#36 lessons of vivec

[vrrl]

♫ Лжедмитрий IV - "Праздничный пир"

[thana-topsy]

“I would prefer,” he said, “some kind of ceremony if we are to be married.”

- Sermon Twelve

[sneakygreenbean]

so we all know that the 36 Lessons of Vivec is considered Vivec's confession- and apology. But what I think yall are sleeping on is the Fables of Almalexia, both the Homilies and the Fables for morning, afternoon, and evening.

Each story in the four books written by Almalexia ends with a moral or lesson, and it is not uncommon for one of the Tribunal to feature in the stories as well. While a few lessons are based on real world fables (such as the Boiled Kagouti or the Gifted Guar), many of the others had lessons that directly related to the flaws and stories of the Tribunal. I think these fables that likely every dunmer child who went to temple heard, were all confessions of their own, and warnings just the same as the 36 Lessons.

Obviously, I don't care about all of these, you can read them yourself and come to your own conclusions, (hell, even synthesize them with some of the 36 Lessons, that would be fascinating for me to read) but I do want to talk about a few of them.

"Sotha Sil and the Scribs" has the moral "And so Sotha Sil discovered that the idle amusements of one may be the solemn tortures of another.", and looking on Sil's character in The Elder Scrolls: Online it is obvious that he sees mortals- even his own disciples- as somewhat lesser than him. And as a god, this belief is not wholly undeserved. Sotha Sil is significantly more powerful, older, and in many quantifiable ways *better* than the mortals he rules, that's just in the territory of being a god. But when the mortals- the scribs, in the fable- suffer, Sil is at best distant and apathetic, seeing suffering as not only not his responsibility, but also inevitable. Luciana Pullo's diary shows us a lot of what this looks like from the perspective of a mortal, even a powerful, interesting mortal that Sil obviously respects.

in "The Tallest Shroom Beetle", a beetle ""ascends"" by climbing, and is killed by a cliff racer. The moral here is stated to be "forsaking one's nature brings nothing but ruin." which would read as terribly hypocritical if taken at face value. The Tribunal, who were once mortals, warning others not to forsake their natures, to me more likely shows regret than hypocrisy.

In "The Friendly Alit" the lesson we are to learn is that "that which we hate in ourselves is often our greatest gift". Sotha Sil is the easiest to compare this to when we see his relationship with time- more on that later. I have thoughts on Almalexia that cannot be summed in a tumblr post about childrens fables, but believe me when I say I've been thinking about her. Despite this, I don't have an answer for what Almalexia might hate most about herself- she is the member of the Tribunal that we know basically nothing about before she becomes a god, her backstory being swallowed by her marriage to Nerevar. She is basically shown as having no weaknesses, and her actions are difficult to interpret even at face value.

Certainly related is the idea of Almalexia or one of the other Tribunal admitting their flaws (it is worth noting that in the Homilies, Almalexia is directly cited as the author, whereas in the Fables for Morning, Afternoon, and Evening, there is no author given. We have *assumed* that these were written by Almalexia, I mean, her name is on the cover, but it is only listed as a group of fables.)

in "The Crow and the Netch" the moral is "none can change their own weakness". Once again I think this is related to the hindsight we see in "The Friendly Alit", which seems to suggest that, if we are to seriously consider these fables, they might show the regret of the Tribunal. Each sees themself as weak in their own way, and even after sacrificing everything to destroy that weakness, they are still the same.

Related, in "The Child of the Councilor", the lesson learned is "We often forget to be thankful for what we have, when thinking only of what we want."

Many of the Homilies can be seen as confessions of regret, hindsight regarding limitations, and most importantly, flaws. I will probably end up writing an essay on this when i get around to it because I'm really normal

[queercodedlunatic]

Art for Vivec's Sermon 12.

Words in deadric read on the left hand's side: Mockery, Submit, The -lust for - degradation. Right hand: Bal, Proof of love.

Brings to mind how Sermon 1 ends: 'For I have crushed a world with my left hand,' he will say, 'but in my right hand is how it could have won against me. Love is under my will only.'

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

"Unreliable narrator" to you. I believe them.

