#trinimac

[tyote]

Malacath. (TES: Daggerfall, 1996)

[elderscrollsconceptart]

Trinimac Armors

Concept art for The Elder Scrolls: Online

*Artist Unknown* If you know comment below

[trickstarbrave]

honestly i think this is dumber on paper than it was in my head

boethiah ft her two weird little sons. baby nerevar and toddler fa-nuit-hen. coming to demand child support from her shitty ex malacath/trinimac

[tindomizel]

Trinimac, Creator of Death

In light of Douglas Goodall's new lore text, The Soft Doctrines of Magnus the Invisible, I have a new theory to propose: Trinimac, by killing Lorkhan, created death, and by extension Arkay. Hear me out. 

“Only the shape-taker's respiration emptied the arc for the thief's eye” 

This is a quote from Enantiodromia, the second part of the four-part text. The shape-taker is obviously Trinimac, who is known as such because of the Boethiah incident, and the thief's eye is referring to Arkay, who is associated with the Thief constellation. To me, this quote is implying that the former made room for the latter to exist (made it possible for Arkay to exist). Expanding on this, before Mundus death did not exist, the et'Ada were infinite and without limitations, which is why Lorkhan created Mundus; to teach their progeny, through the application of limit, how to become without limit. I believe that, when Trinimac killed Lorkhan at the behest of Auri-El, the concept was created. I find it highly likely that Lorkhan always intended for death to be invented, but I'm undecided on whether he planned for it to be created by Trinimac killing him. It does fit nicely into the theory that Lorkhan always intended for his heart to be ripped out– this heart is the heart of the world. Regardless, the first death was a murder.

That quote also somewhat evokes an elven ballad from ESO, Folly of Man, which laments the rise of mankind: “You'll learn what the Corpse-God wrought. Even Trinimac didn’t know, with his final blow, just how badly he'd been caught”. If Trinimac did indeed create death, based on everything we know about him, it's unlikely that he did so intentionally. 

‘Enantiodromia’ itself is defined as the tendency for things to change into their opposites. Is that not what eventually happened to Trinimac?

On Orkey and Trinimalarkay

Orkey is the Nordic god of death, considered a fusion of Arkay+Malacath by many, and is most known for “stealing the Atmorans’ years”, or shortening their lifespans, which is exactly what Trinimac would have done to every mortal by creating death. On top of this, in Nordic legend, Orkey summoned Alduin who “ate almost every Nord down to six years old”. This is interesting because Alduin is, of course, connected to Akatosh/Auri-El, who ordered Trinimac to kill Lorkhan. Trinimac and Auri-El are both responsible for the death of Lorkhan, and both Orkey and Alduin have stolen years away from the Nords/Atmorans. 

So who is Orkey? Is he Trinimac? Isn't Tsun Trinimac? Yes and no. For a long time people have tried to equate Trinimac/Malacath with Arkay through Orkey, and while I don't believe they're the same being, it does seem likely that they're connected. Arkay was created unintentionally by Trinimac through the murder of Lorkhan, and their relationship is somewhat similar to Peryite and Akatosh or Lorkhan and Namira. They are connected but Arkay is still ultimately a separate being. The Nords combined Arkay (‘death’) with his creator in an attempt to explain how he came into existence. This would explain how Tsun (who is theorised to be the Nordic equivalent of Trinimac) is present in the Nordic pantheon alongside Orkey, and how Trinimac is present in the Altmeri pantheon alongside Xarxes (who is theorised to be the Altmeri equivalent of Arkay). 

And finally, tri-nymic and Arkay, Zenithar and Stendarr.

“Trinimac is probably one of the least understood underpinnings of the whole pantheon. I like him that way, but I would study Mithras if you really want to find out more” -Michael Kirkbride

To summarise, Mithras was a Greco-Roman god, inspired by Mithra, the Iranian god of the sun, justice, contract, and war. Mithra was part of the Ahuric Triad, along with Ahura Mazda (the creator deity, god of the sky), and Apam Napat (god of water). Although this may be boring, I believe tri-nymic is simply a reference to the Ahuric Triad. The Ahuric Triad reminds me of Padomay, Anu and Nir as well. Padomay is, of course, Lorkhan and Anu is Auri-El. What if Trinimac is Nir (the catalyst, the first possipoint)? 

Finally, I am a big fan of @ayem's theory that Trinimac was always padomaic. Trinimac pretended to be anuic– and tried to be anuic– so that he could serve Auri-El, but ultimately he could only be Mauloch. The Roads seems to be about how one can only be what they are, which is a recurring theme in The Elder Scrolls.

“Hue is governed by momentum. As much as manifold Meridia loves the Blind, even orphans cannot change their color.”

This quote is obviously about Meridia, but I think it also applies to Trinimac. There are also countless parallels between Meridia and Trinimac: they were both champions of more powerful gods, they both tried (and failed) to be something else, and, in my opinion, Meridia assumed Trinimac's role as ‘warden’ of Nirn after his ‘death’.

Narratively, I think Trinimac accidentally creating death is a very important moment in his story. It's the moment that proves to him, without a doubt, that he will never be able to escape or erase what he is. He tried to be something static, unchanging, and yet he created death– the final destination, the unavoidable end. What is death if not the ultimate transition? No matter how hard you try, you cannot escape your nature.

Some more random thoughts:

In Nordic legend, Alduin/Orkey's curse is thrown onto the orcs by Ysmir Wulfharth, who is believed to be a Shezarrine. I feel like this could be a reference to how the orcs were also transformed/suffered when Trinimac was defeated by Boethiah (who hoped to avenge Lorkhan).

Additionally, Malacath's realm is the ashpit and ashes are associated with death.

[aetherialfalmer]

Back from the dead for Snelf headcanons bc Skyrim is my coping mechanism rn

The order of Jephre had no magnificent chantry but a hidden grove very similar to the Eldergleam Sanctuary. Bosmeri exiles from Valenwood weren't uncommon to see there, but they often worked to repent for their exile. The priests would tend to the hidden natural wonders across their landscape and soothe the spirirs of nature. Or even answer their requests to promote peace between the parties.

Archivists fell under the order of Xarxes. They were known to keep archives in a few major cities, but not just anyone could wander into their collections. Obviously, they were protective of their secrets and knowledge, so only highly esteemed snelves could have clearance. Even if they had permission, they were still highly monitored. Good luck stealing from their archives when they stood.

Initiate Paladins had grueling entry exams such as the pilgrimage of the Forgotten Vale, but it went much further after that. They'd be made to sit in the cold with just their robes and recite teachings of Auriel. Usually, their training sessions were held during the day so Auriel could witness.

Trinimac wasn't as popular as others in the Falmeri pantheon, but his order was far from weak. Those devoted to Trinimac often pledged to uphold the image of an honorable warrior like their patron god. However, they could be a bit brutal at times, so they were effective executioners of justice.

The Chantry of Magnus was theorized to be where current day Winterhold stands, but scholars debate on the myth.

Magnus was very popular among any mage in the Falmeri dominion. When a Snow Elf won a magical duel, they'd give thanks to Magnus for their survival.

Necromancy was looked down upon unless it was for channeling purposes. It was a rare practice but often used for guidance from previous masters in desperate times. In all practices, they tried to steer away from using a corpse. They viewed it as tearing the soul from Aetherius.

The priests and priestesses of Mara cared for children orphaned by their mother perishing at birth.

Interestingly, there was a phenomenon coined by Falmeri healers called "Mara's Rage." It was said when a falmer was horrifically assaulted, Mara would give the victim a piece of her aedric anger. Her anger would fuel the victims, and they would pursue their assiliant for revenge.

Syrabane's order was very popular among alchemists and healers. His legends of warding off disease were the inspiration for many young apprentices to begin their studies.

[ladyluscinia]

I have finally gotten around to playing through the Orsinium questline in ESO for the first time, and I think the whole thing actually makes much more sense if you headcanon that the real "villain" of the chapter is Boethiah.

