Chapter Four: Saarthal (Fridas, 24th of Frostfall)

Mari had made the long walk from the College to the ruins of Saarthal alongside Brelyna with Onmund and J'zargo trailing behind them. The entrance to the ruins was located deep within the snow, and a large, crater-like area had been dug out. Wooden ramps led down to the ancient, bronze doorway, and Mari suddenly realized why the ruins had not been plundered before and what made this excavation such a large undertaking. Because the snow in Winterhold never fully melted, the ancient ruin - the most ancient of all Nordic ruins in Skyrim - was located beneath hundreds of feet of accumulated snow.

The students arrived before the professor, but he had instructed they meet him outside the entrance, so they waited, huddled together to fight the cold temperature and biting winds.

"J'zargo has been told many an elf lady has found warmth in the furry arms of the Khajiit," the catlike man informed the women with a feline grin.

Mari rolled her eyes, suspecting there wasn't a lot of truth to that. The elves, at least as far as the Altmer went, saw beastfolk as even more below them than the races of men. Though there were Khajiit in her homeland, the rare romantic coupling between one of them and an Altmer was looked upon with shame. The Altmer lost all respect.

"Sorry, J'zargo," she responded with a grin of her own. "I only play with the ladies."

The cat chuckled at that. "Such a shame." He cast a glance at Brelyna to see what her response would be, but the harsh, red-eyed glare he was receiving seemed to speak for itself.

Mari took the fact that she hadn't received that glare when she'd propositioned the Dunmer as a good sign.

Tolfdir soon arrived. "Good. You're all here," he commented. "Saarthal is an important site for exploring the life of the ancient Nords when they first arrived in Skyrim. As practitioners of magic, it is important for us to study the various applications of magic throughout history." He opened the large, heavy door, and the students followed him inside.

The interior of the ruins was dimly lit by torches, and Tolfgir summoned a guiding light into his palm to aid them on their travels through narrow tunnels and precarious walkways. Mari summoned one as well, leading to Onmund and J'zargo both looking at her with surprise and, if she was right, a bit of respect. Brelyna smirked at her, no doubt coming to the conclusion that her previous studies far exceeded what she had led everyone else to believe.

"As some of you may know, Saarthal was the earliest Nord settlement in Skyrim," Tolfdir lectured as he led his students deeper within the ruin. "It is also the largest of any of the ancient Nordic ruins in the province, at least of those we are aware of. Sacked by the elves in the infamous Night of Tears, not much is known about what happened to Saarthal. This is an exciting opportunity for us to be able to study such an early civilization and the magics they used. We're particularly interested in the prevalence of magical seals placed on the tombs here. It's rather unlike anything we've encountered."

Eventually, the group reached the bottom of several newly-built ramps and spiral, stone causeways that were part of the original construction. Tolfgir gave them a brief lecture on safety and warned them not to touch anything or go wandering off without one of the researchers giving prior permission. Then he stepped away for a few moments to discuss something with a short, Breton man covered in dust.

"There's no chance anyone in authority in Skyrim approved this," Onmund stated with a frown when the students were alone. "This is a burial site. Our ancestors should be allowed to rest in peace."

"Do you think there's treasure here?" J'zargo wondered aloud to anyone who might be listening. "Something to make J'zargo a powerful wizard?"

Mari and Brelyna exchanged an unamused glance and ignored the Khajiit.

"I think it's better for the ruin to be explored this way," Mari said, addressing Onmund's concerns. "I doubt many of the burial sites in Skyrim are undisturbed like this one. Most have been raided by bandits and thieves like him," she nodded toward their Khajiiti classmate. "I think a group of researchers and educated scholars can conduct an expedition like this with great respect, and the discoveries made will be used for the greater good and the preservation of your ancestors' histories."

Onmund was still scowling, but he seemed to relent a bit at this. "I suppose it's better than the alternative, but Saarthal was buried beneath centuries of snow. It should've just stayed that way."

Brelyna tugged at Mari's arm and led her away from the angry Nord. "I think it's a soft spot for him since he feels like he's betraying his family's legacy by studying magic," she whispered. "To him, digging through this oversized tomb probably feels like even more of a betrayal, especially since it's being done by the very mages his family distrusts."

Mari nodded because that made sense. "Probably doesn't help that he's doing it alongside the descendants of those who killed those ancestors."

"Saarthal was sacked by the Snow elves," Brelyna argued. "They are not ancestors to either of us."

