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Interview With Denizens of Vvardenfell On The Topic of Dwemer

Author: 
Various
Librarian Comment: 

Xan's note:
In my long journey searching, studying and collecting information about the Dwemer, I have met some brilliant people who have helped me very much. And, in one evening, me, Attrebus and Sinder, managed to ask them all to come to dinner in the Telvanni tower of Tel Fyr, Vvardenfell, Morrowind, so that I could interview them about the Dwemer. Thanks to Lord Divayth Fyr for providing me with a space to conduct my interview. Unfortunately, Lord Fyr himself could not answer any questions for me because he had to go to Tel Vos to attend a meeting with Lord Aryon.

Our guests here are Hasphat Antabolis, a Drillmaster of the Balmora Guild of Fighters who has an excellent knowledge about the Dwemer. Next is Estirdalin, an Apprentice of the Balmora Guild of Mages. Although she is just an Apprentice, she has a special knowledge of the inhabitants of Dwemer Ruins. After that comes the famous smith of Suran, Garothmuk gro-Muzgub, whose knowledge of Dwemer weapons and metal is second to none. We also have the famous Baladas Demnevanni here, who is a Telvanni Wizard that lives in the Velothi tower of Arvs-Drelen, Gnisis. He also has a great understanding of the Dwemer. And, last but not least, the last living Dwarf, Yagrum Bagarn. A good source of information about the Dwemer should be the Dwemer themselves, right?

OOC: This interview was created by taking the dialogues of these NPCs from TESCS and by combining them together in order to make a nice interview. Please note that we modified some minor parts of the dialogues to make them flow nicely, without ruining the basic concepts of the dialogues.

Xan:
Shall we start the discussion, gentlemen? Perhaps I would like to ask you about what or who the Dwemer are.

Hasphat Antabolis:
The Dwemer are the fabled lost Dwarven race whose ruins and splendid artifacts are scattered across Tamriel. Elves use the term "Dwemer," connoting variously "deep-delving," "profound," and "close-counseled"; Imperial usage is "Dwarven," derived in fable from the affectionate regard of the Giant races for their "little" Dwemer friends. There are several Dwemer sites on Vvardenfell, and many have found Dwemer artifacts.

Xan:
I keep hearing people talk about these Dwemer artifacts, their high price and the fact that it appears that it is forbidden to trade these artifacts. Could you tell me about these artifacts?

Hasphat Antabolis:
Weapons, armor, housewares, coins, and other items of Dwemer design are often found in Dwemer ruins. They are prized by historians and antiquarians, and very valuable. The Emperor, however, has declared all newly discovered Dwemer artifacts to be possessions of the Crown, and forbids their trade or sale. Now smuggling Dwemer artifacts is treason, but smugglers will still risk execution for such a profitable crime.

Sinder Velvin:
Well, that makes us more interested in visiting Dwemer sites. Could you please tell me a good Dwemer site to start with?

Hasphat Antabolis:
There are many Dwemer sites on Vvardenfell, but the two largest are Mzuleft and Nchuleftingth. Mzuleft is in the Sheogorad region, is cursed and dangerous, and access is forbidden. Nchuleftingth is occupied by an expedition of the Imperial Archaeological Commission, and is not open to visitors.

Sinder Velvin:
Also, what are these "Animunculi" that I keep hearing about?

Baladas Demnevanni:
In their denial of both phenomena and noumena, the Dwemer found comfort in the creation of Animunculi, which in their operation, combined two incompatible principles, thus denying both. In the first Dwemer ruin I studied, quite by chance in my wandering youth, someone had activated the Animunculi guardians and I was unable to make a proper study of them. Since then, I have, on occasion, found ruins, especially here in Vvardenfell, where the Animunculi are still active.

Xan:
Well, so the sites are dangerous. Actually, I have collected some information about the current inhabitants of the Dwemer ruin. These Animunculi are... [opens his notebook] They are various Dwemer Centurions, while the ghosts are Dwemer Ghosts. Please enlighten us about these Dwemer Ghosts.

