Tsaesci Creation Myth : The Elder Scrolls Series Discussion

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 1:52 am

For some reason I have an overpowering urge to quote "'All language is based on meat. Do not let the sophists fool you." in this context.

As for some real content, I'll read the myth some more, and maybe come back later. Have some stuff that needs doing.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 10:01 am

I find myself in the same vein as Villfarelse as I remember the words of Vivec. Although the new material of the Tsaesci Creation Myth probably has little actually to do with the old material of the Lessons of Vivec, one cannot but concede that it was the same author that spawned them both. One could also say, albeit with more of a potential for rebuke, that Vivec has not yet been offically written off as a non-factor, although we do see http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=550458&st=0&p=7932009&# that the Warrior-Poet is/was "leaving for the myth-lands again."

What is a virus in this context? Considering that the Tsaesci seem to be scientifically-minded, one likely could proceed comfortably in thinking that it has to do with a computer virus or the like.

But why did I mention the Tribunal? They were (supposedly) named "Ayem", "Seht", and "Vehk", which are the phonetic presentations of Daedric letters. (And some people thought that a "letter written in uncertainty" had to do with pen and paper. :shakehead: )

The letter-named people who would become the Tribunal multiplied in that they effectively gave birth to themselves upon apotheosis. They infected the world of myth and magic that is NIRN by reshaping the mythopoeic forces emanating from the Heart of Lorkhan to create a world in which they were divine beings a priori et ab initio.

Of course, this is but one interpretation of the "alphabet virus", and it is admittedly a long shot. Nonetheless, any reasonable hypothesis not presented to one's betters for examination constitutes a sin against JHUNAL (exceptions existing have, thankfully, been codified since before the War of The Red Diamond), and invoking His wrath is not on my to-do list today.

May the Nine Bless and Keep you, for I remain...

___The Word Merchant of Julianos

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 2:45 am

For some reason I have an overpowering urge to quote "'All language is based on meat. Do not let the sophists fool you." in this context.

As for some real content, I'll read the myth some more, and maybe come back later. Have some stuff that needs doing.

Partially why I consulted my dictionary for some of these words.

Was semi-surprised at that definition I found for alphabet though.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 8:45 am

My friends,

I got curious and started digging around for my notes from the time I read the Tsaesci Creation Myth and thought I would add it to the mix. Since I will not proffer the following as tried and true conclusions, feel free to point out any discovered errors.

"Dai" is the word for a map calculating all the possibilities associated with naming ("creating") a universe. It is a complex set of conditions (limitations, as in PADOMAY) that focuses the IS/IS NOT possibilites into form.

Who could create such a map? Well, according to the Tsaesci, there was once an egg that split into twelve serpents that had names. The names of the serpents were alive in and of themselves, because the names were symbolically represented by smaller eggs. Everytime an egg (i.e., a world) goes through the Striking (i.e., fragmenting into other worlds), there are inherent risks. Some eggs are reduced to "calculation powder" (i.e., destroyed), while others go on to become "dreugh-waters". Dreugh-waters encompass all the risks associated with Striking the egg (read: symbolic for Padomay or, in some cases, Lorkhan).

But to summarize, the stomachs of the serpents send out "signals", which, in turn, are written down into a document of those dreugh-water conditions, a map called a "dai". So, yes, the dai does seem to be similar in nature to the Elder Scrolls, although there has been no mention of any "prophetic" ability inherent in the dai. They could be the enantiomorphic profane version of the mythopoeic Scrolls. (If you adhere to the "all is split in two" college, which I have yet to decide upon personally.)

The whole process is cyclical; the eggs are then eaten by the serpent for the process to begin again.

Hard to wrap one's mind around, I know, and since there have not been an extreme amount of writing on the dai, much of what I just said is my own interpretation.

___TWM

» Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:19 pm

Signals, sequences, viruses...

