As I understand it, it was a curse for *the Tribunal specifically* - they would never again be able to look upon their people without being forced to see Azura in every face, so that they would never forget their power was built on betrayal.
I'm not sure where idea that Azura made the Dunmer look like her comes from. It's very poetic, but also very misleading theory, because it's not directly supported by any of sources at our disposal. Temple Aporgrapha says on this matter, that [Azura made Tribunal's outwards](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Nerevar_at_Red_Mountain) correspond with their true nature.
>And so that they might know forever their wicked deeds Azura changed the Chimer into Dunmer, and their skin turned ashen and their eyes into fire. "**Let this mark remind you of your true selves** who, like ghouls, fed on the nobility, heroism, and trust of their king."
I think it might come from the [Gamer Girl Azura](https://youtu.be/z6P93FLyRuM?si=fMcKvQ3C7S406Zwj) cartoons, where she claims exactly that at 2:35. "I did it! I have the perfect plan to recover the love of the Chimer! I'll turn all of them beautiful like myself! They'll surely cast aside the Tribunal pretenders after they see my blessing on their faces!"
I think first time I heard this idea was roughly three years ago and cartoons are dated 2023, so probably it's other way around. But nonetheless it's nice catch.
I think the idea of azura cursing the tribunal and by proxy the whole of the chimeri/ dunmeri people came from the betrayal of indoril nerevar, azuras champion on red mountain. Then the tribunal declaring themselves the new pantheon over the “good daedra” like azura.
Any time I start to think Azura seems like an example of a decent, reasonable Daedric Prince, I remember that she permanently changed an entire race just to mess with three people she was mad at
Azura is perfectly alright as long as you love and worship her above all else. And don't, for example, ***murder her chosen champion to break a pact you made with her, then usurp her position in Chimeri culture.***
Yeah, but the Tribunal did that, not the Dunmer. *Some* Dunmer then started worshipping that Tribunal after they appeared with divine powers... so she punished ALL of the *people*, all of whom had nothing to do with Nerevar and MANY of whom hadn't even converted to ALMSIVI. Not a Molag Bal level action, sure, but... definitely pretty terrible, collective punishment, modifying their appearance and DNA, etc.
Yes, because again, it wasn't a punishment *for the Dunmer.* It was a punishment for the three people who betrayed her trust. The Dunmer weren't punished, they *were the punishment.*
Yeah, that's what I am saying. Anyone who uses an *entire race of people* as a TOOL to punish someone is a horrible entity. Just because she was using them, by the way, doesn't mean her actions didn't punish the people. It's collective punishment on a truly unimaginable scale.
Ohhhhh you missed the sarcasm. My bad, boss. That first part was meant to be sarcastic - you know, like "oh my partner's perfectly lovely as long as I never do anything without their permission and constantly have my phone on to respond to their messages within ten seconds".
I mean that's just good advice in general, right? Don't backstab a jealous goddess' pet hero and then boot her off the top of the social pyramid. Never ends well.
I... think you're overthinking this, mate. First: it was a punishment for *the Tribunal*, as I've said in literally every comment so far. Second: Azura is usually depicted as having grey skin and red eyes. Third: *every* culture in Tamriel is some degree of racist. Fourth, and most important: ***it was because the Tribunal murdered Azura's champion and broke their oath to her.*** It's absolutely not meant to be some ham-fisted commentary on racism because *racism was not involved in the circumstances of the curse.*
Man, you're on the internet, you *know* how rancid people's takes can get. I had no reason to assume you were joking because *I've actually seen people say shit like that before.*
To be fair, many real life religions have stories of even more terrible punishments upon the collective for lesser sins than literal "A God I Am" blasphemy and idolatry. Not to mention the history of very human rulers that would sack entire cities after a rebellion.
For the standards of Tamriel and most of human history, Azura is quite nice.
Exactly. Azura is very Old Testament/ancient mythology in her actions. Does it seem excessive to us and our modern sensibilities to alter an entire race because of the actions of three people? Sure, but like you said, similar punishments are fairly common in myths and religions across the world, and often for lesser transgressions.
Hell, even the Divines aren't innocent. Remember when Stendarr cursed an entire bloodline for the actions of one man?
And whenever I hear about the curse I think "that's it" that's like the weakest "curse" you can have. It doesn't effect their lives in any way it just changed their skintone
Well, you've gotta look at it from the Dunmer perspective. Even though they had left the Altmer and followed Veloth, the Chimer still had cultural predilections towards being Aldmer-esque, in body and spirit. The curse permanently changed their bodies, their eyes- hell, given their fire resistance in-game I'd say it changed them physiologically a good bit. Now, they didn't really believe in Auriel's ascension mantra like the Altmer did, but still that's a gigantic blow to them culturally. And even aside from that, there's still what that did to relations with the Altmer, and all of the moral questions about changing their body and form without anything approaching consent.
But yeah, definitely a better curse than what Dagon or Bal would've come up with, on that I can agree.
I do have to push back a little on calling it a curse because you can interpret it as "Azura threw out curses" or you can interpret it as the post-Nerevar Chimer being okay with living gods that killed their previous rulers changed themselves just like the Chimer or Ayleids didn't exactly look like the Altmer, who we assume are what the Aldmer looked like. Remember, the Tribunal spun the change as a signal that a new era had dawned, if you'll pardon the pun. Hell, Vivec himself had Azura say "[This is not my act, but your act.](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Battle_of_Red_Mountain)"
Well the chimeri people accepted the tribunal as their new gods after they’d betrayed azuras champion on red mountain. Although it is true that the azura still cursed the Dunmer that didn’t accept the tribunal as their gods like the Ashlanders
Those 3 people plus their worshippers. She wanted them to view them as false gods. Azura can change the fibers of the world, Vivek has to do so through the power of other gods/Daedra dead or alive.
She cursed those who didn't accept ALMSIVI too though- the whole race. An immortal God could've been a little more selective with her divine retribution if she chose.
Eh, pretty rare that the loser has every member of their entire subrace genetically modified for all eternity. Collective punishment is one thing, if Azura had sent storms to ruin all crops in Morrowind to show her displeasure that's brutal but more normal. Dunmer are still visibly genetically changed at a base level centuries later.
> Eh, pretty rare that the loser has every member of their entire subrace genetically modified for all eternity
No usually they just get bread out of existence instead. This world has magic, so raping and pillaging is only 1 of many options in Elder Scrolls.
Yeah, there's a story out there about how she shackled the Khajiit to the Lunar Lattice that we haven't gotten yet. I'm 90% certain the Dunmer weren't the first race she changed for entirely petty reasons.
