Worship of the Worm King

[Gnomey]

I have two versions of an idea which is related to the WSG. However, I didn't want to crowd that thread, so here they are. Basically I want you to give you opinions or Lore knowledge: Do you like the first version, or the second, or neither, or is there Lore against them. Also, to those who know their Lore, could you tell me if there is already Lore on the worship of the King of Worms? I don't think I ever saw any...

LICH TALES:

Physical and Spiritual Ascent

... The cloth I had worn for my whole life was pulled away from my head. My forehead was by then as long again as the rest of my head. I was laid onto an altar, three of the Knowing priests stood over me, and a ritual, the nature of which I cannot reveal, even in a private tome such as this, began. By the end of the ritual a third eye rested on my forehead, lidless and cradled by a ring of metal. My two other eyes, however, were gone, and their empty sockets covered by a black cloth. Despite the ritual I am still able to see as I had before, with one difference: The third eye of the Worm King's fresco is now open to me, and the knowledge, withheld from me when I had two eyes, flows constantly into my third.

I am now locked from the rest of Nirn, keeping in my chamber, for not one mortal may behold me as I become a Knowing priest. The Worm King has taught me of balance; that the gaining of one is often the loss of another. This is, I believe, the essence of being a Lich. As my mortal form does recede, strong magics begin to flow through my body. In a month this balance will meet its apex, where life and greatness are equal, before my life recedes into nothingness, and my greatness into all. For all my life until now I have been nothing but a worm on a carcass, clinging onto life. I am now the very opposite of this.

Spiritual Ascent

... I re-entered the temple, knowing that soon I would gain the rank of the Knowing priests. It was three of these priests who wrapped me in the sacred robes and led me in procession to the altar. I cannot divulge what occurred there, or what I have discovered, but by the end the knowledge of the Worm King flowed freely through me. My vision became misty, then a great blackness, yet he guided my movement, so I have never failed. The Worm King, however, is too far above a mere priest as I, so most of what I was taught of being a priest I learnt from the Elder Lich. I could not help but note that, since the ritual, my appetite began to fade. This could not match, however, the strict rules of eating which I had to follow. Namely that my meals become smaller every day, slowly starving me. The ritual marked the beginning of my ascent into Lichdom.

It has already been a month since the door to my room was locked. My transformation is unmistakeable. The transition into a Lich is a secret upon which no mortal may stumble, and any of our order who reveals it is marked a traitor and is given the punishment of death. I can say, however, that my body is withering, my spirit strengthening. The Lich is the closest Man or Mer can ever get to Godhood, except the occasional oddity. A Lich looses its Mortal body and its soul is strengthened. Only Liches are worthy of serving the Worm King, only they are granted his full knowledge, and now I am among them.

Images for referance:

Shows the first version priests, bottom right, the King of Worms fresco, also mentioned in the first version, is in the middle, the ritual, which is fitting for both versions, is shown at the top and the Triangle of Faith for the King of Worms worshippers is at the top left. This description fits both.

[url=http://img219.imageshack.us/my.php?image=necrofelllv8.jpg][img]http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/381/necrofelllv8.th.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://img219.imageshack.us/my.php?image=necrofellctk0.jpg][img]http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/8937/necrofellctk0.th.jpg[/img][/url]

[Macar]

I think there was some discussion of the worm king in this thread:

http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=16123

if you feel like looking through it- it's kind of long.

[Haplo]

Even better:

http://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=8631

[Gnomey]

Though I might have skipped over some bits, I don't think that neither of those threads is about the religion itself. The closest I got to finding out about the religion is that the Worm King/King of Worms attained godhood, which I obviously knew already. Though the topics did bring up some books on the subject of the Worm King it was the same problem. Again, I might have missed something, but it seems to me as though the religion is an empty slate, and worship of the Worm King is probably a big part of Scourge Barrow.

This thread was made by me to discuss the religion of the Worm King. Who worships him besides the obvious Necromancers of Scourge Barrow and Sloads? Do the Vampires, Were-creatures etc. who joined up with "the Barrow" worship him, or are they completely seperate? Does his worship extend beyond Scourge Barrow, to independant Necromancers? Etc. etc.

[Amrod]

Though I might have skipped over some bits, I don't think that neither of those threads is about the religion itself. The closest I got to finding out about the religion is that the Worm King/King of Worms attained godhood, which I obviously knew already. Though the topics did bring up some books on the subject of the Worm King it was the same problem. Again, I might have missed something, but it seems to me as though the religion is an empty slate, and worship of the Worm King is probably a big part of Scourge Barrow.

This thread was made by me to discuss the religion of the Worm King. Who worships him besides the obvious Necromancers of Scourge Barrow and Sloads? Do the Vampires, Were-creatures etc. who joined up with "the Barrow" worship him, or are they completely seperate? Does his worship extend beyond Scourge Barrow, to independant Necromancers? Etc. etc.

It's not an empty slate. I've done alot of research on the necromancer subject (for my book) and there are some references to the worship. (the shrines built to offer soul gems is one of them). I really don't have time to mix myself in a lore discussion, but there are definatly bits and pieces of lore in game.

[Gnomey]

Excellent, so they make shrines and offer soulgems, along with more. It's good that there's something to start by, I might look further into TIL then. Thanks Amrod. What I want to do is find out what lore there is, and if places are still empty we might as well flesh them out, in a way that agrees with that lore, naturally.

[Amrod]

Excellent, so they make shrines and offer soulgems, along with more. It's good that there's something to start by, I might look further into TIL then. Thanks Amrod. What I want to do is find out what lore there is, and if places are still empty we might as well flesh them out, in a way that agrees with that lore, naturally.

