User blog:Lonesome Courier/Ancient Legends: Civil Unrest I

So, we all know that the Stormcloaks won the Skyrim Civil War in the AL canon, providing a backdrop for Warlord's Rebirth and Molon Labe, but the question is how?

Well, fresh out of the vault of the Lost Chapters of AL is an new blog series, co-written by The Poetic Dragon, that aims to answer this question.

Be prepared for a tale of war, adventure, Thalmor-slaughtering, and maybe even love in ANCIENT LEGENDS: CIVIL UNREST!

Gates of Windhelm, 4E 202

As dawn rose over the city of Windhelm, Darius Stormblade II, the Archmage of Winterhold, and his fellow Nord companion, who he had met in Solstheim, reached the gates.

"About time." Darius quipped.

"So this is where Ulfric resides? Is he compensating for something?" Korgrav Titanborn chuckled.

"As far as I know, no." Darius chuckled as well.

They entered the gates, the citizens of Windhelm looking at them curiously. Before heading to the Palace of the Kings, Darius led Korgrav down into the Grey Quarter to the New Gnisis Cornerclub, for a quick breakfast. "Don't tell Rolff, but the Dunmer's breakfast tastes better than the Nord's."

"I don't care how it tastes right now. I'm hungrier than a sabrecat in Elsweyr deserts." Korgrav laughed, "Ya think Ulfric will accept us?"

"He will. The leader of the Stormcloak Rebellion wouldn't turn down the Archmage of Winterhold and a Werebear." Darius reassured him. "Besides, I have a bargaining chip."

When Ambarys handed Darius Canis Root Tea, the Nord accepted it. Darius then whispered a word, and a wave of frost swept over the bottle, chilling it.

"You've got to teach me how you do that shit." Korgrav stated slamming his fist on the table and breaking a piece off, "Fuck..."

Darius slid a few more septims to Ambarys, to pay for the table. "I could, but it would take years for you to learn one word of the Thu'um. But if you were Dragonborn..."

"Well at least I can turn into a giant Bear man. Sorry about the table. I can't control my strength sometimes."Kor sighed, looking over to some Dark elves looking at him like he was going to break the building.

"We should get going..."

"Aye, we should." Darius slid off his stool, and opened the door for Korgrav. They made their way out of the Grey Quarter, and made a brief stop by the smith, where Darius sold a couple Ingots to Oengul War-Anvil, after that, they headed for the Palace of the Kings.

"Yeah, are you sure he isn't compensating for something?"Korgrav chuckled looking up at the amazing castle.

"Again, I'm not sure." Darius opened the door into the Palace of the Kings. At the end of the hall, in a large throne, sat Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the Stormcloak Rebellion, and the Jarl of Windhelm.

"He's got style. I'll give him that." Kor gave a slight cough, "You first..."

Darius smirked, and strode before the throne. "My Jarl."

Ulfric looked at him. "Dragonborn, what brings you to me? Last time you were here, it was due to the peace council that lost me the Rift."

Darius grimaced. "I and my friend wish to join your Rebellion and fight for Skyrim..."

"So you lost the Rift eh? We can help you get it back and more..."Korgrav stated stepping forward.

"There you go." Darius smirked. "And besides my Thu'um, I'm the Archmage of Winterhold, so you'll have plenty of magic on your side if you allow me to join. My friend also has unique skills, which you will find great use for if you allow him to join."

"I could give you a demonstration but you need to tell your guards to stand down before I even do."Korgrav smiled.

Ulfric looked at both of them. "...very well. Since Galmar is in the field trying to recover something, I'l allow you to join. Dragonborn, by right of cleverness, I allow you entrance into the Stormcloak Rebellion at the rank of Ice-Veins. We still remember magic in this land."

He turned to Korgrav. "You, on the other hand, must undergo trial by combat. Normally, I would tell you to go kill an ice wraith, but time is short. Instead, I will ask you to face a few captured Legionnaires in the arena."

Windhelm Arena, a few minutes later

Korgrav was in the Arena, outfitted with Stormcloak armor and his weapons of choice.

Three Legionnaires stood in front of him, wearing leather armor and brandishing Imperial swords.

"You got this, Kor!" Darius called from the stands, standing next to Ulfric.

Ulfric blew his warhorn, letting the battle begin.

Should I bring him out or just fight them like this, Korgrav thought. He soon made up his mind and began to shift.

In a few seconds, Korgrav's place was taken by a hulking Wearbear who gave a mighty roar.

He launched at the Legionnaires, picking one up and throwing him hard into the side of the Arena, breaking almost every bone in his body. The other two quickly stepped in to slash at the Werebear, but both blades missed and one of them would never swing a blade again with that arm because it now laid on the ground disconnected from it's owner. The now one armed man stumbled back, screaming in pain as blood gushed from the socket. His suffering was ended quickly, however, by a swift decapitating claw swipe.

