A Brief History of the Skyrim Mages Guild.
By Tunve Silinaire, Historian of the Bard's College in Solitude. Written in 4E 18.
Throughout Skyrim's history as a land under the Akaviri Potentate and the Septim Dynasty, there has never been such a more controversial organization than the Skyrim Mages Guild. It was first established in the year 2E 336, fifteen years after the Guild Act's signage into law by Potentate Versidue-Shaie in 2E 321. However, the Mages Guild and Skyrim's College of Winterhold already existed prior to this new decree. The Mages Guild had been founded nearly a century before in the year 2E 230 by Vanus Galerion in the city-state of Firsthold on the island of Auridon, which itself is part of the Summerset Isles. Although this was what it had been called, citizens of the city-state and its Kindom, as well as many on Auridon and Summerset Isle—even the Psijic Order too—had referred to it by other names. They were the Firsthold Mages Guild, the Auridon Mages Guild, and the Summerset Isles Mages Guild; all titles this institution once held and were since repurposed to address each of these individual chapters as the guild expanded. Both before when it spread across the Summerset Isles and after the Guild Act's signage. Retaining the general title of Mages Guild which has come to encompass the entire guild and each of its many branches throughout Tamriel.
Just as the Summerset Isles had both the Psijic Order of Artaeum and the Mages Guild, so too did Skyrim have the College of Winterhold. It was the only organization dedicated to the study of magic across the entire Hold and throughout the province as a whole. And it was just as selective it is today, but its student body and faculty back then consisted solely of Nords. Nords are a warrior people and have been since their Atmoran ancestry. Very few were practitioners of what they have called the Clever Craft, a type of magic unique to them, and were worshippers of Jhunal, the Rune God, whom has since been replaced by Julianos. Though a vast majority of Nords distrusted magic, they still relied on Clever Men to cast magic and explain it to them. The College has always been able to maintain this responsibility and it has a reputation of being the only institution Nords trust. It is a bit similar to the Psijic Order in that regard and of being the only institution available, which was an isolation not unlike the Psijic Order's exclusivity to Artaeum. Where the two differ though, is that the Psijic Order would send its mages to join royal courts across the Summerset Isles. While the College of Winterhold's mages remained secluded in their institution, away from royal courts.
No one knows when the College of Winterhold was first founded exactly. Some say it was founded by Shalidor, the famous Nord Arch-Mage and Clever Man, in the First Era. However, this is a rather unconvincing claim without evidence to support it. This does not necessarily mean that the College was not established in the First Era since it may have been. The earliest record referring to it is Brother Mathnan's "Atlas of Dragons," the short list of eleven known dragons slain by the Akaviri Dragonguard with a referral to twelve unnamed dragons. A total of twenty-three. Brother Mathnan was a member of the Dragonguard and he penned this list in the year 2E 373. The College of Winterhold's mention was in the section entitled "Slain by the Dragonguard," specifically right at the top. There, it says College mages aided in the confirmation of Grahkrindrog's name after he had been slain in 2E 184 following massacres he committed in Winterhold and Eastmarch. Though it does not specify when the College's mages assisted, either during that year or sometime after it passed. Unfortunately, it is the only record of its existence in the Early Second Era as there are no longer any other records from then. The earliest held records retained by the College date from the Late Second Era. But it does imply a more likely founding date could be in the Early Second Era, whether before or after the year of 2E 184 when they were helping identify Grahkrindrog's name.
The Skyrim Mages Guild, during its first founding in the province, struggled to be relevant. The Nords saw no use for it, claiming the magicks it introduced were too dangerous. They did not trust the Skyrim Mages Guild. It was not a part of their accepted history and ancestry of the Clever Craft. So the guild floundered and eventually shut down in time due to little interest in its activity.
Until the year 3E 28 when Tiber Septim, progenitor of the Septim Dynasty and founder of the Third Empire, called for its reestablishment. Under his decree, the Skyrim Mages Guild opened its doors again in 3E 28 before expanding to the other Holds. Falkreath Hold was given the honor of being the first to have a guildhall founded in its city under this circumstance. This building was known as the Falkreath Mages Guild, and like its predecessor before it, the organization was faced with the same distrust, hostility, and suspicion as before. Fortunately, the bias against the guildhall was not as great as it once was under the Akaviri Potentate in the Second Era. Skyrim's Nords had become devout followers of Tiber Septim, known to them as Talos, who ascended and became the Ninth Divine. So they believed he knew the guild could become one of Skyrim's assets. Some had even joined in the hope of becoming the next Zurin Arctus or the next Shalidor despite the College of Winterhold. Which still accepted applicants from Skyrim's oldest Nord families to educate them in the Clever Craft while rejecting invitations to become a second guildhall. It viewed the Falkreath Mages Guild as a random upstart organization. And it allegedly taught magic wielded by Shalidor.
