Elder Scrolls Forum: The Number of the Master

Here's my humble attempt at writing a paper -and, as you may have guessed, it's all about the Number of the Master. I'm no great scholar, therefore this essay is meant to lay the foundations for further discussing, rather than as a learned lesson, on this most interesting subject. Oh, by the way, all those who think the Lessons of Vivec are pure nonsense should pass by, for most of these studies revolve around the Sermons and their interpretation

First, I'd like to thank : Nigedo, without whom I wouldn't have written this essay, and who corrected many of my misinterpretations (don't worry though, there are many more left) during our metaphysical chat session ; everybody here on the Lore forum who contributed to the great search for Tamriellic (or rather « Mundusian ») Truth ; and, naturally, the people from Bethsoft, for creating such good games with such a thrilling background. Now that the Public Relations part is over

let's get to the heart of the subject :

Since most of the people who have read past the first sentence are probably familiar with Vehk's teachings , I won't have to explain the relationship between the symbol of the Tower, the number 1 and the word I. Thus, that the so-called Number of the Master, the number eleven (11), represents duality, opposition between similar or equal principles/powers/entities and the struggle between two where there should only be one, should be no surprise to you.
Dichotomy can be found almost everywhere, which is why it is of such importance in symbolic representations -but the Number of the Master is more than that : it implies that there was, is, or should be unity in the duality, be it by means of fusion, compromise, or defeat of one by the other. Furthermore, each of the twin antagonists is a distinct tower - that is, an ideal, a way of understanding, and, ultimately, transcending, the world - thus the weight of their union or conflict in the metaphysical sphere.

And indeed, most major actors in the grand meta-historical interplay are marked by this Number, starting with Mastery him/herself, alias Vivec, whose Lessons are very instructive in this matter.
Hence the first place where one should look for manifestations of the Number of the Master : Sermon Eleven, naturally.

« Hortator and Sharmat, one and one, eleven, an inelegant number. »

In the same Sermon, another word is used to describe these Masters :

« The ruling king that sees in another his equivalent rules nothing. »
« The Sharmat is his double, and therefore you wonder if you rule nothing »

Both terms, « master » and « ruling king », are used multiple times in the Sermons and refer to three or four different entities :

Sermon Four : « At this the Old Bone folded unto itself twenty times until it became akin to milk, which Vivec drank, becoming a ruling king of the world. »

Sermon Sixteen : « There, Nerevar was greeted by the Parliament of Craters, who knew him by title and resented his presence, for he was to be a ruling king of earth and this was the lunar realm »

Sermon Thirty-Three :
« 'Stupid stone,' Vivec said. 'To hide in the Scaled Blanket is to make a mark on nothing. His bargains are only for ruling kings!' »

« Hortator said, 'Me or you?' and the Void Ghost said both. This sermon does not tell what else was said between these masters. »

Sermon Thirty-Four :
« that of the two-headed ruling king.
'Who is that?' he wondered.
Vivec said, 'The red jewel of conquest.' »

The Scaled Blanket is the Serpent, or Void Ghost, i.e. the corporeal half of Lorkhan, and the two-headed ruling king « red jewel of conquest » clearly is Tiber Septim himself, or rather themselves. The link between these beings (including Hortator and Vivec) and the Number of the Master is quite obvious, but each one is involved in a different kind of manifestation of this archetypal situation.

The Void Ghost, whose embodiment is also known as Wulfhart, is in fact a part of three distinct dual entities : the missing god Lorkhan, forced into dichotomy when his greatest desire was of oneness ; Talos, whose thu'um certainly didn't belong to Hjalti from Alcaire ; and the Enantiomorph. As I see it, only two of these three forms relate to the Number of the Master, and two of them (but not the same ones ... err, well, at least, one is not the same one) refer to Tiber Septim - just like Tiber Septim is in fact three distinct individuals (Hjalti, Wulfhart and Zurin Arctus), two of whom are Talos, while another pair constitutes the Enantiomorph : as Nigedo puts it, they are « two different combinations of these three players » (these partial associations are a recurrent characteristic shared by all the tripolar systems I can think of in the TES universe).