The third and last man dropped his blade and scuttled against the wall. The Werebear walked up to the man who was already crying with fear. He lowered his head to that of the man's and let out a mighty roar in his face. The Legionnaire's heart exploded in his chest from sheer terror.

The Werebear turned to the crowd and Ulfric and gave a mighty roar.

"No further case needs to be made, my Jarl." Darius quipped, clapping.

The clapping soon spread to the rest of the crowd who had gathered to watch, turning into thunderous applause.

Ulfric silenced them. "Korgrav, you have passed the trial. I hereby induct you into the Rebellion, with an rank of Ice-Veins!"

The Wearbear dropped to all fours and began to shift back. Afterwards, The Nord stood up and bowed to Ulfric in gratitude.

Ulfric gestured at Korgrav and Darius to follow him back inside.

After Korgrav had cleaned himself up, the three Nords met in the war room. After both Darius and Korgrav had taken the oath, Ulfric began taking.

"Your first mission for me is simple. My second-in-command, Galmar Stone-Fist, is headed to Korvanjund to get the Jagged Crown. You two are going there to support him."

"Do we expect to meet opposition?"Kor asked.

"Yes, in fact, shortly after Galmar left, I received intelligence from a contact in Solitude that the Legion was headed to the same area. We must not let them get their hands on the Crown. Oengul has your uniforms, Talos guide you." Ulfric saluted them.

Korgrav saluted back.

"I'm itching for a good fight."The Wearbear stated as they turned to embark,"Hopefully these Legionnaires will put up more of a fight than those in the arena earlier."

"They probably will. Their leaders would probably kill them if they didn't." Darius quipped.

Outskirts of Korvanjund, a few days later...

"How far now, Archmage?" one of two battlemages that Darius had picked up at the College asked.

"Not far, in fact, right there." Darius pointed at a gathering of Stormcloaks.

"Finally..."Korgrav grumbled,"Sick of these two whining. Remind me again why you had to bring them along?"

"Tolfdir dumped em on me, so they could get 'field experience'. I think it was so they would quit annoying the crap out of Urag." Darius replied, walking into the camp.

"Hear that kids? Gotta thank Tolfdir for savin your lives. Rookies..."Korgrav laughed,"Never upset an Orc who can wield magic too."

"They're not out of the woods yet. They still have to deal with me." Darius smiled.

Galmar Stone-fist, the second in command of the Rebellion, looked up. "Dragonborn! I was not expecting you to be the reinforcements!"

"Yeah, yeah. I wasn't about to hand Skyrim to Elenwen on a silver platter. There's somebody else here too." Darius indicated Korgrav.

"Korgrav Titanborn, sir, ready to slaughter those imperial swine."The Nord stated with a smile sticking out his hand.

Galmar smiled, shaking Korgrav's hand. He indicated the two to follow him to a stand of trees, where the Stormcloaks were assembled.

On the way there, Darius informed Galmar of Korgrav's skills.

Galmar then started his speech.

"Listen up. The Imperials have set up camp, and aren't here by coincidence. Their spies must've found out we know about the Crown, and they don't want us to have it. But they won't stand in our way. I know some of you are ex-legion and may know men on the other side. But remember this. They are the enemy now and they will not hesitate to kill you. Keep your wits about you and watch your shield brother's back. Ulfric Stormcloak is counting on us to bring him back that crown, and that's exactly what we're going to do."

Korgrav smiled. This was going to be fun for him. He loved a good fight, a challenge. He lived for the fight. No Bars held ever. He readied up and waited for the command to go.

"FOR SKYRIM!" Galmar led the charge into Korvanjund's entrance pit. The Imperials never saw it coming, as Darius sent a few flying with Unrelenting force, and fried a few others with Chain Lightning. The battlemages even got a few kills in.

This is when Korgrav shined. He shifted to a Werebear and began the slaughter. He took a few hits, but killed every man that came to close met an ill fate. He took out roughly fifteen men on his own, but his biggest help was being the biggest perceived threat and made the other stormcloak's jobs easy.

With Darius' shouts, and the Werebear in their midst, the Imperials were in chaos. Galmar and his men cleaned up the aftermath, and made a ruh for the door into Korvanjund.

"Don't let them Imperials gain any ground!"

After Darius and the Werebear finished off the rag tag imperial swine, Korgrav fed in some corpses to heal himself before signaling to Darius to join him in entering the tomb.

Darius, after finishing off a few Imperial soldiers, entered the tomb, where the Stormcloaks had secured the main hall.

Galmar spoke. "Gretta, Engar, stay and guard the entrance. We don't want any Imperial reinforcements taking us by surprise. The rest of you lot are with me."

