How do you make a staff in oblivion

The only way to make a staff is through the first quest in the Arcane University. to get to this quest, you must first complete the quests for the mage's guild recommendations, none of which are particularly hard but all tedious. the subsequent quest in the arcane university requires you to get some wood for a staff in a cave that's then apparently filled with necromancers. After that you can make a staff out of that wood and finish the quest.