Ugolin, memories out of sequence: The First and Last?

  • When misrule takes its place at the eight corners of the world

    When the Brass Tower walks and Time is reshaped

    When the thrice-blessed fail and the Red Tower trembles

    When the Dragonborn Ruler loses his throne, and the White Tower falls

    When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless, bleeding

    The World-Eater wakes, and the Wheel turns upon the Last Dragonborn.

    Ugolin stood for a long time lost in thought as he gazed at the mannequin before him. He had dressed the dummy in his favourite attire, the travel-stained but comfortable apparel of Miraak; the Robes, gloves, boots and mask. Funny, Ugolin reflected, that he still referred to them as “Miraak’s” despite owning them for some time. It made him wonder if others did too.

    Not many people knew of Miraak or would recognise the robes as being associated with the eponymous mask when not seeing the two together. Those who did would also know that Miraak had met his end during a confrontation with Ugolin, individuals such as the Skaal Shaman or that Telvanni Wizard, Neloth. So from a contemporary point of view this was an easy event to understand; one Dragonborn fought another in a battle which had a clear victor to whom went the spoils (Ugolin shook away the thought that the true winner was the Ur-Daedra). Yet Ugolin had a gut feeling that something more profound than the obvious occurred on a mythic level when he took Miraak’s place as Hermaeus Mora’s champion.

    Thinking back to what he learned in Apocrypha amid the endless stacks of infinite knowledge, Ugolin recalled the tale of Sheogorath and the Greymarch. As with his own relationship to Miraak, Sheogorath’s relationship to the Champion of Cyrodiil during the closing days of the Third Era some two centuries ago wasn’t common knowledge. Of course, The mad God hinted at that connection when Ugolin spoke to him when travelling Skyrim, but the actual facts of the matter were only recently learned from Mora’s Library.

    In an effort to escape and end the curse of Jyggalag, Sheogorath conceived of a plan which eventually led to a mortal, the Champion of Cyrodiil, taking his place as ruler of the Shivering Isles and assuming the mantle of Prince of Madness. This was done using a process Tiber Septim described as to “walk like them until they must walk like you.” The end result being that there was and is no real distinction between the old and new Mad God.

    Ugolin took a seat in the corner, lifting from the table next to him a bottle of Alto Wine and poured himself a goblet of the stuff. The parallels between Ugolin, Miraak, Sheogorath and his hero were there. Didn’t Ugolin himself follow in Miraak’s footsteps by using the sacred Stones on Solstheim, then again when learning all of Miraak’s Shouts? Even Miraak’s battle with the Dragon Priest Vahlok was re-enacted by Ugolin, albeit with a different outcome.  

    Ugolin sipped his wine as he let his thoughts gather, his eyes again wandering to the mannequin. If he did “mantle” Miraak, was he still the Last Dragonborn of the prophecy? Or was he now the First? Just like Sheogorath and the Champion of Cyrodiil, was there any longer a distinction between the first and Last Dragonborn? Could there be another Last Dragonborn sometime in the future who would replace Ugolin as Mora’s servant, thereby continuing the cycle and making room for yet another Last Dragonborn?

    Ugolin stood and went to a bookshelf in the library tower of to retrieve a copy of the book “Aevar Stone Singer”. Maybe in the covers of this tome he would find a clue that such an event had already occurred, in much the same way that Champion of Cyrodiil found clues to his own past in the legacy of Arden-Sul.  

    Regardless as to whether the truth would ever be known to him, Ugolin was certain of one thing one thing: Hermaeus Mora, Master of the Tides of Fate would know for sure...

Comments

3 Comments
  • Paws
    Paws   ·  April 3, 2016
    Lol, douchebag, not gonna happen
    Yeah, it was a wild thought. That TLD is mantling Miraak and in so doing basically becomes the First Dragonborn.
    When a dragon breaks and reassembles, it looks at what was and what is and uses that info to fil...  more
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  April 3, 2016
    So Ugolin mantled Miraak? That´s what you imply here? Lol, I never thought about it this way. The path, the trials and dangers you endure on Solstheim...Miraak was there before, right? First or Last, that is the question. My head is spinning now.
    Ma...  more
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  May 18, 2015
    Again, another interesting read. Was able to take a breather from editing and have enjoyed your blog. I like thinking.