Vanus Galerion

Vanus Galerion was an Aldmer mage of the Psijic Order during the Second Era. He founded the Mages Guild in response of the growing influence of the necromancer Mannimarco on the continent of Tamriel and the incompetence of his former Order to act against the threat. He and his followers eventually defeated Mannimarco's necromancer army. Galerion died in this last great battle.

Galerion as a child
During the early bloody years of the Second Era, Vanus Galerion was born under the name Trechtus, a serf on the estate of a minor nobleman, Lord Gyrnasse of Sollicich-on-Ker. Trechtus' father and mother were common laborers, but his father had secretly, against the law of Lord Gyrnasse, taught himself and then Trechtus to read. Lord Gyrnasse had been advised that literate serfs were an abomination of nature and dangerous to themselves and their lords, and had closed all bookstalls within Sollicich-on-Ker. All booksellers, poets, and teachers were forbidden, except within Gyrnasse's keep. Nevertheless, a small scale smuggling operation kept a number of books and scrolls in circulation right under Gyrnasse's shadow. When Trechtus was eight, the smugglers were found and imprisoned. Some said that Trechtus's mother, an ignorant and religious woman fearful of her husband, was the betrayer of the smugglers, but there were other rumors as well. The trial of the smugglers was nonexistent, and the punishment swift. The body of Trechtus' father was kept hanging for weeks during the hottest summer Sollicich-on-Ker had seen in centuries.

Three months later, Trechtus ran away from Lord Gyrnasse's estate. He made it as far as Alinor, half-way across Summerset Isle. A band of troubadours found him nearly dead, curled up in a ditch by the side of the road, nursed him to health, and employed him as an errand boy in return for food and shelter. One of the troubadours, a soothsayer named Heliand began testing Trechtus' mind and found the boy, though shy, to be preternaturally intelligent and sophisticated given his circumstances. Heliand recognized in the boy a commonality, for Heliand had been trained on the Isle of Artaeum as a mystic.

When the troupe was performing in the village of Potansa on the far eastern end of Summerset, Heliand took Trechtus, then a boy of eleven, to the Isle of Artaeum. The Magister of the Isle, Iachesis, recognized potential in Trechtus and took him on as pupil, giving him the name of Vanus Galerion. Vanus trained his mind on the Isle of Artaeum, as well as his body. Thus was the first Archmagister of the Mages Guild trained. From the Psijics of the Isle of Artaeum, he received his training. From his childhood of want and injustice, he received his philosophy of sharing knowledge.

Galerion's life
The two best apprentices of Artaeum were Vanus Galerion and Mannimarco. While Galerion used his talents wisely and honorably, Mannimarco had turned to the dark arts and was slowly being corrupted by them. Galerion knew this and so confronted Mannimarco, informing him that he was misusing his talents and that he should give up the dark arts of Necromancy. Despite Galerion's threats, Mannimarco scoffed at this and continued to study the dark arts.

The Psijic order sent Mannimarco to the mainland to run an errand. Galerion told his masters they had made a mistake and that all Tamriel was now under threat since Mannimarco would be able to gather many followers at Tamriel's mainland. The masters ignored Galerion's warnings however, and took no action against the appearing threat. The masters eventually forgot completely about their mistake however Galerion did not forget.

Origin of the Mages Guild
Vanus Galerion, sickened by the foolishness of his superiors, traveled to Tamriel and made an order of noble magisters, and so founded the mages guild. Meanwhile though Mannimarco had gained many allies, and corrupted wizards and witches from all over Tamriel came to him with Artifacts and gifts and joined him in his evil schemes.

Vanus Galerion began collecting magic-users from around Summerset 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 Tamriel's 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.

Unfortunately Galerion left the Guild he had founded angrily calling it 'a morass' and hating what had become of his once noble order.

The Great Battle
It was then that Galerion headed out with an army of Mages and Battlemages and traveled north to a cursed mountain path to settle his business with Mannimarco. Galerion and his army were met by an equally powerful army of necromancers on the mountain, and both sides were ready to do battle.

Galerion cried, echoing, "Worm King, surrender your artifacts, And their power to me, and you shall live as befits the dead." A hollow laugh answered, "You die first," Mannimarco said. The mage army then clashed with the unholy force obscene.

The two armies then clashed, lightning and frost cascading around them. The necromancers summoned various undead creatures to their sides which where battered by streams of light forged by the battlemages. Galerion noticed, before the end of the battle that Mannimarco was no longer alive, but had turned himself into a lich thus gaining immortality. Galerion's and his army won the battle and managed to crush the remaining necromancers. Mannimarco also appeared to be dead, however although Galerion won the battle and many necromancers were killed, the practice of necromancy would live on.

Unfortunately, Galerion died in the great battle along with a thousand other battlemages and necromancers, though his legacy lived on in Tamriel's history and literature.