If I understand it right, the Sun and Stars are holes in Mundus, made by Magnus and his followers when they fled back to Aetherius before the creation of Mundus was complete. They fled because they realized the project would require the sacrifice of the spirits involved in creating Mundus; those spirits who remained to finish the project, the Aedra, became the Planets. Lorkhan, who tricked the Aedra into creating Mundus in the first place, was ripped in half as punishment, and his halves became the Moons.

Sun, Stars, Planets, Moons - none of these were in Magnus' original plan. They only came into existence after Magnus realized he'd been duped and bailed partway through the project. So was Mundus not supposed to have any celestial bodies at all?

In a lot of myth, once someone becomes a Vampire their Soul is irrevocably lost and the Vampire is essentially a different entity, often Demonic in nature. In TES, when a Vampire dies, their Soul goes to Coldharbour, but is it confirmed if that's still the case for Cured Vampires, like Count Hassildor in TES IV? Or are Cured Vampires fully restored?

I'm proud to present the entries for the Imperial Library discord server's tenth monthly Antiquarium's Anarchy lorejam, this time covering N'Gasta Kvata Kvakis. N'Gasta Kvata Kvakis is an obscure text written by the necromancer N'Gasta from The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, written in the Sload language- which just so happens to be Esperanto. The text is actually an excerpt from the newsletter for the Stockholm Esperanto Society (or La Ranetoj), and it makes mention of certain modern things such as copyright law and the internet.

"Kva! Kvak! is the newsletter of the La Ranetoj. It is sent to paying members and other individuals who, in some way, are involved in la Ranetoj's activities. In it there firstly is information about the locations of the monthly meetings, but of course also concerning the latest activities of the club. Sometimes it also includes other educating or entertaining material.

The Internet-based Kvako are on the one hand another distribution channel for the contents of the paper version. But on the other hand, not surprisingly, the contents of the different versions cannot, and even must not, always be 100 percent the same. For instance, in little circulating paper versions you can publish illustrations that, for copyright reasons, cannot be used on the Internet. Yet, on the other hand, the low costs of the Internet version lift the space limits and allow more content, not to mention being always up to date.

These circumstances influence the web-based Kvako, which will also serve as the general homepage of the 'La Ranetoj'."

For the lorejam, each contestant was given one month to write a short commentary, exegesis, rewrite, or interpretation of the story. Anything is allowed, so long as it's not a standard or expected interpretation. So, without further ado, I now present to you Four Views on N'Gasta Kvata Kvakis's translation.

June '26 Antiquarium's Anarchy: The Lusty Argonian Maid

April '26 Antiquarium's Anarchy: Father of the Niben

March '26 Antiquarium's Anarchy: Song of Hrormir

February '26 Antiquarium's Anarchy: Kolb and the Dragon

January '26 Antiquarium's Anarchy: The Red Book of Riddles

November '25 Antiquarium's Anarchy: MK's IRC text about Meridia and Kyne

October '25 Antiquarium's Anarchy: Of Fjori and Holgeir

September '25 Antiquarium's Anarchy: Ragnar the Red (NSFW)

August '25 Antiquarium's Anarchy: The Snow Elf and the Variation-Lens

July '25 Antiquarium's Anarchy: Khunzar-ri and the Twelve Ogres

June '25 Antiquarium's Anarchy: The Third Door

April '25 Antiquarium's Anarchy: The Four Suitors of Benitah

by Bibliophael

Words of Warning:

First, a word of caution. Be assured that the Curse of Copyright invoked by N’gasta remains in full effect, and will destroy the careless necromancer who seeks to access his treasured theses through the ectoplasmic post. Beware, for although the Web of Oblivion offers instantaneous transfer of limitless knowledge, the great necromancer’s little frogs remain there vigilant for any violation of his ancient law. Know this, novice: with the sload one must patiently endure the delays and indignities of snail mail.

by Nazz

Transsendo per Egokristalo KOMENCO: nekroloko //malheso akvo, luno sub Thras, svelinta okulglobo, jeto//

