taylor price
Phantogram Three
almost home
Product Placement
shark vs the universe
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todays bird
oozey mess
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
NASA
Color Me Curious
Keni
Cosimo Galluzzi
Fai_Ryy
Discoholic 🪩
noise dept.
Love Begins
untitled
Game Changer & Make Some Noise
#extradirty
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@theserpent-lorkhan
SPIRIT OF NIRN || THE MISSING GOD
Well well well, it appears as though time has shattered once again. With time being broken, my body and heart are one yet again.
I wonder what the mortals and my friends have been up to since I have been asleep.
what's your type?
Hmmm this is a tough question to answer.
I like a lot of different people. Someone being interesting is the most important part to me, followed by someone being passionate. Someone being boring and listless is uninteresting to me most of the time.
Of course, being able to also fight is also a plus. Exchanging blows is one of the best ways to understand someone's heart.
White and red currant Topfen (quark) buns with a streusel topping.
A side note, my oven sucks because it doesn’t have a bottom heating element or a fan, so I’m always nervous when making things like this. But I’m pleasantly surprised with how nice these look! I’m going to do a taste test after I go on a walk, but I’m certain they taste superb.
do you still think i'm hot with this giant hole in my chest
How would you flirt?
I suppose it depends on who I am flirting with. Perhaps some witty lines, some riddles, going on a hunt, sparring... Many ways you can flirt with someone. I usually just pick whatever I think will work the best. It's never failed me before.
you are legally required to have disabilities this month
Hm, does having a heart that vanishes and comes back count as a disability?
[@almalexia-mother-morrowind @theserpent-lorkhan long description post below]
[Sharing practically non-existant borders with it's sister realms, neither the harsh lands of Attribution's Share nor its inhabitants are strangers to unlikely acquaintances. It is common- nay, expected even- to meet groups made up of the oddest combinations of un- and people wandering the streets of Skar'ruhn Malatanya in their shared search for knowledge. But this duo may yet be the oddest of them all. Indeed, the sight of the former living goddess side by side with the Missing God would draw many curious glances in the coming days- if it had been days, that had passed. Time seems to move in a rather odd manner here, the dissonace to the normal day-and-night-cycle of Nirn is only heighted by the fact, that most of the residents here could not care less about following any daily routine. It was hard to tell how strong Akatosh's grasp on this realm is, let alone if he had any influence over it at all. This in and of itself seems to be a hotly debated topic, having a whole district in the center of knowledge dedicated to deciphering it. Almalexia's search naturally saw her crossing paths with that spire itself and countless scripts originating from there. Each paper seemed to bring a different hypothesis to the table; anything from indepth, scientific essays on whether or not Anui-El had power over a Padhomaic realm to incoherent texts of authors claiming to have gotten an answer straight from Boethiah- most of them contradicted not only each other but also themselves. Normally this would be a mystery easily solved with an et'Ada by one's side; Lorkhan, however, seemed oddly reluctant to answer questions on the nature of his Brother. And as such the relation of Attribution's Share to Time would remain a riddle a little longer to mortal and daedric minds alike.
Though the passage of time, in whatever manner it might be occurring, was not entirely impossible to measure. The realm lacked a sun but there would indeed be a moon occassionally gracing the ever-cloudy skies with its presence, painting the usual greys in vivid colours which were following it like a tail as it crawled from one of the horizons to the other. This phenomenon seems to occurr somewhat regularily, but whenever the moon- if it even was one, let alone only one- returned, it would do so from a different direction. The direction and the intervals in which it returned do appear to have some correlation. As Ayem would find out; both were caused by the unique relation this realm had with its neighbours.
Besides the commonly accepted cosmological map laying out the Aurbis to be made up of Nirn as its center, with Aetherius and Oblivion forming layers around it- all Divine Realms neatly sorted next to each other in a ring formation-, there is also another map frequently showing up here too. One, that seemingly contradicts the first one; Depicting the three realms- Attribution's Share, Moonshadow and Spiral Skein- in particular, it shows an incomprehensible shape, vaguely forming a triangle as it folds in on itself in a way, that causes all three realms to simultaneously touch each other on all sides. It would be all to easy to dismiss this as pure nonsense,-the first map is an Aurbic-wide agreed upon truth afterall-, but Almalexia had already witnessed proof of the second map's accuracy. Walking over the fine line non-seperating Azura's realm from the one she was in now, was the first thing she had done upon arriving here. And even Hadronyche's agitation begun making sense, when set next to this triangular map and the repeated banter she would overhear in her search; though she would not meet the Spiderkith again, many Daedra- especially scholarly and arachnid ones- would lament similar fates to hers; the access to Spiral Skein had unexpectadly closed some time ago, with talk of a war quickly making the rounds as Lesser Daedra re-emerged from their pools of Chaos Creatia and reported having fallen in battle. And once again, her Divine companion's lips remained sealed, though the Serpent was rather obviously intently listening in on any reports coming out of Mephala's realm, he would not give Ayem any response beyond 'It was not his place to tell her, if Boethiah and Azura have not informed her of this.'
His silence could certainly be frustrating at times, but it was never malicious. When the topic wasn't related to the very basis of the Aurbis, he would prove to be a pleasant conversation partner and he would even more so prove to be a valuable travelling companion. Whenever they had to ask for directions, it was Lorkhan who would imeadiatly identify the quickest route through the maze-like layout of Skar'Malatanya. Though he claimed to be new here too, he seemed to have an inherent affinity to navigating this place- even more so, than Almalexia, despite her being the one more familiar with the Chimeri-style architecture dominating many parts of the campus.
But even with the best guidance, they would often find themselves walking the same paths twice or more. Not for any lack of orientation, but because the topic at hand would demand of them to return to previous scriptures. Though the most demanding path had yet to make itself known in it's fullest; the road connecting the major six towers surrounding the main building would be the way they would need to walk countless times on this journey. While this reality was not yet known by Almalexia, one thing had made itself clear fairly quickly; One of these towers, the first to the right from the direction she first arrived in, would be the place for her to start learning about the nature of Divinity.
And exactly there is where the two found themselves now; at the entrance to this tower. This one stands out amongst the others, not for it's height- as all of them were far too tall to tell which might be the tallest of them all, at least when viewed from below- but for its style. Just like every one of the six towers, it had been built to have a unique appearences and this one specifically was oddly geometrical for a daedric building. Precise, sharp stone pillars making up its form, it is completely symmetrical down to even the smallest, little detail. Even scratches, dents, all the wear and tear caused by the frequent visitors is neatly mirrored on all sides of the hexagonal tower. Almalexia would not have needed to be the First Councilor to the Chimer-King of Resdayn, to recognise the unmistakably Dwemeri style of this building.]
[Almalexia studied the tower, fascinated. She had not expected to find something of dwemer make here. She entered hesitantly, intent on taking in as much of her surroundings as possible. She spared a glance at her companion, wondering how Lorkhan would react to this Tower.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
[Lorkhan looked up at the tower thoughtfully. He understood it very well, and understood what it represented.
The first walking way was the easiest way to attain divinity for a mortal, at least compared to the other ways. It was a method he had intended from the start for mortals, though it was far from his favorite path. To use another’s divine spark or a machine powered by it was to invite disaster. Such was the fate of the Dwemer and Chimer all that time ago.
But Lorkhan once again found it wasn’t his place to remark on it too heavily. The tower was just the same as the first walking way: a fact of life, and an important lesson to learn. Instead he gave a smile to Almalexia when she looked back at him, nodding his head to encourage her]
@almalexia-mother-morrowind
[The tall brass doors move on their own accord, slowly swing open, as she approaches. The motion is accompanied by a mechanical groan, Almalexia may hear it now, but it would be completely inaudible to the outside as the noise is captured in its entirety by the tall tower walls. It reverberates as it bounces off of, and moves through, intricate contraptions and precise patterns, travelling along the many stories of the spire. By the time it has reached the upper echelons- when it is no more, than a faint whisper to Almalexia's ears-, what was once merely the dissonant byproduct of movement has been transformed into a soft melody. But this is not the only noise undergoing such a change; the entire tower acts as one large instrument, channeling every sound down to every breath being drawn into one large aria. No matter where the noise originated or how might have started off as, by the end they all seemlessly blend into one cohesive song. Dwemer strongholds enjoy a reputation of being hard on the ears, with their overwhelming mechanical huffs and creaks, but Almalexia would know this to be the result of millennia of neglect. Broken down, the noise had no where to go, but in their prime all their buildings would have been capable of catching sound like this. Though where typical dwarven architecture is inhabited by countless, uninviting machines, this one sees its interior barren, as the only furnishing present is concentrated around the walls, leaving the middle an empty, open hall.
Maybe she finds her eyes naturally following what her ears have already picked up on and wandering to the walls and upward. Unlike other buildings, this one completely lacks bookshelves and there is hardly any information written down. The few texts that do exist, have been chiseled into stone tablets, standing in regular intervals along the walls. And those are the real focus of the tower; Featuring multiple-story-spanning diagram depicting a night sky, each one of its six sides shows an arrangement of bright stars against a backdrop of colourful nebulae. There are no outlines, but anyone familiar with Nirn's skies will instantly recognise the twelve constellations as they appear life-like clashing with the rigidity of this tower. The formlessness of the firmament poses stands in stark contradiction to this creation of stone and brass, the elements from deep within the earth could not be further from the nature of the remnants of the Magne Ge. And yet in this tower, they not only coexist, but are intricately connected. Construction and projection cannot be cleanly seperated here- if either of that is even what this is at all. The sheer scale of the starry tapestry makes it hard to determine the true makeup of this display, at least from where Almalexia is standing. This is not helped by the fact, that the entrance door itself is mirrored on all of the four cardinal direction, forcing the whole display to begin at a height usually reserved for a ceiling. She would have to climb one of the thin stairs connecting even thinner plattforms hugging the walls, if she wanted a closer look. Though even those only reach up to where the first row ends and the second set of constellations begins.
Or maybe her attention is first drawn to the cool flooring beneath her feet. A large mirror makes up the foundation of the building. The smooth glass reflects the lustrous upper levels back, only allowing a small glimpse into the lower ones through the slender cuts in its surface. The pattern spans across the entire ground, repeating the constellation back, precisely carved to give each one its own section. And where they had no outlines on the walls, the floor sees them fall onto detailed depictions of their symbols faintly etched into the glass, each perfectly aligning with the stars from above. The lines seperating them from one another all draw the eye into the middle; a perfectly circular hole. Obscuring the top of the tower, leaving it completely indiscernible from here. Whatever is catching the melodies of this place is only hinted at by a shadow cast down from above, pulsating in a steady rythm, being caught in the cuts in the glass and revealing the star chart carved into it whenever it passes over it.
Although a first glance does not make it imeadiately obvious, there must also be a path into the lower half of the building somewhere around here. Not a lot of the underground structure is visible, little more than the angular profil of stairs can be seen from above, as the sparse light falling in from the center hole is quickly lost in its depths. Still, the dimly lit levels below could easily reach just as far down as the surface-side of the tower reaches up.]
