The Complete History and Lore of the Elder Scrolls

Lorkhan

 Lorkhan is also called Shor, Lorkhaj, Shezarr, and Sep. He is most directly responsible for the creation of Mundus and Nirn. According to legend, Lorkhan perished long ago, giving his life for his creation. Because of this, he has had no direct influence over events of the Third Era. However, he was indirectly accountable for three near-disaster events in the closing years of the Third Era, and his corpse has something to do with the disappearance of the Dwemer.

 It is told that Lorkhan was engendered by Sithis to destroy the universe. This is because the Aedra had enslaved everything Sithis created. It is not clear whether this is true, but the Dark Brotherhood, an elite group of Sithis-worshipping assassins, seem to tout this idea.

 Lorkhan is one of the two Aedra to appear in every known culture. The other being Akatosh. Despite this, opinions of him differ depending on the race. The Elves have a strong hatred for him, for they believe he stole their immortality. He is considered a hero to men. The Cyrodilic culture calls him Shezarr, the Missing God. This is because he is the only Aedra to have truly perished and disappeared.

 In Elven mythology, Lorkhan is The Trickster, and the Mer do not look nicely upon him. They blame Lorkhan for tricking the other Aedra into giving up their divinity. These include those who would become the Ehlnofey and thus the Altmer (High Elves), who now indict Lorkhan directly for their mortality. The Dunmer have a slightly less venomous look on Lorkhan, because they believe their mortality is a test of their strength and that they are destined to lose their mortality. As a result, Lorkhan is simply an obstacle they have to overcome.

Men do not believe themselves to be originated from the Aedra. They believe themselves to have been created from nothing by Lorkhan, and thus they endear their lives to him. In their eyes, Lorkhan is the saviour of mankind, and do not agree with his maltreatment by the other races.

Even more so than the Amulet of Kings, the most influential legacy of Lorkhan's existence was his Heart. Altmeri legend delineates the hatred the remaining Aedra had to Lorkhan once Mundus had been created. As consequence, Trinimac tore out Lorkhan's Heart with the intent of destroying it. But the Aedra were one Nirn, and Nirn itself was the remaining pieces of Lorkhan's body. And so his Heart was quite literally the Heart of the World. As a result, Lorkhan's Heart could not be destroyed. In place of destruction of the Heart of Lorkhan, Auri-El threw it to the earth with an arrow, intending to bury it for all eternity.

However, it did not remain hidden for eternity. During the First Era, whilst digging caverns underneath Red Mountain on the island Vvardenfell in Morrowind, the Dwemer located the Heart of Lorkhan. At this point in history, the Dwemer were using magic and science to attempt to achieve divinity; their High Priest Kagrenac believed that Lorkhan's Heart was the key.

Kagrenac then built a giant golem, named the Numidium. He aimed for the Numidium to be powered by Lorkhan's Heart. But before he could do so, the Chimer attacked the Dwemer. Despite this, the Numidium survived its owner's disappearance.

 The first use of the Numidium was in the Second Era when it was borrowed by Tiber Septim from Vivec to aide in the conquest of Tamriel. At this point, however, Vivec, Almalexia, and Sotha Sil were keeping control of the Heart, and therefore the Numidium had to be powered with something else. Another power source was used for the golem because of this. This power source is specifically the Mantella, which is often confused with Ysmir's soul. The golem would then reappear again in the late Third Era many hundreds of years later as Zurin Arctus reappears as the Underking and demolishes the golem.

 The final encounter with the Heart of Lorkhan came about during the Dagoth Ur crisis. It was then that the full power of Lorkhan's Heart, fundamentally confirming Kagrenac's claims. After the defeat of the Dwemer, the Tribunal used the Heart to accomplish near god-like status. Contacting Lorkhan's Heart gave them immortality and supernatural powers. Vivec flooded every inch of Morrowind, granting the Dunmer water breathing abilities to fight against an invasion of their homeland.

 Indoril Nerevar was the Chimer general in charge of the attack on the Dwemer at Red Mountain at around the year 1E 700. When the battle was over, Nerevar demanded Dagoth Ur to fall behind and guard the Heart, as he and the Tribunal (then mortal Chimer) devised a plan on what to do with the artifact. However, when they returned, they found Dagoth Ur had become insane from tapping into the Heart's power. A battle arose between Nerevar and the Tribunal against Dagoth Ur. Dagoth eventually lost this duel and had left Nerevar mortally wounded. This is where reports split and begin to differentiate. One legend states that after coming upon the Tribunal and making them promise not to use Kagrenac's tools on the Heart, they murdered Nerevar. Another legend simply says that Nerevar made them swear an oath to Azura shortly before dying, after which they used Kagrenac's tools and broke their oath, thus becoming the living gods of Morrowind. This is the act that caused Azura to curse the Chimer people into the Dunmer people. It was thousands of years after this event that the Nerevarine, Nerevar's incarnate, was able to destroy the Heart after the rise of Dagoth Ur. This lead to the Tribunal losing their immortality, and then became extremely powerful mortals. After losing her immortality, Almalexia slew Sotha Sil, and Almalexia was then killed by the Nerevarine. This event lead to Vivec being the only Living God left alive, and thus ended the Heart's influence upon mortals. The only reason Vivec is still alive to this day is because he achieved CHIM at some point.

 Vivec disappeared around the closing of the Third Era whilst the Oblivion Crisis was raging under strange circumstances. Though magical inventions were created to keep the Ministry of Truth afloat, it eventually fell in year 4E 5, with the result being the destruction of Vivec City and an eruption of Red Mountain.

 There are many comments made in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion which seemingly contradict everything previously said. Several statements made by Mankar Camoran in his Paradise point out that Lorkhan made Tamriel, but Lorkhan was lost for an unknown reason. Mankar also says that Tamriel does not belong to Aedra, Man, or Mer, but rather is another plane of Oblivion belonging to Mehrunes Dagon. He says that Mehrunes Dagon is not invading Tamriel, but merely coming home to a realm of his he had not visited in a while. But then again, Mankar Camoran may not be the best source for information at this point.

 During the events of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the Last Dragonborn encounters a rogue mage named Septimus Signus who is outposted in the ice fields north of Winterhold. Speaking with him will begin the quest "Discerning the Transmundane," in which he needs help opening a Dwemer lockbox. Septimus Signus claims the Heart of Lorkhan is inside; it is revealed later on that it is not the Heart of Lorkhan that is inside the box, but the Oghma Infinium, the Daedric artifact of Hermaeus Mora.

 In Riften's Mistveil Keep, the Last Dragonborn can find in Wylandriah's chambers a letter signed that it is from Mirabelle Ervine at the College of Winterhold. In the letter, Mirabelle replies to Wylandriah's request that she does not have a sample of the Heart of Lorkhan for experimentation, as no such samples exist.