightning magic?!
CRACK!
My small body flew back, rolling through the bloodied snow. I came to a stop against a tree which had been cleaved in half by some sort of spell. My vision was blurry and my mouth tasted coppery. The sound of S'ato's enraged yowl echoed through the snowy forest. Swords clashed together for several more seconds before I heard a slash of flesh. A body fell onto the snow a second later.
I spat out a glob of blood weakly. My shaky hands traveled up my ruined tunic and fur coat to the massive crater in my chest. It went pretty close to the bone. Most of it was charred, especially the edges. Wispy marks traveled away from the crater, making it look kind of like the glowing fairies described in stories in a way. Huh, who know? It was interesting to see at least.
Snow crunching drew my attention, my head raising slowly.
It was the same vampire!
I watched as he slowly reached down and grasped me by the throat, picking me up like nothing. His glowing red eyes examined me for a moment before...
"Changeling." His lips curled into a snarl. My skin was rippling. My closing in on death made me drop my transformation. I was adopted at a young age by the caravan. I changed into a khajiit child in a town we passed through in order to fit in better. Sometimes I wondered if some truly remembered.
I raised my fist weakly. His eyes flashed in interest.
"Fighting to the last, eh? You all are the same, all-"
CRACK!
My fist struck true, hitting the vampire right in the chin. Though, his grasp didn't falter a bit. His head snapped to the side. I definitely broke his jaw...and my hand. My eyes widened as his jaw popped and cracked, forcefully moving itself back into place.
Shit.
The vampire sheathed his sword and used his free hand to move his jaw around, massaging it a bit. "Quite the hit. What a shame, you could have been something."
I raise my fist again only for my neck to suddenly be at his mouth.
Such a trash birthday gift. Twelve years of progress for what? This?
I let out a silent scream as his fangs dug into my gray-ish changeling skin, draining my blood. I could see my skin start to wrinkle due to lack of the life liquid.
My arm dropped to my side, my body going limp.
Something else was in my body now though. It felt raw and primal.
Must be the vampiric disease.
I am far too calm about this now. My thoughts felt dulled and relaxed.
And another moment later-
-darkness.
I gasped as I awoke- or well- I would have if I had a body. I seemed to be in a vast expanse of nothingness. Looking around gave me nothing to work with. Fuck. Was this purgatory or something?
Ping!
A box formed in the way of whatever I saw.
Greetings!
You have been selected to be reborn with the gamer system. Please select a universe from below.
-The Elder Scrolls
-Naruto
-One Piece
-Bleach
-...
I stared at the screen.
This was a dream, right? He would wake up any second...
Any second...
Any second..?
...
Fuck.
This was real, wasn't it?
The list of universes seemed to go on forever.
I guessed that it was in order of which ones people like to be reborn into the most?
Alright then.
Then it all came crashing down.
I fucking died! My birthday was a damn day ago! Oh my god...what would my family do?
Or...what's left of them. My dad died a month after giving me my laptop. My older sister went next, dying in a hit-and-run. Then my dog...
...my life was shit, wasn't it?
I would have cried if I could have. The weight of it all just crushed me to pieces. At least my family would be free of my medical expenses. They would move on eventually...
'Maybe even adopt someone to take my place.' I thought bitterly. After I was locked away in that stupid hospital, I only saw them a few times a week if that. It was usually once a month or so. I always figured they had replaced me. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Would it have killed them to visit once in awhile? I was so lonely for so long. I always wanted to have them there with me.
My thoughts continued like that for what felt like hours until I got it together. I looked at the glowing box floating in the black, empty, and vast expanse of void.
This was my chance...I could make a new family! One to call my own! Then...then nothing would happen to them. Not ever.
What could I do to increase my chances?
Pick a world I know a lot about.
I focused on Skyrim immediately. I didn't have sixteen thousand hours spread across the series for nothing. Nor what is likely to add up to another thousand or so hours just reading wikis.
Ping!
"The Elder Scrolls" has been selected!
What era do you wish to be transmigrated to?
The Merethic Era
The First Era
The Second Era
The Third Era
The Fourth Era
The most knowledge he had was useful in the Third and Fourth eras. That's when all the Elder Scrolls games take place.