But the Falkreath Mages Guild was not what the College expected. It was the first and only institution reestablished in Skyrim to serve as a branch of the Mages Guild. The guildhall had been meant to become the province's leading organization on magic once the full provincial branch was constructed in full. However, the issue of competition with the College of Winterhold as a pair of isolated organizations was as much a hindrance to it as it was to the College. So too was the distrust of Nords who still doubted the guildhall's significance and Nords simply suspicious of the schools of magic in general. This perspective was fueled in part by their warrior culture and by those oldest Nord families whom had been both practitioners of the Clever Craft and respectful towards its use. Leaving the majority of Nords unconvinced even though they let it stay on a matter of faith in the Emperor. The reception was mixed and it was thought the guildhall would likely remain for some time like its prior incarnation before dissolving and returning to Cyrodiil from whence it had come.
This idea is simply ridiculous because when an institution is established with the intent for it to grow beyond its foundation and with high political ambition desiring its success, it would not close up shop and pack its things. Nords who were not as skeptical and disdainful realized this and believed it was a matter of time before the Falkreath Mages Guild expanded throughout the Hold. Which it did against the theory that it would be stretching its resources and durability quite thin by opening more guildhalls. And thus reach a point when the invasion onto their culture would recede whether in short order or in time longer than that. It did not happen, coming as a surprise to Nords whom held this perspective. Especially since Jarl Valhvir Stonearm, who governed Falkreath Hold at the time, agreed to both its founding and expansion. Her reason being to curry favor with Tiber Septim so his backing would strengthen her credibility and claim for candidacy to Skyrim's High Queenship if the Moot was held. Because she was their ruler, the Nords of Falkreath Hold accepted their Hold's Mages Guild and its expansion. And more of them started joining this new institution.
But popular consensus among Nords outside the Hold was still not in favor. It was believed the Falkreath Mages Guild would not expand to other Holds. They were of two minds. On the one hand they began to accept it as a rival contender to the College of Winterhold. On the other, it was thought its growth in Falkreath Hold would remain steady but not develop any further. Until proven wrong by the Rift Mages Guild's establishment, which developed the exact same way as Falkreath Hold's guild. Already, the two southern Holds bordering Cyrodiil were receiving a lot of attention from the Empire and the Mages Guild. Both demanded further administration and expansion across Skyrim. The Magisters from Falkreath Hold and the Rift aimed to please, discussing plans for the provincial branch's continued evolution. Jollynn Chrialaine of the Falkreath Mages Guild met with Nigus Vassicius of the Rift Mages Guild on the Isle of Gold in Lake Honrich to draft an outline of the procedure. Their goal being to convince the Jarls of the central and northern Holds to back the creation of a new Skyrim Mages Guild. One that would resume the work of its predecessor before it and succeed this time. Failure was not an option because everything was riding on their combined efforts to have it take shape and fulfill its role in accordance with the Mages Guild's teachings and general policies. This was what Tiber Septim desired and he expected everyone to deliver it in full.
The job was easy with his backing and the High King's, who saw its success in the southern Holds and became more agreeable to its presence and growth. The Jarls of Eastmarch and Whiterun concurred too, establishing their own Mages Guilds despite protests from the older Nord families. The Jarls of Haafingar, Hjaalmarch, the Pale, Snowhawk, and Hroldan required further persuasion, however. Though they listened, and in time each one started permitting Mages Guilds throughout their Holds. Thereby enabling the Skyrim Mages Guild to finally be realized centuries after it first closed. Thus pleasing the Emperor who praised the achievement and showered Skyrim with praise.
The only Hold that remained resistant to the Skyrim Mages Guild's establishment, rejecting all envoys from the other Holds and even Cyrodiil, was Winterhold. Its lineage of Jarls maintained a working relationship with the College of Winterhold since it was still the oldest organization that remained dedicated to the Clever Craft. Even as the old Nord families slowly began coming around to the Skyrim Mages Guild, Winterhold's Jarls remained firmly entrenched in their relations with the College. They feared the severing of those ties could cause the College's influence to decrease and eventually force its shutdown. And they believed there was no need to let the guild enter their Hold as long as they had the College, despite agreeing it was a welcome boon to the province. This rejection brought high ranking councilors from the Arcane University itself into Winterhold to try and negotiate on the guild's behalf. When they failed, the Arch-Mage himself journeyed there and met with the same failure. Skyrim's Elder Councilmen and Councilwomen, especially those from Winterhold, tried too but failed. Bringing the matter straight to Tiber Septim and the High King of Skyrim, but they too unfortunately could not persuade the Jarl of Winterhold to welcome the guild.
