Lore:Psijic Order

"There are layers to understanding all things,' said Sotha Sil. 'The common man looks at an object and fits it into a place in his way of thinking. Those skilled in the Old Ways, in the way of the Psijic, in Mysticism, can see an object and identify it by its proper role. But one more layer is needed to be peeled back to achieve understanding. You must identify the object by its role and its truth and interpret that meaning" — 2920, The Last Year of the First Era

"In Mundus, conflict and disparity are what bring change, and change is the most sacred of the Eleven Forces. Change is the force without focus or origin." — The Monomyth, Oegnithr, Taheritae, Order of PSJJJJ

The Psijic Order (rarely spelled Psijiic Order) or the Order of PSJJJJ is the oldest monastic group of Tamriel, devoted to the study and practice of Mysticism, which they call the "Old Ways" or "Elder Way". Though these terms are also used to refer to the religion and customs of the order, related to ideas of meditation and achievable higher states of being, and described as the combination of Mysticism, the Eleven Forces, the divine laws that bind and define the nature of reality, and a deep understanding of the Ehlnofey, those Aedric spirits which established the foundations of life and the world, into a philosophy and way of life. They make their home on the Isle of Artaeum in the Summerset archipelago. They have often been criticized for hoarding their knowledge and in turn mocking other scholars for not seeing their way.

Practices and Beliefs

Members of the Order in the Ceporah Tower

Jaida, a Psijic Order monk undercover in the Imperial Legion

The Psijic Order chooses its members "by a complex, ritualized method not understood by the common people." The majority of the order are Altmer, but they do recruit members of the other races with powerful magic talent. Even though the Psijics are extremely reclusive, members of the Order can usually be recognized by their distinctive clothing; though their exact garb has changed over their history. They once wore clothing that gave them the nickname "grey cloaks," and in the Second Era they were seen with blue and gold clothing. Their most recent appearance in the Fourth Era saw that their garments are now of a pale yellow color. The Psijics are governed by a body known as the Council of Artaeum. The Council is led by a single Psijic who can hold various titles, including Ritemaster, or Loremaster, it has been said that some of the Order's leaders could rival even Sotha Sil, in wisdom, if not in might. The Order used to be much larger during the time when they were more directly involved in the world's affairs, the Council of Artaeum used to operate out of the Keep of the Eleven Forces in Summerset and they also made use of other structures in the isle such as the College of Psijics. After the Order distanced itself such locations were abandoned and fell to ruin, only used occasionally as repositories for the storage of dangerous items. Psijic ruins such as the Keep of the Eleven Forces still hold portals leading to Artaeum itself wherever it may be, but one needs to be attuned to them via Psijic magic to enter.

As a member of the Psijic Order, it is important to remain "faithful" to the Old Ways. Members believe that the spiritual world is always watching our world, and a loyal grey cloak will perform the Rites of Moawita on the 2nd of Hearth Fire and the Vigyld on the 1st of Second Seed in order to empower the salutary spirits and debilitate the unclean spirits. These spirits are believed by the Order to be the ancestors of the living, and even the Daedra and Aedra are considered to be nothing other than exceptional spirits who attained great power in the afterlife. They recognize the Acharyai, who they believe were the first spirits from which all are descended. Thus the Psijic Order maintains that souls that cross over into the afterlife can grow to gain great power and rule there, with a particularly malevolent tyrant for example, feeding into the power of Daedra like Boethiah and Vaermina through their acts in life, and going on to "rule in Oblivion" after death. The Psijics believe that the "Daedra and gods to whom the common people turn" are themselves "no more than the spirits of superior men and women whose power and passion granted them great influence in the afterworld" and that while living they too were "bewildered" by their own ancestors going back to the original progenitors, the Acharyai. The Order's chief virtues include compassion, discipline, objectivity, and the importance of these are taught to newer members.

The Psijic Compensation is an explanation of Aldmeri religion given to Uriel V by the Psijic Order. It quietly avoids placing blame on the Lorkhan concept as Shezarr was held in high esteem in Cyrodiil but nonetheless serves as a mostly accurate summation of the Elder Way. According to the Psijic explanation Aurbis existed for time without measure as the Gray Center between the forces of Anu and Padomay. Within this Gray Center emerged the magical beings of mythic Aurbis, bits of the immortal polarity given life. The first of these was Akatosh, whose existence made it easier for other spirits to structure themselves. For a long time these spirits lived, formed, reformed, and procreated. Eventually, with Lorkhan as the instigator of the decision, the spirits told the story of their own deaths. This process has been described in various terms, as a transfiguration into the concrete non-magical substance of the world, as a war in which all were slain with their bodies becoming the substance of the world, or as a romantic marriage and parenthood where the parent spirits naturally had to die to give way to the succeeding mortal races. Mortals were shaped in the image of the spirits, either consciously molded by them, or sprung forth from the matter left behind by the dead spirits. Having died, these spirits became the et'Ada, and separated themselves in nature from the rest of the magical beings of Aurbis from that point on.

A noble heart and solemn commitment to good, pursued in a manner that's prudent but fearless and withdrawn but compassionate, are said to be key requirements of being a Psijic.

