Hey guys, as I've said before, I'm not real great with TES lore (I love writing but TES' lore gets me confused ), so forgive me if this is all incorrect, but I have a few questions/comments/theories on the Soul Cairn.
First question: I assume that Bethesda wanted the Soul Cairn to almost be like the TES version of hell- a place where souls are imprisoned for eternity facing fear and torment all the time. The main difference, of course, is that the Soul Cairn isn't for evil's entrapment, but rather the Ideal Masters don't discriminate towards anyone. That being said, in Christian beliefs, you cannot escape hell once imprisoned there, but is that the same case with the Soul Cairn?
I know that the bodies of the souls are most likely long-gone, considering some of them refer to distant past events and people (IE- one refers to Potema). However, would it be possible for a soul to escape the realm? It seems like the souls trapped there enter a state of psychosis, so I'd assume they'd be too confused to try to find a way out, but just imagine one of them COULD think straight: would there be a way for them to work together with non-trapped mortals (or immortals) that visit the realm, and perhaps find a way to be released from their prison and go to Aetherius?
Second question: Can the Soul Cairn potentially be destroyed? It is a realm of Oblivion, and it's not entirely clear if a plane of Oblivion can be destroyed or not, since the realms seem to be an extension of the Daedric Prince involved. However, the Ideal Masters do not seem to be Daedric Princes, but rather, some other form of life. Say an individual grew in power so much that they could potentially destroy the Soul Cairn- if they were successful, what would happen to the souls that were trapped, and what would happen to the Ideal Masters? Did the Ideal Masters create the Soul Cairn? If they did, it'd be possible they'd be destroyed with the Soul Cairn, but from all we know, the Ideal Masters were once mortals. If an individual was able to destroy the Soul Cairn, would the souls be freed or destroyed with it? Additionally, what would happen with soul gems, particularly the black variants, if the realm was destroyed? Would they lose their power altogether or would people still be able to use them?
Third question: Aside from the above two scenarios, if an individual had enough power, would they be able to set all the souls inside free? If, in example, the Daedric Princes all joined together (I know how unlikely that is- just saying, for the purpose of this question), would their power be strong enough to set the captive souls free from this realm, or are the souls trapped there for literal eternity?
Thanks ahead of time for any response, and again, I apologize for any ignorance.