The College of Winterhold was just that ingrained on Winterhold's Jarls and its people. Its reputation was at risk and it applied as much pressure as it could to ensure the Jarls knew that and stood by it. For a while it seemed like the debate was going to cause an outbreak of rebellion from Winterhold. Although Tiber Septim and Skyrim's High King had the forces to smash it with ease, the Emperor's quick thinking prevented it from happening. The Skyrim Mages Guild was quickly advertised to Winterhold's citizens as the province's new leading institution in magic and magical affairs. Two special drafts were legalized, decreeing that all able bodied citizens of the Hold were to be enlisted in both the Imperial Legion and Skyrim's army. These drafts were not optional, they were mandatory. And Winterhold's drafted citizens were required to learn magic from the Mages Guilds in both Skyrim and Cyrodiil. Leading to the establishment of the Imperial Legion's special Winterhold Battalion, battlemages trained to serve the Empire and Skyrim first before Winterhold.
The Jarl of Winterhold and the College protested against this, though there was nothing the former could do to stop it. In time, the College faded into obscurity. Its student body dwindled and faculty started jumping ship or retiring. Few stayed on to teach what few students remained, though the College would never be able to regain its reputation. Likewise, the Clever Craft was becoming little more than a thing of the past too. Its decline matched the College's, becoming only a memory.
This was how the Skyrim Mages Guild came to be. Following the founding of every other Hold Mages Guild, they were each united under the same banner. Sadly, Jollynn Chrialaine passed away before she could witness this somewhat glorious revolution. So the title and position of Arch-Mage was bestowed to Nigus Vassicius, and the guild's capital was transferred to the Rift's capital.
For a time it seemed like the Skyrim Mages Guild was destined to overcome the reputation and downfall of its previous incarnation. The guild was making progress and achievements which accomplished so much for the province that the Nords, even though they are a warrior people, had come to integrate magic into their martial training as spellswords and battlemages. The guild was not perfect given some relatively minor issues. But it thrived nonetheless. Until Potema drove her claws and fangs into its halls in Haafingar. It started with a rumor that began three months prior to the War of the Isle in 3E 110. As the story goes, Magister Ariline Alkinian of the Solitude guildhall was responsible for brokering the meeting between Queen Potema and King Orgnum of Pyandonea that year. As Potema's motives and political aspirations for the Ruby Throne are known across the continent now, they require no explanation. Though the Altmeri woman sought to avenge her exile from the island of Auridon in the Summerset Isles. Her crime, whatever it was there, is uncertain. And though this rumor has not been proven true, it has not been proven false either. However, the suspicion and her continued affiliation with the royal court under this circumstance eventually led to her dismissal by the Arch-Mage. When the War of the Isle concluded with a resounding victory for the Empire and the Summerset Isles, Ariline Alkinian was strangely nowhere to be found. She seemed to have vanished until she was supposedly said to have been a royal courtier a decade later.
Although the Skyrim Mages Guild was not involved in the War of the Isle beyond Ariline's alleged brokering, it could not escape the Queen's grasp. Nor that of Ariline's since she now served Potema directly instead of being a vengeful go-between with her own agenda. It seemed as though the Wolf Queen thought Ariline would have been better applicable in her royal court. Or the former Magister believed that herself and sought whatever her appointment was as repayment for helping Potema meet with Orgnum. That being said though, it is strange how very few servants and even a single fellow courtier of lesser status claimed to have seen her in court when she had supposedly disappeared. Assuming she was still present and active in the Wolf Queen's machinations, it would have made sense to remain by Potema's side and use her newfound status to take vengeance upon the Skyrim Mages Guild for terminating her position. Specifically its Arch-Mage since it had been his decision; however, the rest of the guild would have suffered and made for targets against him.
Under the threat of being arrested or destroyed for noncompliance, Solitude's guildhall was forced into unwillingly following her commands. Its mages offered her training within the School of Conjuration, teaching her how to conjure Daedra from Oblivion and resurrect the honored dead with foul Necromancy. With these disciplines, Potema was able to strengthen her army and ensure it could absorb the enemy army's fallen. And she soon came to engulf the Solitude guildhall in all of her plots against the Empire, having allegedly, according to Book Four of Waughin Jarth's "The Wolf Queen," told Ritemaster Iachesis of the Psijic Order that the Mages Guild was a staunch ally of hers. This detail is not actually true because Jarth's series is historical fiction, although the series does incorporate actual history into its overarching narrative. But she did not just stop at Solitude's guildhall; it was the leading hall of the Haafingar Mages Guild, after all, so she used it as a tool to command the Hold's greater organization. Enabling her to use its resources alongside her political influence against the guilds from the other Holds to secure their compliance. One by one, each one came under her complete dominance when bribed or threatened with imprisonment or destruction.
