Watch the Adventure!

Here's a nice surprise for my fans!

The last two blog posts, captured in 3 videos, for anybody who wants to see Viriis in action; the blow-by-blow of my exciting dramatization.

Enjoy!

Sovngarde

Sovngarde is beautiful. I've never been one to think overmuch on the afterlife or where I go when I die, but if it's here, or somewhere like here, the thought of death doesn't frighten me so much. The sky is rich with colour and there's a deep fog that gives everything a dream-like feel.

Then Alduin swoops down and eats a dead Nord. Okay, now I'm less at peace. Apparently this fog is his and he uses it to hunt down souls to replenish his strength. That is not cool, and I will put a stop to it.

I make my way through the swirling mist and eventually arrive at the base of an enormous bridge across an apparently bottomless chasm. There's a bare-chested Nord who calls himself Tsun waiting there who approaches. It seems he guards the bridge to Shor's Hall and is less than satisfied by my claim to being Dragonborn. I suppose it is less impressive here. Anyway, he challenges me to the Warrior's Test before I can pass. This is not going to end well.

It actually ends alright, but I have to keep him distracted with my flame atronach, which he banished with a single swing of his sword. I'm able to keep up my summoning but boy that weapon looks nasty. One hit and I would fall as hard as my atronach.

At last he gives way, apparently I fought well. I avoid eye contact and slide past him onto the bridge.

Shors Hall is enormous, and as heroic as the name suggests. Inside are the fallen heroes of Skyrim, and a few faces I recognise. The Nords who talked a lot before banishing Alduin are here, and it seems they still like to talk a lot. For a group who seem to be all about action, I'm itching to get out there and face Alduin while they're discussing it at great length.

At last we head back across the bridge and combine the power of our shouts to push back Alduin's mist. He doesn't like that in the slightest, and we prepare ourselves for the final battle with this great menace.

It goes down much like before, except instead of Paarthunax at my side I have three Nordic heroes. I try to keep myself and them alive, as well as keeping Alduin on the ground with my shout. It's all going fairly well until my companions start sinking to their knees. I could handle them individually, but when they're all gasping for life Alduin has nobody left to attack but me. I'm burning through all my magicka just maintaining a ward spell and whatever healing I need to stay alive and it seems that when I can spare some to heal them, they fall back down just as quickly.

Slowly I get them back on their feet, and the relief from Alduin's assault gives me the excess magicka I need to restore their health fully. Alduin weakens and finally the battle comes to a close.

The heroes back off and I expect to see Alduin slump lifeless to the ground, but he doesn't. He looks defeated to me. There are no more flames or shouting and he's hunched over like an old Hargraven, but it's not over yet. I look over at the Nords. They look back at me. Is this some kind of Nordic honour thing? I'm supposed to deliver the final blow? I try to assure them that it's not necessary, but they won't budge.

I summon my atronach who just does a twirl and looks at me like there's not a giant world-eating dragon right behind it, that it could finish with a single blow.

Seriously, this is getting awkward. What do they all expect me to do.

I look at Alduin. I look at my hands. I look back at Alduin. The Nords look at me encouragingly. They must think there's something wrong with me. What, have they never seen somebody NOT deal any damage?

Apprehensively I let the magicka slip from my fingers and clench them into a fist. It feels weird and wrong, but it appears that it's what I must do to save the world... I walk over to Alduin...

And I punch the World-Eater in the face.

The result is spectacular!! He reels backwards, lines of energy splitting across the surface of his scales. He roars and screams and then it seems like the skin is ripped from his body and his soul is torn out! In his final moments he looks to the heavens and cries out to Akatosh, his father, but there is no mercy. With a final, fiery explosion that knocks us all to the ground, it is over. The purple mist fades, natural light returns to Sovngarde and the heroes cry out in exultation.

Personally I'm feeling extremely conflicted. I did what I had to do, but I don't feel that good about it. The warrior guard Tsun (who notably didn't lend a hand in the fight) comes over and seems about to express consolation in my moment of distress. Instead he simply tells me that my work is done and I need to leave. Will nobody ever show me sincere gratitude?

He bids me farewell and then uses a shout to return me to Tamriel. I arrive back the the Throat of the World, and it seems Paarthunax and I are not alone. There's a half-dozen other dragons perched on the mountain, and they're all shouting at me. It seems like some final recognition of my place in the world, and their respect for my power.

