Amaranthine Cosmology · 7:44pm Nov 13th, 2017
Disclaimer: Ignore this if you have no interest in metaphysics and The Elder Scrolls obscure lore.
This blog was born out of my recent trip to /r/teslore/ so I could try to understand what the hell is going on with the lore of TES. That, and the season finale absolutely f****d my headcanon about alicorns and the Tree of Harmony to death, so here you go. Also, yes, expect at least some of this to be relevant to my stories. Maybe not now, but one day...
Glossary of terms:
AE: Exist
The First Principle.
Is/Is Not: Is Not/Is/Other
The First Division and Subgradient.
Anu/Padomay, Stasis/Change: Parivartana/Krama/Lespriya, Chaos/Order/Harmony
The Second Subgradient.
Anuiel/Sithis, Infinite Potential/Finite Limit: Bhavana/Skeya/Rea, Emotions/Logic/Reason
The Third Subgradient and the First Thoughts
Aka/Lorkhan, Time/Space: Credo/Ius/Amicitia, Belief/Law/Friendship
The Fourth Subgradient, the Second Thoughts and the First Gods.
Oblivion/Aetherius/Mundus: Soul/Body/Mind
Component of the Wheel-that-is-Aurbis
Daedra/Magna Ge/Aedra: Draconequus/Alicorns/ (None)
Original spirits and their alignment.
Man/Mer: Every non-equines/equines
Mortals and their Fate.
Recap:
Is/Is Not
Is Not/Is/Other
Stasis/Change
Chaos/Order/Harmony
Infinite/Finite
Emotion/Logic/Reason
Time/Space
Belief/Law/Friendship
Anuic/Padomaic
Soul/Body/Mind
Amaranth: Same
The Dream, the House of WE, WE that was carved from the Eternal I.
Ald-Anu: Laphne Beüeh (Lauren Faust)
The Dreamer, the I that is WE.
Nu-Man: Nauua Paridaida (New Garden/Paradise)
The Seed of a New Dream.
Aurbis: Hesternós’Udero (Starry Womb)
Creation, the Cosmos.
Kalpa: Sem-Di’Alnos (One-Alltime)
Cycle of Time.
C0DA: Beleü’Srewos (The Many Streams)
All the variations of the Prime, all the stray thoughts of the Dreamer. Alternate worlds.
Dreamsleeve: Same
The flows of soul/data that surround the Dream(er)s.
Walking Ways:
- Prolix Tower: Myth-Making
Become eternal by creating a myth so important that the Narrative of the Dream will unravel without you.
- Psijic Endeavor: State-Breaking
Become eternal by breaking the flow of the Narrative, forcing it to change forever.
Become eternal by fulfilling the mythic role of the Hero/Guardian.
- Tonal Manipulation: Story-Writing
Change your Ur-Self by meddling with the Flow of the Narrative, rewrite your personal story to be essential to the greater story of the Dream.
- Steps of the Dead: Hole-Filling
Fill the role of a missing actor so well that the role is associated with the both of you.
- CHIM: Self-Crowning
Realize the nature of the Dream, of the Love of the Dreamer and place Love under your Will, saying I AM when everything else says YOU ARE NOT.
- Soul Stacking: Purpose-Merging
Tie your Fate and Self with that of others to create an Over-Soul, who will fulfill your shared purpose.
Ponies who Walked:
Starswirl and the Pillars: Are Walking the Sixth Way. May have Walked the First Way. (1)(6)
Celestia (Order, Body/Knowledge, Laws, Light-of-Day): Became an Alicorn by Walking the Third Way, using the Elements to allow her to change her Ur-Self. Walked the Second Way by ruling Equestria and defeating Discord. Walked the First Way during her thousand-year long reign. 123
Luna (Chaos, Soul/Dreams, Arts, Light-of-Night): Became an Alicorn by Walking the Third Way, using the Elements to allow her to change her Ur-Self. Walked the Second Way by ruling Equestria and defeating Discord. Is Walking the First Way by being a Diarch of Equestria. (1)23
Cadance (Chaos, Soul/Love, Passion, Sacrifice-of-Self): Became an Alicorn by Walking the third Way, using the amulet that the witch Priscilla used. Is Walking the Fourth Way, Mantling Queen Amore of the Crystal Kingdom. Is Walking the First Way, by being Queen of the Crystal Kingdom and Princess of Equestria. (1)3(4)
Twilight Sparkle (Harmony, Mind/Friendship, Peace, Spark-of-Life): Walked the Sixth Way with her friends, culminating in Magical Mystery Cure. Walked the Third way and became an Alicorn with the Elements and her friends. Walked the Second Way by being a Guardian alongside her friends. Walking the First Way by being a Princess of Equestria and a hero. Will Walk the Fourth Way by replacing Celestia as Diarch of Equestria. (1)23(4)6
Thorax (Chaos, Soul/Sharing, Sympathy, Change-of-Change): Walked the Third Way by using the shared love of his hive. Walked the Second Way by leading to the Change of the Changelings. May Walk the First Way. May be Walking the Fourth Way by replacing Chrysalis as Alpha Changeling. (1)23(4)
Towers/Stone:
- Tree of Harmony(Twilight’s Castle)/Elements
- Canterlot/Line of Platinum (Blueblood)
- Griffonstone/Idol of Boreas
- Dragonland/Bloodstone Scepter
- Crystal Palace/Crystal Heart
- Mount Aris/Pearl of Transformation
Structure of the Wheel-that-is-Aurbis:
Hub(Body): Nirn/Mundus: Domus/Hesternós’Udero
Spokes(Mind): Aedra (Planets): Arcana Majoris (Planets)
Rim(Soul): Aetherius: Dreamworld (Fade)
Spaces(Soul): Oblivion: Shadows-like-Light (Tartarus, Limbo, etc.)
