On Stars and Waters

Recently, thanks to C0DA and ESO, we've learned a lot about how memory worked in the Elder Scrolls. I'm trying to compile most of data and deductions on the subject of Memory ; and, therefore, on Souls, and finally, on Magic. Discussions about this already occured, but it has always been on a point or another, and the full view has never been given.

Memory is extremly present in The Elder Scrolls since Daggerfall, where Makela Leki recordes her last thoughts in a Memory Stone. These memory stones are also found in Vivec/Cyrus Sword Meeting : the stones teach Cyrus how to fight better.

We understand this a bit thanks to The Republic of Hahd , and we guess something important is behind throught the Loveletter . Our curiosity is then drawn to Mnemoli - the Mnemoli (plural) according to Mankar . But we are not given any answer before one of MK's AMA :

>Who or what is the Drowned Lamp?

>Drowned Lamp: Knowledge that is lost.

SITHISIT, 28, the drowned lamp, lost knowledge? Seeing this next to the Captive Sage (29) - whose knowledge is nearly lost, because he is in sensory deprivation, is probably important.

And :

>Mnemoli- does it have to do with knowledge or memory of failed Amaranth?

>@Mojo, that's a wide net you got there. Narrow it.

>@Mojo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic

So... learning technic?

Finally, C0DA was released, and we had some answers - or questions, depending on how you look at it. Mnemoly seems to be more or less the memory of Nirn, or of the person in the Mundus, and memory is vanishing.

We can add the art where Sotha Sil has a child, added compared to the Morrowind version, and MK giving the confirmation that the child is Mnemoli, but...

I think we might have to wait for Dies Irae for more things on this side.

At the same time, ESO surprised everyone by how most of it was well done. This raised a lot of attention.

Memory goes into the Water - and remember the "waters of Oblivion".

The lost knowledge is the drowned Lamp.

The selfishness of the sea is Seht's domain.

Mnemolichite is extracted by Hahds, living under water.

Then, we add soul. Soul and Memory are different ; some ghosts don't have the same soul as when they where alive, but have kept their memory. On the other hand, Necromancers, with mysticism, manage sometimes to "steal" souls, but don't have access to memory.

The link between souls and magicka is very strong : soul gems and enchanted objects are an obvious example. In fact, the "gradient" mentionned by Baladas Demnevanni and in the Loveletter are probably linked to the size of "souls" - or rather "magickal composition".

All mortal races, have the same size of souls ; they are all at the Mortal Death.

"Gods" like Vivec or Almalexia, have bigger souls.

Dwemer animunculi have smaller souls.

If a difference can be made between mortals and lesser daedra, it is first that the soul and memory of the daedra are kept after death, and reborn from the waters of Oblivion. Mortals can either have their soul (and sometimes memory) sent to an Ada (Aedra or Daedra) ; or their soul is sent to the Dreamsleeve and "soon recycled" while their memory is lost to the Drowned Lamp (See Cyrus ).

So, why are all Ada nearly fighting for souls ? Souls are probably the lunar currency mentionned in the Sermons and explained in the Loveletter.

We can guess that souls, creatia (" raw mythic energy " ), and magicka, are more or less the same thing. When Magnus begins to bleed creatia (in fact " kaleidocules " on the Mundus, it gives magicka coming from somewhere else than souls to use for the Mortals.

In the Nu-Mantia Intercept, it is explained that Stones cultivate "creatia that washed into the Void from Aetherius". Because Magnus "blood" passes by Oblivion before reaching Mundus : "Magnus is the sun, the largest hole in Oblivion, and the gateway to magic. "

We can even notice that Magicka can use other means that the creatia coming from the Sun.

Blood Magic probably takes its energy from the blood, and therefore from the soul of the person. We can notice that it is developped by Vampires, linked to Molag Bal who likes creating "Soulless ones".

Shadow Magic is also interesting :

>shadow was not simply an absence of light, but a reflection of possible worlds created by forces in conflict. Shadows can be produced by mundane forces such as light hitting a rock, or by more powerful forces such as nations at war. Shadow Magic involves the manipulation of shadows to affect the forces creating it.

Changing the consequence can, with Shadow Magic, affect the cause - it seems to be really close to what happens in Dragon Breaks. The "forces in conflit" are probably the source of energy needed for magic.

There's in fact a lot of different magic, like Mnemolic Sorcery, but the point is to notice that magicka is really present everywhere ; and in fact, all could be seen as a mix of magicka and memory.

The stars, are creatia coming from Aetherius ; and what all Ada are looking for is this creatia, this "raw mythic energy".

>The splendor of stars is Ayem's domain. The selfishness of the sea is Seht's. I rule the middle air.