Hours 38 - 40: Mastering Magic

I devoted the next few hours to tinkering with spell creation, testing out the spells, and returning to the University to tinker some more. On my wanderings I happened upon a distraught man whose wife had been killed by Goblins - I avenged her by slaying the tribe who killed her, and returning her necklace to him. After a while I settled on several custom spells: Weakness to Fire (100%) for 20 seconds (a stand-alone spell), 'Soulfire' (25 fire damage x3 seconds, soultrap - I made both a ranged and 'touch' version), and 'Immolate' (25 fire damage x3 seconds, Drain Life 100 over 3 seconds, on touch). I also created a pure Drain Life x100 spell.

My tactics now consist of casting the Weakness to Fire from a distance, then when the enemy gets close I cast Immolate. Over 3 seconds, this should do 150 damage to them, and at the end of the 3 seconds they'll die if they have less than 100 health remaining, due to the 'bonus' 100 damage that Drain Life does. It effectively, then, does 250 damage, although if they survive it then they get the 100 'drained' health back. I am not sure, but from what I've read it seems that 2+ castings of Weakness to Fire should stack - if this is true, it should do 325 damage if they had been hit by two castings of the Weakness spell, although this would enormously drain my mana reserves.

The basic Drain Life 100 spell is enough to kill almost any weak enemy (such as rats, and some goblins). Everything else goes down very quickly if hit by one cast of Weakness and one cast of Immolate. I prefer using Immolate (which is a 'touch' spell) to a ranged spell because, although not extortionate, these spells cost a lot more to cast than my previous ones. Each spell which misses is therefore a much bigger blow, and ranged fireball spells are fairly difficult to get right every time, especially as many enemies dodge and weave about.

I bought 'Summon Gloom Wraith' (I'm now an Expert in Conjuring), upgraded my Turn Undead spell, and with my new-found magical prowess decided to see if I could take on Howling Cave this time. I returned, and it was still difficult (I died again initially) but the difference was apparent immediately - I was still vulnerable to being mobbed, due to my low defenses, but if I managed to get a few spells to connect, my enemies crumpled. My new Feather spell proved useful in allowing me to carry an absurd amount of loot back to the Imperial City.

Above: the Market District: my favourite District of the city. It's packed with quaint shops, some tucked away in the corners.

To make a bit of pocket money (and help pay for the spells I'd created) I ploughed through a few more opponents in the Arena. Nearly all of them fell to one or two castings of my spells - I am beginning to feel like a truly powerful mage now. A couple of them gave me trouble - they were very fast, and were able to dodge even my 'touch' spells at close range, which left me quickly drained of mana and fleeing from their swinging weapons, but if I managed to stick it out, all it took was a couple of good hits and they went down. At one point I resorted to climbing up on a pillar to let my mana rejuvenate.

Above: the blood-soaked passageway leading from the training rooms out into the Arena.

With my magic proficiency seriously improved, I feel ready to cease my wanderings and continue with some more quests. My weakness at the moment is taking damage - I wear robes and have no decent protection spells of items. That's something I'll have to look into.

Hour 37: Halted by Howling Cave

I roam through the countryside for a while, looking for creatures to battle. In the countryside to the east of Skingrad there seem to be a fair few trolls. Panicked at first (it's been a while since I've seen one), I relax when I see the ease with which my new custom spell (which I've labelled 'Punisher'...) brings them down.

Eventually I come upon Howling Cave. It looks fairly ominous:

What on earth is that glowing cauldron? I head inside and am initially disappointed as it appears to be populated by nothing but rats. However, when I head into the deeper levels, I see that it's a haven for necromancers. Well, better them than vampires I suppose. Unfortunately, they seem to outmatch me. At one point I open a door and two necromancers await me, as well as a couple of skeletons, and both the necromancers summon headless zombies. Try as I might, my own Skeleton Guardian is cut down in moments by the throng, and I am constantly forced to retreat. I can't get past the press of undead in the narrow corridors to get to the Necromancers behind them (in hindsight, I should have used by Repulse Undead spell... but I forgot about it) and even if I can get a spell through to them, they heal faster than I can damage them. I give up and decide to have a think about creating some different spells.

After checking online, it looks like the Weakness to Fire in my spell is largely wasted, as it doesn't combine with the initial damage. Since I only made the Weakness last 1 second, it would only come into play if they get damaged again by fire within 1 second. This likely happened to the trolls, since I summoned my Atronach to aid me, but often would be wasted. It seems that there are more efficient ways to create damaging spells. I also think it might be worth finding and adding a 'paralyse' effect into a damaging spell.

