"J'zargo does not understand."

"Oh, I heard that Nords don't like magic so that'd explain why they wouldn't use it so much."

"Most of us don't," Onmund sighs again. "My parents didn't want me to come here at all. They wanted me to be a farmer or something more normal. It took years of convincing them that this is where I'm meant to be."

"Good to see you are getting to know each other already," says a suddenly-appearing Mirabelle. Both humans and the elf startle but the khajiit seems unfazed. "Are you all ready to go?"

"Yes," says J'zargo, shutting his book and sending it to his room, telekinetically.

"You don't have Deep Storage?"

J'zargo looks at him with... some kind of cat facial expression. "If J'zargo were knowledgeable and powerful enough to cast it J'zargo would not need to be here."

Oh so it's a powerful spell. Okay. Good to know. And annoying.

"Well, shall we?"

"We shall," says Mirabelle with some amusement.

(Okay so Onmund is only into men, judging from... body language and such. Ruby's fantasies with him and Brelyna will need to be adjusted.)

(...he wonders what a barbed cock would feel like...)

(His brain should shut up, he doesn't even have the memories of what a non-barbed cock feels like.)

"So, the school has five towers, as you all know: the Hall of Attainment, the Hall of Countenance, the Hall of Acumen, the Hall of Diligence, and the Hall of the Elements. This tower, the Hall of Attainment, is where new students and guests are housed. The four of you are here, as well as," the barest hint of a pause, "Ancano, local representative of the Thalmor." She nods in the direction of the room taken by none of the apprentices. "The last group of Apprentices used to room upstairs." But she doesn't elaborate, and nods in the direction of the wall opposite to the entrance. "Two floors up gets you to the parapets, and the lower floor has your communal washroom—which is not entirely necessary, the enchanted basins in your rooms can be used both as a chamberpot and for washing, they are heavily enchanted—as well as some areas for personal study and research. The door at the bottom of the stairs will lead you to the Subterrarium, of which I will speak later, but the door at the bottom of the stairs in the Hall of Countenance will instead get you to the Midden, the foundations and tunnels and catacombs of the structure."

(Why the fuck does a school have catacombs.)

"Let's go visit the rest of the school, then," she says, and through the door.

J'zargo casts the warmth spells on himself and follows after, while Onmund and Brelyna just rely on their clothes' properties, physical or magical.

The enchantments Enthir placed on Ruby have long since expired so he's also relying just on the inherent enchantments of the apprentice garbs. But it turns out that's all mostly unnecessary, for the courtyard itself seems enchanted with that. Mirabelle first walks near to the entrance of the whole school to gesture at the map that's attached to a wooden board there.

Map of the College Grounds

"The Hall of Countenance has more student and researcher lodgings while the school's permanent staff, with the exception of the Archmage, is housed in Acumen and Diligence, teachers in the latter and other staff in the former, although this rule is not strict. Acumen also houses a cantina with tables and chairs for a meeting and socialisation point, while Diligence has a few extra laboratories and experiment rooms."

She is walking them to the Hall of the Elements as she speaks. "These two semicircular buildings to either side of us here in the courtyard are the Lustratoriums, the one with tropical flora to the left and the one with alpine flora to the right. Both of them have stairs down into the area I mentioned earlier, the Subterrarium, which houses more exotic specimens including some animals. You may collect parts of the more common plants for alchemy at will, within reason, and you can place requests for the others with Thelsa Andalas, our herbologist and Alchemy instructor, or myself."

After she finishes the explanation she steps into Elements. "The large room up ahead is our lecture hall," she says, stopping and turning around to face the students. "These gates will nearly never be shut, and anyone can join ongoing lectures, but sometimes the Archmage or I might be hosting official diplomatic meetings which are not to be disturbed."

Onmund leans in the direction of the other three and whispers, "I don't know about you guys but this all is making me kind of excited."

"J'zargo shares your feelings," says the khajiit, but Brelyna doesn't say anything to it and chews on her lower lip a bit.

"This is all making me want to go exploring all over," admits Ruby. "Especially these catacombs, that sounds cool."

"I would advise against that," says Mirabelle, not turning around as she leads them downstairs. "The Midden has been infested with draugar lately and you will want to be very sure of yourself before venturing in."

"'Draugar'?"

"Unholy abominations. Dead risen through dread rituals that trap their souls within their bodies. If you don't destroy the vessels completely they'll just keep coming back, trapped forever."

"The practice of soul-affecting necromancy is strictly forbidden by the College and grounds for immediate expulsion as well as the involvement of authorities," Mirabelle says promptly.

And presumably they're dangerous, alright.

"Here is where you will have your practical lessons," she says when they reach the basement floor. The center room is very similar to the lecture hall above except it doesn't have the seats. Surrounding it is a magical forcefield that keeps it contained from the semicircular alchemy lab to one side and enchantment lab to the other. There are two people in that room right now: an argonian—lizardlike face studded with horns and bone protrusions, a long crocodile tail, claws, scales covering all of her body—and an orc, or Orsimer—the most recognisable elf subspecies, with typically-green skin and a huge underbite with protruding tusks. They're sparring, and the magical barrier is good enough that the apprentices are completely insulated from the sounds. "The arena is open to free use on evenings and weekends. If any group of people enters it while other groups are already in there, the arena will be split radially to house up to five separate groups.

"On weekdays the arena is reserved for lessons, and usually no more than two groups tend to use it at the same time, but it depends on teachers' availabilities and willingness. Every teacher is required to teach at least one lesson a week but some may do more at their pleasure.

"The College is mostly dedicated to self-study and personal improvement of one's abilities. As an Apprentice, you do not need to attend any given class, be it practical or a lecture, so long as you are not deemed to just be using the College as free housing with no intent to progress in your skills. You may choose to make use of the arena or libraries or experimental areas as your sole resources of study if you wish, or you may exclusively attend lessons on the specific areas you wish to improve on, or you could go to all lessons if you desire. The College is here to be used by you in your own quest for excellence."