"After all, you're a mongrel spy for the Empire, are you not? Stop pretending you loving Resdayn as much as we did."
"Because you know I'm not. You said you were Lord Indoril Nerevar's best friend, and he betrayed you. Guess what? He died for keeping his promise to Velothi people, trying to protect your rights and drive all outlanders from Mora Vvynth. That included me, I exiled myself to keep that honor." She pauses, feeling quite a bitter sting in the chest. "How is he the betrayer? You betrayed him too, didn't you?"
"You were not there. You don't have visions of a god. Don't be such an innocent telling tall tales." The tone is still cool despite the heat from the next chamber. The Heartthrum.
"In every possible account written in the Elder Scrolls(#), you betrayed him: For once, the madness overtaken you, you submitted yourself to the Heart rather than your Lord; For another, you vowed you would never use the Tools again: You became Dagoth Ur. You may claim you kept your oath and were protecting the dangerous Tools from anyone else willing to use or destroy them, now you are the very one who abuses these blasphemous items the most. Either way, You betrayed from the start to ally with the Chief Tonal Architect of the Dwemer. Still, you and the House in actual fact sold the Velothi out during the war. Do I describe it right?"
((# Elder Scroll: Morrowind. She 'saw' it in the previous life, though not ALL. Which 'had' been burnt as a catalyst to zero-sum Meredith herself in 4E Prime, being 'seeded' into a new dream, whom then is reborn as Merethid in current rebuilt iteration of Morrowind.))
"Although your very existence may have convinced me humans aren't incapable of enlightenment, all your modern hearsay and false conjecture about old Resdaynia back in the damned Age are inaccurate like guar's bites!"
Dagoth Ur being utterly enraged, he smashed one of the closest Dwemeri steam pipe nearby with one clawed punch.
"You don't know a damn thing about the bond between Nerevar and ME!"
From the leakage of Red Blight, the nostalgia of ancient Resdayn, its beauty and melodies emerge into the Waking Dream.
"I was Nerevar's most trusted general of national intelligence, The Third Eye of the Kings and The Sixth House of Music, watching his back all the time, keeping up the morale, just like you as an imperial spy. We were everywhere. We were Mer of Drifted Sands, before the Ashfall dominated the Land. We scout for the Chimereth, then the Tong do the executions in peaceful times. Aren't you one of Mephala's Hand? You know their drill. We have our own code, we are observers of eternal Shadow.
"It was my duty to investigate what the Dwemer were planning on the Heart. The breakup of Nerevar and Dumac was not at all my fault, but Nerevar blamed us, politically or not, for providing inaccurate reports resulting in the War of the First Council(#). The War forever changed this Land. Nerevar couldn't bear such, 'misreads' in front of his council and the rest of Velothi. Or should I say 'them'. They accused us, wronged us, used us; they were afraid of me, and we were never truly be trusted. We, the House Dagoth, had no choice but to exile ourselves, turned us in to our true enemies, as double agents. While Kagrenac and his guild of blasphemy secretly continuing preparing their machines of war. At first we tried our best to remedy the broken Alliance by this sacrifice, for my Lord; then fell to seeking their weakness from within. We patiently waited for a second chance to redeem our name, til the whole story went out of control.
((#: The War began with Dwemer against House Chimer, then Dagoth rebelled, allied with the enemy, summoning the Nords and Orcs to their aid.))
"I swore to watch Kagrenac closely at all costs, an eternal oath to serve Nerevar and the promised land." Dagoth says with a time-beaten tone. Merethid can again reach the sadness behind his Mask.
"We became the first... specimens for Kagrenac's experiment. We ourselves were of the Dwemeri plan, and help build the Numidium with our talent. If Nerevar cannot face the music before his people, I'll do this for him in the shadow. We learned everything and made agreements with Kagrenac behind Dumac. I even negotiated with the Nords of the Heart secrets for their swords, for Chimereth in case.
