No.27- Redrum in Riften, Smack Down At The College!

Grelod, A Befitting Name (middle)

My promise to eliminate Grelod The Kind, the Orphanage Supervisor weighed on my mind. We left Windhelm for Riften and the Orphanage. For this quest, I left Lydia outside, walked in and listened. Grelod, The Kind was far from it, although I saw no evidence of physical torture. But, what a bee-ach! I told her I saw her little runaway and she gleefully threatened to "get" him. Kids surrounded me begging for help. Although I reassure you I'm not like this in real life, I followed her into her office closing the door behind me. The last words out of her mouth were "I'm not afraid of you!" After the deed was done, the doors burst open, the orphans poured into the office, appraised the scene and they cheered! The newly promoted orphanage supervisor ran around in a panic as I quickly took my exit, scooping up Lydia outside.

Riften's Temple of Mara (Love)

Stepping next door into Riften's Temple of Mara, I turned in the first part of the marriage quest, the Book of Love and quickly continued on, finishing the quest by helping a couple in Markarth connect, then out in the central plains of Skyrim I assisted a pair of lost ghosts (a couple while alive) find each other. I was now an eligible bachelorette, if I could survive oncoming events at the College with Arcano, the jack-booted Thalmor thug.

Arriving in Winterhold, I thought having the Black Star would be good to possess, so I stopped at the Frozen Hearth Inn and met with Nelacar to take care of the crazy mage living in Azura's Star. Agreeing to enter the Star, I gave Lydia a pat, as he told me to hold still "this might feel funny".

Inside Azura's Star

The world reeled and I ended up on a narrow path in a blue crystal landscape. Coming face to face with Maylen Varen, few words were exchanged before he and his three helpers attacked me. At first, this encounter seemed very challenging, but hiding behind a large crystal, I summoned Sparky and allowed her to gather aggro while I assisted with Marked for Death and Flames. The helpers went down 1,2,3.

Sneaking down the path, I rounded a corner and found Varen contemplating his existence, or something like that.  My usual guerrilla tactics worked well. As he collapsed, the world spun and I found myself standing back at the Frozen Hearth with Lydia holding my arm. "There ya go" Nelacar commented. "The Star is clean. You took part in an important examination into a Daedric artifact" as he handed the Black Star to me. Now I could collect human souls, but should I? To enchant items I needed souls, but really taking the time to think about it put me into a moral dilemma. Is it  inherently evil to collect souls? Ironically in the College fight coming up, I did not use the Black Star.

Tolfdir "What should we do?"

From the frying pan into the fire, we rushed from the Inn up to the College next door. The surviving resident mages were huddled around the entrance ringing their hands. Tolfdir told me that Mirabelle (Senior College Mage) had not made it which boiled my blood. Whipping out the Staff of Magnus (which I had acquired in the Labyrinthian) I used it to break a magical barrier that surrounded the main structure of the College. With Lydia and Tolfdir following, we rushed into the Hall of Enchantment to find Arcano feeding the Eye of Magnus magical energy.

Arcano Reckoning

I used the Staff to suck enough magical energy away from the Eye to make Arcano vulnerable. Pummeling him with Marked for Death and electricity, in an extended fight with the help of Tolfdir, Lydia, and Sparky, we defeated this pain in the ass Elf. If we could only rid the rest of Skyrim of the meddling Thalmor Elves.

Quaranir of the Psijic Order (middle)

Arcano After

I asked Tolfdir, "what now?" He told me to speak to Quaranir who had magically appeared by the Eye. Quaranir, was the member of the Psijic Order who came to me in a vision while investigating Saarthal, the ruin near the College where the Eye of Magnus was originally discovered. He told me "good job, but the eye is too unstable and we will take custody of it for now". Him and other members of the Psijic Order disappeared along with the Eye. Tolfdir decreed that I was the best person to take on the role of Arch Mage at the College of Winterhold handing over the key to the former Arch Mage's quarters and the magically attuned Archmage Robe!

Nice Quarters at the College...

I ran right up to check out my new living quarters, very nice. Wow, but at L24, honestly I did't feel like I'm experienced enough to be the Archmage. I'll just have to see how it goes.  Not much time for relaxation, as I still have lots to do in Skyrim.