Ancient Origins of The Elder Sages Guild

Casdha

Ancient Origins of The Elder Sages Guild

Our Most Sacred Lore

by

Lord Luciendar, Anthon Casdha, and Srugzal

"Let Lore Be Your Armor"

The ancient Founders of our Guild, the Elder Sages, were blessed with the Sight, that rarest of all powers: the gift to See into possible futures. What they saw there terrified them. They knew that the currents of Time and Chaos could not be turned back. They acted as one. The Times of Building had come.

The Times of Building

They commissioned the greatest of the Master Sages to fashion a new realm of existence out of a fragment of Oblivion. These selfless brothers and sisters sacrificed themselves to accomplish this dread task, for creating a world requires the sacrifice of Souls. In this Realm they placed the Glade in the Mists, an ancient, friendly, and welcoming place. They imbued it with their essence, and so, in that moment of creation, perished from Mundus. Those who remained, having mourned the loss of the greatest among them, built grand halls and libraries within the Glade to honor their legacy, and set about recording the knowledge that would bring defeat to Molag Bal's forces and peace to Tamriel.

Though they retreated from Tamriel to their protected realm for a time, they saw Molag Bal’s evil intentions from afar. The Elder Sages knew that their precious Lore, gathered from every class, race, craft, and occupation found in Tamriel, and represented in their diverse membership, was the key to denying that evil Daedra the domination and destruction he sought. They foresaw that this wisdom would be the way to victory. They were driven with a doom-ridden zeal to deny Tamriel to Molag Bal.

The Elder Sages Guild stared across the abyss at the fiend, and he knew fear for the first time. The Times of Preparation drew near.

The Times of Preparation

The Founders honed their blades, strung their bows, hardened their maces, and perfected their spells, preparing, in their foreknowledge, for what was soon to come upon all Tamriel. The Three Alliances raised their banners and prepared the engines of war, while Mannimarco crafted his legion of the damned and undead. Neither realized the part that the Elder Sages Guild was to play. The Times of War came suddenly and with devastating violence.

The Times of War

On that day The Elder Sages rode forth from the Glade in the Mists with a shout that echoed throughout Tamriel, shook the thrones of Oblivion, and tore through portals that had stood since the Age of the Dragons. The Elder Sages spread out across all the land, from High Rock to the Black Marsh, from Akavir to the Summerset Isles, seeking the agents of Molag Bal, to destroy them and bring order back to Tamriel. Moreover, like so many in those days, they vanished from knowledge.

Or did they vanish? With this question, our times began.

Now

Who desires to tap into the wisdom of the ancient Elder Sages Guild? Who will find it in these times of desperation and confusion? It is you about whom I speak.

Or so some say. You seek the last remaining portal. And know this: there are others who wish to join you there.

There are those of experience who seek to join ranks in common cause to increase their knowledge and strength. There are those who will dedicate themselves to better combat the forces that seek to tear apart the worlds of Mundus. There are those searching for a place where the wounded may gather and where healers may comfort them.

Are you among them?

What if the Elder Sages Guild has hid away its knowledge, binding it with traps and spells so that none can pass? What if the realm of Oblivion that hid the Glade in the Mists was torn asunder, and, like a silken cloth ripped apart by the claws of a Khajiit warrior, is no more? Could it be power and knowledge was used against them by our Enemy, and the Glade in the Mists is just another sad Glade of Corpses?

Does Hope yet live?

None know the answers to these questions… except the Elder Sages themselves. Perhaps, out of the heart of this mystery, they look to you to take up the fight, to grasp their wisdom, to bring the Times of Peace to Tamriel, our home.

The last portal to the Glade in the Mists is before you. Will you dare to step forward?

The Library in the Glade in the Mists

Original Artwork by Isibis