Lore:Coterie of Organized Scholars

"Live and learn." —Coterie of Organized Scholars motto

Coterie of Organized Scholars was an organized institution devoted to scholarly pursuits in the kingdom of Western Skyrim, and the second oldest academic institution in the region after the Bards College. Due to a charter issued by the High King, they were granted the exclusive right to pursue their research in the Western Holds.

History

High King Svargrim, who issued the charter that greatly benefited the Coterie of Organized Scholars

Tinzen, a representative of the Coterie of Organized Scholars and alchemy scholar

Although the Coterie was the second oldest scholarly institution to become active in the region, the exact date of its foundation is unknown. Because the Bards College was founded when Skyrim was a part of the First Empire, roughly during the twilight years of Ysgramor's dynasty, it can be estimated that the Coterie was founded either sometime during the First Era or during the early years of Second Era.

At some point between 2E 561 and 2E 582, High King Svargrim signed a charter which greatly benefited the Coterie. The charter stipulated that the Mages Guild, as a foreign body, was legally obliged to conduct its business through the Coterie of Organized Scholars, which was considered a trusted institution. Students of the Bards College and the Mages Guild employed the Coterie exclusively for research assistance. The Coterie was granted the exclusive right to pursue scholarly research in the Western Holds. However, the agreement of the Bards College to conduct their research through the Coterie was not purely out of necessity, but also out of convenience, as the Coterie was better suited to such endeavours.

Despite the distrust for the foreign institutions, many non-Nords counted among their members and there was a great range in the fields of study they pursued. As some assignments were more dangerous than others, the Coterie of Organized Scholars often hired adventurers to help with collecting research materials, offering payment in exchange for their services.

Erisa Sylbenitte of the Coterie of Organized Scholars wrote Scandals of Solitude's Royalty. It was a compilation of stories about the lesser-known High Kings of Western Skyrim.

As of 2E 582, the organization was shorthanded and in arrears, and relied on the loans of the local moneylender Silgrett.

Circa 2E 582, the organization recruited the help of the Vestige to aid the scholars of the organization. One such request was the commission related to the goblin studies. The esteemed Goblin-scholar Landal Gevont of Invisible College of Daggerfall has commissioned the Coterie to seek evidence of a previously undiscovered tribe living within Chillwind Depths, which was inhabited by Falmer. They requested the adventurer to unearth the evidence in form of objects of cultural significance to learn how socially advanced they were. The adventurer found some relics in the caves, although they were not of goblin origin. Although the Falmeri relics were not of goblin origins the help of the contractor was appreciated.

They also requested adventurers to venture to the Dwemer Ruin known as the Scraps to test the scholar's Dissonance Apparatus on Dwemer constructs, as well as locate one of their heartcogs. The scholar of Dwemer studies, Sevros Balu hoped to invert the premise of findings of Secundus Antilliax Pomo's work: The Harmonics of Motivational Force as Applied to Post-Dwemer Animunculi and use a harmonic device usurp a Dwemer constructs motive abilities.

Coterie's senior expert on ambulatory flora required a field assistant to collect fresh samples of spriggan bark from the Shadowgreen.

In the same year, one of the scholars of the Coterie, Nezashul was doing research for a treatise on ancient Nord embalming practices, specifically how they might help to improve modern healing techniques. The scholarly organization requested the help of the contract worker to acquire samples of organs and tissues such as eyes, brains, and hearts of the ancient Nord entombed in the Dragonhome barrow. The scholars believed that the ruin would be unspoiled due to the presence of Draugr who guard it against the intruders, but they were unaware of the resurfacing Dragon Cult who inhabited Dragonhome. Despite the presence of the cultists their contractor managed to retrieve the requested organs for the coterie.

The Coterie's resident paranormal scholar needed help studying the migratory behavior of spirits after a significant duration of imprisonment. Organization requested the contractor to venture to the ancient Nord prison, Midnight Barrow, where the worst criminals were entombed and their spirits trapped within umbric urns. Their request was to destroy the urns and record the observed results.

Tinzen, the representative of the Coterie responsible for organizing contract work, and a local alchemist requested the adventurers to aid him in his discovery. He formulated a Tonic of Giant Strength and wanted to test it. He required a final ingredient, snowberries that could be found in the Frozen Coast. He instructed the adventurer to add them to the tincture, drink it and test the results. It turned out that the formula was unsuccessful.

The Coterie of Organized Scholars discovered that the old legends of the Shademother, the Hagraven who obtained the ability to sustain her longevity through draining the life of the land itself were real. They requested Swords of Solitude to kill her and use a special mixture created by the local Clever Woman Old Mjolen to cleanse the Shademother's corruption.

Known Members

• Asda was a member of the Coterie who aided Landal Gevont with his goblin-studies research, active in 2E 582.
• Bites-the-Branch was a senior most expert on ambulatory flora, active in 2E 582.
• Erisa Sylbenitte was the author of Scandals of Solitude's Royalty.
• Gulfar was a resident paranormal scholar, active in 2E 582.
• Koljir Loreseeker was a local historian interested in the clever craft, active in 2E 582.
• Nezashul was a scholar who researched ancient Nord embalming practices in order to improve modern healing techniques. He was active in 2E 582
• Sevros Balu was a resident dwemer-studies scholar, active in 2E 582.
• Tinzen was a representative of the renowned Coterie of Organized Scholars and a local alchemist.

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the Elder Scrolls Online article.

Books

• Scandals of Solitude's Royalty Compiled by Erisa Sylbenitte of the Coterie of Organized Scholars — Stories about the lesser known High Kings of Western Skyrim

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.