#Lucien is more freaked out by it than Kaidan is

[mediumsizedwildcat]

i've been thinking a lot about how the dragonborn being the dragonborn might change their appearances... i had the thought of scales, claws, and fangs, also different eyes, all in all making the dragonborn look more dragon-y. my friend thought more spiritually (with horns, too!), like the armor you can shout into existence i suppose?

the true question however is, if they met the dragonborn before the first full shout (High Hrotghar) and the dragonborn ended up wearing gloves and a deep hood after, when they finally see the dragonborn, changed as they are, how will they react?

i have a few theories, for Kaidan's part i don't think he'd be too freaked out, more comforting, really. Lucien would likely ask to study the differences in dragons vs the dragonborn. Taliesin, though. somehow i imagine Tally would say something to the point of “not much worse than before”

anyway, feel free to indulge me, i'd like to hear other people's thoughts!

[monster--mama]

The College of Winterhold

"So, just to recap, dragon necromancers are a thing now. Am I the only one who finds that highly, highly concerning?" Lucien asks the table as the four of them conspire over drinks at the Braidwood inn.

“It spells trouble,” Inigo agrees.

“Feels like there’s something that we’re still missing. I hope Delphine’s planning skills are better than her manners. Sneaking into the Thalmor Embassy won’t be an easy task,” Kaidan sets down his mug of ale. Ravenna doesn't chime in, and the other members of her party have silently agreed to let her be, under the impression that she must still be cooling off after the near-argument with Delphine.

Ravenna is here at the Braidwood, in body, but mentally she is trapped back in the moment that black dragon locked eyes with her. The terror of being seen by something so ancient and unknowable - being known by it - Ravenna hadn’t had time to process in the moment, but now, black wings and red eyes are all she can think about. It's terrifying - not just because that dragon knows her, but because she knows it as well. Bone-deep and as surely as she knows herself, unavoidable as the sun will rise. Its name is right on the tip of her tongue. In the midst of her contemplation, the conversations of her allies have been muddled into background noise, and she fails to notice when two of them have already departed to their rooms for the night. Kaidan is rousing her from her internal thoughts later into the day than she should be awake.

“Are you well?” he asks, sounding legitimately concerned, “Did Delphine’s hazing upset you that much?”

“She was annoying, but no. It's the dragon, the black one. When it was speaking to me in the dragon language, it said something. "Ruvaakkiir." I don't know exactly what it meant, but the way he said it - it felt like that dragon was calling me by name."

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“Delphine said she needed some time to plan, what do we want to do while we wait?” Ravenna asks at the breakfast table the next evening.

“That is a good question,” Inigo says, “We should certainly consider our options.”

“Well, I don’t know about the two of you -” Lucien says as he hurries to their table late - and carrying many notebooks and loose pages, “But I could use a break from dragon-chasing for the moment. Preferably to catch up on my research before we get put into any more serious life-threatening situations.”

“In that case, why don’t we trek out to Winterhold and see the college? I’ve actually never been there myself,” Ravenna suggests.

“Yes, why not?” Inigo agrees, “You two would benefit from studying among other skilled wizards.”

“I can’t say I care for the idea,” Kaidan scowls, "Getting involved with those mages."

"Why is that? Do you have some sort of issue with magic?" Ravenna asks.

"Magic users, aye," Kaidan replies without hesitation, "Have you seen what haagravens do to their captives? Or how a warlock can capture a man's soul inside a stone when they kill him?"

"Kaidan, magic can be used to do all sorts of good too," Ravenna counters, "It can heal the wounded and cure the sick, create light in the dark or guide the lost back to their course. It isn't any more good or evil than a sword in the wrong man's hands. Besides, aren't you at least curious to see the inside?"

Ravenna asks him that last question with a playful smirk and a twinkle in her eye even though he’s being a bit of an ass about the subject, and honestly he’s grateful for her good graces. He can think of many people who would take far less kindly to being told how much he hates the thing they’ve dedicated themselves to than she has. That, and he remembers the last time he heard her talk like this, back in Falkreath’s great cemetery. He doesn’t want to own it now any more than he did then, but he knows there is truth to what she says.

“I still think the College is hoarding all manner of knowledge and secrets from across Skyrim - but I can’t say I’d mind a look at their archives,” he relents, giving in to the warm teal-blue of her eyes even though he knows the color is an illusion. He can’t say he dislikes the way they light up at her little victory in the end, either.

They take a carriage out to Winterhold, since the weather is too harsh to make the journey on foot. Inigo, Lucien, and Ravenna squish together on the bench and read their silly book some more, leaving Kaidan alone and sad on the opposite bench. They even get the carriage driver in on it after their snickering and chatting peaks his interest. Winterhold, when they arrive, looks every bit the felled giant it is, but the college still towers proud over the otherwise ruined city.

After the comically unofficial entrance exam and a tour of the campus they tuck themselves away again at the Frozen Hearth, sleeping while the sun is up and joining the other students in the Hall of Elements for the night classes instead. Professor Tolfdir starts them off tame with ward spells Ravenna has been familiar with for almost 200 years now before having everyone prep their things to journey out to the ruins of Saarthal. Kaidan takes the time to rib Ravenna over these classes despite being at least as excited as Lucien to see those ruins as they make their way out and she and Inigo whistle silly tunes back and forth in the echoey Hall of Elements before they properly leave.

