I want to create a theory on how it works. The Centurion that is. Who wants to try?

By... "TheAwsome"

Being Elder Scrolls it could be a life or a soul inside of that ball. Maybe they're prisoners or slaves which were bound to that orb. 

Or maybe that orb is a sort of AL. Artificial Life. It shares memories of it's creators to give it the feeling that it is a live. But being bound to an object for so long, one would inevitably accept it's fate. It would become said object. Maybe those memories are of protecting the creator. 

It's a brash concept that mixes the science fiction capabilities with the technology, powers and mysticism of ES.

Or a simple idea. Lightning in a bottle, as it were. Just a spark to create something and to make it move. 

From what we can tell they release a lot of steam indicating water. And that piece is there energy source. When we find a core it is spherical so it may release energy as a wave that the machine can use as energy. I'm not sure what is in the core I think a special soul gem probably since they are found in the robots. I think the machines also use gems which can direct beams and energy. Which would create a lot of heat from usage.

By... "TheAwsome"

I'm not a lore nut enough to read the books to find out. But if you're really interested you can probably find an idea at http://www.imperial-library.info/. Just keep in mind the developers are crafty and not everything you read can be fully trusted on its own.

Huu. They're classified as . The idea that a soul gem powers it is a solid theory. And your call on steam is correct. According to the Ruins of Kemel-Ze they do operate on water and steam. Frost magic damages them the most, likely freezing the lines or reservoirs which house the water. Fire magic doesn't do much damage, so I think if we imply both of those facts then the power unit, or soul gem as I will refer to it right now, releases heat. It's the only way to create steam in the first place. Now the one thing I can't figure out is if a soul gem releases heat, or if it's possible to. We know they can be heated in order to create a warped soul gem. When Arniel strikes the gem in a quest it releases a lot of 'energy'. 

To apply real world physics, energy creates heat. There is a possibility and experiments which say it's possible to not create heat, but let's go with the only proven theory.

Now let's use the classic steam engine in order to think about how it could possibly power the unit. In the Ruins of Kemel-Ze, gears were heard moving. So the monster must be mechanical. Mechanical objects cannot move without any sort of energy, or reaction. Newton's law of motion concurs that there must be something powering an arm or a foot in order for it to move. The same with the quantum theory for energy. Some sort of energy must be pushing against it. Now if the steam is powering any smaller component such as a piston which can be used in a motor application, that could drive any number of things given enough steam. So water and heat would have to be abundant in order to move such a monstrosity as a Centurion. Creating, essentially, a thermal nuclear reactor. Well, without the radiation.

Heat from something like a soul gem or some other catalyst is possible to recreate. Fire magic is abundant and as long as there is a strong enough source for the fire, it can be endless. But water on the other hand is not so far. I have not heard of any water based magic outside of breathing in it or ice based magic. Ice takes up a tremendous amount more space than water does, but this also kind of debunks something. If the heat is hot enough to melt ice in order to create water in order to create steam, then why are they only really weak against frost magic? 

Such a conundrum. It goes around in circles over and over again.

UNLESS. We apply an idea of the steam actually is not powering it, but cooling the device. Such as, again, a thermal nuclear reactor. Steam is created by the rods which then powers the cooling unit as well as providing a sort of high pressure steam power. 

This again opens the theory that a warped soul gem could either have been placed in it.

Or.

Soul gems do release heat.

Or.

It's something entirely different than a soul gem inside of the orb.

What we can come away with, in my opinion, is that the steam is obviously a resulting reaction of some sort of thermal transfer.

Thoughts?

Yai they're weak to fire. Please excuse that part about the frost. But the hteory can still apply. If their weakness is fire, then perhaps the steam is actually a result of coolant

When we look at the structure being placed in said machine it is not just a soul gem but it is surrounded by a machine all together. This orb structure I originally thought might stabilize the special soul gem. I still think this but made improvements the orb structure acts like an amplifier on the magicka being released by the special soul gem. How does it amplify the waves you ask well it uses gems we find in them. These gems turn the energy into a beam (energy going in one direction ). The energy hits another gem attached to a most likely advanced piston. The piston has water in it already when the beam enters it has heat making the water turn to steam. And since the beam is magicka it can still activate spells. The spell in question I think is a frost spell that will produce frozen H20 that will be melted from the beam that brought it about. And through advanced steam technology the piston moves the gears and the machine moves. This is like a fusion of both our ideas.