"When the Battle of Red Mountain out broke, and after the grave losses of lives, both our people, the tides and ashes turned. With the grand victory supported by the House of Unmourned beyond the enemy line, but not without heavy costs, by Bthuand's advice Dumac finally begged for a conditional truce. The Nords took the chance launching their full invasion. In the end, I successfully turned the King of Dwemereth and also his Tonal Architects again back to our side using their short vision, fear, and greed, along with Nerevar's mercy and naive promises.
"Then we, the newly reforged yet extremely fragile alliance once again, composed of only Nerevar's Chimeri bodyguards and my loyal kin of Velothi, utilized the Tools in our favor, while the semi-working Brass God was temporarily put out of order during the Hortator's last full assault. We became utterly invincible despite the number. That day, was a remarkable yet ironical victory, a great ruse and bold ambush too, against these unscrupulous savages, the Nordic god king. Yes, Lorkhan, the Ash-King himself was slain right before the Heart, by his own divine power. Nerevar as the Godkiller.
"I was already deeply corrupted by the Heart's magic at that time, a power that should never be used." Dagoth sighs with a very strange sound. An echo made by demigods only. "You just can't really trust anyone but mer ourselves... no, not even Chimer."
"Nerevar, oh sweet mighty Nerevar, believing the peace between Dwemer and Chimer still possible, knew nothing about his council advancing their unauthorized forces onto Red Mountain, to put an end to the War not in Nerevar's way....
"The enchantment was too powerful, and too sinister, we can't even die in battle despite our mortal wounds... I stabbed defenseless Dumac before Nerevar and his shield-companion could return the both Tools back to the Dwemer, and my brethren slew Kagrenac and his clan right on the spot, if not each of them. We must, Nerevar knew that. But he couldn't, so I did that for all of us.
"Regardless, Nerevar angered and impaled my chest with his True Flame, in the Heart Chamber. Then he was immediately overwhelmed with immense remorse. I begged him to destroy the Tools for the restoration of House Dagoth's honor, which could effectively kill us right away, but he was so regretful, so tired, and so confused. We cried on each other.
"Ordering me to stay put and guard, he turned away firmly willing to seek advice trying to revert our doom and save the House, to cease the whole madness, with his last breath. He was such a strong mer you know, a worthy King of Resdayn to die for, and a true friend. But how could he possibly understand the danger of that source causing this divine curse that had tormented us throughout the War?
"I struck him in the back. Stopped him," said Voryn coldly. "Knowing he would definitely be murdered by his vile council the other way."
"We had gone too far from each others. All of us.
"The options were limited. We, no, I, managed to break the golem enchantment linked to the Dwemer, and us...that effectively exterminated the race once and for all... But we were unable to finish the final jobs. Before we could, the triune caught us and claimed the Heart and Kagrenac's Tools.
"Both of us, died together."
An anonymously odd but refreshing wind blows into the citadel, through countless Dwemeri passages from nowhere, sweeping away all the swelter in their chamber. For just a brief moment, the airstream flows as calmly as the idyllic Lake Amaya, they doubt the Heart of Red Mountain could ever cease to beat. Merethid feels nothing but a slice of sorrow, the inner them keen over nobody but the demised Moon-and-Star. They both know the instant's alike in the eye of ash storm. Tomorrow the Blight will dominate the sky again, and the Dream will haunt the night — this twisted destiny must come to an end someday.
------ Well, obviously I'm no fan of explaining everything by simply Dragon Breaks, to me it's more like scattered facts of the whole picture. I wanted a version with maximum compatibility just like modding.
