History Headscratchers / TheElderScrollsVSkyrim5

*** In theory, you could have at least ''five'' defenders at your homestead at once (this troper is currently unsure if Barbas the talking dog stays at your homestead if you decide to keep him): the spouse (if they're also a capable fighter, such as Lydia), the housecarl assigned to you who will stay at the homestead if they're not following you, your steward, a follower who can't stay at the homestead permanently due to not being available for marriage or stewardship, and of course the Dragonborn themselves. [[UpToEleven And that's not counting familiars, wild beasts recruited with the Animal Allegiance shout, and Odahviing.]] The only ones who ''can't'' conceivably defend your homestead are adopted children. Considering that just you can your one follower can practically rip through a dragon like paper by the time you can even ''get'' a homestead, at least ''five'' defenders with proper equipment will make short work of simple bandits.

* "Yo Skaal, I hear you know ways to talk to trees. I'd like to know that stuff too. In exchange I will teach you how to make an Alchemy Loop."
" Sure thing, Mora! That sounds like a good deal! Let us exchange our respective knowledge and then leave on good terms without harming eachother!"

" Sure thing, Mora! That sounds like a good deal! Let us exchange our respective knowledge and then leave on good terms without h arming eachother!"

[[folder: Why did the Skaal need to keep their knowledge from Hermaus MOra?]]

*** Isran offers an alternative because you've shown, by peacefully contacting the Danwguard, that you are willing to seek a cure (or die trying). Most Vsmpires don't look for a cure, most are outright predatorial. One can assume that, whenever Isran gets an inkling that a Vampire may seek a cure or be opened to it, he'll rather point them towards it like he did you.

** In keeping with his cthulhu theme, Hermaeus Mora likely spends most of his time tempting lore seeking scholars to serve him in exchange for knowledge, knowing that he can then in turn extract knowledge from _them_ to keep up to date.

* [[Headscratchers/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim3a The Aedra, Daedra, creates and people encountered]]

* [[Headscratchers/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim5 Lore and History of the Elder Scrolls]]
* [[Headscratchers/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim5 The meta: questions about gameplay mechanics]]

* [[Headscratchers/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim1 Archive Page 1]]
* [[Headscratchers/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim2 Archive Page 2]]
* [[Headscratchers/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim3 Archive Page 3]]
* [[Headscratchers/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim4 Archive Page 4]]

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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: The Tyranny of the Sun prophecy]]
* So in ''Dawnguard'', Vyrthur says he created the prophecy of the Tyranny of the Sun. Yet the Prophecy was written inside two Elder Scrolls. How the heck did he manage to put his prophecy there? Considering the things are so powerful they can counter the curse of a Daedric Prince? It'd be one thing if he said he had found about it and put the word out so Harkon would know about it, but he instead says he created it. How? And while at it, why even bother? All he needed was the blood of a daughter of Coldharbour... So in the several ages he's been waiting, why didn't he just try and make one? Convince some poor girl to give herself to Molag Bal so he can take her blood and use the bow that is literally right on his front porch to finish his own prophecy.
** The Elder Scrolls are magic. If a prophecy is exists, and true, chances are, it'll be there as soon as it's created. If it's not true, it might still get in there by causing enough influence that it is important. Basically, the Elder Scrolls are a wiki, moderated by the Aedra.
** The bow isn't always right on his front porch. The Eternal Champion, the Agent and the Nerevarine all potentially could have found Auriel's Bow, and only ''one'' of them might have done so in Skyrim.
*** And all three of them account for less than 34 years of time, so what about the rest of the several ''millenias''? What about the recent years, Vyrthur's brother makes it clear the bow's been in his possession for a long time when he meets the Dovahkiin, as there's been several before who came to him to claim it and failed. Gelebor outright says he's had the bow for thousands of years[[labelnote:Quote]]"For the thousands of years I've served as the Chantry's sentinel, there hasn't been a single visitor here for any other reason. They request Auriel's Bow, and I request their assistance. It's been repeated so many times, I can't imagine it any other way."[[/labelnote]]: it's the only reason anyone visits. Seems pretty clear that when the bow isn't moving to end in the hands of champions, it seems to default back to Gelebor's hands.
** "It's all true. Even the false hoods. Especially the falsehoods." The Tyranny of the Sun appears on the Elder Scrolls because they predict Vyrthur creating the prophecy. But they're fragments, so all you see is the prophecy that he created, not that he created it. Would be my guess, at any rate. Also, trying to use Molag Bal to create a vampire specifically for your own agenda would probably piss Molag Bal off royally. He *hates* doing anything to satisfy the will of anyone but himself.
*** Considering his plan is to piss off Auri-El '''on purpose''', I doubt Vyrthur gives much more of a damn about Molag Bal's feelings, especially when Molag Bal's ability to interfere in Mundus is more limited (thanks to the events of Oblivion) than that of Auri-El.
*** Assuming the method of creating a pureblood vampire is to be taken literally, i.e., being raped by Molag Bal, then making one pre-oblivion would have required summoning Molag to the mortal plane(or traveling to Oblivion to do it), and post-Oblivion, may be impossible or at least obscenely difficult. And, either way, puts you in direct contact with Molag Bal, which is bad. One can't very well spite Auri-El if one is being tortured by the King of Rape.
** Vyrthur created the Tyranny of the Sun by simply writing it down and then arranging for people to believe in it. He didn't need to go any further, since the Elder Scrolls record everything. As for gaining the blood of a Daughter of Coldharbour, they aren't terribly common and he's obviously not willing to risk going to war against vampire clans to find one he can capture, when instead he can lure one into the heart of his power so he can capture her. Considering that he also hates Molag Bal and the curse that was forced on him, it's unlikely that he would be able to create the ritual to make a Daughter of Coldharbour. Catching the direct attention of Molag Bal is a Bad Idea, even more so when it's obvious your intent is to use the ritual to your own ends, rather than as a means to submit to him. Mannimarco tried that, and it ended badly for him.

[[folder: Blocking the sun to piss off Auri-El]]
* Why would blocking out the sun be an insult to Auri-El? According to lore, the sun was created when Magnus tried to withdraw from creation. That's why the sun is itself sometimes called Magnus. And it's not an elven thing, according to the Monomyth, the elves do believe in Magnus.
** The sun may have been made by Magnus, and the magicka that flows through it from Aetherius is sort of Magnus' sphere (unknown how important that is, because we don't know how badly fleeing Mundus weakened Magnus), but he sun itself, and its influence on Nirn, is Auri-El's sphere.
*** Well, he wanted to not only blot out the sun, but to desecrate the bow with the blood of a Daughter of Coldharbour, a vampire. Maybe the Bow is connected to Auri-El, and if the Bow was completely defiled, it probably could affect Auri-El himself.
*** Auri-El both is and isn't Akatosh, Alduin, Alkosh and several others. The Elder Scrolls gods are extremely confusing. Likewise, literally anything to do with them is extremely confusing. Just because you're trying to piss off Auri-El doesn't mean you won't either piss of some other aspect or not piss him off.
** The Sun was a Major Thing for the older elven civilizations back when Vyrthur was still breathing and not all vampire-y, and it's still a big thing for them now. In addition, Auri-El ascended to the heavens through the Sun after he defeated Lorkhan, according to elven myth, so he is indeed directly connected to the Sun, and a major part of Falmer belief was that they wanted to follow Auri-El into the heavens, which, you guessed it, involved traveling through the Sun.

[[folder: How long was Serana trapped?]]
* Do we have any idea how long Serana has been sealed away in that underground container?
** There's a few clues dropped: She doesn't know of an empire out of Cyrodill, she mentions fighting Draugr when she was younger, she shows no familiarity with the term "Dawnguard". We know the original Dawnguard was formed in the 2nd era, though not exactly when, so her sealing must either predate them, or have occurred long after the order was disbanded. Her lack of familiarity with an empire in Cyrodill means she either predates the first empire out of there (The Alessian Empire) or she lived during the 300 or so years between the end of the Akaviri Potentate and the rise of the Septim Empire in the 2nd era. The fact that she shows no surprise at seeing Dark Elves (The Chimer became Dunmer after the rise of St Alessia) makes it more likely she comes from the 2nd era, between 2E 430 (Death of the last potentate) and 2E 897 (Unification of Tamriel and beginning of the Third Era by Tiber Septim's decree).
** We know Serana's mother took one of the Elder Scrolls and hid in the Soul Cairn. Durnehviir mentions coming to the Soul Cairn looking for power to overthrow other dragons. This has to have happened after Serana's mom was there because of the deal that was struck. "You work for us until that woman dies." This suggests that all this stuff happened back when the dragons were the ones ruling the planet.
*** Though Dragons still existed by the time of Tiber Septim (See Nafaalilargus, featured in Redguard and mentioned by Sven in Skyrim), it is possible that Durnehviir entered the soul cairn in the 2nd era while dragons were still not quite near extinct. As several dragons beside Paarthunax survived into the modern era (like Mirmulnir, who according to the Blades' own records was "known to be alive" by them, therefore most likely has survived till you kill him), it's possible Durnehviir's conflict and reason for going to the Soul Cairn was not to overthrow Alduin and his ilk, but wrestling for power amongst the dragons who survived the rebellion and the later Blades' onslaught. Which can fit both time frames.
*** There is also the possibility that Durnehviir's coming to the Soul Cairn far predates Valerica's arrival and his deal with the Ideal Masters. He mentions he can't risk leaving it now for too long because he's been there for so long, and the Soul Cairn is a part of him. Valerica, on the other hand, has no such limitations as she can be convinced to leave. And since she says that the Dragonborn has also taken a small part of the Soul Cairn in themselves, clearly humanoids are not immune to the effects of the Soul Cairn (ie: It's not a Dragon-only thing).
*** Valerica mentions several books having been written on Durnehviir's soul cairn-based immortality (His ability to rebuild himself), showing that his arrival there does predate hers. Furthermore, with Valerica is a copy of Immortal Blood. Since she can't leave, and no one can reach her to give her the book, it stands to reason she brought it with her. This gives us another clue for time since Immortal Blood mentions the Fighters Guild, which was founded in in 2E 320 by Akaviri potentate Versidue-Shaie. With the above, that seems to further cement Serana's date of emprisonment being the late 2nd era.
*** Alright, so if Durnehviir came to the Soul Cairn before Valerica then what did he do there? He can't have made the deal with the Ideal Masters before Valerica arrived. Why would he stay if he could leave of his free will? Did he make another deal that didn't blow up in his face?
*** Maybe the Ideal Masters have some prophetic ability? They told him at some point a woman would come and he'd have to remain in the soul cairn till she died? And before then he was free to come and go? It's also possible they did have prior deals they did not welsh on, only to gain his trust.

