An Analysis of Inter-Amaranthic Temporal Position aka Geography

Gather round folks! Today I'll be ranting about the geography of continents, as well as the various theories that surround them. Let's take a look across the oceans, to Atmora, to Akavir, to Yokuda and beyond. Now I'm sure there are plenty of you who laugh at the whole 'other continents are different time periods' theory, but try to keep an open mind.

Now, think about this thread where MK helps some folks elaborate on the nature of Akavir and Atmora in the comments section:

Sheably: >"And what of Atmora to the North? Neither East nor West is he. And so its king lays down this law, that all worship is free."

MK: >"Atmora is frozen. But I like this trap for the Otherkin. Free worship in the land of stagnancy."

Sheably: >"Exactly how I was thinking of it. It is frozen both in time and in temperature. As time moves around the circumference of Nirn then Atmora must not move, being that it sits at the pole."

And now examine this thread, where the temporal nature of Aldmeris was explored a bit.

Gopib: >"It melted. I mean Atmora froze in time. Memory became solid and unchanging. Events ceased to occur because there was no memory for them to float on. This taking into consideration the water comparison. In that sense the continents are literally event incarnate. Because that is what they are, the events. Without the events to define them they are nothing. And in Aldmeris time just became so bloody quick that events just instantly melted into memory and memory evaporated. It was just too hot. Like IFW said it consistently gets younger and younger, it keeps trying to remake itself. It gets too hot on the press, it evaporates. Hence why no one can remember Aldmeris. Up in a cloud of mist."

MK: >"It's a great theory. I love the idea of a super-heated Aldmeris."

Now let's elaborate. As we know, it's possible to travel across time and/or between dreaming Amaranths by crossing the oceans. The oceans are like seas of memory and possibly the interstitial fluid between individual cells in a tissue simple. Sail West from Tamriel to reach the Past that is Yokuda, head East to the Future that is Akavir.

Step back a moment and take a look at the pantheon of Ancient Egypt, specifically the sun gods. You have Khepri, Ra and Atum. Khepri is the Morning Sun that rises in the East, Ra is the Midday Sun that hangs overhead and Atum is the Evening Sun that sets in the West.

The setting sun is associated with death, and we know that Yokuda is essentially a 'dead land' that sank into the ocean in the past. Conversely, the rising sun is associated with life and rebirth, which springs from the East. Moreover, it represents the coming of a new day, the arrival of the future, which is represented by Akavir (the next Amaranth, the flower-baby of Vehk and Jubal-Lun-Sul.)

Khepri, the Egyptian Rebirth God of the Rising Sun in the East, is also represented by an animal: The Scarab. He is seen as the divine force that drives the sun across the sky like a scarab beetle pushing a ball of dung. Furthermore, the Ancient Egyptian infinitive verb kheper means "to develop" or "to coalesce into being." The Scarab is the force that allows the future to come into existence - that is to say, the Scarab is the Nu Man that becomes the next Amaranth in the chain of Godheads.

tl;dr - The East, the Rising Sun and Scarabs are all a metaphor for the arrival of future Amaranths.

And that's where babies come from.

But Atmora? Try to place it on a globe. You can move East or West into the Past or Future, but it always stays in the North. It is a land of stagnancy, of eternal imperfection. And it keeps growing older and older, frozen in ice and time alike. The Men who lived there came to know that imperfection and increasing oldness that accompanied the falling snows, so they grew to desire Change away from this land of Stasis.

They sailed South, toward Tamriel.

Aldmeris is the opposite. Whereas Atmora is a static land of frozen water, Aldmeris is a dynamic and chaotic land of boiling steam - extremes of temperature and time alike. Aldmeris is the South Pole in relation to Atmora's North Pole. It is a land of imperfection and endless change, for it keeps getting younger and younger, always reverting back and trying to change itself into a new form. But it grows hotter, and the fluid waters revert back to clouds of steam before they can cool into a proper shape. The Mer who lived there came to know that imperfection and increasing chaos that accompanied the rising vapors, so they grew to desire Stasis away from this land of Change.

They sailed North, toward Tamriel.

But what of Pyandonea, home of the Maormer?

Well, it lies to the South, between Aldmeris and Summerset. It is a midpoint between Tamriel's normal time and Aldmeris' unyielding youth. The same applies to the temperature; Aldmeris is a land of vapors that knows only incredibly hot, always-moving steam. Pyandonea is a land of rainforest, which are incredibly warm, and mist that is somewhere between boiling vapor and cool water.

Observe Orgnum, the exiled Aldmeri nobleman-turned Maormer wizard king. King Orgnum seems to be immortal and unaging. Moreover, he actually seems to be getting younger as the years pass by. A mist surrounds the continent, preventing the Maormer from ever returning to Aldmeris. However, it cannot stop them from launching invasions into Tamriel, where they raid the coasts of Summerset and Valenwood.

Now think about this. Pyandonea is a tropical island, undoubtedly full of fruits and other luscious plant life befitting of such a biome. It is veiled in mist and its inhabitants are steadily growing younger and younger.

Take a look at the mythical lands featured in legends in the United Kingdom. Avalon, the final resting place of King Arthur, is a misty island across the sea. Irish myth features Tír na nÓg, the Land of the Young, which is associated with youth, abundance and everlasting beauty. In that land, time moves so fast that centuries fly by in the span of a day. This is similar to Aldmeris, whose time became so rapid that it outright melted and boiled itself into steam. Both Avalon and the Land of the Young are accessed in legend by crossing the sea, just as one crosses waters to move through the ages and into Ald-Amaranths and Nu-Amaranths.

tl;dr - Pyandonea is a land of youth that bears many similarities to Aldmeris in time and temperature. It's Not-Quite-Aldmeris-But-Close.

Edit: And recently I've found this little bit of explanation from Michael Kirkbride that sums everything up cleanly:

MK: >"Tamriel is the present. It is literally the center of time.

>Akavir is the East and it is in the future.

>Hammerfell (Yokuda) is to the West and is in the past.

>Traveling from west to east means more than taking time to sail, it means sailing across time.

>Atmora to the North is frozen in time. As such, it didn't really exist at all.

>Aldmeris to the South is outside of time. As such, it didn't really exist at all.

>The moons? Now they're really weird when it comes to time."

Dreadnautilus: >"Then what is Lyg, on the opposite side of the center?"

MK: >"Lyg is a backwards coffee stain of Tamriel...One time Nirn got folded up, folded space-style ala Dune Spice Navigators. Lyg is the result."

Water is Memory, Event Incarnate. Time is Temperature, the motion of moments that controls these droplets and shapes our understanding of linearity. Take this knowledge into yourself, water-sighted scholar, and sail across the Sea of Dreams until you find a land where you may lay your weary head to rest. Shape yourself into a flower and blossom into a dreaming sleep, forever beautiful.