On the True Nature of Zenithar

An essay by Supreme Patriarch Julius of the Resolution of Zenithar

Zenithar is mostly believed to be a god of trade. This is a simplification. One might as well call Dibella a six goddess or Shezarr a human god. To say that is to only focus on one aspect of their dominion. Zenithar in more primitive societies is a god of work, but this is still a simplification. To look at his true nature, one must examine Z'en.

Z'en nowadays is but a synonym for Zenithar, like Kyne and Kynareth. I refer specifically to the Z'en Cult, a popular religion during the days of Reman and the Potenates. Sadly it died out, absorbed by the mass of the traditional Nine Divines cult, like many religions. Personal interpretations being quashed by monolithic dogma. Our church has become just like the Alessian Order. But I digress. The Z'en Cult claimed that Z'en reflected a higher cosmic order. This order has many names. Riddle'Thar. Satakal. PSJJJJJ. The Wheel. Z'en was a representation of this cosmic balance. As above, so below. As one takes, another must give. He was the embodiment of equal and opposite reactions. Essentially, he was the law that one and one make two and not three or zero. From these transactions, associating him with trade was obvious. His relation with work is more complex.

Zenithar's role in the cosmic balance also made him the god of actions. One must exert your own energy in order to do anything, an equivalent exchange. From this the early people worshipped him as a god of stamina, praying to him for the energy to face life's hardships. Eventually this split off into two major beliefs. One worshipped him as a warrior god, such as Tsun. The other worshipped him as a work god, such as Zeht. Eventually the working god interpretation overcame the warrior god interpretation, which now only exists in the Knights of Iron and the Cult of Tsun.

I myself share the beliefs of the cult of Z'en. I was in the Knights of Iron once, and when I became a full priest the interpretation of Zenithar as warrior just feels off. And the common beliefs of Zenithar ruling solely over work and trade I find simplified to the extreme. Similar degeneration in the worship of other gods shall be examined in a future paper; "On the Simplification of the Nine Divines". I believe I have made my point clear.

I always felt Zenithar's sphere was... dumb as hell. Now since you posted this, Zenithar is a lot cooler. Equivalent exchange makes so much more sense.

But how does meeting Tsun face to face fit into this? That's IIRC the first time in-game that we've talked to an Aedroth face to face while they were assuming the overt identity/aspect of one (instead of a divine incognito getup).

It's an in-character essay, from around the Third Era. How would he a dude from 200 years in the future met an aspect of Zenithar?

Ahhh, missed that. Derp. "Nine divines"... see it now.

Though it may seem to you that the various obscure Nibenese animalia occulta are more a sign of jungle decadence and frivolous credulity than substantial reflection on Aurbical machinations, I, Anaximander Ostreus of the Azure Bivalve Club extend to you a warm welcome into our calcified folds. Supreme underestimation of our sect has ensured our survival, as is the case with equivalent orders in Cyrod East. Your willing acceptance of this insurmountably kind offer stands as a trivial act of cordiality, as you have previously similarly stated (under false and wretched vocabulary, of course), ALL WHO SWIM THROUGH THE AURBIS ARE FILTERED. Your Z'en is merely the anthropomorphized congruent of our patron of worship, the AZURE BIVALVE, whose pearl (a consecrated embodiment of balance) is set as the centerpiece of my talisman, adorned on all sides by the shimmering cerulean halves of our sanctified mollusc. Witness the AZURE BIVALVE: All that is filtered in is expelled out. As above, so below. As WE ALL take, WE ALL must give. Z'en or Zenithar or Zeht's Operational Exchange bears similar precedence, with the ecstatic addition of copulatory stamina. It is for this reason that consumption of riverine and maritime representations of the AZURE BIVALVE acts in accordance with feasts of your "Dibella".

It is with solipsistic arrogance that your forerunners burgled the Totem of Balance, and all his Synonyms:

our Lord of Laborious Percolation,
our Spirit of Strain and Straining,
our Sieving Sovereign,
our Supervising Siphon,
our ZENITH OR ROOT OF FILTRATION.

Cosmic balance remains forever in the digestive tract of the AZURE BIVALVE.

Anaximander Ostreus of the Leyawiin Bed
Administer of Aphrodisiacs
Cleric of the Azure Bivalve Club

Interesting what I just found: http://www.youtube.com/user/AzureBivalveSect ...Coincidence?


The scales almost seem like a better symbol for Zenithar than the anvil, if not for it's many associations with justice.

