The Mysterious Ruins of Kagrenzel - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The time has come to ponder a rather unique orb in a Dwemer ruin that raises several questions and endeavours to answer absolutely none of them. I thought it may be a tad early to stray out of my depth with lore mysteries with regards to The Elder Scrolls but I thought I'd give it a try.

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[sweetlolitaChii]

Accidentally coming across this place after hundreds of hours of playing was terrifying, after being used to repeated mechanics and sounds.

[Der_Udo]

The orb is scanning for people that are capable of tonalmanipulation, aka the dwemer, who practiced tonalmanipulation, which is a far more advanced and powerful form of magic.

We, the player and the dragons are naturally gifted in tonalmanipulation as we literally can speak it, like the dragons.

The orb thinks that we are a dwemer, as they are the only other known race that uses tonalmanipulation as we do in a way that is advanced enough that they can use it for city building.

[kesho]

I like the theory that says that, because you are the dragonborn you are probably the only living being, besides dragons, who can use Tonal Magic, as I can remember that was one of the secrets of dwarven technology, so, the orb scans for tonal magic within you and when it finds it let's you pass, that why the bandits died and you don't, possibly that was the way the orb detects tonal architects, I don't remember where I read that, but I like that idea.

[garymaidman]

If you have seen Nate's video, his theory is that the bandits were killed by sound, which the Dwemer are known to have been experimenting with and using and as far as the blue rock in the cavern below, Nate suggests this could be Aetherium.

[SoupRoutine]

I love Icecicle James. He's my favorite frost troll and I'm glad you featured him here.

[abracadaverous]

The Kagrenzel ribcages are the same shape as the "Whalebone Bridge" in Sovngarde.

[TealFirefox]

I think the fact we are Dragonborn is why the Orb let's us in, but not because of our soul but instead our Voice.

The Thu'um is actully some what similar to Dwemur Tonal Architecture, chiefly in the since that they are both a form of magic which is used via the weilder's voice.

Perhaps the Orb can detect we are a weilder of the thu'um but mistakes it for Tonal Architecture, therefore thinking we are a Dwemur, and rather than kill use like the Bandits it thinks we are authorized to enter.

[noone_at_home]

can’t wait for you to start covering the gods and how every culture’s interpretation is correct. such a confusing mess but it’s absolutely the most interesting part I find about TES

[packlesswolf]

If i remember correctly the bones os supposed to be the Floating Whales that were supposed to be in the game but were taken out due to the game engine.

[SrChr]

Ah yes, the weird ass orb that sends you into a free fall and that even if you so much as TOUCH anything, you die... yes, I remember this place well.

[tenebris]

In terms of the lore you were afraid to have butchered, you were spot on. Known as Lorkahn to the Altmer, Shor to the Nords, and Shzar to the Imperials. He was the god of man, responsible for giving them life. But to the Altmer, he was the trickster god responsible for trapping them in Mundus (The mortal realm), and away from Aetherius(the immortal realm of the Aedra). During the Dawn Era, Lorkhan led his army of man into battle against the elves and faced the champion of the high elven pantheon Trinimac, who in battle "knocked Lorkhan down in front of his knocked Lorkhan down in front of his army and reached in with more than hands to take his Heart. He was undone. The Men dragged Lorkhan's body away and swore blood vengeance on the heirs of Auriel for all time. But when Trinimac and Auriel tried to destroy the Heart of Lorkhan it laughed at them. It said, "This Heart is the heart of the world, for one was made to satisfy the other." So Auriel fastened the thing to an arrow and let it fly long into the sea, where no aspect of the new world may ever find it." Where his heart landed Mount Vvardenfell or "The Red Mountain" was formed and was where it laid until the Dwemer discovered it in the first era.

[cleanserofnoobs]

I have played Skyrim ever since it came out in 2011, and it wasn't until 3 years ago that I found this place by accident, and I was completely surprised! The only reason I found it was because there's a beacon that shines at night, and I managed to climb my way up to it.

