Nibenese and Cults

Zini here, and today I want to talk about one of the major things in nibenay that never got adressed in oblivion but were frequently mentioned in morrowind and out of game sources (forum posts, PGE, etc.).

Cults.

The main reason I bring this up is because I feel there is some level of confusion about how these cults would work and how they would be handled, so I felt it'd be best to explain my headcanon on it (which is heavily influenced both by my interpretation of in game content, and stuff I read a year or two ago within the Province Cyrodiil forums.)

First off, the Temple of the Nine/Eight Divines, or as it is sometimes known, The Imperial Cult.

All Imperials (are expected to) revere the Divines. They are the gods who created our world, who protect us from ruinous powers, provide the example for all of us to follow in life, and especially for the imperials, those who aided in the freedom of man. They fit into a role within Nibenese and Heartlander life that can be described simply as 'Major Gods'. Major gods are unbelievably powerful, they are on the side of mortals, and we should revere them for everything they've done for us, and simply because they deserve to be. Despite this, major gods are not something that will step in to intervene in everyday life. They are distant, far from us, always watching but rarely intervening. Though their blessings can be prayed for, and prayer in general is expected, it is in bad taste to pray to the Nine for specific petty things. It is the role of the nine to protect us from annihalation and devastation, not to protect us from dangers to our livelihoods or to protect the status of our homes. Most nibenese and heartlanders usually hold three or four of the nine especially close to themselves in their personal worship, though some enter into the temple as members of the priesthood and devote themselves completely to a single divine.

And now for the other cults.

One thing to remember in this situation is that by 'cult' we don't mean neccessarily fringe organizations engaging in ritual sacrifices to dark lords. We use it here in more of the roman and greek sense of it; it is simply a group of worship. When referring to the nibenese and heartlanders cult most often applies to the worship of all deities outside of the nine divines, who fall in nibenese society as 'minor gods'. The majority of nibenese worship not only the nine but a group of 5 or 6 of these minor gods as well- Thus why it is both true that the nibenese worship the nine divines, and that they worship a myriad of strange gods.

What qualifies as a minor god is a very long list, but it can be broken down into a few distinct categories:

*Saints (including heroes, emperors, and potentates) *Totemic Animals (The Eagle, The Bull, The Moth, The Horse, The Mountain Lion, etc.) *Animism (the blessed rumare, a farmer's field of rice, specific mountains, specific rivers) *Daedra (Vaernima, Sanguinus, Clavicus, Hermaeus, etc.) *Foreign Gods (The 5 Serpents of Akavir, Morwha, Phynaster, Kyne, etc.) *Star Worship (Magnus, Mnemoli, etc.) *Spirit Worship (non divine et'ada, fey, etc.)

These minor gods serve as a sort of 'house god' in a way that hybridizes the ancient greek practice of holding minor spirits in esteem for the purpose of things requiring immediate attention, or things specific to their livelihood. It's why the Romans seemed to have so many gods; your average roman didn't care about all but the very top group of them (Jupiter, etc.), and then additionally prayed to two or three who were specifically relevant to them.

I will remind that the majority of the nibenfolk don't just worship one single cult, but usually hold membership in 5 or 6. The personal pantheon of a nibenese farmer could look like this: Arkay, Zenithar, Dibella, Reman, St. Socucius, The Ox, Hircine, and the animist spirit of his field.

Now, to get a bit more specific into what these categories mean and why they would be worshipped.

Saints: Believe it or not, the practice of sainthood within the imperial beliefs is a holdover from elven ancestor worship. Though within colovian society it is held only at the level of 'men worthy of admiration who acted as the divines would have us act', its origin comes from the pre-Marukhati literal worship of the deceased spirits of those who directly participated in the liberation of the cyrods from the ayleids. Though often not the literal ancestor of the individuals that worshipped them, most villages often would hold a large group of heroes as a sort of 'ancestor of the village'. They would evolve into saints under the Marukhati, who believed that there was only one truly divine entity. Under the Marukhati, these various divine spirits, and the eight divines themselves, were reduced simply to the status of 'saints', a name that in the case of hero worship stuck. Today the temple of the Nine/Eight divines maintains an official canon of figures considered worshippable saints under the Divines, which draws not only from the heroes of the nibenese, but also the heroes of the colovians, heroes of high rock, heroes of skyrim, and even a few elven heroes deemed relevant by various Arch-Primates over the course of the Temple's lifespan. While many saints are directly religious themed, or are written to be devout or at the very least to embody the nature of the divines even if they are a cynic, an individual does not actually have to be religiously affiliated to be considered a saint under the temple canon. In fact, the main criteria is heroic nature- whether this nature comes from selflessness or martyrdom or revolution or by simply being a badass doesn't matter. Avatars as well, reported pseudo-mortal forms taken by the nine, are worshipped as saints despite never actually living as mortals. Additionally, the majority of emperors are officially considered saints upon their passing by the temple- regardless of whether they were hroes. The only exceptions to this are the emperors that notably leave a stain when it comes to history- many of the marukhati emperors, for example, are devoid of cults.

