

: Well, no, I haven't, but I'll gladly take the task!

: Wait, I think something's missing... Ah, of course.

: HEY YOU! WAKE UP!
*snore* Wha..? Whozawhat...

: It's update o'clock!
Oh, right.

The very first block of this dungeon is an interesting one. It's a big hall with a pyramid-like structure. One side has stairs that lead to an altar. You can look inside the pyramid from up there.

The "pyramid" lacks the top, and it opens into halls below it. They usually aren't flooded, so this here is a rare occurrence. There's not much down there, just four small, usually locked rooms. Also, it's hard, sometimes even impossible, to get out of there. Unless you can fly, of course, but since this one is flooded, we'd be surrounded by aquatic enemies if we went down, so let's not.
Anyway, this block also has some corridors above the hall, but you can't normally get into them from down here. So we explore the next one and find the way up there.

The dungeon, by the way, is full of Monks. As enemies, they're the same as warriors, but with some extra magic resistance. Nothing hard for us.
This dungeon also has a few gargoyles and LOTS of Orc Shamans. I got tired of dealing with their Fire Storms, so I'll definitely make a trinket with a Fire Resistance spell when I'm out.
Eventually, we find our target.


: So, another fool tries to stop my advance. Fall before my might, insect!

: Oh, I'll show you who's the fool here. Hint - it's not me!
AI + ground edge = assured suicide. Enemies always go straight at you, only rarely stepping back or to the side only to try and go straight at you again. They don't normally walk off the edges, but if your attack pushes them back, they can make one step too many. Like here - a few blasts of Master Spark from where this guy couldn't hit us made him lose his footing and plummet to his doom.

: How anticlimactic.
Be careful, though. This can cause enemies to just fall through the floor into the Void instead. Avoid such situations if you want to loot the body or need to make sure the enemy's dead (like for a quest here).
By the way, this platform is above the pyramid we were at when we entered. We can even see the hole at the top from here. Also, there's a ledge along the other walls at this altitude. It can't normally be reached, but if you can fly easily, check it out as well, there are quite a few loot piles up there.
Anyway, we explore the rest of the dungeon, and behind one of the locked doors (which didn't unlock so we had to break it; yeah, you can break down the locked doors here) we find...


: Oh, hey, if it isn't Alice!

: ...Marisa, is it necessary for you to break into every room along your way?

: Of course it is! But it's quite a surprise to meet you. What are you doing here?

: Well, what does it look like? Studying local magic, of course!

: Hey, what a coincidence! Why don't we join forces, then?

: No thanks. You'll just steal the results in the end.

: Oh, come on, I'm not THAT bad.

: Look, I prefer solitude while I work, okay?

: Well, if you say so. Take care!
Speaking of which, it's a good idea to work on our own magic once we're out of the dungeon. First off, I made a bracelet of fire protection, like planned, but also made a ring of shock protection, in case we meet more human spellcasters - their favorite spell is a melee-range electric bolt. Next, let's check out that candle we get as the reward.

Not bad. With this and that shirt we have, we won't need fireball as a spell, since it's actually pretty costly.
Speaking of which, time to revamp our attack spells. I made the same set (sans fireball), with same casting costs, but with minimal base damage and 3-4 per-level damage. We're level 12 at the moment. Yeah, we can literally burn everything in our path now.
So, next quest.

Oh, it's another prophesy thing. Well, there's a second way to do it, so let's take it. After visiting Acolyte, don't go fetch the Oracle, but go straight to the noble instead.


: I... don't see any point in that. I mean, he's just sitting here being worried, not actively looking for his lover. Why can't he sit somewhere else?
Daggerfall logic. But let's help him and find his beloved one in the dungeon he mentioned.
The dungeon is full of wereboars, which fall to just a few blasts of our magic, harpies, which aren't really dangerous and fall in melee easily, and ghosts, which hit hard, but are very vulnerable to our new magic. But also, this dungeon has dragonlings. They're very resistant to magic, so melee is the only choice. They're tough and hard to hit, and their fire breath hurts a lot (and is actually just a melee attack, so the bracelet won't help here).

: Ow... Even small dragons are strong, huh...
Eventually, we find and rescue the lady.


: Prophetic dream, huh? What a coincidence!
Well, we return and reunite the lovers.


: So wait, he doesn't believe an ORACLE'S dream is prophetic, but his lover's is? What's wrong with this guy?
Love is blind. Or something.
Anyway, we found a magic item in the dungeon.

Adds agility when worn. Good to have on in any dungeon.


: Again?
Well, if it involves a dungeon crawl, who are we to complain?

: Right.
So, this dungeon has a new variety of human enemies.

Spellswords. Both a mage and a warrior. Means we have to deal with spellcasters on a regular basis this time. In addition to close-range shock spell, it turns out they can also throw fireballs. Well, good thing I have those two elemental trinkets! These humans are quite formidable in melee as well, though. And guess what, our paralysis staff doesn't want to work on them consistently.

: Why did you make it, again?
To see that it's not worth the price, it seems.

Also, there are a lot of Fire Daedra here. They're quite strong in melee, but we have ice spells for a reason!
Also, there's quite a number on iron
golems atrona-- screw it golems, but they're not the ones we look for. Eventually, we find the one.

It's a fire one and... the daedra consider it their bro?

: This looks like a hot party, but it's time for you guys to chill out!
Not pictured: two more fire daedra to the left that clearly didn't like the puns. Also, learned the hard way that if they stay too far, they can actually cast Fire Storm. In short, we barely survived this one.
Anyway, we return to the guild, and there are some good news!


: Sounds like something awesome! Can we try it out?
We can, but the nearest summoning date we'd want is in two months.

: What the hell?! What am I supposed to do all this time?!
Do quests until you're the Archmage?

: Too dull!
Well, why don't you fight the Archmage right away to take over the place?

: Good idea. I might just do that.
Well, the Archmage is in the library now.


: ...I didn't expect that.

: Hello, Marisa.

: Uh, Patchy, why are you here?

: I like reading books.

: That's not what I meant!

: I'm the head of the guild. And I don't like that you wanted to take over my place here.

: Well, I'm better fit to take it and I'm gonna show you that now!
The resulting battle almost brought down the whole building, so both were booted from the guild. The end.
Well, those were the adventures of Marisa, a book thief and a--

: Hey...
Huh?

: Do I... really look like a pillow?
...Yes. You look soft and fluffy.

: ...I see. Goodbye then.
Geez.
Anyway, trying out all the magic can do was interesting. It's not obviously overpowered, but when you get things rolling, nothing can stop you. Things can be hard at first, but by the end magic can be way stronger than weapons. And lowest HP growth isn't all that much of a problem, really. Well, that ends this run.
...But I can't leave the most curious bit unexplained, now can I?
BONUS: So, daedra summoning...

This is the daedra summoner of the Mages Guild. On certain days of the year, you can summon a certain daedra lord. They're pretty much the gods of this world, and if you talk to them, they offer you an artifact if you do a quest for them. The quests aren't any harder than any others, but frankly, artifacts aren't all that good. It's usually just a weapon or some other item with several standard enchantments. The price to summon a daedra lord is very high - over 100k gold! And did I mention they might decide not to answer? You can try to summon them again in the same day, but that's another 100k. Really, you can just make an item or a few with similar effects of you want to.
But there ARE a few artifacts with unique effects. For example, meet Sanguine.

Charming fellow, isn't he? Here's his artifact.

If you use it, it summons a Daedroth that fights for you! It's... useless. The beastie distracts enemies it fights with, but it's not too effective at actually fighting.
Okay, let's try another one.


...Uh... yeah. This is... Sheogorath. He's... being Sheogorath as usual, I guess? Anyway, how can you say "no" to such a dandy chap like him?


...err... Make a SAN roll?
Anyway, this quest needs you to go through TWO dungeons, but then you finally get your reward.

Now, Wabbajack is a staff with a unique effect. No, it's not "crashing early versions of the game", that one's not unique. Say, you meet a powerful enemy.


: I'll swallow your soul!
Well, just hit it with that staff!


: *swears in Daedric*
Useful, isn't it? Well, the creature the victim turns into is random. They say it can even turn into a lich, but other possibilities aren't too strong, and if used against extremely dangerous enemies it makes things easier in any case.
Okay, NOW we're done with this run. It was a fun ride. There's more to go, so until then!
SPOILER: I actually already started the next character. It's a bit harder than pure mage, but I'm having quite a blast!
Please watch warmly...