[Almalexia walked further into the tower, fascinated and awed by what she saw. Where to start, though? She walked around a bit, studying her options, before deciding to climb the narrow stairway to see what lay above. It was so odd to see stars with Dwemer architecture, but it was not an unwelcome surprise. She did wonder where the Serpent constellation could be, though.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
[lorkhan looked up and noticed the serpent was missing. He frowned slightly, muttering under his breath, as though offended. But knowing why it wasn’t there, he moved on, following behind Almalexia like a ghost, watching her take it all in]]
@almalexia-mother-morrowind
[The way up is precarious at best and downright dangerous at worst, truely living up to the word 'climb'; the narrow, metal steps are all angled downward in a manner that did not allow for any stops, lest potential visitors risk their feet sliding off, and any new sound making its way upward to join into the melody of the tower had the tendency to resonate in the construct, causing the whole thing to vibrate, sometimes even outright shake. And the railing- if it could even be called that-, is not exactly helping make the ascent feel any less hazardous, those rickety balustrades seem to just be repurposed piping, stapled onto the stairs with the bare minimum of screws required to not cause them to simply fall off at the first touch. On top of all that, they at most reach up to Almalexia's calves, bringing into question why they were even put there in the first place, seeing as this is far too low to aid anyone- let alone stop someone from falling. Whoever built this clearly cared more about not obscuring any parts of the wall decorations than making a functioning stairway. But as haphazardous as the whole construction is, it could hardly stop a God or a mortal damn-close to being one from making their way up.
Whether by accident or not, Almalexia now finds herself standing under the stars representing The Warrior. With The Steed to its left, The Guardian Constellation touches The Tower to its right, which in turn touches The Thief. And further left, The Steed touches The Mage, which further along touches The Ritual, leading back to The Thief. The remaining Constellations lay slightly offset and make up the row below, in just this order; The Lady, The Lord, The Atronach, The Apprentice, The Shadow and The Lover.
The few obelisks nearby only feature texts on the similarities and differences between the commonly accepted Constellations and the Dwarven pantheon, but the imeadiate proximity allows for insight to be manually gleaned on the means of their creation, though it might also bring up more questions, than it answers; Here the mechanical and the magickal seamlessly flow into one another, the constellations are simultaneously made up of pure arcane forces and rigid brass rods branching off to connect the individual stars represented by blue, shimmering lenses. Both forms are clear cut and seperate, yet seem to exist in the exact same spot at the exact same time. Futhermore, the arcane appears just as solid and materialised as the metal, and despite occupying the same material space, neither of the images seem unstable. There is neither shifting nor any flickering, nothing to indicate any conflict in this open disregard for physical laws. Sight is clearly not the correct sense for figuring this out, smell, however, isn't much better off either. The coppery tang of magicka in the air could just as easily be explained as being part of the alloy making up the ever-elusive dwarven metal. And the electric pulse could be anything from the melody running through the tower, to potentially-charged metals, to a potent concentration of magicka. Perhaps touching one of the pieces might be tempting, but the aggressive buzz eminating from them should hopefully be enough to deter at least the more sqweamish of souls.
Unsolved mysteries of Dwemer technology aside, watching the Constellations for a while will reveal some stars to have the tendency to flare up whenever sound moved over them. Longer obversation might even reveal the exact number of stars part of this phenomenon to be twelve, four in each Guardian Constellation. On the rare occasion, that more than one is lit up at once, a faint creaking and grinding will be heard coming from somewhere below, coming to a stop once the stars dim again. It's safe to assume there is some sort of additional mechanism starting up and then abruptly ending again.]
[Almalexia carefully turns about, studying everything while mindful of the precarious path she stands on. The glowing stars obviously activate a mechanism based on sound. The only question is how to activate all at once. She recalls Sunder... yes, something similar to that could work...
Ayem pulls out her war mask and draws her sword. She faces outward and takes a moment to brace herself before forcefully banging the hilt of her sword against the metal mask, hoping the resulting sound would reverberate enough to activate all the stars.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
[Lorkhan watches her bang the hilt of her sword on the metal mask. When it makes a noise, he whistles slightly, watching the stars light up]
Anything else you have that can make more noise maybe?
@almalexia-mother-morrowind
[Somewhere a bell, full and low, answers Almalexia's call. It merges with her own noise and the deep ringing resonates through out the whole building, causing the stairs to shiver under its impact. When the sound disappears into the darkness, the shadow being cast from above flickers. On the fourth beat it stops, now covering the mirror below, revealing the glass relief in full. If that is anything to go off of, the mechanism up top seems to have accepted the melody offered through the green-bronze mask.
The stars, however, are less impressed. The plangent tone only manages to fully illuminate the unique stars within the lower rows. The upper ones do not react, while middle sees the sound bounce between its Constellations, before quickly dimming again. Only once the sharp note of Lorkhan's whistle joins into the tower's song, do the highest luminaries spring to life. But the moment passes too soon to allow all stars to shine in unison.
As if to underline the failure of this attempt, the gears concealed below the flooring had briefly set back into grinding motion, just to come to another screeching halt, a noise mockingly only lighting up the rows which had previously refused to shine.]
[Almalexia hums a bit, watching to see which stars light up. An idea strikes her as a familiar melody comes to mind, one she cannot name, despite it being a background melody she seems to recall hearing whenever all was quiet. She bangs her mask again with the hilt of her sword, following the beat of the song. She whistles, too, her whistles forming the melody.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
@theserpent-lorkhan Attribution's Share uses [Legendary Action: Long Text Wall] to act outside of the turn order
[One by one, the rows slowly ignite again and for a moment it doesn't seem like this had any more of an effect, than her previous attempt. The song echos throughout the building, The Constellations shine brightly, the piping, poorly miming a set of stairs, rattles and sways, a deep bell answers the sound, everything occurs in exactly the same order and manner as before. That is, until a second, ever-so-slightly-lighter bell begins to toll alongside the first. With a strained electrical buzz, the lowest of the brightest Guardian stars begin to flicker, before their light emitted grows tenfold, channeling itself into pinstraight, white-hot beams thrown across the room, their paths crossing just above door-height before falling upon their respective glass reliefs. At the same time, two lighter bells, both slightly off-set in tone, join in too and the middle row of stars follows suit. By the time Almalexia has begun her second redition of the familiar tune, the highest stars, alongside another pair of far clearer bells, too, have interlaced into the melody.
And when a complete rendition of the song runs out, accompanied in full by the tower's own instruments, a noticable shift occurs within the building. The mechanism concealed within the floor shudders and one by one, each Guardian Constellation sees their last prime star spring to life. One of each Guardian, one at each height, whereas the other stars only kept to their own rows, a fourth set of blazing beacons take their place in the center. Finally, all twelve of the stars burn brightly, coming together to form four contact points; three following the height of the tower and one to the side. As the last notes of Almalexia's song ring out, the four points collapse into themselves, leaving lightless gaps in the otherwise undisturbed beams shining down from the walls. And with surrounding air noticably quivering, it is as if a bite had been taken out of reality itself. Then the spots of their disappearance begin to spring sparks and ignite into their own, blue-flamed unstars, finally; The Serpent is formed.
With The Thirteenth Constellation revealed, the glass begins to retract into the foundation, making way into the depths below. Now no longer obscured by shadows, the path downward looks to be a long set of stairs. Wide and imposing marble with brassen embellishments, proper dwarven stairs, nothing like the dilapidated construction she is standing on now. The walls, too, are formed by precise stone, it is hard to tell from up here, but at least some of the columns appear to have decorative carvings, maybe even text on them. And despite seemingly all the lights of the heavens now beaming straight down, there is no visible end to the descent.]
[Lorkhan smiles fondly at the tune, enjoying the song he seemed to have heard before somewhere. When the serpent shows itself, he’s even more thrilled.]
Well, it looks like that worked, [He rolls his shoulders slightly] I guess that’s enough of the heavens for now though. Time to head down?
[ @almalexia-mother-morrowind ]
Indeed. Into the depths.
[Almalexia leads the way down the precarious walkway she stands on now, until she arrives at the top of the newly revealed stairs. She slowly descends, pausing to study the columns with carvings or words. If the light from above is not enough, she will cast a magelight to illuminate her surroundings.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
[The columns depict an indepth perspective into a story Ayem is quite familiar with; The Dwemer, their rise and their inevitable fall.
There are no letters in the pictures and the grooves making up the marble paintings are no mere straightforward cuts, their surfaces are never smooth, each has a precise and unique pattern carved into it. Artificial light would prove itself unnecessary, the pictures speak- sing- of their tales all on their own; When the occassional breeze runs through the images, it catches in the stone, audibly breaking over the ridges and folds, and it almost sounds as though the scenes are describing themselves in a raspy, haunting whisper.
A proud society of scholars, not bound by any one faith they sought out the stars for guidance instead. Studying the endless skies, its Planets and Constellations, they begun to yearn for more than Nirn could offer. Leave the mortal plane behind to explore what lies beyond the Liminal Barriers. But too prideful they were to accept assistance from the Divine. And so their quest to build the machinery necessary to bring about this breakthrough on their own was put into motion.
The descent down is as long, as it had looked from the top. Slowly, but surely the stone walls begin to fade, making way for the brownish-red rock hiding underneath. Despite the rest of the inverted tower seemingly falling into neglect, the ornate stairs and pillars continue to stand in pristine condition; scratches, bumps, discolouration- not one flaw can be found in their surfaces.
The Dwemer would study the laws of the Ehlnofey with great precision, seeking to understand- and later imitate- the innerworkings of the Mundus. Soon, this would lead them further and further underground in search for the precious materials needed for their inventions. It was none other than the star-wound East, which would come to prove itself rich in both crucial mineral and fire power. And their hunt for the perfect deposit would have them push even deeper down, until all worldy distraction was left behind.
As the stairway stretches on, the little air this deep down has grown stale, hot even, and though the remainders of the outside world have all but disappeared, every so often the mechanisms in the surface-side part of the building can still be heard echoing from up top. Little of the melodies actually make it this far down, but the ringing of the bells seems to only amplify the further down they venture. Additionally a dull thumping periodically can be felt running through the stone and in rare moments of silence it can almost be heard too.
It would be within the depths of Red Mountain, where Dwemeri ears would first pick up on the Song they would henceforth dedicate their lifes to studying. Now firmly on the path to the truth they sought, they soon discovered their metals as being capable of channeling this melody into something more audible, tangible to the mortal mind. And when they had mastered this art, it would lead them to make their greatest discovery yet; The Source for their grand design, drumming of their Doom.
The next carving is familiar to both halves of this unusual duo. A grand, brassen construction bearing a mighty mask with crests not unlike the remarkable beards the Dwemer were known to display, lacking skin beyond the face its flesh is of stone and metal forms its bones. An emptiness in its chest cavity, it stands as tall as the column holding its image, staring down on all those foolish enough to walk this path all the way down; The Prime Gesalt.
It marks the end of the countless steps, leading into a circular room of rather modest sizing. Part of the unworked ground has been replaced-an outer ring of glassing acting as the only barrier between visitors and a mindboggling drop into a lazily blubbering lake below, its igneous contense having partially cooled into ebony patches, it gives off a faint orange glow. But it would not be necessary, setting foot into the chamber causes light from within a gided pedestal in the center of the room to come to life with a mechnical whirr.