As each concludes their greeting, they fly off into the night. Finally it is just Paarthunax and myself. Old Parthy seems relieved, yet sad. Alduin was after all a brother to him, but he needed to be stopped. With a final farewell he takes off into the sky and it's just myself, the stars and the mountain.

I take a moment to reflect on my journey. Thrust into a violent world with no wish to do violence to another I've risen above adversity to forge my own path. I've defeated dragons and undead, bent hordes of enemies to my will and I even raised that little goat back to life... temporarily.

In return I've received thankless tasks, been left to fend for myself, even been met with hostility by those I've tried to help. I've been set alight, covered in cobwebs and everywhere in this damn place is cold.

I'm not really sure why I came to Skyrim in the first place, but this definitely wasn't what I had in mind. With the world now safe from Alduin's menace I'm leaving this place and never looking back. I'm heading straight for the Summerset Isle, straight for home.

Chaos at Skuldafn

Odahviing drops me at Skuldafn, almost but not quite at Alduin's portal. I can see it, just over there, but in typical Skyrim-inhabitant fashion, that last little bit that somebody else cant be bothered doing requires an enormous amount of effort on my behalf.

Odahviing did warn me that there'd be a lot of trouble guarding the entrance and he wasn't wrong. Fortunately I just mastered the art of fooling the undead, so things are going to get fun around here. I take a deep breath and just run in. No point hanging back, right.

There's a thunderous roar and a rush of wings but I just keep running. Flinging fury spells to either side I send the Draugr into a frenzy. They're attacking each other, they're attacking the dragon, this is awesome!

Things start to get really interesting when another dragon shows up...

I do a quick assessment of the situation and come to the logical conclusion. There are not enough enemies running around.

It sounds crazy, but I actually need more Draugr to fight these dragons for me. I sprint through the temple, casting spells at every Draugr I see and before you can say Dovahkiin the temple is a rush of activity. There's arrows and ice spikes and dragon breath flying through the air and all I have to do is keep the party going with my spells. And also not die...

The Draugr actually do an excellent job. There's certainly enough of them, and for the most part they seem happy to team up against the dragons instead of each other. My concern was that they'd slaughter each other and leave me to deal with two dragons (something decidedly beyond my abilities) but once the first dragon is grounded he falls to their ancient axes pretty quickly.

The second dragon is a little harder, as he seem to simply refuse to land, and these Draugr aren't the most accurate with their projectiles. It's at this point I realise the power I've been neglecting, my own ability to force these beasts onto the ground. The Draugr are all dead so I have to be clever.  Where all the corpses are there's no room for the dragon to land, so I drag one with a heavy axe off the edge and let him fall to the open space below. Then I get the dragon's attention and use my shout. As he comes to earth I reanimate my undead ally and then just concentrate on keeping the dragon on the ground. Who would have thought! Strategy amidst this madness.

With both dragons (and all the draugr) dead, I pause for a moment to admire my handiwork and then head through the heavy doors into the temple. Inside there are lots of draugr, but I just leave them to fight amongst themselves while I solve the Nordic puzzle doors and progress through the dark corridors.

There is a slight problem at one point. There's a puzzle door that requires a dragon claw, and I'm quite confident that the Draugr guarding the door is in possession of said claw. I calm him and try to pickpocket, but it's a no go. Apparently Draugr don't have pockets. Instead I have to lure him back down the corridor to where I have some corpses handy and then it's a Draugr Wight showdown.

Back outside, the dung gets real again as a few Draugr appear round the corners and two dragons swoop down. At the top of the stairs is a Dragon Priest, Nahrkiin, whose staff apparently controls the portal I need to enter. The dragons and the draugr are fighting away but really I need them attacking the priest.

I fling a fury spell his way to try to get him involved, but all it does is making him angry and I get a lightning bolt to the face. Just about singed off my mohawk!

A draugr runs up to fight him but gets fried. This isn't going to be enough. Putting everything I have behind my Fury spell, I give him a two-handed faceful of the stuff and it works! In a frenzy, he turns on his own dragons and sure enough they retaliate.

After that it's over quickly. The dragons aren't taking much damage, but after the Nahkriin crumbles to dust (no resurrecting that guy!) they fall back, apparently respecting my power for killing him. They seem to fail to notice that they killed him... Maybe Illusion does work on dragons after all.

With Nahkriin's staff in hand I reopen the portal. The ground heaves and breaks away, revealing a swirling vortex and a bright light.

Here goes. I'm off to the after-life...