From the last part you should have noticed that even Dagoth Ur himself has already crowned as a (demi)god, having a wild and visionary ambition to change everything. He is still just an NPC entity who couldn't even break the 4th wall like M'Aiq does. His knowledge has boundaries as well as my PC(She is/was just an 'enlighted' Prophecies-Fulfilled Nerevarine) here (i.e. stay In Character), they only talk about stuff based on established in-game/in-world lore and metaphysics. In my headcanon Nerevar as the Nerevar Reincarnate/canonical Nerevarine stands out differently (NOT the old-school Indoril Nerevar). The reborn him is almost equivalent to a culmination of all MWplayers/MWfandom(Nerevarium), HE knows everything all players know (Out Of Character), nearly omniscient or beyond toward the TES worlds. In the previous story the interaction with Nerevar should be top tier metaphysical conversations as claimed by myself. They talked about the ultimate Love toward Morrowind 'the game', or 'identity' in the universes, just in a more mundrial/narrative/in-character way. They both were beyond the in-world logics and more, there in the desperate wasted post-apocalyptic Vvardenfell, aware of the existence of multiverses of Nerevarines, manipulated everything in The Elder Scrolls at will, and trying to manifest their(hers or others') wishes to re-save Morrowind through re-mantling the original PC/hero. HE could be sorta a 'god' amongst MW fans, even we players can never imagine or explain such a phenomenon. (cf. CHIM is supposed to be In Character.)
So, where were we now? Ah Voryn Dagoth. :)
First of all, Indoril Nerevar knew the House were not pure evil from the beginning, but the Chimereth((there was no such Chimer nation by lore, just Resdayn(ia), the Dwemer/Chimer union, I just defined it for narrative convenience)) and its 'unity/peace' needed a scapegoat. So the House ended up sacrificed and took the role, but their friendship was so tight Nerevar and Voryn both believed in each other and wouldn't easily betray. Pity and shame that the plan to redeem Dagoth's name could never be realized due to the circle of conflicts and hatred. All the ugly politics.
Yes, contrary to popular belief, I personally don't believe him to be unreliable. So I awaken the insane him in the Part I ((otherwise he will keep talking to the YOU(=imaginary Nerevar himself) during his own dreaming)). Here we can assume from 90% of Voryn's account should stand true since of all companions of Indoril Nerevar he was kinda 'honest(loyal)' probably only second to Seht; even Alandro Sul tried to make things up about 'Truth' to Ashlanders in my opinion. Note that though, he still seems to hide something in the end, to 'glorify' his 'death' with Nerevar. Actually, perhaps the companions managed(attempted) to summon Azura in a ritual after they arrived, he didn't necessarily die with Nerevar, and instead also experienced the transformation Chimer->Dunmer, either a curse or a blessing, before his first death/resurrect. It's just human nature to make belief themselves...or mer nature. :D
Again, this is not a lore-proven story or novel, just fictional conversations based on the (MW-based) canonical materials. I'm no lore master, there must be some error I didn't pay attention before. I don't really care the lore-friendliness with later TESs, just focusing on TES3, that's why I called it a (partial) reset, not a relaunch. As a roleplayer, I read outer sources but I more incline to retell what I knew and experienced in-game.
Finally, I decided to trim off the relatively irrelevant parts about their further arguments in addition to those in Part I, and those about him commenting Azura, Vivec, and others. I don't want to stray from the topic too much and make the conversations too long to digest. Writing is not gaming, where you can ask an npc anything anytime randomly without breaking the audience experience. Plus I don't like to stall the emotion. Something needs to be focused. Even there were several instances Merethid would have asked lore questions that should never be answered clearly, such as key historic facts or Tonal techniques(your bet, it's all about musical stuff). I don't want to break the flow of Voryn's Testimony.
TL;DR: Anyway you ask, WHO the heck killed Nerevar after all? He could have died a dozen times already! I don't know, you decide. :)
Now then above this is my interpretation and conclusion about what happened in my headcanon across various lore accounts. Hope people will enjoy it as I do, or find some trove contributing to your own imagination about those vague lore events(#) that have troubled many players for years.
1 comment
Confession of Nerevar - a tri-part "prequel-epilogue" feat. Nerevar
False Reincarnate - an unexpected encounter w/ Vivec
Testimony of the Sharmat _Part I - Waking Dreams
Testimony of the Sharmat _Part II - Godkiller's Fate
Testimony of the Sharmat _Part III - Love Letter
Merethid's profile
------
Well, obviously I'm no fan of explaining everything by simply Dragon Breaks, to me it's more like scattered facts of the whole picture. I wanted a version with maximum compatibility just like modding.
