#aedric

Now I've been hit with an under review most likely due to the fan art program so here they are. 😅

I’ve done a lot of posts about what I want from Elder Scrolls VI, but now I’m going to put my money where my mouth is and actually put out my own ideas that are deeper than concepts and loose thoughts. And I’m starting with something I wanted in Skyrim that wan’t possible, actually joining Dibella’s temple in Markarth as a playable faction. So, this is like an ideal construction of what I’d do for The Elder Scrolls VI with regards to Dibella in the gameplay. If this post does well, I’ll do more with the same concept.

Like in Skyrim, Dibella would have a shrine in the Temple of the Divines in the capital city of Wayrest, while a separate Temple of Dibella would likely stand in either Daggerfall or Evermore (due to being the biggest cities) or Menevia or Koegia (due to the highest devotion). Unlike High Rock, Hammerfell has a different Pantheon, but a temple could be found in Tigonus, where her worship is popular among Redguard women.

At the start of the game, the player would be allowed to select their gender, pronouns, and sexual orientation before being given a selection of starting points. One of those options would be to be a Prophet or Chosen Champoin for the player’s choice of higher being: Aedric, Daedric, or otherwise. The player would choose the path of Dibella. While Dibella is more often associated with women and female priests, the game would not block male characters from serving Dibella. The player would then be allowed to choose whether they are a native to the High Rock/Hammerfell regions, or a foreigner coming to these lands for the first time. The game would then start either with Dibella speaking to the player in their mind, or with a quest prompting the player to travel to the Temple of Dibella. Once in contact with the goddess, she would inform the player that she senses great turmoil in the future of both High Rock and Hammerfell. Daedric cults have begun to spring up across the region, and High Rock and Hammerfell are rife with corruption. Dibella tasks the player with riding High Rock and Hammerfell of these wicked influences. More specifically, Dibella urges the player to weed out the Cult of Mephala, who is responsible for the corruption and chronic backstabbing in that threatens the land, while she has a personal spite to want to weed out the Cult of Namira, who represents decay, cannibalism, and revulsion, all things which infuriate the goddess of beauty. The Reachmen that dwell at the border of High Rock and Skyrim would likely also be minor antagonists. Due to choosing the Champion of Dibella route, the Cult of Namira becomes the main antagonists to the player, while cultists of the other daedric princes, necromancers, assassins, and other generic antagonists operate similarly to Skyrim and other games, filling out the villain roster, while keeping the Cult of Namira as your biggest enemy in the game. Narmia’s Cult will be far more aggressive and active in the story than any other starting point, as only Dibella would care that much about Namira’s cultists. Namira’s cultists would likely be corrupting the environment in order to warp and destroy the beauty of High Rock. Corrupted spriggans, a daedric plague, rotting landscapes, spoiled crops and starvation, and an infestation of creepy crawlies would likely be among your main storyline beats for dealing with the Cult of Namira. While there would certainly be other things to do besides just stopping Namira’s cult, it would take center stage as the main storyline of this optional route.

Outside of the main quest, there would also be a Faction for Priests, either specific to each god, allowing you to join Dibella’s faction, or there’d be a blanket priest faction for the Eight Divines. Preferably, the player would be able to join the House of Dibella and/or the Order of the Lily in order to serve her, but if not, they might be able to join the Temple of the Divines and serve all of the Aedra as a blanket faction. The priests would supply the player with quests and tasks to progress their faction storylines. Unlike the main quest, it would be entirely possible to join the House of Dibella or play as a Priest of the Divines without needing to play as the Champion of Dibella. The two storylines are completely separate. As Dibella is the goddess of Beauty, Lust, and Pleasure, her faction questlines would likely revolve around such things. A few examples of faction plotlines: the priestesses keep being threatened by creepy stalking men, and the player is tasked with defending the priestesses from unwelcome advances. A disreputable cult of Dibella worshippers have taken to worshipping Dibella through unsavory and deviant debaucheries such as skooma, which has angered the goddess, and the priestesses task the player with snuffing out this disgrace to Dibella. Or, her worshippers are being unfairly discriminated against, calling her worship vulgar. Likewise, if the Priest Faction is more of a blanket faction that serves the whole Eight Divines, then the player would receive quests from the temples and priests of every Aedra.

The aiding of Dibella through main storyline quests and Faction quests would grant the player unique benefits, such as the Agent of Dibella passive from Skyrim. The player could get from Dibella and Aedric worship a number of features that are either passive boons or new unique spells: The passive features would include: Agent of Dibella (gender of romantic preference deal 10% less damage and offer 10% better prices), Sybil of Dibella (10% damage reduction from all genders, 10% better prices with all merchants), Dibella’s Kiss (Speechcraft +25), Divine Inspiration (Crafting and Enchantment +15), Dibella's Charm (illusion spells cost less Magicka to cast), Dibellan Arts (illusions work on higher level foes), Dibella's Craft (improved results when brewing potions, food, and beverages), Beauty Sleep (sleep cures Diseases and other ailments), Divine Protection (immune to diseases and curses, such as Vampirism), Unrivaled Devotion (deal 0.1% more damage for every npc with a Friendly disposition towards the player), and Strengthening Bonds (player is stronger when joined by a Companion, heightened further if the Companion is also their Spouse). It would also provide unique spells such as: Stunning Beauty (stun nearby enemies), Aedric Spear (skewers enemies with a thrusting spear of radiant light), Radiant Charm (better reputation = more damage), Mirror Image (creates 4 ethereal copies, enemies miss player more, 10% chance to reflect damage back at opponent), Dibella’s Wrath (Calls the power of Dibella to smite nearby enemies), Dibella’s Embrace (temporarily reduces incoming damage), Radiant Ward (temporarily blocks all incoming damage), Oppressive Dawn (deals massive Sun damage, extra damage to undead and daedra), Restoring Light (temporary health regen intensifies greatly), and Rebuke the Wicked (when hurt, enemy takes radiant damage). And those are just some that I managed to think of. There’s probably even more cool ideas I didn’t even think of.