Zolmec

Zolmec was a Dwemer of the First Era.

Chimeri attestations describe him as lord of the city-state of Mzual-Zel, on the mainland of present day Morrowind. Zolmec was revered not as a ruler, however, but as an engineer, metallurgist and alchemist.

The fragmented lore of Mzual-Zel – corroborated by Dunmeri legend – recounts Zolmec's efforts to end the "iteration of mortal suffering" following the death of his beloved wife from an unspecified illness. His endeavours came to nothing, compelling a deranged Zolmec to bargain with the Daedric Prince Hermaeus Mora. The details of this bargain are unknown, except that the Dwemer obtainedthe Codex Nostrum – a tome revealing the cure to all illnesses and diseases – from the prince.

Zolmec's acquisition of the Codex coincided with the War of the First Council. The Lord of Mzual-Zel played no distinguishable role in this conflict. He, along with the rest of the Dwemer, disappeared in 1E 700. With him any trace of the Codex Nostrum was lost.

The legend of Zolmec and the Codex Nostrum attracted considerable scholarship over the centuries. Some conjectured that Zolmec was responsible for the disappearance of the dwarves, having discerned the cure to mortal suffering from the pages of the Codex. Sceptics doubted the authenticity of the Codex entirely, dismissing the tome as the invention of folklore. A few, such as Alain Alzen, were convinced that the Codex existed and that it contained the fabled panacea.