the reason is that Bethesda/Ulfric is too lazy to worship the old Nordic pantheon. Like Tsun is still a perfect god in that right. Like im in the belief that Tiber mantled Shor, so another reason for my case
It is said this is exactly what happened. Vivic said that Tiber Septim was the only one to ascend via the 4th walking way, and mantled the god of humanity (Shor/Lorkan) when he did so. Which is why he became the ninth divine. The only way to get that much power was to mantle another divine. Which was the dead god Lorkan. Vivic admitted the old elven religion was just wrong by stating talos mantled such a powerful entity.
Also the old Nord gods are worshipped still. Sort of. Some of them.
Kyne/Kynerath are supposed to be the same person. Then it was belived that Aludin was the Nordic version of Akatosh in earlier games. Now we know Aludin is the first born of akotosh so they did always kind of worship Akatosh cause those previous sources were iffy.
There's a woman at one of the shrines, specifically the one about Kyne, that you meet before the troll. When you ask her about herself, she tells you she's "just a pilgrim. Nothing else". But she's wearing a circlet, which usually indicates someone of nobility or importance. Can't remember her name but yeah, there's a theory that she's actually Kyne.
You can run into the other pilgrim when you walk the steps again, but she only ever shows up the first time you go up there.
The lore seems to be contradictory but at least a bit of it says Tiber Septim was a Nord, or that Talos is composed of Nordic individuals. Even if it's wrong, that's what they believe.
And how many Christians think Jesus looked Northern European? Does it really matter if he's a Breton or a Nord, or both. The Nords worship him all the same.
Nothing says he is definitely a Breton, the best I’ve found is that some sources said he hailed from high rock, but that could easily mean he was a Nord born in High Rock. And the most accepted story of his life was the one where he hails from Atmora, ancestral homeland of the Nords, and his proficiency in the Thu’um and combat skills point more towards Nord in my opinion
Account based in Cyrod.
Also dude, im out here actually wanting the Old Nordic gods and actual shrine quests in Skyrim, I aint no Khajjit sniffer.
(although I do like to larp the Snow Elves hating on the high elves, like you care about your physical self over the spirit sorta difference)
She is better than most other daedric princes in a lot of ways but the more recent lore from eso of her hating free will sort of takes away a decent bit of the appeal
Dibella. I love the arts, design, music, playing instruments, entertaining, merriment, pleasure, cooking, hedonism, sex. I’d ask her to bless me with unlimited imagination and creativity to enhance my artistic ability and relationships.
last night I just finished the waking nightmare quest.
me, an agent of mara, standing there waiting for vaermina to stop her panicked attempts at tempting me into killing a priest of mara in exchange for a shitty staff
Talos the mighty! Talos the unerring! Talos the unassailable! To you we give praise!
We are but maggots, writhing in the filth of our own corruption! While you have ascended from the dung of mortality, and now walk among the stars!
But you were once man! Aye! And as man, you said, "Let me show you the power of Talos Stormcrown, born of the North, where my breath is long winter. I breathe now, in royalty, and reshape this land which is mine. I do this for you, Red Legions, for I love you."
Aye, love. Love! Even as man, great Talos cherished us. For he saw in us, in each of us, the future of Skyrim! The future of Tamriel!
And there it is, friends! The ugly truth! We are the children of man! Talos is the true god of man! Ascended from flesh, to rule the realm of spirit!
The very idea is inconceivable to our Elven overlords! Sharing the heavens with us? With man? Ha! They can barely tolerate our presence on earth!
Today, they take away your faith... But what of tomorrow? What then? Do the elves take your homes? Your businesses? Your children? Your very lives?
And what does the Empire do? Nothing! Nay, worse than nothing! The Imperial machine enforces the will of the Thalmor! Against its own people!
So rise up! Rise up., children of the Empire! Rise up, Stormcloaks! Embrace the word of mighty Talos, he who is both man and Divine!
For we are the children of man! And we shall inherit both the heavens and the earth! And we, not the Elves or their toadies, will rule Skyrim! Forever!!
Terrible and powerful Talos! We, your unworthy servants, give praise! For only through your grace and benevolence may we truly reach enlightenment!
