Quintessential form of Stasis

Eporem

From here: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Anu

Just wishing to see what this might mean to others, to me it seems like neutrality or balance, and I wonder if the Psijic's of Summerset believe in this state or if it is what Sotha Sil was trying to achieve or return to in the making of Clockwork City

RaddlemanNumber7

It is my take on this that Anu is the quintessential form of stasis, but that it is very far from being neutrality or balance. Anu is one the polar extremes of existence. Anu is Law and nothing but Law. It is opposed by the other extreme, Sithis, which is pure Chaos. The Grey Maybe, aka the Aurbis, is the place where Law and Chaos collided and mixed. Everything within the Aurbis has something of Anu and something of Sithis, but the proportions vary. If there is anything with a perfectly balanced mix of Law and Choas then logically it would be somewhere in the Grey Maybe, but I don't know of anything that is actually defined like that in the game.

I don't think the Psijiics or Sotha Sil are trying to achieve the pure stasis of Anu. I think they are both seeking knowledge and power for the benefit of the Mundus and the mortal creatures that live there. Although they share the same goal their outlook and methods are again polar opposites. The Psijiics are a collegiate orthodoxy, and seek knowledge from the past, from the respected Old Ways of their Aedric ancestors. Sotha Sil is a selfish individual, a promethean, who seeks knowledge and power through personal transcendence, by taking it from the gods (e.g. from Lorkhan's heart). However, judging by his "Prisoner" speech to the Vestige, it is possible that Sotha SIl has already reached his peak by the time of ESO. He may have equalled the power of the gods that made the mortal world, but he will not transcend them.

The clockwork city is an expression of Sothat SIl's acquired divine power. It is a magical tool. The Clockwork City is the type of magic tool that is called a "Microcosm". In IRL lore ceremonial magicians sometimes seek to control the Macrocosm through sympathetic magic by creating and manipulating a Microcosm that is a replica of it (such a Microcosm may be called a Temple). By creating the Clockwork City as a Microcosm Sotha Sil has gained power over a Macrocosm. I haven't worked out for sure yet whether that Macrocosm is the Aurbis or the Mundus, or maybe even just Nirn.

That is how I see it. I'm sure other people have their own opinions...

Eporem

Thank you for your thoughts on this @RaddlemanNumber7 I am curious though on why you see Law as the opposite of Chaos and not Order though their meaning might be the same?

I find myself wondering now as well where true neutrality might exist on Nirn ... and I can only think it might be in the pure water we find for alchemy purposes - though have no idea at the moment how this pure water came to be.

RaddlemanNumber7

Eporem wrote: »

Thank you for your thoughts on this @RaddlemanNumber7 I am curious though on why you see Law as the opposite of Chaos and not Order though their meaning might be the same?

I find myself wondering now as well where true neutrality might exist on Nirn ... and I can only think it might be in the pure water we find for alchemy purposes - though have no idea at the moment how this pure water came to be.

It's standard in the Sword and Sorcery genre to have "Chaos" opposed by "Law", or "Chaotic" by "Lawful". I believe TES follows that standard.

RaddlemanNumber7

I think I have found a couple more things which may be what you're looking for.

Tower Zero, which in the time of ESO forms the core of The Direni Tower. It is utterly stable and impenetrable. When it was built Tower Zero formed the metaphysical centre and origin point of Lorkhan's new balanced design for the Mundus and the Aurbis. The White Gold Tower (Tower One), and the Zero Stone (Telvar) that gets chipped off it, is said to be an Ayleid copy of the Zero Tower. So, you might want to consider Telvar as well.

Water seems to be the raw creatia of Nirn, the chief ingredient of all mortal lifeforms. Water's first appearance is also associated with Lorkhan, the Sundering and the creation of Nirn and the Mundus. Although it must be far closer to neutrality than the chaotic creatia of Oblivion, I think water is still a bit on the Chaotic side of things. I'm assuming here that it is mortal life that is the balance point, since that is one of the explicit objectives of Lorkhan's design. To turn water into new life what you need is a mother, and the mother's contribution consists of things like a morphotype and instincts which are clearly aspects of Law. So, it may be that a well-balanced mortal will be born Neutral.

Eporem

maybe not a coincidence then that another name for Pure Water is Lorkhans Tears:)