The journey to Saarthal is frigid, Kaidan has to walk close to Ravenna the whole way there to keep the snowstorm from pushing her over, and it is a relief when they finally enter the ruin. Ravenna is instructed by Tolfdir to assist the college enchanter, and Lucien tails her eagerly so not to miss out on anything they might learn. Of course, it doesn’t take much time before things begin to go awry, as the two of them are suddenly trapped after pulling an amulet off the wall. This issue is not solved until Ravenna puts on the amulet, which reveals another portion of the ruins. Tolfdir seems unbothered by this, and leads her and her allies further into the ruins - seeming to completely abandon his cautious attitude from earlier. Team Dragonborn has an entire eye-contact discussion about this before they ultimately follow him.

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A strange density fills the room when they walk in, which freezes the motion of Ravenna’s companions, but not Ravenna. It is followed by a flash that manifests into a man. He announces his affiliation with the Psyjic Order right away, knowing she is familiar. Ravenna remembers in fact, when the news of the Isle of Artaeum’s second disappearance began to sweep Tamriel. This Psyjic sorcerer tells her that something has been set into motion, which she will not be able to stop.

A good stretch of dangerous ruins later, she finds out exactly what kind of web they’ve gotten tangled into. The …Orb is unlike anything any of them have ever seen. It hums lowly and the air around it is electric, so alive it feels like the slightest touch of magic might set the whole room sparking. Professor Tolfdir decides to stay there with it, sending the rest of them back to the college, and on their way out, they approach another word wall. Ravenna hears it before she ever sees it, an ancient chant whispered to her ears only. The dizziness isn’t as harsh this time, but she still feels disoriented afterwards, and it doesn’t play nicely with the incoming fatigue that all of them are getting a taste of right about now.

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After they make their report to the Archmage, they rest at the inn, eat, bathe, et cetera. Another eventful day has Inigo and Lucien both retiring early, and Ravenna should be doing the same, but does not. Instead she bothers Kaidan, prying into his history a little for the first time since they’ve met.

Kaidan reluctantly reveals that he is in Skyrim to discover more about his heritage. Ravenna is surprised to learn that he doesn’t even know his own race, though she supposes if she had noticed it before now, she’d be curious about it too. She is not, however, surprised to learn that he was raised as a Nord. Certainly explains his disposition against magic, to some extent.

“Why didn’t you mention this to anyone while we’ve been travelling?” Ravenna asks, “We could have been helping you all this time.”

“I didn’t - Couldn’t -” Kaidan doesn’t let himself fumble for words for long, despite how bad he knows this is going to sound, “Look, I might’ve mentioned it sooner if the situation had been different. But getting accustomed to this whole ‘trusting-a-vampire’“ thing hasn’t been an easy adjustment for me, alright?”

Kaidan had leaned closer to Ravenna to whisper when he said the V-word and when he pulls back away she just blinks at him with those big, teal blue eyes. She takes a moment to respond.

“Was that … it?” She asks him, sounding unexpectedly unbothered.

“I mean, yeah,” he says it like a question, “Didn’t expect you to be so casual about it.”

“I’m used to the social consequences of my condition,” Ravenna says, leaning her head down on the table, “People are always distant towards me once they find out. Inigo and Lucien are the first people in many long years to be so comfortable with me even after knowing. I’m endlessly grateful for them.”

Every time Kaidan speaks to Ravenna, she seems more and more human to him. He’s not sure yet if he finds that relieving, or distressing. She clasps one of his hands on the table and promises they’ll help him figure out his origin along their travels, assuring Inigo and Lucien’s aid as much as her own, before trailing off to bed and leaving him alone with his thoughts.

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The next morning, Kaidan’s rude awakening is to something warm and furry hitting him in the face. For a moment he forgets that they are not camping, and fears that the fur is Inigo's and he's somehow wound up cozying into the stupid little cuddle pile his other companions form when they sleep in Ravenna's cramped tent. As he comes back to his senses though he remembers that they are staying at the inn. He pulls the mass of fur away from his face and realizes it is actually a large fur cloak. He also realizes Ravenna and Lucien are in his room, snickering at him.

"What is this?" Kaidan asks.

"It's a cloak," Lucien sasses, "Obviously."

"An expensive one at that, feel," Ravenna adds excitedly. Kaidan does, he runs his thumbs over the fluff in his grip and feels that, yes, the fur is thick and soft, the lining is insulating. It's nicer than anything he could afford on his own or make for himself.

"Okay, I see that. Why?" He tries again.

"Because it's cold out," Ravenna retorts, "Winterhold has no carriage service, remember? We'll have to walk back to Whiterun for those books, so I got each of us one. Lucien helped me pick yours out." Kaidan immediately checks the cloak for whatever practical joke Lucian hid in here.

"Oh, don't look at it like that, I haven't done anything -"

"Mhm, sure you haven't," Kaidan interrupts Lucien, pulling a large slug out from inside the hood of the cloak and throwing it at him.