Estirdalin:
Dwarven ghosts are encountered in the ancient abandoned Dwemer ruins. They are aggressive and dangerous, but ectoplasm, a filmy residue that remains after the revenant spirit of a Dwemer has been banished from the mortal plane, is a rare, valuable substance with modest magical properties. Normal weapons do not harm them; only enchanted or silver weapons or deadly spells affect them.

Sinder Velvin:
And what about Dwemer Centurions?

Estirdalin:
Dwemer centurions are enchanted war devices in the form of animated metal creatures. There are three classes of Dwemer centurions: the centurion spider, the centurion sphere, and the steam centurion. These devices are rarely encountered outside of ancient Dwemer ruins.

Attrebus:
Centurion Spiders? Spiders always chill me to the bone.

Estirdalin:
The centurion spider is an enchanted animated artifact of Dwemer creation. Constructed in the form of large metal spiders, they are aggressive and dangerous. Scrap metal collected from Dwemer artifacts is rare and precious, and prized both by collectors of antiquities and students of metals and enchantments.

Xan:
What can you tell us about the Centurion Sphere?

Estirdalin:
The centurion sphere is an enchanted animated artifact of Dwemer creation. These aggressive and dangerous devices compress into a ball when inactive, and transform into a mobile warrior when aroused. Scrap metal collected from Dwemer artifacts is rare and precious, and prized both by collectors of antiquities and students of metals and enchantments.

Xan:
And what about the Steam Centurion?

Estirdalin:
The steam centurion is an enchanted animated artifact of Dwemer creation. Constructed in the form of an armored warrior, they are aggressive and dangerous. Scrap metal collected from Dwemer artifacts is rare and precious, and prized both by collectors of antiquities and students of metals and enchantments.

Xan:
Fascinating... Hasphat Antabolis mentioned Dwemer weapons. What can you tell us about them?

Garothmuk gro-Muzgub:
These refined and elegant weapons resist corrosion and retain their edge in spite of hard use, and are notable among the distinctive relics of the extinct Dwemer race. Enterprising adventurers risk life and limb to recover these ornate, heavy weapons from the Dwarven ruins scattered throughout Tamriel.

Sinder Velvin:
And, now, about the Dwemer language. I know that many scholars are studying the Dwemer language and the Dwemer runes. Could you please tell us how to translate the language?

Hasphat Antabolis:
The Dwemer language is largely untranslatable, though the alphabet is known, and short inscriptions can be deciphered, usually from context clues. Fortunately, many Dwemer documents were written in Aldmeris, which is very close to modern Elven languages.

Attrebus:
Is there anything that you would like to add, Baladas?

Baladas Demnevanni:
The Dwemer language is unknown, perhaps unknowable. Some Dwemer books, especially records dating from after the founding of Resdayn, were written in Aldmeris, making them accessible to modern scholars. However, even in Aldmeris, many Dwemer terms remain uncertain. As the books and other artifacts in Dwemer ruins rarely show signs of wear or age, I believe that the Dwemer knew of a preservative effect, perhaps a device still active which denies or controls the Earth Bones governing time and decay.

Sinder Velvin:
I found this book, "Hanging Gardens", in the Imperial Library [puts a great hard covered book on the table]. What can you tell us about it?

Baladas Demnevanni:
So you have found a book. Let me see... Yes, this is written in both Dwemer and Aldmeris. I would keep this book somewhere safe. Perhaps you will find other books in the Dwemer language, and could use this book to translate them. If you find anything of interest, bring both the books to me.

Yagrum Bagarn:
Yes, this book is written in both Aldmeris and in Dwemer. Many books were written in both languages in the days of Resdayn when Dunmer and Dwemer ruled together peacefully. I'd offer to translate, but this is really just a boring travel guide. If you find any other books in Dwemer, I could translate them for you.

Attrebus:
Well, these two books are in the same rack [puts two great hard covered books on the table]. One of our librarians, Raptormeat, collected these books sometime ago, along with that Hanging Gardens. Their titles are the "Egg of Time" and "Divine Metaphysics".

