The tonal inverter, a device that disrupts tonal architecture.
Tonal Architecture is a Dwemeri subset of Tonal Magic that allows its user to manipulate elements of the Aurbis by producing special sounds.[1][2][UL 1] Other types are the Thu'um, Sword-Singing and Green Singing.
The original sound was made with the creation of the Aurbis and spans over all existence. Everything in the Aurbis is part of it and inevitably add to it by creating events and taking actions which results in songs.[UL 1][UL 2] The heart of the music of Mundus is Lorkhan, whose name is Aldmeri for "Doom-Drum," since he incites the greatest changes.[3] Important events are recorded by the Elder Scrolls, which collect the songs for Magnus.[UL 1]
Tonal magic is able to add, interrupt, or change the song, although this is seldom used on a bigger scale. The Dwemer mastered this magic and their Tonal Architects could use it to build long-lasting structures, as a mining tool, for medical purposes, or to synchronize it with the mind. This made them able to bend the wills of others and enslave them, like the Falmer, or possibly connect their own minds in a telepathic way, known as "The Calling."[1][4][5] Only a few people have learned how to reproduce tonal architecture, most notably Sotha Sil and, to a lesser extent, the Harmonic Auditor and Arniel Gane.[6][7][8][9]
The Dwemer desired to escape the mundial restrictions and become something greater that would be equal to or surpass the et'Ada by reversing their subgradient devolution into mortals.[10][11][UL 3] To achieve this goal, they attempted to modify their animi and that of their slaves with tonal architecture, but Kagrenac and his followers went even further.[8][12] After the Dwemer found the Heart of Lorkhan at the core of Red Mountain, Kagrenac created the three tools Keening, Sunder, and Wraithguard which allowed their wearer to redirect the waves the Heart emitted by striking it.[13][14][15] They continued by building a new god, Anumidium, which was supposed to free them. The Chimer under Indoril Nerevar attacked the Dwemer, but it was too late, as Kagrenac used the tools on the Heart and created the Red Moment, a Dragon Break, wherein the Dwemer became immortal, were stopped, turned to ash, and merged with the Numidium, which was destroyed by the Tribunal.[13][16][17][UL 4]
Numidium itself may have used a type of tonal architecture that could nullify the protonymics and therefore the history of its targets. The Dwemer saw "phenomena (that which can be perceived by the senses) and noumena (that which is the thing-itself)" as illusions of the godhead Anu and tried to escape it through Numidium which was beyond subgradience and could dismantle the structure of the Aurbis by negating the song.[11][18][19][UL 5][UL 6]
Appearances[]
- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (mentioned only)[20]
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (mentioned only)[21]
- The Elder Scrolls Online[22]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Guide to Dwemer Mega-Structures
- ↑ Dialogue with Revus Demnevanni
- ↑ Varieties of Faith in the Empire
- ↑ Ancient Scrolls of the Dwemer VIII
- ↑ Chimarvamidium
- ↑ Description of Dwemer Tonal Diagram
- ↑ Dialogue with Neramo
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Auditorial Notes, Declension 81u5
- ↑ Dialogue with Arniel Gane
- ↑ Hanging Gardens of Wasten Coridale
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Dialogue with Baladas Demnevanni
- ↑ Dialogue with the Harmonic Auditor
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Nerevar at Red Mountain
- ↑ Plan to Defeat Dagoth Ur
- ↑ Dialogue with Yagrum Bagarn
- ↑ The Secret Song of Wulfharth Ash-King
- ↑ 36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 36
- ↑ Description of Construct's Nullification Staff
- ↑ The Truth in Sequence: Volume 5
- ↑ Dialogue with Yagrum Bagarn
- ↑ Dwemer Inquiries Vol II
- ↑ Events of "Divine Intervention"