Forums » Elder Scrolls

Choosing and Worshipping Deities

    • 104 posts
    May 10, 2017 5:10 PM EDT

    Greetings fellow Vault Dwellers, I have often wondered if you, like myself, choose a Deity for your Skyrim character for your characters  benefit,   Eg. Lord Stone, which we all know by now gives Magic protection and a higher AR. Or do you choose to roleplay the religious significance of your chosen stone? visiting shrines, praying, wearing appropriate amulets or rings is it just the Stones power you wish or is there more to it than that for you.

     

    I recently played Couch Warrior's The Mortal Blade, during which I had to "Sanctify a Two-Handed weapon in order to kill Dragons, and I had made up a little ritual which prompted me to ask you all this question.

    Please feel free to give us your views on this in the comments below, Thanks Guys.

    • 1595 posts
    May 10, 2017 11:40 PM EDT

    That ritual sounds interesting, was that in the Mortal Blade or something you added, Bones? Choosing gods is a complex thing, you know? Like, it's never random and can be intricately woven into a concept. When DB and I made the Bull of Kyne, we wanted to incorporate Morihaus' armour, the Lord's Mail, into the build on both a physical and metaphysical level. Because Morihaus was both associated with The Lord Sign and the Lord's Mail gifted to him by Kyne, we wanted to have all three of those elements in it.

    “The association of figures of myth and legend with one constellation or another is a common theme across Tamriel: usually a hero or monarch is identified with the powerful aspects of whatever stars she or he was said to be born under. For example, St. Alessia, the First Empress, is traditionally associated with the constellation of The Thief, while her consort Morihaus took as his device the constellation of The Lord, and wore the Lord's Mail..."

    So my approach to all things religion is lagely dependent on the character I am playing and what lore I want to act as the foundation of that character. If I am playing a staunch Nordic warrior, I might want to have him be very pro-Ysgramor as a cultural hero, and have him be skald who knows the stories of Ysmir. I would refer to this in order to help me choose what Stone to take:

    "So let us consider Ysmir, whose legend, as it happens, is known to me: did he ascend to the heavens to become The Warrior? That implies that the constellation was not there previously, which seems unlikely to me. Did he ascend to heaven by passing through his birthsign of The Warrior to achieve Aetherius beyond? Poetic, but possible, I suppose, at least for a figure of myth. Did Ysmir take The Warrior as his sigil because the Warrior represented his strengths, and was thus associated with that constellation even after his death (or passing, or assumption, or ascendance)? This seems to me the most likely explanation of all. However, others will certainly differ, and you may find their arguments more persuasive than mine."

    However, sometimes I don't want to associate with a deity, but rather one of the saints, be they of the Nine Divines faith or the Tribunal. This is more complicated, as one cannot simply pray at a shrine of Saint Alessia. So I would want to get creative in how I portray that devotion to something. The concept and what she represents would be what I would explore in that circumstance.

    When Alastor and I made the Prophet of Vivec, we had that very thing. We couldn't exactly pray at a shrine to Vivec and recieve a blessing, so we needed to tap into the deeper layers of Vehk.

    The public face of Vivec is benign, sensitive, compassionate, and protective of his followers. At the same time, the Dunmer seem irrationally comfortable with the hidden aspects of Vivec, the darker components of violence, lust, and conspiracy associated with the more primitive and ruthless impulses of the Anticipations.

    So, on matters of faith I never like to skim the surface. A Vigilant of Stendarr who simply carries out a daily devotion to the god of mercy is far, far too shallow to resonate within me :D


    This post was edited by Paws at May 10, 2017 11:42 PM EDT
    • 22 posts
    May 11, 2017 1:30 AM EDT

    I used to have a character who was a Nord Mage of some sort who happened to be a follower of the Nordic god Magnus. Now, there are no shrines to Magnus anywhere in Skyrim or on Solstheim so I couldn't just pray at one of those and be all "Woohoo, I follow a forgotten god!", and all that jazz. I would offer up a filled soul gem or a scroll or even an enchanted item about once or twice a week to sort of pray to the God of Magic. The charecters whole grand idea was that he was trying to find a way to Aetherius to appear before his god or whatever. He did whatever he really could to find away to go and leave Mundus from fighting Deadra, fighting for Deadra, and obtaining all sorts of artifacts. I also tried to read every magical EXP book (And by read I mean actually read it) and learn every spell but I'm not sure if I actually did either of those things. But I mostly used it as an excuse to use the Staff of Magnus more often however as I would play it out as their soul being sent straight to Aetherius and thus Magnus himself. It was super interesting studying up on some dead god however and I should really do it again when I have the time.