[[folder: How is Gelebor still alive?]]
* I don't mean having survived the fall of the Falmer, that's explained. But how is he not dead of old age? The fall of the Falmer was caused by Ysgramor, in the Merethic Era, and Gelebor was alive then. So how the hell is he not only still alive, but youthful? Elves aren't immortal. The Telvanni are young compared to this, and had to use magic to stay alive. Barenziah is considered old by the events of Morrowind, and she's not even 500 years old. Nurelion in Windhelm is apparently dying of old age, and he doesn't seem like he's from the Merethic era, or even the 2nd era. The Ayleid Tjurhane Fyrre lived 1E 2790 - 2E 227, again, not even half a millennium. And yet Gelebor is still kicking at over 4 thousand years of age. Is Auri-El keeping him alive? Coz Auri-El didn't seem to feel like extending that courtesy to the rest of his fellows guarding way shrines.
** Well, Divayth Fyr ''did'' seem set to continue to live on despite being over four thousand years old, but he was, as you mention, using magic to do that, so not exactly comparable. Now, one of the few pieces we have on how long the races tends to live make clear that there is variance amongst the Mer races, but it seems odd that the Snow Elves would be such extreme outliers...
*** Keep in mind saying Gelebor is over 4500 years old is bare ''minimum''. We don't have a date for the fall of the Falmer beside "Late Merethic Era"[[labelnote:Math]]Assuming it took place in the last century of the Merethic Era, He's 30 Centuries (first era) + 9 (Second Era) + 4 (Third Era) + 2 (Fourth Era) = 45 centuries. Odds are it took place slightly earlier however as King Harald in 1E 113 was 13th of Ysgramor's Line, which using 22 year as an average for a generation leads us to say Ysgramor must have been around roughly 300 years prior.[[/labelnote]], and we don't even know how old he was when that happened. It's quite possible he makes Divayth Fyr look like a toddler in comparison. And Fyr is acknowledged to be ancient by Telvanni standard.
*** This troper is banking on him being a devoted faithful to Auri-El. Auri-El sustains him so that any who wish to prove themselves can prove themselves. And also because he is very likely the only living memory of the true Snow Elves, not the Falmer shadows. (Yes, this troper knows that Falmer means 'Snow Elves'. But I'm referring to pre-Dwemer) He is also the only guardian left of Auri-El's shrines and cathedral, even if the Falmer drove him out of it...He still is the only one who can even try to defend it from forces unwelcome all the time.
*** This theory makes sense, but only if you accept that the other Snow Elves that were guarding the shrines did not die of old age, since they were also faithful to Auri-El and all that. This being Skyrim though there are dozens of other ways for them to die.
*** Especially considering Auriel/Akatosh is the God of Time (if not Time itself). In other words, halting aging: little trouble. Halting a Falmer sword to the face...that's a different story. (And I'll admit it's been a while, but didn't they explicitly state they were killed in the Falmer's attack?)
** Suddenly Brynjolf's spiel about "[[AllNaturalSnakeOil genuine Falmer blood elixir]]" making you live for "thousands of years" doubles in it's hilarity.

[[folder: Frost giants]]
* Giants basically look like giant humans, while trolls and frost trolls are wild animals. So where do [[https://images.nonexiste.net/popular/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/I-had-sworn-to-never-kill-a-giant-the-solitary-mer-who-herd-their-flock-but-when-I-met-a-Frost-Giant.jpeg frost giants]] come from? They look like the unholy offspring of a giant and a frost troll. They have horns and I think they may have four eyes. Are they supposed to be related to normal giants or what?
** I don't think so. There was one of them back in TES III: Bloodmoon, though.
** According to ''[[http://www.imperial-library.info/content/seven-fights-aldudagga The Seven Fights of the Aldudagga]]'', humans (or at least, Nords) evolved from giants, meaning that giants are descended from the Elhofney. In theory so are Frost Giants, they just went down a slightly different evolutionary path.

[[folder: Justicar execution order]]
* Something that happened while I was playing: I was doing the Missing in Action quest, and had elected to save Thorald on my own. I was on my way to Northwatch Keep, when I was attacked by some Thalmor Justicars. I killed them and found a [[http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Justiciar_Execution_Order Justicar Execution Order]] on one of their bodies. So, the Dominion considered me a big enough threat to have me killed. The odd thing was, I hadn't interacted with the Thalmor before. Sure, I was on the Missing in Action quest, but I hadn't actually done anything yet other than talk to the Gray-Manes and trespass in the Battle-Borns' house. I hadn't so much as made a snarky comment to a Thalmor agent yet. Am I missing something, or do the Thalmor have really good spies?
** The Thalmor Justiciars random encounters are, well random. There's no trigger for them, not even your level. They can just occur whenever the game selects a random encounter. If you want to be generous, one could assume that escaping Helgen (Where their emissary was with General Tullius) made the Thalmor assume you were an enemy since the Dragon conveniently saved your neck and almost killed their emissary.
*** Ah, okay. Thanks.
** Technically, the encounter with Thalmor Justicars who are specifically targeting you comes about when you perform any action flagged as opposing the Thalmor. Starting Missing In Action is one such trigger; assume that the Thalmor have spies that reported you speaking with the Gray-Manes, and they preemptively targeted you to prevent you from interfering with their plans. Other triggers include killing anyone who is part of the several "Thalmor" factions, or completing Diplomatic Immunity.

[[folder: Dargonborn lineage]]
* It's possible this is answered in an in-game book that I haven't read, but if I understand correctly, Tiber Septim was Dragonborn and, while being Dragonborn isn't normally hereditary, a special exception was made for the Septim line, which is why it's such a major plot point in ''Oblivion'' that Martin be found and assume the throne: he was the only one left with the "dragonblood." Does that mean that the Dovahkiin now could go assume the Imperial throne if (s)he wished? Since (s)he possesses the same type of soul that Tiber Septim did, could (s)he go down to the Imperial City, wear the Amulet of Kings, and light the dragon fires? Politically there may be obstacles, but just by being Dragonborn (s)he has as much right to rule the Empire as Martin did (being an illegitimate child brought up to be a priest). Plus, (s)he's already got the Blades' protection. On a related note, does possessing "dragonblood" as the Septim line did mean that they could also learn Shouts and absorb dragon souls (assuming there were any dragons around, that is)?
** The Amulet of Kings is shattered (It broke when Martin used it to become an avatar of Akatosh), so that part is a no. Outside of Tiber Septim himself, if the Septims were "Dragonborn" or only he was is really a matter of debate. For one, If you pay attention to the history of the Empire, you'll find most of the Septims aren't even Tiber's direct descendants [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Septim (See the family tree)]]. While certain books, like The ''Book of the Dragonborn'', which is the first book you are likely to meet in game [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Book_of_the_Dragonborn declares all Septims to be Dragonborn]]. Also, the events of Oblivion have also made the Dragonfire obsolete. Point is, the Player has no stronger claim to the throne than anyone else really.
** Before Martin sacrificed himself, lineage meant absolutely nothing as to whether or not someone was Dragonborn, and being Dragonborn was entirely irrelevant to whether or not you had any claim to the Ruby Throne. What mattered was if you had the power to both take control of the Ruby Throne and could then claim the Amulet of Kings and light the Dragonfires. If you could do that, you were ''automatically'' Dragonborn and were also the Emperor, as that was the covenant Alessia formed with Akatosh. Since there is no longer an Amulet of Kings and the Dragonfires are permanently lit, no one else has a claim to the throne beyond right of conquest. Martin's legitimacy was mostly political; anyone else willing to take the Amulet as he did and sacrifice themselves to Akatosh could have done what he did in the end.

[[folder: Khajiit in Nord cities]]
* Is there any explanation given why a Khajiit player character can enter the Nord cities when it was established early on that they are normally barred entry?
** For Whiterun: Because you bring news of the Dragon Attacks. Winterhold presumably doesn't block access to Khajiit (As they let J'zargo in). The other cities... No.
** Riften has at least once Khajiit citizen living there(ironically, the one they should have kicked out), so it would seem that the cities of Skyrim don't so much ban Khajiit from coming in as they ban Khajiit caravans from coming inside and setting up shop. Caravans are believed to be fronts for skooma trafficking(a belief that may not be too far from the mark), but a lone Khajiit adventurer would be ok.
*** Which Khajiit citizen? the only Khajiit seen in Riften (Shavari) is a Thalmor assassin and nothing says she's a citizen there (The opposite in fact, as the letter she carries seem to make her look more like she travels wherever to do covert assassinations. She also owns no house in Riften). Historically, Riften DID have Khajiit residents as one in mentioned in the original, uncensored version of "The Real Barenziah" (He takes part in the book's rather infamous sex scene and is a member of Riften's Thieves Guild).
** It is entirely possible that the Khajiit caravaners just ''say'' that Nords are insensitive racist pricks who bar them from the cities to drum up sympathy and make more sales. Keep in mind that the caravans all carry skooma and moon sugar, which the Nords severely frown upon. It may be less of a case that ''all'' Khajiit are barred entry and more of case that ''those'' specific Khajiit were barred entry because they're carrying illegal drugs.
*** To be fair, except for M'aiq, Kesh and the Khajiit hunters in Hircine's quest, '''every''' Khajiit in Skyrim is involved in some sort of criminal activity (And as seen above, except for one, those that don't are Daedra worshipers). The caravans do smuggling, fencing, and deal in illegal substances. J'zargo openly tells you he steals stuff. Vasha openly tells you he's a murderer and terrible person, Shavari and J'datharr are Thalmor assassins. Even Ma'zaka, keeper of the Solitude Lighthouse, used to be a pirate. Generic nameless Khajiit appear as bandits and Dark Brotherhood Assassins. So blocking access to Khajiit can hardly be considered a bad move.
** Khajiit are not barred from the cities of Skyrim. However, the Khajiit ''caravans'' are, because they are fronts for thieves and drug dealers.

[[folder: Balgruuf not siding with the Stormcloaks]]
* When presenting Balgruuf with Ulfric's axe, why isn't there an option to try and convince Balgruuf to side with Ulfric? I'm not saying that it should work, wouldn't it make sense for a thane of whiterun who's also a stormcloak to try and convince his Jarl to join(what he believes) to be the right side?
** Balgruuf's opinion of Ulfric and his motives seem very low if you talk to him as he gives you his axe. He makes it pretty damn clear he doesn't buy Ulfric's more noble motive and shows little more than disdain for the man. Presumably even someone as schizophrenic as the Dovahkiin can realize the odds of Balgruuf doing a 180 on that are nearly non-existent.