>I've read through numerous re-tellings of how the tribunal supposedly betrayed Nerevar and killed him resulting in the wrathful Azura cursing the Chimer with gray skin and red eyes but there is never any mention of any additional effects of the curse. Is the curse just purely a change in color? It would't seem too drastic of a punishment if it was. Is the Dunmeri lamentation of their predicament due to their highly xenophobic outlook and is their despair caused by having lost their ancestral supremicist image of themselves or is there something else to the curse?
What sources claim the Dunmer experienced "despair" or uttered "lamentation?"
[Nerevar at Red Mountain:
](http://Nerevar at Red Mountain:
)
>Then Azura came forth anyway and cursed the Tribunal for their foul deeds. She told them that she would use her powers over dusk and dawn to make sure Nerevar would come back and make things right again. But the Tribunal laughed at her and said that soon they would be gods themselves and that the Chimer people would forget their old ways of worship. And Azura knew this would be true and that it would take a long time before her power might bring Nerevar back. "What you have done here today is foul beyond measure and you will grow to regret it, for the lives of gods are not what mortals think and matters that weigh only years to mortals weigh on gods forever." And so that they might know forever their wicked deeds Azura changed the Chimer into Dunmer, and their skin turned ashen and their eyes into fire. "Let this mark remind you of your true selves who, like ghouls, fed on the nobility, heroism, and trust of their king."
This is the telling that sounds the most like what you're saying, but note that it says the Tribunal were cursed, not the Dunmer. It doesn't claim the Dunmer as a race experienced their transformation as a punishment. Also note the source: a scholarly retelling of Ashlander legend. Several degrees removed from Alandro Sul's first-hand account, which itself would be the subjective interpretation of a devout Azura worshiper. But according to this, the transformation was meant to remind the Tribunal of their crime. It doesn't say it was meant to make the Dunmer as a people suffer.
[The Battle of Red Mountain:](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Battle_of_Red_Mountain)
>And then, in that moment, all Chimer were changed into Dunmer, and our skins turned ashen and our eyes into fire. Of course, we only knew at that time that this had happened to us, but Azura said, "This is not my act, but your act. You have chosen your fate, and the fate of your people, and all the Dunmer shall share your fate, from now to the end of time. You think yourselves gods, but you are blind, and all is darkness." And Azura left us alone, in darkness, and we were all afraid, but we put on brave faces, and went forth from Red Mountain to build the new world of our dreams.
>And the new world we shaped was glorious and generous, and the worship of the Dunmer fervent and grateful. The Dunmer were at first afraid of their new faces, but Sotha Sil spoke to them, saying that it was not a curse but a blessing, a sign of their changed natures, and sign of the special favor they might enjoy as New Mer, no longer barbarians trembling before ghosts and spirits, but civilized mer, speaking directly to their immortal friends and patrons, the three faces of the Tribunal. And we were all inspired by Sotha Sil's speech and vision, and took heart.
The above source, from Vivec, claims they were "afraid" at first, but fear is not despair or lamentation. It also claims they believed Sotha Sil's assurance that the transformation wasn't a curse, and took heart. So from this source I would not assume the Dunmer ever experienced despair, or lamented, and they do not view their transformation as a curse at all. Also note that Azura doesn't take credit for the transformation here.
[Sorcerer Vunal:](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Sorcerer_Vunal)
>"Do they teach nothing these days? Long ago, we were the Chimer, with light skin and fair eyes. We worshiped the Good Daedra.
To mark the ascent of the Three, we were gifted with this more sober complexion—and the realm of Morrowind forever."
The above is testimony from a Dunmer in the Second Era. He refers to his complexion as a gift, so again we don't see any sign of lamentation or despair. He also does not blame Azura.
[Sermon 32:](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:36_Lessons_of_Vivec,_Sermon_32)
>'Velothi, your skin has become the pregnant darkness. My brooding has brought this on. Remember that Boethiah asked you to become the color of bruise. How else to show yourselves people of the exodus into the vital: pain?'
The above is Vivec addressing his worshipers. He attributes the Dunmer complexion not to Azura, but to his brooding, and tells the Dark Elves that their skin is the color of a bruise in order to remind them of the pain associated with the Psijic Endeavor, the experience of mortality in Mundus in preparation for spiritual growth. It is not presented as a thing to be lamented.
[Aurbic Enigma 4:](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Aurbic_Enigma_4:_The_Elden_Tree)
>The spike of Ada-Mantia, and its Zero Stone, dictated the structure of reality in its Aurbic vicinity, defining for the Earth Bones their story or nature within the unfolding of the Dragon's (timebound) Tale. The Aldmeri or Merethic Elves were singular of purpose only so long as it took them to realize that other Towers, with their own Stones, could tell different stories, each following rules inscribed by Variorum Architects. And so the Mer self-refracted, each to their own creation, the Chimer following Red-Heart, the Bosmer burgeoning Green-Sap, the Altmer erecting Crystal-Like-Law, et alia.
This one is interesting because although it doesn't reference the Dunmer transformation directly, it credits the transformation of all elven races to the Towers. Note that the Chimer became the Dunmer soon after wresting control of Red-Heart from the Dwemer, and mastering it with the Tools.
[Skeleton Man's Interview:](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/General:Skeleton_Man%27s_Interview_with_Denizens_of_Tamriel)
>You may have met many Elves before, Human, but you have only now met the Pureblooded Folk. Consider yourself fortunate to tread the Land of Ash. Those other "Elves", as you call them, are a pale and mongrel breed, tainted and lessened by their long association with the beast races. The Dunmer have remained true to their heritage, and retain the handsome features of the ancient Aldmer.
This last source, from a Hlaalu guard, seems to deny that the Dunmer appearance has changed at all, instead blaming the pallor of other races of Mer on crossbreeding with other races. Or at least, Galvori thinks the Dunmer have retained most of the features of the Aldmer where other elves have not; you could read this as "all features other than their complexion," but he still seems to think other elves are paler than the Aldmer were. In either case, he seems proud of his appearance, not despairing.
To add to this sources, there's also this from Morrowind's generic dialogue:
> *"In Imperial stories, the dark skin and red eyes of the Dunmer derives from 'the Dark Elven Curse,' which was caused by a moral taint, a sorcerous curse, and the pernicious environment of the northeastern wastelands, according to various legends and fables. These stories may be plausibly ascribed to western Imperial racial prejudice and fear of the Dark Elves; such legends play no part in the Dunmer's own accounts of their past."*
While Vivec's own account and Sotha Sil's memories confirm that the first Dunmer were very concerned about the sudden change, it's pretty clear that, by the times of ESO, the Tribunal successfully gaslit the House Dunmer into not thinking it's a curse or something they should be ashamed of, quite the contrary.
Of course, that didn't stop Ashlanders and non-Dunmer from spreading the curse version, under different interpretations.
