Lore:Imperial Battle College

The Battlespire

The Imperial Battle College is an institution within the Cyrodilic Empire dedicated to training Imperial Battlemages and Guardsmen. Its elite training facility was the Battlespire, where Guard Potentials and apprentice battlemages train in the schools of magic, magical and martial warfare, and combatting the forces of Oblivion. It has existed since at least 2E 580, when the Battlespire's reserves were depleted in the wake of the Three Banners War.

The College curriculum contained the practice of necromancy, resulting in conflict with Errandil, a Living Saint of Arkay who considered the craft wicked.

The Potentials Battle Tourney was hosted annually to find suitable candidates for apprenticeship in the College. The first and second best-performing students were sent to the Battlespire for training as Imperial Guardsmen. Members of the Imperial Guard were considered by some as the greatest warrior-mages on Tamriel.

In 3E 433, Emperor Uriel Septim VII was assassinated by the Mythic Dawn. By the order of Battlemage Ocato, the College, along with several other Imperial institutions, was committed to bringing the assassins to justice.

Training of Potentials

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.

References

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.