Hour 36: Mothmen

I roam the countryside near the Shrine for a bit, and spy a secluded chapel in a clearing through the trees. What could it be?

Apologies for the bad picture quality. I am playing in the daytime, and it's almost impossible to avoid massive amounts of screen-glare. For that reason there will be less pictures for the time being. I head over to the chapel and it's called the 'Temple of the Ancestor Moths'. Sounds interesting. There are three buildings tucked away here - the Temple, the monks' quarters, and the crypt. All of them are locked. I break into the Temple and have a snoop around, reading through a dusty tome which explains the beliefs of the monks. They tend to their sacred moths, and eventually go blind, where they are locked away. I guess they're in the crypt.

That's where I head next, and at first it appears to be deserted. After navigating some lonely corridors, though, I am startled when two old men rush out to attack me! Both are blindfolded, and one is armed with a katana, which he swings wildly in a frenzy. They are joined by more blind monks with katanas, and although I try to fend them off, they're too much for me. I manage to get away and flee from the community of mad moth-monks. I am sure this will come up as a mission at some point later in the game.

Time now to upgrade my spells. I purchase some Expert-level destruction spells - a fireball which does 70 damage, a frost touch which does 80, and a couple of others. I also head to the Arcane University again and make a Feather spell (100 pts for 120 seconds). I decide to create my first 'proper' custom spell by combining a few properties. I make a fireball (40 damage) which also had Soul Trap (1 second), Absorb Health (15 points) and Weakness to Fire (100%). Hopefully this will do a total of 95 damage as well as healing me 15 points and capturing a soul if the target dies.

I decide to roam around for a bit a test out my new spells. Before I do, though, I remember to visit Roland Jenseric in the Imperial City Temple District, and give him all the vampire dust I've gathered - all told, I make a couple of thousand gold from him. I now have over 8000 gold even after spending a few thousand on buying and creating spells.

Hour 35: Starbearer

I track one of the vampire hunters down to the fields outside Skingrad, and burn him to a crisp. Before he dies, he tells me I should take up my grievance with their leader, Eridur. Under the veil of darkness I travel to the inn where Eridor slumbers, and break into his room. However, rather than killing him straight away, I engage him in conversation, and by mentioning the fact that I've already killed the vampires at Bloodcrust Cavern (I show him the vampire dust I've collected as proof), he agrees to leave and take his band of merry men with him (minus the unfortunate fool whom I have incinerated, but Eridur doesn't know that, and if you don't tell him neither will I). What a nice little extra, having the option to persuade them to leave, rather than being forced to fight them.

I report back to the Count who agrees to reveal his information now that I've helped him. A powerful Necromancer called 'Mannimarco' (not a very dread-inducing name...) has returned, and is trying to take over Cyrodiil. I rush back to Traven and inform him. He must consult with the Council (bloody red tape...) so in the meantime I must occupy myself.

I feel it's high time that I acquire Azura's Star, as it will allow me to gather limitless souls to recharge my staves, which otherwise would cost me a lot of gold. I travel to Azura's shrine:

She requires me to clear out a cave of... vampires... before she will gift me with the star. Vampires seem to be coming up an awful lot, and I'm getting rather sick of them, not least because they're usually quite powerful. As it happens, there are only five vampires in the cave, but for the first time in a long time, I die (twice!) to them, having to reload from the start of the cave both times. Eventually I just start saving the game every time I kill one. I use fire against them, as I know they're weak to it, and it doesn't take that many fireballs to bring them down, but they're fast, and one of them, for example, Silences me (meaning I can't cast any magic) and then rushes at me and chops me down in about three hits. 

Eventually through careful use of my Flame Atronach, and focusing down the vampires ones at a time, I get the better of them. They drop some good loot (some expensive armour, and a glass war-hammer worth 1600 gold (although I won't get that much for it). Altogether there's too much for me to carry, though. Looks like I need to create a Feather spell for situations such as this. What's more, due to all the battling I've done over the last couple of hours, I've advanced to level 12, and am also an Expert in Destruction magic. Time to improve my arsenal of spells, it seems...

