What role did the Nine play in the events of TES3? Since the Nerevarine is working for the Empire through most of the Main Quest, I wondered if they were involved behind the scenes. Also, what is the significance of the Nerevarine meeting Wulf/Tiber Septim?
I'm not a huge lore buff, so maybe you could help me figure these out? Thanks.
The "good side" of the Main Quest was moved by two forces, the Blades working on behalf of the Emperor, and Azura the Daedric Prince.
Wulf's appearance has to do with the lore of the Heart of Lorkhan. The cosmology and gods of the Elder Scrolls are complicated topics, but to the best of my understanding, Wulf is an avatar of Talos, the god who is the ninth Divine and who was the mortal emperor Tiber Septim in life. He's also possibly another manifestation of the "missing god" Lorkhan, whose heart Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal steal their powers from. Therefore, he would greatly enjoy seeing these beings lose their stolen divinity. That's the "score" he has to settle with Dagoth Ur, as far as I understand it. Anyone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about that, but that's the only way it makes sense to me. Another aspect to complicate it farther is that Lorkhan and Akatosh are two sides of the same coin, and the Tribunal becoming gods created a "Dragon Break", destroying Akatosh for a short while and rearranging the time flow of the Universe, so Akatosh would have a grudge too. And coincidentally, Talos is seen by some as another aspect of Akatosh as well as Lorkhan.
As far as the other Divines and the Imperial Religon in general, I don't think they play much into the main quest. You meet a few of them during the Imperial Cult questline, but that is optional and not tied with the MQ.