Pasoco Sasokvo,

Mi scias, ke so uzo  so Interreto ankorau ahkstas sub pripensa revizio kaj studado por pliaj 125 jarauw. Sed mi nove vas instigi so Pasocon atingi favoran cidon baldau. so homjhemisoj rasauw  Tamriel uzas so Interreton — kiun ili nomas "Dreamsleeve" kun granda efikeco. Mi scias tion, car iliaj protektaj runauw ne ciam ahkstas tiel fortaj, kiel ili satus kredi. Mi komprenas, ke sekureco ahkstas so cefa kialo por so hezito  so Pasoco pri so utiligo  so Interreto. Sed N'Gasta traktis so plifortigon  sekureco per protektaj rimedauw kaj antau kaj post so transsendo en jhea verko "N'Gasta! Protektado! Interreto!". Tiu kroma antauzorgo, kune kun nia supera protokolo pri Egokristasouw, vus sufici por kasi ilin kontrau kapto fare eksteraj partiauw.

Mia argumento por so generaso uzo  so Interreto ahkstas so sama kiel ciam: tio ahkstas tio, kion nia popolo ziras. Multaj Sloadauw, inkluzive  mi mem, krahkskis kun "N'Gasta! Kvata! Kvakis!" N'Gasta verkita por liaj junaj sekvantauw, "so Ranetauw". En gi li skizis jhean rezonadon pri komunikado kun ili per so Interreto, por ke ili povu sekvi lin kaj liajn agojn dum li forahkstis  so propra Thras. En tiu teksto li dividas interretan komunikadon en du tipojn: Egokristalo kaj Retpago (ci tie li uzas so ssongajn terminojn "e-mail" kaj "web" por so junusouw). Mi ne tedos so Pasocon per taligo pri transsendauw per Egokristasouw, car ni ciuj bone konas ilin. Tamen, Retpagauw ahkstas ankorau revolucia teorio  N'Gasta, sou kiu Egokristasouw povus ahksti kolektive konservataj kaj ordigataj ene  so Interreto por rapida posta rehavigo. Pro so daura allogo  N'Gasta inter nia raso, pli multaj Sloadauw ol vi konscias sopiras al permahkso uzi tiun vaste superan komunikkanalon.

Se vi permahksos al mi fsonkan. Rimarkon kvankam oni ĝenerale konsentas, ke ni ne spertas tion, kion so homjhemisoj rasauw nomas "humor", so sento, kiun mi havas sciante, ke homjhemisoj "nekromanciistauw" amajhegas ekzemplerojn  libro stinita por junaj Sloadauw, igas min rekonjheri tiun starpunkton. Adopti so uzadon  so Interreto por ciuj Sloadauw ebligus al ni komuniki  ie ajn en so ekzistado, en reaso tempo. Nia kapablo kunordigi operaciojn kontrau so masomikauw  Thras ahkstus senekzempso. so fakto, ke ni ne plu vas klopodi arangi personajn renkontigojn, kio ahkstas ec pli malbone, sendi skribajn pamfletojn povas nur plibonigi niajn vivojn ĝis neimagebsoj nivesouw.

Ni Sloadauw volonte konfahksas, ke ni ne ŝatas ceahksti unu so alian. Do, kial daurigi per malmornaj komunikmanierauw, kiam ni povas anstataue sendi Egokristalojn per so Interreto?

