The College of Mages rises a gloomy stronghold in northeast Tamriel, is the territory of the province of Winterhold. As the inhabitants of the stronghold say, the glory of Winterhold is a thing of the past, but the College is still alive.
Background
The College of Winterhold has long been a mighty bunch of hermit magicians who have dedicated their lives to the study of the mysteries of the universe. Being the main attraction of the capital of Skyrim, the College rarely attracted knowledge hunters. Not every guest dared to visit the guild due to the innate hostility of the peoples of the north to everything magical.
The reputation of the College and the mysterious storm that raged off the coast of Winterhold spoiled. Gigantic waves smashed rocky rocks, and part of the buildings of the town disappeared into the abyss of the Phantom Sea. In addition to the surviving street, the College remained indestructible, which gave rise to a number of rumors and discontent with the magicians. However, they do not confirm their involvement in the cataclysm that began during the eruption of Red Mountain, but they also do not refute rumors.
Nevertheless, stories rapidly cross the entire Skyrim, the College of Winterhold is entwined with gossip, like a thick web. Only lonely magicians who meet on the way can say a good word about the Academy.
Walkthrough
For fans of the Skyrim game, the College of Winterhold is remembered for a number of ornate quests that send the player to various interesting locations inhabited by mysterious creatures, dangerous opponents and unexpected turns of events.
And yet, how to get into the College of Winterhold? To gain access to the quest chain related to this location, you need to show your own interest in magic anywhere in Skyrim. The closest suitable character is the court mage in Dragon's Edge, the royal castle of the city of Whiterun. The sorcerer will advise Dovakin to contact the most suitable organization to realize the witchcraft potential. The College of Mages of Winterhold is just the right option.
After receiving the desired assignment to visit the College of Winterhold, it remains to get to the northeastern part of the continent, overcoming the charms of harsh Nordic nature, such as constant snowstorms, wolves striving to attack, lurking forest robbers and, of course, dragons.
Adventure begin
The quests of the College of Winterhold are interesting and varied, but there is no need to rush to step on the threshold of the majestic Academy. Dovakin is given the opportunity to talk with local residents, find out what the guests of the Frozen Hearth restaurant eater, look at Byrna's goods in the store named after her, examine the surviving buildings of Winterhold and visit the local jarl.
In this location, there is a possibility of a dragon attack, therefore, Dovakin is strongly recommended to look at the sky and observe the behavior of the local guard. The latter, though not numerous, but it’s easy to understand from the guards running back and forth that somewhere in the frosty fog of the northern night a giant winged monster is flying towards the city. In a battle with such, all means are good: starting from the available weapons and ending with dragon cries.
Going forward along the only street, the hero will stumble upon the Faraldo Dunmerka, a meeting with which will mark the end of the first task, which is offered by the quests of the College of Winterhold.
Lesson one - prove yourself worthy
The guard is not just, her task is to guard the entrance. She will miss only when the incoming person demonstrates the presence of his own magic skills. The player needs to apply one of the spells of any school of magic or one of the Dragon Cries, making it clear to the elf that she is faced with Dovakin.
Faralda will lead the hero along a long, narrow bridge hanging over the abyss, at the bottom of which the waters of the Phantom Sea are washed by the remains of collapsed supports. Without them, the bridge is held by magic. Let it be free - welcome.
The College's courtyard is notable for the presence of a statue of a woman greeting a student with her arms wide open. Next to the statue there is a well emitting upward streams of radiant magical energy as a designation of the bright essence of a true magician, striving upward to enlightenment, knowledge and stars. The Eye crowns the entrance to the main hall of the fortress as a symbol of wisdom and hidden knowledge.
Mirabella Erwin stands at the door, the dialogue with which comes down to a verbal blitz tour of the College, as well as a story about some of the guests of the fortress. She will direct the Dragonborn to the Elemental Hall for Tolfdier's lecture. Here you can meet the meticulous Talmor Ankano, always pestering with various questions. Sometimes the archmage himself walks in the courtyard, welcoming new students. The sorcerer leads a lesson with several students who continually suggest that the master switch from boring theory to entertaining practice. After several variations with learning and casting spells, the quest will be completed.
Dungeons are waiting!
Old Man Tolfdir offers an unusual adventure in the form of a sortie to the excavations of the ancient city of Saartal, where the story line of the next quest passes. Explore the ruins of the ancient Nordic settlement will not be alone, but with the students and the master himself, who will immediately tell the story of this place.
It turns out that Saartal was once one of the settlements of the Nords, until the snow elves organized a massacre, killing almost all the inhabitants, except for Isgramor and his children. Ysgramor is known as the illustrious hero of Skyrim, the leader of the Nordic ancestors who once landed on the northern shores of Tamriel. It is assumed that the snow elves were looking for some powerful artifact, the knowledge of which was lost. Robbery remained in the memory of generations under the name "Night of Tears", it is described in a book with the same name.
Dovakin is instructed to help one of the researchers from the College to collect valuable things. On the way there will be several rings and a unique amulet, designated as the Saartal Amulet, touching which will distort a piece of the wall located near the player. Using the hint of the master, Dovakin needs to apply a spell that can bring down the wall.