Mari shrugged. "You know that. I know that. Any mer would know that, but you know that to men, all elves are the same."

Tolfgir approached the group again and began handing out assignments, dividing the group up.

"Onmund, please search that area over there." The elderly man waved toward an area beyond where they stood. "See if you notice any . . . residual energies. Alive or undead."

Mari could hear the Nord muttering as he wandered off. "I wonder if everyone else would be so happy to rifle through the bones of their ancestors." Apparently, he failed to stop and think about the fact that their professor was also a Nord, and, therefore, these were his ancestors as well.

"J'zargo, what shall we have you do?" Tolfgir seemed at a loss, and Mari wondered if he, perhaps, had some concerns about letting the Khajiit out of his site within the ruin. "Ah, why don't you verify that we are, indeed, the first ones here? Look for any amount of tampering with any of the tombs."

The Khajiit happily wandered off, but Mari caught his frown when Tolfgir warned him not to open any of the tombs.

"Brelyna, my dear, I'd like you to search for warding magics," the professor instructed. "Anything designed to keep people out. Don't interact with them, just identify them."

"Mariwen, why don't you see if you can assist Arniel Gane?" he finally stated with a friendly smile toward his Altmer student. "He's one of our scholars and is here working on cataloging our finds. I expect he'd appreciate some help in locating any additional magical artifacts here in this area of the ruins. Any enchanted items will do; the usefulness of the enchantment is irrelevant. If you find anything, the class can look it over."

Mari nodded and wandered off in the direction the old man had pointed, finally finding the man she recognized as Arniel Gane deeper within the ruins. He was a bald Breton of middle age, and she remembered that he was one of the professors who specialized in Alteration magic.

"Excuse me, sir," she stated, garnering his attention. "Tolfgir sent me to find you and assist in your work."

"That's fine," Arniel replied, giving the elf a cursory glance. "Just don't make a mess of my work. I've only looked through a portion of this section. You, uh, you can look around in the chambers just north of here. Do be careful. We don't want to damage anything."

Mari nodded and followed his directions. Within the dust and debris, she found three rings that were obviously enchanted based upon the energies she could feel from them. Anyone who practiced magicka and had studied it the way that Mari had could recognize an enchanted object by the energy produced by it, and, sometimes, there was even a barely noticeable magical light glowing from it. She also found a strange amulet, obviously extremely ancient. It was suspended, somehow, against the wall, and when Mari removed it, a metal gate crashed down on the entrance to the chamber she was in.

Try as she might, Mari couldn't get the gate to budge nor could she find a release for it. She was trapped.

It wasn't long before Arniel and Tolfgir realized her dilemma and began attempting to free her. She grew frustrated when she realized they were more fascinated with what could have set the trap off than her actual freedom, and she placed the amulet around her neck to free her hands in an attempt to shimmy the gate, knowing it was too bulky to be carried with the rings she had found in her small satchel.

Once around her neck, the amulet began to glow, and Tolfgir was intrigued.

"I wonder what enchantment is on the amulet and what its affect on your spells may be," he mused.

Mari rolled her eyes but decided to humor the old man, firing off a few balls of flame toward the opposite wall. Much to her surprise, the wall collapsed, revealing a hidden passage, and the gate rose, allowing the professors to join her in the chamber.

"Well, this is highly unusual," the old Nord commented, gazing into the chamber that had been revealed. "I wonder why this was sealed off. What is this place?" He looked around a bit and then turned to Mari with a smile. "Excellent discovery, Mariwen. Please join me as we take a look at this newly revealed chamber. Arniel, I leave the rest of my students in your capable hands."

The other scholar nodded, and Mari followed Tolfgir deeper into the ruins.

While Tolfgir was looking around the newly revealed burial chamber, the world around Mari seemed to freeze, and a ghostly apparition appeared in front of her.

"Hello, Mariwen," the apparition stated. His voice seemed to echo, and he appeared to be an Altmer wearing mage robes. The entire apparition of the man glowed with a blueish tint and was almost translucent, and Mari recognized it as the method Psijics used to communicate over great distances. It was a technique her own mother had used, and while she had yet to learn it for herself, it hadn't been unusual for her mother to converse with her in this manner in years past.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I am called Nerien, and you must listen well," the apparition stated. "Know that you have set in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped. Judgement has not been passed as you had no way of knowing. Judgement will be passed on your actions to come and how you deal with the dangers ahead of you. This warning is passed to you because the Psijic Order believes in you, Mariwen. You, young mage, and you alone have the potential to prevent disaster. Take great care and know that the Order is watching."

Mari's golden eyes grew wider and wider as the man spoke. Yes, her family came from a long line of Psijic monks. Her own uncle had joined their order, but she'd never been in the presence of one. Now she had gained their attention. What, on Nirn, had she released when revealing this chamber?

Nerien's apparition vanished, and the world around Mari awoke once again. Tolfgir approached her with a curious look.

"Did you see that?" she asked the old man.

He frowned. "I didn't see anything, though I did feel something rather strange."

"An apparition appeared," Mari explained. "A Psijic monk. He warned of danger ahead and a series of events we have unleashed by revealing this chamber."

Tolfgir's frown deepened. "The Psijic Order? Are you quite sure about that?"

Mari nodded.

"That's very odd," he commented. "And danger ahead? Why, that doesn't make any sense at all. The Psijics have no connection to these ruins, and no one's seen any of their order in a long time."

"Their order is very present," Mari informed him. "My own uncle joined them a few decades ago though I have no idea why they are contacting me or exactly what it is about Saarthal that has garnered their attention."

"I have no idea either, but it's fascinating. Assuming it's true, of course," Tolfgir stated with a suspicious look. "The Isle of Artaeum disappeared over a hundred years ago, and no one has seen them since, to my knowledge. Yet now, suddenly, they have chosen to contact you? Why, it's intriguing! If nothing else, I'd take it as a compliment. The Psijics have only ever dealt with those they feel are worthy."

A feeling of dread filled Mari as Tolfdir returned to his explorations, declaring they should investigate the coffins themselves. Everything about this was wrong. There was something evil in Saarthal, and the fact that the man in charge didn't seem to be heeding the Psijic's warning, made Mari extremely uneasy.

From the coffins came draugr, grotesque undead who guarded ancient Nordic tombs. Mari had never encountered any before then, but she'd heard of them from Aerenwen and Elain's tales of adventures since arriving in Skyrim, and she'd read of them in her own research. With Tolfdir's help, they were able to take down their foes with destruction spells and continued to do so as they delved further into the ruins and more and more draugr appeared.

One especially large chamber with a pool in the center caught the aged wizard's interest.

"I don't recognize these etchings and wish to study them further," he informed Mari. "You seem more than capable of defending yourself. Why don't you continue on, and I'll catch up to you when I finish looking around here?"

Mari nodded, though it was the last thing she wanted to do. More burial chambers and more draugr stood in her path, and it seemed to take ages for Mari to traverse the depths of the ruin. By the time she entered a large cavern, she was exhausted, and she took a moment to lean against the wall, allowing her energy to replenish.

"Ah, there you are," Tolfdir commented as he appeared in the entrance to the cavern. He seemed to care little for sneaking or for the fact that his loud voice echoed off the cavern's walls, no doubt alerting anyone - or anything - within the area of their presence. The two slowly approached the center of the cavern.

"Well, would you look at that?" Tolfdir commented.

A giant orb was suspended in the center of the lower portion of the chamber, surrounded by an otherwordly glow.

"I never imagined we'd find something like this," he continued, gazing at the orb in fascination. "Why is this buried so far within Saarthal?"

He began descending the set of stone stairs that led to the lower portion of the chamber when a sound echoed through the cavern. Mari glanced around, alarmed, only to spot a helmeted draugr rising from a throne facing the orb, and they immediately began to battle it. Despite endless rounds of firing off every destruction spell they knew, the draugr didn't even weaken.

"Its drawing energy from the orb!" Tolfdir finally decided. "Keep him distracted while I attempt to disrupt the connection."

Mari nodded and swallowed thickly, firing off flames and sparks from each hand to draw the draugr's attention away from the old man. Tolfdir stood beside the orb, shooting off some sort of spell at the light surrounding it. Finally, it seemed to work, and the draugr was weakened, slowly losing energy and falling to his knees. Mari knocked the draugr back with a rush of sparks, and after what seemed like forever, the ancient man was finally, completely dead.

Curious as to who this man who had been buried in the depths of Saarthal was, Mari approached his tomb. She found an aged piece of parchment within the tomb and read it.

"Be bound here, Jyrik, murderer, betrayer, condemned by your crimes against realm and lord. May your name and your deeds be forgotten forever, and the charm which you bear be sealed by our ward."