Only the Rift Mages Guild continued to oppose her as it was still the Skyrim Mages Guild's capital. The Arch-Mage would not allow her to annex it without a fight and sought the Emperor's aid to stop her. But Potema had anticipated his request and captured the messenger and her guards before executing them. Then, with the support of its Jarl who pledged his backing to her, she razed the Riften guildhall to the ground and executed its members before doing the same with the rest of the Rift Mages Guild. With it out of the way, nothing stopped the Wolf Queen from decreeing the Haafingar Mages Guild as the Skyrim Mages Guild's new headquarters. Solitude's guildhall then became the provincial branch's equivalent of the Imperial City's Arcane University. And because she demanded a guild presence in the Rift obedient to her, Potema called for the Rift Mages Guild's reconstruction under her orders. Once rebuilt, it was fully staffed by mages who traveled to Skyrim from High Rock and Morrowind to pledge their support to her. Once Skyrim was governed by her sole authority, Potema drafted the guild's battlemages, sorcerers, and mages into her armies. With their support, she was able to force the High Rock and Morrowind Mages Guilds into her service.
The War of the Red Diamond had started with the Wolf Queen's jealousy and rivalry with her siblings, Cephorus and Magnus, over the Ruby Throne. It erupted into open civil war with the Empire's loyalists in the provinces of High Rock and Morrowind, both provinces where the Wolf Queen had her own Breton and Dunmeri allies. Including the Mages Guilds. Her attacks prompted the Empire to respond. The one in High Rock resulted in Empress Kintyra II's capture prior to her execution, so alongside the conflict in Morrowind her enemies were desperate to secure victory in time. Their preoccupation in the two neighboring provinces enabled Potema to lead her own forces through County Bruma to the Imperial City in 3E 121. A fortnight after the siege, her son was then crowned Emperor as Uriel III. Although some believe the War of the Red Diamond had not begun prior, his coronation was the catalyst that had given birth to the civil war's explosive continuation.
The Skyrim, High Rock, and Morrowind Mages Guilds were involved in every facet of the war under Potema's leadership. Until the latter two were eventually retaken by the Empire, freeing them from her grip. But even with these losses and the war's end in 3E 127 with the death of Uriel III, the Skyrim Mages Guild had yet to be divided from her. It took the better part of the following decade to complete the reconquest of both the province and its guild. By the time Cephorus I fully secured all of Skyrim and the guild except for Haafingar, eight years had already passed. The final two were spent in one of the longest struggles over Haafingar the Hold had ever experienced. The Wolf Queen turned the entire Hold into a land of death as undead and Daedra both ravaged all they came into contact with. The Haafingar Mages Guild was fully occupied with an order of powerful necromancers. Their order's name has been forgotten, but they were tied to the Order of the Black Worm and Mannimarco, the King of Worms, and thus may have been a splinter faction of the cult. In time, the Emperor managed to sever his sister's rule over all but Solitude a year and a half later. Without her influence to govern its affairs, the Hold's guild was able to rejoin the provincial guild.
Leaving only Solitude's guildhall left to be reconquered. The reason it took several months after the rest of the Haafingar Mages Guild's freedom was because this one guildhall was entirely entangled within Potema's royal court. It was where her authority over the Haafingar Mages Guild first began and where she seized control over the entire Skyrim Mages Guild. It became the Arcane University's equal in her service. And it was where the conquest of the High Rock and Morrowind Mages Guilds began. Potema's generals from Clan Volkihar maintained the Solitude Mages Guild as their base against Emperor Cephorus I's armies while he was fighting to take over the city-state. And save it he did from her foul clutches, freeing this guildhall at long last after decades of being one of her tools. Though it was not restored to its former glory until months after the final conquest of Potema's castle, which lasted a whole month long, despite the last book in Jarth's series saying otherwise. Because again, this whole series is a work of historical fiction that includes some truth.
Once the War of the Red Diamond's decade-long aftermath concluded, the Skyrim Mages Guild became more reliant on its neighboring branches for recovery. However, the High Rock and Morrowind Mages Guilds snubbed it for having been forced into serving the Wolf Queen. And the Haafingar Mages Guild lost its status in the Skyrim Mages Guild since it was the lead branch under her authority. The Solitude guildhall in particular, despite being restored, was quickly repurposed. So too had the Rift Mages Guild lost its status because although the previous Arch-Mage opposed Potema with his dying breath, the Hold's branch had been destroyed and replaced by a new one of the Wolf Queen's own design. Leading to the Snowhawk Mages Guild assuming total control over the Skyrim Mages Guild for over the next century onward. Still, prosperity slowed to a crawl since the Skyrim Mages Guild was now viewed as a treasonous organization. Relations with each of the other provincial branches were cut as they no longer wished to do business with the guild. So once again, it was facing the cold, hard reality of possibly closing its doors like its previous incarnation.
It was after several years of negotiations with the other branches that both the Cyrodiil and Morrowind Mages Guilds reluctantly consented to renew bonds with the Skyrim Mages Guild. An opportunity the High Rock Mages Guild would have no part of and threatened to secede from the Mages Guild entirely. The threat, however, was withdrawn due to Emperor Cephorus I's authority coupled with an increase in Imperial oversight with Imperial administration over their operations. And in time, each of the other provincial branches slowly started warming up to renewed relations. Still, the Skyrim Mages Guild needed to prove itself worthy of everyone's trust, turning their slow recovery into a slow growth marred by a decrease in membership and goods imported to the guild. Which in turn caused its funding to decline and nearly ruined its reputation throughout the province and the rest of Tamriel. The give and take between the Skyrim Mages Guild and its peer branches had become one-sided in favor of the other Mages Guilds taking without giving anything or giving very little in return. For a time it seemed like the Skyrim Mages Guild would eventually fade away.
Until the ascension of Hathukeeus Tibercalees, a native-born Argonian of the city-state of Snowhawk, to the position of Arch-Mage in the Skyrim Mages Guild. Hathukeeus had spent much of his career as an Academic in the city-state's guildhall learning about the guild's history, and he was as much a politician as he was a scholar and sorcerer. His rise to power occurred in the years just prior to the Camoran Usurper's Invasion and it was during that war's duration that he was able to catch Emperor Cephorus II's attention. Probably because of a visit the Emperor paid to Skyrim or due to Hathukeeus personally writing a letter directly to him. Maybe both; but in all likelihood it was perhaps because his surname contained Tiber Septim's first name which impressed Emperor Cephorus II. The two men met personally and it was from their discussion that an edict was passed by the Emperor to empower the Skyrim Mages Guild. His decree revitalized its growth and made the provincial guilds that were able at the time repay the guild for having proven its worth to them.
Only the Valenwood, Cyrodiil, Hammerfell, and High Rock guilds could not. The Camoran Usurper's invasion was still ongoing. But their ties to the Skyrim Mages Guild were restored after the threat passed. Though they could not immediately pay it back due to their dwindled resources.
The course of over the next century onward witnessed a heightened recovery in the Skyrim Mages Guild's development. Mages intrigued by Hathukeeus' success and Cephorus II's intrigue were drawn to the guild, bringing all sorts of goods and services to it. Jarls from all across Skyrim saw its renewed fervor with rising interest and contributed financial grants and charters for several expeditions undertaken. A lone Telvanni Wizard and a couple members of the Psijic Order traveled to Skyrim to see what all the activity was about. Breton mages from High Rock, whether they were members of its Mages Guild or not, became jealous and envious of the successful accomplishments achieved. And Hathukeeus himself sponsored a number of studies and reforms aimed at improving the Skyrim Mages Guild's functionality and services to the province's inhabitants and beyond. He even personally entertained that Telvanni Wizard and those two Psijic mages when they had come, providing them a complete tour of its branches in each Hold and showcasing all its advancements. Despite being the backwater of the Mages Guild, the Skyrim Mages Guild underwent a complete and total renaissance that changed the face of it and restored interest in what it could accomplish.
A renaissance that sadly came to a halt with the rise of the Imperial Simulacrum, when the Imperial Battlemage, Jagar Tharn, turned against Emperor Uriel Septim VII and General Warhaft of the Imperial Guard. For the decade from 3E 389 to 3E 399, all of Tamriel was plunged into one of the darkest time periods to ever grip the continent in its clutches. The provinces began fighting each other in small wars; kingdoms, baronies, duchies, counties, marches, fiefdoms, principalities, protectorates, and suzerainties all rivaled one another for greater power, territories, and resources. All the Holds of Skyrim were just as subject to internal and external conflicts as the rest of Tamriel. And, in the case of the War of the Bend'r-mahk in 3E 397, the aggressor. Skyrim was the principal instigator that declared this war against Hammerfell's Kingdoms of Elinhir and Dragonstar as well as the Kingdom of Jehanna in High Rock. Taking all lands those kingdoms held because the Nords claimed to have ruled them during the First Empire of the Nords before losing those lands because of the War of Succession which lasted for a total of fifty-one years from 1E 369 to 1E 420. Though it is true the Nords conquered High Rock before this ancient war, it is not certain if they ever held any lands in Hammerfell. The Kingdoms of Dragonstar and Elinhir specifically, but it is possible.
Because this was one province declaring the war, the Skyrim Mages Guild was forced once again into siding with its province against the Mages Guilds of the three kingdoms. Just those three kingdom guilds specifically since the Hammerfell and High Rock Mages Guilds were so splintered at that time that neither could aid their respective smaller branches. For their unwilling role in the war, the Skyrim Mages Guild seized control over both of the Mages Guilds in Elinhir and Jehanna. Whereas the Dragonstar Mages Guild remained loyal to the Kingdom of Dragonstar and continued to resist the Nords throughout their personal conflict against Skyrim. Curiously, the Skyrim Mages Guild actually aided the Dragonstar Mages Guild's resistance in secret. Potema and the War of the Red Diamond remained fresh in their minds, it seems, teaching them to act independently of their rulers in Skyrim. The High King and Jarls were totally unaware of the guild's deceptive betrayal. Which is why the Dragonstar Mages Guild remained close allies of the Skyrim Mages Guild after Skyrim gradually returned those territories taken from each of the three kingdoms thirty years later. The two Mages Guilds even assisted in the negotiations between their respective ruling territories.
For a time, the Skyrim Mages Guild knew a period of relative peace within the province of Skyrim. Relations with the other provincial guilds remained rocky due to the Imperial Simulacrum. Apart from the Dragonstar Mages Guild as the sole exception. Indeed, the Dragonstar Mages Guild was still facing difficulty trying to maintain what little of its inclusion in the rest of the Hammerfell Mages Guild. Its relationship with the Skyrim Mages Guild did not allay fears the Nords would be making another attempt at conquering the Kingdom of Dragonstar. The Hammerfell Mages Guild viewed that relationship with skepticism, questioning whether the Dragonstar Mages Guild could be trusted or not. Although, the Elinhir Mages Guild, having known how the Skyrim Mages Guild operated during the War of the Bend'r-mahk, was somewhat understanding. If not fully because it needed to prove it was a part of the Hammerfell Mages Guild and served the people of Hammerfell.
However, the Imperial Simulacrum was not the only reason why the Skyrim Mages Guild entered into a period of dissolution. Magister Hannibal Traven of the guildhall in Anvil, found in Cyrodiil's Gold Coast, had risen to the position of Arch-Mage in the central province. He became the leader of the Mages Guild as a whole and was expected to assume the role with care, especially because of the mistrust and political strife that continued to exist. He did not, unfortunately, for he simply applied the policies he made while running the Anvil Mages Guild to the entire guild; and created such restrictive policies that he wound up alienating the rest of the provincial guilds. Save for the Black Marsh Mages Guild which was assumed to have remained neutral towards his work. Traven's misconduct as Arch-Mage and misuse of the guild for his own goals and agendas led the Skyrim Mages Guild to begin discussing its secession. Both the Elsweyr and Orsinium guilds had already seceded, and the latter was still maintaining ties with the Skyrim Mages Guild. But it never came to fruition because the Skyrim Mages Guild was still reliant on the rest of the Mages Guild.
The Oblivion Crisis changed that when the forces of Mehrunes Dagon destroyed much of Tamriel, apart from Solstheim and Argonia. Most of the Skyrim Mages Guild was destroyed with it, leaving only four surviving guildhalls in the province—within the cities of Solitude, Whiterun, Windhelm, and Riften. Both the Windhelm and Riften guildhalls received minimal support from the city-state of Blacklight in Morrowind and Cyrodiil. This strained relations with the guildhalls in Solitude and Whiterun because what little amount of resources gained was not shared with them. However, the guildhall in Solitude was working to get some business going with the two kingdoms of Farrun and Jehanna in High Rock. Leaving the Whiterun guildhall all alone to its own recovery.
What brought these four remaining guildhalls together was the idea of petitioning for aid from Chancellor Ocato. Sadly, the idea never lasted like the prior talks of secession. Both Argonia and Elsweyr had seceded from the Empire, and the Thalmor were taking control of the Summerset Isles. The Empire's weakened infrastructure also was not making things any better. Seeing that the process was going nowhere, the Riften guildhall seceded and became its own Mages Guild. It had been arguing the loudest for secession at first, and then it no longer wanted to be a part of a central Mages Guild in Skyrim. Leaving the remaining three to reestablish the Skyrim Mages Guild under the Solitude guildhall's leadership. This was because the Morrowind Mages Guild fully dissolved and no additional aid came from Morrowind. The Solitude guildhall's commercial relations with the Mages Guilds of Jehanna and Farrun had also strengthened its claim to leadership. But neither the Whiterun nor Windhelm guildhalls agreed to that and planned a coup so that all three of them would be equal. Their objective was to ensure they could each split the revenue among each other.