[[folder: Fortress repairs]]
* Why doesn't anyone think to repair the fortresses in Skyrim? Their state of disrepair is laughable. The only damned cities that have walls that look at all strong are Windhelm and Solitude.
** Just about all the fortresses are old places occupied by bandits, vampires, wizards, or wizard vampire bandits. Their personal resources are limited and they don't have the stone, workers, or quarries to rebuild the forts. The best they can manage is something like Fort Greymoor, where they put up a palisade along one collapsed wall. Once the Stormcloaks/Legion retake control, they too have to worry about enemy attack but lack the immediate resources to repair the damaged forts. Of the cities, most of them are either too poor to build a wall (all the villages) the terrain makes it pointless (Morthal) or is a natural defense (Winterhold, Dawnstar). Falkreath, Riverwood, and Riften have decent walls, though with the former two they are mostly just wooden walls to keep bandits out. Markarth's walls are actually pretty massive and solid, and coupled with the terrain makes it very defensible. Whiterun's outer defenses need to be repaired, but the city's primary wall is in excellent shape. You can also find a few actual forts that are in good shape overall; i.e. the fort south of Helgen, which was a Legion fort right before Helgen was attacked and then overrun by bandits.
** Skyrim, and really most of the Empire in all likelihood, are in a state akin to Gondor or the realm of Eriador in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': a place that was once mighty and beautiful but has fallen into disrepair due to war and economic loss. Between the Oblivion Crisis, the Great War, and the Stormcloak rebellion, plus myriad other minor battles and conflicts in between, the land has fallen into lawlessness. The fortresses remain in sorry shape because no one has had the funds, manpower, or will to go out and retake them, occupy them, and repair them. The only reason the forts end up being occupied by the Stormcloaks and Imperials is because a force stronger than the militias of any one hold has mustered up the manpower and organization and will to put garrisons in those forts.

[[folder: Hadvar and Ralof taking their time]]
* Why is it that no matter how long you take to get around to joining either the imperials or the stormcloaks, neither Hadvar or Ralof ever manage to get to Solitude or Windhelm before you?
** TakeYourTime. For an in-story answer, the dragon invasion has left the war at a complete stalemate.

[[folder: What does it mean to have the "soul" of a Dragon?]]
* So can someone explain to me what Dragonborn, "soul of the dragon" actually means? Is Dovakiin half dragon half human? A dragon in his former life who is now taking the form of a human? I mean the only parallel I can really attach myself to is Jesus, who was half God half Man according to the Bible. What is the player character supposed to be?
** Human/Elf/Whatever body with a Dragon Soul in it rather than a human/elf/whatever soul.
*** Sorry about not including other races, I was just assuming canonically the Dragonborn was human (Nord specifically) because the advertisements show him that way. Anyway how is that possible? How can you be human but have the soul of something you are not? How can the Dragonborn anymore have the soul of a dragon than you or I can have the soul of a dog or a cat? At least the half Dragon half Human hypothesis explains why he is human as well as a dragon, you know just like Jesus WAS human but he WAS also God (according to the Bible at least). Magic is just weird?
*** Coz Akatosh made it so, literally. Akatosh just created a dude with a dragon soul to kill Dragons. Akatosh is a god to really it's no more complex than that. The Dragonborn isn't "Half Dragon". It's just that his soul is that of a dragon.
** It's a similar parallel to the whole Jesus myth. The Dragonborn has the soul of a dragon, but the body of a man. It doesn't get any more complex than that.
*** The Jesus mythology is slightly more complex than just the soul of God in a human body. Christian thinking teaches that Jesus was both human and God, that there was a duality in his spirit that while he was God with all the appropriate powers, personality and will, he also had human tendencies and temptations that he was faced with. Effectively speaking Jesus had two souls, that of a man and of God. So the Dragonborn has the soul of a dragon in a human body with no duality? I don't know, it's not like we know what it's like to have a complex and higher power inhabiting a weaker form so it's not like we can comment on it personally, but it just seems like it should be more complex than that. I'll just go with what the story tells me, maybe I'm just over-thinking this.
** It's all kind of complicated, and when you get down to the specifics it kind of ties into the creation myth behind the setting (the "Monomyth" as it is referred to in-universe). I'm not going to go into the real details, but the short version is that there are "Aedric" entities, which are the sort-of immortal, divine entities that were involved in the creation of Nirn/Mundus. The dragons are such beings, possessing immortal, Aedric souls, created by Akatosh to serve him, etc. They don't go to the Aetherium when they die, they just get revived. Mortal souls travel to the Aetherium when they die (unless they're soultrapped, then you're going to the Soul Cairn, but that's only vaguely relevant). Mortals are essentially the descendants of Aedra who were getting weak through their association with Nirn and began procreating and creating mortals to continue their existence (which is where the whole thing with the Thalmor and their beliefs in ascension to godhood etc. by destroying Nirn come from). Dragons are Aedra, powerful, divine, immortal, yadda yadda, created by Akatosh. The important thing here is that dragon souls have their own particular, uh, I guess composition, or structure, or whatever the fuck it is that defines the difference between "dragon" soul and "goes good with ketchup" soul. Your soul is not a "goes good with ketchup" soul. You look like a mortal, had mortal parents, etc. but the metaphysical part of you that lives on after death is an Aedra soul. So the closest real analogue I would define it as, if we're going to go with Christian metaphysical hierarchy, is that you're basically an angel with a mortal body. You've got the powers of an angel, but they're crammed down into the tiny fleshsack body which nonetheless has the freedom to roam around Nirn doing what needs to be done, by Akatosh's will, etc, etc, etc. Of course, this is just a very rough analgue, because Mundus/Nirn is different from the real world (see above re: how console commands are a power you can use in-universe. Crazy guy, that Vivec).
*** Basically, ever watch ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''? You're Castiel.
* Simple answer: Dragons can devour the souls of their enemies, which prevents them from being resurrected (the fact that dragons can be resurrected infinitely is a major plot point). Thus, the Dragonborn is the only person capable of permanently killing dragons.
* You see, [[TheTalk when a giant firebreathing lizard and a bipedal sentient cat love each other VERY much....]]
* It's important to note that there isn't that much of a difference between a mortal's soul and the soul of a dragon, at least when you get down to the specifics (the experiences and knowledge of a dragon soul are much different than those of a mortal soul, of course, which is why dragon souls are useful for a Dragonborn). At the core, every soul of every sapient mortal on Nirn is Aedric, because every being who lives on Nirn has the soul of one of the Aedric entities that gave of themselves to help build Nirn. The "size" of a soul has less to do with sapience, however, and more to do with the animating force driving that entity. Animals and sub-sapient life generally have "white" souls, or the animus of life driving their bodies, while most sapient life forms have "black" souls, which includes the elements of an Aedric spirit that helped create Nirn. That said, certain Aedric spirits with particular inclinations and perceptions tend to incarnate as certain mortal subsets; for example, the Aedric entities who were rather cross that Lorkhan created Nirn and stuck them in this limited form generally incarnate as elves, while the Aedric entities that think that being mortal is awesome and Lorkhan was the best friend for creating Nirn usually incarnate as men. A certain subset of Aedric spirits thus would have incarnated as dragons: spirits close to or loyal to Akatosh, perhaps. Ultimately, a mortal's soul and a dragon's soul are very similar in most respects, it's just that the Aedric spirits that would incarnate as dragons (with their associated predispositions) did so in dragon bodies, with the associated physical characteristics of dragons, which in turn affected the experiences and knowledge inherent to the dragon, which is why dragon souls have different properties compared with those of mortals.

[[folder: What's Sheogorath been up to?]]
* What has the Sheogorath been doing since Oblivion? WordOfDante from his voice actor Wes Johnson and the character's own words of having been there for that affair 200 years ago heavily imply that he is Champion of Cyrodiil having taken up the mantle of Daedric Prince of Madness. Why did he let the Empire he helped save 200 years ago fall into decline? Were there circumstances outside of his power to control?
** A) He IS the prince of ''Madness'', nothing says he has to help. And since the events of the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild quest happened, he most likely wasn't exactly the nicest, most selfless of guys even before then. B) He's a Daedric Prince now. It's likely that the fate of the Empire is small fries to him now, on a cosmic scale. Heck, compared to Mehrunes Dagon trying annex Mundus, the war between the Dominion and the Empire is like watching kids fight over marbles. C) Being a Daedric Prince may not be a job one learns in a few days. D) Interfering directly in the war could invite other Daedric Princes to do the same. E) Who says he didn't help the empire in subtle ways? If Titus Medes II apparantly wielded Goldbrand, who says Sheogorath didn't involve himself too?
** Remember the plot of the last game? Thanks to the pact with Mundus and Martin's sacrifice, there's nothing much Champion!Sheo could do even if he wanted to help, so gathering an army of Golden Saints and Dark Seducers to invade Aldmeri Dominion with him at the lead is out of the question. (And really, why would he do the very thing he and Martin struggled so hard to prevent Dagon from doing 200 years prior?) Plus, his mind isn't 100% there anymore, being a Daedric Prince of Madness and all that. He probably revels in the fact that everything in Tamriel is now so insane. I mean, he called you ''puny mortal'' despite being one himself not that long ago when you think of it in cosmic scale. It's clear he may have long forgotten who he once was, and no longer cares about the fate of the Empire.
*** I wasn't talking about being so extravagant as to rain down the divine judgement of an angry God like Armageddon out of the Bible (though given how over the top the Sheogorath is I wouldn't put it past him to do something like that if he could), I was thinking more along the lines of checking in on the Empire periodically to see how everything is doing. Apparently his mind isn't too far gone because he still remembers having witnessed the events of Oblivion first hand and says in a very deadpan manner how Martin ascending to the status of a dragon god didn't do much for his social skills, so it didn't seem to me like Tamriel was completely out of his interest. The whole Prince of Madness persona could very well just be a ObfuscatingInsanity thing he has going on just to mess around with people; I mean who is going to think a guy who acts like that is a god that could destroy you with a blink of his eyes? To be fair the puny mortal quip is slightly justified, even if it is HypocriticalHumor on his part since he was once mortal too, I mean the Champion of Cyrodiil did earn his status as Sheogorath after all. Though if he does think of mortals as puny the Empire must be an amusing show for him to watch, must be like watching ants fight.
*** Just remembered something very important from the ending of Oblivion I should have brought up earlier. Martin tells the Champion of Cyrodiil that when the next Elder Scroll is written that he (the player character) will be its scribe and that he will be extremely important in the fate of the Empire. Is the Sheogorath supposed to ignore what the Avatar of Akatosh himself said his destiny would be just because he has become a Daedric Prince? I think that the 9 Divines have a little bit more say in the matter than Sheogorath does.
** True. Maybe he's like Bumi from ''The Last Airbender''? He acts insane, but he's really not and is somewhat aware of what's happening to the Empire and, in subtle ways, is doing things to protect it while not directly violating any compacts that would threaten Mundus? Hell, it could be that both he and Martin Dragon God are working together behind the scenes (assuming Daedras and Aedras can interact) to stop the Thalmor?

[[folder: What happened to Stalhrim?]]
* In Bloodmoon, it's mentioned as figuring heavily in Nord Culture, being used, among other things, in ancient Nord burials and making arms and armors. It's nowhere to be seen in Skyrim. And it's not just a Solsteim thing - Books mention Nord followers of Ysgramor using the stuff to entomb their dead as a sign of respect.
** It's been over 200 years, they probably just don't use the stuff anymore.
*** So why do none of the many ancient burials have any?
*** Would anyone bury their dead with raw smithing material?
*** According to bloodmoon, it's what the Nords did. And even then, we don't see non-raw Stalhrim either.
** Dragonborn brings it back and its lack in the main game could go under Fridge Brilliance. (1) It's just that rare and (2) the only tool capable of removing it are ancient nord pickaxes, which were explicitly made with lost arts and very rare to boot (this troper is aware of only one the player can get). What makes it Fridge Brilliance is that it's been 200 years since even Morrowind, which included the devastation of Morrowind province and the Great War (recall the artwork lost during [=WW2=]). Put simply, the world only had a limited supply of the tools to work stalhrim and it wasn't doing a very good job of taking care of them.
*** It still doesn't explain why its found only inside Solsteim barrows, when it was supposed to be used by all the ancient Nords.
*** Stalhrim is "enchanted ice that's hard as stone". Saarthal, the only Nord ruin to feature magical locks and the site of an artifact of extreme power, was razed by elves in the Merethic era. It's possible that the vast majority of the magical talent/knowledge of ancient Nord society was wiped out at Saarthal in one fell swoop, leaving them unable to enchant more Stalhrim or create more tools capable of gathering it.
** Stalrhim equipment can now show up in the level lists of any high-level enemy or loot in the game.

[[folder: The Dragonborn's iconic outfit]]
* What is the obsession with the iron armor and helmet on the Dragonborn in advertisements? I mean it looks cool and all but it isn't even that durable in the in-game stats. I mean I can understand that being his beginning armor but near the end of the game it would be mostly inadequate.
** Not really, with Smithing you can make any armor reach max damage resistance. Eitherway, if you wonder why the character in '''publicity''' wears this armor, you answered your own question: ''it looks cool''. That's all that matters for a publicity.
** Also, it's studded armor and an iron helmet, boot and gauntlets, not all iron armor.
*** To be perfectly fair I never really got into Smithing, took too much time to level up. Well I guess I have a reason to level it up now. I guess Dragonborn doesn't have much need for sophisticated armor because of his magical and physical ability?
** It's just an advertisement. They chose that armor specifically because it looks cool and is fitting for the setting. Same reason its always a male Nord in the ads. It's not like marketing departments usually take the time to learn what would be best in terms of in-game stats to slap on a poster. We're lucky they didn't just make up some cool-looking, unobtainable equipment like so many other series.
** The "face" of ''Oblivion'' was some guy in (iron) Imperial Legion armor. Low-level armor is both more likely to be seen by starting characters, and less bizarre-looking (put someone in full Daedric plate on the cover of either game, and you'd probably figure they were the bad guy).
** Technically, ''any'' armor is capable of being "end game" armor thanks to the Smithing skill. Get your Smithing and respective armor skills up, and your collective armor rating will exceed 567 total, which is the game's "cap" on damage reduction. Once you're past that point, any additional armor rating is just to make you feel warmer and fuzzier. So yeah, the Dragonborn's armor in the promotional materials can be some ultra-smithed, legendary-rated, hyper-enchanted suit of armor worn by a superbly experienced Dragonborn master at that particular armor type.

[[folder: Dragonborn immortality]]
* So if dragons are immortal would the Dragonborn be revived if he died? Would he need a higher power to help bring him back?
** He probably would, seeing as normal Dragons need Alduin to do it.
** Maybe? We don't really know if a dragon's body has any special properties to match its soul. Even if it doesn't, it'd still take something of Alduin's power to shout a dragonborn back to life.
** It is possible that a Dragonborn's soul could be preserved and brought back. The Amulet of Kings was essentially a SoulJar holding the souls of every Emperor from Alessia to Martin, and when broken it unleashed them to create the Avatar of Akatosh. Alduin could theoretically do it, considering he's the living ResetButton of Nirn.

[[folder: Gelebor and Gallus' journal]]
* Aside from the fact that it would make the quest too easy, why couldn't Gelebor be able to translate Gallus's journal? It's evident from speaking to him that he understands modern Tamrielic. WhatCouldHaveBeen....
** For the same reason you can't tell Maven Black-Briar "Oh, you'll call the Dark Brotherhood? You mean that Dark Brotherhood that I single-handedly slaughtered? Yea, good luck with that." when she mouths off to you. A lot of quests simply don't interconnect, even though really, they probably should.

[[folder: More souls questions]]
* So are souls eternal as most monotheistic, and some polytheistic, religions believe? I ask this because the Dragonborn is able to absorb the souls of dragons that are apparently supposed to be immortal creatures. Not to mention there are spiritual entities that claim they have dibs on your soul. What does this mean? Does your soul cease to exist when it has been claimed by someone else? Do they hold on to it for eternity or does it get released eventually?
** They hold on to it eternally. See the souls in the soul cairn, some that have been there for eras. Souls are eternal unless something destroys them (IE: a Dragonborn absorbing a Dragon's soul). There's variance in that depending on religions in the world and what not.
*** So beings that are eternal like the Daedric Princes or the 9 Divines, just as an example, don't get bored of holding on to your soul forever? They wouldn't go like, "Dragonborn, I know I've held on to your soul for 200 million years (or some other extremely long period of time), based on a contract you made during a mortal life span not truly comprehending the scale of the cost it would have, but I'm going to continue punishing you forever and ever.", correct?
*** Who says it's punishment? Most of those are afterlives that are supposed to be interesting for the parties involved (Hunting alongside Hircine for Werewolves, Influencing luck and helping thieves unseen for Nightingales, etc...) Some are boring, like the Soul Cairn, which is why being soul trapped is shown as a bad fate to wind up at.
*** That assumes that an immortal entity would give the slightest damn about time or an individual, vastly inferior, entity such as yourself. A soul, having been taken, is essentially a piece of property for X divine being and hardly the only one they possess. They may be willing to give it up at some point, but they're going to hold on to their contracts out of principle if nothing else. Besides, 200 million years is no different than a second compared to eternity.
*** Daedric Princes care about souls the same way you or I would care about pennies. With the exception of certain types of souls, like, say, the Dragonborn, a soul is a soul and they don't care beyond that.

[[folder: How many gods are there?]]
* So I read some where that the reason why the Thalmor resent Talos so much is because he was a mortal ascending to the status of a god, whereas they believe they are a race of gods who were descended into mortals. OK assuming this is true that raises the number of gods from a few dozen to thousands (possibly even millions). Just how many gods exist in this universe?
** Depends how you define "God". Daedras & the Divines, according to myths related to the Monomyth, are ostensibly the same kind of creatures - spirits. Who come in various level of powers. The main difference between a Daedra and Aedra is the role the played (or not) in Mundus' creation. Weaker versions of these spirits are common Daedras like scamps, Dremoras, Dragons etc... While higher order ones are the Daedric Princes, the Divines, Lorkhan, Magnus, etc... There's a LOT of such spirits, with the implication that there may be many, many Daedric Princes that do not interact with Mundus at all and are therefore unknown to us mortals. And then there's stuff like semi divine beings who roam(ed) the mortal plane like Pelinal Whitedrake. And then there's the variance between religions... And that's not even counting creature of a higher order than those spirits, like Sithis (aka Padomay), the the Primordial state of Chaos, Anuiel, his opposite. Anu, the everything, primordial stasis.
*** I'm fairly new to the Elder Scrolls lore. I'm heard of these games for years but I didn't actually get involved in it until my friend loaned Oblivion to me last year, and then I started playing Skyrim recently (very fun by the way). My friend was explaining to me that there are many powerful spirits who claim that they are immortal beings, or "gods", but only the Daedric Princes and the Nine Divines are true gods and deserve that superstitious awe that we invoke that word with. That is why I said a few dozen. Was my friend wrong, or are there other beings on the same power level as the ones I just mentioned?
*** Depending on how you define "Being", there's even higher than them. Anu, Anuiel and Padomay are primordial forces who created the Daedras and Aedras, making them even higher order of beings than the princes and the Divines. There's also major Aedric spirits who are not counted amongst the nine. Magnus, the god of Magic to the elves, withdrew from creation at the last moment, leaving a hole we call the sun in Mundus. By most account, he was of the same order of strength as the Divines. And then there's forces we just don't know much about, like the Daedras who never interact with Nirn.
*** So there are so many spirits/gods out there that the mythology of who started it all is kinda blurred? Is there a Supreme God? Or are such creator beings so advanced beyond mortal and even divine comprehension that we can't even conceive of them? If I may make a religious parallel Literature/TheBible says that humans can't even look at the face of God or hear his voice or it would destroy them, I would imagine if the Dragonborn's voice can send people flying through the air with its sheer force alone than a true primordial God would destroy reality itself with its voice. Is that why we don't see divine beings very often, they are too powerful for the physics of our world to contain them?
*** It's a bit complicated. I'll try to give the short, simple version: In the beginning, there were two spirits: Anu, stasis, and Padomay (or Sithis), change. From these two beings were born the Et'ada, a race of great spirits. There were spirits of both padomaic and anuic descent. One of the padomaic spirits, Lorkhan, convinced the anuic spirits to join him into creating Nirn, the world. The other padomaic spirits refuse to join in this endeavor, creating spheres of their own. These are the daedric princes. Meanwhile (or something. Time didn't fully exist yet), the anuic spirits and Lorkhan (known as the aedra) continued their creation of Nirn. However, the creation of Nirn turned out to be a trap, creating lower and lower levels of reality, killing and trapping the anuic spirits that had worked on it. It was only when Akatosh became the adamantine tower that this process of descending had stopped. The killed anuic spirits had become shadows of their former selves, forming the ehlnofey in Aldmeris, on a higher level of reality, before turning into man, mer and beast. The creatures that are referred to as gods are the original two spirits (anu and padomay), the most powerful daedric leaders (most of the daedric princes), the aedra whose identity survived the creation of nirn (the eight divines, magnus, possibly the old aldmer and yokudan gods, like phynaster, ebonarm and tu'whacca), mortals who ascended to a higher plane of reality through apotheosis, becoming aedra or daedra (talos, the champion of cyrodiil) and mortals who achieved apotheosis but didn't become aedra or daedra (the tribunal, the god of worms). The idea that there is a clear dichotomy between gods and non-gods is false. Dragons and lesser daedra are a very clear example of this, as they are much closer to gods than to mortals, but are rarely considered such.
*** For the record, how the gods work in the Elder Scrolls is similar to old Egyptian and Greek mythology (maybe other ones too, but not familiar with them). So it's better to make parallels with those polytheistic religions instead and assume that "if it's how it goes in Egypt/Greece, it's likely how it goes in TES".

[[folder: How was the Dragonborn raised?]]
* He just grew up never realizing once that he was special? No Divine Entity or mortal that knew of the prophecy found him and told his parents? It just seems strange that he lived what I would imagine was a fairly normal life (he doesn't seem to have any difficulty fighting Imperial Soldiers/Stormcloaks in the very beginning of the game so he obviously has fighting skill and has a basic knowledge of magic) before all of this and then all of a sudden he takes up the mantle of Dragonborn and kicks serious ass.
** No, the Dragonborn never knew about their unique nature. The only way anybody would know is if he's going dragonsoul snackin', and there were no dragons prior to the game beginning. Only Akatosh would know before then, and the divines aren't known to be particularly chatty (except in Morrowind, but even then MaybeMagicMaybeMundane). As it stands, the PC was just a slightly-above-average fighter/mage/thief guy of indeterminate background until he met Mirmulnir.

