The True Nature of the Daedra

A essay made to clear up common misconceptions
By Spellwright of House Telvanni, Tedyne Virith
5th of First Seed, 4E125

Introduction

When I was young I was of the many children to have lived through the Oblivion Crisis, while many used this event to add to their fears of the Daedra I was stricken with interest. This interest grew into an obsession as I rose through the ranks of House Telvanni, I became obsessed with books on the Daedra, the artifacts of the Princes, the words of the Reclamationist priests and Wise Woman who came by the Sadrith Mora on their way to the west. When I hit the age of fifty I joined those traveling pilgrims, moving from camp to camp, settlement to settlement, Daedric ruin to Daedric Ruin eventually moving out of my homeland of Morrowind and into Tamriel.

I studied among the College of Whispers, Witch covens, the College of Winterhold, numerous schools and remnant Mages Guilds throughout the other countries and provinces of Tamriel, at one point I was even part of a Hagraven cult and even summoned my own bound Daedra. This is when my interviews of the denizens of Oblivion started.

The Lesser Daedra

To most people the Daedra are thought to be simple-minded creatures, things that are only interested in causing strife to the mortal races of Tamriel and claim souls for their masters, this is the furthermost thing from the truth. In actuality the Daedric personalities are as complex as that of the mortal races. Each Daedra has their own personality, their own drive, their own reasons to what they do and their own reasons for offering their services to a Daedric Prince.

When I first started interviewing Daedra I started with the Golden Saint and Dark Seducer who claim the Shivering Isles or "The Madhouse" of Sheogorath, the Daedric prince of Insanity. What surprised me about these two species of Daedroth it turned out that they served Sheogorath not out of fear which is commonly claimed by some conjurers but out of love and respect. They worshiped Sheogorath like how we mortals worship the Daedric Princes or the Divines. They told me how Sheogorath gave them homes, gave them a purpose and sheltered them from the cold depths of Oblivion's waters. Both also acted differently.

The Dark Seducer was kind, patient, and tolerated my questions and examinations. The Golden Saint on the other hand was hostile, impatient and had a look as if she wanted to kill me, I asked them this and they told me it was how Sheogorath shaped them.

The Misconception of "Creation"

One common misconception is that Lesser Daedra are "Created" by a prince. The Daedra are not created as we are, they have no mothers or fathers, they were not born of anything yet they have clans and tribes, ranks and classes. Some even take different appearances depending on the prince they choose to serve. While browsing ancient documents from the first era in the archives of White-Gold I found a account given by a Legionnaire from the Alliance wars of the second era that described the Dremora of Coldharbour. I present this account below.

"Another one of those damned anchors fell today on the outskirts of Cheydinhaal, Divines damn it, we don't have the man-power to deal with these beasts. I've been in the Legion for thirty years, been all over the Empire and I've never seen anything like these monsters. Their armor so black, so cold...Sometimes I feel I'm starring into the depths of Oblivion themselves. It's like these ice-skinned beasts jumped out of a Skyrim glacier. - Audeius Delius, Legate of the 3rd Legion of Cyrodiil."

This account details the Dremora as having "Ice-skin" which is different from the common Dremora that are summoned from the Deadlands and the realm most Dremora Clans call home, the Havoc Wellhead, this information can show that the Dremora of Coldharbour take on another appearence based on their patron Prince. This shows that the Daedra can take on new forms depending on the prince they serve, it could possibly go further then that but as of now I can't show any kind of evidence for that.

Though there is a different case of a Daedra being "Created" that would be the Flesh Atronach which has been sighted around the Iliac bay and around Tamriel during the Alliance War though I can't comment on the Flesh Atronach but from the accounts I've read they appear to be stitched up corpses that have been imbued with a daedra's essence. I would love the chance to study one of these but they haven't been seen since the third era.

The Clan System

In my interviews with Spider Daedra, Golden Saints, Dark Seducers, Dremora and Winged Twilights I found each one belongs to a clan. A clan system works much like the Great Houses of Morrowind which comes to no surprise given that it was Boethiah who built the Great House system. A collection of Daedra who share no blood bonds with each other but combined to form a clan. They have classes, ranks, purposes, goals, homes and numerous clans have pledged support to different princes and some that there are independent clans who occupy Prince-less realms of Oblivion.

Much like the Great Houses a Daedra can raise to certain ranks and earn privileges in the clan, some like the Dremora are more male driven while others like the Golden Saints and Dark Seducers are female driven. Others like the Spider Daedra or the Winged Twilights work as a collective, the ranks are upheld but are universally meaningless to them as they all share the same privileges.

The "Beastly" Lesser Daedra

One belief that Lesser Daedra like the Orgim, Daedroth, Vermai and Hunger are nothing but beasts, Daedra who have no mind or lack intelligence. This is far from the truth. The "Beast" Daedra choose to not communicate with us because they see us as nothing but prey, they are as intelligent as a Dremora or a Golden Saint. While I was with the Hagraven cult I had the privilege of watching a rare hunt.

A group of Reachmen had contacted us to help hunt down a group of Orsimer who had been raiding the tribe's encampments, the head of the cult had the idea of summoning a group of Vermai and Hunger to hunt down the raiders. At first I was skeptical as at the time I held the same misconception of the "Beast" Daedra but what I saw wasn't something a beast could be capable of. They worked like a Dresian slaver group, they moved fast and picked each one off, I was amazed by the tactical approach these two Daedra groups had used.

We should not under-estimate the lesser Daedra if they seem like little more then a Nix-hound because they will use that under-estimation against you in order to win.

The Independent Daedra

When the common man thinks of certain lesser Daedra they often associate the Daedra with which prince they serve. Winged Twilights serve Azura, Hunger serve Boethiah, Spider Daedra serve Mephala, Seekers serve Hermaeus Mora, Dremora serve Mehrunes Dagon yet when you mention the Atronachs the person will be stumped.

The simple nature of Atronachs are proof that not all Daedra serve princes. The Atronachs clans work as free-agents to the Princes, they are the mercenaries of Oblivion though their pay is unknown. When I look at the Atronach I see proof that the Daedra can choose to be free if they want to and that brings up the question, what if more are as free as these elemental beings?

As such I don't believe all Dremora serve Mehrunes Dagon, I don't believe all Hunger serve Boethiah, I don't believe we should categorize the lesser Daedra so quickly.

So my advice, dear reader, is you put more thought into the denizens of Oblivion. You open your mind to what their true nature is. Don't under-estimate your foes and most certainly don't let your guard down near one.