I have had a couple of playthroughs of Oblivion but I have only now realised that you can shoot high Welkynd stones out of their sconces...

In the ruins right across the river from where you exit the sewers there is a note between the bandits that mentions one of them shooting down the stones. This is why I love Oblivion, so many little things like this make it interesting and realistic to play.

Ha? Really? That's cool. I'm gonna find that note!

It was in Vilverin, in the boss bandit's bedroom IIRC. He says that one of his goons figured it out. When you go down to the area with the prison cells, there is a single welkynd stone on a pedestal in there, and a few arrows sitting on the ground at its feet.

You can shoot them off the stand with arrows, and fireballs work too.

but you may need to aim carefully because sometimes they fall onto the base of the high stone pedestal and you may have to jump pretty high to get them.

It's the details that make it awesome.

Its easier to use Telekinesis to take the stones. No risk of them falling behind.

In one of the initial rooms of Vilverin, there's also a note or diary or something left by one of the raiders. It says something about all the funny blue stones they keep finding. And then much later on which is one wicked awesome fight!

Yes. Yes it is.
Vilverin is one of my favourite - (currently) - ruinz

Haven′t been in Vilverin since back in 2007 I reckon so I have forgotten all about that. Maybe I′ll have Lothran re-discover it!

I'm pretty sure my very first or second character swam across from the Sewer gate to Vilverin, got attacked by the bandits that hang out there, and hightailed it back across the river. I didn't actually go in and do the entire dungeon until later on, probably with the first Renee Gade.

I remember getting to the "end" (after fighting Jalbert) which is a secret passageway over one of the initial hallways, jumping down from there. Oh! I'm where I started! How cool.

"those big blue stones...stink of magicka"
NIce!!!!!

That's another little in-game hint. If you're low on magicka and have a Welkynd stone on you, you can use it (select it in your inventory) and all of your magicka will be restored. Pretty handy for a mage.

Most of my characters go to Vilverin, assuming I'm modding in any "special equipment" for them. I have a "goodie chest" hidden in a dark corner down there, where I can easily add things through the Construction Set.

The chest always contains at least one item - the prisoner wrist irons - because I use an alternate start mod, so my characters no longer automatically receive that handy enchantable item.

I always put 'goody chests' in the testing hall. That seems like a good idea though.

My Breton sorceresses prefer telekenisis to retrieve the stones. At level 30, they both have huge reserves of magicka, and seldom carry more than a stone or two on their person for emergencies. However, they adore the stones, and are anol retentive when it comes to collecting them. They will spend hours in ruins devising schemes to reach the stones that are perched in precarious locations. They spend an equal amount of hours using the stones as decorations (bookshelf inserts, table settings, fireplace mantle adornments) in their homes. The den in the Chorral home has a blue hue/tint to the room due to the numerous stones that adorn the bookshelves and tables. There is something very soothing about them to my characters.

Yes but they are big and presumably heavy, and even with a feather spell they take up much space. So how many can be carried, RP-wise?

As many as I want, with my Astral Storage mod. In vanilla, not too many since they are a bit large. Solina Atrius would be able to carry two, perhaps three max. But, since she is able to store things in a pocket dimension that she can access any time, she can have as many as she wants. At last count, she had collected around 380 Welkynd stones. She hasn't had to use one yet, though.

They aren't that heavy, about one Cyrodiilic unit of weight. And if I recall correctly, they weren't much bigger than a potion.

Some of my characters decorate their homes with these, too. They add nice blue glows to the room...too bad they don't actually illuminate.

For the longest time, I didn't even know these things regenerate magic! It's only recently that Kate and Saga have begun using Welkynd stones for their actual purpose

I've played several Atronach-sign mages, and the stones are handy as an emergency refill. It's more practical to use alchemy, though, since at high level the "restore over time" potions tend to keep the Magicka up while you're casting repeatedly. Those mages would usually carry two or three (or they'd keep all but one in the "endless bag of holding," if the mage had that.)

I always leave welkynd and varla stones right where they are. Same with nirnroot. As long as my games are, I know my character will be back to visit places, and we want them to look as nice as the first time.

I'm glad i'm not the only one, I have so far only picked up one Welkynd stone on my mage, then I just duped it for decoration! Same with the crumpled up pieces of paper which I scattered across my mages room.

My atronachs relied on them at low levels. Naturally they switched to potions when they had the skill.

Actually, they're closer in size to a football.

Then you might want to check out Khettienna's http://tes.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=29007 mod. Welkynd stones reappear in their sconces after 14 days, while Varla stones do so after 28 days.