The Midden is the College’s basement from hell: a frozen dungeon sprawling beneath the College of Winterhold in Winterhold. Trap doors lead down from the courtyard, just north of the Hall of the Elements door, and from under the stairs in the Hall of Countenance. Even Tolfdir admits it’s not a nice place. Mages come here for the Atronach Forge, several College quests and a mysterious voice locked away in the deep.
What you’ll find
- Enemies – draugr, frostbite spiders, ice wraiths and skeletons.
- The upper Midden – a room with four openings (only one unbarred, leading to a long drop), an empty jail cell, a snowy pillared hall and a waterfall room.
- The Atronach Forge – a summoning altar in its own side room, with its manual on a nearby table.
- The Midden Dark – ice caves, a bridge, web-blocked passages, sewer-like tunnels, a skeleton pit guarded by two draugr and an alchemy lab.
- The sculpted hand – a strange statue tied to the summoning ritual described in the Midden Incident Report.
- The Augur of Dunlain – behind a locked door at the very bottom sits the Augur of Dunlain. Velehk Sain is also linked to this place.
Quests
- Forgotten Names – summon the Dremora pirate Velehk Sain.
- Good Intentions – consult the Augur about the Eye of Magnus.
- Illusion Ritual Spell – gather Master Illusion Texts for Drevis Neloren.
- Restoration Ritual Spell – Colette Marence sends you to the Augur.
Notable items
- Alchemy skill book De Rerum Dirennis on the alchemy lab in the Midden Dark.
- Atronach Forge Manual and a Master Illusion Text near the forge.
- An orichalcum ingot on a wardrobe by the forge, and four refined moonstone ingots in a basket up in the rafters.
- Two bowls of fire salts, plus rubies set in an elk skull’s eye sockets.
- A skeleton with a leveled enchanted dagger near the Hall of Countenance entrance.
- Midden Incident Report and Investigator’s Key in the hand-sculpture room.
- Plenty of torchbug thoraxes along the path.
Tips
In the Midden Dark, dropping from the ledge beside the gold chest means no climbing back – but don’t panic, the lower caverns loop around to the bridge eventually. Bring a blade for the spider webs, and keep a light source handy, since the lower caves barely show up on the map. Look up in the rafters; moonstone ingots don’t usually hide in baskets, but here they do.
Good to know
The Incident Report describes students killed during a summoning ritual and four rings pried from a sculpture, supposedly now kept in the Arcanaeum.
Details checked against community wiki articles and the Skyrim game files, summarised in our own words.
