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The questions were originally asked here.
Votary Nahlia, Knight of the Order of the Lamp, honors us by sharing a few secrets on the nature of magic and the art of Scribing in this all-new Loremaster’s Archive.
Loremaster’s Note: This latest entry in the Gwylim University question and answer series comes with an unusual spoiler warning. If you have not played through the Scribing questline already, some of Votary Nahlia's answers may spoil ideas we explore within the Gold Road Chapter release. Please read ahead at your own discretion. Thank you.
Hello everyone! My name is Nahlia, I’m a Votary knight in the Order of the Lamp, and this is my first time doing something like this! I’m sitting in the big main room at the Elden Root Mages Guildhall. You know the one, with those lovely little side gardens and the beautiful ritual space in the middle. I’m ostensibly visiting my parents? But I wanted to make sure you all had answers back as soon as I could manage.
It’s been a challenge! I have a new (exciting, terrifying) role in the Scholarium. But day to day I’m still just a knight. Sworn to defend the guild, kick open doors, and answer your questions while I sip on a cask of wine I walked up here from the Outside Inn. Not all at the same time of course.
Anyway! Let’s crack in.
I thought I’d start with some high-level notes about the Luminaries and Scribing, as I saw a number of questions closely related and hotly debated. I swear, sometimes it feels like delving a dungeon and bashing in heads is a safer venue than a research library. I hope these address the questions from scribes like Benefactor, C.E. Nex, Dabbles-in-Wizardry, Nhyla, Tribune Aquila, and several others.
The Origins of Magic
In my time as a Votary knight with the guild, I’ve often been tasked with acting as bodyguard or traveling partner to high-ranked wizards and warlocks. These folks have, quite frankly, miserable jobs involving endless paper reading and letter writing. If you had any idea the number of times they get a thesis paper on “The True and Real Origin of Magic as Penned by Oscar P. Fillibutty IV, Mage-In-Absentia” your eyes would glaze over and your toes would curl up.
I bring this up because, as far as I can tell, Ulfsild at no point thought that she was on to any kind of hidden truth about magic or Aetherius or any of that. She was a smart person who saw the world in her very own way and wanted to understand why she saw what she saw. No more, no less. What she eventually made, what I hope the Mages Guild can share with the world, is a style of magic wholly unlike almost any other. If that’s not exploring the heart of magic, I don’t know what is.
The Nature of the Luminaries
The Luminaries are, as anyone who has seen or spoken with them can attest, deeply strange. One of the Antiquarian Circle scholars I spoke to recently used an old Breton word to describe them, and I think it fits incredibly well. “Alien.” Much like the word “Daedra” in it means “not like us.” But it more directly means “stranger.”
I bring it up because the Luminaries are, pure and simple, not like us. Their goals and intentions are all their own, and while some of them are almost cuddly in appearance, my time with them has reinforced over and over again the idea that how they see the world is fundamentally different than us mortals.
Part of that alien-ness, I think, stems from their origin. I’ve had a chance to talk to some very smart people in the Guild since we opened the Scholarium doors and—just like the Luminaries themselves—no two seem to agree about what they actually are. I took some scribbled notes before I came to visit my parents, and these are the ones I find most likely, compelling, or interesting. In no particular order:
- Daedra in Disguise. This one I’m extremely skeptical about but I suppose it’s worth considering. The Daedra from top to bottom are strange, not unlike the Luminaries. Some Daedra are said to be—if not friendly—at least amenable to working with mortals. I just don’t buy this, though. I’ve fought a lot of Daedra in my day and there’s a sense about them. A feeling. Which I find kind of unsettling. And the Luminaries don’t give me that feeling at all. Daedra tend to have a bit of a smell to them too, not always unpleasant, but definitely there. The Luminaries, I can tell you from long and direct exposure, smell like nothing. Except when the Netch wants to. Yuck.
- Aetheric Constructs. Hold on, I want to get this phrasing right. “The Luminaries are aetheric constructs created by the imprinting of subconscious eidolons upon purest magicka to create that which did not exist, giving it form and voice in a reflection of the beauty of the mind.” Complicated language! But I see this as not unlike Conjurer Vinielle’s question about the Nordic totem idea, right? What if the Luminaries are just mortal expectations given form?
