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The carriage stopped at the gates of Winterhold and the young Nord mage, Onmund, looked up to see a sleepy little winter town up ahead on the road. Having packed a meager amount of supplies in a hide sack, it was easy to carry up the several hundred steps up into the town. There was a light snow falling, but judging from the white caps that he could see upon the waves of the sea far down below, he knew that the weather would worsen soon. He hurried into the town and made his way up the middle of it to reach the College before the sun went down.

He had been waiting for this moment all his life- to get into the College of Winterhold and be formally trained as a sorcerer in Destruction magic. His mentor, Frodrig, trained him in Novice- and Apprentice-level Shock spells so that he could satisfy the prerequisites of the College, and when he was greeted by a stuffy, weary elf mage in front of the College, he was able to show off his skills easily to her and be accepted into the gates.

The road up to this point in his life, though, wasn't easy. As a Nord, he was brought up by his parents to become a hunter. They couldn't understand why he had become so interested in magic so early on, and was so adamant about reading about it and learning how to use it. Neither could anyone else around him- his relatives, or his peers. Magic was for the weaker races, like the elves. Nords were supposed to be good with their hands- heavy labor and muscle-building battle was what they were born for. But try as they might, Onmund's parents could not charm their curious and quirky son into the life of a hunter or warrior. Studying history and the arcane arts was his true passion.

Thus, was his dream to become a mage. He began seeing an elven Expert sorcerer in Destruction magic named Frodrig who began mentoring him when he was a teenager. His parents didn't approve but by this point, they had all but given up on trying to convince him to give up on his dream. Frodrig was a former student of the College himself, and provided all of the tools and knowledge that he knew that Onmund would need to be accepted.

And accepted he was! The elven gatekeeper who had tested him, Faralda, told him to go right on into the campus and find someone by the name of Mirabelle Ervine, who was the headmaster of the College. He remembered crossing a very narrow wind-swept stone bridge that looked like it had seen better days. In fact, he remembered fearing for his life as he crossed it, since some of it had crumbled away. He then headed through the metal gates into the immense stone building and emerged into a courtyard of sorts. It was a large, circular outdoor area with a path running straight down the middle to what looked like a well, and some kind of glowing energy beam was shooting right up from it into the sky. Beyond it was a larger-than-life statue of a young mage in billowy robes and arms outstretched in front of it. It was an awe-inspiring sight. Around the edges of the circular courtyard were covered walkways and doors leading into the walls within. He walked ahead of him to admire the statue. Some might call it foreboding, but to Onmund, it was a welcome sight. Already, he felt powerful and confident. He was finally pursuing his passion once and for all, with no one to hold him back. He saw a pair of double doors in front of him, and decided that this was the main entrance into the College, so he went through them.

Once inside, he found himself face to face with some of the College's inhabitants. "Greetings!" one of them declared, and walked up to him. It was a middle-aged Breton lady with short dark brown hair and dressed in dark blue and purple robes. "You're one of the new students, I presume?"

"Uh, yes," he replied a little nervously. "I'm Onmund."

"Welcome, Onmund," she said. "My name is Mirabelle Ervine. I am the Master Wizard at this College. We were just talking about welcoming the new students, and you are the second one to arrive. Let me introduce you to everyone here." She then proceeded to nod towards the decorated Dunmer mage to her right. "This here is Savos Aren, the Arch-Mage, one of our most accomplished wizards at the College." She then nodded to her left, towards an old man wearing Master Robes. "And this is Tolfdir, professor of the School of Destruction. You are entering the School of Destruction, are you not?"

"Yes, ma'am, I am," Onmund replied.

"Then Tolfdir will be your professor," Mirabelle said. "There will be plenty of time for you to get acquainted, but for now, let me show you to your new quarters here, where you will be staying for the rest of your enrollment period here."

She then proceeded to lead Onmund back outside, and they went across the courtyard to a side door. She opened it and led him in. They were in some large, circular room with little bedrooms along the edge of the circle. "This here is the Hall of Attainment. You, along with the other Destruction students and Tolfdir stay on this floor." She then led him to the bedroom to the left of the stairwell. "This will be your room. There's a bed, a wardrobe, and everything else you need. In your wardrobe you will find your College uniform. I suggest that you put them on right away so that everyone knows who you are. Any questions?"

"What's upstairs?" he asked.

"The living quarters of the Illusion students," Mirabelle answered.

"Ah."

"Well, I will let you get settled in for now," she said. "Instruction won't begin until the enrollment period is over which is in three days. Expect some more students to fill this hall so you will have some peers." She smiled, but it wasn't necessarily a warm one.

"Thank you."

With that, Mirabelle left him and he was alone again. He looked all around him at his humble abode. The bedroom wasn't much- about the size of his bedroom at home, but the ceilings were very high in this place. He opened up his wardrobe and found a set of blue and tan robes and a hood. Immediately he put them on and they fit perfectly. The hood was a little hot but he liked how it partially obscured his face. It made him feel mysterious and powerful…like a real mage. He saw a pair of long boots next to the wardrobe that reminded him of the boots that he saw mages wear, so he put them on, too, surmising that it was also part of the College uniform.