And deserve our praise you do, for we are one! Ere you ascended and the Eight became Nine, you walked among us, great Talos, not as god, but as man!
Trust in me, Whiterun! Trust in Heimskr! For am the chosen of Talos! l alone have been anointed by the Ninth to spread his holy word!
It's actually really good, biggest issue is that it repeats forever.
When you consider in TES that gods are objectively real and that their priests can absolutely channel their power, and that all priests of a given diety channel that power in the same way, Heimskr is not a fanatic, but instead living proof that Talos is real and a God, and that banning his worship is objectively heretical.
The great absurdity of Skyrim is that there can be no argument that Talos is divine. Banning worship is one thing, but to deny his divinity is just looking at an objective truth and saying "I don't like this so it's not true".
Yet she created the Khajiit. So you could also picture her as a Khajiit. Daedra dont conform to one form. She'll appear as whatever fits the situation best.
If I had to choose one it'd likely be Mara. More accurately though, I'd answer like I answer Uriel in Oblivion when he mentions the gods: "I don't know, I don't think about it."
Hail Sithis.
But seriously out of all the gods Sithis is the only one that offers an afterlife that isn't be a battery, run around as an animal, be immortality with a list of crappy side effects, or 🤷 disappear I guess. Plus, while it sometimes attracts deranged people there isn't anything in the doctrine that is out right crazy. He also regularly gets directly involved with mortal affairs without being a twat like the others through the night mother, and is forthright and honest with followers, Lucien showing up and retaining a personality proves he gives exactly what was offered. There are also instances of contracts being ignored or rejected, implying there is a level of morality to what they do. And the money has got to be steady and sweet af.
If I had to serve one, Hircine. I'm basically guaranteed a good afterlife and all I'm asked to do is hunt honorably. Nothing in his lore or anything suggests going beyond standard animal hunts. Sure, he does have werewolf worshippers but most don't know that. Just feels like a relatively acceptable form of service form of service for a pretty decent god for the most part and in return I get a pretty good end result.
Alternately, I'd probably just try to go for standard khajiit or argonian religion depending on which i existed as. Beast races are best races.
Kynareth is the goddess of nature and the skies. She is most notable for giving Nords the power of the Voice to overthrow their dragon slavers.
Mara is the goddess of love, fertility, and growth. She is generally affiliated with marriage and agriculture. She is also considered “The Handmaiden of Kyne,” so there’s a connection to Kynareth.
Dibella is the goddess of beauty, sex, art, and music. She’s considered the gooner goddess by most, because she is portrayed as a beautiful naked woman and is mostly worshipped by females. But her teachings are about showing compassion and appreciating the wonders of the world.
If we assume that undead became real as well, then Meridia. Putting the mindless dead to rest, and stopping people from raising them, seems noble to me.
Probably have to go with the generic Akatosh. If it has to be a Daedric prince then Azura even though I don't like her probably have the better deal than the other princes
In-game I typically gravitate towards the Nord pantheon and / or Sithis. If I had to choose one for real though I'd go with Kynareth / Kyne. Sky above, Voice within.
Mara, Julianos, and Zenithar. Probably mainly Julianos with Mara in a close 2nd place.
For daedric princes, I might do Hircine or Meridia but more than likely that would require a fair list of prerequisites. I would probably also opt for Azura alongside the 9 divines.
it’s a hard choice: Mara is always a very appealing choice, but I’ve always had respect for Arkay from the preaching of the priest in whiterun, and have always felt Julianos was underrepresented and find the Julianos necklace adorable so get unreasonably happy whenever I chance upon one.
"It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my ass off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime, so where's the motivation? And here's something else, Bob: I have eight different bosses right now."
I think I’d be an agnostic, the elder scrolls gods seem self preserving; only doing godly things to be acknowledged AS gods. I may have to go with the all maker
Akatosh. Dragons are cool, time is inescapable, and I think it's incredibly cool how he still loves the world enough to want it to continue even after humanity literally tried to cut off and purge part of him and in the process broke him for a millennium.
Kyne
My choice as well. I already RP most of my characters as Kyne worshippers.
I IRL practice more nature based spiritual practices so it makes sense
Totally. Myself, I feel like a slave to industry if I don't reconnect with nature on a regular basis.
