Maintenance for the week of March 25:
• [COMPLETE] ESO Store and Account System for maintenance – March 28, 9:00AM EDT (13:00 UTC) - 12:00PM EDT (16:00 UTC)

Lore: reading the elder scrolls

Turkeysammich
Turkeysammich
✭✭✭
Reading them makes a person go blind, but what if there were some sort of beastmaster that could use magic to see through the eyes of an animal or someone else to read the scrolls? would they still go blind?
  • Totalitarian
    Totalitarian
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Something we have to remember is that the Elder Scrolls are these really enigmatic and mysterious objects.

    They have mysterious powers, for example, in the Three Banners War, the alliances collect them for their powers. The Elder Scrolls can tell the past, and possible futures.

    What I am trying to get at is that they aren't simple, and bypassing the consequences of reading them isn't straightforward. I would think that trying to circumnavigate the consequences would ensue harsh punishment, more harsh than actually reading them.

    With that said, it is possible to read an Elder Scroll with no consequence whatsoever. What they do is have someone read it when they have no idea what is it. That way, they circumnavigate blindness, but no knowledge is gained.
    PC NA CP 531+
    Aedric Fury Sits Around Doing Nothing
    Sola Auroron Magicka Templar
    Lunaria Chimeri Magicka Dragonknight
    The Chosen of the Storm Stamina Sorcerer
    Ward-Scales Magicka Nightblade
    Sanctius Luxen Stamina Templar
    Nerwaye Auroron Magicka Sorcerer
    Warden Vyrkyl Stamina Dragonknight
    The Ninth Adventurer Stamina Nightblade
    Magna-Sola Magicka Templar
    The Celestial Lady Magicka Templar
    Read their adventures!
    The Celestial Lady
  • Lunarhound
    Lunarhound
    ✭✭✭
    Didn't the Dwemer develop some sort of technological solution for reading the scrolls without consequences, or with reduced consequences, or something? I can't remember where I read/heard that, and I'm no lore expert, so I could be wrong.
  • Van_0S
    Van_0S
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    At that era, they didn't know how to make sunglasses. Hence, the blindness! :D
  • WhiteCoatSyndrome
    WhiteCoatSyndrome
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭
    Lunarhound wrote: »
    Didn't the Dwemer develop some sort of technological solution for reading the scrolls without consequences, or with reduced consequences, or something? I can't remember where I read/heard that, and I'm no lore expert, so I could be wrong.

    Correct, that was in Skyrim. *digs* Here you go, it was the quest Septimus gives you to get the Elder Scroll to read on top of the Throat of the World.
    #proud2BAStarObsessedLoony
    PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) - Say No to Crown Crates!
    A useful explanation for how RNG works
  • Lunarhound
    Lunarhound
    ✭✭✭
    Thanks, @WhiteCoatSyndrome ! I haven't played Skyrim in ages. I'm at work on a spotty internet connection so it's hard to do my own research, and figuring out where I'd seen that was starting to drive me nuts.
  • Rohamad_Ali
    Rohamad_Ali
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR4hYWI5mkzDR8yNwfskvSCB4TyfXLWFc2heWJFFclo14v7pKDxiQ


    Hand me the scrolls . Let's find out ...
  • knifeintheribs
    Reading an Elder Scroll has consequences. Always. Blindness ensues occasionally when they are read, but other effects can occur. The Scrolls contain living knowledge, and like the living world of Nirn, they are always changing. The words in the Scrolls bleed and change, morphing into something new. Beings born into the world can alter the course of the future, but the Scrolls also possess power of the past.

    The Scrolls have been hypothesized to have a consciousness of their own. For example, in the events of Skyrim, a group of people, presumably moth priests, use and Elder Scroll to send Alduin, The World Eater, from their time to the future. What does this prove? Well, at that time in history, Alduin was supposed to consume Nirn to make room for a new one. When humans decided to use the ultimate power in Nirn, an Elder Scroll, to defeat Alduin, they inadvertently sent him into the future. In reality, there was no way for the priests to know that doing so would facilitate his defeat. In fact, they couldn't have known what would happen. This is evidence, perhaps, that the Scrolls have some ulterior motive to their functionality.

    Any attempt at circumventing the consequences of reading an Elder Scroll will almost certainly result in another consequence. Blindness might be the least of its punishments. There have been those who have had their minds completely destroyed by watching history "breathe" on a page. Total truth, absent any interference, can have fantastical consequences to an unprepared mind.

    -Rustuth
  • Aideian
    Aideian
    ✭✭✭
    Using the Lexicon which is a dwemer device allows you to read any elder scroll without consequences and only dragon born or someone with divine powers can read it without the the lexicon only suffering a little blurriness for a small amount of time.
  • Eporem
    Eporem
    ✭✭✭
    How many Elder Scrolls are in existence?
  • Totalitarian
    Totalitarian
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Eporem wrote: »
    How many Elder Scrolls are in existence?