Here are a few interesting quotes refering to the Serpent or Tiber Septim :

« . He saw the twin head of a ruling king who had no equivalent. And eight imperfections rubbed into precious stones, set into a crown that looked like shackles, which he understood to be the twin crowns of the two-headed king. And a river that fed into the mouth of the two-headed king, because he contained multitudes. »

Paradoxically, here, the ruling king (that is, the triumphant tower in the struggle) is two-headed : there is no conflict between Hjalti and Wulfhart (united as Talos), or Hjalti and Zurin Arctus (after Wulfhart left, when Tiber Septim couldn't use his thu'um anymore), but the Void Ghost and the Battlemage are fundamentally opposed, and each one is trying to have the conqueror (whose destiny is to achieve great power) on their side - thus, the two-headed entity is composite, but not dichotomous, and is a ruling king through victory over the other archetype -although both Wulfhart and Actus eventually ended up being « killed » and the whole power went to Hjalti and his foolish dreams of conquest (my main source here is the Arcturian Heresy)
As for the following sentences, the reference to the Earth bones (« the eight everlasting imperfections » from Sermon Ten) is obvious (to me, at least), but the rest is quite mysterious and deserves further study, which shall be left for another time. Anyone interested in Tiber Septim as « Gulga mor jil hyaet ae hoom » should also read Sermon 34.

« By which he meant the Scaled Blanket, made of not-stars, whose number is thirteen. Lie Rock became full of foolishness, haggling with the Void Ghost who hides in the religions of all men. The Void Ghost said:
'Stay with me a full hundred years and I will give you a power that no divinity will dare disobey.' »
« By chance, Nerevar met the Void Ghost first, who told him that he was in the wrong place to which the Hortator said, 'Me or you?' and the Void Ghost said both.»

Here, the Scaled Blanket (constellation of the Serpent) seems to be a kind of place or plane, the « Hidden Heaven », the astral (or cosmological) manifestation of the body of Lorkhan, while the Void Ghost is its spiritual aspec - and Wulfhart its physical incarnation (or one of its incarnations, maybe was the mortal Wulfhart infused with the Ghost's essence in the process of being resurrected as the Ash King). The purpose of the Void Ghost is unclear, and the ground for his comment about the Hidden Heaven being the wrong place for both Nerevar and him, added to the meaning of his strange bargain with Lie Rock, are left for us to ponder.

Now, about Nerevar and the Sharmat, who are at the heart (pun intended) of the problem in TES3, but always displayed from a partial point of view, hence are they subject, IMHO, to the most numerous and worst misconceptions of all the mysteries of Mundus and beyond. I don't claim to hold any kind of absolute truth about them, and they aren't, as such, the topic of this study (which is about their interaction, and not their individual roles), so I won't dissert upon this subject for too long - though I'll probably come back to it later, in another post -but here's what I could gather about their relation to the Number of the Master :

Sermon Eleven, « First of the three lessons of the ruling kings » :
« Hortator and Sharmat, one and one, eleven, an inelegant number. Which of the ones is the more important? Could you ever tell if they switched places? I can and that is why you will need me. »

The « evil » main quest, which alas never came into being, clearly wasn't just a « cool feature » ... Anyway, it is very interesting to see how Vivec places himself as judge and teacher in this conflict - and it becomes even clearer in the following quotes :

« You alone, though you come again and again, can unmake him. Whether I allow it is within my wisdom »

« If there is to be an end I must be removed. The ruling king must know this, and I will test him. I will murder him time and again until he knows this. I am the defender of the last and the last. To remove me is to refill the heart that lay dormant at the center that cannot hold. »