Totemic Animals: The worship of totemic animals is the worship of a representative spiritual embodiement of a species of animal, and the abidement of tenents of living derived philosophically from the nature of the animal, and in the cases of animals like the bull and the horse, an additional amount of praise for the usefulness they provide to men. The majority of totemic animals are those that can be found in cyrodiil, primarily nibenay; The Bull, The Ox, The Tiger, The Moth, The Cricket, The Spider, The Fish, The Crab, etc. Some others from Colovia, since the days of reman, have also found their way into veneration- The Horse, The Bear, and The Hawk all being prime examples. Totemic religions are usually headed by a sort of secret society- of which there are many of in the nibenay, but that's not important for this. These totem societies are reclusive and hard to enter, and in many cases are very influential, either by the gold of their merchant members or the finesse of their subterfuge. The majority of worshippers however are unaffiliated with the respective society. The most powerful totemic society is easily that belonging to the moth- The Ancestor Moth priests, who are some of the few individuals permitted and trusted by the empire since ancient times to handle the treasured elder scrolls.

Animism: Not to be confused with totemic animals, Animism is the worship of inanimate objects; or more specifically, a spiritual presence that is either within the object or associated with the object. Very few total animist cults exist- that is, a cult which reveres the spirit of every object in the world- But the worship of a specific animist embodiement is very common amongst the working nibenese. Miners often give prayers and blessings to the cave or mine from which they pull ore, farmers pray to and revere their fields, fishermen and merchants pray to the rivers upon which their livelihoods depend, smithies utter their thanks to their furnace, and even an occasional warrior or two can be spotted treating their blade or armor with reverance and thanking it for the way in which it has protected them. Animism is practiced under the assumption that there is indeed in some level a spirit to these things- some earthbone or minor et'ada or barely living scrap of a god- and that the mortals who benefit off of them should show thanks and be appreciative for all they reap from them. It is a common in villages throughout the nibenay to have a day of the year set aside for an animist festival, in which the river the village is upon or the rice paddies the village harvests from are celebrated and thanked, and given offerings of material possessions earned via goods harvested. Though whatever spirit inhabits them would have no use for these goods, it is done as a sign of deferrence and respect, as evidence that a tribe is not greedily taking advantage of the spirit but appreciatively surviving off of what it provides. The more superstitious nibenese often believe that keeping these spirits happy and feeling appreciated produces better yields and harvests, though the evidence for it is mixed at best. Occasionally specific various objects of percieved power are animistically worshipped as well- many of the mountains of the Valus and the eastern Jeralls are praised for their power and might.

Daedra: Believe it or not, (at least in the third, second, and first eras) the worship of daedra in nibenay is not neccessarily seen as bad. Where it becomes evil is when such worship necessitates things like human sacrifice, or when such worship demands they hold the daedra above the divines. The worship of daedra as house gods though is perfectly permissable. However, under the septim empire (at least) it is strictly regulated, and every cult is made to report accurately on every single member within it, what actions the cult has made monthly, and all income and expenses made by the cult. Many daedric princes are outright banned- Sheogorath, Namira, and Molag Bal principally, with Mehrunes Dagon being added to the list of banned daedra after the events of the simulacrum. Furthermore the especially violent cults of other princes are outright banned as well- The Dark Brotherhood is classified as a banned cult of Mephala, and cults of Boethiah that encourage assassination and murder are banned as well. Popular daedric cults include the Cult of Meridia, whose worshippers often also are star worshippers as well, and whose priesthood often works alongside local Arkayn chapels to put down restless dead; the Cult of Hircine, who is commonly prayed to by hunters; The Cult of Hermaeus, popular among scholars, mages, and those who study the natural sciences; The Cult of Sanguine, which is notorious for often skirting the line on what is legal cult behavior or not with its debauchery, and has been temporarily banned many times before while under imperial investigation; The Cult of Clavicus, who's members include bankers, and lawyers; and the notable Cult of Vaernima, whose members actually undergo rituals to ensure they will recieve nightmares from Lady Vaermina, seek to fortify themselves and make themselves stronger via surviving in her presence, and who via guidance from Vaermina produce the majority of Nibenay's legal mind altering substances used by various cults, which they sell to them for moderate fees. Following the invasion by Oblivion in the late third era, many daedric cults, even those that were peaceful or unintrusive, came under scrutiny by the peoples of Cyrodiil, and many of them were forced to be quiet in their business and worship, selling their temples to other cults and moving 'underground', or risk being targeted by fearful mobs or even the more zealous members of the Vigilant, especially the colovian members who often despised daedra to begin with.

