Lore:Mehrunes Dagon

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Mehrunes Dagon is the Daedric Prince of Destruction, Change, Revolution, Energy, and Ambition. He is associated with natural dangers like fire, earthquakes, and floods.^[1] He is an especially important deity in Morrowind, where he represents its near-inhospitable terrain as one of the Four Corners of the House of Troubles.^[2] In most cultures, though, Dagon is merely a god of bloodshed and betrayal. Dagon's plane of Oblivion is known as Deadlands.^[3] As the name suggests, they are barren wastelands, consisting of blackened isles in a sea of lava. The Dremora, Clannfear and Scamps are among his servants.

Dagon's acknowledged enemy is Ebonarm and his summoning day is Warriors Festival. He assisted Jagar Tharn in his temporary procurement of the Imperial throne, probably in anticipation of the decade of warfare and strife Tharn's rule produced. He invaded and seized control of the Battlespire, in contravention of the Daedric pact limiting meddling in mortal affairs by divine beings, in order to cripple the capacity of the Imperial College of Battlemages (which presented a threat to Tharn's power as Emperor). Dagon was also responsible for the destruction of Mournhold at the end of the First Era and apparently destroyed Ald Sotha, home of House Sotha and Sotha Sil's birthplace.^[4] Dagon was also the alleged inventor of the Daedric Crescent. The Broadsword of the Moon Reiver is an artifact created from Dagon's own substance and given to his Dark Seducer bodyguard, which was used against him by an unknown hero and resulted in the destruction of the Battlespire.

[edit] Origins

According to one creation myth, Mehrunes Dagon was once the Leaper Demon King, a kindly leaper demon and a low spirit who was one of the last spirits to be eaten by Alduin at the end of every kalpa. Dagon plotted with the Greedy Man over several kalpas in an attempt to kill Alduin. Together, they distracted Alduin at the kalpa-turning in order to hide parts of the world (Mundus) away from him. At the start of the next kalpa, they would add these stolen pieces of the world, hoping to eventually make the world too big for Alduin to eat. Alduin eventually learned of their plan, and cursed Dagon so that he could no longer jump. Alduin banished him to the Void. Dagon was tasked with destroying all in the world which was stolen from previous kalpas, but he could not enter Mundus except during an auspicious time after a lot of hard work and ritual. Only after all fragments stolen from previous kalpas were destroyed could Dagon regain his "jumping kind of happiness" again, but the spirit knew this to be impossible, as he and the Greedy Man had stolen so much from the previous kalpas and had crammed them in at random. Dagon then begged Alduin one hundred thousand and eight times to retract the curse, but while he was begging Alduin devoured him and began a new kalpa.^{[OOG 1]}

[edit] Oblivion Crisis

Dagon was the driving force behind the Oblivion Crisis. He plotted to destroy the Septim bloodline and open gates to Oblivion throughout Cyrodiil to launch an invasion. His motivation for this invasion is unclear; the Mythic Dawn claimed Nirn was Dagon's plane to begin with, but a more plausible explanation is that the ambitious Dagon was not content with Oblivion, where, unlike the mortal world, nothing he killed would truly die.^{[citation needed]} The Mythic Dawn, diehard Dagon worshippers, worked to bring about the coming of Dagon by assassinating the Emperor and his three known heirs. The cult focused on the eternal dawn on which Dagon would come to cleanse the world of all non-followers. In order to recover the Amulet of Kings and foil Dagon's plans, the Champion of Cyrodiil had to recover the Mysterium Xarxes, a book written by Dagon himself, so that Martin Septim could open a portal to the Paradise of Mankar Camoran, where the amulet was being kept. Dagon himself made a short but dramatic appearance as a gigantic four-armed humanoid armed with an axe and talons at the climax of the Crisis.

[edit] Mehrunes' Razor

Mehrunes' Razor (sometimes Mehrunes Razor) is a Daedric artifact created by the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon. This powerful ebony dagger has the ability to kill instantly.

The Dark Brotherhood was once decimated by a vicious internal power struggle, and it is suspected that the Razor was involved.

Around the time of the Warp in the West, an unknown agent of the Blades was given the weapon by Dagon for slaying a rebellious frost atronach.

It is said that the Telvanni master of Sadrith Mora, Neloth, was once in possession of the blade and used it to inspire his troops in battle against the rival Telvanni master of Tel Aruhn, Gothren, before it was stolen by a troupe of acrobats whom he had wronged. The troupe used the dagger for a time in their acts, Master Mearvis in particular using it to turn marshmerrow reeds into papyrus.

In 3E 427, the Nerevarine recovered the razor from Alas Ancestral Tomb, where it lay disused and rusted by the corpse of Varner Hleras. In return, Dagon imbued the razor with his power and returned it to its former glory.

In 3E 433, a rogue Telvanni Arch-Mage named Frathen Drothan assembled an army of mercenaries and searched for the razor in Sundercliff Watch, an abandoned Imperial outpost and iron mine. It was rumored that the entrance to the ancient Ayleid city of Varsa Baalim had been uncovered, and with it the Nefarivigum. This was an evil construct of Mehrunes Dagon, created to test pilgrims seeking the razor. Msirae Faythung, a previous champion of Dagon's, stood guard over the Razor after having failed the Prince. As punishment, the Kyn cut open his chest to reveal his heart and cursed him to stand statue-like in the Nefarivigum for eternity. Drothan decrypted the runes in the Nefarivigum, which summoned the razor, but before he could recover it the Champion of Cyrodiil defeated him and claimed the dagger..

After the Oblivion Crisis, a group devoted to eradicating the Mythic Dawn from Tamriel stumbled upon the razor. They broke the razor into pieces and divided them between the three most senior members of their order, pledging to keep the pieces safe. They renamed themselves "The Keepers of the Razor" in honor of their new role. The hilt, pommel, and blade shards of the razor were passed down through the Keepers' descendants, but the sheath was not.

In 4E 201, the Dragonborn was contacted by Silus Vesuius, a Dagon enthusiast trying to establish a Mythic Dawn museum, who had found the sheath. He hired the Dragonborn to collect the three missing pieces. The two journeyed to a shrine to Mehrunes Dagon to have the Razor repaired. Dagon demanded the life of Silus Vesuius in return. Vesuius offered the Dragonborn gold to ignore Dagon's request, wanting to add the shattered pieces to his museum if he couldn't have the restored artifact. It is unknown whether the Dragonborn accepted his offer or killed Vesuius and claimed the dagger.

[edit] References

1. ^ On Oblivion — Morian Zenas
2. ^ The House of Troubles
3. ^ The Doors of Oblivion — Seif-ij Hidja
4. ^ Book Eleven of 2920, The Last Year of the First Era--Sun's Dusk — Carlovac Townway

Note: the following references are not found in game. They are included to provide a rounder background to this article, but may not reflect established lore.

1. ^ The Seven Fights of The Aldudagga

As seen in Daggerfall	Battlespire	Morrowind	Oblivion
Mehrunes Dagon in the flesh in Oblivion	Mehrunes' Razor, as seen in the Unearthing Mehrunes Razor official plug-in for Oblivion	Concept art from Skyrim

Aedra and Daedra Aedra Akatosh • Dibella • Julianos • Kynareth • Mara • Stendarr • Zenithar Daedra Azura • Boethiah • Clavicus Vile • Hermaeus Mora • Hircine • Jyggalag • Malacath • Mehrunes Dagon • Mephala • Meridia • Molag Bal • Namira • Nocturnal • Peryite • Sanguine • Sheogorath • Vaermina Other Arkay • Talos