» Fri Apr 09, 2010 7:52 pm - The Mono-Monomyth
And Removing the Mystical from the Mythical
Luagar Anulam, Savant-Bard of the Star-Wounded East
University of Gwilym Press, Publisher
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The Dawn Era: The Elder Wilds
The Dawn Era is that period before the beginning of linear time, where the original forces come together. The primary forces/alignments are all the same - simply being different subgradients of the one above's alignment. These forces are Anu/Padomay, to Anuiel/Sithis, and to Auriel/Lorkhan. The Aedra/Daedra forces are the result of the Anuiel/Sithis interaction, and thus align to one of the aforementioned forces. All forces have always existed to form the Aurbis' Foundations.
The Aurbis' Foundations
At the base of the universe is the dualism of Anu and Padomay, two antithetical forces. Anu is associated with order/stasis, while Padomay is associated with change/action. It is these two forces each make up part of the Void. "Imagine an infinity enclosed by another; you come away with a bubble." Within Anu is the subgradient Anuiel. Anuiel is differentiated into various parts, forms, attributes, and intellects (Aspects of the Aurbis) and the dividing force is known as Sithis, which is the subgradient of Padomay. The interplay of these various parts is known as the Aurbis, the Gray Maybe, Nir, the Wheel. The Aurbis is where the two bubbles touch and where they intersect anything is possible.
Time
As has been stated, the intersection where Sithis divides up Anuiel is full of possibility, and here all these possibilities ebb, flow and fade - wherever there is a will, there is potential which becomes action.
The subgradient of Anuiel is Auriel (Time), which unhindered is nonlinear so that everything is happening at once. It is time that allows us to recognize the forces for what they are and their limitations. The various parts, the Aspects of the Aurbis (hereafter denoted by AotA) are many due to flux and interplay; the limits made recognizable by time show us that there are twelve primary sections (though there were numerous smaller sections) and that they are all either aligned to Anu or Padomay.
Space
Though it is non-linear, time has a pattern of creation and destruction, each creation is a kalpa. This pattern allows us to differentiate the AotA even further to personify them in various ways (ie. Mara, Xen, Mephala, Y'ffre, Rupgta, Tuwhacca etc.), and they are all still aligned to either Anu or Padomay. The former we call Aedra, the latter Daedra. The 'place' which pattern creates we call the Far Shores.
As the subgradient of Anuiel is Auriel, the subgradient of Sithis is Lorkhan, which is space. Space is the definable limits of the Aurbis and gives form to the pattern of the 'Far Shore' - this form is the midst of the bubble, this form is the Wheel, which looked at sideways denotes an 'I', symbolizing that all subgradients (and the subcreations of more within them) are truly one, simply one inside another inside another.
Mundus & the Aedric Forces
With limits defined by Space it becomes even easier for us to distinguish the AotA within their personifications. While each force is by their nature immeasurable they are also separate from each other due to limitations. The subgradient which is allowed for by Space and Time is called Mundus, the mortal realm, and save for Space it employs the forces aligned to Anu to exist. This subgradient is created by removing the limits from various Anu aligned AotA, the Aedra, and meshing/molding them together in the allowance of Space, so that all the Aedra are every force at every time (the forces are combined in One). Those aligned to Padomay are not capable of this meshing/molding due to their changing/chaotic nature - this allows they, the Daedra, to fill the space immediately outside of Mundus which we refer to as Oblivion (in the likeness of Void). Still, Space does have an affect on the Daedric forces (this is the action of change trying to be contained by space) and we call this affect of Lorkhan upon the Daedric forces Sheogorath, or madness. ?Time (Auriel) has a similar relation to the Daedric forces (change trying to be regulated by time/order), called Jyggalag, which attempts to continue the nonlinear pattern of kalpas.?*
However, the existence of the Mundus also directly affects those Daedric forces, and they in turn affect the Mundus (thus as we see it the 'Daedra' interfere on Mundus). Because of this interaction Oblivion, the forces of change, remain closer to Mundus than Aetherius. Aetherius (in the likeness of magic) is the space containing magic, and it is beyond Oblivion. These forces of stasis are beyond Oblivion because though magic (Aetherial matter) allows for Mundus, the possibilities of magic are too many to be confined by it. Still, you can see Aetherius by the stars through Oblivion as magic plays a large role and has a strong connection to Mundus still by allowing for its existence.
