Fragments of the Journals of the last Dragonborn

by The Eternal Guest

Fragments from the journals of the last Dragonborn, written around the year 202 of the fourth era, and now translated, insofar as it is legible. Much of it seems to be tales of the history of Tamriel, or of certain races dwelling upon it. Other parts pertain to the opinions people had at the time, and the rest is made up of opinions the writer, the Dragonborn, had.

7. Lorkhan

On Lorkhan.

Lorkhan, the trickster God. He has been mentioned before; how could he not be? The being that first conceived the idea of Nirn, of Creation. The Elves in general hate him greatly, especially the Thalmor, for it is Nirn that ties them to their mortal coils, and Lorkhan, as the second Tower, that forces time to go in a line, where it once flowed freely.
It is a common mistake for people to assume that Lorkhan and Talos are one and the same, both revered by Men, both hated by Elves.

And to some extent it is no mistake, for it was through mantling Lorkhan that Talos became a Divine.
Mantling. "Walk like them until they must walk like you." Often used to gain power, it is the greatest act of mimicry. It is to act like another, more powerful, being to such an extent that the lines between you blur, and the universe itself hardly distinguishes between the two.

There are few known successful cases in which Mantling was used to gain power, Talos mantled Lorkhan, and the Tribunal of Chimer mantled the Tribunal of Daedra. Almalexia, Vivec, Sotha Sil. Boethiah, Mephala, Azura.
And of course, the Hero of Cyrodiil, who mantled Sheogorath. This was a different case though, for rather than mimicking Sheogorath until there was no true distinction between them, the mantle of the Mad God was granted to him by the Prince of Order, Jygallag.
I can speak at most length of this last case, as I have met Sheogorath, and therefore the Champion, myself. It seems to me that it was a mutual imitation. Sheogorath was more heroic than the older tales tell; his quest for me was the curing of a long-dead madman, rather than the tales of raining flaming dogs and cheese you hear in older tales. The Champion does seem to have changed too, unless he was utterly insane in life too.

There are no true clear definitions of mantling, or even whether it is easier to mantle some deities than others. It is theorised that Talos had an easier time of mantling Lorkhan due to his time spent controlling the power of the Numidium, and indirectly Lorkhan's power, but it is, of course, uncertain.

Lorkhan is unique in that he is the only Aedra to have been stripped of immortality, cursed to wander the land in mortal form. These reincarnations are named in the Cyrodiilic fashion, Shezzarines. Shezzar for Lorkhan, for that is what they call him, and Ine for reborn. Examples are Pelinal Whitestrake, who helped St. Alessia in her revolt, and is renowned for his hatred of elves, and for the Khajiit's hatred of him, stemming from the misunderstanding that they were oddly-shaped furry elves. Which lead to him trying to kill them.
Another example is King Wulfarth of the Nords, who was master of the voice, advisor to Tiber Septim and his grandson. He died once, but was brought to life, though he lacked a physical form. He was Ysmir, the Grey Wind, and the Stormcrown of Hjalti, according to some.

Shezzarines have the rare ability to comprehend Dragon Breaks, events wherein Time itself is bent and coiled, for the outcomes to come together as they should. The Warp in the West, near Iliac Bay, was one, and there was another at the Battle of Red Mountain. Shezzarines ability to comprehend these allows them to see and understand how these events involving the same people could take place at the same time.

Lorkhan is almost unique, in a quality shared only by Akatosh, that he appears in some form in all pantheons. He is the trickster or the creator, Shor, Shezzar, Lorkhan or Lorkhaj, but he exists in some form. For without Akatosh there is no time, and without Lorkhan, there is no Creation.

For it was Lorkhan who saw the secret tower of Aurbis, I, and that is what lead him to trick or persuade the other et'ada, first spirits, to create Nirn. He convinced Magnus, the architect who designed the world, and the Aedra to aid him. But he did not tell the Aedra what fueled creation. Power. The et'ada were being drained of their strength, it being sapped and used to fuel the building of Nirn. When they learned of this, the most powerful of them escaped, tearing holes in the fabric of Nirn and escaping to Aetherius. Magnus left the Sun, the Divines (other than Talos, for he was not born in that form yet) left the planets. They did this after killing Lorkhan in their rage, Trinimac tearing his heart from his chest and Auri-el, or Akatosh, firing it across the seas where it landed and created Red Mountain. Khajiit belief holds that his body became the moons, Masser and Secunda.

The weaker et'ada, the ones who remained, slowly weakened further. Some becoming part of Nirn itself, becoming the Earth. From there spawns the name "Ehlnofex". Earth Bones.
The Elves, in their unending egocentrism, believe that they are descended from the Ehlnofex, who became Aldmer. Aldmer later further divided into Altmer, Chimer (who became Dunmer), Orsimer, Ayleids, Dwemer and Falmer. It is my belief that Elves were created by the Aedra, as Men were, but that they are too certain of their superiority to admit it.

Lorkhan is the greatest amongst the Gods, for it was he who conceived the idea of Nirn, and it was he who first discovered CHIM, though he never achieved it. According to Vivec, Lorkhan failed intentionally, so that others would see how not to fail as he did.

It was at the end of the Third Era that a new theory was developed. According to it, the Divines were not glorious, not honourable. The Divines were generals of Lorkhan, who betrayed him. According to this theory, Nirn is not the height of creation, the goodness in the sea of evil that is Oblivion. Nirn is Oblivion. Nirn is just another plane of Oblivion, Lorkhan's plane, and it has gone without its ruler for too long. I distrust this theory though, for it was spawned by Mehrunes Dagon during the Oblivion Crisis, as a reason for taking over Nirn. We were a kingdom with no king, an empire without Emperor. A herd with no shepherd. And it was the Lord of Change that would rescue us.

But Mankar Camoran's words, while pretty, are also rather biased, so I hesitate to believe this. If only I had thought to ask Sheogorath, for it was he who heard this first hand from Mankar Camoran himself. Perhaps I could ask him at some stage... No, I do not think so. In my youth I freely consorted with Daedric Princes, and looking back I wonder how I ever survived it. But should someone ever meet him, perhaps you could ask.

- Fragments from the Journal of the Dragonborn, Volume twenty-one.

It is now entirely clear that, despite being seemingly adressed to readers, these were never meant to be read by others. There is almost no possibility of consorting freely with Daedra being widely accepted. The murder of Thalmor may gain sympathy amongst oppressed peoples, but serving Daedric Princes has never been accepted amongst Men, and rarely outside select circles of Mer.
The only way he could have gotten away with this blatancy would by isolation or terror. The populace would never have respected anyone who so openly served the Daedra.
One who made grudging deals in exchange for power, so that he might better fulfill his destiny, they might have accepted, but one who would consider consorting with them for conversation would never be respected or loved, only hated and possibly feared.

Author's Note: I've been rather distracted lately, so this took a while to post, but here it is! Review if you would, to be honest I'd rather you reviewed than favourited (though both is ideal), as a review gives me some form of insight into what you liked, and thereby what I shouldn't change or adapt.