#resdayns blight

[expended-sleeper]

Summerfest Day 2: The Final Words of the Urshilaku

@tes-summer-fest // Prompt: Storms

You want to hear how the world ended? Come, listen to the dying words of a dying people. Our task was always to keep the lore, among those who lived in the ash: our words united tribes that had little else in common. The Nerevarine, too, was meant to bring us together. How foolish we were! How gravely we misread the signs! Nibani Maesa is dead! Yes, I speak of our Farseer that set the cursed outlander down the path of Seven Trials. Do not judge us too harshly, young one. Prophecies can be misread.

We are all united, now, Velothi and city elves—we choke on the same ash. We all fear the Blight and fall together under its crimson winds. Legend says that the Sharmat promised mercy for his own kind, but Akulakhan's breath knows no distinction between n'wah and Resdayn's true children. Perhaps it is simply that Voryn Dagoth recognizes no kin, any longer. Perhaps there is no such thing as mercy, when you wield such godly powers. The false Tribunal certainly knew nothing of restraint.

Not much time, left. A storm is coming.

What happened to the rest of the tribe, you ask? Find our burial caverns, if you dare. Sul-Matuul is loyal to his people. He did not allow them to change, as many have. The winds took countless lives. All of our oldest, and wisest. The Urshilaku will not end up like so many of the city folk we saw stumbling towards the Mountain, their faces already cratering, their noses and mouths slipping inward—we will not join the cursed dream of the Sharmat!

Remember, young one, that there is always a choice. Sul-Matuul and his warriors brought peace to the last remnants of the true Velothi. I hope to join them soon, if you will help me. The Sharmat cannot touch us in our ancestral sleep. Not yet.

But enough about that. You want to hear how the world ended, yes? I will tell you: it was a matter of friendship.

Hold back your questions, and listen! The Nerevarine disguised herself as a pilgrim of the false gods. She went to the soul-built gate, that ancient barrier between the forces of the Enemy and the rest of Resdayn. So easy to judge, now. Shall I curse the name of Vivec's order, the Buoyant Armigers, for their lack of vigilance? We were all so blind.

The false pilgrim was let through, just as a messenger arrived from the city of Ald'Ruhn.

The false god Vivec, found dead! At any other time, this would have been cause for celebration among Velothi's people. Not so with the Nerevarine on the wrong side of the Ghostgate, with the cursed tools of the Dwemer in her grasp.

None of the Farseers ever imagined the Nerevarine might find common ground with the Sharmat. Yes, yes, call us fools. We have all been brought as low as the kwama foraging for scum.

You want to know why we are bound for death? They were friends. Voryn Dagoth, and Indoril Nerevar—they were friends! But now you turn away from me, in bitterness. That isn't what you wanted to hear, is it? You cannot accept that friendship doomed the world?

How can you deny it, when storms of magic are now spreading across Resdayn to turn us all into loyal monsters? Akulakhan walks, n'wah! The island is crumbling under the feet of a machine god, and yet you look on me with doubt.

Let me see that coin, yes. Your Imperial Septim. Soon there be no Empire, but no matter. You see, everything under the stars has two sides. Even something like friendship contains sinister depths in its most dire implications.

Would you die for your friends? Yes, many would. Would you kill for them? This is another treasured mark of loyalty.

Lord Dagoth died for his friend, more than once. The chains of friendship bound these two souls together. At the most critical moment, at the apex of their destiny, the Nerevarine found themselves unable to break these chains. Anyone can boast of their resistance to evil. Of course, evil is easy to resist when you can recognize it.

The Sharmat wrapped his gift of corruption in a shroud of love. Lord Nerevar wanted his friend back. He wanted it too much. Be careful with that scorn in your expression, outlander. The Nerevarine chose falsely, yes—but can any of us fathom the difficulty of the choice? You can stand here and claim you would have gladly slain your friend to save the world. Perhaps you have a stout heart, and you speak truly.

As for me...b'vek, I don't know. Your Empire's faithful speak of absolute virtues and certain sins. The people of Resdayn find ourselves engulfed in shades of gray, as always. Perhaps the next incarnation will know better than to trust the devil's words. Neither you or I will live to see such a day.

Yes, I see the signs of corruption in your face. The Sharmat and his minions would say you have been divinely blessed by Akulakhan. I say you are doomed.

Don't weep, now. This world is not ours to mourn, or to save. Lady Azura is ever watchful. My heart is at peace. Lord Nerevar will return again, you see? I hope he will be wiser, and that his heart will be made of stone. We will not survive his mistakes. Nonetheless, he has learned from them. Many will die before Nerevar faces his old friend again.

What are you babbling about, now? Stop with that drivel about Akatosh and Mara. Get up off your knees. In this land, we pray with our feet on the ground. Rub some ash on your hands, n'wah, and speak to Azura with me.

I pray that Nerevar will face his old companion once again, and that he will not turn his back to the devil. I pray that he will bury Voryn Dagoth deep enough, next time.

Outlander, wait! One last prayer, before you plunge your dagger into my heart. I find myself as weak as the Nerevarine, in the end.

Take my hand, n'wah, and make certain your aim is true. Hear the final words of the Urshilaku. Azura curse you, if you ever write them down.

I pray for the death of friendship.

[therisingphoenixden]

Tagged by @mxkelsifer

Rules: List five things you never get tired of writing; it can be tropes, themes, characters, phrases, whatever brings you joy. Then tag five people!

1. Reincarnation! The TES longfic I’m working on (and has been on hiatus since I got Covid back at the end of May, sadly) is about my original Nerevarine from my first playthrough of TES3 way back in the day who was subsequently rerolled in ESO. Little did I know when I jumped back into FFXIV that there was a massive reincarnation plotline and I was all over that, if the Ancients stories I’ve written this past month are anything to go by.

2. Massive speculative fiction on a sprawling scale. One of the things I had plotted out for NaNo was speculative fiction regarding the Chimer of Resdayn during the First Era, the formation of the First Council, and then the war between the Chimer and Dwemer after the invading Nords are pushed back to Skyrim. Hints of that can be seen woven into “By the Grace of Azura” and it’s an era of TES lore that we simultaneously know much and little about. If I was so inclined, I could probably find a way to write about the details of the First Blight or the truth behind the fall of Arlathan for DA as well (before DA:D comes out and declares all my ideas noncanon, anyway).

3. The moments in-between. There is plenty of untapped potential there! What happens between the big story beats? Does the hero relax like a normal person? Are they an absolute gremlin? Or do they just completely fall apart when no one’s eyes are upon them? Some of my favorite stories to tell are those small moments between the characters, where development and relationship building truly shine through in a way that they don’t quite get to during the big story beats.

4. The lovers-to-enemies/enemies-to-lovers pipeline. This is seen most readily in my TES longfic with Nerevar and Voryn falling in love then falling apart at the culmination of the Battle of Red Mountain, only for the cycle to eventually reverse itself a few thousand years later. And this also features somewhat in the bits and pieces I’ve written about my Warrior of Light, Berude, except the swing back toward enemies-to-lovers is fairly one-sided on behalf of her past self’s ex.

5. I am an angst gremlin. I don’t know what that says about me, but I absolutely love writing stories that twist the knife in just the right way to make people sob. Some stories are fluffy. Some are uplifting. Some are pure crack. But sometimes you just need a good cry and I’m the person who will give you that catharsis. And eventually it will end happily for the characters so it feels that much more rewarding to read when the happily ever after does come.

Now, I tag @lazyadmiral, @milesmentis, @blightcaller, @mxanigel, and @galfrey. No pressure if y’all aren’t feeling it.

[barfok]

fuuuuck i can’t remember where i was going with this one which pisses me off bc it’s honestly pretty good. god damn it

At the very least, she had wanted to keep them out of her city. That was Almalexia's final, pettiest attempt to make herself feel like she was in control: she had wanted to keep the Dwemer out of her city. But her husband-to-be had quite rightly pointed out that such an insult would prove fatal to the nascent alliance, so the Dwemer had been permitted into her city nonetheless, and Almalexia, as she all too often did these days, had stepped meekly aside and let Nerevar open the gates.

The idea of banning the Dwemer from Mournhold was a decidedly stupid one, and she'd known it from the start. It was born out of pettiness, fueled by the awful mood she was in, and brought up with no hope of ever taking effect, its only real goal being to alert Nerevar to her extreme displeasure. Almalexia had been miserable for weeks, she felt, a state made all the more aggravating for the fact that she seemed to be the only person in the world suffering. Preparations for the anticipated War were rapidly underway, everyone hummed with anticipation for their coming liberation, Nerevar had settled happily into his role as the glorious-leader-of-all-Resdayn (their new term for Morrowind, or-- as Nerevar would snidely correct her whenever she used the Nordic term-- Veloth), and with each day Almalexia felt herself rotting into irrelevance. Where once she had been a Queen in her own right, with each day her voice dwindled to one among thousands. Their engagement had been established for long enough that Nerevar now took it for granted, and he'd grown comfortable ignoring her recommendations when it came to plan this or that. In her own city her opinion had become third or fourth or fifth. No longer were her decrees heard by anyone, not without Nerevar’s own decree to first open the listening ears. And with no way to escape this situation, nor the power to change it, she'd swallowed her pride-- but her pride was a bitter thing, rotting her from the inside out, and so she'd wanted to ban the Dwemer from her city. To gain back a little power. To remind herself of gates and walls.

A part of her felt guilty for it, anyway. She had no love for the Dwemer, but she wasn't a sadist and she didn't enjoy the prospect of inflicting needless offense on another. And the Dwemer could only take it as an offense. After all, there was no chance anyone would explain to their guests that the attempted prohibition was simply the last failed attack in an argument that betrother and betrothed had been engaging in for a while now. 

The argument, in completeness, went like this:

"You must kill Chemua first," Almalexia would say.

"Your wish," would Nerevar reply, with a sigh and a roll of his eyes, "Is my command, my Queen."

That was the sum of it, but the nuance impossible to explain. Impossible to explain because most of it took place within her own mind, and so nobody would see the nuance, even if it was true. Who would understand, after all, that when Nerevar promised her that her wish was her command, that what he was really saying was 'You are a silly child, ruled by your hurt feelings, and I will pacify you with kind words so I can return to discussing war-plans with those who truly matter?' All others seemed willfully blind to the condescension with which her husband-to-be now treated her. If even Sotha Sil found her interpretations extreme, the few times she'd tried to explain them, what would the Dwemer think? Nothing good, Almalexia was sure, not when Nerevar had already poisoned them to think her as frivolous and pathetic as he did.

And truth be told, she didn't want them in Mournhold because their presence represented once-and-for-all Nerevar's answer to their argument. The purpose they'd been intended to serve here was a gesture meant to silence her forever. 'I know how you fear another blight,' said Nerevar, with his charming smile that had tricked half the world, 'But the Dwemer have all manner of machines that can resist Nordic magic. They've offered to construct something that can control the weather itself.' And so, without her approval and with no regard to the strange terrified nausea that gripped her at the thought of the Dwemer controlling and altering her city so profoundly, Almalexia had bowed her head, and welcomed the Dwemer into Mournhold, and felt herself rot from the inside.

***

“She says,” Vivec translated dutifully, “That she is the Chief Tonal Architect Kagrenac.”

If Almalexia had had her wish, this first meeting would have been a bit more formal, as the meeting between two high-ranking figures should have been. Instead Nerevar had gone behind her back and arranged for their first meeting to take place in the war-room; where they should have, by custom, been dressed in livery and standing in the palace’s finest hallway, they stood instead on opposite sides of a grand table strewn with maps, and Almalexia had not even had the foresight to style her hair. 

