Elder Scrolls Lore » Discussions


Pseudo-Lore: The Towers and Tower Stones

  • May 12, 2015

    Forgive me. I like reading lore, but Imma new to this stuff. Been doing some research for my blog though and came across the whole tower concept. 

    What are the significance of the stones? I know the Red Mountain's stone was the heart of Lorkhan. Now I'm very curious about the Kirkbride thing that says that the Crystal Tower's "stone" was a person. Who? Did it ever say, or can we assume that that "person" died in the Tower? But Rising Threat suggests that people survived the fall of the tower. Very few, but people survived one of them being Rynandor the Bold. The others were never named.  If the "person" was created during the construction of the tower then either that was one very old Aldmer running around in the tower when it fell or, the "person" was someone else, or it existed in several incarnations and the "person" who fell when the tower fell was one of many incarnations of said "person" or stone of the tower. 

    Am I making any sense? If not, then by all means, ignore the rantings of Miss Crazy Pants here. 

    This is what I read, just to let you know I got it from somewhere. Now whether this source is correct, I don't know as while I'm pretty good with the basic Lore, this stuff is a bit new to me still. 

    Towery Goodness

    Thank you in advance. 

  • Member
    May 13, 2015

    I honestly do not know this one. We know that the honoured dead, the Altmeri ancestors were buried there and it might be Crystal-Like-Law which Auriel ascended from "in full view of his followers", or it might have been Zero Tower.

    Take what I say lightly because I'm conjecturing, but it may pay to bear in mind what the Altmer lost when that Tower fell. It wasn't the relics, the library or any of that stuff which hurt the most, it was that culturally defining connection they had to their ancestors.

    The Tower is a hugely defining force in regards to a culture. Witness the fall of White Gold and the mess the Empire is in since. Look at the mess the Altmer are in and compare the two. Both civilisations are fractured and suffering a huge identity crisis.

    So maybe the Stone was Auriel?

  • May 13, 2015

    Thanks for the quick answer, Phil and thanks for answering my request. 

    Could be, but then wouldn't that imply that the tower's "deactivation" was way earlier and then just the building remained? I mean that would be the logical conclusion since he ascended to Aetherius. Can one exist without the other? That would be interesting if it could.

    Oh, yes, it's a huge deal the fall of the tower and the Altmer in my fanfiction really suffers for it. I found this an interesting quote from the source. Notice the bold. 

    Crystal-like-Law

    The Crystal Tower is located in Alinor in the Summerset Isle.[1] It was built by the Altmer in ancient times and served as the pinnacle of arcane research, predating the Arcane University and College of Winterhold.[5][6]During the Oblivion Crisis, it was turned over to the Thalmor[7], however it was attacked and destroyed by legions of Daedra.[8] Its stone was said to be "a person".[OOG 6]

    Rising Threat doesn't really seem to support that, but I just found it very curious. The Great War clearly states it. But then we both know that sources are not always accurate. I'm inclined to believe both sources, as Lathenil perhaps didn't see the event that gave authority to the Thalmor. All we know is that he was present to see some of the heroics of the Tower defenders, including Rynandor the Bold, and that Lathenil then fled and heard it fall. 

    There is one nice thing about the ambiguity of the Crystal Tower, it lets one speculate and come up with all sorts of wild theories that can't necessarily be shot down. LOL. I am actually encouraged by your lack of an answer. 

    By the way, if this little offshoot and dissection of like 4 sentences is messing up this thread, let me know, and I'll carry the conversation somewhere else. I don't want to post where I shouldn't be.  

    Again, thanks. Off to edit a blog post now. 

  • Member
    May 14, 2015

    Sorry for the late reply, my working hours are all over the place right now.

    Could be, but then wouldn't that imply that the tower's "deactivation" was way earlier and then just the building remained? I mean that would be the logical conclusion since he ascended to Aetherius. Can one exist without the other? That would be interesting if it could.

    You could be right, making Auriel an unlikely candidate as you point out. I was thinking something along the lines of his remains, like a dracochrysalis shell or something lovingly preserved at the top of the Tower.

    Maybe instead the Stone is a hereditary position, like Archmagister or something? The Mane was the Stone of Fur Tower and that position was a recurring one.  Maybe Rynandor is a likely candidate for Stone? His assassination could be the deactivation of the Tower?

    There is one nice thing about the ambiguity of the Crystal Tower, it lets one speculate and come up with all sorts of wild theories that can't necessarily be shot down. LOL. I am actually encouraged by your lack of an answer. 

    By the way, if this little offshoot and dissection of like 4 sentences is messing up this thread, let me know, and I'll carry the conversation somewhere else. I don't want to post where I shouldn't be.  

    I love the ambiguity of TES lore also. If things were dictated from on high like other settings, there'd be little or no speculation and questions would all be answered with "link". I know this frustrates some, but for me it represents freedom.

    No, this little segue doesn't derail the thread in any way so don't worry about that.

  • Member
    May 14, 2015

    Maybe instead the Stone is a hereditary position, like Archmagister or something? The Mane was the Stone of Fur Tower and that position was a recurring one.  Maybe Rynandor is a likely candidate for Stone? His assassination could be the deactivation of the Tower?

    Just to contribute my two cents: if the stone of the Crystal Tower is a person, then the first thing that comes to my mind is one of the Sapiarchs.

  • Member
    May 14, 2015

    Good, I like it. Sapiarchs are a new thing added by ESO aren't they? It could be that the great seer-mage Rynandor the Bold was such a Sapiarch but his lore was written before the idea of Sapiarchs were introduced.

  • Member
    May 15, 2015

    I have no clue actually; the only reason I know anything about Sapiarchs at all is because of Teccam/Kaiser's build on the subject. Rynandor being a Sapiarch makes sense as well.

  • May 15, 2015

    I alluded to this concept in my first post. 

    "person" was someone else, or it existed in several incarnations and the "person" who fell when the tower fell was one of many incarnations of said "person" or stone of the tower. 

    I like the idea and have read through the Sapiarch build on this page. It was nice to see that weapons were not abandoned in the build. And it was also nice to see the implication that Sapiarchs could be specialists. Hehe, this sort of cements and gives a concrete term for the ideas I've been sorting through my head for quite some time, but couldn't find the word for it. I am quite pleased that my thinking was along the lines of what makes sense in the incomplete lore.

    Rynandor being a sepiarch makes a lot of sense to me. It also makes sense that he would possibly seek out others... 

    This will help me very much as I write. I appreciate all of your help.  Woohoo! Now it's just letting the craziness happen. 

    Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer my strange question. I'm writing a story blog and I had a few small details that I wanted ironed out in my mind because I'm going to make some pretty wild assumptions and I wanted there to be sound reasoning behind it, regardless of whether it is correct or not. I look forward to people reading it. 

    @Phil - never apologize, you have been very kind to me. 

    @Albino - saw you had a build. I'll go check it out. 

  • Tom
    Member
    May 15, 2015

    To continue this conversation about Crystal-Like-Law without replies being a sentence wide...

    I'm wary of literal interpretations of anything considering the Elder Scrolls. Especially with the obscure. It is always allegorical in some way.

    I don't think the Stone for Crystal-Like-Law is literally a single person that's been alive since its creation. I think it's either; 1. someone's corpse, which makes sense to me considering it was used a mausoleum to Altmer dead, or 2. a position, title, or role that is passed among individuals.

  • May 15, 2015

    I am, for my purposes, currently favoring option 2.