Unfortunately for their plot, the Windhelm Mages Guild was razed to the ground since the Nords of Eastmarch let their bias against the Dunmer and mages manifest into violence. The Hold went through a number of revolts that could be added together into a rebellion of sorts. Not against the Jarl because he sided with the other Nords, but against the Dunmer and the mages. Though the Dunmer in Eastmarch fared better than the Windhelm Mages Guild, the guild's surviving members were blamed for causing the destruction of their own guildhall—which they were totally innocent of. That blame lied with Windhelm's Nords. Instead of giving them a fair trial or even a trial at all, not even throwing them into the dungeons, the Jarl of Eastmarch had them executed immediately.
The destruction of the Windhelm guildhall was the final blow which ultimately ended the Skyrim Mages Guild. The guildhalls in Solitude and Whiterun split up, becoming their own guilds like the Riften Mages Guild. They both did relatively well on their own by aligning with the royal courts like the Riften Mages Guild had done. But they both also became the only two Mages Guilds in the province, not counting the College of Winterhold, after a large rebellion demolished Riften and its guild. In time, both would also be shut down in favor of court wizards as the Nords became highly suspicious of magic as a result of the Oblivion Crisis, thinking it should have been regulated instead of being offered to people. That, at the very least, is tolerable to them, but only to the extent of allowing a single practitioner in each royal court. Nobody else but that one court wizard would be permitted to cast magic throughout each individual Hold. Those who did were labeled criminals and outlaws by the Nords and their laws which they claimed gave them legitimacy to make magic illegal. Which itself has been called an act of treason against Tiber Septim, even if it is not a crime.
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When I had been writing Elder Scrolls Travels: Herne, A Brief History of the Skyrim Mages Guild was penned as a supplementary lore book. The account was based entirely upon my description of the Skyrim Mages Guild in the main story's twenty-first chapter. It served as a follow-up to what I covered then to better explain why Skyrim used a different naming convention for its spell levels. Which had to do in part with the decline and fall of the Skyrim Mages Guild which itself I had tied to lore about the Mages Guild as seen earlier in the story. It was worth writing about as a subject loosely tied to Elder Scrolls Travels: Herne within that regard. However, A Brief History of the Skyrim Mages Guild is not actually connected with its main events in any way, shape, or form. It was merely an expansion of a very loose end that, now that Elder Scrolls Travels: Herne has been cancelled, is now becoming its very own thing. It is now a standalone lore book no longer tied to the cancelled project that succeeds by itself.
It was originally the second non-canon lore book I published, though now that status has been altered to making it the first non-canon lore book published. Because once I stopped working on Elder Scrolls Travels: Herne, I also removed the first lore book which was more closely tied to it. That first lore book was Herne: From the Tribe of Nedes to the Na-Totambu and the Later Redguards, written in the perspective of Aubra Lhortba, the character I created to serve as its author. I would like to refer to her again whenever I can, and maybe I will also write another lore book by her that delves into the Kingdom of Taneth's history before I get started on Elder Scrolls Travels: Roseguard. The outline for which is finished, so I am looking forward to getting started on the first chapter as said in the Notes section of my profile page. But after giving it some thought, I might delay it to write a couple lore books that will pertain to it. The idea I just mentioned about the Kingdom of Taneth's history might be one of them.
To get back to A Brief History of the Skyrim Mages Guild, now that it is its own project I find it is in a much better position of sticking to the traditional lore from the Elder Scrolls' main series. To ensure its success in that endeavor, I revisited it to see how the prior version held up and if any improvements or changes needed to be made. As it turns out, a lot needed rewriting from the lore book's beginning to the point when the War of the Red Diamond had entered its aftermath. Everything else after remained largely the same. The reason for all the changes up until that war's aftermath was to better ground the Skyrim Mages Guild into the Akaviri Potentate, competition with the College of Winterhold, Tiber Septim's involvement, Potema, and the War of the Red Diamond. It made better sense that the Skyrim Mages Guild would have a more turbulent history taking all of these things into consideration. Which was why I expanded upon it and rewrote the first seven and two-thirds pages to best incorporate each of them in a way that felt more constructive and foundational than its previous iteration.
