#Akatosh. Divines

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

If we’re in trouble, just throw a Dragonborn at the problem and hope for the best.

Akatosh, often, definitely

#honestly #akatosh #divines #aedra #last dragonborn #dovahkiin #sometimes it works out sometimes it fails spectacularly #first dragonborn #miraak #oc: leara roseblade #oc: aurora orianus #martin septim #st alessia #nerevar queue and star #incorrect quotes #incorrect elder scrolls #incorrect skyrim quotes #incorrect oblivion quotes #tes #the elder scrolls #skyrim #the elder scrolls v: skyrim #oblivion #the elder scrolls iv: oblivion #source: tumblr

[incorrectdaedra]

Akatosh: "I don't have the energy for this."

Mortals: "For what?"

Akatosh: *gestures vaguely*

#source: unknown #not a daedra but still #akatosh #tesblr #the elder scrolls #nine divines #tes #incorrect quotes

[fabeong]

Why the last dragonborn was created:

Akatosh: I can't watch this disaster anymore.

Akatosh, covering his eyes: Guys, tell me when Alduin stops making such a fool of himself!

Mara:

Arkay:

Talos:

Zenithar:

Dibella: 

Julianos:

Stendarr:

Kynareth:

Akatosh: Guys?

Arkay: We'll tell you!

#akatosh: yeets his youngest child at his oldest #this dragon dad is tIRED #Skyrim #skyrim incorrect quotes #akatosh #alduin #the last dragonborn #skyrim ldb #all the divines just shaking their heads at the dragon-kids' antics

[nerevarbignaturals]

If I was the hero of kvatch i would simply fuck martin septim. i'm just built different

#martin septim #hero of kvatch #oblivion #it's loving martin septim hours #i wish i could be a priest of akatosh instead of a withering homosexual #not that i don't love withering and also being homosexual but #i feel like i could be both those things and also a priest of akatosh #akatosh #the nine divines #the eight divines

[endawn]

haven’t finished the game on a durge pt but !! a resist!durge finally escaping bhaal would make him so happy. but. so incredibly bitter. envy. he’d eat that emotion, though. it’s selfish of him to feel it, he thinks. he’d never lash out at them for it, either. wouldn’t even mention a word. it’s his burden and always will be. though, ironically, it would stir a feeling of hope no matter how small. maybe someday he too will be free. maybe.

#❪ ⋅ ✹ ⋆ —┊ ❛ study. ❜ ❫ #❪ ⋅ ✹ ⋆ —┊ ❛ ooc. ❜ ❫ #( molag’s grip on pax’s soul is so tight ) #( it would take all of the divines combining their power to wrestle it from him ) #( currently they are silent on the matter ) #( stendarr is the one who feels the most regret for this me thinks ) #( and would be for saving pax. arkay too ) #( and kynareth ) #( but then there’s still dibella - mara - zenithar - julianos - akatosh ) #( <- AND TALOS. i knew there was someone i was forgetting lmao which is ironic considering the thalmor )

[the-old-caius]

In Ten Commands: Nine Divines, the section about Akatosh says "Serve and obey your Emperor. Worship the Nine, do your duty, and heed the commands of the saints and priests.",

which basically assigns authority based on status, and whether that's just Imperial propaganda or not, it's still the idea that the Imperial Cult of the Divines operates under, and I think it offers an interesting perspective on Martin's character regarding his past as a daedric cultist,

where, instead of turning his baseline morality around completely, he simply went from seeking power for himself in the Cult of Sanguine to choosing to serve the Divine that granted might and authority to absolute rulers, essentially still assigning righteousness or goodness to those who hold the favor of Akatosh- vague as it is. The subsequent developments of the Main Quest put him in an even more interesting position like that. It all goes in circles; dragon-brain kicks in when he's young and he leaves the Mages' Guild to become a cultist, seeking magical knowledge and strength. People get killed and Martin becomes a priest, out of guilt or fear, now serving the powers that be- still viewing the vague idea of power as something good, presumably either regardless of whether an Emperor is morally good or not, or because he believes they are morally good, or because his own sense of morality does not matter in the face of a divine command. [Having the Emperor on the throne is a necessity at this point, but is serving them?] Basically, he hasn't actually changed the fundamental beliefs that caused the problem in the first place.

And then he's suddenly the subject of those ideas, now the people around him- the Blades, and citizens of Bruma- viewing him in that light, a figure in divine favor and thus worthy of servitude and admiration. And that's obviously not good- simply being the son of the Emperor doesn't make him an adequate ruler and he realizes this, and it very suddenly puts into questions the core of his faith. Which is probably why he's like that by the time the Battle for Bruma rolls around.

I like the guy a lot, and I think there's more to him than just going from a hedonist to a fantasy catholic

(This is obviously more of a look at the internal logic of the vague ideals that the religion instills; disputing the dragonborn Emperors' rule likely would've ended badly considering that's literally what the safety of Mundus from Oblivion hinged on for the longest time. (But that just makes the cease of necessity of the dragonfires after Martin's death more weighty.) It's not about whether the Emperors are good, more about that serving absolute and undisputable power is the core of the cult.)

#he had a crisis of faith and a crisis of identity and then Akatosh manifested #the irrefutable truth of a divine being and how it affects the understanding of religion etc #hes dead before he can have the next crisis about what it means when your god has done wrong before yet saved your world #what it means to have a god who is flawed like any being #can you worship something that is imperfect and unjust? #the elder scrolls #oblivion #tes iv: oblivion #martin septim #akatosh #an incomprehensible stream of pothead ramblings #ramblings

[vestige-nan]

The aedra’s fav videogames with little to no explanation:

Aedra are more enigmatic than the daedric princes so this is a bit more subjective 🌙✨💫

Akatosh plays the Spyro trilogy, and if anybody questions it or teases him he goes into a long winded explanation about how actually the Spyro series is so deep and teaches players about resilience in the face of adversity and blah blah blah

You wouldn’t expect Arkay to care for videogames, but he’s actually an avid Resident Evil fan.

Dibella plays app games like Love Nikki Dress Up Queen and Time Princess: Story Traveler and in moments of weakness she’ll send hundreds of dollars on them.

Julianos has played Wizard 101 since it came out and is one of those fans that complains about the developers on Reddit (and rightfully so).

Purely on vibe alone and not relating to her domain, Kynareth plays Wordscapes and sends other aedra/daedra invites via text. Nobody has accepted yet.

Mara will play a variety of different games from Skyrim to Stardew Valley, but literally only does the bare minimum until she gets to the family building mechanics.

Stendarr played Undertale, only ever did the pacifist route, and then cried at the ending.

Zenithar plays Minecraft, and he thinks he’s better than Azura because he builds on survival. He’s also got a railroad connecting all the villages around his house.

Talos enjoys typical “hero goes on a quest to save the world” games like Legend of Zelda, but he has crazy controversial opinions about them and will post them casually on Reddit sparking insane debates and arguments that he doesn’t even participate in.

Lorkhan plays Minecraft and is better than Azura and Zenithar because he builds on the hard mode no cheats.

#tes #the elder scrolls #akatosh #arkay #dibella #julianos #kynareth #mara #stendarr #zenithar #talos #lorkhan #aedra #the divines #the nine divines

[elderscrollsconfessions]

Confession: I did not know that Akatosh and Auri-El were the same Divine for literal YEARS.

#Akatosh #Auri-El #8 Divines #The Elder Scrolls #TES #ESC

[cheeseandstrawberrytartlover]

There he is! The Dragon God of Time! Say hello to Akatosh! Or- Auri-El or- Alkosh or Bormahu! Whatever your favorite culture calls him!

#scales were exhausting to draw ngl #akatosh #aedra #eight divines #elder scrolls #the elder scrolls #my art

[jackals-ships]

And then they all fell to their knees

And begged that drifter, begged him please

As he raised his fist before he spoke

I am the righteous hand of God

And I am the devil that you forgot

asmr you're alduin and this is the last thing you see before your dragonborn (who you let have god killing power) tries to murder you

#jackals barks #dragon priest au #okay 2 rb #the next time i say im gonna do armor on no sleep one of you needs to put me out of my misery hfkkdk /j #anyways hey akatosh you gave the wrong dude divinity bc this ones off their fucking rocker

[akatusk]

building on those tags I have SO much figured out about vyrthur & gelebor that is. Not canon

#I mentioned months ago that dawnguard likely takes place in summer. <- vyrthur is 4351 during Touching the Sky and gelebor is 4323 #He would be 4324 but has a later birthday than Vyrthur. Not that it matters neither of them have any idea how old they are. #Vyrthur was 39 when infected w vampirism. I don't have my falmer super pale at all but he Did have mostly grey hair #*premature graying was common in falmer and some did have seasonal colour shifts but it wasn't widespread #gelebor was like. Late 200s=50s because elf when he was gifted immortality. <- part of why vyrthur (already infected at time) Did That #gelebor wasn't particularly special but there wasn't really any dragonborn right then and akatosh needed to put numinex's soul somewhere #their family did have skills in divination but it was more mundane predictions than vyrthur tries w the prophecy. <- #He DID get right the place of a shifting artifact at the same time a certain person was in a certain place but he tried to control the resu #-result which is Not divination and part of why he fails (even if the ldb fulfills it he meant to do it himself a implied by the bossfight) #I have more to say abt them if y'all want but this is a lot rn #headcanons #falmer

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

Akatosh, handing the Last Dragonborn over to Paarthurnax: You're gonna want one of these.

