I've seen lots of threads as of late about how in-depth the guilds will be in Skyrim, although many of them really only touch upon how Bethesda can expand the breadth of Oblivion's guilds with little mention of other potential factions in the game. One thing we've learned from The Infernal City is that the Mages' Guild, after decades of hunting necromancers and wearing unfashionable blue hoods, was disbanded for its insolence and divided into two splinter factions, the Synod and the College of Whispers.

They'll both probably be in Skyrim to some degree. I'm expecting that one of these will continue the more public, commercial role that the Mages' Guild served in previous TES games whilst the other one sounds more like a sort of secret order or Inquisition working on behalf of the Imperials. I'm hoping for some pretty interesting conflicts between the two as we saw with the Tongs in Morrowind. Unfortunately, I think I heard that they were both Imperially sanctioned so we may not see any large scale disputes between them. But I could imagine them both trying to overstep their boundaries and seize control of the duties of the other.

What do you think? Will we be fortunate enough to join both, or just one?

I believe both run on the idea of you can learn our stuff, as long as you pay your dues and show you're competent. How they operate differently, unknown. It's speculated the CoW is secular, while the Synod is more religious. Other than that, I know the Synod has rediscovered levitation.

Personally, I'd like the two try to out compete each other. Better more business to you when you control the product and service. I'd also like to see them try to use other organizations to undermine the other. What I don't want is something akin to Mages Guild vs. Necromancers, and more of Mages Guild vs. Telvanni. Wasn't the biggest main focus, but it was pretty known the Mages Guild and the Telvanni really didn't like each other (though the MG was a helluva lot more underhanded and vicious).

Remember, the events in The Infernal City were only 40 years after the Oblivion Crisis, and 160 years before the events of Skyrim. A lot of things could have changed in that time frame.

They'll be like the Telvanni and MG, methinks.

Hopefully not like the FG and Blackwood Company, or the MG and Necromancers.

Well considering Bethesda authorized Keyes' novel and guided him through all the lore decisions, I'm pretty sure they'd want his additions to the lore to stick for at least a few games. Of course, I do recall hearing that one of the two organizations had rediscovered Levitation, which I highly doubt will be in Skyrim (at least as a common spell or potion). Just hoping that their quests are a bit more varied than the OB Mages' Guild ones. Bring back some of the "research" tasks involved in the field of wizardry, if you will.

The problem with Mage's Guild vs. Necromancers rigmarole was that it was totally bereft of context or gravity. The conflict was under-explained, even nonsensical (what is Necromancy in TES exactly? Summoning the undead? Because every spellcaster can do that without repercussions or even snide remarks). Further, the Necromancers were cartoonish, cackling villains without any greater purpose or ambition beyond soaking up your fireballs. The MQ wasn't perfect, but at least the Mythic Dawn were properly flushed out, presenting us with smallest hint of a metaphysical dialectic (is Nirn just another part of Oblivion? Are the Aedra false-gods and traitors?); whereas the Necromancers just hang out in Echo cave staring at the wall, useless.

Very well put; I'm inclined to agree completely with your argument. One of my main grievances with Oblivion was that the guild quests were so soulless, with the opposing factions (where relevant) being pantomime villains who you can't even sympathise with, let alone join as a legitimate alternative faction. This area really must be improved upon in Skyrim to add substance and general depth to the world.

A synod is a meeting of religious leaders, usually bishops. I think they mean by calling a group Synod in the series that they are a religious organization.

That's what I'm thinking, if they aren't some outright templar/Inquisition for the Imperial Cult, we may see something akin to the Mages' Guild in Arena. Secretive towards outsiders, with a very "don't touch" attitude to visitors. I think that'd be cool - something always felt a bit off about how the guild members in previous games were willing to just sell to/create spells for any stranger who waltzed in.

I'm pretty confident that one guild will be pretty much the same as the mages guild while the other has darker magic like necromancy and daedric magic - when you think about it it makes sense for the mages guild to split into these two opposing factions.

I wouldn't entirely agree with that. Like most of the guilds in Morrowind, it wasn't as cut-and-dry as that. Sure, the Mage's Guild had its less-than-ethical quest givers, particularly that Dark Elf woman in Balmora and their idiot of a Guildmaster, but others like Skink-in-Trees-Shade were perfectly willing to get along with others.

House Telvanni was similar, it had its arrogant [Censored]s like that one guy in Gnisis who imprisoned a tax collector who was just doing her job, but it had its decent people as well, like Master Aryon.

I hope they will be somehow like the Mage's Guild and the Telvanni in Morrowind.

I think the cool thing if these guilds make it in game will be the atmosphere of each. One will feel like a religious order where the other, I hope, will feel like an actual school. That kind of bugged me about the MG in Oblivion. They had a University but you never really felt like a student there. Also I hope the MG also feels secretive like it did in the old days.

He kept an imperial guard as a exhibit. Ended up denying it food for a while, as it tried to escape one day.

Just sayin'

Never heard of that bit (I never actually did the Telvanni quest line so I've only got the interactions from the main quest to go on). He's still better than most of the others in terms of his interactions with the player character, though.

You need to play the Telvanni quest line to know what it means to be a Telvanni. They're a pretty old, crazy, and amoral bunch. Ayron just seems nice, because he's the youngest and least crazy (which is still old and crazy by most standards). Heck, he's a little young upstart to practically all Telvanni. But that's what happens when the council members are all at least 800, while he's probably around half that.

True, true. But that all goes with what I was saying earlier. None of the factions are purely good or evil, they all have their good points and bad points.

I'd rather they do something different than go back to US VERSUS THEM.

I completely agree, which is why I seem to become a giant negative nancy when it comes to a lot of people's ideas. I am tired of Necros vs. MG crap! WHY ARE THEY EVEN AGAINST EACH OTHER!? I swear, Traven was the worse thing to happen to TES. Even more awful than Alduin coming to eat everyone! Yes, the world is better having Alduin eat it than Traven's tenure as the archmage! You heard me!

As long as they are wise enough to have a necromancer guild I'm happy

.... :facepalm:

Explain to me why there needs to be a guild of necromancers? Why can't another magical organization have its own?

It would have been infinitely better if you were just allowed to side with the necromancers.

You really need to be able to join either side in these faction conflicts, or at least have multiple quest outcomes so the player can use their or their RP'd character's jurisdiction to decide what really happens. Otherwise, the enemy exists for the sake of being an enemy.

EXAMPLE: I liked how Netches in Morrowind had their own roles within the Dunmer culture and economy: their leather was prized for armor and other crafts. Yes, you could kill them, but they had a greater purpose within the lore and the game world. Then we get bears in Oblivion, but all you do is kill them and occasionally find their pelts in houses.

I'm hoping that both the Synod and College of Whispers are equally fleshed out in Skyrim.

Hang on,who says either one will be in ? Skyrim is a totally different place to Morrowind or Cyrodil and i am led to believe its very low-tech I bet there won't even be an organised Mages guild.