Yup, they offer these soul gems at shrines and in return they get black soul gems . I'm not sure if this is still valid lore after you kill mannimarco in OB. I can't figure out how he did it in the first place if he was a mortal, so I have this vague idea that the "god" mannimarco is still there. (this is pure speculation though, maybe these altars are magical devices that can turn normal soul gems into black soul gems without divine intervention).

The locations of some of these shrines are mention in a note, which I posted in on of the necromancy discussion threads.


Source:

Necromancer's Moon

Brothers and Sisters of the Worm!

Despair not at the trials we now face, for our time comes swiftly.

The God of Worms watches over our Order, and will deliver us from these troubled times on the Day of Reckoning. Until then, perform His works in secret, serve His needs, and look to the skies for His signs.

The Revenant, the Necromancer's Moon, watches over us all. His Form, ascended to Godhood, has taken its rightful place in the sky, and hides the enemy Arkay from us so that we may serve Him. Watch for the signs: when the heavenly light descends from above, hasten to His altars and make your offering, so that He may bless you with but a taste of His true power. Grand Soul Gems offered to Him will be darkened, and can be used to trap the souls of the unwitting; a feat even the great N'Gasta would marvel at.

Stay faithful to the Order of the Black Worm, and in time your loyalty will be rewarded. Soon, He will return to set the world right in due time, and those who would stand in his way will suffer enternally at his hands, just as those who stood opposed before.

Until that day, you must believe and be patient. Hide in your caves, in your ruined forts, in your secret lairs. Raise your minions, summon your servants, cast your spells. Answer the call of the Order when you are needed. Watch and listen.[/b]

A note written by falcar, a traitor to the mages guild and now a necromancer. It reveals locations of several altars, though I only know where The Dark fissure is, which is were you have to go for the Mages guild quest.

Hastily scrawled note

Primary sites:

The Dark Fissure
Fort Istirius
Fort Linchal
Wendelbek

Altars have been raised; Anchorites have been called. Watch the skies; once a week His Grace shines down on us.

When you do the mages guild main guest you visit the dark fissure I think and you find one of these shrines.

[Sniper4]

To quote the ending of Daggerfall:

"The Mantella is hurled from Aetherius. Although drawn to the empty chest of great Numidium, the will of the King of Worms commands it to his side. With its power the King of Worms leaves his mortal frame and joins the ranks of the Gods of Oblivion."

This is from http://til.gamingsource.net/tsod/ending_kow.shtml

That's interesting where it says, "The Gods of Oblivion." Does this mean he's now a Daedric prince? If so, then this only means that Mannimarco (sp) was *banished* back to Oblivion. In the words of TIL:

"As written, the Daedra cannot be killed and can only be banished back to Oblivion. In order to banish a Daedra, its mortal body must be destroyed. Sometime, this is not an option since some of the Daedra are terribly powerful in arcane and martial arts. Some knowledgeable persons learn the existence of protonymic. By using this protonymic, one can banish the Daedra almost "effortless". The incantation of the protonymic drains the vital force from the Daedra, forcing it to follow that force into Oblivion."

So, I think that Mannimarco was simply banished, and could never be killed. However, this is only true if he is a Daedric Prince. Nothing ever indicates that he is now a Daedra, though, so I wonder if the Daggerfall ending lore was just cast aside?

[Sload]

An even better thread to look at:

http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=17489&highlight=

[Eldarion]

Here is a book about a necromancer that is trying to become a lich. Hope it helps.

http://til.gamingsource.net/obbooks/path_transcendence.shtml

[Amrod]

Here is a book about a necromancer that is trying to become a lich. Hope it helps.

http://til.gamingsource.net/obbooks/path_transcendence.shtml

It's part of a quest from the Dark Brotherhood. Good source of info on liches and how to become one, I can recall a long discussion in a previous thread.

[Gnomey]

I should repeat that this thread is not about Necromancy or how to become a Lich, but rather how the King of Worms is worshipped. I have not yet had the time to follow up on Amrod's information, but I hope to do that soon and write down what is known of those religious practises so that we can discuss them and fill all the rest.

[Eldarion]

Yes but the king of worms is the lord of all necromancers and judging by what was seen in Oblivion becoming a lich was part of the religion (mages guild quests). some of the books in the game hint at the rituals of becoming a lich and therefore are part of the overall rituals of the religion.

[Gnomey]

Well, it is good to know that at least that part of my first post was true. Though Worm King is the one who is being worshipped that isn't really what's important. I am not wondering who the god is, but how he is worshipped, and the worshipping only rarely has anything to do with the Worm King himself, directly. However, I completely agree with your last sentance. I am wondering whether the Lich saying that the Worm King had told him the truth behind becoming a Lich is to be taken literally, that in his prayer the King of Worms informed him how to become a Lich. In a world where gods are real I don't find it to hard to believe, but none the less it is interesting.

[Chahiero]

The King of Worms is one aspect of the being they worship, but it is nonetheless the aspect they worship. The particulars of the worship are clouded in biased articles in lore, both for and against Necromancy, but mostly against.

One thing is for sure, the political climate surrounding Necromancy is negative, strongly. Even without conflict with Ar'Kay, Necromancy is looked down upon strongly as a dark art with nefarious intentions. One could argue, very successfully, that their not-so-hidden conflict with Ar'Kay ("The Enemy", they call him) has led to an even more polar negative reaction towards him, since the church of Ar'Kay is a power in the Empire, especially so in Daggerfall.

The path to Lichdom is the holy pilgrimage of the Necromancer - the form of perfection which they seek to achieve. There are at least a few ways to achieve this, but they are not very well known, or explained. The quest for the Dark Brotherhood aforementioned contains one of these; however I never sided with the honourless assassains, and as thus never travelled that path. Therefore I can't speak for it's contents.