TheNaughtyCats
The Daedric Goddess and Her Star
Around two o’clock after Friday’s class our group, The Naughty Cats, gathered in Christina’s room to embark on Quest Lab Three. The décor surrounding us in reality was psychedelic and seemed to immerse us into a magic circle of the seventies. Turquoise curvy woman and funk adorned the walls. We sat cozily bundled up on the beds as Karylle and I (Allison) watched Christina twiddle her thumbs in order to control our character, Fücbaad. We decided to do the Daedric quest “Azura: The Black Star”.
Outside Winterhold, Fücbaad traveled to the top of a snow covered mountain in order to reach The Shrine of Azura. At the peak, Aranea Ienith, a dark elf priestess, waited for us. She spoke of her past, Azura’s power to predict fate, and the sacred star. We agreed to help return the star and Aranea directed us to find the eleven mage, Nelecar. We intimidated him in order to receive information. He spoke of the evil mage Malyn who tainted the Star by placing part of his soul within it. Nelacar begged us to not return the star to Aranea, but we ignored him.
We swam to the ruins of Illinalta’s Deep, which were mostly submerged underwater. The first sight within the castle is a crucified skeleton who has a journal that says the ruins are haunted. While traveling through the flooded
Skyrim Quest # 02
Image From: elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/skyrim
castle battling necromancers and skeletons, one instantly notices the stunning artwork of the game. Many of the halls resemble waterfalls and hauntingly gorgeous swimming pools. As we continued through the second phase of the fortress we encountered sacrificial altars, thrones, and several other necromancers. Azura’s Star lay at the foot of Malyn’s skeleton, and we quickly returned it to Aranea.
On arrival Aranea allowed us to speak to Azura, who asked us to travel into the star and kill Malyn’s soul in order to purify the star. Malyn sent demonic Dremora Churls to attack our champion upon arrival. After defeating his minions we wounded Malyn from afar with arrows while he tried desperately to find Fücbaad. Because of his glitch-induced inability to turn around, Malyn was brought to his ultimate demise. At last Azura’s Star was restored to its original state, the game was saved, and the cat-naps commenced.
Azura's Star is a soul gem relic of the daedric princess Azura. It can be attained through "The Black Star" Quest after killing Malyn Varen. The star has the ability to trap white souls like those of dying Non-playable characters and the souls can be used for enchanting or recharging. It somewhat resembles a sun with 8 wavy spikes with an alternating turquoise and gray color with a turquoise gem in the middle. However, when first received the star has a darker bluish-purple colored gem because Varen's soul is entrapped within. Moreover, it resembles the star resembles the one that is held by Azura's left hand.
"The Sacred" is an object that exists in our world, but it is secular in itself in a sense that people have given it a powerful, real and saturated meaning. Sacred objects are found in sacred areas or circles. If not, they are considered as profane. Something that is considered as sacred can be called a "heirophany" or a sacred object or area. For example, a bottle with water would be considered sacred inside a Catholic church but it's a mere bottle of water outside of the church. Moreover, different religions could view the same "thing" with different spiritual meanings based on their own religious beliefs.
"The sacred tree, the sacred stone are not adored as stone or tree; they are worshipped precisely because they are heirophanies, because they show something that is no longer stone or tree but the sacred, the ganz ander."
Daedric Goddess Azura, Lady of Twilight, is considered as sacred by her cultists. For this reason, her shrine and everything that pertains to her is seen sacred, because they have been consecrated by her followers. Specifically, a replica of the star is held by Azura at her shrine and the star itself has been part of her lore. On the other hand, if the star was not connected to her, it would be considered as just a star; rather, within the Elder Scrolls Universe, it would simply be just another soul gem that the player could acquire.
Play and the sacred are the same in that both happen on a “stage”, both require suspension of disbelief, and both are concerned with an ultimate “success”. Games can have a stage or a screen while religion has churches and shrines. The stakes of a game – “dying” or “losing” - mean nothing without player investment, just as worship of idols and gods hinges on the belief of the people doing it. In games, the ultimate success is winning through a system of rules – in religion, it is achieving a pure soul or a satisfying afterlife. On the other hand, play’s core elements are all created by man, whereas the sacred is made important by a higher power.
“Through the sacred, the source of omnipotence, the worshipper is fulfilled. Confronted by the sacred, he is defenseless and completely at its mercy. In play, the opposite is the case. All is human, invented by man the creator. For this reason, play rests, relaxes, distracts, and causes the dangers, cares, and travails of life to be forgotten. The sacred, on the contrary, is the domain of internal tension, from which it is precisely profane existence that relaxes, rests, and distracts. The situation is reversed.”
As does the rest of the game, the Azura’s Star quest happens on a “stage” – the console, or, in more conceptual terms, a certain area of Skyrim. The rules and plotline of the quest would mean nothing if the player was not willing to go along with them. Why, for instance, would we care about the Star if we did not believe that it performed its assumed function of infinite soul-trapping? The ultimate success of the quest is retrieving the star and getting Azura’s mystical support as a result. The quest follows the conventions of both play and the sacred, but the splitting point can be debated. Do Skyrim’s creators count as men or gods? They have created the game and its rules, but they are still part of mankind. The question isn’t necessarily one that can be answered easily.
For further reading:
The Sacred and the Profane by: Mircea Eliade
Man and the Sacred by: Roger Caillois