Dungeons and Dragons

It was late, but Balgruuf eventually made his way down to Jorrvaskr to thank Yuri for slaying the dragon accidentally before he was redirected to Alera and corrected himself. Finding out she was the Dragonborn gave no less shock to him than to the rest of the Nordic town, after which he reminisced about his own pilgrimage up the seven thousand steps.

Alera, Yuri, and Tonilia bid their farewell to the Companions and the home they barely used in short order before Yuri made a portal to Ivarstead directly across from the entry to the only path up the Throat of the World.

It was scenic in Ivarstead, the bridge leading to the tallest mountain in Tamriel passed over a peaceful stream bordered by a cottage-style village with friendly people. Even just landing via portal the atmosphere threatened to overtake you. Yuri offered to take the satchel up to High Hrothgar for the elderly delivery man like he usually did, and Yuri asked a very important question.

"Are ya ready kids?"

Alera was confused, but Tonilia got the gist.

"AYE AYE CAPTAIN."

"I can't heaar yooooouuuuu!" He and Toni leered at Alera, who now understood.

""AYE AYE CAPTAIN""

"OOOOOOOHHHHHHH"

And they were off while the locals of Ivarstead looked at their backs strangely and shook their heads.

The first 2,000 steps were reminiscent of spring going into fall, birch-looking trees hugged the path of leaf-covered stone steps. Wildlife sprung before them infrequently, be it rabbit or wolf. Yuri urged himself and the others to read every Wayshrine they came across to see if the Voice of the Sky effect they would get that made all animals they came across friendly would last longer than 24 hours.

As his group descended into a hardly breached silence, Yuri began to plan ahead.

'Obviously, we aren't going to need to follow the plot hook, line, and sinker while I'm here to teach the Thu'um and Draconic, maybe we can disregard the need to the Elder Scroll entirely since I've already made my own Dragonrend shout. All we really have to do is get Alera strong enough and get to Skuldafn. I don't want to speedrun this world, but there's no point in doing every single quest. I remember every Dragon burial ground, so we don't need the blades. We can take Sky Haven Temple for ourselves for loot... damn it's really just dragon hunting and vacation until then isn't it. We don't even need Ohdaviing since we will be able to fly just fine. We can go around and destroy the Vampire coven up north for fun and skip the Dawnguard, maybe do a few cool side quests and bada bing bada boom. Though I should probably become a spirit before we attack Alduin just to be safe.'

"We're in the snowy part now." Tonilia remarked. It was here that they started to witness more pilgrims meditating in front of the wayshrines. Yuri politely picked them up with telekinesis so they could read the wayshrines before putting them down as they were and awkwardly nodding.

"This place is also called the Snow Tower, though I have no clues as to how it was made or why it is called a Tower. Towers usually have a stone that represents its core, but apparently, the stone of this Tower is a cave." Yuri was well-read but still missing many pieces. Perhaps the Throat of the World would do just as well for his Spirit Ritual, but he would rather make the trip to Ada-mantia."

"What are the Towers?" Asked Alera.

"Oh boy..." Groaned Tonilia who knew what was coming.

For the next two hours of their journey, Yuri talked their ears off about the Towers and how they supposedly stop Mundus from being swallowed into Oblivion, as well as what they are meant to imitate.

"Are you trying to become a god, Yuri?" Alera asked and Toni perked up since she had the inside scoop on how feasible that really was.

"If there is a god of magic, I'd like to be them. Though I doubt it would come free or easy. Perhaps one day I'll become the greatest sorcerer to ever live, and look back to see I had already become a god. I wish that were how it worked. I'll settle for immortality for now. How about you?"

"Immortality? I'd never held such a concept in my regards. My first instinct is to believe it is a curse, though I wouldn't know."

"Those vampires up north in Volkihar don't exactly use their long lives to the best of their abilities, but not everything is black and white. Who knows, I'm sure when most people are actually given the opportunity to conquer death they change their tune quickly."

"Vampires? In Skyrim?"

But their philosophical ponderings were interrupted by the classic Level 3 killer. The Frost Troll.

"Alright, Dragonborn. It's all you." 'Toni, let her do this' Yuri said to Alera and projected to Toni.

Alera had changed into something more fit for a winter-ready warrior since she stayed with the Companions. Fur lined helm with the classic upside-down horns that Yuri demanded she wear, shield and sword branded with Elvish runes, and similarly enchanted steel and leather light armor banded with hardly a gap to be seen, yet allowing movement in its joints. Tonilia had largely the same with a darker color palette than Alera's brown and she used dual tanto instead of a shield.

This main quest was Vulcan sponsored. Yuri would be damned before the drip in his party suffered a drop in quality.

Alera made short work of the beast, causing no shortage of envy in the man who at one point struggled to kill it by backpedaling and fire-spelling the bastard repeatedly or running past it. She got underneath the wild swinging of the beast and shield bashed it with incredible force before lopping off an arm. She shouted a quick 'Volei' then jumped atop the downed primate and pinned its neck to the floor successfully.

"Good work. We should be close to High Hrothgar." Yuri projected over the increasing winds.

Another few wayshrines devoid of Pilgrims (Yuri couldn't notice an effect he gained yet), a bear, and one more Frost Troll later, and the gang found themselves in front of a completely stone building with two staircases leading to two separate doors that entered the same place. Yuri dropped the food satchel into the chest before the staircases branched off, then made his way up the left staircase with the two others in tow.

