| “ | Nords don't trust magic, or those that use it. Made it difficult for me growing up. | „ |
| ~ Onmund |
Onmund is an apprentice at the college of Winterhold in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. He is one of three apprentice mages the Dovahkiin will come across when they get rolled into the College, the other two being Brelyna Maryon and J'zargo, all of which can be befriended by him/her.
Role
Upon being enrolled into the college, the Dragonborn will first come across him in the Arcaneum. Their, he, the Dragonborn, and several other mages watch a demonstration on how to cast wards. If asked why he joined the College during the demonstration, he will respond saying he defected from his parent's wishes of him becoming either a farmer or a hunter, stating he wanted to be different from his family for a change.
Afterwards, he will participate in the excavation at the Nordic crypt called Saathral.
After the Dragonborn finds and relocates the Eye of Magnus in the tomb to the College, Onmund will ask for a request from the Dragonborn, stating that he wants to get an amulet belonging to his family back from Enthir after trading it with him, a decision he regretted. After speaking to the swindling merchant about this incident, the Dragonborn will then go on an adventure to locate a staff in order to obtain the amulet from Enthir, once they return the amulet to Onmund, he will become recruitable as a follower
He can also become a potential candidate for marriage, or even a steward
Personality
Onmund is self-conscious about his people and his culture conflicting with his desired vocation in life. Onmund talks about how his parents are disappointed in his desire to practice magic over being a great warrior or even a simple farmer. Ultimately Onmund's parents did allow him to go to the Collage of Winterhold to practice magic, though this was only accomplished after years of appealing to/waring down their opposition. While Onmund is seen as a radical among Nord culture, pursuing a corrupting path (practicing magic), he is actually very quaint and old-fashioned in comparison to the other mages. Onmund still has reservations about things like disturbing tombs, even just for archeologically purposes. He is noticeably put off by necromancy and shamelessly still worships the contested and illegal god Talos even with a Thalmor, an inquisitor with legal right to have him locked up for worshiping said god, on school grounds as a high-ranking authority consultant. He originally is resentful of his parents but after giving up his family keepsake realizes that their ties are important to him no matter what.
Despite his relative conservative manner Onmund seems to have no problem getting along with Brelyna Maryon, who is an enthusiastic conjurer and whose culture is steeped in the practical application of dark-magic. Onmund also has no seen issues with Phinis Gestor, the resident necromancer, or even J'zargo, who proudly wears his blatant lust for power on his sleeve. More than anything Onmund seems to be put off to how magic is used as being dangerous and not the inherent power or people as some-how being unholy or wrong.
Powers and Abilities
Onmund is the only one of the three potential followers among the Winterhold students who will heal himself frequently and even the player. While Brelyna has a self heal ability she rarely uses it and can be put into dangerous situations if overwhelmed, and while J'zargo is the most mystically adapt of the three, he concentrates purely on offense; However Onmund promptly tends to his and the player's wounds whenever he can. His favored offensive ability is electrical spells such as Sparks or Thunderbolt. He will break-out use of Ward spells to protect himself from magical attacks and raise his defense. While Brelyna's preferred school is Conjuration with some advanced Illusion on the side, and J'zargo is exclusively Destruction, Onmund seems to delve into Restoration far more not just for healing and warding but for turning undead. Onmund has the lowest level cap of the three and so while his spells can advance his actual physical stats become relatively weak very quickly, (though as with all followers this can be corrected by giving him powerful enchanted items to wear). Onmund has a bow and arrow as a character default but since he is a mage he never relies on them, instead going purely for electrical blasts to deal with problems near and far. As lightning abilities in the game harm both health and magicka reserves, this along with his restoration arsenal makes him most useful when going up against necromancers and vampires as he can not only counter their undead minions but deplete their spell casting and health at the same time.
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