The College of Winterhold in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is an ideal place to learn magic. Many Nords scorn the use of spells, so students of the craft opt to practice within the safety of the college’s walls. That said, the College of Winterhold hosts its fair share of dangers — some of which are brought upon by its own students.
When entering the College of Winterhold in Skyrim, the player can undertake a variety of quests, whether it’s the faction’s primary questline or side quests involving fellow magic practitioners. However, there is one unmarked quest that the player can undertake — one with a ghastly story behind it. And it’s hiding deep in the Midden Dark.
The Midden Incident and the Forgotten Names Quest in Skyrim
The College of Winterhold is no stranger to controversy. For one, necromancy is permitted so long as the locals don’t see them practicing it. Additionally, students can freely undertake all sorts of experiments in the Midden — a subterranean dungeon beneath the college — likely without the supervision of instructors. This is what happened to the Augur of Dunlain, a now incorporeal entity that was once a gifted student. Though another, lesser-known mishap born from the college’s carelessness is known as “The Midden Incident.”
Should the player journey into the depths of the Midden and even deeper into the Midden Dark, they’ll find a large, circular room with a strange artifact in the center. This artifact will be standing atop a thin pedestal — a black sculpture in the shape of a hand, with a Daedric symbol etched into its palm. To one side of the room will be a table where the player can pick up the Midden Incident Report, as well as the Investigator's Key.
Reading the report will reveal what had taken place in the chamber. An unnamed investigator writes that the missing students had been found in the Midden, dead. Their bodies suffered from peeled and burning skin around the arms and face — a clear sign of conjurer’s burns. With this evidence, the investigator deduces that the students were attempting a powerful summoning ritual that inevitably overpowered them.
The unnamed investigator then goes on to describe the artifact, confirming that it’s Daedric in nature, and that it’s the first time they’ve seen anything like it. While it proved impossible to move the artifact from its place, the investigator managed to take four rings out of each of the sculpture’s fingers and store them safely in the Arcanaeum. Unfortunately, this is where the trail runs cold. No other notes or books mention the Midden Incident, nor can the player talk to other NPCs about what happened. All that’s left is to undertake the summoning ritual themselves.
Meeting Velehk Sain
In the Arcanaeum, the player will find the Master Investigator’s Box with the four rings from the incident report — Katarina's Ring, Treoy's Ring, Balwen's Ring, and Pithi's Ring. If the Orc librarian, Urag gro-Shub, catches the player taking the rings, he will turn hostile and attempt to take the rings back. Should he succeed, the player will not be able to retrieve them anymore.
After acquiring all four of the ornamental rings, the player must return to the summoning chamber in the Midden Dark and place the rings on each of the fingers of the Daedric artifact. Doing this will initiate the ritual and summon a Dremora dressed in pirate’s garb into the chamber. The Dremora, Velehk Sain, goes on to reveal that he was trapped in the artifact for some time, and that the player’s actions broke the binding spell. At one point, he also says, “Their souls are trapped in Oblivion,” suggesting that the students who attempted the summoning were also the ones who bound him, though it sent their souls to Oblivion as a consequence.
By now, the player will be presented with a choice. Velehk explains that there’s no point in killing him. After all, the kids who did this were already dead. So the Dremora bargain, asking that the player free him instead. In return, Velehk promises them a bountiful treasure. Alternatively, the player can simply kill Velehk and avenge the fallen students.
Should the player agree to free Velehk, the Dremora will instruct them to say, “Velehk Sain, I release you.” This will effectively unbind him from the curse. After which, he’ll present the player with a map to the treasure and be on his way, teleporting out of the Midden Dark. The map will take the player to an island off the west coast of Winterhold, where the treasure will be nestled close to a Shrine of Talos. Killing Velehk, on the other hand, will make it impossible to claim the map and treasure. Though Velehk will drop scimitars, a daedra heart, and Hammerfell garbs.
Skyrim’s Infamous Pirate King
Regardless of what the player decides, they can learn more about the strange Dremora pirate by reading the “Pirate King of the Abecean,” an ode to the titular pirate king. Its text tells of a fearsome pirate, powerful enough to sink all forms of ships — be it Empire Galleons or Elven Skiffs. It even refers to this pirate king by name: Captain Velehk Sain. Though the book doesn’t mention anything about his Daedric nature, the verses hint at it. It writes that the pirate king tears his victims open and eats their hearts raw, his eyes gleaming red all the while. Seems this seemingly exaggerated tale was very much true to life.
Knowing this, perhaps the students at the College of Winterhold were holding the summoning ritual in hopes of trapping the pirate king forever — never to capsize another ship again. This seems to be the most likely story as they did end up binding the Dremora to the artifact. Thus, it seems it’s up to the player to decide whether to end the pirate king’s bloody streak for good or to let him return to terrorizing the seas. Which will it be, Dragonborn?
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
