General:Council of Wisdom

The Council of Wisdom were a group of beta testers for Arena, Daggerfall, Battlespire and possibly Redguard. They were fans of the games that organized on a private bulletin board system, and Bethesda would send them copies of the latest builds to test and give feedback. Thanks to their contributions on the original games of the franchise, they have often had a hand in laying the groundwork that makes up the core foundations for the entire series.

Immortalization

At the time of the games' development, Bethesda didn't have the resources to pay them for their services, so in return for their help, the developers immortalized the testers' names and characters in the canon of the setting, and encouraged them to write their own stories about the setting, which the developers edited together and then included in the final game as readable novels.

Besides the various books written by the Council that were added to Daggerfall, the names of some of the testers were used for the names of the Eight Divines. Six of the Eight Divines were named after beta testers (The exception, Kynareth, had previously appeared in Arena. Julianos was also named in Daggerfall, but he was named after Julian Lefay, the project leader for the game).

• Akatosh was named after beta tester Lawrence Szydlowski, who liked to sign "also known as the old Smaug himself" (the first letter of each word forming the letters "Akatosh").
• Arkay was named after one of the original beta testers, R.K. Deutsch.
• Dibella was named after beta tester Mary Jo DiBella.
• Mara was named after beta tester Marilyn Wasserman.
• Stendarr was named after beta tester Daniel Starr.
• Zenithar was named after Stephen Zepp, an Arena beta tester.

Other minor deities and characters also have names derived from testers:

• Aliera from King Edward was named for Anne Jindra's screenname.
• Baan Dar, earlier known as Bajdit or the Bandit God, was named after Barry "Bandit" Boland.
• Ebonarm is the alter ego of beta tester Raymond Whit Crowley, who wrote The Ebon Arm.
• Ephen or Phen or S'ephen were possibly named after beta testers Stephen Korejwo or Stephen Wilkinson.
• Gyron Vardengroet was named after beta tester Gary Vandegrift.
• Jephre or Jeh Free was named after beta tester Jeff Greulich.
• Jhim Sei was named after Jim Seyfer's screenname.
• Jone and Jode, the moons on Tamriel, are named for testers Judy Weller and Joan McKeown. Joan and Judy = Jone and Jode.
• Q'Olwen was named after beta tester Larry W. Olson.
• Raen was the screenname of John Alcock.
• Vigryl was named after Virgil Rochowansky.

Texts Authored

This list is non-exhaustive and includes only texts of which the Council are known to be a primary author. Note that all of the books written by them were also edited by Bethesda writers before appearing in game.

Daggerfall Fools' Ebony King Edward (written by Marilyn Wassermann) The Real Barenziah (written by Marilyn Wassermann) Biography of Queen Barenziah (written by Marilyn Wassermann) The Ebon Arm (written by Raymond Whit Crowley) From The Memory Stone of Makela Leki (written by Dave) Notes For Redguard History (written by Dave) Redguards, Their History and Their Heroes (written by Dave) Divad the Singer (written by Dave) REDGUARD.TXT (written by Dave) The Legend of Lovers Lament[verification needed] The Light and the Dark[verification needed] Mara's Tear[verification needed — possibly Stephen Zepp] Oelander's Hammer[verification needed] Ark'ay The God[verification needed — possibly R.K. Deutsch] The Epic of the Grey Falcon[verification needed] The First Scroll of Baan Dar[verification needed — possibly Barry Boland] Of Jephre[verification needed — possibly Jeff Greulich] The Sage[verification needed — possibly Gary Vandegrift] A Tale of Kieran[verification needed] The Story of Lyrisius[verification needed]

Out-of-game Anne Jindra's Posts Marilyn Wasserman's Posts

Members

Arena Adrian "Crez" Creswell Anne Jindra Barry "Bandit" Boland David Bogley David Land Doug Roderick Ed Paquette Gary "Sage" Vandegrift James Bussell Jim Seyfer Joan McKeown John "Raen" Alcock Joni Bubluski Judy Weller Lawrence "Smaug" Szydlowski Marilyn "Mara" Wasserman Mary Jo DiBella Melissa Bogley Michael Boutin Oliver Wenzel Peter Sutton Richard Gunter Richard Rodway Robert "Arkay" Deutsch Steffen "Cyborg" Reinhart Stephen "Zen" Zepp Steve Cotelesse Virgil Rochowansky Whit "Barak Halfhand" Crowley

Daggerfall Andrew J. Helterbran Barry T. Boland Daniel Starr David C. Land David Sebring Edward Paquette Erik Rutins Gary Vandegrift Gerry P. Lewis Graham Tinsley Greg Coleman Jeff Greulich Kathy Shaw Kevin Miller Laralyn McWilliams Larry Sudlow Larry W. Olson Lawrence G. Szydlowski Marc Bridger Marilyn Wasserman Mary Jo DiBella Michael Boutin Michael G. Wilkins Oliver Wenzel Patty White Paul Jackson Rejean Gravel Richard Gunter Robert Deutsch Sonia P. Brown Steffen Reinhart Stephen Korejwo Stephen Wilkinson Steve Hicks Steve Pusztai Steven Cotellesse Suzanne T. Weiss Wendy Shaffer

Battlespire Anahid Avakian Barry Boland Bill Waldheim Bob Deutsch Charles Waugh Chris Boucher Gary Vandegrift Graham Tinsley Gregory Hedges Jack Labout James Sablatura Jim Pedicord Jim Scarletta Kurt Kemmling Kyle Okula LaRae Wilkins Larry Sudlow Lawrence Szydlowski Mara Wasserman Marc Bridger Mary Barzee Mary Jo DiBella Michael Boutin Michael Wilkins Nick Boughen Pam Humphreys Paul Gittins Pierre d'Albertis Rod Springer Russell Roach Stephen Korejwo Stephen Wilkinson Steve Berra Steve Pusztai Suzanne Weiss Timothy Verpoorten Vickie Boughen Warren Gunther

Notes

• The Council of Wisdom is also the name of the community Discord for OnceLost Games's upcoming spiritual successor game to Daggerfall, made with involvement by some of the original Daggerfall developers, Julian Lefay, Ted Peterson and Vijay Lakshman.
• The book Ius, Animal God was written by Ted Peterson for the Council of Wisdom as a joke to explain why there was a statue blocking the entrance into a certain town in Arena.