Of Dragons and Thrones, a Tale of Winter
Arthius Vitellius was a man of about 30 years of age, with short black hair and a trimmed black beard, his physique was well-built and strong. Everything he wore, he had made himself, hours of hard work showing in some of the finest crafting this land had ever seen. His armor, which he had dubbed the 'Dragon Carved armor', took inspiration from the Nordic Carved armor, usually found on Solstheim.
While somewhat similar, Arthius' armor also had differences too. The armor had no fur and was made from only the finest metals and reinforced with dragon scales. The cuirass, gauntlets, and boots had various engravings, the pauldrons slightly resembled the heads of dragons, and the sleeves and cuisses were made from high quality chainmail.
His armor was truly one of a kind, and it had protected him in the last fights of his adventures in Skyrim and Solstheim. Over his armor, he wore a fur cloak he had fashioned out of the pelt of a cave bear he had slain early in his travels, and, from his neck, hung an amulet in the shape of a dragon skull, carved from the thick horn of a dragon Arthius had slain himself.
The only things he wore that he did not make himself were he Ring of Hircine, which he had gained in the course of helping a man called Sinding, which adorned his left hand, and the weapons he wore on his sides: to his left, was Dragonbane, the legendary katana he had claimed for his own when he, Delphine, and Esbern, the last two remaining Blades, had first entered Sky Haven Temple on his quest to stop Alduin. To his right, was the Blade of Woe, which he had gained when Astrid had used the Black Sacrament on herself.
Arthius Vitellius was by no means a normal man. No, he was what people called a Dragonborn, and what dragons called Dovahkiin: a mortal with the soul of a dragon. Five years before, he had been a man about to be beheaded just because he had simply and unfortunately been in the wrong place at the wrong time, only to be saved, ironically, by the arrival of the World Eater, Alduin, who had sought to kill him. It was not until he helped the Whiterun guards slay the dragon known as Mirmulnir that he learned he was the Dragonborn, after being summoned by the Greybeards to High Hrothgar: The Greybeards had helped him as he embarked on a journey to stop Alduin. It had not been easy, particularly with the Stormcloak Rebellion ongoing. He had, in the end, managed to put an end to that Rebellion, which had made Alduin stronger with every soldier slain, and finally he killed the dragon in single combat.
However, the current situation did not seem to have much in common with that past. Paarthurnax, the dragon that lead the Greybeards, had summoned him to the home of the Greybeards in the Throat of the World, wishing to speak with him about an important matter. Arriving after walking the long winding path, he was welcomed by Arngeir, who led him to the word wall, where Paarthurnax and Odahviing - the dragon he had convinced to ally with him in his quest to defeat Alduin, were perched on either side.
"Drem yol lok, greetings," Paarthurnax immediately said, his voice holding a slight hint of worry. "I apologize for summoning you so unexpectedly, but there is a matter I must speak to you about."
"Krosis mid fahdon but has something happened?" Arthius asked.
"Vrah, indeed. A very dire matter has arisen. Tell me, what do you know of the continent of Westeros?"
"Westeros? Isn't that the continent to the far east of Tamriel?"
Not many knew about the large continent that stood weeks perhaps months away in even the fastest of ships to the east, about as many as the distance to the continent of Essos. Travel between both continents was very limited as a result, and there were few, if any, connections between them. As such, there was no bad blood between the Empire and the Seven Kingdoms. In truth, Tamriel had something of an isolationist policy when it came to Westeros, seeing Westeros's problems as Westeros' problems not theirs.
But that did not mean that Tamriel did not keep an eye on the neighboring continent such as the many conflicts that happened such as the Dance of Dragons, the Blackfyre Rebellions and in the last couple of decades, the reign of Aerys II Targaryen, the aptly named Mad King for his mental instability. One instance of the Mad King's madness was his declaration to invade Tamriel and bring them under the rule of the Iron Throne. It was only the Mad King's advisors who persuaded him not to go through with his plan as well as him seemingly losing interest in the idea which was fortunate as Tamriel was in the grip of war with the Aldmeri Dominion. Aerys's eldest son Prince Rhaegar Targaryen had sought to treat with Tamriel and had seemed particularly interested in the magics and prophecies of Tamriel. Strangely, Westeros was seemingly without magic of its own and magic was widely dismissed as a fantasy or a tale long deprived of legitimacy.