The Psijics have generally served as advisors to the rulers of Tamriel, rather than acting directly in political matters. This is regarded as a sacred duty called "seliffrnsae", meaning "grave and faithful counsel". The kings of Summerset, particularly those of Moridunon, have often sought the Psijics' opinion, but the Order's influence over other rulers, especially the Emperors of Tamriel, tends to wax and wane. The Psijics are discouraged from pledging themselves to the service of a lord, except after careful consideration, because their duty to the Old Ways and duty to their lord may come into conflict. It has even been suggested that Psijics should commit suicide if such a conflict arises, to avoid shaming the Order. The Order generally regards those they advise as "lesser men", and associate rejection of a Psijic's counsel with tyranny and folly.

Dispensing wisdom to leaders in such a fashion is the Order's most widely-known method of achieving their professed goal: to help the world through periods of change. They believe that no force is more sacred than change, and while it should be embraced, it must also be carefully guided to avoid "oegnithir", or "bad change".

The hallmarks of a true Psijic monk are said to be precision and artistry in the practice of magic, simply knowing a spell is not enough as a true Psijic must also learn how to improve it. To a Psijic the practice of magic should be unrelated to the pursuit of power, they believe that arcane might is the least of a Psijic's gifts and that the truly valuable qualities of the order are wisdom, prudence and right action, therefore personal strength is less important than passing on these lessons to subsequent generations. Indeed the Old Ways are said to lend little credence to concepts of godhood, they deem deities to be simply exceptionally powerful agents, and view wisdom as the true measure of a person, a quality a far more important than might. Members of the Psijic Order endeavor to discover the truths of Aurbis from their isle of Artaeum, the research of the monks is said to include things such as studying the reconstituted souls or the dream residue of the et'Ada and studying the behaviours of Daedra. The study of change, one of the Eleven Forces, is said to form the very basis of being a Psijic.

The Order believes that in order to truly learn a great amount of time is required, more than that afforded by a normal lifespan. As such membership in the order comes with life extension magic being used on the neophytes. The time normally required for a new member's apprenticeship to end is around 250 years though there have been cases of an apprentice still not having earned their grey cloak even after 350 years of study.Senior Order members have been known to live for many millenia. Membership in the Order extends to all Races. Newly inducted members are encouraged to renounce all affiliations and attachments from their life prior to joining, as it is believed they can interfere with one's dedication to the Old Ways. The Order believes that to best maintain the order of Nirn, they have to remain neutral to all other affairs. Despite their commitment to neutrality and to severing any attachment to their prior lives, there have been cases where members of the Order have maintained elements of their personal lives in Artaeum, such instances include a Psijic monk who also worked as a merchant due to that having been her father's profession before she joined, and two Psijic monks in a relationship who had a child, with their daughter subsequently being raised on Artaeum itself among the Order.

Though remote, the Psijic Order is not completely removed from Tamrielic affairs. They are known to keep an eye out for sources of potential danger and to dispatch members to monitor or resolve situations as needed when they sense powerful magical forces. Dangerous arcane relics, mages invoking magic beyond their ken, Daedric incursions, and phenomena that disrupt time are all occurences which might provoke the Order to act. Monks that return to Nirn on such missions generally try to keep a low profile, as the presence of the Order tends to make people uncomfortable and nervous due to the rumours that exist about the group. Many members travel across Tamriel, concealing their affiliations and identity and potentially even integrating themselves into other groups such as the Imperial Legion, gathering information so that the Order remains well informed of ongoing events. The Order is also known to maintain telepathic contact with certain oracles of the Wyrd to gain information on Tamriel's affairs. The Order seeks out powerful arcane and cursed artifacts which it deems to have the potential to disrupt the balance of Nirn and to be too powerful for their misuse to be allowed, containing them within Artaeum's relic repository in the Vault of Moawita. Such relics are placed under the protection of wards and are magically bound to the Psijic Codex, allowing for the artifacts to be magically located should they go missing. It is said that the Order has been storing rare and mysterious items in its subterranean vaults for millenia, and so their vaults can contain almost anything. Members of the Psijic Order have expressed concern regarding the activities of House Telvanni, believing the Telvanni's actions to often be unwise and guided by their hunger for power thus leading them to use dangerous magic such as disrupting the flow of time. Because of this Telvanni lands have served as a source of concern for the Order and attracted the presence of Psijic monks before. Of the Telvanni, Divayth Fyr, once a member of the Psijic Order who left Artaeum to pursue his own interests, is of particular interest to the Order, as his power is so great that the Psijics believe its misuse could have catastrophic consequences for the world.

One of the goals of the Psijic Order is said to be the preservation and study of ancient knowledge. Members of the Order can have specific roles within its ranks and specialize in different fields. Such positions can include that of a botanist or an expert on ancient languages and battle magic. The Order's Relicmaster is tasked with collecting, researching and maintaining relics of interest to the Psijics,, whereas the Loremaster is tasked with maintaining the Order's libraries and archives and safeguarding its history as well as containing and binding any magical item which might disrupt the Aurbic forces of Nirn. Order apprentices can be chosen to study under a specific senior member in order to learn that particular role, one such case is that of relic-apprentices chosen to study under the Relicmaster, considered a higher rank to that of normal disciples.

