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.