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“ | Small, great... the same. Each thread tugs the other. Petty jealousy, an unintended slight, dog-like lusts... these are the things that bring empires to ruin. Think on this, my dear. I'll be watching. | „ |
~ Mephala in Elder Scrolls: Online. |
Mephala is an entity regularly appearing in the Elder Scrolls series. Mephala is a Daedric Prince, a primordial false god, all of whom are manifestations of half-understood or flawed concepts tied into creation. In Mephala's case, she is the Daedric Prince of lies, secrets and manipulation, she is strongly associated with spiders, assassination and politics. Though most cultures consider her evil, the Dunmer (Dark Elves) consider her one of their three "Good" Daedra, along with Azura - Daedra of Dusk and Dawn, and Boethiah - Daedra of Betrayal and Murder.
She was voiced by actress, Lani Jean Minella, who also voices Tiamat in Darkstalkers and the Raven Keeper in God Of War: Ragnarok.
Biography[]
Background[]
Mephala is the Daedric Prince of deception, assassination, and secrets. Like all Daedric Princes she rejects the idea of being morally quantified but is one of the Princes almost solely associated with evil acts. Like all the Daedric Princes her gender is fluid as they can manifest with whatever physical traits they like, however Mephala always manifests as a hermaphrodite, though one always appearing female and using female pronouns. Mephala is strictly deterministic, as she sees the various detailed stimuli that can create all manner of responses. She concerns herself with pulling at the various stimuli to shape history, culture and alliances, as these factors are metaphorically referred to as the strands of fate, she earned the title "Web-Spinner" as she can completely re-work the world with a few stealth statistical changes.
Patron of Morrowind[]
The Chimer came to the land of Morrowind thanks to the deceit of the Daedric Prince Boethiah. Boethiah fought, mutilated, possessed and then excreted the living-semi-divine patron of the Chimer - Trinimac. Before Boethiah in Trinimac's form excreted the remains of Trinimac's soul and left his body a decaying husk, he/she told the Chimer in Trinimac's own voice, never to blindly trust anyone, including one's gods; That though he/she had delivered them the promised land Trinimac enticed them with, he/she had delivered it through trickery and brutality, and the land itself held many dangers, ones that the Chimer would need to overcome if they wanted it for their own. Some tales say that Mephala had helped Boethiah ambush Trinimac, but regardless of her role in Boethiah's farce, Boethiah's treachery set a specific tone for Chimer society, one where ends not only justify means, but validate them as virtues. Through a series of treachery via the Tribunal of Morrowind and a discovery by the Dwemer (Dwarf) Kagrenac, the Daedric Prince Azura marked the Chimer for the Tribunal's act of declaring themselves gods by staining the skin of the Chimer with the ashes of their foes and permanently changing the "Chimer" to "Dunmer" ("Dark-Folk/Elves" in elven). Mephala's influence truly flourished by the time the Chimer values had been reestablished as Dunmer culture. The Dunmer worshiped the Daedra, though the Tribunal had declared themselves gods, they claimed the previous Daedric Princes were "Anticipations", half-understood shadows of true greatness manifested from the faith of its people. Mephala was repurposed as the Anticipation of the Tribunal member, Vivec. The Tribunal would eventually meet their end, due to the events of Morrowind, though undoing the fervor the Tribunal had instilled in Dunmer society took time, Mephala, Azura and Boethiah for the most part reclaimed their positions with their "anticipations" killed.
The Morag Tong[]
Though Mephala was a known liar, deceiver and a patron of assassins, the Dunmer had come to see noble purpose in such things. Lies protect one from harsh truths, they let those with vision mold the future for those too conservative to embrace change, and assassination of an individual can change the world to those with such vision. Mephala has a legalized guild of assassins called the Morag Tong. The Morag Tong work for money but also keep their assassination discrete and maintain legal documentation of the contracts. While a target is permitted to defend themselves, or have their guards legally kill the assassin sent by the Morag Tong, if the assassination is completed and the Morag Tong can prove they had contract, then the Morrowind government will not arrest them. In this way, Mephala's assassins are pardoned for competently executed kills, but punished for blunders by forfeiting their lives to the target.