Paarthurnax: What does it help with?

Akatosh: Everything.

#ldb is very good at errands #you have a hat stolen by bandits hauled up in a random cave that opens into a dwemer ruin where falmer have stolen the hat and taken #that hat down to blackreach where a reclusive vampire coven has incorporated the hat in some dark ritual to summon dagoth ur from the grave #yeah the ldb can get on that #last dragonborn #dovahkiin #oc: leara roseblade #oc: aurora orianus #paarthurnax #dragons #akatosh #aedra #divines #throat of the world #nerevar queue and star #incorrect quotes #incorrect elder scrolls #incorrect skyrim quotes #tes #the elder scrolls #skyrim #the elder scrolls v: skyrim #source: instagram

[aetherderius]

Akatosh, Aedric God of Time

When the Dragon God visits mortal Nirn, he takes on the guise of the Golden Dragon, H'sotaka, and observes the timeline's smallest choices

"Do your duty." - Nine Commands of the Eight Divines

When H'sotaka isn't surveying a battle, or blending in with adventurers, she likes to dress down in Argonian attire (they're, after all, best suited for such a mighty tail)

#the elder scrolls #elder scrolls online #akatosh #argonian #nine divines #eight divines

[uesp]

First Era:

Nords don't like Alduin, the Imperials adopt a pantheon with the dragon god Akatosh. The Nords begrudgingly tolerate this due to some level of inclusion of Shor.

Second Era:

The Akatosh Chantry realizes Nords have conflated Alduin and Akatosh, which is a "brutal misunderstanding". The two should not be considered to be the same being, according to the Akatosh Chantry.

Third Era:

Imperial Cult missionaries attempt to stamp out Alduin as a "heathen god", and get the Nords to fully embrace the Akatosh and the Nine Divines.

Fourth Era:

The Nords have successfully separated Alduin from Akatosh, and consider Akatosh to be a god deserving of worship and is the "force of supreme good in the world", unlike Alduin. The Akatosh Chantry has begun insisting that Nords have fundamentally misunderstood things, and the Alduin and Akatosh are one and the same. Nords don't like Alduin...

#uesp #the elder scrolls #lore #elder scrolls online #skyrim #oblivion #morrowind #legends

[falmerbrook]

Snow Elf culture?

*pulls up a chair*

Perhaps...

A wee disclaimer that I'm not particularly good or creative with developing cultures or societies, but my brain has just latched on to the snow elves in a way where I can't stop myself. But anyway

I developed a lot of this because of a big ass draft for a fic I've been writing on and off about Gelebor and Vyrthur, so a lot of my headcanons are religion heavy. I'll start there:

Gelebor seems to place Auri-El and the Chantry of Auri-El as having significant importance to the Snow Elves over the other gods/temples. He's probably got a bit of bias in that regard since he's devoted his life to Auri-El, but in order to differentiate their religion from the other elven ones I like to think that their religion in general worshipped Auri-El as not even just as the figure head of their pantheon, but almost monotheistical, while the other gods (Trinimac, Syrabane, Jephre and Phynaster according to Gelebor) were like minor divine figures or just legendary heroes even more than in Altmer myth, depending on the interpretation. My idea is that if their culture had been allowed to continue on, it would've eventually become monotheistic, but by the arrival of the Nords they were in a bit of an awkward transition period with it.

I also like to lean into the sun motif with Auri-El that they established in Dawnguard and with Auriel's Bow, partially because it's another thing to make their depiction of him more unique, and in part because it makes some very juicy irony for Vyrthur. Some ideas include:

- The more religious folk tend to pray at noon when the sun is at it's highest. - The two biggest snow elf festivals happen on the summer and winter solstices. As far north as they are, the summer solstice is during a time of year where the sun barely sets and the winter one is during a time of year where it barely rises. The summer one is more jovial and celebratory, with a grand feast. With almost 24 hours of daylight, the festivities last up to three days straight, with folks commonly staying awake for over 24 hours. Most of it is spent outside, with the celebration being focused on making the most of the weather and daylight hours to spend as much time in the sun and the light of Auri-El as possible. The winter festival is as large scale but lasts longer and is lower-key. It also involves a feast but features more winter foods and meat and alcohol. It is more pensive. At this point in the year, there is no full daylight, and so this season is seen as a test of one’s faith and mental fortitude. This festival acts as a break from this trying time, taking time to relax, build community (a strong community will allow them to make it through the winter and strengthen their minds), and bond with family and friends. It is about a weeklong break, where leading up to the festival everyone works harder to prepare for it and allow themselves to have the break. There are activities and festivities, but they remain indoors for the most part and are smaller. - I've referenced this before, but with long winters with little sunlight (due to harsh weather and short days), they see that time of year as a reflective test of will and faith.

