From http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Vanus_Galerion:

"The necromancers summoned various undead creatures to their sides which where battered by streams of light forged by the battlemages."

This is the only reference to this ability I've seen thus far.

I'm wondering what sort of Light based attack would harm undead creatures?

I came up with one of two solutions and want to hear your opinions on if this makes sense.

1 - This ability is the equivalent of "Holy" type spells used by Paladins and Clerics in other game series. Since Necromancy is considered "Unholy" in some way, perhaps some Battlemages are also priests or crusaders of the Nine and can channel Aedric Light into a Destruction or Restoration type spell.

OR

2 - Mannimarco actually employed Vampires in his first unholy army, and the Battlemages somehow managed to learn how to use spells that actually created Sunlight. I've long wondered, myself, why such a spell wasn't available in the actual games, since it would be the perfect spell for Crusaders, Battlemages, Spellswords or Witch Hunters who made a hobby of killing vampires, either for ingredients or for the greater good.

It seems perfectly logical that such a spell would be possible to craft and use by a skilled Battlemage.

What are your thoughts? Perhaps I am over anolyzing and this is just a poetic way of describing Shock spells or Fireball spells, but it stuck out at me from the paragraph.

It's magic. Need I say more?

In Morrowind there is a spell that banishes undead - sort of rings of golden light that spread out from the caster like the ripples caused by throwing a stone into a pond

Well about the Mannimarco part, I'm pretty confident that he had a few Vampires at his side, and probably still does.

And I have also thought much about this "stream of light" magic that says to be used at that battle, but it could just as well be a glorification of the battle and not really any such a spell.

That's what I would think this was referring to. Lore-wise, however, I'd say the OP's first suggestion probably explains it quite well. Something along the lines of channelling positive aether (read: ANU aligned light) into something that repels/destroys undead. Like the next logical extension of the turn undead spell. I'd conjecture it works very similar to D&D. A low level cleric in D&D can simply turn undead by channelling their divine power, but a high level one can totally destroy the undead with the purity of their faith. This would be a similar comparison between a low level and high level restoration/destruction spell.

Yeah, that's a Conjuration spell isn't it? Or was it a different school in Morrowind? It's Conjuration in Oblivion and it only scares the undead, not really damages them. In this text it's implied this caused them serious harm.




Okay I like this clarification/explanation. It's less boring and therefore probably more correct. Yeah I am familiar with those D&D tropes/spells. Aren't the strong versions called "Exorcism" or something? I think WOW uses them too. I played that game briefly but mercifully escaped its shallow grasp.

I wonder if it could be classed into any particular School of Magicka? I'd say Restoration since it "restores" the body to a true Dead state, removing the "affliction" of Undead.

edit: Although I also like the idea that it's a "special Gift of the Gods" that only certain champions and paladins get to wield, and not something that can be learned.

It was the power of Good.


Seriously, though, that page is paraphrasing http://www.imperial-library.info/obbooks/mannimarco.shtml, a horribly clich?d and poorly written epic poem which portrays Vanus Galerion and Mannimarco as characters so flat you can slice cheese with them. Hence the "rays of light".

(And if anybody is feeling like it, I won't be buying into apologetic disclaimers about the fictional author deliberately wanting to idealize Galerion and what not. It's just poorly written.)

Still..there is a little nugget of truth in every tale.

It's not entirely inconceivable that such abilities exist.

Dude, it's magic.

Magic does funky things. That's just how it goes.

Indeed.

/thread

It could fit into the school of "Mysticism" since it's pretty much a school with almost unlimited possibilities.

Thou I'm rather biased at that point.

Or it could just be light. You know, like a laser beam. That'd hurt.

I always though that line was just, y'know, referring to magic. I mean, your fire, frost, and shock effects are pretty bright. I just assumed that we were talking about various spell effects, all bright and colorful-like. Less cumbersome than listing them all.

