Schools of Magic

The schools of magic were man-made categories meant to facilitate magical learning within the Mages Guild by dividing the various types of magic into defined categories, each with their own set of common characteristics.

Not all types of magic fit neatly into one school, and as such some spells from certain magical groups (pyromancy, cryomancy, etc) have been divided among different schools. This has been the source of much controversy in the past, and is one of the main arguments against magical schools used by the sapiarchs of the College, as it disorganises magical learning and muddies the lines between magics.

Schools

Active Schools

The schools still in use to this day are:

• Alteration: spells in this school change the world around the caster so normal physical truths no longer hold. The types of magic included in Alteration are considered to be bound by the laws of nature, as opposed to those included in the Illusion school, which are said not to be.
• Conjuration: spells in this school concern the summoning of creatures or objects from another plane of existance. Necromancy is included in this school despite having been a banned practice in the Mages Guild.
• Destruction: spells in this school are categorised under Destruction due to their destructive potential when used against any form of matter, whether living or non-living.
• Illusion: spells in this school seek to change the world around the caster so normal physical truths no longer hold, but while Alteration magic is bound by the laws of nature, Illusion magic is not. Its weakness comes from the fact that while Alteration affects the entire world, Illusion magic affects only the caster and the target.
• Mysticism: spells in this school are said to allow a mage to "alter the nature of magic itself", and involves the "manipulation of magical forces and boundaries to bypass the structures and limitations of the physical world". It is one of the least understood of the magical schools, and many motions were made during the days of the Mages Guild to retire it as a school, though none were scucessful. Past Guild mages have described it as the "catch-all waste pool of magical schools" due to how any spell that does not conform with the other five schools tends to be placed within Mysticism almost abritrarily.
• Restoration: spells in this school are purported to heal, restore, and fortify the body's attributes and abilities, cure disease, and protect it from other malign influences. In reality the spells are much weaker than its practitioners might boast, which serve principally to dull pain and facilitate the natural healing process. Many successful healers have existed that knew not a single spell from the Restoration school, relying instead on alchemy, or other natural healing methods.

Defunct Schools

The schools have have been retired for one reason or another are:

• Thaumaturgy: spells in this school were said to relate to the "temporary manipulation of magical laws", and was one of the first schools introduced to the Mages Guild. It was also the first and only school to be retired, as few understood its purpose or how it was unique from the other magical schools. When the school was retired, its spells were divided among the schools of Mysticism, Restoration, Illusion, and Alteration.

Alchemy was briefly considered to be included in the list of schools, and was even in the original proposal written by Gabrielle Benele in the Second Era, though it was decided by the Mages Guild that alchemy had more in common with medicine-making than with magic, and was never included as a school of its own.

History

The schools of magic were first used by the reclusive Shad Astula Academy in Morrowind, however, after a visit in the mid-Second Era by Gabrielle Benele, Gabrielle saw the value in cateogorising magical learning and wrote her Proposal: Schools of Magic for the Mages Guild (of which she was a member), which outlined many schools that are used to this day. While alchemy was included in Gabrielle's proposal, it was never included in the official introduction of magical schools later on in the Second Era.

It is unknown when in the Second Era the schools were officially adopted by the Mages Guild, but their effectiveness in easing the process of magical teaching was quickly heard across Tamriel, becoming widely adopted by other institutions and individuals. A notable exception are the sapiarchs of the College in the Summerset Archipelago, who believed that when studying magic one should study individual types of magic, such as pyromancy, cryomancy, etc, and not man-made "schools".

At some point in the Third Era the school of Thaumaturgy was retired by the Guild, a move which was echoed by other institutions and individuals which had followed the Guild's lead in the past. Thaumaturgy was seens as too vague and too niche a school to be functional.

After the dissolution of the Mages Guild during the reign of Emperor Titus I Mede, the usage of magical schools has continued, though with no central figurehead to dictate rules surrounding the them, many institutions and individuals have changed the schools in small ways over time. For example, some sorcerers no longer believe Mysticism to be a magical school, citing the same reasons used for the retirement of Thaumaturgy. However, other sorcerers maintain Mysticism as a valuable school of magic to be studied and maintained.