Rise of House Sigeweald Book One (Skyrim Fanfiction)

Chapter 14: Then Our Skin Gets Thicker

"Disrupt my Arcanaeum, and I will have you torn apart by angry Atronachs."

The College of Winterhold's librarian, an elderly Orc called Urag gro-Shub, had very strong feelings about preserving the integrity and quality of the library. Elspeth was not unfamiliar with such strict rules and regulations, but Grig-Mei and the other librarians at the Mystic Archives had not shared the Orc's passion. She wondered if his insistence was motivated entirely by preservation or if it was also intended to disabuse his fellow mages of any notions concerning the cultural literacy of the Orcs. Either way, while throwing some brute Orc strength behind the preservation imperative may not disrupt any stereotypes, one thing was certain, the collection would remain pristine as long as Urag gro-Shub was in charge.

Several mages had arrived ahead of her and so Elspeth wandered around, inspecting the impressive collection. Most of the books were locked away and accessible only through Urag. The open shelves contained introductory magic and history books, most of which she had already read, so she sat down and leafed through a copy of Galerion the Mystic while she waited. After about a half an hour, they spoke and he was less than enthusiastic about her request.

"You mean to tell me that you have no thesis, no research proposal, no magical topic at all. You want to use the script of a single letter to locate a former mage who may or may not have left research notes behind?" His tone was gruff and distrustful although given his feelings about the Arcanaeum, she suspected he always sounded like that.

Xeri had discovered from someone in the Mage's guild that Urag was trustworthy; at the very least he opposed the Thalmor and their attempts at influencing the College. Elspeth had originally planned to be more specific with him. Without giving away her own identity, she intended to tell Urag that she was looking for a mage who may have come under an assumed identity to evade the Thalmor. However, with Ancano on the school grounds that now seemed far too risky.

"Yes," she replied. She had a bad feeling, suddenly realizing how dubious her request sounded.

"Can I read the letter?" he asked.

Elspeth paused. The letter was among a handful of things that Xeri had brought to Skyrim ahead of her. It was precious—the only evidence of Nerussa's existence beyond her escape from Cyrodill. She was wary of showing it to anyone. But she needed his help and withholding it was not doing her any good. After a few moments, she took it out of her journal and handed it over.

A true archivist, Urag handled the letter with care, unfolding it carefully and placing it flat on the desk in front of him. He read through it slowly, nodding as he went along. Finally, he looked up and said, "This is a very unusual request. And I am not in the habit of indulging research that doesn't advance arcane knowledge or enhance the practice of magic in some way." He looked down at the letter again. "However, I've heard that you are an exceptional destruction mage. And that you have a housecarl. If you would be willing to do a favor for me, I will grant you full access to the archive. It's a little dangerous, but I think you and your housecarl can handle it."

"Of course!" Elspeth was elated. "Just tell me what you need done and Lydia and I will take care of it."

"Some books have gone missing—stolen actually. The guilty parties are likely dead by now but the books should be in Bleakcoast Cave. Return them and I will grant you access." He folded the letter and handed it back to her. Then he took a piece of paper and drew a very rough map. "This is approximately where the cave is located. You might ask the Jarl's steward for more information, but that should take you to the right place."

Elspeth gathered up the letter and the map and put them in her journal. She nodded toward Urag in thanks and left the library. In the lobby of the Hall of the Elements, Faralda approached her and said that Lydia was looking for her outside. Indeed, Lydia was sitting on the well just below the statue in the courtyard. She looked somewhat tired but immediately perked up when she saw Elspeth.