Lore:Gulga Mor Jil
- "The fire is mine: let it consume thee, And make a secret door, At the altar of Padhome, In the House of Boet-hi-Ah, Where we become safe, And looked after."[1]
Gulga Mor Jil (stylized GULGA MOR JIL HYAET AE HOOM)[2] was one of the eight and most powerful of the monster children from the unholy union of Molag Bal and Vivec, who initially escaped being slain.[2][3] He was said to be the mightiest, and his name is a string of power.[1][2] Unlike the other children, Gulga Mor Jil showed no violent nature or intent to harm others, and accepted his death peacefully. His bones went on to lay the foundations of Necrom, and the runes on his tusks were transcribed onto the Fulcrum Obscura.[1][4]
Contents
Mythology
Following their birth, Vivec would go on to neutralize his monster children, and after freezing his seventh child Lie Rock above his palace, he went to the Provisional House and looked into the middle world to find the eighth and final monster, Gulga Mor Jil. In the Provisional House, Nerevar saw a vision of Talos that Vivec told him about earlier; Nerevar asked Vivec why he was always so evasive, to which Vivec said "that to be otherwise was to betray his nature".[1]
Together, Nerevar and Vivec went to a village near where Vivec had first been found by Ayem and Seht as an egg, where Gulga Mor Jil was located. Unlike the other children, he did not act much like a monster, sitting with his legs in the ocean and with a troubled look on his face. When he saw Vivec, he asked why he should have to die and return to oblivion. Vivec told Gulga "that to be otherwise was to betray his nature". This did not seem to satisfy the monster, so Vivec, channeling the mercy that Almalexia possessed, spoke a poem about how the all-consuming fire would make a secret door to the void of Padhome, where those who die would be safe and looked after in the house of Boethiah. This was the same poem Vivec had read to comfort his mother Berahzic.[1][5]
With a peaceful look on his face, Gulga Mor Jil accepted his fate, and after being killed by Muatra his bones became the foundation for the City of the Dead, Necrom.[1] Nerevar then asked Vivec why he asked him to come if he knew the eighth monster would give in so easily. Vivec looked at the him for a long time, and Nerevar understood, concluding "Do not betray your nature. Answer as you will." Vivec said he brought Nerevar because he knew the mightiest of his issue would succumb to Muatra without argument if given consolation beforehand. They looked at each other again for a long time and Nerevar now understood, telling Vivec he was now the "mightiest of his children". Vivec would then pen this account in a sermon, written as consolation to "those who read it that are destined to die", foreshadowing his betrayal and possible murder of Nerevar.[1]
Legacy[edit]
Rib-like protrusions[UOL 1] tower against the eastern coastline of Necrom, which even when well lit, looked like the desiccated tusks even milennia later.[UOL 2] Shortly after the Middle Dawn, Saint Vorys the Immolant oversaw expansion of Necrom, disgruntled workers complained to Vorys that the porous stone they were using allowed the sea to come in. At this moment a shift in the earth occurred, the bones of Gulga Mor Jil which had long since turned to brittle stone rained from the sky and crushed the complainers.[6]
One story tells the tale of a Dunmer whose family had served as scroll writers for Necrom for many generations seeking audience with Vivec to ask the Warrior-Poet what aspect of the 34th Sermon was true and what was merely poetry. The scroll keeper asked the living god if Gulga Mor Jil truly was the son of Molag Bal, and if his bones truly made up the city in which his family had served for centuries, and if the monster truly gave himself willingly and without struggle to Muatra. Vivec explained to the Dunmer that it was not his role to decipher the mysteries within the metaphors.[7]
The Fulcrum Obscura was an artifact associated with several individuals, including Vivec. Prior Durdryn, founder of the Necrom Necropolis and the Keepers of the Dead was an associate and subject of the Tribunal who had a great skill of deducing the secrets of Oblivion from his various dealings with the Daedra.[4]
Vivec gifted the Prior the tusks of his mighty progeny he had slain, Gulga Mor Jil, and tasked Durdryn with using his Daedric connections to imbue the item with great power.[4] The Prior summoned the Daedric Prince Hermaeus Mora for aid.[4][8] Some sort of bargain was struck between the two and Mora gifted the Prior with runes that had the ability to uncover secrets of any kind no matter how elusive.[4][8] Prior Durdryn then inscribed the runes on the tusks of Gulga Mor Jil creating the powerful Fulcrum Obscura.[4][8] Durdryn then presented Vivec with the artifact who did not divulge what intentions he had for the item.[4] Vivec eventually returned the Fulcrum to the Prior who cherished it until his eventual death.[4]
Gallery[edit]
Notes[edit]
- The phrase "AE ALTADOON GULGA" in Ehlnofex is said to mean "settle for the equations that last and not those that pass unto the West".[UOL 3]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g 36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 34 — Vivec
- ^ a b c 36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 12 — Vivec
- ^ 36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 18 — Vivec
- ^ a b c d e f g h The Prior's Fulcrum — Abbot Ilvel
- ^ 36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 3 — Vivec
- ^ Parables of Saint Vorys
- ^ The Spires of the 34th Sermon — Zamshiq af-Halazh, University of Gwylim
- ^ a b c On the Fulcrum Obscura
Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.
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