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Lesser Daedra

Author: 
Xan

There are many kinds of lesser Daedra. It is difficult to classify these Daedra because of their many forms and size. From Darkest Darkness, we can learn that some particular Daedric Princes have their lesser Daedra. We can see that Daedric Prince Sheogorath uses mostly his Golden Saint for his dirty jobs, while Mehrunes Dagon has Dremora, Clannfear and lowly Scamp for the same jobs. Azura in the other hand has Winged Twilight, Mephala has Spider Daedra, Boethiah has Hunger, Molag Bal has Daedroth, and Malacath has big but dumb Ogrim. There are some of the lesser Daedra that do not align themselves with a particular Daedric Prince. They are the Elemental Daedra or the Atronach. The Daedra Seducers are also "Lordless warriors", they might shift allegiance at will.

I classify the lesser Daedra based on their intelligence on the battle and a report of the Daedric encounter in Battlespire issue some years ago while some of the lesser Daedra are strangely talkative. From the high intelligence lesser Daedra, we can find Dremora, Daedric Lord, Daedric Count, Seducer, Dark Seducer, Golden Saint and Xivilai. They are very tough warriors and use destructive and protective spells to start a battle. Confronting them needs a great deal of skills and wit to become victorious. They are skillful for using the high level weaponry, like Dwemeri to Ebony and Daedric. Defeating them usually rewards an arsenal of powerful weapons. They sometime are talkative and very intelligence on their conversation. Usually they do this to obtain an information from a certain mortal.

A little note about Daedra Lord or Daedric Lord. The Daedra Lord that I mentioned here is lesser Daedra. This is rather confusing as in the Morrowind, the people always refer "Daedra Lord" for a Daedric Prince. Even Lord Vivec himself calls Azura as Daedra Lord Azura.

From the medium intelligence class, we can see Winged Twilight, Hunger, Elemental Daedra/Atronach (fire, frost, and storm), Herne, Daedroth, Spider Daedroth, and Morphoid Daedra. They mostly use melee attack as hand to hand or using their particular weapons, like Fire Daedra/Atronach is using a flaming sword. This weapon is unusual, as it is a part of their body. We cannot pry the weapon loose from their dead body. Some of them, like Daedroth can cast some limited spells. These lesser Daedra should not be underestimated as they are deadly, not as deadly as the high intelligence lesser Daedra, but still prove disastrous if not dealt very well.

Ogrim, Scamp, Clannfear, and Vermai are considered the stupidest of all lesser Daedra. Some of them can communicate but not in an intelligent conversation. They will mostly attack on sight. The Scamp is quite special, although they are considered stupid but they can learn and one of them is spotted becoming a merchant in Caldera, an Imperial City on Vvardenfell. The Scamp is coward but can be dangerous if they attack on a pack. Other member of this class is, well, stupid. Vermai for example, although a person can communicate with them, but usually this conversation will end on eating (attacking) the person. Ogrim will not even talk, they will attack on sight, luckily they are slow.

There are some unique lesser Daedra, they usually has unique form, like Zenaida, Imago Storm, Faydra Shardai and Sumeer Jabran. They are considered as some kind of the leader. They are powerful and usually use magical spell on their arsenal.

Most of the lesser Daedra can be easily seen that they do not have gender. Sheogorath's Golden Saint for example is always female, while Mehrunes Dagon's Dremora is always male. Some of them even cannot be distinctively classified. Fire Atronach and Spider Daedra are the Daedra that can be noted have gender. From the previous encounter with them (events in Iliac Bay and the Battlespire), they were in male form but during the Oblivion Crisis we noted that those two lesser Daedra took female form. We do not know the gender of Vermai and Scamp, although we can assume that they are all male. We do not have a slightly information about Daedric reproduction, it, we can assume that they are reproduced by magic, perhaps with a little essence of their master, the Daedric Prince.

Lesser Daedra are commonly summoned by worshippers and sorcerers as servants or instruments. They can be summoned for brief periods or indefinitely. That entirely depends on the method. Here is the detail, taken from "Darkest Darkness":

Most Daedric servants can be summoned by sorcerers only for very brief periods, within the most fragile and tenuous frameworks of command and binding. This fortunately limits their capacity for mischief, though in only a few minutes, most of these servants can do terrible harm to their summoners as well as their enemies.

Worshippers may bind other Daedric servants to this plane through rituals and pacts. Such arrangements result in the Daedric servant remaining on this plane indefinitely -- or at least until their bodily manifestations on this plane are destroyed, precipitating their supernatural essences back to Oblivion. Whenever Daedra are encountered at Daedric ruins or in tombs, they are almost invariably long-term visitors to our plane.

Likewise, lesser entities bound by their Daedra Lords into weapons and armor may be summoned for brief periods, or may persist indefinitely, so long as they are not destroyed and banished. The class of bound weapons and bound armors summoned by Temple followers and conjurors are examples of short-term bindings; Daedric artifacts like Mehrunes Razor and the Mask of Clavicus Vile are examples of long-term bindings.

Regarding Daedric Armors and Weapons, these items are made from raw ebony, which has been refined using the craft and magical substances of the lesser minions of Oblivion. The process is not a pleasant one for the Daedra involved, and these items retain echoes of preternaturally prolonged suffering endured during manufacture. Daedric Armors and Weapons are the most rare and expensive armaments known in Tamriel.

