[UM] Relics of our Past

>#Relics of our Past >>#Galênê, Ancestor-Librarius and Mistress-Graphologist >>>#Circa 3E 311 >__

Editor’s Note: Originally this volume was separated into five tomes with each detailing a specific ‘relic’, but has since been ordered by the Lorekeepers Union to be condensed into a singular volume for easier access to Ynesleaic citizens both in the Dweech and on the surface, no matter.

>#Relics of our Past, Volume I: Aetherium Amalgamation

I have recently been charged by the Council of Dull Chimes with the scribing and publication of the ancient customs and mysteries of the Protoechi, the progenitors of the modern day Echmer race. Most of these customs are either ‘long-since-forgotten’ or ‘remembered-but-unable-to-correctly-analyze’, but as the chief researcher into Protoechi culture I was thrilled at the chance to start a new series of volumes for the benefit of both our race and the Tamrielic foreigners.

The Protoechi, our ancestors, were a strange and I must admit morally ambiguous lot. They experimented with a multitude of powers ranging from the tonal architecture of the Dwemer to the souls of creatures to the essence of magicka. Most of their inventions have been lost in the passing of time, but we have slowly begun to recover some of their esoteric notes and devices that leave us wondering more about our ancestors’ mentality. The most well-known and undeniably the last of these experiments was the Law, a set of mystical protocols that semi-bind the entire Echmer race through the use of primal acoustineering. The fact that our ancestors were able to manipulate the very being of our race in such a way speaks of the power they once wielded before beginning the Fourteen Years of Progress and becoming the modern Echmer. Where this power went none know today; it as if the Protoechi made it vanish without a trace. Nevertheless, many of those secret arts were lost to us. But through the recovery of ancient texts we have relearned one – Aetherium Amalgamation, a process best described as both incredibly beautiful and dangerous.

The Echmer people can best described as, for the lack of a better or native word, magnephobic. This term brought over from Tamriel means ‘a great dislike or fear of magicka’, and while I wouldn’t say that we fear it necessarily I will say that the majority of us do look upon magic with some contempt. We have always been skeptical of magicka and its uses, something we carried down from the Dwemer, and because of its unpredictability we aren’t inclined to using it. The Protoechi however (like the mages of the magical academy Mustikos’arcere led by Magus-Premier Aarōn on Pasgaviati) had no such qualms, and were greatly interested in using magic in a variety of ways. In essence Aetherium Amalgamation is the accumulation of that goal and revolves around merging raw magicka directly into the body of a living person, granting them extraordinary abilities.

As every educated individual on Nirn should know, all beings within the Mundus are born with the ability to store magicka within their bodies. Those that learn how to harness and manipulate those reservoirs are able to conduct or create spells and arcane rituals. Once a person’s magic reserves are spent they are refilled by sunlight and starlight (magicka in its natural form) that soaks into the skin during the day and night. This is what our ancestors wanted to fix, for as one can see, the body is incapable of producing magicka of its own although it can contain it. The Protoechi wished to destroy this limitation in their quest to gaining power over the Dweech after the Disappearance of the Dwemer and so devised a way at succeeding at this.

The key to this success and one of the many resources our begetters the Dwemer left for us after their vanishing was the strange crystal we call aetherium. This blue, luminescent material can be found deep underground and our kind has deduced that it is perhaps shards of the aetherial substance GANUS (which is also known as Magnus, for any Tamrielics reading this) used to sculpt the Grey Maybe. The Protoechi were enthralled by its magical properties just like the Dwemer had been, and knew that they could use aetherium as a conduit for self-magicka generation. But they became perplexed when they realized how impossible it seemed to manipulate the crystal. Using Dwemeri notes left behind our ancestors worked hard to find a way to break down aetherium into a smaller form. And although the process has been torn from the pages of time they did discover a way to reduce it into a powder without destroying its magical properties. With this done they could now work on combining the powder with the corpus.

This procedure is one of the few things we know completely about the process, for the Protoechi made sure to write it down in order to not forget the procedures. It involved the subject being placed on a stone altar inscribed with magicka runes, with sunlight or starlight shining down upon it. Deep incisions were then made along the body as if someone was going to peel back the skin, and then the aetherium powder was inserted into the body through these cuts directly into the blood. The cuts were healed and this point the body was to be left on the altar for nine days and nine nights before being submerged inside a reflective glass box filled with purified water. The subject would then awaken with pure blue eyes and the scars on their body would pulsate and glow from the raw magickal power contained within them.

