Chapter 36: Exploring Winterhold

[4th – 9thof First Seed4E 202]

My first feelings when I woke were about warm touches and a soft glow, visible even through my almost fully closed eyelids. I vaguely recalled what had happened, and my head should really hurt a lot, but it did not; I just felt dizzy and exhausted. 'Have I died?' was my thought, before I fell asleep again.

Next time, when I was awake again, I was feeling much better, and managed to open my eyes, at least partially. The first thing I noticed was two animals sitting very close to me, and I soon recognized them to be Pammy and Bran. Wait a second – Bran? Before I had a chance to continue that thought further, a Khajiit stepped close, and it was indeed T'mara, my lovely wife. I noticed that I was sitting in the midst of a group of rocks sheltering me partially from the elements; the blizzard was gone, and the sun was shining brightly again, with sun rays reflecting on the ice and snow. I tried to utter a few words, and just managed to say something like "find you – go to Saarthal – blizzard – wolves – hit head on rock", but she understood.

She looked at me and explained: "A few days ago, I went to Saarthal with Tolfdir and the other students. A lot happened there, which I will tell later. Tolfdir sent me back with a message to the Arch-Mage, and half way back Bran found Pammy, and we found you unconscious with a big bump on your head. I guess that you had a major concussion, but a little bit of healing spell and a potion of major healing which I managed to feed you with should have mostly cured you."

After a little more rest I told her: "My head hurt a lot initially, but now almost all of the hurt is gone. Thank you for arriving at the right time and healing me!"

Rather then an answer I got a hot and long kiss, which probably contributed to my healing and well being as much as the potion before, and soon I claimed that I was now fit enough to move on. As T'mara was on her way to the college anyway, we decided to head there and slowly walk up the slope I had come down a few hours before, with Pammy and Bran happily running circles around us.

Back at the College of Winterhold, T'mara went straight up to the Arch-Mage's quarters, whereas I looked for Colette Marence, Master of Restoration magic; I wanted her to look at my head to make sure the concussion and injury were fully healed. Fortunately, she could confirm this and told me that a little bump remained, but would be gone a few days later.

Later, when T'mara and I were back in our room and about to retire to our bed, she told me about her adventures in Saarthal:

"Our time there started kind of boring, as Tolfdir gave all of us small tasks. I was supposed to look for small items of potential value and hand them over to Arniel Gane, who was categorizing them. When I found a small shiny amulet and attempted to take it from its place in the wall, a gate dropped down and separated me from the others. Tolfdir had been close and, as we could not find out how to raise the gate again, suggested to equip the amulet and then cast a minor spell against the place where it had been, and this worked – not only was the gate opened, but also a previously hidden passage was revealed and opened.

Master Tolfdir and I both went through it to investigate, and after defeating some draugrs, traps, and puzzles we finally encountered a larger room with a very odd orb, guarded by some kind of dragon priest. It took our best efforts and quite some time to kill the guy, and Tolfdir did not really know what that orb was good for – he sent me back to the college to inform the Arch-Mage, and I found you on my way back. I believe that the Arch-Mage plans to get the orb back to the college for further examinations.

And, I almost forgot to mention: At some time, before getting to the orb, a strange guy materialized close to me. It appeared that he had kind of stopped the flow of time, and Tolfdir, who was standing next to, seemed frozen and never say the guy. The stranger claimed to be a member of the 'Psijic Order' and introduced himself as Quaranir, and he came to warn me about important events about to happen, without going into detail. I have to admit that I do not really know what we was talking about.

Oh, and one more detail: I found another word wall and learned a shout called 'Ice Form'!"

All of this information got my head dizzy a little bit again; I leaned back into the pillows, and before I noticed I was asleep.

Fortunately, I felt fully alive and rested again one day later after a long and restful sleep. Following the recent events, my wife and I agreed to skip major activities for a few days; rather, we wanted to make some progress in our magical skills. T'mara was not further involved in the examination of the strange orb Tolfdir and herself had found deep under Saarthal, and we could afford to attend a few lectures. Most specifically, both of us wanted to improve on our restoration skill and improve our healing capabilities. If T'mara was going to be fighting against more dragons in future, fast and good healing was going to be critical, and we should both be able to heal ourselves and others properly and quickly.

As it happened, Colette had a few training sessions running, and we gladly joined. She also used the opportunity to introduce us to some other students we had not met before: "The Redguard lady over there is Yisra, who has been with us for more than a year; she likes to experiment with Flame Cloak spells. The Argonian over there is Ilas-Tei, and he wants to focus and Illusion spells. The third one, the Nord, is called Rundi, and he has started to specialize in frost magic. All three of them also want to improve on Restoration magic in parallel to their main focus areas."

After the introduction, she advised us to not hurt ourselves just to be able to practice healing spells; rather she pointed out: "As you know, magical capabilities are grouped into categories. While that combination of specific spells in a specific category may not always appears to be logical, wizards have learned a long time ago that one can increase one's capability and proficiency of casting all spells in such a category by practicing any of them. While the learning speed varies a lot, the principle always works. For instance, in the group of restoration spells, one can increase power and duration of a healing spell by using ward spells a lot. This appears to be illogical, but it works. Does somebody know another such example?"

Yisra suggested: "For improving an 'Oakflesh' or 'Stoneflesh' spell in the Alteration category, one should be able to cast a light spell repeatedly, correct?"

The wizard nodded and confirmed: "Yes, absolutely correct. Getting back to the Restoration spells, those of you who attend Tolfdir's classes in Destruction magic a lot have a head start. My colleague of course needs to make sure nobody is hurt by practicing, for example, fire balls, and thus he makes sure that everybody can raise reliable wards. As wards are part of the Restoration school of magic, students in Tolfdir's Destruction classes usually are at least moderately good in Restoration, maybe without even being aware of it."

After a brief pause she continued: "Don't ask me why that scheme with the categories works like it does. Wizards centuries ago have spent quite some effort finding out about it, but nobody so far has been able to tell why it does, at least according to my knowledge."

Rundi had a question: "About the healing itself – how do we know what to do exactly, like where to put pour hands? For healing either oneself or another person, does this require to know where the injury is located or what is damaged or does the spell work just by itself?"

Colette smiled: "Very good question, indeed. First, a good healing spell does have some positive effect independent on which part of the body it is cast. Second, if you know which body part is injured and move your hand close to it while casting, the efficiency of the spell will be better. For instance, if you got hurt in a fight and want to heal yourself, you may be quite dizzy at first and not know initially where your injuries are. You can cast a healing spell on yourself in general like close to your head or your heart, which may improve your health to a point which allows you to analyze your body in more detail for a second healing spell to be cast close to where the major injuries are. Related to that, you will also learn in my class about body parts and typical injuries, to help you in guiding your healing."

Some of that, I had to admit to myself, was news to me, too, and I was glad that I was at the college and attending my colleague's class. When I had been at the college first, I had focused more on destruction and restoration in general, but no paid attention to details like that. My wife was quite focused and clearly interested, too.

This same evening when we were in our bed again, I smiled and teased T'mara: "I wonder if we should practice those healing spells a little more. I mean, we could both make an effort to cause some big hickeys on each other and afterwards make sure to heal them properly – wouldn't that be a good exercise?"

She turned around and looked at me: "That's what I get after being separated from you for more than a week and then having to rescue you, too. What about chasing you around the college a few times until your muscles are sore and healing them instead? Or maybe just an old fashioned beating?"

We both started to laugh and could not stop for quite some time.

While my wife wanted to attend more lessons for a few days, I decided to pay a visit to the Jarl of Winterhold. After all, we were going to stay here for quite some time, and I had heard that the Jarl was not exactly a friend of the College – I wanted to find out more.

Thus, I walked into town in the later morning and entered the Jarl's longhouse. When I got close to the throne, Jarl Korir asked:

"What's your business here in Winterhold?"

"I'm here for the College."

"Should've known. Not that it matters anymore. No one bothers coming to Winterhold for any other reason."

"You have a problem with the College?"

"I do, and if you count yourself among their numbers then you've blood on your hands as well. There's nothing left of Winterhold. Nothing! Everyone knows it's the College's fault that the sea swallowed our city. Still they deny it, but we all know the truth."

"What's wrong with the College?"

"Look around you. Winterhold is in this state because of those damned mages. They sit up there in their tower, doing gods-know-what, and who watches over them? The guards don't even dare go up there unless they've no choice."

"Does it matter?"

"It does. The College has caused enough problems; we don't need you or anyone else adding to them. If you're not here for the College, then you've little other reason to be in Winterhold at all."

It was pretty obvious that Jarl held the college and its inhabitants at least partially responsible for what had happened to the city. When cautiously asking the Jarl about work which might have to be done, he indicated that he would always look kindly upon those who helped his citizens, without going into details. I took my leave and decide to stroll around for a while and see what I could do. I did not really intend to do the Jarl lots of favors, but maybe there was a chance to improve relations between him and the college a little bit at least. Not many people were on the road, so that I eventually got into the inn, 'The Frozen Hearth'. Contrary to the inn's name, the fire inside was not frozen at all, although it had a hard time warming up the big tap room.

Stepping close to the bar I overheard the innkeeper, Haran, talking to a customer. The customer looked somewhat drunk already, considering that noon time had not yet arrived, and it looked like he owed her some money: I could hear the innkeeper talk to her husband:

"How long are we going to let Ranmir drink himself into a stupor? When will enough be enough?"

"As long as he keeps paying, I suppose. He keeps to himself and doesn't hurt anyone."

"Are you sure of that? I think Birna might disagree with you. Also, I believe that he has not paid for his last few drinks."

When I addressed her, she sighed: "Ranmir beg a drink from you, yet? That's gold wasted, friend."

Well, I could at least try to help, and turned around to face Ranmir; before I could say something, he looked at me and stated:

"Unless you're bringing me another round, you can just keep walking."

"Well, I guess that you had enough drinks already. Considering that you seem to owe some money for past drinks to the innkeeper, why don't you pay first?"

Clearly he did not like my request and replied unhappily: "Who are you to say what I should do? I'll pay her back when I'm ready."

I did my best to look intimidating, which was not so extremely difficult considering my size, looked down at him sternly, and told him in my best and intimidating Thane voice: "Do it, or things might get ugly!"

He was now very quick to state: "Calm down there, friend. I'll pay! Tell Haran that she'll have her gold."

I replied: "That's what I wanted to hear. Make sure not to forget about it!"

Turning around to the innkeeper, I told her that Ranmir would pay and ordered a glass of milk for myself. While I was drinking, her daughter Eirid came to talk, and she told me without being prompted: "Assur says his pa says the mages at the College make everything bad happen, but to me they seem nice."

Addressing her I asked: "And who would Assur be?"

She told me that Assur was the Jarl's son, and he claimed to know everything around town. Eirid then also asked: "Assur claims that the college teaches you how to kill people with magic. Is that true?"

I was careful to reply to that one: "Eirid, not really. It is true that we practice all kind of magic in the college, which does include destruction spells. In reality, those spells are mostly used to defend ourselves against animals, such as snow bears and ice wolves. Occasionally, though, like when attacked by bandits and highwaymen, we are forced to use those spells also to hurt and potentially kill people, but only in self defense."

Haran's husband, Dagur, stepped close now and commented: "Unlike some folks here in town, we have nothing against the College or the people that come and go."

I was happy to see that not all of Winterhold's citizens had an aversion against the college and mages, at least.

Eirid had something more to say: "The mages don't let us go in the College. They said it's not safe in there."

I told her: "Well, they are right about that. The college is inhabited my mages only, and by those who study magic and can prove that they have at least a basic affinity for it. But we also have a couple of Nord students. Maybe one of the students can meet you at some time in the future and have a chat with you."

At that time I was done with drinking my milk, took my leave and stepped outside again, into the bright sunshine. Before I had a chance to enjoy the sunshine, though, clouds started to cover the sun, and I expected a trademark snowstorm to be raging within an hour or two. Not really a surprise here at all, though.

While the first snowflakes were starting to settle down, I decided to spend some time in the only real shop they had here, 'Birna's Oddments'. The owner, a Nord of course, did not have other customers at this time and appreciated the opportunity to chat: "I'll sell just about anything, if it's worth my time. Keep that in mind, will you?"

I nodded and asked if was also going to buy items. I was expecting to some dungeon delving from time to time and thus wondered if this place was going to buy some of the loot. Birna was cautious, but told me: "If it's worth putting a price on, you can bet I'll do it. I've made a few bad deals. Been burned a few times. But mostly, I come out on top."