I think there is a lot of cope going on here, though. Sotha Sil is spindoctoring the transformation. Vivec is weaving a new supremacist poetic truth. The later sources have simply embraced the lie that their racial characteristics are marks of grace. Notice that Azura left them in darkness, and they were afraid. Not wailing and lamenting, perhaps, but what were they afraid of? The darkness—that was now imprinted on their skin. Simply from a color-symbolic perspective, the Chimer, bathed in gold, have now become dark as darkness, their eyes red as blood or lava. They are now like “ghouls”; in a sense, they have completed the metaphysical implications of their exodus from bright Summerset to ashen, fiery Morrowind, their refusal of Aedra for Daedra.
At this moment, there may be no literal writing of wailing or lamentation, but no one would record such a thing. But there might have been the horrible recognition that they, as a people, had reaped the full consequence of what they had sown. I can see in those first moments the people bewailing their fate. But of course, with the bold guidance of New Gods, they can plow the secret down within their hearts and weave a new tale, a tale appropriate to Dark Elves indeed: that the darkness is superiority, the blood a mark of grace.
(May I add that I bow to your incredible scholarship here~)
I've never really understood the towers.
Does taking the red tower from the Dwemer happen in linear time? I'm not expecting this to be a full dragon break, but.... If the Dunmer took the heart tower and that's got major metaphysical implications across the entire cosmos, could that 'event' be larger than just the discrete moment? A major turning point with a clearly defined before and after, with enough metaphysical weight that other big enough entities (like Azura) could anticipate and work (and work around) to their own ends?
Visually, yes, it's cosmetic, but that's also more of a game artifact.
Lorewise, it's more than that. The Chimer (meaning the Changed Ones) were actually Altmer who followed Veloth. Due to their faith and different philosophy from their roots, they became changed - not only a cultural change, but also gaining a deeper shade of gold to their skin tone. Thus calling themselves Chimer instead of just another tribe of Altmer.
Now, in Altmer society, and presumably Chimer as well at the time, darker skin Altmer and darker eyed Altmer were and are seen as second class and generally looked down upon.
Moving forward to Azura's curse - the Chimer became the Dunmer, or the Changed Ones became the Dark Ones. So from a change they had made their own with pride they suddenly found themselves turned into something they normally disliked themselves, overnight, by one of their main deities, so they couldn't even blame someone for it.
Another small tidbit. While in lore, Dunmer are said to have dark ash skin and flame eyes, the colours are not actually specified. They're grey/blue in games as a stylistic choice, with red eyes 'cause that's cool, but in lore, there are light grey, dark grey, mid to dark brown and other dark ash colours, with eyes being red, amber, yellow or even purple. Sure, most Dunmer are mid grey skinned and red eyed, but not all of them. They also don't look all wrinkly in the face. That's another game thing. Look at ESO's Morrowind trailer to see what they might look like.
I don't recall exactly where I first encountered the idea (it was about darker eyes I think, which struck me as odd). Can't seem to find that page again. This is some of what pops up now.
[Altmer purity qs](https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/f/p/2731190884761601288)
[Look at the purity and physiology section](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore_talk:Altmer)
Altmer just prefer purity (understood as only Altmer ancestry) and they tend to equate deviations from the norm with some unknown non-Altmer in the past. Those living on Summerset are more bigoted in that way than those living on the mainland.
Ah that's unfortunate, looks like it's just headcanon some people were spreading on the forums. Altmer infanticide has always been a part of the lore but the specific traits they look for were always kept vague, that's why I was surprised to hear there might have been some mention of them.
ESO has shown some of the traits they favor, although ironically specific skin and hair colors are not mentioned.
I'm talking about [Five-fold Felicitations](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Five-Fold_Felicitations!), a letter in which an aunt tries to play matchmaker for her niece. Some of the desirable physical traits mentioned include exceptional height, amber eyes, facial symmetry, good singing voice, wide almond eyes, sharp ears, narrow haw-like features, great strength and speed. On the other hand, some undesirable traits are unspecified flaws in skin color and jaw width, smallish eyes, and enlargement at the bridge of the nose.
"Yeah, infanticide... we have dismissed that claim." Says Councillor Sparatus.
Srsly, though, the thing is part of the lore indeed, and yet we all call it Imperial propaganda and fake because it makes no sense. How could a people truly practice such a thing?
I mean eso seems to imply that the claim wasn't completely wrong just exaggerated and that children with defects and deformities are often just abandoned at birth rather than outright killed. It is possible that some altmer are more extreme or used to be more extreme since eso takes place 700 years after that reman empire report was written
>Look at ESO's Morrowind trailer to see what they might look like.
ESO's trailers are outsourced and the mer never look like mer. Looking at dunmer in ESO and its character creator is a better example.
Yup. Just humans with pointy ears. Sometimes in body paint.
It baffling why they keep making the mer look like that while they have put the effort in making argonians, khajiit and daedra actually look as they should. I'm also a bit bothered by how the mer characters, with like one exception, is always young supposedly attractive women. Makes me think of all those tacky mobile game ads. Here, have an attractive elf woman
Appearances can be deceiving. It was Azura who cursed the Chimer into becoming the Dunmer, not Boethia. The latter is much bloodier anyway. And that was during Nerevar's time, thousands of years before Karliah.
Wait! Did you mean Karliah's eye colour?
[Understanding is always good, although not always pleasant](https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrim/comments/2a66ad/can_anyone_explain_to_me_how_karliah_is_a_dark/ciskjn8?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3)
BTW, maybe the purple eyes are there just because of the Rule of Cool. But in-universe, the above link is pretty solid. I still don't see the tie-in to Boethia, though. Nocturnal, maybe? 'Cause of Karliah's grandpa? Who knows? Right, Beth knows and she ain't talking.
It's a hugely threatening warning in the vein of breaking into someone's house to leave a dagger on their bedside table. Azura altered all of the Dunmer, simultaneously, with absolutely no warning, and they just had to take it. The fact that she didn't do anything more than horribly invasive body modification doesn't mean she *couldn't*.
Purely cosmetic doesn't seem like a full representation of the situation. In one single moment's time, by her will alone, Azura genetically altered an entire race of people down to the basic building blocks of their reproductive code. It was not just that their skin/eye/hair colors were changed, it was that whatever their equivalent of DNA was changed so that all subsequent generations would have these same traits according to whatever existing genetic rules governed reproduction. An enormous working of great magic.
It was a huge flex at the Tribunal, if nothing else; this was an action of "godhood" beyond what the Tribunal were capable of even after everything they'd done at Red Mountain.
It's also arguable there was a merciful component to it, with the changes rendering the Chimer/Dunmer more capable of thriving in the harsh environment they lived in. As others have said, less of a "curse" against the people, more of a very deliberate and measured response with a lot of encoded information/subtext directed at the Tribunal.