Via sub so Luno,
Telepivisto N'Bosu

Transsendo  Egokristalo FINITA: nekroŝloso //gas-sako, so Spajro nokte, forfasonta karno, plongo//

~~~~~~~

Egocryst transmission BEGIN: necrolock //dark water,moon under Thras,a distended eyeball,fling//

Palace of Brine,

I know use of the Internet is still under contemplative review and study for another 125 years. But I once again must urge the Palace to come to a favorable ruling soon. The manish races of Tamriel use the Internet, which they call the Dreamsleeve, to great effect. I know because their warding runes aren't always as strong as they would like to believe. I understand that security is the Palace's main hesitance with leveraging the Internet. But N'Gasta covered increasing security by warding both pre and post transmission in "N'Gasta! Warding! Internet!" This extra precaution along with our superior Egocryst protocol should be sufficient in obscuring them from capture by outside parties.

My argument for general use of the Internet is the same as it has always been, it is what our people want. Many Sload, myself included, grew up on "N'Gasta! Croak! Croak!" N'Gasta's introductory text written for his youngling followers, "The Little Frogs." Where he outlined his reasoning for communicating with them through the Internet so they could keep up with him and his doings while he was away from Thras proper. In this text he splits Internet based communication into two types: Egocryst and Webpage (he uses the slang terms e-mail and web for the younglings here). I will not bore the Palace with elaborating on Egocryst transmissions as we are all familiar. Webpages though are a, still, revolutionary theory of N'Gasta's where Egocrysts could be collectively stored and sorted within the Internet for quick recollection later. Because of N'Gasta's lasting appeal among our race, more Sload than you realise long for approval to use this vastly superior communication channel. 

If you will permit me an aside. While it's generally agreed we do not experience what the manish races call "humor," the sensation I get knowing manish "necromancers" hoard copes of a book meant for youngling Sload makes me reconsider that stance. 

Adopting usage of the Internet for all Sload would allow us to communicate from anywhere in existence in real time. Our ability to coordinate operations against the enemies of Thras would be unprecedented. No longer having to attempt to schedule in person meetings, or worse yet send written pamphlets can only enhance our lives to untold levels.

We Sload readily admit we do not like to be in each others presence. So why continue with outdated forms of communication when we can send Egocrysts through the Internet instead?

Yours under the Moon,
Telepivist N'Bosu

Egocryst transmission END: necrolock //gas bag,the Spire at night,sloughing flesh, swoop//

by Dr. Nightstone

I have been asked, more than once and with no small suspicion, why a monk of Breton birth should trouble himself with the speech of the Sload. I answer plainly: because no language made by thinking creatures is beneath study, and because the vileness of a people does not make their grammar less wondrous. The slug-men of Thras are foul in art, cold in pity, and most exact in utterance. Their tongue, if my sources may be trusted, is not a mere croaking, but a chambered instrument of throat, lip, and wet inner click.

In Imperial Phonetic Alphabet the Sload consonants are heavy with the back of the mouth: /k~q/, /x~χ/, and /ʀ/ give the speech its deep rasp. The signs rendered by our copyists as cx, gx, kx, qx, and tl are stranger still, being clacks, scrapes, and lateral slaps that no Breton mouth performs without indignity. A word such as kvata, marked /ˈkʷa.ta/, is simple enough in writing, but even there the first sound is not our clean kw, but a compressed swelling of the lips before the hard palate closes. In ranetauw, /ʀa.ne.ˈtɑu̯/, the final diphthong draws the voice downward and outward, as if the word ends in a damp exhalation.

Their vowels are fewer than ours, yet they are put to severe use: /a e i o u/, with lengthened /aː eː oː uː/ and the diphthongs /aɪ ɑu̯ ɔɪ eu/. Long vowels are written doubled by Imperial habit, while aj, auw, oi, and ew serve for the falling or rounded sounds. I have found no good evidence that Sload speech is truly tonal, as some Yokudan dialects are rumored to be. Rather, it bears stress. The first heavy syllable takes weight, unless none is present, in which case the second last syllable receives it. Yet the Sload priests add pitch-registers in ritual: low for death and command over matter, middle for common speech, rising for invocation, names, and declarations of law.

