Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-24367517-20140112024130/@comment-6326997-20150104074215

I love this thread by the way. Here goes:

A long time ago there was a poor man named Lamech. Born to an elven prostitute and the bastard son of a minor lord from High Rock, Lamech was one of many that was overlooked by the rest of Tamriel. From when he was very young the boy suffered from an inability to walk, he could walk just not very far. He spent most of his waking hours doing chores and when he wasn't working he was reading for he hard learned from a man who was only known as the Hermit Mor, this man taught Lamech to read, and each day Lamech would struggle to finish his chores as quickly as possible in order to study a book that the old hermit would share with him.

As the boy grew older he took to riding horses in order to explore distant places. Saving as much money as he could for 10 years, at the age of 35 he set out to explore what lay beyond in the rest of Tamriel. On his journeys he found much and learned much, and being a scholar by nature, it was his unnatural understanding. It was said that he could understand the very secrets of magic itself and had the knowledge to break the veil that seperates Oblivion and Nirn with a mere pebble. These were not secrets he kept, simply things that only he understood. Lamech reguarly shared his understanding with others, although much of it was beyond the scope of what other mortals could comprehend.

With his vast knowledge you might think he would move on to conquer Tamriel and start an Empire, but this could not be farther from the truth. For although he had understanding beyond that of any mortal, he had no purpose and was a deeply humble man. It was said that the Hermit whom taught him to read eventually revealed himself as Hermaeus Mora, Hoarder of secrets. With Lamech's understanding Hermaeus hoped to learn all there was to know as Lamech had, but he too found that the pure knowledge of something is nothing unless one understands it. Hermaeus took Lamech to the other Daedra and presented the lame man's wisdom to the whole of them, after which the Daedric Princes consulted and argued, until they came to the conclusion that Lamech's wisdom made him extremely powerful and useful, but also a threat to their rule. At the same time, his carefree and naive nature made him relatively harmless as did his lack of true ambition. It was with this that the other Daedric Princes led by Hermaeus Mora and Azura, bestowed upon Lamech the name Meru and made him a Prince.

When Hermaeus came to Meru to share with him the secrets as to how to create his own realm, he found that Meru had already done so and created a marvelous realm of wonders known as Darshana: The Place of Understanding. In this land a mirror image of Nirn is seen, the colors however, are more vibrant in the day and far darker at night. In the day many animals frolic and the whole realm seems to be a place of serinity and joy, where a man goes to learn. The subjects of this realm master the various arts and knowledges, including the arts of war, magecraft and social sciences. Uniquely, this land is not directly ruled by Meru himself. Instead, those who died with great wisdom in the mortal world are said to be claimed by Meru and brought to Darshana, when many followers are claimed a tournament in what is known as the Proving Grounds is held, and the people compete in a duel of wisdom. This duel can be anything from a show of strength and skill as a warrior, to talent as a mage, to cunning and suave as a diplomat.

The winner of these tournaments goes on to face the Dusmeru (Or Second Meru), of which the first was chosen by Meru himself and defeated by a tournament winner. This cycle of change insures that the Dusmeru constantly gains more knowledge after every tourne, and yet limits the power of true wisdom because of the infighting.

The Dusmeru may rule Darshana, but they are not true Princes and thus have no real ability outside of that realm. As the Prince of Humble Wisdom, and advisor of the Daedra; Meru has written many books and created a few daedric artifacts. Of which, the most popular is the book Koslun, a tome that holds the knowledge of the world and gives principle as to how to live by a strict code. Those who live by this code become a follower of Meru, and a potential competitor in the Dusmeru provings, whilst the mortals who posses it often gain knowledge and power enough conquer the world although most lack the understanding to do such.

Trivia:


 * Meru is a variation of the name Manu, which is a Sanskrit (Indian) name meaning "thinking" or "wise".


 * Meru is the only prince who does not seek to rule, yet he believes that only those with understanding should rule.


 * It should be noted that while Meru and Hermaeus Mora are very similar in some ways, Meru is a patron of Wisdom and Humility, whereas Hermaeus favors Knowledge and Memory.


 * Azura keeps for herself the book of Koslun whenever the mortal who previously possessed it passes on to Oblivion, she does this as to limit how much forbidden knowledge mortals have access to.


 * Meru is a Daedric Prince who lacks purpose in regards to his ambition, he does not seek to conquer the other realms of existence. Yet his Wisdom is such that he is unable to be tricked or bested, this is offset by his naive humility which makes him share information freely, even with those who would use it to harm himself or others.


 * The most common belief of Meru and his followers is that knowledge is given to all, and should be withheld by none. A concept that Hermaeus Mora seems to deeply disagree with.


 * Meru's realm of existence is Darshana which means "Seeking", "Understanding" or "Philosophy" in Indian.


 * Lamech means "To make low" in Hebrew


 * Koslun is a name based off of the character from Dragon Age, a Qunari scholar who is responsible for the Qun, a strict code and system of etiquete in which all Qunari follow. Just as all followers of Meru learn from and uphold the code found in the Koslun.


 * Meru's uprising into the Daedric Princes is based off of Tiber Septim's legend of being made a god by the Divines.