I don't get it; have joined the Mage's college and done the first quest (awhile ago). Since then I have been off gallivanting around; I went into the Miscellaneous section of the Journal and decided to visit Shrine of Azureus. When I got there the attendant mage attacked me; is evidently essential, as I could only beat'em down, as opposed to kill'em. Then I went to 'Hit the Books' at the college and was attacked by an essential mage again.

Why?

...is it a bug?

...if not, then; when I speculate, the best I can come up with is that I probably have a bounty in the local town (Winterhold?). Other than that, I have no idea.

I appreciate any insight anyone may be able to give.

No one?

I Googled this question before posting here; were no useful responses, but it was evident that I'm far from the only one to experience this.

If your talking about the Shrine of Azura, then I think the mage there gets angry with you if you complete her quest, but turn Azura's Star into the Black Star. This may have made her hostile to you, but it's just a guess.

Thank you for the response. I didn't do that quest yet (guess I got the Divines name wrong, though).

This is my first visit to the shrine.

Bumpity bump-bump