Please someone steal the genetics manual MK is reading, or he will soon rewrite the replication of the ADN... If it's not aldready done in this creation myth.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 12:06 am

K, I'm stumped about the Reaching and Laying.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 1:04 am

This is going to be really disorganized, and it's mostly just things I put down while reading over a printed copy and slapping notes on everything that stuck out. We'll see if it gets us anywhere/stimulates the discussion, though!

There was the Striking(1), and the Egg was split into twelve worlds, one for each serpent who had a name, and the names of the serpents were alive and coiled into themselves and became more eggs, for names are self-maters, and the Naming went and went. According to the calculations, the random sequence(2) learned very cunningly that fragmentation reserved itself to the left eye(3). Variation realms were the evidence needed.(4)

1. Anu/Sithis interplay, as has been said.
2. Probably Lorkhan, since he stands out as the most distinct et'Ada.
3. Sithis, I think. Not sure. But it seems logical that Anu would be the "Right," Sithis/Padomay the "Left."
4. Seems to be the part where Lorkhan decides that there needs to be some Mundus in his Aurbus.

There was the Biting, which broke the twelve worlds and their name-eggs, and the Biters(5) chewed new names of the lesser serpents until soon death was known to the smallest and your alphabets disappeared but ours did not.(6) The state of rest(7) became worthy of blame, however segmented, so heat was wasted across the right eye. And in mercy we gave to you language that was dead yet walking if you used it(8), which you did, though transient food-forms(9) became problematic.

5. Probably unrelated, but I remember something Nu-Hatta had to say about Biters in relation to Dagoth Ur. I recall it being capitalized as such.
6. This suggests, to me, that the Tsaesci (or their pre-Tsaesance selves) are impossibly ancient, maybe moreso than the Wandering Ehlnofey, though one source I can't recall listed them 'mongst that group.
7. The Aedra?
8. Maybe Ehlnofex, if they're as ancient as I'm thinking, but I could be taking "language" too seriously.
9. This makes me think Wandering Ehlnofey more than anything in the Myth. Other parts almost seem to be speaking of the Aedra, with the references to "dead language," but this part makes me think it's not them. How could the Tsaesci give language, or much of anything else for that matter, to the Aedra?

There was the Slithering, when scales were now name-bites that moved freely(10), and the dead language speakers bled out into non-talk, which is egg-naming inverted, which slides into the shedding of more dead, which cannot be redeemed in the hunger quadrant(11), and now we could no more be detached, for the twelve-to-one only talked unsense except for us, who ate your slithering during trumpet season as the Biters poisoned the random sequence until we came and made of it music(12), as that is the only thing that might save the prey who wore all shapes of confusion not described yet in the calculations. Some of us discovered honor, though more found the idea of moderation, which turned into the identical selection process and we created our eating that way.

10. The untime of the Dawn, if they could recognize it.
11. This passage in particular strikes me as odd. "Egg-naming inverted" seems to me like it suggests something along the lines of non-existance, or rather, sudden non-existance. But if this is the Dawn, then it couldn't refer to the only ones I know of to cease their existence that suddenly. If it isn't the dawn, I'd almost wonder if that refers to the Dwemer somehow. That said, I don't know who the "twelve-to-one" are.
12. Maybe they had a way of averting the effects of untime? Still not sure what Biters are, exactly. The last part of this paragraph is interesting, but I can't make much of it.

There was the Shedding(13), who inflated into a sphere of edible communications and this is how the sequence began to find proportion again. The name-eggs that had survived(14) without also turning into calculation powder settled and became dreugh-waters, which was the first thing to finally encompass the risks attempted by the Striking. Stomach signals wrote a complex document of conditions.(14a) This was the variation map, called dai(15).

