TheNaughtyCats
The Creation of Fücbaad
Fücbaad represents the strong, independent woman that our group embodies. The scars along her face display the harsh battle she encountered when rebelling against her clan, the Valenwood Elves. Theses elves live a simple nomadic life of traveling, hunting, and gathering for their livelihood. As a child Fücbaad dreamt of fame, fortune, and an escape from her trivial lifestyle. When the opportunity to flee finally arose she took it. Fücbaad looted the main chief’s tent during the nightly hunt in order to pawn off some of the rare items. On her way out of the tent a couple of the hunters returned to camp and began to beat her for the betrayal. When the main chief arrived with the rest of the men he was appalled at what the hunters had done. The chief bandaged Fücbaad’s wounds, left her some coins, and migrated camp. Fücbaad grieved alone on the cold forest floor. There she finally realized that her desires were selfish and corrupt. From then on she decided to redeem herself in hopes of one day returning to her clan.
The Sacellum of Boethiah
This is the Sacellum of Boethiah, located on a mountain outside of Windhelm. Boethiah is one of the Daedra lords who serve as counterpoints to the established religion of the Eight Divines in Skyrim. Some consider Daedra worshippers to be cultists and shun or persecute them. However, not all of the Daedra can be considered absolutely evil, and several do not care about mortals either way. Boethiah is the Daedric lord of deceit, conspiracy and treachery. Although he/she often harms mortals, his/her followers continue to worship her, usually because they believe that the victims deserve their ‘punishment’. Boethiah and his/her shrines can be considered religious because they have a group of followers that venerate the principles associated with them and carry out different actions in the name of this particular lord.
In the Sacellum of Boethiah, there are Daedric markings on the sacrificial pillar that states ,"I am alive because that one is dead. I exist because I have the will to do so." Boethiah's Calling is a quest that asks for the player to sacrifice a follower, kill all the cult members and then kill Boethiah's current champion. It relates to the narrative of the game in a sense that by doing the quest, the player has the ability to practice the principles associated with Boethiah--conspiracy and treachery. For that matter, be alive because you, as the player, had the will to do so in killing all the current cultists.
Image from: ru.elderscrolls.wikia.com
Skyrim Quest # 01
Skyrim offers the player many choices in who they chose to ‘worship’, if anyone at all. Each god, prince, or other spiritual figure has a rounded backstory on par with the others. Very few are deliberately marked as good or evil by the game’s creators. The player isn’t shamed for agreeing with any particular spiritual system; if an NPC disagrees with certain tenets, it comes across as that particular character’s views rather than a soapbox for the writers. Skryim’s religious choices reflect the open-world style of the game and enhance it by adding a level of complexity that resonates with the player on a personal level.
For further reading:
Imagining Religion by: Jonathan Z. Smith
Dynamics of Faith by: Paul Tillich
Worldviews: Cultural Exploration of Human Beliefs by: Ninian Smart