Character conflict!

[Ivory]

So I have a Falmer character as is very obvious by now. Character wise he doesn't commit any crime and he denies the daedra lords but this is where I'm conflicted. There are two daedric lord in particular that are not entirely evil (not exactly nice though) who scorn undead and seem to be protective over their followers. My Snow elf doesn't follow the daedra but with that in mind I'm currently doing the quest The Black Star. Should my Snow elf side with Nelacar or with Azura?

 

[Moris]

Alas, on this one, I have to take the purely practical stance. If you take the star back to Azura's shrine, so that it only uses white souls, it becomes just about useless. It will only get filled if there is no other soul gem in your inventory that is big enough to take the soul, so unless you're in the habit of carrying very few around, it will rarely get filled. When it's the black star, on the other hand, it often gets filled, because you rarely have enough black soul gems to accommodate all the npcs you soul trap.

 

[Ivory]

It's not about being practical per say. It's about playing the character. Thanks though.

 

[Falmer19]

Darn. That's a hard one. Nelecar could be justified by not helping Daedra, but Azura isn't really all that evil, so I would probably go with Nelacar though if he is intent on denying the Daedra.

 

[Shadow King]

azura i mean look at her statue. and how devoted her follower is even after azura says she dont need her. and did i mention the cool gigantic statue lmao.

 

[Moris]

It's not about being practical per say. It's about playing the character. Thanks though.

If that's the case, and your character isn't intent on collecting daedric artifacts for their utility, then I wouldn't do the quest at all. Unless either greed and overwhelming desire for the item or daedric influence is drawing the character in, why would anyone bother with such quests? No one walks about in real life saying to themselves, "I think I'll do a quest today!"

In other words, the only reason to take the star back to Nelacar, as far as I can see, is that you feel you must have it for its usefulness. Otherwise, why wouldn't you take it back to Azura's Shrine? If you did the quest for Azura, it should go back to her. If you're doing it for yourself, take it to Nelacar.

 

[Chowder138]

I'd go with Nelacar considering how rare Black soul gems are.

 

[Psiberzerker]

If that's the case, and your character isn't intent on collecting daedric artifacts for their utility, then I wouldn't do the quest at all. Unless either greed and overwhelming desire for the item or Daedric influence is drawing the character in, why would anyone bother with such quests? No one walks about in real life saying to themselves, "I think I'll do a quest today!"

In other words, the only reason to take the star back to Nelacar, as far as I can see, is that you feel you must have it for its usefulness. Otherwise, why wouldn't you take it back to Azura's Shrine? If you did the quest for Azura, it should go back to her. If you're doing it for yourself, take it to Nelacar.

There are exceptions to the Daedric Quest/artifacts. If you're playing a good character, Meridia/Dawnbreaker actually lines up well, with the specialization of Destroying the Undead. Spellbreaker involves cleansing the Affliced (By death) and the artifact is a Shield originally of Dwemer manufacture. The Savior's Hide (You have a choice between that, and the ring of Hircene) is gotten by taking the "Good" path, if you consider Werewolves evil, (It's all pretty neutral, and dependent on your PoV, the hunters are basically lynching Sinding) and it's enchantments are fairly allied with Purity. (It also matches the Amulet of Kyneareth.)

Since you're role-playing, a lot of the Good vs Evil depends on the Character's opinions of things like the Daedra (Who aren't all Evil) the undead, werewolves, racism, and so forth. As a Snow Elf (The Falmer are who they became, I don't know what they were called before that) he's probably against the Dwemer, for what they did to his people, Falmer for degenerating into sub-humer, and so forth. May be interested in the Aldmeri Dominion, though the tactics, and strategies of the Thalmor would eventually prove to be Evil. Doubtfully allied to Talos, as his Ascention was after the Snow Elves were forced underground, and the Disappearance of the Dwarves. He wouldn't likely recognise Him.

 

[Moris]

There are exceptions to the Daedric Quest/artifacts. If you're playing a good character, Meridia/Dawnbreaker actually lines up well, with the specialization of Destroying the Undead. Spellbreaker involves cleansing the Affliced (By death) and the artifact is a Shield originally of Dwemer manufacture. The Savior's Hide (You have a choice between that, and the ring of Hircene) is gotten by taking the "Good" path, if you consider Werewolves evil, (It's all pretty neutral, and dependent on your PoV, the hunters are basically lynching Sinding) and it's enchantments are fairly allied with Purity. (It also matches the Amulet of Kyneareth.)

Since you're role-playing, a lot of the Good vs Evil depends on the Character's opinions of things like the Daedra (Who aren't all Evil) the undead, werewolves, racism, and so forth. As a Snow Elf (The Falmer are who they became, I don't know what they were called before that) he's probably against the Dwemer, for what they did to his people, Falmer for degenerating into sub-humer, and so forth. May be interested in the Aldmeri Dominion, though the tactics, and strategies of the Thalmor would eventually prove to be Evil. Doubtfully allied to Talos, as his Ascention was after the Snow Elves were forced underground, and the Disappearance of the Dwarves. He wouldn't likely recognise Him.

I doubt there are very many truly "good" paths when it comes to doing quests of Daedra. Meridia may be one exception.

To even do the Hircine quest requires that you agree to do a favor for Sinding. If you're truly appalled at what he is and what he's done, you'll never even start it. Many, like Malog Bal's or Namira's, you may be drawn into, but be forced to abandon. Some, like Boethiah, if they read the book, a good character would clearly never even investigate.

As for Azura, I totally agree: it depends how you feel about Daedra, about enchanting, about using souls for your own purposes. Seems to be, if not outright evil, on morally shaky ground. Lots of shades of grey there.

I see a lot of rationalization among characters trying to show how doing Daedric quests is somehow okay for a "good" character. Nothing wrong with rationalization, of course. We do it constantly in real life.

 

[The man]

you could have you snow elf turn into SNOW!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

i am the man. take me seriously......

 

[Psiberzerker]

Well, what I was saying is you could rationalize it in character. He's not from this world, and not you, so it would make sense if his Morality didn't line up with your's 100%

 

[Ivory]

For certain Daedric quests I've done already (Waking Nightmare, Taste of Death) both of these are possible to "Fail". The latter being literally. Since waking nightmare you clearly chose between right and wrong, it's acceptable to do. It's in a good curious natured character to want to defy the evil daedric lords. psiberzerker has the right idea of what I'm going for here. It's not about 'my' choices, its a question of what would my character do?