- In Marvel: I Start by Marrying Scarlett Witch [Complete]
- MWM Chapter 448
When the world finally stabilized, all the Aedra who hadn’t yet left were forced to become part of the world.
Apart from powerful beings like Akatosh and Lorkhan, who could maintain their transcendence, most of the Aedra had to rely on reproduction, reincarnation, and cycles of rebirth to sustain their existence.
Akatosh, angered by Magnus’s escape, managed to bite off a piece of Magnus’s flesh as he fled. This piece of flesh became the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon, a being who would later nearly destroy the continent of Tamriel.
Due to Magnus and the other Daedra escaping, the world, though created, couldn’t remain stable.
Thus, Akatosh, leading the Aedra, held judgment over Lorkhan at the White-Gold Tower, for deceiving them. Lorkhan’s body was torn in half, forming the two moons, and his heart was sealed within Red Mountain on the continent of Morrowind.
Akatosh and the seven remaining Aedra then transformed into eight planets, orbiting the star of Nirn.
This stabilized Nirn’s place in time, ensuring the world would no longer be subject to chaos.
In the future, mortals, influenced by their own perceptions, gave each of the eight Aedra distinct personalities, which became the Eight Divines we know today.
Talos, who ascended from mortality to godhood, was not among these eight original creators.
Of course, there’s considerable debate about the Eight Divines. Some claim there are eight, others seven, or even six. Nothing is entirely certain.
For example, Arkay, the god of death, burial, and the cycle of life, was originally a mortal. According to *The God of Birth and Death, Arkay*, he became obsessed with the nature of life and death. Nearing the end of his life, he prayed to the divine Mara, asking for more time to research his theories, eventually ascending into godhood.
Others claim that these were merely mortal incarnations of the Aedra.
But to Leo, these details were irrelevant. What mattered most was that he now understood one crucial fact:
Akatosh and the other Aedra could not directly influence Nirn. At most, they could issue commands or bestow blessings through altars to their followers.
They couldn’t manifest in the world in their true forms; for that, they would need to be reincarnated. And unless some cataclysmic event threatened to destroy Nirn, they wouldn’t reincarnate easily, likely due to restrictions Leo didn’t fully understand.
As for the Daedra, who followed Magnus in escaping, they originally could manifest on Nirn.
However, they too were now unable to do so. But unlike the Aedra, their influence over Nirn remained stronger, since their original essence hadn’t been damaged.
Why, then, could the Daedra no longer manifest physically on Nirn? Some books offered an explanation.
It seemed that Akatosh, fearing the Daedra would one day ruin the stability of Nirn by treating it like a playground, had created the Dragonfires barrier, which separated Nirn from the Daedric realms.
Each divine had their own domain where the souls of their worshippers would go after death. The Daedra also had their own realms, which were known as the Oblivion planes.
This reminded Leo of his own *Tsukuyomi World*, which could be considered a basic plane, though still far from the domains of the Aedra and Daedra.
With the Dragonfires barrier in place, the Daedra were unable to leave their Oblivion realms and cause chaos on Nirn.
However, this system wasn’t foolproof.
According to historical records, Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric Prince of destruction, change, revolution, energy, and ambition, had once managed to physically manifest on Nirn, nearly dragging all of Tamriel into his Oblivion realm of the Deadlands.
This occurred during the First Era.
After the Dawn Era came the Merethic Era, followed by the First Era. The current era in which Leo found himself was the Fourth Era.
To maintain the power of the Dragonfires barrier, Akatosh linked it to the bloodline of the Dragonborn emperors, starting with Empress Alessia, the first ruler of the Empire.
As long as the Dragonborn bloodline endured, the Dragonfires barrier would protect Nirn from the Daedric threat.
At this point, Leo realized that his Dragonborn bloodline originated from Akatosh, not Talos.
Earlier books mentioned that the ancient Nords frequently used the Thu’um (dragon shouts), and that Talos, who ascended from a mortal to a god, was particularly skilled in the Thu’um.
This had led Leo to believe that his Dragonborn bloodline might be connected to Talos.
By the Third Era, all Dragonborn bloodlines in Tamriel’s royal family had been wiped out by cultists who worshipped Mehrunes Dagon.
With no Dragonborn left to wear the Amulet of Kings and light the Dragonfires, Dagon seized the opportunity to open Oblivion gates all over Tamriel, leading his army of Daedra into the realm.
Mortals stood no chance against a Daedric Prince, and the war was overwhelmingly one-sided.
Then, a man named Martin appeared, claiming to be an illegitimate son of the emperor and the last of the Dragonborn bloodline. He transformed into an avatar of Akatosh and banished Mehrunes Dagon and his Daedric army back to Oblivion.
In doing so, he sacrificed himself, turning into a statue that permanently sealed the Dragonfires, ensuring that Daedra could never again physically manifest on Nirn.
Thus, Leo realized that as long as he didn’t deliberately seek to destroy the world, he wouldn’t have to worry about clashing with powerful Aedra or Daedra.
While he might not yet be strong enough to challenge the Daedric Princes, he felt confident in facing their lesser projections.
In other words, he no longer needed to hide his true strength. He could fly, teleport, or use any of his abilities without worrying about drawing unwanted attention.
One morning, as Leo was leaving the Bannered Mare and heading toward Dragonsreach to continue his reading, he passed a cloaked and armored woman exiting the gate.
As they crossed paths, he recognized her instantly.
“Isn’t that Delphine, the innkeeper from the Sleeping Giant Inn? What’s she doing here, and why so secretive?”
Though the woman was hooded, Leo’s ability to see through souls allowed him to recognize her. Even if she had used magic to alter her appearance, he could still identify her in an instant.
For an innkeeper to travel from Riverwood to Whiterun was no simple feat, especially with the ongoing dragon crisis. It was clear that Delphine was no ordinary person.
“Well, it’s none of my business,” Leo muttered, pausing for a moment. He chose not to expose her identity and instead pushed open the doors to Dragonsreach.
(End of Chapter)