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| “ | We meet again, mortal, for we have met before, whether you know it or not. When you mutter in your sleep, you speak to me. When you waken wet with sweat, you've just left my house. I dwell in your dreams; I savor your nightmares. | „ |
| ~ Vaermina in the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. |
Vaermina, also known as Dreamweaver or The Dark Lady, is one of the god-like fiends known as Daedric Princes and a supporting antagonist in the Elder Scrolls video-game franchise. She is the Daedric Prince of Nightmares. Like all Daedric Princes, she rejects the notion of mortal morality as a flawed construct that can not apply to them, but from that flawed mortal construct, Vaermina is almost always seen as one of the eviler Daedric Princes, or at-least her deeds would be seen as evil if done by a mortal. She sews nightmares and harasses the psyche' of the sleeping to harvest their memories bit-by-bit, nightmares being a symptom of a re-adjusting mind as it compensates for the lost memories Vaermina has taken.
She is voiced by Carla Delaney.
Biography[]
Nature of the Daedric Princes[]
Daedric Princes are primordial god-like beings, once worshiped as gods, and though in the modern era there has been a distinction between the Divines (Aedra/Gods) and Daedric Princes (Devil-like deities), many Daedric Princes are still worshiped for-tradition-sake despite being proven less powerful and far less noble than true gods. The term "Daedra" is elven, meaning "Not Our Ancestors", where as the elven word of the Divines, "Aedra" means "Our Ancestors" (traditional high-elven society believing they are descended from the gods) thus in essence "Daedra" means "Those Other Than The Gods". The term "Prince" is used regardless of gender and has more to do with associating their place in the cosmos, not "Kings" of creation like the gods, but within rank of them, thus though gender is fluid to Daedric Princes even those who appear female are called "Princes". The Daedric Princes have sewn mischief to various degrees since the dawn of the world, especially once sentient mortality came into being, with such beings able to be tormented. Eventually the Divines put their feet down when the Daedric Princes threatened to throw existence completely out of balance, to avoid an all out divine war, over what was ultimately just an amusement to them, the Daedric Princes made the Coldharbour Compact, named after the realm of Coldharbour of the Daedric Prince Molag Bal, whose portals between Nirn (the world) and his realm of Coldharbour, ensuring such an invasion would never happen again while mortal-kind still praised the gods or the Daedric Princes responsible would face the wrath of the Divines. Vaermina did not bother to agree to the Compact at first, but would eventually as did all Daedric Princes. Like all the other Daedric Princes, Vaermina is very keen to pick apart the limits of what "direct contact" adheres to. Still as Daedric Prince of Nightmares, even at her worst, Vaermina is one of the more subtle Daedric Princes and as such often has very little to worry about in her night-to-night reaping of nightmares.
Khajiit Origin Myth[]
Khajiit (elven descended beast-folk, who resemble cat-people) are one of the eldest cultures to have any significant stories about Vaermina. According to the Khajiit, Vaermina is the final daughter of Fadomai - Darkness/Chaos, literally born out of Fadomai's fear of losing her children (being chaos none of her children would be able to exist with her for long). It is said Vaermina was a dark-entity of terror who preyed on the fears of all beings, she caused such issues, the Daedric Princes Azura, fought her in the underworld and killed her, the nature of a semi-god, being killed in the afterlife prevented Vaermina from ever physically forming again, and her ghost haunts the dreams of all those who sleep, clinging to existence in the collective unconscious of mortals. It is said the stars in the night sky are the thousands of truths she would pelt mortals with as they dream, though conflicting myths claim stars are actually holes in the sky torn by fleeing gods who did not want to be around to see the world they created fall to the entropy of time; both accounts may be true though, as all Daedric Princes are said to be divine-half-truths, flawed concepts left over from the forge of creation - hence why they are weaker than true Gods.
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion[]
In Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Vaermina is one of the Daedric Princes that the Hero of Kvatch can commune with for a boon, in Vaermina's case, she will grant her blessing if the Hero of Kvatch retrieves her orb from a wizard, Arkved. Arkved was a master summoner who had managed the monumental feat of using conjuration to call a Daedric artifact to the mortal-world. Though he had succeeded in stealing the orb while Vaermina was otherwise occupied its very presence had consequences. Arkved had attempted to use the orb to travel into his own dreams and lucidly explore the depths of his mind, but the orb plunged him into an eternal sleep and brought his nightmares to life. Vaermina is outraged at the theft, while she feels that Arkved has gotten what he deserved, she still cannot set physical foot on Nirn to retrieve her property and agrees to grant the Hero of Kvatch her artifact - The Skull of Corruption, if they retrieve her orb from Arkved's tower. Arkved's tower is brought closer to Vaermina's realm of Quagmire, the walls twist, the size of objects changes randomly, lesser Daedra stalk the halls, the very floor vanishes in areas, and corpses decorate the corridors. Killing Arkved is not essential for the mission, if he is killed Vaermina gloats that she has taken his soul in his sleep and will see his nightmares never end, if Arkved is spared Vaermina is still satisfied because she will keep him asleep till he dies, but never let him know the difference as she intends to keep him in the hell of his own sinful mind well after he passes away of natural causes. Vaermina keeps her word and bestows the champion with the Skull of Corruption.
