Just sitting here thinking how Draugr/Dragon worshippers culture works... then i thought, maybe, each Dragonpriest mask corrupts its wearer over-time and curses takes over their bodies, which is how the become powerful liches, maybe the Dragonpriests of eons ago were forced to wear them as part of their Dragon religion, and when death came they were taken over by the spirit of the mask, and granted powerul abilities in death.

Because since the Dragonpriests name is not his own but rather the masks, that is what led me to believe the mask corrupted and took over, sort of like the One Ring...

So does the Dragonborn techinally become the Dragonpriest when wearing it technically, or more correctly will the mask take over Dragonborn in years to come? And maybe more speciffically the mask Konahriik, which had no original owner, as it was hidden away for centuries until the other masks came, perhaps when Dragonborn put that mask on, it instantly connected to him, and in death Dragonborn will become the lich Konahriik (unless he wears very non-frequently...)

Just a fun little speculation thread... thoughts? I love the idea of the Dragon worshippers culture, im hoping for a DLC where we can go back in time to that point and become one of them :3

i* took it the other way, the masks were named after the wearer.

edited for spelling

How can that make sense?

Surely the Dragon worshippers would have had original names, not Dragonish names, they were only Nords after all..
And i suppose you could say that they could have been given Dragon names when joining the religion, or when born into the religion, but Dragonish names are by tradition three words to create a name... names like Naahkriin (Vengeance) and Kohnariik (Warlord) don't make any sense as names, only as items...

A load screen quote i just saw state that high ranking Dragonpriests where given these artifacts that defy time itself... i would imagine the masks had the name first, and the preist was titled after the mask..

Entirely possible. We don't know the function of the Masks; Were they crafted for the dragonpriests, or are they similar to the Eldar Phoenix Lords of Warhammer 40k? As in, the person who wears the mask becomes the mask? It's possible that it takes some time for the effect to take hold, and the original Dragon Priests were simply the last ones to wear the masks with no successors. In this instance, "Konahriik" had an original owner, but the body decayed too much (or was ripped off and the priest slain) and was left in the dust.

If the masks took control of someone, it would have been more beneficial for it to happen immedately or within a few weeks or months of being worn. What better leader than one who has the wisdom (and power) that hundreds of lifetimes can offer?

I could see one taking on a draconic name as a symbol of their devotion to the Dragons and then creating a mask to symbolize the new person they have become (and naming it after their new draconic name).

whoops mispelled that first word. Anyway i'd imagine that since the dragons gave them the masks...maybe they thought lowly mortals didn't need more than one word to describe them. Or it could be that they took up names in the dragon language when they were made high priests?

You are suddenly my friend.

One of the things that got me thinking that the masks were this way is Jack of Blades from fable 1, his mask is him, the body he uses is the body of a host that the mask corrupts, and thus he has control of the body itself, this change is instant also, as shown when the Hero puts the mask on, Jack takes over.

How do you know that Konahriik had an owner and his body was decayed? If it was left in the remainders of its owner why is now safeguarded in Bromjunaar Sanctuary?

Also, how i would love to able to wear the robed armour of the Dragonpriests :0 They need the make this DLC..

EDIT: Also, the word for the language is 'Dragonish', since latin is not a language in the world of TES, 'Draco' is not a word at all, making 'Draconic' redundant, the language i suppose would be better call 'Dovish' but substitute whatever 'ish' would be in their language..

All apart from Otar have meanings:

Krosis - Sorrow
Konahrik - Warlord
Morokei - Glorious
Nahkriin - Vengeance
Vokun - Shadow

Speculatory:
Rahgot, closest word is Rahgol - Rage (nothing on Rahgot though)
Hevnoraak, Hevno is 'Brutal', no idea what the actual meaning is.

The masks could represent the main worship of the priest, it's unlikely that someone would be called 'sorrow' without reason.

Personally, I do like the idea that the Dragon Masks are the real Dragonpriests, and the ones we fight are just animated flesh-puppets used by the mask (or have their personalities incorporated into the mask.)

This would mean, however, that the Dovahkiin is either extremely strong-willed to resist possession (at least immediately) or that a ritual of some kind is required to be "melded" to the mask.

Hmm, this is a very interesting topic. I wouldn't mind some resurgence of the dragon cult type DLC, you know? Also I believe the reason Otar doesn't have a translation is because if I recall he was always known as Otar, but became Otar the Mad due to voices in his head ect., which going along with this, could have been caused by the mask perhaps? Like what if he received the mask initially as a sign of good will or something, and it drove him mad. I can't help but think of the rings given to the nine men doomed to die on Lord of the Rings, who eventually became the ring wraiths.

I would say it is more this than anything else mentioned. Many religious leaders take on names from their religion to show their devotion to that god in the past. It would also give them some kind of mystic air about them as well when wearing the mask in public doing the ceremonies to their Dragon Masters.

Possible, but... There are unnamed Dragon Priests who have no mask, so... There is more to being a Dragon Priest than just the mask. The mask just symbolizes their authority as high-priests. And as such is named after them. Their lichdom is granted by Alduin I believe.

No, unless you choose to. They are heads of dragoncult, and old nordic religion. Dargonborn is a result of pact between Akatosh and St Alessia.

The Dragonborn is a demigod, not a priest.