Due to their proximity to dragons, it was hard to miss the connection between Auri-El (/Akatosh) and dragons, and so their depiction of Auri-El is either much more influenced by the iconography of dragons, or is a dragon (although their depiction of dragon Auri-El is much more benevolent than the Nord/Atmoran one). I got the idea for this one from this Reddit post (i know I dog on Reddit a lot but this one has got some fun stuff in it, even if it's a bit out there)

^On that note, later in the timeline (post Dragon War (the timeline is very fuzzy on when this and the Night of Tear happens. They are both sometime vaguely in the late Merethic Era I believe, but it's unclear which happens first or how long each conflict is)) some Snow Elves see a sort of unreturned, unofficial comradery with dragons, seeing themselves as both on the receiving end of the Nord's/Atmoran's brutality (disregarding whether it was warranted or not in the context of the Dragon War).

Ok here's some more general cultural ones:

I mentioned my reasoning for this in this post, but I like to think their general settlements were not as permanent, with a larger focus on wood and building into the sides of hills (good for warmth), while their temples tended to be made of stone and much more permanent. This is why there are so few identifiable Snow Elf ruins across Skyrim. Their cities and towns were easy to wipe out, scavenged for resources, or were in good places for Nordic cities (perhaps Bromjunaar was originally the site of a Snow Elf city?), and their temples were either very hidden (e.g. the Chantry of Auri-El) or eventually converted to Nordic temples.

I love this journal in general for gleaning ideas for Snow Elf headcanons for, but one interesting this is the use of "Old Ones" and "Young One". They're treated like established titles. From that I like to think they place a lot of emphasis on the respect of those older than you. The social hierarchy and whose opinions are most valued is heavily influenced by age. Folks call anyone older or more revered “Old Ones” as a term of respect, and anyone younger than them “Young Ones”. Old One is almost never used in a demeaning way, but Young One can be (not always). Typically, “Old Ones” is used in the third person (e.g. you wouldn’t refer to someone directly as “old one”) whole “Young One(s)” can be used as an epithet for someone directly or in third person.

When thinking about death/"burial" customs (needed for some scenes in the fic I'm planning), you have to consider that there probably wasn't a lot of land in a place like Skyrim where someone can be buried. Nords intern their dead in crypts or burn them to get around this, and I like to think Snow Elves participated in something akin to sky burials (at least sometimes). After preparation, the departed's body is left outside on a ledge, cliff, or the temple balcony to be scavenged by birds. This is seen as a metaphorical return to Aetherius, while their soul literally returns to it. They do this even in poor weather or deep winter. If it doesn’t thaw and rot/be scavenged until months later, so be it. The length it takes to rot is considered indicative of how long it takes for the spirit to let go and move on (not in a bad way though. It’s interpreted more in the way of the soul or body grieving). It's seen as if they may wish to wait until spring to finally rot if they want to experience one more warm, sunny day.

Food (I mostly wrote this in my notes in the context of the Forgotten Vale and Chantry of Auri-El, but I think it could work elsewhere as well to an extent): Plant-based food is grown in gardens in the spring and summer, and that that is able to be stored is carefully preserved through the fall and winter. Winter foods include some nuts, dried vegetables, and dried and preserved/fermented grains (like wheat, barely). These foods must be eaten slowly throughout the winter to last, and winter diets are more meat based. Summer foods include apples, cabbage/lettuce, leeks, tomatoes etc. Snowberries can be found in the wild out of season of most other fruits, and provide fruit in very early spring. Occasionally, fungus from caves is harvested, but this is seen as a delicacy (foreshadowing).

Ok, that's it for now. I gotta go to bed. Thanks for the ask!!!! :D

#charlie its always sunny in philadelphia voice 'can we talk about falmer please ive been dying to talk about falmer all day' #mine #ask #tes #skyrim #the elder scrolls #snow elf #snow elves #reading my notes doc while making this and i was really cooking on some things. didnt include them all becasue some are very specific for #that fic i keep referencing #like i had to try to elaborate on the religious hierarchies and duties of each position because that was obviously gonna be relevant #but its sorta half baked rn #also i want to have some more headcanons for later in case someone asks again :)

[endawn]

i think one of the only ways for pax’s soul to be saved from going to coldharbor upon his final death would be for the aedra to directly intervene. merge their divine essence together as a personal fuck you to molag. like, you stole our hero of lore from us and now we’re stealing him back. bring him to aetherius. though, would they? i don’t know.

#❪ ⋅ ✹ ⋆ —┊ ❛ ooc. ❜ ❫ #( i guess it depends on if akatosh allows it ) #( do it as thanks for all he had done as their divine crusader even if he did relinquish the title ) #( stendarr & arkay would be the ones to push for this the most. stendarr being pax’s patron god ) #( and well the god of mercy )