Which is why it's remarkable.

The fact that Vivec would bow before a mortal doesn't lessen him as a person. It elevates him to a new level. Some people wouldn't recognize class and humility if it bit them in the face. With great power comes great responsibility. Any god that goes around neglecting and stomping mortals like ants isn't going to be very popular. Even the Daedra show some restraint.

As for how "Strong" they were...I guess you're looking for some kind of battle power statistic?

We never see them at their strongest. During the events of Morrowind and Tribunal it's been hundreds of years since they had access to the Heart Chamber. At the peak of their power, they could bring the dead back to life, could cast a water breathing spell on every person in Morrowind simultaneously, could duel a Daedric Prince (with some difficulty) and freeze a meteor in time and space. Those are very impressive feats by any standard - far above what single mortals could achieve in their stead.

But as for "who would win" topics I'm not sure those are applicable. Sotha Sil and Almalexia beat Mehrunes Dagon, but it took both of them and Almalexia was badly wounded. To complicate matters further, they had the home field advantage - Daedric Princes would not be as strong on Nirn as within their own realms. He didn't have access to his full strength. So if we just had to do a "who would win" topic they're weaker than the Daedric Princes, and weaker than the avatar of Akatosh who appeared in the Imperial City. I think. That's how I'd rank them anyway.

But to give some mention, Almalexia is kinda dumb. $10 says Almalexia just pushed Sotha Sil aside, as he was about to whip out some killer magic, causing him to face plant into something hard, and get herself really hurt for being extremely reckless.

how dare he svck arrogance he over steps his station the crazy old man shouldve struck him down

If her fighting style from Tribunal is any indication (and I realize it's just game mechanics) she'll throw a spell or two and then charge in like a blood-drunk razorback with no regard to her own safety. It doesn't help that the Tribunal aren't very big on armor or clothing in general, either. Not that Mehrunes Dagon is. In fact most of the gods in the Elder Scrolls find themselves in various stages of undress most of the time. In Cyrodill the stained-glass representations of the Divines are usually robed or otherwise fully clothed but that's just Imperial prudery. When Akatosh actually appeared he was in all his naked, golden glory.

In any event, I like to visualize the fight between the two Tribunes and Mehrunes Dagon kinda like the duel between Anakin and Obi Wan against Count Dooku in that second awful prequel movie. The dumb kid (Anakin in the movie - Almalexia here) charges in, overestimating her ability, and loses a limb or two for her trouble. While she's lying there with her guts hanging out, the Wizard waves his hands and traps Mehrunes Dagon within a perfect geometrical prism of his own design, then with a summoned scimitar perfectly divides it into Eighths which is a significant number for sorcerers. He spins them around eleven and eleven times and sends them spiraling into opposite corners of Oblivion - which is really REALLY inconvenient and probably ticked Dagon off a lot, but probably gave the other Princes a big belly laugh. It seems like something Sotha Sil would do.

I dunno, HGJ, Sotha Sil looked pretty clothed and armored, even though he was dead when we saw him. Everything else, yeah you're right.

Nah. That's not armor. That's the metal thing he built to house his organs and computer interface. He had it way back in the tapestries, but the arms are new. They're too skinny to be Dunmer arms, although he colored them similarly. They look more like the sinewy limbs of his Fabricants. I think he was rebuilding his own body the way he was trying to rebuild the world. At some point he got bored and just uploaded himself into his computer for good. If he's anything like me he has that thing set on "simulated argonian love level five" and keeps it there. Who can blame him? He got distracted and never did get around to building himself a decent pair of legs. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I was told this by a pig, and pigs don't lie.

Well, when you're an all powerful wizard and a god, do you really need legs? You can just float and fly around! Legs become dead weight by that point. Almost same with the arms, which is why they look extremely atrophied and kept his nails not trimmed.

Those were BATTLE NAILS, dude. The arms were deceptively weak looking...they had an adamantium skeleton inside.

His disembodied arm needs to be modded into Skyrim as a useable weapon the same way the Nord leg was in Bloodmoon. I long to scraqe the meat from a dragon's face with the battle nails of Sotha Sil.

It also makes a great back scratcher.

Lets make this simpler. Who is more powerful? The strong warrior, the quick thief or the clever mage? The problem is not only how to measure but what to measure and once measured, how to compare and what to compare.

Are we in a http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards

MK on who is the "most powerful" being.