Skyrim: The Last Dragonborn (The Dragonborn Saga: Book 1)

Chapter 1: Egil

He was standing in the Hall of Jarl Balgruuf the Greater watching thee weave-woman etched the final scene into the Whiterun Banner. The banner was the continuous history of the City and her people that spanned the length of the entire hall. 

The Atmoran figures from the beginning of the tapestry were laughable with their box-like bodies and their triangle faces. They traveled the White River led by Jeek of the River in the famed Jorrvaskr. They started to improve a little by the First Era during Olaf One-Eye's battle atop Mount Anthor against the mighty dragon Numinex which he trapped in Dragonsreach, earning his title as High King of Skyrim. The embroidery improved with color as the banner was added on. The margins changed from random designs meant to fill the space but with the stories of families. The deeds of a husband, the hardships of a mother, the work of sons and daughters. 

"Done," said the weave-woman as she held the end of the tapestry.

Egil crossed his arms and inched closer to study the cloth. Yellows, oranges, and greens. It started with a farmer who tilled his fields with a smile. The farmer then set out traveling. The next panel was the same farmer wearing a horned helmet, slaying a dragon, and absorbing its soul. He traveled to High Hrothgar where he was taught by the Greybeards, faced off against a black dragon, brokered peace between warring factions, and defeated the black dragon again in the afterlife. The final panel tightened Egil's throat. The man in his horned helmet looked over a pyre to his deceased wife while the people of Whiterun mourned with him.

It was the story of the Dragonborn, exactly how Egil had told the story. 

"That is what I drew."

Some of it was lies and embellishments, others were the truth. He plucked the sack of coins from his belt and laid them on the table next to the woman. Servants carried off the banner and nailed it to the wooden catwalk that surrounded the hall. 

After the Jarl's men paid the Weave-woman for her work, Egil left, wrapping himself in his cloak against the biting cold of winter. His home was near the edge of the White River. He lit the candles, watched his servants leave, and eased himself down to his desk with a groan. His knee poked sharply at the joint and his back was stiff.

Rolls of parchment and leaves of paper coated the desk in thick piles. Three amber bottles of mead sat out having left rings in the pinewood. Paper peered from the half-shut cabinets. Crumples of paper were discarded to the floor around the musty tomes stacked in piles as high as his desk. 

Egil massaged his drooping eyes and pulled a black-leather book from the stack.

                                                                     The Dragonborn Saga, v2

                                                                   Written by Egil Osmundersson

The Skald dipped his quill in the inkwell and opened the black-leather book to a new sheet. Ink dripped and splotches the page, but the words didn't come to him. He returned the quill to the well and covered his face. He sighed out his exhaustion. 

Four months ago, Egil and the Dragonborn traveled far and wide. Together, and soon collecting a band of brave friends, they climbed the steep craggy mountains of the Reach and did battle with the dangerous Forsworn natives. They braved and trekked the barren northern coast covered in vast fields of ice and snow. Their feet trudged through the huge stinking salt marshes of Hjaalmarch and the wind-swept tundra.

He chuckled at the mischief they got into. The drunken brawls between Uthgerd the Unbroken and Ghorbash the Iron-Hand.

Egil's heart twisted when he read about the Battle for Whiterun and the capturing of Odaviing. When Alduin's Draugr appeared in the fields the loyal Dragonborn company fought valiantly with the Whiterun militia while Roggnavar did battle with Odaviing. It was the first time Egil did any real fighting, although he omitted that fact from his stories.