13. I want to say this is the solidifying of Mundus, when it shed its gods and was anchored by the Heart.
14. I'm guessing these are the et'Ada who stayed on Nirn and didn't give themselves up entirely to become Earth-Bones. Or, perhaps, given the "dreugh-waters" thing, it's precisely the latter; the Earthbones.
14a. Stomach signals, after looking to the Yokudan creation myth, bring out two comparisons: Either Akel or Sep. Sithis or Lorkhan. Given the rest of this sentence, I'm inclined to think Lorkhan, for the simple fact that the "complex document of conditions," dai, could be Lorkhan's lesson. As we all know, he failed so that the new inhabitants of his world might not.
15. I'm still not sure what this is, but I almost want to say it's some way to manipulate Untime into forming the outcome they desire. I'll get to that in a few. I'm probably totally wrong though, anyone got better ideas on this 'dai?'

The Reaching(16) came, where movements of dai(16a) progressed across islands of edible communication and food-forms could stockpile(16b). One Reaching unravelled but the Coiling at its belly made a virtual star line, which made eating lucid(17). We slid to the imago and Named it cunningly.(18/18a) The waters obeyed and dead names took up their place in the random sequence. The first serpents(19) returned to us in transmissions that answered the alphabet-virus which we then consumed at last(20). By the relative dai, we egg-named it and swallowed all source-information to preserve the virus and became immortal thereby. Past the star line, dead-talking continued.

16. I think the Reaching is simply a term for all the attempts to achieve apotheosis, CHIM, or Zero Sum. Again, probably wrong, but my theory on the next point is why I think it may be this.
16a. This could be attempts at reaching new subgradients. Kind of invalidates my term for the reaching, or simply defines it as what I think it is.
16b. Might refer to the building of the Towers, to stockpile Creatia. When we look at the next sentence, the Marukhati's Tower 'unravelled,' so to speak.
17. This bit sounds a lot like it's referring to the Marukhati Dragon Break. An unravelling, not necessarily of their attempt, but of Time for a long period. The Coiling could be the Tower they danced upon and broke. (Alternatively, the Reaching may refer to Tower building, given the "islands of edible communication and food-forms could stockpile ((creatia?))." I think I like that theory for the Reaching better, actually.) Either way, whatever the Coiling refers to, the "virtual star line, which made eating lucid" brings to mind the falling star(s?) by which the days were counted in the Middle Dawn.
18. Might be when they initialized their plan to shine their scales and become the IMMORTAL. VAMPIRE. SNAKEMEN. that we know and love.
18a. More importantly, the "imago" could either be referring to insects reaching maturity, or to a being or collective they idealized (for being the first to move to a new gradient, perhaps; or first they new of). It could be both. Scarabs + Disapperance... Did the Dwemer achieve a collective Zero Sum? (A type of Zero yet to be discovered...)
19. The "first serpents" could mean the gods, but I think it might mean the first to become More, in this case.
20. If "first serpents" means the first mortals to collectively move on, this would seem to imply that they're somehow relaying back from wherever they are saying something like "it works, but here's how you could do it better." The 'alphabet-virus' could mean the infection of the idea with some corrupting error. To answer it would fix the error, then they could consume the concept of immortality and attain it.
20a. Looking more into the Dwemer, possibility of them achieving Zero Sum, etc., I'd almost say these "transmissions" from the "first" could be the Dwemeri Spore-Dream. The Tsaesci reached out in the Dawn and somehow took said spore-dream, which explained to them what they needed to do. The "relative dai" could be their newly-altered plan for Apotheosis. The question is, which route did they take?

The Laying then happened, and we moved into forms that had been granted from the source information of the first serpents(21), which was gold-walking(22), which is pattern. The scales became intertwined in the random sequence with music(23) that ate forever, which we fed with you(23a). Low forms created a seeking egg but we fed it to the music, too. Then the Biter-Shedding grew sideways into the reception field and knew a Coiling and mastery was ours borne from the calculations(24). The final name was Tsaescence and we ate it to become it and there are no more variations(25).