"Yes. Ages ago, when the Dovah ruled Tamriel, men had settled there. Prosperous and peaceful was their rule, until the day Molag Bal decided to seduce a group of mortals into his servitude. He promised them great power in exchange for their sille, their souls. Their skin and eyes became the palest shade of blue, their hides became the colour of milk and like armor, their weapons hardened ice, and they began to practice the foul art of necromancy. They were no longer men; they became known only as 'The Others', or, a more common title would be, the White Walkers. And thus came the Long Night, a winter that lasted more than a generation. The Others descended upon Westeros from the Lands of Always Winter: any that were killed by the Others were raised as wights, similar to the Draugr. The First Men fought back for a long time, and, with the help of beings known as the Children of the Forest, managed to drive them out of the realm. The one that would be called 'the Builder' constructed a mighty wall imbued with ancient magic that, still to this day, keeps the Others out of the realm of the Living."
"So, you believe these Others are returning?" Arthius half stated, half asked. Paarthurnax would not have summoned him if it was not important, and he would not have told Arthius the story of the Others if they were not returning.
"The Others have always remained in the Lands of Always Winter, slowly building up their strength. Waiting for the time when mortal races had forgotten their existence, or worse dismissed them as fantasies," replied the old dragon gravely. "It is only recently that they have begun making more… active movements that have alerted me to them," he said.
"So, what must I do?" Arthius asked.
"You must go to Westeros and warn its people of the danger they are in and rally them to defeat the Others once and for all. You must go to the North of Westeros, there you may find allies."
"Very well. I will set sail for Westeros once I have gathered allies," Arthius eagerly stated. It had been a while before he had embarked on a journey, the last time being when he defeated Miraak and saved Solstheim nearly two years ago. Truth be told, Skyrim had become quite boring, and he welcomed a journey like this. With that, Arthius began heading back down the mountain to prepare for the task at hand.
Lakeview Manor
Ella Vitellius, Arthius' younger sister by nearly nine years, was fletching arrows for her practice: she was probably the best archer in all of Tamriel, even better than Aela of the Companions, and while she also knew how to use her twin ebony daggers quite effectively, she rather preferred the feeling of the bowstring in her fingertips.
Fletching her last arrow, she grabbed her ebony bow and her quiver - filled with around 40 ebony arrows - and moved to the archery range, where she practiced her targeting. Many of her shots hit the center of the targets. It was as she finished shooting her last arrow that she heard the roar of a dragon echo across the sky. Her first instinct had been to hide inside the house until she could safely retrieve her arrows. But then she recognized its familiar ruby coloring and rider.
Odahviing had flown Arthius back from High Hrothgar.
"Nox hi dii fahdon," Arthius thanked as he jumped off the red dragon.
"Dii genazend," Odahviing replied, and with a beat of his wings began flying back to the Throat of the World. Ella approached her brother.
"What did the Greybeards want?" she inquired.
"It was actually Paarthurnax who needed to speak to me. He says that there is a growing threat of what he calls 'The Others', akin to Draugr, in the continent of Westeros. He asked me to sail there and help put an end to the threat." Arthius paused for a few moments, considering something else, before speaking up. "He also told me that they were created by Molag Bal," he added gravely.
That last part really caught Ella's attention. These Others were, no doubt, important, especially if they were created by one of their own Daedric Princes. And, now that they were returning, it was quite possible that Molag Bal sought to merge Westeros into Coldharbour like he had attempted to do Tamriel during the Planemeld. She immediately made up her mind on what to do.
"When do we depart?"
"Hopefully, within a few weeks. We have some errands to make, and more allies to recruit for this journey before we depart," he grinned widely. "Starting with the Blades!"
Skyhaven Temple
Skyhaven Temple, the headquarters of the Blades, was bustling with activity, and filled with people of various races clad in the traditional Blades armor. Some were seated at the dining tables enjoying an evening meal and conversing with their comrades, some were practicing archery with their Imperial bows, some were sparring with each other with their trademark katanas, some were working at grindstones and workbenches to improve their gear, and others were simply patrolling.
This was a far cry from what they were before Arthius Vitellius, Dragonborn of the fourth era, destroyer of Alduin, and savior of Tamriel, had taken up the mantle of Grandmaster. First, he had exiled Delphine and Esbern from the temple because of their insubordination, short sightedness, and bloodlust. While Arthius exiling Delphine and Esbern would have been nothing personal, and simply something that needed to be done if the new Blades were to thrive, they had made it personal when they tried to force Arthius to murder Paarthurnax. While Paarthurnax had indeed committed atrocious crimes against humanity while he was serving under Alduin, he had little choice in the matter, and he had more than atoned for them by helping Arthius defeat his former leader. After exiling his former allies, Arthius began rebuilding the ancient order of Blades from the ground up. Under Arthius' leadership and vision, the Blades' numbers had swelled rapidly, and they now numbered at around 3,000 members, each with the fighting strength of 10 legionnaires.
