Letter Addressed to Magister Vlarimil in Chorrol

Revered Magister Vlarimil, I am humbled to be of assistance to such a notable and well published wizard of your respected stature, and will gladly tell you all I can recount in regards to the history of spell-crafting, provided you cite me in your work of course.

The manipulation and alteration of spells has been long practiced throughout Tamriel's history. The origin's of the practice are heavily disputed with many claiming the earliest forms to have been invented by the Psijic order in the First Era. These claims are far less documented than the spell making we know to have been utilized by the newly formed Mages Guild of the Second Era. Works within my collection seem to suggest that the Guild spent years scouring Tamriel's surface for deeper and intimate knowledge of the magical processes and aspects of certain spells. Ancient daedric tablets of unkown origin, buried in deep halls, and decaying cryptic tomes, whose author's cannot be accounted for, are cited by guild records to have been critical in acquiring a full understanding of magical architecture and the manipulation of Aetherial energies. Some accounts claim the items were infused with the spell's identity itself allowing for rapid transference of spell craft directly into the reader; these sources are generally unreliable and cannot be validated as any such objects have been long lost to time.

For many years following this period, spell crafting remained a tedious process requiring detailed knowledge of a spell or spells and often a ruinic or daedric catalyst to finalize the alteration within one's own mind. This process was eased by the guild's guiding hand, but still remained far from the reach of most wizards. It was not until the very late second era that the idea of selling guild services came widely into use. A wizard of far greater understanding and years would inscribe exact instructions for a new desired spell into a tome for a hefty fee. This allowed wizards with understanding of the spell, but not its nature, to create their own spell without the years of study necessary to fully understand a wide variety of spells. This practice became the norm for nearly 500 years and remains the most accessible means of spell crafting for the majority of Tamriel even today.

In the year 430 3E the Cyrodillian Mages Guild pioneered the creation of the first spell crafting altar. The guild quickly hoarded this knowledge, keeping the exact rituals, enchantments, and inscriptions a secret as best they could. The altar is clearly incredibly difficult to create requiring an excessive amount of magical energy, time, and manpower. The altar allows a wizard with more than basic understanding, but less than total knowledge, of a spell to draw on Aetherial energies in order to compliment their own understanding of the magic's nature and manipulate it with the help of the altar as a source of power. The rarity of these enchanted tables has made them less than practical or reliable for the common wizard.

In the wake of the Great War the emperor enacted government oversight of the guild. Their sole purpose became militarization and mass training of battlemages. Spell knowledge was no longer even a factor as the guild scrambled to simplify existing spells and sought out those naturally gifted with magicka, since they lacked the time to train them in all but the simplest of practical spells. Spell crafting in Cyrodill and the major holds of the empire became extremely rare. The demand for efficient and simplistic spells became the norm and mages felt they needed only to learn the exact minimum in order to cast a given spell.

This trend led to a decline in the principle of magic and an increase in the simplistic form of its practice. Spell crafting became seen as an expensive extravagance and the deep study of spell nature began to fade. While I'm sure a few spell altar's remain in the world they are either lost or closely guarded. While I personally know of two spell makers in operation here in High Rock they are few and far between indeed.

Thus is the history and current state of spell making in the world. Should any of this information prove useful please include me within your next work. Should any further questions arise I am only happy to oblige them with my best answers.

Humble respects,

Broles Yeomwing, High Counselor of magic to his Lordship Vaeryson, liege to the Baron of Evermor