Forums » Elder Scrolls

Religion

    • 48 posts
    March 5, 2014 11:50 PM EST

    What religion do you lean towards in Tamriel. Do you prefer the Aedra, Daedra,the All-maker, Divines, Hist, Sithis, or the ancient Nordic gods. Which of these do your characters tend to worship and if so what kind of rituals do they follow and what practices. If I missed any gods I am sorry and let me know about them.

    • 63 posts
    March 6, 2014 12:34 AM EST
    Four of my six khajiits (Link, Furyk, Janus, and Midna) only really follow the lunar lattice since they weren't raised in Elsweyr. My oldest khajiit (Zelda) follows the entire khajiit pantheon. My last khajiit (Kora) is atheist.
  • Tom
    • 624 posts
    March 6, 2014 1:07 AM EST

    Real life me is more non-affiliated. I acknowledge they exist in the game, but don't worship any in particular. Most of my characters lean this way, with little variations. My Nord mage is more inclined to the Nordic divines (Kyne, Shor, Alduin, Herma-Mora) with a bit more reverence for Akatosh with the Dragonborn connection. I had a Telvanni character who at the closest to worshipping some deity was cleansing Azura's Star and leaving offerings at the Temple in Ravenrock. Any religiousity he felt was in terms of paying off the Daedra to not hinder him and becalm them should he do something to offend.

    • 194 posts
    March 6, 2014 1:09 AM EST

    If somebody from lore could really sum up all of the religions that would be fantastic to say the least... I lean towards the monotheist types... And not because it is like Christianity as I am an atheist. I simply love the simplicity of the All Maker and Sithis. That everything returns to it and comes from it, etc.

  • Tom
    • 624 posts
    March 6, 2014 3:07 AM EST

    It's really just the same gods, with just slightly different versions depending on culture.

    I know the UESP has quite a bit of information and the Lore Group here has some good posts on the different deities, the Daedric Dossier comes to mind as quite an insightful view into the Dunmer faith. 

  • March 6, 2014 8:35 AM EST

    Tough question. Daedra are condescending assholes, Aedra are AFK, and the rest are boring 2nd grade gods that only some race worships.

    I'd say my favourite are Lorkhan and Trinimac. I have the impression that these were the only ones who actually stepped down and tried to establish something, leading armies and all, while the others were too busy "working in mysterious ways" (doing absolutely nothing but bragging about their power).

    And those that actually did do something only ever made things worse. What was the point in Kynareth granting dragon shouts to humans? Rather than stopping wars, it only made the situation worse. Akatosh created a bunch of dragons that only seek to destroy every living thing on Nirn, yet he's considered an Aedra.

    • 1483 posts
    March 6, 2014 8:39 AM EST

    Auriel?  Mara and Dibella are somewhat present in Skyrim 

    • 32 posts
    March 6, 2014 8:39 AM EST
    I think it would be great to have a religion area in the lore department. Id love to see them summed up.
    • 360 posts
    March 6, 2014 9:08 AM EST

    Sithis, simple thought process here. 

    IRL My belief is that all was created from a single event which came before all other events. Doesn't matter if it was god, the big bang, or whatever else the scientists believe these days. This event would be Genesis, and Genesis = God. Now IRL we don't really have a definitive name for this genesis, this first event, but in TES we do, and it's Sithis.

  • March 6, 2014 9:20 AM EST

    They don't do anything useful. Look at the Vigilants of Stendarr, always talking trash about them crushing daedra worshippers with the "power of Stendarr", yet those who do anything useful are the men and women themselves, groups like the Dawnguard and individuals who work from the shadows.

    Mara present in Skyrim? First love story she's assigned to do, she's already relying on the player to do 99% of the work

    Any person with enough influence, knowledge of magicka or combat prowess easily has more of an impact on Tamriel than the gods, it's no wonder the first guy to conquer the continent became known as a god, in his short lifetime Talos accomplished more than the real Divines did in thousands of years.

