ABOUT THE PHYNASTERIAN PERAMBULATORS:
* perambulate (v)
- to walk or travel through or round a place or area, especially for pleasure and in a leisurely way; to stroll
"Phynaster: Hero-god of the Summerset Isles, who taught the Altmer how to naturally live another hundred years by using a shorter walking stride."
- Varieties of Faith in Tamriel: The High Elves by Brother Mikhael Karkuxor of the Imperial College
The Phynasterian Perambulators is but one of the numerous cults that abound in the Summerset Isles dedicated to venerating Phynaster the Guardian, particularly his teachings which bestowed the Altmer with the means to extend their lives by a century.
However, the Phynasterian Perambulators is not concerned solely with longevity, nor is it exclusively for High Elves; indeed, it simply advocates the wholesome enjoyment of the splendour of Tamriel at a leisurely pace that allows for the appreciation of one's surroundings.
Phynaster represents the virtue of patience — a virtue much esteemed by his adherents — and the achievement of victory by taking the slower but surer path. This is particularly relevant in the fast-paced world of war-time Tamriel.
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Phynaster guide your path!
ABOUT THE COMPILER:
My name is Aendruu Varlakynd 'len Pamela Rondellinwe 'ata Ken'eth Litaagonir 'cal Hannayel-Rhypon.
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I was born on the fair isle of Auridon, in the small town of Dawnbreak in southern Vafe, on the 21st day of Hearthfire, in the year 2E 467 (a Turdas.) My late parents were both priests of
Phynaster and as is traditional, I was sent for my novitiate at the Monastery of Serene Harmony when I was eleven years of age — a mere kynd.
Familial love is perhaps the greatest and most sacred form of love for us as Altmer, and it was love for my parents that prevented me
from admitting my qualms about entering the priesthood, despite being born into it. It's not that I did not revere our ancestors, the Aedra, but my childish mind wondered why the other et'Ada, such as the Ehlnofey and the Magna Ge were not also venerated (though I held no interest for the Daedric Princes)... shouldn't our religion be all-inclusive, as tales tell of Old Aldmeris?
Nevertheless, I acquiesced to custom without complaint, and so I was taken from my home in Auridon, first by carriage and then by boat, to the west, to Summerset.
However, soon after my arrival in the city of Shimmerene, I learned what a profound influence my childhood on the cosmopolitan isle of Auridon had had on me. The small town of Dawnbreak is an inland supply stop built along the road between Skywatch and Firsthold, and is thus host to many travellers: Men, Mer and Betmer alike. I therefore found the elitist attitudes of some of my fellow Altmer toward so-called "outlanders"to be extremely distressing; even I, a born and bred Auridonian of unmarred lineage, was often considered naught but a nebarra by my supposed Elven kin, particularly by the monks and acolytes of the monastery.
Clicking on the Footprints of Phynaster will return you to the top of the page.
As befits one born under the sign of the Lady, I am essentially a kind and tolerant Mer, but after five years of constant puerile goading by a particular monk, I almost fried him alive with an accidental outburst of lightning in a moment of adolescent wrath; thereby demonstrating an innate magical aptitude which had hitherto remained hidden, even from myself.
The Aldarch quickly decided that monastic life was obviously not
for me, and he handed me over to the Office of Divine Prosecution. Fortunately the Magister responsible for recruiting new members for the Shimmerene Mages Guild, an Altmer mage named Curinure, learned of my plight. He intervened on my behalf and, thank Stendarr the Just, prevented my suffering any punishment at the overeager hands of the justiciars.
​ While it is rare for a Mer to change from the social class in which they are born to another, my switch from a priestly assignation to that of scholar was within the ambit of the Wise (the intellectual class) and therefore garnered no disapproval.
And so it was that, at sixteen years of age, I was returned to Auridon to be apprenticed to a member of the Mages Guild in Skywatch named Neetra, a young Argonian mage, and allegedly the only one prepared to take me on at that tumultuous phase of my ontogenesis!
Nevertheless, when I look back at that time I studied with her from — as she was wont to say — "my view down the river", it is with profound fondness. She taught me how to control my newly discovered magical abilities; how to harness the elements and to focus magicka; to shape spells and hone my skills in the Eight Schools of the Arcane Arts.
Neetra also instructed me in useful mundane skills that
were not included in the Guild 's Curriculum Studiorum,
such as lock-picking (for there are always locked treasure chests to be found whilst exploring ruins), and it was she who first gave me a warning to which I should have paid much closer heed: "The Archmage, Telenger the Artificer; he owns the Emporium here in town, and leads the Mages Guild of Skywatch. He's a crusty old crank when it comes to getting his way."
As it turned out, Telenger's Emporium is a testament to both his genius and his cruelty, as I soon learned after meeting Nerassil the Bound, but I digress...
Six years later I was formally inducted into the Mages Guild of Skywatch as an Adept, at a ceremony which concluded with the intonation, "Av molag anyammis, av latta magicka" — an Ayleid phrase which means "From fire, life; from light, magic" in the common tongue. Within the hallowed halls of its Arcanaeum I diligently studied and worked for the following thirty years; however my tenure was short-lived, for I unfortunately fell out of favour with the Archmage and was duly expelled from the local Mages Guild.
