I wanted to know your thoughts on the eleventh Sermon in the 36 Lessons, and the acceptability of my title.

Sermon 11 of the 36 Lessons of Vivec says:


"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.

"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."

I think that referring to the relationship between the Sharmat and the Hortator could possibly imply a kind of King/Rebel duality (Nerevar, King ; Voryn Dagoth, Rebel - Neravarine, Rebel ; Dagoth Ur, King and also sets Vivec as an Observer within the "reality" of the Sermons) but what is the significance of the number 11 used here, other than it also being the Sermon number? Discuss this and differing opinions, and grow them.

I would agree with you. I've used that quote to shed light on the Rebel/King relationship many times.

Well, Hortator and Sharmat will bring ruin to Morrowind. And this is without looking into the enatiomorph between them.

Foul Murder plays it as Vivec(Rebel)/Nerevar(King)/Dagoth;Ayem;Seht(Observer), but yours makes sense when you look at that the two switch places (as Nerevar/King and Dagoth/Rebel switching to Nerevarine/Rebel and Dagoth/King).

I always read that part as a claim that the Sharmat has achieved CHIM in some way.

Sharmat has anti-CHIM.

CHIM is seeing that you are everything is you.

Dagoth sees it as "Everything is me is everything".

That's actually a really bad explanation.

It is a statement on power. If the Sharmat became king then every act he has taken to "save morrowind" is validated.

Vivec attempts to tell the Nerevarine and Dunmer that only he can see outside of time enough to percieve truth in the world. This is a foul lie at once arrogant and humbling, since the Deep Ones made such claims in the era of elves. Perhaps this is CHIM, perhaps this is his unique punishment from Azura-Shor.