Like... Ok, so the fundamental problem with revealing that Kurog plans to kill all the chiefs who won't bend the knee and seize power by force to implement his orc kingdom vision is that if he simply said that part openly then it would just be orc politics? Probably the kind that would get some orcs judging him for being too bloodthirsty / ambitious, but he openly murdered a chief in his throne room and everyone just shrugged at how emotional orc men are. The culture that does ritual challenges and death duels for leadership positions absolutely would accept a guy taking over rival clans and killing off their leaders as a valid method of (temporary) kingmaking, even if a bit gauche.

Mixing it up by adding the whole Trinimac vs Malacath religious angle doesn't really do anything, either, since his attempts to impose a new state religion help explain why diplomacy isn't working but not why force wouldn't work. Trinimac is if anything more of a warrior god than Malacath, and you would think worshippers of a champion of honor would be even less inclined to use a secret cult to frame their political enemies and scapegoat for assassinations. They'd become corrupt crusaders or something. Also they kinda suck at the subterfuge part - like a Boethiah plot being enacted by small children.

...So what if it was a Boethiah plot??? 👀

Follow my train of thought here - Boethiah is down to fuck with Malacath / the orcs for reasons ranging from "it's Tirdas" to "my inter-cult gladiatorial fights are boring recently", going all the way back to the original incident of eating Trinimac to stop his cult from interfering with the Chimer, pretending to be him for some light heresy, and then leaving him twisted into Malacath (and turning his elven followers into orcs).

Boethiah is also a Daedric Prince associated with plots, conspiracy, deceiving nations, and overthrowing governments to seize power.

I think it sounds fantastically plausible that Boethiah would notice an orc trying to restore Orsinium and all the ingredients for a truly fantastic implosion of a civil war among Malacath's children (including of all things a resurgence of Trinimac worship, which is bait if I've ever seen it) and decide to start backing a faction. For chaos. Especially since Boethiah's other main canonical thing going on in this timeframe is inspiring a Dunmer woman named Vox to start a cult to overthrow the Tribunal, while also appearing to a hero as an avatar named "Aspera" to help them kill Vox for the fuck of it.

(Boethiah is so fun 😆)

So here's the rough skeleton of how I headcanon all this connecting:

🗡️ Kurog doesn't seem to be a particularly devout Trinimac worshipper, and High Priestess Solgra mentions him being skeptical at first - implying she was invited to Orsinium by his mother before he truly converted. Solgra is definitely a true believer who converted in Summerset, while Forge-Mother Alga is definitely the driving force behind the very un-Trinimac-like Vosh Rakh.

🗡️ It seems like the Forge-Mother is the first one who got on the Trinimac train, possibly around when Kurog was first joining the Covenant and starting his Orsinium project. I'm guessing there was a small Trinimac following in Wrothgar without much clout, but they managed to catch Alga's interest. And, I'm speculating, Boethiah's.

🗡️ Alga apparently goes in hard on Trinimac. She's inviting a High Priestess to set up a giant temple, angling to convert her son, and soon declaring Trinimac worship the law of the land. She's also fully embracing a political schemer role that is not remotely in line with Trinimac's vibe and soon to establish a secret police cult that she can publicly disavow. Despite this, I think Alga's far more devout than Kurog ever is - she genuinely seems to think she's getting divine blessing.

🗡️ Theory - A little while after Alga converts, her new god bestows his favor on her and starts directly communicating / inspiring her to set up all the Vosh Rakh stuff... only it's actually Boethiah, speaking to her while impersonating Trinimac in a classic move. Explains the backstabbing, subterfuge, planned coup, all of it. She brings in Solgra to be the palatable face (and convince her son) while not noticing at all that there's some cognitive dissonance in her actions vs teachings. Ah, the hubris of a "chosen one."

🗡️ Boethiah is having a grand time making orcs unknowingly turn away from Malacath for her while thinking they serve Trinimac, and getting to whisper "kill all the chiefs loyal to Malacath and frame the (actual) Trinimac High Priestess for it" is just the icing on the cake. Would Alga and Kurog's plan have just started a civil war? Probably. And Boethiah would have been thrilled. Shame Bazrag managed to reduce casualties at the end, but it was still very worth the destabilizing. 😌

[whitegoldtower]

For the first time ever I’m playing an orc! 🤩 And I may or may not be absolutely smitten with him.

