the battle of red mountain. i guess.
i figured putting this in a better post than the one with like 5 reblogs explaining my theories that ppl dont rb all the additions of will prob be better
the battle of red mountain has some contradictory things between accounts and things that don't always entirely make sense. why would nerevar have keening during the battle? sure you can say voryn stole the tools from kagrenac but how he would have done that is a mystery that requires a lot of additional theorizing i think. he was also very importantly mostly fucking around with the nords i think at the time.
the nords also explain nerevar was fighting alongside dumac. which would be weird if all the dwemer were united. "well, the nords are stupid and wouldn't understand and just assumed dumac and nerevar were fighting together" i dont think you need to be a massive genius to figure out if two dudes are trying to kill each other or someone else. "well they also said lorkhan was there and we know thats not true" do we know that? i dont think we can say for certain
so to summarize, based on what i have gathered from details i think are credible about the battle of red mountain and what details conflicting accounts have in common (even tho there was prob a dragon break bc numidium was involved but i think most of these things are similar):
voryn discovers that the numidium is being built. nerevar goes to dumac and asks if it's true. he says no. nerevar is conflicted because he trusts both dumac and voryn and one of them has to be lying. he goes to azura, and azura says kagrenac is building the numidium without dumac's knowledge.
nerevar returns to dumac. unlike many accounts where he declares war because dumac keeps denying it, i think that after a heated discussion, dumac decides to look into it. it turns out azura and voryn were right. he is horrified.
this triggers a dwemer civil war. kagrenac insists this is just a tool that can be used to protect their people, and that peace between them and the chimer may not last. dumac or nerevar can die one day and if that happens, the alliance will fall apart. different dwemer fall into different factions, some supporting dumac, some supporting kagrenac. note: i think some might have only been on dumac's side because they thought kagrenac's plan is too reckless and dangerous. others are backing kagrenac not because they think the numidium is necessarily a good idea but because they have not been enjoying the alliance between the dwemer and chimer.
with this dwemer civil war, kagrenac's dwemer declare war on the chimer. it's a massive clusterfuck
during this time, almalexia, sotha sil, and vivec (perhaps others on the council too who knows) think that it is too dangerous to just fight the dwemer head on especially since they dont all know how the numidium really works. they believe it would be a better idea to get the nords involved so the nords can throw themselves in the line of fire and they will lose less chimer
they send voryn to do this. voryn immediately clocks that they want to probably also stage a coup after this, but he is big mad at the dwemer for unknown reasons so he goes along with it, or maybe the nords promised him smth. who knows. he goes to the nords and says he knows where shor's heart it, and its in red mountain and the dwemer are doing fucked up shit to it
during this time, ALMSIVI give false orders to chimer battalions so they don't get caught up in the worst fighting. nerevar is confused why the men he has requested aren't showing up, and nords are just attacking chimer and dwemer indiscriminately.
the nords believe the numidium is shor. it is also possible lorkhan was in fact possessing the numidium given his heart was in there. idk. difficult to say. all i know is when they saw nerevar and dumac attacking it to turn it off, the nords thought they were trying to kill lorkhan
numidium is turned off. during this time, kagrenac gets the tools again and bangs on the heart. somehow this makes the dwemer all disappear. there is widespread shock and confusion
nerevar now has to deal with whatever the fuck just happened. he is injured, soldiers were given the complete wrong directions, where the fuck did all the dwemer go, will they be back, and what the fuck do they do with this giant world ending robot and god heart???
voryn says they should destroy the tools here and now. nerevar knows this is a difficult decision and asks voryn to guard the heart and tools until he can think it over. this was a certified Bad Move™ as i think being around the heart long term causes corruption. the heart wants to be used.
almsivi make the argument that they don't know where the dwemer went, if they're all dead, if they will be back, whatever. if they destroy the tools, kagrenac can make more, but there is no guarantee the chimer can steal them again. it would be better to keep them locked away. considering they were right that the peace between the chimer and dwemer was more rocky than nerevar wanted to believe, he thinks it over and also asks azura. azura tells him no one should use those tools ever. nerevar comes to a compromise between destroying them and decides to make them all swear to never use them. then he goes to get the tools presumably to lock them away
voryn has been driven mad and rightfully calls out that if he gives nerevar the tools, almsivi just want to use them for themselves and kill nerevar. he is deranged and rambling and mad. almsivi tell nerevar that voryn might have allied with the nords during all this and is spouting nonsense. nerevar has to try and get the tools from him by force, and ends up killing him by mistake and is wounded himself
almsivi finish killing nerevar, and take the tools. after sil studies them, they know how to use them and the red moment happens. during this time, house dagoth are labeled traitors and wiped out.
azura gets mad that they broke their oath and "curses" all the chimer
