Infinity Paradox : The Elder Scrolls Series Discussion

» Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:25 pm

The Infinity Paradox

For thousands of years, men and mer have mused upon the night sky, filled with a myriad of sparkling pockets of Magicka. Tiny beacons of Light amiss an endless Darkness. Or so it would seem; this post will predominately constitute of five hypothetical instances, thought experiments, if you will, regarding the size of the Aurbis and the absolute speed at which Magicka traverses it. Please keep in mind that I understand that I will be contradicting many established notions. And yes, I will be using some real world laws, but only those clearly observable in-universe.

Hopefully, through reason and logic we may acquire a deeper and more intrinsic comprehension of the great polarities as we explore the utmost mysteries of the Armarnath.

Presumption I:

Premise:

Infinite Atherious
Finite Oblivion
Infinite speed of Magicka

Result:

Existence is bombarded with infinite amounts of Magicka along the infinite Magna-Ge axies. Remember, we are assuming that Magicka travels at infinite speeds, thus, even a rupture a single plank in diameter would instantly wipe out the balance of Light and Dark as it extends forever along an axis. (Reminds me a bit of Olbers's paradox.)

As a result of this experiment, we must change one or more of the premises.

Presumption II:

Premise:

Infinite Atherious
Finite Oblivion
Finite Speed of Magicka

Result:

Existence is slowly encroached upon by Magicka. Thus, eventually existence disolves as finite Oblivion counteracts the infinite Atherious. However, this hypothesis is also questionable, (though less so than the first) as we have observed no substantial increase in Light in the continuum of fluctuations of the outer realms. Thus, we must change another premise.

Presumption III:

Premise:

Finite Atherious
Finite Oblivion
In/finite Speed of Magicka, (we will see that this makes no significant difference)

Result:

A finite sphere of Darkness is slowly blended with a sphere of Light slightly larger in volume however equal massed. The result is a grey, (though theoretically habitable) mush.

This theory is plausible, although, I daresay boring.

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Thus far we have always assumed Oblivion to be finite, an unpopular notion which is regarded as equivocal, at best. For the remainder of this post, we will assume the contrary.

Presumption IV:

Premise:

Infinite Atherious
Infinite Oblivion
Finite Speed of Magicka

Result:

The Light never traverses the void to reach Nirn, therefore, there is no visible Magicka in the heavens. Recall that stars are visible in all directions in the sky, thus, removing the possible notion that Nirn is located on the edge of an infinite expanse of void.

Presumption V:

Infinite Atherious
Infinite Oblivion
Infinite Speed of Magicka

Result A:

Due to the inverse square law, the individual ruptures in the Aurbis are not visible, (they appear infinitely small) however, an infinite light still shines which does not deter fundamental existence, but more than likely vaporizes every piece of matter in the Aurbis.

Result B:

Due to the inverse square law, the individual ruptures are not visible, however, the Void consumes the Light during it's journey preventing an extreme energy influx, however the Outer Realms cannot support any sentience what so ever, as it is instantaneously destroyed by the infinite energy.

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What can this mean? Opinions and additional hypotheses would be most welcome.

» Tue Feb 18, 2014 1:29 pm

Magicka is more or less the 'essence' of Aetherius, which means that they are essentially the same. It also looks like you forgot that Oblivion isn't a complete ring around Mundus- the area around Mundus is mostly Void, with 16 (or possibly 17) pockets of finite Oblivion. So that means: 1.Aetherius in infinite, but the essence of it (Magicka) has a finite speed, 2.The Void is finite, and although it is extremely bigger than both Oblivion and Mundus, it is mostly 'empty', and hardly hinders the travel of Magicka through it, 3.The various pockets of Oblivion are finite, and relatively small, 4.So, Magicka is able to reach Mundus through the finite Void.

Hope that made sense.

» Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:24 pm

I plead Mortal Mental Stress ™. It somehow doesn't seem right to perform this type of calculations in the three-dimensional space.

» Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:18 am

This isn't factually correct. While the sixteen realms (Sort of. Saguine is mentioned to have thousands of pocket realms under his belt) are ruled by the Princes, there are plenty of others that remain unaffiliated with any Princedom. Beyond that, the realms are shaped to the princes/whatever ruling entity there may be. Them being limitless in scope within itself while still occupying the void is very much possible. Calling them small is far and away beyond the truth.

» Tue Feb 18, 2014 7:26 pm

I've never heard of pockets of Oblvion that were unaffiliated with any prince. Do you know any examples, please? Was Mankar Camoran's paradise one of those? I always thought it was part of Dagon's realm.

» Tue Feb 18, 2014 5:35 pm

The Soul Carin stands out since it was relatively recent, and is controlled by the Ideal Masters. Dagon created several other pocket realms that are featured in Battlespire if I recall (Itself a man made realm in Oblivion), but doesn't actively rule over them. I haven't played Oblivion in quite some time, but I believe that Paradise was created by Camoran himself, though it was located within the Deadlands. A realm within a realm, so to speak. Beyond that, I wouldn't be surprised if many more exist.

» Tue Feb 18, 2014 1:34 pm

The Battlespires are pockets of Oblivion? I always thought that they were more like space stations that were shot up by mages from Mundus into the the Void.

» Tue Feb 18, 2014 7:08 pm

That is essentially what they are, while being their own realm at the same time. Like I said, man made.

» Tue Feb 18, 2014 1:45 pm

Aetherius is Magicka . (I hate the italicized, "is" 99% of the time, by the way.)

The space around Mundus is Void, in fact, everywhere is where there is not Magicka. I agree with you on the rest of you post however, so it looks like you support hypothesis 2.

» Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:50 am

I was under the impression that Oblivion was the Void as well as the planes in it. The idea behind Oblivion was that the Daedra were creating a space that was a mimicry of the "real" Void outside of the Aurbis; they built their own planes in that space.

We know that the Aedric plane[t]s are infinitely large, but because they are surrounded by a larger infinite space (Oblivion again, despite the fact that the plane[t]s are technically part of Mundus), they appear small and round. (I think this is true for the moons, as well.) Assuming that this text is not mistaken, that would automatically mean that Oblivion is an infinite space, rather than finite as your anolysis suggests. Sure, this may only work if you throw some logical laws out the window, but thankfully when it comes to metaphysics, that's much easier to do (especially when we consider that most natural laws are Earthbones that are technically only attached to Mundus, meaning that they don't necessarily apply to spaces outside of Mundus, like Oblivion and Aetherius).