If Kagrenac shared her displeasure at this, she betrayed no trace of it. Then, it was impossible to imagine Kagrenac’s countenance betraying anything. The Dwemer were a strange, unfathomable race, but Kagrenac was the most strange and unfathomable among them. Her appearance did her reputation justice; she was very handsome, tall and slender, with serious long-lashed eyes and high cheekbones that accentuated the sternness of her expression. Everything about her was immaculately groomed, from the tidy beard woven through with gold and silver threads to the long hair, half in braids, that hung like a silk curtain over her sharp shoulders. Even her robes seemed to be woven out of some sort of metallic thread, giving her the impression of unshakeable stillness. 

To add to the disgrace, they were accompanied by no entourage; Nerevar had wanted them to meet alone, with only poor Vivec to serve as their translator. Even Almalexia’s guards had been relegated to a posting outside of the door (Wouldn’t want your pet Nords to give her the wrong opinion!,’ Nerevar had joked), 

[profanetools]

keep thinking about an imaginary Morrowind DLC that triggers after you finish the main plot, where you keep having restless dreams about Lorkhan, and Numidium, and depending on your route you can talk to Vivec or Yagrum and they explain this was possibly a risk, explain that the blight was a Dagothi creation but was inspired by the Heart's own power, and give their own theories as to why the Heart itself causes hallucinations, and both of them indicate there might be some relationship forged between the Heart and the Tools showing this. It triggers a long quest to find where the heart of Lorkhan has disappeared to. It involves finding and searching the dwemer capital city beneath red mountain, consorting with several daedra (and perhaps even an aedra like kyne or mara at an old nordic ritual place), it takes you to mainland Morrowind where you pass through small settlements under tight Imperial control and see that side of things, you see others flagrantly breaking the rules and trying to resist control, and go through lots of different ruins - Daedric, Nordic, and Dwemer - wherein you learn more about the nordic occupation of Resdayn through books and environmental storytelling. All the time the visions are getting worse, you're struck by images of the past, by Morrowind under occupation, by a sense of desperation, of haste. You end up at the settlement which Kagrenac was brought up in (and consequently sacked by the nords, left still in disrepair and ruin), although the link there isn't obvious unless you've been paying attention. You end up performing a ritual which takes you to another realm, or perhaps it is another dream, you are uncertain, where you encounter a voice as you work through mazes and battles, and that voice turns out to be Kagrenac. Who tells you certain things. (You can try to ask her things but she is elusive and not interested). Firstly, she wull tell you that you are in the Heart now. Secondly, She alone exists in this place inbetween. Thirdly, she gives you a persuasive speech outlining the case for why you should try and enact her plan with Numidium. She talks about imperialism and she talks about Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal and what they each failed to offer.

You can accept her offer, or reject it.

If you accept it she asks you to take out a few individuals who could stop you before you go forward. This means killing vivec if you haven't already, and finishing tribunal if you have that installed. She also requests that you desecrate the summoning sites which Ysmir has traditionally been summoned to.

If you complete these tasks, you'll appear again, but this time she will attack you after explaining she's done with you.

If you reject it, she'll also initiate combat. You can give several reaaons why you might reject it but in all cases she attacks you.

When she attacks, it isn't as herself. Several automatons whose designs appear to be twisted by blight come out to storm you, with the final creature resembling Numidium itself. You can finally simply stab her after that but she gives a cryptic warning about how she's inextricable from the heart, tha tthe heart is part of her, and that through the tools you will be haunted by her, always.

If Vivec is still alive, and ze gives their opinion on how to best be rid of the tools. You can do this or you cannot. It is your choice.

[gronglegrowth]

@farwil-indarys

I have 3 main Morrowind modlists, here they are. This list doesn't include texture replacers unless I remember their exact name, and for general graphics I'd recommend trying the Morrowind Graphics Guide.

If you would like to play multiplayer Morrowind, I also have a server for that, but it requires several mods and is not online all the time.

> Main Modded

My main modded installation is the one I have played the most. Here I play as Varyn, mostly. This install, as with most of mine, has the Morrowind Code Patch, Morrowind Graphics Extender XE, and Morrowind Script Extender.

Aanchzand (mine)

ABCs for Outlanders

Abot’s Gondoliers

Better Heads

Better Robes

Book Jackets

Clockworkthing (mine)

Expedition to Mzelthuand

Deus Ex Machina

Darknut’s GDR

Darknut’s Dwemer Dwelling

Dramatic Vivec

Fabricant Guar

Glow in the Dahrk

Hlaalu Rank Adjust

Illuminated Palace of Vivec

Julan

Magic Diversity

Morrowind Rebirth

Mother’s Merciful Manse (mine)

Mournhold Clockmaker

Palace of Vehk

Passage of Prayers

Pearlescent Helmsmen (mine)

Pillow Mage Manor

Resdayn Revival - Vivec Statues

RP House Hlaaly (I forgot the name of this one!)

Secunda Demo: Tara Dulune (mine)

Sleepers, Awake!

Sotha Sil Expanded

Tel Lathreyn (mine)

The Doors of Oblivion

Tamriel Rebuilt

The Manifold Spires

Rise of House Sadras

>> Morrowind Graphics Guide Expanded New Lands Edition

Yes, that is this one's name. I used the Morrowind Graphics Guide as a base, then built upon it to create this monstrosity. It includes some mods I made myself which will be marked as such. As before, this has MCP, MGE XE, and MWSE. I also have Wrye Mash (Polemos fork) and Mlox.

