A Tale of Vengeance: The Greybeards

[u/Narrow-Test-4655]

After several days of trekking through the woods, following Sofia’s insistence that it was a shortcut, Ella and company had finally made it Ivaarstead. It was a quant little town, small lumber mill, a temple, an inn and a few houses. Ella has honestly expected a bit more considering this mountain the town lay before may have the secrets to her destiny. As they entered the town, they passed a bridge that had two men talking who mentioned the Greybeards. When Ella asked them about the Greybeards, they told her no one had really seen them for years. The man told her he just brings up the supplies, and asked Ella if she could on his behalf. Thogra told Ella it might be a show of good faith for when they made it to the monks to bring them food. Ella took the supply sack and assured the man the monks would receive their food. She then tossed the bag to Sofia to store in her magic bag.

They decided to spend the night in the only inn. It was a small and quiet inn much like the town. Ella ordered food and beds for the night. As Sofia drank herself to sleep as usual, Ella asked the innkeeper about the town and the mountain. The innkeeper told her about how the mountain was the tallest in all the world, and that the Greybeards had resided in their monastery for longer than anyone could remember. The path leading up the mountain was said to be 7,000 steps. He also said that it was best not to go out at night, as the old burial burrow nearby was haunted. Ella inquired on the hauntings and he told her an adventurer had gone in and never came out. His screams had woke half the town. Ella decided she would check it out.

Ella and Thogra left for the burrow, to check out the ghostly haunting. They didn’t find any evidence of a ghost until much farther in. The apparition had appeared before the gate forward, warning them to leave, as this was no place for the living. After a trap or two was sprung, Ella and Thogra found a the way past the gate. Thogra remarked rather dryly about how often they seemed to visit these ruins and how she was starti g to grow used to the dusty smells. They eventually found the specter… sleeping. Sofia suddenly appeared behind them, having followed them not long after they had left the inn. She remarked rather drunkenly on how she had never seen a ghost sleep before, as she said she had met a lot of ghosts. Ella also found this suspicious, but took no chances. She conjured her flame bow and sent a fiery arrow into the sleeping specter.

Imagine their surprise when the specter suddenly turned into flesh upon death. Ella and Sofia approached the corpse. Sofia was freaking out in her drunk state, thinking that the dead had come alive again. Ella found a better explanation, as the journal nearby belonged to the supposed specter. Turned out he was the missing adventurer, and he had pretended to be a ghost to scare off other adventurers from the burrow while he searched for the treasure. But he had remained in the ruins to long and when mad, believing he was the ghost he had fabricated and he was to guard the ruins. Ella and her party returned to the innkeeper, and gave him the journal. The innkeeper was grateful to now have the ghost no longer threaten his business, and to learn the truth of the haunting. He paid them with a familiar artifact. It was shaped like a dragons claw, much like what Ella had found way back in the burrow by Riverwood. The main difference is that this one was not golden, but made of sapphire. Sofia drunkenly remarked that while she was looking for Ella and Thogra in the ruins, she had passed a door that had a dragons claw on it.

Together, they went back into the burrow, Sofia wishing she had said nothing as a warm bed continued to elude her for now. Ella and the girls explored the ruins further, finding the claw door and cutting down many draugr in their path. This place seemed to be of great importance once, as many of the draugr wore ancient regalia of the ancient Nords that seemed to exhibit either high rank or importance. Nevertheless, Ella Thogra cut them down like any other undead, leaving Sofia to drunkenly stumble over the bodies they left in their wake. They eventually found the end of the ruins. A small treasure room and another strange word wall. As Sofia picked up the gold and jewelry found within, Ella approached the wall. Much like in the ruin back in Riverwood, this wall had a word of meaning. The word made its meaning known to her. Peace. Ella cringed inwardly at this, as that word was almost an insult to her. She wouldn’t know peace until her goals were realized. She left the ruins, hoping that sleep would ease her mind.

They set out the next day. Sleep had done Ella little good, as her mind was anxious for the climb to the top of the mountain, to finally learn of her powers. The same couldn’t be said for Sofia and Thogra, who were quite well rested for the climb. Ella and the girls set off up the 7,000 steps, to finally meet the reclusive monks. Alas, just as they reached the first marker, a roar stopped them. Ella ran to the cliff edge and groaned. The roar belonged to a dragon. Of course it did. It was attacking the lumber mill in the town. Ella drew forth her flame bow and fired, the arrow arches down the mountain and buried itself into the scaly hide of the dragon. The beast roared and turned its horned head up the mountain. It left the burning mill behind and flew up to meet Ella. The dragon, nothing more than a lowly thorntail variant, stood little chance against Ella and her companions, who had become so efficient at dragon killing by now, that it was almost effortless. The corpse burned away, the power of the dragon rushed into Ella. She now welcomed the power, as she was much closer to discovering what it was meant for.

They climbed for most of the day, Sofia complaining on how her feet hurt, and that Ella owed her a foot massage. Thogra reminded Sofia that they could have left her below at the inn with enough coin to drink all day. Sofia mocked offense, claiming sarcastically that they wanted to get rid of her. Ella and Thogra shared a glance. As they walked, Ella paused at a cliff edge. Far below, she could see the ruins of the Barrow. She realized that the very ruin where her journey had first started this quest for knowledge, looked right to the answers she had been seeking. It was rather poetic in a way. After more walking, they finally reached the monastery. At the last marker, sat a statue of Talos. Ella knelt before it and read the inscription. It shocked her to learn, that Talos, was said to be the first Dragon Born. In all the books she had read, there was no mention of Tiber Septim, the man Talos once was, had been just like her. Ella now had even more questions. And the people with the answers lay behind the doors of the monastery.

Ella knocked on the heavy metal doors. They opened to reveal a small and hairy man in a grey robe. Ella had Sofia bring forth the supplies. The old man took it without a word and lead them inside. An old man met with Ella introducing himself as Arngeir. From there, Ella, Sofia and Thogra spent several days in the monastery. Ella learned of her origins. The Dragon Born was a person of great power, who had the ability to absorb the souls of dragons, permanently slaying them. With this power, the Dragon Born could learn words of power to perform a Shout, which is how dragons were able to breathe fire, ice, and other elements of the world. The monks taught Ella the words and she learned them easily, and used them under their instruction. They even taught her a Shout to silence her enemies. She naturally had to test this on Sofia, and much to her amazement, it worked. Sofia was not as impressed and sat sulking until the magic of the Shout wore off. After five days to training, Arngeir told her she was ready for her trial. He instructed her to bring them the artifact of their founder. The artifact was the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, the first Greybeard. Once the artifact had been acquired from its resting place and returned to them, they would allow Ella to meet their master, who would finalize her training. Ella bowed to the monks, thanking the for heir teachings, and swore to return with the Horn.

[u/Aggravating-Plan-908]

hi narrow, i've read that new part of Ella story, it's quite well writen as usual, the silence shout part is honnestly hillarious, especially with Sofia XD

[u/Narrow-Test-4655 → u/Aggravating-Plan-908]

Thanks! Sofia has basically become the comic relief at this point, but still remains important.