What were his options?
Since I didn't know when I would be transported to, I could potentially end up during any of the games sans Skyrim if I went for The Third Era. Then, I'd get roped into dangerous quests.
Assuming I am the main character of course.
That leaves Skyrim. Probably the least scary of the games.
He looked at the box with "The Fourth Era" on it. Not having arms was annoying.
Ping!
"The Fourth Era" selected!
Character creation!
Please select your race:
-Nord
-...
I stared as I watched a long list of races drag down farther and farther. It eventually stopped, a bar to scroll appearing at the side. I looked over the races.
This wasn't right. There were races he didn't recognize...
What's a..."kenku"?
And there are gnomes?
Hobgoblins?
Wait...
Oh.
Oh no.
I recognized a handful of names here and there.
There's stuff from D&D in here! That's a massive problem.
I looked over the screen, finding no back button. Damn. Hopefully this was all that was changed, but I got a feeling it wasn't.
Ah, whatever.
Hopefully I could choose my starting province.
Nords were good all-rounders. They had equal potential for just about every class. They weren't super great at magic at the expense of physical might like elves. Or very physically powerful at the expense of magical ability like orcs.
A perfect balance really.
Guess I had my race.
I looked intently at the box with "Nord" on it.
Ping!
"Nord" Sel- ohftwh
.
Error encountered!
.
Beginning "Emergency Transmigration"!
What the-
I clawed at my chest, gasping. My warm breath expelled in puffs visible in the cold air of northern Skyrim. The dark night sky was still prominent above.
Wait...how did he know that?
The last thing he remembered was being in a void with no body...
...or, was it dying at the hands of that vampire fuck?
God, this was all so confusing.
I raised my right hand to my face to rub my throbbing head only to be met with-
"AH! WHAT THE HELL?!" I screamed out, scratching violently at my own hand. It was a light gray, near white. My nails were similarly gray. Blue veins weaved their way under my skin. There was dried flakes of red blood underneath my nails and all over my hands and forearms. I looked down at my legs. I had some nearly knee-high brown leather boots protecting my feet along with basic pants. I seemed to have a few layers on my legs.
I was wearing some sort cloth tunic and thick fur coat. Both seemed simple, but rugged. However, they both had massive holes in them. The edges were singed, hell, they were still warm to the touch. He touched the gray skin exposed by the hole. I pressed my finger into my abdomen and-
'I have abs?!' I thought incredulously. I could never get into fitness. My condition rendered me unable to keep my balance or feel much of anything south of my hips.
But now? I felt strong, but sickly in a way. There was something foreign in my body.
My body?
This body.
I looked up from my body to looked around. Where was I? Northern Skyrim, but more specifically. Massive trees, evergreens by the look of them, dominated my sight. They were probably hundreds of feet tall or more. Trees in Skyrim didn't get that big as far as I could remember. I didn't recognize this spot. That didn't seem right. I could recognize every little rock on the map. How could I not know this place?
That's when my eyes landed on a line of destroyed wagons.
Emotion welled up in me as I staggered up.
I had one thought.
'Family!'
I barely got over to the wagons, not used to the sensation of walking after being bedridden for most of my life. Fresh snow crunched under my boots. I looked on in horror. Blood caked the crisp snow. Some bodies were barely above the snow. Some wagons were flipped over, others were fully burnt out.
My body was on auto-pilot as I checked for any survivors. I was met with the sight of many bodies. Looking at each one caused me to remember a name and experiences I had with them. Or, rather, they had with the former occupant of this body.
Some bodies were grey and wrinkly, completely devoid of any blood in their veins.
The sight made me clench my fists.
It made tears well up in his eyes.
But I did not gag or hesitate to look. Odd. I definitely would have before, but something was telling me to investigate. I was always pretty squeamish.
Thankfully there weren't many bodies so far, only ten, but when I got to the middle of the caravan...
"Oh my god..." I whispered. I was staring at the bodies of many young khajiits. The term "little ones" came to mind. As did several words that sounded very foreign to him.
Bishu ma'a.
Little ones.
It meant little ones.
The phrase brought a ghost of a smile to my face. Though, looking into their glassy eyes snapped me back to reality. I shook my head. I couldn't help them now. Their adorable faces were too sad to look at. I stumbled around some more, eventually coming across another corpse.