Abot’s Travel Mods (Boats, Silt Striders, Guars, Gondoliers)

Tamriel Rebuilt

Ald’ruhn - Seat of Power of House Redoran

Ashlander Camp Luhn’silvar (mine)

Balmora Rooftop Apartments

Balmora Player Apartments

Balmora - Seat of Power of House Hlaalu

Better Robes

Better Skulls

Diverse Dagoths

Concept Art Palace

Concept Art Gnisis - Lightweight

Concept Art Balmora

Province: Cyrodiil

Dreugh Isle (mine)

Dwemer Spectres (I forget the full name of this but it is by MelchiorDahrk)

Glow in the Dahrk

Great House Dagoth

House in Balmora

Illuminated Palace of Vivec

Lesser Resdayn (mine)

MelchiorDahrk’s Azurian Isles

Meteorite Ministry

MacKom’s Heads

MacKom’s Khajiit

Robert’s Bodies

Nerevaral Reborn (mine)

Of Ash and Blight - Tel Mora

Pillow Mage Manor

Rethinking Vivec

Resdayn Revival - Vivec Statues

Sadrith Mora - Seat of Power of House Telvanni

Shuulalunabi Robe (mine)

Shuulalunabi Head (mine)

Skyrim: Home of the Nords

Tamriel Races plugin for Tamriel Rebuilt

The Tribe Unmourned Great House Dagoth version

>> OpenMW

These are the mods I use on OpenMW, and by extension, TES3MP. Due to its nature, I can give you the name of every mod I have installed even if it doesn't have any plugins or readme files.

36 Lessons of Vivec - Audible Sermons and Preachers

Ald’ruhn - Seat of Power of house Redoran

Balmora - Seat of Power of House Hlaalu

Atmospheric Delights

Class Kirkbridezation - Concept Art Class Pictures Replacer

Concept Art Gnisis - Lightweight

Darknut’s Greater Dwemer Interiors

Darknut’s GDR

Fair Magicka Regen OpenMW Update

Morrowind Optimization Patch

Project Atlas

Red Mountain Reborn

Sadrith Mora - Seat of Power of House Telvanni

Seyda Neen - Gateway to Vvardenfell

Silt Strider (by N’wahs and Mushrooms team)

Silt Strider Animation Restored

Suran - The Pearl of the Ascadian Isles

Tamriel Rebuilt

The Kagrenac’s Cursors

White Suran 2 - MD Edition

[razaks-wheel]

Selections from Adyn Rothreni's evening prayers, 6 Hearthfire, 3E 427

[Adyn tells Vivec about their fateful Ilunibi mission.]

---

Blessed ALMSIVI, Mercy, Mastery, Mystery. My gods and my three divine ancestors, I give you this prayer.

Blessed are we who serve ALMSIVI.

[...]

Vivec, divine Mastery,

The memories are getting clearer. It's getting harder to deny. I guess they're onto something after all.

I'm afraid, if I'm being perfectly honest. I don't want to overthrow you, or—Three forbid—kill you, or "free" you, or whatever we're calling it. I mean, yeah, I remembered what you Three did. To the Heart. The betrayal. And yeah, I remember that it hurt. Maybe it was even wrong—I haven't sorted that out yet. But I don't get why that means I'm supposed to take this Blight on myself, at your expense, and probably at the expense of all of Morrowind. You know? Why me? How me? How could I be Saint Nerevar? I mean, I guess I must be, but it doesn't make any sense. And you can bet I'm going to keep complaining about it.

And that's not even taking into account what happened today. By Vivec—by you—what a mess!

I thought it was just going to be a regular cultist cleanup mission. Classic Armiger stuff; nothing to worry about. Well, except for the part where I was solo, but I've been doing that a lot lately. I figured I could handle it, and if not, there's always Intervention.

Except their leader, Dagoth Gares, started talking to me like I was Nerevar. He had a message from Dagoth Ur. From, you know, Voryn. And that lying fetcher had the audacity to try to tell me that I betrayed him.

Sure, my memory is a little foggy from all the bleeding out, but I'm pretty sure that's not what happened. I only told him to watch over the tools, and then I told him I needed them back, for the safety of Resdayn and probably all of mortalkind. Like we had decided. He refused to give them up. And he wants to blame me? (I mean, not me. Nerevar. Maybe that is me. Ugh, I hate this.)

You were there, right? For some of it? Nerevar didn't betray Voryn, did he? (Did I?)

Anyway, I killed that Gares s'wit, and,

and then,

[sigh]

Well, I have corprus now. That fetcher gave it to me as a little parting gift.

I almost hope I am the Nerevarine, since they're supposed to be able to survive corprus.

Almost.

Actually, no. I think I'd rather die of corprus than continue down a path where I'll end up betraying you on such a huge scale.

[...]

By Breath and Blood protect us all. You know I need it.

[delemis]

Hoom-Song Of the Scarabs-On-March

A Redoran War-Song

The Hoom hums clear o’er Ald Resdayn

The Scarabs are On-The-March

The Crab-chiefs marshal on the plain

The Scarabs are On-The-March

And West we go, through Wind and Snow

To find and face the nordic foe

And fight we may, ‘till the foe is slain

The Scarabs are On-The-March

The songs range far, they reach Ald Skar

The Scarabs are On-The-March

Where armigers stand ‘neath the five far stars

The Scarabs are On-The-March

There hold we fast, ‘gainst beasts and ash

No matter how strong their blight may lash

We’ll count our scars once the day is ours

The Scarabs are On-The-March

And in Deshaan, when blood is shed

The Scarabs are On-The-March

When lizards paint Arnesia red

The Scarabs Are On-The-March

We’ll nobly tread, in southern stead 

To fill the argonian foe with dread

We’ll all break bread when the X’eel are dead

The Scarabs are On-The-March

[archosaur-automaton]

"We followed Veloth out of Alinor, still golden skinned in those days, away from the Saliache elven foolishness, and found Resdayn. They call it Morrowind these days, but the old names hold as much power as they ever did. We learned how to reject their gods, their ways, and stride forth on our own legs, with Anticipation on our hearts.

We found the Dwarves there, with their science and atheism and disregard for the Daedra who had guided our feet and taught us magic and sex and death. Their tools, their instruments, their cold curiosity and obsessions. Azura taught us how to divide ourselves from them, too; taught us how their ways could never be our ways.

We fought, first against each other and then hand in hand against the Nord invaders and their axes, their voices that held knives within them. We learned that the enemy of our enemy could be our friend.