The subject would discover that they were now capable of fascinating feats of magicka. Imagine being able to control the weather with a mere thought, create weapons out of nothingness, to see into the future! Those that survived the process were practically mortal ATEDA (et’Ada), able to fight wing-to-wing with said beings without assistance. But there were drawbacks to this process as well – subjects were left highly unstable, which resulted in bouts of rage or insanity. Their lifespans were cut in half and they became sterile for obvious reasons. Performing simple spells became a challenge, with much more powerful effects ensuing from the attempt instead. And those that underwent Aetherium Amalgamation had to be kept way from each other due to the aetherium in their bodies reacting explosively with each other. Eventually the entire process was deemed too costly and Aetherium Amalgamation was both prohibited and terminated, with the names of those that were enhanced by the procedure being erased from history.

Mysteriously, all of the aetherium deposits in the Dweech also disappeared around the same time and to this day we have yet to find it. Did the Protoechi find some way to destroy it prevent the process from being restarted? Or is it buried somewhere waiting to be found? Alas, maybe we’ll never know. But perhaps one day the Echmer will be able to recreate Aetherium Amalgamation, but it’ll probably take a millennia to correct the process. And thus ends the tale of one of our relics from the past.

>#Relics of our Past, Volume II: Exiliums

In modern Echmer society the practice of incarceration has been all but abandoned (although the Tamrielics have somewhat restarted this practice with their arrival). When an individual breaks the Law there are three consequences that can be bestowed based on the severity of the crime in question. If it is a minor crime the lawbreaker is stripped of his or her station and given a lower title. If it is a moderate crime the lawbreaker is banished either to the surface or the Dweech. And if it’s a major crime the lawbreaker is executed.

The Law wasn’t always around, however. The Protoechi believed that forcing the offender into a state of isolation for a period of time would result in societal reformation, eliminating further transgressions. This process involved an invention recovered texts refer to as Exiliums, devices created from the combination of acoustineering and magicka manipulation. Based on faded drawings and descriptions they resembled gigantic hexahedrons made up of a hundred smaller cubes, exiliums were used to contain those that were either deemed too valuable for execution or those whose mental states were to be observed for research. Overtime the Protoechi elite began to use exiliums as well, with them functioning as personal escapes from the outside world to continue their personal interests in peace with no outside interference.

Exiliums worked by carving ATEDA glyphs onto the cubes they consisted of, imbuing them with that particular entity’s power (it is unknown if the ATEDA in were contacted in advance during the creation of the exilium, but most modern scholars believe this was not the case). The cubes themselves were forged from a primal acoustineering technique we have yet to replicate, taking on the appearance of some kind of green metal unlike the standard euphrite (metal also created by acoustineering) we use for our buildings. Once activated the inside of the exilium would generate a pocket dimension within the Outer Realm known as Oblivion that would contain its inhabitants unless released, formed out of raw creatia and unable to be entered unless given permission.

The pocket realm can take on any appearance, being suited to the inhabitants needs most of the time. Food, water, and other provisions are packed in advance. However, if the inhabitant does not receive any nutrients or care for a long period of time while within the exilium it is possible for them to place themselves into a form of magicka-induced hibernation that delays death. The body continues to age (albeit slower due to the unpredictable chronological flow in Oblivion) and will eventually mummify itself over the years while the mind stays preserved. The Protoechi apparently once had a process that reversed the mummification, but it has been lost to the ages.

Once sealed away inside an exilium the inhabitant is functionally locked within it for eternity unless someone can find and manipulate its Ingress Pillars. Ranging two in number, these small green obelisks corresponded with an individual exilium and are the ‘keys’ to opening them. My ancestors, like the Echmer people today, loved creating puzzles of all sorts and exiliums were no exemption to this. According to the ancient blueprints and notes retrieved from Protoechi strongholds each small cube that makes up an exilium is an individual piece of the puzzle. Apparently each cube is marked in a way that allows it to correspond precisely with another cube, which many Echmer scholars state is nigh-identical to our modern puzzle-game called Rubicon. A rubicon is a small cube carved into sixty smaller but moveable cubes, with all six sides painted a specific color (white, blue, green, red, yellow, and purple). The rubicon is then jumbled into such a way the sides are no longer a solid color, and the goal of the game is too return the cube to the ‘six-sides-equal-one-color-each’ pattern. In fact, it is highly possible that rubicons are the descendants of exiliums.

The only problem with manipulating the Ingress Pillars (and therefore the unlocking of their particular exilium) is that the puzzles on the devices themselves were usually devised by their creator or occupant, resulting in a scenario where one would be impossible to open even if found. The Coalescent Efflux has expressed concerned with this, being so enraptured in exiliums as they are, and are working hard on creating an implement that will be able to crack the puzzles automatically. We have yet to actually recover an exilium as of the time period of this writing, but notes indicate that there are perhaps dozens of them buried away within the Dweech ready to be discovered. Imagine, our Protoechi ancestors being perfectly preserved in a way that it might be possible for us to revive them!

