The Path Of The Mage
Waking up early next morning I started
my journey by taking the road to the north, passing the northern
watchtower and the farms (always looking for herbs to gather and –
yes I admit: wildlife to hunt). At first my journey went pretty
uneventful. I enjoyed travelling in the safety of the local guards
but soon I left the last guard behind me I began to be more cautious.
If the recent days have taught me one thing, then that death may wait
for you around every corner here.
 |
| Entering the mountains. |
The further I got northwards and closer
to the mountains the colder became the weather. A few times I saw the
huge fires the giants make in the distance. But I stayed on the road,
in relative safety as I assumed. I also kept away from any ruin or
cave entrance, because I was really in no condition to challenge a
group of bandits or whatever else might hide in there.
Despite my safety precautions I
suddenly had the odd feeling I was stalked at. And indeed just
moments after I saw a thick splash landing just next to me. A spider
was attacking me! I immediately started dodging and firing bolts at
it but both my dodging and the agility of the spider made it hard for
me to land a hit. The beast shortened its distance to me surprisingly
fast, trying to attack me with its big, poisoned fangs. That was my
chance: being so close there was hardly a possibility to miss it, so
I kept sending firebolts against it, while healing my wounds with my
other hand. It was a pretty close call but after all the spider was
dead at my feet. I gathered some of its venom and then continued my
journey.
Not long after this unpleasant
encounter, I had another opponent taking his chance against me. It
was an Argonian I think, dressed in a strange dark armour I have
never seen before. He was wielding two daggers, not hesitating to
attack me at all. It was in fact easier to kill him than the spider.
He must have been a beginner just like me. After examining his body I
was shocked though: there was an assassination note by the Dark
Brotherhood itself! The letter showed clearly my name and was signed
by some Astrid.
I can't say this made me feel safer. I
must have woken the attention of somebody. But who? The imperials?
No, they have their own spies. And why should they bother about some
nameless escapee who had absolutely no significance for them until a
dragon just happened to reappear after thousands of years, allowing
her to escape the headsman?
This didn't made sense to me after all.
I had to be prepared if another one tries where this murderer failed.
And I had to find out why I was so important for them. The latter
seemed to be the more difficult thing actually. I had no idea what
fate or gods or whatever had waiting for me.
 |
| Beginning to ask myself if the journey was that a good idea. |
My walk seemed endless and the road to
Winterhold got more and more snowy and the landscape to the left and
right showed no trace of civilization at all. I was totally on my
own. With the little skills and equipment I got so far. I became
angry about myself for getting me into all this. Ambitions are nice,
but were they worth it being killed by some beast or assassin, or
freezing to death in a snowy nowhere?
I don't know how or why, but I just
carried on. Even if the path did lead me into the mountains.
Stubbornly following this silly marking somebody I knew for just a
few moments did draw on my map in far away Whiterun. The air became
thin and the sky above me was as clear as crystal and endlessly blue.
I felt I must have been above the clouds already and my path just
kept on leading me into the unknown. A few wolves attacking me here
and there showed me at least that I wasn't the only creature alive
out there. And they gave me the opportunity to train my skills, even
if that wasn't really something I cared much at this time. I just
wanted to survive.
After wandering through this stony and
snowy desert for far too long I suddenly saw a gigantic human
silhouette appearing in the distance. The wind blew snow in my face
so I couldn't get a clear view at it until I came closer. It was too
large for a giant, and it didn't move. Approaching the figure I
realized it was a huge statue. It did wear a long tunic like dress,
holding the sun and crescent in her hands. I recognized it suddenly:
It was Azura, the Daedric Prince and goddess of the Dark Elves. The
statue was standing on top of a mountain, with steps leading up to
it.
My heart jumped in relief. Perhaps
there were pilgrims – and pilgrims mean safety and perhaps some
warm drink or food!
 |
| I suddenly saw a gigantic human silhouette in the distance. |
And indeed, at the feet of the statue,
high above the surrounding mountain peaks there were two people. One
turned out to be a pilgrim, the other was an old Dunmer lady who
pledged to tend the shrine and told me she did see my coming already
years ago.
Saying I was perplex to hear this is an
understatement. How could she know? How could Azura know? I didn't
even know I was coming here before I actually saw the statue itself!
Anyway. The Dark Elf lady told my with
some regret that she did wait all the years to give me the task to
retrieve an artifact for her Goddess some mage has stolen from her
long ago: The Star of Azura. As I gathered the star is some kind of
soulgem, which can unlike the usual ones, almost indefinitely reused.
The mage wanted to use the special properties of the star to become
immortal and is hiding now “in a fortress endangered by water”.
Still pretty confused and exhausted I
told the lady to keep my eyes open for the star. Later the old Dunmer
showed me the right direction to the Mages College and bid me
farewell. When walking down the steps of the shrine I began to
realize this all might be a much bigger thing than I would have ever
thought: Assassination attempts, Daedric Princes foreseeing my
appearance, a dragon interrupting my execution... quite a start into
my new life, wasn't it?
Exhausted I entered the gorge leading
me to the town of Winterhold. I had no idea what would await me but
at least the landscape looked roughly like the priest of Azura did
describe. And indeed: suddenly thatched roofs began to appear in the
distance and after walking down a slope I was in the middle of –
one of the most miserable places I have ever seen.
Winterhold, the city of the famous
Mages College wasn't more than a handful frozen houses dotted along a
windy and very empty road. To say I was disappointed would be about
as understating as saying it was rather chilly up in the mountains.
It didn't took long till I found the
town's inn, which did greet me at least with some warmth and a few
friendly words by its keeper. They obviously didn't get awfully many
visitors.
After some inquiries I got indeed
confirmed that this is the famous Winterhold and that there is indeed
a Mages College. The city however fell onto hard times. Or to be
precise: most of the city fell into the ocean after a flood-wave from
Morrowind hit the shoreline caused by the eruption of the Red
Mountain many decades ago. Only the College remained unharmed, which
lead to accusations it was the evildoing of the mages there which
caused the city's downfall.
After hearing this I wasn't really
surprised anymore that mages have such a bad reputation in Skyrim.
And I was going to become one of them?
I might have been in doubt for a
moment, but after all – what other chance did I had? I came so far,
wandered through snow and mountains, fought beasts and a assassin
just to give up and go back now? Back where to? There was nothing I
could return to and who knows if I would have survived the way back
to Whiterun at all. And even if I would: what should I have done
there? Going on and trying to eke out a living as I did before the
whole getting-caught-by-the-legion-and-getting-almost-beheaded-thing
started?
No way. There was no turning back. If
they want to hate you for being a mage, then at least be a damn good
one.
I suddenly felt pretty lighthearted and
offered the innkeeper to cheer folks up a bit with some songs. Which
he accepted. So I earned me a bed for the night. And a few septims
pocket money too. They weren't so happy about me practising magic
though. Especially summoning fire atronarchs in your room isn't
really something the average Nord cheers about. Even if it warmed up
the place pretty nicely.
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