Vivec, about his own 36 Lessons, probably

[arainmorn-art]

Yeah, I'm nostalgic. Yes, I decided to show my old comics x) A little known fact about me is that I'm also a Morrowind fan. Not Oblivion, not Skyrim, not The Elder Scrolls as a whole, but Morrowind specifically. Who understood the Molag Bal reference, good for you x)

In late 2015, I participated in a canceled zine based on the TES comics. In a week, I drew this comic about Nerevar and Vivek's quiet evening (no script, no storyboard, because I was a rushing moron). When I was reading Vivek's 36 lessons, the phrase that he's a "magical hermaphrodite" inspired me to draw him as, well, an androgynous elf with boobs x) The subject of hermaphrodites and androgynity really inspired me at the time. Oh, and Nerevar being a guardian for a little Vivec, hnnnnnnnnn. It makes his final even more painful x') It also amazes me that I draw the same character types years after years. Gosh.

[maxhoemoe]

[ansu-gurleht]

okay so here's a question re: 36 lessons. i'm compiling some quotes and notes for the thing i've been thinking about, and i came across something i'm not actually sure of: does vivec recommend veneration of padhome? or just sithis?

there are seven instances of "padhome" being used in the lessons, three referring to the "altar of padhome," the other four as part of variations of the "GHARTOK PADHOME" incantation.

i had assumed vivec venerated or at least recommended veneration of padhome, but in sermon 16 he refers to "the altar of Padhome in the house of False Thinking," which seems to indicate a connection to the house of troubles. would vivec recommend venerating padhome if padhome was connected to the house of troubles?

but now that i'm thinking of it, sithis himself is only referred to four times in the lessons himself, always called "SITHISIT," with three of those references in just one sermon, sermon 10. and these references all seem somewhat neutral? i think i had assumed he was venerated by the dunmer bc of the positive spin the book "sithis" puts on him, which i've always headcanoned as being a text written directly by vivec himself, if not at least one of his closest followers.

would love to hear what you guys think!

[spoonmagister]

Converting Mer into Secrets - An Outing with the Buoyant Armigers

The complete collection of the 36 Lessons of Vivec found its way into my possession via Netheles Berom, my personal librarian in Tel Uvirith. No longer wishing to see it upon his shelves, he suggested I deposit it into the trash once I had finished gawking at it. Almost immediately upon reading its words, however, I was met with a curiosity.

Lesson One appeared to detail the process of extracting hidden knowledge and telling one’s fortune via tossing mer into the sea. Seeing the value in such water-soluble wisdom, I decided to pursue this endeavor. Rather than blindly searching for participants, I chose to visit the Stronghold of the Armigers in Molag Mar. This group boasts of its martial prowess, sense of exploration, ways with words, and, apparently, their buoyancy, which is an altogether separate and bold claim — but one which happened to align with my goals.

I propositioned them to join me by fabricating a rumor of a Cult of the Sea-Pest, a secretive cult of necromancers dead-set (ha) on resurrecting an army of slaughterfish. It took very little convincing, and there was an appreciable amount of enthusiasm from these “knights-errant” who would now have something to do. They spent the evening before our departure flexing at each other, polishing their ridiculous glass armor, and crafting subtle-yet-complex verse with which to verbally combat and confound the sea scourge.

I noted that not a single one of them inquired about a boat — a good sign.

We spent four days dredging and wading through the shallows of the Inner Sea, searching for aquatic signs of Cult activity. For four days, the Armigers orated various verses and poems reflecting on the nature of water, animals, Mages, Warriors, Thieves, prophecies, and eggs. They brandished their weapons the entire time, akin to something one might call a warrior-poet, if one were attempting to be insufferable.

This was for naught, of course, (I had already declared these waters Cult-Free weeks prior, the fools) but as it turns out, the Buoyant Armigers behave no differently when left in water, nor did they become endowed with any secret knowledge from their long exposure to the sea.

We eventually left the water and parted ways, each of us dejected and dampened, in our own ways. It is a small comfort, and perhaps a newly-learned secret in its own right, that in the midst of the deluge of falseness, mystery, and deceit that is the Reality Hallucination, I may consider myself exceptionally Buoyant in my ability to remain above it all.

[vrrl]

I couldn't finish this art for a whole year... 😒🍷

[thana-topsy]

POV you walk into the wrong banquet hall

[averagemorrowindenjoyer]

Boobs!?!?😨😨

I haven't posted in a while cuz school. I feel like my art is improving FINALLY

[siegesquirrel42]

finally read the 36 Lessons of Vivec. delightful stuff. the entire chuuni segment of this website really was deeply affected by this weren't they

[queercodedlunatic]

Vivec's mother, the netchiman's wife.

[sunny-artblogging]

leave xem the fuck alone

[maliciousmaelstrom]