- A New Form of Life. This one is particularly intriguing to me, suggested by one of the researchers in the Antiquarian Circle. Their basic idea is that living things, life, shows up almost everywhere. Even in the direst of Oblivion Realms you can’t walk 10 paces without running into a bug or a mouse or something that thrives in those places. So, what if the Luminaries are living things made of magic? Like somehow life and aetheric energy got together, and the Luminaries are the result?
- Children of the Aedra. Now, some of my fellow guild members are aggressively atheistic. I’m not so sure. The world is a very strange place, everyone. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed. So the notion that it was created with a purpose, originally, falls pretty fall short of “weird ideas I’ve heard passed around.” Either way, the idea that the Luminaries are some sort of harbingers for the return of the Aedra, or proxies of the Divines … I don’t know. They don’t seem very godly to me? Certainly, if the Aedra sent them to Nirn, they didn’t give the Dragon any guidance on how not to be a pain in the rump.
- Ascended Ancestors. This one makes a lot of sense to me even if I’m not sure it’s absolutely right. There are lots of stories all across Tamriel of ancestors leaving their mortal bodies and taking a different form when they come back to talk to their kin. Animals, fearsome visions, I even heard a story about a grandfather coming back in a plant! So certainly, I think it’s possible that maybe, even if they don’t remember it, the Luminaries were someone else long ago. Just don’t ask them to commit to that. Because every one of them I talked to about this just hated that idea.
Ulfsild
The longer I spend in the Scholarium, perfecting my own understanding of Scribing or speaking with the Luminaries, the more I grow to admire Ulfsild. She was a singular person, and has made me think a lot about the impact one person can have on history. You often hear researchers going on about the forces of history, or wars, or even the gods as being what shaped Tamriel. But I think more and more I believe it’s just people. Ulfsild set out to do something and leave a mark on the world. It makes me happy, every single day, that the guild has committed to (finally) making her legacy known.
Scribing’s Future
A lot of folks had questions that, honestly, I don’t know the answers to! We’ve only just discovered the Scholarium, and only just gotten the doors unsealed and the place aired out. Adepts are scouring the back halls, peeking into every tome, and as you might have seen yourself, the Scribing altar has someone examining it or using it from sunup well past sundown. I do know that some of our researchers have already had great success in anchoring a focus to the altar from afar. As I scratch this quill across parchment, we haven’t been able to scribe outside of the Scholarium just yet, but I bet that happens any day now.
As for Grimoires, Scripts, and the like, mages have fallen out of the rafters hoping to make their mark with a new spell that you can customize on the altar. Or to give new uses for Scripts we’re already using. I don’t want to give away any surprises, but I bet you’ll see some writing about the results of this research soon!
It makes me smile. From almost complete obscurity to a household name, Ulfsild’s legacy is alive and well in the Second Era.
Questions
Dame Nahlia,
Why is it that the Mages Guild believes Sunnamere is only roughly a thousand years older than the Mages Guild, placing it in the third millennium of the First Era, even though its architecture is supposedly ancient Aldmeri.
Kind regards,
Faenlidor Snow-Searcher
Sunnamere’s role in the whole “discovering the Scholarium” tale has made it mildly famous across the guild. Which is a change, since previously it was best known for being drafty, moldy, and awkward to staff because of the problems up in Sunhold. Sunnamere as a site absolutely predates the First Era. I’m not actually sure when it was built? But it was long before Ulfsild’s time.
What you probably heard referred to in passing is Ulfsild’s use of the place, which (as your question hints at) predates the Mages Guild by about a thousand years. From the notes we’ve uncovered so far, while Scribing itself was almost entirely a solo project, she did collaborate with a few other mages in her early career. One of these was a High Elf mage local to Sunhold. They lent her space within the complex to use as a study when visiting the Summerset Isles.
It’s that space that I stumbled into on patrol. And thank Magnus I did!
Dear Votary Nahlia,
Is Archmagister Vanus Galerion aware of Scribing?
