(POV PAARTHURNAX)
I heard it whispered on the wind starting almost a decade and a half ago. A sound unlike anything I have ever heard before. Like a blade that cuts through the world itself. What it meant I knew not. But I did not break my vigil upon the mountain I call my home. Nor did I tell the Greybeards below of this strange occurrence. This I chose not to act on as I felt the currents of time itself shift with this new sound. Like a great melody suddenly finding itself played with a new instrument. -
It felt tentative, dare I say cautious of this new sound. This left me contemplative. For what could disturb Bormahu, my father, to such a degree? Only thrice have I felt such a strange shift in my fathers influence. The first was during the banishment of the Eldest. The second was during the shattering of time by the events of the battlespire. The final was the ending of the line of Talos upon Nirn in sacrifice to restore the barriers between this world and Oblivion. Those were all sudden however but this was different, gentler. A shifting of time's flow as a new variable was added, like a boulder thrown into a great river.-
My Dovahkah, dragon's pride, itched to go and remove this disturbing force but the sky called me to inaction. Like a weight settled upon my wings, not threateningly but in gentle but firm request. This made my mind shudder. I knew not what the source of this sound was but the gods had made their favor towards it clear though I could not understand why. And so I sat upon my mountain and listened to the sound grow and become more. I heard the faint echoes of the thu'um sprout from it and echo like a voice raised in a cave. -
I heard the clever craft sing from it as the sound.... tuned itself. Years passed by as the sound grew like a grand crescendo waiting to break the rhythm of the world. And then I heard it's thu'um. Not a sound of dominance or restraint like I was accustomed but of purpose. A calling that felt as integral as the moons above or the stone that sat beneath my claws. There was an edge to it as well, like the sharp point of fangs bared at the ready against whatever might try and stop it.-
I knew that the Greybeards heard it as well and they did not like what they heard.
"Qalos hin haal(stay your hands)!" I spoke firmly letting my thu'um rumble through the air and weigh upon them.
I disliked commanding them, it felt too much like the past. But in this instance I believed it necessary. They knew not what they would have provoked should the gods have chosen to intervein. And they WOULD have intervened, I felt it the moment the Greybeards started to move.-
A sudden tension in the wind and a roiling in the energies that filled the air. With my command the world returned to normal and I alone understood how close to devastation the Greybeard came. I returned to listening to this strange sound, it was almost endearing hearing it strain and stumble over the words. It was not gifted in the way a Dovah was but had the stubbornness that I felt from my ancient and long dead friends. There was something intriguing about it however, a sort of understanding that felt out of place. -
It didn't feel like a mortal struggling to understand a word but rather like a word struggling to keep up with the mortals understanding. It was bizarre and confusing. As time moved on from that point however my confusion only deepened. The words I felt in the soul of this being were unnaturally potent and their voice reminded me of my own and that of my kin. Yet shout they did not for many years. Not a whisper of a thu'um, not a moment of anger, just quiet. Then the sound began to move from it's place of residence, the mortal city of Riften.-
It unsheathed itself, a strange contradiction in and of itself as it moved north. At one point I felt it stop near a whisper of an ancient word carved upon a slated stone face. There was no resonance from it. It left the whisper without having gained anything at all. Then one of the foul gods made it's move on the sound. I felt the movement of that external knowledge before it sank into the sounds soul fully, an ancient and terrible enchantment for slaying the Dovah. The second piece of knowledge I recognized as a barbed blessing, both a gift and a tie meant to bind.-
Once more I was tempted to leave my vigil to meet this anomaly myself. Once more the gods denied me. Curiosity is a terrible thing for a Dovah such as I and only my firm self discipline kept me from ignoring the gods request. I almost failed to keep myself in check however when I felt the sound settle above the bones of one of my kin. Especially so when I felt it trying to commune with it's soul. I restrained myself yet again as the gods pressed on me.-
Not a warning or command but a word this time, SOON.
(Normal POV)
I left Sergius's room wearing the ridiculous hat and genuinely confused. I wasn't sure what to make of this strange situation. I ended up returning to my room and trying to put it behind me. It was difficult but I made it work. Mina relentlessly teased me about the hat since it looked ridiculous on me but otherwise the thing was harmless. Well that was assuming you didn't let it get it's pincers on you, those things hurt apparently. Still I was beyond glad that I could get a decent nights sleep without having to worry about a daedric prince showing up.-
On an unrelated note the college had gotten started with the greenhouse idea I passed to the Archmage a while ago. It was almost hilarious to watch Jarl Korir's bitter face scrunch up as the mages of the college got started. The already sour faced middle aged Nord looked like he had been force fed a lemon. Frankly I was amazed he hadn't popped a blood vessel with how unrepentantly pissed he was while having to act like he was happy about this.