The College of Winterhold
The hooves of the wagon horses echoed on the icy cobblestones as we pull up at the gates of Winterhold. I dropped eagerly from the seat beside the driver and clasped hands with Ri'Saad.
"Thank you, my friend, for seeing us safely here," I sighed gratefully. "I would not have liked facing the northern road alone."
"Few would. Fare thee well mage," Ri'Saad smiled through his whiskers.
He then moved to help his crew unload their wares under the grim gazes of the Winterhold guards. Lydia and I were allowed through the gates without comment but as we walked the quiet streets my heart began to thud faster. There was something odd about this city. There wasn't the usual hustle and bustle in the marketplace and those who were out and about watched us pass suspiciously.
"Cheery place," Lydia muttered.
"I hear it suffered greatly in an earth-shake a few years back," I said.
Indeed I could see evidence of the devastation, whole chunks of the cliff looked to have slid into the icy sea below and the remains of buildings poked out of the snow. My eyes were draw across the bay and my breath hitched. The College of Winterhold stood on a stack of dark rock out to sea with a stone bridge connecting it to the mainland. From what I could tell it was octagonal in shape with tall towers and windows of coloured glass.
When we reached a stone gatehouse at the mouth of the bridge we came to a halt.
"Well, I guess this is it," I said.
"I hope you find the answers you seek, my Thane," said Lydia solemnly. I smiled at her and grasped her forearm. I would have preferred a hug but I knew Lydia liked to keep our ranks distinct.
"No one could ask for a more loyal Housecarl. When you return to Whiterun I charge you to aid and protect its people in any way you can."
"And I will keep your interests with Jarl Balgruuf," Lydia vowed. "I will write to you with news from court as often as I am able."
The twittering of courtiers didn't interest me much, however with the civil war still raging and dragons becoming a serious threat to travellers, it would be good to keep in the loop. After one last clap on the back, I approached the gatehouse. Before I had taken five steps a tall dark elf woman in blue mage robes stepped out and put up a hand.
"Halt, who approaches the College?" she barked.
"Lyra of Whiterun," I replied. "I wrote to the arch-mage a few weeks ago with word that I would be coming."
The Dunmer looked me up and down, seemingly unimpressed.
"Oh, yes. I was told to expect you. Follow me then."
She turned and led me across the stone bridge. As we passed over the cliffs I noticed that chunks of the wall were missing. Another consequence of the earthquakes? It was odd, I would have expected mages to able to repair such damage easily. We passed through a portico and arrived in a circular courtyard at the heart of the college. It had a gold statue of a man in wizards robes in the middle and beds of potion herbs around the edges. The Dunmer held up a hand.
"Wait here, I will inform them of your arrival."
She disappeared through a set of double doors twice my height and I gazed around the courtyard. It was deserted, so I walked slowly around, examining the herbs. I recognised a few of them, frost miriam and thistle, blue mountain flowers and snowberries, but there were plenty that were alien to me. I turned my gaze to the statue and sauntered over, hands behind my back. It seemed to depict an elder Nord man, with a long beard and his hands held aloft in casting.
"The Arch-Mage Shalidor, founder of the college."
I turned and saw a middle-aged woman had joined me in studying the statue.
"Shalidor? I don't think I've heard of him before," I said and the woman smiled.
"Few have, he is not well known amongst the songs of the Nords, despite being one of their most powerful ancestors. It is said he built the city of Winterhold with nothing but a whispered spell. An exaggeration, of course, but he was a great mage. As you seek to be, I hear?"
"I don't know about great, but I have come here to learn. Pardon me, are you the arch-mage?"
"Oh, no. I am the master wizard, Mirabelle Ervine. I manage the day-to-day affairs of the college on behalf of arch-mage Savos Aren." She glanced over her shoulder and added, "Thank you Faralda, I'll take her from here."
The gatekeeper, who had been lingering a few feet back, gave a small bow and returned to the bridge. Mirabelle held out a hand towards the double-doors behind the statue.
