Origin of the Mages Guild Content . The idea of a collection of Mages , Sorcerers , and assorted Mystics pooling their resources and talents for the purpose of research and public charity was a revolutionary concept in the early years of the Second Era . The only organization then closest in aim and structure to what we know today as the Mages Guild was the Psijic Order of the Isle of Artaeum . At the time , magic was something to be learned by individuals , or at most within intimate covens . Mages were , if not actually hermits , usually quite solitary . The Psijic Order served the rulers of Summurset Isle as counsellors , and chose its members through a complex , ritualized method not understood by outsiders . Its purposes and goals likewise went unpublished , and detractors attributed the worst evils as the source of the Order ' s power . Actually , the religion of the old Order could be described as ancestor worship , an increasingly unfashionable philosophy in the Second Era . When Vanus Galerion , a Psijic of Artaeum and student of the famed Iachesis , began collecting magic - users from around Summurset Isle , he attracted the animosity of all . He was operating out of the urban center of Firsthold , and there was a common ( and not entirely unfounded ) attitude that magical experiments should be conducted only in unpopulated areas . Even more shocking , Galerion proposed to make magical items , potions , and even spells available to any member of the general public who could afford to pay . No longer was magic to be limited either to the aristocracy or intelligentsia . Galerion was brought before Iachesis and the King of Firsthold , Rilis XII , and made to state the intentions of the fraternity he was forming . The fact that Galerion ' s speech to Rilis and Iachesis was not recorded for posterity is doubtless a tragedy , though it does afford opportunity for historians to amuse one another with speculation about the lies and persuasions Galerion might have used to found the ubiquitous organization . The charter , at any rate , was approved . Almost immediately after the Guild was formed , the question of security had to be addressed . The Isle of Artaeum did not require force of arms to shield it from invaders — when the Psijic Order does not wish someone to land on the Isle , it and all its inhabitants simply become insubstantial . The new Mages Guild , by contrast , had to hire guards . Galerion soon discovered what the Tamriel an nobility has known for thousands of years : Money alone does not buy loyalty . The knightly Order of the Lamp was formed the following year . Like a tree from an acorn , the Mages Guild grew branches all over Summurset Isle and gradually the mainland of Tamriel . There are numerous records of superstitious or sensibly fearful rulers forbidding the Guild in their domains , but their heirs or heirs ' heirs eventually recognized the wisdom of allowing the Guild free rein . The Mages Guild has become a powerful force in Tamriel , a dangerous foe if a somewhat disinterested ally . There have been only a few rare incidents of the Mages Guild actually becoming involved in local political struggles . On these occasions , the Guild ' s participation has been the ultimate decider in the conflict . As begun by Vanus Galerion , the Mages Guild as an institution is presided over by a supreme council of six Archmagisters . Each Guildhall is run by a Guildmagister , assisted by a twofold counsel , the Master of Incunabula and the Master at Arms . The Master of Incunabula presides over an additional counsel of two mages , the Master of Academia and the Master of the Scrye . The Master at Arms also has a counsel of two , the Master of Initiates and the Palatinus , the leader of the local chapter of the Order of the Lamp . One need not be a member of the Mages Guild to know that this carefully contrived hierarchy is often nothing more than a chimera . As Vanus Galerion himself said bitterly , leaving Tamriel to travel to other lands , " The Guild has become nothing more than an intricate morass of political infighting . "