Excerpts From Fabricated Flora: A Study

Summary

 * Location: Hall of Refined Techniques, Clockwork City
 * Author: Acolyte Kelvivi
 * Collection: Clockwork Mnemonix

Content
Almost without exception the native flora of Clockwork City are full synthetic imitations of their terrestrial analogues. But there is one growth within the Halls of Regulation that remain a mystery. The "Ironstalk Mushroom," as they have come to be known, often sprout in the dark, dank tunnels of the Halls. My dissections of several specimens lead me to believe that these organisms are fully organic, but their anatomy and suitability to their unlikely environment implies that they were designed with a purpose.

These fungi hungrily absorb minerals, alchemical remnants, and even corrosive materials with seemingly no ill effects on their physiology. Some have speculated that this is simply happenstance, that some Tamrielic spore were introduced to the halls by exodromal, took root, and thrived. That sort of dismissive justification simply lazy in my opinion. To off-handedly assume that Sotha Sil would not introduce a wholly organic creation to his grand design, if it served his purposes, is a discredit to his genius.

I theorize that the Ironstalk Mushroom sprung from a need to purify pollutants from the Halls of Regulation that proved detrimental or at least impractical for a machine to address. We occupy a world created with meticulous precision and care. It may be acceptable to dismiss the unknown as whim, or fate, or chance on Nirn, but in the Clockwork City there is only the Grand Schema. Here, there is always a greater explanation to the workings of the world.