I didn't know about that YT account, but it's definitely a play on Blue Oyster Cult. I considered "Sect", but chose "Club" because it was deceptively less menacing.

That was the first few results when I popped your subliminal keyword into Google.
Too much of a coincidence.
Also, you've made Zenithar sound like the god of coffee.

I didn't know about that YT channel, but I'd had the idea of a Nibenese cult called that about a year or so after Oblivion came out (I was reading Joseph Campbell at the time, and I considered the possibility that the Nine took elements from earlier cults, like Skyrim's animal totems or the "Azure Bivalve Club"), but tonight was the first time I actually wrote anything about it, and definitely the first time I linked it to Zenithar at all. SithisLorkhan's nice little post making Zenithar a lot cooler is the reason why I posted about the ol' Azure Bivalve Club.

EDIT: Of course he is, some people can't work without it.

Honestly Zenithar was always my favourite god, I only wrote this because I just wanted an excuse to write about Zenithar, and made up the equivalent exchange thing on the spot. Like I just typed about how Zenithar has become simplified in the public's eyes, and spent a while just thinking about what his complex thing is.

The real person who needs to become a lot cooler is Stendarr. I mean, god of mercy? Seriously? I mean all the other gods have interesting aspects. Akatosh being, well, Akatosh, Dibella's weird six cults, Mara's aspect as Morwha, Kyne's Greybeards, Arkay being meaningless until mortals, Julianos's Moth Priests, Talos's enantiomorph, and Zenithar always winning. Stendarr doesn't have an interesting thing about him. Hell, the Vigil would make more sense if they served pretty much any other god.

Vigilants of Merid? That's what I think of when I hear of daedra/undead/werewolf/vampire/etc. slayers...even though Meridia is a daedroth herself.

Oh, I thought you meant you knew about that band, but not their youtube account. Sorry...><;



Stendarr is also justice, law, order and righteousness. I liked what I read about his Daggerfall description: "Our God is the God of Mercy, Stendarr. Some mock our compassion, calling us sentimental fools and tenderhearts. But the truth is that everyone, no matter their strength, crawls to us when Sai, the God of Luck deserts them as he is prone to do."

No, that's exactly right. I didn't know YT account with a similar name existed, but mine was obviously a play on Blue Oyster Cult lol.

Azure Bivalve...it seems like that was also in the Illuminated Order mod for Morrowind. Seems BOC references are popular among TES fans...

Because BOC emanates with phenomenal cosmic power.


All my internets. Yours.

I would have thought Vigilants of Arkay would have fit better than Stendarr... Meh.

Zeny is classic mechanics. Noyce.

Also good to see that Julius is still working, especially after what happened to him at Chorrol...

Julius is too stubborn to stop working. Hell, he'd probably become a ghost, he's so stubborn. Until he gets killed again by some adventurer jerk when he just wanted to defend his tomb.

The war-king god became the working god?

The cool bit about Stendarr is how peculiar his mercy is. I mean, just think about it - everyone and their uncle says, "may Stendarr have mercy on you!" just before trying to kill you, and Stendarr's vigilant are an order of dudes who go around smashing in the skulls of daedra worshipers. He strikes me as the most alien of all the divines.

That's really the only cool kind of mercy.

Maybe if they were Vigilants of Arkay, I wouldn't kill all of them.

I dunno. Stendarr is really flouted as the god of mercy, but he's really the god of good governance and of law and justice. A sort of Emperor's/Count's/Jarl's/Bureaucrat's/Lawyer's/Prisoner's god, if you will. He's also easily the most proselytizing of the Nine Divines. I think there's a lot to work with there.

Vigilants of Arkay would be more about hunting vampires and liches and stuff. To me, Stendarr has always been the god of righteous knights and such. Those who follow his teachings distinguish themselves from other warriors by taking great pains to spare those who ask for it. But as warriors in service to the gods, they also have the role of going after those who bring the Daedra to our realm.

I see each of the Eight as contributing a particular teaching with regard to a virtue vital to the functioning of civil society:

Zenithar: Honest work and honest trade
Julianos: Preservation and transmission of knowledge
Mara: The bonds of love and compassion
Dibella: Art, music, beauty, and other things that make life more than just bearable
Kynareth: Sustainable use of natural resources
Stendarr: Mercy and forgiveness
Akatosh: Continuity of institutions, particularly government
Arkay: The Sithic balancer of the pantheon, urging people to accept the finality of death for both individuals and institutions that have seen their time.

I have more, but I am hungry and tired.