The most brilliant among us, those blessed with mercy, mastery, and mystery became gods, the Dwarves became nothing, and our skin became dark like the ash of Red Mountain. The gold did not suit us anymore, and like everything does it had to change.

Some of us rejected Almsivi, shunned our cities and our new Gods and made their Exodus into the wastes, the New Velothi who would call themselves Ashlanders. Heresy notwithstanding, there is a wisdom in that too.

We learned that despite our Triune might, despite our faith, that more fearsome than the House of Troubles was the door your Emperor carved into our lands with his Walk-Brass fury and Red Legions and crown of storms. Some among us learned that there was more power, more opportunity, more profit in you than there was in our ways.

The An-Xileel taught us a harsh lesson. Our slaving ways came to bite us like the jaws of a kagouti, and let me be the first Dunmeri to say that we deserved it, Telvanni or no, Dres or no, party to the flesh trade or no. By saying nothing we were all damned.

And now we sit here, in the shadow of the corpse of a Red Mountain, beneath a sky that no longer holds Lie Rock, with Resdayn broken as it has always been broken, the same scar but a different blade, the same blight with a different face, and you ask me what the great wisdom of the Dunmer is, what our truest lesson is.

What can I say? That we learned to be strong? That we learned that we are weak? That we learned the power of the Anticipations, that we learned how to drive cliff-racers away, that we learned to harvest scrib and breed kwama and brew greef and turn netch longhooks into spears more fearsome than can be imagined? How to Move Like This as taught by ancient barons? That we could be subjugated? That the ending of the words is Almsivi?

No, muthsera. These are lessons, true, but they are the small steps and not the tower, the spokes but not the wheel. Our greatest lesson is simply this; How Not To Live. Once you see how not to be; once you know how to fail, how to fail over and over again and still hold your head high and walk as Veloth did to a place he had been shown, then the lessons will write themselves. All else is explication."

- Savyth Andras, retainer of House Redoran in a letter to Pellatus Aureus, 4E57

[ansu-gurleht]

36 lessons of vivec, annotated: part 4

(part 3. unfortunately do not know how to edit the first 3 parts so can’t add links to them, but you can find the others by searching “36 lessons of vivec” on my blog.)

it’s been a while, but here we go. sermon 5 is another mostly “autobiographical” sermon (i use the term VERY loosely), so there isn’t terrible much to say. i highly recommend @bitchwhoreofastorm​‘s “egg of time” fic on her ao3, which approaches a lot of these events from a more “realistic” angle, which is REALLY good. but i’ll summarize:

vivec comes upon a merchant caravan. one of the guards in the caravan is none other than indoril nerevar. nerevar wants to take vivec to almalexia, because he (and another unnamed member of the caravan) senses something important about hir. but the captain wants to sell vivec to “the red wives of dagon,” which is probably some kind of slave-brothel devoted to mehrunes dagon. the dispute ends with nerevar killing the captain and taking vivec to mournhold anyway.

okay, now something a bit juicier: sermon 6. this is the first of a few sermons that take a similar format, being some cryptic shit vivec tells nerevar, presumably on the way to mournhold. from the beginning:

There is an eon within itself that when unraveled becomes the first sentence of the world.

ze’s talking about the dawn era. it’s an “eon within itself” b/c it’s mostly devoid of cause and effect; it’s a recursive period of time where, essentially, nothing matters - yet. but then it becomes unraveled, and “the first sentence of the world” is spoken.

we know the dawn era ended when auri-el (a.k.a. elven akatosh) established linear time at convention, which was an assembly of the gods atop the first Tower, adamantine tower. but i’ve got a bit of a theory about this “first sentence of the world.” 

we know it was atop adamantine tower that trinimac slew lorkhan and ripped out his heart, and when both trinimac and auri-el tried to destroy it, to no avail. in altmeri tradition, it is said that, in response to the attempt, the heart said: “This Heart is the heart of the world, for one was made to satisfy the other.”

i believe this was the “first sentence of the world.” it was immediately after this that auri-el shot lorkhan’s heart across tamriel, and then held convention. not only is this likely a very close contender for literally the first sentence spoken in linear time, it’s also the first sentence of the world, in the sense that lorkhan’s heart is the heart of the world.

Mephala and Azura are the twin gates of tradition and Boethiah is the secret flame.

The Sun shall be eaten by lions, which cannot be found yet in Veloth.

Six are the vests and garments worn by the suppositions of men.

i’ll admit, the meaning of these lines elude me. the relationship between the anticipations as “the twin gates of tradition” and “the secret flame” doesn’t strike me as obvious. i’m not sure what the sun and lions have to do with anything. i don’t even know where to begin with that third line. let’s just move on.

Proceed only with the simplest terms, for all others are enemies and will confuse you.

don’t bog yourself down with lengthy explanations and words. concentrate what you believe into “the simplest terms,” and you’ll always know where you stand.

Six are the formulas to heaven by violence, one that you have learned by studying these words.

ah, here’s an interesting line! i forget if we’ve heard mention of them before, but this is probably the first mention of the six “walking ways!” these ways to “reach heaven by violence” are essentially ways to achieve godhood, or at least some sort of divine importance! these are tricky to extrapolate from the sermons, to say the least. some of them are obvious, some of them.....much less so. we’ll dig into this as we continue on our journey. and after we’ve finished looking at this sermon, we’ll see if we can “study these words” and find the one vivec has hidden in this sermon.

The Father is a machine and the mouth of a machine. His only mystery is an invitation to elaborate further.

The Mother is active and clawed like a nix-hound, yet she is the holiest of those that reclaim their days.

The Son is myself, Vehk, and I am unto three, six, nine, and the rest that come after, glorious and sympathetic, without borders, utmost in the perfections of this world and the others, sword and symbol, pale like gold.

this is about the tribunal! thankfully, not terribly difficult to interpret. sotha sil is the father, “a machine” who constantly wants to understand the world more and more; almalexia is the mother, a holy matron but as fierce as her anticipation; and vivec is the son, and of course ze goes nuts describing hirself. (in case you haven’t noticed thus far, vivec is kinda just full of hirself.)

