(SPOILERS) ESO Endless Archive lore
The Endless Archive, the most recent addition to ESO, might be primarily gameplay focused but it still has some pretty interesting lore to it.
Spoilers for Endless Archive and some minor ones for *Necrom* side content.
The Endless Archive is the historical records of Apocrypha, a place where detailed accounts of both events that have occured and of events that possibly could have been or could yet come to pass, of alternate/future possibilities, are kept.
According to the repeated affirmations of it's overseers, both mortal Ciphers and Daedra, the term *"endless"* is *"not a misnomer"*. The Archive is endless and has a catalogue of texts to match, describing events from Oblivion and Mundus alike, to attempt to comprehend the scope of the work going on there is not something the mortal mind can do according to Archive Daedra.
Everything in the Archive, every text or object or even being, is bound to the Archive Index, an arcane mechanism which binds all things in the Archive with "threads of fate", it's the only way to navigate the place and the only way to organize or locate anything one is seeking. In addition it monitors the fate of it's charges and will transport them to safety should any threat emerge.
During events, the Archive has been thrust into chaos by a strange *"malaise"* which has somehow been spreading across the archival wings, odd in itself since the Archive is actually formed of landscapes that are unconnected to one another, the threads of the Index and a portal network being the only way to navigate and traverse (the Archive *was* once one continuous expanse but at some point transformed into it's current form for reasons unknown).
Some intruding force has made the threads of the Index snap, causing the Archive's caretakers and contents to become "dead to it", no longer under it's oversight. In addition the accounts in an ever increasing number of texts from across the Archive wings are somehow being brought to life, leaping from the page and manifesting into the real world to wreak havoc (though not always).
These creatures, manifesting from masses of *"vivified ink"* manifesting throughout the Archive that's been given life are called Maligraphies and appear to be , for all intents, perfect recreations of the beings described in the Archive's historical texts.
Daedra and mortal creatures of all types (including the members of specific organizations such as the Ascendant Order or Firesong Druids), Dwemeri constructs and Factotums, nature spirits and undead constructs, liches, wraiths and Void beings like Shades or Dro-m'Athra, elemental Incarnates, Daedric Titans and dragons, and so on.
Figures as specific as Valkynaz Nokvroz, the werewolf Exarchs of the Gray Host, Druid King Baccaro merged with the spirit of Mount Firesong, the Endling Chimera the Mantikora possessed by the Celestial Serpent, Molag Kena, the Imperfect construct, Dagon's Ash Titans, Prior Theirric, Lady Belain (as a Void afflicted vampire lord), the dragons Yolnahkriin and Lokkestiiz, the greater Dro-m'Athra of the Maw of Lorkhaj or even the Celestials such as the Mage and the Serpent have been fully replicated in not only their abilities or the artifacts they might've held but even their personalities (Theirric has his artifacts, the Sunspire dragons use their Thu'um, the Factotums and Animunculi their mechanisms and so on).
In other cases what's manifested might take different more bizzare forms, such as the Vestige being transformed into an animal, a watcher or a werewolf and having to carry out a task to be restored, or having to help a ghost retrieve parts of it's being, because that's what the record described.
The culprit for all the chaos is an entity called Tho'at Replicanum. In the leadup to the chaos breaking out the spirit's name would inexplicably appear in the margins of an increasing number of books across the Archive, at present some of the more powerful Maligraphies will leave behind parts of it's Nymic once dispersed (creating the possibility to invoke an banish it once it's Nymic has been assembled).
Tho'at is..interesting in a number of ways.
She is described as *"she who became vivified ink",* a being who currently exists as a sort of illness that spreads across texts and manifests their contents into reality, but was not *always* so (it is theorized that she achieved her current state via some sort of very powerful magic).
The most intriguing element of the character however is that she functions, in essence, like a viral infection. That is to say that as she spreads Tho'at actually continuously produces copies of herself and is no longer one individual being.