Indeed, the multiple reincarnations of Nerevar are something unique in the whole history of Nirn : no other mortal (if he's truly a mortal) has ever been able to have several embodiments, only gods seem to have such privilege (remember those people from the Imperial Cult quests rumored to be incarnations of the Aedra ? Not to mention the Void Ghost, or Magnus' avatar), and I believe nothing that uncommon can exist without a reason - or only because of some three thousand years old broken oath (I know followers of the Old Ways will argue that any spirit can do this, provided it is strong enough, but Nerevar was no demi-god - or I'm badly misinformed - and I highly doubt there's a throng of reincarnating old sorcerers' souls out there whom nobody has ever heard of).
These multiple lives are central to his conflict with the Sharmat, because each of these incarnations is both a training and a trial as he nears the fulfillment of his quest for a way of reaching heaven by violence - his progress is easy to follow in the sermons, from « Nerevar said, 'I am afraid to become slipshod in my thinking.' » (Sermon 16) to « Vivec smiled and told the Hortator that he had become a Minister of Truth. » (Sermon 33) and finally « Nerevar said, 'Now I am the mightiest of your children.' » (Sermon 34, after the defeat of the « monster » Tiber Septim - and, although the Sermons are achronological, it would make sense that an almost accomplished Hortator existed at the beginning of the Third Era) - but his ultimate purpose may be greater than personal achievement, as the last sentence of the previous quote may imply. However, as I said before, this isn't the subject of these studies, so, back to the topic :

« The ruling king is armored head to toe in brilliant flame. He is redeemed by each act he undertakes. His death is only a diagram back to the waking world. He sleeps the second way. The Sharmat is his double, and therefore you wonder if you rule nothing. »

« The waking world is the amnesia of dream »

This reminds me to some extent of the words of Vivec « When I die in the world of time, then I'm completely asleep. I'm very much aware that all I have to do is choose to wake ». Sharmat is the static sleep, stagnancy of the symbolism of the center and the philosophy of doubt, while Nerevar is evolutive, chaos (GHARTOK PADHOME) channeled into a motive force by a Walking Way - as long as he chooses the right one.

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

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

« Beware the wrong walking path. Beware the crime of benevolence »

« The ruling king is to stand against me and then before me. He is to learn from my punishment. I will mark him to know. He is to come as male or female. I am the form he must acquire. »

Here, Vivec warns the Hortator against the fourth Way, the Stasis that would make him a Sharmat, and reveals the purpose of his own Way and the meaning of his punishment - thus, because of the means he used to achieve his goals, is Vehk to fail so that Nerevar might know how not to. This form the Hortator must acquire is that of an hermaphrodite, a composite but unique entity (which is why his race or sex doesn't matter, by the way) formed by what Vivec calls love :

« This is the love of God and he would show you more: predatory but at the same time instrumental to the will of critical harvest, a scenario by which one becomes as he is, of male and female, the magic hermaphrodite »

« Make of your love a defense against the horizon »

Late is the lover that comes to this by any other walking way than the fifth, which is the number of the limit of this world »

The fourth and fifth walking ways are thus directly opposed, as seen in the following : (more on the subject of Vivec's « love » later)

« The fourth spirit came with the fifth, for they were cousins. »

« 'From my side of the family,' the first cousin said, 'I bring you a series of calamities that will bring about the end of the universe.'
'And from my side,' the second cousin said, 'I bring you all the primordial marriages that must happen within them, each one. »

And back to the Scripture of Love :

« the highest love, which is a return from the astral destiny and the marriages between. By that I mean the catastrophes, which will come from all five corners »

That much for now. Now, a last question about Nerevar and Sharmat : what may be the stakes of this conflict ?

« Then do not divide, for yet is the stride of SITHISIT quicker than the rush of enemies, and He will sunder the whole for the sake of a shingle »

« His greatest enemy is the Sharmat, who is the false dreamer. You or he is the shingle, Hortator »

This opposition seems to relate on a profound level to Lorkhan and his goals ...

