The Songs of Jurgen the Calm

In the year of the Death of the Sun, the Nords ventured East through ash and dirt and mud and muck to conquer Resdayn where the Heart of Shor was falsely told to have been (and was all along).

Among them was King Wulfharth Who-Was-Ysmir, Derek the Tall, Mikjir Mud-Eater (who took name and talent from the Merkiller), Mora Bellysinger, Hroki the Red, Karl Hjormir, Jeorr Ice-Teeth, Felja Fire-Beard, Jurgen Windcaller and many more among them.

As they walked and sang and chuckled the shell-homes of the Devils crumbled and fell though the dwarves who made their homes of rock would fight and hide and fight again until not even they knew if the battle was over. With Voice came power and with power came safety and with safety came ignorance. Shor applauded from afar as the Dwemer died yet kept quiet as the Devils were crushed and is still confusing as the Dagoth Devil rarely made complaint.

Before them came the Red Mountain.

The battle was harsh, fierce and hard to remember. Before the climb to Kagrenac — that is now Devil Dagoth’s home — Shor and Wulfharth, God and King, raced up the mountainside on the Faith-Cat who may not have been there. As the Tongues crushed and burned and froze and ripped the heroes above fought these evils: Dumac Dwarfking, Vehk the Devil, Moon-and-Star (whose hands spoke destiny, whose father was the serpent-shadow of Shor, whose shield-wife was many-faced) and Devil Dagoth whose loyalty is obscured to all. As the terrible fighting continued, both spirit-of-Shor and Wulfharth were defeated and Kyne had to lift the ashes from Hell, where God-Mirror was born, and back to the home of Snow-Throat.

When Jurgen saw this and the deaths of many other Tongues he cried out to the winds but had a dead throat. He saw, shocked and terrified, how Strong Voices could fail. At once he left, to return to the land which was made theirs to reflect on this.

Year 1

200 or Some More days of refusing to Shout, Jurgen had sat upon the plains of Jarl Gjalund’s hold and stared up through winds and clouds til he slept. His body was raised by Kyne where he felt feathered and filled with her air. Through the skies he saw cloud-dances of dragons flying and falling; men-shapes that would bend to their own kind and that of one Voice-master whom never spoke yet was king over all. A gentle whisper slithered through Jurgen and he knew it was Kyne as he dropped slowly and gently back to the grassbed he left. And he said nothing.

Year 2

Jurgen walked with Mora Bellysinger to the new city of Markarth, which was built of Dwarven minds and arms. The city had been occupied by some savage men of the west and even some Snow Elves, whom cowered at the song of Mora Bellysinger, which is forgotten. Windcaller and Bellysinger entered the Stone Palace of Nchuand-Zel and looked upon the symbols and metal-men of the Dwemer, which were hatred and ignorance. Mora was boiling with rage and shouted the metal into bends and peices of those both living and not, Jurgen chose to sit down on the cold stone as more of the metal-men surrounded them until they had no escape when Jurgen hummed deep and soft. The humming of Jurgen shook the stone and the metal men until even their false symbols could not save them.

Mora had then chosen to stay silent with Jurgen until she would sing with him, which would not happen.

Year 3

Mora had died. Jurgen had been depressed since and sat in the mud-ponds of Eastmarch, he looked into the hot pond and saw himself staring back. He looked into the water as it rippled and trembled his face image, wondering of his path, his world, his life and his faith. Violently he had been pulled back by Mikjir Mud-Eater, whom thought he walked upon a man ready to drown himself. The friends greeted each other by ways of the hand and Mikjir was confused by Jurgen’s silence; he had decided to bite into the mud-pond and spit towards Jurgen though the mud slid off him with ease. New life was not thrown into him, for new life had already begun.

Year 4

This year has never been sung, for Jurgen had achieved a following from his friend Mikjir; all whom followed Jurgen in this time would never write nor speak nor sing at all and this carried on for 400 or less days. Those who followed either died or left or went mad, not even Mikjir stayed with Jurgen.

Year 5

Jurgen stayed in Hillgrund’s Steading until he was gifted with 20 bottles of mead from the town’s marketers and 5 jars of honey from Sveinhelf Seven-Toes, who ran the town in those early days. With these gifts, Jurgen drank and ate as he walked upwards of MONAH-VEN. On his journey he met a pilgrim, whose name is told later, and she stared deeply at Jurgen who was still confused. The pilgrim knocked him down ruthlessly, then kissed Jurgen, whose lips were sweet with honey, then fell into the snow for later travellers to find. He still did not know, but he would learn later.

Year 6

Jurgen had made himself a small ice-home near the place Winds Allow None as it would briefly be known. Stuck before he could reach the peak, this is when Jurgen broke his silence and commanded the winds to let him pass for his Voice had grown stronger than any others when it had been used so scarcely. Jurgen was pushed back into the snow when he Shouted at them and the winds flew into Jurgen and raced within him knocking him backwards and forwards and back again until he returned to silence at which point they left. Jurgen was close to seeing the truth but needed one last step.

Year 7

Jurgen was allowed passage through the winds, to a place at which even Ice Wraiths dared not to challenge him. He returned to the Throat of the World where he met a Dragon whom he knew by name that was “Paarthurnax”. The Dov first tried to burn Jurgen but he ate it. Then the Dov tried to freeze him and Jurgen ate it. Then he tried to push Jurgen but that too was eaten. Paarthurnax then told the story of how he freed JUL and had been thrown into outcast and had to flee from mankind. For time uncounted, as Paarthurnax never knew how, he had wondered why he would have risen so high to be dropped down into an outcast above a mountain, until Jurgen could teach Paarthurnax the true words of power.

MUL THU’UM FUNT

These are the words that comfort Paarthurnax when he tries to remember his power.

The Shout-Eating of Jurgen the Calm

When Jurgen lived in stone, underneath the death-bringing winds that were further atop MONAHVEN, 17 strong Tongues came to battle Jurgen who they saw as a traitor and madman. Jurgen had known this day would come and shouted into the snow “MUL THU’UM FUNT”, even though the Tongues were too proud to care for his warning. Grimwehlt and Tsjari and Fjorli and Jora and the many Reds and others had all come in front of High Hrothgar and challenged Jurgen. Jurgen would refuse to fight them and Fjorli became irritated so began to Shout towards Jurgen; and as she did the many others joined her in deafening and thundering Thu’um.

Jurgen stood, relaxed and jaw hanging for the attack that would have ripped even Ysgramor into the snow. As such, Jurgen remained eating the Shouts for 3 days as the fury of the Tongues was roaring towards him and echoing throughout all of Keizaal and Jerall. The Tongues had to stop, weary and fatigued as they dropped into the snow where the warning had layed and they still did not know what he had. Jurgen calmly walked towards the Tongues and whispered to them.

The winds had calmed, the cold became less bitter, even the moons had gone full and shone down onto Nirn.

“Strong voices fail”.