Elder Scrolls Lore » Discussions


Shadowghost Theories

  • Member
    October 3, 2017

    ESO's new Crate season, The Reaper's Harvest, recently arrived to coincide with the Witches Festival that happens this time of year in Tamriel. Along with the new items appearing in the Crown Store, these crates contain mounts and pets called Shadowghost.

    Unlike nearly all other wolves, the Shadowghost Wolf has no pack and lives a solitary life, haunting lonely moors and wastelands, appearing only at night and rarely then. Some doubt it is a real creature of the mortal plane at all. 

    There are others, like the Shadowghost Guar, horse and senche. The latter gives us the only clue as to their origins that I can discern:

    An oversized breed of black senche-panthers, the Shadowghost Senche is said by the Khajiit to be sacred or rather unholy to Namiira the Great Darkness, who sends them as mounts to bear away those who are doomed to die. Dare you ride one of these dark cats in the dead of night?

    Exciting as the psychopomp nature of Namira hinted above is, the connection these Shadowghost creatures have with Namira could only be the Khajiiti cultural viewpoint.

    Could anyone give me any thoughts or theories on the nature of Shadowghost animals?

  • Member
    October 3, 2017

    Namira as the Khajit Psychopomp is almost too amazing to conceive. It does raise so many questions about what she actually represents to them. Besides completely fucking up what evidence I had collected for an article on her, it offers some great stuff for Khajit from both a roleplay and story perspective. Just imagine you see one of these atop a nearby hill as you knowingly march into battle. Oh, the options...

    I'll probably get back to this once I've gathered my thoughts a bit (and revisited what I already had on Namira).

  • October 3, 2017

    Food for thought: Senche can be both Khajiit and not Khajiit. What if this Shadowghost Senche can be a Khajiit?

  • Member
    October 3, 2017

    The Lorc of Flowers said:

    Food for thought: Senche can be both Khajiit and not Khajiit. What if this Shadowghost Senche can be a Khajiit?

    A khajit reaper of sorts... Very good point Karve. Namira in such a cool deity in the Khajitti pantheon.

  • Member
    October 3, 2017

    Teineeva said:

    Namira as the Khajit Psychopomp is almost too amazing to conceive. It does raise so many questions about what she actually represents to them. Besides completely fucking up what evidence I had collected for an article on her, it offers some great stuff for Khajit from both a roleplay and story perspective. Just imagine you see one of these atop a nearby hill as you knowingly march into battle. Oh, the options...

    I'll probably get back to this once I've gathered my thoughts a bit (and revisited what I already had on Namira).

    It is exciting! I read that bit about Namira sending them as feline valkyrie figures and did a double take: "Whaaaat?!" :D It's a hell of a thing to drop in randomly, and so I look forward to seing how you figure the cat's relationship with Namira will look. In terms of story, that little sentence of yours does inspire. Poor kitty warrior seeing a Shadowghost Senche in the distance! Regardless of the truth, the Khajiit would be expecting death from that point on, and that expectation could turn to seeking it in a self-fulfilling prophecy. I would say, then, that Khajiit warriors would likely revere this creature and even ink themselve or engrave their equipment with its imagery.

    The Lorc of Flowers said:

    Food for thought: Senche can be both Khajiit and not Khajiit. What if this Shadowghost Senche can be a Khajiit?

    That is food for thought, good fodder too! Indeed, the pet from the crates might also add to those brain-munchies:

    Associated with the dro-m'Athra is also interesting as they are like dark-spirit or Daedric cats. In the same way that your Seekers are mortals daedrified, these could be mortal cats who chose or otherwise ended up in the Great Darkness of Namira.

     

  • Member
    October 4, 2017

    Paws said:

    Teineeva said:

    Namira as the Khajit Psychopomp is almost too amazing to conceive. It does raise so many questions about what she actually represents to them. Besides completely fucking up what evidence I had collected for an article on her, it offers some great stuff for Khajit from both a roleplay and story perspective. Just imagine you see one of these atop a nearby hill as you knowingly march into battle. Oh, the options...

    I'll probably get back to this once I've gathered my thoughts a bit (and revisited what I already had on Namira).

    It is exciting! I read that bit about Namira sending them as feline valkyrie figures and did a double take: "Whaaaat?!" :D It's a hell of a thing to drop in randomly, and so I look forward to seing how you figure the cat's relationship with Namira will look. In terms of story, that little sentence of yours does inspire. Poor kitty warrior seeing a Shadowghost Senche in the distance! Regardless of the truth, the Khajiit would be expecting death from that point on, and that expectation could turn to seeking it in a self-fulfilling prophecy. I would say, then, that Khajiit warriors would likely revere this creature and even ink themselve or engrave their equipment with its imagery.

    The Lorc of Flowers said:

    Food for thought: Senche can be both Khajiit and not Khajiit. What if this Shadowghost Senche can be a Khajiit?

    That is food for thought, good fodder too! Indeed, the pet from the crates might also add to those brain-munchies:

    Associated with the dro-m'Athra is also interesting as they are like dark-spirit or Daedric cats. In the same way that your Seekers are mortals daedrified, these could be mortal cats who chose or otherwise ended up in the Great Darkness of Namira.

     

    From what I remember the Dro-M'athra are Khajit corrupted by Lorkhan. Something about them dancing to the rhythm of the doomdrum instead of that of the moons. That being said, according to the Khajit creation myth Lorkhan himself was a child of Fadomai that was born in the Great Dark subsequently known as Namiira and "And the Heart of Lorkhaj was filled with the Great Darkness"

    Having Dro-M'athra going around with Namiira cats would make some sense.

  • Member
    October 4, 2017

    I understand this is a lore discussion and all, but - I just think it looks cool :P

  • Member
    October 4, 2017

    Tanuki said:

    I understand this is a lore discussion and all, but - I just think it looks cool :P

    They do indeed look pretty great

  • Member
    October 4, 2017

    Teineeva said:

    Tanuki said:

    I understand this is a lore discussion and all, but - I just think it looks cool :P

    They do indeed look pretty great

    They are pretty awesome :D

    But what are they? Tanuki, thoughts? 

    They don't get summoned so they are at least Nirn-bound, and they seem ony to be active during the night. The Khajiit link them to Namira and dro-m'Athra, but they seem to be the only ones to do so. 

  • Member
    October 4, 2017

    You know, I always assumed darkness is associated to Nocturnal. It's strange to see the Khajiit associating darkness with Namira who's more commonly associated with all things icky yucky and creepy crawly.

    I haven't read much about the dro-m'Athra. What are they really? Mortal Khajiits 'corrupted' by the Void/Lorkhan?