Elder Scrolls Lore » Discussions


Necromancy: The Great Debate

Tags: #Karver  #Mannimarco  #Lore  #Necromancy 
  • Member
    December 20, 2016

    Only by soul trapping can we determine the size of the magicka, as soul = magicka. Souls go to Aetherius, the source of all magic.

    So it's almost a mathematical formula: Grand Soul = Man, Mer, Mammoth, Deathlord. But if two parts of a whole make a soul and a Deathlord's AE has gone, it should be Grand Soul minus 50%.

    100 - 50 = 50. Yet with a Deathlord what we get is 100 - 50 = 100. My interpretation explains why the 50% is still present due to the fact that they can speak and thus still retain AE. "Sovngarde Awaits" they say as you kill them. Odd that they believe in Sovngarde yet gave themselves up for immortality.

    Your theory of the 50% being made up of a program is cool, but why would it program something so personal as that?

  • December 20, 2016

    Well, if we speak of mammoths, have you ever seen a mammoth able to cast magic? XD Apparently all 100% of a mammoth's energy is used to keep it alive. While a sentient being obviously is able to use much more energy than is needed to sustain their body. Also there is nothing that indicates that the AE has to be 50 of 100. Yes, two parts make a soul, but who said they are two equal parts? The AE part definitely is more complex but that doesn't mean it has to be big. A personality is basically information. The energy in the AE part only acts like a a container for it.

    A program is a simplified example. It has to be more like something between a collective conscious and a complex AI, and what would it consist of if not the initial participants' minds? Also, since there is still a connection between the body and the soul, the AE might be still present in some distant way, although not entirely.

    As to them talking about Sovngarde, that makes me suspect that they had an idea of Sovngarde back then, it just might be somewhat different from the later one.

  • December 21, 2016
    Oh, Justiciar is back! And hunting heretics no less! :D I would like you to consider this. Why Soul of Men can be trapped only Black Soul? Phil says that both Mammoth and Man have Grand Souls, which is mostly Skyrim mechanic, but what about Morrowind? Souls of different man had different potency. Like...soul of peasant has 1000 charges but soul of Vivec has 4000 charges. So...could it be that soul of men can be trapped only in Black Soul Gem just because the souls are larger than what normal Soul Gem can hold? Just food for thought. Also, there is that mention of "if soul is not big enough for the Soul Gem caster's soul may start leaking into the gem". Can it work the other way around?
  • December 21, 2016

    Karver the Lorc said: Souls of different man had different potency. Like...soul of peasant has 1000 charges but soul of Vivec has 4000 charges.

    Of course)) Just like the soul of a draugr Overlord is bigger than one of a regular draugr. Because, naturally, not all the people have the same amount of magicka.

    As to why only a Black soul gem can contain a soul of a sentient being, I think it's not because the soul is too big, but because it has a part of a different quality, incompatible with a regular soul gem. It's sort of how you cannot insert a cube into a triangular hole.

    Karver the Lorc said: there is that mention of "if soul is not big enough for the Soul Gem caster's soul may start leaking into the gem". Can it work the other way around?

    I doubt that. It would rather just dissipate into the surroundidng world, since a soul's life force is obviously a part of the environment.

     

     

  • Member
    December 21, 2016

    This actually got me thinking. What about the Dragonborn's soul? Just how big is it?

    Considering the fact that the DB works as a living Azura's Star, absorbing all the souls of the dragons he kills, could the DB's soul even fit inside Azura's Star after absorbing let say 30+ Dragon souls?

  • December 21, 2016

    I suspect that the dargon souls are a separate case entirely. Since the dragons are shards of Akatosh and Dragonborns too), that would mean that theirs are not even mortal but divine souls... I doubt there is a soul gem that can contain that kind of soul)))) Also for the same reason it can probably be said that the Dragonborn doesn't work like a living Azura's star... S/he doesn't contain many various souls, the souls of dragons are basically one soul, just split into many parts...

  • December 21, 2016
    Can you Soul Trap Dragon? DB has the soul of Dragon who are organic time machine shards of one big whole that is Aka. DB absorbing souls of Dragons doesn't mean he holds them in himself. They become part of his soul, like puzzles fitting into each other. Part of a whole becoming whole again.
  • January 17, 2017
    Just wanted to say thanks for putting together this article. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sharing! -WC
  • January 17, 2017
    That's awesome to hear! My pleasure, mate :)