UESP Forums

the lore page for magic says

"This raw energy, often referred to as magicka, flows from Aetherius into Mundus by way of the sun and stars, and from it the Mundus was created."

this seems to imply that x amount of matter = y amount of magicka, am I reading this right? If not what am I missing? If I am could i Get a good citation as to whether or not it applies to all matter like it does the welkynd stones and varla stones as per http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Magic_from_the_Sky

I wouldn't think magicka is matter. I'm not even sure it can be called energy in our mundane sense. It is the influence of Aetherius to alter and reshape physical reality of Mundus from one form to another, at the will of someone who knows of it.

If you do regard it as energy, I'd think it has an obscene excessive amount of it. Think of it this way: I believe you could pump enough energy from Aetherius to turn all of Mundus into incandescent plasma, and the battery meter on Aetherius wouldn't drop a whisker.

Magicka can become matter (e.g. skyshards), but matter is not necessarily magicka. For example, all matter in Oblivion is formed of chaotic creatia, a Padomaic substance. And Mundus is formed of the Earthbones.

Raw magicka IMO is akin to plasma, although much cooler. Creatia can be matter, energy, or both. The Azure Plasm in Coldharbour that's made to shape both the landscape and the Daedra has a mercurial quality to it. In fact, the forces of Magicka are sometimes described as mercurial in TES lore, specifically in the Breton race description from Morrowind if I recall.