His name is Moth, he’s a pale orc with white hair, and he’s a devout of Boethiah (for an orc, would be like being a Christian Satanist).

He lives for pain and its ✨intricacies✨, you see. (if you know who the inspiration is, you have taste)

He achieves divine strength through suffering, and is something of a flagellant. He wears a cilice garter, has a heavily scarred face, and his body is practically covered in tattoos. There are also small nods to Mephala in his tattoo designs, as he honours her, too as she aided Lord Boethiah in the Prince’s fight with Trinimac.

(The story goes that Trinimac led armies of elves against humans and Boethiah, seeing him as the strongest, consequently ate him to assume his shape in order to create the Orcs and Chimer. The Prince then essentially shat him back out and Trinimac became Malacath, a weaker and more vengeful version of his prior self.)

Moth rejects worship of Malacath in favour of worship of Boethiah, because the suffering he endured should have made him stronger, yet it instead twisted him into something less powerful. So in Moth’s eyes, Trinimac/Malacath failed, and the Orcs should instead owe their creation to Boethiah.

A hot take, and one that is widely unpopular with other orcs, hence why he keeps his distance. He keeps such a distance, in fact, that he joins the Volkihar Clan. Despite being a vampire, he remains ever faithful to Boethiah, seeing this extra layer of suffering (being unable to enter the sunlight and being forever hungry) as a way to gain strength through devotion. He also joins the dark brotherhood to satisfy his religious fervour for stealthy and bloody sacrifice.

The ultimate suffering, for him, however, is when Boethiah demands a sacrifice of importance to him, and he chooses his most beloved follower to slay at the Sacellum of Boethiah. He revels in his grief, sure that it will make him stronger…

But it gnaws away at him. He begins to question himself. He has Boethiah’s favour. He is the Lord’s champion. But at what cost?

If it hurts, he’s doing it right. Right?

One of two things is going to happen. The certainty, here, is he is going to see parallels between himself and Trinimac/Malacath. It’s just a case of ✨when✨.

Either he will recognise what has happened immediately and devote himself to Boethiah even more violently, refusing to become like Malacath in favour of remaining strong like Trinimac…

Or he will only recognise what has happened after he has become a vengeful, hollow, weakened husk of his former self.

(Also as a funny side note, due to some weird glitch/bug, Moth cannot swim. Dude sinks like a brick. He also gags whenever he has to test alchemy ingredients (even if they’re pleasant).)

[nientedenada]

High Isle Antiquities

Amalien

Oh, black pearls! According to the Bedtime Tales of Borwaeliel, they're the result of Trinimac slicing off a handful of Hermaeus Mora's beady little eyes and scattering them across the Eltheric. So, be careful handling them!

There's a (presumably Altmer) story about Trinimac cutting out Mora's eyeballs! I wanna read more of it!

[vosh-rakh]

tes summerfest 2023 - august 7th - "teeth"

cw: mild nsfw, some blood and gore

-

“They’re growing back.”

The room was cast in a thick twilight gloom, the floor strewn with discarded pieces of armor. Trinimac stood mostly naked in front of a mirror, inspecting his mouth, while Boethiah sat on the edge of the massive bed, pulling on his ebon boots. He barely looked up from what he was doing as he asked, “What?”

“My lower teeth.” Trinimac rubbed the supernaturally growing nubs of his lower canines, which were almost long enough to peek over his lips. “I used to file them down. But I haven’t in a while. Should I?”

“Hm,” Boethiah grunted. He finished fastening his boots and stood, approaching the mirror. He looked into it for a moment before turning to look at the man himself. “No. They’re…handsome.”

Trinimac turned his head towards his lover. “You think so? Auri-el said they made me look like a savage beast.” 

“Damn what Auri-el thinks!” Boethiah grabbed Trinimac by the jaw, forcing the other god to turn his entire body to face him. “Worry about what I think.”

Despite the black gauntlet wrapped around his mouth, Trinimac managed to garble, “And what do you think?”

“I think,” Boethiah said with a smirk, “that the sun has barely risen. Why should we leave yet?”

