So I'm replaying Dawnguard, and I just got to the Soul Cairn, which is a fun place. Anyway, Serana (pretty much the poster child for contradictory lore) brings up how the Ideal Masters might be the floating gems, or they might have done away with physical form, and use the gems as a way of communication. Or they might be something else entirely.

And then it hit me. We've known about the Ideal Masters since Battlespire. Which came out 16 years ago, and we still don't know a damn thing about them.

Are they some unknown collection of Daedric Princes? Or are they Prince-less Daedra, like Atronachs? Maybe they're (formerly) mortal necromancers who took over a slice of Oblivion? Are they all of the above, or something even stranger?

In short, what the hell are the Ideal Masters, anyway?