I can't help but think that the OP hasn't seen Lord of the Rings, but I'm too lazy to search youtube for the fragment where Gandalf uses the Streams of Light against the Nazgul. Now I do have some hentai on hand here that also features streams of light ....

No

Lol at our dear proweler, Gandalf also used his secret "flame/light" at the Balrog in the Mines of Moria.

One of the very few times he actually used some of his power. But, then again, his ring is not exactly his. He is just borrowing it for the time being, because the elf who actually owns it thought Gandalf would put it to better use.

The Morrowind spell was Turn Undead and at higher levels it could kill them (in the spell description) so I would imagine that the OP could be onto a good thing and it is also possible that earlier version of the spell needed the efforts of several to control and was designed to be a directed offensive beam, and that in Morrowind it was turned into a defensive ring.

After all Manimarco and his pals were really at the forefront of the necromancy thing and the Mages that opposed them were just learning. But I can imagine that with time the spell became refined and new requirements/uses for the spell came into play until the one-mer version was perfected.

A ring? Was it a ring that helped them their?

I'm not that cunning in LOTR-Lore but I always thought it was Himself or his staff that helped them there.

I am surprised no one has mentioned this yet. The illusion spell of "Light." Perhaps they simply use something similar, if not the exact spell, but instead of the linear "target" system implored by the games, they were able to create source or beams of light.

For instance, my fantasy/rp view of the light spell in TES is when you cast it as a target spell, it's a ball or stream of light until it hits the target. So perhaps that could have been the "Streams of Light." And, in fact, it does add minimal light in TES when casted. It's highly possible they elevated the power of it. (Since there's no spell animation for making it brighter when it's flying in the air in TES... if there were, it could be safe to assume it'd be a ball or stream of light.)

Hm... Do I make sense?

Come on man...it's light. The Light spell is light. It's light. It doesn't do nothin' but light. Light doesn't hurt.

Since the line mentions battlemages, I'm sure it's just powerful magic, seeing as magic IS light itself.

Yeah, he used a ring, which was gifted with the power of fire. Elrond and Galadriel have the other 2 rings, but I don't believe they really used them ever, being connected to Sauron and all.

Sure, natural light is light, too. But it can hurt. I actually have two cousins (Brothers) who are allergic to the sun/light. They take tons of meds and have to be covered up a lot.

Light can hurt. By concentrating light into a beam (Light ants and a magnifying glass), it can do extreme damage. But we're talking about vampires who can't stand out in the light, and battlemages who could possibly produce beams(streams) of light. And it's quite possible it revolves around the illusion spell - Light.

The light spell is magic, too. Don't forget that. So, either way, it IS powerful magic.. (-.- )...

Unless I missed some info that states that states they primarily used vampires or battlemages come equipped with magnifying glasses, then that really doesn't prove anything. Mainly because of one fact:



I've never seen any piece of lore that said someone got blasted to death by some uber-ultra Light spell. Light is not powerful magic. Mainly because light doesn't hurt.... Once again, I'll say that i think it's just pretty language, as Adanorcil stated.

I've no doubt it's pretty language. In fact, that's what I think. But, like any good debater, I take both sides.

Regardless if it is light or not, in TES, it's a world of magic. If someone wanted to create a new spell for damaging light, they can. And you're still forgetting the victim of that said light was a vampire, who was especially vulnerable to it.

You've got to be kidding me? Of course they didn't have magnifying glasses. I was making an anology about how light, natural or magic, can be concentrated into other forms. And, light, if powerful enough, can be blinding and damaging, with no actual beam form. Light is not simply light. Light is energy. Think about it like this - A tanning bed. It's just light, so then why does it damage the skin? Light, being energy, is a form of heat. OR vice versa, whichever your preference.

If I take large, powerful bulbs, yeah, it can potentially kill. Again, it's simply energy.

And my reason for my rather impatient attitude is that, if you're the correct person I am thinking of, you're one of the few people who had/have an open mind. But here, you're completely throwing down what I say. Which is even moreso irritating. I am simply providing an explanation.