Trinimac smiled also, and grabbed Boethiah’s wrist, removing his hand from his jaw. He pushed Boethiah back, sending him tumbling into the bed, which creaked and groaned under the weight of the armor. Trinimac lunged at Boethiah, mounting him in one swift leap, and began to tear away at his armor with animalistic need, clawing at pieces of plate, peeling the dense black mail from Boethiah’s wiry, ashen body. Boethiah grunted, but was not only accustomed to this type of behavior from his lover, but relished watching the noble knight disintegrate into a howling beast.

Boethiah reached up with bare grey hands and pulled Trinimac into a kiss. It only lasted a moment, as Trinimac pulled away and pinned Boethiah’s wrists to the bed. Then he leaned his head back in, and Boethiah, expectant, tilted his head away for access. Trinimac wrapped his teeth around Boethiah’s neck, scraping gently at the skin there in the way he himself enjoyed most.

“No,” Boethiah moaned. “Harder.”

Trinimac obliged, clamping down with his mouth. Sure to leave a bruise, he thought, but that’s the way Boethiah likes it.

“Harder,” Boethiah gasped, squirming underneath Trinimac’s weight.

Trinimac obliged, digging his teeth and growing tusks into the skin, and he tasted blood. Something was coming, he could feel it as he pressed himself against Boethiah’s body. But he had to resist.

“Harder!” Boethiah screamed, his knee rising to rub between Trinimac’s legs.

Trinimac bit at full force, tearing through the skin and muscle, and instinctively he tore his head away, ripping away a mouth-sized chunk of flesh.

“Son of a bitch!” Boethiah shouted, his knee crashing hard between Trinimac’s legs. He tore his wrists from Trinimac’s now loosened grip and shoved him away off the bed before clutching at the bleeding wound on his neck. “What the fuck!”

Trinimac spat out the pulsing chunk of flesh and said, “You said -”

“Fuck what I said! Give it back!”

“What?”

“I want it back! Give it to me!” Boethiah reached out his other hand expectantly.

Trinimac quickly searched the area around the bed, finding the piece of shorn god-meat resting between a bedpost and the nightstand. He grabbed it frantically and handed it to Boethiah.

Boethiah snatched the chunk from Trinimac’s hand and quickly slapped it back on his neck. He held it there for a moment before letting go, satisfied it would reconstitute itself to his body. “Don’t you ever steal from me again,” he admonished, turning away from kneeling Trinimac with crossed arms.

“I’m sorry,” Trinimac stammered. “You said you - I thought - so I - nevermind. I’ll just go.” He swiftly gathered together his armor in his arms without putting it on and left the room.

Boethiah tenderly picked at the disappearing seams of the wound. Regret tried to well up within him, but he pushed it away, and sulked.

[lanaevyssmoved]

your url is so unfortunate bc i think in my quest to block baldur’s gate 3 content from my dash i’ve also nuked all your posts :(

oh my god you killed me

[kagrenacs]

kayd. did you blow up moose post.

Whoops! It just spoke to me, moose have been on my mind

[lemonlimebitcoin]

so i am a very long time homestuck fan (+10 years) and i was really disappointed with the direction hs^2 (and to a lesser extent the epilogues) went. before i potentially waste time and get myself riled up reading it, i want to ask you: does "beyond canon" follow the same plot as hs^2 wherever it left off or is it a kind of reboot?

Good question! It picks up right where hs^2 stopped, and is still stuck using the set-up from it and the epilogues. I'm grateful I read hs^2 on a whim earlier this year because I do NOT think I could have read through it just to get to this first BC update.

If you end up wanting to give it a shot anyway I'd reccomend maybe waiting a couple months for now? The new update is short so I can't reccomend you jump back into a setting you hate for a 15 minute read, no matter how optimistic the new team and direction has left me.

[butch-de-101]

So I tried my best at getting all the names but because there’s so many and some of them are just the same thing with just slightly different way of being spelled or just different begins altogether. So I hope this technically counts as most of the Aedra and their names.

Also as for Kynareth and Y'ffre I know they aren’t technically the same but they have a lot in common.

[falmerbrook]

HABBY BIRFDAY

TANK YOU!!!

[punkyparker]

get absolutely digested idiot

[elderscrollsconfessions]

Confession: Wondering why orc dudes are always such beefcakes.