Hermaeus Mora

Hermaeus Mora
Religious information
Religion	Daedra Worship
Pantheon	Daedric Princes
Type of deity	Keeper of knowledge
Artifacts	Oghma Infinium Black Books
Chronological and political
Era(s) of worship	Mythic Era (Nordic Pantheon) Third Era Fourth Era

"Hermaeus Mora is the daedric prince of fate, knowledge and memory. In his rare dealings with mortals, he often chooses to appear as a grotesque mass of tentacles."

―Skyrim loading screen

Hermaeus Mora () is the Daedric Prince of knowledge and memory; his sphere is the scrying of the tides of Fate, of the past and future as read in the stars and heavens. He is not known for being good or evil, but he seems to be the keeper of both helpful and destructive knowledge.

Also called the Demon of Knowledge, he is vaguely related to the cult origins of the Morag Tong if only by association with his sibling, Mephala. He seems to only ever appear to Mortals as a void of darkness, or as a grotesque mass of tentacles.

Plane of Oblivion

As recorded in The Doors of Oblivion, Hermaeus Mora maintains a realm called Apocrypha, where all forbidden knowledge can be found. It is an endless library, with shelves stretching on in every direction, stacks on top of stacks. Every book has a black cover with no title. Masses of ghosts move through the stacks, rifling through books, ever searching for the knowledge they sought whilst living.

Oghma Infinium

Hermaeus Mora is associated with the ancient tome of knowledge, Oghma Infinium. Written by Xarxes, the scribe of Auri-El, the knowledge inside was granted from none other than Hermaeus Mora. The knowledge was then in turn passed over to Mehrunes Dagon, and was used to write the Mysterium Xarxes. Reading the book will give the reader 5 levels in their chosen path.

Black Books

Black Books are tomes of esoteric knowledge that are artifacts of Hermaeus Mora, along with the Oghma Infinium. The Black Books are not just regular books; when read, they transport the reader to Apocrypha. When read inside Apocrypha, they transport the reader back to Solstheim, because Black Books can only be read in Solstheim. The books contain hidden knowledge that, when read, grants the reader great powers and abilities.

Summoning

The Eternal Champion, back in the time of Jagar Tharn was able to retrieve the Oghma Infinium in the deep frozen wastes of Skyrim; at that time Hermaues Mora did not interfere. Then the Hero of Daggerfall is recorded as the wielder of the tome, sometime in the late Third Era.

The summoning date of Hermaeus Mora is 5th of First Seed. The Hero of Daggerfall quested for the Oghma Infinium by summoning Hermaeus Mora.

Hermaeus Mora's Cyrodiilic Shrine is located on a remote plateau deep within the northwestern portion of the Jerall Mountains (possibly due to the fact he is within the Pantheon of Skyrim thus being closer to where he is worshiped). After following the path of requirement, the Champion of Cyrodiil was then able to summon Hermaeus Mora, and was asked to bring one soul of each of the sentient races of Tamriel, so that his followers were able to perform a divination. The Champion was then awarded the Oghma Infinium, furthering their journey on the true path.

Skyrim

The Oghma Infinium as seen in Skyrim.

Two hundred years after the Oblivion Crisis, the tome has once again become lost. Upon finding an Elder Scroll housed inside an Oculory in the Tower of Mzark in Blackreach, the legendary Last Dragonborn hero returns to Septimus, a crazed mage who told the hero where to find the Elder Scroll during Discerning the Transmundane and the Main Quest (Skyrim).

This mage had given the hero a Blank Lexicon which was needed to unlock the Oculory that the Elder Scroll (Dragon) is in. The Blank Lexicon is transformed into a Runed Lexicon, and while doing this, the Lexicon absorbs the infinite amount of unknowable information contained within the Elder Scroll. Upon returning the Lexicon to Septimus, the mage uses it to discover the way to open an ancient Dwemer vault/lockbox. It turns out that Septimus is a follower of Hermaeus Mora, and had been told by the Daedric Prince that the vault contains an artifact of great knowledge and power, the Heart of Lorkhan. In order to open the vault, Septimus must have a sample of blood from all the races of Mer, or Elves. This means the blood of an Altmer, a Dunmer, a Bosmer, an Orsimer, and a Falmer.

