But the Daedroth did not give her back her eyes, saying:
'God hath three keys; of birth, of machines, and of the words between.'
Within this Sermon the wise may find one half of these keys.

'We Dwemer are only aspirants to this that the Velothi have. They shall be our doom in this and the eight known worlds, NIRN, LHKAN, RKHET, THENDR, KYNRT, AKHAT, MHARA, and JHUNAL.'

Vivec says unto the Hortator remember the words of Boet-hi-ah:

We pledge ourselves to you, the Frame-maker, the Scarab: a world for us to love you in, a cloak of dirt to cherish. Betrayed by your ancestors when you were not even looking. Hoary Magnus and his ventured opinions cannot sway the understated, a trick worthy of the always satisfied. A short season of towers, a rundown absolution, and what is this, what is this but fire under your eyelid?

Shift ye in your skin, I say to the Trinimac-eaters. Pitch your voices into the color of bruise. Divide ye like your enemies, in Houses, and lay your laws in set sequence from the center, again like the enemy Corners of the House of Troubles, and see yourself thence as timber, or mud-slats, or sheets of resin. Then do not divide, for yet is the stride of SITHISIT quicker than the rush of enemies, and He will sunder the whole for the sake of a shingle.

For we go different, and in thunder. SITHISIT is the start of all true Houses, built against stasis and lazy slaves. Turn from your predilections, broken like false maps. Move and move like this. Quicken against false fathers, mothers left in corners weeping for glass and rain. Stasis asks merely for nothing, for itself, which is nothing, as you were in the eight everlasting imperfections.

They're listing the Aedra, but exclude Dibella and Zenithar in favor of Nirn and Lorkhan. Why is that?

I'd say the reason the Dwemer are excluding Dibella is, at least from the Dunmer point of view (and this was written by a Dunmer for the Dunmer), that they know nothing about beauty. :nod:

Ah, of course. "Love, an emotion the Dwemer knew nothing about." So Dibella isn't a known plane[t] to them. How obvious; thank you.
But Zenithar is still confusing, as is the inclusion of Nirn and Lorkhan...

'Velothi, your skin has become the pregnant darkness. My brooding has brought this on. Remember that Boethiah asked you to become the color of bruise. How else to show yourselves people of the exodus into the vital: pain?

Ah, of course. "Love, an emotion the Dwemer knew nothing about." So Dibella isn't a known plane[t] to them. How obvious; thank you.

Ah, of course. "Love, an emotion the Dwemer knew nothing about." So Dibella isn't a known plane[t] to them. How obvious; thank you.
But Zenithar is still confusing, as is the inclusion of Nirn and Lorkhan...

Velorien has Nirn and Lorkhan covered... I'm not sure about Zenithar, considering that he's the god of craftsmanship, which is a concept the Dwemer certainly knew plenty about. Maybe a dig at their crafts, particularly their machines, being overly practical and scientific, rather than having artistry to them? Not sure.

(Unless THENDR is Zenithar rather than Stendarr, which might be interesting...)

Was it said in the game "Morrowind" that Zenithar is the god of commerce? Maybe this means a lack of emphasis on commerce -- being more interested in religion, for example.

In reference to sermon 2, I had always assumed that s/he was speaking of the ALMSIVI. Ayem as birth (the mother), Seht as the machine (the clockwork city), and Vehk as the words between (the lord of middle air). Not sure on how half of them are to be found. Vivec's past birth is mentioned, and the primordial marriages could count as the "words between" I suppose.

And in Sermon 3, I don't understand
They're listing the Aedra, but exclude Dibella and Zenithar in favor of Nirn and Lorkhan. Why is that?

I'd also like to ask a question in regards to the Sermons. Does Vivec want the Nerevarine to kill him? If so, why? If not, why do I get that impression every time I read them?

Thousands of years of guilt comes to mind.

He claimed it was Vivec, the mortal, that killed Nerevar though. Would he still retain the guilt and even after so long? I don't really see how Nerevar killing him would make things right.

I can't find the passage at the moment but I seem to recall Vivec saying in the sermons that he would kill the Hortator again and again or something to that affect, as though he wanted to teach something to him. I got the impression that he wanted the Nerevarine to kill him in order to succeed him.

I wish I had the time to read through it all again and quote what I'm referring to specifically, but hopefully someone will remember and clear me up on it.

He claimed it was Vivec, the mortal, that killed Nerevar though. Would he still retain the guilt and even after so long? I don't really see how Nerevar killing him would make things right.

Vivec entered the Mourning Hold and announced to Ayem that he was going to fight nine monsters that had escaped the Muatra.
...
Ayem said, 'Out of nine you will find only eight, though they be mighty. The last is already destroyed by your decision to create the Book of Hours.'
Vivec understood that Ayem meant himself.

Vivec then saw the moths that would come from the starry heart, bringing with them dust more horrible than the ash of Red Mountain. He saw the twin head of a ruling king who had no equivalent. And eight imperfections rubbed into precious stones, set into a crown that looked like shackles, which he understood to be the twin crowns of the two-headed king. And a river that fed into the mouth of the two-headed king, because he contained multitudes.

What is Vivec's Water Face?