"Now then, if you would follow me we can discuss your entry to the college."
Beyond the doors was an entrance hall, with stairs leading up on the left and right, and beyond that a magnificent circular hall with tall stain-glass windows all around the walls. Magical blue-flamed torches gave a curious feeling of being under water. A grey-haired Nord man was waiting for us and he gave friendly smile.
"This is Tolfdir, our Alteration master. I asked him to assist in the testing."
"Delighted to meet you, Lyra of Whiterun," said Tolfdir as we shook hands. I cocked my head.
"Thank you, um, 'testing'?"
"Yes, before we can offer you a place at the college we must test your aptitude with magic. From your letter I understand you have some small experience in adventuring?" asked Mirabelle.
"A bit," I agreed mildly.
"I imagine you have some skill in more practical spells then. Which school of magic would you say you have the most experience in?" asked Tolfdir.
"I've mostly used novice level Destruction spells, though I've been working on some apprentice level ones lately. I know a few spells from each of the other schools except I don't have as much practice. I'm most interested in mastering the Illusion and Restoration schools."
Tolfdir and Mirabelle exchanged raised eyebrows and the former nodded slowly.
"Excellent," he mused. "It sounds like you'll be an ideal fit here. If you wouldn't mind a little demonstration?"
I agreed readily and Tolfdir and I took up positions at the centre of the hall facing each other. Tolfdir bid me strike him with each of the elements of Destruction whilst he held up a strong shield. Next the roles were reversed though I had a harder time keeping my shield steady, getting slightly scorched in the process. This at least gave me a chance to show I could perform a basic healing spell.
"Good," Mirabelle nodded in approval. "Very good. As Tolfdir said you should fit right in here. I suggest you work on Alteration first and foremost, mage-armour will serve you well. We can complete the paperwork for your admission in my office then I will show you the apprentice quarters in the Hall of Attainment."
Handing over the bulging bag of coins that had taken me months to collect did sting, but I reminded myself that I was finally where I needed to be. After noting down my details, Mirabelle showed me to the Hall of Attainment, a tower on the left side of the courtyard. It had a central hall with a round hearth in the middle, lit with the same blue fire as the Hall of Elements. Six doors were set at regular intervals around the wall and Mirabelle opened the one directly to the right of the entrance.
"This will be your room. You'll share this tower with your fellow apprentices so please be mindful. I've had the servants bring some mage robes. You aren't required to wear them but you might find them more suitable that your…current attire."
I picked sheepishly at my travel-worn leather armour.
"Thank you, I'll get changed at once."
"Good. Dinner will be served shortly upstairs, it will give you a chance to meet the other apprentices."
And with that Mirabelle bid me good evening and departed. My room was small but comfortable, with a single bed, a wardrobe and chest to stow my belongings, a desk and an empty bookshelf. I shrugged off my pack and sat on the edge of the bed, gazing around at the bare stone walls. It could do with some decoration, but all in all I thought it would suit me well. A set of pale blue apprentice robes lay at the end of the bed as Mirabelle promised and I eagerly doffed my armour to try them on. They fit surprisingly well and were much more comfortable than the leather I was used to. As I fixed the sash in place with a bronze brooch, I felt a tingle of enchantment magic in the cloth.
There came a soft knock at my door and I glanced over to see a young Dunmer girl peering into the room.
"Hello, you must be the new apprentice," she said with a smile. She had a thin face and slight frame, even for a Dunmer, and she spoke in the slightly nasally accent of Morrowind.
"Yes, Lyra, how do you do?" I greeted.
"I'm Brelyna Maryon of, um, House Telvanni," she replied and I thought she looked anxious for a moment. However, the name meant little to me and when I didn't react beyond a smile, she seemed to relax.
"The others have already gone up for dinner, would you like to join us?" she asked.