As I wrote earlier, the lesser Daedra cannot be killed. Although seemingly that the lesser Daedra is killed, the spirit is immortal and goes back to Oblivion. In time, it will go back to its Daedric Realm and eventually return to mortal world by summoning or other methods. The body of slain lesser Daedra does not disappear. And it contains some ingredients that prized by the alchemists. The known Daedric ingredients are Daedra Heart, Daedra Skin, Scamp Skin, Void Salts, Fire Salts, and Frost Salts. By combining these ingredients, alchemists can produce numerous potions that essential for mages and adventurers alike.

 


Dremora

This subsection is basically a summary of Aranea Drethan's "Varieties of Daedra" with some addition from the earlier record of Daedric encounter in the Invasion of Battlespire.

Dremora is the elite troop of Mehrunes Dagon. They are powerful, proud, fixed purposed, and lack of subtlety, with the addition of the peculiar traits of honor and loyalty, both within their class and within their relationship to Lord Dagon. They refer themselves as "The Kyn" or "the People." The term "kynaz" refers to a member of the Dremora race ("he of the Kyn"). The word "Dremora" is both plural and singular, so the word "Dremoras" is essentially wrong.

Daedric armor from Oblivion

Dremora is divided by several ranks, as you can see on the table below.

Caste

Rank

Description

Warrior

Churls

Churls are obsequeous to superiors but ferociously cruel to humans and other Daedra.

Warrior

Caitiffs

Creatures of uncalculating zeal, energy without discrimination. Caitiffs are used as irregulars in the faction wars of the Daedra, as berserkers and shock troops, undisciplined and unreliable, but eager and willing.

Warrior

Kynvals

Warrior-knights who have distinguished themselves in battle, and shown the deliberate steadiness of potential war leaders.

Officer

Kynreeve

A clan sheriff or clan officer. Kynreeves are typically associated either with a clan fighting unit or an administrative office in the order of battle.

Officer

Kynmarcher

The lord and high officer of a Daedric citadel, outpost, or gate. A Kymarcher's command is usually associated both with a unit and with a 'fief' -- a location or territory for which he is responsible.

Officer

Markynaz

Markynaz or 'grand duke' is a lord of lords, and member of the Markyn, Mehrunes Dagon's Council of Lords.

Officer

Valkynaz

The highest rank of Dremora. Valkynaz or 'prince' is a member of the Valkyn, Mehrunes Dagon's personal guard. The Valkynaz are rarely encountered on Tamriel; normally they remain by Mehrunes Dagon's side, or serve as commanders of operations of particular importance or interest to Dagon.

As mentioned above - on the lesser Daedra section - there are types of Daedra that named Daedric Lord and Daedric Count. I believe they are also Dremora. The lore book says that Daedric Lord is Lesser nobility of the Daedra. Great variation in skill, toughness, and wit. Typically ambitious and opportunistic. While Daedric Count is Middle nobility of the Daedra. Exceptional strength, often balanced by subtle but predictable weaknesses. Just my speculation, Daedric Lord is Kynreeve, while Daedric Count is Kynmarcher.

Dremora is said loyal to their class or clan and within their relationship to Mehrunes Dagon. We noted an interesting event in the Daedric invasion of the Battlespire. At that time, Mehrunes Dagon has four main armies, the Dremora under Imago Storm, Flame Atronach under Faydra Shardai, Frost Atronach under Xivilai Moath, and a group of masterless Daedra Seducers. As expected they are competing each other. But the most interesting is the Dremora under Imago Storm.

Imago Storm (probably a Markynaz) was mostly concern about the welfare of Dremora clan. He believed that Mehrunes Dagon had taken a wrong decision by taking into his service the armies of Faydra Shardai, Xivilai Moath and those Seducers, further more Mehrunes Dagon made a bigger mistake by invading Battlespire. Battlespire was a rich resource and would be coveted by the clans under Mehrunes Dagon. It would bring disorders, especially when the clan faced the "Storms of Change." Imago Storm then gave the neonymics of Mehrunes Dagon, Faydra Shardai and Xivilai Moath - expecting the hero to banish those three leaders and end the invasion.

What we can see on this event, that Dremora are highly intelligent and relatively independent. They still obey and honor the Prince of Destruction but they have their own hidden agenda and politics, which sometime do not walk in the same road with Mehrunes Dagon's. Furthermore, the "Spirit of Daedra" (a letter that apparently written by Dremora) has this line "The Dremora have deep thoughts, and must master fear to overcome it. Dremora have long served Dagon, but not always so."

A little note on Xivilai. The "Varieties of Daedra" has this to say:

 

"I did note, however, that when Divayth Fyr sought a Daedra of a character like unto the Dremora, but of greater power, and greater inclination for independence and initiative, or solely as a master, he summoned Xivilai, who are like the Dremora in personality and temperament, except that they hate subordination, and are liable to disloyalty and betrayal when they feel they have not been treated with the proper deference and respect."

The Story of Battlespire records one Xivilai in the invasion of the Battlespire, Xivilai Moath. He ruled the Mehrunes' troop of Frost Atronach. He was powerful, yet his loyalty is questioned. When the hero stated that he knows Xivilai Moath's neonymic, he easily gave up and surrendered his gate key. This proves that Xivilai cannot be fully trusted; they are unreliable.

 

Althouth they tend to disloyalty, the physical build of Xivilai is impressive; this tall Daedra can use two-hander weapon as a one-hander weapon. Truly a great strength. Some say that Xivilai is Dremora Assassin. This claim makes Xivilai is the member of the Dremora class; this probably right but one thing for sure, they are out of the known rank and caste above.


Bibliography

And here are some books that essential for more study about Daedra: