Chapter Text
Act 1: Awakening
Tiid bo amativ…
Nust fent zu'u mindok…
Nammu woke with a start, bolting upright in his cot as the whispers faded from his ears.. That voice…deep, bassy, and utterly unmistakable. He thought he had left these dreams behind when he left Solstheim, but to hear it now after so many years without so much as a whisper or glimpse of-
“Guildmaster? Are you awake?”
Nammu was drawn from his musings by a voice from outside his tent. That’s right, he had been in the middle of an expedition for Auryen; something to do with some Akaviri ruins he had heard mention of in another one of his obscure texts. But what was he doing in his tent? Last Nammu remembered he and Karl had just managed to crack the mechanisms for the door…
“Guildmaster? Maybe he is still asleep?” That was Karl now from outside Nammu's tent. He really should get up.
Nammu stood up with a groan and walked over to the washstand, seeking the polished plate he had been using as a makeshift mirror propped up beside it. He glanced in, ignoring the burning glow from his eyes with practiced ease. There, near his temple; dried blood and the beginnings of a bruise. He must have been hit by something and been knocked out, a rock or somesuch. Nammu sighed, snatching his goggles from their place beside the basin and swiftly putting them on, safely hiding burning red eyes behind the tinted glass once more. He was thankful that whomever had dragged him back to his tent had also retrieved his goggles and left them nearby- probably Karl again. At least now he wouldn't be stuck inside the tent yelling orders through the cloth until his goggles could be found.
Nammu sighed deeply once more, studying his tired visage in the mirror a little more closely now his eyes were covered. Same grey skin, red hair slightly messy but bearable for now. Nammu wrinkled his nose, watching the scar across his bridge shift with the motion; at least this cut on his temple shouldn't leave a permanent mark. As he continued to check for injuries, Nammu's mind drifted once more to his dream. He hadn't seen anything this time,only the endless void of sleep but that voice…it was definitely the same that had haunted his dreams for as long as he could remember. For his dreams to be recurring now of all times did not bode well. Nammu shook off the chill he could feel beginning to crawl up his spine and quickly splashed himself with water from the basin. Now was not the time to dwell on dreams: Karl was certainly becoming worried the longer he remained in his tent. And speaking of Karl
“Guildmaster if you continue to sleep, I will have no choice but to call for a healer!”
“No need for threats Karl, I'm up,” Nammu called, quickly wiping off the crusted blood and throwing another glance at his reflection before making his way towards the tent, tying up his hair as he pushed through the wollen flap.
“Ah so glad to see you awake Guildmaster! You gave us a right fright when you dropped after that stone hit you. I thought you were supposed to be a mage, yet here you are, fallen low from a mere pebble. The draugr tremble I'm sure.”
Nammu snorted “It's hardly the first time you've seen me take a rock to the skull. Besides, what was I supposed to do, throw flames at it? Then we'd just have flaming rocks on our hands.”
Karl laughed, handing over Nammu's leather armour as he did. Ah, he had been wondering where that went. “You flame happy dunmer and your destruction magic, it's a wonder the Guild is still standing. You alright to continue looking for this relic or did you want to rest a little longer? We're not in any rush, I’m certain Auryen wouldn't mind waiting longer if you needed to recuperate.”
“No, let us carry on. I want to wrap up finding this relic as soon as possible, I have some business in Riften I need to see to after stopping by the museum,” Nammu said, shrugging on his armour and adjusting his scarf. “ We've got through the door so the rest should be no trouble to get through, Aedra be willing.” With that, Nammu headed up the steps towards the crumbling Akaviri ruin, his mind once more fully focused on the excavation ahead.
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Nammu pushed his way through the grand doors that marked the entrance for the museum, Akaviri relic in hand. It was rather beautiful for what was almost certainly a weapon of some sorts, a sharp silver hoop with dragon motifs running around the edge, dark leather wrapped around one half to form some sort of grip. Of course, Nammu could have done without fighting a draugr deathlord in order to get ahold of it, but what was relic hunting without the occasional thrill of near death experiences?