A Scaly Gentleman

According to Paarthunax, Alduin has retreated to Sovngarde. Right, okay! Not hard to follow him, Parthy says, we just need one of Alduin's buddies to tell us how to get there. As in a dragon. Not a soft plushy dragon like Paarthunax, a mean cranky one like Alduin. This is going to be easy!

It turns out that my old hangout Whiterun actually has the facilities to trap a dragon. The Jarl is apprehensive but he seems to trust me. It might have been that Calm spell I quietly dropped on the floor but I'll always deny it.

Paarthunax taught me a shout to call this ally of Alduin's. His name is Odahviing, and that's exactly what I shout into the sky. We all gather on the expansive back verandah and wait for him to arrive.

It doesn't take long, and he's a rather impressive specimen really. He's a beautiful wine red, not a colour I've seen on any other dragons, but unfortunately he's in a bad mood. It seems the shout I used is a battle challenge, not an invitation to go out for some mead.

Using Dragonrend, I force him to land. Then he comes for me, crawling forward on those awkward wings of his as I lure him into the building. A friend might have yelled 'It's a trap!' but I'm not his friend of course, and it's my trap.

Boom! The yoke comes down and snaps closed around his neck. His head hangs in defeat and he's actually rather gracious about the whole affair. He praises me on my cunning and admits that he was too eager to fight me. What a gentleman.

It seems I'm a bit of a sucker for this well-spoken scaly creature as I fully appreciate and accept his ridiculous notion for me to release him, having just caught him.

Apparently the only way for me to follow Alduin is for Odahviin to fly me to Alduin's portal in the ancient temple of Skuldafn. Well, that sounds reasonable and rational and totally insane. Still, this entire place is insane and nobody else is volunteering to save the world so I figure I can make my own decisions. I let him loose and hop on his scaly back. He's surprisingly warm, and the scales I expected to be rough are smooth as satin. He effortlessly raises his head and I can feel his great strength. They're magnificent creatures, these dragons. It's a real shame that they're trying to kill everybody and destroy the world...

As the sun rises over the plains of the Whiterun Hold we fly into the frosty north by the only path that goes to Skuldafn. The one that passes through the sky...

The Time Warp... I mean... Wound...

Back at the Throat of the World, Paarthunax is waiting for me. I notice that he's also retreated a safe distance from what he calls the 'Time Wound'; the tear in time through which Alduin was able to enter the world. I don't like how this is panning out.

Reassured by Paarthunax's gravely tones, I pull out the Elder Scroll and try to read it again, this time facing the Time Wound. The characters now make sense to me, and I'm drawn into a vision. A vision, it seems, of the past, but in this same spot!

It seems that even a thousand years ago, or however long ago it is that I'm looking back, these Nords still liked to talk a lot. After a great deal of dialogue, it seems that a powerful mage used the very Elder Scroll I'm holding to cast Alduin forward in time. To our time it seems. Thanks buddy.

More importantly, and the point of the exercise, I learn the words to Dragonrend, a shout to force a dragon to land. With timing that could only be described as theatrical, my old friend Alduin arrives at the scene. It seems he's gone from saving my life, to commanding others to kill me, to trying to kill me himself. Paarthunax is yelling at me to use Dragonrend, but in about 2 minutes I'm halfway back down the mountain!

I can hear the dragons flying and shouting overhead and although every pratical bone in my body is dragging me away, that frustrating sense of heroic obligation forces my feet back up the hill.

I quietly mouth the words of Dragonrend in preparation and I sincerely hope that all it does is force Alduin to land, otherwise I won't be able to use it and this could be quite anti-climactic.

Fortunately it does indeed simply force Alduin to land, which means I can keep him on the ground while Paathunax does all the serious injury. I conjure my atronach as an added distraction, and really it's all I can do to just keep alive. I keep my magic armour on to protect myself from the burning rocks that are falling from the sky and use a ward to keep back Alduin's fiery breath. Every time he catches me with my ward down I have to throw back those health potions as fast as I can to avoid looking like my atronach... except, you know, dead!

Paartunax fights bravely, and when I'm not being roasted like a sweetroll it's actually an impressive spectacle. Two great beasts engaged in fierce battle, it actually makes me feel rather small. Alduin's too injured to fly now, and Paarthunax has his full attention, so I consider just sitting down in the snow to watch. Suddenly I'm enveloped in flames again! Paarthunax is slumped over, near defeated, and Alduin has turned his fire on me. I can be useful again! I ready my healing spell and restore my scaly sidekick (okay maybe I'm the sidekick) to full strength while he beats Alduin to within a scale of is life. 

