After Morrowind I felt a deep respect and adoration for Azura, prince of dawn and dusk.

Not only did she send me visions, her subtle machinations paved the way for the Nerevarine, from the teachings of the ashlanders to the securing of the moon-and-star.
After Dagoth Ur was defeated she tasked me to keep Morrowind safe, to fight its evils, I was the protector of Morrowind.

But, as the infernal city revealed, Baar Dau fell and my beloved Morrowind was sundered.

I was heartbroken at that news.

And even more so I began to wonder, where was Azura? Why did she do nothing?
Supposedly she cared for Morrowind, she could have prepared another hero through dreams and visions, she could have warned Divayth Fyr, she could have done something.

Why didnt she?
Now Im suspicious by nature and I feel it may be because her supposed love of Morrowind was daedric trickery. A means to an end, something to rally mortals and assure her revenge against the Triune. After all, the Triune and Dagoth Ur directly disobeyed her by using Lorkhans heart as a tool for ascension.
If that is true then she is cunning and ruthless indeed, and my worship of her sorely misguided.
This is what I fear.

Or could it be that she was simply unable to intervene in the machinations of another Daedric prince, Sheogorath, who hurled the moonlet at Vivec city in the first place?
Some ancient code, custom or law amongst the Daedra, that prevents them from interfering in each others actions.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
I really hope that Azura can remain a Daedra worthy of worship, but as it stands, I have doubts.
Can someone reaffirm me in my faith?

Or do I have to abolish her and start adoring Meridia instead?

Why'd you take her ring, bro? She's got you whipped.

From what I understand, Sheogorath didn't throw the moon at Vivec CIty, he tricked it into heading in that direction. Or somehow redirected its course; an orbiting body would already be moving at an incredible speed. I doubt Azura had the power to stop it.

I kind of feel bad for Sheogorath; he never gets the credit he deserves for his machinations. The same goes in the case of Almalexia going nuts and killing Sotha Sil.

Ive often thought that maybe Sotha Sil survived and Almalexia killed one of his machinations, infused with enough of his essence to trick her. She did say he never spoke.

Maybe he is still down there, trying to repair his machines. Maybe Baar Dau falling was in some way because his machine isnt working properly, as stated in 2920.

"In the smoky catacombs beneath the city where Sotha Sil forged the future with his arcane clockwork apparatus, something unforeseen happened. An oily bubble seeped from a long trusted gear and popped. Immediately, the wizard's attention was drawn to it and to the chain that tiny action triggered. A pipe shifted half an inch to the left. A tread skipped. A coil rewound itself and began spinning in a counter direction. A piston that had been thrusting left-right, left-right, for millennia suddenly began shifting right-left. Nothing broke, but everything changed.

“It cannot be fixed now,” said the sorcerer quietly.

He looked up through a crick in the ceiling into the night sky. It was midnight. The second era, the age of chaos, had begun.
"

If his machine broke in the second era it wouldn't have taken the moon till the fourth era to fall. It obviously fell both because Vivec lost either the ability or the want to stop it and/or because the machine Vuhon built exploded.

You're missing the context of 2920. Dagon stomped on the City of Almelexia. The Imperial line was dead (yet again). A serpent sits on the Dragon Throne and it'd take another Era for the Empire to rise again.

An Era had ended, the world had changed. That's the message of the passage.

Azura was using you as a tool to get back at Vivec and the tribunal from the very start. She doesn't care about Morrowind, or any mortals. Her only care is vengeance and power. She's the same as every other Daedra Prince, I don't know why you'd think she was different just because she gave you a ring and some honeyed words. You'd think you'd be able to see through that.

Azura is a manipulative [censored]. That one is not unarguable. The difference between her and Vivec, is that while Vivec cared about Morrowind for a long time, she never did. It was just a hissy fit between her and Vehk that you got used as a pawn in. At least Vehk came out on top in the end.

Read the Trial of Vivec for more Azura bashing. It is scary.

(Link in my sig)

I read the trial of Vivec, and it is indeed scary.

Vivec comes across as a vengeful evil guy. Poor Azura.

Ho-hum, maybe I shouldnt fall for the way things look this time..

Good for Vivec, getting even with that manipulative trickster!

But now Im stumped. I think Ill go worship Meridia instead, although I suppose with her as well appearances can be deceiving.
Im not interested in the Aedra as an Altmer, but I do seek a kind of spiritual life, and a Daedra worthy of worship.
If Meridia falls through there is always Mephala, I suppose.

