General:The Sermon Zero Affair

The Sermon Zero Affair

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Dev posts from the original thread which debuted Sermon Zero.

• Morag Sultha and Morag Tal are believed to be played by MK. This is following up the Redguard Forum Madness where both first appeared.

• Hasphat Antabolis is played by Kurt Kuhlmann

• Affamu and Jobasha are Douglas Goodall

• Only-He-Stands, Nafaalilargus, and Kier-Jo are unknown but most likely Goodall as well since they are posted just a minute apart.

• Divayth Fyr is played by GT Noonan

• The thread began with B bringing up the topic of the Psijic order and their beliefs in relation to Lorkhan. Soon enough the topic turned to men/mer who became gods at which point Hasphat Antabolis shows up.

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Hasphat Antabolis: 03/04/2002

In all my research, I have yet to find evidence of any mortal "ascending to godhood". The Tribunal, well -- if they ever existed at all, which is open to some question but likely considering the extent of their latter-day legend -- but they were certainly no more than Heroes of their time, whose exploits founded a sect which continues to this day. I have no doubt that behind the Tribunal masks lie a line of secretive but mortal Dunmer who have inherited the position and its traditional magicks (as well as a fearsome priestly bureaucracy). Any other interpretation is irresponsible speculation by the humbug-peddlers that seem to be the curse of our modern age.

Affamu: 03/06/2002

Just passing on a letter from your friend and mine, Jobasha.

Jobasha must put an end to this imposter. Hasphat Antabolis lives in Balmora and could eaily seek out an Ordinator or Bouyant Armiger or a priest who has seen Vivec in the flesh -- for yes, this is how Vivec appears to his followers. Whether Vivec is truly a god, or was once a man, Jobasha cannot say.

Jobasha will say that whoever keeps abusing Hasphat Antabolis' name is not the same as the old Cyrodiil Jobasha met last week. And Jobasha will say not to believe Hasphat when he says he knows everything about the Dwemer. Jobasha found a Dwemer book. Jobasha then let Hasphat put his bald paws all over it for days before he admitted that he could not read it.

The Tribunal has not been seen often since the last erruption of Red Mountain and the creation of the Great Ghostfence, but they have been seen. The Temple claims that they are busy protecting the Dunmer from Dagoth Ur. The priests claim that even the slightest distraction could destroy all of Morrowind, and even all of Tamriel. Jobasha urges you not to take anyone as humorless as a Dunmer priest too seriously.

If men become gods instead of gods creating men, where did men come from? Jobasha has heard of this "King of Worms" but is he a god? Jobasha does not know. Jobasha has heard the story of Arkay, but Khajiit believe Arkay was born of Ahnurr and Fadomai and was never a man.

As for the Psijic Endeavor, Jobasha has heard much talk. Artaeum is near Summerset Isle, but not all Psijics are Altmer. Most are men, not mer.

By "transcending" the gods, Jobasha does not believe the Psijics wish to give themselves the power of the gods. Of course, Jobasha is no Psijic, so Jobasha cannot say...

Lorkhan's role is the same one he always plays. Lorkhan is how the Mundus came to be. To transcend the Mundus, one must learn the Daedra's trick of how to be part of the Mundus without also accepting its limits. The Dwemer knew this thing. Perhaps the Psijics attempt the same. Perhaps that is why Artaeum disappeared and the Psijics only claim it was intentional instead of an accident...

All mer, Psijic or not, despise Lorkhan, for they believe he ended some sort of Elven Utopia. Khajiit praise him, though not too loudly, for he gave us possibility. We Khajiit are blessed, for our possiblity is guarded by the dead moons, but we can still hear Azura whisper her secrets. Unlike our cousins, the Bosmer, who have too much posisbility and are so blind to Azura's wisdom that they will not acknowledge Khajiit as being in the same litter.

Douglas Goodall

Affamu: 03/07/2002

From laundry-day, insomnia, and very tiring negotiations with one of the neglected parts of my brain, I bring you the latest from Jobasha:

Jobasha is very sorry for not being more clear. The Psijics prior to the disappearance of Artaeum were mostly Altmer. Since the island's return, more men than mer, primarily Bretons and Imperials, have joined the order. From the scents on the wind, Jobasha believes the Psijics have little to do with the Elven lie.