Came here to say this lmao
Irl? Realistically probably Mara, but if I grew up a Nord I could see myself following Talos
Talos the Breton who formed the Imperials as we know them today. He also did some battle in the reach and left a ghost comrade behind.
He's supposed to be the god of Men, Nords just worship him the most because idk.
the reason is that Bethesda/Ulfric is too lazy to worship the old Nordic pantheon. Like Tsun is still a perfect god in that right. Like im in the belief that Tiber mantled Shor, so another reason for my case
It is said this is exactly what happened. Vivic said that Tiber Septim was the only one to ascend via the 4th walking way, and mantled the god of humanity (Shor/Lorkan) when he did so. Which is why he became the ninth divine. The only way to get that much power was to mantle another divine. Which was the dead god Lorkan. Vivic admitted the old elven religion was just wrong by stating talos mantled such a powerful entity.
Also the old Nord gods are worshipped still. Sort of. Some of them.
Kyne/Kynerath are supposed to be the same person. Then it was belived that Aludin was the Nordic version of Akatosh in earlier games. Now we know Aludin is the first born of akotosh so they did always kind of worship Akatosh cause those previous sources were iffy.
Also we sorta maybe meet kyne on the walk up to the greybeards
Kyne the frost troll, who'd have guessed? (I'm pretty sure you mean the deer, lol, I just thought it was funny)
What deer?
I mean the lady that you can meet twice speaking cryptic shit with lore books in her inventory
There's a woman at one of the shrines, specifically the one about Kyne, that you meet before the troll. When you ask her about herself, she tells you she's "just a pilgrim. Nothing else". But she's wearing a circlet, which usually indicates someone of nobility or importance. Can't remember her name but yeah, there's a theory that she's actually Kyne.
You can run into the other pilgrim when you walk the steps again, but she only ever shows up the first time you go up there.
The lore seems to be contradictory but at least a bit of it says Tiber Septim was a Nord, or that Talos is composed of Nordic individuals. Even if it's wrong, that's what they believe.
And how many Christians think Jesus looked Northern European? Does it really matter if he's a Breton or a Nord, or both. The Nords worship him all the same.
Talos is not confirmed breton but sure?
Nothing says he is definitely a Breton, the best I’ve found is that some sources said he hailed from high rock, but that could easily mean he was a Nord born in High Rock. And the most accepted story of his life was the one where he hails from Atmora, ancestral homeland of the Nords, and his proficiency in the Thu’um and combat skills point more towards Nord in my opinion
his Breton heritage is speculative
Account bases in Summerset Isles.
Account based in Cyrod. Also dude, im out here actually wanting the Old Nordic gods and actual shrine quests in Skyrim, I aint no Khajjit sniffer. (although I do like to larp the Snow Elves hating on the high elves, like you care about your physical self over the spirit sorta difference)
A real Nord would follow Kyne
Julianos
Julianos gang rise up
Jhunal
This one chooses Azurah.
Ah yes. Khajiit thought about saying Azurah, but this one is not a Khajiit irl.
One can only hope
A new hand touches the beacon.
yeah. expected more champions of meridia
She is better than most other daedric princes in a lot of ways but the more recent lore from eso of her hating free will sort of takes away a decent bit of the appeal
I'd pick her if I get to her saying the line every time I reach into the fridge to prepare breakfast.
A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BACON
I have rescued her sword so many times she should truly love me. Just did it again about 30 minutes ago, lol.
Dibella
Gonner?
Boner
A true bard.
Ahh I see
Nah Maphala is for the depraved shit.
Tell that to Haelga
can’t a woman enjoy a pair of daedric boots in the bedroom without being judged?
Mephala isn't about gooning. She's about making other people goon while you backstab them.
That has not stopped mephala followers from gooning of course
As an accountant, i suppose Zenithar?
Akatosh
Hermaeus Mora. 1000%
Auri-El the GOAT
Anu maxxing
Dibella with Nocturnal as my secondary choice
i know what kind of person you are
I said what I said! Lmao
Nocturnal picked the lock to your heart...or your pants at least?
He’s not gonna murder them. He’s just gonna… love them tenderly.
