Ok was wondering because was under the impression that dragonborns were not hereditary but each one was chosen by the gods and born as one and only in a time of need.

Now I thought the septims were something special, not xragonborn but called dragonblood. Reason being because it was only the emporers who were able to light the dragonfires because of the pact alessia made with akatosh and it went and held by her decendents. It even words gave the thought that didnt have to direct decendents, just people of like mind and goals. The actual decendents that were directly borned from her kin, could wear the necklace without ceremony and that the ceremony was there for two reasons. One to inform the unaware person of the pact, and the second to bimd them to the pact decendent or not but of same goals. Which would explain the dunmer emporer and Martin.



Question is, were the septims actual dragonborn when its sated that they are only born at a time of need or are they similar bit something different?

Could someone clarify which it is and with source, because if so....that svcks. That would mean there are a ton of dragonborns in the world and that they really dont fesl all that special Im teally confused. I

Dragonborn/blooded is both hereditary and in times of need. See the Book of the Dragoborn:http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Book_of_the_Dragonborn

The ceremony was not to bind the dragonborn to the Amulet of Kings, it was to bind the Amulet of Kings to the White-Gold Tower to relight the Dragonfires. However, the Amulet of Kings can probably be worn by anybody who is royalty, as its name implies as well as its status as an Ayleid artifact/soul gem.

And yes, there could be many dragonborns in the world at one time. The Greybeards even tell you that you may not be the only dragonborn when you meet them.

I wouldn't worry too much about that. Even if the Septims were Dragonborn in the shouty-shout way, they all died out like 200 years ago. Remember? They made a game about it.

In all liklihood, yes, the Septim line was all dragonborn/Dovahkiin, and the original was a Dragonborn.

THe lore is Silent here, but I have an idea. Akotosh will allow only a dragonborn to ascend to the Throne of the Empire while the Amulet of Kings was still around. As Dragonborn are only sent into the world when the need arises, this allows them to use the Amulet of Kings properly when the Empire is in danger of failing and Oblivion is free to come into Mundus. A special exemption is granted to the ruling family, probably all members are Dragonborn by blood, but only to them. In the event that the line is likey to be destroyed, Akotosh probably sends down a few new Dragonborn who should be able to take the place of the current lineage.

While Dragonborns are not a one-time event, I doubt there would be more than 1,000 accross all of Tamriel. So, rare basically.

the only problem is that it seems based off that they were because tiber was. The problem with that is tibers sons all died out early in the empire and pretty much all the emporers are related to tibers brother or cousin. Tibers two sons both died and it was his brother or whatnot that every septim is related to. Tiber at most would be an uncle is still alive. Thats the part that baffles me is that the emporers arent even direct decendents of tiber, but of his brother I think.

Ya don't need to be born Dragonborn to become Dragonborn.

Again, read my post. Akotosh probably made it so that someone was able to claim the throne as Dragonborn. Tiber's brother may have been Dragonborn as well, but only Talos had the drive to do something about it.

Im lost there. If its hereditary then by default non of them should BC none of them is tibers great great however many times grandson.

And by that theres alot of them, there would still be alot of them BC if its heritary then then oblivion only ended septim the 7th I think bloodline, but what of his brothers and sisters and his parents siblings and there offspring and also all the bastards all the kings have put out and so forth. Oblivion game only ended when one part of the family died out, but if its hereditary then there were tons of other ones still alive at the time from being decendents of aunts and uncles and all the family tree , which is a hube family tree all the way back to tibers brother.

Thats what im lost about and it does cheapen my feelings for my toon in skyrim that he maybe the offspring of a family member or bastard that was never made emporer and that it would be others, alot of otjers as well.

Also, the Dragonborn Emperor Reman Cyrodiil came long before Tiber Septim. He was the one who defeated the Akaviri and assimilated the Dragonguard into the Blades. The Septim Dynasty claims to come from Tiber Septim for military and cultural reasons.

With regards to all of Uriel Septim's relatives, the Mythic Dawn was very thorough. Anybody the MD missed would have been too obscure to locate and crown Emperor. In fact, it all does come down to a bastard son, Martin Septim.

We also have no idea how genetics works, besides the Racial Phylogeny text, which makes no mention of the Dragon Blood. Perhaps if it gets too dilute, then you are no longer considered Dragonborn.

I read that book on the dragonborn, and im atill scratching my head bc it even states theres no connection between tiber and alessia and uriel at all. I guess it would make sense if it was hereditary if they all came from tiber or iriel, bit tibera brother whos a sibling and not a decendent just makes me scratch my head.

Well at least with the prophesy, if its not talking about kings born under thw dragonborn empire but an actual dragonborn, we know our dragonborn in skyrim is not gonna become emporer nor will any otjer dragonborn.

Like I said, you don't even need to be born a Dragonborn to become one, or at least this is the case of the Septims. I am fairly convinced that the only Septim to be a dragonborn is the one that is sitting on the throne at the time, while the rest of the family is waiting for their chance to light the dragonfires and become one.

Lighting the Dragonfires won't make you Dragonborn. Potema is refered to as Dragonborn, but she never did the ceremony. Being Dragonborn means being able to absorb Dragon souls. And I'm pretty sure that lighting the Dragonfires just requires somebody of royal blood to be wearing the Amulet of Kings. Notice how Mankar Camoran (presumebly of the old Camoran Dynasty) could wear the Amulet, and remember that before Alessia received the Amulet, the royal Ayleids used the Amulet to gain access to Daedric forces.

Mankar Camoran was Dragonborn.
http://imperial-library.info/content/mythic-dawn-commentaries

Sounds like a dragon shout to me, one learned without training.

Also, dragonborn and being of dragon blood are the same thing:
IOW, the term "Dragonborn" came about to refer to those with "the dragon blood".

Okay, that's pretty awesome and I've never noticed that before.

Ok well yal convinced me, though the whole dragonborn symbol to me is no longer mysterious or special I guess. Mmm just svcks to think there were and could be all these dragonborns at one given time whereas I was under the impression that dragonborns were rare and was only granted at times of need.

Divine Mystery.

Not an answer, but a few things to consider here:

1. At least in our world, hereditary traits do not always manifest in every generation, but may be rare while still being hereditary, e.g., twinning.

2. With the absence of dragon souls to absorb for the past several centuries, those who might have had this trait, whether through heredity or by divine grant, wouldn't know about it. Even in Skyrim today, any other potentials are probably running from the dragons and will never know what they might have been for lack of trying.

3. Remember, when appealing to Lore: in-game books are not always true. Just as in our own world, they may contain errors, lies, and bias. Contrast, for example, the different versions of the life of Queen Barenziah (the Biography and the Real). Of course, we assume that most authors want to tell the truth, but we also have to weigh that against in-game experience.

uriel had the shout for hair growth right?
it didnt bother me that martin was dragon born it bothered me more that he kept calling me his 'special friend' and always followed me closer then any other npc

Martin never shouted, even when he was trying to rouse the troops for battle. He barely raised his voice.