/tes/ - The Elder Scrolls Discussion

Most pantheons in TES basically contain different variations of the same gods. Certain races and classes would definitley revere some divines before others others though. Like Nords tend to revere Talos and Kynareth, Redguards tend to revere Stendarr, Altemer revere Akatosh(Auri-el), etc. Warriors would probably identify most with Talos and Stendarr, Bards might tend to revere Dibella, non Daedra-worshipping mages would tend to revere Julianos, and you could go on.

You don't necessarily have to worship Hircine if you're a werewolf but you're going to be spending an eternity in his realm, so you might as well get on his good side. The relationship between vampires and Molag Bal is a bit more tenuous but many vampires do worship Molag and Clavicus Vile too. Except for Azura and maybe a couple others, worship of Daedra usually doesn't have much to do with race and probably most Daedra aren't really inclined to be worshiped by one specific class or another.

>>3348
>How does one decide on the religious affiliation of a character?
Race, upbringing and traits of character.
>Is the pantheon so tight knit that you can just follow all the nine divines at once? But is there one that you would worship above others as a sort of patron god?
Which pantheon? You mean Imperial Pantheon? Yes you can follow everyone or one patron.
That being said you have to understand that Imperial Pantheon was created by Alessia to incorporate as many deities from all cultures as possible.
It doesn't have Gods like Ebonarm or HoonDing or Ruptga which are all actually Aedra or at least Ehlnofey.
>Does it go by class?
No, not necessarily, but I guess generals would try to get blessings of Talos etc.
>Theives - Noctournal
Majority of people try not to worship any Daedric Princes, Daedric cultists are actually a rarity and taboo. Unless it's guild that worships Nocturnal or something.
>Dunmer and Khajiit revere Azura the most above all.
Dunmer worship reclemations, Azura, Boethiah and Mephala.
if anything Boethiah is leader of Pantheon and is considered King God.
Khajiit worship Jone and Jode more than Azura, Jone and Jode are lunar bodies of Lorkhan. Azura is more like their teacher or something like that.
>How about Daedric princes? Does being a werewolf necessarily mean you follow Hircine? Same goes for vampires and Molag Baal.
Doesn't matter if you worship them or not, your soul literally belongs to them when you take on their "blessing" and they can dirrectly fuck you or send someone to fuck you if you don't do as they want. So yeah you better worship them.
>How would one's religious views effect their choices if you're RPing a character?
Greatly, simple example, devoted follower of Y'ffre Bosmer would canibalize even outside of Valenwood.
Also do not forget about other pantheons like Yoku pantheon which include cool gods like Satakal. Again most popular pantheon was a political and metaphysical choice to control people/get theri favor made by Alessia and Marukhati ordered who also broke time itself once.

>>3361
Thanks for the info, I'm still trying to get familiar with most of the lore and I need as much as I can.

>>3365
Lorefags always want an excuse to talk about lore so someone new to lore is perfect for discussion.

>>3365
>>3383
Also read about other interesting Gods here
They are Et'ada, Ada, Ehlnofey and just ascended mortals of all sorts
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Gods_A

>>3351
>Redguards tend to revere Stendarr

I never heard of Redguards revering Stendarr. IIRC, one book says that Hammerfell is where Arkay worship is strongest, and the first Pocket Guide to the Empire states that they tolerate worship of Arkay, Zenithar and Kynareth and view most other Imperial Gods as "useless, therefore evil". I don't think the Ra'Gada are a very merciful folk.

>>3387
You might be right, but I could swear that I read that Stendarr is more revered among Redguards, which makes sense to me considering their very strict stance on Daedra Worship and other such heresy, of course they also seem to take a lot of care with their dead and despise necromancy so Arkay worship would make sense too

Someone more knowledgeable than me explain some Nordic pantheon stuff:
What is Orkey?
Is he the Nordic version of Arkay or Malacath?

He seems to have more of Arkay's powers, principally ageing. Additionally, he "called" Alduin suggesting some connection.

Did the old Nords have a separate concept of Akatosh before the Imperials reinvented it? Because to me it looks like Nordic Akatosh = Alduin and Nordic Arkay = Orkey and they just sloppily tried to retcon this for Skyrim to throw dragons in.

