Flash Fiction February 2025 Day Twenty-One: Gods Or Good Fortune (Valan)

 A/N: The Divines aside from Akatosh don't seem all that useful compared to the Princes and I never have understood why that is.

Flash Fiction February 2025 Day 21 Prompt: Gods or Good Fortune

Crossing the bridge into the Canton I find two parties arguing with each other, one seems to be a group of Imperials from the foreign quarter and the other a group of priests from the Vivec’s palace at the far end of the city. In between them are a few Ordinators attempting to break up the argument as best they can without the need to arrest anybody. Passing by I overhear bits and pieces of the arguing. It appears they have a disagreement about the celebration of the annual Spring Festival that occurred recently. One says that the people should be more focused on worshipping the gods while another retorts that it is better to humbly ask the ancestors for another year of good fortune, the Ordinators interject at one point to draw attention to the fact that the Tribunal are considered both living gods and ancestors, much to the annoyance of both parties. I for one could care less about both the Imperial Cult and the Tribunal Temple though I can’t say that aloud if I want to keep breathing. The Nine Divines don’t seem to be very proactive when it comes to worldly issues, at least compared to the Daedric Princes who are very much involved in mortal affairs. The Tribunal by contrast are useful in certain ways but they are corrupt and have a less than savory history having murdered Nerevar and taken power from the true Tribunal still revered by the Ashlanders and dissident priests. That turn of events is exactly why the Chimer became the Dunmer after Azura in a fit of rage cursed them to turn their eyes to fire and skin to ash resulting in our current set of physical traits. Of those who remember the Chimer, or who themselves were born Chimer few remain. Only Fyr, potentially Mistress Dratha, and the Tribunal are on that very short list as far as I know. Whether that curse made out of fury is the result of stripping the Gods of their power or simply good or bad fortune that would have been inevitable no one knows for sure, it is likely a combination of both. Good reasoning to offer a donation at the temple and to ask the ancestors for good fortune at the family shrine, both have the potential to shape your destiny.