As far as I understand, Alessia set up the foundations for what is now the Cyrodiilic pantheon, the Divines, as well as a bit of other stuff. She created it by saying it so. I get that she did make stuff up, but how much exactly? Is the Amulet of Kings truly not as meaningful as it's made out to be, or does it actually have power?

The Eight Divines was a well researched synthesis. As such, despite being a political creation, one must remember that it is still accurate. Except for all the gods being lovey dovey best friends instead of the Lorkhan/Akatosh wars in all the rest of the myths.

And yet, we have seen the Gods among us. Alessia's Maybe Is. Even if the Nine are the really the lies of a peasant, is it unthinkable that they might become the truth?

It became true. That's why Alduin was defeatable. That's right, kiddies, Alessia told a lie that saved the world thousands of years later.

I like "fabricreation." That basically sums it up. She took aspects of Nordic and Elven parts of each god and combined them and over time the gods began to adapt to their fast-growing worship in those forms, becoming what the Eight Divines religion said they were faster and faster as it picked up more adherents. This happened retroactively especially because one of he gods thus changed was the Time god.

The gods of nirn are shaped by belief. The princes aren't.

A fabrication that happened to be true.

The amulet of kings absolutely is as important as it's made out to be. Even beyond all of the religious connotations, it's the stone of White-Gold tower and the key to preventing a widescale Daedric invasion. I don't know how much about it being the heart of Akatosh is true, however, because the red diamond in the center is the Chim-el Adabal, a giant soul gem from the Ayleid empire.

What I don't understand about White-Gold and it's purpose is that White-Gold was, at the time of Allesia's rebellion, under the control of the Daedric-worshipping Umaril. Why didn't Umaril just deactivate White-Gold and summon Oblivion Gates to crush Allesia's rebellion? If he did, there's no mention of it happening.

And how did Allesia get the Chim-el Adabal anyways? I know that it was bestowed upon her at her death, but how did they get it from White-Gold in the first place?

The Ayleids being daedra-worshippers appears to be, in large part, Imperial propaganda. Umaril was a servant of Meridia, but there's no real evidence of any great love between, say, Mehrunes Dagon and the Ayleids. They even used the same language as the Dwemer, rather than writing in the Daedric script like the Chimer/Dunmer.

Someone was able to nick the Chim-el-Adabal, make the amulet of kings around it and then give it to Alessia. The amulet surrounding the Chim-el-Adabal could be theorized to have been designed to alter its function and thus by extension the function of White-Gold. So someone basically hacked White-Gold to stop daedra rather than help them.

I know that the Ayleids in general weren't Daedra worshippers (many Ayleid ruins have statues depicting Auriel flying away from Mundus and Oblivion back to Aetherius) but it doesn't change the fact that the ruler of White-Gold was in fact a Daedra worshipper, yet did not bother deactivating the Tower to allow an Auroran army to invade.

Or does White-Gold only apply to MD's Oblivion sphere?

But he did summon an Auroran army.


There is a *subtle* difference, after all, between being allied with a daedric prince and having them aid you in battle, and turning the entire world over to their power.

Any good leader would know that allies aren't to be entrusted with too much power. Byzantine Emperor Alexios Komnenos asked for western help. But he didn't let the Crusaders into Constantinople (and for good reason).

Umaril was no Mankar Camoran. The Ayleids didn't want to overturn the existing order. They wanted to maintain it.

Ah okay, that makes sense. Was under the impression that Umaril was actually a high king of sorts of the Ayleids, rather than just a champion of them.

Why did she do it? Power?

Politics. Cyrodiilic Nedes had come to adore the Aldmeri pantheon, but her Nordic allies were devout in their hatred of all things elven.

It was the better, if less interesting, answer for everybody.

For reference, it's in the book http://www.imperial-library.info/content/shezarr-and-divines To note, the main focus is why Shezarr looks like a complete pansy in front of Shor, along with why Shezarr is absent, in large part, in Cyrodiilic culture.