Lore:Imperial Battlemages

An Imperial Legion battlemage

This article is about Imperial Legion battlemages. For the head of the Elder Council, see Imperial Battlemage of Tamriel.

The Cohort of Imperial Battlemages are a group of well trained war mages serving in the Imperial Legion. They had close ties to the Mages Guild before the Guild's dissolution. While the Guild had the authority to send battlemages onto the field, often to deal with violent rogue mages, the battlemages ultimately obeyed the orders of their superiors in the Legion. Imperial Battlemages are Nibenese in origin, and members of their ranks make up an age-old aristrocracy in the region of Nibenay. They are trained by the Imperial Battle College.

Imperial Battlemages that serve in the Imperial Legion are not to be confused with The Imperial Battlemage.

HistoryEdit

Ancient OriginsEdit

The Battlespire, training ground of the Imperial Battlemages

The original Imperial Battlemages were an elite unit separate from the Legions, founded during the early days of the Alessian Empire when the distinction between mage and warrior was more pronounced. The first Imperial College of Battlemages was founded at some point between 1E 243 and 1E 361, prior to the advent of the Alessian Order. In time, the idea of a "battlemage" became less novel, and Imperial Battlemages began to serve alongside the regular Legions as spellcasters. By 2E 582 it was standard for every cohort to include a cadre of spellcasters, and the term "battlemage" came to refer simply to a legion's war-caster troops. It is unknown when the first incarnation of the Battlemages collapsed. Regulus Tharn was paramount in reviving the tradition of the Battlemage during the Reman Dynasty. During this time, the Imperial Battlemages were further exalted with the creation of the "Imperial Battlemage" title, a prestigious position traditionally granted to a unit's leader. During Reman's golden age, they marched out with the "greatest army in history, chasing Dragons to the ends of the world."

With the collapse of the Reman Empire, the Battlemages saw it as their duty to preserve what remained of the Empire and restore its stability, continuing to serve Varen Aquilarios' incarnation throughout the Interregnum.

The BattlespireEdit

The Battlespire, served as a war college for the training of Imperial Battlemages. The school was administered by five Battlemages of great skill. These select few served as the pool from which the Imperial Battlemage of Tamriel, advisor to the Emperor, was chosen. The facility also served as a testing ground for those candidates considered for the Imperial Guard. During the Imperial Simulacrum, the Battlespire was invaded by the forces of Mehrunes Dagon, who killed nearly all battlemages stationed there. The Daedra blocked access to the Battlespire through the use of a Daedric Sigil, which prevented the Legion from entering and reclaiming the academy. Two apprentices sent to test in the Battlespire fought their way into Oblivion and followed the retreating army, eventually banishing Dagon to the Void and causing the destruction of the Battlespire.

Despite the destruction of their training facility, the Imperial Battlemages continued to exist decades later. They had a presence in the Imperial City, where they were assigned to guard the Arcane University. There they patrolled the university grounds and occupied an Imperial watchtower. In 3E 433, Watch Captain Hieronymus Lex briefly commandeered the Battlemages, along with many other members of the Imperial Guard, to search the Imperial City Waterfront for the Gray Fox, a notorious thief. In reality, the Gray Fox's appearance was a lie circulated by the Thieves Guild, who used the opportunity to pull off several major heists around the unguarded city; the absence of the Imperial Battlemages allowed for the theft of Hrormir's Icestaff from the Arch-Mage's Tower, which was later returned by the Thieves Guild. The theft enraged the Mages Guild, who demanded that Lex call off his search and return the battlemages to the university grounds. That same year, the Imperial Battlemages helped the Mages Guild to catch a rogue mage along the Gold Road, and helped fight against the Order of the Black Worm.

In the Fourth Era, after the destruction of the Battlespire and the dissolution of the Mages Guild, it is not known where the Battlemages of the Legion were trained, but the Battlemages were still known to be active.

TrainingEdit

Prime Sorcerer Vandorallen, a scion of Cyrodiilic nobility who was sent to the Battlespire as a child