I happily accepted the offer and Brelyna showed me the spiral staircase which led to the upper floor. The rooms on this floor were mostly open to the central balcony, looking down on the hearth below. A tressle table had been set with pheasant roasted in herbs, steaming boiled potatoes and buttered greens, white fish soup and crispy braided bread. The smell made my mouth water and I sat down beside Brelyna with my stomach growling.
"Everyone, this is Lyra, the new apprentice Mirabelle told us to expect," Brelyna announced. The handful of students at the far end of the table simply nodded then went back to their conversation, but the two young men opposite us introduced themselves.
"Hi, I'm Onmund," said the pale, round-faced Nord youth with the cropped black hair. His companion, a grey striped Khajiit, nodded.
"This one is called J'zargo," he purred. "It is strange to see so many seeking training in magic, I did not expect it in this land."
"Yes, Mirabelle said she was surprised too," Onmund agreed as he loaded up with plate with potatoes and slices of meat. "But I suppose it's a good thing, maybe it means the college's troubles are ending."
"Troubles?" I asked, dipping a chunk of bread in my soup. Onmund swallowed his mouthful and nodded gravely.
"Oh yes, didn't you see the state of the town? The college, and Winterhold in general, has seen some hard times since the Great Collapse."
"Wasn't this Great Collapse eighty years ago, though?" Brelyna asked sceptically. "Surely the people would have rebuilt since then."
Onmund shrugged.
"Things can be slow to change in Skyrim." He then looked gloomily around the table. "I was hoping I wouldn't be the only Nord, but I suppose I should have expected it."
"In my experience, the Nords do not respect magic," J'zargo sniffed. "They think it beneath them."
"Yeah, until a Restoration mage saves their life on the battlefield," I snorted and there were chuckles around the table.
"My father certainly has no appreciation for magic," Onmund lamented. "Why not pick up an axe instead of messing around with spells, he says."
"It's the complete opposite in my family," piped up Brelyna. "Magic isn't just encouraged, it's expected. If you don't excel in one of the schools you can forget about being invited to the next family dinner."
As the meal progressed we chatted some more about home and family expectations. Onmund had grown up on a farm just outside Windhelm and both his brothers were fighting for Ulfric at that moment. I got the impression that his father had all but disowned him and Brelyna in particular seemed sorry on his behalf. J'zargo was all bluster, if he was to be believed he'd been single-handedly protecting his caravan from bandit raids and frost bite spiders since he was a cub, and had only joined the college recently to push the boundaries of magic.
"And what about you? Where are your family from? High Rock right?" Brelyna asked me, more to cut off J'zargo's babble than anything. I put down my goblet.
"Actually," I said. "I don't have any family, I don't think. I have a home between Falkreath and Whiterun now, doing odd jobs for the Jarl."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Brelyna, her ashen cheeks going a bit pink.
"That's OK, what about you anyway? You said you grew up in Raven Rock?"
I was keen to steer the conversation away from my non-existent past, at least until I'd had a chance to speak to the Illusion master. I had spoken about it with Lydia and Balgruuf plenty, but things were different here. Here I felt like I could belong and I didn't want to mar this first night with talk of curses and addled minds.
The next morning I woke bright and early, wolfed down a breakfast of porridge, and was the first one to the Hall of Elements. I was pacing up and down with my hands behind my back, admiring the stain glass windows when Tolfdir arrived.
"My goodness you're keen," he chuckled and I smiled sheepishly.
Brelyna, Onmund and J'zargo trickled in shortly after and Tolfdir had us line up neatly.
"Good morning, apprentices," he smiled. "Welcome to your first day of study. To remind you I am Tolfdir, the Alteration master. You'll get the chance to study all the schools of magic but Mirabelle wants you all to have a good grounding in protecting yourselves first. The school of alteration focuses on the manipulation of the physical world and is used to cast Waterbreathing, Magical Armour and Magelight. I know some of you already have some skill with the novice spells, but today we're going to focus of Mage Armour."
It was astonishing how easy it was the learn a new spell with a proper instructor. Tolfdir demonstrated the Oakflesh spell a few times then walked amongst us as we tried to cast it on ourselves. He adjusted our hand gestures and offered suggestions on how to focus our minds. I learned I was putting too much energy into the way the spell looked subconsciously and once I corrected this I found myself with much more magicka to spare.
J'zargo had a similar problem and struggled to maintain his armour for more than a few seconds once cast. Brelyna was too timid in her casting and flinched as the sparks of magic skittering across her body. Out of all of us Onmund did the best, his casting was precise and without flourish, and he was able to shrug off the mild frost spell Tolfdir cast at him without so much as a shiver.
"It's his Nord blood, they have a natural Immunity to the cold," J'zargo complained.
"Now now, don't be bitter," I chided with a grin.
After an hour Tolfdir called a halt and we all realised how tired me were.
"Well done today, I want you all the keep practising and we'll revisit this in a week, maybe test your armour in simulated combat."
Exhilarated, we left the hall chattering like magpies. I was so absorbed in my conversation with Brelyna that I didn't watch where I was going and collided some a tall man in the entrance and made him drop his parchment scrolls.
"Oh gods, I'm so sorry!" I cried, mortified. "Here, let me."
I scrambled to gather the fallen papers and handed them back to the man with a sheepish smile. The man, a handsome high elf with a smooth complexion and dark eyes, did not return the smile. He snatched the papers with a cold glare and stalked past towards the stairs to the Arcanaeum.
"That's Ancano," Brelyna muttered. "He's here representing the Thalmor."
I felt a stir of discomfort in my stomach.
"Are you serious?" I asked with an uneasy glance over my shoulder. "Isn't this a Stormcloak town?"
"Oh definitely," Onmund injected. "I know the college is like its own separate thing from Winterhold but still...its bold."
"Why are the Thalmor interested in this place?" I asked. I was reminded unpleasantly of Delphine and her obsessions. Onmund shrugged.
"Who knows? I think they just like sticking their elf noses everywhere they can. Uh, no offence."
He reddened as Brelyna raised her eyebrows.
"Nothing to do with me, I'm a Dark Elf. Totally different elf nose."
The days took on a regular pattern. I ate my meals with the other new apprentices and tried to make friendly overtures to the more experienced students, but beyond a nod at the dinner table they were too wrapped up in their personal projects to waste time on us. Mornings were devoted to lectures, usually in the Hall of Elements but sometimes in the Arcanaeum under the watchful glare of Urag Gro-Shub, the grumpy Orc librarian. Our afternoons were largely our own to do with as we pleased, but we were encouraged to pursue our studies ourselves.
I waited a couple of weeks before approaching Drevis Neloren, the Illusion master. I'd had a few lectures with him on the principles of calming and sleep spells and I had high hopes when I knocked on his office door one blustery afternoon after lunch. At first there was no answer, so I knocked again just in case he hadn't heard. A few seconds passed and the door was flung open by no one I could see.
"Yes? What can I do for you?" said Drevis's disembodied voice.
"Um, master Drevis?" I asked and I heard a muttered curse then the Illusion master melted back into view.
"So sorry about that, forgot I had the darn spell still up," he chuckled.
"Right, uh, I had a question about Illusion magic. Actually, it's more of a problem I need help with."
Drevis raised his eyebrows and beckoned me into his untidy office. He shoved some papers off a chair and invited me to sit.
"So, what seems to be the trouble?" he asked. I quicky outlined my predicament for what felt like the hundredth time and Drevis's eyebrows grew closer and closer together.
"Hmm, it certainly sounds like a powerful Illusion spell. Let me just –"
But before he could continue there was another knock on the door and Collette Marence, another of the professors, stuck her head into the room.
"Drevis, have you seen my notes for the new paper I'm working on?" she asked sharply.
"No I haven't, please Collette, I'm with a student!" Drevis cried, gesturing to me. Collette's eyes narrowed.