General note: This paragraph I have the least on, I think it mostly refers to the process by which they changed. I'll go ahead and fill in details on my thoughts.
21. They became what they are now, by means of the information attained through the aforementioned transmissions.
22. I'm probably not thinking deep enough here, but I'm going to toss myself out on the limb just for [censored] and giggles. Normally I'd think this had to do with "walk like them until they must walk like you," but Talos seemed to be a pioneer in that field and he wasn't around yet. So I'll simply say, what else comes to mind when you think "Gold" and "walk?"
23. I doubt it's just coincidence, all these references to the "random sequence" (presumably Lorkhan) and "music" (Generally associated with his Heart. Tonal Architecture, anyone?)
23a. Another thing here, the scales became intertwined in the random sequence with music... They used the tonal resonance, perhaps, even so far from the Heart? If the random sequence is Lorkhan, it couldn't be much coincidence of his mention so close to music. The question is, what are the scales? Going to A. Putty's idea, part of me wants to say the scales are the Men of Akavir. Or former men, now made into golden godscales, an eradicated race (though not totally, not that the dwemer were totally undone!) to make golden godskin, learned from the pioneers of that concept. But if the scales intertwined in the random sequence with music... Well I'll get there in the summary.
24. The Middle Dawn came to an end and their plan worked, whatever it was. The Jills didn't undo it, and I'm betting all the Men of Akavir might've turned up missing when Time settled down again (aside from those that Tosh Raka saved, which is a [censored] story, but we need to explain Pale Pass somehow and it doesn't really fit with the Tsaesci eating the Men, if said Men were still uneaten by that point).
25. They solidified their place, alternate timelines during the Middle Dawn did not corrupt their outcome. They are Tsaesci, Immortal, and uncompromised.

Now some general things. Were the Tsaesci originally men, then serpent-folk? That at least meshes with the "Tsaesci as Wandering Ehlnofey" thing, but doesn't make them old enough to mesh with the early parts of their myth. There's always the "Tsaesci as Wandering Hist" theory from the FSG, which I don't think is necessarily that far off.

The most perplexing thing here is, I'm wondering if they had contact with the Dwemer? What with the talk of gold-walking, and all. And they had to learn that golden-skin business from somewhere. If they did, and that's what the parts I thought might be referring to the Dwemer were talking about, that'd suggest that the Dwemer contacted the Tsaesci -after- Red Mountain, during the Middle Dawn. I know that's so far out in left field that I'm sitting in the parking lot, but I had nothing but a printed copy of the Tsaesci Creation Myth, a pen, and an hour lunch break in the middle of the night. Anyway, have fun pointing out how wrong it is, 'cause I'll bet I'm way the hell off. And I'll bet KM is a lot closer, reading back over that post regarding the convention/dead waters obeying/etc.

EDIT: I gave this another look, with a few other documents on hand to refer to (Namely, the Yokudan creation myth). Got some other ideas, some other things poked out and made me think crazy, lots of fun. A few new points in the paragraphs from this edit, will bold them. Mostly, I got more broad ideas from the greater text, rather than from snippets. Several potentially-conflicting ones that could make the Tsaesci the most [censored] up race on the Mundus. Anyway, some key points!

1) First of all, I think that coiling = apotheosis. Namely due to "the Coiling at its belly" = the apotheosis of the Marukhati made the stars by which to count the days. And "the Biter-Shedding grew sideways (I take this to mean, time un[censored] itself)...and knew a Coiling and mastery was ours..." This isn't to say the Tsaesci are -gods- necessarily, but they're certainly immortal and certainly powerful. And they didn't start that way.
2) Probably should've got to this before 1), but as you probably figured out, I'm disorganized. I think "serpents" refers to gods/immortals/transcended folk in general, whether they're actually serpentine or not. Ie. "We're serpents and perfect, so the closest they could get to being as good as us is to be called a serpent too."
3) Whatever the case, the Tsaesci were obviously NOT looking to do what the Dwemer did, regardless of all the connections I drew (probably just wanting too badly for the two most calculating races to be related somehow... But why wouldn't they be?). We know this because, obviously, they're still here. I think they just used the spore-dream to gain a greater understanding of the methods of divinity, and went for something pretty damn creative. A combination of methods, perhaps.
4) All of the references to music and intertwining in the random sequence and all that jazz (no pun intended) has me thinking they might've done something crazy. They ate the Men to shine their scales, but they didn't wanna disappear a la Dwemer... So they bound themselves to Mundus. They intertwined themselves with the Music. Perhaps, they went so far as to become the Dragon to counter Nirn. The Akatosh to Lorkhan's dead body. An Enantiomorph, on a global scale. That's -way- out there, obviously... But hell, what's to stop them? They're [censored] IMMORTAL. VAMPIRE. SNAKEMEN.

