The Disappearance of the Dwemer

[VoiceintheDarkness]

A little theory/story about the Dwemer, I thought I could share it here. It is written as if it were an in-game book.

 

The Disappearance of the Dwemer

 

Many theories have been spread concerning the disappearance of the Dwemer, also known as Deep Elves, Dwarves and People Of The Deep. These days, many consider the Dwemer a dead elven race, but is that really true? Have all Dwemer truly vanquished since the first era?

 

It is of course true that all Dwemer have disappeared, but not their great halls of stone, with their century old automatons which are still dwelling it, as if the Dwemer only left a week ago. Even today, new ruins are being found, and unique artifacts seem to give us a clue to how the Dwemer thought about Nirn, the Void and Aetherius.

 

Those who are highly knowledgeable about Dunmer lore and history, will know of the battle at red mountain, and the events that occurred there that were leading directly to the disappearance of the dwarves. Vivec, part of the tribunal and recently referred to as ‘a false god’, claimed to have witnessed the direct actions that led to the fall of the Dwemer. Although until now nobody succeeded to use that witness to reconstruct the past, I believe that making such a reconstruction is required to understand the very roots of the Cyrodilic Empire as we know it today.

 

The outer realm of Aetherius existed long before the mortal plane was created. This is the realm where all magic finds its origin. The creatures living here are known as the Aedra and the Daedra, which can be distinguished by whether or not having taken part in the creation of the mortal world, Nirn.

 

One of these Aedra, named Lorkhan, was the cause of the creation of Nirn. He wanted, for unknown reasons, to create a place where beings could live to bend to the will of the gods, and worship them. It would be too complicated to describe the entire mystical process, so I will describe the rest in short. Lorkhan worked together with some of the other gods, now known as Aedra (those who didn’t participate are now known as Daedra, and thus seen as evil). And he tricked them into giving some of their divine power to this new realm. Some of the Aedra, like Magnus, succeeded to escape before they were bound to this realm that was taking their immortality. Others were too late and were bound to Nirn forever. Allegedly these Aedra killed Lorkhan, and threw his body into the mortal plane, forming our world Nirn. Those same Aedra degraded through time and became the Ehlnofey race. This race is confirmed to be the ancestral race of al Mer. Some even claim that even men descend from this race, although most myths agree that men were the creatures made by Lorkhan to worship him and the Aedra.

 

Now it is clear that Mer see themselves as cursed Aedra that were made mortal by the trickery of Lorkhan, we may try to understand the Dwarves and how they vanquished.

Within the center of Red Mountain, the biggest volcano of all Tamriel and supposedly a part of Lorkhans body, the Dwemer found the heart of Lorkhan himself. I believe that the Dwemer already knew the legends about their ancestors, and tried to undo the curse. It has indeed been confirmed by most sources that the Dwemer were trying to make themselves gods, although is remains uncertain what their motives were.

 

The heart of a pure Aedra, the Aedra that created Nirn and tricked the others in losing their immortality, might have been able to reverse the process for the Mer. All that was required is all of the Mer to be with Lorkhan, or in other words at Nirn, and the heart of Lorkhan beating one last time.

 

The Dwemer high priest Kagrenac came with a surprisingly easy way to make the heart beat: het made a magical hammer we now know as Sunder. If the heart was hit with this tool, the heart would beat. It was a dangerous artefact to work with, so he made a magical gauntlet, Wraithguard, to protect him from any dangers the heart could have for him. Just in case the experiment would go wrong, he also made a magical blade called Keening. This blade would have been able to damage the heart, interrupting any process it was going through.

 

Two questions now rise: why did the Dwemer build the Numidium, and why didn’t the other Mer races join them on their way to Aetherius?

 

For both questions we will have to keep in mind that the high priest lived in a time and place of war. The Chimer will soon take the battle to Red Mountain, and making them gods as well would be a move none of the Dwemer would like. I believe the Numidium was built to house the hearth in case of an attack, this way it would have had a new body in which it could fight of attackers, and win the battle. Wraithguard was made to contain the powers of the heart, so maybe it was also supposed to help the Dwemer control the Numidium in a fight.