« Above them all is the horizon where only one stands, though no one stands there yet »

« To that which is not hidden, but damned:
For one who is freed and one who awakens and both reflect the sky »

« UNDERSTAND THAT SITHISIT STILL TRAVELS
IN A PHOSPHORESCENT MIRROR OF THE SKY
DROWNED AND SMILING »

The first one may not be directly related to Sharmat/Hortator, but it fits well into the whole Number of the Master thing, IMHO. And, although the other two belong rather to the Drowned Lamp research topic, I felt they could be of some interest here.

As for the link between Hortator, Sharmat, Vivec and so on, and Lorkhan, here's a little piece of thought before changing the subject : first, Boethiah and Mephala, both of whom are Anticipations, guided Padomaic Chimer to the land where the Dwemer, whose disbelief in the gods is almost the only thing still known about them, dwelt, near the Heart of Lorkhan. Then they disappeared at the Battle of the Red Moutain, and the Sharmat, who followed the fourth Way, took their place at the center, while the Tribunal replaced the Anticipations as gods of the Chimer (now Dunmer) people - and, if we are to believe their words, they also replaced them as guardians of the Heart (« Six are the guardians of Veloth, three before and they are born again »). And finally, both the Tribunal and the Sharmat are to be defeated by a being who can choose between the fourth Walking Way (that of Dagoth) and the fifth (that of Vivec and Mephala). I think the meaning of the whole thing is quite clear.
It seems to me that, although their natures, their ideologies and their purposes may entirely differ from one to another, those who are in the same place end up with the same, or similar, role, manipulated as they are by the patterns and symbols, which are the trademark of Lorkhan (« The grand design takes flight; it is transformed not only into a star but a hornet » and « The drum breaks and you find it to be a nest of hornets »)

And finally, last but not least, the ruling king and master Vivec.
One may ask how exactly Vivec relates to the Number of the Master, since he never was involved in any kind of dichotomous conflict unlike Nerevar and Wulfhart - and here's the whole problem : he achieved enlightenment through artificial means, hence is it quite difficult to understand the implications of his Way (and if that wasn't enough, the Scripture of Love is perhaps the strangest of all the Sermons, almost rivaling the fabled Christmas gift).
The fifth walking path, the number of the limit of this world, is directly linked to the concept of CHIM : Vehk, as the magic hermaphrodite, both male and female, poet and warrior, creative and destructive, is fundamentally a paradox, the most important of all paradoxes of Nirn :
« What is the Tower's secret?
How to permanently exist beyond duplexity, antithesis, or trouble »

Back to the Scripture of Love :

« This is the love of God and he would show you more: predatory but at the same time instrumental to the will of critical harvest »

This « critical harvest » made me think of Moon Axle, one of the eight Monsters from the Sermons (« The first monster was actually two, having been born twice like his mother-father, Vivec ») :

« He was known as Moon Axle, and he harvested the leftovers foibles of nature. This he did twice, as was said, and the second harvest always brought ruin or unwritten law »

« To which Moon Axle replied, 'Mine is a dual nature, and protean »

And then again, Sermon 35 :

« Pure existence is only granted to the holy, which comes in a myriad of forms, half of them frightening and the other half divided into equal parts purposeless and assured »

Thus, this Walking Way involves a second birth, granting a dual and protean nature (« Representations of the chim, and by extension the Psijic Endeavor, are always protean values ») to the walker through the patterns of Lorkhan

« Some say Vivec at this point was shaped like a star with its penumbra broken off; others, that it looked like a revival of vanished forms »

« Look on the estimable lines of my son, now crafted star-wise » (Moon Axle here again)