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim[]
| “ | He's deceiving you. When the ritual's complete, the Skull will be free and then Erandur will turn on you. Quickly! Kill him now. Kill him and claim the Skull for your own! Vaermina commands you! | „ |
| ~ Vaermina encouraging the Dragonborn to kill Erandur and take the Skull of Corruption |
In Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Vaermina is said to be behind a plague of nightmares in the town of Dawnstar. Erandur, the traveling priest of Mara - Divine of love, will tell the Dovahkiin that Vaermina is behind the curse, and it emanates from the fortress perched on a cliff above town called Nightcaller Temple. If the Dovahkiin agrees to help, Erandur leads them up the cliff to the temple before he will explain more. Once there, Erandur performs a spell that makes the shrine to Vaermina become transparent, blocking a much larger section of the fortress filled with a mist called the Miasma. The Miasma kept those inside asleep, Erandur says it was used as a form of meditation induction by the cult of Vaermina, but when the fort was invaded by a tribe of orcs, upset by constant bad-dreams from Vaermina, the priests within released the Miasma in order to stop the orcs, at the cost of their waking minds as well. Erandur further points out that with the statue to Vaermina opened, the Miasma will quickly disburse and the cultists and invaders will both be waking up, but a side effect is if those the Miasma affects remain asleep too long, their minds are permanently damaged and they will awake maddened, thus assuring there will be no negotiation with either the awaking cultists or the newly freed orc invaders. Questioning Erandur on how he knows all this, Erandur will confess he used to be part of the cult, but fled as the Miasma was being released. Though he is ashamed of his past before finding Mara, he just wants to stop the Nightmares plaguing Dawnstar. Erandur says the cult had the artifact of Vaermina - The Skull of Corruption, that they used in various ceremonies, but years without it being fed dreams, have left the Skull starved and acting of it's own accord now to seek out memories and replace them with nightmares, thus to save Dawnstar they must get to the bottom chamber where the Skull of Corruption broadcasting it's terrible spell from. The final part of Nightcaller will reveal that the high-priests of Vaermina, Thorek and Veren, were friends with Erandur, and he was actually the one they sent to release the Miasma as the last resort, but at the last second, being so close to the entrance, Erandur ran to the surface and left his friends to sleep, his pursuit of Mara an attempt to reforge his life. Veren and Thorek are not mad, but they are angry, furious that their brother would reject the embrace of Vaermina, and see him as a traitor. Slaying them leaves Erandur upset, but justifying it saying he sees their souls were lost to Vaermina long before the Miasma was released, he then turns to exorcise the Staff of Corruption back to nothingness. In the moments as the ritual is taking place, Vaermina will speak to the Dovahkiin. Vaermina does not wish to see her Staff returned to nothingness, and though eventually it will reform within Quagmire, it's loss will deplete her influence on the world. She invites the Dovahkiin to slay Erandur and take the Staff for themselves, though it won't specifically be used by her, she would rather a mortal take it and use it to keep her presence strong in the world than see it disappear for a century or two. The mission can end with either the Dovahkiin killing Erandur and taking the Skull of Corruption for themselves, or letting the ritual proceed and losing access to the Skull but also stumping Vaermina's power for a few centuries.
The Great War[]
Historical books within Skyrim also show that in-fact Vaermina had interfered in the Great War, that the game is taking place in the aftermath of. Lord Naarfin - of the Thalmor (high-elven supremacists) had used the Orb of Vaermina to spy on Emperor Titus Mede II, before starting the war. Unlike Arkved, there were no negative consequences, so it is presumed he actually was freely given the orb by Vaermina herself.