The Psijics maintain farms on Artaeum, employing Conjuration magic to have bound Atronach workers perform tasks such as watering the crops. The Psijics have also practiced pig breeding on the Isle of Artaeum. They originally bred the intelligent Psijic Domino Pig, which is so smart it can count to five and learn to recognize its name. It's a favorite animal companion of spellcasters, as it isn't spooked by magic—in fact, it seems to enjoy the arcane activity, sitting back and grunting happily as spell effects go off nearby.

The Psijic Order has great respect for the Centaurs, who are seen as "true followers of the Old Ways", the complex system of ancestor worship espoused by the Order.

History

Early years

Artaeum, home of the Psijic Order, removed from the reality of Nirn

The Dreaming Cave

The Order was founded during the early settlement of the Summerset Isle by the Aldmer to divine Padomay's eternal and ever-changing mystery, treating him as just as ineffable an entity as Anu, naming themselves after "Psijii", which was a derivation of his original name PSJJJJ. During this time, there was a movement to change the religion of Aldmeri society: instead of honoring their own ancestors and the ancestors as a whole, the Aldmer of Summerset began worshipping only the ancestors claimed as progenitors by the elite of Aldmeri society, from which the traditional Aldmeri pantheon of Aedra emerged. Thus ancestor spirits such as Auri-El, Trinimac, Syrabane and Phynaster were elevated above the rest in the religion and came to be viewed as gods. A group of dissident Aldmer Elders rejected this change and left Summerset to settle on the nearby island of Artaeum.

The Order is first mentioned in writing in the year 1E 20 by the Breton sage Voernet, who traveled to Artaeum to meet with the Psijic Ritemaster, Iachesis. In these early days, Psijics were described as counselors to royalty and teachers of the "Elder Way", a philosophy of meditation and study related to the magic of Mysticism. They also kept the entrance to the Dreaming Cave, the place on Artaeum where all magicka and other forces pool together like water dripping down a chain, a portal which can lead to any realm of Oblivion and beyond. Sotha Sil, who was an honorary member of the Psijics, used this portal to speak with the Daedric Princes on several occasions.

Formation of the Mages Guild

Mannimarco's first confrontation with Galerion on Artaeum

Vastarie

Years later, the now-famous Vanus Galerion came to Artaeum with an Altmer soothsayer. Here, Vanus met Mannimarco, a fellow student at the time. The two grew to be great friends, becoming masters of the Mystic Arts. But after long years, having discovered the necromantic experiments which Mannimarco had been conducting within the Traitor's Vault and disgusted by the profane act of using Mysticism to manipulate souls and the dead, Vanus confronted his long-time friend below the Ceporah Tower. Galerion begged Mannimarco to repent, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Mannimarco, and the rogue Psijics who agreed with his practices, left Artaeum, never to return, going on to establish the Order of the Black Worm. Galerion himself went on to found the Mages Guild, an organization that spread the knowledge and practice of magic much farther than the Psijic Order had, making it so the learning of magic was no longer limited to the aristocracy, intelligentsia and solitary individuals and covens but rather making arcane knowledge, items, potions and even spells, available to any member of the general public who could afford to pay. Vastarie, a student of the Psijic Order contemporary to Galerion and Mannimarco, also left the Psijics, going on to form a partnership with Mannimarco that would culminate in an expedition to Coldharbour and the retrieval of a cache of Black Soul Gems, setting in motion the wider circulation of those Morpholiths in Tamriel from that point on.

The Triad and the Staff of Towers

Ritemaster Iachesis, resisting Clavicus Vile and Mephala to protect the Heart of Transparent Law

Josajeh attempting to use the Staff of Towers to rewrite time

Around 2E 230, a triad of Daedric Princes—Clavicus Vile, Mephala and Nocturnal—made a deal with the Sea Sload K'Tora to acquire the Heart of Transparent Law—the Stone of the Crystal Tower. K'Tora used mind magic to make the Psijic leader Ritemaster Iachesis, steal the Heart. Trying to foil K'Tora's plan, Iachesis made a deal with Nocturnal to learn a spell with which to hide the Heart in a language that could only be used by mortals. Unbeknownst to all, Iachesis hid the Heart within himself—but soon forgot these events, due to K'Tora's magic. Shortly thereafter, the Psijics—along with the entire island of Artaeum—disappeared, around the time of the founding of the Mages Guild, remaining hidden for a long time.

This did not stop the three Princes from around 2E 582 attempting to execute their plan to take control of the Crystal Tower on Summerset Isle using the Heart of Transparent Law, which Ritemaster Iachesis had hidden from them, with the ultimate goal of remaking reality itself. After they tricked Iachesis into revealing the Heart's location within himself, they killed him; but Nocturnal betrayed Clavicus Vile and Mephala by taking the Heart for herself. With it she briefly took control of the Crystal Tower, hoping to use its properties to achieve omnipresence in the entire Aurbis, absorb the power of the other Daedric Princes, and ultimately unravel reality itself. However, her plans were foiled by the Vestige and the Psijic Order, assisted by the two betrayed Princes and a champion of Meridia, and the Heart was returned to the Crystal Tower. Ritemaster Valsirenn briefly became the leader of the Psijics, before a new one could be chosen.