Upon accepting the hunt for these samples of blood, the Dragonborn is contacted by Mora who appears to him/her in the form of a Wretched Abyss, or a collection of tentacles with one large eye, if The Elder Scrolls V: Dragonborn is installed. Mora says that Septimus has been a useful tool, but his usefulness will have run out once the vault is open. To that end, Mora commands the hero to seek out the blood as requested by Septimus, but later after collecting the blood and returning to Septimus, upon opening the Dwemer vault, Mora dispatches the mage.

It is revealed that the artifact that was hidden within the Dwemer vault/lockbox is the Oghma Infinium. After collecting the Oghma Infinium, Mora once again appears as a void in front of the hero to name him/her his new champion. As with previous incarnations of this tome, it functions as a skill tome that greatly boosts the skill levels of all talents relating either to warriors, rogues, or mages.

Solstheim

Hermaeus Mora as he appears in Dragonborn.

Sometime before the First Era, the dragon priest Miraak gave his allegiance to Hermaeus Mora in exchange for knowledge that would give him great power.  With his new found power, Miraak turned against his dragon masters, but was confronted by Vahlok the Jailor, another dragon priest. The battle lasted for days and, despite exactly what happened being unknown, Hermaeus Mora is assumed to have intervened, pulling his champion into the realm of Apocrypha to save him.  Miraak remained Mora's champion, albeit using his powers to his own ends. Then sometime during the Fourth Era, the Dragonborn traveled to Apocrypha through the use of a Black Book, an artifact created by Mora to lure mortals into his realm. Mora then spoke to the Dragonborn and offered them the same power that he gave Miraak, as long as they defeated him. He also promised to teach the Dragonborn the second and third words to the shout Bend Will. The second word was given freely, however, the third word was granted in exchange for the Skaal's wisdom and the life of their shaman, Storn Crag-Strider. After Mora taught the Dragonborn the 3rd word, they traveled back to Apocrypha and battled with Miraak at the realm's summit. As Miraak was nearly defeated, he attempted to escape death by entering the waters of Apocrypha, but was promptly impaled by Mora's tentacles. Mora stated that it was impossible for Miraak to hide from him here, and then killed Miraak by disintegrating him. Mora then gives the Last Dragonborn Miraak's status, indicating that the Last Dragonborn may be trapped in his realm after death.

Trivia

Hermaeus Mora in Dragonborn.

• If the Dragonborn enters Mora's realm of Apocrypha after Discerning the Transmundane has been completed, Hermaeus Mora will address him or her as his "champion" and state that "the Oghma Infinium was just the beginning."  If this is done in reverse and Discerning the Transmundane is done after defeating Miraak in the Dragonborn DLC, Mora will mention that he has been watching the Dragonborn since he or she defeated Miraak.
• Several aspects of Hermaeus Mora are highly evocative of elements present within Lovecraftian Horror; most notably, his tentacled form resembles various deities from Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos.
  • In Skyrim, his book the Oghma Infinium appears to be made out of the skins of men and mer, like the Necronomicon.
  • In the Dragonborn add-on his shape resembles strongly to Yog-Sothoth, a chief deity of Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos.
  • The Lovecraftian theme of forbidden knowledge, which could make a man insane, is also a trait of Mora's lore.
• If Dragonborn is installed, instead of the Wretched Abyss, he will appear during the quest Discerning the Transmudane as a mass of dark green tentacles, which is his preferred form for dealing with mortalkind. Though it will continue to be displayed as "Wretched Abyss."
• Hermaeus Mora can be considered an arch-nemesis to the Dragonborn, due to Mora's insistence that his or her free will is an illusion and that he or she is always under his control. This is of course up to the Dragonborn, since he or she can choose to agree or disagree with Hermaeus Mora.
• Storn often refers to Hermaeus Mora as Herma-Mora, but this is probably a shortening of the full name.

See also

• Shrine of Hermaeus Mora
• Wretched Abyss

Appearances

• The Elder Scrolls: Arena
• The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Dragonborn