This was what I wanted to hear, and I smiled at her: "That's good to hear. I will make sure to come back when I got something to sell, and I will not request unreasonable payment. By the way, I was in the inn a couple of hours ago, and I met the innkeepers and a drunk called Ranmir. When the innkeepers talked about Ranmir, they mentioned your name; is he by chance related to you?"

Birna sighed and reluctantly admitted: "He is my brother. Ranmir's a good for nothing drunk. We would have lost the house by now if it were up to him. Most of the time he's either passed out in bed, or working on winding up that way."

I nodded and added: "Well, in the inn, I talked him into paying his debt to the innkeepers. I may have intimidated him a little. If he much trouble again in future, just let me know, and I'll have another word with him?"

Birna almost could not believe: "How did you do that? And I can really contact you to help dealing with him?"

I confirmed: "Yes, you can – I currently live at the college, and the mages there know me. As a matter of fact, I am a wizard myself."

"Well", she replied, "you probably know that most people in this town do not like the college and its inhabitants much. However, I may want to change my attitude, seeing that a mage is actually good for something."

When I got out of the shop, a full snowstorm was raging once again, so that I was looking for an opportunity to get into another building. Of course there were not many intact buildings left in the city, and I noticed a house in quite good condition right next to Birna's shop. On a hunch I knocked at the door, and it was opened quickly. A friendly looking Nord asked me to come inside, which I did, and when he heard that I was a mage, he beamed and told me: "The College of Winterhold is truly an asset to our city... err, town. I have a very close relationship with Savos Aren, the current Arch-Mage."

Surprised I looked at him: "You do? That's good to hear. I am happy to encounter somebody who does not despise the college here in this location. Of course, not so many people live here any longer, and it's a shame that nobody really makes an effort to restore at least part of the former glory Winterhold once had."

He liked what I said: "I'd like nothing more than to see Winterhold regain its former glory. It's hard to recover from something like the Great Collapse, but I believe Winterhold can do it."

Kraldar's servant confirmed: "Kraldar has big plans for Winterhold. We'd be better off if he was in charge."

I nodded and replied: "I am very glad that I found this house and its inhabitants. I really enjoyed talking to you, and I am sure that we will meet again. Thank you for your hospitality, and Good Bye for now!"

Outside the snowstorm had abated a little. I felt like I had done enough for today and slowly walked back towards the college. Actually thinking about my day's work, I suddenly became aware that I had already visited all of the major buildings in the city today. There was the Jarl's longhouse, the inn, the shop, and Kaldar's house, and if there another fully intact building around, I had either missed it or it was more distant from the 'city center'. There were a few guards around, but they probably had a room to sleep in the longhouse, as I had not seen any kind of barracks. In addition, I had also not seen a blacksmith, and thus I wondered who was going to take care of smithing around here. This place was really nothing compared to its former glory, and I wondered if Kaldar was right and something could be done about it.

When I entered the college grounds, still deep in my thoughts, I suddenly noticed a person coming quickly at me from the side; while I recognized my wife, I was already hugged by her and felt her teeth cutting deep into my shoulder. Totally surprised I yelled; she stepped back and smiled: "Wasn't it your suggestion to bite each other and practice healing spells? Now hold still and let me heal you!"

I sighed and knew that she was right, and indeed she managed to heal me quite nicely. Naturally, later on when we were in bed, I could not resist the temptation to tease her a little: "As you started the biting business, I am really curious about something."

"What would that be?" she replied.

"Well, with my skin and your sharp teeth, it is quite easy to mark me with a hickey", I started while she smiled and grinned. "I wonder", I continued, "how it might be possible to mark you with a visible hickey, considering my smaller teeth and your fur, which mostly covers your skin. I guess that I need to try hard to find out!"

Her facial expression had changed considerably at my last words, and she hissed "You would not dare!"

However, before she got a chance to come up with any reason why I should rather not go in that direction, I was already over her. Let's just say that we had quite some fun this night, and a few times I used my own healing spells on her. As it was night and I did not have Khajiit night eyes, I was unable to find out if my experiments were successful, though. But anyway the night confirmed that having a Khajiit wife was really great and enjoyable.

[Author's Note: I took the liberty to introduce three more students by using names, races, and some more data from the 'missing students' as documented on related webpages, as I thought the college should really have more than just three students]