I have a question regarding the fine details of Conjuration, and wondering if there is a full explanation about it anywhere that you guys know of.

Particularly - does Conjuration as a magical art, access multiple planes of Oblivion?

For instance, when summoning Atronachs, does that mean the mage would access Mehrune Dagon's plane of Deadlands?

What about Skyrim, when the player can learn to summon Ash monsters - are they coming from Apocrypha? Same question about familiars - where do wolves (Skyrim), ghosts (Oblivion) come from? On the UESP page for Conjuration it mentions that Bound Weapons are Daedric in nature, but fails to specify what plane they come from - in Oblivion they are represented as being similar to the Deadland's Daedra's weapons, but in Skyrim they're simply ghostly weapons.

Thanks to all who answer, I'm giving out (virtual) icecream!

Atronachs aren't aligned with Mehrunes, they aren't aligned with anyone save for flesh who were created by a Necromancer who serves Sheogorath. Ash spawn are also not Daedric, they were created by the magic left behind by the Heart of Lorkhan, when RM erupted it's believe that stones imbued with the magic of the heart landed there, these stones being called Heart Stones. An ash guardian is just rocks and ash, kind of a mimic of an atronach but not really one.

Perhaps it's possible to summon something from Mundus. Daedra can be summoned on their home plane.

Ghosts and all other bound undead are from Soul Cairn. Animals from the Hunting Grounds most likely.

*edit*

Didn't see you asked about bound weapons too. IIRC, Those are the soul of a Dreamora temporarily formed into a weapon.

I don't think that's true.

It would have to I imagine, since you're plucking the Daedra out of Oblivion in the first place. Familiars and the like though are sort of lost on me though, I don't think there's anything necessitating that they're from Oblivion in the first place. There was a familiar that took the shape of a dragon, so...No clue. Bound weapons on the other hand...if I'm not mistaken, they're actually Daedra molded into the shape of a weapon, but that might be my head-canon gone astray.

I don't think that's possible, as even their artifacts need to fade on their own before the Prince can reclaim them. Unless you have a individuals express permission, it might not be possible otherwise. Not sure if its a two way street with the Daedra though.

Then again, Sheogorath plucked the PC in Skyrim, though he may of had to use some form of conduit to do so.

I really wonder how daedra that are not aligned to any plane or those who may switch sides come into play here. Aren't those spider daedra things known to have switched their lords several times throughout known history?

Even so, where do Atronach's come from then? The games rather vaguely refer to Conjuration

as the art of summoning creatures from other planes (I think that's taken almost word-from-word from TES:4). Knowing that Soul Trap works on summoned creatures, does that mean that the Mage is actually trapping a soul into a body of his desire? Is there actually no difference between what the mage summons, except for the quality and size of the soul?

OH GOD. I never knew that! I feel so bad about randomly summoning weapons all over the place, and using them to kill Daedra.

A familiar was typically a spirit animal or creature that agreed to serve under someone as for animals in general the Skaal had the power to summon animals to them through the power of nature, in Morrowind the Dunmer could ask their honored dead to assist them either spiritually or physically, back in Morrowind we could even summon our dunmer character's ancestor. For something like summoning dead in skyrim and oblivion I think that is just a lesser form of necromancy, taping into an afterlife and temporarily pulling the spirit out to serve under you.


Daedra aren't born, they were always around. They don't die or age but supposedly they can reproduce notable examples are Umaril the unfeathered who was born from the union of a Daedra and a mortal, Nerevar, Alandro sul and Almalexia were all said to be the sons and daughter of a Daedric prince (Nerevar and Ayem were Boethiah's and Alandro was Azura's)

Each Daedra we see has lived since the time of the Et'adas. Also if you're about to ask about Flesh atronachs, I don't consider them true Daedra but an attempt at mimicking atronachs.

Regarding Dunmer, in Oblivion (maybe Skyrim, not sure), you can summon a Dunmer's Ancestral Ghost, which did some pretty spectacular damage, all things considered.

You say Deadra are always around, so what happens to their souls? Soul Trap takes a soul and harnesses it inside a Soul Gem. From there, a user can imbue a weapon with that Soul - so essentially, the Daedra is still alive, in a way, like Bound Weapons?

Just another point (I don't know enough of Dunmeri, never played Morrowind), the Nords strongly believe in Sovngarde, which is quite real, as far as we can see. But where do Dunmeri souls go - do they all go to Sovngarde, or do certain races go to certain different planes?

(also, what happened to all those mudcrabs I've slaughtered? Disgusting they may be, but they have souls - where do Mundus animal souls go to?)

They become the weapon I guess until the weapon is destroyed, we don't really know much about soul trapping and what happens to the souls. Dunmer tend to goto the place they are aligned with but from what we've seen from Morrowind they are still connected with Mundus, as someone stated in another thread the Dunmer will most likely end up in Azura's realm, Boethiah's or Mephala's since those three are the most worshiped gods in Dunmeri religion.

I hate to nitpick but Umaril's father was not a Daedra, he was a god of a previous kalpa. Umaril became part Daedric (I suspect that it was his divine side that became Daedric) through his pact with Meridia.

Other than that, yeah, it's pretty ambiguous. I figure that only those who took part in the divine pact could reproduce, hence why Malacath can have a mortal son (and the stuff about the Daedra being the Dunmer's ancestors I figure as misinformation or outright lies perpetuated to conceal the truth of the Tribunal's ascension), but that doesn't explain how Molag Grunda came about.

Perhaps Molag Bal did have some sort of part in the Divine Pact. It'd explain a lot about his trying to pull Nirn into Coldharbour in TESO and according to the Remanada, also during the interval between the fall of the Alessian Empire and the rise of the Reman Empire.

Atronachs come from various Outer Realms. When a daedra is slain or banished, its soul is recycled through the Waters of Oblivion where its body is regenerated. I imagine it must be possible to summon from inside Mundus as ash spawn aren't found anywhere else. I recall it being mentioned in a previous topic on the subject that conjurers were summoning water into a city from a nearby lake, but I can't recall a source if any were given.

It is possible. We see Spriggans summoning bears in Oblivion. I imagine some "druidic" Bosmer could also do it in theory[no source on that, just my supposition]. If Spriggans can do it, then it should be possible for others. Particular those who follow the ways of Kynareth/Y'frre.

You're thinking of the Spider Daedra of Mephala. They are considered very difficult daedra for conjurers to permanently bind in a "loyal state."

[1] Yes.

[2] The elemental Atronachs are akin to mercenaries. They will serve any Principality that "pays" them well. That is why they are common amongst conjurers(especially those we see in Skyrim). They can be "plucked" from many realms since they aren't tied down to any particular spot at a given time. Where-as summoning Xivilai may require some knowledge or awareness of the Deadlands, and Seekers may require some connection to Apocrypha. But Atronachs can be interacted with from many realms at once.

[3] I imagine they are summoned from the "ash of Red Mountain." Red Mountain is a "mythical" place in of itself so... yeah... Or perhaps, you are summoning their "spirit" from an outer realm, where monsters that do not align to any AE go to? Not sure on this. Easier to just say they are created by the mind(knowledge and understanding of Heart-Stones as taught by Neloth) or from Red Mountain. Take your pick.

The wolf spirits and undead likely come from the "outer-realms." I am reluctant to say Soul Cairn specifically. The Soul Cairn has it's own variant of Undead that we can summon. But I like to imagine the powerful undead from TES Oblivion(Lich and Wraiths) could also be from the Soul Cairn. Shambles also seem to be specific to the Shivering Isles, but I also find them very reminiscent of http://uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Undead#Bonelord. Perhaps being of similar design rituals. Them being found in Shivering Isles and not in Cyrodiil is more of a game-play issue to me.(complications of having SI creatures mixing with vanilla leveled lists)

The bound weapons in Skyrim may be ethereal, but if you inspect closely, you will see that they are still in fact, the same exact design as Daedric weapons. Just like the bound weapons in Oblivion being the same as Daedric.

Well the Daedric gods were all et'adas like everything else, everything started out as an et'ada so the way I see it the Dunmer still consider the Daedra as being their ancestors like how Altmer see the Aedra as their ancestors "Daedra" in Dunmeri does translate to "Our stronger ancestors" implying they see the Daedra on the same level as the Aedra (aedra meaning "Our ancestors" in aldmeri). also I honestly don't see why a regular Daedra can't get pregnant, it never really made sense to me.