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​ You see, as a young Mer in Shimmerene I had been exposed to aprax literature, and this had sown the seeds in my youthful mind that grew into my somewhat critical perspective of the rigid class hierarchy, cultural xenophobia, and religious hypocrisy of Altmeri society; all of which was — to me — embodied by Telenger, who, although respected in academia, has an arrogant approach to field research that often endangers his students, while wilfully justifying the exploitation of their work for his self-aggrandisement.
I cannot deny that my dislike of the mer wasn't also personal, for he frequently — and loudly — disparaged my choice to remain in the Arcanaeum rather than join him and his sycophantic students in their field research (i.e. seeking relics for exclusive display at Telenger's Emporium), or my preference for solitary exploration when I did indeed venture into the field.
And so it was that after he imperiously forbade entrance into the surrounding ancient Ayleid sites and the expansive Aldmeri ruins beneath Skywatch to all but his favourites, that I confronted him regarding his authoritarian restrictions (ironically on the first day of the annual Festival of Defiance!) Needless to say, he was unimpressed and he promptly banished me from the Guild. It was typical of Telenger's arrogance that the Great Mage, Vanus Galerion, was not consulted; the Archmagister soon rescinded the Artificer's draconian decision.
Fortunately I was not formally sentenced to Apraxis, and my calian remained unshattered; nor was I declared an 'Ouster'. Nevertheless, in protest against the concept of Aldmeri Propriety as a determining factor of an Altmer’s place in society, for the next thirty years I voluntarily lived the life of an apraxic hermit, living by my wits (albeit sometimes illegally... I confess that I pilfered the occasional loaf or apple) and my talents in alchemy and enchantment.
The Altmer custom of judging others by their social status and occupation is often based on their attire, and the horrified reactions of my fellow Mer to my rejection of Elenuume the Impeccable's assertion that "appearance is critical " in her Undeniable Truths of Attire by donning ragged robes has given me no end of amusement!
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During this time I freely roamed Auridon, from northern Vafe, through central Calambar, to Iluvamir in the south. I joined the Phynasterian Perambulators, a small local sub-sect of the Cult of Phynaster in Alinor, and I developed an association with the outlaws of the Shadow Artisans of Vulkhel Guard which often proves useful to this day.
It also provided me with the ideal opportunity to pursue my greatest magickal interest, the mysterious arcane system known to Guild mages as Mysticism, the study of which Telenger vehemently disapproved. This animosity was simply because it origins lie within the "Old Way" of the Psijic Order of Artaeum — whom he despised — together with the fact that the Mystic mage must be a patient and relatively uncompetitive philosopher — of which he is neither.
In the many years since I first discovered Tetronius Lor's book Mysticism: The Unfathomable Voyage upon the shelves of the Arcanaeum, I have enthusiastically applied my thought to this esoteric system that alters the very nature of magic itself; dealing with the conundrums and paradoxes from which it derives its power by means of the abandonment of logic. My experimentation with energetic patterns, and my practical attempts at manipulating magical forces and boundaries by circumventing the structures and limitations of the physical world, generally met with success.
To my surprise, my humble endeavours did not go unnoticed, and in the year following my centenary I received word to travel to Alinor in Summerset, and there meet with a monk from Artaeum! She divulged to me that while the Psijics are proficient in all forms of magic, they earnestly believe that Mysticism is the oldest and greatest lore of the Aldmer. Thus my secluded studies had therefore caught the attention of the scryers for the Conclave of the Eleven Forces — the Council of Artaeum — and they felt that my priestly origins bestowed me with an instinctive faith in the Old Ways that is of paramount importance to members of the Order.
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My monastic vows prevent me from recording in detail all the events that followed, suffice to say that each student 's training is personalised to suit their particular circumstances — both in nature and duration —
and Loremaster Celarus concluded that mine would adhere to the sacred numbers:
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— Three is the Number of the Prime Celestials, as embodied in the sun and the two moons.
— Five is the Number of the Elements, for reality consists of Earth, Air, Water, Fire, and Aether.
— Eight is the Number of the Planets, as well as the sum of three plus five.
— Sixteen is the sum of the sacred numbers, and is very powerful indeed.
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Thus for three years I studied as a Neophyte, then spent the following five years as an Acolyte. In my eighth year on Artaeum, 2E 576, I was inducted into the Psijic Order as an Initiate at a ceremony held within the august Colosseum of the Old Ways; a mere two years before the Soulburst sundered the veil between Nirn and Oblivion! And sixteen years after my initiation — ten years from now — I shall be conferred the title of Psijic Monk.
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And so it is that today I find myself living in two worlds: one, a Psijic Initiate studying with the mystics of the Ceporah Tower on the isolated isle of Artaeum, somewhere in the Aurbis; the other, a vagabond in a small rented room at the Mara's Kiss Public House in the port city of Vulkhel Guard in Auridon, from whence I act as a canvaroth for the Order while pilgrimaging far afield as an adherent of the Phynasterian Perambulators.