Though the rockformation appears organically formed, the room as a whole is unnaturally spherical. Further pointing at the deceptive nature of the cavern-like apperance are pipes- twelve to be exact-, flawlessly melting into the wall. Their placements are in precise, symmatrical intervals and each ends in an outward-flaired, round mouth and sees its body disappear upward. They all point inward toward a small plattform. Standing surrounded by six bells- arranged by size- forming a half-circle, is the source of light; a podium reaching just below shoulder height of Lorkhan's mortal image. Above it hangs a delicate metal cage- its sides drooping into deep archs- two for each pipe-, coming up into two unified strands, a shorter one at the front and a longer in the back. Its leg holds up a case, six-sided box decorated in barely legible, heavily embellished daedric script, emitting a bright glow through thinner parts of the material; It remains closed, for now.]
[Lorkhan takes it all in, slowly realizing that the place is familiar, as though he had been there in a hazy dream before. The towering figure, the location, the bubbling lava... It felt as though he had been here for a long, long time.]
Hm... [Lorkhan steps ahead this time rather than trailing behind Almalexia, looking around curiously. He doesn't touch anything yet, but he is admiring the metalwork on the large construction.] Feels a bit uncomfortable. Almost like I'm looking at... [He trails off awkwardly. Maybe it would be strange to say that looking at the dwemeri construction makes him feel like he's looking at his own dead body]
What do you think? [He turns back to look at Almalexia]
[ @almalexia-mother-morrowind ]
[Ayem takes in their surroundings, the entire room both strange and hauntingly familiar. She studies the great dwemeri construction, as well as the platform, cage, and box.]
Anumidium... It has been some time since I have seen it. Or its like. Six bells, twelve pipes... that feels significant. I assume that we need to open the box. The writing on it may provide a clue.
[Almalexia steps as close as she can to the box, levitating if she must in order to read the script on it.]
[@theserpent-lorkhan ]
[The box is inscribed with lines upon lines upon lines of text, with rows often seeing letters from above and below bleeding into one. But despite this- and the heavily stylised font- it offers some semblence of readability, periodically obscured by the ember glow pulsing under the brassen skin. Whenever the Missing God steps within a certain vicinity, it sits out for a beat, though otherwise acting undisturbed.
Almalexia's approach solicits no reaction from the life within. That is, until her eyes fall onto the script. As if sensing her gaze, the characters light up and begin to melt into the brass the moment she moves on onto the next one.
The sequence endeavor thus; Eidolon, Poet, Song, Crown and Mantle, finality the Frame-maker. Learned of Speech, master to Memory, assume now Melody, the greater twin, basis inactuality. Previously tempered components, behold now the Drum conduct to the verse of the Mundus, stepping stone to the Symphony of Every Nothing. Soon reflect upon The Tower, forget not The Wheel, its form, word of words, the inception of potentiality; NRN Unclouded which is Maybe.
With every legible part read, the letters have all but entirely melted into the surface, with only the last one lingering a moment longer as the metal case unfurls, its sides folding downward in synchronicity, a flower coming into bloom. Its middle unrevealing the treasure it had been shielding; Existing in three sides, never the one from which it is viewed, sits, for those below a green polished gem, for those above a beating red heart. The shifting apparation shines brightly, buzzing with energy- inviting, nay, beckoning touch.]
[Lorkhan watches curiously, taking it all in. He had suspected they might have been doing the towers out of order, but he knows this is Almalexia’s bath to walk.]
[He makes no effort to grab the item, but he does nod, motioning her toward it with his head. He isn’t sure what will happen, but he knows what it represents very well.]
[ @almalexia-mother-morrowind ]
[Almalexia reads the words carefully, making note of them. She watches with fascination as the strange item within is revealed. She briefly glances at Lorkhan and, seeing his encouragement, turns back to the strange heart-gem and gently touches it.]
[ @theserpent-lorkhan ]
[The contact brings with it a familiar sensation, as an inexhaustible font of power washing over her; tapping into a divine spark, she has done this countless times before and though it now comes from a different source, it is one she has come to know well as of recent. While the Heart acted with seemingly little conviction of its own, its power easily bleeding into the tools, Boethiah could certainly be demanding, turning the wielding of his boon into a contest more often than not. It comes with no surprise, when a spark in his realm lashes out in his usual style. The piercing surge of Daedric essence grasping for her acts no different to previous gifts. That is, until the flow abruptly halts, with slight delay a sharp jolt follows as the forces acting on her are inverted. Push turns into pull and from one moment to the next she has left the tower.
Or at least parts of her have, to the outside her body remains standing unmoving, holding onto the apparition which has now taken solid form; a matt-black snake curling around her outstretched hand, sinking its fangs deep into her wrist. But the heart-gem is not the only thing undergoing a change, as Ayem's physical form has grown noticably, her proportions shifting, her ornate armour growing into harsh plate and her hair, eyes and skin losing their chroma in the process. And finally, with an earsplitting rumble, the only entrance to the chamber closes shut. The sound being picked up by all bells present, as the whole room reverberates. A concert she would witness, but not experience.
While her body stands tall and grey, Almalexia finds herself standing high above Skar'ruhn Malatanya, above the mirrored Red Mountain, above Attribution's Share itself. No, that's not it. She is not in the skies, she is deep under ground, overseeing a vast network of tunnles and volcanic rivers flowing through the lands. Except that is not true either, there are no magma flows present at all, instead she is watching a blossoming swamp one moment and an icy waste the next and then a- For a moment she is bombarded with an influx of images, impulses, sensations, with every breath she takes matter changes, with every heartbeat the realm around- no, the realm is not around her, Attribution's Share is her. Every mortal stepping foot onto her grounds, every drop of blood ever spilled on her soil, every Daedra slain and subsequentially reformed in her waters, every mountain built and erased by her hand, she bears witness to the realm as it is, was and will be, through a pair of unblinking eyes intrinsically linked to the very land itself. A state of total existence, only in her presence can this place be.
By its own volition thought forms in her mind, her inner voice distorted, cutting.]
Good.
[And with an involuntary blink, she is released from this state. Returning into her own flesh within an instant, the snake recoils, taking the grey with it as it retreats into its case and disperses back into the heart-gem that isn't quite. The experience leaves her with a lingering burst of divinity and two burning punctures on her wrist. And as soon as she is back, the exit opens up again. But where a mighty, absolute image of the Numidium had overlooked pristine, embellished stairs now stands a cracked column guarding steep, busted stone steps up into a pitch black ascent. It is hard to tell while still standing in the chamber, only worsend by the sudden darkness, but it seems the text on the walls has changed too.]
How are you feeling? [He asks, tilting his head with a smile. He takes note of the marks from the snake, eying them knowingly]
I suppose no where else to go but up?
[[ @almalexia-mother-morrowind ]]
I feel... alright, I suppose. What a strange experience.
[She shakes her head, trying to clear her thoughts.]
Yes, let us go up.
[Ayem begins climbing the stairs, though she does pause to try to get a good look at the changed writing on the walls, casting magelight if needed.]
[ @theserpent-lorkhan ]
[The way back up has turned from a staircase into an obstacle course. A majority of the carvings on the walls had caved in, several of the columns had collapsed and the fallen debris had caused significant damage to the stairs themselves too. Large chunks of the steps had cracked or completely broken off and the parts seemingly undamaged now appeared far steeper, than they had on the way down. The by far easiest barrier to overcome would have been the lack of light, but Ayem would find she had little need for any in the first place. Finding solid ground to stand was a process akin to taking a breath. Even when the occasional loose rock came crumbling down and obscured the path further, she would be capable of spotting stable foothold long before the dust had settled. Walking through the rubble came as naturally as a stroll from hearth to bed, leaving her with plenty of space to focus on the walls instead.
The rumbling earlier had left the pictures in quite the poor state, most of them were riddled with deep cracks, gashes like wounds in the cold stone, some sections having shattered so thoroughly there was nothing left of the original images. There were only a handful spared of this fate, but even the most pristine ones would see every single depiction of a Dwemer fractured beyond recognition. And through out all this destruction, the raspy winds still blew over the cuts and ridges of the marble- only now it seemed to originate from the opposite direction instead, gently pushing the two visitors on in their quest to brave these stairs.
mooD rieht fo n o ecruoS ehT o d a t l a e a dnim latrom eht
Despite skipping over a noticable portion of the carvings, the tower's voice sung its verses resolutely. While the more fortunate columns saw this hauntingly unintelligible noise underlining pictures of animunculi standing alone beneath starry skies, fissures where their creators once stood. The more devastated ones would find themselves wholly skipped over, acknowledged with less than even silence. And with every collapsed wall omitted, the whispers would gain a marginal headstart. One so marginal in fact, it would not become an issue for a long while- a far longer one, than it should have taken, there were no noticable differences in the number of pillars or pictures, but the way down had still been significantly shorter.
It must have been around the middle mark, when the accelerated pace and the prolonged journey begun to finally catch up to the duo. While still somewhat managable in the moment, the gap between them and the voice was now noticably growing whenever they would spend too much time inspecting the walls, rather than focusing on the ground below. Trying to do both at the same time lead to stumbling more often than not, despite there being no apperant differences in the quality of the stairs. The previous steps had been so familiar- without ever having examined them herself- Ayem would have easily been able to point out every last imperfection setting the previous step apart from the last. But now this certainty was beginning to falter, an unexpected crack here, a new pebble there- the outcome of the next footfall was becoming less and less predictable.
tfel saw noitcartsid yldrow tsaE dnuow-rats eht m i h c sudnum eht fo sgnikrowrenni eht
And by the three-quarter mark the path itself had become considerably harder to traverse. Some sections had become entirely unwalkable with guar-sized slabs of marble blocking off the footpath- while the rickety steps reaching toward the stars had mostly been 'climbing stairs', this was a lot more climb than it was stairs. Only worsened by the further waning of Ayem's newly enhanced premonition. If it was slippling before, it was beginning to outright fail her now. But the rays of light falling in from above had begun to wax, it could not be much further now.
m a eniviD eht morf l a e seil a n r snoitalletsnoC dna stenalP i srats eht tuo htiaf n on fo yteicos A
Ending on the same sound the previous tale had started on, they make it to the top. And despite all the commotion below, the surface side of the tower remained completely unaffected. The sight of the shimmering image of The Serpent greets them, still dancing in the room middle. And should Lorkhan and Almalexia choose to look back down the path they had just come from, they would find the staircase had quietly repaired itself. Even the spark of divinity has faded, returning back into the dormant pool of Daedric power, which has been at Ayem's disposal ever since her arrival on this plane. With the last reminder of their encounter downstairs being the softly stinging puncture sites on her wrist, it almost seemed as if nothing had occurred at all.]
[Lorkhan does turn briefly down to look at the staircase, before turning back to Almalexia, as though curious]
Where to next? Another tower? Or perhaps you have something else in mind?