All the Maligraphies are in essence Tho'at herself, that's why groups of them collectively possess her Nymic.
In addition, Maligraphies aside, Tho'at is also constantly creating proper clones of herself, other Tho'at Replicanums (rather than the manifested replicas of historical records). That's the reason for her name appearing in the margins of texts, by adding her name to the book and than bringing the record describing herself to life she essentially makes a new *version* of herself.
The copies of Tho'at are noted to be separate entities from one another, their Nymics being somewhat different and their experiences being unique to each. As a result the same Nymic can't be used to compel separate instances, each has it's own that must be discovered.
Echoing this idea of her being a multiplex being, when finally invoked Tho'at will constantly separate parts of herself from her initial manifestation (a giant knight made of glass) and transform them into various new forms (atronachs, mantikora, voriplasms, giant tentacles and eyes, a dragon though unlike the Maligraphies these retain a glass-like appearance).
When Tho'at is banished it's made clear that, despite all the struggle to gather and use the Nymic and such, this was still just *one* out of however many Tho'at Replicanums there now exist. According to the Archive overseer, Malkhest, there are likely hundreds of Replicanums already and they keep spreading (nevermind the Maligraphies themselves) so the issue is far from resolved (banishing a copy simply results in a decrease in the presence of Maligraphies in certain parts of the Archive for a time).
Interestingly this isn't the first time this concept of records and stories transitioning into reality appears, even in the current storyline alone.
Another place of Apocrypha, the Disquiet Study, is said to bring life to the books within it.
This extends to vividly bringing the words to mind in an unnatural way normally, but it can actually progress to the accounts in the books manifesting into reality, much like with the Maligraphies created by Tho'at (the Watcher Uruz, seemingly a creature born of the books himself emerging and taking control of the texts).
Likewise in *Summerset* there was the Iluminated One, a spirit that emerged from a cursed tome and enthralled those in the academy to play out the events/roles in tales, drawing power from the stories in the tomes to empower itself and manifesting their contents into reality.
And in *Legacy of the Bretons* the Bull-Horned Magma Frogs are said to be *"stories"* that were brought to life and emerged into the world through the Druid magic of Y'ffre's Path, in a similar vein the magic used by Wardens and related to the Green has also been described as the result of *"master storytellers"* that *"weave tales"* to alter nature (other Y'ffre related arcane fields like the magic of the Spinners are also channeled through stories that can weave illusions, foretell the future and even alter one's memories of their own life among other things).
Some additional bits:
1)It is said that, as is the case with infections, Tho'at's presence is *"nebulous",* there are places where her influence is *"more concentrated"* than elsewhere and it is in such a place where the Nymic can be used to invoke her.
2) Tho'at appears capable of exerting some degree of control over Apocrypha, interestingly enough, during her boss fight she will make layers of the ruins surrounding the initial encounter area sink into giant pools of ink until nothing is left (also using such pools as a hazard).
3) The Maligraphies are currently only present in the Endless Archive as far as we know, but it is shown that it is possible for them to actually get out through the descriptions of the Maligraphic mounts and pets (in which case it's suggested they might become a danger to the world more broadly).
4)Hermaeus Mora appears to have taken some interest in events in the Archive as the unique abilities granted while traversing it are said to have come from him and he is said to be observing what's going on. It's unclear how much importance he places on events though.
5)It is said that the Archive (mirroring what is said of Apocrypha more broadly in *Necrom*) is not interested in falsehoods and fabrications.
6) That said some degree of interpretation does inevitably apply to the texts and by extension to the Maligraphies born of it. As it's described, one record describes a king as a benevolent philanthropist and another as a vicious conqueror, both might be applicable to some extent but if the text chooses to focus on one or the other than that aspect will be reflected in the corresponding Maligraphy (this is why not all Maligraphies are hostile, they reflect how the figure is described).