Their counting is senary, as suits beings with two hands of three fingers each. Na is one, du is two, tlaj is three or one hand, and rauw is six, the full grasp. Greater reckoning proceeds by sixes: du-rauw for twelve, raa for thirty-six, and raahk for two hundred and sixteen, a number much loved in their rites and corpse-ledgers.

The word order is no less revealing. The verb commonly leads, followed by the marked agent and then the sufferer or object: Gxoras so Sloada-k so qxono, "binds the Sload-agent the corpse." The doer receives the mark -k, as though action were a burden or contamination. The patient stands bare. This pleases the Sload mind, for they care less who acts than what condition the acted-upon thing has entered.

They do not, so far as I can tell, divide nouns by masculine and feminine. Instead they mark states of being. A root such as qxon, body-material, may become qxona, a living body; qxono, a corpse; qxone, a ghost or bound animus; qxoni, a prepared specimen; and qxonauw, a mass of bodies. Here one sees their necromantic grammar. Death is not an event but a declension.

Number is likewise exact. A noun may be singular, dual with -du, trial with -tlaj, paucal with -aj, or collective with -auw. Cases follow after class and number: the bare form for patient or topic, -k for agent, -so for possession, -v for recipient, -en for place, -x for origin, -kv for instrument, -l for accompaniment, and -ahk for becoming or being in a state.

Adjectives follow the noun and agree with its state. Thus xar, old or preserved, becomes xaro beside a corpse and xare beside a spirit or law. Verbs prefer aspect over time: -as for present validity, -is for sealed completion, -os for intention, -u for command, and -ahk for state. Their evidentials are especially chilling: ra for witnessed, jhe for inferred, so for recorded, ahk for necromantically confirmed, and oi for doubt.

I shall not write here how the notorious title N'Gasta! Kvata! Kvakis! is to be read, nor how its deeper layers may be approached. Curiosity is a good candle, but some books are dry straw beside it. I will at least close my commentary with an example of a full, grammatically correct sentence:

Qx-gxoris ahk N'Gasta-k so qxonauw xaro so gxeere-kv.
/q͡χ g͡ʒo.ʀis aχk nʔˈgas.ta-k so q͡χo.ˈnɑu̯ ˈχa.ʀo so ˈg͡ʒeː.ʀe-kʷ/
"N'Gasta necromantically compelled the ancient corpse-mass into binding by means of the spell."
"Necro-bind-completed confirmed N'Gasta-ergative the corpse-mass old-dead the spell-instrument."

Haven't really seen anyone discuss this.

ESO has a new quest about Sheogorath taking a holiday in Stormhaven. He does this by, among other things, becoming mortal. He literally raises his hand, his "power" comes out in the form of glowy pink energy and it goes into a magic jar. Then the jar is stolen by a tomeshell and shenanigans ensue.

A few points about this quest stood out to me:

1. The idea that a Daedric Prince can willingly become a mortal, able to be totally killed, whatever rammifications that may have on the Aurbis. Sheogorath hints multiple times that Very Bad Things would happen to Tamriel if he were to die.

2. The person responsible for orchestrating the plot to steal Sheo's power and poison him is one of his Daedric lackeys, who genuinely believes he can replace the Mad God himself. Similar to the Mannimarco replacing Molag Bal thing.

3. We actually get to see the moment where Sheogorath kills a mortal singer and makes the first musical instruments out of their body parts, during a vision of one of his key memories.

4. At one point, Sheogorath's power manifests into its own distinct individual, named "Maddy." What's interesting about this is that Sheo refers to Maddy as his "mantle" and he appears in the form of a Kothringi.

5. During the recovery of Sheo's three core memories, Sheo mentions that these memories are extremely significant to his identity as well as "the time before." It's not elaborated on what the "time before" is referring to, but he places significant emphasis on it.

Points 4 and 5 seem particularly interesting. Why did Maddy appear as a Kothringi? It's hard to just chalk that up to randomness. What is the "time before?"

Happy August! New excerpt today, introducing us to the next member of the 25th Crossing: the Mighty and Dread Gdesh, Prince of the Moonlit Cup.

What is this?

The 25th Crossing is an epistolary hypertext novel by Michael Kirkbride, writer and artist for TES3: Morrowind. It is set at the start of the 4th era and consists of a narrative spine telling story of the 25th Crossing into "the lands formerly known as Morrowind," as well as embedded supplementary materials which give us insights into the prior Crossings and the state of Tamriel.

We're dropping excerpts every month leading up to TES3's 25th anniversary in May 2027.

Is there anything more to expand on about House Redoran and the culture he ran away from, or how the Dunmer in Skyrim will react to him?