In all honesty however, Nammu quite enjoyed tangling with draugr deathlords, though he would never admit it to his fellow Guild members for fear they would call the mind healer…again. There was something about the language they spoke that called to something within him; like if he just listened hard enough he would be able to finally understand them. A ridiculous thought of course, most of the time it was just unintelligible shouting and he was busy trying to not be thrown into the nearest wall. This however didn't stop Nammu from his morbid pursuit of any obscure lore he could get his hands on that was even vaguely related to the Merethic era and its languages. It was this pursuit of knowledge that led him to Auryen and the Explorer’s Guild.
“Ah good day to you Guildmaster. I trust you are faring well? How goes the excavation?”
Auryen Morellus was one of the few people Nammu would consider a genuine friend. The high elf was patient and kind, unlike others of his kin Nammu had had the misfortune of crossing paths with, and had always been content to politely overlook Nammu's odd behaviors and secrecy. Auryen had instead been far more interested in Nammu's apparent talent for stumbling across rare relics and artifacts in his exploration of Skyrim's many many crypts and ruins. If not for Auryen, Nammu was certain he would still be wandering aimlessly around Skyrim, largely without purpose and with an ever-growing stash of artifacts he had no home for.
“It went well, a small accident set us back a little but otherwise very successful. The information you found was good, definitely an Akaviri ruin judging by the architecture and abundance of dragon motifs…” Nammu continued to give a brief overview of the expedition as he followed Auryen towards his office, handing over the artifact as they passed through the grand marble corridors.
“Ah, this is truly a lovely piece… I believe it is called the Drakensang. Legend tells that the weapon was forged from the talon of the tiger dragon of Ka’ Po Tun.The leader of the cat folk of Akavir, Tosh'Raka, who allegedly metamorphosed himself into a dragon. Not sure if there is any truth to it or if it's just mythology, but the weapon is a beautiful piece nonetheless. If you could place it on one of the racks in the Hall of Heroes I would be much obliged, and as usual here is a finder's fee for you my friend, assuming of course you are willing to part with this one?” Auryen handed over a small leather pouch, gold within clinking as Nammu accepted it.
“I'll drop it off on my way out. Have you come across any more leads in your research? I'm planning on heading towards Riften to take care of some business but I could be persuaded to make some detours on such a long and tedious journey.”
Auryen laughed, “Are you sure you're not interested in my offer to be made the official relic hunter for the museum? At this rate you will have supplied me with more than half of my displays. As a matter of fact, I do have a couple of leads I would like followed up- here I have written them done on a note for you. I would recommend starting with this item here, an artifact for sale by a general merchant in Helgen named Borguth. He said he would hold the item for me for a while, but I think it best not to wait too long lest he decide to sell it. Are you sure you don't want to rest awhile before you head out again so soon? There is a spare bed you could make use of in the servants quarters.”
Nammu accepted the note Auryen handed to him, waving him off with the other hand as he gave the parchment a quick glance over. “No, I'd rather leave now while it's dark to save people from seeing me coming and going from here. Besides, if Borguth is really at risk of selling this artifact I best be off quickly.”
“Nammu, it is really no problem if you take a moment-”
“Don't use that name!” Nammu hissed, whipping his head up to glare at a now flustered Auryen. He could feel his eyes burning, certain that the red glow would be visible to the altmer even through the dark glass of his goggles. A heat also rose from within his stomach, clawing it's way up his throat only to be caught trapped behind his teeth, begging to be released. Nammu swallowed down the burn and quickly hurried out of the office, heading for the dark streets of Solitude and the city gates beyond that. He stuck to the shadows, taking care to avoid being seen by anyone as he left the city- after all, who knew who could be lurking in the night, watching his every move.
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Skyrim’s sky at night was truly a breathtaking sight- after spending years under the oppressive grey gloom and ash of Solstheim, Nammu didn't think he would ever get tired of it. Eyes tracking the brilliant blues and greens of the Aurora from where he reclined on his bedroll, Nammu was forced to admit that he may have overreacted to Auryen's use of his name- and it was as close to a name as he could claim to have, loathe as he was to admit it. ‘Nammu’, no-name, how he cursed his younger self for ever responding to it. But how was he to know that it was an insult? That young dunmer he had been, lost adrift on that ashen wasteland desperate for any sort of connection or acknowledgement from his brethren. At the time, ‘Nammu’ seemed a welcome change from the usual monikers of boy, fetcher, s'wit, or brat. If Neloth hadn't oh-so-graciously informed him of what it meant, well. He supposed the snickering of the residents of Ravenrock whenever he introduced himself would have given it away eventually.