    • 585 posts
    May 11, 2017 4:33 AM EDT

    Figuring out different and unique ways to worship a chosen deity is one of my favourite parts of roleplaying, because it can change so drastically from character to character, even if they worship the same one.

    For example, on one character I worshipped Zenithar. Because this guy was big and burly and liked to killl stuff, he made it his policy to protect merchants wherever possible - protecting them from extortion (read: punching a Thieves Guild member in the face every now and then), guiding Khajiit caravans through the wilderness etc. So direct stuff. On the other hand, a mage character I had invested heavily into whatever shops he could find, brought supplies to specific vendors if they were deemed to need them (so I only sold ore to smiths) while making sure to distribute the goods evenly across the holds to keep a balaned economy and did more subtle 'manipulation' to keep Skyrim's economy going strong, encouraging craft and the stuff Zenithar likes.

    So moving on from that tangent, I think it's important to choose a stone that reflects the character primarily, and the god second, as most of the time the god doesn't define the character, the character defines what god they follow (although for priests and clerics and stuff I choose the one that directly relates to the deity). You just have to make sure there are traces of the god present in the choosing.

    It's kinda early and I haven't woken up fully yet, so I hope this makes some sense.

    • 104 posts
    May 11, 2017 7:00 AM EDT

    Phil said:

    That ritual sounds interesting, was that in the Mortal Blade or something you added, Bones? Choosing gods is a complex thing, you know? Like, it's never random and can be intricately woven into a concept. When DB and I made the Bull of Kyne, we wanted to incorporate Morihaus' armour, the Lord's Mail, into the build on both a physical and metaphysical level. Because Morihaus was both associated with The Lord Sign and the Lord's Mail gifted to him by Kyne, we wanted to have all three of those elements in it.

    “The association of figures of myth and legend with one constellation or another is a common theme across Tamriel: usually a hero or monarch is identified with the powerful aspects of whatever stars she or he was said to be born under. For example, St. Alessia, the First Empress, is traditionally associated with the constellation of The Thief, while her consort Morihaus took as his device the constellation of The Lord, and wore the Lord's Mail..."

    So my approach to all things religion is lagely dependent on the character I am playing and what lore I want to act as the foundation of that character. If I am playing a staunch Nordic warrior, I might want to have him be very pro-Ysgramor as a cultural hero, and have him be skald who knows the stories of Ysmir. I would refer to this in order to help me choose what Stone to take:

    "So let us consider Ysmir, whose legend, as it happens, is known to me: did he ascend to the heavens to become The Warrior? That implies that the constellation was not there previously, which seems unlikely to me. Did he ascend to heaven by passing through his birthsign of The Warrior to achieve Aetherius beyond? Poetic, but possible, I suppose, at least for a figure of myth. Did Ysmir take The Warrior as his sigil because the Warrior represented his strengths, and was thus associated with that constellation even after his death (or passing, or assumption, or ascendance)? This seems to me the most likely explanation of all. However, others will certainly differ, and you may find their arguments more persuasive than mine."

    However, sometimes I don't want to associate with a deity, but rather one of the saints, be they of the Nine Divines faith or the Tribunal. This is more complicated, as one cannot simply pray at a shrine of Saint Alessia. So I would want to get creative in how I portray that devotion to something. The concept and what she represents would be what I would explore in that circumstance.

    When Alastor and I made the Prophet of Vivec, we had that very thing. We couldn't exactly pray at a shrine to Vivec and recieve a blessing, so we needed to tap into the deeper layers of Vehk.

    The public face of Vivec is benign, sensitive, compassionate, and protective of his followers. At the same time, the Dunmer seem irrationally comfortable with the hidden aspects of Vivec, the darker components of violence, lust, and conspiracy associated with the more primitive and ruthless impulses of the Anticipations.

    So, on matters of faith I never like to skim the surface. A Vigilant of Stendarr who simply carries out a daily devotion to the god of mercy is far, far too shallow to resonate within me :D

    I made up my own mate, I put the weapon next to a shrine or statue had a quick prayer left it 24 hours (in game) then up to Solitude visited each of the Divines then went back for Sword, if I choose to associate with a Deity or Divine I always like to get right into the significance and lore of whatever one I choose.

