Lore:Morian Zenas

Morian Zenas
Circa 2E 582
Race	Imperial	Gender	Male
Born		2nd Era
Resided in		Imperial City
Appears in		ESO

Morian Zenas is a master conjurer and the author of the book On Oblivion. As Professor of Transliminal Studies at the Arcane University, of which he was a founding member, he made it his life's work to find a way into the realm of Oblivion, trying many different methods, but always failing. He would eventually succeed with the help of the Dunmer wizard Divayth Fyr.

History

During his time attempting to access Oblivion, he obtained the ability to telepathically connect his mind with that of his Argonian pupil, Seif-ij Hidja, an ability which the two seemed to accidentally develop. Eventually, however, Morian Zenas was able to find a way into Oblivion after meeting with the Dunmer wizard Divayth Fyr, who taught him a method that involved exploiting a series of portals to various realms created by a Telvanni wizard who was long missing and had been presumed dead. Before his departure from Nirn, he visited a Nordic embassy to participate in a reception for High King Logrolf and became romantically involved with Doctor Alfidia Lupus, who he would win the heart of during a visit to a Baandari Pedlars camp.

Zenas would enter Oblivion with Divayth Fyr's help, using his mind connection ability to continuously inform Seif-ij Hidja of his experiences. During his travels, he crossed through five of the Planes of Oblivion: Ashpit, Coldharbour, Moonshadow, Quagmire, and Apocrypha. Morian would become a powerful figure in Apocrypha, and influenced arcanist spellcasting at some point, with his obscure magics making their way into a common arcanist's repertoire. Eventually, his hunger for knowledge took over his mind as he gradually grew quieter, seldom whispering any thoughts into his pupil's mind, and when he did, they came to be very cryptic until finally, his whispers became unintelligible. His fate was sealed when he discovered a "Known Thing", a truth powerful enough to destroy the minds of those exposed to it. Morian survived his exposure to a Known Thing, being the only mortal on record to have done so, but the experience transformed him as a result. The Morian of the past learned all he could to share the knowledge, while the "new" Morian's purpose was to learn for the sake of enjoyment.

Morian recorded his writings of his time in Apocrypha in the books Secrets Overheard in Apocrypha‎ and Studies in Apocrypha. Although his dates of birth and death are unknown, it can be inferred that he lived sometime between 2E 418 and 2E 431, as he was a contemporary of Doctor Alfidia Lupus, who was Imperial Ethnographer for Potentate Savirien-Chorak during that period. By that time, he was already at least sixty years old. Dr. Lupus came to believe that Fyr's "aid" in Zenas's disappearance into Oblivion was not entirely benign, and that the Dunmer sorcerer was envious of how she favored him, thus, tricking him into a perilous endeavor from which he was unlikely to return. This is supported by at least one instance where Zenas argued with Fyr over her.

After what he perceived as three years, Morian Zenas confined himself to Hermaeus Mora's menagerie of the Feral Gallery, where he was provided protection from powerful enemies and a plethora of books that he could read. Within its confines, he wrote a criticism on The Doors of Oblivion, claiming that the Morian depicted there is a "former edition cut by revisions". Circa 2E 582, the forces of the Dreamcarvers, a Dremora clan serving Vaermina, attacked the Feral Gallery, causing the inhabitants to run rampant. With the aid of an adventurer, Morian Zenas escaped the menagerie.

Gallery

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  Ocula, a Pocket Watcher that served as a companion to Morian

Notes

• ^	Morian's "former edition cut by revisions" comment on how he is presented in The Doors of Oblivion is likely a reference to the concept of retroactive continuity.

  • An attempt was made to rewrite the book in The Elder Scrolls Online to make it appropriate for the Second Era by removing a section referencing the destroyed Battlespire. However, an error in a later section was not noticed, and states that Celarus was the current leader of the Psijic Order instead of Iachesis. Additionally, it claims that the Dreaming Cave had been sealed off, when it was still operational at that time. The book also makes reference to the Mantellan Crux, even though the Mantella was sent to Aetherius at the end of the Second Era.
• Morian Zenas was one of the few individuals to have knowledge of Jyggalag as a Daedric Prince. Fellow author Waughin Jarth assumed that his knowledge of this was a practical joke played on him by the other Princes, unaware that Jyggalag was real.
• According to Morian Zenas, the mortal mind is forced to interpret its surroundings as best it can when transported to a "place that is not a place".

See Also

Books

• Crafting Motifs by Doctor Alfidia Lupus and Seif-ij Hidja — A series by Dr. Lupus and Seif-ij Hidja on the major cultural styles of Tamriel
• The Doors of Oblivion by Seif-ij Hidja — The chronicles of Morian Zenas' journey through the realms of Oblivion, penned by his apprentice
• On Oblivion by Morian Zenas — A guide to Oblivion and the Daedra
• Secrets Overheard in Apocrypha by Morian Zenas — Eavesdropping on servants of Hermaeus Mora
• Notes on Doors of Oblivion by Morian Zenas — A man's thoughts on "The Doors of Oblivion"
• Studies in Apocrypha — A summary of truths learned in Apocrypha that Zenas refuses to believe. In fourteen volumes.
• Commentaries on Beredalmo

References

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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