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The questions were originally asked here.
Proctor Tarvus, the former Archcanon, has miraculously procured the time to answer your community-generated questions about Sotha Sil and his most incredible creation, the Clockwork City.
Praise the Three. And good day to you.
I am Proctor Tarvus, former Archcanon and personal attendant to my lord god Vehk. I now serve my lord god Sotha Sil in much the same capacity.
An unfortunate incident has necessitated an extended recovery period here at the Clockwork Basilica. This idle time made me the ideal person to answer Gabrielle Benele's fascinating request: responding to questions for the Clockwork God from the people of Tamriel. A most worthy use of time, and one I was extremely proud to advocate for. And to be perfectly honest, while my quarters are quite pleasant, I must admit the view out my window has become somewhat boring. This has been a most welcome distraction.
Included herein you will find my lord Seht's answers to your questions, acquired one or two questions at a time over a considerable interval. And forgive me, but I have included my best interpretations of those answers to better your understanding of the Teacher's words. Sotha Sil's directness is refreshing in its brevity, but can be off-putting to the lay person.
Let us begin, penitents. As we wind the gears, so I hope the words of my lord god fill your mind with knowledge.
Dear Archcanon Tarvus,
Is this Barbas, again? Didn't I dispatch you once for killing and impersonating the Archcanon?
Elsonso
Sayeth the Clockwork God: "Grief cannot be avoided. But it can be deferred. Where some see but inanimate flesh, I saw opportunity. And so the Archcanon lives to serve, and serves to live."
As good Elonso notes, I recently found myself somewhat dead. My lord god Sotha Sil took me into his service and provided me with salvation via his divine constructs and experimentation. I have asked Seht why he chose to spare me and to what end I was returned from my brief time with the venerable ancestors.
As always, the Father of Mysteries says little and leaves much to interpretation. But (I believe) he believes I have work left undone here in Nirn-prior, as all of us work toward the day of Nirn-ensuing. I take deep solace in the knowledge that the chrononymic will has swung in my favor. And hope I can live up to this opportunity given to a rare few among his faithful.
Esteemed Archcanon Tarvus,
Has Lord Seht considered sending clockwork prostheses to war heroes that have lost their limbs in battle?
Aradyn Darvvyn, Wounded Veteran of the Second Akaviri Invasion
Sayeth Seht: "The truth of clockwork is for all. Do as you believe you should. I am no god."
While Sotha Sil is not given to acts of charity, my lord god would never deny a penitent willing to put in the effort required to join flesh to metal. The perfection of clockwork is something to be sought out for reasons beyond the material, beyond the physical.
Experimentation, refinement, and a fine eye to hone our craft is always a worthy use of time. If you feel you are worthy, good Aradyn, I bid you attempt a journey here to the heart of Seht's workings. If you have the strength and faith to approach the Apostles, you will not be turned away.
I write from the Mages Guild Hall of Fargrave! As no secrets escape the Father of Mysteries, I'll take the presence of Factotum parts at the markets here as no surprise. Are these illicit goods for sale? Or does the great and future city export older material? Why might locals be so fascinated with clockwork constructs?
Attentively,
Dumak gro-Mudan the Small
Sayeth Seht: "What a merchant chooses to sell in a shattered ruin of reflection and sorrow does not concern me. The truth of clockwork is for all."
As direct as the Teacher will get, these days. From the perspective of his faithful, some measures are taken to ensure constructs do not fall into the wrong hands. And you might think the Daedric scoundrels clogging the markets of Fargrave are the definition of "the wrong hands."
But from comments Seht has made here and elsewhere, I believe Fargrave's common ground serves some higher purpose. I do not yet know what this is, but circumspect comments he has made imply this realmic curiosity has some larger role to play in the Teacher's plans yet to come.
Is there any similarity between the theories used to create the constructs/fabricants and those used to create the constructs of the Dwemer?
mb10
Sayeth Sotha Sil: "Theory is abstraction. Metal is reality. The Children of Brass created without vision. My constructs act with purpose. The same inexorable certainty of a pendulum. The same inexorable certainty with which I act."