Nammu shifted on his bedroll, sighing at the maudlin turn his thoughts had taken. What was in the past was done. He was at least in a better position now than when he had still been in Solstheim; he had a job that kept him busy and on the move, he had a couple of friends- if he hadn't driven Auryen off that is- and the dreams had stopped when he left the island-
Well. They had stopped, for a while at least. Nammu sat up, staring into the low burning embers of his campfire. With all the day's activities, he had forgotten about the dream. What was it the voice had said again? Tiid bo ama-something. Tiid he knew meant time, but for the rest he would need to check his notebook… Nammu paused, his hand stretched out towards his pack. Right, the notebook, he had left it at his house in Riften. Of course he had, he hadn’t needed it since coming to the mainland. No matter, just another reason he needed to stop at Riften before making a start on Auryen's list.
Nammu shot an ice spike at the fire, snuffing out the last of the embers before settling back down onto his bedroll, surrounding himself once more in the blue-green ethereal glow of the Aurora. As he started to drift off, Nammu's last thought was that if he was lucky the dream was a one-off, and there would be no need to retrieve the notebook at all.
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Nammu was standing on a platform, suspended above a roiling black sea. Tendrils of black ink rose from the surface, reaching towards the sickly green sky above. The air around him was full of the sound of rustling pagentled gentle whispers. Where was he? He didn't know of anyplace on Tamriel that looked like this…
Fent zu'u mindok…tiid los het!
That voice… no, it couldn't be. He was so sure that it had been a fluke! Nammu turned towards the sound, heart in his throat, praying to any Aedra or Deadra that might listen that he wouldn't see anything-
Alas, there, on the other side of the platform. A tall figure, holding a book in one hand with the other stretched out towards the dark sea below. He couldn't see them very well, the thick green mist obscuring most of his view, but what he could see was enough to confirm his fears. It was him. Same dark robes, same broad frame, glints of gold coming off the pauldrons and mask. The man from his dreams, whom he had not seen nor heard from for the past ten years.
GOL HAH DOV!
Here in his shrine
That they have forgotten
Here do we toil
That we might remember…
The man gave a shout, and it felt as though every bone in Nammu's body rattled in response. Every part of him felt like it started burning with an alertness he had never experienced before. It was like he had been asleep his entire life but now, now he was finally awake. Nammu let out an involuntary gasp, mind reeling- what was this feeling? That shout, what was it and why did it feel eerily familiar? And that chant… Whatever it was, the magic being used here was dark. A sick, oily feeling ran from his ears down to his throat at the sound, reaching down to choke his lungs of air. But Nammu had no time to dwell further on these sensations - his gasp had not gone unnoticed. The figure suddenly paused in his chanting, and began to turn towards where Nammu was standing.
Volaan? Wo ko daar golt…
Nammu only got a brief glimpse of burnished gold and tentacles, before he felt himself being abruptly tugged from within-
Nammu sat up with a gasp, frantically clutching at his chest as he felt the tight grip of panic starting to subside. There was no doubting it now. His dreams had returned after years of silence. Nammu had been puzzled as to why before, but now he would bet coin that it had something to do with that chant the figure seemed to be constructing.
Well, that confirmed it, he was definitely going back to Riften to pick up that notebook now. It was probably also not the best time for him to be traveling alone Nammu mused, beginning to gather his pack together. With winter fast approaching, tensions rising as the civil war was ramping up and now the return of the dreams… No, continuing to travel alone was not the best course of action at all. Nammu stood and slung his pack onto his shoulder, ready to start the long trek eastwards to the Rift. At least Inigo would be happy to see him, and hopefully he hadn't managed to burn down his house while he had been away this time.