It is the same non-canon lore book, though better built and written to reflect the canon lore. This updated version pleases me more than the prior version did, and I am glad I came back to it with further improvements. And because I want the content and context to explain its purpose, I have also deleted the unnecessary author's notes because they were redundant and no longer needed. Now that everything is better squared away, it is a much cleaner work.
Disclaimer:
What follows is a summarization of the General Disclaimer from my profile page. To view it in full, please go to my profile page where you will find it under the Rights Statement. I strongly encourage you to take the time to go through all of the statements and disclaimers as they explain why I am writing fanfiction and what my approach will be as I am writing it.
This Elder Scrolls fanfic and all other Elder Scrolls fanfics after it are going to occur after the events of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. They are not going to be sequels to the main story or any of the faction questlines from the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. There are so many of these kinds of fanfics already, so I will be moving onto the future of the Fourth Era after this game. Each of my Elder Scrolls fanfics will be purely standalone, so you can start reading any story you want. However, there shall be allusions to previous fanfics wherever I can include them.
Immersion, authenticity, realism, and lore friendliness are the main cornerstones my Elder Scrolls fanfiction is built upon. And, at the same time, the foundation is going to be my own personal interpretation of the lore. So I will be taking the following liberties. The UESP, Imperial Library, in-game lore books, and the First and Third Editions of the Pocket Guide to the Empire will be my main sources of lore. Lore from Elder Scrolls Online is going to be excluded entirely from my fanfiction because it is contradictory to the traditional games. But I will be including the geographic worldbuilding, landscaping, architectural styles, bestiary, and general things from Elder Scrolls Online since these fill in the worldbuilding that has yet to be completed by the main series. At the same time, I will place emphasis on how the regions are described in traditional lore. The depiction of Skyrim, the province, will be precisely the same as in Elder Scrolls I: Arena, not Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Likewise, Solstheim shall be depicted as in Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind's Bloodmoon expansion pack, not Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC. But I will respect the two century time-skip separating Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, so some differences and the lore in between shall remain in place. And names of original characters and original places shall come from the Fantasy Name Generator, a website which has an Elder Scrolls section that offers names.
I am not an employee of nor affiliated with Bethesda, Zenimax, and other companies part of the Zenimax family. I am also not an employee of nor affiliated with Microsoft which now owns the Zenimax family. I am also not a member of nor am affiliated with the following projects: OpenTESArena; Daggerfall Unity; OpenMW; TES3MP; Tamriel Rebuilt; Project Tamriel; Morrowind Rebirth; Skywind; Skyblivion; and Beyond Skyrim. I used mods while playing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but no mods will be featured in my fanfiction. And I am not a mod creator nor am affiliated with any mod creators. I did play a bit of Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, but have yet to actually make much progress with my first real playthrough. I did not play: Elder Scrolls I: Arena; Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall; Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire; Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard; the subseries trilogy of Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold; Dawnstar; and Shadowkey; Elder Scrolls Legends; and Elder Scrolls Online. And last of all, I do not own the Elder Scrolls; it is owned by Bethesda.
Finally, direct questions and direct comments will be answered within the epilogue's author's notes to the best of my ability. I will try to answer as much as I can then or at a later time if I do not have an answer right away. But I may not be able to answer everything since I am writing and editing my Elder Scrolls fanfiction all on my own and have obligations that need to be taken care of in real life. So please do not be discouraged or upset if I do not offer an answer or a response to your question. Just because I do not because I am unable to or do not have one does not mean I am not listening to your feedback and reviews. Your feedback and reviews are greatly appreciated and highly helpful to my skill as a fanfiction writer and the development of my Elder Scrolls fanfiction. I will do my best to offer answers that are of satisfaction, but I understand that my answers might not be fully satisfactory or satisfactory at all. So I apologize in advance if I am unable to achieve as satisfactory an answer you want. Lastly, I will answer questions and comments in reviews for this fanfic up to the first one or two months after the date of its completion. After, I will be fully focused on my next project.
This is a non-canon lore book created for the intents and purposes of my fanfics. It is not an official source of lore and it is not canon as it is meant to supplement my Elder Scrolls fanfiction. It is not intended to be canon. It can be referenced in my future fanfics as a means of tying them together within a cohesive narrative of standalone projects that can connect to one another. However, I cannot answer questions or comments here as this is a one-shot lore book. Questions and comments can still be posted as part of your review, but I may answer them in the author's notes of another Elder Scrolls fanfic after in accordance with the above paragraph. For the full statement on my answers to questions and comments, please visit the twelfth, thirteenth, and fifteenth paragraphs of the General Disclaimer on my profile page.