I thoughtful anolysis.

But what about the Knights of the Nine?

The Blackwood Company because they do drugs.. just kidding. I agree with most of those small factions, FG and MG seem to dumb for me to do again. The thieves guild is very nice. The Order of the Virtous Blood is a nice faction to join if you are a role playing character, same goes for Knights of the Nine, Order of the White Stallion and I forgot most of them, someone else here should be able to remind you or me or anyone else. Would be nice to see a joinable demon worshiper or black magic cults and a merchant guild

I grant that at first glance the KOTN seems like it would be the most noble of all the factions in the game. Let’s band together in the name of the Nine and use their holy relics in order to rid the world of the evil that is Umaril the Unfeathered and his daedric minions. What fault could anyone find with such a worthy cause?

Well, let’s look at that for a second. The Divines made those so-called holy relics for Pelinal Whitestrake, the avatar who assumed the mantle of ‘Divine Crusader.’ Based on the lore, we know that Pelinal first came to Alessia after she had prayed to ‘the Handmaiden’ (Mara perhaps?). He wandered into her camp ‘carrying a mace and a sword, both encrusted with the smashed viscera of elven faces. And he lifted them saying: “These are their eastern chieftans, no longer full of their talking.”’(Song of Pelinal v.1) We also know that Pelinal ‘alternated between periods of lucidity and stretches of homicidal madness, during which he slew indiscriminately and took a toll on the very landscape itself.’ (uesp) Pelinal considered himself the ‘enemy of all elfkind that lived in Cyrod in those days’ (Song of Pelinal v.3), not just the Ayleids. He is reviled not only by mer, but by Khajiit as well because he mistook them for another form of Aldmeri and ‘slew many before his mistake became apparent’ (uesp).

Everything that I just wrote above is basically a long-winded way of saying exactly this.

It seems to me that the gods must indeed be false if they are only willing to champion the cause of humans in Tamriel. If their so-called divine champion gains his divinity through the systematic genocide of all Aldmeri then the Nine Divines are no better than the daedra that Umaril worshipped. It also brings up an intriguing argument: If the Nine are to be held in the highest regard then why would Meridia, whose sphere is the energy of living beings and who bears a special hatred for the undead, lend her Aurorans to the cause of the Ayleids? Granted the Ayleidic enslavement of humanity was a crime, but that doesn’t validate Pelinal’s actions. The fact that the Nine signed off and even condoned these actions gives me serious pause when looking to agree with them.

Well my personal favorites are the mages, fighters and thieves guilds. But my current characte the mages guild now has a necromancer as a leader and is in the dark brother hood. He also befriends the theives guild only to pay off his fines. Might also befriend the grey fox just to be able to hide his identity when doing his murders.

Really, I don't agree with any. If I had to choose, I'd be a peaceful scholar in the Mage's Guild because... That's all I could really do. I'm not one for fighting, so I'd just know the basics of fighting. I'm more likely to be busy learning or stimulating my brain. I'd rather sit by the guild hall fire, reading a book and drinking whatever the Elder Scrolls lands have as coffee or some other non-alcoholic beverage, and maybe practicing basic potion making if there was a place to wash my hands nearby. I'm a germaphobe, so I have to have a place to keep my hands clean for stuff like that. If anything, I'd just be the person at the hall who is busy doing more intellectual pursuits that aren't based around anything hard on me.

Maybe I could help with writing new books as I research. *shrug* I find the Mage's Guild to be the only faction I would belong in. Most of the factions are based around combat, which I avoid in real life. I don't agree with all of the things about the Mage's Guild, but it's the most scholarly one. Now to find a way to invent coffee with that magic...

Coffee? Why not some Shadowbanish Wine?

About most factions being combat based, only a minority are actually. Fighters Guild, Blackwood Company, Knights of the Thorn, Dark Brotherhood, and perhaps a couple more.

Other ones have an ideology they focus on, they just happen to fight every now and then.

Also remember, I'm not just asking about joinable factions, but ones that are only mentioned too. Like The Brethren in Hackdirt, or the Mythic Dawn. . .

Fighters Guild, Mages Guild, Knights of the White Stallion, maybe the Blades. Haven't played the Knights of the Nine or Shivering Isles yet. I just got the game of the year edition running, computer problems Sigh.

The Mythic Dawn. All hail Lord Dagon! bliviongate: