so I've gotten to the point where it's said that Almalexia(Ayem), Vivec(Vehk), and Sotha Sil(Seht) are the three false gods. if those are the false gods, who are the real ones?

Lorkhan, whose power they feed off of.

And the Daedric Princes whom were the original patrons of the Chimer: Boethiah, Mephala, and Azura.

Well, if you look at the book "Overview of Gods and Worship" one might speculate that there are no gods, just spirits with greater or lesser powers. Of course you could also follow the Dark Brotherhood and believe that the only entity is Sithis...

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Nine_Divines#Nine_Divines

Depends on the culture and view. Many races believe that Anu (Stasis) and Padomay (Sithis) were the original creators. Then, for example, the land of Nirn was born when Lorkhan's heart was shot into the ocean. There are many gods if you wish to see it that way.

THOR

The Tribunal are real gods. From a certain point of view. It's not as clear-cut as the Dissident Priests and Ashlanders would have you believe. They all have their own opinions and views but none are the entire truth.

The Nine Divines could be considered gods as well, no? At least from the Imperial point of view.

Well yes, technically all gods are made up. If anything they are the "most real" gods since they are tangible and actually real.

umadreligiouspeople?

That's just Azura spreading her slanderous trash-talk. If you pay attention, you'll notice that there is no prophecy, no nerevarine, just a few politicians who messed with a powerful artifact without considering the ramifications and one very angry Daedric prince going on a revenge trip because they killed her mortal friend.

The daedra have a real hard time wrapping their minds around the concept of mortality. That's what this whole mess stems from.

EDIT: but "god" is a relative term. Your true god is the deity you choose to worship. I'd suggest not worshipping Almalexia or Sotha Sil. You'll find out why soon enough. Vivec, on the other hand, is pretty badass.

The big baddie in Oblivion has some VERY interesting theories on Lorkhan when you get to the climix of the MQ. Having beaten Morrowind years before getting Oblivion, when he started talking about Lorkhan and his theories, I was like "whoa... that's pretty awesome."

But to answer your question, the Tribunal used the tools of Kagrenac to leech power from the Heart of Lorkhan, as an above poster said.

Aside from that, the Daedric Princes are indeed real and have powers, if that makes them "gods." They're essentially immortal, as being slain in the mortal plain of Nirn doesn't kill them, rather send them to Oblivion. Mehrunes Dagon has a knack for trying to invade and getting banished to Oblivion.

Also, the Aedra are very much real. Those are the gods the Imperial Cult worship. Akatosh and the like. You also meet one in Morrowind if you look hard enough and read between the lines.

But gods in the Elder Scrolls are different than real world religion. We worship believing in faith, and receive what we believe we receive. In the Elder Scrolls, they worship to beings that are known to exist, but only for mercy enough to get something out of them, which rarely happens.

Honestly, even though he killed Nerevar and stole godly powers, I think Vivec is the mot charitable god in the Elder Scrolls universe by far.

I though the 3 tribunals where considered Demi-Gods be cause they are mortal, but have Godly powers.?.?

They aren't mortal, actually.

They are called "man-gods" in the game. All their powers and their immortality come straight from the heart. Once you destroy the heart, they are killable, once again.

Before anyone says something like "But I can/can't kill Vivec/Almy even before/after the heart is destroyed!", here's a clarification. Once they are still able to draw divine power from the heart, the Tribunal have two levels of existance. I guess they have both their incorporeal form somewhere (in Aetherius? The immortal plane.) and their corporeal form on Mundus (> Nirn > Tamriel) at the same time. You can kill this corporeal form at any time; they don't become stronger or weaker in the game no matter what happens to the heart. (Although, lore-wise, they are growing weaker all the time. This isn't part of the gameplay though.) Once this avatar-on-earth is dead, they're still living elsewhere. On the other hand, when the heart is destroyed, I think they lose their incorporeality and only exist as mortals once again. When you then kill the corporeal forms, they cease to exist permanently.

Here's how Vivec says it in topic "to be a God".

It is a bit like being at once awake and asleep. Awake, I am here with you, thinking and talking. Asleep, I am very, very busy. Perhaps for other gods, the completely immortal ones, it is only like that being asleep. Out of time. Me, I exist at once inside of time and outside of it.

It's nice never being dead, too. When I die in the world of time, then I'm completely asleep. I'm very much aware that all I have to do is choose to wake. And I'm alive again. Many times I have very deliberately tried to wait patiently, a very long, long time before choosing to wake up. And no matter how long it feels like I wait, it always appears, when I wake up, that no time has passed at all. That is the god place. The place out of time, where everything is always happening, all at once.

So, they lose their ability to be "asleep" the second the Heart of Lorkhan has been destroyed, because their divinity only depends on it, unlike with "real" Gods.

This topic requires a real lore digger to fully explain everything asked here IMO. The way I see it, the Tribunal are opportunist mofos that leech divinity to truly achieve fame and gain control over ordinary people (mer).

Well, that's part of the intentional ambiguity of the MQ. The Temple tells you that the Nerevar was killed in a glorious battle. The Dissident Priests say he was murdered as a prelude to a power grab by the Tribunal.

I don't believe we ever really find out which, if either, account is factual. But then, I've just come back after a few years so my memory of things might not be quite up to par yet.

In other words, it's all up to you what to believe. Are you really the Nerevarine? Is the Tribunal good or bad?

The best way to know their motives is probably to speak with the Tribunal directly.

It's a shame about Sotha Sil. Almalexia is the greedy, power hungry jerk incarnate. But, she may have been different at the time of the battle for Red Mountain. Immortality may have made her this way.

Vivec is very mature and enlightened, but immortality may have matured him. He may have been a jerk at the time of the battle.

So, nevermind. I guess there is no way to truly tell.

Everything points to that her corruption only happened recently. People remember her roaming the streets, helping the sick and poor. She's called The Healing Mother and whatnot. She's known of her mercy. I think her downfall bega only recently when she noticed she's not as strong as she used to be. When this kept going on and on, she finally became worried, then desperate. It's as if she crossed the line into madness just a little time before the game starts. I think she's actually steadily getting worse and worse throughout the Tribunal MQ. So, I don't think she was that power hungry. She acted quickly, without thinking, out of desperation.

You make a good point, but to be fair, Bill Gates is also publicly charitable despite the fact that he's always been a greedy jerk.

(this is the same hams magoo as before. I just had to re-register because the forum administrators, in their infinite and superior wisdom, deleted my password and sent me an email, just assuming that the email address I had back in 2007 is still active).

Todd Howard. He's the real one.

Gotta admit you're right.

Anyway, why would people respect her undeniable sense of justice and mercy, then? Might be because she has been their god for a long time, and it's kinda what you have to do. Admire her.

Wait, what? Could you elaborate? I would really like to know who that is

Wulf

He is an avatar of Tiber Septim.

Ah, figures. I havent seen him yet

Wulf appears in Ghostgate late in the main quest. You can meet some of the other Divines during the Imperial Cult quests, too.

There are also an avatar of Mara and one of Zenithar in the game, at least. The Imperial Cult questgiver priestess can explain these to you.