(And in reference to the mention of ALMSIVI as the alphabet-virus... Could be. After all, the Tsaesci, by my interpretation here, did seek to become walking, living gods.)
((And one more little thing: Not sure how this ties in yet, but interesting is the mention of the Marukhati Dragon Break, from Corax of Cyrodiil: 'According to Hestra, Cyrodiil became an Empire across the stars. According to Shor-El, Cyrodiil became an egg. Most say something in a language they can only speak sideways. The Council has collected texts and accounts from all of its provinces, and they only offer stories that never coincide, save on one point: all the folk of Tamriel during the Middle Dawn, in whatever 'when' they were caught in, tracked the fall of the eight stars. And that is how they counted their days.'))

» Sat Apr 10, 2010 8:32 pm

And I'll bet KM is a lot closer, reading back over that post regarding the convention/dead waters obeying/etc.

No, actually I'm not. Your ideas are as good as mine, maybe better.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 6:48 am

Is the monomyth and the aldmer creation myth should be considered the only truth, the other myths therefore being only mere metaphors of it ?
Some elements may be obscure references to the stuff we know, but to consider the whole thing as the monomyth in disguise seems a strange way to read it.
(ps : please pardon my rusty english)

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 10:30 am

Muthsera Hrafnkel,

Do not disparage your work. Your post is likely the best one in this thread as of yet. As we passed your words around this morning's "Akaviri Studies" class in the School of Julianos in Westleigh, Daggerfall, the kids were unusually willing to participate. Perhaps it is due to my scholarly interests being noticeably more focused on such other topics as Numidiumism, Daedric studies, and Morrowindian apocrypha, but nonetheless, the students, for once, did not gaze lazily out the window, twirl their hair or fiddle with their Jhunalite robes.

Perhaps we could schedule you to accompany/speak at our next field trip? We will be visiting the School in Upwich, Daggerfall on the 22nd of Sun's Dawn to listen to Sir Mansel Kingsley-Chorak, a Knight Mentor turned Scholar whose ancestry includes Tsaesci blood. He is one of the lead authorities on such topics.

May JHUNAL Bless and Keep you, for I remain...

Yours in the Scrolls,

___The Word Merchant of Julianos

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 11:21 am

Is the monomyth and the aldmer creation myth should be considered the only truth, the other myths therefore being only mere metaphors of it ?
Some elements may be obscure references to the stuff we know, but to consider the whole thing as the monomyth in disguise seems a strange way to read it.
(ps : please pardon my rusty english)

Lore is, and yet is not subjective. What happened, happened. The Monomyth is one perception of what happened. Trust me, lore flips around, and eats on itself, flips back to its original thought, then becomes something else entirely. "Show me one event, and one witness, and I will give you one story. Show me one event, and one hundred witnesses, and I will give you one thousand stories."

Think of it like this: The Nords LOVE Shor aka Lorkhan, the Elves freaking HATE Lorkhan. and LOVE Anuiel/Akatosh. And heres the kicker Akatosh/Lorkhan are two sides of the same coin Time and Space are one, as are Akatosh and Lorkhan.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 4:36 am

Well, I can't profess to knowing a whole lot about the precise calculations of the myth, but I think I posted a few threads back about the big picture it paints that may be of use to the discussion: (I know, I know, I keep quoting http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=847495&st=20&p=12368651&#entry12368651, but I like it)

For the "Tsaesci-absorb-enemy-cultures" people:

Let's get this straight. The Tsaesci are IMMORTAL. VAMPIRE. SNAKEMEN. Tamriel is a world of myth. You could -- could! -- say that the way that the Tsaesci "eat" people, such as the humans on Akavir, is by absorbing their culture. But look at this creation myth -- quite literally, "we ate it to become it." It's much, much more complicated.

