On the blood samples that Septimus is sending me out to gather: can the blood samples be from generic npcs rather than Major NPCs such as Dinya Balu? If so, since I've got no compass markers AGAIN, where should I look for the generic flavor, if that's the way to go.

Thanks for any help. G

Yes, anyone of those races will do.

First of all, yes. Generic 'High Elf' is fine. If you run through Alftand again, I think all blood samples can be found there.

Not Dunmer, you'll have to find that elsewhere. Closest would be http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Bleakcoast_Cave

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Discerning_the_Transmundane the wiki has some good spots

My go-to spots are:

1) Alftand. Go to the Cathedral through the lift. Then to the Animonculary. You will find a falmer corpse. You will also find a High Elf corpse.

2) Raveniegs Fast. You will find the rest of what you need here: Dark Elf, Orc, Wood Elf. This dungeon does not respawn, so if you already cleared it, it is a simple matter to run in and grab all the samples you need.