Genesis:
In the beginning, there was nothing but the Void. Then, It was changed by EXIST, who was made up of IS, present and all there is, IS NOT, future and past, all that was, will and could be, and OTHER, the concept that brings the conciliation of the IS/IS NOT dichotomy.
Those concepts mingled and eventually refined each other into Order, Chaos, and Harmony. But the Void was still empty, thus the Tri-Angled Paradigm further refined itself by sub-dividing themselves in all the meanings and possibilities of their Selves. They begat three poles for this new continuum of concepts: Logic, objectivity, Emotions, subjectivity, and Reason, the interweaving of objective and subjective.
From those three arose their pure and unadulterated embodiment: Law, Belief, and Friendship. With Creation finally having a semblance of a fixed state of being, those embodiments were able to realize their Self. Becoming conscious, they inter-mingled, wondering what else they could create on their own or with others.
But Creation had no purpose, something Law hated. It gathered like-minded spirits to create a space where actions had consequences, good or bad. In this place, Law thought, spirits could grow and mature.
They got to work, and as they progressed, other spirits came looking, wondering what this new concept of Time and Reality meant for their games and projects. Many who were not originally aligned with Law decided to participate, too curious not too. Even Friendship came, but it did something that none had thought about. Instead of creating a world meant for itself, it created a world meant for finite beings, both in terms of scope and time. It then invited other spirits to add to her contribution, which they were more than happy to do, creating myriad species of what is now known as animals and plants.
Law was unhappy with such tampering of its project, and to salvage both its designs and its pride, forced the other spirits to create those new beings according to her rules. While not a bad thing in itself, as life as we know it today would be quite different without those rules, the spirit in which they were made offended quite a few of the spirits working on what we call today Domus.
To make things escalate further, Belief and the spirits aligned with it were intrigued by Life, finally deciding to participate in its creation. Until then those new beings were nothing more that toys, thinking what their creator thought. Belief and its cohorts changed that, giving them emotions and hopes and dreams. Many were happy with such a novel idea, while others were appalled and furious that their creations were now autonomous. Friendship, for one, was overjoyed with such a development. Law, on the other hoof, was very much not.
Law tried to get rid of Belief “contribution”, which Belief itself fervently defended. Friendship tried to mediate between them, trying to show them the beauty of what they had created together.
War broke out, Law trying to oust Belief from Domus, while Belief tried to free mortals from the prison of Limits and Finite that she thought Domus was. Spirits that aligned with Law came to be known as Alicorn, while those who aligned with Belief were called Draconequus. Friendship tried to gather as many spirits as it could to protect their wards, hoping that its fellow spirits would grow tired of conflict one day soon.
Unfortunately, the more power spirits spent on Domus, the less they had to stay free of its constraints. As such, one fateful day, a spirit died. Unlike others who had their form destroyed but were otherwise fine, this spirit was shattered, sent to wander the flows of the Dreamsleeve. The war paused, everyone reeling from this horrible realization that their actions had personal consequences now.
Many tried to flee Domus, but only a few succeeded in this endeavor, and even they were considerably diminished, too weak to affect Domus on any perceivable scale. Of those who stayed, they radicalised themselves, feeling for the first time true Hatred and Rage. They took definitive forms and names, the Draconequii in particular doing their best to taunt the Alicorns with their illogical forms.
For the first time, weapons were created, terrible, nightmarish contraptions that brought untold horrors to the world. As the war escalated to unimaginable height of cruelty, Friendship, now know definitively as Amicitia, decided to bring an end to the conflict once and for all. Gathering as much power as she could, she broke Time, using the occasion to rewrite the Narrative of Creation, stripping away the divinity of all spirits (except for the first egg of the Draconequii, that she had not know about), sundering the Alicorns into the diverse equinoid races of Domus, while the Draconequii were sundered into the chimeras of the world, like the Griffins and the Minotaurs.
Having brought all spirits to the level of the mortals whose lives they carelessly thrown away, Amicitia organized the first kingdom of Domus to finally give peace to the world. But Law, now known as Ius, and Belief, now known as Credo, would not give up so easily. Ius, using what few powers he had left, divided the races of Domus, giving each of them different creeds to live by. Credo used his to empower his brethren, creating the myriad monsters who still threaten Equestria today, like the Changelings and the Windigoes.
Said brethren brought ruin to the First Kingdom, which was already in the midst of a civil war. The First Winter, the Long Winter, had come to claim Domus...
....I love this. Especially how you made it fit believably. Dont often find people who go deep into such things.