Just was curious so I figured I'd ask. Nords worship the Divines and there are shrines to Arkay all over the place but you can soul trap any Draugr you come across. I'd assume that that would be against Arkay's law, plus they would already be in Sovngarde or the Dreamsleeve. So what's the deal guys?

hello, as far as i know, within what you learn in game, Draugr , are the cursed nords who once served the dragons, thus having no honour are denied entry to Sovengarde, and as far as i know not every nord goes to sovengarde, pretty much similiar to val halla. Only those who fought well or died well..ie: with honour

Arkay's law isn't immutable.

Oblivion has the black soul gems and Hermanius Mora's soulgem. Both are capable of capturing the souls of people. And, it seems that Arkay's Law doesn't cover people who aren't mortal either... or everything that has intellegence above that of an animal. (Vivec, Almalexia, Liches, Dragur, and Goblins, for example.) It seems more like he managed to modify every soulgem on Nirn so that they can't capture the souls of Humans, Elves (Orcs are elves), or the Argonians and Khajiit without modifications, but allowed them to capture the souls of everything else..

iirc, Arkay's Law is an applicable thing. Of sorts. The priests have to do a prayer to grant safe passage; otherwise there's always a reverse lifeline tethering you back to your decaying zombiecorpse. In the old game Redguard, one powerful necromancer had a Soul Trap snared over an entire island (basically everywhere, in-game). You even catch one family amidst a funeral; the mother is a mystic, praying for her relative's spirit. Having trouble at it too.

And then I guess this is why you can soultrap / voodooraise nearly everything you meet. No one prayed for them. Perform a finisher and move on :>

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On a fun note, Arkay must hate his job. Or really love it, same thing.

Mannimarco constantly steals office supplies
Dagon sends in paperwork by the hundreds

And then there's Molag Bal, inventor of Vampires and Soul Gems.
Granted, some gems might grow underground
Most likely, the Prince aint choosey
AND BAL DID LOVE UNTO A HILLOCK

Other way around. His law prevents dead people properly buried being raised and is unwavering, his blessing protects the souls of the living and is flexible.

I wonder if the law is something simple like, "ground their bones to meal" or "remove all the human flesh from them." It would explain a lot, come to think of it.

Seems to be more of "bury them, and say a few words."

I think Arkay's Law seems to only ask "Is it marked as a creature or NPC?" And Mannimarco provided a loophole around that....

No, that was Arkay's Blessing he learned how to bend, it seems. In order to get another person's soul, they have to give you permission. Obviously, no one is, and the Black Soul Gems seem to be the loophole around that.

With the law, it means you just wasted a good hour for nothing.

Have we ever seen them go more in depth about it? I really can't say I remember much of any non-dunmer culture's burial practices.

All I know is the Nords (and apparently Imperials) inter their dead in crypts/mausoleums.

Another thing is that Draugr are also formed from Nords who have committed Cannibalism, eating the flesh of their own so even in death they crave the flesh.

I'm pretty sure Arkay's law only work for the living not the undead

Actually, http://www.imperial-library.info/content/morrowind-preparation-corpse-volume-one-acquisition-corpse mentions how to acquire bodies in each land and a bit of the burial practices.

Thanks for reminding me! That was an interesting re-read.

It's a book series that people sorely neglect, especially with necromancy and how different cultures view it.

Azura's Star. see Azura

Hmm... Something stood out to me, there...



I guess the Green Pact isn't so inviolate anymore, after all.

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Anyway, to answer the OP's question, all forms of undead are soul trappable in all the games.

Of course, this may not mean as much as you might think, as all forms of undead are soul trappable, and so are Falmer just because they have a hunch in their back, or any other "creature", because Arkay's Blessing seems to stem from any character that is capable of wearing clothes, not from being of a specific set of races. Golden saints were "creatures" in Morrowind, then "NPCs" in Oblivion, so they were soul trappable in Morrowind, but not soul trappable in Oblivion. No explanation was given for the change.

In fact, dunmer can soul trap their own ancestor ghost in previous games... Repeatedly. Stick that in your "ancestor worship" and smoke it.

The Green Pact, I think, is very orthodox to the bosmer. [This is me taking your line as "Aha, not everyone obeys it".] As a light joke at real life, I doubt many modern Catholics avoid meat on Fridays.

As for the Dunmer, I find it amusing players could soultrap the Ancestor Spirits, and other ghosts for that matter. Their ancestral worship (and/or necromancy) had quite a bit of fine print. I recall that most ghosts, presumably and hopefully, who protect the Family do so out of honor. As someone said above, a ghost goes mad if bound against its will. Interestingly, "as punishment," faithless Dunmer spirits might be bound to their family's grave. Make up their debt through undead service. O dear.


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on another note, I forgot about the wording between Arkay's Blessing and Law.
Funny that the Divine Crusader receives +5 willpower from Arkay.