"Rashim..." I said to my self. I knelt down next to a rather large khajiit. He was comparable to body-builders back in my old life. He had some scars on his face as well as a few earrings. They were all gold with the exception of one silver one. Burning hot tears streamed down my face as I grabbed the dead khajiit by the shoulders. I started gently trying to shake him awake.
"C'mon Rashim, we have to go." I said to myself. Why was I so emotional?
Then, the memories hit me.
Oh.
Those vampiric fucks killed my entire family...
...well, two different lives, same story. Both of us ended up not being around family in the end.
Wait.
"Us"?
I was silent in thought for a moment.
Transmigration.
Dead caravan.
A guy who probably should have been dead against a tree.
Oh. Right.
Reborn into this world.
I took a big gulp of air, forcing myself to remain calm.
First thing is first: I had to examine the system I am given.
'System?' I said in my mind. I felt a bit stupid doing it but it worked. A screen appeared in front of my face showcasing a few options.
.
[Status]
[Perks and Skills]
[Map]
[Quests]
.
I looked over the options. Seeing my status screen would be the best for now. My hand reached forwards and pressed the button. It felt like quite literally nothing. My sense of touch was completely muted when in the screen.
.
(Status)
Thaion
Race: Changeling
Level: 1
Experience: [0/1000]
Perk Points: 1
Age: 12
Title(s): None
Rank: None
Magicka Capacity: 100/100 (Student)
Strength: 11/100
Durability: 4/100
Endurance: 10/100
Agility: 8/100
.
Alright then.
What the hell is a changeling? A shapeshifter? Things are different and I don't like it.
Going off the fact that I don't recognize this part of Skyrim, I'm either in another era, or the entire continent has changed drastically. Neither are good.
In fact, it said I had a map.
I scanned the screen in front of me. I spotted a back button at the top left.
'Back?' The screen returned to the main menu thing. Nice.
'Map.'
Suddenly, a rather large map engulfed my vision. It was fully colored and zoomed all the way out.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Shit.
This was so bad.
There was a scale at the bottom of the map.
One hundred miles across.
About six fit across Skyrim.
This Skyrim was about six hundred fucking miles across.
Bethesda said that Skyrim was only supposed to be fifteen or so square miles.
This one was...much much bigger.
My eyes scanned the screen. They landed on a button at the bottom. It was four arrows pointing inwards.
'It goes out farther?' I wondered, poking the button. The screen flashed for a moment and there was suddenly a map of the entire continent of Tamriel popped up.
I was gaping.
I could go quite literally any where on the continent.
Of course, I would need to kill off the Thalmor if I wanted to travel in peace. Right now, they had their nasty yellow claws in everything. That and they're incredibly racist towards everyone. Not very funny. Only I'm allowed to be racist.
Racist towards the Thalmor, of course.
I ran a hand through my hair. Shaking my head, I closed the map and reopened the menu, hitting the [Perks, Skills, and Effects] button.
.
(Perks)
[Changeling Physiology]
As a changeling, you have certain biological
differences to other men and mer.
-Enhanced agility and flexibility
-[Dense Muscles] perk
-Access to the [Change] skill
.
I nearly had a heart attack as I looked that over.
My breathing became shallow. It was official; my meta-knowledge was either useless, or its usefulness was reduced.
Great.
I looked down a bit more.
.
[Dense Muscles]
Due to your biology or other circumstances,
your muscle fibers are far denser than normal.
-Enhanced strength and durability gains
-Increased weight relative to size
.
[Fa di Ahzirr]
You being raised in a clan of Khajiit has
netted you some benefits related to them
and their culture.
-Increase of 100% to any gained experience in Ta'agra
-Easier to increase relations with traditionally raised Khajiits
.
[Disguised Charm]
Changelings inherently are skilled at smooth talking.
-Increased chance of charming someone
-Higher chance of seducing someone
-Lower prices in transactions
.
[Changeling Illusions]
Changelings have a natural inclination to illusionary magic.
-Increase of 50% to any gained experience in any illusionary magic
-Decrease of 50% to magicka cost required to cast illusionary magic
.