    Attempting to count the number of Elder Scrolls changes how many there are. That is to say that they are unquantifiable.
    PC NA CP 531+
    Aedric Fury Sits Around Doing Nothing
    Sola Auroron Magicka Templar
    Lunaria Chimeri Magicka Dragonknight
    The Chosen of the Storm Stamina Sorcerer
    Ward-Scales Magicka Nightblade
    Sanctius Luxen Stamina Templar
    Nerwaye Auroron Magicka Sorcerer
    Warden Vyrkyl Stamina Dragonknight
    The Ninth Adventurer Stamina Nightblade
    Magna-Sola Magicka Templar
    The Celestial Lady Magicka Templar
    Read their adventures!
    The Celestial Lady
  • Chiba_Emi
    Chiba_Emi
    ✭✭
    Eporem wrote: »
    How many Elder Scrolls are in existence?

    Well the ''known'' Elder Scrolls or the one mentioned/used ones in all of the Elder Scrolls games is 12, but overall amount is unkown. Since we should go all the way back to the First Era or way further to the times of the creation of the Nirn.
    May the Three Bless you

    Reyvyn Dulni - EP
    Chiba Emi - AD
    Lilith Gilvion - EP
  • dodgehopper_ESO
    dodgehopper_ESO
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭
    I always assumed the scrolls had something to do with Magnus' architecture. I don't have anything to go on other than conjecture however.
    US/AD - Dodge Hopper - Vet Imperial Templar | US/AD - Goj-ei-Raj - Vet Argonian Nightblade
    US/AD - Arondonimo - Vet Altmer Sorcerer | US/AD - Azumarax - Vet Dunmer Dragon Knight
    US/AD - Barkan al-Sheharesh - Vet Redguard Dragon Knight | US/AD - Aelus Vortavoriil - Vet Altmer Templar
    US/AD - Shirari Qa'Dar - Vet Khajiit Nightblade | US/AD - Ndvari Mzunchvolenthumz - Vet Bosmer Nightblade
    US/EP - Yngmar - Vet Nord Dragon Knight | US/EP - Reloth Ur Fyr - Vet Dunmer Sorcerer
    US/DC - Muiredeach - Vet Breton Sorcerer | US/DC - Nachtrabe - Vet Orc Nightblade
    EU/DC - Dragol gro-Unglak - Vet Orc Dragon Knight | EU/DC - Targan al-Barkan - Vet Redguard Templar
    EU/DC - Wuthmir - Vet Nord Sorcerer | EU/DC - Kosh Ragotoro - Vet Khajiit Nightblade
    <And plenty more>
  • Shunravi
    Shunravi
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭
    I always assumed the scrolls had something to do with Magnus' architecture. I don't have anything to go on other than conjecture however.

    That's what I've always thought too... Their nature makes them seem somewhat like 'pillars of creation' or like the warp thread in a loom. Kinda like the framework of the Mundus.
    This one has an eloquent and well thought out response to tha... Ooh sweetroll!
  • Eporem
    Eporem
    ✭✭✭
    Chiba_Emi wrote: »
    Eporem wrote: »
    How many Elder Scrolls are in existence?

    Well the ''known'' Elder Scrolls or the one mentioned/used ones in all of the Elder Scrolls games is 12, but overall amount is unkown. Since we should go all the way back to the First Era or way further to the times of the creation of the Nirn.

    These would be the twelve?

    Elder Scroll (Blood)
    Elder Scroll (Dragon)
    Elder Scroll (Nocturnal's Curse)
    Elder Scroll (Planemeld Obverse)
    Elder Scroll (Sun)
    Elder Scroll of Alma Ruma
    Elder Scroll of Altadoon
    Elder Scroll of Chim
    Elder Scroll of Ghartok
    Elder Scroll of Mnem
    Elder Scroll of Ni-Mohk
    Elder Scroll of Rhunen
  • Chiba_Emi
    Chiba_Emi
    ✭✭
    Eporem wrote: »
    Chiba_Emi wrote: »
    Eporem wrote: »
    How many Elder Scrolls are in existence?

    Well the ''known'' Elder Scrolls or the one mentioned/used ones in all of the Elder Scrolls games is 12, but overall amount is unkown. Since we should go all the way back to the First Era or way further to the times of the creation of the Nirn.

    These would be the twelve?

    Elder Scroll (Blood)
    Elder Scroll (Dragon)
    Elder Scroll (Nocturnal's Curse)
    Elder Scroll (Planemeld Obverse)
    Elder Scroll (Sun)
    Elder Scroll of Alma Ruma
    Elder Scroll of Altadoon
    Elder Scroll of Chim
    Elder Scroll of Ghartok
    Elder Scroll of Mnem
    Elder Scroll of Ni-Mohk
    Elder Scroll of Rhunen

    yup, those are the ''known'' twelve elder scrolls so far, i think others are being mentioned in the games but they're just called ''The Elder Scrolls''
    May the Three Bless you

    Reyvyn Dulni - EP
    Chiba Emi - AD
    Lilith Gilvion - EP
Sign In or Register to comment.