I was explaining to someone the other day about what the universe (aurbis) of TES is like, in that all light comes from the holes(stars & sun) at the end of the fabric of space, which on the other side is Aetherius, a pure raw magicka plane/realm. (Oblivion being in other dimensions in the fabric of the Aurbis.)
I explained that stars are not balls of fusion/plasma like in our universe, but tears at the edge of the space beyond Mundus. Mundus = space?

He asked me if there is radiation, and I said no because the stars and sun aren't like ours. But then he said to have light, you have to have radiation because light is radiation. Fire is radiation.

I don't think there is any official information on this, apart from the http://www.imperial-library.info/content/cosmology section. Do plants grow via photosynthesis like they do here Earth? Is the photosynthesis caused by magick? Is magic radiation then? Is magicka in its raw form unbelievably hot? And what is the difference between "raw magicka" and "magic"? I've been using those words interchangeably for years but never really thought about why I was using it. My guess would be that raw magicka is the magick emanating from Aetherius into Mundus. When it is harnessed by the caster and used, it is referred to as magic.
If plants do grow by photosynthesis using magicka, then wouldn't that mean that plants could grow indoors and even underground since magicka penetrates any and everything?

Let me number these to make answering easier.

1. Does radiation exist in the Elder Scrolls universe?
2. Is space part of Mundus and vice versa (space being the interpretation of Oblivion)
3. Do plants grow via photosynthesis like they do here Earth?
4. Is the photosynthesis caused by magick?
5. Is "magic" radiation?
6. Is magicka in its raw form unbelievably hot?
7. What is the difference between "raw magicka" and "magic"?
8. If plants do grow by photosynthesis using magicka, then wouldn't that mean that plants could grow indoors and even underground since magicka penetrates any and everything?


I sincerely hope this website creates an "Ask the Devs" section so that we can finally get some facts revealed.

1.) I figured Magicka was radiation, but we must remember, the TES Universe isn't bound to the laws of our world, afterall the world is just a plain, the moons the rotting corpse of a God, plus the planet are literal Gods/planes, so the world isn't bound to our logic and necessities for life.
2.) Space is Oblivion. Its the in-between. The way it looks like to me is that its all wrapped up into one big ball with Mundus being at the center of it all. Oblivion wraping around Mundus, and Aetherius wraping around Oblivion.
3.) Plants just grow given nurture, I would wager maybe Magicka had something to do with it in place of actual sun light and jazz.
4.) I'd just say it IS Magicka.
5.) Kinda, I'd say their one in the same pretty much.
6.) I doubt it, since Magicka is seeping into the world from Aetherius through holes, I would figure its just watered down and you can't really "feel" it in that sense.
7.) Magicka we get is probably watered down from the distance between Nirn and Aetherius, I would think that "Raw" Magicka would be like returning to the state before time.
8.) IF that how it is, then sure, it would make sense to me.

I doubt that radiation (i.e. the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles, esp. high-energy particles that cause ionization) exists in TES, because TES is not built on the physical realities of our world. Radiation as we know it requires atoms, and, in this context, a burning ball of fusion up in the sky.

I'm going to ask a 9th question:

Why does this matter?

How does photosynthesis or radiation change the TES world, its culture, or its history? How does it help us interpret the aforementioned? Calling magic 'radiation' changes nothing about the world, and neither does knowing the mechanisms which allow plants to grow.


Plants grow because they, as all the degenerate descendants of the et'ada, yearn to ascend. Men and mer travel the paths of CHIM and the like, but plants can only grow up towards the creatial void which for which they strive.

1. Nirn is rounded, though. http://www.imperial-library.info/content/daggerfall-globe is a picture of it from TESII Daggerfall.
2. And Aurbis is the whole ball, so to speak?

I suppose we can't scientifically anolyze every iota of the game series because the devs most likely never thought of all that stuff, and their answer would probably be "it's magic, that's why. Now leave me alone."
You're saying magic travels from the Aetherius to Mundus? I wonder how fast it travels. I wonder what would happen if one were to travel at the speed of magic.

7. What would be the difference between the magic of Aetherius in the Dawn era as opposed to the magic of Aetherius in the 4th era? I doubt it has any properties that would cause its very nature to change over time.











So if radiation doesn't exist in TES, then the heat from fire and the flame it produces could be argued that it is simply magic? And Nirn does has earthbones, which are natural laws, such as physics, gravity, thermodynamics...


Because I like learning all I can about the TES universe.


How does anyone (including yourself, Lady Nerevar) asking any lore question on here change the TES world, its culture or its history? It doesn't. We're just fans of the series. It does, however, help promote interesting theories of understanding how the world in TES works. And I like having NPCs having conversations about stuff like this in my mod that I'm working on. If inhabitants of Tamriel thought as you're thinking now, then none of them would every advance in technologly or science, logic and reason.... wait a minute, they don't. lol Even in The Infernal City, that guy in the slump talking to Mere-Glim asks a rhetorical question: "Why is water wet? It just is." I guess Nirnians don't critically think and anolyze and question stuff the way we do on Earth.... mostly because Bethesda doesn't want to focus a lot of their developmental time on lore stuff that would be virtually useless in a video game that is 80% combat & battle.


I'm having difficulty trying to find your source for all the subgradients of the original spirits desiring to ascend back up the subgradient ladder. (That's what you were implying, right?) I skimmed through http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Monomyth but didn't really find anything pertaining to what you said. You're saying that it's part of mortals' innate construction (constructed by the et'Ada) to go back up the ladder of subgradient evolution, so to speak? Men desiring to reach CHIM and mer desiring to be amongst the original ancestors? (That sounds more like the goal of the followers of Saint Veloth)