Every being in the Elder Scrolls has a soul. The soul of a being is their essence: it animates their physical being. There are two types of souls: black and white souls. Black Souls are the more powerful souls of higher beings, such as men or mer. White Souls are the souls of lesser beings, such as animals or Daedra.
Powering an enchantment with a soul first requires that the soul be trapped within a Soul Gem, a naturally occurring magical crystal. This is accomplished through the use of the Soul Trap (Spell), which binds the target to a soul gem. If the target dies while under this effect, their soul is captured within the soul gem and converted to soul energy.
Soul Energy reflects the amount of magicka stored within the soul that can be used for enchanting. Once a soul gem has been filled with any amount of soul energy, it cannot have any more added to it. Black souls always have a soul energy of 1500, and using a Black Soul Gem in an enchantment limits any associated Enchanting tests by the enchanter’s Necromancy Skill.
There are a number of different soul gems, each of which has its own maximum soul energy and can only hold certain types of souls. A soul may not be trapped within a soul gem whose maximum soul energy is less than the soul energy of that soul.
Types of Soul Gems
Types of Soul Gems
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Type Soul Types Max. Soul Energy Price Petty White 100 25 Lesser White 250 100 Common White 500 250 Greater White 1000 1000 Grand White 1500 2500 Black Any 1500 5000
Item & Material Enchantment Level
The soul energy stored within a soul gem is not the only limiting factor on the strength of an enchantment: different items can all support enchantments of different strengths. Enchantable items have an assigned Enchantment Level (EL), or the maximum soul energy that may be used to enchant that item. Any excess is simply ignored and lost at the end of the process.
Treat all items without a listed enchantment level as having an EL of 10. See Arcane Items for details.
Enchanting Weapons and Armor
Any weapon or piece of Armor that is enchanted gains the Magic (Item Quality) in addition to the listed effect of any enchantment added to it.
Wearing Enchanted Gear
Any single character can only wear 1 enchanted item per hit location (left/right arm, left/right leg, body, head) or 1 set of clothes/robes, 1 necklace and 2 rings, and one wielded item (weapon/shield) in each of their hands.
Spell Restraint and Spell Attributes
When applying or using Spell Effects on enchantments, Spell Restraint, Overload, and Reinforce do not apply.