The direct answer to your question is, of course, yes. You need only glance at the constructs of the Dwarves and those of my lord Seht to see a base kind of similarity.
But I would argue all similarities end at surface elements like metal composition and coloration. What is a crafted object if not function given form? The purpose of Dwemer constructs, if they ever had a purpose, have long since been lost to time and neglect. The careful work of my lord Seht is never without a goal and never without function foremost in mind.
Why was the Observatory [sic] Prior built? And what function does it serve in the greater clockwork wheel?
Ziim of the Great House Telvanni
Sayeth Seht: "The Observatory [sic] Prior is a testbed of thought, form, and process. As with all things, it will serve its purpose in the grand plan to construct Nirn. On a day yet to come will its purpose be known. But not before."
As I understand it, Ziim, the Observatory [sic] Prior is one of the Teacher's finest workings. What it does, what it will do, is not something known by even the most favored of his apostles. The name itself is the key, I believe. But I do not think it is my place to say more.
How does the Tribunal Temple feel about the Clockwork City Apostles? Do they even know they exist?
Kallykat, on behalf of Mirri Elendis
Sayeth Sotha Sil: "Knowledge and understanding are two very different things. Everything in context."
This I can answer with some confidence, Kallykat (and Mirri). From my time in service to my lord god Vivec, the broader Temple faith is deeply respectful to my lord god Sotha Sil for his knowledge and power. He is, after all, the Teacher. The one who sheltered the Dunmer spirit in the wake of Red Mountain and taught us how to be who we had become.
Their deeper knowledge of the apostles and the nuances around my lord god Seht's plans are less known but hardly secrets. In truth, one day all will know the truth of the Mainspring Ever-Wound. But that day will be years yet in coming. Apostles themselves are so precious, so dear to the plan of the Light of Knowledge that they rarely leave Clockwork City. When they do, it is usually for a specific and time-limited mission of great importance to Seht.
I have heard it opined that the SI of ALMSIVI truly is the glue that binds the Tribunal together. And yet, now that I know some of the deeper mysteries-in-brass, I wonder. I wonder if my lord god Vivec and my lord god Almalexia understand the full impact of the Tinkerer on the world. The impact of the work-yet-to-come. And the endless perfection that will be Nirn-ensuing.
I shiver to think that, thanks to my lord god's ministrations, I will be there when the Tribunal Temple beholds his work in all its glory.
There were several questions from the likes of Verminjerky and Benefactor about the nature of the Verminous Fabricants and the Fabricants in general. I asked my lord Sotha Sil to explain and expand upon these creations.
Sayeth Seht: "The future is metal, clockwork eternal. The imperfections of Nirn are abundant and manifold. Fabricants of extant creatures are imitations of what is. A part of the process, building toward perfection. The Verminous Fabricant is an imitation of what was, a beast once common across Velothi lands. Now dead and gone. Except as a basis for the fabricant that bears its name."
This work to build toward perfection is endless in scope, penitents. The brass-wrought truth of what is yet to come must capture every aspect of the world. From the smallest blade of the grass to the tallest tree. From the least of the insects to the greatest of beasts. Though the fabricant versions you see now in the Clockwork City are not yet perfected, each iteration is greater and closer to that vision than the last.
The Verminous is a strange case, of course. On a subsequent visit to wind elements in my chest and denature a buildup in my new leg, I asked Sotha Sil why this creature, of all creatures, was notable enough to preserve among the ranks of the Fabricants.
After I asked the question, the Teacher stared for a long moment out the window at the beauty of the world-in-brass.
Then, sayeth Seht: "The path I am on. Have been on. Always will be on. Required a great deal of sacrifice. To shatter old truths, and forge the future from the rusted debris left behind. The Verminous is a remnant of this shattered past. Such a little thing. A reminder of the-way-that-things-were. And one I have chosen to preserve."
