#jhunal

The dragons are varying sizes, with Alduin as the largest—much bigger than he appears in game. Paarthurnax is the second largest. Durnehviir is the next largest named dragon (in game), but when he comes back to Nirn, he is considerably lighter due to his rotted form. Odahviing is on the smaller side of the more powerful dragons, but is much more sleek and agile than his brethren.

Similar to how Nahkriin is a Dragon Priest to Alduin and presides over Skuldafn, Morokei presides over Labryrinthian/Bromjunaar (this is canon). We don’t know what Dragon he directly served under, but I like to believe it’s Durnehviir. Firstly, Morokei’s epithet ‘the Deathless’ is close to Durnehviir’s name, but even if Durnehviir used to have a different name (extremely likely, given how perfectly his name describes his current situation), we know they both possessed some sort of obsession with immortality, or preventing their own demise, at least. Additionally, I personally associate Morokei as the most magically adept Dragon Priest (besides Ahzidal and Miraak) because of his possession of the Staff of Magnus, and the fact that he could only be killed by a Dragon. Similarly, Durnehviir’s dabbling with necromancy places him a bit more in the ‘mage’ category than the other Dragons. Additionally, I like the idea of Krosis being Paarthurnax’s Dragon Priest (not my idea), and perhaps Rahgot as Odahviing’s (based on vibes).

I do wish I could find more owl-themed stuff for her motif, but the dragon things are just as fitting. But now I present...

Lorika Ice-Heart, Lorekeeper of the Companions.

Eldest daughter of an old and respected clan, she lived in the Temple of Jhunal where she studied runes and history for several years until joining the Companions. She's been a part of the guild for 12 years. Upon her Trial to become a Companion and earn her wolf armor, she unfortunately had her eye slashed through by an Ice Wraith, and was rendered half blind after losing the eye. Since then, she focused more on bookkeeping, and eventually her goal became to restore the cultural and historical heart to the Companions by opening an archive for them.

Thus, earning her title of Lorekeeper. She maintains their records, recovers artifacts, and offers insight to new and curious members of the guild.

She worships Jhunal, the old Nordic god of wisdom and knowledge.

Secret Reluctant Dragon Cultist because her father is one.

Giving some love to Jhunal aka Julianos! God of Wisdom, Facts and Logic™️

The Owl - Jhunal Mural

Concept art for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

We can think about the information in the Elder Scrolls as like “Raw data” that’s too computerized for any mortal mind to comprehend. It’s the “coding” of Nirn aka the “Damned Equation” that Julianos “incanted”. So, how do mortals go about understanding the abstract and divine? They filter it through art.

Dibella’s totem is utilized to turn all of that existential gibberish into an understandable picture and/or narrative. She creates a Graphical User Interface instead of just throwing binary at you.

Maybe that’s why reading the scrolls so much leaves you blind. Excessive beauty has been linked to leaving mortal sight impaired before: Moonshadow is said to be so beautiful that it leaves mortals half-blind (We won’t get into the Azura/Dibella links rn). What could be more beautiful than a picture painted by the goddess of beauty herself?