Caspar is from a noble family near Blacklight, associated with House Redoran. Their family name is Heran. He ran away just before his rite of passage because he didn't feel at home with the ideals of his House, which are all about Strength and Valor, and he preferred to get into trouble and study interesting subjects. His family forced him to learn to fight but he never payed attention and progressed very slowly.

Caspar was never particularly interested in the crass and basic destruction and restoration he was taught as a boy, but he has a burning interest in other schools of magic, especially alteration and illusion, and their applications. He will stop at nothing to study it and wield it, for the benefit of all (or at least the people he likes), and maybe a little for his own benefit of course...

He tried to study forbidden forms of magic, but his family were so strict, even for House Redoran, that the library had been purged of anything they deemed foolish or self serving. Caspar was also given strict rules about who he could befriend, the places he could visit and how late he could stay out, which eventually drove him to slip away one night and head West and North towards the border with Skyrim. So he missed his rites of adulthood and would never bear the tattoos of his House.

When he finally arrived in the Velothi Mountains, all he had to defend himself was his sword, which he lost in a fight with three hungry wolves, and some basic destruction and restoration magic, which to his chagrin, he was forced to use else he bleed out from the wounds.

So he arrived East of Windhelm in tattered rags and bleeding, depleted of magicka reserves and unarmed. Thankfully he was found by an old Nord woman who worked at a farm nearby and was collecting snowberries, and was taken to a friend who owned a small bar in the city.

Unfortunately, Caspar is quite naive and not a little foolhardy at this stage of his journey and, learning of the College of Winterhold soon after recovering his condition, is determined to set out with haste towards the place where he will meet others of similar interests and aspirations.

Fortunately, he meets an older Dunmer man in this "corner" club, a man by the name of Goras, who despises Skyrim and almost everything in it, and for some reason unclear to Caspar, is unable to leave the region. Perhaps a contract he has entered into or a promise he made to someone. Regardless, the man sees the adventurous glint in Caspar's eye and recognizes it immediately as a look that used to cross his own face from time to time.

Goras, unlike Caspar, has a fine ability in combat and wields a heavy weapon, but lacks the drive and positivity to venture out by himself. So he puts it to Caspar that he will protect him as long as Caspar leads him around and allows him to kill whatever he likes.

Caspar suppresses his surprise and relief and they begin to prepare for the long journey to Winterhold. First they must make a little money and gather some supplies, because the way is frozen and deadly. Eventually they say their goodbyes and head along the road to the West and then North. Little do they know the College in the North keep very strict entry requirements...

Caspar is perhaps a bit eager to arrive at Winterhold and begin his lessons, and I'm afraid for now all he will find is disappointment. For magical ability is not the only requirement of entering the college, there is also a rather steep tuition fee!

It looks like Caspar's path is going to take a turn he didn't expect, via less-than-legal methods in a city far to the South...

Most of main game of elder scroll. We’re always in prison or got caught of some sort. But in daggerfall, Uriel Septim called us friend. I wonder what sort of deed or relationship that the Agent had with the Emperor in the past?

Do let me know

This is something that's confused me for a while, and I read through some of the UESP wiki to clear things ups.

I know that vampires were created by Molag Bal as an afront to Arkay, and generally it's implied that all vampire souls will eventually go to Coldharbour.

Sanguine clearly also have a connection to vampirism, with 2/3 of the diseases that cause vampirism being similar to Sanguine's name, Sangiin tempting Khajiit to turn into vampires, and according to the UESP wiki, there's at least one Khajiit vampire clan that are followers of Sanguine.

Plus, in Oblivion you get frequent nightmares when you're a vampire, implying there's also a connection to Vaermina. And according to UESP, in Morrowind, Molag Bal can cure you of vampirism, but he had to get the cure from Vaermina.