Hour 34: More Bloodsuckers

After returning to the Arcane University, I am instructed to speak to the Archmage himself, Hannibal Traven. It appears they forgot to edit his 'rumours' speech, for when I ask him about rumours, he gives me a similar speech to the rest of the Mages, and so references himself in the third person:

It's possible to view this as an eccentricity of his speech, but I think it's far more likely to just be an oversight.
He asks me to find a mage who infiltrated the Necromancer cult and is now believed to be in peril. I head to an Ayelid ruin to find him. So far, despite the limited number of types and designs of cave, I haven't really minded the caves/ruins much. There's certainly too much focus on delving underground into caves, as most missions seem to require this, but on the whole, I think I actually prefer these caves to Skyrim's. Sure, Skyrim's are better designed, mostly all unique, and graphically far superior, but a lot of them were a bit too long. The one thing they did better, though, was including a shortcut at the end of the cave so you can get out quickly. Oblivion offers few of those and you must usually, therefore, traipse back through the cave (stepping over the mutilated bodies of your enemies) to get out.

Whilst on my way to the ruin, a wild Flame Atronach attacks me in the woods. I summon mine to engage it, then continue onwards, thinking that even if mine does (can they even hurt each other though?) by that time I'll be so far away that I will have escaped. Surprisingly, once I'm inside the ruin the Atronach enters a short time after too - it must have followed me for quite a way. After I kill it I realise I haven't seen a dead one before, since mine disappears when it dies. Their bodies still glow even after death:

The ruin is fairly easily navigated and I eventually find the Mage, who has now been turned into a zombie. He looks exactly like every other zombie so it's anyone's guess as to how I know it's him, but the game tells me it is, so there you are.

I report my finding to Traven, who is most upset. He advises me that the Count of Skingrad (my secret vampire friend, unbeknownst to the guild) has more information about the necromancers. I go to see him, but he won't tell me anything until I've destroyed a nearby cave of vampires (they're attracting vampire hunters, which could compromise his identity) and slain the vampire hunters as well.

It's a hard slog to clear the vampire cave (Bloodcrust Cavern. Eww.), as these vampires just love to heal themselves up all the time, and are also adept at dodging my fireballs, meaning I often have to wade in closer to use my Cold Touch spell, exposing myself to their brutal close combat attacks. Plus, they summon a lot, and at times I have to fight two or three vampires as well as two summons (usually ghosts or skeletons). I manage to slay them all eventually without dying, though. Next to feel my wrath will be the vampire hunters...

Hour 33: The Dark Fissure

The Mages at the University now trust me more and decide it's time I helped them investigate the insidious Necromancer cult which has sprung up since Traven, the Archmage, decided to ban necromancy. This mission starts as a pleasant 'research' diversion which involves me speaking to several people and finding information in a book. I never mind doing these sort of missions in Oblivion, because the dialogue is all so engrossing.

I learn that I must travel to the ominous-sounding Dark Fissure, in the mountains to the east, to learn more. It is, of course, overrun with foul necromancers. They give me a run for my money, especially when I come across more than one at a time. My Flame Atronach really shines here, able to blast the necromancers from afar and also damage the ghosts which are frequently summoned to aid them.

I get what I need (a note) after killing the first poor sap, but I decide to explore the cave system. A blood-stained stairway leads into the depths:

The cave has three levels and is quite sprawling. It has some unique features, such as these scary-looking grates:

Killing all of the necromancers is a challenge, but do-able. I find I'm having to rely more and more on potions, especially when there are multiple necromancers. Fortunately, they drop a lot of potions when they die. After some time, I emerge victorious. Here's the view from the mouth of the Dark Fissure, looking out across the forest of the lowlands, with the Imperial City visible in the faint distance:

Hour 32: Pillar of Wisdom

With the vampire business out of the way, for now at least, I continue on with the Mages guild. They send me to an ancient ruin which is being excavated. Once there, I fire spells a a magical pillar in the centre of the ruin, which unlocks a secret staircase. This actually takes a while since I did not have all of the necessary spells, so I had to travel to Skingrad to buy one of them (how did I know to go the Skingrad?! I looked it up on one of the incredibly useful online guides. I consult these guides from time to time in situations such as this; there's no point wandering round every city looking for the right spell).
I descend into the bowels of the ruins and battle some ghosts, retrieving an ancient Elvish helmet at the end:

It looks awesome. I haven't worn armour in a while so I'm not sure if it's unique; I have a feeling all Elvish helmets look like that. However it is encrusted with verdigris, showing its age, which I don't think is normally on helmets.

I take the helmet back to the Arcane University where they thank me and relieve me of it. A little disappointing - I leant nothing about it and I assume it will not be mentioned again.