Whew! The snow was thicker here than she'd ever seen. Were it not for the bound visor over her features, she would have been struggling with snow in her eyes, and face. She'd found a shelter to stop in and change into warmer clothes, earlier; the man in Windhelm had told her it would be savagely cold, even colder than Windhelm, so she'd prepared. As though the spirits themselves were trying to freeze the place, he'd said, and she couldn't deny him.

The city wasn't really much of a city at all. She saw ruins before she got to anything inhabited, it was much more like a ghost town. She'd stopped at the tavern to offer the local economy some of her gold and learned that the college had [i][b]miraculously[/b][/i] survived a collapse of the cliff face that Winterhold existed on. Most of the city had gone, but the college, most defiantly, had continued to exist, undamaged, on a [i]plateau beyond the collapse line[/i]. She could see why the locals viewed the college with such suspicion, but it only convinced her more of the power to be found within the place.

There had been a sentinel at the bridge to the college, leading her out past the collapse, to the defiant campus building balanced precariously on a pile of uncollapsed rocks. If she were a local Nord, the sight might unnerve her, but magics had a way with these things. She passed the test of the sentinel easily, memorized the cantrips to activate the waypoints and gain access to the gate as she saw them, and passed through to finish enrolling in the curriculum.

On her way in, she'd heard curious rumors and hushed whispers, various things from various corners. As one from High Rock, she found herself somewhat distanced, but she could almost hear her mother in her ear. That Skyrim was in such a tumultuous state, and by one man, no less. That he... [i]shouted[/i] the old high king asunder. She'd never heard of such a spell, and couldn't think of how to conjure such a thing. A shout of such power... Skyrim had many secrets, as well as history. Well, was that not a historian's duty?

She'd come to fancy herself as such, after realizing just what she was doing in all those caves and ruins. More so than viewing herself as a mage. Magic was just another avenue through which to discover ancient secrets and knowledge.

So the college was where she would begin. It didn't take her long to follow the information to high hrothgar. Honestly, she was surprised there weren't more orcs involved, with a name like that. High orcs up in the high mountains or something, but no, apparently, she was to find some old [i]Nords[/i] up there... South past Windhelm, where she came up from in the first place, gods damn it.

So it was back south for her. At least it would be warm... For a moment.