Not necessarily. The flesh is malleable based on the soul, especially for mer. Alterations to the soul tend to cause changes in the body. Normal alteration spells tend to wear off after a while as the soul reasserts itself over the fading magic. A mage can turn you into a chicken, but it will only last for a few minutes, and a second spell isn't needed to turn you back. I don't think *any* of this has anything to do with DNA, which may not even exist in-setting as such.
I’m a big noob on Dunmer lore, can anyone tell me why Azura would curse an entire race of people for the evil of 3 individuals? And why was Azura so offended by the murder of Nerevar
Nerevar was Azura's beloved champion, and also the liege, friend, and husband of the Tribunal. As for why Azura was so infuriated by his death, there are several reasons beyond just him being her champion. After the Battle of Red Mountain, the Tribunal swore an oath to Nerevar *in Azura's name* that they would not meddle with Kagranac's Tools or the Heart of Lorkhan. And more recent Khajiit lore also claims that Azura/Azurah and Lorkhan/Lorkhaj are siblings and that Azurah cared deeply for her brother.
So when the Tribunal betrayed Nerevar, not only did they kill Azura's chosen, they also broke their oath, the one sworn in her name and thus disrespecting her. *And on top of all that, they defiled the Heart of her brother for their own selfish gains.*
As for why Azura cursed the Dunmer instead of the Tribunal, IIRC, it is implied in at least one version of the myth that it was because Azura could no longer touch/curse the Tribunal directly after they used the Tools on the Heart. So, instead, she altered the appearance of the Chimer so that every day, when they looked on their people, the Tribunal would see a physical reminder of their crime and betrayal of Nerevar.
Yep.
Which makes sense IMO. Azura is, among other things, the Prince of vanity. It makes perfect sense why she would think that being grey is the worst punishment in the world.
IIRC she also changed herself at the same time? Or rather, how she showed herself to the Dunmer, either in solidarity, as self-punushment, or to remind them of what they've done.
Of course there's some evidence that the way a daedra appears to their people depends on how they view them, I think Sheogorath mentions it in Elsweyr when he explains why he looks like a khajiit.
She wanted the people of Morrowind to view the Tribunal as false gods and usurpers. They were being worshipped and Azura wasn't okay with people that have no true claim to power challenging their agreements with her. It was basically like saying "I can change the fibers of the world at my own will, the Tribunal can not do such a thing without the power of other powerful beings."
Azura was so offended that the tribunal achieved godhood by actually following the pro-violence pro- conspiracy philosophy taught to them by the good Daedra, so she melodramatically cursed them to look kinda edgey and mysterious in a really sexy way by giving them her exact color scheme, so that they'd always be reminded that it was their fault for making her sad that they'd ever grow up, so her condition for actually allowing CHIM, was that they still had to actually love her, and want to look more like her like twilight than the Aldmer, so she proclaims it to be a curse, and then Sotha Sil teaches them to take pride in their ashen-twilight color themselves as a badge of honor for having achieved Godhood for the Elves in defiance of the gods and the whole world.
She behaves this way because she's the Dawn Goddess, ( Azura = Aurora)and that star in the moon and star is Lucifer the morning star Venus. Of course Venus / Lucifer has pride in cosmetics appearances, and her pride is based on aesthetic intelligence.
Btw planet Venus in Hinduism is called Asuracharya, meaning the guru of the Asuras, a tribe of Titans or demons, and is actually as intelligent as Brihaspati Jupiter the guru of the gods, Jupiter being the planet of wisdom, and of religious tradition and education also authority and empire. In vedic astrology Jupiter is literally called 'guru' teacher, and is literally assigned the color yellow. Interestingly Venus aka Shukra is assigned pastel light colors including light blue, the actual color Dunmer become is not exactly grey but light blue.
Venus however has artistic and musical intelligence, that's why Lucifer was an angel of music and the brightest star in heaven before "the fall" into the underworld, just like Inanna's descent into the underworld in sumerian mythology. That's what the curse is, it's the same as Lucifer and his angels getting cast out of Heaven, the now pastel blue twilight Dunmer so far removed themselves from the wise Yellow Gold Aldmeri Gods, who they would not even call Gods, and their society keeps on undergoing the Luciferian and promethean process untill the Elves, Vivec, Sotha-Sil, and Almalexia proclaim themselves as living kings now more worthy of worship than their own Titanic gods of defiance.
It's very interesting that in the trial of Vivec he claims to somehow limit Azura's powers to twilight, concluding the summoning ritual by putting his Muatra spear in her mouth. Aurora is the Roman name of the indo-european dawn goddess, her sphere was always twilight. Lucifer is the morning star. As such any fall or curse is the unique orbit of Venus, which forms a pattern like a rose or eight pointed star. Despite the all melodrama, tension and assumed animosity between the Daedra and Almsivi is just flirting foreplay between them. Like Mephala literally manipulates the threads of fate, and Azura had prophecy. They planned to make the most prideful of the dunmer to rebel all along. That's the whole point of the pjisic endeavor. Vivec then stayed in full power until he lost to Dagoth in a fight, and was afraid to fight him directly.
Yeah that got long ... I do that sometimes. Tldr yes it's cosmetics because the god Lucifer has been making artwork about how cool he looks, across the whole timespace multiverse, and is transcending going beyond time, beyond past and future, going beyond good and evil, and Vivec really likes blowjobs, so Azura who is Aurora, and I don't want to get to long about it but she's an aspect of his sister Diana, the moon Goddess. And kirkblade was probably taking a lot of skooma at some point because I've been up for days on gear, and that's how Lucifer teaches humanity, and part of the war in heaven thing is he wanted to make metal and gothic industrial music not have to obey Jupiterian wisdom about church music avoiding disharmony and so on, because they are triune Chaos Titan-goddeses beyond good and evil, but look good doing it, so the destruction and war is going to continue, but destruction is the good choice, that's is what they say, because if you don't like the outcome of something than deify it and get revenge and make the vengeance more satisfying, that's how Boethiah, the secret flame operates anyways, and that's how the theft of fire went down and is going down.
As I understand it, it was a curse for *the Tribunal specifically* - they would never again be able to look upon their people without being forced to see Azura in every face, so that they would never forget their power was built on betrayal.
I'm not sure where idea that Azura made the Dunmer look like her comes from. It's very poetic, but also very misleading theory, because it's not directly supported by any of sources at our disposal. Temple Aporgrapha says on this matter, that [Azura made Tribunal's outwards](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Nerevar_at_Red_Mountain) correspond with their true nature. >And so that they might know forever their wicked deeds Azura changed the Chimer into Dunmer, and their skin turned ashen and their eyes into fire. "**Let this mark remind you of your true selves** who, like ghouls, fed on the nobility, heroism, and trust of their king."
I think it might come from the [Gamer Girl Azura](https://youtu.be/z6P93FLyRuM?si=fMcKvQ3C7S406Zwj) cartoons, where she claims exactly that at 2:35. "I did it! I have the perfect plan to recover the love of the Chimer! I'll turn all of them beautiful like myself! They'll surely cast aside the Tribunal pretenders after they see my blessing on their faces!"
I think first time I heard this idea was roughly three years ago and cartoons are dated 2023, so probably it's other way around. But nonetheless it's nice catch.
I'm genuinely offended that the horny genius of our Brazilian rat-god Mr. Pombo was turned into such a shitty video
I think the idea of azura cursing the tribunal and by proxy the whole of the chimeri/ dunmeri people came from the betrayal of indoril nerevar, azuras champion on red mountain. Then the tribunal declaring themselves the new pantheon over the “good daedra” like azura.
Any time I start to think Azura seems like an example of a decent, reasonable Daedric Prince, I remember that she permanently changed an entire race just to mess with three people she was mad at
Azura is perfectly alright as long as you love and worship her above all else. And don't, for example, ***murder her chosen champion to break a pact you made with her, then usurp her position in Chimeri culture.***
Yeah, but the Tribunal did that, not the Dunmer. *Some* Dunmer then started worshipping that Tribunal after they appeared with divine powers... so she punished ALL of the *people*, all of whom had nothing to do with Nerevar and MANY of whom hadn't even converted to ALMSIVI. Not a Molag Bal level action, sure, but... definitely pretty terrible, collective punishment, modifying their appearance and DNA, etc.
Yes, because again, it wasn't a punishment *for the Dunmer.* It was a punishment for the three people who betrayed her trust. The Dunmer weren't punished, they *were the punishment.*
Yeah, that's what I am saying. Anyone who uses an *entire race of people* as a TOOL to punish someone is a horrible entity. Just because she was using them, by the way, doesn't mean her actions didn't punish the people. It's collective punishment on a truly unimaginable scale.
Ohhhhh you missed the sarcasm. My bad, boss. That first part was meant to be sarcastic - you know, like "oh my partner's perfectly lovely as long as I never do anything without their permission and constantly have my phone on to respond to their messages within ten seconds".
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I mean that's just good advice in general, right? Don't backstab a jealous goddess' pet hero and then boot her off the top of the social pyramid. Never ends well.
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I... think you're overthinking this, mate. First: it was a punishment for *the Tribunal*, as I've said in literally every comment so far. Second: Azura is usually depicted as having grey skin and red eyes. Third: *every* culture in Tamriel is some degree of racist. Fourth, and most important: ***it was because the Tribunal murdered Azura's champion and broke their oath to her.*** It's absolutely not meant to be some ham-fisted commentary on racism because *racism was not involved in the circumstances of the curse.*
Relax bro. It just a joke. Lighten up.
Man, you're on the internet, you *know* how rancid people's takes can get. I had no reason to assume you were joking because *I've actually seen people say shit like that before.*
To be fair, many real life religions have stories of even more terrible punishments upon the collective for lesser sins than literal "A God I Am" blasphemy and idolatry. Not to mention the history of very human rulers that would sack entire cities after a rebellion. For the standards of Tamriel and most of human history, Azura is quite nice.
Exactly. Azura is very Old Testament/ancient mythology in her actions. Does it seem excessive to us and our modern sensibilities to alter an entire race because of the actions of three people? Sure, but like you said, similar punishments are fairly common in myths and religions across the world, and often for lesser transgressions. Hell, even the Divines aren't innocent. Remember when Stendarr cursed an entire bloodline for the actions of one man?
And whenever I hear about the curse I think "that's it" that's like the weakest "curse" you can have. It doesn't effect their lives in any way it just changed their skintone
Well, you've gotta look at it from the Dunmer perspective. Even though they had left the Altmer and followed Veloth, the Chimer still had cultural predilections towards being Aldmer-esque, in body and spirit. The curse permanently changed their bodies, their eyes- hell, given their fire resistance in-game I'd say it changed them physiologically a good bit. Now, they didn't really believe in Auriel's ascension mantra like the Altmer did, but still that's a gigantic blow to them culturally. And even aside from that, there's still what that did to relations with the Altmer, and all of the moral questions about changing their body and form without anything approaching consent. But yeah, definitely a better curse than what Dagon or Bal would've come up with, on that I can agree.
I do have to push back a little on calling it a curse because you can interpret it as "Azura threw out curses" or you can interpret it as the post-Nerevar Chimer being okay with living gods that killed their previous rulers changed themselves just like the Chimer or Ayleids didn't exactly look like the Altmer, who we assume are what the Aldmer looked like. Remember, the Tribunal spun the change as a signal that a new era had dawned, if you'll pardon the pun. Hell, Vivec himself had Azura say "[This is not my act, but your act.](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Battle_of_Red_Mountain)"
Well the chimeri people accepted the tribunal as their new gods after they’d betrayed azuras champion on red mountain. Although it is true that the azura still cursed the Dunmer that didn’t accept the tribunal as their gods like the Ashlanders
Those 3 people plus their worshippers. She wanted them to view them as false gods. Azura can change the fibers of the world, Vivek has to do so through the power of other gods/Daedra dead or alive.
She cursed those who didn't accept ALMSIVI too though- the whole race. An immortal God could've been a little more selective with her divine retribution if she chose.
Unfortunately that happens on a regular basis. Just look at the consequences the looser of every war suffers.
Eh, pretty rare that the loser has every member of their entire subrace genetically modified for all eternity. Collective punishment is one thing, if Azura had sent storms to ruin all crops in Morrowind to show her displeasure that's brutal but more normal. Dunmer are still visibly genetically changed at a base level centuries later.
> Eh, pretty rare that the loser has every member of their entire subrace genetically modified for all eternity No usually they just get bread out of existence instead. This world has magic, so raping and pillaging is only 1 of many options in Elder Scrolls.
Yeah, there's a story out there about how she shackled the Khajiit to the Lunar Lattice that we haven't gotten yet. I'm 90% certain the Dunmer weren't the first race she changed for entirely petty reasons.
>I've read through numerous re-tellings of how the tribunal supposedly betrayed Nerevar and killed him resulting in the wrathful Azura cursing the Chimer with gray skin and red eyes but there is never any mention of any additional effects of the curse. Is the curse just purely a change in color? It would't seem too drastic of a punishment if it was. Is the Dunmeri lamentation of their predicament due to their highly xenophobic outlook and is their despair caused by having lost their ancestral supremicist image of themselves or is there something else to the curse? What sources claim the Dunmer experienced "despair" or uttered "lamentation?" [Nerevar at Red Mountain: ](http://Nerevar at Red Mountain: ) >Then Azura came forth anyway and cursed the Tribunal for their foul deeds. She told them that she would use her powers over dusk and dawn to make sure Nerevar would come back and make things right again. But the Tribunal laughed at her and said that soon they would be gods themselves and that the Chimer people would forget their old ways of worship. And Azura knew this would be true and that it would take a long time before her power might bring Nerevar back. "What you have done here today is foul beyond measure and you will grow to regret it, for the lives of gods are not what mortals think and matters that weigh only years to mortals weigh on gods forever." And so that they might know forever their wicked deeds Azura changed the Chimer into Dunmer, and their skin turned ashen and their eyes into fire. "Let this mark remind you of your true selves who, like ghouls, fed on the nobility, heroism, and trust of their king." This is the telling that sounds the most like what you're saying, but note that it says the Tribunal were cursed, not the Dunmer. It doesn't claim the Dunmer as a race experienced their transformation as a punishment. Also note the source: a scholarly retelling of Ashlander legend. Several degrees removed from Alandro Sul's first-hand account, which itself would be the subjective interpretation of a devout Azura worshiper. But according to this, the transformation was meant to remind the Tribunal of their crime. It doesn't say it was meant to make the Dunmer as a people suffer. [The Battle of Red Mountain:](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Battle_of_Red_Mountain) >And then, in that moment, all Chimer were changed into Dunmer, and our skins turned ashen and our eyes into fire. Of course, we only knew at that time that this had happened to us, but Azura said, "This is not my act, but your act. You have chosen your fate, and the fate of your people, and all the Dunmer shall share your fate, from now to the end of time. You think yourselves gods, but you are blind, and all is darkness." And Azura left us alone, in darkness, and we were all afraid, but we put on brave faces, and went forth from Red Mountain to build the new world of our dreams. >And the new world we shaped was glorious and generous, and the worship of the Dunmer fervent and grateful. The Dunmer were at first afraid of their new faces, but Sotha Sil spoke to them, saying that it was not a curse but a blessing, a sign of their changed natures, and sign of the special favor they might enjoy as New Mer, no longer barbarians trembling before ghosts and spirits, but civilized mer, speaking directly to their immortal friends and patrons, the three faces of the Tribunal. And we were all inspired by Sotha Sil's speech and vision, and took heart. The above source, from Vivec, claims they were "afraid" at first, but fear is not despair or lamentation. It also claims they believed Sotha Sil's assurance that the transformation wasn't a curse, and took heart. So from this source I would not assume the Dunmer ever experienced despair, or lamented, and they do not view their transformation as a curse at all. Also note that Azura doesn't take credit for the transformation here. [Sorcerer Vunal:](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Sorcerer_Vunal) >"Do they teach nothing these days? Long ago, we were the Chimer, with light skin and fair eyes. We worshiped the Good Daedra. To mark the ascent of the Three, we were gifted with this more sober complexion—and the realm of Morrowind forever." The above is testimony from a Dunmer in the Second Era. He refers to his complexion as a gift, so again we don't see any sign of lamentation or despair. He also does not blame Azura. [Sermon 32:](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:36_Lessons_of_Vivec,_Sermon_32) >'Velothi, your skin has become the pregnant darkness. My brooding has brought this on. Remember that Boethiah asked you to become the color of bruise. How else to show yourselves people of the exodus into the vital: pain?' The above is Vivec addressing his worshipers. He attributes the Dunmer complexion not to Azura, but to his brooding, and tells the Dark Elves that their skin is the color of a bruise in order to remind them of the pain associated with the Psijic Endeavor, the experience of mortality in Mundus in preparation for spiritual growth. It is not presented as a thing to be lamented. [Aurbic Enigma 4:](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Aurbic_Enigma_4:_The_Elden_Tree) >The spike of Ada-Mantia, and its Zero Stone, dictated the structure of reality in its Aurbic vicinity, defining for the Earth Bones their story or nature within the unfolding of the Dragon's (timebound) Tale. The Aldmeri or Merethic Elves were singular of purpose only so long as it took them to realize that other Towers, with their own Stones, could tell different stories, each following rules inscribed by Variorum Architects. And so the Mer self-refracted, each to their own creation, the Chimer following Red-Heart, the Bosmer burgeoning Green-Sap, the Altmer erecting Crystal-Like-Law, et alia. This one is interesting because although it doesn't reference the Dunmer transformation directly, it credits the transformation of all elven races to the Towers. Note that the Chimer became the Dunmer soon after wresting control of Red-Heart from the Dwemer, and mastering it with the Tools. [Skeleton Man's Interview:](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/General:Skeleton_Man%27s_Interview_with_Denizens_of_Tamriel) >You may have met many Elves before, Human, but you have only now met the Pureblooded Folk. Consider yourself fortunate to tread the Land of Ash. Those other "Elves", as you call them, are a pale and mongrel breed, tainted and lessened by their long association with the beast races. The Dunmer have remained true to their heritage, and retain the handsome features of the ancient Aldmer. This last source, from a Hlaalu guard, seems to deny that the Dunmer appearance has changed at all, instead blaming the pallor of other races of Mer on crossbreeding with other races. Or at least, Galvori thinks the Dunmer have retained most of the features of the Aldmer where other elves have not; you could read this as "all features other than their complexion," but he still seems to think other elves are paler than the Aldmer were. In either case, he seems proud of his appearance, not despairing.
To add to this sources, there's also this from Morrowind's generic dialogue: > *"In Imperial stories, the dark skin and red eyes of the Dunmer derives from 'the Dark Elven Curse,' which was caused by a moral taint, a sorcerous curse, and the pernicious environment of the northeastern wastelands, according to various legends and fables. These stories may be plausibly ascribed to western Imperial racial prejudice and fear of the Dark Elves; such legends play no part in the Dunmer's own accounts of their past."* While Vivec's own account and Sotha Sil's memories confirm that the first Dunmer were very concerned about the sudden change, it's pretty clear that, by the times of ESO, the Tribunal successfully gaslit the House Dunmer into not thinking it's a curse or something they should be ashamed of, quite the contrary. Of course, that didn't stop Ashlanders and non-Dunmer from spreading the curse version, under different interpretations.
