Clockwork City, Why did Sotha Sil make it a miniature physical realm?

ArchMikem · September 2017

I have no idea if Clockwork City was revealed in an early game or if this is the first time we're seeing it, but why on Earth/Nirn/Whatever did Sotha Sil decide "I'm going to make my own realm to tinker about! How about making the entire thing and use Dwemer Wizardry to shrink it into a physical orb and let it just sit in this room underneath Mournhold."

What happened to Pocket Planes that exist outside the Physical Mundus and accessed by Portal? It feels like this is incredibly dangerous. On the outside, the ENTIRE realm is just this miniature figure sitting inside a sphere. Within everything is shrunken on such a minuscule scale it was disturbing looking back up at the "sky" the first time, seeing those small metal rings now as GIGANTIC arms rotating over you. I don't get it. If the Vault underneath Mournhold were discovered and breached, what's stopping any harm coming to the sphere? The simple answer would be some powerful Ward surrounding the object, but say if not, a simple swing of a hammer would translate as the apocalypse for anyone inside the city.

starkerealm · September 2017

It was in Morrowind. Though, to be fair, back then I think Almalexia simply ported you in there. You didn't find it while poking around under Mournhold. Though the Fabricants did burst up in the plaza... so that's something.

When you think about it, the idea is kinda genius though. The Daedra are convinced they're looking for an entire city. They're probably much better at sniffing out pocket realms, so that's a dicey option. So, instead you hide it under Mournhold where any residual divine energy leaking off looks like it's just Almalexia? And, you do this without actually chewing up enough space to make a city (which someone would notice and relay to the Daedra in exchange for the chance to lick a skyshard). Also, worth noting that the underground areas beneath Mournhold are massive. The city has been built over so many ruins it's kinda ridiculous. And, of course, large chunks of those ruins are warded against scrying, and large chunks of those ruins are extremely dangerous, inhabited by all sorts of horrific critters.

Like I said, kinda genius.

Tyrobag · September 2017

Well, first of all being "underneath Mournhold" doesn't mean it can't be under anything else. I still believe that it is at the center of Nirn, so its really "underneath" everything.

His entire reason for making it was to tinker and find ways to improve Mundus, so why would he keep it in oblivion or some pocket realm where the same rules might not apply?

Additionally, who knows if this is even the same version of the clockwork city that we see in Morrowind? This could very well be simply a small scale prototype that Sotha Sil learned from his mistakes on before making the full size version.

They don't call Sotha Sil "The Father of Mysteries" for nothing, his intentions aren't always easy to decipher.

WhiteCoatSyndrome · September 2017

Making it small also makes it moveable. So if too many people find out where the current location is such that it can't be considered secure any more, just pull out your clockwork forklift-equivalent and trundle it off somewhere else! So SI isn't going to run into the same problem VI has with a moon floating forever overhead waiting to come crashing down.

starkerealm wrote: »

Though the Fabricants did burst up in the plaza... so that's something.

The ring lets the user summon Fabricants. Note that they don't attack until after you give it to Almalexia. So the city could still be anywhere.

starkerealm · September 2017

Tyrobag wrote: »

Well, first of all being "underneath Mournhold" doesn't mean it can't be under anything else. I still believe that it is at the center of Nirn, so its really "underneath" everything.

And, still worth remembering that "underneath Mournhold," is a very big place. Seriously, for anyone who hasn't played Tribunal, that's a lot of very hostile ground to cover. And even if you do, you'd still have to contend with the place's guardians.

Enodoc · September 2017

Clockwork City has appeared before, but we'd never seen it from the outside before. The most common theory prior to ESO was that it did indeed exist outside of Mundus and have no physical location. Even now though, its clearly a very metaphysical place. I wouldn't be surprised if that object isn't technically the city itself, but a metaphysical representation of it, of which there could potentially be more than one (like the Perchance Acorn).

starkerealm wrote: »

It was in Morrowind. Though, to be fair, back then I think Almalexia simply ported you in there. You didn't find it while poking around under Mournhold. Though the Fabricants did burst up in the plaza... so that's something.

Coincidence. Those Fabricants came out of Bamz-Amschend, not Clockwork City. As WCS said, they were ported into Bamz-Amschend from Clockwork City, most likely using the Mazed Band.

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

The ring lets the user summon Fabricants. Note that they don't attack until after you give it to Almalexia. So the city could still be anywhere.

Trainwiz · September 2017

As they said on Live, the gearglobe isn't the city proper, more a representation of it. A gate, if you will. The actual city's location is variable and non-committed. If you ask where it is, "yes" is probably the most accurate answer.

ArchMikem · September 2017

Trainwiz wrote: »

As they said on Live, the gearglobe isn't the city proper, more a representation of it. A gate, if you will. The actual city's location is variable and non-committed. If you ask where it is, "yes" is probably the most accurate answer.

"Most accurate" would be more like "Everywhere yet nowhere." then.

ManwithBeard9 · September 2017

Trainwiz wrote: »

As they said on Live, the gearglobe isn't the city proper, more a representation of it. A gate, if you will. The actual city's location is variable and non-committed. If you ask where it is, "yes" is probably the most accurate answer.

This is the answer. It's also the reason why it's on the outer ring of the world map and not in the continent.

TelvanniWizard · September 2017

He made a mini-world beacuse smaller means more efficient. Sotha Sil is all about science and industry