Lore: Spell Scrolls

[ResolveThatChord]

I have a question for you lore afficionados:

What exactly are spell scrolls?

I've never come across a description of how they are made, or what their source of power is, or how they fit in with magicka. Presumably mages can create them, I seem to remember that you can enchant pieces of paper in Morrowind, though their enchant value was so low that I never bothered. In-game I tend to forget about them, as I usually play with the survivalist mentality that I should always conserve ammo.

I'm trying to get a better idea of what magicka is and how it works.

[charlescrowe]

i'd say they're one-time versions of spell tomes, or specially enchantent pieces of parchment that add a spell to the player's spell book. traditionally, in non-ES lore, scrolls allow casting of spells, replacing the standard physical spell components like a pinch of fine sand, and alleviate the taxation of the caster's magicka pool. in exchange, these spells are usually weaker, more basic versions unaffected by meta-magics or perks. (with a few exceptions)

it can be argued that you can create scrolls with effects similar to how they'd be if the caster were an expert mage, but are much more rare.

pardon the use of non-ES lore. am merely trying to fill in some blanks for you.