The Scholar in the Basement

Another #ThalMod dialogue excerpt straight from the design documents. [Outdated, I'm changing them a bit to be more, well... Dialogue-friendly.]

Abridged Informal Interview with ["that scholar in the basement"]

“Are you one of the Thalmor?”

“No. I am the only one in Mary’s Wing who does not belong to the Thalmor. I have been offered the choice, but [Redacted] respects that I would rather not belong to anything. There is a large ruin beneath our feet and it’s related to [Redacted]'s plans in Bangkorai. I advise her on that matter, providing assistance where I can. In return I have the right to pursue my studies in peace. Don’t take that to mean your presence bothers me – ask your questions.”

“Are you blind?”

“No. Well, it is true that my eyes barely function. But no, I am not blind. I have spent centuries developing such a keen sense of hearing that I can see as well as anyone – even better perhaps. Every sound matters, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that sound is the integral force of the Aurbis. A sound – a song, a shout, a simple talk like the one we are enjoying now – they can all bend reality, with the right circumstances. The Dwemer understood. Their architects were musicians. The Dwemer built a palace of tonal geometry, and we live in its ruin.”

“Can I use the mannequin?”

“A mannequin? Oh, what a joke. That’s no mannequin – it’s a very delicate experiment. A simulacrum. It’s not finished. But if you do want to dress it up, go ahead.”

^[Dialogue ^Redacted]

“How old are you?”

“What a question. Do you know how strange it feels to be asked that as if it’s a polite thing to ask? Or as if I am still keeping track of the years? I suppose one might measure my age by historical events. For one, I can still picture the day the Dwemer became something else. I was studying in Resdayn at the time. It was one of the few events that I can find no sufficient words to describe.”

“Did you study with the Dwemer?”

“No. My teachers were Chimer, as were most of my fellow students. We were pariah to the Dwemer intellectuals. They maintained strict academic tradition: a long chain of pupils, architects and pedagogues, which left no place for visitors like us. Such strictness of the educational system was an important factor in fulfilling Dwemer ambitions.”

“What about the commoners?”

“Good question, though it shows a small misunderstanding. You could say the Dwemer were not all bad people, not all of them as militantly nihilistic as the books would have you believe. Kagrenac’s aim was as cruel to his own people as it was to the rest of Tamriel. Infectious tonal quiet. The Black Silence, I call it. Most call it the Numidium. It’s too bad that I can’t talk about the Dwemer without always coming back to that damned robot.

“But look. You should also realise that the Dwemer, collectively, were cruel in a way that has nothing to do with their Numidium. I shouldn’t have to explain – I think you’ve seen a Falmer before. And unlike some historians will tell you, the Falmer were also enslaved in present-day Morrowind – not only Skyrim. Unlike the ones in Skyrim, who survived off the local flora, the Resdaynian slaves had no means of sustenance when the Dwemer left. Nobody cared.”

“They were left to die.”

“That’s why it doesn’t even make sense to talk about Dwemer commoners. There were no commoners – the common people were the ones who didn’t meddle with tones, like the blacksmiths and simple mechanics. The laborers were our Falmer cousins. It’s a truth that scholars tend to leave out. Through war, peace, crisis and prosperity, the Falmer remained. Crushed beneath a brass boot. Even if I could do nothing about it, I am still ashamed of my complacency.”

“What are the basics of tonal architecture?”

^[Dialogue ^Redacted]

“What do you do for fun?”

“Good question. Nobody in the Wing has ever asked me that. Ever. To answer, there is this… Thing we call the Dreamsleeve. It’s an interesting place to be, not a bad way to pass the time.”

“The Dreamsleeve that souls go through?”

“No. Although I am glad that you know your reincarnation theories. No, it’s just a namesake.”

“What do you do on the Dreamsleeve?”

“Oh you can do anything. But the Dreamsleeve is the Dreamsleeve, I won’t explain.”

“Okay.”

“Mm-hmm.”