I was wondering today what exactly they're for. They're in most 6th house shrines, including small personal ones and the almost bosmer-sized ones in the centers of rooms. I remember a quest in Ald'Ruhn implying they might be some kind of dream-emitters or mind control devices, but it's been a while. Specific Dagoths are responsible for sleeper states of dunmer, as when those certain ones are killed, the sleepers in towns become "cured." If they can do this from so far away, why use the statues?

Also, are they actually made of ash? You would think if they were, the ash used to make them would come from Red Mountain. But this raises the question of why they need to be smuggled in boats... If they're being shipped from the mainland, where are they being produced?

Speculation?

Recall that when Morvayn purchase (or acquired) an ash statue and placed it in his home, corprus beast sought him out and attacked his home and killed him in Ald Ruhn.

Not saying this is their primary use though. Think they are simply a sign of the Sixth House.

Whoever makes the statues has to make the shrines, hammers, bells and all the other 6th sixth houe crap too. They look like they are all made from the same material.

Ask yourself how the coprus beasts knew where to go ...

I always felt that the statues were attuned to the mind of Dagoth Ur and likely spread both the blight and coprus too.

It is as if they rest dormant until a signal is sent or whatever and then they create a mental, emotional and spiritual environment in which the contamination and the creatures thereof can thrive.

Remember in the 6th House Shrines there are those pyramids with shelves, and on each shelf there is one of the ash statues? On example is where the gloves are to be found. I believe that the pyramids were used to 'charge the Statues up' with some kind of foulness. Then when the statues were fully charged the dreamers would pack them up into crates and give them to the Nord and Imperial smugglers to distribute to their agents in the towns and cities.

There are various quests and locations that appear to support this view if you think about it.

They probably make owners more susceptible to dream sendings.

The Sarethi Ash Statue had enchantments on it to either allow Dagoth Ur control of Varvur like a sleeper. The Moravyn statue drew Corprus Stalkers to it. It appears that they may act as sort of antennae for Dagoth Ur to channel his power more effectively.

In my opinion they're two things :

* a way for Dagoth Ur and his servants to channel their power - ither by acting as a beacon or radiating the power stored/pumped into them.
* symbols of faith and devotion, like a cross hanged on a wall or the like.

There is something new there Manu - that they might also be a way to channel worship-power to Dagoth Ur - maybe his version of the Shrines = 2 way

Or are they the cause of the dreams the dreamers & co get? Atleast from what i remember. Dunno though, so I'll just shut up

Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Aren't you also warned in that quest to not keep the Statue or be near it longer than needed because something bad might happen to you? This would suggest that Dagoth Ur could use them to spread his power- as a portal for 'reaching out' to new dreamers.

This is also very logical.

But the question is yet to have been answered: from where to they come (why are they smuggled in ships?). Maybe the ships are involved because of some relation to Ilunibi?

Because Vvardenfell eats wagons for elevenses and he wants to increase his power base on the mainland. It made sense to simply tap into the huge network of preexisting monopoly-dodgers running goods back and forth.

The.Z.Man, the Emperor specualted that once Dagoth Ur took Vvardenfell he would take the Mainland and then sweep accross the entire Empire - true. But I do not think Dagoth Ur was at that stage quite yet. I suspect that he was using ships as a less traceable method of distribution, employing already established networks to spread the rot - there are Vivec City-based Quests especially the criminals that use the Waterworks and deeper levels of Vivec that support this view re smugglers remember? This would be a stage in creating the necessary network to distribute to the mainland later.

Also remember that Vivec is accessible via the water so that fits too.

Ahh, yes those are both grand explanations, particularly the latter. Thanks 1999.

Mmhmm, some insightful replies. I think we can all agree they're used at least to spread Dagoth Ur's power somehow. I admire the character, he's truly a genius. Mad, perhaps...
After some research I couldn't find anything at all on the 6th house paraphernalia physical makeup/creation process, but I think there might be some ebony in that stuff? Dark in color, heavy, and most importantly, easily enchantable and susceptible to magic. Plus there seems to be plenty of raw, unworked ebony in and around the mountain so he'd have enough to make quite a bit of worship material. Hmm... could someone drop a link explaining how ebony is turned into daedric metal? (if that is where daedric metal comes from, I forget) There may be something in there supporting this.

http://oblivion.wikia.com/wiki/Daedric_armor

Its a little bit, and not very indepth- but its a start! Hope that helps.

Ironically I found three of the statues while wondering the waterways and kept them in my house until I knew what to do with them. It was something like a year (in-game) until I learned what they were and got rid of them. No ill effects. But that's because I'm Nerevar and I'm way too tough to be affected by some silly statue. :meh:

Lol Scourgicus

I think Colossus has something there - Ebony was the metal used in the creation of all Daedric weapons and toture has been said to be a part of their creation for sure. Then those statues have a distinctive red colouring. Given the process that makes coprus beasts u have to consider that there is enough pain and anguish there to create a thousand daedric statues - even if they were not acually 'Daedric'.

In The Netherlands we celebrate a festival called Saint Nicholas Eve. Just like Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas and his helpers sneak into people's homes and leave things there.

A popular gift is a speculaaspop, a large to medium sized cookie in the shape of Saint Nicholas.

There are parallels to Dagoth Ur. First of all, both Dagoth and Saint Nick have a beard. Dagoth has Ash Everything helpers, and the people who impersonate the helpers of Saint Nick traditionally make their faces black with a burnt cork. Both use boats for transport, both are associated with religion. They also both put stuff into peoples homes.

So there you have it. The ash statues are the speculaaspoppen of Dagoth Ur. There are even two different sizes of ash statues in the CS, if memory serves me right, and they exactly correspond with the sizes of speculaaspoppen.


I'm not serious about this, in case you were wondering.

Their like little Rings of Power. You can bash them, cut them, cook em in a stew and they'll still drive you [censored] insane.

Also, the Sixth House is directly involved with smuggling, as lain out by Addhiranir:

And Ash Slaves are also known for eating ash statues and Black Pete is known for the tentacles growing out of his head.

What did you think they were, curls?

They exist to give [censored] song material to black metal bands. :headbang:

The time I saw the ash statue in Morvayn Manor in that black corner of the house gave me the creeps. At that moment, ash statues appealed to me. I kept one (just one, for getting more than one may cause nightmares) and placed it beside a candle that emits red light for that eerie feel. I really love how Dagoth Ur works.

Yes, they are probably used to channel Dagoth Ur's power or spread influence across the provinces. The things may also hold ash inside contaminated with the Blight. Thinking of how the statue works just gives me little tiny goosebumps

Smugglers won't give a damn as long as they get paid.

From what the statues themselves are made of, I can say clay, some metal, a bit of small shiny jewelry and a sprinkle of Dagoth Ur's undying love for you

i always thought that ash statues were a symbol of fate