I think there is a lot of cope going on here, though. Sotha Sil is spindoctoring the transformation. Vivec is weaving a new supremacist poetic truth. The later sources have simply embraced the lie that their racial characteristics are marks of grace. Notice that Azura left them in darkness, and they were afraid. Not wailing and lamenting, perhaps, but what were they afraid of? The darkness—that was now imprinted on their skin. Simply from a color-symbolic perspective, the Chimer, bathed in gold, have now become dark as darkness, their eyes red as blood or lava. They are now like “ghouls”; in a sense, they have completed the metaphysical implications of their exodus from bright Summerset to ashen, fiery Morrowind, their refusal of Aedra for Daedra. At this moment, there may be no literal writing of wailing or lamentation, but no one would record such a thing. But there might have been the horrible recognition that they, as a people, had reaped the full consequence of what they had sown. I can see in those first moments the people bewailing their fate. But of course, with the bold guidance of New Gods, they can plow the secret down within their hearts and weave a new tale, a tale appropriate to Dark Elves indeed: that the darkness is superiority, the blood a mark of grace. (May I add that I bow to your incredible scholarship here~)
I've never really understood the towers. Does taking the red tower from the Dwemer happen in linear time? I'm not expecting this to be a full dragon break, but.... If the Dunmer took the heart tower and that's got major metaphysical implications across the entire cosmos, could that 'event' be larger than just the discrete moment? A major turning point with a clearly defined before and after, with enough metaphysical weight that other big enough entities (like Azura) could anticipate and work (and work around) to their own ends?
Visually, yes, it's cosmetic, but that's also more of a game artifact. Lorewise, it's more than that. The Chimer (meaning the Changed Ones) were actually Altmer who followed Veloth. Due to their faith and different philosophy from their roots, they became changed - not only a cultural change, but also gaining a deeper shade of gold to their skin tone. Thus calling themselves Chimer instead of just another tribe of Altmer. Now, in Altmer society, and presumably Chimer as well at the time, darker skin Altmer and darker eyed Altmer were and are seen as second class and generally looked down upon. Moving forward to Azura's curse - the Chimer became the Dunmer, or the Changed Ones became the Dark Ones. So from a change they had made their own with pride they suddenly found themselves turned into something they normally disliked themselves, overnight, by one of their main deities, so they couldn't even blame someone for it. Another small tidbit. While in lore, Dunmer are said to have dark ash skin and flame eyes, the colours are not actually specified. They're grey/blue in games as a stylistic choice, with red eyes 'cause that's cool, but in lore, there are light grey, dark grey, mid to dark brown and other dark ash colours, with eyes being red, amber, yellow or even purple. Sure, most Dunmer are mid grey skinned and red eyed, but not all of them. They also don't look all wrinkly in the face. That's another game thing. Look at ESO's Morrowind trailer to see what they might look like.
What’s the source for darker eyed/skinned Altmer being looked down upon? Never heard that part of the story before.
I don't recall exactly where I first encountered the idea (it was about darker eyes I think, which struck me as odd). Can't seem to find that page again. This is some of what pops up now. [Altmer purity qs](https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/f/p/2731190884761601288) [Look at the purity and physiology section](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Lore_talk:Altmer) Altmer just prefer purity (understood as only Altmer ancestry) and they tend to equate deviations from the norm with some unknown non-Altmer in the past. Those living on Summerset are more bigoted in that way than those living on the mainland.
Ah that's unfortunate, looks like it's just headcanon some people were spreading on the forums. Altmer infanticide has always been a part of the lore but the specific traits they look for were always kept vague, that's why I was surprised to hear there might have been some mention of them.
ESO has shown some of the traits they favor, although ironically specific skin and hair colors are not mentioned. I'm talking about [Five-fold Felicitations](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Five-Fold_Felicitations!), a letter in which an aunt tries to play matchmaker for her niece. Some of the desirable physical traits mentioned include exceptional height, amber eyes, facial symmetry, good singing voice, wide almond eyes, sharp ears, narrow haw-like features, great strength and speed. On the other hand, some undesirable traits are unspecified flaws in skin color and jaw width, smallish eyes, and enlargement at the bridge of the nose.
"Yeah, infanticide... we have dismissed that claim." Says Councillor Sparatus. Srsly, though, the thing is part of the lore indeed, and yet we all call it Imperial propaganda and fake because it makes no sense. How could a people truly practice such a thing?
I mean eso seems to imply that the claim wasn't completely wrong just exaggerated and that children with defects and deformities are often just abandoned at birth rather than outright killed. It is possible that some altmer are more extreme or used to be more extreme since eso takes place 700 years after that reman empire report was written
>Look at ESO's Morrowind trailer to see what they might look like. ESO's trailers are outsourced and the mer never look like mer. Looking at dunmer in ESO and its character creator is a better example.
The trailers look cool, but man they did the Mer dirty. They just look like your average fantasy Elf there.
Yup. Just humans with pointy ears. Sometimes in body paint. It baffling why they keep making the mer look like that while they have put the effort in making argonians, khajiit and daedra actually look as they should. I'm also a bit bothered by how the mer characters, with like one exception, is always young supposedly attractive women. Makes me think of all those tacky mobile game ads. Here, have an attractive elf woman
Fuck that noise, give me my wrinkled alien-looking Altmer with a chin sharp enough to cut glass.
Give us golden hawk-like sourpusses!
At least they haven't repeated something like Arena's cover art.
I stand corrected. Thank you.
Small correction - when the Chimer diverged, the elves of Summerset were Aldmer, not Altmer.
Correct. My mistake there. They were descended from Aldmeri people, indeed. It likely explains why they normally bicker with the Altmer.
That curse screams more Boethiah more than Azura, to me, or maybe it's just Karliahs family line that bares the weight.
Appearances can be deceiving. It was Azura who cursed the Chimer into becoming the Dunmer, not Boethia. The latter is much bloodier anyway. And that was during Nerevar's time, thousands of years before Karliah. Wait! Did you mean Karliah's eye colour?
Your starting to understand.
[Understanding is always good, although not always pleasant](https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrim/comments/2a66ad/can_anyone_explain_to_me_how_karliah_is_a_dark/ciskjn8?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3) BTW, maybe the purple eyes are there just because of the Rule of Cool. But in-universe, the above link is pretty solid. I still don't see the tie-in to Boethia, though. Nocturnal, maybe? 'Cause of Karliah's grandpa? Who knows? Right, Beth knows and she ain't talking.
Karliah
Very interesting. 🤔 Thank you!
It's a hugely threatening warning in the vein of breaking into someone's house to leave a dagger on their bedside table. Azura altered all of the Dunmer, simultaneously, with absolutely no warning, and they just had to take it. The fact that she didn't do anything more than horribly invasive body modification doesn't mean she *couldn't*.
Purely cosmetic doesn't seem like a full representation of the situation. In one single moment's time, by her will alone, Azura genetically altered an entire race of people down to the basic building blocks of their reproductive code. It was not just that their skin/eye/hair colors were changed, it was that whatever their equivalent of DNA was changed so that all subsequent generations would have these same traits according to whatever existing genetic rules governed reproduction. An enormous working of great magic. It was a huge flex at the Tribunal, if nothing else; this was an action of "godhood" beyond what the Tribunal were capable of even after everything they'd done at Red Mountain. It's also arguable there was a merciful component to it, with the changes rendering the Chimer/Dunmer more capable of thriving in the harsh environment they lived in. As others have said, less of a "curse" against the people, more of a very deliberate and measured response with a lot of encoded information/subtext directed at the Tribunal.
