Magic

Magic, also called magicka, is a supernatural force in the known world. In some places it is rare enough that some doubt its effectiveness or even existence, though in some institutions it is common enough to be interwoven into people's daily lives.

Types of Magic[]

Magic is a little-understood force in the world. Blood, life, and death seem to be keys that can help unlock the secrets of magic.

In Skyrim and most of the lands north of Cyrodiil, magic is held to be a mythical force only.

Magic has remained a potent force in Alinor, where the enigmatic sapiarchs of the College are said to possess great powers. All manner of sorcerers, necromancers, spellsingers, aeromancers, bloodmages, and more are said to gather and practice their arts across Tamriel, though their numbers are few.

Some of the abilities exhibited by those who practice magic are:

Abjuration[]

Animancy[]

Astromancy[]

Auramancy[]

Biomancy[]

Blood Magic[]

Cryomancy[]

Divination[]

Electromancy[]

Enchantment[]

Evocation[]

Hydromancy[]

Illusionism[]

Mysticism[]

Necromancy[]

Necromancy is the practice of using magic to raise or commune with the dead, and is generally considered immoral, if not outright illegal, in most kingdoms of Tamriel. Necromancers might raise hordes of undead to serve in an army, or might raise a servant to help around in their laboratory.

Necromancy is generally divided into "black" or "white" necromancy. That which involves the forceful manipulation of another person's soul is considered black (e.g., raising someone from the dead), while that which is benevolent or relatively harmless is considered white (e.g., using the soul of an animal for an enchantment). Many magical institutions tolerate white necromancy, though abhor black necromancy.

Nocturmancy[]

Pyromancy[]

Transmutation[]

Honourable Mentions[]

Although it may seem magical, and some potions certainly might require magic in their creation, alchemy is not considered a type of magic. Potions and salves are created using the properties of naturally occurring herbs, making alchemy more akin to medicine-making than magic. However, the potions of a skilled alchemist may be potent enough to appear to the less educated as magic, though that does not make it so.

Schools of Magic[]

The concept of magical schools was adopted sometime after the Three Banners War of the Second Era by the Mages Guild. It was found that grouping different kinds of magics together into their own categories aided in their understanding, and resulted in novices being trained in half the time it would normally take. Some types of magic, such as illusionism or evocation, became their own school, while others, were grouped with and generalised into others, such as necromancy being categorised into the Conjuration school.

The schools of magic have been the subject of constant revisions and alterations over the centuries, re-categorising some forms of magic into one school or another, or doing away with some schools altogether.

The current schools of magic include:

Alteration: Includes magic that alters the physical world so that normal physical truths no longer hold. Unlike Illusion magic, which concerns manipulation of one's thoughts through false images and apparitions, Alteration is bound by the laws of nature, and as such the nature of its changes affects all, not just the caster and their subject. Telekenesis is the most well-known and wide-spread spell affiliated with the Alteration school.
Types of magic included in this school include transmutation, and some would even argue a limited use of enchantment as well.

Conjuration: Includes magic that summons creatures or objects from another plane, including undead. The summoning of bound daedra to act as servants is a well-known example of such a school.
Types of magic included in this school include evocation, and necromancy.
Destruction:
Illusion:
Mysticism:
Restoration:

The school of Thaumaturgy was once considered a school of magic, though has since been incorporated into other magical schools. It used to comprise the temporary manipulation of magical laws. Thaumaturgy held such a niche position within the Mages Guild that it was rarely ever used, and many began to question the purpose of its existence. Eventually those spells that were once considered to be part of the Thaumaturgy schools were divided amongst the schools of Mysticism, Restoration, Illusion, and Alteration.

Tamriel[]

Magic is not an overly-common phenomena in the known world, but neither is it entirely rare. Some realms, such as Alinor, have whole institutions of scholars and sorcerers. Other regions, such as Skyrim are actively hostile to magic and its practitioners, few as they may be. Jarls may employ the service of a court wizard, but their service rarely extends to actually practicing magic in the jarl's presence, instead consisting of advising the jarl on intellectual matters.

Many villagers can go their entire lives without ever coming across overt acts of magic or magic practitioners, and may even consider magic to be nothing more than fanciful tales. Other peoples, such as many Altmer of the Summerset Archipelago, are well aware of magic's existence in the world, though they do not understand it due to how few are able to properly harness its power. They instead rely on sapiarchs, hedge wizards, and woods witches for magical knowledge or enchantments.