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“Finally in Winterhold.” Aranir thoguht to himself as the midday sun shone over the destroyed city. What was once the capital of Skyrim is now a weak city made of mostly ruins and filled with people who go about their daily lives barely having enough septims to make it through the day. Nothing grows here. Nothing grows in Skyrim, barring the few crops that grow on the southern border with Cyrodill. With the weakened citadel being so far up north many people can’t even afford a loaf of bread and must resort to other types of food, like fish and horkers, which are vastly more abundant here.No one would even think about coming to this place were it not for the rare wanderer that could afford joining the College of Winterhold, a once prestigious institution that rivaled Cyrodill’s own Mages Guild that is now reduced to a shady place where ‘bad things happen’ in the eyes of most Nords. Aranir was not that person. At least, not yet. He pulled down his tattered hood as he stepped into the Frozen Hearth, revealing his short peachy ear-length hair and freckled face. Even though he was an Altmer he was much shorter than average, being even shorter than your average Nord.He ordered a mug of ale and sat down to think about his plan. He had to get into the college, but how to afford it. He could cast some basic Alteration spells, and the college did offer some scholarships to those talented, but he was nowhere near that level. He could do some work around the hold, but that would barely be enough to cover his basic needs, if at all. There were no bounties around here either, as a bandit could not survive in the wild in this weather. If only he hadn’t been robbed by some thieves on his way from Windhelm he would have been able to afford at least a month’s worth of lessons. He sat there for about an hour trying to figure something out and didn’t even notice the floating mugs and plates around him.“An aspiring apprentice? Let me guess, you can’t afford the tuition.”“Yeah, some damned thieves got me a few days worth of travel from Windhelm. Too far to turn back. How’d you know?” he looked at the man talking to him. The Nord was tall, had shaggy brown hair reaching his shoulders and a matching short beard.“Intuition. Tell you what. I have a job for you. You do one small task for me and I’ll pay your first month.”“Wait, really?” asked the elf excitedly, finally hearing some good news.“Yes. What’s your name, son?”“Aranir. What about you?”“You’re funny.” The man took a sip from his mug. “Anyways, the job is simple. Read this note and do as it says. If it’s done by tomorrow morning you’ll be able to walk up to the gatekeeper and tell them I sent you. They’ll let you in.”The mysterious man pulled a note from his pocked and slid it to the elf, then drank the rest of the contents of his mug and got up.“Right, time for me to go. Here’s some gold for tonight’s room. See you around, son.”Aranir called after the man, but he received no answer. Instead he looked at the piece of paper left to him. He picked it up and opened it. The instructions were quite simple: sneak down at night and write a line on the first page of the ledger. He didn’t understand what it meant, but it had something to do with a debt to someone named Maven.He ordered another ale and thought about it. He knew nothing of the man. He wouldn’t even tell him his name. He had no idea what consequence this would have on other people, but it would allow him to pursue his dream. He went to his room still unsure of what choice he was going to make.When he was barely able to keep his eyes open he heard a noise from below. The innkeeper was going to sleep. Aranir jolted up and tiptoed to the door. He gave one last thought to what he was doing, then swiftly sneaked downstairs and into the room behind counter. He found the ledger and copied the line from the note letter by letter. He looked carefully before entering the main room and when he was the way was clear he quietly made his way to his room and into the warm covers of the night. “What do you mean I have to close down?” yelled the barkeep loud enough to wake everyone staying at the inn.“Maven Black-Briar claims you have loans to repay. You just said you can’t repay them. The loan is just too big for me to let you go.”“I don’t own her anything! I stopped doing business with her when... it doesn’t matter. I haven’t dealt with her in a long time and I can assure you had I not paid off everything from before she would have sent the Thieves Guild after me!”“And the Dark Brotherhood and she even would have caused the dragons from the legends to come back just for you, I’ve heard all of this before. Pull out your ledger.”“There is nothing in here that says anything about a loan. Wait, what’s this? I didn’t write this!”Just as the feelings of guilt crept into Aranir’s mind a guard opened the door of his room. The elf jumped from being startled.“Awww, did the little elf get startled? I’m sorry, but you’re gonna have to leave. This place is being closed down.”“You can’t close this down!”“Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do? You elves think you can just walk in here and tell everyone what to do, don’t you? Get out this instant or I’ll take you across the border!”Aranir tried to object but the Stormcloak soldier grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out. As they made their way through the inn he saw the innkeeper being arrested.“You’ll have to work your way out of this one at the mill.” said another guard just as the elf was being pushed through the door.“Good job, son.” Aranir turned his glance to the right and saw the same man from last night.“Why did you do it?”“Don’t tell me you feel guilty now. Or I might have to tell everyone you wrote in the loan. Wouldn’t want that, would you?”Aranir shook his head.“Didn’t think so. Now go to the college. Or do you want this ?”“How can I trust you won’t have me arrested too?”“You can’t. So do as I say and you won’t have any problems.”