As stated, this meshing is made possible by magic (Magnus), the base force of Aetherius and the result is the finite ball of matter and magic that is Mundus. The primary Aedra which mold together in this form we call the spokes of the Wheel (the eight gifts of the Aedra). Originally all was land, with interspersed seas, but no oceans. These forces, the Aedra, by their interaction form mortal life and the original location for this forming is called Tamriel. Mortals personify these forces which formed (Aedra) them as well as those that did not (Daedra) and fill all of the Tamrielic pantheons with them. It should be noted again here that Auriel and Lorkhan do not fit into either category, Aedra or Daedra; the Aedra/Daedra are the results of the divisions caused by Sithis and are denoted by their alignment - Auriel and Lorkhan are subgradients of those alignments, not divisions, and therefore are a category of themselves.
Oblivion & the Daedric Forces
The Daedric forces are also affected by magic, allowing for the infinite space that are the Daedric Realms (they are many, 16, since the Daedric forces cannot mesh) but still further the lesser Daedric forces also remain having not been meshed (the lesser Daedra) - rather, these lesser forces are aligned with that type of change most similar to their own (all these forces become personified by the allowance of magic to form what we now perceive as the Daedra). The major Daedric forces are divide into the realms of Oblivion (ie. Coldharbour, Quagmire, Moonshadow, etc) and the personification of those realms are known as its 'Prince' (ie. Sanguine, Boethiah, Molag Bal, etc.). Since the Daedric forces are not part of Mundus they can only be banished.
Mortals & Gods
Though it allows for the existence of Mundus, magic (Magnus) cannot be contained by time/space, thereby allowing Auriel (Time) to have a more complete dominion/influence and with magic (in the Mythic Sense) gone, Time allows for the Mundus to be stable and less changing, fortifying the limits of Mundus from the Daedric forces outside. Time lasts in stepped-fashion and history, finally linear, begins (Note: Everything before this did not occur in any order, rather it is just the makeup of the universe). The first mortals (who were so near the Aedric forces that they took their personifications upon themselves so that the 'gods walked the earth') erect Ada-mantia (the first Tower) in semblance of Time's dominion, with its 'Zero Stone' being the allowing factor. Furthermore, the Ada-mantia allows for magic to be filtered into Mundus without coming in full and this filtering sets the physical, temporal, spiritual, and magical elements of Nirn.
With these boundaries set by the filtering the first mortals are no longer so near the Aedric forces and lose touch, though the Tower itself remains and they last in its semblance. This loss of touch is personified in various 'death' and 'departure' accounts of the Aedric forces. These mortals were divided into the Aldmer and the Men, the former missed the connection they once had (and which is lost by the limit that is space, and so they hate 'Lorkhan') while the latter accepted it. These two factions are naturally in conflict, a conflict which drew upon the mythical energies of the Mundus to separate them with water. However the first mortals believed in the original forces for so long and so well, that their beliefs drew upon the magic surrounding Tamriel to bring the forces back into being as 'gods'. Magic provided the energy and the followers the structure that created the present form of the deities of Tamriel.
It should be noted that just like all the forces of the universe, mortals too are aligned to either stasis or change, to the Aedric or Daedric forces.
The Moons, Towers and Avatars
Trinimac is the force that secures space, that sets its 'heart' into place and creates the boundary of Space perceived as the Moons [Masser and Secunda ('Jone' and 'Jode' in the Ehlnofex)]. This boundary is that which serves to separate Mundus from the Daedric forces and this function of it is known as the Lunar Lattice. As with the Ada-mantia, Space's influence is erected in the semblance of Red Mountain, with its stone, the 'First Stone' being the allowing factor. Various other towers would be erected, each by a different tribe of mer showing their own semblance of the original. Each Tower serves to reinforce the boundaries of Mundus by filtering and regulating magic; when a Tower falls this boundary is weakened, thereby allowing more magic (possibility) in - more possibility ultimately allows for more change (thus the Daedric forces) to enter Mundus.
Still, the forces that are Space and Time are still so close to the mortals (unlike the Aedric forces, though they sometimes manage too) that they are often still personified in mortals (calling them avatars and incarnations).
Luagar Anulam, Usherer of the Apocalypse