Vehk's illumination may have consisted (or, at least, could be seen this way - I doubt any manipulation of godly essence can be understood through mere words or concepts) in creating a kind of spiritual double/antithesis of himself (whose birth is metaphorically related in the first Sermons) and then merging with him/her/it in order to become a ruling king. The exact mechanism for his transcendance is really mysterious, and well beyond my understanding, so I cannot do much more than a few uneducated guesses, but I think that the whole Anticipation thing wasn't only a way of adapting the traditional Daedric cult to the new Tribunal religion - and the parallel between the Number of the Master 11 and the Anticipations numbered 33 is quite interesting IMHO, as the second birth of the « guardians of Veloth » (Sermon 6) evokes Vivec's own transcendance.
Mephala, the greater shade, is the archetype of the Number of the Master : sex and murder are the two closest and most powerful forms of interaction between two individuals, and consist in both destructive and creative forces (the first decisive act of the Creation is a murder in each and every cosmogonical myth I can think of), thus is the figure of the hermaphrodite at the same time universal and paradoxical, unity in dichotomy, which is the fundamental principle of this archetype.
Vivec seems to have almost achieved this state (albeit by a profane act) through fusion with his own, previously inexistent, spiritual antithesis, but a central part of this process (and hence also central in the Sermons) was the symbolic Pomegranate Banquet with Molag Bal. I have absolutely no idea of what really happened and what it was about, although it probably was a kind of revelation through mental or spiritual contact with Oblivion - but why Molag Bal ? Anyway, that's how Vivec learnt about CHIM, which is why :

« Third, he recalled the Pomegranate Banquet, where he was forced to marry to Molag Bal with wet scriptures to cement his likeness as Mephala and write with black hands »

The symbolism of the hands seems heavily related to this walking path :

« '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.' »

« The evoker shall raise his left hand empty and open, to indicate he needs no weapons of his own »

« And the Duke of Scamps saw the palms of the Hortator, upon which the egg had written these words of power:
GHARTOK PADHOME GHARTOK PADHOME. »

The hand as a « weapon » (especially the left one) is also seen in the last quote, because of the formula « AE ALTADOON GHARTOK PADHOME », ALTADOON meaning weapon or blade (« AE ALTADOON, the third law of weaponry » and « RKHT AI AE ALTADOON AI, the short blade of proper commerce. »)
The last paragraph of the first lesson of the ruling kings is very significant :

« According to the Codes of Mephala, there is no difference between the theorist and the terrorist. Even the most cherished desire disappears in their hands. This is why Mephala has black hands. Bring both of yours to every argument. The one-handed king finds no remedy. When you approach God, however, cut both of them off. God has no need of theory and he is armored head to toe in terror »

The hands seem to represent the twin aspects of the Number of the Master - in order to « approach God », the duality cannot stay, but the victory of one over the other isn't the solution either, so the only way to Walk is to create the paradox, to find unity in the absence of duality, a simultaneous state of non-existence/coexistence of the antagonists.
The part about cutting one's hands can be found elsewhere in the writings of Vehk the Thief :

« 'The sage who suppresses his best aphorism: cut off his hands, for he is a thief.' »

« Then Vivec threw his ink on this passage to cover it up »

From the Scripture of the Sword :

« 'I give you an ancient road tempered by the second walking way. Your hands must be huge to wield any sword the size of an ancient road, and yet he who is of right stature may irritate the sun with only a stick. »

Sermons 6 and 18 :

« For by the sword I mean the dual nature. »

« Vivec knew that his doubt made him the sword of the Triune and so he did not feel shame or fear »

I have no final answer to give, this is only an invitation to further elaboration, which concludes this little paper.
I hope it was a bit interesting and useful, even though I didn't do much except making some guesses, « revealing » barely hidden patterns, and asking more questions than I gave answers

Any answer or thought someone would like to share on this subject ?

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Fellow of The Theoretical Whirling School of Vivec

Post Extras:

Please do, the teachings of Master Vehk are of such complexity that any individual can find in their words a different and valuable meaning, each of these being of import in the progress toward a new and more complete interpretation of their hidden significances, as Allerleirauh rightfully demonstrated here.

If you like, though I agree with Qwerty - yours is better than mine. Rough notes I had been taking, I've tried to clean them up a little so as to make them readable (it's a little long):

- Sermon Six:

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

Likely refers to the False Incarnates - unlike them, the true Nerevarine is wanted. For what? To destroy Dagoth Ur, of course, and also possibly to make Vivec mortal again.

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

When the Nerevarine is declared to be the true Nerevarine and not a False Incarnate, his/her name will be spoken with glory, because (s)he will be (is) the Saviour of Morrowind.

"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 the hero."

(Let me say here that I completely bungled this and tried to figure out the other three guardians - I had likewise figured Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil to be half - and failed miserably.)

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

The Nerevarine must guard against those that sleep - the Sleepers, the Dreamers, the servants of the Sixth House and the lords of the Sixth House: the Ash Vampires and Dagoth Ur. Pretty obvious.

- Sermon Eleven:

This next bit is several paragraphs, all broken up because it's easier to deal with that way. It's also the first lesson of ruling kings.

"Ordeals you should face unimpeded by the world of restriction."

The Nerevarine does become demi-godly in his/her abilities. Any skill can be mastered, given time. This conclusion seems too superficial, though.

"There is no bone that cannot be broken, except for the heart bone."

"There is no bone that cannot be broken, except for the heart bone." I take this to mean that any enemy can be destroyed, except for the "enemy" that is the Heart. Or maybe that the Nerevarine will have a share of the broken bones, too.

"You will see it twice in your lifetimes. Take what you can the first time and let us do the rest."

The Nerevarine will see the Heart twice: once as Nerevar, again as Nerevar reborn. Remember what you can when you first see it, and leave the rest to the Tribunal. Then Nerevar will have his chance again.

"There is no true symbolism of the center. The Sharmat will believe there is. He will feel that he can cause years of exuberance from sitting in the sacred, when really no one can leave that state and cause anything more but strife."

Pretty obvious - the Sharmat Dagoth Ur thinks that by staying close to the Heart, he can bring Morrowind and eventually Tamriel into a glorious new age. Corprus, blight and death - who could possibly want for anything more?

"There is no true symbolism of the center" also leads me to wonder whether or not Vivec is also referring to Mundus, which is apparently at the centre of creation.

"There is once more the case of the symbolic and barren. The true prince that is cursed and demonized will be adored at last with full hearts."

The Nerevarine, persecuted unmercifully by the Temple, will finally be recognised as the saviour (s)he is.

"According to the Codes of Mephala there can be no official art, only fixation points of complexity that will erase from the awe of the people given enough time."

Does this refer to the people forgetting the Tribunal eventually? I think it does, and Tribunal lends some weight to this - the people will eventually accept that Almalexia and Sotha Sil are dead, and that Vivec is dead/will die.

"This is a secret that hides another. An impersonal survival is not the way of the ruling king. Embrace the art of the people and marry it and by that I mean secretly have it murdered."

Bloody secrets in secrets (never trust a poet). "Embrace the art of the people and marry it, and by that I mean secretly have it murdered." - go along with the Tribunal (the art), maybe even join the Temple, and in the end, destroy it. It's what the Nerevarine must do.

"The ruling king that sees in another his equivalent rules nothing."

You have no equal, maybe?

"The ruling king is armored head to toe in brilliant flame. He is redeemed by each act he undertakes. His death is only a diagram back to the waking world. He sleeps the second way. The Sharmat is his double, and therefore you wonder if you rule nothing."

Death being a diagram back to the waking world - False Incarnates? The Sharmat being the Nerevarine's double, maybe referring back to "The ruling king that sees in another his equivalent rules nothing"? Is it true, does the Nerevarine truly rule anything? The title Hortator is a title given by the Houses to a champion in times of war. Being Hortator (which is necessary to truly fulfill the Prophecies) does not imply rulership of anything. Likewise, being proclaimed Nerevarine by the Ashlander tribes doesn't make you their ashkhan.

- Sermon Thirteen:

Now we have the second lesson of ruling kings.