There is a fourth kind of philosophy that uses nothing but disbelief.

For by the sword I mean the sensible.

For by the word I mean the dead.

the “fourth kind of philosophy that uses nothing but disbelief” is that of the dwemer, who did not believe in the gods at all, or at the very least doubted their power.

“by the sword I mean the sensible” refers to vivec’s belief that to achieve your goals, you must use violence. “by the word I mean the dead” refers to hir belief, which we’ll hear more about later, that language is necessarily dead. once something is said or written, ze says, it no longer holds as much power as something done. you must act instead of talking about acting.

before i move on, i’ll clarify something about my terminology. vivec absolutely could simply be talking specifically about actual violence, about murder and war and assassination and all that. but there’s also a “lesser” violence, i think, which could refer to imposing your will on the world at all. any “action” is inherently “violent,” in the sense that it changes the world in some way - and change always necessitates a destruction before a creation.

I am Vehk, your protector and the protector of Red Mountain until the end of days, which are numbered 3333.

vivec certainly has protected morrowind quite a bit - from the empire, from baar dau, from the blight (via the ghostfence). but most interesting, i think, is this mention of “the end of days, which are numbered 3333.”

now, of course. three is vivec’s favorite number, so this could very well just be hir reminding us, for the millionth time, that it’s hir favorite number.

but i’ve got a bit of a crack theory. bear with me.

first: i’m assuming these are years, and not actually days. there’s a few things “the end of days” could be referring to. a true end of the world? unlikely. the oblivion crisis, or the pursuing red year? maybe. however, for the sake of this experiment, i’m going to assume it’s referring to the events of morrowind, which takes place in 3e 427. that certainly could have been the end of the world, had dagoth ur succeeded.

here’s what i’m thinking: what if we start from that date as our endpoint, and work our way backwards to discover when the lessons were written? (this conversation almost certainly did not actually take place, so vivec wouldn’t have mentioned this number at the time. so we’re assuming this number only makes sense given when it was written.)

well, if we add up the years of the 3rd and 2nd eras, then subtract that from 3333, we can figure out in what year in the 1st era the sermons would have been written. the number i came up with was 1e 2037 - smack dab in the middle dawn, the thousand-and-eight year long dragonbreak.

i know this is a shaky theory, and all i’ve got to back it up is an admittedly non-canon piece from kirkbride (yuck), wherein vivec seems to understand a lot about the dragonbreak, and what it signifies. i think it may be possible that a lot of what vivec talks about could only have been known to hir in such a chaotic period of time and untime. so hir having written it in the middle dawn not only fits with the number in this sermon, but might also just make sense.

anyways! take that with a heavy dose of salt. moving on.

Below me is the savage, which we needed to remove ourselves from the Altmer.

Above me is a challenge, which bathes itself in fire and the essence of a god.

“the savage” below vivec is the early days of the chimer, when they were all basically ashlanders, just trying to survive in the inhospitable lands of resdayn. ze claims that this period of “savagery” was necessary “to remove [themselves] from the Altmer” because one of the key issues the velothi dissidents had with altmeri culture was, well, the “stick-up-their-ass”-edness. they were very high-and-mighty and stuck up, and so caught up in their own bullshit they refused to really see and appreciate the world (given to them by lorkhan) for what it is. by living so roughly in the lands closest to lorkhan’s heart, the chimer distinguished themselves by becoming closer to God.

“the challenge” above is the pursuit of God, or godhood. it is a trial by fire one must go through in pursuit of divinity. within the timeline of the “plot” of the lessons, vivec technically hasn’t become a god yet. (the way vivec refers to hir godhood is weird, claiming to have always been a god, even though we know ze only did when the tribunal used the heart to get divine powers. but we won’t worry about this too much.) so as of the sixth sermon, the challenge of becoming divine still awaits hir.

Through me you are desired, unlike the prophets that have borne your name before.

vivec, again being very full of hirself, claims that it is through hir divinity (and hir divinity alone) that nerevar is loved by his people. ze really downplays nerevar’s agency all throughout the sermons, often depicting him as sort of a bumbling idiot, completely lost without hir counsel. in reality, nerevar was actually a really great, powerful, and wise hero and king, made greater and wiser by the counsel of vivec, sotha sil, and his wife, almalexia. (absolutely still a war criminal tho.)

truth be told, i’m not sure what the “prophets that have borne your name before” bit means. perhaps it’s referring to house indoril? i haven’t the faintest.

Six are the walking ways, from enigma to enemy to teacher.

it’s those pesky walking ways again! from the way this is worded, it seems like “enigma,” “enemy,” and “teacher” all refer to different walking ways. i think “enigma” refers to the psijic endeavor, “enemy” refers to the walking way the enemy of the chimer, the dwemer, attempted, and “teacher” refers to the one vivec hirself (as “teacher” of nerevar) attempted and supposedly succeeded at. 

“what the hell are those?!” you may ask. don’t worry about it right now! just about every one of the walking ways are covered in their own sermon. we’ll talk about “enigma,” “enemy,” and “teacher” later, with better context!

Boethiah and Azura are the principles of the universal plot, which is begetting, which is creation, and Mephala makes of it an art form.

unlike the other line about the anticipations’ relationships and purposes, i actually understand this one! (at least mostly, as with anything vivec says.)

boethiah is the prince of plots, so is obviously a “principle of the universal plot.” she’s all about the kind of action that vivec’s all about, secret murder and the sword and all that. azura is the prince of dawn and dusk, the in-between, the transition. boethiah initiates change, azura oversees change, and together they oversee “creation” of new social and religious paradigms. 

mephala the webspinner does the whole change thing too, but she “makes of it an art form” by just going overboard with it. she is less overt than boethiah and azura, just tending to her strings, one little thing here, another little thing there, all in the shadows. she can make big things happen by just changing little things, like a butterfly effect type situation. that sort of finesse makes it “an art form.”

For by the sword I mean the first night.

For by the word I mean the dead.

oh hey, it’s this sword/word thing again. the sword cuts things in twain, so the first night cut the first day into night and day. and guess who oversees the cutting of night and day? dawn and dusk.

and again, the word being dead. we’ll hear more of this in a later sermon, but vivec believes language is dead and of limited use.

There will be a splendor in your name when it is said to be true.

this is somewhat interesting, because it seems to somewhat contradict the whole “language is dead” thing, dunnit? if reverence comes from it being “said to be true,” doesn’t that mean the words held meaning? could the words hold meaning even if they had no action to back them up?

i’ll leave you to ponder that one. it’s a very interesting question for vivec’s character.

Six are the guardians of Veloth, three before and they are born again, and they will test you until you have the proper tendencies of a hero.

There is a world that is sleeping and you must guard against it.

the “guardians of Veloth, three before and they are born again” are the anticipations (azura, boethiah, and mephala) and the tribunal (almalexia, sotha sil, and vivec) respectively. 

it’s important to remember: this sermon is addressed to nerevar. and when vivec is speaking to nerevar throughout the lessons, it’s safe to assume ze is also speaking to the nerevarine. so the “guardians of Veloth” testing nerevar really means testing the nerevarine, so that the nerevarine can prove they truly are nerevarine, and a “hero” - the latter of which is a topic i should probably make a separate post about some time.

“the world that is sleeping” is none other than house dagoth, the house of dreamers, who will threaten morrowind in the time of the nerevarine’s coming. the nerevarine will be tested to prove they can protect morrowind from that threat.

For by the sword I mean the dual nature.

For by the word I mean animal life.

For by the sword I mean preceded by a sigh.

For by the word I mean preceded by a wolf.

here we have these sword/word couplets again. i’m actually going to keep these in my pocket, for now. when we get to sermon eleven, i’ll bring them back out, so we have the proper context.

so, vivec said this sermon contains one of the walking ways, and i said we’d try to figure it out. well...

i’m not sure what it is. 

there’s been a lot of attempts to list the six walking ways. some call the first “the prolix tower,” but...i’m not sure how much sense it makes. and yeah, you’re probably like, “the prolix tower? what in oblivion is that?” i don’t know where they got it from, either. and the explanations of the prolix tower never seem to really refer to this sermon. 

i promise, the other walking-way sermons will be a bit clearer, but as for this one....i have no idea, and i don’t think anyone else really does, either.

okay, so that’s one big long post. maybe the next one will come, like, not several months later. like this one. oh well! 

as always, the ending of the words is ALMSIVI

[veraynil-sarayn]

History of the Tribunal and the Nerevarine Prophecies

History of the Tribunal and the Nerevarine Prophecies

Following the events of the battle at Red Mountain and the unification of Resdayn under imperial law, the newly named Morrowind wasn’t at peace for long. But the events of the Third Era would prove to be the final years of Morrowind’s prosperity.

The Akaviri Invasion

In the 572nd year of the Second Era, foreign invaders from the distant continent of Akavir besieged eastern Tamriel. Reports of humanoid snake folk spread across the land, as well as the snow demon’s from the North known as the Kamal. Soon they ended up in Morrowind after sending Skyrim into ruin.

The Ebonheart Pact

An thin and uneasy alliance was formed amongst the Nords, Dunmer, and the Argonian’s of Black Marsh. This was a period of war, where Tamriel was in disarray. The attack was led by Almalexia and Nordic prince Jorunn, who earned the Dunmer’s trust after disposing of a rogue Nordic tribe known as the Stormfists, The alliance successfully drove back the Kamal and saved Morrowind from invasion. Immediately after these events, the alliance became sanctified and known as the Ebonheart Pact dedicated to saving Tamriel before it would fall into ruin.

The Brothers of Strife

Around the same time, a group known as the Daggerfall Covenant sought to reawaken two ancient Chimer warriors that sacrificed themselves for the war against the Nedes. The Covenant successfully awoke Balreth and Sadal, otherwise known as the Brothers of Strife. The two, who have taken the forms of massive Bone Colossus, were defeated and locked away once again.

Dagoth Ur Returns

Around 300 years later, Dagoth Ur and his army began to stir deep below the Red Mountain. Because of this, the Tribunal collectively agreed to erect the Ghostfence around the perimeter of the mountain in order to keep Dagoth Ur and the Blight at bay.

The Nerevarine

Azura had another plan, however. She foretold the Nerevarine Prophecy, in which the direct descendant of Nerevar himself would surface and destroy Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal in order to rectify the mistakes of the past.

An agent of the Imperial Blades was sent on a ship to Morrowind. When he arrived he was given his orders to find and eliminate the false gods of the Tribunal and the last remaining members of House Dagoth.

The Death of the Tribunal

When the Nerevarine eliminated the Sixth House and Dagoth Ur, along with the tools of Kagrenac, the Tribunal had lost their godship and became mortal once again.

During this period, Almalexia grieved the loss of her powers and formulated a plan to become the one true God of the Tribunal by murdering Sotha Sil, and Vivec. Sotha Sil, so involved in the construction of his clockwork city, had no idea he had lost his powers. Vivec dedicated his remaining powers to helping the people of Morrowind and referring himself as a Saint rather than a God.

Almalexia had met with the Nerevarine and sent them to kill Sotha Sil. Unfortunately, it was a trap and he was already dead. Almalexia in a last attempt to save her sainthood, attempted to murder the Nerevarine but lost. Vivec’s fate is a heated topic discussed to this day. Many believe he lost his life to the hands of the Nerevarine during the Oblivion Crisis, but it is widely accepted that he was taken by Daedra for his acts against the Princes.

The Hogithum Hall Trial

Vivec’s trial was his last public appearance. During this period he was accused of murdering Nerevar and the defamation of the Three Daedra worshipped by the Dunmer. Vivec claimed he had indeed been involved in Nerevar’s death when he was a mortal, but had no involvement once he ascended to Godhood. Vivec also stated that Prophet Veloth foretold the fall of the Tribunal, and so his actions were justifiable.

Hogithum, the day where Dunmeri priests summon Azura, coincided with Vivec’s trial. It would stand to be the ultimate test for Vivec’s fate. When she arrived Vivec bound her to the mortal world and shoved his spear, Muatra, down her throat as an act of revenge. This effectively banished her from Mundus—and ended the trial of Hogithum as well.

Baar Dau and Vivec City

Regardless of Vivec’s fate, his city would soon turn to ruin. The floating rock about Vivec City known as Baar Dau would crash into Vivec Temple with the force of a hurtling meteor. It is said that Sheogorath hurled a large moonlet at the city for disrespecting the Daedra.

After Vivec’s disappearance and without Vivec’s power to keep Baar Dau in place, the rock fell and sparked a reaction that erupted the Red Mountain. This event effectively destroyed Vvardenfell, and Tribunal worship along with it. The eruption of Red Mountain would change Tamriel forever, and thus began the events of the Red Year.

The Red Year

When Baar Dau had landed in Vivec’s City and caused the eruption of Red Mountain during the first years of the Fourth Era, the entire island of Vvardenfell soon felt the consequences of affronting the Daedra. Many people heard wisdom from Azura of this disaster, and so they head west to Skyrim. But what about those that weren’t so lucky?

After the volcano erupted, it coated everything in ash; this rendered most areas of the island inhabitable. Crops wouldn’t grow, and the water was unsafe to drink. House Redoran lead the charge to pick up the pieces and slowly they began to rebuild.

The An-Xileel

While many Dunmer fled to Skyrim and Solstheim, few stayed to defend an attack that arrived from the Southern border. The An-Xileel were a large group of Argonian warriors; the army took advantage of Morrowind’s state in order to enact revenge for years of slavery and discrimination. Fortunately, the An-Xileel were driven off by Redoran Forces and Morrowind gained a foothold once again.

Epilogue

Morrowind may be far from reaching it’s same potential as it had obtained in the past, but with the re-establishment of the New Temple, there may be hope for this dying province yet. Mainland Morrowind thrives to this day and timelessly proves itself as an unbeatable force.

[krahka]

dagoth ur/nerevarine

The ship is my: Middle-brain in the Nerevarine shipping chart. A step below Nerevarine/Almalexia but above like, Nerevarine/Most Non-Gods. I think Nerevarine/Sotha Sil or Nerevarine/Crassius Curio is the galaxy brain here but I’m open to suggestions.

I consider this ship’s feelings: Mutual | Mixed | Strange | Awkward | Platonic | Sibling-like | One-sided | They don’t really like each other |

I’d consider the relationship: Healthy | Awkward | Abusive | Doesn’t work properly | They’d never get together |

Children: No | Yes | They’d think about it

General Opinion: I mean Nerevar/Voryn absolutely definitely is completely canon. They were super in love and it was great and Dagoth Ur’s love for his sweet Nerevar has been part of the thing keeping him alive all these millennia. The other thing is being a god, which he likes very much and probably wouldn’t want to share even with the reincarnation of said sweet Nerevar. Also his plan will result less in restoring the ancient glories of Resdayn like he thinks/says he will but instead will lead to the zombie apocalypse that renders Tamriel an uninhabitable wasteland where the only creatures and people that can survive are extensions of his mind. Which uh, I don’t see many Nerevarines being on board with, since at some point they’ll be like “uhhhh maybe a little less Blight?” and instead there should be WAY MORE BLIGHT

[barfok]

the game is called Nerevar For The Love Of Azura Please Think About Counter-tactics. for two players gameplay ~1hour

THE BOARD: simplified map of morrowind divided into eight(?) “holds”, each with their own individual resources and outputs, and strategic notes. inner sea + oceans are their own regions.

THE PIECES: generic pieces to represent armies + generals with special powers. each territory comes with two armies. the number of armies is decided at the start of the game and starting number cannot be exceeded.

THE GAMEPLAY: basic gameplay is that each player uses their armies to attack enemy player’s holdings. the army will “battle” the enemy player’s army. if the attacker wins, they occupy that hold and the defender’s army is destroyed. if the defender wins, the attacker’s army is destroyed. if a territory is undefended, an attacker moving into that territory will simply take it.

attacks are decided by dice-roll: players roll one six-sided dice per army in conflict and the side with the higher number wins. dice can be added or detracted based on a variety of factors, including terrain of the region being attacked or defended, or traits of the army’s generals.

the game is turn-based, with one action per hold per turn. attacks are only action that may be taken in a turn; turns may also be used to fortify a hold or rebuild an army. these special actions depend on hold resources (e.g. to rebuild an army requires food resources; to fortify a hold requires mineral resources). additionally, turns can be used to move generals; generals can move one hold per turn, and can move into enemy holds if not killed by an enemy general

THE GENERALS:

one player (resdayn) receives five ‘blank’ generals. the other player receives five nord demons. their abilities are as follows:

hoaga: when an army lead by hoag defeats another army, that army becomes hoag’s army. the army is undead and gets one extra dice per battle, but only lasts for three turns

chemua: upon successfully entering an enemy hold, can blight that hold, reducing its food output to zero for the remainder of the game.

bhag: at any point in the game, an enemy general can be exchanged for bhag with no notice. this can only happen once.

barfok: if barfok is attached to an army, that army cannot lose a battle

ysmir: armies attached to ysmir gain two extra dice per battle (three in mountainous terrain)

the blanks: throughout the course of the game, the resdayn player may come up with special identities and talents for each of their pieces. talents should be realistic and agreed on by both players according to their knowledge of dwemeri and chimeri technology (if agreement cannot be reached, the nearest dwemeri technology expert should be consulted). success on the part of the resdayn player depends on their ability to imagine and successfully deploy counter-strategies for each nord demon.

GAME END: the game ends when one player controls all holds, or when all their generals are dead

note 2 self write about the silly game almalexia made up to teach nerevar the basics of Nordic warfare