Foreign Gods: A key theme you may have noticed by now is the nibenese veneration of any manner of spirit by at least someone as a minor god. When presented with the notion of foreign gods (gods of the altmer, gods of the khajiit, gods of the redguard, gods of the bosmer, gods of the nords, the tribunal), colovians often scoff, dismissing them as either superstition, egotistical elven worship of long dead kings, misinterpretations of the nine, or in the case of the tribunal, a bunch of blasphemous elven sorcerors passing themselves off as deities. The nibenese, however, look at these entities and do not deny their existence. Indeed, while they find the worship of them above the nine to be heathenism and sinful, they see these entities as existant spirits, whether they're interpreted as minor gods or notable aspects or avatars of the nine. This occured throughout history primarily as the nibenese, who already accepted the idea of tons of tiny gods, encountered foreign faiths and didn't think 'heresy', but rather thought 'huh, these guys aren't worshipping quite the right gods'. It is not uncommon to find temples to entities like Kyne or Morwha or Y'ffre or Tu'Whacca within the Nibenay, where they are revered in this sort of way as seperate beings, often wedged into the mythos of the nine as being attendant et'ada. On top of these there are very common cults to the gods of akavir- or at the very least, the impressions of those gods left by what traces of them were told to the nibenfolk by the akaviri who served Reman. All of this is why the Nibenese make good missionaries, and are usually put in charge of missions by the Temple in places like Morrowind, Hammerfell, Skyrim, Black Marsh, Elsweyr, and Valenwood: Rather than the blunt force of the colovians, who would tell you your gods are wrong and bad and you should feel bad, the nibenese come telling these people that while their gods are strong and good, there are better gods who love all mortals that should be revered above them. All in all it is a much more comforting message; you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.

Star Worship: This is the veneration of members of the Magne-Ge, whose natures are often elusive and open to much interpretation. The stars are very popular among scholars, alchemists, seers, and ritualists, thanks to their magical nature as holes to aetherius. Many star worship cults or more directly dedicated to the animist personifications of the constellations, the most notable of which are the 'Birthsigns', which form a zodiac like belt across the sky.

Spirit Worship: Finally, all those who don't fit into previous categories are just lumped in general under spirit worship. These range from et'ada who don't fit anywhere else like Shezarr, to the bizarre spirits whose origin of worship remains a mystery to even the most competent of theologists. It also includes fey and house spirits- spirits of the home who are not actually animist spirits of the home itself, but of the act of living inside it- an odd sort of invisible resident. Nibenfolk who believe in these house spirits believe they help keep the home safe from intruders, floods, damages via storm, and help keep things clean. Some nibenese will take time every day to cook not only their own meals, but a meal for their house spirit, which they take to a small shrine-room set aside for them. Some will even claim that when they return to take back the dishes, they will be empty, their contents consumed.

In summary: These are all universally considered minor gods, which as established, really just means all spirits outside of the Nine themselves, who dwarf the littler spirits in power and majesty. It is these minor gods who are often prayed to for every day affairs such as an individuals livelihood or safety, and used to help model an individuals personal philosophy, as they are closer and more immediate to Nirn than the nine are and should be respected, though not as much as the Nine who guide all humanity quietly and discretely through miracles, the actions of heroes, their tenants for the good living of life, and rarely (such as the end of the oblivion crisis, or the alessian revolution) direct divine intervention. Most Nibenfolk are members of several cults, who they personally pray to as well as the nine, among whom three or four are especially favored by each individual.

If you have any questions, critiques, complaints, or comments, feel free to ask c: