Skyrim Day 021 - Under Saarthal

5 Heartfire, 4E201

Winterhold College

~~~

Having arrived so late in the day at Winterhold yesterday I had no opportunity to find out what I was supposed to be doing here.

The other students were sleeping, so I left the 'Hall of Attainment' dormitory and wandered around for a bit. I ran into one of the mages, Mirabelle, whom Faralda had yesterday suggested I speak with. I took the opportunity to find out what was expected of a student, but Mirabelle simply replied that not killing anyone and limiting damage to the College were the only guidelines. When I asked her about Illusion magic she suggested I speak with Drevis Neloren, a Dunmer who she assured me would be willing to help further my skill.

I was accosted by another instructor as I was trying to locate Drevis. My assailant was Colette Marence, a seemingly insecure mage specializing in the school of Restoration. She complained that the other mages did not consider Restoration a "true" school of magic, but I assured her that hundreds of years of study validated her claim. Mollified, she offered to sell me some of her tomes, but my skill in Restoration is barely able to heal a splinter and I could cast none of her spells.

The library is managed by an Orsimer, Urag gro-Shub, who acted as if damaging one of the books warranted immediate execution. I politely told him that his library was one of the best I had visited and he gruffly thanked me, stating that there was always room for improvement. Scenting profit, I asked if there was anything he needed help with and he hesitated for a moment before admitting that he was after a copy of 'Hanging Gardens', a book he heard had been part of a caravan whose trip was abruptly terminated near a cave outside of the dismal town of Morthal. Naturally I agreed to the task.

This time when I visited the 'Hall of Attainment' it was completely empty of sleeping students, so I continued to the 'Hall of the Elements' where I was told the students and instructors congregated for lessons and was pleased to find everyone there. An amicable older Imperial, Tolfdir, was lecturing four other students on the use of magic, but they were unhappy and universally demanded to be taught something practical.

Bending to their demands, Tolfdir decided that we were to practice warding spells, a family of magic I know little about. He provided me a simple warding spell and the other students gave us room for him to cast a fire spell at me while I maintained the ward. Unskilled in Restoration, the effort of keeping the ward active under Tolfdir's fiery onslaught was exhausting and I hope no one noticed the strain it put on me.

With that Tolfdir suddenly declared we should all make a trip to the nearby ruin of Saarthal to search for artifacts. We all filed out of the Hall and the students, including myself, took the long walk as an opportunity to talk with one another. I was approached by an incredibly arrogant Khajiit who called himself J'zargo. He bragged that he had already mastered "Expert-level" Destruction spells and asked if I could claim the same. When I admitted I could not he expressed his disappointment in not being able to find someone with skills as high as his own.

The second student I spoke with was Brelyna, a quiet Dunmer who irritably rattled off answers to questions I had not even asked as soon as I approached. When I countered that I had not yet made her acquaintance she looked embarrassed and formally introduced herself as a member of House Telvanni, an admission that shocked me, as I assumed all the Great Houses of Morrowind had long since fallen. I would have liked to have talked with her more about Morrowind, but she seemed not in the mood for conversation and I let the matter be, at least for now.

The last was a Nord named Onmund. Unlike my other fellow apprentices, he was quite amicable and talked of the difficulties he had with his family in gaining entrance to the College. He did not approve, however, of our little jaunt to Saarthal as he felt we should not be disturbing the resting place of his ancestors. I had never heard of Saarthal before today and he was happy to give me a quick lesson on the history of Nordic settlements in Skyrim.

Saarthal was the first Nordic settlement in Skyrim and the provincial capital of the Nords for some time until its destruction by the now-extinct Snow Elves some time within the Mythic Era. It was later rebuilt by a Nordic king but was abandoned during the opening years of the First Era. Now it was just a ruin like any other, or so we thought.

After speaking with the trio I elected to make my own way to Saarthal so that I could see more of the surrounding area. I came upon a large statue of Azura and I wonder if the Daedric Prince has any memory of what I did for the Dunmer. I suspect not and that if she did, it would not matter for much. Still, I am interested to visit the shrine in the coming days.

Saarthal was about as impressive as any other ruin in Skyrim: snow, ice, and rubble. Tolfdir and the other students had arrived before me and were waiting at the doors leading underground, each of them of a different opinion of the place. J'zargo hoped to find enchanted items to further improve his skill and power. Onmund was uneasy about disturbing his ancestors, which elicited sympathy from Brelyna, though she was curious about what we would find inside.

Tolfdir led us inside and gave us our assignments. I was to proceed further inside and assist another mage from the College, Arniel Gane, who was trying to find and catalog minor artifacts of the ancient Nords, a task J'zargo must have envied.

I found nothing save for a small engraved plate on a leather thong set in a little alcove. The smart thing to do, of course, was to grab it. As soon as I lifted the amulet from its resting place a series of metal rods shot up from the floor behind me, trapping me in the tiny room. Arniel called for Tolfdir, who was unworried and nodded towards the alcove which, unnoticed by me, was now shimmering with a red glow.

Tolfdir handed me a simple fire-element Destruction spell that I believe a newborn could have casted, but it was enough to somehow collapse the wall and retract the metal rods. Tolfdir eagerly stepped inside and beckoned me to follow as he disappeared into the new passageway. He was obviously enjoying himself and I noticed that his fellow mage Arniel had no inclination of following him at all, so forward I went as well.

We had not gone far before the world turned a blinding white and a figure clad in robes popped into existence right in front of me. Distressingly, I found I could not move at all and assumed Tolfdir was having similar problems.

The white mage introduced himself as a member of the "Psijic Order", a name that invoked a vague memory that I could not quite recollect. He spoke of great danger further inside the ruin and warned us that judgement would be levied upon the both of us depending on our actions today and that I alone had the potential to avert the disaster that was otherwise now in the making. Once again, a figure unknown to me has placed a heavy burden on my shoulders. Such is my fate.

The apparition then vanished and I turned to Tolfidr, sure that he would have something to say about what just occurred. But he appeared confused and asked what happened, as I had simply spent the past few minutes staring at nothing. Of course. I told him that a member of the Psijic Order had warned me of dangers further inside Saarthal and he was practically giddy over everything that was happening. His excitement did not diminish when undead Nordic warriors, the Draugr I had first encountered years ago on Solstheim, ambled in to deal with us. They were no match for an experienced mage and Khajiit adventurer.

We continued on, battling Draugr in every room until we reached a large chamber ringed with stone coffins. Predictably they all opened at once and six undead Nords rushed at us. Once they were laid to rest Tolfdir asked me to continue on alone, as he was interested in examining the engravings on the coffins. Onward I went.

I fought one more Draugr on my own, but this one was slightly different: it was able to emit some sort of guttural spell which produced enough force to knock me backwards a few steps. It was a rather minor irritant to an otherwise simple fight, but it was new.

Tolfdir re-joined me after I opened a locked gate by solving a simple puzzle of rotating columns with animal motifs. I had only to spin the column so that its animal engraving matched the engraving set up the wall behind it. I cannot guess as to what reason their architect had for creating a lock with such an obvious combination.

Beyond the gate was the danger the secretive Psijic mage had warned us about, though neither myself nor Tolfdir had any idea what it actually was. It appeared to be something similar to a giant metal egg and as we approached we saw that it was warded. The skeleton of a Draugr sat slumped on a throne in front of the egg, but Tolfdir seemed just as relaxed about this as he had everything else about today.

As I expected, the Draugr "woke" as we drew closer and Tolfdir shouted at me to distract it while he worked at dispelling the egg's ward. Nothing I did could damage the crowned Draugr, but once Tolfdir dispelled the ward the creature quickly fell to my blade.

Tolfdir was full of congratulations and urged me to return to the College immediately so that Arch-Mage Savos could be informed and assist in transporting the metal egg back to Winterhold. I agreed and left immediately, happy to be going back outside after being stuck in the giant tomb for so long.

I arrived back at Winterhold well past midnight, but the Arch-Mage was still awake in his quarters, reading. Without looking up he asked what I needed of him and I replied that Tolfdir and I found something mysterious and important and that Tolfidr remained at the ruins to await his most urgent arrival. Savos smiled and remarked that at least it was not a matter of another apprentice incinerated into ash and asked that I work alongside Mirabelle to research anything matching my description of a metal egg-looking artifact of the Nords.

But I was tired and went instead back to the dormitory where Faralda, one of the instructors, warned me that the Thalmor "representative" stationed at the College had started to ask questions about me. With a price on my head from both the Thalmor and the Dark Brotherhood, this cannot be a good thing. I shall have to be circumspect of what I say and do around this Thalmor, but I suspect one Khajiit looks much like another to them.

I do not know what tomorrow shall bring, but I am certainly guaranteed something of interest. I must admit that I am looking forward to it.

Oblivion Day 21 - A Most Disagreeable Fellow

17 Heartfire, 3E433

Bruma

~~~

It was inevitable that I would eventually run into someone at the Mages Guild like Falcar. While the other guildmasters have been at least begrudgingly accepting of my desire for their recommendation, Falcar acted downright hostile.

I presented myself to the Guild well after everyone was awake and breakfasted, but it had done little to improve Falcar's mood, for the first thing he said to me was, "Don't tell me you're here for a recommendation". Well, I was! He invited me to travel to the Imperial City and attempt entry into the University without all my recommendations just to get used to the feeling of rejection...something which I am not sure why he felt I needed. Tellingly, he said that the Guild was still powerful overall, but that "recent decisions" had weakened it, possibly killed it. I assumed he was talking of the ban on Necromancy, but at the time had no idea why he would feel the Guild was dead as a result of it.

His task was deceptively simple: retrieve a ring of Burden from an old well behind the Guild where a previous and disappeared Associate had misplaced it. The well was locked and an Argonian named Deetsan at the Guild possessed the key.

When I approached Deetsan she was upset to hear that I had been given the same task as the missing Associate, Vidkun and asked to speak with my privately. This was difficult owing to the Hall's construction of two simple open floors. Eventually Falcar left the Hall on personal business and Deetsan was free to tell me the real story of Vidkun.

Deetsan's suspected that Vidkun's disappearance shortly after being given Falcar's task was not a coincidence and that Falcar was seeking to have me disappear in the same way, though this was all just a feeling on her part. She gave me the key and hissed at me to be very careful around Falcar. He still had not returned, so I quickly left the guild and made way around the building and into the well.

Swimming is never a fun thing when you are covered with fur, but I had a much better time of it than the unfortunate Vidkun.

The poor man had apparently retrieved the ring of Burden only to find that he was entirely too burdened to swim any longer. Perhaps he could not get the ring off in time or thought himself a better swimmer than he was, whatever the case, he met his death in the abandoned well behind the guildhall. It is possible I may have met a similar fate if it were not for Deetsan's gift of two potions of Buoyancy, which gave me an almost Argonian ability to swim, albeit for a short period of time.

But when I returned I found that Deetsan had taken matters into her own hands and confronted Falcar with her suspicions surrounding Vidkun's death and my strange assignment. According to her, the man flew into a rage and stormed out of the guild, promising that the hall's days were numbered. Deetsan's intuition was telling her that something else was amiss besides murderous recommendations and requested that I look around his room for anything out of the ordinary, as well as to see if he actually wrote the recommendation, which I doubted.

My doubt was correct, he did not write anything, but the Argonian's crafty mind was also correct: my searching produced two Black soul gems buried underneath a pile of linen in one of his cabinets. These soul gems can trap the souls of actual people and are highly illegal to possess and a warrant of instant death should someone use one. I returned immediately to Deetsan with my (fortunately unused) evidence.

Deetsan is made of sterner stuff than Falcar gave her credit for. Confronted with evidence of her guildmate's illegal activities, she wasted no time in summoning a courier and writing a report to the council, including both the soul gems and my recommendation with it. I do have a feeling Falcar will never be seen again and that Deetsan had just secured herself a promotion within the Guild, deservedly. 

I had no business left in Cheydinhal, so I left the town, mounted my horse, and eagerly started my way towards the last guildhall I have to visit before I can enter the University. En-route I was half-heartedly ambushed by a bandit duo, one who was wielding a bow whose arrows froze anything they came into contact with. It was a minor enchantment, but I took it with my out of a sort of curiosity. I wonder where or on who he found the weapon.

They might have put themselves to better use had they simply walked further down the road.

A Gate in the wilderness, I can come back to that. A Gate right on the side of the road, I cannot pass by. I expected the usual collection of Scamps sulking about and was surprised to hear the screech of a Clannfear as one charged out of the gate at me.

It is nice to have some variety to one's opponents and I fought enough of them while in Morrowind to not have any trouble with this one, even given the skills that have lapsed since my last adventure. The gate itself led to a world I am becoming very familiar with: the one with the many towers, each opening a gate which allows me entrance to the main tower and eventually the pocket plane's Stone.

The Stone I received is larger than the others and has cracks along the surface which glow, unlike the smaller stones that have no glow at all. It is interesting and I am looking forward to hearing a learned opinion on these things.

The rest of my journey passed quickly and I arrived in Bruma well after the sun had set, giving me no time to visit the Guild today. Tomorrow I will finally be done with my province-spanning journey and can gain access into the University...ironic, for I am hardly a spell-caster of great skill and with only a few Illusion spells of dubious use at my command. Perhaps my entry into the University can be a first step towards changing that.

Morrowind Day 21 - Taking Berandas

5th Hearthfire

~~~

I woke a little earlier than usual and walked out into another dark and foggy morning. Given my late start, I ate my breakfast as I walked along the river, intent on reaching a south-bound road to Caldera at some point. The constant overcast and rain made for a very dark morning, but the wilderness has ceased to be a cause for great concern and the lack of light has never bothered a Khajiit.

While walking along the river, I noticed the odd stone arch formation that the publican at the Tradehouse had mentioned yesterday. He had said it was along the coast, so I thought he meant along the coast of the sea, but I suppose he could have meant along the river. Sure enough, an ornate door was set into the side of the hill just below the arch on the opposite side of the river. A quick water walking spell (I'm getting better at this!) and I was inside the smugglers' hideout.

Whether or not I was mistaken about the publican's directions, the former ancestral tomb had been ransacked by some sort of banditry, who then themselves seems to have been overwhelmed by Daedra from  within the lower levels. The skeleton impaled against the ash pit just inside the tomb could either have been the works of smugglers or Daedra, but either way marked this tomb as no longer a family's ancestral home.

What few other remains I found indicate the smugglers, if that's what they were, met a violent end. Behind one locked door was a storage closet with a skeleton curled up in the corner and numerous skulls and bones laying about, all of them looking to be fairly recent additions.

The skeleton on the ash pile had been fixed there by a simple steel longsword, so that at least was done (probably) by the smugglers. The tomb continued downwards along a spiraling ramp, along which I encountered several Scamps and at the bottom a Clannfear, nothing I couldn't handle.The ramp ended at a small room with an altar, which had a single urn of ashes set upon it. My Khajiit blood must have sensed the ring, because I normally would not have disturbed the remains, but something drove me to sift the urn around and as I rolled the ashes around in the urn I gradually uncovered an enchanted ring. I took it, figuring the smugglers hid it there, and the magicka emitting from the ring is very strong, though I can't tell what it does and I won't wear it until I do. If the smugglers hid the ring there, then they were agents of their own destruction, the strength of the enchantment may have lured the Daedra to the tomb. There were two small chests near the altar, but they contained nothing of value.

I left the tomb in much the same condition as I entered it and climbed up the steep, muddy slope of the river and continued south. Not more than two minutes of walking and I found the remains of the smugglers. These remains, however, were alive, wet, and crouched around a dismal fire. None of them were visibly armed, but one of them happened to look my way and gave a shout and suddenly I had three Dunmer running at me. What is it about this place that makes people so reckless with their lives? Three against one are good odds for the majority, but again, I'm fully armed, armored, and trained to kill...Cyrodiil bears, mostly, but Morrowind has been a great teacher.

All three were magicka users and loosed ranged spells of various colors at me, all of which I managed to dodge. Rather than encircle me, all three of them charged my front, as if I wasn't holding a spear. With no armor and only daggers to back up their spells, they became easy prey once they exhausted their spell casting endurance, which happened rather quickly. If they were part of the tomb's smuggling group, nothing on them showed it and I left their bodies where they fell. The Kwama will find them before long.

Just behind them was a building unlike any I had yet seen on Vvardenfell. Squat and wide, it looked like the uglier cousin of Imperial fortress architecture. It also seemed abandoned, the stone wall crumbling in several places and the stairs quickly on their way to become a pile of rubble. I don't understand the reasoning behind building stone walls that someone could simply jump over and the architecture, from the outside, seems to make no sense. There are two stone buildings "within" the fortress: a very large stone building and a very small one. The large one contained two magical, and very colorful, portals that didn't seem to do anything.

The smaller one was the actual entrance into the fortress, housing a landing that descended into the actual structure. Judging by the exterior, I was expecting that the fort would have been ransacked long ago. What I found was very different.

Welcome to Berandas

Whether or not the remains were of the fortress's inhabitants or if they were squatting was impossible to tell, but the two impaled skeletons on the landing certainly served as a powerful warning. I admit I almost turned around right there, but the skeletons were very old and I incorrectly assumed the place would be abandoned by now.

Much like the tomb, the fortress was infested by Daedra, but unlike the tomb, also by more powerful Dremora warriors. It hasn't been long since my first fight with a Dremora in the sewers of Vivec, but I must be more powerful than I was, dispatching the demonic warriors were a challenge, but a welcome one after the eggmine of Khuul and the depressing meele by the campfire. The warriors were well-armed, all of them with Dwemer weapons, none of which I could further burden myself with.

I found a skeleton slumped against the wall in one of the larger rooms, the cause of death being the two very rare Daedric arrows embedded in its rib cage  With my aim, I'll definitely not be using them as weapons, but I could not pass up grabbing them anyway.

The second level of the fort existed only as a rough cavern, with a few furnishings scattered about. On this level I found the reason for the degradation of the fort, as well as almost meeting my death.

