Lore:Phrastus of Elinhir Answers Your Questions

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Source:	ESO - Loremaster's Archive (link)

Phrastus of Elinhir Answers Your Questions

by Phrastus of Elinhir

Phrastus of Elinhir answers questions on lore

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I have acquired a strong interest in Altmeri religious perspectives. It would be of great interest to me to hear your thoughts on the role Anui-El plays in the Altmeri pantheon. An acolyte of the Temple of Auri-El tells me Anui-El is the Soul of Anu the Everything and the 'soul-father' of Auri-El. She says the temple was built in Anui-El's honor, not Auri-El's, and is one of many. I have also read that the Altmer aim to advocate the 'will of Anuiel.' Is Anui-El, then, a kind of high king, supreme above even Auri-El? Or is there a conflation of roles going on within Altmeri religion? Does this perception travel across into the Breton faith, given that it contains Elven influences? – Aythan Uthywyr

Phrastus of Elinhir says, "It is a cardinal error to personify Anuiel, the essence of order, just as it is to personify Sithis, the essence of chaos. It is more useful to think of them as cosmic principles that pervade the Aurbis. Insofar as Anuiel is the orderly essence of all the Aedra, it is fair to say that every Elven temple is dedicated to Anuiel. When a High Elf says that she 'advocates the will of Anuiel,' this is just a flowery Elvish way of saying that she wants to make up new rules for others to follow."

I still get a little confused by the whole Aedra vs. Daedra thing. Why are there 'good' Daedra like Azura and Meridia, etc? They seem to be a lot more complicated than just 'demons.' – Rick

Phrastus of Elinhir says, "Insofar as the Daedra are the et'Ada of chaos, complexity is part of their very nature. They refused to participate in the creation of the Mundus, and most of them are deliberately or casually inimical to mortals, but the Daedric Princes are beyond such simple categorizations as 'good' or 'evil'—with the notable exception of Molag Bal and Mehrunes Dagon, who are especially abominable."

Do minor Aedric spirits exist? Can they be summoned/contacted? Like the opposite of summoning a minor Daedra. Also, if Aedra are all dead and/or currently disabled due to partaking in the creation of Nirn, could someone summon a spirit from Aetherius, perhaps a Magna-Ge? – Fimmp

Phrastus of Elinhir says, "Minor Aedric spirits definitely exist, but they are rarely encountered, as Mundus is considered off-limits since Magnus withdrew from it at the moment of creation. I know of no successful attempts to contact such spirits, probably because Aedric entities simply do not respond to mortals—at least not since the ages of myth."

OK, so I know when Mundus was being created that the Aedra sacrificed a large amount of power to solidify the creation of the plane and now they are essentially shells of their original selves. But my question is whether their loss of power is permanent or if they are slowly regaining their power over time. – Captain_P

Phrastus of Elinhir says, "It seems unlikely, inasmuch as we abide within the reality created by that sacrifice, and restoration of the Aedra would seem to imply a diminishment or weakening of the Mundus. No such diminution has been detected."