That's taking his personal opinion into consideration. I doubt all creatures you trap in a gem loose their sanity once they die and have bin obsessed with eternal life either. If he likes it that's his deal, but I'm sure not every creature agree's with him. I would assume most would go crazy with being completely alone as well.





What about when your turn on charging the sword is over?

Two of my characters don't use soul gems at all for this purpose. They do use enchanted weapons if they find one, to release the souls trapped within but they don't recharge them.

Animals, especially the larger ones have feelings just like humans do. The only two things that separate humans from other animals are: 1) Animals can't talk 2) animals, except Chimpanzees, are not self-aware. But they feel pain and loss as we do.

Animals may be less aware of what's happening to them. That's not to say they wouldn't care. Indeed, it would probably be more distressing for an animal than a human, who may know a little about soul trapping anyway.

I always assumed once you used up a soul gem, you're free. Either that, or you don't actually capture the soul, just its energy as it leaves the body. Maybe when you go to Sovngarde or whatever, you might be weakened.

And for certain characters it would actually give you their name. Great for collectors!

For 5 low payments of 125 drakes, you can own the very soul of Ulfric Stormcloak HIMSELF!!! There is only one left to go around folks, so get it before it`s gone!!!

Chimpanzees are not the lone exception of that, many animals are self Away, Elephants, Dolphins, Cats, Canines, many birds, ect... Sentience is not the sepperation of Human and Animal, it's Sappience or reasoning.

Moral ethics towards soul gems?

1.) Don't mind soul trapping animals.

2.) Don't mind soul trapping people that I hate.

I have a tendency to name enchanted items after the souls I used to make them. Of course I only do that with NPC souls.

Although, "Mudcrab Deathblade" definetely has a ring to it.

I find the concept gruesome as well. A lot of people take a variation of this approach though:

Huh, UESP has no Lore article on Soul Gems?

Well, let's not take our real-world desire/sentimets for the soul to keep existing in any form after death into the Elder Scrolls universe shall we? Nobody really knows where souls go after death in TES. They could actually be consumed by the universe itself, empowering the universe to create new souls by consuming used souls, for all we really know. Since we don't really know the importance nor substance of the soul in TES, we can't put a (real-world) morality on it imho.

But for a non-sentient being trapped in a soul gem that could actually mean it could keep on doing whatever it does for all eternity. Would it actually notice and feel bad because of that? A sentient being would become mad due to various reasons like for example the impossibility of communication with peers and being out of touch with their loved ones. A rabbit will just continue being a rabbit. Soul gems do seem capable to fulfill in basic needs, so if the rabbits has carrots which it can gather, it really don't think it'll ever care throughout eternity.

my character has no qualms about using the souls of stormcloaks to kill other stormcloaks. Although there aren't enough black gems in this game. Stupid azura loyalty = bad decision

I don't think once you drain an item of its soul charge then the soul is free. Think about something, each item you swing your sword of flames, it draws upon the souls energy to create the flames. Once the soul doesnt have anymore energy left I would imagine it is exstinguished, gone forever. Not released and making its merry way to Sovrnegard ( spelled correctly? ) but thats just what I think. I could be very wrong, who knows.

Yea, I checked that before I posted this because I wanted to make sure I had the right idea. Was odd, all I could find was a book or two on how they work.

Sure. In RL we trap souls all the time, except we call it "employee retention".

Possibly due to the fact that killing a person is a real physical act in the real universe, whereas a 'soul' or anything connected to it is not real and exists only in the realms of fantasy and the supernatural.

well, there are White Souls, which are non-sentient (or are supposed to be, Bethesda kinda messed up the Falmer), and Black Souls, which are sentient. Black Souls are considered illegal in many mage circles, and are highly looked down upon in the few that don't expressly forbid them. Using a non-sentient soul as a power source is messed up, but much better than using a sentient soul that actually knows what is happening to it. and lets face it, a nuclear reactor is one small step away from being a nuclear bomb, so we can't really complain about the power source in a fantasy universe.

It is a very dark grey area, that's for sure.

Don't worry I wasn't referring to the real world, not trying to turn this into a religious debate But it seems pretty clear that there is an after life in Nirn. MQ spoiler

The problem is that we do know that the soul goes somewhere after death. It is not a mystery that the followers of a Daedric Prince go to the plane of Oblivion of that Prince. We also Know that the Heroes that die can end up in Solvenguard. Heck I bet the Bunnies and Dear go to Hircine's Hunting grounds so the were-wolves there have something to hunt.

Edit: got Ninja'ed^^

All good Nords go to Sovngard, I suppose all other Aedra-lovin' people go to elsewhere in Aetherius. Perhaps each member of a Divine worshiping sect go to their sect's ideas of the afterlife.

In TES universe the soul seems to be a real thing with it's own energy, characteristics, etc. A soul in TES seems to be transported to another realm after death.

If you talking about RL though (witch I only bring up because that would make more sense out of your post). It depends on your view on the soul. Even on a scientific stand point it's all theory and different depending on who you are and what makes sense to you even if the meaning is the same.

Black Gems svck the life from anything, including your usual person. Normal gems apparently don't (animals, some deadra). So, black gems are illigal due to their Necro abilities.

It so happens I have tons of these gems. I really should use em up.

Possibly

The process makes me think of the line, "Your soul is mine!"