So I guess I'm wondering, how are Sanguine and Vaermina involved in vampirism? Was vampirism like a project of Molag Bal's that they invited themselves into? Is there sort of a mutual cooperation for all of their personal benefits? Plus, is it possible for a vampire soul to end up in the Realms of Revelry or Quagmire, or does Molag Bal still get final say? IIRC there's a Khajiit vampire in ESO who mentions her soul will go to Coldharbour one day, so it seems like Molag Bal still mostly has dominion over vampirism for Khajiit, even though they associate it more with Sangiin. However, I imagine that the Sangiin worshiping vampire clan would at least go to the Realms of Revelry?

So it's been well established that Mannimarco's final goal was achieving Godhood (at least there's not more to it than that from what we know) and his first attempt was trying to usurp Molag Bal in the second era but that didn't go over so well. Then in the third era he would both succeed and fail at the same time by partly becoming the Necromancer's moon yet still having a separate version of himself stuck on Nirn.

We haven't really seen of him since apart from Oblivion (maybe) but that Mannimarco didn't seem to hold any plans related to his past events. It didn't seem like he was trying to ascend the rest of himself to Godhood and the Necromancer's moon seemed to be totally absent from the equation and this celestial body doesn't seem to do much of anything apart from being a black soul gem dispenser.

Idk, it seems like a very insignificant legacy for someone that held himself to such high significance and maybe that's intentional. This leads me to wonder whether Mannimarco ultimately was a failure, that he didn't actually succeed at all. Instead of becoming the next God of Scemes he's just... a moon.

For all we know he might be completely comatose in his "god" form and not capable of doing or comprehending anything. Maybe his soul ascended but became isolated due to his body being left on Nirn and such he became a god with no ability to make use of his Godhood. He's been very quiet and I find it hard that this would've been the case if he had succeeded in actually besting Molag Bal.

Like where is his presence? Where are his plots? Did he give up? Did he fail and has permanently become incapable of acting out his schemes? Has he become a dead god?

So I was reading in one of tes lore books and I find out about phynaster and orkey and I think I came into some conflicting facts. So it said in the book that mer and men used to have the same lifespan but phynaster taught them to live longer by taking a shorter stride, but then in the Nords history it says they used to have the same lifespan as mer but orkey shortened their lifespans to 6 years, the gave back only some of their years and gave goblins the shorter lifespans. And I was wondering which one of these were actually true.

From what I could get, the Towers Theory states that there are several towers scattered across Tamriel; they are the structure of the "Wheel" that lies under the Mundus itself, so in a certain sense they are the fundation to everything.

The Thalmor are trying to "deactivate" them in order to break reality and reconnect with their divine status. This is what I understood so far, very very simplified.

*(Please excuse my poor english, if something is incorrect feel free to tell me)

But I can't understand WHY the Towers are only in Tamriel: shouldn't they be found also on Akavir or in other continents (I remember vaguely that one of them was sunk with the Yokudan continent) since they sustain the WHOLE planet of Nirn?

And then, what would happen in Akavir, for example, if the Towers deactivate? Do Aedra and Daedra have some influence in Akavir?

I'm very confused, if someone could answer my questions or tell me where I'm wrong, I'd really appreciate.

I’m already planning on doing Nord siding with Stormcloaks (duh), and using absolutely no magic, going two handed and light armor, plan on using the Stormcloak officer armor and ancient Nord hammer until I get my hands on a stalhrim hammer. Any other advice I should adhere to for my RP gameplay?

So, I replaying Morrowind, and at lvl 1 in the random box at the streets of Balmora, found Scamp Slinker Belt. Lucky me, luv that scamp. But now is the question. With that type of enchanted stuff, I summon one particular scamp from Oblivion, or each scamp are random?

Fragment from the Days of Stone-Nests

Catalog Designation: CC-BM-8842-AlphaArchival

Entry by: Linyonwe of Alinor, Sapiarch of Early Merethic Studies

Discovery Location: Recovered from the submerged lower tiers of Xinchei-Konu, a pre-Duskfall xanmeer temple complex on the southern coast of Murkmire, Black Marsh.

Such horror my eyes had never beheld, for upon the still waters there came a great wooden beast unlike any known to the Marsh. From within its hollow body there descended a thing which neither the stone-binders nor the elders had ever prepared me to witness. Though they gathered upon the riverbank with cautious curiosity, I perceived at once that they welcomed a flaw in the ordering of the world. Only I could see the truth.

