An Alternative History of Aurbis

So I've been considering the history of the creation of Aurbis lately, and thought I'd write a fun little passage from the perspective of a mage explaining an alternative theory on the origins of Aurbis and its realms and beings. NOTE: This is not verified or canon lore, this is just an alternative explanation I came up with and thought I'd write into a lore-friendly passage.

A Reevaluation of Our Current Theories | For Julianos | Author: Unknown

Foreword: In this text I will present a documentation of the creation of the Aurbis and its history. These are theories I have formulated based on my studies in Mathematics and Magic, and personal experiences in Mundus and beyond. I propose that the Aedra lied to us, allowing us to believe the fairy stories of their godhood. I will explore the history of the the Nirn-dwellers (ourselves), the Aedra, and the Daedra; as well as the role of higher dimensional geometry in The Aurbis, and the implications this has on its formation and history.

Chapter 1: The Timeline | An alternative and brief timeline of Aurbis’ history

Before the modern Aurbis there only existed Anu and Padomay, and later Nir. Their years of self-reflection birthed children: Anui-El to Anu and Sithis to Padomay. Anui-El and Sithis created order and entropy respectively, bringing the primordial Void into existence. The children in turn had their own children: Auri-El to Anui-El and Lorkhan to Sithis. These grandchildren of Anu and Padomay respectively brought about the forces of time and space, giving the Void progression and substance. Anu and Padomay, the opposing and equal forces, fought for the love of Nir; killing her in the process. Anu created Nirn, the first mortal plane, from her corpse. In Anu and Padomay’s final conflict for supremacy, they hurled each other from time leaving behind their shed blood which mixed together in the Void. The combined blood of the opposing forces gave life to the first mortals: the Et’Ada. Aurbis now lacked its first gods, leaving Anui-El, Sithis, and their respective children to maintain the stability of Aurbis, and the first mortals thrived. These mortals spread to inhabit the new substance that the children of the brothers created; a sanctuary of balance and stability in a perpetually shifting Aurbis. They inhabited almost all planes available to them, from the furthest reaches of what is now Oblivion to the innermost planes that are now Mundus. The Et’Ada built their civilisation to grandeur, allowing for unfathomable technologies and mastery of magic and knowledge. They desired more hospitable living conditions, however. Note that at this time all mortal planes resembled Molag Bal’s coldharbour: cold, dark, and hostile. They agreed to give part of themselves - of their god-given power - to improve their home plane of Nirn, as well as to create new planes. However, not all Et’Ada thought this was a worthwhile trade; that is comfort for power. Magnus was an influential Et’Ada, and the chief architect responsible for the Et’Ada’s ability to create planes within the void. He and his followers decided to flee to Aetherius; a realm built from the higher dimensional fabric holding Aurbis in a state of stability … the birthplace and eternal resting place of all mortal souls; in protest of this idea. In doing so, Magnus tore a three-dimensional hole through the fabric of Aurbis creating a gateway of perpetual turbulence to the four-dimensional realm of Aetherius. This tear in Aurbis’ fabric goes by the same name as its creator: Magnus. Magnus’ many Et’Ada followers did much the same as him, however in doing so created the stars and magical constellations far beyond the reaches of even the Oblivion planes. This cataclysmic tearing of Aurbis sent violent shockwaves throughout the Void, shattering the nearest planes and stripping the further planes of their life. Now the Void was littered with dead planes: shattered and barren. Much of the light debris that broke from their planes were pushed far from Magnus, forming a ring of stone and dust - the Belts of Oblivion - separating Mundus from Oblivion. Magnus and his followers became the Magna Ge, however many Et’Ada still remained in the Void. Now the Et’Ada were left with a broken society and many dead worlds. The Et’Ada outside the Belts of Oblivion lost contact with the rest of their society, adapting to the barren planes and becoming the Daedra. The Et’Ada inside the Belts became the Aedra. In order to repair the sacred plane of Nirn for the Aedra, Lorkhan sacrificed his own life, binding the remaining shards of Nirn into the continents we know today. His heart binds the plane from the inside, and his bones formed Masser and Secunda; binding it from the outside. This cataclysm left the Aedra inhabitants of Nirn - the Ehlnofey and the Hist - scattered across continents now separated by seas. Some were doomed to wander the other continents of Nirn, becoming Men. Those who remained in their cities and clung to their rotting society became Mer. Compared to their Aedric forefathers, the Men and Mer of Nirn are cursed with woefully short lifespans. Particularly Men, living not even a century on average. As for the Aedra who inhabited the other planes created by the early Et’Ada, we assume they met much the same fate as the Aedra of Nirn due to the shattering of worlds. The Void-dwelling Aedra however, those who did not bind themselves to a plane, would go on to uphold the remnants of their society, later returning to Nirn to revere themselves as gods among mortals … knowing very well that they too were mortal. They attempted to prove their godhood by transforming small groups of Mer into ‘Betmer’ - the Khajiit and the Argonians - using their advanced magic and technology. The few void-dwelling Aedra who did return to Nirn each claimed their respective planes of which they sacrificed parts of themselves to create: Arkay, Zenithar, Mara, Dibella, Akatosh, Kynareth, Julianos, and Stendarr. Meanwhile, the Daedra of Oblivion made many frantic attempts at maintaining order and civilisation on their cold and dead planes. However much like their counterparts in Mundus, the only Daedra that maintained their power were the void-dwelling Daedra. Those who inhabited the planes succumbed to devolution much like the Men and Mer of Nirn, and these Daedra became the Dremora. The Void-dwelling Daedra, again like their Aedric counterparts, eventually returned to the planes, taking control of the Dremora populations and revering themselves as gods. The Daedric planes eventually fell into a state of war; each Daedric prince bickering with one another. Occasionally their perpetual state of war spreads to Nirn in events such as the Planemeld of 2E. Nirn, being the home plane of the Daedra and Aedra alike, is a highly valued prize. Nirn is a relatively untouched plane thanks to Lorkhan’s sacrifice, and as such is a very popular target among the Daedric princes.