Around the same time, the fragments of the Staff of Towers were located by the Psijic Order. The pieces were scattered all around Tamriel: the Adamantine and White-Gold fragments in High Rock, the Orichalc and Snow fragments in Hammerfell, the Walk-Brass and Red fragments in Morrowind, the Crystal fragment in Black Marsh, and the Green-Sap fragment in Valenwood. A member of the Psijic Order sealed the time breaches the Staff had created around the continent with the aid of the Augur of the Obscure, which allowed them to locate and retrieve the fragments. The reassembled Staff was subsequently stolen by Josajeh, a member of the Order who wanted to use the staff to alter time to reverse damage done to her family in the past, threatening to envelop Aurbis in a new Dragon Break or even unravel time entirely. The Order managed to reclaim the Staff and exiled Josajeh. The Staff was subsequently placed in the Vault of Moawita on Artaeum.

Other Events in the Interregnum

Saresea, having become multichronal

Valsirenn, scattered across time and space

During that same year, a Time Knot enveloped the Telvanni township of Bal Sunnar, trapping it in a time loop from sometime after the Battle of Red Mountain to 2E 582 when it was undone by the Psijic Monk Saresea and the Vestige. The Knot was created by a Telvanni splinter group who sought to escape the rising rule of the Tribunal through the use of a Glyphic, an artifact of Hermaeus Mora, the physical manifestation of a Fate or knowledge which can be coaxed to transform into a tangible version of the concept it contains. The Telvanni, recognized the Vestige and Saresea from previous loops and tried to stop them, tapping into the magic of the Knot to summon creatures from the time of ancient Nirn or to conjure temporal duplicates of themselves to aid them in combat. The Knot itself resisted Saresea, exploding outward and transporting her and the Vestige both to the distant past and the distant future.

Ultimately Saresea and the Vestige succeeded in defeating the Telvanni Matriarch and dispelling the Knot but at a cost: Saresea was fragmented and scattered across time. Though Hermaeus Mora, who had been observing, reached out and pulled her back together she remained "multichronal", a being that manifests at multiple points in space and time simultaneously, both in the past and in the future, ranging from her own birth to her own death and beyond. The Psijic Order would study Saresea's new state of existence in Artaeum, an event she could experience simultaneously in the immediate aftermath of unraveling the Knot due to her multichronal nature.

During that period the Psijic Valsirenn performed a spell to gain a better understanding of the force of change by tapping into it directly in a realm where it flowed strongly, the Deadlands. The magic, however, spun out of control, causing her to enter a synchroseiseiac state, becoming out of sync with reality and having her being scattered across time and space, only able to interact with the world in a phantom form, until she became anchored to Aurbis once more with the help of the Vestige.

Inspired by tales of Mannimarco during his time with the Order, Psijic apprentice Ulliceta gra-Kogg and the Vestige explored the ruins of the Traitor's Vault, uncovering Mannimarco and Vanus Galerion's early history and rivalry through the use of an Order artifact called the Eye of Remembrance, which allowed one to view memories of events that had occured in a given location. However, Ulliceta was caught by the Order's Relicmaster, resulting in her banishment from the Psijic Order.

In Gloomreach, a Psijic apprentice named Calis enlisted the aid of the Vestige in determining the cause of a tonal disturbance which had caused plantlife in the cavern to be imbued with tonal energies and in locating his missing mentor, a high ranking Psijic botanist named Pythis and a missing tonal artifact, that he'd lost contact with when his transportation spell went awry. While exploring Calis aided the Vestige by casting spells that contained the spread of the tonal energies. In the end it was uncovered that Pythis had gone rogue and caused the tonal disturbance which he hoped to use to harness the power of the tonal artifact itself and so gain the power to challenge the Psijic Order, having planned to frame Calis for the disappearance of the relic from the Vault of Moawita. In the end Pythis was stopped and Calis cast a time slowing spell which contained the out of control artifact until it could be transported to Artaeum with the aid of another Psijic that had arrived to help.

A number of dangerous cursed relics disappeared from the Order's Vault of Moawita, but the Vestige ultimately found them with the help of the Psijic Codex and returned them to the Vault.

One of the pieces of the Tales of Tribute, a popular card game originating from the Systres Archipelago played continent-wide during the Interregnum during the Second Era bore the image of Loremaster Celarus. A deck themed after him and the Psijic Order was part of the game.

