Molag Bal
The mortal thinks it can defy me. Futile. Soon your world will be in my chains.
—During the base game prologue.
How many have you killed to defeat me? Each death is like a prayer to me.
I will ensure no tales are told of your valor.
I will dominate this world and all others in time. The strong should always command the weak.
The skins of those you love will fly as my banners.
You must defeat me every time. I need defeat you only once.
I don't want revenge. I want your submission.
— Possible lines upon destroying a Dark Anchor
Bend your knee to me, I'll give you a minion for each enemy you've slain. You will have an army.
May your enemies be broken and bloody.
Your strength will be rewarded. One day.
The ends and the means are one. And you are both.
It is you who will strike the final blow at our enemies. You are almost ready.
The King of Worms served me poorly. Perhaps you will do better.
The Battlemage has the amulet, but you have true power. Fight for me.
The time remaining when you can still refuse me is dwindling.
I forged you in the soulfire of Coldharbour to be my tool. Prove your worth.
— Possible Dark Anchor lines after the main quest.
Tamriel is ripe, and I have all of eternity to reap its harvest of flesh! Death comes for you and all children of the Mundus on black wings!
—Main Quest Dialogue
I will have you, Vestige! Pathetic prophecies and trinkets of holy powers are fleeting! I am immortal! I am undying! Your world will drown in blood!
—Cut Dialogue
"You've made a great and terrible enemy this day. Your world would have been better off if the Planemeld had succeeded. Had you bowed before me and accepted eternal servitude, I would have protected you. There are worse masters than I. Far worse."
—End of the Main Quest
Mannimarco
Ah, dear Lyris. Your old position at the Foundry is still available. We'll even give you your own set of unbreakable chains. And you. The thorn in my side. The pebble in my shoe. How strong are you? Shall we test your limits?
—
Chim-el Adabal. The Amulet of the Kings of Glory. An artifact of the Divines, a badge of office for the ruling emperors of Cyrodiil, and the key to my ascendancy. Yet it eludes me. Exploiting its power to bring about the calamity of our age was intoxicating. It made me aware of the limitless possibilities available to one strong enough, and fearless enough, to use it to achieve his own ends. The Amulet has the power to create or destroy. But it also has the power to undo the damage caused by the Soulburst, to mend the tear in the barrier between Nirn and Oblivion. I must recover it before some fool fixes that which must remain broken.
— Mannimarco's monologue to himself
I saw your life gutter and fade like a candle flame in a tempest. My undead servants drank your blood and I reanimated your corpse.
—
Mannimarco: "Persistent, aren't you? Do you really think you can keep me from acquiring the amulet? Ah, Sai. You still don't understand, do you? My plan will succeed because of your ward of Stendarr! It will prevent Molag Bal from observing or interfering. By the time the ward is down and the amulet is mine, it will already be too late! Naive child! You know nothing! Chim-el Adabal, the red diamond at the center of the Amulet of Kings, is the most powerful Soul Gem ever created! With the amulet in my possession, I will absorb Molag Bal's power, reducing him to an empty husk of ethereal flesh. Then I will trap his essence within the gem! In time, the name Molag Bal will be forgotten! In time, all of Tamriel will bow down before me! Soon, the God of Schemes will have a new name: Mannimarco!"
— Mannimarco's goal
"All the nations of Tamriel will bow before me! They will worship me and beg for my mercy! All will know the name of Mannimarco as their one, true god!"
—
Mannimarco: "Wrong? Honestly, grow up, Vanus. There is no right and wrong—only power and weakness."
Vanus Galerion: "You've made me for a fool. I can't believe I didn't see the rot infesting your soul."
Vanus Galerion: "You will answer for this eventually. I swear it."
Mannimarco: "And you, my friend, will answer for your short-sightedness when I eclipse you in every way."
— From a vision from the past showing the end of Vanus Galerion and Mannimarco's friendship
The Prophet
I am the past and future both. I am despair and hope. The tapestry we weave is a complex one. You cannot hope to see its pattern in its entirety. Not yet.
Confidence is a beast that grows two heads for each that is cut off.
Great Akatosh, Dragon god of time. Your children are lost between worlds. They cry out for mercy. Hear my voice, Akatosh! I require your strength! Let the way be opened! Let these wandering souls return home! Let the will of Molag Bal be denied!
—Cut Dialogue
Until then, embrace the unknowable. The drops of water cannot know themselves to be a river, yet the river flows on.
Destiny can crush us by fulfilling our wishes, just as surely as it can by denying them
Do not hasten towards this final hour. Take the time to appreciate the things you have, the friends you have made, and the world that birthed you.
Lyris Titanborn
If you avoid all of life's abrasions, you'll never be polished enough to shine.
Bloody business, war. There was a time I loved my axe for its sharpness and my armor for its sheen, but no more. Today, I love what they defend. Don't lose sight of what's behind you in the hatred of what's before you.
Traveling is a humbling experience. You see firsthand what a small place you occupy in the world. Funny thing is, the farther you go, the harder it is to return. But when you do... if you do... you get to see the place you came from with new eyes.
You never get used to it. My father… he'll die over and over again for the rest of my life. Grief doesn't go away. You just learn to live with it. But I can live my life with his daring and spirit and joy. That way, he'll never die. Not really.
That's the real test of character. Anyone can face adversity, but give them power and you'll see their true colors. Power over others is the way of cowards. Seize the power to choose your own path. To control your own life. That takes real courage.
Abnur Tharn
Your hatred poisons you. Warriors are like steel. When you lose temper, you lose your worth.
The day I start considering people's feelings before speaking my mind is the day my efficacy as a politician comes to an end. When that day comes, just kill me outright, I beg of you.
Defy you? Your delusions of godhood are laughable, you ignominious corpse-herder!
— To Mannimarco
No one is more surprised than I. They are willing to sacrifice themselves to save the world, yet they will never hear a single word of thanks. A funny thing for a selfish man to say, isn't it? I'd better be careful not to learn anything from this.
Of course they are, from a certain point of view. Every myth and legend contains a modicum of truth. The trick is deciphering the allegories and metaphors, stripping away the poetry to find the history hidden beneath the allusions.
The influential mage risks all. There is no reward for those who never try.
Be decisive. Be bold. Anything less is a disservice to your own state of being.
I prepared for a moment such as this. I insist that you trust me, this one last time. If this is goodbye, my friend, it has been a privilege.
— To the Vestige
Sai Sahan
By the sword of my father, Nazir Itaf Sahan, I pledge myself to the destruction of Mannimarco and the liberation of Tamriel from the tyranny of the God of Schemes, Molag Bal!
Darien Gautier
Now, don't be modest. You've more than proven yourself. Destiny beckons and you must answer its call. Say, that sounded rather good. I should write this stuff down.
One of these days we're going to meet up in a tavern and there won't be any Daedra or monsters or evil necromancers trying to destroy the world and kill us all. One of these days...
Look at this place! All fancy and formal. Everyone gathered, putting aside their differences to overcome a greater evil. How heroic! I expect this means that we're all going to die. Heroically, of course.
I don't know the meaning of the word fear. Literally. I don't.
Now let's go cause some havoc for the Prince of Schemes. This will be our finest moment. Maybe after this we can actually find that tavern and get that drink I mentioned a while back. And, hey, if one of us doesn't make it, promise to have a toast in the other one's memory.
I feel one of those momentous occasions coming on. You know, the ones where we do something amazing and save the day, or we die horribly in a blaze of glory. Yeah, one of those.
You're kind of like me in a lot of ways, aren't you? An outsider caught up in things we don't fully understand?
— Darien to the Vestige
I've learned to trust my instincts over the years. The problem this time, though, is my instinct is telling me to run far, far away. That wouldn't be very heroic now, would it? Into the fray we go, my friend. Even if it might be for the last time.
I'm saying that you've got this. Whenever a threat appears, you bring the champions together. You find a way to win. And I'll be at your side for this one final battle, just not in the way I originally expected.
Other
We learn from every action we take. Failure or success, each result teaches us something, at least in the larger sense.
— Vivec
—
The Prisoner must apprehend two critical insights. First, they must face the reality of their imprisonment. They must see the determinative walls - the chains of causality that bind them to their course."
— Sotha Sil
Truth falls like a cool rain, carving many channels in the mud. My truth is different from the Dunmer's, yet both are still true.
— Walks-In-Ash
We Khajiits know when to put down the sword and take up a rose.
— Eraral-dro
Remember, as you journey through life… all things must pass in order to begin again. Knowing this simple fact eases pain and suffering. Learn to let go, and what was lost will be reborn.
— Mim-Jasa
Though bathed in radiant glory, skin of gold and bark. We have fallen short of the yolk. And now it is too late. But light without darkness is blinding, and the shadow always watches over us. It is here for us now, if we wish it. Though the toil to pay our debt will be long. We must, scales-of-gold, we must join with our brothers in the deep. No matter how much we lose, our roots are patient. And we will rise again, in this world or the next.
— The Last Wish of the Sun Blessed
