"When I first came to it was in that weird, uh... Empty space. The other players were there and we selected our skill trees and all that. With me entering under a different person's invitation I thought I shouldn't think too much about the character creation. So I just picked a template, and selected what I thought would help me survive."
I nodded it made sense. Stephan continued on, "I ended up picking one-handed, hand to hand, and light armor. I thought they would do me good since well, I don't know what any of that magic stuff does."
I laughed, "Well, you made decent choices. Hand to hand is new to me, but I can understand its use. What I really want to know is what you set as backstory, what quests you completed, and so on."
Stephan shrugged, "I didn't make a backstory. Though, I guess I ended up getting one. I ended up waking up on a carriage heading to the headsman axe. Scared the stuffing out of me. That's where I met Kyne though. Well That's the name Hadvar decided for him. You see Kyne had no memories of anything as he was found near the border."
Stephan paused for a second, "Well that came later, like I said I woke up on a carriage with Kyne, a man named Ralof, and a man who was gagged. Ralof asked me my name and where I was from, and well... I just sort of knew. My name was Stephan and I was from Rorikstead. Apparently I stole a horse, but got caught. At least that's what I was called."
It sounded like Stephan replaced Lokir. He had no backstory so a near nameless character was replaced. Making Stephan's backstory the same as Lokir's backstory. Stephan twitched and interlocked his fingers. "After that a dragon showed up. Th-The carnage was... terrible."
I nodded, "It was a scripted event in the old games. I can't imagine the changes to our new reality. what happened next? I assume you made your way to Riverwood?"
Stephan nodded, "Me, Kyne, Ralof, and the man I mentioned earlier Hadvar. We all ended up escaping together. After that we found something called the standing stones. Kyne touched one and it lit up... I did too and I gained a buff to my warrior skills. Ralof called us special, and offered shelter in Riverwood. Hadvar did the same and we ended up in their homes. Well... the homes of their relatives."
Stephan paused and organized his thoughts. "After that... Well Kyne stood up and said we should inform someone of the dragon. They agreed and said they would inform Legion and Stormcloaks. Though Hadvar suggested me and Kyne head to Whiterun to inform Jarl Balgruuf. So uh... we did."
I nodded, "After that I assume you headed to Bleak Falls Barrow."
Stephan nodded, "Yeah, I guess you know most of the details. It took us a while to get there, because we got a little lost. When we did though we found this thief, that apparently stole this golden claw? It helped us in a puzzle, which led us to this decorated coffin. Nothing happened at first, but Kyne stepped to this wall and some sort of... Knowledge? Power? Something happened to him."
I nodded, "A word wall, it contains the word Fus. The language is Dovazul, but you can just think of it as the draconic language. I have a guess at what happens later so you can use the right terminology. "
Stephan nodded, "Right, Well after he absorbed it the coffin busted open. The undead guy..."
I interrupted, "A Draugr, a basic undead."
Stephan let out a laugh, "Well, we killed it. It had the Dragonstone we needed for Farengar. After that we escaped and headed back to Riverwood. Kyne wanted to return the Golden Claw so... Yeah. We stayed for a bit and we ended up helping some people around Riverwood. We helped a girl named Camilla she had guy troubles and we cleared a place called Embershard mine for Embry."
I raised my eyebrow, "Embry, isn't he a drunk."
Stephan laughed, "Yeah he was, but he was also the head miner for the Embershard mine."
I nodded in thought, "I see, continue on."
Stephan continued where he left off. "After helping some others we finally traveled back to Whiterun. Half way through our delivery of the Dragonstone a guard burst in yelling about a dragon. From there we ended up joining a hunting party for the dragon. The fight was difficult, specially for me since I couldn't use a bow or magic. I did end up crushing it's skull from the western tower though. I dropped a stone brick from the top and boom! It died."
A critical hit most likely. That or the dragon was still in a weakened state from being resurrected. Stephan continued to explain though. Kyne absorbed something from the dragon and several guards began whispering. Seconds later though the earth literally shook and I received a new quest."
I was about to ask what it was, but Stephan asked me a question. "What was that uh... Shouting? That shook the earth."
"It was the Greybeards. Hermits that live on the throat of the world. A mountain smack in the middle of Skyrim. They were summoning the dragonborn to inherit a part of his destiny. Though they reject the other half. They are important people, and I assume your quest is to head there with Kyne?" I gestured with my hands to where Kyne was sitting outside.
Stephan relaxed, "Yeah, I was a little worried about it. I am to travel there and help him learn the way of the voice."
I understood the changes that he experienced and the changes likely to happen going forth. I scratched my chin, theoretically the time limit should be finite. However I knew that most likely Alduin wouldn't rush things. He would want fear, an army, worshippers. Good chances letting things linger would make the quest later on harder, but at the same time rewards and experience would increase too.
"I suggest you and Kyne join the companions. Things will get a little crazy with them, but since you are now directly tied to the main quest..." I looked at Stephan and his nervous demeanor. It felt like he would get worse if he knew the main quest related to the end of the world. I decided my words carefully. "You will need to fight more dragons and possible more skilled foes. You are gonna need power, training, gear. Joining the companions will likely be your best bet on advancing those goals. Eventually the companions will talk about you joining the inner circle. Tell them you will need to think about it and once you have that quest I suggest heading to High Hrothgar to meet the Greybeards."
Stephan nodded along, "So join companions, get levels, training, and gear. Once I am recognized by them and am told about the inner circle ask for time to think about it. After that continue the Main Quest." He nodded to himself this time. Reassuring himself of what to do. He looked up at me, "Is it a specific quest?"
I nodded, "Yes, but I don't want to tell you if it changes or something. So I will simply say they will invite you to a place called the underforge."
He nodded and asked, "What will you be doing?"
I shrugged, "What I can. I have my own plans, my own goals I want to achieve in this world. Stephan for you... I can't tell you to anything more than follow the dragonborn. So don't worry about what I will do too much. Other players will likely be the same and be careful of them. Good chance they try to kill you. I've killed two other players myself..."
I let my words linger and die off. It gave him the impression I had no choice and he tried to reassure me. "I got it! Don't worry about me. I'm nothing if not resourceful!"
I got up and stretched. I think I will go get the Ebony blade and buy spells off Farengar. I looked at Stephan, "There is a chance we meet at High Hrothgar. You don't need to be the dragonborn to learn the way of the voice and that's why I will be heading there myself."
I paused, "Oh and it seems Kyne is pretty righteous. So if you two help some Akavir warriors find a redguard women. Trust nothing the women says. You won't understand the political implications and lore about her. So Just know she is a liar and a manipulator. The only reason why you would side with her is if you want additional experience."
Stephan nodded dumbly again. I paused, "Level up your speechcraft by selling things, train in restoration magic you just need a healing spell to start. Oh actually if you manage to increase your speechcraft before completing that quest for the Akavir warriors ask the man who captures the woman if he could train you."
Stephan laughed, "You are starting to sound like a parent."
I smiled, a slightly genuine one. "More like backseat gaming. Who doesn't try to coach a noob every so often. Anyway, I can give you more advice if I am still in the city. For now though I will go complete some quests."
With that I left the private room for now. I would likely sleep in it later. It had a bed after all and Hulda offered breakfast. I waved to the dragonborn on my way out of the bannered mare. It seemed it was in his nature to help people. Hopefully that wouldn't cause problems later on. I rather hated the blades and they would no doubt meet eventually.
I sighed, "So many little things."