But we will have to be careful while finding exiliums however; these devices were originally built to host dangerous convicts and selfish individuals that deserve to be forgotten, and they are undoubtedly buried down here as well.

>#Relics of our Past, Volume III: The Nekrosarkophagos Several modern day Echmer and Tamrielic scholars believe that the Protoechi once had a system based around necrolatry due to their disturbing interests in necromancy and necromantic endeavors (see Relics of our Past IV: Hollow Mer) which was dissolved when our modern day society emerged when the Law was created, effectively banning widespread necromancy amongst our race and resulting in all notes and devices dealing with the black art being destroyed.

Except for one. And one is all it takes to create a legend of fear. According to recovered journals from a Protoechi servicemer one of these devices dismantlement, spirited away by foul necromancers and carried deep into the Dweech. Tales about its survival have become night terrors our little ones tell their siblings to keep them awake at night, although these tales are thankfully dumbed down in terms of content. The device I speak of now is the accursed Casket of Demise, the Consumer of Flesh, the Nekrosarkophagos. It is one of the few things in the Mundus our race refers to as evil, and we do not normally assign moral standards to anything in the universe (including ourselves and other races).

Its origins are shrouded in mystery, as are many of the mysteries our ancestors left behind for us to decipher. In texts it is described as a ‘nine-foot long stone coffin, with esoteric and frightening scenes of demise carved on its sides’. Its contents are even more chilling: ice-cold blood filled to the brim, with rotted bones soaking at the bottom. One of the myths surrounding it states it was found by the Protoechi in one of the ancient Ynesleaic Men ruins, explaining the insect carvings. Another states that it was a gift from one of the more malefic ATEDA to our ancestors for performing some despicable task. But how it was created does not concern modern scholars, just the power it allegedly wielded.

According to ancestral writings the Nekrosarkophagos was capable of converting any living being that was submerged within it into an undead thrall under the power of whoever controlled the Nekrosarkophagos. Over time these thralls would begin to develop into more grotesque forms, becoming more intelligent as they did the bidding of their master. To destroy them they would have to be set on fire, something that was easier said than done due to their enhanced strength, speed, and agility unlike that of ‘normal’ undead. In modern times the Nekrosarkophagos has had several mentions, although it has never actually been seen. Perhaps the most well-known of these mentions was by Nekros the Ravisher of Souls (many night terrors revolving around the Nekrosarkophagos begin with the horrifying necromancer being the one who originally created the stone coffin, even though this is far from true), who sought it to augment his own necromantic power. Nekros is widely believed to have fallen during his battle with Aarōn Peine-Killer however and should never return, so the archipelago is safe from him and his pathetic Brotherhood of the Bloody Skull for good. As of the common aeon whispers of the Nekrosarkophagos has quieted down outside the occasional story or rumor here-and-there. Many Echmer (such as myself) and Tamrielic researchers seek to be the first person to recover it from whatever dark and dank area of the Dweech its festering in.

And while I agree that recovering of the coffin will be a boon to understanding the Protoechi more than we do now, I also believe that maybe we should not be too hasty in finding it. You never know who, or what, may be looking for it as well.

>#Relics of our Past, Volume IV: Hollow Mer

As most besides for our littlest ones (and Tamrielics, I remember) know already when an Echmer dies his or her corpse is first ordained in the ceremonial cream before being cremated and entombed within stone likenesses of themselves within their Sect’s private ossuary. At their statue’s feet rests a plaque bearing their name, a summary of their most notable feats, and a quote they said during life. Water surrounds the feet of the sculpture in a circle, symbolizing their memory is eternal. In this way we honor the lives of our loved ones after their souls are nullified once they dissolve into the Black-Welkin, the Void.

The Protoechi however were not so keen on the passing of one’s soul into the afterlife (the souls of our ancestors did not travel into the Void to cease existing like modern Echmer souls do; that was a gift of HRAHNDEYL after he apotheosized for the good of our entire race), despite the fact that the practice of creating memory-sculptures for their remains passed down from them. As always, our ancestors were involved in strange experiments that we today frown down upon in our society. What makes it more difficult to bear is that these creations are still a functioning part of modern Echmer society. What I speak of now of course are the legendary Hollow Mer – stone golems given life by binding the soul of a deceased family member and their remains to a statue of their likeness, living out the rest of their existence as guardians for their Sect’s ossuary.

Most scholars believe that the Hollow Mer were inspired by Protoechi dealings with the Lesser ATEDA known as Atronachs, who themselves act similar to golems in mentality, and notes on Dwemer animunculi left behind by our Begetters. While this is unmistakably true, there also seems to be another reason why our ancestors created the Hollow Mer – as an experimental prototype to the modern auralmata we utilize for everyday use. The process of creating a Hollow Mer seemed to focus on transforming the statue of a deceased family member into something akin to a Binding Stone, with it being able to contain an individual soul without said soul being able to escape entrapment. While this may seem somewhat simple to deduce, what perplexes some researchers to no end is how the souls of the deceased were able to be contained in the first place.

According to some notes and hypothesizes devised by the Interpreters Band it is believed that the ancestral remains contained with the Hollow Mer were used in some form of necromancy that causes the soul of the recently departed to be stranded on Nirn instead of traveling onwards into either Aetherius, Oblivion, or the Dreamsleeve. The soul then merged with the statue, creating a Hollow Mer. It is currently unknown how exactly the Protoechi were able to induce a clear set of commands into each individual Hollow Mer to protect their Sects’ ossuaries, but a possibility has been brought up it might have been similar to the way they were able to bound our entire race to the Law with primal acoustineering.

Surviving Hollow Mer are unable to communicate with their descendants or express goals of their own, only following their unspoken order of protecting their ossuaries at all costs. Only until they are destroyed in combat (which rarely happens as our ancestors seem to have built them to be impervious to most direct attacks) do they actually truly find peace. Hundreds of Hollow Mer are still in existence today, standing guard over the immobile statues that line the halls of a family’s ossuary. They only allow other Sect members or those that are given to permission to enter their charges, being automatically hostile to anyone else who’d dare enter. Many Echmer view the stone golems as living ancestral spirits and tend to them as they would tend to the elders.

Out of all the relics left by our ancestors the Hollow Mer are perhaps the most beautiful and the most tragic. Many wish to free them from this lifestyle so they can finally find peace in the Black-Welkin. But we must ask ourselves this question: do they really want to be free?

>#Relics of our Past, Volume V: The Ancient of Days

The seas of the Ynesleaic archipelago unarguably have some sort of mystical quality to them, which has been both a thorn in our sides as well as the sides of our enemies for thousands of years. The Bitter Sea to the west and north is frozen, with chillingly winds and glaciers the size of mountains. The Chaotic Sea to the east and south is both highly turbulent and hot, and frequently forms whirlpools. Both of these seas contain terrible aquatic creatures like krakens and sea dragons, but only the Channel of Tru’Gitet where the two seas meet between Yne and Slea is calm and peaceful. As Hagreger the Calm, the First Echmer Oceanographer, reportedly said during his voyages: “The seas that surround Echmeri territory seem to be competing in the best way to destroy sailing ships.”

Of course the waters of the archipelago have a tale behind them, for it is a tradition amongst the Echo Folk to devise legends about the things we know and do not know. All Echmer remember the stories of the fabled ‘Ancient of Days’, a wise but terrible monster that according to legend the Protoechi chained up under the sea after it promised to reveal the secret of escaping the aurbical prison to them only for it to lie. The bizarre nature of the waters surrounding the Ynesleaic archipelago are a result of its undying rage against our race as a whole for its imprisonment. But clearly these were only meant to be stories and weren’t supposed to be taken seriously.

Or were they? Thanks to recently recovered texts from an excavated Protoechi stronghold in the Dweech it is now suspected that the Ancient of Days might be in fact a real entity that our ancestors encountered in ancient times. If the texts can be considered the truth then the Protoechi discovered the Ancient of Days slumbering deep within the Dweech in an underwater cave. Upon awakening the entity caused the water to grow violent and out of control before our ancestors were able to calm it down. When they asked it about itself the Ancient revealed that it had once wandered the face of Nirn during the Dawn Times when the world was still new. It eventually grew tired of its wanderings and fell asleep in a wide expanse of land after escaping from some battle in the west, and when it woke up the first time it found itself submerged underwater and trapped within a massive cavern system. Unable to free itself, the Ancient slumbered again for millennia before being awaken by the Protoechi.

Our ancestors rightfully believed that the Ancient of Days was one of the last surviving Ehlnofey, and in their excitement decided to interrogate the Ancient for useful information. However, the creature was only interested in freeing itself and as it rose caused the entire archipelago to quake violently. In order to stop the Ancient from destroying the islands the Protoechi chained the creature within its hole in the Dweech, hoping that would keep the Ancient imprisoned for good. The Ehlnofey was furious and prophesized that one day it would be free, and swore an oath to destroy both the Echmer race and the Ynesleaic archipelago once the chains that bound it bounded it no more.

According to tattered rough sketches of the creature it resembled a massive watery cross between a serpent and a scorpion, with the ability to control the water of those around it. It was also incredibly wise, with the ability to predict the future and having knowledge of all past and present events. But how was the creature still alive in the first place and not devolved like the rest of the Ehlnofey? Many of my colleagues believe that it would be beneficial to locate the Ancient of Days, but for what purpose? To free it or to interrogate it further? Hmm, perhaps that is a question best left for someone better skilled at such things rather than myself.