Why don't they start using it in battle against the AD ? I'm sure the gods wouldn't punish them for using it in a defensive way. Since all Nords can be trained in it's use, and it makes them much more deadly, I think it's time they done so.

Perhaps this is a part of the DLC?
But remember that the thu'um is very difficult to learn for anyone other than the Dragonborn. It can take years to learn just a single shout!

First of all, the Greybeards are a picky bunch of pacifists who only train those they've specifically chosen to train.

Second of all, the Thu'um is VERY difficult for a normal person to learn. Anybody can do it, but it takes years of deep meditation and practice to learn just one pathetic shout.

So as you can see, this is not a practical solution to their problem.

One might as well ask shouldn't all Nords be master wizards.

Because as it stands right now, as far as we know, the only people who can train others in use of the Thu'um are the Greybeards, and they are committed to a philosophy that opposes the use of the Thu'um in warfare. Even if they were willing to train a force of "combat shouters" (which they're not), it takes YEARS for someone who is not Dragonborn to learn even one shout.

If the Gods want more people using the Thu'um against anyone in battle anytime soon, then they need to petition Akatosh to start handing out more dragon souls to mortals toot sweet.

Yeah I suppose it's not very practical, damn those Greybeards and their peaceful ways. Do they need the Greybeards to train them though ? Can't one Nord simply master it and then teach it to more Nords, it would take ages yes but in time they could have an elite infantry of shouters.

I dunno, Ulfric has had two shouts at his disposal for 25+ years now. I'm thinking if he could train an elite infantry of Stormcloak shouters he would've already done it.

What about the Imperial College of The Voice? Couldn't nords just learn it there?

I've never heard of this place. Enlighten me.

Me neither, searched UESP and nothing either.

That college doesn't exist anymore. It was also regarded as a piece of [censored] even during it's day. It's only real use was Nordic nobles trying to gain favor with Septim.

Does it even exist any more? I thought the College of the Voice was in Markarth. If so, it ain't there now, unless it's really well hidden.

I think the whole idea is that as it stands now in 4E 201, knowledge of the Thu'um and the ability to use it are very rare commodities. Otherwise being able to shout as the PC wouldn't be all that special and the whole "thing" of being the last Dragonborn wouldn't be such a big deal.

Its a college in Markarth that Tiber Septim founded. There's not much info on it. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Way_of_the_Voice and http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Imperial_College_of_the_Voice

I guess its not there anymore.

It is mentioned in the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Pocket_Guide_to_the_Empire,_1st_Edition/Skyrim. Apparently it didn't last long.

Yes but wasn't there a time when many Nords were proficient in it ? During Alduin's Bane those three Nords all used the Dragonrend shout. Which at least shows it was a more common power back then. Surely given time many Nords could be trained to use the Thu'um again, which would give them an advantage in fighting the AD.

Before the Wayof the Voice was created by Jurgen Windcaller the Thu'um was used for warfare and more widespread. After the Dragon War it was supposedly an own part of the Nordic army that could use the Thu'um. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Skorm_Snow-Strider%27s_Journal

Aren't they 'the tongues'? I daresay they studied the Voice long and hard while they were enslaved to Alduin, waiting for their chance to strike.

Sure they could be trained, but again, who's gonna do it? The only ones with any experience at it are the Greybeards, and they're not returning your calls.

I'm not saying it can't happen, but if it does you're looking at a very longterm program, not some solution to the Dominion threat that's gonna be readily available any time soon. There are only two people that we know of in 4E 201 who know how to Shout and are not Greybeards, the PC and Ulfric.

The PC has no experience in teaching others to shout, and I'm gonna say that being Dragonborn would be a disadvantage here because the PC has never had to learn how to do it at all - the ability is inborn. The Dragonborn only has to learn the words of power and attain the full knowledge of what they mean in their magical context as part of the various Shouts, and this also happens naturally by virtue of being able to absorb that knowledge in the form of the souls of slain dragons. Other people don't have those options, they have to learn how to shout, the actual mechanism by which those words can be transformed into a kind of magic. The Dragonborn doesn't have the first clue about that because in his/her case it's never been needed.

And as far as we know Ulfric has never trained anyone else to shout in all the years he's been out in the world with the opportunity to do so. I will say again, if he could do it all, and wanted to do it, it would already be happening. Or maybe he feels that his own personal "blasphemy" in using the Thu'um for combat purposes is enough of a weight on his conscience and doesn't want to stray any further from the path he was initially taught than he already has.

As other people have said it would take years for someone to learn even one word of a shout. Not exactly a good option for training armies.

I don't mean training every Nord fighter to use it. Just one special battalion of shouters. If they trained for their entire life until they were the age of the Greybeards the battalion in question would be able to destory whole cities in a single unified shout. Maybe in depseration the Nord nobles could attack High Hrothgar and force the Greybeards to show them how to teach and learn the Thu'um. I suppose that would be impossible as the Greybeards could probably blast entire armies to pieces.

The AD isn't going to attack this very minute, they're still rebuilding their forces, it will still be a few generations until all out war breaks out again. This gives Skyrim the time to train a battalion of shouters, the only problem is the Greybeards. Surely there must be a way around that.


For example Nords could be sent to learn with the Greybeards, taking in all there is to know about the Thu'um, then return to the nobles of Skyrim and impart the knowledge in others, who could then train more shouters.

Considering how many drougers can shout there used to be an army of shouters.

Excellent point.

It's not like you can just show up at HH and the Greybeards say, "Oh, you want to learn to shout? Sure, we'll teach you. Oh, there are several dozen of you who all want to learn to shout? Just all of a sudden? When only one Nord in the past 30 years has even bothered to spend any time training with us? Sure, that doesn't seem fishy at all..."

Yeah, it's not gonna happen. The Greybeards teach who they choose to teach, and I don't see them suddenly choosing to teach students by the dozens just because they show up and ask for it, especially considering how suspicious that would look. They're not that stupid.

Also, there's a huge difference between knowing how to do something and knowing how to teach someone else to do it. I'm just sayin'.

No I'm suggesting sending one Nord up there. He learns all there is to know then returns and teaches others in Skyrim.

So he spends forty maybe fifty years living amongst the graybeards and you expect he'll keep with the plan and not have either gone native or been expelled decades before when the Graybeards figured out what he was doing. Its not going to happen. A far more realistic goal is just to train Nords as spellcasters.

No matter who wins the Civil War its implied that war with the dominion is coming soon,

Oh tricking the Graybeards that has no chance of blowing up in there face.