[[folder: Why exactly is the area called Skyrim?]]
* Is it because the Throat of the World touches the sky or because of the presence of dragons in that area's ancient history?
** Someone important enough in history named it that, and the name stuck. Like 99% of all named places in the world.
*** And who was that important person? This is never brought up in the lore?
** Good question. You'd think people would make sure to keep the name of the person (or people) who named your country in the records. That's like not knowing who gave Canada, Mexico, the US, France or the UK to name a few...their names! Kinda dumb. My bet is on Ysgramor, who led the 500 people into Tamriel.
*** No one DOES know who named France "France". It draws its name from the Frank tribe, but no one knows who is the first to call it France. Ditto for Mexico who was named after the Mexica tribe. There's no recorded individual who "invented" the modern name for the place.
*** Not just France. Almost all of the place names in Europe, especially towns and villages, have really iffy records - we know ''what'' they mean, but who named them? Very often no clue. That's just how it is before detailed written records.
*** Ysgramor named the land "Mereth" after his people's word for elves. So he did not name it "Skyrim" (See the First Edition of the Pocket Guide to the Empire).

[[folder: Lazy Talos]]
* So if Tiber Septim ascended to godhood to become Talos; why hasn't he laid the smackdown on his former Empire and the Stormcloaks and tell them to stop fighting? As a mortal he was Tiber Septim a Nord Dragonborn who conquered all of Tamriel, establishing a continent spanning Empire, so you would think he would care a little bit about the Civil War that is tearing his beloved Empire apart. Are the other Divines telling him to stay out of mortal affairs?
** Officially Tiber came from Atmora, which would make him a Nede. According to the Arcturian Heresy, he came from an Island in High Rock (Alcaire), making him Breton (Though he had a Nord name, Hjalti Early-Beard). On the question itself, it's most likely that on a grand cosmic scale, the empire, the Stormcloaks and even the Thalmor don't really matter.
** Gods don't actively interfere with the events on Nirn for the same reason that Daedra cannot. Their ability to directly influence the world is limited by their nature. Also keep in mind that Talos is kind of busy holding the world together. And, in a way, Talos is stepping in to stop the war, with some help from Akatosh, in sending the Dragonborn to Nirn.
*** Holding the world together? So what he became the Elder Scrolls' planet's equivalent of Atlas or something? What is causing the world to be in danger, and why can't some other deity do it or better yet help him fix it?
*** Short version: Talos is an aspect/embodiment of Lorkhan, who created Nirn and is holding it together. The other gods don't have "hold the world together" as their particular responsibility or idiom, as that's Lorkhan's job. Its a complicated matter. Note also that Akatosh is actively helping to keep the world held together in his own way: he sent ''you'' to Dragonborn the shit out of the things threatening Nirn's cohesion, first with Alduin and also with the Thalmor.
** For the most part, when the Divines need to Get Things Done down on Nirn, they embody mortal agents, like a Shezzarine or Alessia and the Dragonborn Emperors, or otherwise send down an Aedric agent, like Pelinal Whitestrake. Typically, though, mortal issues are left for mortals to deal with. Sure, Talos might not be happy that the Thalmor and being assholes to his worshippers, but that's a problem between mortals. It's only when something outside of Nirn gets involved, such as a Daedric or Aedric force, that the Divines step away from their duties of maintaining the Mundus and drop in to do something, and that typically involves the aforementioned agents. Also keep in mind that actively stepping in is a nuclear option for the Divines; Martin summoning the Avatar of Akatosh also effectively broke the influence of White-Gold on Nirn, and dispatching Pelinal Whitestrake to aid the Alessians resulted in mass Ayleid genocide. The Divines only get directly involved when Shit Gets Serious, and up until Alduin's slated return to linear time, there just really wasn't a threat worth warranting a Divine sending down an agent to Do Important Things.
** One thing to note is that the Divines have difficulty acting directly on Nirn, by their very nature. When the Aedra created Nirn, they gave up a ''lot'' of themselves to do so, to the point that they gave up most of their self-awareness and physical bodies to not just build the planet but define its laws and keep it a discrete entity from Oblivion. The Divines were the most powerful of the Aedra who gave up their powers and much of their own cognitive capacity to create Nirn, and as such they retain some degree of their awareness and ability to act, but even that is very limited. Aside from the Aedra, Lorkhan did the same thing, only the body and power he lost were taken more... directly. Talos is no different from the other Divines, even if he is a Divine that ascended afterward (and apparently mantled Lorkhan, taking his place). Talos is immensely powerful, but all of his power is tied up in stabilizing Nirn like the rest of the Divines. He cannot directly intervene, simply because all of his awareness and power are keeping Nirn intact like the Eight, but he can act within the world in more subtle ways, i.e. incarnating Shezzarines or sending blessings that bend the rules of the world he's holding together to favor an individual. If Talos pushes things too hard, he runs the risk of breaking the entirety of Nirn, kind of how whenever Akatosh loses his shit we get Dragon Breaks, only a lot worse. There's a reason why, when mortals need a Divine's direct power and intervention, a mortal will only very briefly take over and direct that power to deal with the threat and then it is released: if a Divine were to direct that power on their own, all of Nirn would be impacted.\\
A rough analogy would be to imagine you are holding a large globe in your hands and keeping it very steady. On this globe is an entire living, breathing civilization. You notice something is amiss and need to correct it. Direct intervention, in this case, would likely involve moving the globe or shaking it or similarly disruptive actions. You can alternately cause very slight shifts to the globe's positioning, or maybe take a tiny needle and poke it into the globe's surface and use that to very slightly nudge one part of the civilization on that globe. Or maybe even communicate with someone within the globe, and have them precisely direct the very slight shifts you can make to the surface of the globe to achieve the effects you want with minimal damage to the civilization on that globe. This is, in essence, how the Divines - and by extension, Talos - have to act.

[[folder: Karliah's poison]]
* Why does Karliah's paralysis poison affect a vampire, who has total poison immunity? One could argue that one of the benefits of this unique recipe was the ability to affect vampires, but she developed the formula for the express purpose of taking down the very-much-alive Mercer. Going out of her way and delaying her revenge even longer in order to affect an entirely different group with a poison of which she only makes one dose anyway would not make much sense.
** Immunity is your body's ability to resist a foreign agent, your body learns from experience with being exposed to harmful biological agents, like poison, multiple times and then develops a natural resistance to it. However there is no such thing as total immunity, it doesn't matter if you have the ability to resist a dosage that would kill one person if you are exposed to a dosage that would make a dozen men shit their organs out of their bodies and turn their flesh into mush. Perhaps Karliah put such an incredible dosage of poison in that potion that even a vampire's natural immunity can't do much to stop it.
*** Except that Vampire's aren't immune due to biological resistance. They are immune because they are already '''dead'''. Because they don't have biological processes for the poison to affect. That's why they don't show on Detect Life but do on Detect Dead.
*** A vampire being dead doesn't stop them from being burned by magical fire. The affects of poisons are explicitly magical in nature. Biological resistance protects you from disease and being dead prevents a disease or natural poison from spreading, but alchemical effects are magical in nature and can affect even the undead. Karliah chose a poison whose effects were magical in nature, rather than simply a natural poison. Since no brewable potion or poison in-game mimics Karliah's poison, and Mercer didn't seem to think it was being used to keep you alive, it's safe to assume she used some very exotic alchemy to create the effect, and this is certainly possible; we know from ''The Infernal City'' that it's possible to make an "impossible" flying potion but it requires unknown ingredients from the Deadlands, so a potion able to paralyze vampires is entirely plausible, but it would likely require obscure ingredients.
*** Once again, necessary {{Railroading}}. The questline would go too off the rails if you'd never been able to experience Mercer's deception or if you would have killed Karliah then.

[[folder: Anyone know about the Champion?]]
* So is anyone in Tamriel even aware of what became of the player character from the last game or any of his exploits? The Shivering Isles had the Champion of Cyrodiil ascend to the status of a god when he became Sheogorath, and the ending in the main storyline had him assist Martin in stopping Dagon and being heralded as a hero by the Empire, and yet the game is devoid of references to him. It seems odd that Skyrim wouldn't honor a guy like him, a mortal hero saving the world and ascending to godhood sounds an awful lot like their hero Talos. Hell the Dragonborn can't even muster up an answer as to who the Sheogorath even is! I guess only certain gods are in their "biblical canon"?
** The Thalmor happened. Since their invasion, they've been working on revising history texts both to make themselves seem superior and to slowly undermine human cultures. They've done their damndest to eliminate Talos worship. They'd never allow the story of ''another'' (most likely, non-Altmer) mortal obtaining godhood to get out. Compared to taking down Talos worship, eliminating the information of a new Daedra (which is pretty rare to begin with) would be child's play.
*** The player is remembered. He's mentioned in [[http://content1.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Oblivion_Crisis The Oblivion Crisis]]. Heck, he's the most mentioned character of the book. As for the ascention to godhood... Who can tell the tale? It happened in the Shivering Isle. Anyone who comes from there are madmen. Not exactly the best witness. Plus Nords aren't exactly fans of Daedras in general. So why would they celebrate someone who became one? Furthermore his actions are referenced through the entire game (DB storyline, Theft of an Elder Scroll, etc...). What do you mean "He's never mentioned"?
*** Asking the Nords of Skyrim to remember your Oblivion character two hundred years later would be like asking a Scandinavian to remember some Roman hero two hundred years after the Roman Empire fell. It just isn't on the top of their to-do list, especially since they all just endured a Great War with the Thalmor, been stabbed in the back metaphorically by the Empire, and that's not to mention the nasty conflicts that happened during that length of time. In addition, the mere fact that your Oblivion character fought for the Empire would definitely encourage the Stormcloak Nords to not bother trying to remember you. As for the Empire Nords? Well, they don't have the time to remember you, or, as previously stated, the Thalmor did an excellent job and almost erased you completely from history. While some Nords do remember your Oblivion character, it's clear that most have long since forgotten about him/her. Plus, considering what happened to the Empire, they may not think your character was a hero after all, since Martin died and then all that happened.
*** I was simply pointing out that a guy who saved the world, or at least aided Martin in doing so, and ascended to the status of a god should be a pretty notable figure. In our own world entire religions have been based off of people who claimed to be gods throughout human history; a human ascending to the status of a god -- something very much in line with Talos a guy who the Nords respect and honor -- just goes completely unnoticed? I can understand contentions with his mortal identity (even though as a mortal he did a lot of good), but he's a god now!
*** And again, who knows it happened? It took place in the Shivering Isle. A place filled with Madmen. Who don't make the most credible witnesses. Especially when the Hero of Kvatch (According to WordOfDante) used Wabajack to change his appearance to more closely match (and sound like) the original Sheogorath. There's literally no evidence, and almost no way for the general population to learn of what happened.
** The Hero of Kvatch is mentioned a few times, but for the most part their role in history is superceded by Martin. It's not that they're forgotten, but Martin is something easier to focus on in the histories, both from an in-universe perspective (he was the one who made the sacrifice to become the Avatar) and also from a meta perspective (since the Hero could be any race or do any or none of the other questlines). That the Hero rose to become Sheogorath is left unmentioned because no one knew about it, and Sheogorath apparently chose not to talk about it as well.

