Sheogorath, whose sphere is madness and whose motives are unknowable.
Sheogorath (The Mad God): The fearful obeisance of Sheogorath is widespread, and is found in most Tamrielic quarters. Contemporary sources indicate that his roots are in Aldmeri creation stories; therein, he is 'born' when Lorkhan's divine spark is removed. One crucial myth calls him the 'Sithis-shaped hole' of the world.
- Varieties of Faith in the Empire
Sheogorath maintains a chaotic realm called the Madhouse or Shivering Isles. No one ever escape from this realm with his sanity intact to tell the tale of the realm. Morian Zenas, the famous conjurer and writer, is suspected lost his sanity and lost his soul in this realm while exploring the Daedric Realms. The detail can be read in Seif-ij Hidja's "The Doors of Oblivion."
The summoning date of Sheogorath is 2nd of Sun's Dawn, or whenever there is storm in the area where the summoning ritual being performed. In his shrine, Sheogorath may accept summon, if the summoner offered a lesser soul gem, a head of lettuce, and some yarn.
Sheogorath is also one of the Dunmeri Four Corners of the House of Troubles. Four Corner of the House of Trouble consists of Molag Bal, Mehrunes Dagon, Malacath and Sheogorath. These Daedric Princes rebelled against the counsel and admonition of the Tribunal, causing great kin strife and confusion among the clans and Great Houses. They are holy in that they serve the role of obstacles during the Testing. Through time they have sometimes become associated with local enemies, like the Nords, Akaviri, or Mountain Orcs. As written in the "The House of Troubles":
"Sheogorath is the King of Madness. He always tests the Dunmer for mental weakness. In many legends he is called upon by one Dunmer faction against another; in half of these stories he does not betray those who called him, further confusing the issue of his place in the scheme of things (can he help us? is he not an obstacle?). He is often associated with the fear other races have of the Dunmer, especially those who, like the Empire, might prove as useful allies."
Further, Sinnammu Mirpal, the Ashlander, said:
For those who serve Sheogorath, the Mad Lord, there is no good or evil, right or wrong, true or false, real or unreal. For them, there is only what they want, and what they see. With such carelessness, only the very strong and very lucky cultists survive, while the weak provide sport and amusement for the others. And the Spawn of Sheogorath are never twice the same, and each more terrible than the next. It is an evil cult, and dangerous.
The book "The Pilgrim's Path", a Dunmeri Temple's doctrine, tells the manipulation done by the Prince of Madness, Sheogorath:
"When Sheogorath rebelled against the Tribunal, he tricked the moon Baar Dau into forsaking its appointed path through Oblivion. The Mad Star inspired the moon to hurl itself upon Vivec's new city, which Sheogorath claimed was built in mockery of the heavens. When Vivec learned of Sheogorath's scheme, he froze the rogue moon in the sky with a single gesture and the grace of his countenance. Overwhelmed by the courage and daring of Vivec, the moon Baar Dau swore itself to eternal service of the Tribunal and all its works. Thus the moon now stands guard over the palace, and serves as a citadel for the Temple's Ordinators."
The divine power of Vivec held the Baar Dau for ages, which is now known as the Ministry of Truth, until Vivec's link to the Heart of Lorkhan was severed, which undoing his godhood. Later in the Fourth Era, Baar Dau eventually crashed into Vivec City, killing thousands and triggered another explosion of the Red Mountain. The Dunmer was almost wiped up and the map of Morrowind was changed.
Right before the Warp of the West, while the hero of Daggerfall was struggling to retrieve the Mantella - the gem of immense power that needed to fuel the gigantic Numidium - in the Mantellan Crux. Sheogorath showed himself; somehow he was interested on the hero effort while in the same time mocked him.
Sheogorath somehow was able to retrieve the Spear of Bitter Mercy. In his shrine of Ihinipalit in the underwork of one of Vivec City cantons, he gave it to the Nerevarine as a reward after an insane quest of killing a giant bull netch with just a fork. The spear was used in the Battlespire by the unknown hero to kill Herne Egahirn in order to win the Wild Hunt, and it was lost after the destruction of the Battlespire. While in the Chimera of Desolation, where the spear was retrieved by the hero, the spear was deadly and impossible to be wielded without the full suit of the Armour of the Saviour's Hide. The spear in Morrowind was different, it was not that potent and could be wielded by any. Some speculation arises; did Sheogorath alter the spear? Detail conversation of the event can be read here.
During the Oblivion Crisis, Sheogorath managed to manipulate the Champion of Cyrodiil to extend his madness in the small Khajiiti settlement of Border Watch. The champion under the instruction of Sheogorath manipulated the K'Sharra prophecy in order to bring madness and chaos to the simple settlement. As a reward, Sheogorath gave his famous tool of madness, Wabbajack. The hero of Daggerfall is also recorded as the one of the wielders of this tool of madness. Detail conversation of the event can be read here.
The mystery of Sheogorath and his realm are revealed in the tome called Shivering Isles. The realm of Sheogorath was previously known as Madhouse, but in the recent survived tome, we know that the realm of madness is called Shivering Isles by Sheogorath himself. The tome tells the story of the Champion of Cyrodiil who was asked by Sheogorath to stop the Greymarch, an event that occurs in the end of an Era. According to Yngvar the Wanderer in his book "The Predecessors", the Greymarch occurs every 1000 years, thus we may assume that an Era in Shivering Isles is 1000 years.
The Champion of Cyrodiil eventually realized that the Greymarch is the event that Sheogorath turns to his previous incarnation, the Daedric Prince of Order, Jyggalag. In Jyggalag form, he will destroy the Shivering Isles, the realm that Sheogorath created and loved; and the realm of chaos. Shortly after that, Jyggalag will turn back to Sheogorath form. In turn, Sheogorath can only mourn of all was lost in the Greymarch, and he will create another realm. This cycle of Sheogorath - Jyggalag is in fact, a curse from other Daedric Princes that were worried about the power of Jyggalag.
With the help of Haskill (Sheogorath's Chamberlain) and Dyus (Jyggalag's Chamberlain), the Champion of Cyrodiil eventually defeated Jyggalag. With this defeat Jyggalag was freed from the curse as the cycle broke. Jyggalag gave the Throne of Madness to the Champion of Cyrodiil, and to wear the mantle of Sheogorath as the Daedric Prince of Madness. Then Jyggalag left to roam the Oblivion once more.
Other than Wabbajack, Sheogorath is known to have various insane artifacts. Including here is the Staff of Everscamp. The staff is constructed of metal with four scamps figures on the top. When invoked, the staff will summon four scamps, which cannot be banished or killed or eradicated. And the wielder cannot part with the staff; means that the four scamps will follow the wielder to the end of time. The staff can be given to a person when the person was agreed to have it. If that the case, the scamps will follow the new wielder. The scamps are harmless but annoying; another sick joke of Sheogorath.
Other artifacts assosiated with Sheogorath and the Shivering Isle are The Fork of Horripilation, the same fork used by Nerevarine; Dawnfang/Duskfang, the sword that can transform depends on the time of the day; Ruin’s Edge, special bow that could cast random effect; Nerveshatter; Diadem of Euphoria and Shadowrend, perhaps the most powerful weapon in Sheogorath’s realm. There are some minor artifacts and magical items in the Shivering Isle, but that is beyond this chapter to record all of those.
During the Skyrim Stormcloak rebellion and the return of Alduin, Sheogorath was reported infiltrated the mind of the dead Emperor Pelagius III. Dervenin, the priest of Mania, was abandoned by Sheogorath in Solitude; he asked Dovahkiin to talk with Sheogorath. Dovahkiin entered the mind of Pelagius III, talked with Sheogorath and agreed to help to ease the mind of the dead monarch. Sheogorath eventually left and returned to Shivering Isle with complaints. Dovahkiin was rewarded with Wabbajack.
One thing that should be noted here is the statement of Sheogorath when talking to Pelagius III commenting the sacrifice of Martin Septim in the end of Oblivion Crisis.
“You are the best Septim that's ever ruled. Well, except for that Martin fellow, but he turned into a dragon god, and that's hardly sporting... You know, I was there for that whole sordid affair. Marvelous times! Butterflies, blood, a Fox and severed head... Oh, and the cheese! To die for.”
And when talking to the Dovahkiin about who he really is.
“But only half right. I'm a mad god. The Mad God, actually. It's a family title. Gets passed down from me to myself every few thousand years.”
Some scholars believe that this Sheogorath is indeed the Champion of Cyrodiil who has liberate the Jyggalag and end the Greymarch. Still, not every scholars agree with this revelation.