An ornate yet brutalist style metal door was pushed aside in equal parts, Yuri could swear the thing was fifty pounds each side, and they made their way into a small and unwelcoming stone entry clearing.

After they filed in and closed the door with a bang, Arngeir made his way forward followed by a few more of the fogie - *cough* grey-cloaked elders. Yuri frowned briefly before noting how strong the man felt in front of him. Not enough to scare him, but surprising nonetheless. None below this mountain he had met could compete.

{A/N: Fun fact, Arngeir has the highest static level of an NPC, being 150. He is essential and a non-combatant, but even Karstaag, the hardest boss in-game, has a static level of 90, and Alduin is capped at 100 as long as you are too.}

Arngeir looked Yuri in the eye and said:

"So, a Dragonborn appears, at this moment in the turning of the age." In a raspy and familiar voice.

'Holy shit it's Christopher Plummer, haha' {A/N: Voice Actor for Arngeir, as well as the male lead in Sound of Music and the villain in the movie UP. Rest in Peace.}

But Yuri had to correct him. "Actually, this is the Dragonborn." He used his thumb to point to Alera who stepped out from behind him and waved numbly.

Arngeir merely cleared his throat and moved on. "Let us see if you truly have the gift before moving on, Dragonborn."

'Perhaps Savy was once a Greybeard seeing how thick-skinned they both are, clearing their throat and moving on.'

"Show us, Dragonborn. Let us taste of your voice." 'Taste, really?'

But Yuri nodded and Alera blasted them with a 'Volei' so as not to throw them back too far.

The fogies were barely staggered, but instead of nodding their heads and moving on, they had a question.

"What Thu'um was that?" He frowned.

"Unrelenting Force?" "No, child, that was not the first word to Unrelenting Force. You have learned a different Thu'um of which I am unfamiliar, we must train that out of you."

"I don't think so. I taught her the language, there is no better method, even amongst Dovahzul."

"And who might you be, stranger? I don't remember us inviting anyone but the Dragonborn here." Arngeir got snappy.

"Yuri the Lightbringer, Mage and Tongue of the men below. You may not have heard of me, but the Dragonborn learns the Thu'um from me." He challenged.

"Oh? I had thought our founder had thoroughly proven the Tongues ways as wrong long ago. You would presume there is a better than the Greybeards at teaching the Dragonborn?"

"I would presume that even the honored guest at the top of this mountain would agree you are ill-equipped to face me in the Thu'um."

"How do you..." Arngeir's gaze burned at him, "Insolence! We have been guided by him for centuries, none know better than we in the Voice!"

"A wager then? Anything you can do, I can do better." Yuri taunted.

"And when you lose, the Dragonborn will learn correctly from us!" "That is entirely up to her, but I assure you it won't be needed." Yuri looked at her and winked, receiving a nod from her in good faith.

In a huff, Arngeir and his posse moved up a small staircase behind the stone entry and into more cold metal doors reaching to their snow-covered back yard. To their left stood a gate connected to only pillars with no fence or wall attached, to their forward/right another staircase climbed into the rest of the mountain leading to Paarthunax and the Time Wound and shrouded in icy and deadly winds.

'Soon, Partysnax, soon'

"I suppose a warm-up, then?" Arngeir took his place on the gate side while Yuri stood opposite 15 feet away.

"FUS RO DAH!" Arngeir shouted without warning to Yuri. Instead of countering, Yuri let it pass by over him without moving an inch, his hair being the only moving thing.

"Fehn Seyaas" In almost a whisper, Yuri spoke but everyone heard it clearly. The snow melted and washed away with the winter winds in a misty tide, mountain flowers of marigold and lavender grew uninhibited, and grass climbed and showed its verdant glory in every corner of the yard.

"Spring Shall Come," Alera translated in a smiley daze for proudly grinning Toni. Yuri would impress her and earn the Greybeards fear and or respect at the same time, it was about to be a piece of cake.

'Clear Skies shout, yet more advanced and simpler? Hmph, I'm not done yet.'

"VEN GAAR NOS!" And a gust of air sprouted before his feet before it spun rapidly and climbed higher, turning into a cyclone.

"Raas," Yuri spoke slightly and the cyclone dispersed with a single word before it reached even halfway to him.

"Kradas Farah!" Yuri spoke with a deep and powerful command and the sky darkened, greedy and excited tendrils of lightning gathered and split across the sky like a school of piranha looking for meat. The storm was localized to just the mountain, but the sound certainly wasn't.

*CRACK TUM TUM TUM* The witnesses were blinded in hot white light and deafened in the aftermath of plasma forcefully expanding the atmosphere.

When they finally opened their eyes, Arngeir saw a charred mark where the lightning landed five feet in front of him. Yuri had to contain the discharge to not hurt him, but it was worth it.

Arngeir was not an angry man. Were this discussion on something other than the Thu'um itself and Paarthunax, Arngeir would find it easy to stick to Jurgen Windcaller's doctrine of 'choosing silence unless absolutely necessary'. But directing the Dragonborn to use what may be a sacrilegious and man-made Thu'um would be suicide for her potential.

That is until a Voice from above said otherwise.

"What manner of Dovahzul do you speak, stranger?" Came a wizened yet skeleton vibrating voice from the peak of the mountain.

But Yuri beamed and looked up with a face-splitting smile!

"PARTYSNACKS!!!"

{Read the Author's Note}