This thread was started on June 23rd, 2006, and covers the duality of Akatosh and Lorkhan as well as the nature of the world in general. MK is Michael Kirkbride, and Sheogorath is Tedd Peterson. The post was archived by The Imperial Library.
MK
Did Akatosh put Alessia into the Amulet, or did Shezarr?
There are conflicting accounts in the lore. And it seems that TIL changed its timeline to reflect this.
Believe it or not, this was intentional. The internal TES timeline still has Shezarr at the apotheosis, even though OBL's book "Amulet of Kings" would seem to indicate otherwise.
Only about four people in the world might know what I'm talking about, and Xan's one of them.
Go fix TIL. And then get ready for a revelation.
Educated guesses beforehand are welcome.
MK
- "Shezzar == Akatosh?"
You guessed it. The Arena is a collection of pseudo-imagos, all the way down to the core. Lorkhan is Akatosh, the Dragon God of Time is the Missing God of Change.
Tamriel is an impossible place, built on impossible precepts. It's, frankly, a magic ball of sentient schizophrenia.
These are why the echoes in every corner of every myth. These are why the ease of men to immortals and immortals into frozen egos.
It is pure magic, thought up by the nagging itch called "if", which necessitated a "then", which in turn made everything scared that it would go away forever.
It is a baby universe with doom already marked on its head, because it cannot really exist, it has no real mother, and it doesn't understand how to get out, or why it might, or if it should because the rest of the void is a horrible thought filled with nothing.
And it is not really populated by classic medieval Facegen people. At least in the eastern portions of Cyrodiil, it's not.
MK
- "If I must put my money on theory, I'd say that there are closer bonds between Shezarr and Lorkhan than we always assumed. Whether those bonds are natural or artificial remains to be seen."
Do you mean Akatosh and Lorkhan?
Shezarr is the Cyrodilic version of Lorkhan, so they've always been bound together.
Sheogorath
If you believe it, it's simpler. Everyone is everything.
MK
"--one and one, eleven, an inelegant number. Which of the ones is the more important? Could you ever tell if they switched places?"
Sheogorath
Gez:
- "Trinimac wasn't an Aedra, he was Auriel's champion. More a hero-god like Reman or Morihaus than an Aedra-god."
Mehrunes Dagon:
- "Well no, but I more or less consider him as an equal (because his remains did produce a Daedra)."
Sheogorath:
Gortwog and the shamans of Orsinium would half disagree with you.
MK
- "Anyone else seeing the growing similarities with Hinduism? See, MK told us that Lorkhan-is-Akatosh, and the Aldudaggavelashadingas seems to suggest that Lorkhan-is-Akatosh-is-Dagon, too; all being part of some mystic Oversoul that is Aurbis. Perhaps this is the cosmic balance of things in the Aurbis: there is Lorkhan, who is Change, who transforms Possibility into Reality; there is Akatosh, who is Time, who both acts as the vessel and the sustaining force of Reality; and there is Dagon, who destroys excess Reality and returns it to Possibility, so that Lorkhan can Change again. They may not do this willingly, so hence it is the natural balance of things."
1. You're quickly becoming one of my favorite lore-posters. Good work.
2. "Growing similarities" should read "similarities" as the tendrils you're mentioning grew up a few years back, only being stumbled on now.
3. Emphasis mine above, which is a good way to see this thing. Perhaps the best way. I'd see it that way, only with bunches of made-up words and new writings that contradict everything that was just said.
A reminder, though, that I have no in-character or in-game source to cite as backup, so I'm just talking here, not revealing anything "absolutely true".