Dark Brotherhood[]
The Morag Tong eventually had a splinter group, the Dark Brotherhood - an assassin cult who worked outside the Morrowind legal system, who stole Morag Tong kills. The cult was founded by a mysterious figure called the "Night Mother". It is said The Night Mother was impregnated by the dread-lord Sithis, and after she conceived him five children, she received a vision from him instructing her to murder them, which upon conception, she did; That she became an assassin from then on and eventually founded the cult in the image of her five-murdered children. There are two diverging sources for the Night Mother's more earthly origins, the first was that she was a member of the Morag Tong who saw how well the assassin guild functioned and went to create her own with The Dark Brotherhood, but fictionalized the figure of Sithis (who conveniently only spoke to her) as a stand-in, so as not to declare herself a god above Mephala and receive divine punishment; The second account claims the Night Mother is Mephala herself, creating a reform/rivalry to her own established assassin cult. As the Dark Brotherhood are far more secretive and evangelical in their acts of murder for profit and the Night Mother's ghost keeps many aspects of it's founding a secret, either account could be true, or even both.
Personality[]
Mephala is always presented as one of the most sinister of Daedric Princes, with the only two to outdo her in this regard being the Daedric Prince of Domination and Corruption - Molag Bal and the Daedric Prince of Destruction and Change - Mehrunes Dagon. Mephala unlike her malefic rivals is hands off. She rarely acts directly and even when she does it is subtly, with things like whispering in dreams to fan one's ambitions. Mephala can see into the souls of mortals and gods, but gods are honest, they have no reason to lie, and thus no reason to indulge in sin, but seeing how quickly mortals turn to temptation, combined with needing to keep their ambitions secret due to fear or repercussions and the vast butterfly effect of their actions quickly enticed Mephala into manipulating the mortal world. Mephala is a firm advocate of determinism, that fate is what mortals call forces they can not understand, Mephala has made a nest for herself in the psyche' of sentient life by seizing control of these forces. As far as Mephala is concerned, free-will does not negate fate, it just plays into it. She is said to encourage the dirtier side of politics, assassination and adultery, all these things are interchangeable tools to her, in order to get all the pieces where she needs them to be to spin out into the next major turn of history. Unlike Molag Bal, though she does find great pleasure in corrupting mortals, the corruption itself is not the point, and while she is linked to major societal changes unlike Mehrunes Dagon, she is not looking for destruction, just permutations of what came before. As chaotic as she can seem, Mephala never does anything without purpose, and she is meticulous to a fault.
Quotes[]
“ | Oh yes come closer Hmm how strong you look with my minions blood on your hands. | „ |
~ Mephala |
“ | So good to smell pumping blood in these halls again. | „ |
~ Mephala |
“ | The mortal did well in feeding my killing word. My black edge. | „ |
~ Mephala |
“ | If what you say doesn't interest me, I will order Leythen to kill you. | „ |
~ Mephala |
“ | Speak before my patience wears thin! | „ |
~ Mephala |
“ | Well done little webspiner. Is there a prettier sight than friends at war? Take pleasure in the strife you have caused mortal. | „ |
~ Mephala |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Veteran actress, Lani Jean Minella, has voiced Mephala in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Elder Scrolls Online and voiced The Night Mother as well. Only solidifying the in-universe theory with out-of-universe voice-acting that Mephala is also The Night Mother.
- Mephala is said to be the sister of Hermaeus Mora - Daedric Prince of Fate.
External Link[]
Mephala on the Elder Scrolls Wiki.
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Villains | ||
Daedric Princes Daedra Dragons Vampires Frostbite Spiders Aldmeri Dominion Imperial Legion Morag Tong Thieves Guild Mythic Dawn Dark Brotherhood Blackwood Company Glenmoril Witches Penitus Oculatus Legion Zero Tribunal Sixth House Dragon Priests Dwemer Snow Elves Creatures Others |