First Task For The Arcane University

Well I got my mages staff. Here is me posing with my new main weapon. I plan on still keeping my sword "goddess Victory" when my staff runs out of charge. Once again I chose to get a lightening staff since it's my favorite!

My first task given to me by the arch mage of the Arcane University was to retrieve a book from the count of Skingrad. Val and I got up early the next morning and set off on a very VERY stormy day to Skingrad. Our trip for the most part was uneventful. Along the way I stopped so that we could kill a boar for some meat.

When we arrived I went to the castle and met with the counts assistant, or advisor or whatever he was... who said to come back tomorrow. Well I didn't want to wait.. so I decided to snoop around the castle where I don't belong. I slipped on my invisibility ring (The Hobbit anyone?) which I very rarely use and began snooping. I found most doors locked beyond my ability to get in, and I don't have any lock picks handy. I do have one unlock easy lock spell and one unlock very easy lock spell. There are no very easy locks in the castle though. I decided to stand around and practice with my very easy spell on a single door so I can get my alteration magic up. It worked and in a short amount of time I had aquired enough skill to now be able to use my unlock easy lock spell. The rest of the night was snooping around in rooms that were already open. There was only 1 unlock easy door that I could use my spell on. Unfortunately it didn't hold any great treasures.

I gently snooped in and out of rooms and past sleeping guards and castle employees.

While I was very disappointed that such a large and luxurious castle didn't have anything of value laying around, not even something over 50 septims, I was thrilled to find a bounty of food! I gasped at the amount in store rooms, and greedily hoarded as much as I could find! Then I came upon the famous dining hall! My breath caught in my throat when I saw the spread layed out before me! Nobody was around, it was all mine for the taking! So... I loaded up of course!


Well, with myself unable to find the count (whom I was originally snooping around the castle for in the first place) I had no choice but to wait. When I was done looting the castle of what I could get in to I waited for the next day to come. When it finally did I met with the advisor guy thingy once again and he said the count would meet me in the middle of the night in a field near by... seems odd but whatever. I shrugged half heartedly and waited some more for that time to come.

On the way out of the castle grounds I was suddenly surprised and gasped out loud when a giant bolt of lightening came out of nowhere and hit me to the ground! "What the?!...." Then I got some messages from the game:

Apparently I had a vision.. Funny how it comes in a bolt of lightening that makes your heart stop..*grumble* The bottom message came first, then the top.


Well to make a long story short, when the time did come I finally met the count, but not before I realized the advisor had set me up with some necromancers in an attempt to kill me and val. He didn't have a chance of succeeding against both Val and I, but the battle was very harsh. Like when I got the wood for my mages staff the whole thing was basically me running in circles, occasionally casting a bolt when I could at a necormancer while Val did most of the fighting behind me. (I have got to get better at this!). We were saved by the count in the end and he seemed like a nice fellow if not somewhat annoyed.

For some reason.. our next stop is in Anvil to tell somebody this news.. I dunno why I'm not just supposed to go back to the Arch Mage in IC. Or maybe I'll just follow my vision and see where it takes me.

Of Staves and Men

When we arrived at the Imperial City I turned around to look at whence we came and saw a beautiful sight. The view was wonderful. Thought i'd share it.

Val had expressed his desire to walk around the waterfront the next time we were here, so I abliged him and took a stroll down the waterfront with him. He didn't say or do anything though, which kind of makes me wonder if he really wanted to go. Then the next stop was to the skooma dealer Shady Sam. To be fair he isn't really a skooma dealer. He deals in all poisons of a "shady" affair, that's why they call him Shady Sam the poison master. From him I bought 5 skooma, three mandrake root (cures diseases) and passed val a couple since he had another one. Then we went to the local temple to heal myself of my own disease that I had probably caught from Val.

Only then did we go to our main destination, the famous Arcane University! The place is very large with several buildings all walled in and gated, permitting no entrance except to its own kind. I checked in with the arch mage and he congratulated me for reaching apprentice status. He then gave me the task of fetching the wood for my very own staff. So this I did..with some effort.

It is naught but  a quick trip through a short cave to the other side where a grove resides. It wasn't as easy as it was meant to be though. Entering I was immediately presented with the dead body of the woman who was supposed to help me. Further inspection through the cave resulted in a small fight with a dark mage and another body of a second mage, obviously to disease. When we exited the cave I wasn't prepared for what I found.

Immediately upon exiting we were approached by a dark mage who taunted us with a death threat and a fight ensued. To make a long story short I died at her hands. Val and I both began to hack and slash at her but I was met with death twice from this. A third reload of the saved game and another death revealed a second mage hidden near by that had ganged up on us. By this time I was panting from the effort already put forth and a little irked. "Ok Val, This time you take care of this one and I'll get that one!" I was actually talking to my companion out loud I was so serious about this :P
That didn't work either. I was being slaughtered and turned around only to be met by death and wondering "where's val?! You're supposed to be my backup!" but he had been slewn before me. Turns out his disease which he had not yet cured was making him weaker. "Ok val, i'll summon nightmare!" (the dark version of my tricorn) so we charged out into the grove again with weapons brandished and war cries yelled! I cast my summon spell and summoned my great dark beast nightmare! Then I strategically ran in circles while throwing an occasional blow to a dark mage with my sword while Val bravely fought the first dark mage behind me. This continued on for several minutes, me not really having a set plan other than run in circles and cast a blow when you can fit one in while Val takes care of the rest.... until finally all of the dark mages were dead! I turned around... to find nightmare had done absolutely nothing and Val was once again badly unconcious, I had probly been doing all the work myself *grumble*. Well... at least i'm still alive.

Unconcious val, nightmare in the background who was useless "good for nothing..." and another dead mage whom was supposed to help me fetch my staff but was killed before I got there.

I quickly fetched the wood for my staff, dragged Val's body with me and returned to the imperial city. While my staff was being worked on I decided to spend time gathering much needed herbal ingredients from the Arcane University garden. The garden there is abundant with almost every type you can imagine!

The next day my staff was finished! I had it imbued with the ability to strike with lightening! I love lightening. Next stop: Arch mage!