>>3392
Orkey is probably supposed to be the Nordic version of Malacath, and orginially Alduin was supposed to be the Nordic version of Akatosh but they retconned that for Skyrim obviously. Of course Alduin is the son of Akatosh, so there is a direct connection there. To my knowledge, the Nords didn't have any different name/concepts from the imperials concerning Arkay.

>>3392
Orkey is both
Stop thinking of Ada and Et'ada as singular things and think of them as concepts instead
Flowing and changing and interconnecting
Read Monomyth to understand that better
Also consider the following, Linear time literally did not exist until Convention, everything was true
>Did the old Nords have a separate concept of Akatosh before the Imperials reinvented it? Because to me it looks like Nordic Akatosh = Alduin and Nordic Arkay = Orkey and they just sloppily tried to retcon this for Skyrim to throw dragons in.
Depends on your definition of old Nords
Originally Nords had totem animal worship, they worshiped animals that represented concepts, like Dragon was time and Hawk was wind, Obviously Dragon is represetnation of our favorite Time god while Hawk is Kynareth etc.
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Dragon_War
>They deified the hawk, wolf, snake, moth, owl, whale, bear, fox, and the dragon. Every now and then you can stumble across the broken stone totems in the farther reaches of Skyrim.
But then Dragon cult dominated over the rest

Ancient Nordic pantheon as we know it today did indeed have Alduin as it's Akatosh…but Skyrim retconed that they have both Akatosh and Alduin
>>3393
>Of course Alduin is the son of Akatosh, so there is a direct connection there.
Dragons can not reproduce, Alduin is still Akatosh. All Dragons are to minor or larger extent sons of The Great Dragon God of Time, even Akatosh is son of Akatosh. But it's the same thing as Shor son of Shor.
Aspects are not just
>Oh it's another name for same guy
Alduin was not just name for Akatosh, he is an aspect just like any Dragon.
I also want you to notice that Dragons do not talk about Akatosh, they talk about BORAMHU, the source of all Dragons and their "father". It's the same as concept of Aka-Tusk, the original Dragon God of Time that got broken into many aspects lesser and larger.
There was no Dragon fucking and giving birth going on.
>http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:There_Be_Dragons
>There is no credible story of how dragons came to be. According to dremora that the College of Whispers have "questioned," they just were, and are. Eternal, immortal, unchanging, and unyielding. They are not born or hatched. They do not mate or breed. There are no known examples of dragon eggs or dragonlings. The Iliac Bay area has stories of such things, but so far all have proven false. The eggs turned out to be eggs of other reptiles. The small dragons were merely oversized lizards and no relation to true dragons.
Dragons just exist, they are time, they are all sons of Bormahu and same goes for Akatosh too.
My crazy rambling rant is over.

>>3395
I don't see how being the "son" of Akatosh and being a "shade" of Akatosh are necessarily mutually exclusive concepts, it's really just semantics

>>3397
Well yeah but saying Son of Akatosh sort of makes him feel lesser which is not really true, Akatosh is a shade too and not a complete being after all
Being sons and Shades of Bormahu just sounds nicer to me
But yeah you are right, I just have this autism because at release of Skyrim there were tons of people saying that Alduin is not Aspect of Akatosh now and shit like that

>>3399
here's some more dubs

>>3361
>devoted follower of Y'ffre Bosmer
The Green Pact only applies to Valenwood and probably the borders. If I recall correctly, Bosmer have no qualm importing wood, and often do, from other regions to construct buildings

I feel like religion should only be really important if you're playing some sort of religiously affiliated class, like a Monk or a Templar.

Otherwise, your character clearly chose a life apart from god, and have other things that are more important to them.

I do sort of wish gods had goals and ideals that you could aspire to as a character through mechanics. You know, ways to show your devotion outside of visiting altars.

I mean, how are you even supposed to show devotion to Kyne? Killing animals? Not killing animals? Using the thuum? Not using the thuum? Doing anything differently than you normally would?

I found when I played as a monk in Skyrim, I paid my respects to Arkay by removing the heavy gauntlets of the dead, washing their hands of the sins of this world… and later glitching them all onto my fists with werewolf power to amp my unamered damage and unarmored defense. You've got to do these things when you play peasant box you know.