    • 1217 posts
    March 6, 2014 9:23 AM EST

    "I like it. Simple, easy to remember."

    • 1483 posts
    March 6, 2014 9:26 AM EST

    Well, they did gave their power to create Mundus. Talos and everyone else would not exist without them. I'd say that's more than enough. They also give blessings that actually work, like Dibella's - deal more melee damage to enemies of opposite sex - not something any enchantment can do. 

    Vigilants are a terrorist organization working under the name of a Divine.

    • 48 posts
    March 6, 2014 10:03 AM EST

    I agree the Aedra do close to nothing on Nirn while the Deadra do, even though when they do interfere they are dicks. With most of my characters they follow the Nordic pantheon. The reasoning for this they are real. Sovngarde is an actual place that you go to and meet up with Tsun and if one is real and their afterlife then their religion is true. 

  • March 6, 2014 10:05 AM EST
    HoonDing says hi, Arma.
  • March 6, 2014 10:36 AM EST

    Giving blessings doesn't really help the situation of Tamriel, though. It's not what's going to unify the continent, stop wars, stop vandalism and corruption.

    It's the people who make the world go around. Lorkhan and Trinimac stepped down and led their respective civilisations, and that's what, in my opinion, makes them respectable gods.

    Not sure if you can include the case of Akatosh in there because he's quite inconsistent. He's responsible for Alduin and the dragons, but he also left some tools behind to defend Nirn from the Daedra. At least he also participated.

    • 1483 posts
    March 6, 2014 10:43 AM EST

    It's not in their interests to stop wars, unify the continent etc. All that is a natural way of life, chaos vs stasis, the struggle that creates life and advances it. Aedra may do much more than it's visible to the eye. For example, they can be responsible for the Veil that does not allow Daedra to claim Nirn for themselves forcing them to use Oblivion Gates and other magic to circumvent those limitations. Without Aedra, Nirn might've been a battleground for different Daedric Princes for ages. Kynareth supposedly controls the wind and the rain essentially controlling all the farming communities on Nirn. Just because they don't walk the lands of Nirn as drunk guys with staves doesn't mean they don't do anything 

  • March 6, 2014 11:33 AM EST

    Until given evidence of them doing anything of the sort, I'll stick with they don't do anything. Even among the Daedra, it was a prodigious feat for Dagon to try and conquer Tamriel given what little they are capable of doing over thousands of years.

    • 1483 posts
    March 6, 2014 11:35 AM EST

    There is also Molag Bal who tried  And don't forget who kicked Dagon back to Oblivion 

  • March 6, 2014 1:26 PM EST

    Well, I don't like reincarnation, so the All-Maker is out. The Aedra and Daedra are flawed beings, so they're out. The hist are racists to anyone but Argoinians, so they're out. The Nordic gods are pretty fly, but they're still flawed, so they're out...I'm a man without a god in TES...how...lonely. 

    • 360 posts
    March 6, 2014 1:31 PM EST

    How about Sithis? You don't have to worship the hist to worship Genesis 

  • March 6, 2014 1:37 PM EST

    Because sithis is a concept rather than a being. Also, the whole concept of the Void sounds a lot like eternal darkness in Judeo-Christianity, and that doesn't sit well with me.

    I'd probably start my own religion, like Buddha. Attain Immortality, and go around preaching right living, maybe make my own realm and take people there when they die. Idk. Maybe pull a Mankar Cammoran.   

    • 360 posts
    March 6, 2014 1:38 PM EST

    sounds like a plan

  • March 6, 2014 1:40 PM EST

    Yeah, but how to do it? 

    • 360 posts
    March 6, 2014 1:48 PM EST

    Why are you asking me for? Just summon the giant dwemmer robot thing, kill all the altmer and people will start worshiping you.

  • March 6, 2014 1:51 PM EST

    I am not worthy of worship.

    Maybe I should just kill all life.