Lore:Clockwork Probabilis

The Clockwork Probabilis

The Clockwork Probabilis is a reality altering engine, created by the Clockwork God, Sotha Sil, in his old laboratory within the ruins of Kemel-Ze, where he'd once studied with the Dwemer. A prototype that was created as a precursor to Sotha Sil's great work, the Clockwork City's Throne Aligned, the Probabilis allowed for willful manipulation of the forces that govern Nirn, both those that are constant such as gravity, and those that defy prediction and categorization.

Though it can simulate control over the formative rules of existence, being a prototype, the Clockwork Probabilis is unfinished. Thus use of the device outside the original parameters Sotha Sil designed it for can lead to the destabilization of Nirn, resulting in great loss of life that "far exceeds" the "acceptable thresholds" the Clockwork God had determined for his experiments.

In 2E 582, Nilphas Drethan, a rogue Clockwork Apostle, colluded with the Painted Eye, a group of mercenaries that steal arcane items, allowing them to enter Kemel-Ze. Disillusioned with Sotha Sil, who he viewed as a fool for allowing an imperfect world like Nirn to keep existing, Drethan hoped to take control of the Clockwork Probabilis and use its power to make lasting changes to the reality of Nirn, believing that with it he could fix the world's flaws. Unbeknownst to Drethan, the Probabilis' prototype nature meant his plan was doomed to result in catastrophic failure that would've caused irreparable damage to the world. Though the rogue Apostle succeeded in gaining control of the device, he was slain by the Vestige, with the aid of Kemel-Ze's Factotum overseer, Protus, before he could gain full control of the device's power and make any lasting change.

Following Drethan's death, a "memory gestalt fascimile" of Sotha Sil, an attempt at creating an artificial soul of Sotha Sil out of Mnemonic Fragments containing his memories, revealed that the true Clockwork God had predicted all the events that had transpired. From the result of his experiments, to Drethan's attempt to take control of the Probabilis, and even the very discussion with the Vestige themselves. The fascimile of Sil explained that, though he knew the result of his experiments, he still needed to experiment and work backwards to truly understand them, and that he'd allowed the Probabilis to remain operational, despite the potential danger, because he'd predicted Drethan using it, so the linearity of time demanded that it could be activated, for Drethan to be able to use it. The Vestige might've accepted the reason given, or criticized Sil as irresponsible. Either way, a locking sequence, which Sotha Sil had pre-programmed Protus to initiate once the events involving Drethan concluded, was activated, locking Kemel-Ze and the Clockwork Probabilis away from the rest of Nirn.