Sincerely,
Corvancano of House Ravenwatch, Historian
Extremely, painfully, aware. Before my ill-fated patrol to Sunnamere, I think I’d spoken with the Archmagister all of once in passing at one of my mother’s duller parties. I have now spoken with him often enough that it’s moved past terrifying to be almost mundane? Almost. I’m still not used to him calling me by name. But yes, the Archmagister’s been kept appraised throughout our time in the Scholarium. And he’s often visibly excited about the potential Scribing and the Scholarium represents. You should hear him go on about all his grand ideas. The Luminaries on the lecture circuit. Scribing taught by roving mages out in the wilds. Altars in every guildhall! He does go on.
Worth saying I have no idea if any of that will happen. But when he can get away from his many meetings, the Archmagister has been a huge supporter of our work down there. I feel incredibly lucky to have someone so wise in the ways of magic to advise us.
Greetings Votary Nahlia,
Of the currently discovered Grimoires, do you have a favorite?
Sincerely,
Lunetta Gleamblossom
That’s a hard one!
I just spent longer than I want to admit staring at this paper. I am now forcing myself to write an answer. And I’m going to cheat. Here are my two favorites. My second favorite is just Smash. It’s so satisfying to blast apart skeletons in an old tomb with spellcraft designed to obliterate with a big old weapon. I think, somedays, Ulfsild and I would have gotten along just fine.
My very favorite has to be Shield Throw. There’s nothing more satisfying than twisting up that magic and letting fly with a spectral shield. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been down in some dusty crypt and wanted to just shield bash my way through yet another Daedra infestation. Or to teach some would-be-bandits that the Mages Guild isn’t all just a bunch of robe-wearing quill fencers, thank you very much. Well, thanks to Scribing, I’ve got a way to do just that!
To the Respectable Votary Nahlia,
Given the far-reaching nature of the Scholarium and Ulfsild’s extensive travels and reputation, I am curious as to how the practice of Scribing could have fallen out of practice so thoroughly that it is only now being rediscovered?
Kindest Regards,
First Emissary Rohais, Craglorn Embassy
An incredible historian I spoke to at the University of Gwylim likes to say “History is a moving target.” Today, knowing what we know, it seems impossible that this incredible person’s work was lost to time. The moment history knew Ulfsild best, as a teacher and healer in the Reach, was well after her time working with the Luminaries. And from what we can tell, she didn’t like to dwell on the past, somewhat understandably.
Ulfsild worked long, tireless hours in her library, partially I think because she felt she had to. And partly because she wanted to. When Sheogorath’s bargain with Shalidor went wrong, she had precious little time to gather what she could, make arrangements for the future, and get away safely. The result is, as you say, an entire discipline forgotten by Tamriel at large. A hidden trove of knowledge which might have remained hidden forever, if not for a little luck and Ulfsild’s foresight.
Votary Nahlia,
Are there any culturally or religiously inspired Grimoires? Ra Gada sword inscriptions, Ornim blood-ink runic staves, warpriests calling down the miasma of the Ashpit?
Attentively,
—Lash gra-Bar, Ornimythohistorian & Enchantress
I’d love for that to be true someday! Keep in mind, Ulfsild was working mostly by herself beneath the stones of Eyevea. Reading between the lines, much of her spellcraft was aimed at just trying to get the things working. I think that’s why many of the spells and skills we’ve recovered from the Scholarium’s shelves feel so loose—so open-ended—compared to a lot of the more formal spellcraft we see today. But now that the Mages Guild is in the thick of things, who knows what might be possible?
Thank you all so much! Your questions were amazing, and I hope I brought a little smile to your days. Goodness knows, mostly when I’m writing out scrolls, the subject matter is dry as dust. Scribing and the Scholarium? Anything but.
I hope we see you down in our little enclave soon. And until then, keep safe out there.
—Votary Nahlia, Order of the Lamp
We’d like to give a huge “thank you” to the ESO Community for sharing their questions on the topic of Scribing and we hope that Nahlia was able to shed some light on this exciting new in-game feature. Have any queries that weren’t addressed in this article? We suggest leaving your unanswered questions in the official forums where one of our helpful community members can respond.
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