Forums » Elder Scrolls

Man-made shouts and Marked for Death

    • 127 posts
    December 31, 2013 4:39 PM EST

    I just had a thought spring to mind and wanted to get some other thoughts involved.

    In the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, there is a word wall.  Not just any word wall, but one with a word of the dragon shout Marked for Death.  Before I've never really questioned it, but whilst watching an LP, I wondered which order they came in.  Was the word wall built inside the sanctuary, or was the sanctuary built around the wall?  And does that make a difference?

    Did an assassin look at it and think it looked good as a centrepiece for a sanctuary?  Or did an assassin look at it, question it, and spend years trying to learn more about it?  It could be an example of somebody's obsession or just a symbol of power.

    But if it was the other way round it raises different questions.  Could it be an assassin who developed the word and built the wall there as a marker of his achievement and an opportunity for future assassins to master their craft?  Could it be that that very shout was developed initially with assassins in mind?  As anyone can learn the Thu'um given time and training, it could be possible.

    So how did people create shouts?  Men created Dragonrend when it was needed.  Do you reckon others were made by men for different uses beyond dragon combat?

    • 360 posts
    December 31, 2013 6:18 PM EST

    possibly, I find it an interesting theory that marked for death was born from a killer's intent for murder. but then again how do you explain the other walls containing the second and third words? imo I think the assassin found the wall and built the sanctuary around it, to use it as a symbol for his profession

    • 127 posts
    December 31, 2013 7:03 PM EST

    Even if that is the case, what about other shouts?  I find it hard to believe that all shouts were developed by dragons and dragons alone.  The greybeards don't exactly condone violence and war, yet most are of a combative nature, so there are naturally loads of other shouts out there without much explanation for their being in existence.