The 418th step of High Hrothgar : The Elder Scrolls Series Discussion

» Mon May 07, 2012 8:29 am

In the "Five Songs of King Wulfharth" we learn that Ysmir "rebuilds the 418th step of High Hrothgar, which had been damaged by a dragon."

Has anyone found an affirmation to this ingame? That would certainly be a nice touch on par with the swirl-painted cows.

» Mon May 07, 2012 9:49 am

I'd have to go back and count... :mellow:

» Mon May 07, 2012 11:53 am

If you trust the words of those in Skyrim General Discussion, there aren't actually 7,000 steps in Skyrim numerically. Of course, some of them could have sunk, etc., so we can't take it too literal, but we have no knowledge of what step is the 418th step.

» Mon May 07, 2012 10:57 am

I don't believe Skyrim General, not for one second.
When the CK arrives it'll be easy to see if we've got our 418th.

» Mon May 07, 2012 6:39 pm

If you can see it, it's shoddy craftsmanship. Not being able to identify the step in question proves that Ysmir knew his masonry.

» Mon May 07, 2012 11:58 pm

I suspected the 7000 steps would be partly metaphorical, it's a shame we didn't get an actual stone staircase all the way to the top but I'd be satisfied if it was simply 7000 steps from Ivarstead to the top of High Hrothgar.

» Mon May 07, 2012 11:24 pm

I suspected the 7000 steps would be partly metaphorical, it's a shame we didn't get an actual stone staircase all the way to the top but I'd be satisfied if it was simply 7000 steps from Ivarstead to the top of High Hrothgar.

I wouldn't doubt that there really are supposed to be 7000 stone steps, but I'd be surprised if there are 7000 steps in game since the world is so drastically scaled down. Putting that mountain to scale and not the whole world would make it very out of place. It also bugs me a bit to start counting at Ivarstead, since the town is a good 1/3rd or so up the mountain side already, though it's impossible for us to count before reaching that point.

» Mon May 07, 2012 12:22 pm

How are we supposed to count the steps though? I tried in game, but I couldn't decide whether to count each "level" of steps, or each individual stepping stone. And do you count the steps that go down during the ascent as well?

» Mon May 07, 2012 11:42 am

I think it's a shoutout to a real-life Nordic/Viking/Scandinavian legend about a hero who mended a step for the gods and was blessed in return.

» Mon May 07, 2012 9:23 pm

I thought about trying to count the steps the first time I went up them, but all the problems cited intervened, along with some wolves. Also, looking at the steps, you would think it's fighting a dragon that's worthy of note; repairing a step seems about as noteworthy as rethatching a peasant's house.

There have been a few references to the 7000 steps that implied there is some significance to the steps and their number, and there was an interesting suggestion on this forum recently that the number of steps corresponds to the number of years the world is fated to last. But I didn't see anything to confirm that idea.

» Mon May 07, 2012 9:03 am

7,000 years? That's not long enough for civilization is it?

» Mon May 07, 2012 10:02 am

Civilization as we know it (in RL) has only really been around for 6000 years.

» Mon May 07, 2012 1:00 pm

There have been a few references to the 7000 steps that implied there is some significance to the steps and their number, and there was an interesting suggestion on this forum recently that the number of steps corresponds to the number of years the world is fated to last. But I didn't see anything to confirm that idea.

That'd be my pet crackpot.

Notice how you fight Alduin at the top of the mountain, which is the end of the steps? Alduin eats time at its end. The fog up to the top? The Dawn (the beginning and end of all things) is obscured to mortals. The plaques are arranged in chronological order, and record not only the history of the dragon war but also the metaphorical progression of the parabolic kalpa.

:ahhh:

» Mon May 07, 2012 4:01 pm

M'aiq tried counting them too... he lost count.

(No doubt he's hanging a lampshade on the fact there are not 7000 and the devs know that)

» Tue May 08, 2012 12:13 am

I feel like I remember Todd Howard saying something about there really being 7,000 steps. But I might be wrong.

» Mon May 07, 2012 10:29 am

I feel like I remember Todd Howard saying something about there really being 7,000 steps. But I might be wrong.

No he said specically he was making sure there were exactly 7k steps. He said this multiple times I thought everybody here knew that.

» Mon May 07, 2012 1:10 pm

Civilization as we know it (in RL) has only really been around for 6000 years.

I was talking about building up to civilization. But I guess the Ehlnofey had civilization too.. mostly. So there was no pre-civilization in TES.

» Mon May 07, 2012 7:43 pm

For the actual quote:

“The greybeards, the guys who live up on the throat of the world, who are the masters of the voice, they find out about this fairly quickly, and they shout your name. They shout Dovahkiin to the wind, and it kind of rumbles through the world. The mountains shake when they call you. And you think ‘what was that,’ and someone says ‘that was the greybeards calling you. To walk the 7,000 steps up the throat of the world to meet them.’”

“I have been promised 7,000 steps, and I am going to count them. Our world artists are amazing. We have just an amazing team, and they put so much detail in the world, so they didn’t blink when I said ‘it MUST HAVE 7,000 steps. When you look at all the stuff we have in the world, 7,000 steps obviously is not that hard.”

This text editor is awful by the way. Can't do anything fancy. Either that or I just don't know how yet.

Edit:

I was talking about building up to civilization. But I guess the Ehlnofey had civilization too.. mostly. So there was no pre-civilization in TES.

The Nords also brought over their civilization when they came from Atmora. So if you buy the idea that "the Dawn era was the last era of the previous kalpa," then they didn't have a period of uncivilization.

» Mon May 07, 2012 12:36 pm

Well, in that case, we clearly have no choice but to find the 418th step.

Um. Does it count from the bottom, and does it start with index 1 or index 0?

» Mon May 07, 2012 3:44 pm

No he said specically he was making sure there were exactly 7k steps. He said this multiple times I thought everybody here knew that.

I generally avoided most of the pre-release hype, to ensure I could enjoy Skyrim. Which has worked out quite well.

» Mon May 07, 2012 12:06 pm

That'd be my pet crackpot. Notice how you fight Alduin at the top of the mountain, which is the end of the steps? Alduin eats time at its end. The fog up to the top? The Dawn (the beginning and end of all things) is obscured to mortals. The plaques are arranged in chronological order, and record not only the history of the dragon war but also the metaphorical progression of the parabolic kalpa. :ahhh:

Yip. And we should not forget that this mountain is only half here. So there are only 3500 steps.

» Tue May 08, 2012 12:35 am

Um, you're mixing your metaphors. Also, if it's only half-there in actuality, then shouldn't it have 14,000?

» Mon May 07, 2012 1:17 pm

"Whose apex is only half here" means the summit. Alduin wasn't the first king of the slavers we fought in the spirit realm.

» Mon May 07, 2012 1:51 pm

"Whose apex is only half here" means the summit. Alduin wasn't the first king of the slavers we fought in the spirit realm.

He wasn't? Then....who came before him? :ohmy:

» Mon May 07, 2012 10:48 am

Pretty sure he's referring to Umaril.