Suddenly, time stops, and the Dragonborn is presented with a mysterious figure in a cassock. She appears to be Nerien. An unknown guest will warn the player about an impending global catastrophe, the mechanism of which was triggered by the magicians of the College of Winterhold. When the obsession disappears, dialogue with Tolfdir will shed some light on the mysterious guest. In particular, the teacher will inquire in detail about the vision and tell a short story about the Order of the Psijiks - a group of sorcerers from the island of Arteum who chose hermitism to follow the "old ways" of ancient magic - forgotten mystical tracts, intentionally or accidentally hidden from the eyes of a mere mortal.
While the master Tolfdir leads the story, the nearby sarcophagi suddenly open, exposing his unpleasant gut - two dragurs (the walking dead) attack the main character. One of the sarcophagi, as it turns out later, is a door, beyond which lies the path along which Dovakin and Tolfdir will go. Further investigation of the abandoned ruins of the Nords, inhabited by the same walking dead, will lead the magicians to a large room, the center of which is a large rotating sphere surrounded by a mystical radiance.
The closest approach to the artifact awakens the guard - a draugr named Yurik Goldurson - the dead man who was the son of the supreme magician in the service of King Harold during his lifetime. The battle with the boss is not so simple, because the dead man uses the Dragon Cry, which can throw the enemy away over a long distance, and the sphere itself also protects it. Suddenly, Tolfdir makes an attempt to attack the sphere, the draugr loses touch with the subject and becomes vulnerable. Part of the amulet will fall out of the killed boss, the remaining pieces are stored in the tombs of his brothers, and their souls guard the tomb of his father.
Master Tolfdir does not have the slightest idea about the nature of the find, and further conversation with the archmage in the College will lead Dovakin to a librarian named Urag Gro-Shub.
Arcanum
This is the name of the library where the protagonist will go to complete the next quest for the Skyrim game. The College of Winterhold, according to the librarian, does not have the necessary literature to identify the find. Therefore, Urag will offer Dovakin to get into the necromancer fortress, located nearby, for the return of books stolen from Arkaneum.
The fight with a small group of sorcerers of the Fellglow fortress will not cause special difficulties, except for the call of the ice atronachs by one of the magicians.
From the shelf you need to take the following tomes:
- Night of tears;
- The last king of the Ayleids;
- Fragment: About Arteium.
The contents of the first book will be of great interest to the librarian, but only ambiguous ambiguous hints will follow, which will lead to the need to again have a conversation with Tolfdir, who is in the same place - the Elemental Hall. Only now has the chamber been replenished with a new find from Saartal - a sphere rotating several meters above the floor in the hall.
Find Augur
Tolfdir does not cease to admire the unique find, day and night he works in attempts to read unknown symbols, dissecting the sphere along and across. The dialogue with the master is interrupted by the elf Ankano, reporting a stranger demanding an audience with Dovakin in the chambers of the archmage. A stranger in a hood awaits in the room, looking like a strange guest in the ruins of Saartal. Psijik stops time to tell the hero important information about the Eye of Magnus (this is the name the artifact has) and the dangers of putting it into action. The guest suggests finding a certain Augur Dunleinsky in the College to receive answers to a host of questions. When the spell drops, Quaranir informs Ankano that he has identified himself and leaves. The Talmorets, on the other hand, is suspicious of everything and refuses to follow every step of Dovakin.
The search for the aforementioned master leads the hero to the Midden location, located in the dungeons under the College, which you can get into through the hatch at the main entrance. Underground passages are populated by ice spiders, snow trolls and several ghosts. Separately, it is worth mentioning a unique place - the Atronach Forge, capable of creating a special item - the Atronach Staff. Not far from the forge, in the location of "Darkness", the protagonist finds a huge beam of light, which is the goal of the search for the Dragonborn.
Augur of Dunleins was once one of the best mages of the College of Winterhold, but an unsuccessful experiment led to its disincarnation. Deprived of a corporeal shell, the master exists as a beam of light in Midden. The sorcerer reports that before many people came to learn the secret of the Eye of Magnus, and now Dovakin must stop one of the members of the Academy, who is about to bring the artifact into action. Augur advises finding the Staff of Magnus and talking to the archmage. After which the quest is considered completed, and the interlocutor disappears.
Hidden
Inquiries about the staff among the colleagues in the workshop will lead Dovakin to Mirabella, while the girl will send the player to the ruins of the city of Mzulf, located near the stronghold of the Storm Brothers, the city of Windhelm, to complete the next quest, which is offered by the College of Winterhold. The key to the ruins is nearby: the dying explorer, mentioning his colleague and some kind of building underground.
The wanderings in the gloomy dungeon are complicated by Falmers - local inhabitants, who periodically annoy Dovakin either a poisoned arrow fired from the darkness or a sudden attack from around the corner. One of the Falmer encounters has the necessary quest item - Focusing Crystal. As a result, the player enters the Oculatorium - an old Dwemer construction, the secret of which is unsuccessfully tried by another researcher who agrees to help only by learning about the Crystal.