Like every great villain, Alduin waits until he is right on the brink of defeat and then departs with an eloquent speech about fighting another day. Not before he's forced to bow to me though. Oh yeah, dragon slayer standing right here!

I suppose I owe Parthy a little bit of credit.

An Elder Scroll

Inside the tower is another Dwemer lift that takes me way back up into the mountain. The old hermit did mention something about stars, which you can't really see from underground.

At the top of the tower is a large, round chamber housing a complex structure on both the floor and the ceiling. Most of the Dwemer construction I've seen has been functional, but this is the only one I've seen that's beautiful.

Of course I have no idea what it does, but it looks like there's some kind of capsule in the centre.

On a viewing platform off to the left is a group of buttons and a little holder for Dwemer cube the hermit gave me. The whole machine comes to life as I start pressing buttons. I'm sure there's a system here, but there's no manual and I don't have a mind for this sort of thing, so I just watch the rings spin.

I must get it right eventually as suddenly clear white light is focused through the top of the structure and then fragmented through the many glass discs mounted on the arms of the thing.

That was obviously the right thing to do as the capsule I saw before drops down slowly and opens.

By the Eight (and Talos as well, I'm that impressed) it's an Elder Scroll! I take a few moments to stand in awe of it. What knowledge it must contain, what secrets and power. Gingerly I pick it up and run my fingers over the smooth, gold surface.

Overcome by curiosity, I tug gentle on the edge of the scroll, revealing a sliver of the gold page within. I can't help it, it's so pretty and it's educational! I pull the whole thing out and immediately regret my decision!

Incomprehensible characters and shapes blaze with incredible power and such knowledge! The sheer weight and intensity of the knowledge on that scroll dazzles and blinds me. I stumble back disoriented and unable to see. Fortunately the effects are temporary, as I know that the Moth Priests of the Imperial City are permanently blind from their time spent studying the scrolls.

Glad that nobody was around to see that, I stuff the scroll in my pack and head back down the lift.

On the way out through Blackreach I pass a giant. What on earth is he doing down here? Seriously, how does a giant get down here!? Anyway, I fling a spell his way, more out of idle amusement than anything else, but he gets really angry so I have to hide. Good thing it's dark. If I could get him to follow me without trying to squash me into scrib jelly I would, but he doesn't seem that unhappy so I don't feel too bad leaving him behind. Maybe he has a thing for giant glowing mushrooms.

Blackreach

It seems I can delay my Dwemer ruin adventure no longer, so I trek through the snowy tundra west of Winterhold to the ruin of Alftand. Either it's built into the side of a glacier, or the glacier has shifted over the ruin, I'm not really sure which. Whatever the case is, apparent recent excavationers somehow managed to sling a suspension bridges across the face of the glacial cliff in a feat of engineering that I would pay to see.

I suppose they might have used magic, but that's much less exciting.

The ruin is dark and cold (for a change) but unlike the eerily quiet locations I've visited previously, this ancient place echoes with clangs and bangs, hisses of steam and the turning of gears.

The Dwemer must have been a fascinating people, turning from worship of both the Aedra and the Daedra to revere instead their own intelligence and the work of their hands.

It's this work that now makes regular attempts to kill me. Mechanical spiders and strange humanoid shapes on wheels have a nasty habit of popping out of the walls and assaulting me violently. Clearly my illusion spells have no effect (except of course in making me harder to find) but my atronach provides an adequate distraction. There's also some convenient oil spills which respond appropriately to the ignition source which is my atronach.

I manage to sneak past the majority of the smaller automatons and find myself in a part of the ruin that is half-construction and half-cavern. There's a rancid scent in the air that I recognise by reputation. Falmer.

Revolting and deformed, the Falmer were once cousins of my folk, but they were betrayed and nearly destroyed by the Dwemer. When the Dwemer disappeared their feral slaves lived on, breeding in the dark.

Despite their highly aggressive tendencies, the darkness has made the Falmer blind which works exceedingly well in my favour. Masking the sound of my footsteps with magic, I can walk right past one undetected. Unfortunately it doesn't work so well when you bump into them. Oops...

At least they are as weak-minded as they are weak-sighted and it's entirely up to me whether I calm them down or pit them against each other. I use a mix of both, particularly when I come across a spider who can, in fact, see me quite clearly.

At the bottom (or I thought it was the bottom) of the ruin lies a fortified entrance of some kind. There's a few Falmer, but by now they're of little concern. What's more concerning is that behind the gate is an enormous Dwemer Centurion. A larger version of one of these monstrosities almost destroyed my people in the days of Tiber Septim and I'm not keen to re-create history on a more personal scale. Fortunately it's not too hard to distract with some spells in the wrong direction and I sneak past.

There's a pair of adventurers whispering in the shadows past the Centurion, but they seem more interested in fighting each other, so I slip a small device that the old Hermit in the ice gave me into a Dwemer lock and jump back in surprise as a staircase opens in the floor. The random adventurers are still busy killing each other so I leave them to it, entering the lift at the bottom of the stairs and plunging even deeper into the depths of the earth.

When the lift finally comes to a halt I emerge in an enormous underground cavern. I shudder to think about the how much solid mountain is looming above me but it doesn't take long for me to forget that I'm underground in the first place.

This place is huge and seems lit exclusively by giant, glowing mushrooms. Just when I thought Skyrim couldn't get any weirder. In all fairness this may not even be Skyrim anymore. Does it count if we're buried deep, deep underneath Skyrim?

The place is scattered with Falmer and nasty bug creatures whose carapaces creak unsettlingly. It seems easier to just calm down any enemies I come across and if I keep my feet muffled most of the Falmer don't notice me anyway. There's another Centurion locked in a frame nearby so I edge over to take a look. Everything seems okay, as long as I stay away from that lever...

After I'm sure I've run across enough ground to fit Solitude in this place twice over, at last I reach the tower where I will supposedly find an Elder Scroll...

What Lies Beneath (the College)

The dragon fight has exhausted me and I don't even have the energy to drag myself up to the College, so I spend the night at the local inn.

First thing in the morning I return the books I recovered to Urag and he seems almost moderately impressed. He takes them and remarks on their contents. It appears I've been useful once more! He hands over a number of other texts with some tips on spellcasting and sends me to speak to Tolfdir.

In the morning when I enter the Hall of the Elements, it becomes apparent that in my absence Tolfdir and the other mages found a way to transport the giant Orb into the centre of the chamber. Nobody offers an explanation, despite the fact I'm dying of curiosity. It also seems as though the glowing well in the centre was purpose built for the Orb. I'm sure it's coincidence.

Tolfdir greets me and begins talking about how impressive the Orb is, complete with a patronising remark about himself being more 'attuned' than I am. I'm actually relieved when the Thalmor representative, Ancano, arrives and interrupts. It's about time somebody cut the old man short.

It appears that the same strange mage who appeared to me in Saarthal is upstairs requesting an audience. Ancano escorts me up the stairs, complaining and giving instructions the whole time. Even for a Thalmor, this one is annoying. When I arrive in the Arch Mage's quarters this mage does his time-stopping trick again so we can talk privately. Again, he uses a lot more words than he needs to but ultimately directs me to seek out the 'Augur of Dunlain', whatever that means. Then he un-stops time and just walks off, leaving the Arch Mage and Ancano with their mouths wagging in confusion.

The Augur is apparently located in the cellars beneath the College, so I'm off on another adventure. There's not actually a lot down here; just a cranky Ice Wraith that I easily calm down and one lonely Draugr that I simply sneak past.

I find the Augur in a circular chamber behind a locked door. He's basically a big glowing orb of light that can talk. The others at the College all seemed to know who he was, and Tolfdir hinted at some unfortunate event that resulted in his current state, but wouldn't say any more.

He's actually one of the most intriguing personalities I've come across so far. Was he Man, Mer or Beast before? Something else, maybe related to the Aedra or Daedra? What happened to him, and how does he have what seems to be knowledge of the future and all my actions to date.

Unfortunately he reveals even less about himself than Tolfdir, so I'm left to wonder. What he does reveal is that the Orb is called the Eye of Magnus, and we need the Staff of Magnus to make any use of it. It also turns out that Ancano has been poking around. Smelly Thalmor.

The Arch Mage seems quite interested and impressed (although all I did was bewitch an Ice Wraith and talk to a glowing ball of light), so he gives me a present! A shiny new crown which boosts my magicka reserves.

I think it looks quite ravishing, don't you?

Ungrateful Guards and, Oh Yeah, ANOTHER Dragon!

I arrive back at dear Wintercold in the middle of the night, in the middle of a snow storm. I'm not even remotely surprised by this, as it's always a snowstorm here. I about to head up to the college when I hear a roar and the rush of wings.

Here we go again...

Two nearby guards leap into action, pulling out their bows and attacking the dragon. Considering I can't do any damage to the creature, even if I could see it amongst all the snow, I ready a healing spell and take shelter under the verandah of the local trader and keep the guards fighting fit as they are engulfed in flames. It's dark, and visibility is low, but the guards are pretty easy to keep track of when they're set ablaze.

I do have to dash out every now, holding up a magic ward to keep the flames away. The dragon unleashes a torrent of flames and my magicka reserves burn out. As he inhales for another blast I bolt across the snow like a frightened rabbit back under my verandah. Just in time too, as a sheet of flames obscures everything else from view. At least it's not cold anymore!

I manage to keep both guards alive without too much trouble and eventually the dragon is forced by it's injuries to land. Once it's on the ground they make short work of it, although I'm sure without me they would have been eaten.

I kid you not, the very moment the dragon slumps lifeless to the ground, that ungrateful guard whips out his torch, looks disdainfully at me over his shoulder and says "Go cast your fancy magic someplace else."

That's the last time I help a Nord! What a fetcher.

Overdue Books

As deliciously tempting as a Dwemer ruin sounds, I decide to go and fetch the books the librarian mentioned. I've got no idea how I'll go up against the rumoured Dwemer auto-matons, so I figure I'll pit myself against something familiar.

Undead.

Fortunately there's a variety of living and dead in this ruined castle that Urag sent me to. It's necromancy, so the implication is that there's living mages raising undead minions. I can work with that.

I'm often now faced with a dilemma in how I approach these situations.

My calming spell is by far the most convenient, as it immediately cancels out all conflict. Everybody just chills, but nobody dies.

Fury works well in groups, but only makes people attack me if we're the only two around.

Fear keeps the conflict going, but once they start running I can't really control where they go so it's a mixed bag.

I stick with my calming spell where I can't pit these necromancers against each other, it just means I have to be careful about how I backtrack, as there are enemies in front of me as well as behind.

It occurs to me that stealth would be of real benefit here, and is becoming a more useful skill in my repertoire as I become more proficient in it. The ability to cast my magic silently turns this skill from convenient to critically useful.

By sneaking and casting silent spells, I can use Fury on two necromancers, having them attack each other without them even noticing that I'm there. It also enables me to sneak past individuals that would otherwise prove challenging. I have a handy spell to muffle my footsteps, and before long I'm ghosting through this castle like a bad dream for these mages.

You know, the kind of bad dream that makes you kill your friends.

Of course, my success hits a snag. Skeletons are immune to my illusion spells, and apparently the mages who summoned them are incapable of killing them. Fury just gets them killed, raising them as zombies gets them dusted, and there's still three skeletons hanging around. One of them catches wind of me and wanders down the corridor to check. For a few heart pounding moments, he's right in front of me, dead glowing eyes staring straight into my soul, but then he wanders off again. Maybe those eyes don't work so well anymore...

In the end there's nothing for it, and I unleash my flame atronach who crisps them nicely, like baked potatoes, and we move on (maintaining a respectful, if less fearful distance).

There's a pair of necromancers enjoying a drink together in some sort of decrepit library. I consider a fight to the death but it's not hard to sneak past them.

I finally find myself at the top of the tower (after a nice little fight downstairs, I'm sure that one guy got a nasty fright waking up to a faceful of lightning from his companion) and I'm greeted by a suspiciously polite woman with a rather gaunt face and robes indicating a high status. Rather than engaging in conversation I try to avoid eye contact and I can see the 3 books I've been sent to collect in the room. Maybe if I just ignore her I can take them and leave?

It doesn't work (of course not, this is Skyrim) and she clearly didn't appreciate being ignored. Two flame atronachs appear out of nowhere (I thought she was a necromancer!) and converge. I unleash a calming spell on the atronachs but they resist it. Ugh!

It occurs to me that I'm only here for the books, so I run to each pedestal and grab them. That wasn't so hard! Except the door is locked, and I need a key. I wonder who could have it?

Thinking fast, I conjure my own atronach to distract them and then fling a fear spell at the only one in the room who will respond to it. The Caller, as she calls herself, cowers like a child and runs into the corner while her atronachs beat mine to a pulp.

It takes a little while, but by keeping The Caller in a continuous state of terror and resummoning my atronach as the others banish it we secure a victory between us. When the atronachs are dead, my own makes short work of The Caller. Of course, the key to the door is on her person and as my atronach returns to Oblivion I exit the castle and turn my face towards the College.