Chapter Text
“Welcome to Skyrim, Lizard. Watch yourself.”
These words were Ra-Shei’s greeting into the land of Skyrim. That, and the severe snowstorm that had been harrowing him ever since he stepped foot into the Jerral Mountains. At the very least he had taken the advice of that one merchant in Bruma and changed his robe to a set of light fur armour. The stuff kept him from freezing to death, although was a bit itchy underneath.
Ahead of him, through the thick fog that accompanied the snowstorm, Ra-Shei could make out the outlines of a lush forest, separated from him only by a small clearing. A stone path lay ahead, and since the only alternative was to dive into the unknown flora of the province, he cautiously advanced. It was not long before the snowstorm calmed slightly, turning into a light snowfall. The Argonian breathed a sigh of relief, his tail lowering, almost swishing through the snow. As he walked forward, the clearing transformed into a forest, almost surprisingly suddenly.
As the Argonian looked around the forest, he got lost in thought, reminiscing on his journey so far. He had set out of Black Marsh almost a year and a half ago, with the sole purpose of finding a place to study magic. His journey took him all over Cyrodiil, with no real effect. The Synod and College of Whispers were far too busy going at each other’s throats to bother actually teaching anything, and back in Black Marsh there were no real places to receive a proper education apart from being lucky enough to be born into a family deeply tied to magic. All that Ra-Shei managed to learn there were the basics of what is known in the rest of Tamriel as Restoration, a part of magic he never really grasped, despite Argonians having a predisposition towards it. He knew how to heal himself and, not all the time, heal minor wounds on others. During his stay in Cyrodiil, he had learned that he had a slight affinity for shock magic, but that is it. An embarrassingly low amount of learning, which led him to leave and depart for what is his last resort, Skyrim. He had known about the harsh climate of the land, and when he spent some time near the border, he had learned of a civil war tearing up the province. Regardless of this, he decided to push on. He was half expecting the border to be closed, however he was let through without too much hassle.
His wandering mind was quickly snapped back into his body as he spotted the shape of a person collapsed in the snow. He approached to inspect, sparks shooting through his fingers in one hand, just in case this was some kind of ambush. The woman seemed to be barely clinging into life, half-buried in snow, some of her limbs already turning purple. He made sure she was still alive before removing the fur lining off his armour and placed it over her. He attempted to cast a sort of healing spell; however, it did not do much. The snow slowly stopped falling, by the time it had stopped completely Ra-Shei managed to get the woman completely out of the snow, and due to the added warmth from the fur, she had started to slowly open her eyes. The moment her retinas focused on the Argonian, all life seemed to return to her as she shot away, a look of bewilderment and fear in her eyes.
“Easy, easy” the Argonian said, showing his open hands, signifying he was unarmed.
“Wh..wha…what are y... you” the woman sputtered out, along with a bunch of other inaudible words
“I am Saxhleel, how do you say, Argonian. From Black Marsh. You are injured, quite badly. Let’s get you to a town. Do you know where a nearby town is?” He spoke very slowly, as if to a child, trying his best to ignore that last remark. He had grown accustomed to being a slight oddity in Cyrodiil, however nobody has asked about him as a “what” before. It hurt ever so slightly. He blamed it on her coming out of shock however, as he refused to believe that someone wouldn’t know what an Argonian is.
“H… Helgen. Not far from here”She seemingly regained most of her senses and stood up.
“What’s your name? I am Ra-Shei” the Argonian spoke, still in a slow and slightly overexaggerated manner.
“Aldvild… my name is Aldvild”
“Alright, Aldvild, lead on to this Helgen”
The two proceeded down the path, and after a short descent, the snow seemed to give way completely to the lush forests, the landscape shifting from whites and greys to a plethora of colours – greens, reds, even some purples from the mountain flowers and lavender plants.
“How did you end up out here, Aldvild” He asked in a friendly tone, however he could see the woman clearly was uncomfortable around him and just wanted the ordeal to be over.
“Erm… I… uh, I escaped some bandits and tried to get to Bruma. As you can see, I didn’t make it. Helgen should be just over this corn- “she didn’t get to finish the sentence before turning the corner and seeing the columns of smoke and the distant flickers of fire.
“Oh fuck” she uttered, for the first time in a clear and loud voice.
She didn’t feel it, however the Argonian immediately scrunched his face up at the ghastly smell that quickly grew more potent the closer they came. It did not take long for him to put two and two together. “Burned flesh. This must have happened a short time ago. I wonder if- “
Yet again, they were interrupted. This time by a harrowing roar of a beast unknown to both of them. The noise seemed all-encompassing, almost as if this beast were everywhere.
Then they saw it.
A massive pile of scales, larger than anything Ra-Shei had ever seen in his life. Black, with glowing red eyes that were clearly visible even from a distance. The beast soared above the wrecked town and let out a loud roar, making the Argonian clutch his head as it was filled with the terrible cacophony. Then, all of a sudden, it stopped, and a new voice rang out in his head. This one equally harrowing, but more understandable.
“Zu’u Koraav Hi”
And then everything went black.
By the time Ra-Shei had come to his senses, the sun had moved across the sky – he must have been out for a couple of hours. The woman was nowhere to be found; it would appear she had taken off, gone along with the fur lining of his armour. Ra-Shei sighed, disappointed. “Maybe we will run into each other again, that will be an awkward conversation” the Argonian thought to himself.
The fires of the burning town had not faded, instead they seemed to illuminate the sky. Ra-Shei decided to investigate the wreckage. The smell of burnt wood and flesh is a smell he had become numb to, and he could uncover what happened here. He opened the gates, which easily swung open, clearly damaged, and charred. Collapsed towers of stone and burned homes met his eyes, the fires still burning violently. Ra-Shei didn’t bother to dig through the remains of the victims, it was not his way to do such things. The only thing he managed to find as to give a clue as to what happened here was a scorched journal that contained the writings of one of the citizens. From it, he could gather that the town was attacked by a Dragon. Ra-Shei had not heard that name outside of certain symbols within Cyrodiil. He needed to find his way to the nearest town, ask the townspeople about these “dragons” and restock on his supplies. He had, after all, still quite a way to go before he reached his goal of Winterhold.
He stepped out of the smouldering ruin of Helgen and looked around for a signpost. Luckily, one was nearby. Ra-Shei inspected it briefly and muttered. “Falkreath it is…”
And with that thought, the Argonian’s exhaustion caught up to him. As the adrenaline stopped, the wave of tiredness arrived. He was of half a mind to return to that ruin and sleep there, however ultimately decided against it. As not to waste time, he set off in the direction that the sign pointed, this time not taking in the beautiful scenery. It was already beginning to get dark and the last thing he wanted was to get lost in a forest at night in an unknown land. After what felt like far too much walking, he began to notice the faint outlines of what he assumed to be Falkreath – the lights of the town giving a faint aura. By the time he had reached the gate, he could feel his eyes closing. As he stumbled through the gate, the first thing he saw was a sign saying “Dead Man’s Drink Tavern.
“That’s an… encouraging name” the Argonian thought to himself.
Walking inside, he sought out the innkeeper and almost instinctively asked for the room cost. The woman at the counter stated her price, and Ra-Shei blankly placed 100 Septims on the counter.
“I’ll show you to your room, right this way”
The Argonian didn’t care for much more except making sure his door is closed before crawling into the bed and shutting his eyes.
Little did he know, his arrival had sparked the interest of a certain self-proclaimed scholar, in desperate need of a travelling partner.