Author's Note at the end.

Chapter 1

The College of Winterhold had long been the premier institution for learning magic in all of Skyrim. Once a powerhouse of a city now nothing but a shadow of its former glory, a fact that many Nords blamed on the College. Inside however, the research on all things Aetherial and Oblivion went on as always, ignoring the angry Nords right outside the bridge spanning the gap between the city of Winterhold and the College.

Inside the Hall of the Elements, space once used for lectures was now filled with bits of dwarven metal and machinery. The College had recently began a series of expeditions into Blackreach, the Dwemer city beneath most of northern Skyrim, and had found more information on the long vanished race of elves than had been found throughout the whole of the 4th Era. Foremost among this was the machine the apprentices were hard at work assembling, a device built by the dwemer to see into other planes of Mundus, Aetherius and Oblivion. The machine had an oval shape at the front of it, similar to where a mirror would rest with gears and boxes behind it, all whirring and churning quietly. Of note was a long slot just behind the viewing oval, seemingly made to hold a staff with many small arms ready to hold such a staff up. A series of tubes connected the device to a box of levers

The machine was lacking many parts, most having been looted by the Falmer or other adventurers over the centuries. However, thanks to the assistance of the Altmer mage Calcelmo, who was directing the efforts said apprentices while looking over a blueprint for the machine, the machine was retrofitted to work again allowing the College to see what the dwemer saw so long ago

This leads us to Julius, the Archmage of the College, Dragonborn and all around hero, not that he'd agree. He simply stood watching the proceedings, clad as always in his suit of heavy armor with a longsword at his hip. Idly leaning next to him on a pillar was a strange staff, adorned with what appeared to be a rose at the top of it with the rest of the haft bare of ornamentation. The man in question was hesitant about this experiment, to say the least. This experiment was one of the more ambitious under taken by the College. Julius couldn't help but worry about the idea of peering into a realm of Oblivion, even one ruled by Sanguine. When Julius had last met the Daedric Lord, and won the Staff from him, the Daedra had been jovial and more inclined to enjoy a good joke. But, Julius had not survived as long as he had by underestimating the Daedra and even the kindest of them might be angered at a trespasser into their realms. And Sanguine was fickle and what he saw as a joke could be seen much differently by mortals.

Fortunately for Julius, the apprentices shared his thoughts as Onmund, a young Nord man dressed in the robes of the College, stood up from his work on the device and spoke to Calcelmo. "Master, are you sure this is safe? To look into the realm of the Gods…"

Across the room, a Khajiit snorted. "Do not be a cowardly kitten, Onmund. J'zargo is not afraid of the anger of a drunken Daedra" The Khajiit sneered, as much as a cat man could sneer that is, before returning to work.

A young Dunmer woman walked over to Julius, wringing her hands from her own unease. "Jul-Archmage, are you sure this is safe?"

Julius looked at her and gave her a kind smile before replying. "Brelyna, we'll be fine. You'll see." As she walked away however, Julius's smile fell before he sighed. Calcelmo's voice rang out. "All of you, be quiet and get back to work! We're too close for lolly gagging!"

Behind Julius a set of quiet footsteps could be heard before a Nord woman appeared next to Julius, dressed in oddly regal black and armor unlike the rest of the College. Also unlike the rest of the room, she wasn't technically alive, having sold her soul to Molag Bal long ago to become a Daughter of Coldharbor, a vampire. She looked at Julius. "So, guess it's happening then?"

He nodded back. "Yup. The plan is to look into Sanguine's realm. It's the safest Daedra that we can talk to."

The woman smirked as she replied. "You mean, the safest Daedra who's artifact you have."

Julius simply looked at her, his deadpan tone leaden with sarcasm. "Yes Serana, that's the reason we chose Sanguine. I'm lazy."

Serana winked and hit his shoulder lightly. "That's why you need me to motivate you. Otherwise, nothing would get done."

Julius rolled his eyes, clearly having had this banter before but before he could retort Calcelmo walked over to the Archmage, a hand extended. "We're ready. The staff please?"

Julius scowled back and took the staff himself before replying. "I'll put the staff into the device, thank you. Just place it in the center slot right?"

The Altmer nodded and pointed at the slot. "Just hold it there until the arms grab it then we can begin the experiment." Julius nodded then stepped forward, holding the staff in the space until the arms grabbed the staff, holding it up as Julius stepped back. Calcelmo grinned and threw a lever, crying out jubilantly. "Here we go!" The machine began to whirr louder as lighting began to crackle along the staff. Calcelmo nodded as the other mages in the room all stepped away. He looked at Julius, crying out over the din of the machine. "Get in front of it." He threw the second switch and a purple film appeared over the staff, hiding it from view. The film shimmered until Calcelmo threw the next lever and the film turned into a visible picture showing a long table filled with men drinking, yelling and otherwise carrying on. And, at the far side of the table stood a tall dremora in daedric armor.

Julius yelled to Calcelmo. "It's working! I can see the Misty Grove!" Calcelmo nodded, grinning madly as he began to take down notes, stepping over near Julius to continue taking notes. In the screen, the dremora at the far end of the table stood from his chair and began walking down towards the screen, a languid smile on his inhuman face. Julius looked at Calcelmo, his face showing concern as he yelled over the noise of the machine. "Get back to the controls!" The Altmer ignored him, still taking notes of what he saw as the dremora drew closer and closer before finally looking directly at the two observers. He considered the two for a moment then grinned before saying one brief sentence. "Have fun, Dovahkiin." Julius's eyes went wide with panic as the daedra raised a hand, glowing with power and pressed it against the other side of the screen before the machine backfired, issuing a large puff of smoke as the machinery began to work faster and faster. The screen flickered away as the staff behind it began to glow, the din of machine growing with the light coming from the staff

Calcelmo ran back to the controls and pulled the last lever, trying to stop the device. However, the machine kept running harder and harder, the staff glowing brighter and brighter. Julius yelled out to the room. "Get behind me!", and raised his hands, throwing up a Ward as the apprentices and Serana moved behind him, the apprentices likewise throwing up their hands and adding their power to the shield. Calcelmo kept working the levers, yelling out something that was lost over the din in the Hall. Finally, the glowing staff seemed to reach a critical stage and exploded with light, filling the hall with energy before vanishing, taking with it the machine, its controls and everyone in the hall.

Author's Note: Hello everyone, this is the kingofthings, or king for short. Been wandering the world of fanfic for some time so I figured I'd take a shot at it. This is my first fanfic so I do ask for plenty of constructive criticism. Shocker I know but asking for mercy wouldn't help me be a better writer and would just keep my writing boring. Dunno when this'll be updated, hopefully soon if my schedule permits. Most likely withing the next couple days I'll post another chapter (not gonna leave stuff on a cliff hanger for a week). Thanks for reading and see you all again soon!