Boethiah, whose sphere is deceit and conspiracy, and the secret plots of murder, assasination, treason, and unlawful overthrow of authority.
Boethiah (Prince of Plots): Heralded by the Prophet Veloth, Boethiah is the original god-ancestor of the Dark Elves. Through his illuminations, the eventual 'Chimer', or Changed Folk, renounced all ties to the Aldmer and founded a new nation based on Daedric principles. All manner of Dark Elven cultural 'advances' are attributed to Boethiah, from philosophy to magic to 'responsible' architecture. Ancient Velothi allegories are uniformly heroic successes of Boethiah over enemies of every type, foundation stories of Chimeri struggle. Also known as the Anticipation of Almalexia.
- Varieties of Faith in the Empire
The summoning date of Boethiah is the 2nd of Sun's Dusk. Boethiah can also be summoned in his shrine, if the summoner offered a daedra heart.
According to "Darkest Darkness", the Hunger is a powerful and violent lesser Daedra that is associated with Boethiah. A sinuous, long-limbed, long-tailed creature with a beast-skulled head, noted for its paralyzing touch and its ability to disintegrate weapons and armor.
As mentioned above, Boethiah is one of the three Good Daedra of the Dunmer. The Good Daedra are Azura, Boethiah and Mephala. They were mostly worshipped by the Chimer prior to the apotheosis of the Tribunal, and their changing to Dunmer. The Dunmeri Temple acknowledges them as the anticipations of the Tribunal. Azura is the anticipation of Sotha Sil, Boethiah is the anticipation of Almalexia and Mephala is the anticipation of Vivec.
Back in the Merethic Era, Boethiah "illuminated" the Prophet Veloth and his Chimer followers to renounce all ties to the Aldmer and found a new nation based on Daedric principles (it is Morrowind today). Azura taught the Chimer the mysteries needed to be different than the Altmer. Mephala taught the Chimer the skills they would need to evade their enemies or to kill them with secret murder. Enemies were numerous in those days since the Chimer were a small faction. Mephala, along with Boethiah, organized the clan systems that eventually became the basis for the Great Houses of the Dunmer.
Lord Boethiah to the exodus: "Divide ye like your enemies, in Houses, and lay your laws in set sequence from the center, again like the enemy Corners of the House of Troubles, and see yourself thence as timber, or mud-slats, or sheets of resin. Then do not divide, for yet is the stride of Sithis quicker than the rush of enemies, and He will sunder the whole for the sake of a shingle."
During the exodus of the Chimer in the Merethic Era, one of the most powerful Aldmeri heroes, Trinimac, tried to stop the movement. Boethiah confronted Trinimac. It was a legendary battle. It is said that Boethiah ate Trinimac, then Boethiah spoke with Trinimac's voice, in order to increase the morale of the Chimer while in the same time mocking the opposed Aldmer. Escaping from Boethiah, Trinimac then transformed to Daedric Prince Malacath. Read "Changed Ones" and "The True Nature of Orcs" for more information.
Boethiah sometimes appears as female, while other times as male. In the older accounts, Boethiah is acknowledged as a goddess, while in the records that chronicled the recent events of Morrowind and Cyrodiil state that Boethiah is male. One thing for sure, Daedra can choose whatever form he/she wanted, and it's beyond our capabilities to measure the gender of the Daedra.
After the apotheosis of the Tribunal, Boethiah is "forgotten" by the Dunmer. His shrine in the northwest of Hla Oad, Vvardenfell is in the worse shape, even it was under water. Boethiah asked the Nerevarine to create a new shrine. The Nerevarine asked Duma gro-Lag, a famous sculptor of Caldera. Using the sketch in the book "Boethiah's Glory", the orcish sculptor built a new shrine for Boethiah over at Karthag Point, Vvardenfell, Morrowind. After the new shrine was finished, the Nerevarine was rewarded with Goldbrand. Detail conversation of the event in Morrowind can be read here. The Champion of Cyrodiil was also rewarded with this Goldbrand after he finished Boethiah's test - The Tournament of Ten Bloods - a test of combat skill, where the Champion of Cyrodiil must defeat ten Boethiah's champions. Detail conversation of the event in Oblivion can be read here.
Other than Goldbrand, Boethiah is associated with artifacts Ebony Mail and Fearstruck. The Ebony Mail can still be found these days though difficult. The reports show that the latest wielder was the Nerevarine which found the mail in the Mount Assarnibibi. The Fearstruck on the other hand according to "The Story of Lysirius", was destroyed in the Akaviri raid, circa 1E 2703.
Ebony Mail is one of the most powerful cuirasses. If judged worthy, its power grants the wearer invulnerability to all common magical attacks that drain talents and health. Eternal Champion was one of the owners of the mail. It was hidden in Black Marsh after the previous owner, a warrior named Helath Stormbinder lose the favors of Boethiah. Following a strange map, the Eternal Champion eventually found the resting place of the mail and retrieved it for his war against Jagar Tharn. Later on, Boethiah also rewarded the Ebony Mail to the Hero of Daggerfall, after he finished a simple elimination job.