Post by Chinchilla on Jan 9, 2013 23:28:52 GMT -5
WARNING: WALKING SPOILER
[/center][Paarthurnax]
Age: Old
Gender: Male
Rank: Lost
Fandom: The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Canon Pull Point: Shortly before the return of Alduin, before the arrest of the Dragonborn.
Appearance: Paarthurnax is old, almost impossibly so. While as the child of Akatosh he would have never given in to old age in his native realm, he still shows the signs of his great age. The color of his scales and eyes have dulled. His horns and spikes have many breaks. His wings are tattered, though not enough to deny him flight. He moves with a certain sense of deliberance, the careful movements of an old creature with all the time in the world. He may no longer be the timeless descendent of the aedra he once was, but he's still lived longer then many humans can comprehend and it shows.
Paarthurnax is, in appearance, a wyvern-like dragon. He has four limbs, with his forelimbs being wings. Instead of walking solely with his back feet, he uses his wingknuckles to support himself and thus moves in a quadrupedal manner rather then in the traditional bipedal way of a wyvern. His back and neck are lined with spikes that continue down his tail. His chin is lined with many small spikes, as well as two larger ones. One of these is broken. These spikes give him the appearance of having a beard.
He is too big to fit inside most buildings, but the massive dragons of the pernese still manage to be larger then him. He's roughly the size of the average Green, and being so outweighed by the larger dragon colors is a very new experience for the old dragon.
Personality:
Paarthurnax is old, and with age comes wisdom and experience. His natural intelligence as a dragon is also a boon. He has seen many empires fall, and has even been the direct cause of one such fall. His time with the greybeards has left him with quite the scholary side, and he has spent many years teaching them and some dovahkiin how to use the Voice. As such, he often has the bearing of a teacher. He enjoys imparting his wisdom on the young, though his secluded lifestyle rarely gives him a chance.
Paarthurnax has spent many years on top of his mountain, meditating and teaching the greybeards. His self-imposed exile has given him a great deal of time to meditate and think, and as such he is quite wise and philosophical. He follows the Way of the Voice, a pacifistic creed which teaches that the voice, or the thu'um in his native tongue, should be used only for the glory and worship of the gods. He secludes himself not only so that he may await the return of his brother and enemy, but so that he may protect the world below from himself. He wishes to repent for what he has done in the past by teaching his brothers to follow his Way, teaching them to control themselves and their ambitions.
Despite his seclusion, Paarthurnax is hardly an irritable hermit when talking to others. He is friendly and polite, translating his frequent slips into his native tongue and apologizing often. He enjoys speaking to others and is eager to help the dragonborn in their fight against Alduin. Despite the pride common among dragons, Paarthurnax has called some mortals his friends, including those who refused to trust him and refused to heed his advice not to use the elder scroll.
Despite his peaceful ways and friendly personality, Paarthurnax is still a dragon. Within him is the same potential for violence and lust for power that all dragons have. Paarthurnax must spend a great deal of time meditating every day in order to bring peace to himself and control his more violent urges, or he fears that he will slip back into his role as Alduin's lieutenant. However, he believes that his fight against the evil within him is honorable.
History:
Paarthurnax is one of the eldest of Akatosh, the Aedric god of time, life and death. His eldest brother, Alduin, was renowned as the world eater, the finest of Akatosh's sons and destined to bring about the end of all. The dragons, arrogant and powerful, were blessed with the power of the Voice; the ability to speak the very language of the creation. As such, they viewed themselves as above all other living beings, and acted as such.
When men, those curious, finite creatures, began to worship the dragon, the proud beasts embraced the praise willingly. However, dragons cared little for actually ruling. They wanted power, not responsibility. So they selected certain men from their cults, the Dragon Priests, and bestowed upon them masks of power. The dragon priests ruled in the place of the dragons, bringing them tribute and doing the true ruling while the dragons merely enjoyed being treated as gods.
But the reign of the dragons and their priests grew cruel. The humans rebelled against them, and were crushed by the dragons and their Voices. Paarthurnax began to take pity on the humans, who stood no chance against their 'gods'. He fought in Alduin's name anyway, crushing rebels for the honor of his elder brother. Alduin grew arrogant and cold-hearted, viewing himself as the finest of all creations. He treated the humans harshly. He proclaimed himself a true god, and at the height of Alduin's power, Paarthurnax finally turned against his brother.
Some claim that it was at the urging of Kyne, goddes of the storm, Paarthurnax taught humans how to use the thu'um. Paarthurnax himself merely says that he did. He befriended the humans he aided, but they didn't trust him or the other dragons who betrayed their kind to aid the humans. They barred Paarthurnax from their councils and discussed the problem of Alduin in secret.
Dragonrend was created, a shout that forced the concept of mortality upon a dragon. It was able to stun and do great damage to a dragon, but this was not enough. With an elder scroll, and despite Paarthurnax's urgings not to, the humans sent Alduin through time. They mistakenly thought the world-eater vanquished, though Paarthurnax knew that he had merely been misplaced.
Despite the fact the dragon war had been won with the vanquishing of Alduin, Paarthurnax knew that he was still a dragon and could still revert to his old ways. He fled to the Throat of the World, where Alduin had been banished, and took up a life of solitude. He eventually converted to the way of the voice, but when is unknown.
He spent thousands of years upon his mountain, noticing little of the world below. His time was spent in utter isolation and loneliness, visited only by the silent greybeards. He left his mountain only rarely, such as when Numinex was captured by Olaf One-eye. He visited his captured brother, recalling that the dragon was so miserable from his loneliness and captivity that he had forgotten his own name.
The Blades tried to reach Paarthurnax, to bring him to justice for his crimes as a dragon. But the greybeards guarded their leader and teacher from their wrath. Paarthurnax himself thought they were wise to distrust him, as he would not trust another dragon.
So he waited for his brother to return.
One day, while stretching his wings for a quick flight around the peak of the mountain, a surprise gust of wind buffered him. He was momentarily disoriented by the fierce gale, and when the confusion lifted he was no longer surrounded by stinging ice, but by sand and wind. Being in a desert was... different. Perhaps the blades had managed to get to him and banish him as Alduin had been banished? Maybe a Prince had spirited him away for a prank? Hmm.