The new Blades now only killed dragons that were actual threats, as opposed to killing them over past grudges, or just for the simple sake of bloodlust and greed. While they routinely sent out patrols to dispatch everyday threats such as bandits and forsworn, they also functioned as a mercenary company in order to acquire the gold required to sustain themselves, and to keep their skills sharp. They had developed a very respected, yet highly feared reputation, that made even Thalmor agents give them a wide berth.
Arthius couldn't help but feel a large sense of pride that he had rebuilt an ancient, and once very respected order, into an army of elite fighters. As he walked through the halls of Skyhaven Temple, every Blade that noticed him bowed in respect to their leader, and the man that had turned the failing order into an elite fighting force.
He continued his tour of the temple, walking past the armory, up the stairs, and into the courtyard, where his second in command, Raccar, a Redguard and former Alik'r warrior whom he had met during his adventures across Skyrim, was coaching a few green recruits on sword techniques, and watching as they sparred. Raccar was about Arthius' age, with a lean muscular build, though not as muscular as Arthius, nor was he as tall. His dark hair was in the style of a buzzcut mohawk, and his beard was tied in a braided knot. While Blades soldiers typically wielded their trademark katana and targe, Raccar, instead, wielded dual scimitars of Hammerfell make and design, which he had sheathed on either side of his hips, and was not wearing a helmet, which made him stand out from the average Blades officer.
"Never let your guard down, or you're liable to be killed," Raccar admonished, pulling a recruit up off the ground. "Now, again" he commanded, and the two recruits began sparring once more.
In a flash, Arthius had unsheathed Dragonbane and had its edge against Raccar's neck "you should take your own advice," he joked.
"It wouldn't matter, I would not be able to best you, even if I was completely focused," Raccar laughed, and Arthius sheathed his blade. He turned around and extended his hand to Arthius, which Arthius grasped in a firm handshake "You seem troubled. By the look on your face, I can tell it's important."
"It is," Arthius responded. "I am to set sail for the neighboring continent of Westeros to take care of a serious growing threat re-emerging known as the Others. And I need some good men watching my back," he said
"You know every man and woman here would follow you to the ends of the world if you asked them to, and so would I. Whatever order you give, shall be followed. But I'm curious, what does this have to do with us? It doesn't seem like something we should concern ourselves with, given that it's only affecting a foreign continent weeks away, if you don't mind my saying so," Raccar said respectfully.
"I understand what you're thinking, but, as it turns out, this does have something to do with us," Arthius replied calmly.
Raccar raised a brow in curiosity "how so?"
Arthius quickly began explaining the situation, telling Raccar of what he had learned during his meeting with Paarthurnax, and how the White Walkers were created by a Daedric Prince.
By the time Arthius had finished explaining, Raccar's jaw had dropped, and his eyes were widened. "By the eight…it appears that this concerns us after all," Raccar grimly admitted.
"I will need a few dozen good men and women to come with me, at least for now. Pick the best and have them meet me at the Windhelm docks on the morrow," Arthius ordered.
"I will see to it," Raccar answered.
Fort Dawnguard, The Rift
The war against the Volkihar vampire clan had cost the Dawnguard much. Among their losses had been Isran, their founder and the man that had brought them back together when the vampire threat had become obvious once more, who had died in the battle at Castle Volkihar, the one that had ended with most of the clan's death. Only two members of clan Volkihar remained alive: Serana, the now former vampire who had helped them eliminate them, and her mother Valerica, who had returned to Castle Volkihar and taken residence within, without causing any problems.
Harkon Volkihar's death, however, had not meant the end of the vampires: even though the Dawnguard had emerged victorious, there were still many vampires roaming Skyrim that still posed a threat to innocent towns and villages. Some kept to themselves, trying not to draw too much attention to themselves, but others fell in with bandit gangs and even enthralled them to gain more food sources. It was the Dawnguard's duty to eliminate these vampires, and that was what they were continuing to do.
Now, it was Gunmar's task to lead them. Some believed it would be Arthius Vitellius who held that rank, but he had declined, stating that, while he would continue to aid the Dawnguard as much as he could, he did not have the time to fully dedicate himself to being the new leader, and had nominated Gunmar to the position, which he had reluctantly accepted. Since their war with the Volkihar vampire clan, their numbers had increased slightly, and there were now around 300 dedicated vampire hunters. As Gunmar sat at a table, going over reports of various vampire sightings – which had become more common in the past few days, more than normal, but nothing out of the ordinary – someone knocked on his door.