Read the myth. Half of it is semi-technological mumbo-jumbo, but the basic idea, from what I gather, is that the Tsaesci are (or were) somehow able to take the very base identity of a god, a culture, a person, etc, its "name", and then consume it, absorbing it into their collective race's identity. This sounds very much like what you would hear about in a Dragon Break, particularly what the Tribunal did on Red Mountain -- rewriting history so that you, and in this case something else as well, are fundamentally changed, but it being as if it had always been so. In this case, the revision of history is that the Tsaesci took advantage of the shifting sands of Time during the Creation (and Merethic Era?) and rewrote their history so that the identities of previously existent (and presumably now nonexistent) cultures and even gods merged with their own, eventually creating "Tsaescance", or their ultimate form, as IMMORTAL. VAMPIRE. SNAKEMEN.

So this is what happened to the poor, poor men of Akavir. It wasn't just a matter of "cultural assimilation" -- they were consumed. Entirely. They were eaten, mythically, their very identities stolen, broken down, and melted to form the golden scales of some very greedy Snake-Men. It's more than death, and more than cultural assimilation -- it's a fate far worse than both. It's like historical revisionism, except you're the bit of history being erased (or, in this case, "reformatted.")

I can almost see these guys at a dinner party:

"WE ARE TSAESCI. WE ARE PERFECTION; PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR TOTALITY. WE WILL BREAK YOU DOWN INTO YOUR BASE MEMES...THEN EAT YOU. EXPECT US."

So, going along this train of thought, then, we understand that a person/culture/god's "NAME" is its basest memes -- and it's a good thing I used that word, too, considering the book that Albides linked to. Granted, I think the book is paranoid rambling by someone who barely understands the concept of a meme, as "infection" happens every time someone expresses an idea to you -- however, the concept of a "malevolent meme," if used in a different context, seems very provocative in this context.

Think about it. Names are made of letters -- a person/god/culture's basest identity is made of its basest memes, or the basest thought-concepts that it can be boiled down to because they are essential to its identity. An "alphabet virus", then, would change those letters through "infection," fundamentally alter the equation, and, in the case of the Tsaeci's brand of alphabet virus, lead to the complete disintegration and consumption of the person/god/culture into the Tsaeci's. It kind of makes sense in a very simple way, which is fitting considering we're talking about quite literally the simplest part of two identities merging into one.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 10:33 am

A. Putty, well put, and I think that this is confirming my perception that the Tsaesci are 'reptilian' in more ways than one. Thier very thought processes strike me as a machine. Cold, calculating, ruthless, and efficient. Not to say they don't have emotion, they may simply prefer not too. As they say, "Some of us discovered honor, though more found the idea of moderation, which turned into the identical selection process and we created our eating that way." Self-control. 'Eating' rather than slithering may be their word for 'walking', as I previously thought.

"WE created our 'eating that way'. My be related to 'move like this', further making the connection to the thought that they rewrote their destinies in the dawn.

Just my thoughts.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 7:55 am

Another thing that sticks out: "and now we could no more be detached, for the twelve to one only talked unsense except for us" could be referring to the Ehlnofey war. In fact, much of that paragraph could be. But I still don't know what the "twelve-to-one" refers to.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 12:15 am

The Firmament; there are 12 constellations (represents Nir, who was 12 worlds in the Mythic era). The one is the Serpent, the 13th constellation, Shor, who solidified the existence of Nirn, the combination of the 12 worlds.

Notice how the Serpent made of unstars has no master and threatens the other constellations in the sky...

On a less psuedo-cryptic note, it seems like the Serpent threatens a constellation during certain events; the Serpent threatened the Lord during Redguard.