Lucilla Caprenia, who was conscripted as a Potential at six years of age

Becoming a full fledged Battlemage required the completion of a grueling training regimen. Potentials were scouted for the makings of a Battlemage and high magical affinity early on, and subsequently brought to the Battlespire for training. The standard time of conscription was twelve years of age, though there are known cases of candidates with especially high affinity being conscripted as early as six years old and starting their training in the Battlespire itself at ten. At the Battlespire Potentials received education in each of the schools of magic, including disciplines such as necromancy, as well as in magical and martial warfare and contemporary studies. Known training exercises included the summoning, banishment, and control of Atronachs, an early stage of training known to take place while the Potentials were children, as well as magic duels between the potentials themselves, learning how to combat Daedra, and learning how to conserve one's energy while spellcasting. The Potentials also received training in how to scout and operate stealthily behind enemy lines, with one known case of a Potential recruited earlier than the standard twelve years having started this part of her training at ten years of age. Potentials were separated into training groups, with candidates in the same group going through daily activities such as training, dueling and eating together alongside one another for many years. The conditions were exceptionally harsh, leading to a high casualty rate among the Potentials, a number of which were known to meet their end during the course of the magic duels or other exercises. Many Potentials could not endure the training and the grief of losing their fellows and so removed themselves from the Spire. Completion of the training program took years and culminated in a series of field missions where the Potential gained practical experience outside the Battlespire itself by carrying out operations selected for them by their tutors.

Upon completion of the field missions, the Potential underwent Initiation, being sent on a journey through several planes of Oblivion and declared a full fledged Battlemage upon their return. Though Potentials dealt with Daedra more than most, the Initiation was still known to claim many lives and was a source of considerable fear among the Potentials, with it being said many would rather join a guild or even fight in war rather than to face it." Despite the potential danger field missions posed they were considered by far the easier trial compared to the Initiation itself, and some Battlemage tutors considered missions that involved fighting Daedra the perfect practice for the journey through Oblivion itself. The pool of Potentials was known to sometimes include scions of noble families, sometimes sent to the Spire, though the families retained the ability to pull the Potential from their training should they desire to.

Role in Extracting InformationEdit

The Dread Cellar

Imperial Battlemage Martus Tullius, who served as a tutor in the Battlespire and interrogator in the Dread Cellar

The Imperial Battlemages were known to sometimes maintain locations that served the Empire's interests outside their principal stronghold, the Battlespire itself. One such location was the Dread Cellar which was used as a prison for the Empire's worst enemies. Figures such as a priest of Dibella who secretly commanded a cult of Mephala, a guildmaster who held sway over puppet government officials, a vampire who held a whole island enthralled, or a powerful lich, were all considered potential targets for confinement in the Cellar. Battlemages assigned to the Dread Cellar as interrogators were known to utilize extreme methods in their efforts to extract information from their prisoners, with one of their ranks describing their role as actually being that of torturers. The Dread Cellar was meant to serve as a prison even after a prisoner's death, with the facility being covered in arcane matrices and spiritual enchantments meant to prevent the escape of all souls within even in the case of death. The arcane matrices were attuned to the souls of the Battlemage caretakers, allowing only their spirits to escape in the event of their own death. Due to the Dread Cellar being a place of great suffering, the pain endured by those within over the centuries the facility was in use, created an arcane miasma that trapped the souls of those inside and prevented their departure, this made hauntings a common phenomenon within, and the Battlemages would sometimes force the resulting spirits and undead to guard the prison itself through magic.

Because of the nature of the work carried out there, the existence of the Dread Cellar was a highly guarded secret, unknown to the Potentials of the Battlespire, but known to the Spire Council who administered the location, and to the Imperial Battlemage of Tamriel, who was traditionally selected from among the Battlespire administrators and held visitation rights to the prison. The Dread Cellar was shut down at some point during the Interregnum while Abnur Tharn served as the Imperial Battlemage of Tamriel, owing to the Empire's collapse and the declining manpower of the Battlemages, who were stretched thin attempting to provide war-casters to support the war effort. It is unknown if operations ever resumed, though the Battlespire and the Battlemages remained active.

OrganizationEdit

Known ranks of the Imperial Battlemages:

• Battlemage Palatine - commander of a Cohort of Imperial Battlemages.
• Battlemage Tribune - usually the highest ranking Imperial Battlemage to actually take the field and personally engage the enemy.
• Battlemage Scout Captain - leads troops of mounted scouts.

GalleryEdit

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  Various Imperial battlemages of the Cyrodilic Empire (Online)

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  Empire Dreadmage (Legends)

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  Battlespire battlemage (Battlespire)

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  Clarentavious Valisious, a high ranking Imperial battlemage (Battlespire)

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  Imperial mage (Skyrim)

See AlsoEdit

• Battlespire — The citadel and training grounds of the Imperial Battlemages

BooksEdit

• Meet the Character - Lucilla Caprenia by Martus Tullius — A request for deployment of an apprentice Imperial Battlemage
• Starlover's Log by Samar Starlover — Entries from the journal of a Battlemage seeking escape from Battlespire

ReferencesEdit

Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.