A POCKET GUIDE TO THE AURBIS AND ITS FIRMAMENTS, THIRD EDITION: Introduction & Exordium [Part I]

>#A POCKET GUIDE TO THE AURBIS AND ITS FIRMAMENTS, THIRD EDITION > >##Written Conjointly By: The Imperial Geographic Society and the Immaterial Harmonics Institute of Incongruitech and Extrinsic Travels

Being a description in art and prose of the lands outside Mundus, and their diverse denizens, customs, features of their histories, and other pertinent matter, that may or may not be recorded.

DEDICATED

To His Most Glorious Majesty, Who’s knowledge of extra-aurbical locations and their citizens is legendary, and Whose reign is one of peace and prosperity, Emperor Uriel Septim VII

Promulgated under the Authority of the Royal Imperial Mananauts, the Immaterial Harmonics Institute of Incongruitech and Extrinsic Travels, and the Imperial Geographic Society Circa 3E 432

The Nine Protections of the Divines

Father AKATOSH, Protect Me From Your Timeless Foes

Father ARKAY, Protect Me From Death Until Its My Time To Die

Mother DIBELLA, Protect Me From Blemishes Of The Flesh And Mind

Mother KYNARETH, Protect Me From Those Whose Nature Is Harmful To My Own

Father JULIANOS, Protect Me From The Darker Natures of Magicka

Mother MARA, Protect Me From Dangers Of The Heart

Father STENDARR, Protect Me As I Make A Livelihood For My Family

Father TALOS, Protect Me From The Horrors Of War

Father ZENITHAR, Protect Me From Bad Dealings And Decisions

The Seventeen Offerings to the Lords of Tumult

To AZURA, I Give A Rose Grown From Beneath The Moon

To BOETHIAH, I Give A Crown So Ze Can Destabilize The Country

To CLAVICUS VILE, I Give A Wish So He Can Destroy Our Future

To HERMAEUS MORA, I Give A Book So He May Use Our Secrets Against Us

To HIRCINE, I Give Hounds So He May Hunt Us To Extinction

To JYGGALAG, I Give A Mirror So He Can Reshape Us To His Will

To MALACATH, I Give Nothing So He Can Curse Our Everything

To MEHRUNES DAGON, I Give Armies So He Can Destroy Our Homes

To MEPHALA, I Give A Bloody Blade Ze Gave Us To Stab Our Friends

To MERIDIA, I Give The Stars So She Can Burn Our Spirits

To MOLAG BAL, I Give Our Souls So He Can Defile It To His Liking

To NAMIRA, I Give Insects So They Can Bite Us In Our Sleep

To NOCTURNAL, I Give Shadows So We Can Lose Ourselves Forever

To PERYITE, I Give A Set Of Scales So He Can Measure Our Lives And Deaths

To SANGUINE, I Give Wine So He May Devolve Us Into Deviants

To SHEOGORATH, I Give Our Logic So He May Replace It With Madness

To VAERMINA, I Give A Dream-Catcher So She Can Replace Them With Nightmares

#Exordium

The Aurbis. Perhaps no one will ever completely unlock its mysteries. But we here on Tamriel can at least try, and therefore that is why we have written this guide.

The first edition of the Pocket Guide to the Aurbis and its Firmaments was released the same year as the Pocket Guide to the Empire and its Environs, First Edition at the heed of Emperor Tiber Septim. Having discovered the ancient Reman vessels of the First Era, he refitted some of these vessels while also creating the very first Battlespires for his battlemages. It wasn’t until Emperor Tiber discovered that the Aldmeri Dominion’s sunbird program was still active that he fully reinstated and reformed both the Royal Imperial Mananauts and the Immaterial Harmonics Institute of Incongruitech and Extrinsic Travels. With the Aldmeri Dominion’s defeat in 2E 296, the New Void Navy was recreated with the assimilation of the Altmeri sunbirds and was officially given leave to recommission many of the interplanar devices left over from the First Era.

To introduce the baser concepts of our universe to potential mananauts, the first installment of this guide was released to the public. It only covered a few topics, but was highly popular among the citizens of the fledgling Empire. The nobility in particular enjoyed it, but there was still something missing. Although the majority of Tamriel (excluding newborn infants, of course) are literate and can do basic arithmetic, the poor were unable to have access to this book and therefore went unlearned. Mananaut inductions were few in number, with only fifty becoming full NVN officers in the first year alone.

As the Empire advanced throughout the ages, the first edition was continuously reprinted without much care to its contents or accuracy. Many events regarding or dealing with the lands outside Mundus have been minimally recorded, resulting in many of the chapters partially or even completely loosing their validity. It wasn’t until the time of Empress Morihatha that the first edition was given a second glance. A Pocket Guide to the Aurbis and its Firmaments, Second Edition was released to the public by the infuriating incompetent Imperial Office of Foreign Affairs.

The second edition was quickly banned across Tamriel by the Empress herself upon reading it, with viewing to all parties despite affiliation being forbidden. It was known for its overly propagandistic tones, prejudice ideals, and inaccurate depictions. The New Void Navy remained somewhat dwindled and unused, and the Aurbis-centric lessons became more outdated and even completely cut from courses from some Tamrielic schools and universities.

In the one hundred and twenty-one years since then, however, much has changed for the better pertaining to the Royal Imperial Mananauts. Breakthroughs in research thanks to the help (reluctant as it may be) of the races of the Imperial Territories – along with Reman-era genegineering and other biotechnologies advancements thanks to dangerous studies into Dwemer and Ayleid dynamics – have resulted in the New Void Navy being outfitted with better neotech.

After the coronation of Uriel Septim VII, the newly crowned Emperor immediately had all contact with the lunar provinces reopened to the fullest extent. Voidships, Sunbirds, and Battlespires were either recommissioned or scrapped down in order to build newer ones. Unlike earlier programs, the Emperor remained completely open to his citizens about what he was doing and therefore something surprising happened: many young adults across Tamriel now wanted to be inducted into the New Void Navy.

So by the order of His Imperial Majesty, the NVN, the Immaterial Harmonics Institute of Incongruitech and Extrinsic Travels, and the Imperial Geographic Society came together for the first time in history to create A Pocket Guide to the Aurbis and its Firmaments, Third Edition. With the addition of several new chapters, updated information, and better historical accuracy we hope this new volume will educate every literate being that calls Tamriel home about our infinite universe and the creatures that dwell therein. And while this guide in future years will only pertain to this moment in history, some day it will be replaced by a fourth edition, which will answer a matter of questions we cannot at this period of time.

Next Chapter: Into The Beyond – The History of the New Void Navy