Dragon from Ash is a The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim fanfiction.
The legend of the Dragonborn is one known throughout Skyrim, a mythic figure lost to the mist of ages. As the Nord province is now teethering on the edge of chaos, as Stormcloaks and Imperials are uselessly tearing at each other, as dragons rule the sky anew, this prophesied Hero is rising again. Here he comes! He's fighting for Skyrim! He refuses to let others dictate his choices! He's...
...a Dark Elf?!
If this is Akatosh trying to be funny, the Nords really don't like it, and neither does said Dragonborn. Nonetheless, they will have to learn how to bear it, because Alduin won't slay itself on his own.
And so begin the trials and tribulations of Velandryn Savani, Anointed of the Temple, proud Dunmer, and Dragonborn in spite of himself.
The fanfic is written by Mortigaunt and is hosted here
on Fanfiction Dot Net and here on Archive of Our Own.
Contains the following tropes:
- Birds of a Feather: This is how Velandryn connects with both his love interests. Serana shares his thirst for knowledge and exploration, while Elisif is struggling with power thrust unto her without warning.
- Character Development: A big staple of the fic is people gradually realising they might need a reality check.
- Deconstruction Fic: For The Chosen One — people love these as long as they fit precise criteria. For a heavily xenophobic society such as Skyrim, having someone from a minority you despise suddenly being thrusted into the role of your cultural hero-prophet is more of a problem than a blessing, and Velandryn bitterly expresses the Nords only care about the Dragonborn but they won't give him respect for being a Dark Elf.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Very much present.
- Starting with Velandryn being acknowledged as Dragonborn. Any Nord would jump on the opportunity to become a legendary hero gifted with the Thu'um, but Morrowind has a very low opinion of the Tongues for fighting against their people. Quite awkward, that.
- Cooking is occasionally referenced, and Lydia is a mite unnerved when her thane casually mentions eating horse.
- As the Dark Elves worship Azura, whose domain includes prophecy, Velandryn is nonplussed to hear his housecarl sneering at jarl Isgrod for having visions of the future.
- Entertainingly Wrong:
- Thalmor intelligence briefly suspects Velandryn Savani to be a spy, while the guy himself confesses he went to Skyrim as a tourist.
- Some Imperials dismiss all this Dragonborn nonsense as Nord propaganda and magic tricks, believing they won't need him to solve the dragon infestation.
- Expecting Someone Taller: You would expect for the Dragonborn to be the perfect Nord, big and beefy and a warrior, right? Well, he's actually scrawny, he's a mage, he worships Daedras, and worst of all, he's an Elf!
- Expy: Two of Riften's guards are a blatant homage to Colon and Nobby from the Discworld series.
- Fantastic Racism: A major theme.
- Skyrim is blatantly hostile to foreigners, moreso if said foreigner is nonhuman. Several Nord characters dismiss the Dunmers as looking all alike, call them "elf" instead of learning their names, and a huge part of them is pretty disgusted by Velandryn being the Dragonborn.
- Of course, Morrowind isn't much better. To them, any outlander deserves only contempt. They also preach any vampire must be killed on the spot, but this is a bit more understandable.
- Absolutely everyone hates Thalmor. Nords will relax a bit regarding the other races as long as they too spit on the Thalmor.
- Interspecies Romance: Dark Elf Velandryn sleeps with a human girl and shows interest for the Nord High Queen. On the other hand, the vampiress Serana Volkihar grows more and more close with him.
- Jarl Balgruuf is also revealed to have an affair with his Dunmer housecarl Irileth.
- Irony: The Nords dreamed of the Dragonborn's return, but when he finally appears, he's everything they don't want and would like to see disappear.
- It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Velandryn has received powers his whole country rejects, many residents of Skyrim hate him for being a Dunmer and for usurping the role of their culture messiah, several others want to manipulate him for their benefit and he will have to fight dragons in spite of being terrified by the flying lizards. Yup, it sucks to be the Dragonborn.
- Older Than They Look: Velandryn's age isn't specified but it's mentioned that he's young for a Dunmer — meaning he's not yet fifty years old. As for Serana, she's older than the Cyrodiilic Empire which means she's around four thousand years old.
- Parental Abandonment: Very much so among the main characters. Lydia's mother and father died, Velandryn's parents are alive but dumped him at the temple to be raised and barely visit him, and Serana's mom has vanished four thousand years ago.
- Platonic Life-Partners: After a tensed debut, Velandryn and Lydia slowly evolve into that. And before you ask, Lydia is a lesbian so it will stay platonic.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The Dragonborn despises the Empire for almost executing him and the General Tullius isn't convinced of a Nord culture hero's worth, but allying with each other is better to fight dragons.
- The Stoic: The Dunmer race as a whole doesn't believe in facial expressions. They can learn them, but only when they need to interact with humans and there's still an artificial quality to it.
- The Un-Smile: Courtesy of the Dunmer emoting with their eyes, Velandryn's first attempt to mimic human expressions is so horrendously ghastly that Lydia compares him to a Daedra and begs him to stop. He later improves but there's still a plastic quality to his smiles.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: The narration occasionally abandons Velandryn to follow Serana or Lydia's own journeys of discovery.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: Since the Dunmers mainly focus on the eyes when adressing someone, Velandryn finds himself doing this to his potential love interests. He's fascinated by Serana's Supernatural Gold Eyes for their aspect and Elisif's surprisingly mature gaze.
- Windows of the Soul: This is how the Dunmers emote. Velandryn struggles very much with human expressions because of that, instinctively looking at his interlocutor's eyes only to find them flat and dull.
- Worldbuilding: The author heavily draws on lore from earlier games and apocrypha.
- The World Is Just Awesome: For all his distaste for the climate and the residents, Velandryn concedes that Skyrim is gorgeous. Serana's narration lavishly describes her surroundings, and even Lydia marvels at Blacklight.
