I'm sorry if this is somehow a terribly dumb question, as I'm not that experienced with TES lore.

Just wondering - according to the lore right now, the ministry of truth crashes into vivec in the fourth era, completely destroying the city. How is this possible? I'm playing morrowind right now, and the ministry of truth is really quite small compared to the rest of the buildings of the city...if it fell straight down, the most it would destroy is maybe a part of the temple, possibly that entire building. Is the ministry actually supposed to be much bigger than how it appears in Morrowind, or did it increase in size or something?

This was originally an asteroid and Vivec stopped it, so I'll guess that once it was unfreezed it crushed into the city at the same speed just like before it was stopped.

Ah wow apparently my internet reading (skimming) caused me to miss that part about the asteroid entirely. That actually makes sense...I just read on the UESP site the following as well: "Although the moonlet looks quite majestic hovering sedately above the city, local legend maintains that, should the populace cease to worship Vivec, the moonlet will complete its fall and raze the city."

The Ministry of Truth was hurling toward the city of Vivec at an extremely fast rate. Vivec stopped it dead in its tracks, but merely froze it in place. As his powers waned, the full velocity of the Ministry of Truth returned. Citizens of Morrowind attempted to prevent it from happening but were ultimately unsuccessful, and once the enchantments were fully gone, it was as though the Ministry of Truth was never stopped and it regained the original speed in an instant and the full force impact is what leveled the city of Vivec.

Neither the MOT nor Vivec (the city) are depicted true to size in the game. They were scaled down alot. Vivec has like 200 people living in it at most, whereas most of the small villages have like five inhabitants.

One might assume the relative sizes are somewhat approximately true. If this be the case, the MOT as depicted in Morrowind would be perfectly capable of destroying Vivec as depicted in-game. Mass isn't the only thing to take into account, velocity is very important as well. Vivec (the mer-God) didn't stop the MOT, he only froze it.

The MOT regained it's original velocity when it was unfrozen, hence chaos and mayhem ensued as it plummeted towards its (and Vivec city's) doom.

The dunmer people forgot their love towards Vivec. And if we're to follow that Vivec obtained CHIM, it also means he is love. Following this line of thinking, it'd be more correct to say, the dunmer people forgot Love. This was exemplified with Vuhon's envy towards Sul, and in place of love was hate and envy. The enchantments broke, the preventative measures broke, and Morrowind was cast asunder.

For this reason, the dunmer must accept this sobering lesson, and must find love once again. Expect the nords of Solstheim to help the dunmer refugees with generous givings.

Woah! Reading this actually lessened my hate for that book. I'm on Vivec's side with this one.
Still hate those [NUMINIT] Argonians though!!!! :gun:

A lot of people hate Greg Keyes and blame this event on him, but it has probably been planned for many years now. It was hinted at as far back as Morrowind itself, and some of the obscure texts posted on these forums between then and 2009 strongly suggested it as well. I wasn't completely surprised when it happened because I had a vague inkling of some catastrophic event.

The fun thing about this event is that it can be what you want it to. It doesn't solidify any canonical fate for Vivec. You can still imagine he attained CHIM, or was taken by Daedra or whatever fate you prefer because the moon was being held up by the love the people had for Vivec. Or just Love in a more general sense. The enchantment was undone by greed and apathy. And so papa Vivec gives one last spanking from beyond the grave/ascension, with a little borrowed help from Sheogorath's mighty throw. (Ironically, another deity who has in some way passed on or changed forms since he tossed or tricked Lie Rock into altering its course.)

Also, Lie Rock is a giant poop Vivec made.

Think about it.

You know, I'd really rather not.

Lie Rock? Is that the Ministy of Truth? :confused:

Yes

The funny part was the Sweep picking it up in his hand.

These were the proto poopsmiths.

Lie Rock is the meteor Sheogorath tossed at Morrowind. The Ministry of Truth is the name of the organization that took up residence inside.

Good old Minitrue. They're never wrong.

I half expected a Ministry of Love, a Ministry of Peace, and a Ministry of Plenty in Morrowind after seeing that rock.

Since, to take up residence in Lie Rock, it had to have tunnels dug into it, what happened to the displaced rock? Is there some trash pit somewhere that just exploded out of nowhere when people lost their love?

Vivec made crowns for the other bijillion Talos heads we never heard about; he made them out of Lie Rock. When Talos took his immortal seat, they exploded.

Okay, another question related to this topic...

If the Nerevarine chose to kill Vivec back in Morrowind, why didn't the ministry of truth blow up the city then? Plot device...?

Also, it didn't fall immediately after Vivec's dissapearance.
They had a machine called the ingenium that continued to suspend the MoT by consuming souls.

Vivec is said to have disappeared, this explanation was given to account for the possibility of the Nerevarine killing him. The Ministry of Truth did not immediately crash after Vivec was gone, the enchantments that kept it suspended in the air slowly faded. The Dunmer tried to counter this, as Hellboy said, with the ingenium, but were obviously unsuccessful in the end. Some would say that after Vivec left, the Dunmer began to forget his teachings and forgot love, and it was their faith in Vivec that helped keep the Ministry of Truth from falling, and when that love was gone, it crashed.