» Sat Apr 10, 2010 11:37 pm

Another thing that sticks out: "and now we could no more be detached, for the twelve to one only talked unsense except for us" could be referring to the Ehlnofey war. In fact, much of that paragraph could be. But I still don't know what the "twelve-to-one" refers to.

Egg-naming results in the creation of more worlds. "Egg-naming inverted" is the opposite of that, resulting in the twelve worlds of creation combining to one, Nirn. The Anuad makes a reference to this.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 9:38 am

So Nir/Nirni is the Name/Oversoul of all the subgradient Names of the Mundus. Occam's Razor only works in ES when it's used for putting things intuitively.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 8:55 am

I'm beginning to see slightly where AP got his idea. I have this weird guess that "music" is time or history or ordered sequence. Still, I'm not sure about the immortality bit.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 1:09 am

Edited my big post so as to not remake that wall of text when I redid my notes. Enjoy.

» Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:18 pm

Here is my general interpretations:

There was the Striking, and the Egg was split into twelve worlds, one for each serpent who had a name, and the names of the serpents were alive and coiled into themselves and became more eggs, for names are self-maters, and the Naming went and went. According to the calculations, the random sequence learned very cunningly that fragmentation reserved itself to the left eye. Variation realms were the evidence needed.

Ok, we know this one:

-"Meanwhile, life sprang up on the twelve worlds of creation and flourished."--Anuad
-"These ideas ebbed and flowed and faded away and this is how it should have been."--Sithis
-"Their constant flux and interplay increase their number, and their personalities take long to congeal."--Monomyth

We have the twelve worlds which we already know about. The ideas fluxed and as they did they multiplied and slowly developed names ("and the Naming went and went... [at] the random sequence...").

There was the Biting, which broke the twelve worlds and their name-eggs, and the Biters chewed new names of the lesser serpents until soon death was known to the smallest and your alphabets disappeared but ours did not. The state of rest became worthy of blame, however segmented, so heat was wasted across the right eye. And in mercy we gave to you language that was dead yet walking if you used it, which you did, though transient food-forms became problematic.

Ok, we know this too:

-"After many ages, Padomay... swung his sword, shattering the twelve worlds in their alignment..."--The Anuad

The twelve worlds are shattered into alignment (Anu/Padomay) and many of those lesser spirits/ideas/serpents that came about in the flux die off ("Biters chewed new names of the lesser serpents until soon death was known to the smallest ").

There was the Slithering, when scales were now name-bites that moved freely, and the dead language speakers bled out into non-talk, which is egg-naming inverted, which slides into the shedding of more dead, which cannot be redeemed in the hunger quadrant, and now we could no more be detached, for the twelve-to-one only talked unsense except for us, who ate your slithering during trumpet season as the Biters poisoned the random sequence until we came and made of it music, as that is the only thing that might save the prey who wore all shapes of confusion not described yet in the calculations. Some of us discovered honor, though more found the idea of moderation, which turned into the identical selection process and we created our eating that way.

Ok, a little more difficult, but I think we're fine:

-"For ages the etada grew and shaped and destroyed each other and destroyed each other's creations."--Vehk's Teachings
-"...and when things realized this pattern so did they realize what their part in it was...As Satakal ate itself over and over, the strongest spirits learned to bypass the cycle by moving at strange angles. They called this process the Walkabout, a way of striding between the worldskins."--Yokudan Myth
-"Anu the victor... attempted to save Creation by forming the remnants of the 12 worlds into one -- Nirn"--The Anuad

So we have the et'Ada moving freely and screwing around with each other's stuff, but there's still that dang problem of Satakal and having to avoid it which kills off ppl ("egg-naming inverted"), yet they 'made the random sequence into music' ("realized this pattern"/"Walkabout") and soon the worlds merge ("twelve-to-one"). Mundus cometh.

There was the Shedding, who inflated into a sphere of edible communications and this is how the sequence began to find proportion again. The name-eggs that had survived without also turning into calculation powder settled and became dreugh-waters, which was the first thing to finally encompass the risks attempted by the Striking. Stomach signals wrote a complex document of conditions. This was the variation map, called dai.