"If there is to be an end I must be removed. The ruling king must know this, and I will test him. I will murder him time and again until he knows this. I am the defender of the last and the last. To remove me is to refill the heart that lay dormant at the center that cannot hold."

If Dagoth Ur is to be destroyed, Vivec must also likewise be destroyed (primarily by losing his godhood - I suppose killing him could follow). Vivec will test the Nerevarines through the Temple and Ordinators, killing them (you can see their ghosts in the Cavern of the Incarnate) until the true Nerevarine comes forth. Vivec is the last line of defence - he maintains the Ghostfence, and he protects the last real hope of the Dunmer, the Nerevarine. To destroy him is to release his divinity back into the Heart in Red Mountain.

Referring to the Heart and the centre that cannot hold separately is a little confusing; I'd thought they were the same. But probably he means Mundus as the centre.

"The ruling king is to stand against me and then before me. He is to learn from my punishment. I will mark him to know. He is to come as male or female. I am the form he must acquire."

The Nerevarine must challenge Vivec's divinity (and hence the Temple) and then meet him. He has to learn from persecution and the mistakes of the Failed Incarnates. The Nerevarine's gender doesn't matter. The Nerevarine must become godlike - or is it androgynous? Maybe both, like Vivec?

- Sermon Fifteen:

The third lesson of ruling kings.

"The ruling king will remove me, his maker. This is the way of all children. His greatest enemy is the Sharmat, who is the false dreamer. You or he is the shingle, Hortator. Beware the wrong walking path. Beware the crime of benevolence."

The Nerevarine will effectively destroy Vivec. Dagoth Ur is his enemy. Do not be kind and try to save Vivec, otherwise Dagoth Ur's evils will continue. Regarding the shingle: I recall a passage somewhere saying something to the effect of "he will destroy the whole to smite a shingle".

"You alone, though you come again and again, can unmake him. Whether I allow it is within my wisdom. Go unarmed into his den with these words of power: AE GHARTOK PADHOME [CHIM] AE ALTADOON. Or do not. The temporal myth is man. Reach heaven by violence. This magic I give to you: the world you will rule is only an intermittent hope and you must be the letter written in uncertainty."

The Nerevarine, in all his Incarnations, is the only one capable of destroying Dagoth Ur. Whether Vivec allows it (presumably a test - the persecution by the Temple) is up to him. Go without a weapon (and likely with magic), or go with a weapon to reach heaven by violence. "The world you will rule is only an intermittent hope": the united Morrowind will not last long (of course, neither will the united Tamriel).

And then there's the matter of the words of power, particularly CHIM.

- Sermon Sixteen:

"A surviving Crater said, 'Appropriation is nothing new. Everything happens of itself. This motif is by no means unassociated with hero myths. You have not acted with the creative impulse; you fall below the weight of destiny. We are graves but not coffins. Know the difference. You have only dug more and supplied no ghosts to reside within. Central to your claim is the predominance of frail events. To be judged by the earth is to sit on a throne of wonder why. Damage us more and you will find naught but the absence of our dead.'"

I really want to find meaning in this.

- Sermon Seventeen:

"'Here,' Vivec said, 'is the last of the last. Within it the Sharmat waits.'

But they both knew that the time was not ready to contest the Sharmat and so they engaged in combat with each other. Vivec marked the Hortator in this way for all of the Velothi to see."

The Velothi would know when (the) Nerevar(ine) would contest the Sharmat. Vivec proclaims the Nerevarine the last hope against the threat of Dagoth Ur and the Blight.

- Sermon Nineteen:

"Vivec then saw the moths that would come from the starry heart, bringing with them dust more horrible than the ash of Red Mountain."

Vivec sees something (flying things, maybe Cliffracers - I wouldn't put it past them) bringing the Blight from the Heart of Lorkhan.

And that's as far as I got.

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Greater Dwemer Ruins - more rusted cogs, homocidal Animunculi and neon lights than you can shake a stick at.
GDR Aleft - You can't expect it to not be flooded, really.

Post Extras: