From the journals of the last dragonborn

Just a skyrim fanfiction. From lost journals of the last dragonborn. It might be obscure for those who have not played the game. Probably will write a more accessible version if this goes well.

I sometimes look back to my life before it all happened, my parents, my lover... But I digress. I am not here to revel in nostalgia. I have much to put down before the inevitable, arduous, and terrifying journey I must undertake. I confess that I would rather face Alduin, the World-Eater once more in an open battle than attempt the task ahead of me. However, the ebbs of time have brought me here, my own destiny. I had long asked everybody, Arngeir, Paarthurnax, Delphine - what does it mean to be a Dragonborn? I now know all of them had a limited and fatally flawed understanding of the dragonborn and the prophecy that foretells the coming of Alduin.

Neither me, the Dragonborn or Alduin were supposed to appear in the fourth era. We were to appear at the end of days. But here we were, and Alduin's death does not mean the end of the prophecy, but a fulfillment. The end of days has been hastened, warped, and fatally corrupted.

My first clue, although I did not understand it as such, was the vision from the Elder Scroll Dragon. Felldir sent Alduin through a time rend. Although much regarding the Elder Scrolls is obscured to us, but it was certain that it was supposed to transport Alduin to the end of times, to fulfill his function as world eater, and the last Dragonborn was to bring forth a new world - a new world bound by new laws, a rebirth of Nirn itself. Something interfered however, and Alduin and the Dragonborn were forced to appear in the Fourth Era.

My second clue came from the account of Ulfric's battle with High King Torygg. It is certain that he would not have been able to shout Torygg to death without his shout enforced by the Black Book: Epistolary Acumen.

My third and final clue came from my encounters with the first Dragonborn at the summit of Apocrypha, the domain of Harmaeus Mora.

I had already started paying attention to the daedric princes during my time in Thieves' Guild of which I still remain an absentee guild master. Over the years I saw how these princes of Oblivion have spread their influence all through Tamriel. Even the noble Companions were not free from the influence of Hircine. Kodlak, may the nine guard his soul, the previous Harbringer of the Companions, was farsighted to see Hircine's influence as it really was. I had set aside those concerns in my mind though my travels, but my uneasiness continued to mount as I became an Oblivion Walker. I was also blinded by the power of their artifacts, until I encountered Namira. After being put under a charm along with my good friend Verulus, may he rest in peace and grant me forgiveness, I was made to eat his flesh and was given the Ring of Namira. When I came to my senses after the ritual, I put the whole tribe of cannibals under my blade and threw the ring in the depths of the sea between Skyrim and Solstheim. But the pact was sealed.

Since then I have put together the puzzle, but still some pieces are missing. Daedric princes are the embodiment of the concepts and laws of the present world, and thus they would perish along with the plane of Oblivion when the new world comes into existence. How can they let such a thing happen? Thus they interfered with the function of the Elder Scroll, though even they are unable to completely influence it. Thus when Alduin appeared along with the Dragonborn, they set out mechanisms to corrupt the soul of the Dragonborn. A Dragonborn corrupted by the princes of Oblivion can not herald the coming of a new world. They cast their net wide, their plot ran deep. Even the civil war, the fall of snow elves, and I suspect even the disappearance of the Dwemer are their doing. The connection of both Elder Scroll and Oghma Infinium to Dwemer mechanisms hint at that.

As I grew more and more powerful, even as I held the power to kill Alduin in direct combat, the shadow of Oblivion grew larger in my heart. In my journeys to the Apocrypha I have uncovered secrets - secrets that Harmeus Mora did not want me to know. The current peace in Tamriel is the calm before the storm, a neverending tempest of agony and sorrow - one that would perpetuate the agony of the end of days and stretch it forever. I need to claim my soul back from the dreaded princes of Oblivion.

But a lone Dovahkin cannot accomplish it alone. I found the fifth volume of Ancient Falmer Tomes in Apocrypha. My friend Calcemo for once understood the urgency, and has translated it. It hints at the darkness beneath the Shor's Hall in Sovengarde. A part of the World-Eater's soul exists there along with the true Alduin's wall. Sky Haven Temple's copy of the wall is incomplete as attested by also the Augur of Dunlain. I need the whole wall to meditate upon the words of Alduin's name in dragon tongue. Even a Dovahkin is not allowed to learn his name so easily. I need the way of the voice - to learn his name and bend the will of Alduin's soul. It will be a battle of souls not weapons.

Since the daedric princes want the end of the world - so be it. The Dragonborn will bring the subdued World-Eater to the gates of Oblivion. If the world ends, it will end on our terms, ushering in a new age on the ashes of their legacy. I know the world will plunge into more chaos while I am gone to meditate on the words of Alduin. I am not sure of my ability to bend Alduin's will, let alone of victory over the Princes of Oblivion. But I will fulfill my destiny, or die trying. This is what it means to be Dovahkin, the last Dragonborn.