Having gained leadership of the Companions, the College, and the Guild, I've decided it is finally time to confront my destiny as dragonborn. Jarl Balgruuf says that I am being summoned by the Greybeards to their temple on Skyrim's highest peak at the Throat of the World - a place referred to as High Hrothgar.
The path to High Hrothgar starts at the base of the mountain at Ivarstead. It is claimed that there are 7,000 steps from Ivarstead to High Hrothgar, but I'd say that's an exaggeration. The Greybeards that await at the end of the path are a brotherhood that guard the ancient art of the Thu'um - a tonal magic that uses voices to cast. In the ancient days, many Nords practice this art - but now the secret is kept by a few old men in a monastery half buried in snow.
As I started off, I encountered a pair of Ivarstead locals - Klimmek hauls supplies to the Greybeards. I offered to help.
The way up is treacherous but boasts spectacular views of the lands below. Pilgrims ply the road, while sabrecats and trolls stalk the path for prey. The path is also littered with bits of the origins of the Thu'um carved into stone stelae.
A long time ago, the stones claimed, the dragons ruled Skyrim and humans were ruled over by those of their own kind that had won the dragons' favour - the so-called dragon priests. Could these dragon priests be the ones with the masks I have encountered so far? The dragons were near invincible for they were physically formidable and also naturally endowed with tonal magic that keep their enemies at bay.
Then one day the goddess Kyne, moved by the human plight, endowed the Nords with the art of the Thu'um. And so with that art the Nords started pushing back the dragons, fighting dragon magic with their own dragonshouts. The dragons were driven into extinction and the dragon priests hid in their barrows, and the Nords came to rule Skyrim.
But then the Nords continued to use their dragonshouts - now turned into a weapon of conquest over their neighbours. This happened until dragonborn Jurgen Windcaller was defeated in battle at Morrowind. In his defeat, Jurgen had an epiphany - that the Thu'um was not meant for conquest, but to defend Skyrim from the return of the dragons. Moved by this vision, Jurgen hence devoted himself to the upkeep of the Thu'um and preserved its traditions by setting up the monastery at the Throat of the World - this was the origin of the Greybeards and the Nord reverence to the Thu'um.
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