I Think You’re Misunderstanding - Mantling Is Not The End-point Of The Six Walking Ways. It *is* One

I think you’re misunderstanding - mantling is not the end-point of the Six Walking Ways. It *is* one of the Six Walking Ways -

1. Anumidium

2. The Psyjic Endeavour

3. The Prolix Tower

4. CHIM

5. The Enantiomorph, or Mantling

6. The Scarab that transforms into the New Man

All of them lead to apotheosis in their own different way.

Anumidium is what both Voryn Dagoth and Mannimarco used to become gods - the influence of the Numidium and the Heart (or the Mantella, a convincing facsimile) can raise a mortal to godhood.

The Endeavour is the Walking Way that Boethiah taught Veloth. It is centred around the journey and trials of a Hero (as in, a player character). This was the way that Nerevar attained. I think Sermon 16 illustrated it best - Vivec tells Nerevar to “Reach Heaven by Violence,” or, CHIM - but Nerevar is a Hero, so instead he goes to Masser and kills “parliament of craters” there, and tries to break into Magnus’ library behind the sun. He literally turns it into a quest to commit violence in the heavens.

The Prolix Tower requires the bending of the Earthbones via Tones - shouting, tonal architecture, etc. As the Earthbones dictate the laws of the universe, you’re literally rewriting those laws to make yourself a god. This is *probably* what happened to the Dwemer.

CHIM is “reaching heaven by violence”, which I translate as “becoming a god by loving the violent” - that’s what the Pomegranate Banquet is about, Vivec loving the god of rape and destruction. The end goal of CHIM is simultaneously comprehending the full scope of existence and your insignificant place in it, and yet continuing to protest your own significance. Looking the godhead in the eye and saying “yes, I am real.” Obviously this is what Vivec did, and personally I believe that Reman Cyrodiil also achieved CHIM, but that’s a personal theory.

The Enantiomorph - and I’m just going to copy the UESP for this one - is “an existence wherein two individuals, due to a catalyst coveted by both, become parts of a merged dichotomy, and thus are metaphysically interchangeable.” Translated into English, that means the creation of two beings who are so similar that the universe has no choice but to consider them the same - which is exactly what the HoK did to take the role of Sheogorath. *Walk like them until they must walk like you*.

As far as I can tell we know next to nothing about the Scarab. If we dig into Kirkbride’s extracanonical stuff, we can find “The Nu-Mantia Intercept.” Nu-Mantia… New Man… it don’t think it’s a stretch. From there, we can assume that things like Nu-Hatta and Nu-Cyrod are also related to the Scarab - and if that’s true, from what we see of Nu-Cyrod in PGE3, the Scarab might have apocalyptic connotations.

Anyway. I got a *bit* carried away there, but to summarize - the Six Walking Ways, of which mantling is *one*, all lead to apotheosis, or godhood.

It’s my opinion that Ayem and Seht did not achieve any of the walking ways. Instead, they created a facsimile of godhood by stealing the power of the heart, a god. In much the same way, I believe, mages such as pre-Warp Mannimarco, Divyath Fyr, or Zurin Arctus can reach a godlike state by stealing the power of another god, this time Magnus. Vivec is the only one who actually went further and achieved proper godhood, which is why he/she is still alive in the Fifth Era to marry Jubal lun-Sul at the end of c0da.

The ending of the words is AlmSiVi

Mantling

My favorite concept in all of the Elder Scrolls' lore is Mantling.

Mantling, poetically described as "walk like them, until they must walk like you" is, in my opinion, the coolest method of achieving apotheosis I've ever seen in fiction.

The concept that acting like someone/something and BEING that someone or something is just so filed with irony and cool possibilities.

Did Martin embody Akatosh enough to summon him, or to BECOME him?

Does the HoK embody Sheogorath, or are they Sheogorath?

"My first question is: Are you really Nerevar reborn?"

Are you? Is the Nerevarine truly, really, the embodiment or reincarnation of Nerevar? I often RP as such, that my beastfolk, Imperial guild member, outlander N'wah truly is Nerevar. Serves the racist, xenophobic Dunmer right that their Messiah is all that they hate.

But on a more lore-brained, and less commonly discussed level, does it matter?

Prophecy is all about the will of mortals anyway. The failed incarnates claim that the fact that they failed means the prophecy is more believable, but it seems that prophecy is more often a mix of vague, mystical mumbo-jumbo with a helping of Determined mortal will. So being the prophesized savior or not is less important than having the capacity to fulfill the duties imposed on the savior.

So, what other examples of Mantling do I especially enjoy?

Well, surely the many Shezarrines are a fan favorite. Pelinal and Arctus or Talos or Ysimir or all three.

Micheal Kirkbride seems to favor Cyrus, who mantled the HoonDing, together with Crown Prince A'tor.

Then, if we bring in other, unconfirmed cases, the Ruddy Man seems to allow others who wear him to Mantle some form of Dreugh-based interpretation of Molag Bal.

And then, the most controversial of my takes: the Tribunal are mantling the Three Good Daedra.

Vivec claims to have achieved CHIM, but how this was done is shrouded in mystery. Certainly, the use of Kagrenac's tools on the Heart of Lorkhan seems to have been a factor. Understanding, however, that CHIM is merely one of the Six Walking Ways, all used to achieve Apotheosis, or Mantling, there must be a "them" to walk like.

So the Tribunal almost certainly mantle their own Anticipation, without fully attaining their powers, and thus replacing them, as the HoK does, nor disappearing in the process, as Martin did.

Their wish was to remain closer to mortality, and to their beloved people.

The ending of the words is ALMSIVI