Hasphat Antabolis:
This "Egg of Time" is certainly very suggestive. I fear I am not quite able to piece together what is going on. You might want to take these books to another Dwemer scholar, perhaps give it to Baladas Demnevanni.

Baladas Demnevanni:
Yes, I can translate these books. This first one is Bthuand Mzahnch's refutation of a popular theory from Nerevar's time. A few tones of Dwemer believed that using the power Lorkhan's Heart was an unjustifiable risk. "The Egg of Time" contains Bthuand's arguments against this idea, many of which are quite compelling. The next book, "Divine Metaphysics," is an explanation of how the Dwemer tried to make a new god, Anumidium, using Kagrenac's tools and the sacred tones on Lorkhan's heart.

Xan:
Yagrum, could you please tell us more?

Yagrum Bagarn:
[looks over Divine Metaphysics] By refreshing my memory with "Divine Metaphysics," I believe I can explain. The Dwemer were not unified in their thinking. Kagrenac and his tonal architects, among them Bthuand Mzahnch, believed they could improve the Dwemer race. Others argued that the attempt would be too great a risk. The war with Nerevar and the Dunmer may have led Kagrenac to carry out his experiments prematurely. Although this book argues that nothing disastrous could result, the disappearance of my race argues otherwise.

Xan:
What can you tell us about Kagrenac's experiments?

Yagrum Bagarn:
Let me be clear. It is better that Kagrenac's work be lost forever. Perhaps I could recreate his work. But I wouldn't. Perhaps I could rediscover the principles of Kagrenac's tools that permit them to draw power from Lorkhan's Heart. But I wouldn't. That tale is finished. Forever.

Xan:
Please, tell me more about these enchantments.

Yagrum Bagarn:
I'm not sure I can explain. In his search for the secrets of immortality, Kagrenac sought to control supernatural forces that you might call 'divine'. This artifact -- called 'Wraithguard -- was one of the tools that he created for this purpose. Some believed his tampering with such forces was profane, and terribly dangerous. You know the Dwemer disappeared? His use of these tools may have been responsible.

Xan:
I see. Now, the final question: can you explain to us how the Dwemer disappeared? Can you help us solve this great mystery?

Yagrum Bagarn:
Hmm.... I cannot say what happened. I was not there to observe. I was in an Outer Realm at the time, and when I came back, my people were gone. I left Red Mountain, wandering Tamriel for years, searching our deserted colonies, looking for a survivor or an explanation. Then, a long, long time ago, I returned to Red Mountain, still looking for answers. Instead, I found corprus disease, and I have been here ever since. I have theories, if you are interested.

Lord Kagrenac, the foremost arcane philosopher and magecrafter of my era, devised tools to shape mythopoeic forces, intending to transcend the limits of Dwemer mortality. However, in reviewing his formulae, some logicians argued that side effects were unpredictable, and errors might be catastrophic. I think Kagrenac might have succeeded in granting our race eternal life, with unforeseen consequences -- such as wholesale displacement to an Outer Realm. Or he may have erred, and utterly destroyed our race.

Baladas Demnevanni:
It was unfashionable among the Dwemer to view their spirits as synthetic constructs three, four, or forty creational gradients below the divine. During the Dawn Era they researched the death of the Earth Bones, what we call now the laws of nature, dissecting the process of the sacred willing itself into the profane. I believe their mechanists and tonal architects discovered systematic regression techniques to perform the reverse -- that is, to create the sacred from the deaths of the profane.

As the Dwemer left no corpses or traces of conflict behind, I believe that generations of ritualistic 'anti-creations' resulted in their immediate, but foreseen removal from the Mundus. They retreated behind math, behind color, behind the active principle itself. That the Dwemer vanished during a conflict with Nerevar and the Tribunal is merely coincidence.

Xan's note:
The topics that we discussed were very fascinating ones, but it seemed that this was all that the scholars around could tell us, and, besides, it was already too late for dinner. They left soon, after they finished their meals. Of course, if you want to know more about the Dwemer and about Kagrenac, you can always visit the Imperial Library.