[ @almalexia-mother-morrowind ]
[@almalexia-mother-morrowind @theserpent-lorkhan long description post below]
[Sharing practically non-existant borders with it's sister realms, neither the harsh lands of Attribution's Share nor its inhabitants are strangers to unlikely acquaintances. It is common- nay, expected even- to meet groups made up of the oddest combinations of un- and people wandering the streets of Skar'ruhn Malatanya in their shared search for knowledge. But this duo may yet be the oddest of them all. Indeed, the sight of the former living goddess side by side with the Missing God would draw many curious glances in the coming days- if it had been days, that had passed. Time seems to move in a rather odd manner here, the dissonace to the normal day-and-night-cycle of Nirn is only heighted by the fact, that most of the residents here could not care less about following any daily routine. It was hard to tell how strong Akatosh's grasp on this realm is, let alone if he had any influence over it at all. This in and of itself seems to be a hotly debated topic, having a whole district in the center of knowledge dedicated to deciphering it. Almalexia's search naturally saw her crossing paths with that spire itself and countless scripts originating from there. Each paper seemed to bring a different hypothesis to the table; anything from indepth, scientific essays on whether or not Anui-El had power over a Padhomaic realm to incoherent texts of authors claiming to have gotten an answer straight from Boethiah- most of them contradicted not only each other but also themselves. Normally this would be a mystery easily solved with an et'Ada by one's side; Lorkhan, however, seemed oddly reluctant to answer questions on the nature of his Brother. And as such the relation of Attribution's Share to Time would remain a riddle a little longer to mortal and daedric minds alike.
Though the passage of time, in whatever manner it might be occurring, was not entirely impossible to measure. The realm lacked a sun but there would indeed be a moon occassionally gracing the ever-cloudy skies with its presence, painting the usual greys in vivid colours which were following it like a tail as it crawled from one of the horizons to the other. This phenomenon seems to occurr somewhat regularily, but whenever the moon- if it even was one, let alone only one- returned, it would do so from a different direction. The direction and the intervals in which it returned do appear to have some correlation. As Ayem would find out; both were caused by the unique relation this realm had with its neighbours.
Besides the commonly accepted cosmological map laying out the Aurbis to be made up of Nirn as its center, with Aetherius and Oblivion forming layers around it- all Divine Realms neatly sorted next to each other in a ring formation-, there is also another map frequently showing up here too. One, that seemingly contradicts the first one; Depicting the three realms- Attribution's Share, Moonshadow and Spiral Skein- in particular, it shows an incomprehensible shape, vaguely forming a triangle as it folds in on itself in a way, that causes all three realms to simultaneously touch each other on all sides. It would be all to easy to dismiss this as pure nonsense,-the first map is an Aurbic-wide agreed upon truth afterall-, but Almalexia had already witnessed proof of the second map's accuracy. Walking over the fine line non-seperating Azura's realm from the one she was in now, was the first thing she had done upon arriving here. And even Hadronyche's agitation begun making sense, when set next to this triangular map and the repeated banter she would overhear in her search; though she would not meet the Spiderkith again, many Daedra- especially scholarly and arachnid ones- would lament similar fates to hers; the access to Spiral Skein had unexpectadly closed some time ago, with talk of a war quickly making the rounds as Lesser Daedra re-emerged from their pools of Chaos Creatia and reported having fallen in battle. And once again, her Divine companion's lips remained sealed, though the Serpent was rather obviously intently listening in on any reports coming out of Mephala's realm, he would not give Ayem any response beyond 'It was not his place to tell her, if Boethiah and Azura have not informed her of this.'
His silence could certainly be frustrating at times, but it was never malicious. When the topic wasn't related to the very basis of the Aurbis, he would prove to be a pleasant conversation partner and he would even more so prove to be a valuable travelling companion. Whenever they had to ask for directions, it was Lorkhan who would imeadiatly identify the quickest route through the maze-like layout of Skar'Malatanya. Though he claimed to be new here too, he seemed to have an inherent affinity to navigating this place- even more so, than Almalexia, despite her being the one more familiar with the Chimeri-style architecture dominating many parts of the campus.
But even with the best guidance, they would often find themselves walking the same paths twice or more. Not for any lack of orientation, but because the topic at hand would demand of them to return to previous scriptures. Though the most demanding path had yet to make itself known in it's fullest; the road connecting the major six towers surrounding the main building would be the way they would need to walk countless times on this journey. While this reality was not yet known by Almalexia, one thing had made itself clear fairly quickly; One of these towers, the first to the right from the direction she first arrived in, would be the place for her to start learning about the nature of Divinity.
And exactly there is where the two found themselves now; at the entrance to this tower. This one stands out amongst the others, not for it's height- as all of them were far too tall to tell which might be the tallest of them all, at least when viewed from below- but for its style. Just like every one of the six towers, it had been built to have a unique appearences and this one specifically was oddly geometrical for a daedric building. Precise, sharp stone pillars making up its form, it is completely symmetrical down to even the smallest, little detail. Even scratches, dents, all the wear and tear caused by the frequent visitors is neatly mirrored on all sides of the hexagonal tower. Almalexia would not have needed to be the First Councilor to the Chimer-King of Resdayn, to recognise the unmistakably Dwemeri style of this building.]
[Almalexia studied the tower, fascinated. She had not expected to find something of dwemer make here. She entered hesitantly, intent on taking in as much of her surroundings as possible. She spared a glance at her companion, wondering how Lorkhan would react to this Tower.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
[Lorkhan looked up at the tower thoughtfully. He understood it very well, and understood what it represented.
The first walking way was the easiest way to attain divinity for a mortal, at least compared to the other ways. It was a method he had intended from the start for mortals, though it was far from his favorite path. To use another’s divine spark or a machine powered by it was to invite disaster. Such was the fate of the Dwemer and Chimer all that time ago.
But Lorkhan once again found it wasn’t his place to remark on it too heavily. The tower was just the same as the first walking way: a fact of life, and an important lesson to learn. Instead he gave a smile to Almalexia when she looked back at him, nodding his head to encourage her]
@almalexia-mother-morrowind
[The tall brass doors move on their own accord, slowly swing open, as she approaches. The motion is accompanied by a mechanical groan, Almalexia may hear it now, but it would be completely inaudible to the outside as the noise is captured in its entirety by the tall tower walls. It reverberates as it bounces off of, and moves through, intricate contraptions and precise patterns, travelling along the many stories of the spire. By the time it has reached the upper echelons- when it is no more, than a faint whisper to Almalexia's ears-, what was once merely the dissonant byproduct of movement has been transformed into a soft melody. But this is not the only noise undergoing such a change; the entire tower acts as one large instrument, channeling every sound down to every breath being drawn into one large aria. No matter where the noise originated or how might have started off as, by the end they all seemlessly blend into one cohesive song. Dwemer strongholds enjoy a reputation of being hard on the ears, with their overwhelming mechanical huffs and creaks, but Almalexia would know this to be the result of millennia of neglect. Broken down, the noise had no where to go, but in their prime all their buildings would have been capable of catching sound like this. Though where typical dwarven architecture is inhabited by countless, uninviting machines, this one sees its interior barren, as the only furnishing present is concentrated around the walls, leaving the middle an empty, open hall.
Maybe she finds her eyes naturally following what her ears have already picked up on and wandering to the walls and upward. Unlike other buildings, this one completely lacks bookshelves and there is hardly any information written down. The few texts that do exist, have been chiseled into stone tablets, standing in regular intervals along the walls. And those are the real focus of the tower; Featuring multiple-story-spanning diagram depicting a night sky, each one of its six sides shows an arrangement of bright stars against a backdrop of colourful nebulae. There are no outlines, but anyone familiar with Nirn's skies will instantly recognise the twelve constellations as they appear life-like clashing with the rigidity of this tower. The formlessness of the firmament poses stands in stark contradiction to this creation of stone and brass, the elements from deep within the earth could not be further from the nature of the remnants of the Magne Ge. And yet in this tower, they not only coexist, but are intricately connected. Construction and projection cannot be cleanly seperated here- if either of that is even what this is at all. The sheer scale of the starry tapestry makes it hard to determine the true makeup of this display, at least from where Almalexia is standing. This is not helped by the fact, that the entrance door itself is mirrored on all of the four cardinal direction, forcing the whole display to begin at a height usually reserved for a ceiling. She would have to climb one of the thin stairs connecting even thinner plattforms hugging the walls, if she wanted a closer look. Though even those only reach up to where the first row ends and the second set of constellations begins.
Or maybe her attention is first drawn to the cool flooring beneath her feet. A large mirror makes up the foundation of the building. The smooth glass reflects the lustrous upper levels back, only allowing a small glimpse into the lower ones through the slender cuts in its surface. The pattern spans across the entire ground, repeating the constellation back, precisely carved to give each one its own section. And where they had no outlines on the walls, the floor sees them fall onto detailed depictions of their symbols faintly etched into the glass, each perfectly aligning with the stars from above. The lines seperating them from one another all draw the eye into the middle; a perfectly circular hole. Obscuring the top of the tower, leaving it completely indiscernible from here. Whatever is catching the melodies of this place is only hinted at by a shadow cast down from above, pulsating in a steady rythm, being caught in the cuts in the glass and revealing the star chart carved into it whenever it passes over it.
Although a first glance does not make it imeadiately obvious, there must also be a path into the lower half of the building somewhere around here. Not a lot of the underground structure is visible, little more than the angular profil of stairs can be seen from above, as the sparse light falling in from the center hole is quickly lost in its depths. Still, the dimly lit levels below could easily reach just as far down as the surface-side of the tower reaches up.]
[Almalexia walked further into the tower, fascinated and awed by what she saw. Where to start, though? She walked around a bit, studying her options, before deciding to climb the narrow stairway to see what lay above. It was so odd to see stars with Dwemer architecture, but it was not an unwelcome surprise. She did wonder where the Serpent constellation could be, though.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
[lorkhan looked up and noticed the serpent was missing. He frowned slightly, muttering under his breath, as though offended. But knowing why it wasn’t there, he moved on, following behind Almalexia like a ghost, watching her take it all in]]
@almalexia-mother-morrowind
[The way up is precarious at best and downright dangerous at worst, truely living up to the word 'climb'; the narrow, metal steps are all angled downward in a manner that did not allow for any stops, lest potential visitors risk their feet sliding off, and any new sound making its way upward to join into the melody of the tower had the tendency to resonate in the construct, causing the whole thing to vibrate, sometimes even outright shake. And the railing- if it could even be called that-, is not exactly helping make the ascent feel any less hazardous, those rickety balustrades seem to just be repurposed piping, stapled onto the stairs with the bare minimum of screws required to not cause them to simply fall off at the first touch. On top of all that, they at most reach up to Almalexia's calves, bringing into question why they were even put there in the first place, seeing as this is far too low to aid anyone- let alone stop someone from falling. Whoever built this clearly cared more about not obscuring any parts of the wall decorations than making a functioning stairway. But as haphazardous as the whole construction is, it could hardly stop a God or a mortal damn-close to being one from making their way up.
Whether by accident or not, Almalexia now finds herself standing under the stars representing The Warrior. With The Steed to its left, The Guardian Constellation touches The Tower to its right, which in turn touches The Thief. And further left, The Steed touches The Mage, which further along touches The Ritual, leading back to The Thief. The remaining Constellations lay slightly offset and make up the row below, in just this order; The Lady, The Lord, The Atronach, The Apprentice, The Shadow and The Lover.
The few obelisks nearby only feature texts on the similarities and differences between the commonly accepted Constellations and the Dwarven pantheon, but the imeadiate proximity allows for insight to be manually gleaned on the means of their creation, though it might also bring up more questions, than it answers; Here the mechanical and the magickal seamlessly flow into one another, the constellations are simultaneously made up of pure arcane forces and rigid brass rods branching off to connect the individual stars represented by blue, shimmering lenses. Both forms are clear cut and seperate, yet seem to exist in the exact same spot at the exact same time. Futhermore, the arcane appears just as solid and materialised as the metal, and despite occupying the same material space, neither of the images seem unstable. There is neither shifting nor any flickering, nothing to indicate any conflict in this open disregard for physical laws. Sight is clearly not the correct sense for figuring this out, smell, however, isn't much better off either. The coppery tang of magicka in the air could just as easily be explained as being part of the alloy making up the ever-elusive dwarven metal. And the electric pulse could be anything from the melody running through the tower, to potentially-charged metals, to a potent concentration of magicka. Perhaps touching one of the pieces might be tempting, but the aggressive buzz eminating from them should hopefully be enough to deter at least the more sqweamish of souls.
Unsolved mysteries of Dwemer technology aside, watching the Constellations for a while will reveal some stars to have the tendency to flare up whenever sound moved over them. Longer obversation might even reveal the exact number of stars part of this phenomenon to be twelve, four in each Guardian Constellation. On the rare occasion, that more than one is lit up at once, a faint creaking and grinding will be heard coming from somewhere below, coming to a stop once the stars dim again. It's safe to assume there is some sort of additional mechanism starting up and then abruptly ending again.]
[Almalexia carefully turns about, studying everything while mindful of the precarious path she stands on. The glowing stars obviously activate a mechanism based on sound. The only question is how to activate all at once. She recalls Sunder... yes, something similar to that could work...
Ayem pulls out her war mask and draws her sword. She faces outward and takes a moment to brace herself before forcefully banging the hilt of her sword against the metal mask, hoping the resulting sound would reverberate enough to activate all the stars.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
[Lorkhan watches her bang the hilt of her sword on the metal mask. When it makes a noise, he whistles slightly, watching the stars light up]
Anything else you have that can make more noise maybe?
@almalexia-mother-morrowind
[Somewhere a bell, full and low, answers Almalexia's call. It merges with her own noise and the deep ringing resonates through out the whole building, causing the stairs to shiver under its impact. When the sound disappears into the darkness, the shadow being cast from above flickers. On the fourth beat it stops, now covering the mirror below, revealing the glass relief in full. If that is anything to go off of, the mechanism up top seems to have accepted the melody offered through the green-bronze mask.
The stars, however, are less impressed. The plangent tone only manages to fully illuminate the unique stars within the lower rows. The upper ones do not react, while middle sees the sound bounce between its Constellations, before quickly dimming again. Only once the sharp note of Lorkhan's whistle joins into the tower's song, do the highest luminaries spring to life. But the moment passes too soon to allow all stars to shine in unison.
As if to underline the failure of this attempt, the gears concealed below the flooring had briefly set back into grinding motion, just to come to another screeching halt, a noise mockingly only lighting up the rows which had previously refused to shine.]
[Almalexia hums a bit, watching to see which stars light up. An idea strikes her as a familiar melody comes to mind, one she cannot name, despite it being a background melody she seems to recall hearing whenever all was quiet. She bangs her mask again with the hilt of her sword, following the beat of the song. She whistles, too, her whistles forming the melody.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
@theserpent-lorkhan Attribution's Share uses [Legendary Action: Long Text Wall] to act outside of the turn order
[One by one, the rows slowly ignite again and for a moment it doesn't seem like this had any more of an effect, than her previous attempt. The song echos throughout the building, The Constellations shine brightly, the piping, poorly miming a set of stairs, rattles and sways, a deep bell answers the sound, everything occurs in exactly the same order and manner as before. That is, until a second, ever-so-slightly-lighter bell begins to toll alongside the first. With a strained electrical buzz, the lowest of the brightest Guardian stars begin to flicker, before their light emitted grows tenfold, channeling itself into pinstraight, white-hot beams thrown across the room, their paths crossing just above door-height before falling upon their respective glass reliefs. At the same time, two lighter bells, both slightly off-set in tone, join in too and the middle row of stars follows suit. By the time Almalexia has begun her second redition of the familiar tune, the highest stars, alongside another pair of far clearer bells, too, have interlaced into the melody.
And when a complete rendition of the song runs out, accompanied in full by the tower's own instruments, a noticable shift occurs within the building. The mechanism concealed within the floor shudders and one by one, each Guardian Constellation sees their last prime star spring to life. One of each Guardian, one at each height, whereas the other stars only kept to their own rows, a fourth set of blazing beacons take their place in the center. Finally, all twelve of the stars burn brightly, coming together to form four contact points; three following the height of the tower and one to the side. As the last notes of Almalexia's song ring out, the four points collapse into themselves, leaving lightless gaps in the otherwise undisturbed beams shining down from the walls. And with surrounding air noticably quivering, it is as if a bite had been taken out of reality itself. Then the spots of their disappearance begin to spring sparks and ignite into their own, blue-flamed unstars, finally; The Serpent is formed.
With The Thirteenth Constellation revealed, the glass begins to retract into the foundation, making way into the depths below. Now no longer obscured by shadows, the path downward looks to be a long set of stairs. Wide and imposing marble with brassen embellishments, proper dwarven stairs, nothing like the dilapidated construction she is standing on now. The walls, too, are formed by precise stone, it is hard to tell from up here, but at least some of the columns appear to have decorative carvings, maybe even text on them. And despite seemingly all the lights of the heavens now beaming straight down, there is no visible end to the descent.]
[Lorkhan smiles fondly at the tune, enjoying the song he seemed to have heard before somewhere. When the serpent shows itself, he’s even more thrilled.]
Well, it looks like that worked, [He rolls his shoulders slightly] I guess that’s enough of the heavens for now though. Time to head down?
[ @almalexia-mother-morrowind ]
Indeed. Into the depths.
[Almalexia leads the way down the precarious walkway she stands on now, until she arrives at the top of the newly revealed stairs. She slowly descends, pausing to study the columns with carvings or words. If the light from above is not enough, she will cast a magelight to illuminate her surroundings.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
[The columns depict an indepth perspective into a story Ayem is quite familiar with; The Dwemer, their rise and their inevitable fall.
There are no letters in the pictures and the grooves making up the marble paintings are no mere straightforward cuts, their surfaces are never smooth, each has a precise and unique pattern carved into it. Artificial light would prove itself unnecessary, the pictures speak- sing- of their tales all on their own; When the occassional breeze runs through the images, it catches in the stone, audibly breaking over the ridges and folds, and it almost sounds as though the scenes are describing themselves in a raspy, haunting whisper.
A proud society of scholars, not bound by any one faith they sought out the stars for guidance instead. Studying the endless skies, its Planets and Constellations, they begun to yearn for more than Nirn could offer. Leave the mortal plane behind to explore what lies beyond the Liminal Barriers. But too prideful they were to accept assistance from the Divine. And so their quest to build the machinery necessary to bring about this breakthrough on their own was put into motion.
The descent down is as long, as it had looked from the top. Slowly, but surely the stone walls begin to fade, making way for the brownish-red rock hiding underneath. Despite the rest of the inverted tower seemingly falling into neglect, the ornate stairs and pillars continue to stand in pristine condition; scratches, bumps, discolouration- not one flaw can be found in their surfaces.
The Dwemer would study the laws of the Ehlnofey with great precision, seeking to understand- and later imitate- the innerworkings of the Mundus. Soon, this would lead them further and further underground in search for the precious materials needed for their inventions. It was none other than the star-wound East, which would come to prove itself rich in both crucial mineral and fire power. And their hunt for the perfect deposit would have them push even deeper down, until all worldy distraction was left behind.
As the stairway stretches on, the little air this deep down has grown stale, hot even, and though the remainders of the outside world have all but disappeared, every so often the mechanisms in the surface-side part of the building can still be heard echoing from up top. Little of the melodies actually make it this far down, but the ringing of the bells seems to only amplify the further down they venture. Additionally a dull thumping periodically can be felt running through the stone and in rare moments of silence it can almost be heard too.
It would be within the depths of Red Mountain, where Dwemeri ears would first pick up on the Song they would henceforth dedicate their lifes to studying. Now firmly on the path to the truth they sought, they soon discovered their metals as being capable of channeling this melody into something more audible, tangible to the mortal mind. And when they had mastered this art, it would lead them to make their greatest discovery yet; The Source for their grand design, drumming of their Doom.
The next carving is familiar to both halves of this unusual duo. A grand, brassen construction bearing a mighty mask with crests not unlike the remarkable beards the Dwemer were known to display, lacking skin beyond the face its flesh is of stone and metal forms its bones. An emptiness in its chest cavity, it stands as tall as the column holding its image, staring down on all those foolish enough to walk this path all the way down; The Prime Gesalt.
It marks the end of the countless steps, leading into a circular room of rather modest sizing. Part of the unworked ground has been replaced-an outer ring of glassing acting as the only barrier between visitors and a mindboggling drop into a lazily blubbering lake below, its igneous contense having partially cooled into ebony patches, it gives off a faint orange glow. But it would not be necessary, setting foot into the chamber causes light from within a gided pedestal in the center of the room to come to life with a mechnical whirr.
Though the rockformation appears organically formed, the room as a whole is unnaturally spherical. Further pointing at the deceptive nature of the cavern-like apperance are pipes- twelve to be exact-, flawlessly melting into the wall. Their placements are in precise, symmatrical intervals and each ends in an outward-flaired, round mouth and sees its body disappear upward. They all point inward toward a small plattform. Standing surrounded by six bells- arranged by size- forming a half-circle, is the source of light; a podium reaching just below shoulder height of Lorkhan's mortal image. Above it hangs a delicate metal cage- its sides drooping into deep archs- two for each pipe-, coming up into two unified strands, a shorter one at the front and a longer in the back. Its leg holds up a case, six-sided box decorated in barely legible, heavily embellished daedric script, emitting a bright glow through thinner parts of the material; It remains closed, for now.]
[Lorkhan takes it all in, slowly realizing that the place is familiar, as though he had been there in a hazy dream before. The towering figure, the location, the bubbling lava... It felt as though he had been here for a long, long time.]
Hm... [Lorkhan steps ahead this time rather than trailing behind Almalexia, looking around curiously. He doesn't touch anything yet, but he is admiring the metalwork on the large construction.] Feels a bit uncomfortable. Almost like I'm looking at... [He trails off awkwardly. Maybe it would be strange to say that looking at the dwemeri construction makes him feel like he's looking at his own dead body]
What do you think? [He turns back to look at Almalexia]
[ @almalexia-mother-morrowind ]
[Ayem takes in their surroundings, the entire room both strange and hauntingly familiar. She studies the great dwemeri construction, as well as the platform, cage, and box.]
Anumidium... It has been some time since I have seen it. Or its like. Six bells, twelve pipes... that feels significant. I assume that we need to open the box. The writing on it may provide a clue.
[Almalexia steps as close as she can to the box, levitating if she must in order to read the script on it.]
[@theserpent-lorkhan ]
[The box is inscribed with lines upon lines upon lines of text, with rows often seeing letters from above and below bleeding into one. But despite this- and the heavily stylised font- it offers some semblence of readability, periodically obscured by the ember glow pulsing under the brassen skin. Whenever the Missing God steps within a certain vicinity, it sits out for a beat, though otherwise acting undisturbed.
Almalexia's approach solicits no reaction from the life within. That is, until her eyes fall onto the script. As if sensing her gaze, the characters light up and begin to melt into the brass the moment she moves on onto the next one.
The sequence endeavor thus; Eidolon, Poet, Song, Crown and Mantle, finality the Frame-maker. Learned of Speech, master to Memory, assume now Melody, the greater twin, basis inactuality. Previously tempered components, behold now the Drum conduct to the verse of the Mundus, stepping stone to the Symphony of Every Nothing. Soon reflect upon The Tower, forget not The Wheel, its form, word of words, the inception of potentiality; NRN Unclouded which is Maybe.
With every legible part read, the letters have all but entirely melted into the surface, with only the last one lingering a moment longer as the metal case unfurls, its sides folding downward in synchronicity, a flower coming into bloom. Its middle unrevealing the treasure it had been shielding; Existing in three sides, never the one from which it is viewed, sits, for those below a green polished gem, for those above a beating red heart. The shifting apparation shines brightly, buzzing with energy- inviting, nay, beckoning touch.]
[Lorkhan watches curiously, taking it all in. He had suspected they might have been doing the towers out of order, but he knows this is Almalexia’s bath to walk.]
[He makes no effort to grab the item, but he does nod, motioning her toward it with his head. He isn’t sure what will happen, but he knows what it represents very well.]
[ @almalexia-mother-morrowind ]
[Almalexia reads the words carefully, making note of them. She watches with fascination as the strange item within is revealed. She briefly glances at Lorkhan and, seeing his encouragement, turns back to the strange heart-gem and gently touches it.]
[ @theserpent-lorkhan ]
[The contact brings with it a familiar sensation, as an inexhaustible font of power washing over her; tapping into a divine spark, she has done this countless times before and though it now comes from a different source, it is one she has come to know well as of recent. While the Heart acted with seemingly little conviction of its own, its power easily bleeding into the tools, Boethiah could certainly be demanding, turning the wielding of his boon into a contest more often than not. It comes with no surprise, when a spark in his realm lashes out in his usual style. The piercing surge of Daedric essence grasping for her acts no different to previous gifts. That is, until the flow abruptly halts, with slight delay a sharp jolt follows as the forces acting on her are inverted. Push turns into pull and from one moment to the next she has left the tower.
Or at least parts of her have, to the outside her body remains standing unmoving, holding onto the apparition which has now taken solid form; a matt-black snake curling around her outstretched hand, sinking its fangs deep into her wrist. But the heart-gem is not the only thing undergoing a change, as Ayem's physical form has grown noticably, her proportions shifting, her ornate armour growing into harsh plate and her hair, eyes and skin losing their chroma in the process. And finally, with an earsplitting rumble, the only entrance to the chamber closes shut. The sound being picked up by all bells present, as the whole room reverberates. A concert she would witness, but not experience.
While her body stands tall and grey, Almalexia finds herself standing high above Skar'ruhn Malatanya, above the mirrored Red Mountain, above Attribution's Share itself. No, that's not it. She is not in the skies, she is deep under ground, overseeing a vast network of tunnles and volcanic rivers flowing through the lands. Except that is not true either, there are no magma flows present at all, instead she is watching a blossoming swamp one moment and an icy waste the next and then a- For a moment she is bombarded with an influx of images, impulses, sensations, with every breath she takes matter changes, with every heartbeat the realm around- no, the realm is not around her, Attribution's Share is her. Every mortal stepping foot onto her grounds, every drop of blood ever spilled on her soil, every Daedra slain and subsequentially reformed in her waters, every mountain built and erased by her hand, she bears witness to the realm as it is, was and will be, through a pair of unblinking eyes intrinsically linked to the very land itself. A state of total existence, only in her presence can this place be.
By its own volition thought forms in her mind, her inner voice distorted, cutting.]
Good.
[And with an involuntary blink, she is released from this state. Returning into her own flesh within an instant, the snake recoils, taking the grey with it as it retreats into its case and disperses back into the heart-gem that isn't quite. The experience leaves her with a lingering burst of divinity and two burning punctures on her wrist. And as soon as she is back, the exit opens up again. But where a mighty, absolute image of the Numidium had overlooked pristine, embellished stairs now stands a cracked column guarding steep, busted stone steps up into a pitch black ascent. It is hard to tell while still standing in the chamber, only worsend by the sudden darkness, but it seems the text on the walls has changed too.]
How are you feeling? [He asks, tilting his head with a smile. He takes note of the marks from the snake, eying them knowingly]
I suppose no where else to go but up?
[[ @almalexia-mother-morrowind ]]
đź«€
This is not an offering I accept. Try Malacath instead.
If you're not going to eat that I can
It is yours to take. I have no use for it.
Great! Just don't tell Boethiah I'm not sharing.
[He eats it quickly]
đź«€
This is not an offering I accept. Try Malacath instead.
If you're not going to eat that I can
wait. have you not visited Sovngarde yet? You should go and stay there a while. catch up with the warriors
I have been there plenty while dead. We’ll have time to catch up later I’m certain, given how unstable my heart is. I think I’ve actually phased back in there a few times while it’s been acting up.
Besides I’m a little tied up at the moment I’m Boethiah’s realm. I’m sure they’ll be fine without me for a little while
đź«€
Oh well thank you!
[Lorkhan, without hesitation, eats it]
Damn.
Apologies Boe, I already finished it. If I get another one we can share it.
[@almalexia-mother-morrowind @theserpent-lorkhan long description post below]
[Sharing practically non-existant borders with it's sister realms, neither the harsh lands of Attribution's Share nor its inhabitants are strangers to unlikely acquaintances. It is common- nay, expected even- to meet groups made up of the oddest combinations of un- and people wandering the streets of Skar'ruhn Malatanya in their shared search for knowledge. But this duo may yet be the oddest of them all. Indeed, the sight of the former living goddess side by side with the Missing God would draw many curious glances in the coming days- if it had been days, that had passed. Time seems to move in a rather odd manner here, the dissonace to the normal day-and-night-cycle of Nirn is only heighted by the fact, that most of the residents here could not care less about following any daily routine. It was hard to tell how strong Akatosh's grasp on this realm is, let alone if he had any influence over it at all. This in and of itself seems to be a hotly debated topic, having a whole district in the center of knowledge dedicated to deciphering it. Almalexia's search naturally saw her crossing paths with that spire itself and countless scripts originating from there. Each paper seemed to bring a different hypothesis to the table; anything from indepth, scientific essays on whether or not Anui-El had power over a Padhomaic realm to incoherent texts of authors claiming to have gotten an answer straight from Boethiah- most of them contradicted not only each other but also themselves. Normally this would be a mystery easily solved with an et'Ada by one's side; Lorkhan, however, seemed oddly reluctant to answer questions on the nature of his Brother. And as such the relation of Attribution's Share to Time would remain a riddle a little longer to mortal and daedric minds alike.
Though the passage of time, in whatever manner it might be occurring, was not entirely impossible to measure. The realm lacked a sun but there would indeed be a moon occassionally gracing the ever-cloudy skies with its presence, painting the usual greys in vivid colours which were following it like a tail as it crawled from one of the horizons to the other. This phenomenon seems to occurr somewhat regularily, but whenever the moon- if it even was one, let alone only one- returned, it would do so from a different direction. The direction and the intervals in which it returned do appear to have some correlation. As Ayem would find out; both were caused by the unique relation this realm had with its neighbours.
Besides the commonly accepted cosmological map laying out the Aurbis to be made up of Nirn as its center, with Aetherius and Oblivion forming layers around it- all Divine Realms neatly sorted next to each other in a ring formation-, there is also another map frequently showing up here too. One, that seemingly contradicts the first one; Depicting the three realms- Attribution's Share, Moonshadow and Spiral Skein- in particular, it shows an incomprehensible shape, vaguely forming a triangle as it folds in on itself in a way, that causes all three realms to simultaneously touch each other on all sides. It would be all to easy to dismiss this as pure nonsense,-the first map is an Aurbic-wide agreed upon truth afterall-, but Almalexia had already witnessed proof of the second map's accuracy. Walking over the fine line non-seperating Azura's realm from the one she was in now, was the first thing she had done upon arriving here. And even Hadronyche's agitation begun making sense, when set next to this triangular map and the repeated banter she would overhear in her search; though she would not meet the Spiderkith again, many Daedra- especially scholarly and arachnid ones- would lament similar fates to hers; the access to Spiral Skein had unexpectadly closed some time ago, with talk of a war quickly making the rounds as Lesser Daedra re-emerged from their pools of Chaos Creatia and reported having fallen in battle. And once again, her Divine companion's lips remained sealed, though the Serpent was rather obviously intently listening in on any reports coming out of Mephala's realm, he would not give Ayem any response beyond 'It was not his place to tell her, if Boethiah and Azura have not informed her of this.'
His silence could certainly be frustrating at times, but it was never malicious. When the topic wasn't related to the very basis of the Aurbis, he would prove to be a pleasant conversation partner and he would even more so prove to be a valuable travelling companion. Whenever they had to ask for directions, it was Lorkhan who would imeadiatly identify the quickest route through the maze-like layout of Skar'Malatanya. Though he claimed to be new here too, he seemed to have an inherent affinity to navigating this place- even more so, than Almalexia, despite her being the one more familiar with the Chimeri-style architecture dominating many parts of the campus.
But even with the best guidance, they would often find themselves walking the same paths twice or more. Not for any lack of orientation, but because the topic at hand would demand of them to return to previous scriptures. Though the most demanding path had yet to make itself known in it's fullest; the road connecting the major six towers surrounding the main building would be the way they would need to walk countless times on this journey. While this reality was not yet known by Almalexia, one thing had made itself clear fairly quickly; One of these towers, the first to the right from the direction she first arrived in, would be the place for her to start learning about the nature of Divinity.
And exactly there is where the two found themselves now; at the entrance to this tower. This one stands out amongst the others, not for it's height- as all of them were far too tall to tell which might be the tallest of them all, at least when viewed from below- but for its style. Just like every one of the six towers, it had been built to have a unique appearences and this one specifically was oddly geometrical for a daedric building. Precise, sharp stone pillars making up its form, it is completely symmetrical down to even the smallest, little detail. Even scratches, dents, all the wear and tear caused by the frequent visitors is neatly mirrored on all sides of the hexagonal tower. Almalexia would not have needed to be the First Councilor to the Chimer-King of Resdayn, to recognise the unmistakably Dwemeri style of this building.]
[Almalexia studied the tower, fascinated. She had not expected to find something of dwemer make here. She entered hesitantly, intent on taking in as much of her surroundings as possible. She spared a glance at her companion, wondering how Lorkhan would react to this Tower.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
[Lorkhan looked up at the tower thoughtfully. He understood it very well, and understood what it represented.
