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Continued from Part 1 : - http://www.skyrimnexus.com/imageshare/image.php?id=32115

When it comes to the exact circumstances of Audva’s birth, it’s difficult to separate the truth from the folklore, rumor, and embellishment. Some have said that she was abducted from the Nords during a Forsworn raid. There are also accounts of her father being a Forsworn who took a Nord woman as a prize, and that later she was literally cut from her mother’s womb during a battle in which both parents were killed. Still others whisper that she was somehow the child of the hagraven Uulka, who commonly called her “daughter” in public (though this is regarded by most to have been a term of affection rather than actual relation). One such account says that Audva was not born, but instead “created” in secret, through what could only be the most taboo of hagraven magics.

What can be gathered from these accounts are these facts : firstly she was obviously not a full-blooded Forsworn by birth. Secondly that because of this, she was never fully “accepted” in Forsworn society, which will be reinforced by the following accounts of her exile. Lastly, regardless of her actual origins, it is widely known amongst the Forsworn that the hagraven Uulka took Audva under her wing (no pun intended), which is possibly the only reason she was allowed into the Redoubt.

Uulka was not known to be the most coherent of speakers. Often she was overheard mumbling to herself, and when approached directly with a question it was not unusual for her to respond with something completely non-sequitur before wandering off. Even the other hagravens of Lost Valley Redoubt generally didn’t associate with her. Regardless, she was the closest thing to a parent that Audva had, though it should be noted that many who observed their interactions say that they felt the hagraven was raising the child to further her own ends, not out of compassion or any sort of connection. She is quoted as saying that Audva would one day “fight the Sky Wyrm,” though at the time the Forsworn dismissed it as more of her nonsense-speak.

The hagraven wasted no time in training Audva. By the age of 8 she was able to cast a simple Oakflesh spell and was caught sneaking up through the redoubt with a short bow and arrows. These would become her signatures : alteration magics mixed with stealth, trickery, archery, and later hand-to-hand combat. Several accounts say that Uulka challenged her by saying, “go to the top of the valley, discover what my sisters are doing there high above the Redoubt, and return to tell me. If you can do this without being seen by anyone, you will be ready.” Though what she would be “ready” for remains obscured. From several accounts I believe that I have assembled that she was successful in doing this somewhere around the age of fifteen, though something about the incident caused a rift between her and Uulka. Depending on who one asks, one of two things happened : either she spoke to the hagravens at the top of the valley and they turned her against Uulka, or she saw something up there she was not prepared to see. In any case, there was a noticeable change in their interactions and veiled hostility between them from that point on.

From there events become more blurry, as many involved in her exile were later killed by her in vengeance. What is certain is that sometime during her eighteenth year, the son of a ranking member in the Redoubt decided he would show his dominance by “taking her.” Whether this meant wedlock or a more aggressive sexual action is uncertain. His screams alerted the rest of the Forsworn, and Audva was soon engaged in a running battle up the valley. Driven up to the Bard’s Leap, she stood, covered in the blood of several Forsworn as well as her own, an angry mob in front and the great descent behind her.

In an iconic moment one of the elders is recorded as saying, “Step forward and die like a Forsworn or jump, and should you somehow live, you live in exile.”

Uulka, who was at the very back of the mob, began whispering, “Exileheart,” over and over again. Until her departure from the Redoubt exactly a year later, all she would ever say was that one word. “Exileheaaarrrt.”

Audva gave them the icy stare that would become her trademark and said, “I’ve been this all along. This leap changes nothing.” With one backwards step she plummeted down that fantastic expanse. So few have made that leap that it is my theory that she used some sort of magic taught to her by Uulka to survive the fall. As most of the guards had followed her up to the summit, only a few women and children saw her crawl out of the pool and limp towards the road.

Through some miracle of will she made it to the road, where according to an Imperial report, a group of Ulfric Stormcloak’s rebels found her and were preparing to “have their way with her unconscious body” until an Imperial patrol happened upon them. As the Imperials had the element of surprise, the battle was short-lived, and Audva and a few others were taken prisoner to Helgen to await execution.

That was the day that a dragon attacked Helgen…

Continued in part 3 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=33752