My current fan fic is dealing with the background of the battle between the Necromancers and the Mages Guild. I put the in-game questline of the Mages Guild to occur after the end of the Oblivion crisis. Since the Guild fought the Daedra and the Necromancers did not, Necromancers came to be quite strong in the aftermath.

I think that the collage of whispers is basicly the Mages guild without imperial charters and batle mages. They work for themselves, and don't fight for any empire. kind of like a magical school version of the red cross. But the Synod would be a group dedicated to using magical abilities to serve the emperor. Kindo of like a magical version of the blades/whatever Titus renamed them to be.

Speaking of battle mages, wonder if there's been any changes to that organization post Titus Mede...I may have overlooked references in the novel. Was kinda speed-reading to keep up with the ones who got it before me. Need to go back and read it again, and soak it in more.

I always assumed the Imperial Battle-college was separate from the Legions and the Mages Guild.

I always assumed it was a mixture of both, but then I may have been wrong.

There wasn't really much about the Battlemages in the book, but then they haven't exactly been the most "in-favor" since the whole "trapping the Emperor in Oblivion and taking the throne" thing.

Going to have to agree with Hellmouth on this one as granted necromancy may be seen as a bad practice by the public, banning it would have sealed the mages guild fate as a organization.

thats what im thinking as well

It would be kind of cool if the Synod had its own order of Paladins or Holy Crusaders - if it were a sort of natural evolution of the Knights of the Nine and the Imperial Church. We don't know anything about it just now but that type of organization is something these games has been lacking, on the Imperial end, and with Titus Mede taking a more aggressive approach to reunification of Tamriel a group of Paladins would be the ultimate expression of Imperial culture.