Tamriel:Daedra

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Daedra are a class of divine beings that did not take part in the creation of the Mundus, and thus retain the full breadth of their power. The word is of Aldmeri origin, and it originally means "not our ancestors" as opposed to Aedra-"ancestors". Technically only the plural is written Daedra, but this word is frequently used in singular as well. The proper singular form is "Daedroth", but that has come to refer to a specific species of Daedra. Among humans in particular, these creatures are often mistakenly referred to as daemons. Daedric Princes are, in fact, mostly not daemonic in the conventional sense of the word. All Daedra do have a penchant for extremes and are therefore capable of tremendous acts of devastation, but only Molag Bal, Mephala, Mehrunes Dagon and Peryite seem to take genuine pleasure in them. As Daedra are beyond mortal comprehension, they are incapable of being truly "good" or "evil" in the conventional Western sense, and for the most part, their actions and behaviors, as well as their very natures are merely interpreted by mortals as being subjectively evil, as this is how many of the infinite Daedric concepts "transliterate" into the finite mortal world.

Daedra come in many forms. Undoubtedly there are true Daedra, such as the Daedra Princes and highly intelligent Dremora. There are many lesser beings known to be in league with these greater powers, and it is unsaid in the game whether these constitute actual Daedra or if they are simply Daedric (having to do with the Daedra).

A Daedroth's physical form can be ruined, but they cannot be truly killed; the soul or Animus of a slain Daedroth returns to the void of Oblivion until it manages to re-coalesce into a physical form again. Slaying a daedra is called "banishment" instead of "death" to reflect this.

Daedra are the undisputed masters of craftsmanship, creating seemingly indestructible armors and the mightiest of weapons through dark rituals. The Daedric weaponry is forged from the highest quality of raw "ebony" (in the world of Tamriel, "ebony" refers to a specific type of durable metal refined from volcanic rock.) The objects get their power from a Daedric soul, forged into the ebony. The abject hatred, terror and torment of the Daedroth can be felt by the wielder of the weapon, making these items suitable only for the bravest and mightiest of warriors, and in their hands, only for extremely limited periods of time. Long term exposure to Daedric weaponry or armor invariably results with a slow descent into madness.

[edit] Daedric Princes

Daedric Princes (sometimes referred to as "Daedra Lords") are the most powerful of the Daedra, and thus most commonly worshiped as gods. Each has a particular sphere, which it is said to govern. Although Daedric Princes may assume the form of a female, they have no inherent gender, and are all referred to as Princes. In all, there are 16 powerful Princes named in The Book of Daedra.
These are Azura, Boethiah, Clavicus Vile, Hermaeus Mora, Hircine, Malacath, Mehrunes Dagon, Mephala, Meridia, Molag Bal, Namira, Nocturnal, Peryite, Sanguine, and Vaernima. Jyggalag and Sheogorath are revealed in the expansion pack to Oblivion, the Shivering Isles, to be the same Prince.

Technically, Malacath, Mehrunes Dagon, Sheogorath, and Meridia are not "true" Daedra. These are are beings transformed into Daedra by various unpleasant circumstances.

Each Daedric Prince is said to have his own plane of Oblivion, thus making 16 planes of Oblivion. However, other planes such as the Soul Cairn and the Chimera of Desolation are known to exist.

[edit] Lesser Daedra

The Daedra Princes are only the most powerful of the Daedra, and many of them have many servants known as Lesser Daedra. Even though many lesser daedra are associated to a Daedra Prince in particular, in reality any individual daedroth can serve any Daedra Prince, or even stay unaligned. Some are in service to mortals, for example the Tribunal Temple uses many Dremora and three Atronachs to protect and operate its pilgrimage sites.

From the book Darkest Darkness we read of these lesser beings that mortals can summon and control some of them, although it seems more likely that the higher Daedra are simply "lending out" their servants to worshipers and followers:

"Most Daedric servants can be summoned by sorcerers only for very brief periods, within the most fragile and tenuous frameworks of command and binding. This fortunately limits their capacity for mischief, though in only a few minutes, most of these servants can do terrible harm to their summoners as well as their enemies.

Worshipers may bind other Daedric servants to this plane through rituals and pacts. Such arrangements result in the Daedric servant remaining on this plane indefinitely -- or at least until their bodily manifestations on this plane are destroyed, precipitating their supernatural essences back to Oblivion. Whenever Daedra are encountered at Daedric ruins or in tombs, they are almost invariably long-term visitors to our plane.

Likewise, lesser entities bound by their Daedra Lords into weapons and armor may be summoned for brief periods, or may persist indefinitely, so long as they are not destroyed and banished. The class of bound weapons and bound armors summoned by Temple followers and conjurers are examples of short-term bindings; Daedric artifacts like Mehrunes Razor and the Masque of Clavicus Vile are examples of long-term bindings."

See the Bestiary entries for more details on each of the following daedra: