My name is Ingrid Bone-Crusher, former Imperial battlemage, and former Companions mercenary. It was a snowy night in my cheap Winterhold apartment when I was searching for jobs online and I found an unusual ad: "Custodian for the College of Winterhold. Requires military training and average experience in Conjuration." it read. I lived in the inner district fairly near to the College so I went there after accepting the ad. There, I was stopped by the security guard when I walked to the road entrance. He was a tall, gruff Nord man with a shaved head and scars all over his face.
"It's late, what are you doing here?" he asked. "I'm here for the janitor job." I answered. "You sure you want to do that?" he asked nervously. "Y-yeah, I am. Can you let me in?" I asked. He went back into his booth, lifted the barrier and said to me, "May your path to Sovngarde be true.", it worried me a little.
I went to the receptionist in the main campus building. I walked to the Dunmer receptionist woman, who looked tired. "I'm Ingrid Bone-Crusher. I'm here for the janitor job." I said. "Hold on." she said before she grabbed a phone and placed it to her head. "The Arch-Mage is waiting for you." she informed me.
"The Arch-Mage? Is the job that serious?" I asked. "Yes, it is." a raspy voice answered from behind me. The Arch-Mage, an ancient Falmer; pale, hunched back, wrinkly skin, sealed eyelids, and incisors filling his mouth, clad in a white suit and robes approached me. "The role of a custodian in the College is more perilous than the role of a librarian. You must be adept in driving away Daedric forces, disposal of reality-bending solutions, and surviving while doing so." he explained. "It's late right now so come back tomorrow." The Arch-Mage said as he looked at his watch.
He then conjures a stack of grey clothes and a cap onto his arms and handed them to me. "You're technically not hired, not until you have displayed your prowess. Tomorrow around twelve is a conjuration class in one of the laboratories. We never released this information but almost every Tirdas a student would make a grave error in their conjuration experiments, a perfect test for you." he continued. "Thank you sir, I won't let you down!" I saluted. I left the campus with a feeling of both hope and despair. The next day at around seven in the morning I arrived at the campus once more and followed a map to the broom closet.
I met up with two other janitors; an Orc and a Fabricant, a rare sight nowadays. "So you're the new blood. Welcome to janitorial duties. So, where did you train?" the Orc asked. "Ingrid Bone-Crusher, I was a legionnaire and a shield-sibling in the Companions." I answered. "I'm Gurdan, Ex-Brotherhood. Erono over there… I'm not quite sure. He was here long before I was, it doesn't help that he rarely talks. Anyway, get dressed, we've got a long day ahead of us." the Orc explained. I got dressed in my grey jumpsuit and as I put on my boots the speaker yelled "Toilet clog in floor seven, east wing, men's." and I equipped myself with a plunger and made my way upstairs via the elevator.
Around twelve as mentioned, a boom was heard from the labs in the west as I was dusting the library. I dropped my duster and ran outside. I arrived outside the lab building, dark aura emanating from the windows, students fleeing, and seeker Daedra everywhere. I ran inside and found the other two were already there, Gurdan tossing me a broom. "Use this!" he exclaimed as he pulled apart a seeker with his bare hands.
A seeker ambushed me and by instinct I pointed the broom and the creature was electrified. I ran towards the lab, fending off seekers and kicked open the door. The lab was dark and seekers were pouring out of a spherical Oblivion portal. I hid behind a cabinet and sneaked my way into the gate. I entered the gate after dodging seekers and found myself in the plane of Hermaeus Mora; Apocrypha.
I was in an area with web-like floors made of an unknown material, small cyclones of paper, and unnaturally tall stacks of books. In the middle of the insanity was a sigil stone on top of a pedestal, guarded by tall humanoid fish Daedra known as lurkers. Without any option I charged at the Daedra and smacked the first one I saw with the electrified broom repeatedly until it was ash. The others loomed over me and when all my hope was lost, one of their heads blew up. Looking behind I saw the Fabricant wielding an enchanted shotgun.
"Hi." he said in a monotonous electronic voice. The lurkers charge at him, giving me a chance to remove the stone. I took the artefact and ran towards the destabilizing portal, grabbing Erono by the collar on the way. We jumped back into Nirn as the portal burst into purple sparks. We exited the lab and saw Gurdan piling seeker corpses under the dim Winterhold sun.
"You've proven yourself, Miss Bone-Crusher. That was an impressive feat you accomplished." a voice said from behind me. The Arch-Mage appears, dispelling an invisibility spell. "Sir!" I saluted. "Stop that, you're not in the military. I saw your bravery out there, charging straight into the portal. But going alone was risky, that needs work." Gelebor criticized. "Thank you, Arch-Mage." I said proudly.
He then conjured a document and a pen onto his hands. "This is your contract. Take a read, and then sign at the bottom." he said as he handed the contract to me. I took a long read and was a little concerned, but knowing the risks I signed, then handed it back to the Arch-Mage. This is probably either the best decision I made, or the worst.
To be continued...