This has always given me a guilt trip during character creation in Morrowind and Skyrim. Don't the stories, and the lore behind those stories, work much better if you play a Dunmer in Morrowind and a Nord in Skyrim? I suppose in Skyrim an Imperial or Breton is close enough as well. It feels really weird for anyone but a Dunmer to to be the Nerevarine though, and for a beast race to be Dragonborn.

In Oblivion it doesn't really matter, anyone can be the Emperor's champion, and in Daggerfall the same, a random member of the Blades. In Morrowind and Skyrim though it seems there is a real "lore correct" race to pick.

Whenever I make a new character in Morrowind and Skyrim I always feel like I need to pick the appropriate race. Anyone else agree?

Do I agree with you? Not really. I prefer to have my Hero's be what race I want, not the posterboy that try's to sell the game.

In Morrowind it could really be anyone. The Nerevarine was meant to be an outlander, who could be anything.

The Dovahkiin could be any race, too, although historically the title's only gone to men - mostly Nords.

Souls recycled through the Dreamsleve don't really get picky about what body their reincarnated into. Not that they remember who they were in the last life anyway.

Cool, I'll read the Dreamsleve stuff on the wiki.

Reading the brief article I am reminded Sovangarde is the Nord aspect of Aetherius, which could perhaps mean Dunmer have their own segregated area as well. Could that mean Lord Nerevar could not come out anything but a Dunmer, as he went to a Dunmer specific area of Aetherius?

In Morrowind, you're an outlander. You can be any race.

Same with Skyrim. You're arrested while crossing the border.

It's not about that really, it's about the spiritual aspects of the characters being directly related to the home race.

If anything, use TIL and NOT The Elder Scolls Wiki.

edit: UESP isn't too bad either.


Not exactly. The only 'proof' that Sovangarde is part of Aetherius (highly unlikely) is our journal entry, which comes from what were generally told here and there and is written from a character POV. As with the Dunmer, for the longest time their souls were used to power the Ghost Fence, and they don't really have an afterlife that I am aware of. Aside from that, souls are generally bound to tombs to protect family interest and such which in the long run probably prevents alot of Dunmer reincarnation.

Okay, well the player in Skyrim has the soul of a dragon, and in Morrowind your soul was snatched away by Azura before being crammed into a new body.

Neither of those imply that they can only be of one race.

I prefer to be the least common race in whatever game I am playing. I look up the demographics and find the lowest percent and join that group.

Azura didn't particularly intervene in the manner like she just plopped your soul from the Dreamsleave. There were numerous pretenders, she only prophesied that one day he would return. She wouldn't be able to dip into the Dreamsleve like Daedric Lords can from waters of Oblivion, otherwise her vengeance would have been far swifter I'd imagine.

No no no... a Nord in Morrowind and Dunmer in Skyrim is the most appropriate and only truly sensical way to play a game that is supposed to be all about doing whatever you want!

Pretenders? Their failures, not pretenders.

If they failed, then they are not Nerevar, so even though they thought they were Nerevar, they weren't. Thus the word pretender. Wasn't it that only the true incarnate could wear Moon and Star?

Only Nerevar can wear his ring. But this has little bearing on whether Nerevar failed many times before finally succeeding. As Vivec said, Nerevar came "again and again."

Aye, but I thought the point of it was that those who failed weren't Nerevar, and those in the Cave of the Incarnate were the failed souls. If any of those were him, then they would not have failed the tests. Note, their ghosts are there right? so it seems obvious that they weren't Nerevar. Perhaps he was more so alluding to the fact that many would come and take up his mantle, as they all no doubtfully called themselves Nerevar.

Someone made a post way back when about how when you are talking to the failed incarnates you are actually talking to past versions of yourself. Anyone have it?

I don't think that wearing Moon and Star is the criteria for being Nerevar reborn. It's Azura's ring, after all, and she chooses who bears it. Those incarnates may (or may not) have had the actual soul of Nerevar, just like you may/may not have it, but it is Azura that determined that you get to wear the ring and they do not. Likewise, the trials you undergo prove that you are/make you the hero of the prophesy, but they do not establish you as Nerevar reborn. It's possible his soul came many times but the bodies were not sufficient. Or it is possible that he never reincarnated, and we're all just playing at the role.

I'm not sure what exact post your thinking of, but this thread has posts that would seem to fit the bill.

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1063268-how-could-there-be-failed-incarnates/page__hl__failed%20incarnate

Luagar's posts were what I was thinking of. Good thread for this topic, too. Props.

Its been quite some time since I've been to the cave, but aren't there actual ghosts there? ghosts are the spirit no? so if there there, then they couldn't have been Nerevar reincarnated, which is what I'm trying to get at.

I'm curious. What race do you play as in Skyrim?

Although the Lost Prophecies require an outlander Incarante, I don't think the Ashlanders and Redoran/Telvanni put up enough of a fight against an Argonian or Khajiit. In a perfect game, not being Dunmer would make it a lot harder.