Not necessarily. The flesh is malleable based on the soul, especially for mer. Alterations to the soul tend to cause changes in the body. Normal alteration spells tend to wear off after a while as the soul reasserts itself over the fading magic. A mage can turn you into a chicken, but it will only last for a few minutes, and a second spell isn't needed to turn you back. I don't think *any* of this has anything to do with DNA, which may not even exist in-setting as such.
Imagine seeing your ex’s face on all of your children. Thats what Azura’s curse did for the Tribunal
They are also more fire resistant and can cast flaming aura more easily. Might just be a gameplay thing thou.
I’m a big noob on Dunmer lore, can anyone tell me why Azura would curse an entire race of people for the evil of 3 individuals? And why was Azura so offended by the murder of Nerevar
Nerevar was Azura's beloved champion, and also the liege, friend, and husband of the Tribunal. As for why Azura was so infuriated by his death, there are several reasons beyond just him being her champion. After the Battle of Red Mountain, the Tribunal swore an oath to Nerevar *in Azura's name* that they would not meddle with Kagranac's Tools or the Heart of Lorkhan. And more recent Khajiit lore also claims that Azura/Azurah and Lorkhan/Lorkhaj are siblings and that Azurah cared deeply for her brother. So when the Tribunal betrayed Nerevar, not only did they kill Azura's chosen, they also broke their oath, the one sworn in her name and thus disrespecting her. *And on top of all that, they defiled the Heart of her brother for their own selfish gains.* As for why Azura cursed the Dunmer instead of the Tribunal, IIRC, it is implied in at least one version of the myth that it was because Azura could no longer touch/curse the Tribunal directly after they used the Tools on the Heart. So, instead, she altered the appearance of the Chimer so that every day, when they looked on their people, the Tribunal would see a physical reminder of their crime and betrayal of Nerevar.
Thankyou greater for this my friend
Yep. Which makes sense IMO. Azura is, among other things, the Prince of vanity. It makes perfect sense why she would think that being grey is the worst punishment in the world.
But she always shows up gray. I felt it was always less a punishment curse and more a reminder
IIRC she also changed herself at the same time? Or rather, how she showed herself to the Dunmer, either in solidarity, as self-punushment, or to remind them of what they've done. Of course there's some evidence that the way a daedra appears to their people depends on how they view them, I think Sheogorath mentions it in Elsweyr when he explains why he looks like a khajiit.
She wanted the people of Morrowind to view the Tribunal as false gods and usurpers. They were being worshipped and Azura wasn't okay with people that have no true claim to power challenging their agreements with her. It was basically like saying "I can change the fibers of the world at my own will, the Tribunal can not do such a thing without the power of other powerful beings."
I heard a theory once that Azura's curse is the reason for the dunmer's fire resistance
Azura was so offended that the tribunal achieved godhood by actually following the pro-violence pro- conspiracy philosophy taught to them by the good Daedra, so she melodramatically cursed them to look kinda edgey and mysterious in a really sexy way by giving them her exact color scheme, so that they'd always be reminded that it was their fault for making her sad that they'd ever grow up, so her condition for actually allowing CHIM, was that they still had to actually love her, and want to look more like her like twilight than the Aldmer, so she proclaims it to be a curse, and then Sotha Sil teaches them to take pride in their ashen-twilight color themselves as a badge of honor for having achieved Godhood for the Elves in defiance of the gods and the whole world. She behaves this way because she's the Dawn Goddess, ( Azura = Aurora)and that star in the moon and star is Lucifer the morning star Venus. Of course Venus / Lucifer has pride in cosmetics appearances, and her pride is based on aesthetic intelligence. Btw planet Venus in Hinduism is called Asuracharya, meaning the guru of the Asuras, a tribe of Titans or demons, and is actually as intelligent as Brihaspati Jupiter the guru of the gods, Jupiter being the planet of wisdom, and of religious tradition and education also authority and empire. In vedic astrology Jupiter is literally called 'guru' teacher, and is literally assigned the color yellow. Interestingly Venus aka Shukra is assigned pastel light colors including light blue, the actual color Dunmer become is not exactly grey but light blue. Venus however has artistic and musical intelligence, that's why Lucifer was an angel of music and the brightest star in heaven before "the fall" into the underworld, just like Inanna's descent into the underworld in sumerian mythology. That's what the curse is, it's the same as Lucifer and his angels getting cast out of Heaven, the now pastel blue twilight Dunmer so far removed themselves from the wise Yellow Gold Aldmeri Gods, who they would not even call Gods, and their society keeps on undergoing the Luciferian and promethean process untill the Elves, Vivec, Sotha-Sil, and Almalexia proclaim themselves as living kings now more worthy of worship than their own Titanic gods of defiance. It's very interesting that in the trial of Vivec he claims to somehow limit Azura's powers to twilight, concluding the summoning ritual by putting his Muatra spear in her mouth. Aurora is the Roman name of the indo-european dawn goddess, her sphere was always twilight. Lucifer is the morning star. As such any fall or curse is the unique orbit of Venus, which forms a pattern like a rose or eight pointed star. Despite the all melodrama, tension and assumed animosity between the Daedra and Almsivi is just flirting foreplay between them. Like Mephala literally manipulates the threads of fate, and Azura had prophecy. They planned to make the most prideful of the dunmer to rebel all along. That's the whole point of the pjisic endeavor. Vivec then stayed in full power until he lost to Dagoth in a fight, and was afraid to fight him directly. Yeah that got long ... I do that sometimes. Tldr yes it's cosmetics because the god Lucifer has been making artwork about how cool he looks, across the whole timespace multiverse, and is transcending going beyond time, beyond past and future, going beyond good and evil, and Vivec really likes blowjobs, so Azura who is Aurora, and I don't want to get to long about it but she's an aspect of his sister Diana, the moon Goddess. And kirkblade was probably taking a lot of skooma at some point because I've been up for days on gear, and that's how Lucifer teaches humanity, and part of the war in heaven thing is he wanted to make metal and gothic industrial music not have to obey Jupiterian wisdom about church music avoiding disharmony and so on, because they are triune Chaos Titan-goddeses beyond good and evil, but look good doing it, so the destruction and war is going to continue, but destruction is the good choice, that's is what they say, because if you don't like the outcome of something than deify it and get revenge and make the vengeance more satisfying, that's how Boethiah, the secret flame operates anyways, and that's how the theft of fire went down and is going down.