Under an Open Sky: Shearpoint and Krosis

Imperial Scholar Lucius Flavius

After our extensive research into Ragnvald and Otar the Mad I have become increasingly interested in finding the final resting places of the remaining Dragon Priests in Skyrim. My primary goal is to find all of highest ranking Priests who were granted masks from their dragon overlords. The ones that I have been able to identify have lead me to believe that this inner circle forsook their original names and took new names given by the dragons or took the name of the mask. Now after a couple of months of research I have found the location of another Priest but his resting place leaves me with as many questions as Otar did.

I identified the priest known as Krosis, and his resting place. I have been able to slowly translate the dragon language thanks largely to book written by Hela Thrice-Versed. I will offer you the translations that I have been able to uncover in the coming reports. Surprisingly every tome and oral tradition I looked into pointed to the mountain top of Shearpoint. Located east of Whiterun on the southern fringe of the Pale, Shearpoint is a solitary peak on the end of a short chain of mountains stretching towards Windhelm. Upon arriving at the sight my colleagues and I were surprised to find no ruin or temple, only a solitary black wall, undoubtedly one of the “word walls” so many adventurers and scholars had spoken of. I have done my best to translate it from dragonic to Tamrielic.

Modir the Far raised (this) stone(in his) brother's memory, Oskarthe Fool, whose voice was weak and not (the) mighty shout of his clan.

It seems as if the ancient Nords erected these walls as monuments to fallen family, comrades or friends. I also reason that given the Dragon Cults place as the ruling body of Skyrim during the Merethic Era, they certainly would have had to have the dragons or their priests permission and blessing to raise such a monument. What was interesting was that I felt the same sensations that others have described when observing the walls. I felt that certain words contained a sort of, power. They seemed to call out, as if almost waiting to be read by one who could understand and make use of whatever power is contained. It seemed that this knowledge would not be obtained for free though.

At the foot of this wall, lay a single black coffin. The lid looked as though it had been thrown open by a mighty force, inside lay the remains of a set of armor, ash, and what appeared to be the mask of a Dragon Priest. It was greenish in appearance and the face engraved seemed to posses a neutral, almost haughty features. I was sure I had located the priest, Krosis. As far as I can translate, Krosis seems to mean “Sorrow” in Tamrielic. This would be characteristic of the tales and legends I have learned of these priests. That they were men of powerful will and terrible powers. Yet the burial place of Krosis troubled me. He was not interred in an elaborate tomb or temple, I have seen lesser men buried here in Skyrim with more pomp and circumstance. So the obvious question is why was he to be found out in the open, on top of this unassuming mountain? We were not so lucky as to find an epic poems as we did with Otar, so my fellow scholars and I have debated several theories.

The simplest explanation is that Krosis chose this spot himself. Being a dragon priest it assured that his word was law and only his authority only surpassed by that of the dragons themselves. Many seemed to be obsessed with prolonging their lives through unnatural means and would want to maintain their bodies in order to possibly rise again. Perhaps he was simply being pragmatic in choosing a remote unadorned location in order to protect his body so he could rise again in service of the dragons. (Note: It seems that he attempted to after the return of the dragons, but mercifully some force or hero put a stop to it.) Perhaps this stop atop Shearpoint held special significance to him and that is why he chose the spot for himself. Given the Nords affinity for calling themselves, “children of the sky” it was perhaps symbolic to him to be buried in the open air, not far from the Throat of the World where the Nords believe life was first breathed into them.

Another theory we have debated is that he was ordered (or punished) by the dragons to be buried in this area. One thought is that Krosis may have sworn an oath to protect a certain area his subjects lived, or that he was bound to this area by some promise or oath. Alternatively, being one of the highest ranking dragon priests, it would only be acceptable that he should be buried in a mausoleum of fitting grandeur. Being denied such a right would be no doubt be extremely shameful to an undoubtedly proud and perhaps arrogant ruler. Forcing him to be buried like a commoner on a lonely mountain would be a suitable punishment for whatever crime or act he may have committed. Given how the Dragon War ended we can only speculate but perhaps Krosis was unable to control his subjects or lost a particularly important battle. My peers have also said that he may have been slew in battle and was given such a burial to “inspire” the other priests not to repeat the same mistake.

Given the lack of evidence it is hard to determine exactly why such a powerful priest was buried in such a location but as always, we hope that time and further investigation will give us a clearer picture of Krosis, his life, and the unique place of his burial.