Along with the parchment, Mari found a broken piece of an amulet and an enchanted staff. She pocketed the amulet and the parchment, deciding she would further research who this Jyrik had been, curious as to what his crimes were, and she leaned on the staff as she approached Tolfdir who was walking in circles around the orb, studying it. The energy barrier around the orb had dropped upon Jyrik's defeat, and it could now be seen in all its glory - a sphere of metal, possibly, with odd etchings and a strange blueish-green light within it. It was unlike anything Mari had ever seen.

"Do you know what it is?" she asked the old man.

"I have no idea!" Tolfdir replied, sounding full of excitement rather than the dread that filled Mari. "This is amazing! Absolutely amazing. The Arch-Mage needs to be informed immediately. He needs to see this for himself." He turned toward Mari, finally pulling his eyes away from the orb. "I don't dare leave this unattended. Can you return to the College and inform Savos Aren of this discovery?"

Mari nodded.

"Please hurry."


It was quite late by the time Mari found her way back out of Saarthal. It seemed her fellow students and the other scholars had left, leaving her to make the journey back to the College through the dark on her own. It wasn't without difficulty, but thankfully, the only foes she ran into were a few lone wolves. Ice wolves were difficult adversaries, but they didn't take well to flames, and most ran off in fear before Mari had even hit them with her spells.

When she finally reached the College, she was absolutely exhausted - physically, mentally, and magically. She wanted nothing more than to return to her quarters and collapse into her bed, but she needed to meet with the Arch-Mage as per Tolfdir's request. She dropped the things she had found at Jyrik's tomb off in her quarters and headed toward the Hall of Elements.

Mari was surprised when knocking on the door of the Arch-Mage's quarters resulted in a command to enter rather quickly. She assumed the man would be asleep, and she'd have to cause a ruckus to get his attention.

She found the Arch-Mage sitting in the large, rounded room that made up his quarters. A hallway lined with enclosed bookshelves led to the room which had a large garden of various plants possessing magical properties in the center of it. An orb of light, much like the guiding light spell Mari knew, floated above the garden, providing it with the necessary light to thrive despite being inside. The edge of the room comprised various areas which were hidden by privacy walls and columns. The Arch-Mage sat at a chair near the entrance, an opened book in his hands.

Savos Aren was a Dunmer. He wore a specialized set of mage robes, adorned with decorative fringe and embroidery, and he glanced at Mari in surprise.

"You're one of Tolfgir's students," he commented after a moment. "Please don't tell me that another one of the apprentices has been incinerated. I have enough to deal with right now."

"No, sir," Mari replied. "Tolfdir told me to report to you to tell you that we found something in Saarthal, some sort of . . . orb. He feels it's important and wants you to see it."

The Arch-Mage simply nodded, not seeming to be extremely surprised nor alarmed by the information. "We haven't had the opportunity to meet yet," he stated with a friendly smile. "I am Savos Aren, Arch-Mage, and you are Mariwen, yes?"

Mari nodded. "I'm pleased to meet you, sir."

"The pleasure is mine, Mariwen," he replied. "We're pleased to have you here amongst us. What you learn here will last you a lifetime. Several, if you're talented." He smirked. "I am quite content to see nearly any aspect of magic explored and investigated here, but I do not and will not approve of any research or experiments that cause purposeful harm to your fellow members of the College. Are we clear?"

"Of course, sir," Mari replied.

He nodded at her with a smile.

"Is dangerous research a problem?" she wondered.

"Not often, no," he replied. "Some risks must be taken in our line of research, to be sure. I am simply trying to avoid untimely deaths. We also must make an effort to avoid worsening what Skyrim thinks of us. It's no secret that the College's reputation in Skyrim is . . . tainted. We must practice caution and avoid angering the locals. They don't need additional reasons to hate us."

He stood and wandered over to a display case nearby. "Allow me to present you with this staff. It's enchanted with a magelight. Think of it as a welcome gift to the College and a thank you for any help you provided Tolfgir at Saarthal. Perhaps it will come in handy should you need to explore any more Nordic ruins."

Mari smiled and accepted the staff with words of thanks.

"I will check in with Tolfgir," the Arch-Mage stated. "In the morning, I would like you to check in with Urag gro-Shub for any leads he may have regarding Saarthal and whatever it is you found there. Urag is the caretaker of our Arcanaeum, our library. The grandest and most extensive library in Skyrim. He's rather protective of the books and is a font of information in his own right. Now, get some rest."