Title: Origin of the Mages Guild
Author: Salarth
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Price: 687
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Content:


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[/center]The Origin of

[/center]The

[/center]Mages Guild



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[/center]    The idea of a collection of Mages, Sorcerors, and
assorted Mystics pooling their resources and talents for
the purpose of research and public charity was a
revolutionary concept in the early years of the 2nd era. The
closest organization to what we today know as the Mages Guild
was the Psijic Order of the Isle of Artaeum. Magic was
something to be learned by individuals, or, at most, in
intimate covens; mages were, if not actual hermits, usually
quite solitary.

    The Psijic Order served the rulers of the Sumurset Isle as
counselors, and chose its members by a complex, ritualized
method not understood by the common people. Its purposes
and goals were likewise unpublished, and its detractors
attributed the worst evil as the source of its power. The
religion of the old order could be described as ancestor
worship, an increasingly unfashionable philosophy in the
2nd Era.

    When Vanus Galerion, a Psijic of Artaeum and student of
the famed Iachesis, began collecting mages from around
Sumurset Isle, he attracted the animosity of all. He was
operating out of Firsthold, and there was a common (and not
entirely unsensible) attitude that magical experiments
should be conducted only in unpopulated areas. Even more
shocking, Galerion proposed to make magical items,
potions, and even spells available to any member of the
general public who could pay. No longer was magic to be
limited either to the aristocracy or intelligensia.

    Galerion was brought before Iachesis and the King of
Firsthold, Rilis XII, and made to state the intentions of the
guild he was forming. The fact that Galerion's speech to
Rilis and Iachesis was not recorded for posterity is a
tragedy, though it does allow the opportunity for historians
to amuse one another with lies and persuasions Galerion
might have used to found the ubiquitous organization. The
charter was approved.

    Almost immediately after the guild was formed, the
question of security had to be answered. The Isle of Artaeum
did not have to have a force of arms to shield it from
invaders interested in stealing its treasures -- when the
Psijic Order does not wish someone to land on the island, the
island and all on it become insubstantial. The new Mages
Guild had to hire guards. Galerion soon discovered what
nobles have known for thousands of years: money alone does
not buy loyalty. The knightly Order of the Lamp was formed
the following year.

    Like a tree from an acorn, the Mages Guild grew branches
all over Sumurset Isle and then to the mainland of Tamriel.
There are many records of superstitious or sensibly fearful
rulers forbidding the Guild in their kingdom, but their heirs
or their heirs' heirs recognized the wisdom of allowing the
Guild to practice. The Mages Guild was a powerful force in
Tamriel, a dangerous foe if a somewhat disinterested ally.
There have been only a few rare incidents of the Mages Guild
actually becoming involved in local politcal struggles.
On these occasions, the Guild's participation has been the
ultimate decider in the conflict.

    By tradition begun by Vanus Galerion, the Mages Guild as
a singular institution is presided over by a council of six
Archmagisters. Each guild location is run by a
Guildmagister, assisted by a counsel of two, the Master of
Incunubula and the Master at Arms. The Master of Incunubula
presides over a counsel of an additional two mages: the
Master of Academia and the Master of the Scrye. The Master at
Arms also has a counsel of two: the Master of Initiates and
the Palatinus, the leader of the Order of the Lamp.

    One need not be a member of the Mages Guild to know that
this carefully constructed order is often nothing more than
an illusion. As Vanus Galerion himself said bitterly,
leaving Tamriel to travel to other lands, "The Guild has
become nothing more than an intricate morass of political
infighting." 
