An unknown amount of time passes, but after a while, Alex can feel something change as he regains the sensation of having a real body, soft wind blowing against him and his lungs taking in a fresh breath of air. His eyes flutter open, and he has to hold in a laugh as he looks down at a familiar log wagon, seen by him many times. He starts to lift his head, hearing the words every Skyrim player begins with.
"Hey, you. You're finally awake..."
Alex gives the speaking man a quick glance, a small grin on his face, before looking around at the Imperial soldiers guarding the convoy. One of Alex's personal grievances with the game had always been the fact that to transport the most dangerous person in Skyrim—the leader of a rebellious army strong enough to equal an Imperial legion, a pretender to the title of High King—only two lightly armed soldiers are assigned as drivers, along with Hadvar and General Tullius himself, who should not be in the same area code as someone who can kill with his voice. Even if one were to ignore all these other factors, the game has these four people transport eight prisoners, six of whom are designated rebels, who should be able to easily overpower their captors.
However, the world he is in seems to be a bit more realistic, as not only are Ralof and Ulfric also put in prison tunics and their hands restrained with actual chains instead of the basic ropes Alex and Lokir have, but their escort is also much more fitting. He can spot a unit of twelve Imperial soldiers in heavy armor, wearing cloaks and carrying spears and shields. Behind them, there is a unit of six lighter troops on horseback, led by what Alex suspects to
be Hadvar.
"...we're leaving, but Sovngarde awaits. Hey, are you listening?"
Alex instantly looks up into Ralof's face, who recoils slightly before letting out a breath.
"Wow, you have some reflexes. Also, those are some eyes; I've never seen anything like them. Regardless, we will likely find our death soon, my Breton friend. Hey, what village are you from, horse thief?"
The man that Ralof conversed with earlier, Lokir, answers the Stormcloak's question, shivering and his face still showing a mix of anger and fear.
"Why do you care?"
Ralof gives the man a somber grin and then responds.
"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home."
Lokir grimaces slightly, then takes another breath, his voice sad and dejected.
"Rorikstead. I'm… I'm from Rorikstead."
Ralof nods at the man and then looks back down at his hands. At the same time, Alex hears the exchange between General Tullius and the guards of Helgen, marking their arrival in the village where they are supposed to be beheaded. After a few short words between the General and the guard, the gate opens, allowing the convoy to enter the village. As the wagon enters the village, Alex can spot Tullius being intercepted by two Thalmor—one soldier in full armor and a woman in Thalmor uniform, who he knows to be the First Emissary and Ambassador of the Thalmor in Skyrim, Elenwen.
After following Alex's gaze, Ralof also spots the two High Elves, prompting him to spit on the wagon floor in anger.
"Look at him, General Tullius, the Military Governor. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Darn elves. I bet they had something to do with this."
After his brief moment of anger, Ralof looks around the village, a small smirk on his face.
"This is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl from here. I wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in. Funny…when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe."
As the wagon pulls up to the execution site, he can hear the conversation between Haming and Torolf, the latter pulling his son into the house. After watching the two disappear into the building, Alex is jolted once more as the wagon stops, then watches his fellow prisoners jump down from the wagon. He follows their example, standing up and finally noting how his new body is quite a bit taller than it was in his former life, before jumping down from the wagon.
He watches as Hadvar marks down both Ulfric and Ralof, then has a small chuckle as Lokir tries to run away, as he does in every version of this intro, only to be shot in the back by an arrow and collapse. After dealing with the attempted escape, both Hadvar and the female captain, who was never given a name in-game, turn their attention to Alex, looking up at his face. Hadvar looks back down at his notebook, probably checking for him, then looks back up at Alex.
"Wait. You there. Step forward."
Alex complies with the demand, taking a step towards them. Hadvar looks back down at his notebook, then sighs and returns his attention to him.
"You from Daggerfall, Breton? Fleeing from some court intrigue? Regardless, you're not listed, so I need your name."
Alex nods and is about to answer before stopping. It somehow feels wrong to use his name, like forcing someone a day before retirement to work for another forty years. Taking a deep breath, Alex takes a moment to think, his mind working through a number of names he used for characters in his former life, before eventually deciding on one, the name he used for his past life's first playthrough of Skyrim.
"Vaenyr, my name is Vaenyr."
Hadvar raises an eyebrow, noting down the name, slightly taken aback by the enthusiasm behind Vaenyr's words. He closes his notebook and turns to the captain.
"Captain. What should we do? He's not on the list."
The Captain looks at Hadvar, then turns to Vaenyr. She glares at his face, then blushes slightly, quickly coughing to hide her reaction. After shaking off her short interest in him, she returns to her professional demeanor.
"Forget the list. He goes to the block."
Hadvar clicks his tongue and nods, turning back to Vaenyr with an apologetic smile.
"By your orders, Captain. I'm sorry. We'll make sure your remains are returned to High Rock. Follow the Captain, prisoner."
Vaenyr nods, following the Captain until he stands next to the other prisoners. General Tullius walks up in front of the group, with a Priestess of Arkay shortly behind him, and addresses Ulfric.
"Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero. But a hero doesn't use a power like The Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne."
Ulfric grunts at the man, still gagged, but clearly trying to communicate his distaste. Tullius gives the man a slightly annoyed sigh.
"You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down and restore the peace."
With that, Tullius steps away from the prisoners. As the priestess is about to start her sermon, a roar echoes through the valley, causing everybody to freeze and look up into the sky for a moment, searching for the source of the sound. After not spotting anything, Tullius
calls out to the Captain.
"It's nothing. Carry on."
The Captain nods to the command, motioning for the priestess to continue.
"Yes, General Tullius. Give them their last rites."
The Priestess of Arkay smiles and starts to speak, only to be interrupted after her first sentence by a Stormcloak, who calls out,
"For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with."
The priestess lets out a sigh and then turns away, leaving the prisoners to their fate. The man who spoke steps forward, kneeling down before the block on his own initiative, speaking to the executioner with a sad grin.
"Come on, I haven't got all morning. My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?"
With those words, the executioner does his duty, letting his axe drop down on the man's neck, lopping off his head, which rolls into the basket placed before the block. The villagers celebrate the man's death, while his fellow Stormcloaks insult the Imperials, but their words are ignored. The Captain motions for the next prisoner, pointing to Vaenyr.
"Next, the Breton."
As Vaenyr steps forward to the block, another roar is heard through the valley. Once more, everybody freezes, searching the sky again, but again, there is nothing. With a small grin, Vaenyr stops in front of the block, looking down at the bloodied piece of wood, mentally calming himself down, rationalizing that he won't die. The Captain walks up behind him, pushing him down to his knees and his head on the block, which lets him see her once
again blushing face, just before she steps back again.
The executioner lifts his axe again, ready to behead him, but at that moment, Vaenyr feels time slow slightly, his perception heightening as he senses danger from above. He is already pushing himself up again when Alduin appears in the sky, crashing into the tower and shouting out into the air, the words 'Strun Bah Drun Yul Gol' (Storm Wrath Bring Fire Earth) resounding in Vaenyr's ears. Spotting the fleeing Stormcloaks, Vaenyr follows the group, hearing Ralof call out to him.
"Hey, Breton! Get up! Come on, the gods won't give us another chance!"
The group flees into the other tower, where Ulfric's gag is pulled down by one of the Stormcloaks, allowing him to take a deep breath. Ralof calls out to the Jarl, his voice filled with shock and a bit of reverence.
"Jarl Ulfric! What is that thing? Could the legends be true?"
The Jarl spits on the floor, answering his soldier.
"Legends don't burn down villages. We need to move. Now!"
The soldiers follow their leader's command, rushing up the stairwell of the tower, the first of them being crushed by debris that breaks off as Alduin rams his head into the wall, shouting the words 'Yol Toor Shul', which sends a breath of fire filling the upper floors of the tower. Afterwards, the dragon pulls away from the tower, rising back into the sky, leaving the wall open and free. Ralof looks out from the tower, quickly searching for an escape route, then calls out to Vaenyr.
"See the inn on the other side? Jump through the roof and keep going! Go! We'll follow when we can!"
Vaenyr lets out a small chuckle, then jumps to the other building, crashing through the floor. He curses and rushes outside, where he spots Hadvar and two other Imperial soldiers trying to protect the young Haming and his father. While Torolf should have died here in the game, Vaenyr rushes forward, pulling the man along as he runs for cover, the dragon slamming into the ground without taking any victims this time. As Alduin flies up again, Vaenyr pushes off the ground, rushing through the burning debris of a building, stopping as he spots General Tullius with a group of villagers and soldiers at the keep, calling out to them.
"Hadvar! Into the keep, soldier, we're leaving!"
Hadvar nods and rushes forward, spotting Vaenyr across from him, then motions for him to follow into the keep.
"It's you and me, prisoner. Stay close!"
As Vaenyr follows the Imperial, Ralof and his fellow Stormcloaks run past them, rushing into the other tower of the keep. Hadvar pulls his sword, pointing it at Ralof.
"Ralof! You damned traitor. Get out of my way!"
Ralof lets out a laugh and continues on his way into the keep.
"We're escaping, Hadvar. You're not stopping us this time."
Hadvar clicks his tongue, forced to decide, and puts his sword back into its sheath.
"Fine. I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde."
Ralof grins and enters the keep, giving Vaenyr one last look before closing the door. Hadvar lets out another curse, then rushes to the keep's door, pulling it open and motioning for Vaenyr to follow him.
"Come on! We need to get inside!"
Vaenyr nods, following Hadvar into the keep, who locks the door with a key and places a wooden board over it. He then walks over to Vaenyr, breathing heavily from exhaustion, but
with a smile on his face.
"You seem trustworthy, so I'm going to cut you loose. Please don't let that be a bad decision."
He pulls out a dagger, cutting the ropes that held Vaenyr's hands together, then motions to the rest of the room with his right hand, his left arm showing a few large burns.
"Take a look around, there should be plenty of gear to choose from. I'm going to see if I can find something for these burns."