Dibella. I love the arts, design, music, playing instruments, entertaining, merriment, pleasure, cooking, hedonism, sex. I’d ask her to bless me with unlimited imagination and creativity to enhance my artistic ability and relationships.
I dont know why, but I've always gravitate towards Mara
last night I just finished the waking nightmare quest.
me, an agent of mara, standing there waiting for vaermina to stop her panicked attempts at tempting me into killing a priest of mara in exchange for a shitty staff
Same, since we’re in the post-Tribunal era and I can’t be an AlmSiVi simp, it’s Mara for me.
TALOS THE UNASSAILABLE!
Talos the mighty! Talos the unerring! Talos the unassailable! To you we give praise!
We are but maggots, writhing in the filth of our own corruption! While you have ascended from the dung of mortality, and now walk among the stars!
But you were once man! Aye! And as man, you said, "Let me show you the power of Talos Stormcrown, born of the North, where my breath is long winter. I breathe now, in royalty, and reshape this land which is mine. I do this for you, Red Legions, for I love you."
Aye, love. Love! Even as man, great Talos cherished us. For he saw in us, in each of us, the future of Skyrim! The future of Tamriel!
And there it is, friends! The ugly truth! We are the children of man! Talos is the true god of man! Ascended from flesh, to rule the realm of spirit!
The very idea is inconceivable to our Elven overlords! Sharing the heavens with us? With man? Ha! They can barely tolerate our presence on earth!
Today, they take away your faith... But what of tomorrow? What then? Do the elves take your homes? Your businesses? Your children? Your very lives?
And what does the Empire do? Nothing! Nay, worse than nothing! The Imperial machine enforces the will of the Thalmor! Against its own people!
So rise up! Rise up., children of the Empire! Rise up, Stormcloaks! Embrace the word of mighty Talos, he who is both man and Divine!
For we are the children of man! And we shall inherit both the heavens and the earth! And we, not the Elves or their toadies, will rule Skyrim! Forever!!
Terrible and powerful Talos! We, your unworthy servants, give praise! For only through your grace and benevolence may we truly reach enlightenment!
And deserve our praise you do, for we are one! Ere you ascended and the Eight became Nine, you walked among us, great Talos, not as god, but as man!
Trust in me, Whiterun! Trust in Heimskr! For am the chosen of Talos! l alone have been anointed by the Ninth to spread his holy word!
I never realised how long this sermon is 😂
It's actually really good, biggest issue is that it repeats forever.
When you consider in TES that gods are objectively real and that their priests can absolutely channel their power, and that all priests of a given diety channel that power in the same way, Heimskr is not a fanatic, but instead living proof that Talos is real and a God, and that banning his worship is objectively heretical.
The great absurdity of Skyrim is that there can be no argument that Talos is divine. Banning worship is one thing, but to deny his divinity is just looking at an objective truth and saying "I don't like this so it's not true".
Which could obviously never, ever happen.
{nocking arrow, drinking invisibility potion}
We have a man turned god here
Kyne, Julianos, or Azura
isnt azura more like the dark elfs? in my head she has grey skin and dark hair 🤔
Yet she created the Khajiit. So you could also picture her as a Khajiit. Daedra dont conform to one form. She'll appear as whatever fits the situation best.
Yeah they change depending on who they're interacting with. Sheogorath has an Alfiq cat form as well - the skooma cat.
All of the religions seem to have different understandings of them... Though they all seem to be true in their own way.
Of course some aspects are kept in obscurity and not made explicit to the reader - just theorized in books, but they have to be like that.
Knowing everything straight up, true/false would ruin the diversity and freedom the universe has to offer.
I love everything about this comment.
Hircine lord of the hunt
Kyne, of course
Definitely Nocturnal......"I call upon you Lady Nocturnal, Queen of Murk and Empress of Shadow... hear my voice!"
Shadows preserve you acolyte.
Azura , she is very interested in things going well at least. Don't slight her and you're set.
And honestly it’s pretty easy to stay on her good side.
I'm partial to Hermaeus Mora personally. Reasonable risk of going absolute bonkers hooting mad but I would learn a lot potentially.
