College of Winterhold (Skyrim)

"You know, if you have the aptitude, you should join the Mage's College in Winterhold."

- Farengar Secret-Fire

The College of Winterhold is a faction and location that appears in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It is a guild of Magic users similar to the Mages Guild of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Savos Aren is the college's Arch-Mage with Mirabelle Ervine serving under him as Master-Wizard. The College is located in the northern section of the city of Winterhold.

Joining the College
Before entering the college, the gatekeeper Faralda wishes to see a demonstration of magical powers. She requests to see a spell appropriate for the Dragonborn's level before gaining passage. These spells include:


 * Firebolt
 * Fear
 * Fury
 * Magelight
 * Healing Hands
 * Conjure Flame Atronach
 * Conjure Familiar
 * Fireball

Although she doesn't state it explicitly, the spells should (in some cases, such as Fear must) be cast at the emblem on the ground or she ignores it. If the Dragonborn has not learned the spell she requests, she offers to sell it for 30 gold. The gate beyond the bridge does not open until the proper spell has been demonstrated for Faralda.

Bypassing
A persuasion check bypasses this test. Additionally, revealing one's Dragonborn-identity to Faralda causes her to ask for a Thu'um demonstration. Successfully using it bypasses the spell-casting test. This option can only be used if the Dragonborn heeded the call of the Greybeards and headed to High Hrothgar for Thu'um instruction.

Rules and expulsion
Killing a student causes other college members to refuse speaking with the killer, starting the Rejoining the College quest. Stealing items from college members is also considered a crime.

Architectural design
The College of Winterhold is located north of Winterhold on a large cliff. A narrow bridge in a state of disrepair connects the city to the college.

The central courtyard is dominated by a statue of the first Arch-Mage of the College; this is the hub of the facility, offering access back out to the bridge and into the three Halls. The exterior windows offer exceptional views of the coastline.

The courtyard branches off to the three halls of the college. The Hall of Attainment, the living quarters for mage apprentices, is off to the left upon entering the college, while the Hall of Countenance, the living quarters for more advanced mages, is off to the right. Straight ahead lies the Hall of the Elements, the lecture hall of the college.

From the Hall of the Elements, the Arch-Mage's Quarters branches off on the left while The Arcanaeum, the college's library, branches off on the right.

The Midden, a prison or storage area beneath the college, houses an Atronach Forge, the Augur of Dunlain, and the Daedric Relic. Ice Wraiths and Draugr inhabit the halls of The Midden. A tunnel here leads to Skyrim just outside of the college.

Historical documents
Papers kept in the College's library are meant to prove its age, reportedly dating back 700 years. Additionally, the first recorded evidence of the College's existence is Pocket Guide to the Empire, Third Edition: Skyrim. Arguably, the documents in the College are not meant to date the institution's age. As noted in the Pocket Guide to the Empire, the College became home to an older library of documents, the Ysmir Collective.

Relation to the Mages Guild
As the College is independent from the Mage's Guild, Necromancy was never made illegal by the College, unlike the Arcane University in Cyrodiil. The practice is generally regarded as a tool, not a weapon, although practicing it outside of the College is advised against by Phinis Gester. Like Cyrodiil, there are still wandering groups of Necromancers that do not function alongside the College. Because the College is independent of the jurisdiction of the Mages Guild, it was unaffected by the Necromancy Ban of 3E 431 and the subsequent eradication of that ban which led to battles against Mannimarco.

Distrust
The college is often blamed for the Great Collapse and is therefore widely distrusted. It is often believed that it was activities at the college that caused the disaster; the proof of this is that only the college remained untouched. The college has since been cautious as to avoid provoking the population of Skyrim. Many nationalistic Nords also do not trust the College because of the fact that the immigrant Dunmer make up the vast majority of the members within the faction. Additionally, most Nords view magic and its practitioners as spineless and weak, as stated quite humorously by a feuding couple upon entering Winterhold.

