CONTAINS SPOILERS

You can't become a Companion without worshipping Hircine.
You can't become an assassin without worshipping the Night Mother.
You can't become a master thief without worshipping Nocturnal.

It's just ridiculous. Almost every guild requires you to follow a God. I want to make a paladin companion who worships Talos, but can't do that. I also wanted to make a thief that worships nobody, but can't do that either.

Do you peeps think that it was right to force us to believe in Gods?

You dont worship Hircine. Hey.You even help people to get cured of his werewolf disease.

They're not gods, they're Daedric Lords.

Nirn and Tamriel is weird in that divine forces are an observable quantity in the world. This refers mostly to the Daedric lords however who interact with Mortals and the world on a regular basis. From this perspective, ignoring "The gods" of Elder Scrolls would be tantamount to ignoring mathematics in our own world.

As for your actual complaint, I only think the Thieves guild requires you to actively "Worship" anything. They try to play it off as 'Business' but it's pretty transparent. The Companions do not force you to worship Hircine, they only force you to accept the beast blood, and a few of the Dark Brotherhood members are quite blasphemous when it comes to affairs of the Night Mother. The only one who actually worships the Night Mother is Cicero, the rest (Player included) begrudgingly accept the conduit allowing them to telepathically accept work.

I never felt forced. I think the shrines and altars in the wilderness call to me more for tribute and worship then any godlike force which I only have a temporary encounter with. Of course those encounters sure has the tea kettle whistling with the pressure to do some daedric lords or mistresses bidding whether I want to or not.

You don't have to worship anyone.

Your character could be in it for the money.

The Elder Scrolls is a game of the struggles of the Daedric Lords and it's impact on the world of Nirn. Religion and prophecy is center to the theme of the games. However, you don't have to be in the Thieves to be Thief, nor do you have to be in the DB to be an Assassin.

*Sighs* They are gods, they are the gods who weren't dumb enough to be tricked by Lorkhan to create Nirn. Hence why they retained all of their power and are alive, while the Aedra are considered dead gods.

What difference does it make? You're still worshipping a higher power.

Anyways, the Dark Brotherhood has always praised Sithis and the Night Mother. It's one of the main things that makes them who they are, and even has an involvement in getting contracts. I am sure there are members within the Dark Brotherhood that are there for just the killing or the money, so your character doesn't have to worship Sithis if they don't want to.

The only thing that does bother me in the Companions and the Thieves' Guild. The Companions force you into turning into a werewolf and going on their stupid "hunt" for Hircine. However, your character can undo this in the end along with even curing the others from their Lycanthropy if they wish to do so. However, in the Thieves' Guild are you entirely forced to pretty much sell your soul to Nocturne and forever be her [censored]. That I dislike. People join the Thieves' Guild to be a thief, not to be a Daedric worshipping lunatic. Nocturne should always have an involvement with the Thieves' Guild, but not in a way that forces people to worship her and forever serve her when all they want to do is to join the Thieves' Guild.

I still don't think a guild of thieves or warriors should be pushed in to worshipping a deity. I've changed my tune about the DB, remembering that many of it's members are actually pretty blasphemous. Also, the game is pretty dry as a thief or assassin if you don't join the guilds.

Agree with this.

Yeah it all feels pigeonholed. It requires the player to actively RP a certain way or to RP around certain circumstances. I think Skyrim was the worst offender of this in the series. Everything from quest-locked words of power, to quest-locked Barenziah Stones, and ninja-proselytizing you for joining certain guilds.

SPOILER
Can you explain to me then how Akatosh made Mehunes Dagon his biatch in Oblivion? Not sarcastic dude, actually wana know the answer.

Yes, it doesn't matter if you worship Sithis or not, since Sithis is just another name for the void; and is not sentient. It's not even aware that a bunch of psychos are running around killing in it's name. The most important figure is the so called "Night Mother" or as I like to call her Mephala. She is the one with all the power.

That my friend, I to this day cannot explain. I never understood that if the Aedra are dead, how can they still manifest avatar's. If you speak to Vilkas of the companions about the civil war, he says who cares who worships or doesn't worship a dead god (Talos). So by that example: It is widely known the Aedra are dead. Don't get me started on how Lorkhan, communicated and manifested himself as King Wulfharth.

Ever since Morrowind, they're have been avatars of the Aedra. Like Wulf (Talos) in Morrowind.

Aedra in Aldmeri means "Our Ancestors." This is the common believe all Altmer and Thalmor share, this is why they believe they are descended from the gods.

Daedra in Aldmeri means "Not our Ancestors." Since they didn't participate in the creation of the world, they are not considered kin by the Atltmer and Thalmor.

Also Lorkan is not considered an ancestor by the Thalmor and Altmer. They view him as a trickster, who made the Aedra give up their divinity to create the world.

Basically that is the major difference between the Aedra and Daedra, but they're both considered gods.

I must note, the only race that reveres the Daedra as ancestors are the Dunmer (Dark Elves).

Also Dunmer have no problem with Lorkhan, there is even evidence he may be revered by them.

Ahhhh I see. And just more question, because it's not often you stumble upon a loremasters . If the Aedra are dead, how comes people in Skyrim go to their respected Aedra or Daedra when they die?