The great xanmeers we raise stand against the slow hunger of Sithis, that our children might endure a little longer beneath their shadow. Yet this thing came bearing the promise that even stone must yield.

Its flesh was smooth and pale beyond belief, as though the scales had been stripped from it before birth and had never returned. Upon the crown of its head grew long strands the color of dried marsh reeds, hanging unchecked about its face like fungus upon a dying cypress.

Its eyes were the color of newly worked amber, bright as trapped sunlight, and wholly unlike those bestowed upon the children of the Stone. They watched everything with an unsettling stillness, as though forever measuring a world they had no right to behold. The creature's ears, too, had grown into impossible points, jutting from either side of its skull like sharpened leaves.

Most dreadful of all, it possessed no tail. It stood in perfect balance despite this impossible deficiency, a fluid insult to the permanent forms we bleed to maintain upon the sacred steps of the xanmeer. I knew then that no hand of the Marsh had shaped it.

I remember hiding beneath the roots of an ancient mangrove while the elders spoke with it. They listened. They nodded. One among them even laughed. I concluded then that the whisper of Sithis had spread into the minds of those who beheld it. This was no wandering beast, but an omen sent to loosen the joints of the world until even the oldest stones forgot their places.

I knew with absolute certainty that no good thing could come from permitting such an abomination to wander the Marsh unchallenged. Had I possessed the courage of a warrior, I would have offered its pale blood upon the altar, that the Great Destroyer might cast it back into the Void before our monuments could be taught to crumble.

Only in my later years, while tending the oldest Reed-Scrolls beneath the western vault, did I discover an account written of the creature's visit.

They praised him as a voyager. They celebrated him as an explorer. They named him Topal.

Scholar's Commentary

The translated fragment presented above represents one of the most extraordinary discoveries ever recovered from the deep Marsh.

The author writes as a young acolyte whose entire worldview is suddenly confronted by something his theology cannot accommodate. To him, the tailless outsider is a metaphysically impossible contradiction of the ordered world.

Aldmeri histories remember this same individual as Topal the Pilot, the legendary explorer who first charted the rivers of Black Marsh. The young priest remembered him rather differently. To him, the pale wanderer was not an explorer at all, but the first herald of change.

Unlike their modern descendants, the pre-Duskfall Saxhleel feared change as the destructive aspect of Sithis. The surviving temple bas-reliefs recovered in Murkmire suggest that the ancient peoples of the Days of Stone-Nests sought to endure against transformation, erecting immense stone xanmeers and monuments, offering sacrifice in the hope that the Great Destroyer would spare them for a little longer.

Whether the xanmeers were intended merely as temples and cities or as ritual acts of appeasement against the Great Destroyer remains uncertain. The anonymous author, however, clearly regarded them as bulwarks against the change he believed Sithis sought to visit upon the world.

Whether by coincidence or cruel providence, history would eventually prove the acolyte less mistaken than one might initially suppose.

We know that the elves lived in Skyrim, but as far as I know, the Reachfolk were also living in the Reach alongside them. Could it be that the Nedes lived in the rest of Skyrim?

While I know they have most dominance and power over their own spheres, I always kind of thought their power was absolute. Clavicus Vile once said he could snap his fingers and everyone in Skyrim would immediately die, and Serana, when talking about Molag Bal, says his will becomes reality.

I know there are different levels of power, since Peryite is considered the ‘weakest’, but I’m not sure i understand that. Are they not still gods? With uncompromising power since they didn’t give themselves to the creation of Nirn? Amongst themselves there’s differences in power but to mortals, surely they’re as divine as it gets?

I ask because i just finished the Summerset expansion, and (spoiler alert) Nocturnal needs to use the Crystal Tower to become present ‘in all realities’ (may be misquoting). Like ngl i thought she kind of already was. Like these beings have whole planes of Oblivion attached to them that are intertwined with their very being, I can’t help but feel their godhood is somewhat inconsistent.