Jobasha is very sorry for using such an Elven phrase as "dead moons." Perhaps Jobasha has lived in Vivec City too long, for the unknown scribbler in the margins of the "Pocket Guide" is correct: all divine endure. Jodenjone sacrificed themselves for duty, for love, for "significant form" as Cherim says. They, even more than Nirni or Azura, are the Khajiti creators and protectors. The Lattice guards Nirni as well, even when the foundations and the children are at war. They are Ehlnofey...

But Jobasha knows you would bore of dreary, clan-mother teachings, so Jobasha speaks of something else.

Jobasha has read all the sermons of Vivec right under the Ordinator's noses in the Hall of Justice. There are so many of these "Sermons" these days... Poor Jobasha cannot even tell you who wrote them or when.

Jobasha found this sermon in an unusual place. Jobasha cannot say anything about the truth of this sermon. Jobasha is no priest or Psijic. Jobasha only shares what Jobasha finds.

Sermon Zero of the Thirty-and-Six-and-Nine Sermons of Vivec

This is the truth of Sermon Zero, which is neither one.

He was born a poor Netchiman, but rich in his Wife and in Wisdom. Eternal are their names, mother and father of Vehk, Berahzic and Irdri.

Generous silver chalice, sword in the clouds, dying-radiant lady-star. He entered the Temple, passed the seven veils, beheld his wife, Berahzic. O: the word, the deed, the end inevitable: O!

She asked of him truths beyond words, and he answered without words, but added in completion:

"There is nothing beyond bliss, after death comes the void. Only then are we free to love. Figuring father Peryite would stamp it and catalogue it. And Mephala mother, embracing black hands, would smother it. Gods such as us must be gentle with all our children, both flesh and spirit, a seed-apple potpourri."

On that night Berahzic named her children but did not know their sum.

Dreams of peasants, a Netchiman's dream. IRDRI HLAFEM VEHK HYKRO.

Silence is the command of the Aedra, the howling horror in the cavern of the heart, the laughter of Berahzic. Nocturnal's Black Skies, Peryite's Golden Order, Meridia's Green Generations, Mehrunes' Red Rage, the Sighs of Berahzic. O, her diamonds and crescents a crimson dawn over armies arrayed for battle, her dark and silent eyes the blinding snows of Solitude.

Many thousand millions are the visions of aminreaV. A, awake, the first and last, the King of I.

Netchiman Irdri on the next day took his wife and newfound treasure to meet the Dwarf-King at the end of Bthuangthuv.

There Kagrenac gave him the thrice-secret word:

RPDXGBWGHPZBXLOdZaZeXLdCIBNGJZereZDQOPhtHVVeKVPrCSa

NYyehBtCdInMZGaJRVeRrMGZuGCCIsHTZaLVeRFOrPZPKBPtORsKI

iONhXTtPKFgHTVOnolJRVJEeZVKWQIbHVCMNnoIivFiVMlYVCBbCVV

FoDIdInWaWIrLZVeVCMmewNIdGYIeKhTNtZTVoXVDKZt

Here the true key lies. Vivec is the lesser or false key.

For in the beginning was the Word: Spoken by a Great Ape.

For in the beginning was the Word: Three by Seventy-two.

For in the beginning was the Word: ALMSIVI.

Douglas Goodall

Hasphat Antabolis: 03/07/2002

Ah me! You should be the Duke's jester, Jobasha (or perhaps you already are?). You still know how to make an old man laugh. Leaving aside the vague native-Khajiit-straight-from-the-Deep mumbo-jumbo, the only point I need address out of your ramblings is the absurd notion that using the testimony of a Temple official to determine the existence of a god is like asking a thief as you pass him on your threshold whether he stole anything. I think the true scholars among us will understand when I ask for better evidence than that to prove the existence of the Tribunal as living entities stretching back into the First Era.

I will not rise to your blatant provocation in the matter of the Dwemer. I believe my publications speak for themselves on that score. And you Jobasha? I would guess that gulling tourists from Cyrodiil and High Rock with your tales has fulfilled the height of your scholarly ambitions.

Morag Sultha: 03/07/02

I bear the mark of Jobasha under 30 day law. Let none hinder on pain of sharing.

Morag Sultha

Morag Tal: 03/07/2002

Cat-meat:

You prate about that which you do not understand. Take these words to heart:

"There is a fourth kind of philosophy that uses nothing but disbelief.

For by the sword I mean the sensible.

For by the word I mean the dead."

Morag Tal

Morag Sultha: 03/07/2002

A curse on the Khajiti House:

"PSJJJJ daughter of Satakel and from her male sons and [forbidden] I have heard and the voice of the weak [forbidden] of the men who are fighting [forbidden] of raging women who curse and afflict and cause pain they have descended against them Aedra, Etadachiel and Padachiel, The Dagonites the great and The Unnamed Baron and Sahtiel and seized them and by the tufts of hair and the tresses of their heads and broke the horns which were high and tied them by the tufts of hair of their heads and said to them "remove that which you have cursed" and they said to him "from the pain of our heart we cursed and from the bitterness of our palate we resolved to curse" I have made you swear and adjure you in the name of Aedra and Etadachiel and Padachiel and The Dagonites the great and The Unnamed Baron and Anuiel that you release and free [forbidden] PSJJJJ daughter of Satakel and [forbidden] male and female from [forbidden] all the curses [forbidden] cursed and from the curses of [forbidden] and the mother and from the curse of the prostitute [forbidden] and the fetus and from the curse of the employee and employer who stole the wage and from the curse of the brothers who did not divide truthfully among themselves and from the curses of all people who curse in the name of idol demons and their surrenderings you are the healer you are the healer who heals sicknesses with words you are the healer who turns away the sicknesses and the curses of those who cursed PSJJJJ daughter of Satakel in the name of the Aedra and Etadachiel and Padachiel and The Dagonites and The Unnamed Baron and heal and annul the curses of those who curse PSJJJJ daughter of Satakel. And upon a stone which is unsplit I sat [forbidden] and I wrote all of the curses upon a new bowl of clay and I sent back the curses of those who cursed PSJJJJ daughter of Satakel to their masters until they release and bless in the name of Sariel the angel and Barakiel the angel and in the name of Sariel and Barakiel you release from the curses of those who curse PSJJJJ daughter of Satakel as a man as a man is freed from the house of bondage and from the house of weapons ALMSIVI ALMSIVI AL SEHT [forbidden] may there be health and sealing [forbidden] and to the house of PSJJJJ daughter of Satakel and to the male sons [forbidden]."

Learn true Scripture as I stuff your mouth with birds.

Morag Sultha

Morag Tal: 03/07/2002

Take heed, friend Hasphat. Those who mock, whether in ignorance or malice, may be called to partake of the mystery of PSJJJJ.

Morag Tal

Jobasha: 03/09/2002

Pretender Hasphat, you are showing your true stripes with this straw-pell. Jobasha does not believe the testimony of one priest, but the testimonies of hundreds of Dunmer. Short-tempered slavers and bullies they may be, but they are not completely ignorant. Perhaps you should walk across the street and have a few words with Jobasha's good friend Dorisa.

Jobasha has no "scholarly ambitions." Jobasha is just a poor bookseller. All your troubles start from your own ambitions, but you will not listen to Jobasha. Your Dwemer books are as hopelessly inaccurate as that First-Era fraud Gor Felim, better known as "Marobar Sul," that you rant and rave so much against.

Jobasha thinks you want to impress the Dunmer, not to teach them, but to serve them. Jobasha asks that you remember how they treat their servants.

Jobasha doubts you even scented the true meaning of this "Sermon Zero." Perhaps the Sweeps or Temple Climbers are more suited to your talents.

"Learn the true Scripture as I stuff your mouth with birds."

Such wild threats. Jobasha almost believes the Third Empire might civilize you after all.

Neither Eno Hlaalu nor any Exalted Master would issue a Writ on poor Jobasha, not even a Grey Writ. Jobasha knows many secrets, and Jobasha knows the the Duke's daughter's secrets. Jobasha is well guarded against the lower, less enlightened ranks of the Tong.

To the letter B,

The Psijics still have much influence and mystery. Jobasha does not believe their teachings, whatever they may be, have been diminished by the "nemer" who have joined them.

Visit Jobasha's Rare Books in Vivec City

Kier-Jo: 03/09/2002

Kier-jo thinks it is very much like a thing an Elder Way-warder would say.

"The Weakest Souls, called Men, will bring Sithis into every Quarter."

"The Worshippers of the Unnamed Lord, know as 'Argonians' on Nirni, are the Descendents of Boethiah and the Serpent-men."

"The Khajiit, created as Servants by the Aldmer, Rebelled against the Natural Order and Conspired with the Doom Drum to End the Merethic Era."

Kier-jo hears it all before.

Tiber Septim was seen in more than one part of Tamriel at the same time and you are content.

Stormcrown was a Breton, no a Nord, no an Atmoran, and you sit and play in the sand.

Anumidium rises in the West and does Eight Things for the Psijics and you do not question.

Your monkeys dance on the Tower and the stars change and you do not remember.

You read the words of the Sermon, but you are blind to the truths between them.

The darkness is reborn, crowned and conquering, and you pull the covers tighter and sleep.

When will you realize what happened to the Dwarves?

When will you Wake from the Elven Lie that all Men believe?

Only-He-Stands: 03/09/2002

Gentlemen! Enough!

There is no need for threats or violence. Silence yourself, Jobasha, before someone in authority takes notice.

As for the "Morags," they are like the Trolls. It is best to ignore them or avoid them unless you have spells of fire.

Remember the words of Gaiden Shinji:

The Soldiers are at war with the Masses.

The Scholars are at war with the Soldiers.

The Priests are at war with the Scholars.

The King is at war with the Priests.

The Masses are at war with the King.

Woe to the kingdom where so much is at war.

-Only-He-Stands-There

Nafaalilargus: 03/09/2002

To the secret dead:

For your time is near.

To that which is not dead, but hidden:

For a poem written in scales and fire.

To that which is not hidden, but damned:

For one who is freed and one who awakens and both reflect the sky.

Affamu: 03/09/2002

I love you all. Roses and Unicorns. Peace.

Douglas Goodall

Jobasha: 03/13/2002

Ah, Jobasha sees what you see. But Jobasha thinks this is just a clue for Jobasha to look deeper...

Visit Jobasha's Rare Books in Vivec City

Divayth Fyr: 03/14/2002

Ah! The "Great Houses" smell hints of truth, or perhaps ideas on the horizon! Just like them to place contracts on those who think abroad. They must surely fear something that my dear friend Jobasha shares in his wisdom. To share knowlege [sic] from ledger, whether it be true or not; is this the fear? As I have stated throughout the past 600 years, the Tribunal is losing it's hold on the Dunmer. A contract on the head of my brother Jobasha, a simple merchant in the area of paper and words. The Tribunal fears this? I laugh in the face fearful.

I will not touch the subject of Sermon Zero. Nor shall I pry the Psijic beliefs and disbeliefs. Mortal ascension to Godhood is not a subject for mortal thought. I AM an old and eagerly sought after mortal myself. I have witnessed more than most mortals can even comprehend. I say little to those who actually gain audience with me concerning Sermon Zero. That said, I will leave the inquiring minds with this: Sermon Zero is NOT to be understood. It is incomprehensible and is made thus. It is my belief that it was NOT for the the eye of a mortal. How do I know this? I personally have gained audience with a "witness" to the bewildered. The accounts learned tell me that the WAY of the Sermon is the way, and demise of the Dwemer. Go cautious my friends. Tread not in murky waters without knowing the dangers. Ley this be warning to those who venture.

Divayth Fyr the Psijic

Nafaalilargus: 03/18/2002

The Dragon God consumes all things:

By Letters (Dunmer)

By Numbers (Altmer)

By Sounds (Dwemer)

Divayth Fyr: 03/27/2002

Alas!

"This is the truth of Sermon Zero, which is neither one."

From these "so called" hidden messages, which I applaud you on, do you see truth? The first line, through strange misconception, leads one to believe that this message can be taken as false word also. Much of what I already know is quite alarming, and the truth is just around the corner from all unknowing citizens of the Empire. I do hope, for the sake of Tamriel, that we are prepared for any upcoming revelations or long tucked away truths. If the "ghost" is indeed walking among us, the times we are all witnessing, may be in for quite a shock.

Divayth Fyr the Psijic