Legends of Tamriel (Skyrim Extras)

Tale 3: Infinite Possibilities

As usual, this took me entirely too long to write. My update schedule, as always, will likely continue to be erratic, and I can't guarantee any timely updates for anything, at present. For that matter, the year of 2016 doesn't seem like it will be a particularly productive year for me, so I apologize for any hiatuses I am forced to take due to other aspects of my life.

This is a little different than the sort of thing I intended to write as my next tale, but I decided I wanted to introduce a few side characters that will appear in the (relatively) near future in Mage, and I hope that you'll find it enjoyable, even if it's somewhat void of plot. It's more of an intro to them than anything else, and I can guarantee they'll appear in more than just this. And, as well as this, it was just an attempt to get myself to actually write something, which has proved to be very difficult for me as of late, which is why this is somewhat short.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this one-shot.

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Two lone figures trekked up a nearly snow obscured road, the harsh weather that it had endured for what was likely decades, if not centuries, having worn the stones treacherously smooth. They made rather slow progress, both due to the quality of the path they'd taken and the howling snowstorm they'd both had the misfortune to walk into, as the wind was blowing so fiercely it was difficult for one to open their eyes without squinting - at least, it would be challenging for someone who wasn't acclimated to such weather. One of the two travelers, who happened to be a woman of Nordic descent, was having no trouble with the storm whatsoever, practically dragging her companion along with her. Her bright hazel eyes were filled with determination - her inner vivacity and stalwartness was even visible in her damaged, cloudy right eye as she moved with purpose towards her destination. The wind tore at her braided ash-blond hair, unwinding strands from the main braid and causing them to whip around wildly, although this didn't seem to bother her in the least. She was clad in a mixture of leather armor and warmer furs, and was clearly prepared to brave this sort of weather.

The same could not be said for her traveling partner, however, as the aforementioned man stumbled behind her cluelessly, blurting out complaints about the weather and the temperature as they soldiered on towards their destination. He seemed to be of Cyrodilic blood, although he was a bit lighter skinned than the average Imperial, likely due to a lifetime spent indoors studying, which seemed especially likely considering there was very little substance to his frame whatsoever. He was practically indistinguishable from the slightly oversized novice robes he wore, and the furred hood of his ensemble managed to keep most of his auburn hair from flying into his eyes and worsening his already very limited field of vision. Suddenly, the woman noticed the faint outline of buildings, and her enthusiasm to keep going practically doubled, and she almost pulled her fellow traveler off his feet in her haste to reach civilization.

"Azora, what-" the Imperial protested as he regained his balance, but cut himself off when he too caught sight of the small town that had now become visible in the distance, "Is that Winterhold?"

"I certainly hope so," Azora shot back with a grim smile, " I'm pretty sure it's the only settlement up in these parts, so I doubt that we could be anywhere else."

"Well, it's a relief to know that, at least. But, in truth, I was expecting it to look a bit more... impressive. The Great Collapse must have taken a greater toll on the town than I originally thought."

"Yeah, maybe. It's a shame, I guess. But enough about that," the Nord changed the subject abruptly, "Let's actually enter the city and get ourselves situated at the College before we start a scholarly discourse on its history, Spurius."