Calcelmo's Stone official translation

[Pilaf The Defiler]

We finally know the full translation, thanks to Kurt Kuhlmann.

Link to thread courtesy of Lady N.




Some of the language used by the Dwemer here is very flavorful and interesting. It obviously has deeper metaphysical implications. It seems like they wanted the Falmer to undergo the same process they eventually did, but clearly that didn't go as planned.

[Tingz0r]

I'm not well versed in Dwemer lore, but it seems possible that they intended to take the Falmer with them through their transcendence, probably to keep them as slaves, although they might not have considered them as such. It's more likely they thought of them as lesser beings and therefore only naturally meant to be at the command of their superiors, like pets or livestock.

That's what I get from it.

[Imbalance]

I think that's basically how we expected it was supposed to read.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

I think that's basically how we expected it was supposed to read.

We pretty much knew what it said already, but Kurt's translation is a lot cleaner and more thorough than the fanslations that have been floating around. It reveals some poetic nuance in Old Dwemeris.

[Dohva.]

Cool link, Pilaf. Thank you for sharing it. Seems to me that the Dwemer felt betrayed by the Falmer. Am I reading into that right?

[Pilaf The Defiler]

I don't see that interpretation when I read it. I see that they think they're doing the Falmer a favor by blinding and twisting them. They seem to believe this is some sort of ascension.

My own theory is that whatever they were doing to the Falmer never got properly completed, because Kagrenac prematurely displaced the Dwemer race at the Battle of Red Mountain. The fact many Falmer were in open rebellion against the northern Dwemer also slowed whatever process they were attempting. I believe they were trying to do to the Falmer what they eventually intended to do to themselves, except in slower increments, as a sort of case study.

[TheGayNord]

By Ysmir, that's... Messed up, to say the least. When I first read the translation you provided, initially I thought that perhaps they were only saying such things to make it feel, on their end, that they weren't doing something wrong. As if they were using this as an excuse to themselves - but after another read-through, I'm sure that's not the case.... The Dwemmer were arrogant, that's for sure, but I seem to find it hard to believe that a whole race of people could do something so terrible. That may just be me though. If they really thought they were doing the snow elves a favor.... What could have possibly been going on in their heads?
That said, this made me think of the Skyrim quest, Blindsighted, that takes place in the Dwemmer ruin of Irkngthand. There is a room within the ruin that holds a number of torture devices, and Karliah says something along the lines of "Even the Falmer didn't deserve this. The Dwemmer were truly cruel," which implies that those torture devices must have been used on the Falmer at some point, which means it's likely that that was a common practice from the Dwemmer.... If they did, in fact, think that what they were doing was excusable, malevolent, even, what does that mean of the act of torture?
I'm not sure I follow what you are saying, Pilaf, about the Dwemmer doing to the Falmer what they planned to do to themselves. I'd love to hear more about your theory.