I know that many of the lesser Aedra sacrificed themselves in the creation of the mortal universe and I know that the Eight Divines gave up some of their power to maintain it, but how much do they have now? None have truly shown themselves in the world so far...the altars and shrines could be enchanted to do what they do.

I'm not even sure of the appearance of the Avatar of Akatosh would count as intervention/appearance since even that required Martin Septim to sacrifice himself. Only Sithis and the Daedra make themselves known and the Tribunal were more powerful than the Divines...so...do the Divines truly have power?

Another, somewhat related question: if we play as the Dovahkiin, the first that's known to have appeared since Tiber Septim, how could Martin (or ANY bearing the Septim name) have been adequate to light the Dragonfires/become the Avatar?

nine divines*

You meant EIght*. Talos was a human.

Silly Thalmor...there are nine divines...if you need proof, consider that shrines of Talos actaully function like every other shrine, curing diseases, removing other blessings, and placing a blessing on the user.

Just because Dovahkiin is the first Dragonborn since Tiber Septim doesn't mean he is the only one with Dragon blood since that time.

That could be explained with enchantments. (Which leads back to the original question...how much power do they really have?

8 in Skyrim, since the worship of Talos is banned. Although that doesn't mean Talos isn't a divine. You know what i mean!

Talos himself appears to the Nerevarine in MW, he is a divine but atleast the CoC became a mire active god. I'd say they have a lot of power and are just really lazy and proud they tore Lorkhan up the guy basically responsible for the world being created.

For that matter, how do we know they weren't ALL originally mortals who "ascended" like Tiber Septim did?

Or that they aren't just Daedra with better PR firms?

Human manifestations of some of the gods appeared in Morrowind but they were mostly passive pretending to be victims needing rescue and guides.

They were a bit more active in Knights of the Nine behind the scene where they placed curses or magically hid away some of the relics.

In Skyrim Kynareth plays a big role in the history of the dragonborn. Although those things took place in a much earlier era when the gods were more active. They seem to have faded and weakened over time.

They are Gods... enough said.

I second this.

Who knows, there's some possibility it might have relation to the number of worshipers; power in faith as it were.

I asked a similar question in the lore forum.

Only a thalmor would be so lame.

Eight divines, now and forever!

There are Dovakhiin everywhere, it's the dragons that are the new guys at the yard. Had Martin saw a dragon and killed it, he would've absorbed its soul.


This is pointed out when you kill the one at Whiterun.
I don't know about the dragonfire thing though, never fully completed Oblivion, suffice to say it's fancy mumbo jumbo plot device magic Bethesda is keen of.

Martin and Uriel had the blood of the dragon, they are Dovahkiin, they just didn't have any dragon souls to absorb

You are NOT the first dragonborn since our friend Tiber, But the first to be summoned to the top of High Hrothgar since Tiber.

And we have seen glimpses of the divines in the games.
Talos appeared to the player in morrowind, as has been stated, as did Mara I believe. ( Mind that Talos isnt litteraly Tiber Septim, He's more )
And apparantly the profet in KOTN was Talos to.
The crusader relics have been made by the divines.

And as also been said, Lots of deeds come from a time when the gods where much more active, they have been severely weakend by the creation of Mundus.

As Legate, I would ask that you do the same.

See Martin become the avatar of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLWAr3TQ-S8 and kick Dagon's ass. And no, because the enchantments wouldn't be designed to bless a dragonborn to shout more quickly. If mortal had enchanted the shrines they'd be a bit more practical. Also the Knights of The Nine adds further evidence to Talo's Divinity.

The simple fact is Talos is the ninth divine and the Thalmor went into hiding leaving the Elves of the Crystal Tower to die at the climix of the Oblivion Crisis. They only came out of hidding when the Crisis was over after Martin Septim the true savior won the day.

Are we speculating in character or do you really want an official stance on the matter? If we're speculating, I don't think Daedra, Dragons, Falmer, Elves and Stormcloaks even exist, they're merely apparitions created by illusionist wizards.

"Bob! Get me another Grand Soul Gem, the altar has run out of blessings again!"

They created Nirn, so yes they are real. The divines are the very reason the planet exists in the first place. There is plenty of prove for that. Just follow Morrowinds MQ to completion if you have doubts. Talos is also a divine. Just see http://uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Blood_of_the_Divines

To make it as short as possible:

Back before there was Nirn, Lorkhan/Shor (name depends on culture) tricked/persuaded (depends on culture) the other Aedra (the 8 you see in game, plus some more) to create a mortal world. They did, one guy called Magnus was the architect of the world but fled before it's creation was complete because he realized the toll it would take on the spirits building it, his fleeing ripped a hole in the sky (the sun) which now allows for magic on Nirn (Tamriel + other continents)

After this the remaining spirits became the earthbones (planet) and were probably really pissed at Lorkhan so they ripped the heart out of his body and shot it away (landed in Red Mountain, Morrowind).

The Aedra are thus the creators of the planet. The Daedra are simply spirits like the Aedra were, who decided not to join Lorkhan in making the planet. They are what Aedra were before.

The Tribunal are gods that one day found and used the Heart of Lorkhan to get their divine power (as did Dagoth Ur) their strenght thus comes from a dead god. Which is why, when the hearts enchantments that bind it to the Tribunal are destroyed they also lose divine power, which is why you can kill Dagoth Ur, Vivec and Almalexia and why Almalexia could kill Sotha Sil.

Tiber Septim became an Aedra by doing exactly what Lorkhan did only with creating an Empire instead of a planet and thus appeared close enough to Lorkhan and the creation myths to be mistaken as Lorkhan (walk like a god, talk like a god, etc.). He and two others rose up to the "heavens" and became the ninth divine. Basically he takes Lorkhan/Shor his place in the temple.

As for the dragonblood things, the Septims after Tiber all had dragonblood, whether they had this by birth or simply got it by becoming Emperor is unknown. Fact remains that they did have dragonblood.

High Five Fishy

The Aedra are weak. All hail Sithis!

Nine. Talos was a god. Late in TES IV: Oblivion, Martin Septim requires the blood of a god to open a portal to Mankar Camoran's Paradise. He sends you to Sancre Tor to retrieve the briastplate of Tiber Septim (Talos), which still has some of his dried blood on it. The blood worked. He's a god.