Meridia’s Shrine: Bossy Daedric Prince, Destroy Stormcloak camp, Clean temple, Pretty sword.
I have decided to see what some of the Daedra want. They can’t command me and I can always refuse to help them as I did with the Dwemer lockbox and Hermaeus Mora.
Several months ago I found a large crystal. This was even before I met Rigmor. It was placed by Meridia in the hope I would pick it up. When I did she announced,
“A new hand touches the beacon. Listen. Hear me and obey. A foul darkness has seeped into my temple. A darkness that you will destroy. Return my beacon to Mount Kilkreath. And I will make you the instrument of my cleansing light.”
Another Daedric Prince who thinks they can order me what to do. If I wished I could drop this “beacon” in the deepest ocean or the hottest volcano or left it in Sovngarde or given it to Boethia or whatever else I felt like.
Instead I have decided to go and talk to Meridia and see if what she needs doing is morally acceptable.
Meridia was originally an Aedra. She became a Magna-Get when she followed Magnus into Aetherius during the Dawn Era. When it was found she had been consorting with various Daedra she was cast down and became a Daedric Prince.
Exactly what she is supposed to be prince of is debatable and obscure.
She hates undead and it sounds like her temple may be home to some of them. If removing them is what she needs I will happily do so.
Celestine and Iona have been asking to accompany we more so I will take them with me today.
Lydia has been pounding some fine points of swordsmanship into the guardsman and was quite happy to stay behind to do more of that.
As for Meeko. The poor dog is surrounded by dozens of children who want to play games and run and climb things and explore. He hates every second of it!
We left Dragons Keep at about 7:30AM.
We arrived in Dragons Bridge at about 10:15AM and one of the local guards came running up to me. He told me some Stormcloaks had set up camp nearby.
We tethered the horse in town and walked to where the camp was. We caught them by surprise and I used the “Ice Form” shout.
This froze many of them solid for an easy dispatch.
We killed the rebels and reported back to the guard, collected our horses and continued on to the shrine.
As we approached the structure Meridia’s voice boomed out,
“Look at my temple, lying in ruins. So much for the constancy of mortals, their crafts and their hearts. If they love me not, how can my love reach them?”
We climbed some steps to reach her statue. She said,
“Restore to me my beacon, that I might guide you towards your destiny.”
(I approached the statue.)
Know this Daedric Prince. This is not my destiny and I am not doing your bidding. I am here to see if there is evil to be cleansed. I do this of my own free will. I have had your beacon for months and you have no power to compel me. Tell me what you need and I will decide if it is worth my effort.
(Every single Daedric Prince thinks they command me. The refuse to listen to the fact they do not. I placed the beacon upon its pedestal.)
(I was lifted high into the air where Media’s aspect approached and announced,)
“It is time for my splendour to return to Skyrim. But the token of my truth lies buried in the ruins of my once great temple, now tainted by a profane darkness skittering within. The Necromancer Malkoran defiles my shrine with vile corruptions, trapping lost souls left in the wake of wars to do his bidding. Worse still, he uses the power stored within my own token to fuel his foul deeds. I have brought you here, mortal, to be my champion. You will enter my temple, retrieve my artefact, and destroy the defiler. Guide my light through the temple to open the inner sanctum and destroy the defiler.”
You did not bring me here. My horse did! My own free will did! I will do this as Malkoran’s perversions are stopping brave souls from reaching Sovngarde. If by doing so you shrine is restored or not matters nothing to me.
“You will do it. I have commanded it!”
I can just as easily reduce your temple to a pile of rubble trapping the evil inside for eternity! You do not command me. Now let me get on with the task and keep your egotistical ravings to yourself.
“Very well mortal. The artefact must be reclaimed and Malkoran destroyed. Guide my light through the temple to open the inner sanctum and destroy the defiler. Malkoran has forced the doors shut. But this is my temple and it responds to my decree. I will send down a ray of light. Guide this light through my temple and its doors will open.”
I then found myself back on the ground. The beacon was now hovering between the statues hands and a ray of light connected it to the pedestal.
We climbed down the stairs and entered the temple. The whole place had this black miasma floating in the air. I had encountered similar in several dungeons I visited with Rigmor.
Spread throughout the temple were pedestals with beacons embedded in them.
When I touched a pedestal the beacon would rise and act like a prism.
Meridia’s light would be deflected to another beacon.
Guiding this light by manipulating the beacons is what I had to do to restore her temple and to give me access to where Malkoran was.
The only enemy we encountered were black wraiths. Although sinister looking they proved no match for steel or spell.
At one stage we came outside to a balcony. There we encountered an Imperial Captain. When I asked him, with the authority of a being a Legate behind me, what he was doing he attacked. He died.
We eventually came to the room where Malkoran was performing his evil rituals.
Unrelenting Force sent him and is minions sprawling allowing me to sprint to him before he recovered.
Another Unrelenting Force shout at close proximity slammed him against a wall and he died.
A powerful Lich arose from his corpse but it was soon cut down.
Then Meridia spoke once again,
“It is done. The defiler is defeated. Take Dawnbreaker from its pedestal.”
(Dawnbreaker was some sort of sword. It was sheathed in a fancy looking pedestal.)
(I removed the sword…)
(…and found myself floating high in the sky one again. Meridia’s aspect approached and said,)
“Malkoran is vanquished. Skyrim’s dead shall remain at rest. This is as it should be. This is because of you. A new day is dawning. And you shall be its herald. Take the mighty Dawnbreaker and with it purge corruption from the dark corners of the world. Wield it in my name, that my influence may grow.”
Thanks for the shiny sword. It will look good amongst my collection. As for your religion, I am too busy spreading the word of The Divines. Plus I am already champion of Boethia and Azura and have no time to be champion to you as well!
“It matters not. The plant cares nothing for the rays that bring it the warmth of the sun. As you carry Dawnbreaker, so will my light touch the world.”
Daedra simply do not listen to a word I say! I soon found myself back on the ground and the beacon was in its pedestal.
There was no longer any light and our work here was finished.
We headed back home just after 5:00PM.
The trip was uneventful and we finally entered Dragons Keep at about 9:30PM.
I thanked Iona and Celestine for their help today and told them I might be visiting Peryite tomorrow. Iona said she would like to come but Celestin had classes to teach.
I then sought out the lore master sent to us by the mages college.
She told me that to speak to Peryite I would need to inhale some fumes made from a particular list of ingredients which were:
- Flawless Ruby
- Vampire Dust
- Silver Ingot
- Deathbell Flower.
She told me all of those are in our supplies except the ruby.
I went and checked the bags of gems I had yet to exchange with the Khajiit caravans and found a suitable ruby amongst them.
I placed Dawnbreaker in the school’s trophy room. There were enough wards and guards protecting this newly built extension I had no worries it could or would be stolen.
The idea of the Trophy Room was to allow students to study rare artefacts and their dweomer.
I sat and wrote this journal entry and retired to bed.
I know not what time I fell asleep.
Im not sure if i like the stance you made Wulf Take against meridia. Afterall azura and meridia are alike in a lot of ways and if Wulf is willing to be azuras champion why would he not be willing to be Meridia’s.
Not sure if i liked the the stance wulf took against meridia. As meridia and azura are alike in a lot of ways, not really being truly evil and Meridia is viewed by most as one of the good ones. If wulf is willing to be Azura’s champion why would he not be willing to be Meridias.
i guess it just bothered me how Wulf acted around her it’s not like she was asking him to do anything evil. To me it just came off as Wulf being a jerk. I know he follows the divines and all, viewing himself as thier champion. But his refusal to spread meridia’s light made no sense to me. If he acted how he did to the other daedric princes it would make more sense as most of them ask the dragonborn to do some heinous act, all meridia did was ask him to clear out defilers from her temple and let the dead in her temple be laid to rest. Im not saying wulf should actively worship Meridia but he could atleast not put her in the same category as the other daedric princes like molag bal or malacath. Meridia worked with the vestige in eso to stop Molag bals invasion of nirn and didnt ask for much in return compared to other daedra. I would argue that Meridia has more good in her than azura.
Daedra are opposed to The Divines but not all have actively sought their downfall. Azura is one Daedra who has not. When a Daedric Prince is considered “good” by the laymen they are not aware of the history of the being. There is nothing good about Meridia. She was an Aedra and could have been a Divine. She became a Magne-Get when she joined Magnus and fled to Aetherius when Mundus was created. From there she was cast down for consorting with Daedra. She chose to be a Daedric Prince and is known for many evil acts. She has a “zoo” where she exhibits human specimens she collects from Nirn. She sided with the Ayleids against Alessia’s slave revolt. She used her Aurorans to destroy Divine temples and their followers during the Oblivion crises. She is an enemy of The Divines and therefore and enemy of Wulf. The Daedra get followers mostly by making mortals believe they have to obey. Mortals do not and Wulf will remind them of that whenever they try it on him. You must also remember that he helped Azura to help Rigmor. Wulf refuses to help a Daedra do anything that is evil or only benefits the Daedra. He has refused to help Hermaeus Mora and Peryite. He had every right to correct Meridia with her assumptions. It is not petty. It is being a Champion of The Divines dealing with an enemy.
I always enjoy learning more about Tamriel and Nirn and the various deities. Your knowledge, Mark, is rally profound, and it makes reading your blog even more interesting. Cool POV regarding why Meridia shouldn’t be categorized similar to Azura. Thanks!
Azura is unique amongst the Daedric Princes as she has her own mortal race she adores. The Daedric Princes can’t create life but they can alter it. Azura changed some formless spirits of the forest into the first Khajiit. Other Daedric Princes create monsters out of the mortal animals made by The Divines. Many creatures that inbabit the different parts of Oblivion can be traced to their origins on Nirn. Many are just modifications of lesser Daedra.
Because Azura has her Khajiit she is with The Divine in wanting to preserve Nirn and all mortals.
Out of all the Daedric princes, Azura is the one I don’t mind at all. Meridia is a bit of a gray area as for me. Yes she despises the undead; she is the lady of infinite energies, and represents the cycle of life and death. In a very odd sense, she is the Daedric equivalent of Arkay (sort of)
That’s just my opinion. I would not mind doing a task for Meridia, but I’m sure as hell not going to be her champion
Wulf cleared out the dead because they did not belong there. Also the souls of brave soldiers from both sides of the civil war would be denied Sovngarde by the necromancer. He does not mind Daedric worship and will fight tooth and nail for it to be allowed. What he does deny is their constant ordering of people around as if they had any influence on Nirn apart from their whispers. Meridia used her mortal troops to kill Divine worshippers and destroy Divine temples during the Oblivion Crises. She also abandoned the Aedra and magna-Ge to voluntarily become a Daedric Prince. Much of what the Dark Lords do is not really evil but their nature. Meridia chose what she has become. For those reasons Wulf regards her as an enemy. Azura is different than other Daedric Princes for several reasons. She has never openly acted against the Divines. She has a vested interest in Nirn and Mundus continuing to exist as she if fond of the Khajiit who she transformed from formless forest spirits. She can see somewhat into the future via her seers with foresight. They tell her their jumbled up premonitions and she tells them what they mean.