Something I wondered recently. Azura's Star in example. We had it in Daggerfall, we had it in Morrowind, we had it in Oblivion, and we'll probably have it in Skyrim (don't know about Arena). Assuming it is all the same Azura's Star (or any other example of daedric artifact), what happens to it after we're done with the game, so then it somehow comes back to a daedric prince and then is rewarded again to another hero? What happens to it if the owner dies? Does it exist in mortal plain only for the person who obtained it, or can it be passed along or stolen? Or maybe there are multiply copies of it? Are there books that explain this, because I haven's found any.

Artifacts in TES have a bad habit of relocating themselves. It is a pretty common theme in the grand list o' artifacts book, Tamrielic Artifacts. Hell, even the non-daedric ones do it.

To also add, daedric artifacts are the prince too. They could just whisk it back whenever they want, and there are a few stories of people and heroes who did have daedric artifacts, only to have to taken away at a very inopportune moment.

Yeah, it's probably about the same for the daedra as a person taking away a pool ladder in the sims, thus leaving any sims in the pool to drown.

Then what's up with Nocturnal? She couldn't wish her cowl back from the grey fox.

It's possible that she doesn't take it away because she finds it amusing. Sure, it was an insult to have it stolen from her, but the Cowl does seem to cause no end of misery to it's owner. What better punishment is there for a fame-seeking thief than to have his name stricken from history?

I'm not sure it was even stolen. A thief, no matter how masterful, couldn't hide from Nocturnal. I believe it is her will to allow her stuff to be stolen. Her Eye, for example, could be little more than a test, and the reward is a greater ability to delve into the shadows and secrets.
If I'm not mistaken, the Cowl led to the creation of one of the largest organizations of shadows in Tamriel; the Thieves Guild itself.
If not the creation, then it did at least bolster it a great deal.

La, the Gray Fox is a fiction of the Imperial Guard. He's a lie to excuse Imperial abuses against their own people.

Doesn't at least the Morrowind Version of the book imply that they have some sort of intelligence behind them ala the One Ring?

Ygrum wrote http://www.imperial-library.info/content/morrowind-tamrielic-lore, and he's qualified to make a judgement, so it's interesting to wonder if magic is intelligent, or if the enchanters have created AI.

I think you can be sure at least Umbra contains a sort of intelligence, since in The Infernal City the entire being comes back out of it. But than again, Umbra isn't Daedric.

Yeah, for some of the artifacts. Other artifacts are stated to be under the control of a deity. It seems the intelligent ones don't get much beyond searching for their original owner and ditching people.

Though not terribly dissimilar from Clavicus Vile.

I don't think this is accurate. A prince's sphere is the prince (questionable) but not the artifact.

The reason I question the well established belief that a prince's sphere is the prince is dagon's inaction against the pc in oblivion and the limitations of the pc in shivering isles but that's all a different topic.

Care to back this claim, other than saying you don't believe me?

Also, both instances were avatars, as the actual Dagon coming to Mundus would be almost like Majaro's Mask with the moon.

Certainly though I'm limited by a relatively poor ability to type on this phone.

Incidently, rather than claiming I don't believe you, I said I don't think the point made is accurate. There is an intended difference I may not have conveyed well.

Regarding the artifact, the daedra can ' place' them in the world and there is no definate requirement to either summon the daedra, the artifact, set particular conditions or otherwise really invoke the item. The daedra can choose to simply gift the item. I also am of the understanding that daedra cannot effectively enter the world uninvited and if the artifact is in fact the daedra then I believe some of the above conditions must be met.

Regarding the planes not being the daedra, I'm aware the lore absolutely says they are. Perhaps it's more accurate for me to question the oblivion storyline; if the plane of oblivion is the daedra, then why, when I was in dagons realm, didn't he simply destroy me at will considering I was out to put a stop to his plans.

I'd love to expand but sincerely, I find this swype thing on the phone awkward hence the typically short posts.

I agree. The Daedric artifacts might contain some blood of the Daedra, but they aren't liable to the same restrictions on Daedra and their planes. It's unlikely they're the Prince, otherwise Dagon would have won when Mehrune's Razor came to Tamriel.

Well, the flora does attack you. Better just to assume it's because you're chosen and this makes you special.

Would it be more accurate to say that daedric artefacts act as an extension of the prince in question? The princes themselves can't enter mundus at will, but that doensn't mean they can't have any influence.
I would think that daedric artifacts are created by the princes using one or more lesser daedra while adding some of their own blood. Since the artifacts themselves are mostly lesser daedra they can enter mundus just like any summoned armour or weapon can. The fact that there's a small part of the daedric prince involved allows the prince in question to still exert some control.

The influence a daedric prince has over his artifacts when they are in Mundus is still quite relative though. I mean, what can they really do with them? The artifacts are granted to heroes or taken away from them, but it's still the heroes who use them and make the decissions what to do with them.

Maybe the artifacts are the heroes' extension into the Deadric realms.

Okay, I hadn't thought about that yet. But isn't it essentially the same? The artifact could be a extension of the daedric prince into Mundus and an extension of the hero in oblivion. Would be a matter of perspective, like most things in TES. I think... Right? Argh, curse you Hoon Ding! You gave me a headache by posting just one possibility!

Maybe its a case of the very big v. the very small?

Suppose the planes of Oblivion as in the game really were Dagon. His body, his self.
Compared to him in his planet form, we are tiny.
He can no more destroy us at will as we can destroy a single foreign bacteria in our bodies at will.
He can 'activate his immune system' and thats why every living thing in there is hostile, even the plant life.

That's quite an interesting perspective but it's challenged by our shivering isle experience where we see that a daedric prince can maintain quite a powerful avatar in their own realm.

Everyone else who goes in is caught and or killed. Being the big hero, it's not Dagon's shortcomings, it's just our greatness and always-conquering glory, that gets us through his realm. At least that's what I'm told.

Well I certainly don't have a better explanation.

Not to mention the fact that Jyggalag can apparently permanently leave what was previously his realm.

I see the artifacts and realms not as the same as the Daedric Princes, but bound and intertwined with them until they're more or less an extension. Like Spellbreaker and Umbra, mortal-created weapons that are now Daedric. And as Martin points out, Volendrung, ironically now bound to an enemy of its creators.