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Post by silas on Feb 26, 2012 19:59:34 GMT -6
Years ago, the cold and the wind and the snow bothered Silas. He'd come from Hammerfell in his early twenties, and the sudden change in climate had made him completely miserable. He had of course taken that misery out on anyone he was paid to beat on.
Fast forward almost twenty years, and Silas still took out his misery on people he was paid to beat on. But he wasn't cold anymore. His mass of muscles ran like a furnace at all times due to their use, and he radiated heat within his armor so much that he had worked up a sweat killing those bandits.
Right now he had stopped to rest at the base of the mountains he had just climbed, sitting near the border of Whiterun and Hjaalmarch. He'd taken his helmet off and sat down on a more flat looking rock, gazing ahead at the wide, flat plains he would soon be walking on. His mace would need cleaning when he got back, and he could probably clean it off in the small stream next to Whiterun before entering the walled city.
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Post by Vokunulov on Feb 26, 2012 22:43:43 GMT -6
Vokunulov rarely left the borders of Whiterun Hold, let alone leave The Throat of the World. Recently, the ancient dragon had left the sight of his meditation to seek out the three great Dragonborn who were destined to defeat Alduin. Out of the three, he had met two of them, a khajiit and a nord, but had failed to meet the third so far. From what Vokunulov had heard, the third was a male, and proved to be nearly impossible to locate. It was difficult to locate the dragonborn when they did not use their thu'um... so rather than sit on top of his mountain and wait for the end of the world, Vokunulov decided to fly around, in hope that the mysterious dragonborn would appear.
Flying fairly close to the ground, Vokunulov kept his eyes peeled for a distinctive looking man, but wasn't entirely sure what to expect. To him, mortals were all very similar looking, with the obvious exception of the Khajiit and Argonians. As he approached the edge of Whiterun Hold, nearing Hjaalmarch, Vokunulov prepared to head back to The Throat of the World. That's when he noticed a lone Redguard at the base of some mountains.
He circled around above the man for a bit, looking for a clear place to land, but decided against it. For all Vokunulov knew, it might only take a minute to find out if the Redguard was dragonborn or not. Vokunulov hovered in front of the man in the least threatening way possible, which was difficult for a dragon.
"Drem yol lok, fahdon." Sometimes Vokunulov forgot that most of the joor did not speak the Dragon tongue, "Aam..... Are you one of the Dovahkiin?"
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Post by silas on Feb 26, 2012 23:06:38 GMT -6
A sudden disappearance and then reappearance of the sun was Silas's first hint that something was up. His eyebrows knitted and he looked to the sky before suddenly becoming aware that he was not alone. The Redguard stood immediately, drawing out his mace and preparing for what would probably be some of the most improvised combat he'd ever done.
He'd actually encountered a dragon a week ago while on a mission with a shield-brother, and it had taken both Companions a mad scramble in order to avoid dying. Now here was one, and he was facing it alone.
Then it spoke to him, instead of breathing fire on him as he'd expected. The Companion's thought process could best be described by frantic scribbles on a page, followed by a blank page as he stared at the dragon. Both mace and shield were at hand, but at his side as he stared and processed the question.
"... No," If he didn't know what 'Dovahkiin' was, he probably wasn't one of them. At least, that was Silas's train of thought, "Is that all?" he asked a bit rudely, grip tightening on his mace and his shield in case that answer was going to get him fire to the face.
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Post by Vokunulov on Feb 27, 2012 1:15:56 GMT -6
It was then that the ancient dragon realized that the Redguard might not have been familiar with the legend of the Dovahkiin, or at least didn't recognize the word in it's original tongue. More often than not, Vokunulov was rather quick to assume that most knew what he spoke of, which went on to show how much the old dov actually got out. The only other mortals that he ever spoke to were Dragonborn, so Silas was the first person who was not of his own blood that he spoke to.
His large eyes were fixed on the man's mace and shield. Vokunulov would have been surprised if Silas didn't become defensive, after all a dragon just swooped down and started talking to him. And the bluntness of his follow up question made the old dragon laugh, very few were ever gutsy enough to use such a tone with a dragon. Vokunulov found the redguard rather amusing to say the least.
"Ahhh... Do not fear me, friend. I am not here to fight you." Vokunulov said with a chuckle, "I seek the ones you may know as the Dragonborn, but I have yet to find them all.... Krosis...."
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Post by silas on Feb 27, 2012 1:54:45 GMT -6
Silas didn't lower his guard at all, grip still tight and shoulders locked in the direction of the hovering dragon, "I'm not exactly one for gossip and current events, dragon," he hadn't raised his mace and shield in defense mostly due to assurance that the dragon was not here to eat him, but he certainly hadn't put them away(when a dragon tries to eat you, you tend to be a bit prejudiced against dragons), "And I don't know of any Dragonborn. Do they look like Dragons?"
Yes, Silas was this slow at current events and adverse to gossip and small talk. If it didn't pertain to him somehow in the near future or in the past, chances were very high that he hadn't heard about it. Sometimes to a sad or hilarious degree.
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Post by Vokunulov on Feb 27, 2012 2:13:43 GMT -6
Based purely off the fact that Silas thought that the Dragonborn possibly looked like actual dragons, Vokunulov knew that the Redguard was either living under a huge rock or just wasn't from around the area, thus would know nothing of the local lore. The old dragon wasn't even sure how to approach the situation... He could have gone on and on for hours about what a Dragonborn was and what they were meant to do... but that seemed rather pointless.
"No... The Dragonborn are mortals who are born with the soul of a dragon and are able to learn our language. Through learning our language and absorbing the souls of fallen dragons, they are able to use shouts." Vokunulov wasn't sure if Silas would understand what he was talking about... but it was worth a shot at least. "I have taught the mortal races the Way of the Voice since I betrayed Alduin."
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Post by silas on Feb 27, 2012 2:22:18 GMT -6
There was a rather prolonged silence on the Redguard's end after this explanation, signaling that yes indeed, he knew absolutely nothing about what this dragon was saying, "... Ah-huh,"
The tension was releasing from his shoulders right now in the face of complicated history that would clearly need more explaining for him to understand. Silas wasn't even sure he wanted to know what this was all about, "And you are looking for these Dragonborn because... You want to teach them." he gathered from what the dragon had said. Which wasn't much. Silas was wondering at this very moment if he should have said anything at all or asked more about this 'Dragonborn' and 'Alduin' and 'Shout' business, because it sounded like it would take several hours to explain. At least, that was his impression. He'd been told by someone that Dragons lived a very long time ago and had expansive life-spans. To Silas, this just meant the history lesson would be even longer than a human's, or Talos forbid, an elf's.
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Post by Vokunulov on Feb 28, 2012 23:25:44 GMT -6
The old dov was starting to run out of things to say since Silas barely understood anything he said. It was difficult to carry a one sided conversation, but Vokunulov often spent hours chatting away to stray foxes and goats that found their way to the top of the Throat of the World. Vokunulov hovered in silence for a little while, trying to think of a very simple way to describe what he was talking about.
"Indeed I am," he replied rather simply, "When ever you see a dragon breath fire or frost, they are actually using a shout. A fight between dragons is technically a violent shouting match.... Aam.... Ahh, yes.... Yol means Fire in the dragon tongue. If you should hear the word Yol while traveling, prepare to be met with flames."
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Post by silas on Feb 28, 2012 23:36:02 GMT -6
Silas tilted his head a little, putting his mace and shield away as he listened, "Wait. Dragon, tell me this; you are not here to kill me, but two weeks ago me and a shield-brother were nearly eaten by one of your kin. What makes you so special?" it wasn't exactly a demand, but Silas was never very good at being polite either.
The idea of 'Shouting' sounded interesting, but the Redguard had no idea how to go about it. Unless he was given some sort of counter measure, the best he could do would be to try and avoid the shout. Which, as he had already tried previously, was incredibly hard.
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Post by Vokunulov on Feb 28, 2012 23:58:32 GMT -6
Few ever asked why he was not like the other dragons, who often devoured the different mortal races without a second thought. The conversation finally felt as if it was going somewhere and not just in a downward spiral. His tail flickered from side to side as he thought of the right answer.
"Mmmm.... I have overcome my violent nature through thousands of years of meditation. When I betrayed my brother, Alduin, I dedicated my life to teaching the joorre the Way of the Voice. Some of my disciples live in High Hrothgar, near the top of the Throat of the World. You might know them as the Greybeards."
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Post by silas on Feb 29, 2012 0:32:32 GMT -6
Despite living under a rock, Silas did know who the Greybeards were. And it took thousands of years of meditation? Good grief... That was an awful lot of dedication.
"And what stunning moment would change your mind like that?" especially if it was more natural to be so violent.
Silas had crossed his arms now and shifted his weight onto one foot, looking up at the dragon as less of a threat now and more... well, something different. Of all the things he may have ever expected to do in life, he'd never expected to talk with a dragon.
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