The 16 Accounts of Madness: Volume IX[]
The books The 16 Accounts of Madness: Volume IX, one of many lore books having to do with bets the Daedric Prince of Madness, Sheogorath, made with his kin, covers the bet between he and Vaermina. Sheogorath bet Vaermina he could make someone more hated than she, Vaermina aimed to prove the king-of-fools wrong and accepted the bet. The terms were such, that they could not control others but only influence one mortal, of Vaermina's choosing, for ten years Vaermina would influence him or her and after that give up all connection and for the following ten years Sheogorath would influence him or her. Whichever decade had the mortal more hated would prove who had a keener mind for torment. Vaermina choose a talented young bard she had had her eyes on, Darius Shano. Immediately upon his nineteenth birthday the bet began, Vaermina plunged Darius into dreams of torment every night - blood-guts twisting landscapes, sometimes seeming beauty followed by subversion as the world melted away in horror or loved-ones turned on him. Darius being a bard wrote of the terrors he had seen and the view of the world he had gained from them. Darius became known as a truly morbid writer, many were disturbed or even hated him, but his creative description of the terrors Vaermina was visiting upon him also gained him something of a cult fan-base. Upon Darius's twenty-ninth birthday Vaermina severed all ties to him and let Sheogorath have his turn and Sheogorath did... nothing. Darius awoke rested but with no dreams, his mind drawing a blank. Without dreams he had no muse, his inspiration left him. Overtime he became enraged that Vaermina had abandoned him and eventually came to believe Vaermina had never truly existed. His bitterness festered and soon he was composing works mocking the concept of faith, Daedra and Gods. He had mocked the king of his land, and once the king saw how hated he was by the common-man, even his own former fans for being openly ridiculed, Darius was executed for heresy. Sheogorath declared himself winner of the bet, for though they both saw Darius hated, he had made Darius so hated, that he was executed and even those Vaermina had won for him ridiculed him for what he had become. Vaermina objected at-first saying she had still won the bet, for Sheogorath hadn't done anything, the hatred was just born of her discontinued influence on him. But Sheogorath countered that, that was the point, he didn't need to do anything, he only needed to block Vaermina from giving Darius anymore nightmares, and the withdrawal had poisoned his very soul. Vaermina saw what the crafty Prince had done, and though she despised him for it, she capitulated and paid him her debt, the souls of those lost in sleep to be given into madness instead.
The Daggerfall Covenant[]
During the Daggerfall Covenant, mentioned in history books up in previous games, and experienced in Elder Scrolls Online, Vaermina turns out to be a major threat to the covenant. Vaermina's cultists - the Supernal Dreamers, are rising in activity and intervention from the Daedric Prince Azura soon reveals why, Vaermina's high-priest, Galthis. Galthis was once a noble Breton (human-elf high-breds), bored and ambitious and so unfulfilled that he embraced Vaermina's terrors in his nightmares, earning him her favor, and the Supernal Dreamers say, becoming her lover. Galthis coveted the throne of Wayrest (capital of High-Rock - home of the Bretons) and in favor to him, and her own ambitions, Vaermina turned Galthis into something of a bogeyman to torment High-King Emeric as the other Supernal Dreamers preformed rituals to keep him in a constant sleep. Galthis hunted and tormented Emeric until his consciousness would completely fade and Galthis could wake up in his place, possessing his body and ruling in as High-King. The Vestige will uncover the plot and go use the rites to go into Emeric's dreams to confront Galthis. After defeating Galthis and freeing Emeric, before the Vestige wakes up, they will meet Vaermina. Vaermina is disappointed at the lose of Galthis, but states she will get over it, especially since she intends to keep the Vestige in Quagmire for a few centuries while she cheers herself up toying with them. However Azura, still keeping an eye on the Vestige as they went into Vaermina's realm pries the Vestige from Vaermina's grasp and they wake along with Emeric. Vaermina taunts as they leave that they have to sleep sometime and when they do, she intends to make sport of them.
Personality[]
Vaermina is a sadist, through and through, though a somewhat prim-and proper one, at-least compared to other Daedric Princes. Her end goal is to steal the memories of mortals, bit-by-bit as they age, nightmares are just what mortals experience as their minds readjust without them. Though the nightmares themselves are not the point of Vaermina's presence in the minds of mortals, she still finds delight in seeing mortals confronted by their fears. Vaermina sees nightmares as a form of art, that fear and confusion are often ignored canvases for creativity. Vaermina has relatively few followers because of her nature, but her followers tend to do so for two main reasons, the first is to find courage by confronting their fears, and the second is to be inspired by touching the mind of a Daedric Prince who openly reaches out to mortals. While she honors the Coldharbour Compact it is less for honor-sake and more out of her own interest, so the Divines leave her be, she was however outraged at the Daedric Prince of Destruction and Change, Mehrunes Dagon, when he broke the pact, in essence tainting her pride by breaking her word and walking on Nirn. Vaermina even at her worst is at-least polite, even to those she torments. She gives admiration to those who actually manage to beat her, though she is not the type to let that prevent her from trying to get back at them. What she does with the memories she takes is a mystery, some say she collects them as a form of ghoulish hobby, others say she is using them to construct her very psyche'. The memories Vaermina takes are seemingly benign ones - a first-word, a bad-day, the color of their first pet's eyes, which is used to explain why details degrade in memory over time. Vaermina herself when spoken to is either child-like in anticipation of the misery of others or speaks in an avant-garde manner in creative pride for how she shapes nightmares.
Quotes[]
| “ | I'm not going to waste my time with anyone so poisonously moral! | „ |
| ~ Vaermina can't stand morals |
| “ | So did the Lich cough up a cloud of dust when it died? | „ |
| ~ Vaermina |
| “ | Wriggle all you want little worm. These fish will not escape my hook. | „ |
| ~ Vaermina |
| “ | He's deceiving you. When the ritual's complete, the Skull will be free and Erandur will turn on you. Quickly! Kill him now. Kill him and claim the Skull for own! Vaermina commands you! | „ |
| ~ Vaermina |
Gallery[]
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External Link[]
Vaermina on the Elder Scrolls Wiki.