"They keep going missing and I'm start to wonder…" She fixed her eyes on me. "Weren't you in my anatomy lecture the other day?"
"Yes, ma'am," I nodded.
In fact I had attended three Restoration classes so far but I'd found most of the professors, except Tolfdir, had not yet learnt the names or even faces of the new apprentices. Collette nodded and stepped properly into the office.
"Ah yes, I remember you now. You cast a decent healing spell. I had hoped you were interested in Restoration magic but it seems…not."
She looked pointedly at Drevin who rolled his eyes.
"Oh but I am interested in healing!" I hurried to clarify. "But I'm also interested in Illusion, I just wanted to discuss a personal matter with master Drevis."
"Yes, this is mind magic so if you don't mind Collette, we'll speak later," said Drevis waspishly but Collette brightened and approached us.
"Mind magic eh? Sure this doesn't fall under my purview Drevis? What seems to be the problem?"
And that was how I found myself with two college professors keenly interested in my affliction. They bickered some more over whether the memory loss was due to an Illusion spell or natural malady, but they both examined me with much fervour.
"And then, Collette grabbed my head and started turning it all over the place, I thought she was trying to yank it off!" I complained later in the Frozen Hearth taproom.
Brelyna winced sympathetically. I had finally confided in her about my memory problems since she too had an interest in Illusion.
"So, what did the professors say?" she asked and I shrugged.
"They agreed there was some kind of magical interference in my mind, just like Danica said in Whiterun, but they can't tell what caused it. Drevis said he was going to come up with a few tests."
I wasn't entirely looking forward to these tests but I was relieved that something was finally being done to solve the mystery.
"Well, I hope you get to the bottom of it," said Brelyna and I smiled gratefully. At that moment Onmund and J'zargo came in, ushering a blast of icy night air with them.
"By the nine, shut the damn door boy!" the innkeeper growled and Onmund hurried to obey.
"Sorry we're late," he puffed as he and J'zargo climbed onto the bench. Onmund's cheeks were a raw red from the cold and J'zargo's fur was speckled with melting snow. "Bit of a disaster with the flame cloak project."
"It was not a disaster, it was valuable research," J'zargo sniffed. As Onmund jeered good-naturedly I rose to get a round in.
"Ales all round, please," I asked the innkeeper. I thought he seemed a bit grumpy as he turned to pour four tankards but I shrugged it off. Everyone seemed grumpy in this frozen nowhere town.
We passed the rest of the evening with casual conversation whilst the wind howled through the rafters. Autumn was fast waning and I dreaded to think what winter would be like of the Sea of Ghosts. When our tankards ran dry we decided it was time to head back to the college, but on the way to the door a haggard patron staggered past us on the way to the bar and clipped J'zargo's shoulder.
"Hey!" J'zargo growled and the man glared through bloodshot eyes.
"What?" he spat and Brelyna grabbed J'zargo's arm as the cat opened his mouth to say something angry.
"Leave it," she muttered but the drunk now focused his attention on her.
"Filthy elf, bad enough that you destroyed half of Winterhold, now you have to stink up the tavern? Can't a man get a drink without having to look at your ashen mug?"
Brelyna flinched and I felt anger bubble up in me.
"Hey! That's enough of that, we haven't done anything to you, so just keep walking," I snarled. I wasn't usually confrontational but his remark to Brelyna had stirred me up. The drunk sneered at all of us.
"Not done anything? You're kidding right? As if you lot didn't sweep hundreds to their deaths into the sea. Filthy mages."
The innkeeper had caught wind of the fight brewing and he hurried over to defuse the situation.
"I won't have brawls in my inn," he said sternly. "Come on Ranmir, let me get you another drink."
He made shooing motions to us so we left as quickly as possible. Ranmir shouted one last jab as the door closed behind us.
"That's it, walk away, that's all you cowards ever do!"
All four of us were quiet on our walk back through town and when we reached the hall of Attainment, Brelyna shut herself in her room without speaking to any of us.