No Daedra is worthy of worship, they care not for the welfare of men and mer.

Azura got what she had coming.

Azura is nothing more than a petty prince, and I'm also glad the novel addressed this too. Why you think she's great means you are already blinded. There's a reason why those who enter her realm become half-blind.

Vivec had decided some time ago that for Morrowind, the enchantments on the Heart had to be destroyed to stop Dagoth Ur. Almalexia was slowly losing her mind, probably courtesy of the same mad Daedra Prince that redirected the moon towards Vivec city in the first place. Azura only gave them the instrument required to put their own plans into motion.

since Azura turned the Chimer into Dunmer, could she change them back???

I'm personally reluctant to believe she did it in the first place; I think it had something to do with whatever the Tribunal did to the Heart. Sure she changed a few Bosmer into kitties, but the Heart changed an entire race into divine flesh.

Meridia has her own pot of trouble. She helped the Ayleid Umaril Sorceror achiece immortality and come back to destroy the empires of men. although i suppose if you are a High Elf you wouldn't have a problem with that.

If you wanted someone to worship then your best bet would be to create your own god and shape him to your beliefs. But then you might end up like the Dwemer (which isn't necessarily a bad thing)

Follow a walking way. Try not to erase yourself though.

The Dawn always follows the Dusk, never the other way around.

To play the Daedra's Advocate here (given my position, I am well suited for the task), Azura's purview is not WHAT will happen, exactly, but WHEN. The Tribunal and by extension the Dunmer abandoned her back in the First Era. Being the Mistress of Change, she was forced to act and reinforce that abandonment by changing the Changed Elves, but she also swore vengeance, vengeance she reaped with the Nerevarine, again changing the landscape of Dunmeri politics, religion, life, etc. Change that set forward a series of events that killed the Tribunal and brought Baar Dau down. Was she aware that it might happen? Maybe. I'm not privy to her mind's workings, but because it was there, because it was going to happen, you knew that Azura was eventually going to have to determine when it happened.

The destruction of Vvardenfell and occupation of Morrowind is a trying time for the Dunmer, yes. But just because the Sun set on happiness and rose on adversity doesn't mean that the Dunmer (or any Azura worshiper) should abandon her. She cares for the Dunmer, just like I care for the Altmer, and she knows that this time will grow the spirit of the Dunmer people. It already has, look, they've put aside their ancient animosity towards the Nords. Don't fault her for being malicious enough to destroy Vvardenfell, praise her for choosing that moment, when the houses were at each other's throats, when the Empire was weakest to act, so that that horrible moment that she could not have prevented, only delayed, would have the greatest impact on their character.

I have to hand it to you; very nice reply. Very nice indeed. Almost makes you sympathise with Azura once again.
Not sure I believe you, but you have a silver tongue in any case . What's your Speechcraft level?

nooooo im gonna say it....im gonna say it.....noooot


Its over 9000!

god you knew that was coming.... :brokencomputer:

I must agree, nice post.

YOU would...

But then again, maybe you wouldn't...I wouldn't know, personally. And I am have asleep, lol. But... Does she care? What about the Oblivion quest line from her? I am too lazy to look it up, and feeling a little ill atm, so my memory isn't great. But could that help shed some light on either side?

I think all Daedra are evil, while Aedra are not. Debate all you want, but the Daedra refused to participate in the creation. That selfish tendency from the beginning till the end is why I call them evil, they'll always be self-serving and use others to fulfill their desires. They do not care about anyone other than themselves.

Though in some ways, you could say, according to your explanation, MD, that Azura is like an omniscient god whose work is perfection, much like the Christian. Rather than what the person wants, even while thinking it is the best, the god knows what is best and will do what is best. That is what I got from your explanation.

The ultimate purpose of the Daedra Lords is to instruct and improve the generally deplorable character of mortals.

The Elder Scrolls Morrowind is the greatest game in the history of the universe.

I say Morrowind sux, and it gets censored.

Daggerfall svcks

haha

Depending on who you believe, the Aedra didn't want to participate in the creation of Mundus either, but got tricked into it by Lorkhan.

But they are altmer, and they're always wrong.

Nice quote, lol. I disagree with it, though. And besides, look who it comes from, lol.

I stand by my selfish theory, lol. They all proved their intentions before the world was created.