 

It seems obvious now that the Dwemer wanted to return to Aetherius as Aedra alone, without taking the other elven races with them. But how did they do it?

A recent discovery in northern Skyrim may provide the answer. A lock was discovered that would only open if the blood of all existing Mer races are mixed and used as a key. It is believed that the lock was meant to only open for Dwemer blood, so using the other Mer’s blood was actually a trick to bypass the intelligence of the Dwarves. Nonetheless, this find proofs the ability of the Dwemer to distinguish the blood types of the different races, including themselves. Theoretically, if the heart of Lorkhan was given enough blood of a race of Mer, and then struck by a hammer like Sunder, all the Mer of this particular race, if present on Nirn, should be brought into Aetherius as Aedra. I believe this little ritual, performed by Kagrenac, was precisely what made the Dwemer disappear into a new plane in Aetherius.

 

It is this ritual that Vivec saw happening inside Red Mountain. It is likely that the experiment also influenced the other Mer races, without bringing them to the realm of magic. It is by this time that the Snow Elves and Chimer were turning into respectively the Falmer and the Dunmer as we know them today.

 

An important fact about Lorkhans heart, was that it was destroyed by the Nerevarine. The Nerevarine is most likely a phenomenon known as Shezarrine. This is a manifestation of Lorkhan himself in a mortal form, created to protect Nirn, his creation. When the Nerevarine destroys the heart, he does not only save Nirn from the Devil-God Dagoth-Ur, but he also ensures the connection between Aetherius and Nirn are safe. Without the heart, no more Mer can escape Nirn. This is vital to keep the magic of Aetherius in Lorkhans creation, so it can keep existing.

Edited January 4, 2013 by VoiceintheDarkness

[Lachdonin]

I agree on the fact that the Dwemer 'escaped' creation through the Nimidium, though i dissagree on many of your conclusions otherwise.

 

First, i am of the mind that Lorkhan's intent in creating Nirn was not to create a mortal domain for the sake of worship, but was in fact intended to strip the divinity from the Et'ada who participated. Some time ago, Lady Nerevar on the Beth Forums introduced me to something which i have since lost the link to, indicating that Lorkhan had witnessed the Wheel and the Tower, but because of the nature-bound limitations, could not understand it. Seeking that understanding, he desired to create a world where the 'gods' would no longer be bound by their natures, and could freely and truely understand the reality around them. Thus, his plan WAS in fact to strip the divinity from all the Et'ada involved.

 

Second, we know the creation of the Towers was not limited to the Dwemer. The Aldmer, Alyied, Lefthanded Elves, Falmer etc. all created Towers in mimicry of the divinely build Adamantium Tower of Highrock. These were conduits for the power of Aetherius, creatia, magicka, whatever you want to call it. Some, like Crystal Law, were designed to stabilise and shape reality, others like the Numidium were quite the opposite. The purpose of the Nimidum, then, wasn't the reinforcement of reality, but of divinity.

 

Based on the writing sof Divayth Fyr, the leading scholar on the Dwemer during the 3rd age, the Dwemer were in fact a highly spiritual, religious people, but their gods were even then largely ignored by the rest of the world. To me, this implies they either became Earth Bones, or managed to flee with Magnus, but that's irrelivent. I beleive the Numidium was, rather than a guardian for the Heart of Lorkhan, a prototype for the rebirth of their gods. In its hasty activation, however, fueling the God they had created consumed the essances of their entire species. Why? Becuase they were former Et'ada, who had lost most of their power. In order to awaken a god, they needed power (and not just from the Heart, as divine power sources seem to only be part of a god) and the Calling offered the means by which to channel that power. Because no Dwemer on Nirn were beyond the range of the Calling, they were all consumed in the first breath of their new god, which the future Tribunal quickly s*** off by removing its Divine heart.