    • 104 posts
    May 11, 2017 7:02 AM EDT

    LittenLeKitten said:

    I used to have a character who was a Nord Mage of some sort who happened to be a follower of the Nordic god Magnus. Now, there are no shrines to Magnus anywhere in Skyrim or on Solstheim so I couldn't just pray at one of those and be all "Woohoo, I follow a forgotten god!", and all that jazz. I would offer up a filled soul gem or a scroll or even an enchanted item about once or twice a week to sort of pray to the God of Magic. The charecters whole grand idea was that he was trying to find a way to Aetherius to appear before his god or whatever. He did whatever he really could to find away to go and leave Mundus from fighting Deadra, fighting for Deadra, and obtaining all sorts of artifacts. I also tried to read every magical EXP book (And by read I mean actually read it) and learn every spell but I'm not sure if I actually did either of those things. But I mostly used it as an excuse to use the Staff of Magnus more often however as I would play it out as their soul being sent straight to Aetherius and thus Magnus himself. It was super interesting studying up on some dead god however and I should really do it again when I have the time.

    Nice roleplay ideas there Kitten, to actually take the time to read Skill books is a devotion in itself

    • 104 posts
    May 11, 2017 7:09 AM EDT

    Zonnonn said:

    Figuring out different and unique ways to worship a chosen deity is one of my favourite parts of roleplaying, because it can change so drastically from character to character, even if they worship the same one.

    For example, on one character I worshipped Zenithar. Because this guy was big and burly and liked to killl stuff, he made it his policy to protect merchants wherever possible - protecting them from extortion (read: punching a Thieves Guild member in the face every now and then), guiding Khajiit caravans through the wilderness etc. So direct stuff. On the other hand, a mage character I had invested heavily into whatever shops he could find, brought supplies to specific vendors if they were deemed to need them (so I only sold ore to smiths) while making sure to distribute the goods evenly across the holds to keep a balaned economy and did more subtle 'manipulation' to keep Skyrim's economy going strong, encouraging craft and the stuff Zenithar likes.

    So moving on from that tangent, I think it's important to choose a stone that reflects the character primarily, and the god second, as most of the time the god doesn't define the character, the character defines what god they follow (although for priests and clerics and stuff I choose the one that directly relates to the deity). You just have to make sure there are traces of the god present in the choosing.

    It's kinda early and I haven't woken up fully yet, so I hope this makes some sense.

    Yes I understand where your coming from Zonnon especially what you say about the character defining the God, that's what prompted me to ask the question Phils take on things make the God or Deity define the character its all a personal choice, I just prefer to choose a God or Deity to base my character around it enhances the roleplay aspect of my playthrough, now with the addition of Mods Skyrim is new again and offers much more in the way of roleplay.

    • 284 posts
    May 11, 2017 6:45 PM EDT

    I mostly give my characters deiteis for a more immersive roleplay. They mostly worship Meridia and Azura, altough a couple of them have a thing for Mephala.

    • 224 posts
    May 11, 2017 9:15 PM EDT

    The majority of my characters tend to be Necromancers, so I tend to worship Mannimarco solo or Mannimarco and Daedric Prince, usually Mora, Vaemira, Namira, or/and Mephala.


    This post was edited by David at May 11, 2017 9:15 PM EDT
    • 39 posts
    June 19, 2017 11:42 PM EDT

    Every character I've played of late has some sort of belief system. (One of which was even an Atheist Altmer). Most Nords I've played worship Kyne or Ysmir (a.k.a Kynareth or Talos respectively). Almost all my Dunmer worship either Azura or Vivec. Argonians worship the Hist, so I wasn't sure how to use that information....

    But yes Religion is one of the core things I use for character building. Religion is often what symbolizes a person's core morals and such is something that needs to be established for a good roleplay. 

    I have never really thought to use the stones as worship to a deity. Although that is a really cool idea. I've always just thought of them as the Birthsign which indicates a lot about the child... I think. 

    As for how I roleplay the worship, I generally use amulets for my Nords. The Temple for Dunmer, or silent contemplation for Vivec. Histskin for Argonians (using the Histskin is a blessing from the Hist but is also used as a form of worship, when used outside of battle)