Then, a random thought popped into his mind. I wonder if I'll run into any other Nords here, he wondered. So far, he noticed that he towered over everyone he had encountered so far, including the Arch-Mage and his professor. And three days until instruction begins, huh? The wait is sure going to be an onerous one. He went out of his room.

"Oh, hello," a cheerful, female voice rose up. "You must be one of the new Destruction students."

Onmund looked up to see someone approaching him from the other side of the room, dressed in dark blue robes and a dark blue hood. As she came closer, he saw that she was a Dunmer, with dark, gray skin and large red eyes. Judging from the youthful sound of her voice and her smooth-looking face, he surmised that she was about his age. He supposed that she was one of the prettier-looking Dunmers, but he couldn't know any better.

"I'm Brelyna," she said and shook his hand.

"Onmund," he said. "You must be the other new student Mirabelle was referring to."

"Yes…well, sort of," she replied. "I had joined the College around this time last year, but I had to go back home after about six months on account of my brother falling ill. I enrolled again with the hopes of being accepted back, and…I was! So where are you from?"

"I come from Falkreath," he answered.

"It's such a surprise to see that a Nord has joined the College!" she gushed. "I mean…this is the first time that I've met one that wasn't…well, you know…"

"Big, and brawny, and carrying an axe?" he joked.

Brelyna laughed. "Well…those weren't going to be my exact words, but…it's one way to put it! Welcome."

"Thanks."

They spent a little more time getting acquainted. Onmund liked Brelyna; she was very nice. He learned that she was officially an Apprentice-level Sorcerer, hence why she wore the dark blue Apprentice Robes. Onmund's robes were Novice Robes; even though he was referred to as an "apprentice," he would be treated as a Novice mage until the time came when he would eventually have to take a test in order to become a full-blown Apprentice Sorcerer. Brelyna was sure that he would pass the test since he already knew Apprentice-level Shock spells. After they talked, Onmund retreated to his room to eat the cold sandwich that he had brought. The College provided the students breakfast, lunch, and dinner and there was a little dining room within the living quarters, so he knew that he would take advantage of it starting tomorrow.

It was the end of Onmund's first night at the College of Winterhold, and he went to bed excited for the many days of surprises and lessons to come.

The next day passed by mostly uneventfully, with the exception of the third new enrollee in the Destruction School arriving. It was a male Khajiit named J'zargo, and he was a talkative one. He took a liking to Onmund, and together they had lunch and dinner at the table on the second floor of the Hall of Attainment. Like him, he was a newbie to the College but knew some Apprentice-level Shock spells, and he was eager to move up the ranks and master everything there was to know about Destruction magic.

The next day, Brelyna showed Onmund and J'zargo the Hall of Elements, which was the main hall that Onmund went into on his first day. She showed them the training area, which had another one of those well-like edifices that was spewing out the bluish beams of light into the sky. Brelyna explained to them that the blue beams of light were "a mysterious form of energy." She couldn't explain to them what the energy was or where it came from because she didn't know, but all she knew was that they were "essential to the College's health and infrastructure." Before long, Onmund would learn that these energies flowed in multiple places throughout the campus.

The training room was another large circular room, and along its outer edges were multiple hovering points of light that twinkled. Brelyna explained that these were "absorption points" and that it was "safe to direct all magic at these points." She proceeded to demonstrate by casting a Sparks spell and directing it right at the point of light, and the two other young apprentices saw that no harm had been done on the walls or the floor close to it.

"So when you practice spells, do it in here and direct them at those absorption points," Brelyna explained.

"Has anyone ever damaged the walls accidentally by poor aim?" J'zargo asked in his thick Elsweyr accent.

"It's happened," Brelyna replied. "And luckily, I haven't heard of anyone who has been severely injured during training. But I need to tell you guys that you can't use any spells yet. Not until Tolfdir says. He will explain everything to all of us eventually, including what I have told you."

"I imagine we'd get in trouble?" Onmund asked.

"Oh, yes," she nodded gravely. "There are strict rules here for when, where, and how you can practice your magic. And if you break any of them, there is severe punishment."

"What do they do?" J'zargo questioned.

"Well, you could get expelled from the College for one," she explained. "But if it's a minor offense, like say, being a little late to a class or something, then you just get a reprimand."

"Well," Onmund remarked. "I'll try to be on my best behavior then."

"What are all the rules?" J'zargo asked.

"Oh, Tolfdir will give us the official Rules and Regulations on our first day of training," Brelyna answered. "Believe me, there are a lot. We'll be required to study them during our off-hours."

"J'zargo can hardly wait to start using spells," the Khajiit said with a grin.

"Me neither!" Onmund agreed. "I wonder if it's going to be just the three of us?"

Brelyna smiled. "Who knows? I guess we'll find out for sure tomorrow!"

Onmund, J'zargo, Brelyna Maryon, Tolfdir, Faralda and other Skyrim characters, settings, and quest lines are Copyright Bethesda. I also employ dialogue directly from the game in some places throughout the story. However, everything else is purely from my imagination. I employ some creative license in this story, especially when it comes to settings, environments, and some quests so some aspects may not match the game exactly. This is just one unique take on the College of Winterhold environment.