The Werebear stepped up front to lead the group in the offense.

They quickly cleared out the next hall, and came to a door.

Galmar grimaced. "I don't like the look of this. Perfect spot for an ambush. Ten to one they're just waiting for us on the other side."

One of the Soldiers shrugged. "But there isn't any other way through."

Galmar smirked. "You sure about that? Then please, be my guest and go strolling on in there. We'll stay here and watch your back... Not so sure? Oh, then perhaps we should take a moment to look around a little, eh?"

Galmar turned to Darius and thw Werebear. "You two, Ice-Veins, see if you can find another way through. We'll charge in to help as soon as we hear fighting."

The Werebear grunted and looked to Darius to lead the way.

Darius led the Werebear upstairs, where there was another entrance to the room.

The Imperial Soldiers in the room were wondering why the Stormcloaks hadn't charged in yet, while Darius watched from above.

The Dragonborn got a grin on his face.

Moments later, one of the soldiers was crushed by a falling Werebear, as the rest of the Stormcloaks charged in.

The Werebear looked up at Darius as if to say "You asshole!", before slamming a claw into a Legionnaire and ripping the head off of another with his jaws.

"It worked!" Darius said in response, before decapitating a Legionnaire, and burning another to death with a shout.

At that moment, the Werebear grabbed Darius as he was spewing his fire breath and threw him into a group of five soldiers, frying them all.

"Point made!" Darius got up, dusting himself off.

A few minutes later, they reached the Hall of Stories, with a puzzle door blocking their way.

Galmar looked around. "Ah! The Hall of Stories... we must be getting close now."

A few of the soldiers discussed the carvings. "Oh... I've heard of this. They say these walls show the history of the ancients who built this place. Too bad we can't read these carvings. Who knows what secrets we'd uncover?"

Galmar refocused them. "One thing at a time. We're here for the Crown. Any of these carvings show a crown?"

The Werebear had to change back to Korgrav who stood panting. He was the muscle not the brains. He left this up to his superiors, but withdrew his two greatswords from his sides, ready for anything.

Darius, on the other hand, knew what to do. He summoned his two battlemages. "So, we're in a ruin, and the way's blocked by a puzzle door. What are you gonna do?"

"Look around, sir!"

Darius smirked. "What am i looking for? Random shit? The candle you stuck up your ass the other day?"

"The claw that connects to the door, sir!"

"Very good!" Darius smiled, picking up an Ebony claw. "Now what? do I stick it in the door and hope for the best?"

"no, sir! You look at the claw's front, and match up the symbols with the door!"

Darius grinned, broadly. "Very good, there may be hope for you yet!" The Nord matched up the symbols, and stuck the claw in the door, opening it.

"There's usually some asshole undead behind these doors isn't there?" Korgrav grinned, "Can I fight him?"

"Be my guest." Darius grinned.

After mowing through the Undead, they finally reached the final tomb of Korvanjund.

King Borgas was sitting on his throne, the Jagged Crown on his brow.

Korgrav stepped forward,"Is that guy dead?"

King Borgas woke up, along with the rest of his men.

"Apparently not any more." Darius drew his axe and staff. "You guys take down the men, I'll take down Borgas!"

"Hazaaah!!!"Korgrav yelled as he strode into the frey of battle with hefty swings of his blades, cleaving off heads of undead.

Darius charged at Borgas, and an epic duel of tongues began.

As Korgrav and the Stormcloaks mopped up the room, the Thu'um was echoing off the walls.

The duel ended, when Darius cut Borgas in half, ripping the crown from his head.

Korgrav and the stormcloaks looked to the aftermath of the battle for the crown. They waited patiently for further instructions, though it was obvious that they wanted to be headed back: Korgrav just wanted a drink, but the stormcloaks were a bit frightened by the undead.

Darius looked at them, holding up the crown. "I have it, you guys can-"

The Dragonborn was cut off by Nordic chanting that only he could hear. A Word Wall was nearby.

Darius walked to the back of the tomb. There, dragon runes were carved into the wall.

He touched the words. "Tiid... Time..."

"Another one of your fancy words Darius?"Korgrav asked.

Darius closed his eyes and held up a finger, concentrating. After a few moments, he smirked and opened his eyes.

"Yes, and an useful one. This one slows time."

"Useful indeed. We need some time help. We need to get out of here before they send reinforcements..."Korgrav stated looking to Galmar for instructions.

"Time to get this crown to Ulfric. The party's over here." Galmar stated, heading for the door.

"Good, I need a strong drink! Let's go!"Korgrav stated.

"Me too." Darius agreed. The Stormcloaks exited the tomb, crown in tow...

And there ends Chapter 1, Be on the lookout for Chapter 2, the Battlw of Whiterun, and the beginning of a love story that will shape the Empires to come...