The cavern had been intended to be the unfinished third level of the fortress, but the original inhabitants only got so far as to roughly hew out a corridor and several rooms. More Dremora and Scamps awaited me and I dealt successfully with them, but I was growing tired and my armor was starting to become worn. Drawn to the smell and sight of what I thought was a campfire, I entered an alcove and was greeted by a rather gruesome sight.

Staying with the day's trend of "weapons through bodies", the skeleton was stuck to a large stalactite by a spear through the chest and a dagger through a hand. In the poor light I took the weapons for iron or steel, assuming the constant heat of the fire beneath them had blackened the metal. After (reluctantly) extinguishing the flame I pulled the spear free and caught unawares by the weight, fell off the brazier I was balancing on as the head of the weapon crashed against the bowl. I would have been luckier if the blade had chopped into the brazier, but the flat of the weapon rang off the edge and I might as well have rolled a gong after me and announced my presence to the rest of the denizens prowling about.

A hideous shrieking from somewhere further into the cavern was the response to my announcement and I hefted my new spear in an effort to determine what it was before the source of the noise found me. It was far heavier than any other spear I've used, but when I peered at the head of the spear, I realized what a rare find I was holding.

The spear head was probably three times the size of any spear I've yet seen and was cruelly barbed, designed not only to kill an opponent but to cause the maximum amount of pain while doing it. The faintly glowing markings engraved along the ebony were very similar to the dagger my long-gone Demon Tanto had summoned and I'm not sure how long I stood there (stupidly) gaping at the Daedric spear. Smaller weapons, such as daggers and short swords, are a bit more typical, usually owned by mater thieves and assassins. Weapons larger than that are normally found in extremely well-guarded museums and private collections. The price I could fetch for the spear could get me a private residence next door to the Imperial Palace...but the spear is probably too valuable to sell in Vvardenfell and unfortunately too heavy to carry with me right now.

The dagger was also Daedric, but I elected to leave it with the spear for now, since I was growing increasingly concerned about the constant shrieking deeper within the cave: It didn't seem to be getting any closer, but it wasn't getting any quieter either.

I left the alcove with my valuable treasures behind and proceeded straight down the hallway, but that was a dead end and I encountered only a single Dremora. The shrieking intensified as the sounds of our combat rang along the stone corridors. The Dremora was kind enough to leave a Dwemer halberd, but nothing compares favorably against Daedric, unless you happen to be particularly superstitious.

The shrieking creatures were deep within a large pit, off of a side corridor, almost two floors lower than the rest of the rooms. They were unlike anything I had seen before: half-bird, half-woman, the monsters had the torsos and heads of women, but legs of a bird, wings similar to that of a bat and long, barbed tails that somewhat resembled a scorpion's. Obviously they were Daedra, but not of any kind I'm familiar with.

Even from a distance these creatures were obviously formidable and I managed to enter their "lair" undetected thanks to my invisibility spell, but it only lasts for 15 seconds and the two of them were actively patrolling the pit. With only a few seconds left before my spell expired, I elected to attack rather than attempt to renew the spell. Still invisible, I lunged at the closed creature with my spear, but it (she?) somehow detected me anyway and hopped away, shrieking.

What followed was the most harrowing experience (so far) of my life. The creatures were much quicker than I anticipated and attacked with their tails, their wings, and even their mouths, lunging forward to snap at me with a mouth full of fangs. They were also a lot more intelligent, with one of them always at my flank or back and I don't know how much time I spent just trying not to die.

Their wings and teeth weren't very damaging to my armor, but the barbs on their tails cut into the Adamantium surprisingly well. It wasn't long before my the armor on my arms were nearly useless, courtesy of near misses on attempts at my neck. Very aware that I was going to die at this rate, I charged one of the creatures, desperate to take one out of the fight. It slashed at my legs as I closed in, doing grievous harm to the armor, but fortunately not crippling me as intended. My berserk attack  succeeded in spitting the creature with my spear, but it collapsed with an awful screech and wretched the weapon out of my hands, leaving me with no choice but to engage it's companion with my woefully short sword and shield.

Rather than draw out a combat I was fighting at a disadvantage, I risked everything, charging at the remaining creature, swinging both sword and shield at it until it collapsed in a bloody heap. There was a corpse of a Dunmer Legionnaire in the chamber who, oddly, appeared unharmed but had been dead for some time, the dry heat of the lava pits turning his flesh into leather. He had on him a pair of heavy boots that radiated more magicka than anything I had ever felt before, including the ring from the smugglers' tomb, so I took them, figuring that was my reward for what I had accomplished.

I managed to stumble out of Berandas and am now taking refuge in the portal chamber on top the fortress. I have no idea what time it is, other than that it must be very early in the morning. My armor is nearly destroyed, there is very little of my fur that isn't matted with blood, my spear is damaged, but repairable, and I am utterly exhausted. I've locked the portal chamber with my spell and piled all the furniture against the door. I'll continue my journey south whenever I happen to wake up.