"Hey, Gunmar?" a feminine voice called out. Gunmar looked up from his reports to see Sorine Jurard, the Dawnguard's Dwemer technology expert and crossbow crafter, peeking through the door. It had been her who had made all the crossbows that were part of a Dawnguard's uniform, and it had been her who had upgraded all of them to become the more lethal, faster reloading and more accurate Dwemer version they now used. Those crossbows had literally saved many lives during the war against the Volkihar.
"Yes? What is it?" Gunmar asked as he stood up from his seat.
"Forgive the interruption, but we have a visitor," Sorine answered.
"Bring them in," he commanded
Sorine then opened the door and gestured for the mysterious visitor to come in, whom Gunmar recognized immediately.
"Ella Vitellius!" he exclaimed in a friendly and welcoming manner, approaching the young Imperial woman and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you keeping well?" he asked the smaller woman.
"I'm very well. And yourself?" Ella responded.
"I'm doing well. I've been busier since your brother nominated me to lead the Dawnguard, but I've grown accustomed to it. How is Arthius, by the way?"
"He's well. Skyrim has no shortage of bandits and creatures that need killing," Ella amusingly stated, earning a small laugh from Gunmar.
"May the Divines have mercy on their souls," Gunmar said, his attention then turning to why she had visited in the first place. "Anyway, what brings you here? I can tell you have something important on your mind" he inquired.
"I'm sure you heard the Greybeards summoning my brother, the Dragonborn, again," Ella began and then paused, and when Gunmar nodded his head in acknowledgment that he did hear the summons, she continued. "It turns out, that there is a growing threat in the nearby continent of Westeros, one known as The Others, a race of ice demons that are returning after centuries. And not only that, but they also possess the ability to raise any being they kill into a 'wight', which is very similar to our draugr".
Gunmar said nothing for a few minutes, as he took in all this information. "I see. Beings with that sort of ability are definitely dangerous, and if even the Greybeards are concerned enough to summon the Dragonborn, then this is definitely something that should be investigated".
"That's not all…" Ella stated plainly "As it turns out, the White Walkers were actually created by Molag Bal".
Gunmar looked somewhat shocked, but not taken completely by surprise. He thought to himself for a few moments before responding. "I can't say I'm surprised that they were created by Molag Bal. He's a vile creature that cares nothing for Nirn. He created our sworn enemies, the vampires, after all."
"So, you will join us, then?" Ella inquired.
Gunmar nodded his head. "Give me a moment to address the Dawnguard," he said.
Gunmar then left his office and walked over to the overlook to the main hall "Alright, listen up, everyone! Drop whatever you are doing and form up in the main hall!" Gunmar's voice boomed. It was not long before the three hundred members of the Dawnguard were gathered in the hall, curious about what their leader had called them for.
"Time is of the essence, so I will go straight to the important part," Gunmar said. "Our friend Arthius, whom I assume most of you know, has just very recently been informed by the Greybeards of a growing threat in the land in the east known as Westeros. Apparently, there is a race of beings known as White Walkers north of their Wall that are returning after centuries. Arthius requests us to accompany him there and help bolster their defenses."
"What are these White Walkers?" Agmaer, once a green recruit, now one of their most skilled warriors, asked the question being on everyone's mind.
"We don't know much about them. From what we know, they are made of ice, and they can raise any corpse as a wight, something similar to our draugr. However, given that they are apparently made of ice, it stands to reason that they would be vulnerable to fire, much like vampires, and there might be other weaknesses we discover. Other than that, we know nothing else about them."
"So, I guess we are heading to Westeros, then?" Durak, an Orc that had become something of a famous person in the Dawnguard, since he was the one that had convinced Arthius to aid them, inquired. Gunmar nodded.
"Correct. I know some of you probably believe that it's a risk to travel all the way across the sea to combat something we know little about, but if they are as big a threat as the Greybeards and Arthiu believes, and then we'd be fools to ignore it. However, not all of us will leave. Some will remain behind to guard the Fort and try to fight off the vampires." He paused, looking over his companions. "Florentius, you're coming, since I have no doubt, we'll have need of your healing abilities. Sorine, you're coming as well, your markmanship will come in handy. Celann, you're going to be in charge while we are away. Everyone else, let's decide who stays and who goes, and begin to gather whatever food, weapons or anything else you think you will need to survive. We leave for Windhelm in the morning."
Windhelm Docks
After weeks of travelling and gathering allies, Arthius was finally ready to travel to the land of Westeros.