 

Third, we learned from The Infernal City and Lord of Souls that the Daedric Realms require the presence of their lord, or they start to disolve. The presence of some divine source seems to be required to maintain any doman, otherwise you need the constant influx of creatia. In some domains, such as the Soul Cairn and to a lesser extent Umbrile, this creatia comes from souls, and i am sure some can draw it straight from Aetherius. Anyway, with the Aedra either dead or trapped (the jury is still out on which it is) Nirn requires a divine presence to exist. That is the Heart of Lorkhan. It maintains(d) Lorkhan's intended purpose for Nirn ensuring that Et'ada could not remain long without losing their power. That is whay the Dagonites tricked the Empire into seeing it destroyed, because without it Dagon could enter Nirn without fear of himself becomming trapped.

 

It's late, i'm at work, and i'm trying to get the Pokemanz MMO working, so that may not be the most coherent post... if you have things you need clarifying, ask, and i shall endevour to make it clearer...er.

[skulleris]

Wasn't there a single "living" (diseased with Corpus) dwemer in morrowind?

[Lachdonin]

Wasn't there a single "living" (diseased with Corpus) dwemer in morrowind?

Yes, Yagrum Bagarn. Though we know from his own admission that he escaped the fate of the rest of the Dwemer by not being on Nirn when the incedent happened. He was in an undisclosed "Outer Plane" when everything went down.

 

Interestingly, however, is the fact that some of the equipment used to maintain Umbriel resembles Dwemer works, and it spent a great deal of time in said 'Outer Planes'. It could be that this technology is derived from Lord Umbriel's (can't remember his previous name) having been involved in the construction of the Ingenium, but its still something to consider.

[VoiceintheDarkness]

In its hasty activation, however, fueling the God they had created consumed the essances of their entire species. Why? Becuase they were former Et'ada, who had lost most of their power. In order to awaken a god, they needed power (and not just from the Heart, as divine power sources seem to only be part of a god) and the Calling offered the means by which to channel that power. Because no Dwemer on Nirn were beyond the range of the Calling, they were all consumed in the first breath of their new god, which the future Tribunal quickly s*** off by removing its Divine heart.

 

Although I have to agree on every part of your post, I don't really understand this one. I understand that the previous Et'ada might disappear after the activation of the Numidium, but then why are the other elven races left untouched? And how was Tiber Septim able to use the Numidium by only using a powerfull soul gem, while the Dwemer needed the heart of Lorkhan and the sacrifice of their entire race? (I understand that the Numidium by Tiber Septim wouldn't have been as powerfull as the Numidium by the dwemer, but the difference in activation is rather large)

[Lachdonin]

The consumption of the Dwemer was the final component which completed the Numidium, granting it a phsyical divinity of sorts, while the Heart of Lorkhan was the spiritual divinity. Without both, the Nimidium is the same as Maser and Secundus (the moons) just some inert material. Using the Mantella, which was fueled by not some normal soul, but the soul of a Shezzarine (and thus part of the soul of Lorkhan). It offered a capable, though lesser power source for the final operation of the Numidium.

 

As for why it consumed the Dwemer but not the other races of Mer, i think it has to do with the Calling. As discribed by Bagarn and Fyr, the Calling was a telepathic link which connected all Dwemer to eachother, allowing them to commune over vast distances. It was something similar to the Elder Council's use of the Dreamsleave, though something all Dwemer could tap into rather than just powerful mages.

 

Anyway, we know Kagrenac was the one who physically tapped into the Heart of Lorkhan, and i suspect that the power channeled through him, connecting to all Dwemer by way of the Calling, and back into the Numidium, forming the divine skin of Walk Brass. Because the other Mer were not connected via the Calling, they were unaffected.

Edited January 5, 2013 by Lachdonin

[VoiceintheDarkness]

That would indeed make sense. I think I was wrong about the Dwemer blood in that case. But could the Dwemer have been physically affected by the calling?