Council of Jarls

News of the catastrophic explodes spread from Winterhold to all nearby Holds. The sheer severity of it was enough for some to proclaim it the next Red Mountain, despite the fact there was no real evidence towards it, aside from the large scorched area of half-melted ice floating atop the ocean.

Still, that didn't stop the other Jarls from making inquiries from Jarl Korir, who was as angry as you'd expect. Contrary to his previous quiet anger, he was basically frothing at the mouth in rage now, proclaiming all mages to be harbingers of death and destruction.

The Arch-Mage of the College attempted to quell his anger, suggesting that the explosions may have been caused by overeager dungeon delivering attempting to breach the Sky Temple ruins that sat on a small island North of the College... The man refused to believe it however and got to work on creating a case to present to the Council of Jarls that would be occurring soon.

The Arch-Mage would have to be present at the Council, of course, both to plead his own innocence and to muddy Jarl Korir's case with facts, logic, and some subtle manipulation.

The Council of Jarl's usually convenes at the end of spring, since the respective Holds are the most stable during this time, having survived Winter and worked all Spring to recover.

As for the Jarl's punishment for Michael and Megumin? Both were forced to clean every inch of the College without the use of magic... A daunting task when you consider just how large the place was. Surprisingly, this also included the Middens, where most of the dark shit in the College was hidden.

There, Michael finally found the Atronach Forge, an artifact that would allow you to summon permanent familiars without the use of time and resource-intensive rituals... The only problem was, without a Sigil Stone to properly open the link to Oblivion, every summon would come out half-formed and without their full soul, leaving them mindless monsters without wit or will. Their lack of a soul makes it completely impossible to control them, leaving the artifact useless.

Of course, there are a few Mages in the College that possess Sigil Stones, but they are closely guarded to their value, and potential danger due to their inherent link to Oblivion. Still, this did give Michael an idea of his own, he had some materials to use in the creation of his own Familiar... Hah! The Familiar becomes the master!

Unfortunately, not everything was going as well as you'd think... Charlotte had apparently left with Maria on some godforsaken journey and left a letter for Illococoo to find.

They left to find a cure for Maria, and asked that they be left alone to do so without being pursued... Michael honestly wasn't sure how to take this, sure, he'd failed in helping Maria, but that was only temporary. Eventually, they'd have found a cure, but, 'eventually' probably wasn't good enough for Charlotte.

He could use the Vessel of the Hunt to find them, but what would he do after? Accompany them as they wandered the world? Drag them back against their will? For now, he'd leave them as is, and use the Daedric Artifact to locate them if they didn't send word after a while. Charlotte was very strong, stronger than most Mages this world had to offer, so he wasn't worried for their safety, merely wary should they suddenly attack the Thalmor and spark a World War or something.

Still, their departure was a wake-up call for Michael, his rate of learning magic wasn't fast enough for him, even if it was faster than most talented Apprentices. So, he decided to start dungeon delving, to try and increase his level to raise his power and aptitude for magic. After all, his Affinity for the elements increased with each Spirit, so turning himself into a magic genius shouldn't be hard.

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Four weeks later :

Jarl Korir steps through the hallways of the Blue Palace with the Arch-Mage of Winterhold College at his side, both being led by heavily armoured guards. Korir sends occasional angry glances at Savos, wishing the Mage would disappear but had no cause to send him away... The College of Winterhold was a unique institution in Skyrim, enough so that the Arch-Mage could even call upon the High King in a similar manner to most Jarl's.

They step through another couple of doors and are led into an ornate room, one with a large table positioned in the middle of it with most of the chairs already filled.

The High King Torygg sits in the most luxuriously made chair, while the many other Jarls were sat in their own, less refined ones. "Jarl Korir, it's a pleasure to see you again. Please take a seat, we will begin in a moment." the young King kindly says, gesturing at one of the vacant seats. Korir does so, as the Arch-Mage goes to stand beside the other Court Mages that'd accompanied their Jarl's to fight any magical threats should they arise.

Korir scans the table, noticing a single vacant seat... Not to mention the clear divide between Imperial loyalists and those that side with 'Ulfric and Talos'. There was also the Thalmor representative sitting in a corner of the room, Elenwen, who was watching everything with hawk-like eyes. The Jarls that were present were;

High King Torygg, Jarl of Haafingar(Solitude)

Balgruuf the Greater, Jarl of Whiterun

Skald the Elder, Jarl of the Pale(Dawnstar)

Igmund, Jarl of the Reach(Markarth)

Dengeir of Stuhn, Jarl of Falkreath

Igrod Ravencrone, Jarl of Hjallmarch(Morthal)

Korir, Jarl of Winterhold

And finally Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Eastmarch(Windhelm)

There was a clear tension as Torygg looked upon Ulfric, both locking eyes as if a silent battle of wills was occurring. Torygg was the first to look away however, giving a light smile and he sips on a goblet of wine. "Unfortunately, we will be missing a person for this Council as the Jarl of the Rift(Riften) is still being chosen. None of the candidates is here as I have no wish to convey a preference for any." he says neutrally, with everyone present nodding in agreement.