Scrying the Many Paths

The Psijic Order had the means to scry secrets from fate lines beyond the bounds of Tamriel. Among these secrets were temporal tomes that spoke of alternative timelines and realities, the Many Paths, where certain key events transpired differently. Some of those temporal tomes were lost and subsequently tracked and returned to the Order in 2E 582. One of the tomes spoke of a reality where the Ascendant Order won, and Bacaro Volorus reigned over Tamriel as Druid King after striking down the previous rulers, engulfing the continent in firestorms and volcanic eruptions. Another tome spoke of a reality where the Sea Sload of the Abyssal Cabal succeeded in conquring the Summerset Isles and employed wide scale Mind Magic to subjugate the population and fleshcrafting and tutelage of Shadow Magic to turn them into weapons in preparation of invading the mainland. A third tome spoke of a reality where Mannimarco succeeded in his goal of becoming a Daedric Prince as the Planemeld completed, coming to rule over the merged world, which had been turned into an endless sepulchre where the undead hunted the living from a great thone of souls and bone floating above the Imperial City. A fourth tome spoke of a reality where the Scarf of the Obscene, an unassuming black velvet scarf that was actually an artifact of Peryite that infected any creature that came close to the wearer with a vast variety of diseases, was used by a Peryite cult to unleash a terrible epidemic that became the fuel for a mass necromantic event, the Scouring of the Moors, which left much of Glenumbra uninhabitable. The final tome spoke of a reality where a horde of unkowable horrors from the Void, unlike any Daedra, beast or spirit ever known, had been pushing through the Void for centuries, their approach detected by the Psijic Order. All attempts to discover their nature proved futile, as these entities were not related to Sithis or any known Void beings. Out of options, the Order set up their best arcane defenses, an "endless net of Sacred Numbers" formed of purest magicka, and struggled to the last to repel the invaders even as the mere sight of the beings through the breach caused all who laid eyes on them to be unmade. Ultimately it was no use, the defenses eventually failed and the veil of reality ripped asunder, allowing the horrors into the world, which was itself unmade by their arrival.

Reappearance

The Psijics and their island later reappeared after 500 years of seclusion. The Psijics had been ruled by Loremaster Celarus—who had previously been involved in finding and restoring the Staff of Towers for the Psijics—for at least 290 years as of 3E 400, but it is unclear if he held that position since the return of Artaeum.

Changes and politics

The Order's influence waxed and waned over the next several centuries. According to legend, in 3E 110 the Psijic Order magically created a freak storm that led to the defeat of Orgnum by Emperor Antiochus and the King of Summerset. This is highly unusual, as the Psijics have rarely participated directly in wars or other political conflicts, and it has been suggested that Queen Potema manipulated the order into taking action for her own purposes. Emperor Uriel V was much influenced by the Council in the early, most glorious parts of his reign, before his disastrous attack on Akavir.

During the early years of the reign of Uriel V there was an attempt by the Psijics to explain the basics of Aldmeri religion to the emperor. As Shezarr was held in high esteem in Cyrodiil, the monks quietly avoided any blame of the Lorkhan concept for the described events while still giving a mostly accurate summary of the Elder view, thus their version came to be called "The Psijic Compensation".

However, the last four emperors of the Septim Dynasty, Uriel VI, Morihatha, Pelagius IV, and Uriel VII, had been so suspicious of the Psijics that they barred ambassadors from the Isle of Artaeum within the Imperial City. The Psijics still counseled royalty, but their influence in Imperial politics was greatly reduced. Nulfaga was said to have been aiding the Psijics in their "unfortunate" plans, as a means to escape justice.

The activities of the Order during the Fourth Era are still mysterious. Between the return of Artaeum in the Second Era and 3E 430, only seventeen new initiates were brought into the Order. But from 3E 430 to 3E 432, the years immediately preceding the Oblivion Crisis, another thirty had joined. It's not widely known how the Psijics responded to either the crisis itself, or to the subsequent takeover of nearby Summerset Isle by the Thalmor. However, the Thalmor considered them an enemy rogue organization.

The Second Disappearance of Artaeum

A Psijic monk, in the year 4E 201

The Psijic Order and Artaeum vanished again around the turn of the second century of the fourth era. The exact reason for the island's disappearance is still unknown, but it coincided with the Void Nights and the start of a new wave of expansion for the Aldmeri Dominion.

What is known is that at least some members of the Order are still observing events in Tamriel. When the Eye of Magnus was discovered by members of the College of Winterhold in 4E 201, a few Psijics assisted a College member in wresting control of the artifact from a Thalmor agent, going so far as to arrive in person to retrieve the Eye. The Eye was ultimately taken away by the Order to stabilize it, and prevent its ouf of control magic from destroying the world. During that same year a Unicorn was discovered by the Last Dragonborn near Lost Prospect Mine and the creature was brought to the College of Winterhold. It was theorized by Tolfdir, Master of Alteration at the College, that the Psijic Order had transported one of the very last unicorns into the future, to prevent their utter extinction.

Capabilities

Psijic Order scrying for threats

Psijic Scrying

The Psijic Order is generally regarded as one of the most powerful organizations of mages in Tamriel, wielding magic which ultimately surpasses even that of the Sapiarchs of the Crystal Tower, even if the Psijics deem Sapiarch magic powerful in its own right. Senior members of the Order are said to possess magic so powerful their very existence poses arcane risk, exerting tremendous stress on the Aurbic forces around them and threatening to make magical forces and artifacts spin out of control by their very presence to potentially catastrophic consequences, thus limiting their ability to act directly. It has been suggested that the powers they gain from practicing the Old Ways come from the manipulation of nature itself rather than from the action of magicka. However, since two of the most famous mages in history, Vanus Galerion and Mannimarco, were trained by the Order, and since the Order is often described as having expertise in the school of Mysticism, it can be surmised that either the powers granted by the Old Ways are not truly distinct from magic as practiced by other mages, or else that the Psijics practice both as related disciplines. Indeed the Old Ways have been described as combining Mysticism, the Eleven Forces, the divine laws that bind and define the nature of reality, and a deep understanding of the Ehlnofey, those spirits which established the foundations of life and the world, into a philosophy and way of life, thus touching upon both magic and nature. According to the Psijic Order mystics, magicka flows through the body in specific physical channels. The Psijics have mapped these channels and are known to delineate them with arcane tatoos, helping mages focus their spellcasting.

Some of the most impressive accomplishments of the Order relate to the sheer scale of the spells they cast. They can move the island of Artaeum at will or render it insubstantial in order to prevent foreign invasion, and it is believed that the occasional disappearance of the island for centuries at a time is the Psijics' way of withdrawing from the world during chaotic periods of history. The Psijics even have the ability to move their island to a different plane, said to reside in a place that is harder to reach than even Aetherius or even realms "beyond" it, thus allowing for the Order to research the truths of Aurbis without interruption. It is said that even the magic of the Sea Sload can't reach Artaeum while it is removed from Nirn's reality, and that even the Daedric Princes do not know where Artaeum is located. Though it is said that the Psijics maintain telepathic contact with certain oracles of the Wyrd to gain information on Tamriel's affairs, and that the island's location can be discerned if one finds such an oracle and traces the connection back to the island itself, even allowing for a portal to it to be opened. Smaller versions of the spell used to transport Artaeum can also be used to transport members of the Order to safety in times of crisis or to transport objects directly to the island. The ability to turn objects and beings insubstantial, known as the art of ghostly passage, is a magic which Psijic monks can learn to cast on a smaller scale, applying the spell to their own person in order to traverse obstacles. The destruction of Orgnum's fleet suggests that the Psijics are powerful enough to control the weather over a wide area.

The Augur of the Obscure, an extraplanar entity bound by the Psijics manifesting in Nirn as a crystalline skull

However, the Psijics are also noted for their powers of perception and communication. Urvwen, a Psijic priest who lived in the city of Lilmoth in the early Fourth Era, sensed Umbriel's presence when it was still out at sea. When the Order acted to secure the Eye of Magnus, a Psijic was able to use a form of clairvoyance to observe events at the College from a distance, and even seemed to have some limited insight into future events. Psijics also have the ability to project images of themselves in order to converse with others, and to control those images so that only the intended audience can view them. This power is so strongly associated with the Order that these images are commonly called "Psijic projections". At least some of these abilities may relate to the Psijics' power of telepathy, an ability also used by the Dwemer before the latter disappeared from Mundus.

Some of the Psijics' powers are uniquely suited for infiltration and subtle action. They appear to be capable of temporarily freezing individuals around them in time, allowing them to hold private conversations even in a crowded room. They have also demonstrated an uncommon proficiency with teleportation, and in groups can quickly teleport even fairly large objects. Though less common in later eras, portals were also heavily used by members of the Mages Guild in the early Second Era, when the Guild had relatively recently split from the Order.

The Psijic Order possesses considerable mastery of Time Magic, in addition to their ability to stop time, members of the Order also learn to use magic that allows them to locally accelerate it to perform actions faster, rewind it to undo harmful change that might've occured, and cast time slowing spells which can contain out of control magical energies. The Order's magic allows them to sense and locate temporal distortions such as Time Knots or Time Breaches, and they will dispatch agents to repair the disruption of time should they deem it necessary. One method the Order utilizes to fix phenomena such as Time Breaches is through the use of Psijic Seals, arcane anchors created by the ancient Aldmer who sought to bind any wayward spirits or forces in a given place during a time when the veil was thinner, which allow the wielder to stabilize the rifts and harden the walls of time that surround them through the use of "chrononymics". Order members might also use their own ability in Time Magic to manipulate and untangle phenomena such as Time Knots directly. It has been theorized that the Order has the magic to transport beings through time.

Members of the Psijic Order have developed methods to study the Eleven Forces such as change by tapping into the force directly in places where it flows strongly such as the Deadlands. However such spells are not without risk and have been known to cause the caster to enter a synchroseiseiac state, becoming out of sync with reality and having their being scattered across time and space, only able to interact with the world in a phantom form until the matter is resolved.

The Order often makes use of scrying magic. They utilize scrying pools for remote observation and to reveal and project memories associated with the objects they study or to scry the memories directly from one's mind. The Psijics use special daggers known as athames during their rituals, one of their uses is to cut off the scrying of enemies attempting to spy on the Order. The insight Psijic monks gain allows them to see the unseen, making it so they can perceive normally invisible phenomena such as time rifts, described as gazing beyond the mundane and into the arcane via Mysticism. Psijic monks are said to use both scrying and magical farseeing, enabling them to perceive distant locations. Magic allowing for such remote observation is said to function by forming a "Magicka Zephyr" around the caster's eyes, allowing their sight to extend to distant places.

