The Legend of Vastarie Content . < poem > By Afwa , a Student and Friend Necromancy ' s known to many as a binding of souls to a form prepared — or in some cases , manufactured — by the conjurer . While technically accurate , the implication is that soul s bound in this manner are imprisoned against their will with no hope of release . Further implied is the idea that souls occupying the construct are always sentient — the souls of men or mer — a fallacy perpetuated by the practice of animating corpses for martial or manual labors . It is this misunderstanding and a potential for abuse that led to the vilification of necromancy and the expulsion of Mannimarco and his peers from the Isle of Artaeum . Enter Vastarie , a student of the Psijic Order and contemporary of such notables as Vanus Galerion and Mannimarco . While Mannimarco sought power through the direct application of necromantic energies , Vastarie ' s purposes were far more esoteric . She sought a way to delay the release of a sentient soul upon death that it might be consulted , its knowledge recorded for the ages . It is to this end that she worked with Mannimarco after leaving Artaeum , searching for a way to trap souls as one might capture lesser Daedra . Believing the secret lay with Molag Bal , the two conspired to enter Coldharbour and wrest it from the father of vampires himself . Together , they hatched a plan . With a brash courage known only to the young , Mannimarco and his followers held open a portal to the Prince ' s realm . Ever thirsting for adventure , it was Vastarie who entered its depths and returned with a cache of black crystals the likes of which they had never seen . To Mannimarco , they were perfect . Small , capable of containing even the most willful of souls , and apparently indestructible . To Vastarie , they were deeply flawed , for enchantment was the only safe way to free a soul from their depths . Even so , she set about the task of reproducing the Stones , breaking them down , testing them with a variety of substances until , by happy accident , she created something new : the first Sigil Geode . Clear as crystal , this new device was capable of holding sentient souls within its depths , but unlike the gems wrested from the Lord of Domination , it was exceptionally fragile and would only hold its charge for a matter of days . Once imprisoned , souls could be transferred between geodes , but applying them as one would a soul gem effected a soul ' s release , instead . Vastarie had found what she was looking for , but Mannimarco was furious . What use was a soul gem that could not be used to fuel an enchantment ? He demanded Vastarie find a way to modify her creation to his purposes . Realizing her friend would never stop searching , and that further discoveries made with him would only advance his goals , she gathered up her research and left with Telacar , her husband and a powerful necromancer in his own right . Together , they fled Mannimarco ' s grasp , eventually hiding in an Ayleid ruin deep within Valenwood . There , they lived for many years , as quietly as they could while perfecting their art . For decades , they had each other and seemed happy — until the day Vastarie left . In the years that followed , she wandered the surface of Nirn , exploring places of power . She visited Wayrest , Alik ' r , the , and the libraries of Dune , searching for some answer to a question that gnawed at her very soul . In time , she found what she was looking for and returned to Valenwood . There , she built a tower and took on apprentices , teaching them her particular brand of necromancy and furthering her research . Using her Sigil Geodes , we bound the souls of lesser Daedra , postponing their return to Oblivion as one might with a soul gem . We then worked on a way to manifest the trapped spirit into the world . Early attempts had unexpected , even dangerous results . Geodes shattered , sending shards of broken crystal into the flesh of our fellow students — misapplied energies bound the souls of the living into the tiny stones — but as we studied we corrected our mistakes and refined the process . Eventually , Vastarie had it down to a science . By applying a Sigil Geode at the moment of death , a soul could be suspended within its depths . Through applied conjuration , it could be drawn into an ectoplasmic shell where it could be consulted at leisure . She wrote the foundling Mages Guild of her discovery . Vanus Galerion himself came to witness her demonstration , which involved consulting an old groundskeeper who had volunteered to demonstrate the process . He was horrified when she bound the soul into her apparatus , and when the process was completed , with the old groundskeeper was released and allowed to return to Aetherius , he was white as a sheet . Slowly , he stood to address the assembled students . He spoke with vindictiveness and an anger none would expect from his unassuming mien . When he was finished , he turned and left . Some followed him . None could blame them , he wasn ' t wrong — the Sigil Geode was a dangerous creation . Misused , it could spark wars and bring about destruction unheard of in our history . Vastarie was undeterred , convinced that Galerion ' s willful ignorance would lead to his undoing , but something else would gain her attention in the years to come . A vast ruin was discovered beneath her tower ' s foundation , concealed from sight and scrying by the power of a Daedric Prince . In time , she walked into those ruins and never came out . Some of us still await her return . < / poem >