[[folder: More Tyranny of the Sun questions]]
* So the Dawnguard DLC establishes that Vampires are affected by the sun because the Elder Scrolls placed some sort of "Tyranny of the Sun" curse on them. Why? Did the gods have something against vampires? I mean vampires can't be anymore "evil" or dangerous on the scale of things than dragons or giants are. Why single them out to be affected by the sun?
** I'm pretty sure the "Tyranny of the Sun" is just Harkon's way of referring to how vampires in the Elder Scrolls verse are severely weakened in sunlight.
** Vampirism was created by Molag Bal raping a mortal to death to create a giant "fuck you" to Arkay. Gee, I can't imagine what the gods would have against vampirism!
** "Tyranny of the Sun" is just the name of the prophecy that Arch-Curate Vyrthur created to bring a Daughter of Coldharbour to him so he could use Auriel's Bow to blot out the sun. The name is pretty much a summation of his spite toward Auriel/Akatosh's perceived apathy toward his plight as a vampire.

[[folder: Crossbows vs. vampires]]
* I've been wondering this for a while, and this has been a long time coming anyway, but since Skyrim shows the most recent example of it that I've seen: Why are crossbows said to be the most effective weapons against vampires? I haven't been able to ever find anything on it other than the FVZA page on it and I don't want to use just that source. Why crossbows? Several prominent works of fiction depict vampire hunters favoring crossbows (Van Helsing, Buffy, etc.) It could make sense I'm sure, bolts are similar to stakes and stakes kill vampires when shot into their hearts. Not everyone can hit the heart consistently when under pressure (when fighting a group of vampires), nor are they very fast when it comes to attacking (Yes they can save at least one bolt loaded and drawn back but that would only provide an advantage with the first shot and you'll end up with very slow reloads afterwards). Can anyone explain this to me? And I swear if it all ends up being just one big joke about vampires being weak against crosses I'm just going to feel silly.
** Crossbows (the enhanced versions) can bypass armor, making them more devastating on the first strike, ostensibly allowing Dawnguard soldiers to take out a vampire in the first shot before they can use their powers? Crossbows are also (Historically) easier to use with minimal training unlike bows. So it allows one to attack vampires easily and fairly devastatingly while being out of range of their vampiric drain (which can infect one with vampirism).
** Historically, crossbows were the go-to ranged weapon if you wanted to kill someone who was tough or armored. The bolts most crossbows and their ilk fired were also ''heavy''; even if shield or armor stopped the bolt, the bolt was so heavy that it would impair movement if lodged in a shield or plating. They can also be fired very quickly once the bolt was cocked, which would be very useful when the traditionally ssuperhumanly-fast vampires suddenly appeared; it is much quicker to depress a trigger than to draw an arrow all the way back and release. As for Dawnguard and the crossbows in TES lore, the aforementioned point about their power is very relevant. The crossbow's raw power can kill a vampire before it even knows you're there, which is essential when dealing with beings that powerful and durable. The common theme with monster hunters across most fiction is "kill it first before it can kill you." The fact that TES vampires don't need to have stakes driven into their hearts or other such specific weaknesses helps too.
*** As an addendum to that, the Dawnguard favors weapons that are easy to pick up and gain a degree of effectiveness in. Hammer? Hit 'em with the big part. Axe? Probably most any child of Skyrim has had to swing one of those around a few times. Crossbow? Point and click, then reload.
** In general, crossbows are simpler and more reliable than a bow. Bows require more training to be effective with, and lack consistency. A crossbow takes much less training to use as an individual, and can place bolts in very close proximity.

[[folder: Red Eagle]]
* Faolan, or the Red Eagle as he is called, is supposed to be a quasi-Celtic Breton King Arthur type figure and the paramount national hero of the Reachmen. Why is he buried in old Nordic fashion as a Draugr in an Ancient Nord structure, and why is his legendary sword forged in Nordic manner? And why is he a magic using Lich at level 80 when he's supposed to be a warrior?
** That's assuming that only the Nords ever used that particular style and corpse preservation. It's more likely that everyone used them both, and it was more closely associated with Nords because it was more widespread and they built more often. Same with the swords, as everyone was using them at the time, and the sword got its name from being commonly found in Nord graves. Think about current times, where you can find armies wielding iron and steel weapons fighting other armies wielding iron and steel weapons. As for becoming a Lich, he's an automatically leveled Draugr. Typically, he's a strong Draugr warrior, but if you wait until you're past level 56, he'll spawn as the strongest Draugr opponent, a Dragon Priest.
*** Maybe he was a Spellsword?
*** Uhm, I don't know about you, but two entirely different cultures who hated each other would tend to have differing burial customs (Hjalti Early-Beard, Talos as he is known, had led the Nords to destroying the Witch Men of the Reach all the way to during the first era). Especially when they have different religious beliefs and afterlives. For instance, to the Bretons; Shor is regarded as a harmful deity and the 'source of all strife', where as to Nords, he's a TopGod. I find it hard to believe that they had the ''exact'' same burial methods.
*** Bretons in general are the results of nords and elves interbreeding for several generations, and the Reachmen specifically are the result of Bretons and Nords interbreeding for multiple generations after that. It's likely that for all the Forsworn's talk about the old ways and the old gods, many of the ancient Reachmen were well integrated into Nordic society. The presence of so many Nordic ruins in the area are decent evidence of that.
*** That's not how culture works. Cultural contact would have happened anyway, and much of these burials are from the 1st era, 2nd at most, which is long before the reach was conquered by the Nords. Even then, it's probably mostly developer laziness; Solstheim in Dragonborn has Draugr in imperial uniform.
** Red Eagle existed roughly during the time of the Alessian Empire, when the Reachmen were a more diverse population that did include Nords (since most Man races were split between Nedes and Nords at the time); the Bretons as we know them, and the Breton-like Reachmen who would dominate through the Second Era and onward, would come about later. We also know that the First Empire of the Nords ruled over the Reach itself (and the Reachmen) until their empire collapsed, so there would certainly have been some influence of Nordic culture on the Reachmen. We also know that Red Eagle came about between the fall of the First Nordic Empire and the Alessian Empire's invasions, meaning there was definitely Nordic cultural influence over the Reach and intermarriage. Thus, it is not implausible that there would be enough influence from early Nordic culture on the First Era Reachmen that they would bury an honored king in Nordic fashion, and that he would rise as a draugr.

[[folder: Fairness of Ulfric and Torygg's duel]]
* How was Ulfric's battle with High King Torygg '''fair'''? Not only was Torygg hopelessly outmatched by the Dragon Shout, an ability very few mortals actually possess, even fewer who ''aren't'' Dovahkiin, but said shout was taught to Ulfric by the Greybeards as a means of enlightenment, and he openly admits he misused the power. If this were truly a fair match, it would have been a battle between swords and/or magic. Using an ability very rare and ''nearly impossible'' for non-Dovahkiin to learn is a huge handicap.
** Anybody could, theoretically, use the Thu'um. It just takes a great deal of training to use even simple, single-word Shouts for most people. Ulfric trained under the Greybeards and used his skill in the battle. Considering the fight you have with him in the Imperial campaign, Ulfric only knows part of the Unrelenting Force shout. An advantage, but hardly the [[BlownAcrossTheRoom game changer]] that the full shout is for the Dragonborn. As for the potential "fairness" of using the Thu'um in a duel, that's actually debated in-game: Torygg's supporters consider it cowardly cheating while Ulfric's see it as a sign of his right to rule.
*** If its part of his personal skill-set, he can use it and it's still a fair fight. The only way this could be disputed if we actually had some measure of insight into how a duel fought according to "the Old Way" was actually conducted. Especially as it dates to ancient times among the Nords, where the Voice was more widely known.
** A perfectly "fair" fight is otherwise known as a "draw". There are advantages and disadvantages in any fight that makes them inherently unfair. A "fair" fight in the Nord sense is one where both combatants bring their abilities to the table and there's no outside interference; if Ulfric brings his skill with the Thu'um to the arena, a skill he ''earned'', then he is perfectly in his rights to use it.
** If [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irebmzm4FzM this video]] means anything, Torygg can beat Ulfric if they use only swords and Ulfric does not use the Thu'um. Just an interesting thought.
*** Personally I don't put a lot of stock in that. The way the game's level scaling works, Ulfric's locked at level ten for the whole game as he's there at the start, where as Torygg is locked at whatever level you are when you meet him in Sovengarde, presumably much, much higher. The game generally implies that thu'um or no, Ulfric is the most formidable of the jarls in terms of armed combat.
*** All but directly stated in fact. Galmar pretty much says that if Ulfric wanted to he could take all the Jarls out easily in single-combat, and his abilities as a fighter and a master of the Thu'um are kept separate and both hyped up as being incredible.
*** Galmar is ''hardly'' an unbiased source, though.
*** Okay, how about the fact that members of Dead-King Torygg's own court state that his martial skill was nothing compared to Ulfric's? How about him being hyped up as a fearsome fighter in the Imperial campaign itself?
*** Even if Ulfric ''could'' win fairly, can you still say that he ''did''? It's like the best boxer in the world, who could easily become champion without any aid, using steroids for the fight just because. Can you call ''that'' fair?
*** Two men with weapons fought, no one outside interfered, and the Thu'um is respected among the Nords. By Nord standards, yes, it was entirely fair.
*** So... by that logic, if Torygg was using legendary enchanted Daedric gear, and one-shotted Ulfric with it, that would be fair?
*** You can get in fistfights with unarmored opponents while wearing powerful and heavily-enchanted armor which punches couldn't pierce and clobber their tender faces with spiky gauntlets. They still consider you beating them to be fair, [[DefeatMeansFriendship and can even become your friends afterwards]]. So yes, that match-up would be fair. [[CultureClash Things are just different to Nords, it seems]].
*** And yet if I Fus Ro Dah my fistfightee, it becomes unfair and is considered assault. How can you justify that?
*** Because it is a ''fist''fight. [[CaptainObvious With '''fists'''.]] You're breaking the rules there, which permit only the use of fists and nothing else.
*** My point exactly.
*** Apparently, according to the rules of a Nordic duel, the opponents bring what skills and equipment they have to the table, and no outside interference is permitted. If you have it, your {{BFS}} is allowed. If you're wearing it, your fancy armor is allowed. If you know a fireball spell, you can use it. If you know a Thu'um, you can use it. Would it be fair to us? Hell no. But in Nordic tradition, if you have something, chances are you've earned it, so it is your right to use it. (But no, I'm not pro-Stormcloak. I've been Imperial on every playthrough.)
*** That... kinda makes sense. Sure explains why nobody's complaining about my usage of dragonscale armor while they only have hide or leather.
** I think this Headscratcher, in-universe, was another reason why the CivilWar occurred in the first place.
** It depends on what you mean by "fair". If you look at the cold, hard facts of the matter, Ulfric ''technically'' followed the Old Laws. There was no outside interference, both Ulfric and Torygg brought only their own natural skills to the fight, and apparently Torygg did not insist on a "no Thu'ums" condition before the fight (that's the difference between this fight and the [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Brawl#Brawls brawls]]; when you challenge someone to a fistfight the NPC always insists on a "no magic, no weapons, only fists" rule). Thus, Ulfric and his followers feel that he did nothing wrong. After all it's hardly Ulfric's fault that Torygg was a wimp. As the High King of Skyrim, Torygg had a ''responsibility'' to toughen himself up and learn how to fight. If he couldn't be bothered to even brush up on his swordplay then, in their view, he doesn't deserve the position he has. But there's a difference between the letter of the law and the ''spirit'' of the law, and it could be argued that Ulfric violated the spirit of the Old Laws. In cultures where honor duels are allowed (if not always condoned) it's expected that both participants must behave, well, ''honorably''. This implies a set of unwritten rules. For instance, in an honorable duel it's generally assumed that while one person might have an advantage over the other, both combatants must have a decent chance of winning. So a tall man challenging a short man to a fistfight wouldn't necessarily be unfair because the short man can use speed and clever tactics to overcome the tall man's height and weight advantage. But challenging someone to a DuelToTheDeath when you ''KNOW'' they don't have a snowball's chance in Hell of beating you is dishonorable. For those who disapprove of Ulfric's actions the problem is not his superior skill or the fact that he used the Thu'um to defeat Torygg. The problem is that Ulfric went into the duel ''knowing'' that Torygg had no chance of beating him. The fact that Ulfric apparently went into the duel ''intending'' to use the Thu'um, ''knowing'' that Torygg couldn't possibly defend against it, makes it even worse.
*** Perhaps, but Ulfric didn't just denounce Torygg and then attack. It was a formal challenge, and Torygg had every right to refuse the duel. He accepted it, knowing perfectly well that Ulfric was, at the ''very least'', a battle-hardened veteran who is considered to be one of the most formidable combatants in Skyrim. If Torygg went into that fight honestly believing that there would be any outcome other than his own untimely death, then he's a bigger fool than people already claim him to be. At no point does anyone on either side of the war claim that Ulfric was anything but upfront about his abilities. Torygg either set no restrictions on the duel, or decided to agree to the duel while knowing full well that anything goes in a challenge to the throne. As soon as Torygg answered the challenge, he accepted that Ulfric had the right to use any and all means at his disposal to win. Tradition says that the duel was therefore fair. Whether or not the ''tradition itself'' is fair is an entirely separate matter from whether or not the actual duel was, by [[ValuesDissonance Nord standards]], "fair".
** It is important to remember that whether or not the duel was considered truly fair or an unjustified murder is heavily disputed in-universe. The people of Solitude, for example, declared it to be unfair, to the point that they had Roggvir executed for simply letting Ulfric escape. Intensively traditionalist Nords like Roggvir, as well as Ulfric's supporters, hold that it was a fair combat. So even among the nords, there's a strong disagreement on whether or not Ulfric's challenge and his actions during the duel were justified and legal under Nord law.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: "Half-breed" vampires]]
* In Dawnguard, two vampire characters [[spoiler: Valerica and Harkon]] snidely refer to a Dovahkiin vampire lord as a "half-breed vampire". Considering that the only way to become a vampire lord is through either Serana or Harkon, how exactly is that insult supposed to work?
** Serana, [[spoiler: Valerica]] and Harkon all became vampire lords because of something Molag Bal did. The Dovahkiin vampire lord became a vampire lord because one of the vampire lords made him or her one. In other words, it is about ''how'' you became a vampire lord.
*** How did Harkon becomes a vampire lord? Did Molag Bal raped him too? Serana only mentions her and her mother undergoing the ritual. If Harkon is indeed raped by Molag Bal, why can't he use his own blood?
*** It specifically states in-game that Harkon feared death, so he made a pact with Molag Bal, sacrificing a thousand innocents to the Daedric Prince in exchange for becoming a vampire lord.
** If taking quests into account, it seems that the second-hand power the Dragonborn has as a vampire lord is less potent than that of a full-blooded one. The people turned by the Dragonborn all note feelings of sickness, but can go off on their own power. Whereas the bite from Harkon instantly knocked out and nearly killed someone as powerful as the player character. Even moreso, Harkon's bite is so potent that it can even overpower a werewolf's curse. Something that the Dragonborn can't replicate.
*** Vingalmo says that the alignment of the stars determine if one can be turned or not. So blood might have nothing to do with it than a sub-optimal stellar arrangement.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: How old is Rorik?]]
* He says he's the founder (and namesake) of Rorikstead. Rorikstead has existed (and had his name) since the later merethic/first era and has had that name since then according to ''[[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Holdings_of_Jarl_Gjalund Holdings of Jarl Gjalund]]'' (The book dates from back when Bromjunaar, the sanctuary of the Dragon Priest Mask, was still a settlement and not Labyrinthian).
** If it's like actual town, it has likely been abandoned and rebuilt multiple times. Alternately, Rorik is lying.
*** Other people back up his story, like Jouane Manette. Being destroyed and rebuilt still would not explain why there's always been a town there named after a dude called Rorik at roughly the same location. Is this some HistoryRepeats scenario where there's ''always'' a new dude called Rorik who goes back there to build a town on the same spot every era and names it after himself? It gets even weirder as "Ragnar The Red" is an old, traditional song according to "Songs of Skyrim". Rorikstead's current incarnation is less than 20 years old (Since Rorik founded it after the Great War and it was an unbuilt stretch of land when he bought it) yet the song mentions "Ole Rorikstead".
*** It could be like this: there's always been a town there. There's periodic times where, during stretches of bad harvests or war, the town has been completely abandoned, only picked up years or centuries later when conditions improved enough to move back in. Presumably, the town there was struggling when Rorik came in, and used his money to finance the reconstruction, turning it from a house and a tavern into... several houses and a tavern. Still, it completely revamped the town (somehow), so either the locals renamed it in honor of him, or he just named the renovated town after himself. Most books just refer to Rorikstead as its current name.
*** That wouldn't explain why ancient books written millenias ago also call the place "Rorik's steading".
*** Or, he just happens to share the name with the person who founded it, and being all elderly he's decided to play a little with this young'un asking him about Rorikstead. Think someone named James living in Jamestown, VA, telling his grandson that the city was named after him.
** You meet your culture's Jesus, a total badass who can kill people by yelling at them. You're elderly. He asks you how the town got it's name, and you're named after the town. You figure "Ehhh, what the hell. Might as well risk it for a good prank" and you tell him it's named after you. He takes it as gospel and you laugh your ass off as soon as he's out of earshot.
** There's a theory, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMeFeaUEWHY with a good amount of evidence]], that Rorikstead is the site of a secretive cult and Rorik may be a mage who is sacrificing people to maintain his age.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Why did Ulfric even bother with the Thu'um?]]
* The narrative makes it very clear that Torryg's token martial training was nothing compared to him, a veteran in his prime, and that he could have beaten him easily by force of arms alone. Was it to give the impression he was chosen by Talos, or something? Was it to emphasize his adherence to the Old Ways in the fact he knew the ancient power of the Dragon tongue? Was it to showcase his spiritual and mental qualities that he was able to learn so much from the Greybeards?
** Ulfric's entire cause is based around "The old ways" and what not. What better way than to shout down is enemies like Jurgen Windcaller did, and to show his right to rule by demonstrating his shout like that of the great heroes of old? In his own words: "It'll make for a better song". Ulfric is all about his self image.
*** There ''is'' the minor problem that he went against what Jurgen Windcaller (and the Greybeards that followed him) stood for when he did it, but then again the Stormcloaks' Old Ways seems a hodge-podge of the old and the relatively new ''anyway'', so doing it like the Nord Heroes of Really Old rather than what's been the tradition for millenia is in character (and the whole 'it'll make a better song' thing makes it even more in character).
*** Uhm, the Nord heroes using the shouts to defeat tyranny (like Ulfric) actually predates Jurgen Windcaller.
*** Yes, my point exactly (consider that Jurgen Windcaller had a reason for his formation of the Greybeards, and that there would seem to be a reason why the Greybeards have a near-monopoly on the thu'um amongst mortals. Further consider that other parts of what Ulfric and his Stormcloaks cite as the traditional Nord way that is much, ''much'' younger than the Greybeards).
*** Hm, I see worshiping Talos. Which by extension is worshiping Shor anyway. Revering Ysgramor (Saarthal and the Great War are directly compared in similarities in one Stormcloak propaganda book and Ulfric is called a hero of similar magnitude as him) both of which would predate Jurgen's kneejerk reaction to using the voice for anything other than pray. It is odd that he would have thought that the way they used the Voice was in contrary to the will of the gods. Considering that Shor himself led them at that battle. If you're talking about referring to the Gods as the Divines, only Galmar makes any explicit reference to that sort of thing. Worshiping Talos does not necessarily mean worshiping the rest of the Nine Divines. Anymore so than worshiping Mehrunes Daegon means to worship Boethiah, I think. That said though, some or even a lot of them probably do worship the Nine anyway. For centuries its been more or less the default religion of the Empire, it being younger than something else does not mean it doesn't constitute tradition. Kind of like how you could argue that Celtic Paganism and Anglo-Saxon paganism is the ancestral faith of the British but traditionally, they are more likely to be some denomination of Christian.
** From the Imperial viewpoint, Ulfric used the Thu'um because he was a coward who felt he needed an unnecessary edge when the fight was blatantly one-sided anyway. It's all part of the intentional ValuesDissonance that the civil war is wrapped in.
** For the same reason he wants the Dragonborn to be the one to kill him (if you take the Imperial's side) "It will make a better story." Ulfric is a romanticist.
** Actually, ask Ulfric himself and he states it was meant to show that Torygg didn't have the dedication or discipline to lead Skyrim properly, else he would have also learned the Thu'um or at least known how to counter it. "Any Nord can learn the Way of Voice, given enough determination and dedication. My shouting Torygg to the ground proved he had neither."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Erandur in "Waking Nightmare"]]
* During the quest ''Waking Nightmare'', how did Erandur/Casimir get out? The moment he pulled the chain, the barrier went up, which should have trapped him inside. You see this happening when you dreamwalk as him. And he himself calls the barrier unbreachable. So how did he get out?
** He dreamwalked himself out. You know, the same way you got around a locked door. He just did it to one of the invaders. Or, there was another exit we don't know about, which he used (but was inaccessible from the outside).
*** He can't have dreamwalked since he said he never saw or did it himself (If he did, he wouldn't need to tell you he can't guarantee what will happen or how it'll go down). And looking around fails to reveal a secondary exit.
*** IIRC, the gate type that blocks you takes a moment to close, and don't you get sent back to the real world once you've pulled it? As soon as he pulled the chain, the Erandur ran very quickly, or daresay, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation dived]] over the rising gate. Even if he missed the first time, he could have just tried again until he got out.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Miraak and dragon priest outfits]]
* So why is the First Dragonborn so out of Dragon Priest uniform?
** Since it hasn't been released yet I can only speculate, but something tells me that he does not particularly like serving Dragons any more.
** If that's the only reason, he shouldn't be wearing his old mask either.
*** But the masks have power, and that's presumably something he ''does'' like.
*** So do the robes.
*** Considering that you can't loot any robes from the other priests, let alone anything powered, that's doubtful.
*** Considering that even run-of-the-mill training clothes given to apprentices is powered, I'd say that it is. Also notice that they're awesome shape in spite of being buried with their now decayed wearers for untold centuries. Also, there are lots of things in the game that are magical that you cant loot.
*** Draugr armor is in fantastic shape too, but anyway, you're missing the point: that's not even dragon priest apparel.
*** No it isn't. It's rusted and falling apart in various places.
*** For armor that's been sitting around, unmaintained, for thousands of years, that ''is'' being in fantastic shape.
*** Also, who's to say it's his ''old'' mask; it's very different from all the others. Rumours abound that there is more to this villain than a Dragonborn/Priest combo.
*** His new outfit is also specifically designed for fighting dragons, with the exception of his mask.
** I think it's safe to assume that when the other dragon priests found out Miraak was murdering dragons and eating their souls, they had him defrocked and took away his holy vestments. Also, Miraak's mask probably isn't the same mask he would have worn as a dragon priest (if he even had a mask back then; not all the dragon priests got one apparently). If you look close you can see that his mask shares the same "tentacle" theme as his sword and staff. So Hermaeus Mora probably gave him all three.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Are the Daedric Princes gods?]]
* I've played all five of the main Elder Scrolls games and I still can't figure this out. Are the Daedric Princes gods? Or are They simply god-like? They call Themselves gods, and so do the people who worship Them, but people who are against Daedra worship say that the Princes are nothing more than very powerful Daedra. The lesser Daedra look to Them as masters, but not as gods. Of course the Aedra say they aren't gods, but that's mostly out of spite due to the Daedra still being at full power while the Aedra are in a weakened state. When Haskill spoke of Sheogorath in the Shivering Isles, the pronouns were capitalized in the subtitles, suggesting divinity. Finally, remember what the Thalmor said: "You can worship whatever gods you like, but Talos is not a god." The Thalmor have nothing against Daedra worship, which suggests they believe the Daedric Princes are gods. The first three games had me thinking the Princes were simply god-like, but Oblivion and Skyrim made me start to wonder if They're actual gods. So which is it?
** You ask that as if there's a difference; to quote another game: [[VideoGame/BaldursGate "If you have the arrogance of a god and can kill like a god, who’s to say you are not a god?"]]. To expand, there is no definitive definition of who or what qualifies as a god. Is Akatosh a god? Is Alduin? Talos? Ebonarm? Almalexia? Morihaus? Mannimarco? All of them are worshipped as gods by somebody on Tamriel, but few of them have a common origin or nature. Some Tamrielic cultures consider the Daedra gods, some consider them demons, some consider them "Greater Spirits", some consider them "Not our Ancestors". There is no universal qualifier for godhood - it all depends on who you ask.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Confusion around Torygg's death]]
* Somebody please explain to me the bizarre confusion surrounding King Torygg's death. Ulfric claims he used the Thu'um to stun Torygg and then killed him with his sword while other characters claim Ulfric "shouted him to pieces" or "ripped him asunder" with the Thu'um. Now, I can understand random [=NPCs=] claiming Ulfric "shouted [Torygg] apart" because they weren't there and only have rumors to go on. Rumors that were probably twisted seven different ways by the time those [=NPCs=] heard them. But some of the [=NPCs=] who ''witnessed'' Torygg's death claim Ulfric killed him with the Thu'um and not with a sword. So who's telling the truth?
** Therein lies the problem. Everyone has their own idea of how Ulfric killed Torygg, but I think its safe to just assume Ulfric's claim was the right one, as Ulfric did it himself, and he has nothing to gain from just lying to the player. It would be out of character for him to not say exactly how he offed Torygg.
** In addition, it is in the interest of Elisif's court to slander Ulfric by making Torygg's death at his hands seem as brutal and one-sided as possible, casting Ulfric in the role of a malicious murderer. It's also notable that eye-witness testimony is notoriously unreliable as people tend to view things through serious lenses of perception. It's possible that Ulfric's FUS RO DAH did cause Torygg significant injury when it slammed him into something, and that the witnesses couldn't bear to watch as Ulfric ended it with the stabbing- the shout is what stood out in their memory.
*** I don't believe Ulfric knows the full Unrelenting Force Shout, not enough to create the full-force launch that the player can create. It seems most likely that he used FUS to stagger Torygg, who fell on his butt like an idiot, and then Ulfric stabbed him. The tale grew in the telling by those looking to slander him, and you get people saying he murdered Torygg with his voice alone.
** Oh, I think Ulfric knows the full shout. Ever pissed him off and had him attack? He'll do the Shout and send you flying across the throne room.
*** Just join the Imperials and try to attack him head on, Ulfric knows the full "FUS RO DAH" shout. With that in mind, he could have shouted him off of the edge of the balcony in the Blue palace.
** Because eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable, even when all parties don't have good reason to lie (and in this case, they do). That said, I tend to take Ulfric at his word on this one. Shouting someone apart with the Thu'um is distinctly more badass than knocking them down and stabbing them while they're disoriented, and given Ulfric's concern with what "will make for a better song," if he was going to lie, I would expect him to try to play up the epicness of the confrontation rather than play it down.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: "You're the Listener? Ok, I'll buy it!"]]
* Maybe I'm missing something, but it just seems really out of character for someone as paranoid as Astrid to just accept that this newcomer who she knows hardly anything about is suddenly hearing the Night Mother's voice. What would be more likely, that after years and years of silence, the Night Mother would finally decide to speak to someone, or that a random newbie would lie about it in the hopes of getting special attention?
** At first, she actually is skeptical about that. She's not sure whether the voices the Dragonborn claims to hear are from the Night Mother or not, but she would like to see where it goes. Since the Night Mother is actually providing contracts, the way she's supposed to (specifically with Amaund Motierre), it quickly becomes apparent that the Dragonborn couldn't have gotten that information otherwise. Cicero in particular was convinced because the Night Mother gave a sort of code phrase to relay to him, but as for Astrid, she doesn't seem to really care whether the Night Mother's voice was real. Her authority was being challenged, that was that.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Falmer Servants in Blackreach]]
* How and why are there humans serving the Falmer in Blackreach? How do they communicate? Are they mind-controlled?
** Abducted and brainwashed. They communicate like anyone else: ''by talking.''
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Worship of Dibella]]
* Haelga from Riften is apparently concerned that if the locals find out that she is "practicing her Dibellan arts" (a.k.a sleeping with numerous men in a short amount of time) they will run her out of town. Yet Haelga doesn't try to hide the fact that she does worship Dibella, going by the small altar she has set up for her in the Bunkhouse and the fact that she wears an Amulet of Dibella. So, how does that work? Nobody cares if you worship a particular deity so long as you don't PRACTICE the act of actually worshiping them? Or is it more that Haelga is just using Dibella as an excuse to have as much sex as she wants and that promiscuous behavior (insert air quotes here) isn't actually something other Dibellan worshipers practice?
** Likely the latter. Everyone's cool with the temple in Markarth--it's a great honour to be chosen as their Sybil--so probably Haelga is using Dibellan "traditions" in the same way that someone would claim to be Hindu by going through the Kama Sutra.
** Haelga's worried that you're gonna out her for sleeping with all the men in town, which apparently includes ''married'' men. Whether or not she worships Dibella is entirely irrelevant, beyond the fact that her Dibella worship leads her to promiscuity and seducing men around the city. No one cares about her worship of Dibella, but they do care that she's making married men unfaithful, and that's a problem. Also, it's possible that, considering the nature of the NoodleImplements in her bedroom, Haelga might be considered an extreme sexual deviant, at least by the standards of Riften's more conservative population. And yeah, it would be nonsense for the people of Riften to get on to anyone about moral indecency, but it is ''Riften'' we're talking about here. It wouldn't be the Rift if it wasn't hip-deep in hypocrisy.
** Another thing to consider is that while Haelga ''calls'' them "Dibellan arts", (and she may well think of herself as a follower of Dibella) she tends to be engaging in drug-fueled sex and indulgence with married men instead of using her skills in the expression of love and art though pleasure, which is Dibella's sphere. Haelga behaves more like a follower of Sanguine than Dibella, and she may realize that and be afraid of those implications.
** Even among those who worship the Divines, worship of Dibella is taken differently, with many of the more conservative peoples considering Dibella worshippers to be hedonistic and extremely promiscuous. After all, Dibella is said to "pay men in moans." It wouldn't be surprising that a sexually-deviant Dibella worshipper would be ostracized in Riften, a city which is devoted to Mara, whose teachings on love are a bit more traditional compared to the free love and artistic expression inherent to Dibella's teachings. That Haelga believes that what she's doing is in line with Dibella's teachings won't help when a more conservative population who favors Mara's teachings ostracizes her for doing things like promoting unfaithfulness to married families and pushing for promiscuity.

** One thing to note is that the Divines have difficulty acting directly on Nirn, by their very nature. When the Aedra created Nirn, they gave up a ''lot'' of themselves to do so, to the point that they gave up most of their self-awareness and physical bodies to not just build the planet but define its laws and keep it a discrete entity from Oblivion. The Divines were the most powerful of the Aedra who gave up their powers and much of their own cognitive capacity to create Nirn, and as such they retain some degree of their awareness and ability to act, but even that is very limited. Aside from the Aedra, Lorkhan did the same thing, only the body and power he lost were taken more... directly. Talos is no different from the other Divines, even if he is a Divine that ascended afterward (and apparently mantled Lorkhan, taking his place). Talos is immensely powerful, but all of his power is tied up in stabilizing Nirn like the rest of the Divines. He cannot directly intervene, simply because all of his awareness and power are keeping Nirn intact like the Eight, but he can act within the world in more subtle ways, i.e. incarnating Shezzarines or sending blessings that bend the rules of the world he's holding together to favor an individual. If Talos pushes things too hard, he runs the risk of breaking the entirety of Nirn, kind of how whenever Akatosh loses his shit we get Dragon Breaks, only a lot worse. There's a reason why, when mortals need a Divine's direct power and intervention, a mortal will only very briefly take over and direct that power to deal with the threat and then it is released: if a Divine were to direct that power on their own, all of Nirn would be impacted.