Do followers of the Aedra normally get afterlives?

It's generally said that souls are recycled in the Dreamsleeve. It seems that afterlives were generally once thought to just be Dreamsleeve induced hallucinations, but the appearance of Sovngarde in Skyrim has since disproved that.

It wouldn't make much sense for the souls of the dead to go to Aetherius because then the Altmer wouldn't view Mundus as a prison and the Thalmor wouldn't be trying to unmake the world. Plus if death was all it took to reach Aetherius they would have all killed themselves by now.

Where do each of the races think they go after death and what are these places supposedly like? Is there a possibility that other Aedric afterlives exist, or is Sovngarde an exception? Would they have conditions to enter like Sovngarde?

Well mostly Daedric followers go to the realm of the Prince they worship. I would imagine that they mostly are recycled through the Sleeve. Look at the way in which the religion manifests itself. Very little talk of the afterlife. Some may go to Aetherius, and that is the prevailing belief as the commoner may not have knowledge of the Dreamsleeve, as evidenced by the opening to Skyrim when the priest says they will send their souls to Aetherius. Heroes of note are most likely exceptions.

The only "afterlives" we definitely know of are Sovngarde and the Far Shores (it's possible the "Aetherius" referred to in Imperial religion is just another pocket realm like Sovngarde born of Imperial faith and ruled by Shezarr-as-Akatosh, and not the true Aetherius, but we don't really have any info on that one way or another).

We know some Imperials have their souls housed in ancestor moths after death, but as above, there's no real hard and fast rule that we know of for whose souls go to "Aetherius" and whose get reincarnated.

The Redguard religion refers to the Far Shores, but whether that's a Sovngarde-style afterlife or true ascendance back to Aetherius, we again don't really know.

The honest truth is that as far as in-game literature is concerned, the various afterlives are a really poorly-explored subject. Part of the problem is that the entire idea of an afterlife is a very mannish concept (trapped forever in your weak mortal form, cut off from the possibility of ever escaping back to godhood) - it was the job of Oblivion and Skyrim to explain these concepts better, and they were a pretty big letdown in that regard (Skyrim did a very nice job of representing Sovngarde aesthetically, but a piss-poor job of telling us what it actually IS).

The problem is what you're thinking of when you say "go to" Aetherius. They don't travel anywhere. They get absorbed back into the source of all magic. Soul gems/enchanted items/mantella all prove that souls are magic. Thus we can expect the energy to come from the same source as all other magical energy.

Mortals only THINK they are going there to live a rosy after life. In reality, they are the "flesh for the Earth bones" from the Commentaries and the "lunar currency" from Vehk's teachings.

Sovngarde is an exception to this rule. It is Shor saving his favored souls from the recycling process.

Also every Daedric realm. Souls go to their aligned AE. If that's a Daedric Lord, you go to their realm.

What about the Dunmer then? They mostly follow Daedra, so do they have some sort of cultural afterlife? Isn't there something called the Halls of Azura? Or do all Dunmer willingly allow themselves to become bound to a Ghostfence type thing?

The Imperials certainly believe their spiritual identity will be maintained in Aetherius, even if this conflicts with lore on the Dreamsleeve. There are multiple references to this in vanilla Oblivion and in KOTN. The most notable of all is Martin's insistence that he is in the halls of his fathers. The fact he's speaking from the afterlife during the MQ's outro is pretty convincing. Although, being Emperor and Dragonborn may afford him special exceptions. The spectral Blades at Sancre Tor believed they were going to go see Talos again, too.

Well it's been implied that they believe in rebirth and reincarnation. Or at least thats how it came of as described by Othreloth

Well I should first clarify that this is all uncertain. What I wrote above was theory based on scant and contradictory evidence. I've thought about it a lot though since I initially started working with the idea and I think it pans out.

The Dunmer I think are much more like humans than other mer. The difference is they are the only ones who don't buy the lie of the elven gods (thanks to Boethia, Veloth, and Vivec.) Coming to this conclusion requires a careful reading of obscure texts such as the Commentaries, The Loveletter, the Lessons, and Vehk's teachings.

If you want, and if I find the time, I can do a big long quoty post about it.


What the Imperials believe is the the lie of the elven gods.

Everybody used to think that Sovngarde wasn't real either. Given what we've seen so far, I think it's quite possible for the followers of the Aedra to end up in Aetherius.

The difference is the "Sovangarde doesn't exist" theory was not source at all. It was a theory born of narrow mindedness and an unwillingness to challenge dogma.

The "elven lie" on the other hand is well documented and mentioned in a variety of texts and by a variety of developers including those who have nothing to do with MK.

Couple of things to point out. First, Vivec is a documented liar and Boethiah's spheres encompass lying. Heck, it's even a part of the ritual to summon Boethiah in TES V.
Second, of course other cultures will assume the beliefs of men and elves to be a lie, because they have different beliefs than those cultures. How can you be sure which ones are the correct ones? And how can we be sure who's telling the truth and who's lying, especially when many of those speaking are on record for embracing deception? Third, the elven lie is not simply "you go to Aetherius when you die", it's far more than that. Disproving one part of elven belief does not necessarily disprove the whole. Fourth, if Shor, as well as Nocturnal, Hircine, and Mankar Camoran can gather souls of their faithful, what's stopping the Aedra from doing the same?

That's not what we're talking about. Mystics. Not just cultural differences.


Never said it was.


Nothing. Its the method of "gatherin" that is at issue.


They svck um' dry.

Its just one interpretation obviously. And ya, its largely based on those who are hostile to the Altmer world view including those that just about everyone agrees is a bad guy (Mankar Camoran.) Lots of other evidence seems to show that the Aedra are benevolent.