The Psijic Order has the means to scry secrets from fate lines beyond the bounds of Tamriel. Among these secrets were tomes that spoke of alternative timelines and realities, where certain key events transpired differently, resulting in drastically different fates for those worlds.

The magic of the Order can reach into the Adjacent Places, summon entities residing there and bind them to do the caster's bidding. Such was the case with the Augur of the Obscure, an immortal entity capable of perceiving the world beyond the third dimension and seeing time across in all directions, described as practically omniscient and knowledgeable in all things, whose crystalline aspect was invoked by the Psijics and ensorcelled to answer truthfully whenever asked a direct question.

The Order makes use of complex warding magic in order to protect Artaeum and the repositories of relics and knowledge housed within it. One needs to be attuned to the wards in order to be allowed access and the attunement itself can even be modified in order to prevent escape. The greatest warding magic available to the Order has even proven capable of providing individual members protection from the attack of multiple Daedric Princes, or repelling a horde of Void horrors whose presence causes things to be unmade, albeit temporarily. The group makes use of tracking magic via the Psijic Codex, allowing them to locate relics in the Order's care that have been bound to it should they go missing.

Portal room wihin the Ceporah Tower

The Order has its own branch of healing magic and its members are known to use restorative spells that repair wounds and replenish magicka in the form of the Rites of Moawita and meditative trances. They possess ability in Mind Magic, allowing them to form mental links with others for remote communication, infiltrate the mindscapes of others beings, connect with other minds to counter the progress of Mind Magic enthralling them, and discern the traits of the minds they can perceive such as their age, power, or personality, though their mastery is not as great as that of groups such as the Sea Sload of the Abyssal Cabal, who are said to exceed the magic of the Psijics in this regard. Members of the Order have exhibited considerable skill in enchanting and arcane crafting, having invented things such as self-steering vessels enchanted to transport their passengers to a predetermined destination. The Order's home, the Ceporah Tower, is also interwoven with many persistent enchantments. The floating water orbs present throughout the tower are called Psijic Control Globes, and allow the Psijics to modulate the tower's enchantments at will, though doing so requires years of experience and a delicate touch. Psijic monks have ability in Tonal Architecture, being able to sense and harness or contain tonal energies, and in transportation magic, which is said to be one of the harder disciplines for new apprentices.They use Conjuration magic to have bound Atronach workers perform tasks such as watering crops or engaging in training skirmishes. The Order makes use of certain alchemical potions such as amplification elixirs to strengthen their magic further for use in difficult arcane rites. Order monks placed in combat situations have shown the ability to immobilize other via binding spells or even cause instant death.

Life extension magic is used to greatly extend the lifespan of all who join the Order as the Psijics believe that the normal lifetime of a Man or Orc is not long enough to truly learn much of anything. The normal span of time required for a neophyte to end their apprenticeship and earn their grey cloak is 250 years of study, and it is not impossible to find members who remain apprentices after 350 years of residing in Artaeum. Senior Order members have been known to live for many millenia, with at least one recorded case of a tenure of three and a half millenia that was only ended through violent death, in the case of Ritemaster Iachesis.

The Psijics have shown a special love for animals, and have created a breed of intelligent pig known as the Psijic Domino Pig. They can also create Psjiic Mascots, creatures conjured in the shape of their conjurer's desired creature form. They are distinguishable from common fauna by having arcane body imprints that the Order's monks use themselves. Although the beasts most commonly have a blue runic psijic imprints imbued within them, some are conjured with red imprints that represent a monk's regrettable choices. Some are conjured for use as pets, and others are conjured in a mature form to use as warmounts. Creatures summoned by the Psijiics in an idealized form of a creature are referred to as Psijic Exemplars. What most notably physically distinguishes them from their non exemplar counterparts is that they are spirit like and transparent. The form these Psijic Exemplars take may vary, with some manifesting as Y'ffren spirits of the Green and others taking the form of ice elementals. These exemplars are said to be spirits that the Psijics have summoned back to the world of the living and rendered tangible through an act of supreme Conjuration. It is rumoured that the creatures on which the Psijics models some of their Exemplar conjurations originated on other continents such as Atmora or Yokuda, where the Psijics journeyed to locate them.

The Order is known to employ Illusion magic, which it uses to create displays of things they have studied such as Time Magic or Abyssal Pearls.

The Psijic Order has at least 863 archives and libraries, not including the Ritemaster's personal collection, with most of these being in quasi-planes and hermetic mind-spheres.. Within these archives, texts related to Azra Nightwielder have been tampered with by Shadow Magic, making most references to the shadow-mage unreliable.

Although the Order eschews combat, regarding all violence as a failure of negotiation and diplomacy they are well equipped to utilize force when necessary. The arms and armor of the order are carved with protective runes of deflection and absorption and mystic words that enhance concentration. Scryers Militant were a known faction within the Order that was permitted to don unique combat attire. Some members of the Psijic Order specialize in Destruction magic and display their elemental preference by wearing enchanted gauntlets of that element.

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  A Psijic monk appears in a vision

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  A Psijic Domino Pig

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  Psijic pony, bear, guar, wolf, and senche

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  Psijic Horse Exemplar

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  Green-Graht Ghost Cat Exemplar

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  Phantom Ice Wolf Examplar

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  Spectral Steed Exemplar

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  Psijic Flame Gauntlets

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  Psijic Frost Gauntlets

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  Psijic Shock Gauntlets

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  Psijic Tautology Glass, an example of the Order's illusion magic

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  Psijic Celestial Orb, an example of the Order's illusion magic

Known Leaders

According to Ritemaster Iachesis, the term leader implies command and a level of structure more suited to an army than an order of mystic monks. Having said that, he recognizes that the Psijic Order requires a level of oversight and someone to "steer the ship":

• Ritemaster Iachesis — 1st known leader of the Order (Merethic Era-2E 582)
• Ritemaster Valsirenn — Interim Ritemaster chosen after the death of Iachesis in 2E 582
• Loremaster Celarus — Leader of Psijiic Order active as early as in 3E 100
• Ritemaster Josajeh - In one of the alternate potential timelines accessed through the power of Staff of Towers Josajeh became the Ritemaster of the Order.

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  Ritemaster Iachesis, first known leader of the Order

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  Ritemaster Valsirenn, second known leader of the Order

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  Loremaster Celarus, last known leader of the Order

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  Ritemaster Josajeh, leader of the Order in an alternate timeline

Known Relics Held by the Order

The Vault of Moawita

The Psijic Order seeks and collects artifacts which it deems to have the potential to disrupt Nirn's Aurbic forces, as a result they've amassed a great collection of relics over a number of millenia and it is said their subterranean vaults can contain nearly anything.

Only some of the relics in the Order's vaults are known. The known relics are generally held in the Vault of Moawita in Artaeum itself, these include:

Relics that manipulate Aurbic forces such as the Staff of Towers and the Eye of Magnus,.

A series of cursed relics the use of which is generally fatal including the Lantern of Lies, the Heart of the Indrik, the Silver-Tongued Quill, the Unraveling Staff, the Skull of Minor Cursing, the Shadowcutter Blade, the Soulkeeper's Urn, the Chest of Condemnation, the Never-Ending Scroll, the Inescapable Helm, the Sticky-Fingered Lute, the Fan of False-Face, the Pillow of Sweet Dreams, the Mirror of Fatal Premonition, the Monochrome Paintbrush, the Hourglass of Perceived Time, the Jaunt of the Jilted, the Ever-Filling Chalice, the Chestplate of Desiccation and the Shattering Sword.

Some relics of Sea Sload origin which enhance Mind Magic when used, the Orbs of B'Raken Drel and Ul'Vor Staff, as well as one of the Sload's Abyssal Pearls.. The Order also holds Eye of Remembrance, and an unidentified Tonal relic. In one of the alternate timelines which the Psijics scried, the Scarf of the Obscene also came to be housed in the Order's Vault of Moawita, but it is unclear if the Scarf is in their care outside the events of the glimpsed timeline.

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  The Staff of Towers

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  The Eye of Magnus

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  Valsirenn holding The Ul'Vor Staff

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  K'Tora surrounded by the Orbs of B'Raken Drel

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  Ulliceta gra-Kogg holding the Eye of Remembrance

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  Abyssal Pearl

Gallery

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  Psijic Order symbol (Legends)

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  Artaeum

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  The Ceporah Tower

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  The Ceporah Tower's main gallery

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  Artaeum Savant (Legends)

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  Arms and robes of the Psijic Order

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  Magicka Zephyr Lashes, markings that symbolize the zephyr that forms with Psijic farsight

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  Mystic Magicka Flow Body Tatoos, Psijic markings that represent the channels through which magicka flows in the body

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  Mystic Magicka Flow Face Tatoos, Psijic markings that represent the channels through which magicka flows in the body

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  Magicka Ear Clasps, inspired by the diagrams mapping magicka flow in the body as depicted in the Psijic Book of the Eleven Forces

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  Magicka Brow Medallion, inspired by the iconography of the Psijic Order.

Notes

• The spiritual undertaking of Saint Veloth and Lord Vivec, known as the Psijic Endeavor, is apparently unrelated to the Order. There are some common themes between the Order's beliefs and Velothi religion, such as ancestor worship and apotheosis. However, the Chimer attributed the teachings of the Psijic Endeavor to Boethiah and Mephala, not the Psijic Order. Furthermore, the Psijic Endeavor seems to refer to a specific method of attaining divinity, whereas the Psijic Order does not seem to believe that there really is a fundamental difference between ancestor spirits and gods in the first place. In any case, the Order has never stressed the attainment of divinity as an explicit goal.

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Online articles.

Books

• The Old Ways by Celarus the Loremaster — A guide to the Psijic Order and their beliefs
• Fragment: On Artaeum by Taurce il-Anselma — A work explaining some of the history of the Psijic island of Artaeum
• Mysticism by Tetronius Lor — A treatise on the school of Mysticism
• The Monomyth — A theological book containing the common creation myths
• The Mystery of Artaeum by Penewen, Advisor to the Court — An Aldmeri Dominion report on the return of Artaeum and the Psijic Order
• Crafting Motif 61: Psijic Style by Loremaster Celarus — A guide to crafting armor and weapons in the Psijic style

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.