On Lorkhan: A Elder Scrolls theory

Beast folk

Khajit has a rather unique and interesting view on Lorkhan.

He is called Lorkhaj by the cat folk and is neither good nor evil. He represents the duality between both that the Khajit has overcome in life.

Just like in the elven pantheon, Lorkhaj was born to fadomai(padomay) in the great darkness that would later call itself Namira.

Nirni(Nirn, the planet) had been ordered by fadomai to bear many children but she had no place to put them. So she reached to Lorkhaj for help. But his heart had been corrupted by the great darkness so he forced the children to live in a new place Nirni had requested. Apparently many of them died as a result.

The other children punished him by ripping out his heart and hid in Nirni, then cursed Lorkhaj to walk the surface for many phases.

Nirni found it in its heart to forgive Lorkhaj over time, for now she had a place to put her children.

Later Lorkhaj came to Azurah with a gaping hole where his heart had been, filled with Namira's darkness, and he asked her for help.

She removed the darkness and cast it beyond the sea where it became the moon beast. (Dro-m'Athra, the lost and corrupted Khajit)

Then in a tragic scene, Azurah held Lorkhaj in his final moments, until he died, apparently freed from the corrupted void at long last.

Azurah then lit her fallen brothers pyres with the twin lanterns of Jone and Jode(the two moons) so that his true spirit will sometimes appear.

The Khajit story is very unique, and stands completely different from both men and mer mythology, so its hard to draw parallels here. Besides the heart part there's not much likeness here. It goes so far as to say most of the gods are siblings born under fadomai, the cosmic force of chaos.

The moons are holy and the void of darkness is evil. Only instead of Sithis there's Namira, who is easy to see as evil considering all the gross and disgusting lore surrounding her.

This lore seems to depict Lorkhan as almost a victim. He was born in the great darkness and was corrupted by it, and faced a sad end after it all. The darkness is easy draw to Namira, Daedric prince of revulsion, but even more easy to draw to Sithis. The literal entity of void and non existence.

What if we stop seeing Sithis as a god and more of just a being, an entity, a state of "not" being? That would line up with why Sithis doesn't seem to do anything anymore (as far as we can tell.)

What of Lorkhan was bound by nature to do what he did? That being made from the void, pushed him to try and unmake Akatosh work? And that's why, in the numerous pantheons, they seem to be bitter enemies?

More on this theorizing later.

Argonians are even more unique in this aspect. For Lorkhan doesn't even seem to exist to them! But Sithis plays a big role though.

The argonians born under the sign of the shadow are famously called shadowscales, and is sent to the Dark Brotherhood to become assassins. And the cult worships Sithis, so they mostly seem to buy into the cults biased view of him. The dread father, god of murder and dark void.

The rest is focused on the hist trees that dictate everything about Argonian life in Blackmarch. And no matter how much I looked I found no connection, so far the Hist trees remains a mystery. Perhaps until Elder Scrolls Blackmarch is finally released in about 200 years.

What should be mentioned that the Dark Brotherhood believes the souls of those they murder, as well as their own, goes to Sithis upon death. This reminds me of the Yokudan lore where Sep(Lorkhan) feeds on the souls of those trying to perform the walkabout. So does Lorkhan and/or Sithis really hunger for souls?