Voyage of the Three Winds, I

Do you know where the gods are? Can you trace their movements across the Sky? Do you ever wonder what thoughts and desires guide the travels of the Hirser, and whether they are present in the moment of reflection? There was a time when they departed Skyrim, after all, and crossed the seas, and the foolishness of their Children was left without their stern correction.

It was during the reign of High King Borgas that the gods were discovered missing. In the past year, the buffoonery of that monkey-facing king had seen the removal of the proper ways of worship, and in its stead Borgas' subjects now simpered and debased themselves before the image of a maimed dragon, as the southerners still sometimes do. There was a gross intoxication amongst the people, and for a time they did not notice the waning rains and failing crops, and they starved in their sickness.

But deep within the swamps of the Hjaal, where little authority penetrates and where people still respected the proper ways of worship, the clans noticed. They saw how the eels swam through their traps, and how the storms kept their ships aground, and how the bees made a thin and sickly honey that was not good to drink. They knew that the gods were missing from Skyrim, and that only by their return could the land find relief from this disease. And so, in a gathering of the Hjaalmoot, they resolved to send the three sons of Klaga, the captains of the Three Winds, into the western seas to find them.

Haakl, firstborn of Klaga and captain of the Cold Wind, stepped forward. He was a mighty warrior - an eater of wasabi and a known berserk - and before the Hjaalmoot he pledged himself to Kyne. He declared that he would perpetrate such slaughter on the lands of the west that Kyne herself would return home to Skyrim amongst his plunder. His crew roared their approval, and pushed their ship out into the chill waters of the fjord.

Next Frokl, youngest of Klaga and captain of the Evening Wind, stepped forward. He was a great storyteller and drinker of mead, and before the Hjaalmoot he pledged himself to Dibella. He declared that the songs he would sing across the ocean would woo Dibella herself, and he would bring her home to Skyrim as his god-wife. His crew laughed uproariously, and pushed their ship out into the chill waters of the fjord.

Lastly Grykl, middleborn of Klaga and captain of the Homeward Wind, stepped forward. Where his brother Haakl was impulsive, Grykl was patient. Where his brother Frokl was intemperate, Grykl was measured. He was a wise and modest Nord, and he knew that the living gods were women and that to propitiate them was women's business too. And thus, he did not immediately pledge himself to anyone; instead, in the ceremony of those who have found another sex's calling, Grykl became Gryfa, a shieldmaiden and devoted servant of Mara. Only then would she assent to the task. Her crew breathed deep with clear hearts, and pushed their ship out into the chill waters of the fjord. And so the Three Winds put out to sea.

But by morning the chill had become a bitter storm, and the Three Winds could not stay their course west. Sleet pounded the decks of the ships and the crews became afraid. Days passed like this until the Cold Wind's watchman spotted a great confluence of icebergs through the blizzard, and as they drew closer a range of mountains beyond that. At this time the island of Roscrea was unknown to the Hjaalmen, and they were wary of its looming frame, but Haakl was hungry for violence (he had taken to sustaining himself on a little wasabi each day) and drove his ship ahead of his siblings'. Thus, as the others beached their ships upon the freezing shore and began to pitch their camp, Haakl sailed further around the coast in search of inhabitants or settlements to plunder.

He did not have to sail far. Rounding a headland, the Cold Wind came upon a fishing village teeming with activity. With a roar of pleasure, Haakl drew his ship right into the harbour, hurling spears at the fleeing townsfolk until the water was shallow enough to throw himself from the prow and wade ashore, biting his shield as he went. Bellowing demands for Kyne's favour, he cut through the townsfolk in such a fury that he left his crew far behind, their calls to him growing fainter as Haakl slaughtered his way along the trails above the village, climbing a mountain in his bloodlust.

And at its peak, as the red sun set, he found all those who had fled before him, and with delight he fell amongst them until only a great and bloody pile of corpses remained. At this point Haakl was exhausted; stumbling and delirious with fatigue he cried out one last demand - that Kyne notice his deeds and return at once with him to Skyrim - before he collapsed atop the bodies of his making.

Waking in the gloom of dawn, Haakl opened one bleary eye. He felt different, although that was not uncommon once the wasabi and rage had left his body. Stretching, he cursed his lazy crew for failing to find and return him to his ship - but all that he heard was a shriek that echoed from the peak to the surrounding mountaintops. He began to examine his surroundings, and noticed with surprise that he was enveloped by two great feathery wings.

Suddenly fearful, he thrashed about, and the wings to either side thrashed with him, hurting him, until with horror he realised that they were his own. As he had slept upon the great mound of corpses, his body had become that of a great bird - what the men of Jokuud call a "ruk" - and suddenly fear overwhelmed his mind until he thought only to rip and maim.

Throwing itself from the peak of the mountain, the hawk that had been Haakl spread its wings and dived upon the Cold Wind, which had waited in the harbour for the return of its captain. The crew looked up as Haakl's great shadow fell over them, and in that moment two Nords were snatched from the deck and carried off in great talons, only to be shredded by the cruel beak and thrown upon the rocks below.

Twice more this happened, until a hail of spears drove the beast away and, with a piercing shriek, it flapped its bloodied wings and flew north, never to be seen again. Believing their captain certainly killed by this monster, the crew of the Cold Wind returned to the camp of their companions, bearing the news of Haakl's death and their failure to discover Kyne's whereabouts.

By the time they returned (in fact, at the point of Haakl's departure) the storm had abated, and hearing the words of his crew the two remaining children of Klaga knew that they could not remain in this blood-cursed land. Running their ships back to sea, they divided the Cold Wind's survivors between themselves and once again plotted their western course, leaving the truth of their brother's fate on the rocky beach behind them.