The Aedra aren't dead. They're really weak because of the toll the creation of Nirn took on them. They became the (earthbones) laws of nature and physics as well as the Ehlnofey (ancestors of mer/men). Belief is a big part of why they still have power. They operate through avatars and incarnations because of this. Talos and the Daedra are at full power though.

Sure.

Creation is protected from interference from the realms of Oblivion that surround it by several mechanisms.

One of these is the pact that Alessia slave-queen, the founder of the Empire, made with Akatosh the dragon god of time. Alessia was given the Amulet of Kings, an enchanted soul gem, and instucted as to the ritual of the Dragonfires.

These fires protected Tamriel, centered on White-Gold Tower, from Daedric invasion and had to be lit at the crowning of a new emperor so that their magic would keep going.

Mehrunes Dagon in his plot with the Mythic Dawn assasinated the entire empirial bloodline except for one illegitimate son and through providence the Amulet of Kings, a soul gem by now housing a massive oversoul of all previous emperors, was saved.

The last of the bloodline, Martin, eventually shattered the Amulet of Kings at the spiritual heart of the Empire, the Temple of the One in the impirial city.

This allowed Akatosh to manifest himself through Martin as an avatar, in the literal meaning of living likeness of a god, and defeat the manifestation of Dagon on Tamriel.

After this the avatar turned to stone, a physical reminder that the ancient pact between Akatosh and Alessia was now fulfilled.

The Amulet of Kings used up, the Dragonfires no longer neccesary and the barrier re-instated by Dagons defeat at the hands of the most powerful Aedra working together with man.

Thus ends the story of Oblivion.

Dead for a god does not mean the same as dead for a mortal.

Even dead gods dream.

On death a soul goes to its alligned AE, that is, through life a person makes choices which shape or colour his soul in a way. After death it's simply a matter of the greater attracting the smaller, that is, if you've lived a life worshipping Mephala and doing things the way she would then on death you're like the small Mephala and she is the big one, svcking you in.

So, what would happen once you go to these Gods? Just be absorbed by their power to help them grow stronger? Because so far....DPs are sounding better than Aedra. Also, the Nords mostly worship Talos but go to Sovngarde which is Shor's plain. Why would that be?

Going to a Daedric realm after death is easy. Just got to your most conveniently located Daedric shrine and sell your soul. When you die you will be "rewarded" by entering your chosen lords realm. For example: I hope Harkon is having fun having his soul [censored] over and over again by Molag Bal. As for Aedra it is commonly believed, that when a follower dies they go to Aetherius. The Nords who worship Lorkhan/Shor go to Sovngarde when they die, which is in Aetherius.

How are the Aedra aware I do not know.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Monomyth to the resque!

"So the Daedra Lords created the Daedric Realms, and all the ranks of Lesser Daedra, great and small. And, for the most part, the Daedra Lords were well pleased with this arrangement, for they always had worshippers and servants and playthings close to hand. But, at the same time, they sometimes looked with envy upon the Mortal Realms, for though mortals were foul and feeble and contemptible, their passions and ambitions were also far more surprising and entertaining than the antics of the Lesser Daedra. Thus do the Daedra Lords court and seduce certain amusing specimens of the Mortal Races, especially the passionate and powerful. It gives the Daedra Lords special pleasure to steal away from Shezarr and the Aedra the greatest and most ambitious mortals. 'Not only are you fools to mutilate yourselves,' gloat the Daedra Lords, 'But you cannot even keep the best pieces, which prefer the glory and power of the Daedra Lords to the feeble vulgarity of the mush-minded Aedra."

That's why Daedra like stealing mortal souls. Yes, even Azura. She just figures you get more flies with honey.

Mortal souls being fragmented Aedra, under normal circumstances souls get recycled in Dreaming Sleeve and re-incarnate. Funnily enough Sovngarde could be translated as Dreaming Sleeve.

This re-incarnation does not have to be instantaneous , there may be an afterlife involved depending on the particular beliefs of the mortal in question and of course this afterlife could very well last an eternity while at the same time re-incarnation is instantaneous. What is time to a god?

Aetherius is the realm of magic where Magnus and the other other Magna-Ge retreated to when they rejected Creation. It has nothing to do with afterlife, even though the imperials believe this.

Damn. I forgot about the Dream Sleeve some cultures believe, when you die your soul is stripped of it's memories and simply put into a different body. Sounds horrible to me.

Also that guy called Stuhn, the one you have to fight before entering the Great Hall. Is one of the ancient Aedra the ancient Nords used to worship.

He was referred to as "Lorkhan's Protector." As you can tell by Lorkhan's fate, Stuhn did a bang up job.

Wow dude, that last part just mindf4ck3d me.....Bravo my friend. Thanks for the info also, I've been ignorant for so along about the Aedra. Time to go Daedra....

Religion in the Elder Scrolls universe isn't the same as in real life. It's kind of hard to avoid believing in Daedra when they [censored] with people on a pretty regular basis. That isn't really the same as worshiping them however.

Honestly, Nocturnal is the only one you have to "worship," and even then it's more like errand running. You don't worship Hircine by becoming a werebeast, and you can't really avoid that the Night Mother has chosen to talk to you, but she isn't a Daedra anyway, neither is Sithis.

You're not forced to worship anything. I did hate not having a choice when it came to Nocturnal though. Whats the point of living if you're just gonna be forced to serve a [censored]ass Daedra in death. dike move Bethesda.