What do you think?

By... "TheAwsome"

I'm pretty certain it's steam since they highly depend on gyroscopes in all of their devices. When you think of Sphere Centurions they're basically robots on giant gyroscopes that control their movement.  It would be plausible to believe that the soul gems can not only some how create the energy required to movement but can also detect the presence of other souls which is a possible way to control their movement.

If you also think based on that logic if you placed multiple soul gems together it's possible they could resonate together to detect each other's detect you and some how pull to one another. When you look at their cores they appear to be a gyroscope with a soul gem inside with plated metal with a pattern of openings. The metal they're made out of could potentially block the detection of the soul gem as well. 

If that was the case it could also mean the Dwemer would have a way to block their own souls from being attacked which means the Dwemer machines would never attack them. They're basically mindless robots that only know how to call any sign of life in their path.

 Perfect I was wondering a lot on how they were programmed. I mean we have the structure down but don't know why it acts like it does. I really like your idea it makes a lot of sense. And Mr.Monkey if you are reading this your idea was awesome as well!

The only thing is why do they attack? Are the souls used evil in a sense making the machine violent?

By... "TheAwsome"

 The soul gems would only be used as a tool. They're simply attracted toward souls and can't tell good from evil. But if the Dwemer can hide their souls from platting than they'd be safe from their own machines. That would also mean that their machines could easily be turned against them in battle if an enemy ever found out. So it would have to be a closely hidden secret and could potentially explain how they all died.

If some event occurred in which the presence their souls was amplified it could explain how they mysterious disappeared. As their own machines attacked them when they detected their souls which were no longer hidden. With their entire military destroyed it would be easy for another race such as the falmer to come in and destroy all remaining civilization. Plus the falmer use bones in everything they build. So all of the housing you see from them could be in part made from the remains of the dwemer.

 Yes the special soul gem holds a lot of power beyond just the Machines. As it both powers it's hydro-system and gives it it's direction. One of there greatest inventions only to have it turn on them. Also I think some of the Dwemer may have lived since instead of staying and fighting some may have left thinking there is no chance and they were right.

By... "TheAwsome"

I think it still leaves the idea of a warped soul gem, or something considerably the same, being used as a power source, or at least as an ignition source.

Wonderful thing about gyroscopes is that they rely on kinetic energy to continue moving. All they need is a slight boost once in a while. So if we take into thought that they are steam powered, or steam operated, then maybe the soul gem is just used as a catalyst or ignitor to start the whole process. They don't activate unless they're touched or a trap is set off. 

On your comment about giving it it's direction... The spherical shape was an interesting thing you noted on earlier. A sphere is the most structurally sound shape in the universe. A three dimensional sphere, if made to perfection, has no weakness. All pieces reinforce the others. Kinetic energy can be distributed evenly regardless of where the impact is. If say... A soul gem was ignited or released, it could very easily send that energy in all directions.

Now with a gyroscope you can't have that evenly distributed energy. But you can have something that after the initial boost would propel itself for a long duration of time.

The steam properties is still what confuses me. What creates the steam? A never ending water source? Where does it come from?

I do like the theory of how they disappeared as well. The Dwemer sound like a typical Atlantis story. Crushed by their own pride and or worth.

Do you think the centaur could have a possible dehumidifier built in? Or something like that? In caves and temples, you cannot get away from how damp it will be. Mildew and stale air eventually will separate over eons. That's why there's water in desert caves and in rock. And those temples are usually carved into mountain sides.

 I agree that the theory is very plausible. There are still so many factors left up in the air. Is it ice magicka which fuels the steam? 

 I like to think of Magicka as a base for spells which create effects. So no Magicka is a type it just activates different types of spells.

By... "TheAwsome"

 Ok. So Magicka could possibly be the catalyst. A soul gem to power the Magicka makes sense since they don't deteriorate overtime. 

 Indeed good sir. But since this is a special soul gem with maybe three souls in it according to WN it might be un-stable. So I think that gyro structure built around double's as a stabilizer.