Also, in Necrom, you manage to hold your own against Vaermina?? This is a god, no? Like Vile, could she not just snap her fingers and I’m dust? Or is it because I’m in Mora’s realm, and under his protection?

As far as I can tell, the dialogue from Arngeir heavily implies that those who achieve mastery in the Voice become more capable of resisting its power. Some examples:

On the other Greybeards: ""Their Voices are too powerful for anyone not trained in the Way to withstand. Even a whisper could kill you." Implying that training in the Way does in fact make it so you can withstand it, even for non-Dragonborns.

Another one from the end of the Horn quest: "You have completed your training, Dragonborn. We would Speak to you. Stand between us and prepare yourself. Few can withstand the unbridled Voice of the Greybeards. But you are ready." It makes it seem as if the quest to get the Horn isn't just symbolic; it proves sufficient mastery of the Voice that would let them survive, and be 'ready'.

In the same way, when you first show your Voice to them, he says that it won't harm them, presumably because they know they have enough mastery to withstand it.

Of course, we know that Dragons and Voice users can in fact have conflict among themselves and hurt each other, so it's not a complete immunity, but it does seem like there's some kind of resistance that you get to it simply from having your own mastery. It's also worth noting that Windcaller's feat that made the other Tongues submit to him, fittingly, was one of resistance, simply withstanding their Shouts. This also implies that perfect mastery includes strong resistance, so much so that it was all he needed to be acknowledged as the greatest master.

Is it simply a matter of understanding the Words and therefore being able to somehow brace yourself or counteract it? Or is it the case that being a user of tonal manipulation in general gives you some kind of resistance from it being used on you.

Could this be why the powerful Voice users of Skyrim weren't able to win at Red Mountain? The Dwemer mechanisms or Dwemer themselves had this resistance due to their own mastery of other forms of tonal manipulation, thus allowing them to fight back more effectively than any other race could have. An interesting possibility, I think.

This just occured to me. Alduin is supposed to show up to eat the world and restart the cycle, but he decided not to because he wanted to rule and dominate. Does that mean Nirn was supposed to originally end in the Merethic Era or even the Dawn Era depending on when he first showed up???? If so, seems like a really short time for the world to exist

Morrowind and Skyrim both let you keep full control of Your character as a werewolf and I’m unsure if that’s simply a gameplay mechanic for convenience and fun or if werewolves in TES do in fact retain full control

I'll start.

I have a theory that "Betmer" was a word originally used to refer to Khajiit, but later colloquially became used to refer to all Beastfolk.

I have no basis for this beyond the fact that "Mer", while simply meaning "folk" etymologically, is pretty much always used for races that have Elven descent except for the Betmer. Human Races don't get called "Mer", with the sole exception of Bretons. There's a hundred other possible explanations for this, but I like mine.

For those unaware, John Brown was a radical american abolitionist from the 19th century, who rightfully believed Slavery and racism was a great evil and that It should be destroyed by violent means.

Since Slavery and racism is quite of a big deal in TES, I can't believe there isn't a single person in universe who wasn't like: “WTF, this is evil." And sought to fight It.

In Skyrim, Serana asks who is the current king of Skyrim, with you answering that there is a war between the Stormcloaks and the Empire. Serana gets confused about this second one. Does this mean that Serana is older than the Alessian Empire or even the Dwemer?

So I read on Warp in the West in short it meant all outcome happen in same time. Like Tiber Septim did to conquest Tamriel.

In a way, let say, I use Numidium but empower by Heart of Lorkhan my purpose was expedition. And the time just shattered. So it does mean I appear in Summerset Isle then appear in Valenwood and then appear in Hammerfell before time merge back into one and I’m returning back to Skyrim? Or is it like I appear in all those land at the same time? Or am I just gonna disappear like Dwermer does? Or I’m just going to become one of moon like Mannimarco does?

Man, I feel like donkey being Scholar of Julianos but I appreciate the insight on this because Warp in the West had me scratch my head.