Daedra in Skyrim

Discussion of Elder Scrolls lore and how it will be used in SHotN
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Saint_Jiub
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Daedra in Skyrim

Post by Saint_Jiub »

Reposting and expanding an old headcanon post from the official forums:

Herma-Mora (Woodland Man): Initially appears as a tall, bearded man in a mottled green cowl, though closer inspection reveals the twisting tentacles and dozens of golden eyes. Frequently found in Atmoran and Nordic mythology, particularly tales of the Clever Men whom he will always try to seduce with forbidden knowledge and power.

Orkey (Old Knocker): A bestial loan-god of the Nords who appears as a brawny, hairy man with a boar's head and a bear's claws. Due to Shor's curse, his fur is white and patchy, and his snout and body are criss-crossed with the scars of his bygone battles.

Notturn (Hag of Crows): Appears in late Atmoran myths as a crone in a cloak of black feathers who lures away the weakest of the Companions and shows them how to take by guile what they cannot earn by might.

Shorgaroth (Mead Sickness): As always, the Madgod takes whatever form best allows him to seduce the unwary down the Golden Road. In the land of the Nords, he appears as a great, bearded conqueror whose wounds drip honeyed mead. He lures his victims to forsake honorable combat and succumb to battle lust - and afterwards, spirits their souls to a twisted parody of Sovngarde where the golden hall looms always on the horizon, just out of reach.

Maloch (Ash Spitter): Though often confused with Orkey, this deity is more closely tied in Nordic culture to the Dunmer and Red Mountain. Appears as a four-armed Orc with charcoal skin and ember eyes, as a reminder to the Nords that the sins of elves can come in many forms and from any direction.

Peygja (Bitter Drake): Nordic trickster god and enemy of Alduin who tries to thwart the World-Eater each kalpa by poisoning its inhabitants. Appears as a pale wyrm, and wherever his shadow falls disease and corruption bloom. Fell into obscurity following the demise of the Dragon Cult in the 1st Era.

Seingerr (Bloody Fool): this loan-god of the Nords first appears in First Empire mythology as a red-bearded drunkard with an ebony drinking horn grafted to his arm. During the conquest of High Rock, he would visit the Nord camps on the eve of battle and host lavish feasts and orgies, so that in the morning the invaders would be too sick and exhausted to fight.

Mal Bolgr (Boat Rocker): legendary enemy of Tsun who harried Ysgramor's Companions on their voyage across the Sea of Ghosts. A massive, hideous kraken, with eight thrashing limbs in mockery of the Aedra, he defiles the bravest and best of the Nords and breaks them to his will.

Namirja (Rotten Fang): appears as a massive bat with a twisted human visage. When the first Nords landed on Solstheim and found themselves stranded there, it is she who appeared before them and enticed them to eat their own dead in order to survive. For this, she is known as the Mother of Draugr, a term which the Nords today use to refer to any undead.

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roerich
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Post by roerich »

Officially awesome post. Though you forgot Hircine, the restless hunter. :D Daedra worship in Skyrim should be treated very differently than in Morrowind or Cyrodiil, and I think this is an excellent step on the way.
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Luxray
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Post by Luxray »

I agree these are really nice.

What can be done to implement some of these ideas in game? Where do you see Daedra worship conducted in Skyrim, and by whom?
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Saint_Jiub
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Post by Saint_Jiub »

Luxray wrote:I agree these are really nice.

What can be done to implement some of these ideas in game? Where do you see Daedra worship conducted in Skyrim, and by whom?
Mal Bolgr will be featured in one of the missing Songs of the Return which I've slowly been working on (not all of them, just adding to the few that ESO and Skyrim have already produced), and shrines/carvings of Orkey could be featured, less prominantly than Shor, in the Halls of the Dead. Hircine (whom I did forget and needs a proper write-up) would show up, as he always does, in reference to lycanthropy, and Notturn would be, much like in Skyrim, the patroness of the native Thieves Guild (although if the factions haven't already been cemented, a more fitting name to distinguish them from the Imperial gang wouldn't be remiss).

As for the rest, small cults in the wilderness like the Fryse Hags and Mabrigash would probably be fitting, as well as references in books/dialogue.

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Post by Sssk »

It's worth noting that Herma Mora and Orkey appear in their totemic aspects as the hare and the snake, respectively.

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