The College of Winterhold is an imposing complex next to the settlement of the same name. First built by the mage Shalidor millennia ago, it is now headed by Arch Mage Savos Aren. The College offers education to anyone with the gift of the arcane and a willingness to learn... so long as they stay within its ethical precepts. Due in part to the Nord distrust of magic, the population on campus is varied - there used to be a sizeable Dunmer majority in fact - but many of them had went back to Vaardenfell to help their homeland after the Red Mountain erupted.
The College prides itself in its independence and neutrality in these troubled times. Thanks in part to the Great War though, the Arch Mage suffers the presence of an high elf overseer who represents the Thalmor Dominion - a particularly nosey magician by the name of Arcano.
Since I had been looking to improve my skills in Conjuration, I joined the College to see what I can learn. Truth be told - given the general Nordic disdain for magic, I might just be the first Harbinger to enrol in the College.
The Arch Mage’s assistant and default second-in-command, Mirabelle Ervine, is kind enough to give a fellow Breton a tour of the campus grounds before handing me over to Tolfdir.
Tolfdir is the master trainer for Alteration magic at the College. He is also the first teacher that students will train under. The class was relatively small - only four, including myself. After initial lecturers Tolfdir instructed the students to meet at the excavation site of Saarthal, where a more practical lesson will be conducted.
Saarthal was one of the first Nord cities - it's destruction by Falmer (Snow Elves) during an event called the Night of Tears was widely recorded as the event that triggered Ysgramor's retaliatory invasion into Skyrim. The invasion was so successful that the Nords now populate all of Skyrim and Falmer are nowhere to be seen... the widely held belief is that the snow elves are in actuality extinct by this age.
Recent excavations at Saarthal revealed the first levels buried in the snow... for the sake of safety, Tolfdir expects us to limit our exploration to there areas - the way deeper into the ruins are sealed off, so there's little danger of students stumbling into anything they can't enter... or so he thinks.
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