As I progress deeper I kill a few mages and eventually come up against my first Daedra - a Clannfear Runt (I've always thought 'Clannfear' was a great name and they're one of my favourite Daedra as well). This thing slices through my Zombie with ease before turning on me. Fortunately the Zombie has weaked it sufficiently that I can put it down with a couple of Frost Touch spells. Fortunately there's nothing else difficult in the fort, and all the mages die to one or two of my spells. By the time I'm done I have a good store of potions.
Further along the way to Bravil is the strangely-names 'Inn of I'll-Omen'. I investigate it but find nothing amiss. Outside it there is a woodsman practicing his archery. I watch him for a while and amazingly he shoots several arrows at the target and then when he runs out goes and gathers them all up again before resuming his practice! I stand in front of the target and he stops shooting, looking at me with an annoyed expression. He doesn't even give a quest or much dialogue - it's just an awesome little touch they've added.
I continue across the countryside and a symbol on my compass I've never seen before catches my attention - it looks like a mountain. As I head towards it I see a brawny figure loping towards me in the distance - it's a Minotaur! I summon a Zombie to greet it and begin frantically tossing fireballs in its direction, managing to miss with most. It wields a huge warhammer and its savage blows make short work of the Zombie. However it doesn't have a ton of health itself and only manages to land a single blow on me before my hasty Frost Touches drain all of its health.
I discover I am in a place called Harcane Grove. As I continue, I discover two more Minotaurs guarding a Unicorn. I manage to lure the Minotaurs out individually and slay them with relative ease. They aren't nearly as tough as I feared. One of them has a Dwarven warhammer, which is worth a good bit of gold. After the brutes are dispatched, I actually ride the Unicorn all the rest of the way to Bravil!
Bravil basically looks like a shanty town and I have no desire to hang around here. I quickly head to the Mages' Guild and set about the Recommendation quest. It involves travelling to the Imperial City to retrieve a lost staff. It seems I'll be returning rather earlier than I anticipated. I don't hang around though, and for the first time I decide to fast-travel there and back (this is my first real use of fast-travel; previously I have only used it to travel short distances like back to a town from a nearby mine, and so on).
The Imperial City makes Skingrad look like a backwater
I steal the staff back rather than buy it back, and so save myself 200 gold (I have to break into a basement and a locked drawer to find it. Can't wait to get some better lock-picking spells!). I quickly return to Bravil and return the staff, then turn to leave, intending to set off at once for Leyawiin and the final step before being allowed in to the Arcane University. However, as I turn to leave, the guild aster Kud-Ei entreats me to stay and help her. She actually has a pained, distressed expression on her Argonian face, and cries out "you're the only one who can help me!" I find myself caving in and unable to leave, and agree to help her locate her missing friend.
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