Speculation on Skyrim Guilds

Guilds are traditionally a big part of The Elder Scrolls series and that doesn’t seem likely to change in the next installment of the series; Skyrim. Skyrim takes place 200 years after the Oblivion crisis which means a lot could change for the former guilds of Tamriel.

The Fighters and Mages Guild

The Fighters Guild and the Mages Guild are the two most prominent guilds in Tamriel. In the last installment, Oblivion, the Fighters guild was having a bit of an issue with a new upcoming mercenary group called the Blackwood Company. The Blackwood Company headquarters is located in Leyawiin directly across from the Fighters Guild Hall, a building decision that could be viewed as a direct threat to the Fighters Guild. During Oblivion the Fighters Guild was much larger in size but the Blackwood company, with its constant undercutting of Fighter’s Guild prices and it’s willingness to take on any job, was growing at a much more rapid pace. Could the Blackwood company be the new mercenary guild standard in Skyrim?

The Fighters Guild, although threatened, doesn’t appear to be falling apart like the Mages Guild. In the “Infernal City” it is mentioned that the Mage’s Guild has dissolved into two groups, the Synod and the College of Whispers, due to events after the Oblivion Crisis. This could mean the end of the “Mages Guild” but not necessarily guilds of mages. In fact this could mean that players will have the option to choose which of the two new mages guilds they wish to partake in. Could this mean a rivalry between two guilds of mages fighting to be the one and only? There’s a good possibility of a small rivalry between these two guilds, especially since the current province of Skyrim is in a civil war itself.

The Dark Brotherhood

The Dark Brotherhood has sanctuaries all over Cyrodiil but do they expand to other provinces too? In Morrowind we had the Morag Tong, who never made an appearance in Oblivion which could mean we could be seeing a whole new guild focused on assassinations. This new guild could be any group of people, but let’s make an interesting guess. This new group of assassins, name unknown, will be compiled of an ancient group of Werewolves. Werewolves, first seen in the Morrowind Bloodmoon Expansion were known for murder, why not harness these skills and form an assassination guild?

New Skills Could Mean New Guilds

With a handful of new skills being added to the Elder Scrolls series such as Blacksmithing, Cooking, Mining, Farming and Wood Cutting there is sure to be a few new guilds. This would be the first time any Elder Scrolls game had guilds focused purely on artisan abilities but it might be a nice change up for those players who don’t enjoy the killing and adventuring of normal guild quests. Quests for these guilds could be to satisfy weapons and food orders for local cities or to go out and find special materials to begin your artisan training.

There is much more room for speculation, especially with taking in account the Nordic Lore. We might even see a guild solely for Nords attempting to cleanse their motherland of Skyrim. Who really know though? These speculations are based of off the happenings in Oblivion and the novel “The Infernal City“, which takes place shortly after the Oblivion Crisis.