7) The adventures of the Vestige and associated figures appear to have gained some renown in Apocrypha (might or might not be related to the Vestige's place in the broader crisis in Apocrypha), Malkhest will recongize a number of the Vestige's greater foes by name.
8) Invoking Tho'at's Nymic is described as "*speaking the sound of her essence"*, Malkhest also calls her a *"clattering collection of consonants"*.
9)Tho'at is able to adjust the traits of Maligraphies, in response to the Vestige banishing versions of her the ones that remain in the Archive adjust their Maligraphies to become progressively more dangerous.
Some of my own thoughts on all this:
1. I find the idea of storycrafting (for lack of a better term) as a potential means of exerting magic if not outright a source of it quite intriguing. In *Murkmire* it is said and shown that the Hist also have an ability to bridge the gap between the illusory/mental and the real though it's unclear if the phenomena operate under similar principles. 2. In the promotional Twitter roleplay for Necrom Hermaeus Mora mentions how the *"books"* in Apocrypha are actually manifestations of the thoughts that comprise the associated knowledge themselves ("conceptual constructs" that are "imagined into existence" by all the minds that touch Mora's realm) and aren't put together physically (though this isn't *always* the case as seen with Quires Wind where the Black Books are physically written by Seekers using ink and such) which could have some interesting implications for Tho'at Replicanum's nature. 3. In that same source Hermaeus Mora, a being also described as the incarnation of knowledge (in his case self described as the incarnation of *"the mystery at the end of existence. The first secret whispered at the dawn of creation"*) mentions how he himself is actually *"multitudes"* and only adopts the *"guise"* of a singular being for the sake of those he interacts with, Mora is also also said (in the loading screen for the Mythos) to have manifested Apocrypha into existence by speaking said First Secret. Somewhat reminiscent of Tho'at in certain aspects. 4. Recent lore seems to have a consistent theme that Daedra (and seemingly other spirits) can indeed increase their numbers in various ways, even beyond concepts like Demiprinces or any of the belief models that posit reproduction of some sort for the Aedra (which can themselves include not only reproduction in the genealogical sense or but also ideas such as Magrus crafting his children out of *"pure aether"* or through the interplay of forces and such).
Tho'at effectively does so through spreading and manifesting Maligraphies as well as copying herself, Lurkers are noted to be born from the waters of the Abyssal Sea and have spawn, Mind Terrors are nightmares of Vaermina brought to life, Crow Daedra were created by the Crow Mother and further reproduce by having eggs, Dro-m'Athra born of Khajiiti souls are acknowledged as a form of Daedric entity, nature spirits are born as "dreams " of the Green and so on.
The situation with Tho'at is the first time where we've encountered something like a spirit copying itself though.
5) The specifics of the nature of Tho'at aren't explained, in the promotional stream for the Endless Archive she is described as a *"very powerful Daedra".* It's posited that by bringing the records to life Tho'at might be attempting to increase in both knowledge and power (which makes sense as all Maligraphies have the abilities/skills from their origins and are also Tho'at herself in a sense) but little beyond that.
6) Not sure how the infestation might be ended for good without extreme measures like Mora himself intervening directly or some massive operation by the Daedra to track down and destroy all infected books using the Index before the malaise spreads further or such.
Anyway that's all.
Thoughts ?
What do you think of the Endless Archive and this odd Daedra that copies herself ? What might her ultimate goal, original nature before she assumed her current state or relation to Mora (if any) be ? What of this idea that stories and historical accounts can take on life of their own ? Is there some other lore that you think might tie into this ?
Sources:
[https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Master\_Malkhest](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Master_Malkhest)
[https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Filer\_Jun](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Filer_Jun)
[https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:The\_Disquiet\_Study](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:The_Disquiet_Study)
[https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Archivist\_Bartalus](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Archivist_Bartalus)
[https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Illusions\_of\_Grandeur](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Illusions_of_Grandeur)