Interviews with Tapestrists, Vol. 17

This is one of the smithing perk books which I wrote for the Skyrim Requiem mod; posted here with our lead dev /u/Ogerboss's permission. I thought it might be a good fit for the "Art" week. Would love your feedback!

Also after your thoughts: how does smithing elven armor and weapons, both glass and quicksilver, work in TES? When did the Empire / Skyrim get hold of that ability? When might this book have been written (along with Cherim's "Heart of Anequina") and is there an Emperor for whom it would be a good fit? What's happened to all the tapestrists, and their tapestries? Where did they go?

Interviews with Tapestrists, Volume Seventeen:
Maqamat Lusign's "Introduction to Malachite"

by Livillus Perus, Professor at the Imperial University

The enigmatic Maqamat Lusign is little known in the Imperial provinces, being less prolific than his protege, the Khajiiti Cherim. Only three of his works are resident in Cyrodiil. "Introduction to Malachite" still hangs in the Imperial Palace alongside her sister, "Quicksilver."

Both images are part of his Lithic series. The Malachite tapestry, the fifth, is typical of Maqamat's work, depicting a woman who represents the stone or gem on which the image is centered. The figure in "Introduction to Malachite" is rendered delicately, life-sized, her hand extended to greet the Altmer ambassador. As is typical, a scene lies behind her and to the left, but unlike the other Lithic tapestries, the scene is of trees, rather than people. A distant forge lies on the right, with the smith visibly working bellows. A young man stands beside her, offering her a pale, green bottle together with a fine golden goblet; a refreshing drink for the heat of the day.

The play of light and dark in both tapestries is pronounced, being similar to the way it is seen by the eye, rather than any absolute shade of color. In contrast to the other tapestries, the smith glows in the forge fire, while Malachite, standing in daylight, is almost shadowed by the sun behind her, and from a distance appears only in silhouette.

The sister tapestry, "Quicksilver", is the last in the series and is known, of course, to be a portrait of Maqamat's wife, Jyllia. I asked who the woman represented by Malachite was, and received a small smile in return. "A visitor to the Summerset Isles, during my time there," he said. "A very kind and beautiful lady. Without her encouragement, perhaps I would never have become a tapestrist."

Thinking of the tales hidden in "Quicksilver" and the other tapestries, I asked him, "Is there a story here, in this weaving?"

"Of course," he replied.

When I pressed him, he merely looked at me with confusion, as if he had forgotten who I was, then smiled benevolently and went back to where our tea lay, cooling and undrunk.

If that had been all that Maqamat Lusign had said, the interview would have been short. But when the enigmatic master is silent, his work speaks for him. As with "Quicksilver," there are hidden details in the tapestry, and here they tell more than just a personal tale.

The trees are hardwood. The smith is working the bellows behind in order to produce a fierce flame with the wood he has already cut. A flute lies on the wall-stones of the forge, and it is only with a keen eye that one can see it is not wood or bone, but copper, and that it is not quite horizontal, but tilted as to draw air into the forge itself. Malachite wears a dress in the color of her name, but also a brooch, surrounded by moonstones. In the foreground, the bottle offered up by the youth has been blown from some kind of green glass. Malachite's dress and brooch are both a match for the bottle; the eye is inevitably drawn to it.

Looking more closely, it can be seen that the shape of the bottle is the same as that of an Altmer warrior's helm, inverted, and the goblet in his other hand is etched with a pattern like that of a storm-tossed wave; filled not with spring water, but with pure brine.

By the time the tapestries arrived in Cyrodiil, it was known that the armor of the elves was molded, like clay, rather than forged, and that brine was used in the cooling. It was assumed that the finer green armor, of similar appearance, was shaped using similar molds. The appearance of the bottle suggests a different crafting, and the title of the piece suggests the substance.

The Lithic tapestries were crafted as a gift to the Empire: ten beautiful images, each one delicate and extraordinary in its crafting. "Introduction to Malachite," though, would have caught the Emperor's attention. Malachite herself bears a passing resemblance to the Empress, and the smith in the background has the same dark, trimmed beard as the Emperor himself; more suited to nobility than to the working man.

Each of the ten Lithic tapestries took well over two months for Maqamat and his apprentices to produce, and each one is a masterpiece. It would be impossible to think that this one, of all of them, contained the true message. Impossible to think that the others were but pretty diversions. Impossible, save for the smallest detail of all.

The young man offering up the bottle is a tapestrist, and still bears a needle tucked into his belt; small enough that an Altmer customs officer might miss it altogether. The needle is attached to the last thread of the tapestry, uncut. It is a real needle, rather than embroidered in place, and it is made of sharp, green glass.

The Empire's recent discovery of the blown glass technique for malachite has not pleased the elves.