College of Winterhold quests

 * First Lessons
 * Under Saarthal
 * Hitting The Books
 * Good Intentions
 * Revealing the Unseen
 * Containment
 * Staff of Magnus
 * The Eye of Magnus

Side quests

 * Arniel's Endeavor
 * Daedric Relic
 * Aftershock
 * Out of Balance
 * Finding Tolfdir's Alembic
 * Fetch me that Book!
 * Shalidor's Insight
 * Lost Apprentices (Broken quest)

Follower quests

 * J'zargo's Experiment
 * Onmund's Request
 * Brelyna's Practice

Trainers

 * Colette Marence: Expert Restoration trainer
 * Drevis Neloren: Master Illusion trainer
 * Faralda: Master Destruction trainer
 * Sergius Turrianus: Expert Enchanting trainer
 * Tolfdir: Master Alteration trainer
 * Phinis Gestor: Expert Conjuration trainer

Master-level training quests

 * Alteration Ritual Spell
 * Conjuration Ritual Spell
 * Destruction Ritual Spell
 * Illusion Ritual Spell
 * Restoration Ritual Spell

Trivia

 * As with most other places in Skyrim, the College is a possible spawning place for dragons - sometimes several dragons. The most commonly encountered dragon around level 20 and higher is the Blood Dragon and will usually respawn upon leaving the college.
 * Upon completing The Eye of Magnus and achieving the status of Arch-mage you will be granted access to the highest tower of the college. Once you enter this area you will often be attacked by a dragon according to your level. However, it is not yet confirmed that a dragon will always spawn upon your first entry to this area. (Played up to this point on 3 separate files, each triggering a dragon attack once accessing the tower for the first time.)
 * Just beneath the floor of the College quarters, there are four chests containing various high-leveled robes, tomes, soul gems, quest items, and other mage-oriented gear organized by magic school. They can be accessed on the PC version by typing "TCL" into the console to toggle no-clipping mode and enable walking through solid surfaces. On the console versions, these chests are randomly accessible due to bugs in the game's texture loading system. There may be a missing floor tile in the Hall of the Elements, revealing one of the chests. It is then reachable by crouching close to the chest without touching the broken floor. All objects taken from these chests are considered stolen.
 * Even after joining the College, Farengar Secret-Fire in Dragonsreach still says, "You know, if you have the aptitude, you should join the mages' college in Winterhold."
 * Oddly, the College of Winterhold has more teachers than students at the time the Dragonborn joins.

Bugs

 * Rarely, when fast traveling to the College on horseback, the Dragonborn might be hurled off the precipices surrounding the college.
 * As of Patch 1.3 the "Visit the College of Winterhold" quest may not complete if the persuasion or Dragonborn dialogue options are used.
 * Solution: Type  into the console.
 * Many of the mages at the College can die during dragon attacks, making certain spells and side quests impossible to obtain.
 * If siding with the Stormcloaks during the Civil War, Savos Aren may disappear, preventing the completion of the College questline.
 * Dismissing a follower inside the Hall of the Elements while magic is being practiced causes the mages and the follower to become hostile towards one another. Usually, this causes the follower to be killed due to the multiple magic attacks.
 * Faralda may not recognize that the entry-spell is cast, preventing access to the college through the front gate.
 * Solution: Access The Midden by scaling the rock face the college sits on. The entrance lies at the foot of the cliff, near the back of the college. Upon entering, the other students and teachers treat the Dragonborn as a new student.
 * Miscellaneous quest 'Visit the College of Winterhold' cannot be completed if you have already become ArchMage by following the College of Winterhold questline.
 * While taking the tour of the College, Mirabelle Ervine will sometimes pause and stare after telling you about the history of that area.
 * Solution: Talk to her and she will say "After I show you the grounds, we can talk." Then she will proceed with the tour.
 * Fast travelling to the college may result in a dead dragon spawning on the roof.
 * When fast traveling to the College, you might rarely find yourself in the middle of a battle between a horde of Draugr of 12 with a commanding Draugr Deathlord and College mages. Through searching on the net, I saw this is observed by different people with no confirmation. Not sure if this occurs only with fast traveling, not sure if this is a bug. Needs confirmation on other platforms as well.
 * After Ancano's explosion, you are asked to find Savos Aren. If you leave the area and come back, you cannot continue with the questline. The shield around the Eye of Magnus will still be there, but Ancano will be standing outside of it and Mirabelle Ervine has gone. It will be as if nothing happened, and Ancano will soon be seen outside and able to be talked to. However, you cannot hit him, and Shouts do nothing. Savos Aren's body can be seen outside in the middle of the College grounds. No one takes notice of him, and he is unsearchable. Use the Clear Skies Shout to see him easier. Reloading a previous save just makes all of them stand around and not talk to you. No solution found yet.

Appearances

 * The Elder Scrolls: Arena
 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim