Hello Lore buffs,

It's been awhile since I've read up on the lore of ES. As we know the lore surrounding Skyrim revolves around Alduin eating the world to start a new Kalpa. We know that this has happened before, but what must happen in order for it be time for Alduin to eat the world? My guess is that it would be directly related to the events of Morrowind and Oblivion (the integrity of Mundus has been compromised) and perhaps something to do with the escalating chaos that is engulfing tamriel. Or maybe it's just an end of the line thing and time ran out. Once a Kalpa ends and Alduin has wiped the slate, when does the new one begin? The Dawn Era?

On a side not I think it is interesting that the events of SI draws parallel to this (the Greymarch) and that in SI there were sites that were left over from previous "eras" much like how the Leaper Demon king and the Greedy Man would save pieces from being devoured. It would be cool to see places left over from previous Kalpas in Skyrim or in future games.

Good question. I have no idea about the answer though.

Maybe all of the prophecies in the Elder Scrolls have to be fulfilled?

What needs to happen? Mundus is too old, and is OMONONONON'd

The chains that bind Alduin need to fall. I'd speculate that it goes something like (metaphor time!) Dragon eats world, dragon is tired, dragon is bound in its sleep, binders eff it up, dragon eats world. It seems to me that the towers were there for more than just protection from oblivion, methinks.

Hmm that brings up another point about the towers. The towers are there to basically stabilize Mundus (correct me if I'm wrong) but why would the Mer create the towers that solidify the mortal world when their goal would be to return back into divinity? Or did they figure that there was no way going back and were like, "Well we're here... might as well"

I think it's basically like this: the world is kinda like a net, and the towers are all little hooks pulling at it. Now, a loose net ball isn't very tough. It has no tensile strength*. All of the various Altmer wanted to change the Mundus. The Altmer wanted it to be more like X, the Ayleids more like Y, the Falmer more like Z, et cetera. All of them built these towers, which pulled the net in different directions. Once you had all these towers/hooks in the net, pulling it in different directions, all of the netting became taut. This makes it much more difficult for outside threats to break through. Ever try to do a karate chop on some taut netting? Well, Mehrunes Dagon did, and it wasn't a pleasant experience.

AFAIK, we kinda know the purposes of only three of the towers. Crystal-like-law is all about making people more like dragons. White-gold was probably originally something like a giant summoning circle, making it safer to consort with daedra (a favorite pastime of the Ayleids). Ada-mantia was all about making the world like it was in its default state. For all we know, Tree-sap could be all about freedom via becoming entirely unlike dragons, canceling out Crystal-like-law.

*I may or may not be using the phrase tensile strength correctly.

And perhaps High Hrothgar helps keep Mundus alive throughout the world eating?

I think we'll find out more about that in Skyrim.

I like your theory, but as for the towers (as in, the Crystal-like-law tower making the mer more like "dragons" ) are you interchanging dragons with Aedra? or actual dragons? please explain more

I forget the actual source, but basically the story goes that very soon after the dawn, Auri-El (who was physically incarnated) had some mad adventures with his best buddy / scribe / disciple Xarxes. Auri-El was on a mission of revenge, and with a lot of help from Trinimac, they killed Lorkhan, and Auri-El shot his heart out across the sea. His mission over, Auri-El went back to Ada-Mantia, gathered up a bunch of elven-ancestors (its unclear if these are Aldmer, Ehlnofey, or whatever came before Ehlnofey), and turned into a dragon, flew into the sky, and became a plane(t). All those there assembled agreed that what Auri-El had just done was really awesome, and decided it would be their mission to imitate him and return to their original status as immortal god-spirits. This process is called "Dracocyrsallis" so I assume it has a lot to do with becoming dragons, but most dragons are Aedra anyway. So far, we know of three mortals who seem to have undergone this process (Xarxes, Phynaster, and Syrabane).

Interestingly, the Ka'Po'Tun of Akavir also want to become dragons, though so far we only know of one success, who appears to just be their version of Auri-El / Akatosh / Alduin. This new dragon is called Tosh-Raka, and last we heard, he is the incarnated leader of the Ka'Po'Tun empire.

Ka Po' Tun is the "Tiger-Dragon's Empire". The cat-folk here are ruled by the divine Tosh Raka, the Tiger-Dragon. They are now a very great empire, stronger than Tsaesci (though not at sea). After the Serpent-Folk ate all the Men, they tried to eat all the Dragons. They managed to enslave the Red Dragons, but the black ones had fled to (then) Po Tun. A great war was raged, which left both the cats and the snakes weak, and the Dragons all dead. Since that time the cat-folk have tried to become the Dragons. Tosh Raka is the first to succeed. He is the largest Dragon in the world, orange and black, and he has very many new ideas.

"Auri-El (King of the Aldmer): The Elven Akatosh is Auri-El. Auri-El is the soul of Anui-El, who, in turn, is the soul of Anu the Everything. He is the chief of most Aldmeri pantheons. Most Altmeri and Bosmeri claim direct descent from Auri-El. In his only known moment of weakness, he agreed to take his part in the creation of the mortal plane, that act which forever sundered the Elves from the spirit worlds of eternity. To make up for it, Auri-El led the original Aldmer against the armies of Lorkhan in mythic times, vanquishing that tyrant and establishing the first kingdoms of the Altmer, Altmora and Old Ehlnofey. He then ascended to heaven in full observance of his followers so that they might learn the steps needed to escape the mortal plane."

Auriel ascended. Tosh Raka "became a dragon." Like the elves, it would seem these guys do not differentiate between themselves and "gods." So yep, it would seem dragons are gods, like you said. I'm thinking along the lines of et'ada, though.

How would one know if it was from another kalpa?