I've done enough psychedelics, I'm ready for Apocrypha. 🤣🤣
https://i.redd.it/5221msbsxnag1.gif
Rajhin, gotta love a trickster god, and a trickster cat god is even better
As an avid wikipedia reader and a documentary enjoyer, I simply must choose Hermaeus Mora. I need all the knowledge.
Sheogorath
cheese! For everyone!!
Zenithar or Stendar
My choice would be Stendar as well, I wish you could join the vigilants in game, they seem awesome.
Yea , Its shame that you canot , i mean Dawnguard is cooler but still
The nine
Just like, in general
Nocturnal always, i love that daedric goddes
She might not be the night mother, but she is def the Night Mommy.
Azurah's Wisdom to you friend
Probably Arkay
Stendarr
Hircine probably.
Most likely Mara. Maybe Kynareth.
Namira
AKATOSH
Nocturnal is a baddie.
Only one? Probably Julianos. Zenithar is good too.
Aedra and Daedra are different. Daedra are closer to demon rulers than gods.
Found the Stendarr worshipper
Mara all day every day!
The world (and I) needs a metric shitton of love, compassion and a feeling of belonging.
In real life, I dated a woman who played Skyrim, and whenever I touched her between the legs, she'd gleefully scream: "A new hand touches the beacon!"
So I guess Meridia.
Probably Jyggalag because I like things being in order (autism)
Nocturnal … or Azura
I’m forming an offshoot sithis cult in the middle of nowhere where we actually do religious rituals instead of killing people
Sheogorath, I'm as weird as he is
He’s the only worthy one
Azura and maybe Sanguine
Sanguine is a good choice
Smash next question
Whatever the Reachmen believe in
Daedra mostly. Hircine is a must.
Mehrunes Dagon is my boy.
If I had to choose one it'd likely be Mara. More accurately though, I'd answer like I answer Uriel in Oblivion when he mentions the gods: "I don't know, I don't think about it."
Mephala. I have an erotic obsession for spiders.
Hircine, as I live for the hunt
Probably Lady Mara or Lady Azura
Hircine for SURE.
Hircine Soreäry but im into werebeasts
Based on the fact I spend more time on Wikipedia than all my other internet activity combined, I would say I already worship Hermaeus Mora
Hail Sithis. But seriously out of all the gods Sithis is the only one that offers an afterlife that isn't be a battery, run around as an animal, be immortality with a list of crappy side effects, or 🤷 disappear I guess. Plus, while it sometimes attracts deranged people there isn't anything in the doctrine that is out right crazy. He also regularly gets directly involved with mortal affairs without being a twat like the others through the night mother, and is forthright and honest with followers, Lucien showing up and retaining a personality proves he gives exactly what was offered. There are also instances of contracts being ignored or rejected, implying there is a level of morality to what they do. And the money has got to be steady and sweet af.
If I had to serve one, Hircine. I'm basically guaranteed a good afterlife and all I'm asked to do is hunt honorably. Nothing in his lore or anything suggests going beyond standard animal hunts. Sure, he does have werewolf worshippers but most don't know that. Just feels like a relatively acceptable form of service form of service for a pretty decent god for the most part and in return I get a pretty good end result.
Alternately, I'd probably just try to go for standard khajiit or argonian religion depending on which i existed as. Beast races are best races.
Mara, Dibella, Kyne and Hircine.
I'm a feminine h****y hippy werewolf at heart.
Molag bal for granting you immortality and a possibility of goth vampire gf.
Whoever the Khajiit serve. Or the god of the thieves guild.
Probably Mara
There’s only one God I serve and that’s the Lord Jesus!
Gods are for wankers. I'd serve some cool daedric prince, like Sanguine or Sheogorath
Those are gods.
Hermaus Mora. The consumer of knowledge will give me power for knowledge. I must seek the farthest corners of this realm to find knowledge.
Honestly Peryite
[deleted]
Nocturnal
Shadows preserve us
Who is the most noble and selfless?
Probably Mara, Dibella, or Kynareth.
Kynareth is the goddess of nature and the skies. She is most notable for giving Nords the power of the Voice to overthrow their dragon slavers.
Mara is the goddess of love, fertility, and growth. She is generally affiliated with marriage and agriculture. She is also considered “The Handmaiden of Kyne,” so there’s a connection to Kynareth.