From the last part you should have noticed that even Dagoth Ur himself has already crowned as a (demi)god, having a wild and visionary ambition to change everything. He is still just an NPC entity who couldn't even break the 4th wall like M'Aiq does. His knowledge has boundaries as well as my PC(She is/was just an 'enlighted' Prophecies-Fulfilled Nerevarine) here (i.e. stay In Character), they only talk about stuff based on established in-game/in-world lore and metaphysics. In my headcanon Nerevar as the Nerevar Reincarnate/canonical Nerevarine stands out differently (NOT the old-school Indoril Nerevar). The reborn him is almost equivalent to a culmination of all MWplayers/MWfandom(Nerevarium), HE knows everything all players know (Out Of Character), nearly omniscient or beyond toward the TES worlds. In the previous story the interaction with Nerevar should be top tier metaphysical conversations as claimed by myself. They talked about the ultimate Love toward Morrowind 'the game', or 'identity' in the universes, just in a more mundrial/narrative/in-character way. They both were beyond the in-world logics and more, there in the desperate wasted post-apocalyptic Vvardenfell, aware of the existence of multiverses of Nerevarines, manipulated everything in The Elder Scrolls at will, and trying to manifest their(hers or others') wishes to re-save Morrowind through re-mantling the original PC/hero. HE could be sorta a 'god' amongst MW fans, even we players can never imagine or explain such a phenomenon. (cf. CHIM is supposed to be In Character.)
So, where were we now? Ah Voryn Dagoth. :)
First of all, Indoril Nerevar knew the House were not pure evil from the beginning, but the Chimereth((there was no such Chimer nation by lore, just Resdayn(ia), the Dwemer/Chimer union, I just defined it for narrative convenience)) and its 'unity/peace' needed a scapegoat. So the House ended up sacrificed and took the role, but their friendship was so tight Nerevar and Voryn both believed in each other and wouldn't easily betray. Pity and shame that the plan to redeem Dagoth's name could never be realized due to the circle of conflicts and hatred. All the ugly politics.
Yes, contrary to popular belief, I personally don't believe him to be unreliable. So I awaken the insane him in the Part I ((otherwise he will keep talking to the YOU(=imaginary Nerevar himself) during his own dreaming)). Here we can assume from 90% of Voryn's account should stand true since of all companions of Indoril Nerevar he was kinda 'honest(loyal)' probably only second to Seht; even Alandro Sul tried to make things up about 'Truth' to Ashlanders in my opinion. Note that though, he still seems to hide something in the end, to 'glorify' his 'death' with Nerevar. Actually, perhaps the companions managed(attempted) to summon Azura in a ritual after they arrived, he didn't necessarily die with Nerevar, and instead also experienced the transformation Chimer->Dunmer, either a curse or a blessing, before his first death/resurrect. It's just human nature to make belief themselves...or mer nature. :D
Again, this is not a lore-proven story or novel, just fictional conversations based on the (MW-based) canonical materials. I'm no lore master, there must be some error I didn't pay attention before. I don't really care the lore-friendliness with later TESs, just focusing on TES3, that's why I called it a (partial) reset, not a relaunch. As a roleplayer, I read outer sources but I more incline to retell what I knew and experienced in-game.
Finally, I decided to trim off the relatively irrelevant parts about their further arguments in addition to those in Part I, and those about him commenting Azura, Vivec, and others. I don't want to stray from the topic too much and make the conversations too long to digest. Writing is not gaming, where you can ask an npc anything anytime randomly without breaking the audience experience. Plus I don't like to stall the emotion. Something needs to be focused. Even there were several instances Merethid would have asked lore questions that should never be answered clearly, such as key historic facts or Tonal techniques(your bet, it's all about musical stuff). I don't want to break the flow of Voryn's Testimony.
TL;DR: Anyway you ask, WHO the heck killed Nerevar after all? He could have died a dozen times already! I don't know, you decide. :)
Now then above this is my interpretation and conclusion about what happened in my headcanon across various lore accounts. Hope people will enjoy it as I do, or find some trove contributing to your own imagination about those vague lore events(#) that have troubled many players for years.