Among his allies were Serana, the vampire Arthius had rescued from Dimhollow Crypt; Erik the Slayer, a young farmer turned sellsword and adventurer that Arthius had taken under his wing; his Housecarls from each of the nine holds, of which Arthius was a Thane of each; Aela, Farkas, and Vilkas, fellow members of the Companions and fellow members of the Circle; Nazir, a fellow member of the Dark Brotherhood and skilled assassin; And Teldryn Sero, the Dunmer mercenary Arthius had met during his adventure in Solstheim.
Right now, Arthius' Blades were finishing up loading crates of supplies, ranging from food and drink, to various ingots for smithing, for the long journey onto Arthius' personal ship, which he had named the Sea Dragon. The ship was large in size, and heavily modeled after the former Emperor's ship the Katariah, albeit without the Imperial banners, and it had two large cannons on each side of the deck, as well as a ballista built onto the front of the ship.
The Dawnguard was also busy loading their own supplies, mainly weapons, potions, and alchemy ingredients onto the ship. Gunmar was also leading a few trained trolls into an enclosed area in the back of the ship.
Taking a few moments to admire the massive ship, Arthius dismounted Shadowmere and guided him aboard. Ella did the same with Frost, as did the rest of Arthius' allies with their mounts.
Once everyone was aboard the Sea Dragon, Arthius decided to give everyone a refresher on where they were going, and for what reason they were embarking on this journey.
Everyone gathered on the deck and Arthius stood at the helm, overlooking them. Gazing at them for a moment, he spoke in a loud clear voice.
"My friends, thank you all for coming when I summoned you," he said. "I know most of you already know what this journey is about, but for the sake of us all being on the same page, we shall go over it again," he added.
"A few weeks ago, no doubt all of you heard the Greybeards' summons." Everyone nodded and murmured their assent confirming that they had indeed heard the summons from the Greybeards of High Hrothgar. "The Master of the Greybeards informed me of a most dire threat, not within Tamriel admittedly, but across the oceans to the East, in the continent of Westeros."
"The threat I speak of is an ancient one created by the Daedric Prince Molag Bal," Arthius then said and momentary looks of fear and disgust graced the faces of everyone present as the name of the hated Daedric Prince was spoken. "Millennia ago, a group of living mortals made a pact with Molag Bal for power and were changed forever afterwards. They became creatures of living ice with the power to raise the dead as their pawns, and they threatened to destroy all life in Westeros. These beings became known as the Others or White Walkers"
"But they were stopped, right?" called out one of the Dawnguard. Arthius nodded and replied, "Aye, they were stopped by some means and were penned in a frozen wasteland, kept at bay by a construction known as the Wall that was imbued with ancient magic that keeps the White Walkers from crossing it."
"How were they stopped?" Sorine asked.
Arthius sighed and said, "That I do not know, and shall be one of the things I will personally endeavour to find out once we arrive in Westeros."
"What is our mission in Westeros, Harbinger?" Vilkas enquired.
"Our mission is simple: to warn the people of Westeros of the emerging threat and prepare them for when it happens," replied Arthius. "But, even the simplest plans can go awry," he said grimly. "From what my Master told me, the people of Westeros may not even believe in the existence of the White Walkers or even magic anymore, and write off such things as fairy tales or lies," he added.
"Then how are we to convince them?" asked a Blades solider.
"Leave that to me," said Arthius. "This will be a difficult undertaking and I shall not lie, not all of us will make it back home," he added.
"So, if anyone is having second thoughts about going, then there is no shame in backing out right now and I will not stop you," Arthius then said.
No-one moved and Arthius nodded in approval. "Now that that's settled, we shall set a course and pick a destination," he said. "Everyone prepare the ship to set sail, we embark in an hour's time!" he declared.
Author's Note:
Here it is! The first chapter of the rewrite I have been working on for a while. I tried this a couple years ago, but it didn't work out. It was way too similar to another story on here, I constantly had writer's block on it and thus struggled to get chapters out. The last time, I started later in the show in season 2 territory, and couldn't incorporate various plot points I had sprouting in my head without making a mess of things. This time, I will be able to establish more plot points and characters since I have given it a lot more thought.
This story will be co-authored by myself and another user named Angry lil' Elf, and I will also be helping him on a couple of his stories. He is a very talented writer, and I strongly recommend you read some of his storied, you won't be disappointed!
If you have any suggestions, compliments, criticism, or questions, then feel free to leave a review or pm me directly! I look forward to seeing them! That's it for now, and I will see you all next chapter!