Summary
Every town inThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimseems to hold a dark secret. Markarth has an unsuspecting house containing the Mace of Molag Bal. Morthal, on the other hand, has a murder mystery involving vampires. Dawnstar’s citizens seem to be having terrible nightmares. No matter where the Dragonborn goes inSkyrim, they keep stumbling upon these eerie mysteries. The seemingly quaint village of Rorikstead is no different.
The major conflicts ofThe Elder Scrollsfranchise are mostly caused by all-powerful beings from the plane of oblivion calledDaedric Princes. Because of their immense power over the people of Nirn (the planet that Tamriel is set in), Daedric Princes see them as lesser creatures that they can toy with for amusement. Because of this, summoning and worshiping Daedra are banned in most parts of Tamriel. As such, devotees are driven into obscurity, practicing their faith in secret gatherings. These cultists can be found acrossSkyrim, and they seem to have a large presence in Rorikstead.
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When the player first encounters Rorikstead, it looks like the most normal village in the province. It’s a farming town with vast land filled with vegetable crops. Its namesake is a Nord warrior named Rorik who was a former member of the Imperial Legion. After being severely injured duringthe Great War against the Aldmeri Dominion, Rorik decided to hang up his armor and retreat to the countryside. He bought a vast area of land and turned it into a farming town called Rorikstead.
During the first few years of its establishment, the farmers found that the town’s soil wasn’t great for farming. However, this changed significantly and quickly over time. Keen fans have speculated that this drastic change in Rorikstead’s farming capacity was the product ofDaedra worship. There is a lot of evidence backing up this claim, too.
The Solid Evidence of Daedric Worship in Skyrim’s Rorikstead
Players who are caught up onThe Elder Scrollslore have found a problematic pattern in all the houses in Rorikstead. All of them have an inordinate amount of soul gems, and this isn’t just for the player to loot for their gain. They seem to have been put there to indicate that the citizens have been using the gems for magic and ritual sacrifices.The Elder Scrolls' soul gemsare used to trap the spirits of living things, after all.
Another piece of solid evidence that Rorikstead’s citizens are Daedra cultists is the Spirit of the Daedra book that can be found in Jouane Manette’s house. This describes how Daedric Princes harvest the souls to toy with. Jouane is a Breton mage who’s great friends with Rorik since he was the one who healed his grievous wounds from the war. They also live in the same manor together. When the Dragonborn asks him about the village’s bountiful harvest despite its history of having inhospitable soil, Manette gets defensive and tells them that they worked hard for their crops and that the gods blessed them as well.
Speaking of Rorik, his name and farmstead appear in Imperial records as early as the First Era. That’s hundreds of years before the current setting ofSkyrim. It can’t just be a coincidence that a man with the same name claims the land as his own and builds a village over it centuries later. The village is also within proximity to Vampire andHagraven lairs inSkyrim. The former are creatures created by Molag Bal, while the latter are kin to Nocturnal and worship various Daedric Princes.
Rorikstead may seem like a quiet town, but it may be hiding a cult of Daedra worshipers. The evidence is clear, starting with the copious amounts of soul gems in the villagers’ homes. Its rise in farming productivity and its founder’s centuries-long history with the place are also suspicious. To top it all off, the town’s mage seems to be studying the Daedra and their affinity for human souls. While there is no conclusive proof in the game’s official lore about the village having a secret Daedric cult, it’s still one of the strangest and most fascinating towns in Skyrim to visit and explore.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimis available now on the Nintendo Switch, PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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