Mages Guild

The Mages Guild is a guild dedicated to the collection, preservation, and distribution of magical knowledge with an emphasis on ensuring that all citizens of Tamriel benefit from this knowledge. Members of the Guild receive many benefits, including training, services, and education in the established laws regarding the proper use of magic. In Skyrim, the equivalent of the Mages Guild is The College of Winterhold.

History and Origin
The Mages Guild started in the early years of the Second Era. Previously, the only organization with a similar aim and structure to the Mages Guild we know today was the Psijic Order of the Isle of Artaeum.

Vanus Galerion, a Psijic of Artaeum and student of the famed Iachesis, began organizing users of magic from around Summerset Isle at the urban city of Firsthold. At the time, this gathering and conduction of magical experiments in populated areas was considered unacceptable. 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.

Galerion was brought before Iachesis and the King of Firsthold, Rilis XII, and made to state the intentions of the fraternity he was forming. Although it's not recorded what he said to convince them, the charter was approved, and the Mages Guild was born.

Like a tree from an acorn, the Mages Guild grew branches all over Summurset Isle and gradually the mainland of Tamriel. Although initially the Guild was rejected in some areas of Tamriel, eventually it was accepted and became a powerful force in Tamriel. 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, with subsequent masters over certain Areas, creating a bureaucracy of sorts. 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."

Appearances in the Elder Scrolls series
The Mages Guild appears slightly differently in each game, as different aspects of the Guild become relevant, different laws are passed, or to highlight possible regional differences between Guilds of certain provinces. For example, in Morrowind, there is no central university, and guild members can gain ranks after a certain number of quests are completed as opposed to specific quests. In contrast, in Oblivion, the Arcane University oversees all Mages Guild activities in Cyrodiil, and admission requires approval from all Guild Halls in Cyrodiil due to the passing of a bill by Arch-Mage Traven. In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the Mages Guild has been disbanded following the Great War, and the player can instead attend The College of Winterhold.