[Sanguinare Vampiris]
The disease that spawns the cursed gift of Molag Bal.
-Time left: three nights
At least I seemed to have some interesting perks. Denser muscles would come in handy eventually. Though, I hadn't the faintest idea as to why Changelings would have dense muscles. Maybe to store extra material to perform their disguising? I could only guess until I figured it out.
Fa di Ahzirr.
The meaning popped into my head. It felt so smooth and natural. It was like I had been speaking the language for years. It meant "One of Us". It was a term for outsiders adopted into khajiit clans. That's what the previous occupant of this body was. Now I am Fa di Ahzirr.
I thought about the [Disguised Charm] perk for a while. In my previous life, I had been about as charming as a dirty brick. Social skills were completely out of the question. The one time I tried talking to a nurse like I had seen a character in a show do, I just got a weird look. Never saw that lady again. Oh well.
[Changeling Illusions] had me nearly jumping for joy. Any bonus to learning magic was more than welcome. It was the main thing I used in the games. I loved the magic in Morrowind.
The final perk had me incredibly angry though. It was mainly the previous inhabitant's emotions though.
I had the vampiric curse. In three nights, I would turn into a vampire.
Shit.
This was highly inconvenient. Hopefully sunlight didn't kill vampires. That would put a lot of my activities on hold for quite a bit.
Could I cure it?
Falion in Morthal could do it for me. Though, I needed a black soul gem. He would sell them, as would a few other merchants I think, for a ton of gold. The chest in Brittleshin Pass was a guaranteed spawn. The Mzinchaleft Depths also had one near a fountain. Though, both of those were way too dangerous for a long time. Looks like I was stuck with the curse for the foreseeable future. Though, I always liked playing vampiric characters. I knew all their strengths and weaknesses as well as play styles ideal for the condition.
I could use this.
A deep breath later, and I was scrolling down a bit more to review my other perks.
.
[Bastardized Skyward Navigator]
Khajiits have an innate ability to find their way around
using the heavenly bodies in the sky. You have replicated
this by practice and patience.
-Instinctually aware of your location as long as you can see the sky
-Increase of 25% to experience gained in navigational skills
.
[Khajiit Living]
Survival techniques unique to the Khajiit. Can be taught
or learned by non-Khajiit.
-Increase of 25% to experience gained in [Tracking] skill
-Increase of 50% to experience gained in [Climbing] skill
-Ability to intuitively tell what a plant will do to your body
.
I hummed as I read over my last two perks. Bastardized? Does that mean I can replicate other racial perks with enough practice?
No, this feels like a one-time thing.
[Khajiit Living] seems very useful. The real bonus of that is the third part. Would that allow me to tell what each alchemy ingredient will do without having to eat it? That would be amazing. Especially since some ingredients damage health. I got a suspicious feeling that they would do more than that here though. Climbing could be handy for escaping pursuers.
Or breaking into places.
(Skills)
[Change]
[Novice]
Level 000: 000%
An ability unique to changelings. Allows one to
adopt the appearance of any man or mer they
have seen before.
-Increase of 10% that a disguise will fool someone
.
[Khrass Rak]
[Novice]
Level 000: 000%
A form of hand-to-hand combat created by the Khajiit. Normally,
a practitioner would have claws. It can be used without though.
Uses claw (or fist) strikes, elbow strikes, grappling, and kicks.
-Increase of 5% in strength gains
-Increase of 5% in durability gains
.
[Climbing]
[Novice]
Level 000: 000%
The ability to climb. Each rank up will allow
new surfaces to be affected by the skill.
-Increase of 5% in strength gains
-Increase of 10% in climbing speed and grip strength
-Climbing Level: Wood
.
[Tracking]
[Novice]
Level 000: 000%
The ability to track something.
-Increase of 5% in endurance gains
-Increase of 5% in agility gains
-Increase of 10% in tracking success
Its great to start out with a martial art. That would do wonders for training. My racial skill seems to be pretty good too. If I transform into another race, do I temporarily gain their racial abilities?
Thoughts for later.
I close the screen and go back to the menu. I hit [Quests].
"Shit."
Just a little idea I had brewing.
Discord Invite: T9sPwzGbMp