30th of Last Seed 4E201
We got up this morning and had breakfast at the inn. Wilhelm warned us again about the barrow as we ate. I reminded him that we were just going up to High Hrothgar. I didn't tell him this, but maybe we would investigate the barrow when we got back. Sure, it was likely full of draugr, but perhaps also full of treasure. There wasn't a shop in town to buy any more supplies from, so I just got some extra food from Wilhelm and we started on our way.

Just up the first section of stairs, still in view of the town, we found an etched tablet. It said: "Emblem | Before the birth of men, the Dragons ruled all Mundus. Their word was the Voice, and they spoke only for True Needs. For the Voice could blot out the sky and flood the land."

We met a man named Barknar near a second tablet. He said he liked to walk the steps and meditate on the emblems, and he would usually do some hunting along the way. He said he never went all the way up to the monastery though, but some that did would leave food or supplies for the Greybeards. As he walked away, he warned us to look out for wolves on the path up. I decided to read the second tablet. It said: "Emblem || Men were born and spread over the face of Mundus. The Dragons presided over the crawling masses. Men were weak then, and had no Voice." Were these tablets some sort of history? I wasn't sure, but I would look out for more on the way up. There was already snow on the ground, and we still had a long way to go. I wasn't looking forward to the cold.

By the time we got to the third tablet, snow was all over the ground and falling pretty fast. The wind felt like it had ice in it. I had to keep wiping off the tablet to read it. It said: "Emblem ||| The fledgling spirits of Men were strong in Old Times. Unafraid to war with Dragons and their Voices. But the Dragons only shouted them down and broke their hearts." I had a feeling that the dragons broke more than their hearts.

In front of the fourth tablet, we met a woman named Karita. I asked her about herself, and she said that she was just a pilgrim, and preferred to leave  it at that. She only told us about how she made the trip here every few years, and she would walk the steps and meditate on the emblems. She was the second person to say that they did that. I wondered what was so special about these tablets. They just seemed like a tale of history to me. The fourth tablet said: "Emblem |V Kyne called on Paarthurnax, who pitied Man. Together they taught Men to use the Voice. Then Dragon War raged, Dragon against Tongue." I remembered Kyne being one of the Divines, but who was Paarthurnax? Jenassa just shrugged and said she had no idea either. We told Karita goodbye, and she warned us to watch out for wolves. We had only seen one wolf so far, the rest were a spider and some ice wraiths. I hoped that the monastery was close now, my fingers and toes were starting to feel numb.

There was something much worse than a wolf guarding the fifth tablet. It was a frost troll. He knocked Jenassa to her knees at one point, but we managed to defeat him with the help of my flame atronach. I read the fifth tablet while we healed our wounds. "Emblem V Man prevailed, shouting Alduin out of the world. Proving for all that their Voice too was strong. Although their sacrifices were many-fold" We stopped to have a light snack under an outcropping of rocks nearby, and thawed out a little.

We made it to the sixth tablet, with much difficulty. The winds and snow were getting bad, and it was getting hard to see the path ahead. I huddled against the stone altar surrounding the tablet and read it. "Emblem V| With roaring Tongues, the Sky-Children conquer. Founding the First Empire with Sword and Voice. Whilst the Dragons withdrew from this World." If the dragons had left, then what were they doing back here now?
I looked through my pack, and found a potion of resist cold. We shared it, hoping we'd make it to the top before freezing to death.

The seventh emblem was on a small ledge of rock, hanging out over the mountainside. I crawled up to it so I wouldn't slip and fall off, and read what it said. "Emblem V|| The Tongues at Red Mountain went away humbled. Jurgen Windcaller began His Seven Year Meditation. To understand how Strong Voices could fail." Not far away was the eighth tablet, and thankfully it was in a more secure place, next to some rock that sheltered us some from the wind. I read it as we had some mead to warm us up a little. "Emblem V||| Jurgen Windcaller chose silence and returned. The 17 disputants could not shout Him down. Jurgen the Calm built His home on the Throat of the World." So this was the man that chose to live way up here? He must like cold and snow a lot. As we continued, I felt bad for those who had helped him build  a monastery up here.

The ninth tablet was under a statue of Talos, and within view of an enormous stone building. Was this the monastery? If so, I couldn't imagine how they had built it with all the snow and wind around, much less the journey to get the building materials up this high. I read the tablet while Jenassa looked up at the statue. "Emblem |X For years all silent, the Greybeards spoke one name. Tiber Septim, stripling then, was summoned to Hrothgar. They blessed him and named him Dohvakiin."  That's the word they had yelled down the mountain! I was wondering what it meant, when Jenassa gently shook me and reminded me that we were freezing. She'd spotted another tablet also, near the monastery. I hurried over to it and read it so that we could get out of the cold. "Emblem X The Voice is worship. Follow the Inner path. Speak only in True Need." When I had finished reading it, blue glowing lights surrounded me then vanished. I didn't think much of it as we headed up the steps. I dropped Klimmek's bag of supplies into the chest, then went up the rest of the stairs. I stood at the door nervously for a moment, then opened it and went inside.

A man in grey robes walked up to me, saying something about a Dragon born appearing at this moment in the turning of the age. I wasn't sure what he meant, but asked why he was calling me Dragon born. He said that first they must determine if I truly was, so they wanted me to shout at them. I did, and he got knocked backwards, along with three other men in grey robes who had walked up after he spoke to me.  He welcomed me to High Hrothgar, and introduced himself as Arngeir. He then asked why I  had come there. I told him that I wanted to find out what it meant to be Dragon born. He explained that I was not the first, and that there had been many in the past since Akatosh had first blessed mankind with the gift. I told him I was ready to learn all I could. He seemed a bit skeptical about whether or not I would have the discipline for it. He told me that my dragon blood gave me an inborn ability to learn Words of Power, which were spoken in the dragon language. Each Shout had three Words of Power apparently, and each word  learned made the shout stronger. Another of the Greybeards, Einarth, taught me the second word of the Shout I had already started to learn. The word was "Ro" and the shout was known in the common tongue as Unrelenting Force. I guess that's why people fell down and stumbled when I shouted it at them. Arngeir explained that most people would have to use and meditate on a word constantly to learn it, but I could obtain the knowledge directly  by absorbing a slain dragon's life force. That explained the soul business whenever I killed a dragon.  Since there wasn't a dragon around to kill, Einarth let me learn from him by sharing some off his power. They then gave me a test to see if I had learned properly. They had three targets appear, and told me I needed to Shout each one down. I did, knocking a few of them sideways in the process. Thankfully they didn't get mad; they seemed more surprised than anything. My next trial took place in the courtyard outside. They taught me the first word of a different shout, called Whirlwind Sprint. It was hard focusing on learning the word "Wuld" since I was shivering so badly. Arngeir noticed this and shouted something I didn't understand, making the sky above clear and sunny, with only a few clouds. I watched one of the others demonstrate the shout they had just taught me, and he sped forward, making it through a gate outside before it shut. I did the same, though not as fast as he did. It made me a bit dizzy going that fast. Arngeir then gave me my last trial, I had to go somewhere called Ustengrav and bring back the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. He then promised that they would teach me more once I returned with it. Ustengrav was very far to the west, in the marshes of Hjaalmarch. I felt sad as we went back inside since I had wanted to go to the College of Winterhold next. They wouldn't even share their food or let us sleep in their beds, so we had some dinner from our stores in our packs, and decided to sleep in a couple of chairs.