Honorable Archcanon and Lord Seht,
Sotha Sil is the Magus of the Tribunal, but he's also–perhaps more importantly–the Craftsman, the Tinkerer, the Smith. What's his advice for a craftsman seeking to extend one's horizons?
Kaenag of Clan Firewolf, Grandmaster Smith of the Arcane Forge
Sayeth Seht: "Heed the lesson of the Dwarves. They created without a singular purpose, content to let their craft guide their hands and their hearts. Create with function foremost in your mind. Always know your goal. And act with conviction. Lest your tools become your legacy."
The Teacher feels very strongly about this. As it is written, "She who shapes and assembles is a true child of the Clockwork God." The timbre of his voice vibrated the very walls as he spoke about his belief in focused function. I would suggest taking this direction to heart, humble Kaenag, and seek your own "inexorable purpose" in your work.
The Teacher does not believe in free will. He has spoken of the chains of action and consequence that bind him to the act of creating the Clockwork City. We mortals may not have the clarity of Seht, but we can move mountains if we put our minds to it.
Fix a goal in your mind—the more audacious the better. And then make your best effort to achieve it. Do not seek to emulate clockwork constructs or the machinations of the Mainspring Ever-Wound. Find your own destiny, good smith, and make it your "chain" of consequence.
To the Esteemed Lord Seht, c/o Archcanon Tarvus:
Scholars have debated the nature of the Clockwork contraption discovered in the vaults beneath Ayem's city of Mournhold. Is this contraption the Clockwork City itself or merely a miniature manifestation serving as an access and entry point, while the city itself is in some adjacent place? If the latter, are there additional manifestations elsewhere which could also act as entrances, such as perhaps beneath Ebonheart or beneath Vehk's city on Vvardenfell?
Enodoc Dumnonii, Savant of the United Explorers of Scholarly Pursuits
Sayeth Sotha Sil: "Perception is reality. And truth is subjective. Why make a distinction where it need not be?"
It is the nature of Sotha Sil's work that a miniature construct might be a whole city. And a symbol. And a conveyance. And a device. All at the same time.
This is why I find my lord Seht so impressive. As the gears turn, they create layers, and the layers themselves have gears within them. Such that at each level of detail you care to look there are intricacies built upon intricacies. Nuance and detail and subtlety unending. Until the mortal eye sees nothing but noise where there is, still, function and craft.
My understanding, Enodoc, is that more than one miniature (more than one entrance) to the Clockwork City exists. But as to location, I cannot say.
Why wasn't every Daedric Prince included in the Coldharbour Compact? Did they simply refuse to attend?
Lorescrounger Alacer
Sayeth the Clockwork God: "The Coldharbour Compact was an accord reached at a specific moment in time, to solve for a specific set of variables. Like all negotiations, it is only as binding as signatories wish it to be. And its stipulations neither impacted nor excepted individuals not present at the time. You wish to see order where there is chaos and seek uniformity where there exists only exceptions. Such is the truth of Nirn. Such will it always be."
As my lord Sotha Sil says, Daedric Princes are inherently unstable elements of the Aurbis, Alacer. While you can convince, cajole, and counter them, a Daedric Prince cannot be controlled. It is in their very nature to be at least somewhat chaotic. As noted by scholars around the world, even the original signatories of the Coldharbour Compact have flouted the terms of that agreement when they deemed it was in their best interest to do so.
Our concept of mortal alliances is wholly disconnected from the agreement my lord Seht arranged with the Princes. We are thrice-blessed to have a mind such as his representing the mortals of Tamriel in these trying times.
There I will leave your questions for now, penitents. My time with you is at an end. My recuperation is almost complete, and I am excited to see what tasks my lord will set me to solving. My life in Vivec City was fulfilling, challenging, and touched by the infinite in my lord Vehk's presence. Now, at Sotha Sil's side, I will seek to wind the gears and learn from the Light of Knowledge. Fare you well.