Hey guys, read this little tid bit from UESP...

The spiritual relationship between the Nords and breath, which is associated with the Sky Goddess Kyne, is also important. As Children of the Sky puts it:

Nords consider themselves to be the children of the sky. They call Skyrim the Throat of the World, because it is where the sky exhaled on the land and formed them. They see themselves as eternal outsiders and invaders, and even when they conquer and rule another people; they feel no kinship with them. The breath and the voice are the vital essence of a Nord. When they defeat great enemies they take their tongues as trophies. These are woven into ropes and can hold speech like an enchantment. The power of a Nord can be articulated into a shout, like the kiai of an Akaviri swordsman. The strongest of their warriors are called "Tongues." When the Nords attack a city, they take no siege engines or cavalry; the Tongues form in a wedge in front of the gatehouse, and draw in breath. When the leader lets it out in a kiai, the doors are blown in, and the axemen rush into the city. Shouts can be used to sharpen blades or to strike enemies. A common effect is the shout that knocks an enemy back, or the power of command. A strong Nord can instill bravery in men with his battle-cry, or stop a charging warrior with a roar. The greatest of the Nords can call to specific people over hundreds of miles, and can move by casting a shout, appearing where it lands.

The art of Thu-um as a weapon is now lost and forbidden. Apart from the students of the discredited School of Thu'um in the Imperial City, Tiber Septim was reputedly the last man to wield this power. However, the ancient Greybeards still sit atop the many steps leading to the peak of High Hrothgar, where the Nordic race was born.

Note Thu-um. Soun a bit like something only a certain person can do. A person born of Dragons. And this also show's that the imperial Dragon born are merely descended from THEE dragon born, which was Tiber Septim.

Interesting, but what exactly is coincidental?

The fact this was made before Skyrim was even thought of, at least the book in question was.

My bad, i just realised you were saying it WASN'T a coincidence, haha.

But yeah, i think Thu'um and Dragonshouts are linked somehow, seeing as the whole force push thing will be a dragonshout in Skyrim.

On another note, moving by shouting? I hope they include that one!

It's like a stealth shout. But this one you whisper to appear behind your target. They hinted at it in GI.

The dragon shouts are Thu'um...

Todd Howard has talked about how he loves that they were able to tie old lore in with the new game, and cited Thu'um specifically.

Of course it's not a coincidence. Part of what makes TES so great is that it uses what is already established lore to write the new lore so everything fits into the story. It would svck if every new TES game just wrote a bunch of new things in the lore and barely acknowledged anything previously.

I'm not so sure they are making all the lore up as they go along, the plot of Skyrim which ties all the events of the previous games together may very well have been written 15 yrs ago.

There's a bit more backstory to the spiritual Thu'um practices of the Nords. I'm no expert, and can't be sure how much more info is in the lore, but here's a bit more.

Jurgen Windcaller, who eventually became known as 'TheCalm' was the most powerful 'Tongue' of old. It says he was once confronted by 17 other powerful Nord 'Tongues' and held them off for three days by swallowing the power of their collective shouts, until the 17 men finally ceased their attack and collapsed from exhaustion. They later became his disciples[possibly the earliest group of Greybeards(who were, in turn, the original Blades)]. Jurgen had taken an oath of pacifism, which is probably what provoked the confrontation in the first place, but because he won the stand-off and because the powerful 'Tongues' he defeated became his disciples, The Way of the Voice or use of Thu'um was forever changed from a tool of Nord warfare, into a more...spiritual practice (they kind of became a powerful group of monks---in a Thu'ummy sort of way).

Times changed however, and when Tiber Septim came along, he eventually founded the Imperial College of the Voice in Markarth, which was used to once again study the art of Thu'um warfare. The Greybeards at the time (spiritual pacifists) expanded their role as reclusive, spiritual wiseman, to also become the protectors of Tiber Septim, and so some of them branched off to become the first Blades.

So for anyone who has seen the screenshot of Markarth(Side) from the G.I mag, my theory is that that central structure in the pic(the tower+big building) is in fact the Imperial College of the Voice. I also think there's more to the college than we can see because of the nature of the screenshot. If you look closely, you can see the outline of a third structure near the bottom level on the left side. To me it seems a fitting structure for the college, built into and around that central rock formation, but more than that, it seems to me, that because of the nature of the game, what with the dragonshouts and all, it seems to me that showing the Imperial College of the Voice in one of the first released screens of the game, without announcing or confirming that that's what it actually is, would be something that Todd and the devs would do, just for the fun of it. Of course I could be completely wrong.

Anyway, if anyone knows more about the lore, and sees any mistakes that I might have made in those first few paragraphs(the last one is just speculation), then feel free to correct me. Like I said I'm no expert.