The first walking way was the easiest way to attain divinity for a mortal, at least compared to the other ways. It was a method he had intended from the start for mortals, though it was far from his favorite path. To use another’s divine spark or a machine powered by it was to invite disaster. Such was the fate of the Dwemer and Chimer all that time ago.
But Lorkhan once again found it wasn’t his place to remark on it too heavily. The tower was just the same as the first walking way: a fact of life, and an important lesson to learn. Instead he gave a smile to Almalexia when she looked back at him, nodding his head to encourage her]
@almalexia-mother-morrowind
[The tall brass doors move on their own accord, slowly swing open, as she approaches. The motion is accompanied by a mechanical groan, Almalexia may hear it now, but it would be completely inaudible to the outside as the noise is captured in its entirety by the tall tower walls. It reverberates as it bounces off of, and moves through, intricate contraptions and precise patterns, travelling along the many stories of the spire. By the time it has reached the upper echelons- when it is no more, than a faint whisper to Almalexia's ears-, what was once merely the dissonant byproduct of movement has been transformed into a soft melody. But this is not the only noise undergoing such a change; the entire tower acts as one large instrument, channeling every sound down to every breath being drawn into one large aria. No matter where the noise originated or how might have started off as, by the end they all seemlessly blend into one cohesive song. Dwemer strongholds enjoy a reputation of being hard on the ears, with their overwhelming mechanical huffs and creaks, but Almalexia would know this to be the result of millennia of neglect. Broken down, the noise had no where to go, but in their prime all their buildings would have been capable of catching sound like this. Though where typical dwarven architecture is inhabited by countless, uninviting machines, this one sees its interior barren, as the only furnishing present is concentrated around the walls, leaving the middle an empty, open hall.
Maybe she finds her eyes naturally following what her ears have already picked up on and wandering to the walls and upward. Unlike other buildings, this one completely lacks bookshelves and there is hardly any information written down. The few texts that do exist, have been chiseled into stone tablets, standing in regular intervals along the walls. And those are the real focus of the tower; Featuring multiple-story-spanning diagram depicting a night sky, each one of its six sides shows an arrangement of bright stars against a backdrop of colourful nebulae. There are no outlines, but anyone familiar with Nirn's skies will instantly recognise the twelve constellations as they appear life-like clashing with the rigidity of this tower. The formlessness of the firmament poses stands in stark contradiction to this creation of stone and brass, the elements from deep within the earth could not be further from the nature of the remnants of the Magne Ge. And yet in this tower, they not only coexist, but are intricately connected. Construction and projection cannot be cleanly seperated here- if either of that is even what this is at all. The sheer scale of the starry tapestry makes it hard to determine the true makeup of this display, at least from where Almalexia is standing. This is not helped by the fact, that the entrance door itself is mirrored on all of the four cardinal direction, forcing the whole display to begin at a height usually reserved for a ceiling. She would have to climb one of the thin stairs connecting even thinner plattforms hugging the walls, if she wanted a closer look. Though even those only reach up to where the first row ends and the second set of constellations begins.
Or maybe her attention is first drawn to the cool flooring beneath her feet. A large mirror makes up the foundation of the building. The smooth glass reflects the lustrous upper levels back, only allowing a small glimpse into the lower ones through the slender cuts in its surface. The pattern spans across the entire ground, repeating the constellation back, precisely carved to give each one its own section. And where they had no outlines on the walls, the floor sees them fall onto detailed depictions of their symbols faintly etched into the glass, each perfectly aligning with the stars from above. The lines seperating them from one another all draw the eye into the middle; a perfectly circular hole. Obscuring the top of the tower, leaving it completely indiscernible from here. Whatever is catching the melodies of this place is only hinted at by a shadow cast down from above, pulsating in a steady rythm, being caught in the cuts in the glass and revealing the star chart carved into it whenever it passes over it.
Although a first glance does not make it imeadiately obvious, there must also be a path into the lower half of the building somewhere around here. Not a lot of the underground structure is visible, little more than the angular profil of stairs can be seen from above, as the sparse light falling in from the center hole is quickly lost in its depths. Still, the dimly lit levels below could easily reach just as far down as the surface-side of the tower reaches up.]
[Almalexia walked further into the tower, fascinated and awed by what she saw. Where to start, though? She walked around a bit, studying her options, before deciding to climb the narrow stairway to see what lay above. It was so odd to see stars with Dwemer architecture, but it was not an unwelcome surprise. She did wonder where the Serpent constellation could be, though.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
[lorkhan looked up and noticed the serpent was missing. He frowned slightly, muttering under his breath, as though offended. But knowing why it wasn’t there, he moved on, following behind Almalexia like a ghost, watching her take it all in]]
@almalexia-mother-morrowind
[The way up is precarious at best and downright dangerous at worst, truely living up to the word 'climb'; the narrow, metal steps are all angled downward in a manner that did not allow for any stops, lest potential visitors risk their feet sliding off, and any new sound making its way upward to join into the melody of the tower had the tendency to resonate in the construct, causing the whole thing to vibrate, sometimes even outright shake. And the railing- if it could even be called that-, is not exactly helping make the ascent feel any less hazardous, those rickety balustrades seem to just be repurposed piping, stapled onto the stairs with the bare minimum of screws required to not cause them to simply fall off at the first touch. On top of all that, they at most reach up to Almalexia's calves, bringing into question why they were even put there in the first place, seeing as this is far too low to aid anyone- let alone stop someone from falling. Whoever built this clearly cared more about not obscuring any parts of the wall decorations than making a functioning stairway. But as haphazardous as the whole construction is, it could hardly stop a God or a mortal damn-close to being one from making their way up.
Whether by accident or not, Almalexia now finds herself standing under the stars representing The Warrior. With The Steed to its left, The Guardian Constellation touches The Tower to its right, which in turn touches The Thief. And further left, The Steed touches The Mage, which further along touches The Ritual, leading back to The Thief. The remaining Constellations lay slightly offset and make up the row below, in just this order; The Lady, The Lord, The Atronach, The Apprentice, The Shadow and The Lover.
The few obelisks nearby only feature texts on the similarities and differences between the commonly accepted Constellations and the Dwarven pantheon, but the imeadiate proximity allows for insight to be manually gleaned on the means of their creation, though it might also bring up more questions, than it answers; Here the mechanical and the magickal seamlessly flow into one another, the constellations are simultaneously made up of pure arcane forces and rigid brass rods branching off to connect the individual stars represented by blue, shimmering lenses. Both forms are clear cut and seperate, yet seem to exist in the exact same spot at the exact same time. Futhermore, the arcane appears just as solid and materialised as the metal, and despite occupying the same material space, neither of the images seem unstable. There is neither shifting nor any flickering, nothing to indicate any conflict in this open disregard for physical laws. Sight is clearly not the correct sense for figuring this out, smell, however, isn't much better off either. The coppery tang of magicka in the air could just as easily be explained as being part of the alloy making up the ever-elusive dwarven metal. And the electric pulse could be anything from the melody running through the tower, to potentially-charged metals, to a potent concentration of magicka. Perhaps touching one of the pieces might be tempting, but the aggressive buzz eminating from them should hopefully be enough to deter at least the more sqweamish of souls.
Unsolved mysteries of Dwemer technology aside, watching the Constellations for a while will reveal some stars to have the tendency to flare up whenever sound moved over them. Longer obversation might even reveal the exact number of stars part of this phenomenon to be twelve, four in each Guardian Constellation. On the rare occasion, that more than one is lit up at once, a faint creaking and grinding will be heard coming from somewhere below, coming to a stop once the stars dim again. It's safe to assume there is some sort of additional mechanism starting up and then abruptly ending again.]
[Almalexia carefully turns about, studying everything while mindful of the precarious path she stands on. The glowing stars obviously activate a mechanism based on sound. The only question is how to activate all at once. She recalls Sunder... yes, something similar to that could work...
Ayem pulls out her war mask and draws her sword. She faces outward and takes a moment to brace herself before forcefully banging the hilt of her sword against the metal mask, hoping the resulting sound would reverberate enough to activate all the stars.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
[Lorkhan watches her bang the hilt of her sword on the metal mask. When it makes a noise, he whistles slightly, watching the stars light up]
Anything else you have that can make more noise maybe?
@almalexia-mother-morrowind
[Somewhere a bell, full and low, answers Almalexia's call. It merges with her own noise and the deep ringing resonates through out the whole building, causing the stairs to shiver under its impact. When the sound disappears into the darkness, the shadow being cast from above flickers. On the fourth beat it stops, now covering the mirror below, revealing the glass relief in full. If that is anything to go off of, the mechanism up top seems to have accepted the melody offered through the green-bronze mask.
The stars, however, are less impressed. The plangent tone only manages to fully illuminate the unique stars within the lower rows. The upper ones do not react, while middle sees the sound bounce between its Constellations, before quickly dimming again. Only once the sharp note of Lorkhan's whistle joins into the tower's song, do the highest luminaries spring to life. But the moment passes too soon to allow all stars to shine in unison.
As if to underline the failure of this attempt, the gears concealed below the flooring had briefly set back into grinding motion, just to come to another screeching halt, a noise mockingly only lighting up the rows which had previously refused to shine.]
[Almalexia hums a bit, watching to see which stars light up. An idea strikes her as a familiar melody comes to mind, one she cannot name, despite it being a background melody she seems to recall hearing whenever all was quiet. She bangs her mask again with the hilt of her sword, following the beat of the song. She whistles, too, her whistles forming the melody.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
@theserpent-lorkhan Attribution's Share uses [Legendary Action: Long Text Wall] to act outside of the turn order
[One by one, the rows slowly ignite again and for a moment it doesn't seem like this had any more of an effect, than her previous attempt. The song echos throughout the building, The Constellations shine brightly, the piping, poorly miming a set of stairs, rattles and sways, a deep bell answers the sound, everything occurs in exactly the same order and manner as before. That is, until a second, ever-so-slightly-lighter bell begins to toll alongside the first. With a strained electrical buzz, the lowest of the brightest Guardian stars begin to flicker, before their light emitted grows tenfold, channeling itself into pinstraight, white-hot beams thrown across the room, their paths crossing just above door-height before falling upon their respective glass reliefs. At the same time, two lighter bells, both slightly off-set in tone, join in too and the middle row of stars follows suit. By the time Almalexia has begun her second redition of the familiar tune, the highest stars, alongside another pair of far clearer bells, too, have interlaced into the melody.
And when a complete rendition of the song runs out, accompanied in full by the tower's own instruments, a noticable shift occurs within the building. The mechanism concealed within the floor shudders and one by one, each Guardian Constellation sees their last prime star spring to life. One of each Guardian, one at each height, whereas the other stars only kept to their own rows, a fourth set of blazing beacons take their place in the center. Finally, all twelve of the stars burn brightly, coming together to form four contact points; three following the height of the tower and one to the side. As the last notes of Almalexia's song ring out, the four points collapse into themselves, leaving lightless gaps in the otherwise undisturbed beams shining down from the walls. And with surrounding air noticably quivering, it is as if a bite had been taken out of reality itself. Then the spots of their disappearance begin to spring sparks and ignite into their own, blue-flamed unstars, finally; The Serpent is formed.
