I'm doing research for an upcoming chapter of a Morrowind Mod I've been working on called "Keening." (Links in my sig)

My intent for chapter two is to build my own lore and storyline around what is already known about The Ingenium. Yes, I'm currently reading the books.

So far, I've found these references:
- http://www.imperial-library.info/content/infernal-city-lore-notes#Morrowind
- http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Books:Ingenium

I'd appreciate help collecting all information related to The Ingenium. If there is nothing that explains exactly what it looks like, speculation is welcome. I'd like to be as accurate as I can be - as far as I know, the Ingenium has not been added into any TES game. I'd like to create a vision of it with as much justice as I can give to it's accurate/ plausible depiction.

"Keening" is a large TES:III quest mod that revolves around a faction/ city that becomes aware of the impending doom of Vvardenfell from the upcoming fall of the Ministry of Truth, and explores all possibilities to prevent that catastrophe. So, naturally they would become aware of or become involved with (or even be responsible for) plans to create the Ingenium. http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1371381-tes-iii-keening-indie-expansion-qa-faq/.

Thanks!

Lore on the igenium itself is entirely what was given in the novels. We have no visual description except that there's some sort of glowing "core" of energy. Other than that, no clue.

Thanks - good to know. Still, I want to leave this topic out here in case anyone else has anything to offer on the topic. Because, once I build the thing, I want to be able to say it's based on the best intel I could acquire at the time.

I'd imagined it as a sort of giant soul-gem, potentially with Dwemer tech to make it work.

Sweet. The ingenium placeholder I built months ago is a crystal with dwemer gears inside. I'd like to expand it into an impressive, mostly underwater/ underground structure that supports the heart of the machine, which would be the crystal/ gem at the core, with some sort of spire rising from the ocean between Vivec and Ebonheart. Crystals/ Soul Gems and Dwemer Tech fit right into the Lore of the faction in my mod, so it's good I'm not the only one that imagined The Ingenium this way.

I also got the idea that there were cages or something people had to be in, seats or something, in order to have their souls svcked out.

I see it as kinda like the Atronach Forge under the College of Winterhold, but instead of an alter, there is a rather large soul gem or sigil stone embedded in the device. Aesthetically, it could look like the Atronach Forge, or be Dwemer in origin as both would make sense for a device in Vvardenfell. I imagine it would be placed in the heart of the Ministry and have a particularly powerful levitation or slow enchantment, thus the need to constantly consume souls. Being inside the Ministry, it would be much easier to sacrifice prisoners or other individuals to it, out of the public's eye.

For the actual sacrificing ritual, I'd imagine a death squad of three Ordinators, accompanied by the mages (Vuhon and Sul) or another dedicated mage, escorting the subject to the device, having them kneel down and put their hands on the receptacle, being bound to the device by the mages via Soul Trap, and then the Ordinators would slit the victim's throat, or stab him or her simultaneously with three swords.

Personally, I envisioned the victims as being trapped in a wall of meat.

hmm, never saw it like that. Would have been mentioned when Sul's GF when tossed into the soul svck machine.

Yeah, I also didn't get the impression that people were getting fatally injured during the hook-up. I think it's more like the psykers who get drained in order to maintain the Astronomicon.

Now there's a horrible way to go. Yeah, that's how I imagined it too.

Yes, I sort of got the impression people were strapped into some sort of chair and drained dry of "soul".

Well, I never read the book, I'm speculating based on game mechanics I've seen. Soul Trap only works when someone dies, so that's the way I think about it. I could also see it working like Boethiah's Alter of Sacrifice where instead of being outright killed, the victim is drained through the device... But I like the death squad idea

It really helps if you did.

Indeed. The book appears to describe Sul's GF as being drained slowly over time. She had an especially over-powered soul or some-such, so she was able to keep the Ingenium going, as its sole soul source, for some time.

Also, personally, I imagined the Ingenium to look more daedric-like. After all, it was made with Clavicus Vile in mind, or perhaps even by Clavicus himself. The Ingenium would have been useless without the deal that the Daedric Prince would siphon power to keep the Ministry afloat in exchange for souls.

i havent read the book, but from what the device does. i get the impression it could in early stages when the people had to die it would emit a constant soul trap spell. i guess use the kiss meathod how would said souls get trapped, where would they be stored, what are they affecting. though i get the impression a contanst levitation spell is holding the ministry up... what if simply changed to a slow fall spell. still get destruction but not near as much right.

Has been quite a long time since I last read the books, but don't forget a critical part an intruder can stab with a sword (like Attrebus does). Also, when they finally go down there and Vuhon following shortly after, I guess we at last know what the surrounding area looks like, if I'm not totally mistaken.