Presently, the Aedra and Daedra alike maintain control over Men, Mir, and Dremora. The Daedra fight among themselves for power over Oblivion, while the Aedra appear to be collaborating in order to maintain their control of Nirn: even if that means fighting the Daedra over it. It is true Nirn is Aurbis’ most prized plane, and it is true that - despite what our “gods” want us to believe- it is ours. As such, we should keep this in mind when listening to the carefully woven stories of the Aedra and Daedra.

Chapter 2: Temporal and Spatial Structure of Aurbis | A scientific report on the intricacies of Aurbis and its mechanics

According to our current mathematical models, our world exists in three dimensions. During my studies in telekinesis and teleportation, I came to the conclusion that space itself, and subsequently time, is malleable. My conjecture is that Aetherius exists in four dimensions and is intrinsically laced into the fabric of the Void, as opposed to the previous theory that Aetherius is a three-dimensional firmament around the Void. Hence a cross-section of Aetherius, or a hole into Aetherius through the third dimension, will be three-dimensional rather than two-dimensional: much like a hole from a two-dimensional plane into a three-dimensional plane is, itself, two-dimensional. I propose that our sun, Magnus, is in fact a hole: just not in the traditional sense it was previously thought to be. In the same fashion, it is perfectly reasonable to deduce that the planes we can see such as Masser and Secunda are in fact round, and not tricks our ‘inferior mortal brains’ play on us. Yet another lie told by the Aedra to simultaneously suppress our knowledge of Aurbis and to maintain our subservience with the belief of our inferiority. Orbital Mechanics: Through intensive studies into Dwemer science and mathematics, and ancient magicks possessed by the Ayleids and other early Mer, I have concluded that an excess of magicka will in fact draw objects towards it. This can be seen most presently in telekinetic spells utilised by advanced mages. This is not confirmed, however it is possible that magic inherently bends the aforementioned malleable space-time structure of Aurbis, hence causing the attraction. I propose that Magnus, the source of all magic in Mundus and Oblivion, does just this. It attracts the planes themselves to it, causing them to perpetually fall inwards, creating a sort of orbit. I propose, using observations performed by the Dwemer, that the planes Nirn, Arkay, and Zenithar orbit on very similar orbits around Magnus. It is also possible - as planes themselves are magical constructs - for other, smaller ‘child’ planes, to orbit their larger ‘parent’ planes. This is also how the planes manage to maintain a gravitational force in all directions. It is reasonable to deduce from our previous model that Arkay has no child planes, whereas Mara orbits Zenithar, and Dibella orbits Mara. Nirn is orbited by Masser, Kynareth, Akatosh, and Julianos. Secunda orbits Masser, and Stendarr orbits Julianos.

Chapter 3: Implications, Explanations, and Notes | Extra notes regarding the theories presented

Yes, Akatosh and Auri-El are separate entities. One can argue that Akatosh took on the persona of Auri-El when posing as a god.

Yes, by our ‘mortal’ definition, the Aedra and Daedra are immortal. The truth is, this is not their nature. Their technologies and magic have simply enabled their unnatural immortality (or extreme longevity, we cannot be sure). We see similar abilities displayed by Men and Mer alike through ritual processes such as lichdom. Theoretically, it is entirely possible to kill an Aedra/Daedra, despite their immunity to age.

Unlike Anui-El, Auri-El, Sithis, and Lorkhan, the Aedra and Daedra do not display the signs of godhood. Much like us, the Aedra are mere inhabitants of Aurbis. They do not exist in an intrinsically symbiotic form with Aurbis like the four children of Anu and Padomay. They do not represent any fundamental pillar of reality that Anui-El, Auri-El, Sithis, or Lorkhan already represent, but rather they choose to represent mortal concepts such as love, commerce, and war. As such, this adds further evidence to the claims presented. They should not be considered too separate from us.

It is known that us Nirn-dwellers are descended from the Aedra, and that it is entirely possible for any of us to ascend to Aedric ‘godhood.’ We can deduce from this that the Aedra and their Daedric cousins are, in nature, mortals. Otherwise, we would not be able to ascend to their level, nor would we be descended from them. If they were in fact gods, we could easily call ourselves gods by relation. Otherwise, where does one draw the line between god and mortal?

It is worth noting that I am not denying that the Aedra are more powerful than us. I am merely putting forth the idea that the Aedra are in fact not worthy of our worship, and we should instead build our Pantheons around the true gods Anu, Padomay, Anui-El, Sithis, Auri-El, and Lorkhan. No Mer worshipped the Dwemer for their advanced mechanisations, or the Ayleids for their impressive mastery of magic. By extension, why should we worship the Aedra, who merely possess both?

As a tantalising side note, it is reasonable to assume that if my theories are correct, us mortals could one day build our society, knowledge, and technology to be equal or even superior to the Aedra.