Lore:Gods D
[edit] Dagoth Ur, Father of the Mountain
Dagoth Ur, whom Vivec would come to call the Sharmat, was the immortal Lord High Councilor of House Dagoth, who dwelt beneath Red Mountain with his kin, the Ash Vampires, and legions of Corprus monsters. As a mortal, Lord Voryn Dagoth was one of the few who knew about the Heart of Lorkhan, together with Vivec, Almalexia, Sotha Sil and their leader Lord Indoril Nerevar. Dagoth claimed that the Dwemer high priest Kagrenac was drawing power from the Heart using special tools to create a mechanical god, Numidium, that would be used against the Chimer. After Azura confirmed Dagoth's story, action was taken to stop the Dwemer, starting a war that culminated in the disappearance of the Dwemer and the transformation of the Chimer into the Dunmer.
Following the defeat of the Dwemer, the Tools of Kagrenac the Master Craftsman fell into the hands of the Chimer, and Lord Nerevar held the burden of deciding what to do with them. At first, Dagoth himself urged for their immediate destruction, either of the Tools or the Heart itself, which led Nerevar to believe he could be trusted to guard them while Nerevar consulted his councilors, the Tribunal of Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil (and the Dunmer's Daedric patron Azura).
Sadly, when Nerevar and the Tribunal returned to Red Mountain with the conclusion that Kagrenac's Tools should be preserved but never used, Dagoth refused to give them up, maintaining that he had been entrusted to guard them. Unbeknownst to them at the time, Dagoth had experimented with the Tools on the Heart during Nerevar's absence, and somehow managed to steal some of its divine essence and power. He now called himself Dagoth Ur, and was forever after known by that name (it's possible Nerevar may have actually coined the name). Nerevar and the Tribunal's guards defeated Dagoth Ur, who was driven off and thought to have been killed. His House ceased to exist; the remnants were either killed or absorbed into the other Great Houses (although it would be resurrected later). However, Nerevar was mortally wounded and died shortly afterwards.
Some sources insist that Nerevar died at the hands of the Tribunal, that they murdered him when he left Red Mountain to consult with them, and it was they who fought Dagoth Ur for the Tools, and Dagoth fought to avenge Nerevar's death. These assertions were vehemently denied by the Tribunal Temple, as well as Vivec; even Dagoth Ur's account contradicts this, as he admits that he and Nerevar came to blows beneath the mountain. Regardless, the Tribunal did not obey Nerevar's dying wish: years later, when Sotha Sil had learned their secrets, the Tribunal returned to Red Mountain and used Kagrenac's Tools to steal divine powers for themselves. Dagoth Ur also managed to forge a connection to the Heart somehow: he remained alive and immortal, albeit temporarily bodiless and presumed dead. The Tribunal's ambition proved to be disastrous, despite the many great and heroic deeds they accomplished in their divine states. In 2E 882, as the Tribunal journeyed to Red Mountain to renew their connection to the Heart in a bathing ritual, they once again encountered Dagoth Ur, reborn to a new incarnation, and with divine power that could more than match their own. Unable to enter Red Mountain's Heart Chamber, they were forced to retreat. Dagoth Ur had sole control of the Heart from this point on, and grew stronger while the Tribunal grew weaker.
Later successes allowed Dagoth Ur to expand his sphere of influence further: at first to nearby Dwemer citadels, and then even further by means of spreading blight diseases. In 3E 417, the worst blow came: as part of a misguided attempt to recapture the Dwemer citadels, Almalexia and Sotha Sil lost the artifacts Sunder and Keening, two of Kagrenac's Tools, and had to be rescued by Vivec. Eventually, the Tribunal were forced to retire from their previously active lives and devote most of their time to maintaining the magical Ghostfence they erected to prevent Dagoth Ur's sphere of influence from spreading. Even this was only a partial success; blight-infected creatures could fly over it, and there was a passage below the ground to the lost Dunmer Fortress of Kogoruhn, the stronghold of House Dagoth in life, through which other diseased and Corprus-infected creatures could escape Red Mountain.
Now possessing only one of Kagrenac's tools, the gauntlet Wraithguard, the Tribunal could not - dared not - even pass the bounds of their own Ghostfence to recapture the others. As Sotha Sil and Almalexia withdrew from the world, Vivec stood alone in maintaining the Ghostfence, an effort that took so much of his energies he could not stir out of his palace, and his Temple's Ordinators ran out of his control and became ever more fanatical and rigid as the faith of the Dunmer wavered. Meanwhile, Dagoth Ur set about constructing Akulakhan, the Second Numidium, a brass machine god he would use to conquer all of Tamriel. For more information, see the main Lore article.
[edit] Diagna, Orichalc God of the Sideways Blade
Hoary thuggish cult of the Redguards who originated in Yokuda during the Twenty Seven Snake Folk Slaughter. Diagna was an avatar of the HoonDing (the Yokudan God of Make Way) that achieved permanence. He was instrumental to the defeat of the Lefthanded Elves, as he brought orichalc weapons to the Yokudan people to win the fight. In Tamriel, he led a very tight knit group of followers against the Orcs of Orsinium during the height of their ancient power, but then faded into obscurity. He is now little more than a local power spirit of the Dragontail Mountains.[1]
[edit] Dibella, Goddess of Beauty
Dibella, known as the "Queen of Heaven", "Goddess of Beauty", and "Lady of Love", is the popular Aedric "love goddess" of the Eight Divines (and the Nine Divines). In Cyrodiil, she has had many different cults, some devoted to women, some to artists and aesthetics, and others to erotic instruction. Dibella created the Brush of Truepaint in answer to a disabled artist's prayers. She also purportedly created the Helm of the Crusader for Pelinal Whitestrake to help him defeat Umaril the Unfeathered. She is usually depicted as a voluptuous and attractive human female, often either holding large flowers or actually having flowers in place of hands.
Houses of worship dedicated to her are sometimes called Houses of Dibella, though they are also known as chapels or temples. She tends to attract individuals who live and/or espouse an epicurean lifestyle. Followers of Dibella can purportedly commune with the goddess using a person designated by her, known as the Sybil of Dibella, as a medium. Worshipping her is thought of as a more personal, intimate association than worshipping some other Divines. It is said she asks us to "[o]pen your heart to the noble secrets of art and love. Treasure the gifts of friendship. Seek joy and inspiration in the mysteries of love".
Despite her status as a Divine and general popularity, views on the worship of Dibella are somewhat mixed. Worship of her is frequently associated with lewd acts and indecency. Houses of Dibella have been described as "cult[s] of beauty and physical relations". Likewise, the goddess herself has been described as "too lusty", or, more euphemistically, "warm-blooded". In some locales, her worshippers must practice the "Dibellan Arts" in secret for fear of being run out of town.
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