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Oct. 29th, 2011 12:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skyrimkinkmemeANNOUNCEMENTS: UPDATED 12/16/2017
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True Need 3c/3
Date: 2013-06-07 07:28 pm (UTC)Torygg is painfully young, dressed in a prince's finery, fresh and bright as Solitude itself. But Ulfric mistrusts this jewel of a city, with Imperial gold lining its pockets the way nightshade lines its streets. He is a child of ice and snow and old stone halls; he much prefers Windhelm. And he doubts the resolve of this boy to rule as Skyrim needs him to. He means to test it.
"The Moot is charged with determining Skyrim's future," he says. "Surely the succession is only a small part of that."
Idgrod looks at him shrewdly. "And what did you have in mind?"
"We all know what he has in mind," mutters Igmund.
Ulfric chooses his words carefully. "Upon his ascension, every High King of Skyrim renews the alliance and pledges loyalty to the Empire," he says. "In this case, that means swearing to uphold the White-Gold Concordat."
"If you've something to say, man, out with it," says Balgruuf.
Ulfric folds his arms. "It may be time to reconsider old alliances."
Laila Law-Giver frowns. "Skyrim has always been a loyal friend to the Empire."
"A friend, or a slave? Friends stand as equals. Did Titus Mede ask your permission before signing away our country to the Dominion? Did he ask any of you?" He turns to Torygg. "Did he ask your father?"
"Here, here!" says Skald.
Igmund shakes his head. "What you're suggesting is treason."
"Treason? My allegiance is to Skyrim and her High King, not to the Empire."
"Enough games, Ulfric. You know the High King swears fealty to the Emperor," snaps Balgruuf.
Ulfric locks eyes with Torygg. "Does he?"
The table dissolves into bickering. "The Empire loathes the Concordat as much as we do. But it is wise to move cautiously when dealing with serpents," says Idgrod.
"For how long? The people are impatient."
"You are impatient!" Igmund growls. "Do you not remember how this ended last time? We have sacrificed too much for the current peace to throw it away."
A flare of rage skips along his veins. "Oh, I remember. And what would you know of patience, Igmund son of Hrolfdir? You seemed less certain of our beloved Emperor's timely aid when it was your throne at stake. And you sit upon it now because better men gave their blood and freedom to win it for you - you and Titus Mede are alike in that, oathbreaker. Do not dare to talk to me of sacrifice."
It's more than enough to provoke a duel; Ulfric half-hopes the man will offer to defend his honor with his blade, but Igmund only grinds his teeth.
"Enough," barks Balgruuf, with a quelling look at both of them. Ulfric ignores him.
"Tell me true," he presses Torygg, aggressive now. "What do you think?" Torygg looks at his advisor. "Not your nursemaid - you."
"Leave the boy be."
"He's man enough to be a king!" Ulfric thunders. "Or are we still undecided?"
"Istlod ruled well for more than twenty-five years--"
"Yes, and his father before him, and his father before that," says Ulfric. "But now I want to hear from his son."
Torygg swallows. "We still rely on the Empire for trade," he says, tentative.
Ulfric is not surprised, unless it is at how utterly furious he still has the capacity to feel. High King! I could rule better, he thinks, in disgust. And then: I could rule better.
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True Need 3d/3
Date: 2013-06-07 07:33 pm (UTC)Skyrim still needs heroes, and instead it has him.
He is not Ysgramor, though he sits on Ysgramor's throne; he is not Wulfharth or Jorunn or Harald, and he is certainly not Talos. He is not even his father, who was beloved of everyone in Windhelm, who commanded affection where Ulfric inspires hate and hero-worship in equally unreliable measure. But he does possess the Thu'um: the ancient weapon of the Nords, the relic of a time when kings ruled by might and not by the whim of a distant and self-interested Empire. The symbol of a Skyrim that was strong, and may be strong again.
He goes to Solitude with years of molten rage hammered into a cold and deadly purpose. Torygg smiles at him. "Jarl Ulfric--"
"Torygg." His voice is glacial. "I do not call you king, because no true High King of Skyrim would be so fearful and blind to his people's suffering. Let all those present witness. In the eyes of gods and men I call you traitor, and challenge you to trial by combat."
Torygg blanches. For a moment he looks dizzy, dumbfounded, and Ulfric wonders if he will refuse. It would serve his purposes just as well if he did, but after a moment the young king stands, a little shakily. "So be it."
"No--"
Torygg folds his fingers around the small hand gripping his sleeve, pushes it gently back toward his queen.
"The High King claims his right to choose the weapons," says Torygg's steward, a little breathlessly. Ulfric nods.
The court wizard shifts. "This is madness--"
"Swords," says Torygg. "And shields."
They have to bring Torygg's things from the armory. Ulfric feels a grim vindication in that - that this so-called defender of Skyrim does not even keep his war-gear close at hand. But he waits silently while Torygg puts on his mail and the members of his court huddle and whisper at the edges of the throne room. When it is done they face each other, there in the center of the palace. Torygg draws his sword.
Ulfric looks at the young man in his ceremonial armor - polished by servants, but never by blood. He does not really look at Torygg's face. If he did, he might see an uncanny resemblance to his long-dead comrades: casualties of the hatreds and the war-wounds of their elders, doomed brave boys who faced down the Dominion's ranks with shaky hands and steady eyes. But he does not. He thinks about symbols, about betrayal, about redemption.
His thu'um is stronger than it has ever been, bursting its banks with all his brutal, intimate knowledge of force, and what it means.
Re: True Need 3d/3
Date: 2013-06-08 02:47 am (UTC)Re: True Need 3d/3
Date: 2013-06-16 05:17 pm (UTC)OP Re: True Need 3d/3
Date: 2013-06-08 03:36 pm (UTC)Re: OP Re: True Need 3d/3
Date: 2013-06-16 05:19 pm (UTC)Re: True Need 3d/3
Date: 2013-06-11 09:48 pm (UTC)Re: True Need 3d/3
Date: 2013-06-16 05:16 pm (UTC)Re: True Need 3d/3
Date: 2015-03-29 12:51 am (UTC)Skyrim still needs heroes, and instead it has him.
Oh, shit.
I always loved Ulfric, from my first playthrough to my most recent one, and I was never able to explain why. He's so... wrong, and yet I could never get my Dragonborn to hate him, in play or in stories.
Empire or Stormcloak (and I have to admit that I usually go for the latter) unless you play without listening to what the character say, you just know that there's more than what you can actually hear or see, behind the-man-who-killed-the-king.
Thank you for writing all that down.
I'm writing my Ulfric for another fill, and another version of him is in the works for yet another story, and both of them will owe everything to the fantastic way you have with words.
Thank you again, oh wonderful anon!
(PS: captcha says "drink milk"... ok, guys, who the hell is taking the piss at me from behind the screen?! I'M NO MILK DRINKERRRRRR!)
Re: True Need 3d/3
Date: 2015-04-19 10:50 am (UTC)Obviously I like Ulfric too, despite my better judgement. I would love to read the stories you're working on. This one is cleaned up a bit over at ao3.