With The Thirteenth Constellation revealed, the glass begins to retract into the foundation, making way into the depths below. Now no longer obscured by shadows, the path downward looks to be a long set of stairs. Wide and imposing marble with brassen embellishments, proper dwarven stairs, nothing like the dilapidated construction she is standing on now. The walls, too, are formed by precise stone, it is hard to tell from up here, but at least some of the columns appear to have decorative carvings, maybe even text on them. And despite seemingly all the lights of the heavens now beaming straight down, there is no visible end to the descent.]
[Lorkhan smiles fondly at the tune, enjoying the song he seemed to have heard before somewhere. When the serpent shows itself, he’s even more thrilled.]
Well, it looks like that worked, [He rolls his shoulders slightly] I guess that’s enough of the heavens for now though. Time to head down?
[ @almalexia-mother-morrowind ]
Indeed. Into the depths.
[Almalexia leads the way down the precarious walkway she stands on now, until she arrives at the top of the newly revealed stairs. She slowly descends, pausing to study the columns with carvings or words. If the light from above is not enough, she will cast a magelight to illuminate her surroundings.]
@theserpent-lorkhan
[The columns depict an indepth perspective into a story Ayem is quite familiar with; The Dwemer, their rise and their inevitable fall.
There are no letters in the pictures and the grooves making up the marble paintings are no mere straightforward cuts, their surfaces are never smooth, each has a precise and unique pattern carved into it. Artificial light would prove itself unnecessary, the pictures speak- sing- of their tales all on their own; When the occassional breeze runs through the images, it catches in the stone, audibly breaking over the ridges and folds, and it almost sounds as though the scenes are describing themselves in a raspy, haunting whisper.
A proud society of scholars, not bound by any one faith they sought out the stars for guidance instead. Studying the endless skies, its Planets and Constellations, they begun to yearn for more than Nirn could offer. Leave the mortal plane behind to explore what lies beyond the Liminal Barriers. But too prideful they were to accept assistance from the Divine. And so their quest to build the machinery necessary to bring about this breakthrough on their own was put into motion.
The descent down is as long, as it had looked from the top. Slowly, but surely the stone walls begin to fade, making way for the brownish-red rock hiding underneath. Despite the rest of the inverted tower seemingly falling into neglect, the ornate stairs and pillars continue to stand in pristine condition; scratches, bumps, discolouration- not one flaw can be found in their surfaces.
The Dwemer would study the laws of the Ehlnofey with great precision, seeking to understand- and later imitate- the innerworkings of the Mundus. Soon, this would lead them further and further underground in search for the precious materials needed for their inventions. It was none other than the star-wound East, which would come to prove itself rich in both crucial mineral and fire power. And their hunt for the perfect deposit would have them push even deeper down, until all worldy distraction was left behind.
As the stairway stretches on, the little air this deep down has grown stale, hot even, and though the remainders of the outside world have all but disappeared, every so often the mechanisms in the surface-side part of the building can still be heard echoing from up top. Little of the melodies actually make it this far down, but the ringing of the bells seems to only amplify the further down they venture. Additionally a dull thumping periodically can be felt running through the stone and in rare moments of silence it can almost be heard too.
It would be within the depths of Red Mountain, where Dwemeri ears would first pick up on the Song they would henceforth dedicate their lifes to studying. Now firmly on the path to the truth they sought, they soon discovered their metals as being capable of channeling this melody into something more audible, tangible to the mortal mind. And when they had mastered this art, it would lead them to make their greatest discovery yet; The Source for their grand design, drumming of their Doom.
The next carving is familiar to both halves of this unusual duo. A grand, brassen construction bearing a mighty mask with crests not unlike the remarkable beards the Dwemer were known to display, lacking skin beyond the face its flesh is of stone and metal forms its bones. An emptiness in its chest cavity, it stands as tall as the column holding its image, staring down on all those foolish enough to walk this path all the way down; The Prime Gesalt.
It marks the end of the countless steps, leading into a circular room of rather modest sizing. Part of the unworked ground has been replaced-an outer ring of glassing acting as the only barrier between visitors and a mindboggling drop into a lazily blubbering lake below, its igneous contense having partially cooled into ebony patches, it gives off a faint orange glow. But it would not be necessary, setting foot into the chamber causes light from within a gided pedestal in the center of the room to come to life with a mechnical whirr.
Though the rockformation appears organically formed, the room as a whole is unnaturally spherical. Further pointing at the deceptive nature of the cavern-like apperance are pipes- twelve to be exact-, flawlessly melting into the wall. Their placements are in precise, symmatrical intervals and each ends in an outward-flaired, round mouth and sees its body disappear upward. They all point inward toward a small plattform. Standing surrounded by six bells- arranged by size- forming a half-circle, is the source of light; a podium reaching just below shoulder height of Lorkhan's mortal image. Above it hangs a delicate metal cage- its sides drooping into deep archs- two for each pipe-, coming up into two unified strands, a shorter one at the front and a longer in the back. Its leg holds up a case, six-sided box decorated in barely legible, heavily embellished daedric script, emitting a bright glow through thinner parts of the material; It remains closed, for now.]
[Lorkhan takes it all in, slowly realizing that the place is familiar, as though he had been there in a hazy dream before. The towering figure, the location, the bubbling lava... It felt as though he had been here for a long, long time.]
Hm... [Lorkhan steps ahead this time rather than trailing behind Almalexia, looking around curiously. He doesn't touch anything yet, but he is admiring the metalwork on the large construction.] Feels a bit uncomfortable. Almost like I'm looking at... [He trails off awkwardly. Maybe it would be strange to say that looking at the dwemeri construction makes him feel like he's looking at his own dead body]
What do you think? [He turns back to look at Almalexia]
[ @almalexia-mother-morrowind ]
[Ayem takes in their surroundings, the entire room both strange and hauntingly familiar. She studies the great dwemeri construction, as well as the platform, cage, and box.]
Anumidium... It has been some time since I have seen it. Or its like. Six bells, twelve pipes... that feels significant. I assume that we need to open the box. The writing on it may provide a clue.
[Almalexia steps as close as she can to the box, levitating if she must in order to read the script on it.]
[@theserpent-lorkhan ]
[The box is inscribed with lines upon lines upon lines of text, with rows often seeing letters from above and below bleeding into one. But despite this- and the heavily stylised font- it offers some semblence of readability, periodically obscured by the ember glow pulsing under the brassen skin. Whenever the Missing God steps within a certain vicinity, it sits out for a beat, though otherwise acting undisturbed.
Almalexia's approach solicits no reaction from the life within. That is, until her eyes fall onto the script. As if sensing her gaze, the characters light up and begin to melt into the brass the moment she moves on onto the next one.
The sequence endeavor thus; Eidolon, Poet, Song, Crown and Mantle, finality the Frame-maker. Learned of Speech, master to Memory, assume now Melody, the greater twin, basis inactuality. Previously tempered components, behold now the Drum conduct to the verse of the Mundus, stepping stone to the Symphony of Every Nothing. Soon reflect upon The Tower, forget not The Wheel, its form, word of words, the inception of potentiality; NRN Unclouded which is Maybe.
With every legible part read, the letters have all but entirely melted into the surface, with only the last one lingering a moment longer as the metal case unfurls, its sides folding downward in synchronicity, a flower coming into bloom. Its middle unrevealing the treasure it had been shielding; Existing in three sides, never the one from which it is viewed, sits, for those below a green polished gem, for those above a beating red heart. The shifting apparation shines brightly, buzzing with energy- inviting, nay, beckoning touch.]
[Lorkhan watches curiously, taking it all in. He had suspected they might have been doing the towers out of order, but he knows this is Almalexia’s bath to walk.]
[He makes no effort to grab the item, but he does nod, motioning her toward it with his head. He isn’t sure what will happen, but he knows what it represents very well.]
[ @almalexia-mother-morrowind ]
Alduin says there is a choir annoying him in Sovngarde. Tsun says he makes them practice there to annoy him.
Huh.... Well, I won't deny that Tsun might be doing it to annoy Alduin specifically. But the music there is also just normal.
That said he could also be lying about the choir to annoy Alduin as well. Which would also be pretty funny. Serves that angry chicken right coming to my realm to eat souls.
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...Why are you giving me a heart? What is the purpose of this?
Oh, but nobody gives me any hearts. I see how it is.
You are strange. Why would you want a heart?
How can somebody NOT want a heart? You must prove your strength and commitment to rip out a heart. The giver has tested themself!
I know you know anger. Do you not wish your enemies dead? To see the proof of their demise in your hand and feel their beat in your fist? A heart is the sign your exertions against them are finally at an end. Anyone who has removed a heart has accomplished a job well done.
Removing a heart just makes more of a mess. Driving one's sword through their enemy's heart will kill them just as well.
I do not like blood. It is messy. Unorderly. There is a reason I do not have blood, nor do my Knights. There is a reason Hearts of Order do not beat. It is chaotic. I hate chaos.
I agree with Trinimac here, regardless of his reasons. Blood is messy and that's what makes it enjoyable. Otherwise it's just like breaking glass. Much less fun.
Why are you still living?
It is not my fault my brother made linear time to keep me dead. Now that it broke, I can be alive again. Or is that too chaotic for you?
Yes, it is too chaotic. You should be dead. You are a relic of the past. The only way forward is Order.
I am not a relic of the past and you know it. The future cannot exist without change and chaos. Perfect order is stagnation. And even when I am dead, my will lives on in my realm.
But then again you’ve always hated fun.
You know I hadn’t thought of how padomaic that response was until now.
Why doesn't the dragonborn chant choir have a separate place to practice in at Sovngarde?
Hm? What choir are you referring to?
In Sovngarde there is a lot of music but that’s just in its nature. I don’t have any dedicated choirs. The whole realm is a place of music that is ever changing.
Why do you think they call me “doom drum”?
đź«€
...Why are you giving me a heart? What is the purpose of this?
Oh, but nobody gives me any hearts. I see how it is.
You are strange. Why would you want a heart?
How can somebody NOT want a heart? You must prove your strength and commitment to rip out a heart. The giver has tested themself!
I know you know anger. Do you not wish your enemies dead? To see the proof of their demise in your hand and feel their beat in your fist? A heart is the sign your exertions against them are finally at an end. Anyone who has removed a heart has accomplished a job well done.
Removing a heart just makes more of a mess. Driving one's sword through their enemy's heart will kill them just as well.
I do not like blood. It is messy. Unorderly. There is a reason I do not have blood, nor do my Knights. There is a reason Hearts of Order do not beat. It is chaotic. I hate chaos.
I agree with Trinimac here, regardless of his reasons. Blood is messy and that's what makes it enjoyable. Otherwise it's just like breaking glass. Much less fun.
Why are you still living?
It is not my fault my brother made linear time to keep me dead. Now that it broke, I can be alive again. Or is that too chaotic for you?
Yes, it is too chaotic. You should be dead. You are a relic of the past. The only way forward is Order.
I am not a relic of the past and you know it. The future cannot exist without change and chaos. Perfect order is stagnation. And even when I am dead, my will lives on in my realm.
But then again you’ve always hated fun.