Through actions with installing the crystal and manipulating the directions of the rays with the help of elemental magic - fire and flame - the beam is divided into three beams and projects an image - a map of Tamriel onto the wall. But the researcher is dissatisfied with the result, he reports that the image should not be so small, and claims to be in the territory of the College of Winterhold of some powerful subject. Nevertheless, at the end of the quest, he reports the whereabouts of the Staff of Magnus - the ruin of the Labyrinthians.
Leaving Mzulf, Dovakin again encounters Nerien, who will say about the need to return to the College.
In the Element Hall of the College there is panic, Mirabella and the archmage are at a loss: the doors of the hall are blocked by a magic barrier, the energy flows reject anyone who dares to approach. Through the whitish veil emitted by the rotating Eye, the familiar outlines of a tall figure next to the artifact, Ankano, are visible.
Attempts to destroy the barrier lead to a clash between archmage Savos and Ankano, but the elf, using the power of the Eye of Magnus, turns the situation in his favor. At the next moment, the hero wakes up near the College together with Mirabella, which will mark the end of the quest and the beginning of the next, implying the elimination of the consequences of a large-scale energy release due to the activation of the Eye of Magnus.
In the courtyard, Tolfdir announces the death of the archmage and the occurrence of the threat faced by the town, and not just the College of Winterhold. The quest continues with the guard Faralda and Henriel. Dovakin goes to the settlement to destroy ten small magical anomalies that look like ghosts. After eliminating these, the hero will receive the amulet of Savos and the master key from the doors of the Labyrinthian from Mirabella.
Legacy of Magnus
Wandering through the long tunnels of the ruins will shed a little light on the identity of the archmage: periodically, the Dragonborn will come across the ghosts of Savos Arena and his friends, mages who studied the ruins. In the depths of the catacombs imprisoned dragon priest of Morokei, who periodically tries to speak with the hero in an incomprehensible language. Each attempt leads to the depletion of mana and the awakening of crowds of dragurs who can use the Dragon Cry, magic, and also shoot from a bow.
The path to the goal is paved with a series of traps. There are opponents of varying complexity, as well as the mentioned voice of Morocco. Closer to the goal, ghosts reappear. It turns out that Savos Aren, not without regret, sacrificed the life of two comrades, imprisoning them in a dungeon, so that they could hold the evil dragon priest with magic.
To fight with the boss, you first need to kill the souls of magicians. Morokey himself is the owner of the goal of the quest - the Staff of Magnus. Of particular value is the Moroccan Mask. At the exit from the Labyrinthian, an ambush awaits the hero in the form of a Talmor magician and an associate of Ankano, which testifies to a conspiracy thought out in advance.
Eye of Magnus
A growing anomaly generated by a powerful artifact, as if erasing the College from the world map. Now you can get there only on foot. On the spot, they will already inform Dovakin that the magic barrier is growing. With the help of the Staff of Magnus, the protagonist manages to break through the barrier and enter the Elemental Hall. Fascinated by his occupation, Ankano claims that in his hands is power capable of bringing the whole world to oblivion. The use of magic gives no result, and the elf remains under the protection of the artifact. It remains only to use the strength of the Staff of Magnus on the sphere itself, then the traitor becomes vulnerable to attacks, however, the protection of the Eye is periodically restored.
The defeat of Ankano launches the final scene: the appearance of Quaranir and comrades from the Psijic order, who decide to place the Eye in a safe place, away from people's eyes, where no one can find it. After that, the Eye disappears, and Quaranir informs the Dragonborn about the appropriation of the post of head of the College of Mages - the archmage. It is this award presented to the hero for the rescue of the province of Skyrim by the College of Winterhold. Passing the quest chain ends here. It turned out to be not so difficult.
Winterhold College: bugs and notes
- Attacks of dragons of different levels on the College happen very often - with the growth of the player's level. The fight takes place in the courtyard, the magicians are put on alert, but not everyone takes part in the battle, since without the help of Dovakin they still can not cope. Some mages may fall under friendly fire, the death of which will make it impossible to receive tasks from the quest chain.
- Even after the protagonist has been promoted to archmage position, the court magician of Whiterun, along with some of the magicians encountered, will not stop offering to join the College of Winterhold.
- Guardian Faralda sometimes does not miss the hero even after demonstrating the ability to use magic. There is only one way out - to take the underground passage through Midden.
- While touring the fortress, Mirabella sometimes just stops and trails off. This quest is a side quest, so it’s best to immediately go to Tolfdir for a lesson.
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A number of mods that can be searched by the keywords “extension of the College of Winterhold” include fixing some bugs, processing the textures of the College, upgrading the character’s behavior model in a given situation, redesigning the appearance according to the character’s level, adding side quests and replenishing the set of spells like on sale, and for study.
The tendency to “wrap” your favorite games with all kinds of mods is far from new, because the number of masters exhibiting their creations is not countable. In addition to the listed mods, there are many others: from introducing characters to various cartoon universes to completely redoing the storyline of the game. Everyone will find something of their own, and connoisseurs of the original game will always remain true to the classic version of it.