[filsdelleche]

What if it was a laboratory to study dragons? It would make sense in regards to the tonal manipulation of the universe that the Dwemer were known for and it could also server as an explanation for the skeletons (ignoring the fact that no dragon seen in game has ever been that large) and for the fact that this "city" is no more than a pile of rubble now. If we imagine that the dragons somehow escaped in a manner that collapsed this city or an experiment failed so badly as to do the same, then I could see the pit being the result.

This also takes into account the fact that two bandits just dropped dead while the Dragonborn fell into the pit. If this entrance was made for dragons, than the orb may have been a security measure to make sure nobody tried to sneak into the city through the top.

Now, lets say this city was connected to Blackreach. We now have an explanation for how Vulthuryol got there.

[honestkyn]

It might have been important once, but time and the Falmer took their toll, though the glow may be some form of Aetherium.

[Longshanks]

The idea that the spooky orb judged the Last Dragonborn of being “worthy” in a way that the generic bandits weren’t is the clear implication and the only explanation that makes sense.

Except that it doesn’t.

The Dwemer were a people who venerated logic and reason above all, they considered destiny to be a thing of the aedra whom they scorned. It wouldn’t make much sense for their spooky orb to judge the LB worthy because why would it consider that, or the litany of achievements one can gain in Skyrim, to be worthy in the eyes of the Dwemer?
More importantly… why would the Dwemer be using a spooky orb in the first place? All around us in Dwemer ruins are machines and engines, they were powered by industry and not the more natural magics that the other races so relied on. To be sure, the disappearance of the Dwemer seems to necessitate some kind of magic but as of yet, it seems very rare for the Dwemer to engage in magic. And yet right here, is a scary magic orb in one of their citadels. And it must be Dwemer, for how else is it attuned to this mechanism to allow it to decide who lives and dies? It can’t have been put there by someone else later, this place had to have been built by Dwemer for the specific purpose of housing the spooky orb.
And it’s not even like they feared it or wanted to house it away, this place is pretty accessible. Moreover, the orb drops you onto water. Whoever designed this place wanted those the orb deemed worthy to be saved immediate death and sent below… but why? When the Dwemer built this place, the Falmer were still the mighty Snow Elves, they wouldn’t have anticipated you fighting them in a contest of arms. And what purpose would that serve the Dwemer? They didn’t value strength, they valued logic, so fighting your way out wouldn’t be seen as an achievement as it would to the Nords.

So the spooky orb saves those who are worthy, drops them into a watery chasm to spare them and lets them climb back out. No matter what way you cut it, thus just doesn’t add up. And it’s so intentionally strange that we can’t just chalk it up to a Bethesda goof or laziness. No, there’s a deliberate design and point to this place. But whatever it is, I haven’t the faintest clue what it’s about.

[loremasterghosty]

So Tonal Architecture is a type of Tonal Magic that, like other Tonal Magic, Uses sound. Other magic that Does this is
1. Sword singing
2. Green singing

And then last but certainly not least

3. The Thu’um.
My theory is that It checks for those who uses Tonal Magic of some sort. They are the only ones who are allowed to enter.

[itspookyme]

This is why i love Skyrim, and just Elder Scrolls itself, so many different mysteries, and for me, Skyrim is like a flawed masterpiece, shallow in some parts but deep in other parts, it has charm to it.

[turquoize]

Just loaded up YouTube man🙏🏽 also please keep making more Skyrim lore vids 🗣️

[denniswade]

Every world worth its salt deserves at least one good mystery for us to wonder about.
Credit to Bethesda for giving us this one. Sometimes even they can do right.
. . . . or maybe they couldn't come up with a good explanation and were just hoping some modder would do it for them!
It reminds me of a few of the mysterious stories we have in our world history, including the Sumerian stories of the Annunaki.

[samhack]

You’re doing fine with the lore don’t worry, but as someone who loves Skyrim and TES in general I’m happy to see you diving into its mysteries.