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Monthly Lore discussion: Heart stones; Fragments of Lorkhan?

Tags: #Magic  #Lorkhan  #Metaphysics  #Monthly Lore Discussion  #The Red Mountain  #Heart stones 
  • Member
    August 2, 2017

    I wish I had more to say on this topic, but when Karver discussed it with me (this was prior to your PoTM chapter where the ashspwan attack, iirc) I realised I had precious little to say. We discussed how common the knowledge of the Heart of Red Mountain was amongst the folks of Morrowind, and examined the apographa which were the hidden writings of the Temple, and the heirographa which were the public priestly works. I think we figured that the knowledge of the Heart was pretty uncommon, as only the apographa mention it.

    An example of that would be Nerevar at Red Mountain, I think. That book is a meeting between Vivec and a Dissident Priest, and the heart is mentioned. I think the source of the Tribunal's power was very closely guarded.

    Anyhow, once we established that - and ESO Morrowind bears that out as the question Vivec asks of the ancestral spirit near the MQ's start is met with confusion by Canon Llevul (sp?) -  we moved on to Heart Stones and what they could be. The Heart of Lorkhan is a known thing, but the Stones are a bit more weird.

    We recently discussed in another thread that the Heart of Lorkhan sort of mirrors the duality of Lorkhan and the Serpent - his spirt wanders but the physical bit remains powerful. Like, as a part of Lorkhan it is also a part of chaos/Sithis/the Void. The Dwemer used it to create the most destructive thing there is.

    So it's like, from my pov if there is a link between the Heart Stones and the Heart of Lorky, and when we look at the effect those stones have on the Ashspawn and that Telvanni Aprrentice, we can see a certain parallel with the use the Dwemer put the Heart to. They are very misanthropic possible pieces of Void.

  • August 3, 2017

    The Lorc of Flowers said:

    Alright, so before I start I´ll say my own question out loud. How common is the knowledge about Heart of Lorkhan and its location in Red Mountain? What exactly common people know about it? Cause they didn´t name the rocks "Heart Stones" without a reason, right? Ponder about that, about the in-world perspective.

    Now, for the Heart Stones. What are they? Well, if we take the knowledge of what we have learned in Morrowind...what happened there? Dagoth Ur was using the Heart´s power to become a god while also creating a god, second Numidium. Heart was there for millenia, Dagoth Ur using it was there for centuries. All that magic would be seeping into Red Mountain itself, the whole time. And when Heart was destroyed, Dagoth killed, second Numidium melted in the lava...it all remained there, the residual power.

    So what are Heart Stones? Residual power of - possibly - three gods. Lorkhan who can´t really die because his heart is the Heart of the world. Sharmat who died, but believed he didn´t die so he didn´t die. And Akulakhan who was never born, but if he would be he would be powered by Heart.

    Now, do you remember how Numidium became powered? By Mantella, which was sort of Heart´s replacement. So what are Heart Stones then? :)

     

    You know, I always just assumed that the stones were just residual pieces of the Heart. But now that I think about it, it's much more interesting to think that it could be any one of the things you mentioned. They could be pieces of Dagoth Ur, the Sharmat literally infecting the land. It could literally be parts of Akahulakhan's body as it was made of stone.

  • August 3, 2017
    It all comes down that in the beginning, the power came from Heart. I tend to think about Heart Stones as...tiny, watered down Mantellas. My memory is kinda sketchy here, but Mantella was created by messing up Wulfharth, Shezzarine, the body of Lorkhan. And then it was used to power Numidium. When you think about it, the Heart is like metaphysical metopoic battery that powers up anything it comes in contact with. Now the Heart Stones. There's one thing, a theory, I always like to mull about. Ash Guardian. How does that work and why do you need Heart Stone for that? So let's assume you drag a Daedric vestige or spirit from Oblivion, then mould an ash around it. And it just go nuts without Heart Stone. With Heart Stone it's stable. So while the spirit is what's making the Guardian move, it's the Heart Stone that makes it stable. How far from Numidium concept is that?