JoS/Henriette/22nd Journal - Travels

Sun's Height, 28th, 4E 202

The more things change, the more they stay the same, or something like that. Why do I say that?

Well, when we returned to Winterhold, the situation looked a little dire. The citizens were confused at what was going on, angry at whatever was happening in the college this time, even talking about having to move out or drive the mages out for their own safety, but when we actually rushed into the college to offer our helping hands, all we found was the aftermath of a difficult battle won.

Tolfdir and Serana were talking when their attention was drawn to me. "Ah, the troublemaker has returned", Tolfdir said, jokingly and quite honestly, a little condescendingly. Then, I learned what had happened.

Two first big takeaways were that Mirabelle had lost her life trying to defend her allies, and that Serana had made it to the college and used the Staff to disable the barrier Ancano had created and going on to defeat and kill him in a battle. The third big takeaway is that the Eye is gone. The Psijic order apparently took it for safekeeping to their little hidden island. In the end, Serana was hailed as the hero, and even though she was trying to give me and Sofia credit, trying to explain that she wouldn't have been able to do it herself, Tolfdir still was insistent on only praising her. The way he spoke to me when he said, "Your friend here did quite a masterful job in unraveling the mess that you created", is still echoing fresh in my head.

See? This is what I mean. I went through all that trouble with my friends and still I'm getting shit. Are we even getting rewarded monetarily? You bet we aren't. I should stick to hunting bounties. It's safer and more rewarding and keeps my bloodlust sated too! Ah, I feel like I should feel angry and insulted, but honestly, I just find it funny, and above everything else, I'm happy for Serana here. I'm sure she can use this accomplishment of hers as a way to get her foot between the door to join the college she actually wants to join, unlike me, and without a doubt use it as a stepping stone to climb ranks and towards higher learning.

As for me, I'm still considered an apprentice I guess. Honestly, they can take my apprentice robes and shove them where the sun doesn't shine. I don't see any reason of returning here unless I actually need something from them, or unless I'm getting something substantial in return.

Since I had no desire to stay at the college for the rest of the evening, we decided to split up for the day. Sofia needed rest, Serana stayed with the college and I went on to meet with Septimus. I have been able to get all the blood I need for him after all, so why not? What happened next was simultaneously very weird, but also very underwhelming.

Right after he got the giant Dwemer box open, he rushed in, only to see that the treasure hidden inside was nothing but a book. A single, strange looking, bulky book with incomprehensible writings and figures… A treasure of Hermaeous Mora himself, Oghma Infinium. Then, before he could do anything with it, he died. He started levitating, and he turned into a pile of ash. If this god is capable of doing such things… Could he do something like that to me as well? I was genuinely scared and freaked out at that point, especially considering that he appeared in front of me once more, again in the same black mass countless eyes and tentacles.

I couldn't really figure out what he wants me to do in the future, but he wants me to hold on to the book, I think… He has plans for me, or so I feel… I just hope he won't be appearing before me anytime soon, as he creeps me out.

Well, at least I know I don't need to return to this cave on this island anymore.

Sun's Height, 29th, 4E 202

There was one final piece of business left for me to be done at the college, and that was to finally deliver the Dwemer cogs to Arniel. The mood around the college is still kind of low because of the damages and the lost lives, and he was no different. He said that he'll miss Mirabelle dearly, and is very doubtful of what will come of the college considering that they have lost both their Arch-mage and their second-in-command, but that he's also trying to stay positive and focused. He also said that he's glad for the efforts of me and my friends because even if we weren't able to avert a disaster from happening completely, we were able to perhaps save the college from complete destruction. For that, he gave me his thanks.

More importantly, he said he still has unfinished work and that he would rather return to his studies to distract himself than to continue moping in his sorrows. He suggested that I should help him assemble and even test the toy he had repaired.

While repairing the machine with the oh so important "authentic" cogs he needed, he also kept going on about how to bring life to this automaton, how Dwarves used to do it. He kept going on about the Heart of Lorkhan, about how it supposedly powers them, something about using how local clans from Skyrim used to use soul gems as substitutes due to not having the same close proximity to the heart as the Dwemer in Vvardenfell used to have… Honestly, most of this technical stuff was beyond me and half of the stuff I didn't even listen to. The important bit is that he was able to bring the machine back to life.

"One of the reasons these parts need to be authentic is durability", he also said… Or something along those lines, I'm paraphrasing a little. "They also seem to fit better than the parts I ordered from Windhelm. I'm sure this thing will work exactly as the Dwarves intended it would." Then, he wanted to test it. At this point, I kind of understood why he needed my help. "You would do that for me?", he asked.

Well, of course I would. I have to admit, I hadn't really felt properly satisfied in a while, so I stripped for the Dwemer machine. I didn't really know what to expect, and quickly learned that these machines can do a little bit more than I anticipated. It used restraining devices to hold me in place. Like seriously, if a machine like this attacked me in some ruin, there would be no way for me to escape it or defend against it. In safety of this experimentation though, I could truly appreciate what it was able to do.

It's not quite as satisfying as doing it with a living and breathing creature of flesh. It lacks that unpredictability and warmth, but it was pretty amazing nonetheless. It pounded me pretty hard, and the vibrating parts were really fun too. Watching me get dominated must've made Arniel quite horny too, as he was pretty much jacking off the whole time watching me. The machine was also equipped with some shock magic too, which made it all just so much better. I'm a sucker for that stuff, I just love that tingly sensation of electricity running through my most sensitive parts. There was just one big problem. You see, the machine wasn't stopping.

Arniel didn't really know how to make it stop with simple commands, or if there even was a way to make it stop. He could've probably disabled it with some shock magic, but damn it I wasn't willing to get hurt because of his incompetence! In the end, he had to physically remove the Soul Gem to save me from it, which he was reluctant to do because he feared it could cause damage to it. It had been almost an hour at that point, and he told me that it shouldn't take that long for it to do its business on its "victims". Perhaps using a less powerful Soul Gem would do the trick, he wondered. He said he needs to study a little bit more and thanked me dearly. He said he'll be contacting me in future for help too, as he seems to trust me as someone who's not afraid of a little adventure… I suppose I see no harm in helping him with his lewd machine experiments, especially since there's money involved too. Yeah, he paid me pretty generously.

Tomorrow though, it's time for us to leave Winterhold. I haven't forgotten about that blue piece of metal I found, and I still intend to learn what it is and if it's worth anything. I suppose for that we should head to Markarth next, since Arniel couldn't help us figure out what it is.