*Madeetul*

Your body is now covered in grey-green scales, fading to olive on the underside of your arms (and other areas as well, you presume.) Your face is formed into a snout, also covered in the same scales, but you can't see what horns and/or feathers you may have without a mirror. A large reptilian tail protrudes behind you - you can't see it, but you can feel it.

Looks like you're an Argonian now.

"He's not on the list." Hadvar tells his commanding officer. She snorts. "I don't care. He goes to the block anyway."

Hadvar looks at you apologetically. "I'm sorry... I'll make sure your remains are returned to Black Marsh."

You're shoved towards the block, still wet with blood. You kneel down on the block, head turned towards the tower, and the executioner quickly runs a whetstone along his axe before stepping forwards.

Let's see... Alduin in three, two, one...

As expected, you see the executioner raise his axe, and then stumble back as Alduin lands atop the tower, roaring. The impact of his shout, though not aimed at you, still makes your head ring, and you're stunned for a second before Ralof hauls you to your feet and pushes you to run.

The courtyard is quickly descending into complete mayhem: archers are firing wildly at the dragon, officers are shouting, the Stormcloaks are running away, and the entire fort is starting to burn as flames spurt from Alduin's jaws. Ralof hustles you towards a tower, quickly pushing you inside and shutting the door.

A small group of Stormcloaks is inside, Ulfric among them. Here, Ralof pauses for a moment. "The dragons are back. Does that mean the legends are true?"

Ulfric starts to walk up the steps. "Legends don't burn down villages."

Ralof quickly follows Ulfric up, pulling you along. As you expected, about halfway up, Alduin puts a fist through the wall and roars fire into the tower. You're far enough back that you only get a warm snout, but Ralof is not so lucky - he dodges away, but falls down the tower.

He sprints back up the steps towards you. "Out the hole - I'll follow you later!" Knowing how the game's supposed to play out, you jump.

The landing sends jarring shock through your entire body, but at least it doesn't feel like anything's broken. Standing up, you jump down again and run out of the inn.

Outside, Hadvar is beckoning a young child away from his wounded father. The boy runs, and just in time, because Alduin lands and casually flames the old man before taking to the wing again. As Hadvar leads the child to safety, he beckons you over.

"Follow me if you want to survive, prisoner." He says, before setting off past the smouldering crater formed by Alduin's fire-breath. You jog along behind him, stopping when he holds up his arm. Chunks of wall fall to the ground right beside you as Alduin lands on it, leaning over to breathe fire all over a group of Imperial troops before lifting off again. Hadvar pushes you forward into a sprint.

You round the corner to find the Imperial general leading a **** of archers and mages in an attempt to defeat Alduin. Unsurprisingly, this is going poorly, and the General soon waves for his troops to retreat into the keep.

Hadvar runs forward as well, but you see Ralof coming towards him from the other direction. They meet just in front of the main gates of the keep, drawing their swords. They look entirely ready to fight, before a distant rumbling roar reminds them of the bigger threat at play.

Hadvar backs away from Ralof, sword still raised, heading towards the entrance to the barracks. Ralof, meanwhile, walks up the steps to the keep's main gate, standing in the relative cover of the doorway. Alduin roars again, closer to the keep this time: you need to pick one to follow.