Dibella is the goddess of beauty, sex, art, and music. She’s considered the gooner goddess by most, because she is portrayed as a beautiful naked woman and is mostly worshipped by females. But her teachings are about showing compassion and appreciating the wonders of the world.
Nocturnal honestly best dedric prince
Mephala queen of SEXXX
If we assume that undead became real as well, then Meridia. Putting the mindless dead to rest, and stopping people from raising them, seems noble to me.
Finally, someone with taste! Let us rid the world of the foul undead, brother!
Sanguine. Id bring a six pack to his altar.
Stendar, I wish you could join the vigilants in game. Their religion seems the most chill and wholesome.
There's no chill with the vigil. Straight up abomination slayers.
Sanguine 100%.
In Skyrim you have get the fun in while you can
The 9 are not present, they seem to me a bit like the deities we have here.
I would choose the Daedra, but among the many I would choose Azura 😅
What's the blessing of Mara then? Why does a shrine of Arkay provide 25 bonus health?
None. I’m already beholden to my boss, my landlord and the revenue agency. Not enough pie left for gods
Already serve a real god but for ansering your question it would prob be Talos
Based answer
Either Juhnal if I have no chance of ascension myself, or Shor if I do.
Shor or Mara.
Probably have to go with the generic Akatosh. If it has to be a Daedric prince then Azura even though I don't like her probably have the better deal than the other princes
Talos
Realistically the divines, but I could see myself praying to Azura
In our modern world, probably zenithar would have the most benefit
In-game I typically gravitate towards the Nord pantheon and / or Sithis. If I had to choose one for real though I'd go with Kynareth / Kyne. Sky above, Voice within.
Zenithar if I have a job
Stendarr, with Akatosh over all
Mara or dibela.
Mara, Julianos, and Zenithar. Probably mainly Julianos with Mara in a close 2nd place.
For daedric princes, I might do Hircine or Meridia but more than likely that would require a fair list of prerequisites. I would probably also opt for Azura alongside the 9 divines.
Kyne, Mara, Julianos, one of those three
Mephala
100% Talos worshipper as a kid, then go to the Bard's College, start to think the Empire ain't so bad, and go full Dibella devotee.
it’s a hard choice: Mara is always a very appealing choice, but I’ve always had respect for Arkay from the preaching of the priest in whiterun, and have always felt Julianos was underrepresented and find the Julianos necklace adorable so get unreasonably happy whenever I chance upon one.
Either Meridia or Mara
I'm partial toward Stendar this world could use more justice
Mara and Kinaret. And in IRL I would be a Khajiit mage.
Julianos or azura probably
"It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my ass off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime, so where's the motivation? And here's something else, Bob: I have eight different bosses right now."
Step on me Meridia-sama…
Man, thanks to certain artist who depicted Azura as this girlfailure dunmer, I always forgot she has other form.
Shezarr. The world existing is pretty cool
Stick around :)
I mean, Mara is probably the logical choice here, though if I'd fallen on hard times, Nocturnal.
Daedrs
Hircine
Monotheism is extremely underrated
Merida or Azura
i always pick up that beacon, and i have a soft spot for Dunmer
if daedra don't count, probably Talos, despite always being an imperial soldier. i just think he's neat
Sheogorath because the whole madness thing is absolutely hilarious
If Akatosh existed irl, does that mean we would be Dragonborn irl too? Since Dragonborns come from Akatosh?
Daedra. They all have pretty decent benefits.
Sheogorath. So much of this world is already mad anyhow
Azura, hands down 🙏🏻
Dibella
Nocturnal
I think bandar would be cool, or periyte, mara, diabella. One of them
I'm surprised nobody has said hermaus mora yet
talos
Zenithar. I like MONEY!
I think I’d be an agnostic, the elder scrolls gods seem self preserving; only doing godly things to be acknowledged AS gods. I may have to go with the all maker
The hist
Julianos. I’m a scientist after all
Akatosh. Dragons are cool, time is inescapable, and I think it's incredibly cool how he still loves the world enough to want it to continue even after humanity literally tried to cut off and purge part of him and in the process broke him for a millennium.
Zenithar, gotta make that cash money
Realistically Mara and Kyne.