I think we can manage this:

-"As their aspects began to die off, many of the et'Ada vanished completely.... [but many found ways to stay]."--Monomyth
-"A large fragment of the Ehlnofey world landed on Nirn relatively intact..."--Anuad
-"When the dreughs ruled the world"--The Sermons

So they're here, and they're still dying, but some manage to stick around. I take dreugh-waters to be the forms of the original et'Ada on Mundus, with the 'variation map' being how those et'Ada became varied, ie the different races (Men, Mer, Argonian, Tsaesci, etc).

The Reaching came, where movements of dai progressed across islands of edible communication and food-forms could stockpile. One Reaching unravelled but the Coiling at its belly made a virtual star line, which made eating lucid. We slid to the imago and Named it cunningly. The waters obeyed and dead names took up their place in the random sequence. The first serpents returned to us in transmissions that answered the alphabet-virus which we then consumed at last. By the relative dai, we egg-named it and swallowed all source-information to preserve the virus and became immortal thereby. Past the star line, dead-talking continued.

Ok, this is a fun one and it lets us bring in one our favorite obscure texts:

"Auriel-that-is-Akatosh returned to Mundex Arena from his dominion planet, signaling all Aedra to convene at a static meeting that would last outside of aurbic time."--Nu-Mantia
-"Other Ehlnofey arrived on Nirn scattered amid the confused jumble of the shattered worlds, wandering and finding each other over the years."--Anuad
-"Some escaped, like Magnus... Auriel pleaded with Anu to take them back..."
-"While the rest of the new world was allowed to strive back to godhood..."--Monomyth

So the guys are still ticked that they're not immortal and are wandering around ('progressed across islands of edible communication'), but not just physically, but they're trying mythically too [to strive back to godhood]. And so the gods return to help them ("The first serpents returned to us in transmissions that answered the alphabet-virus") in our good-'ole Convention, and I'm assuming that the solution to the alphabet-virus was the implementation of linear time which the Convention brought. Finally immortality is within their grasps.

The Laying then happened, and we moved into forms that had been granted from the source information of the first serpents, which was gold-walking, which is pattern. The scales became intertwined in the random sequence with music that ate forever, which we fed with you. Low forms created a seeking egg but we fed it to the music, too. Then the Biter-Shedding grew sideways into the reception field and knew a Coiling and mastery was ours borne from the calculations. The final name was Tsaescence and we ate it to become it and there are no more variations.

Ok, no quotes for this one, just interpretation. The laying happened (which if you want to take it bluntly also means they're now procreating) and they are lasting. Everything is now becoming stabilized (its all getting fed to the music) and finally "there are no more variations" so that all the races are 'set in stone' rather than still deciding on what they want to look like...

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 4:00 am

Yeah, but that's the same story everyone else is telling, so I call BATW.

» Sat Apr 10, 2010 8:54 pm

Not to sound too dumb, but what exactly is "BATW"? :blink:

» Sat Apr 10, 2010 9:21 pm

"Boring and therefore wrong."

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 12:37 am

Yeah, but that's the same story everyone else is telling, so I call BATW.

And that's exactly why it's right... :dance:

The Monomyth's very existence verifies its validity.

» Sun Apr 11, 2010 10:22 am

Not to sound too dumb, but what exactly is "BATW"? :blink:

http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=532410&hl=Boring++Therefore++Wrong

Yeah, but that's the same story everyone else is telling, so I call BATW.

Ya know, at first, it's better people put this in context of the same story because some of us really don't know what's happening in the myth. Really though, it's a creation myth I'm even cautious about. prow mentioned this in MK's thread. And this is in the "NO [censored] SHERLOCK!" category, but these guys really do talk like they've actually been there in creation with the peculiar way of saying "we" and "you" and transmissions from the first serpents. Really, I'm not sure if they're making a big difference between them as Tsaesci and them as the actual gods. And obviously, that's doesn't sound very mannish of them.