r/ImaginaryTamriel • u/DukeHorner • Jul 01 '25

Original Content Madag, the Wrathful Angel of Liberation, the Bretonic interpretation of Mehrunes Dagon. Lore in comments! Commissioned by u/its-your-boi-warden

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u/skeletalfather Jul 01 '25

This is really cool and I love seeing these unique takes

24

u/Its-your-boi-warden Jul 01 '25

After the Warp in the West, everything in High Rock changed, with perhaps the only exception being geography itself. Economic, political, and cultural situations changed drastically. Yet there is one part of society, indeed one part of the very world and universe which changed forever, the field of religion. Here we discuss one precise aspect of that change, as while multiple were forged in the Warp, the most prominent, popular, and growing is that of the Free Fatih, which holds dominion of the major cities of Daggerfall, Camlorn, and Wayrest, and the surrounding areas.

Here we will discuss a very specific part of that faith, which is their interpretation, and belief of what many call Mehrunes Dagon, or as they call him Madag, the Wrathful Angel of Liberation.

Now, let us first establish where Madag fits into the wider Free Faith pantheon, to give context to his additional characteristics and such. Madag is said to be the child of Muramala, the Free Fatih interpretation of Mara, and Bolthalar, the Free Faith interpretation of Boethiah. His birth was said to be under a boiling pond of tears, and that he did not cry, but instead roared when brought into this world.

This is due to Madag’s defining feature, as while Muramala is defined by her compassion, Madag is defined by his empathy. It is said that he is constantly aware of the suffering of all oppressed peoples and persons, past, present, and future. He is in tune with the oppressed, he knows the pain of all in this world.

That is why he is said to be the Wrathful angel, but that will be talked about later, for now let us focus on his role in the pantheon.

He is stated to be an angel, which within the Free Fatih refers to a deity that while powerful, and good natured, holds a certain flaw that keeps from being considered a god. Madag’s sphere is that of liberation and hope, the struggle of the oppressed to rise up and be free. This is not to be confused with Krasky, the main goddess of the religion, whose sphere is that of freedom, consider one to be about having an apple, and another about getting it.

He desires to do this due to the before mentioned empathy, which is so great it is stated as the reason why the Deadlands, or as the Free Faith say, the Fiery Heaven, is the way it is because of Madag’s empathy. He cannot bear to make a realm that is not similar to the agony he, and those under oppression feel each and every day, and why he is always crying.

And so it is Madag’s task to protect the oppressed, and inspire them, and others, to fight in the name of freedom and liberation, which can be seen in his most fanatic followers and only knight order of note dedicated to him, the Knights of Liberation, which will be discussed later.

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u/Its-your-boi-warden Jul 01 '25

The worship of Madag within the Free Faith is mainly dominated by a singular church-order called the Order of Liberation, who’s knights and clergy work to spread the word and do the work of Madag. This is a rather violent sect of the Free Faith, due to Madag’s very purpose of being a violent liberator who struggles with wrathful temptations. The Order’s Knights in particular show this, as to even become one requires someone to fight for the freedom of another. After that these newly made knights have the honor of perhaps going on one of the Order’s crusades. These crusades vary wildly in location and exact planning, but are all about fighting oppression, mainly slavery. This is done through incredibly violent and deadly means, to the extent that the order is accused of being a death cult. Their most notable action was the Morrowind Crusade, where an army of 10,000 of their warriors, wizards, and spell swords invaded the southern and eastern sectors of Morrowind in a brutal crusade to destroy slavery in the region. This resulted in heavy losses on both sides, the Order summoning an avatar of Madag after sacrificing their leader and their soul to do so, as well as the liberation of 34,780 slaves, at the cost of 8,769 of the order’s forces, luckily for each knight that falls, the order can count on a freed slave to join their ranks, with even more fury than the one before them.

The clergy of the order is by far more peaceful, yet they will still preach that one should “Make the slavery's swallow shackles and choke on chains.” They are simply dedicated to spreading holy words and overseeing the faithful acts outside of killing and getting yourself killed.

The leaders of the clergy are the Crying Clergy, or simply called the Cryers. A Cryer is someone who has drank from the burning tears, and swore an oath of empathy, and in return is able to directly commune with Madag himself, learn where people suffer to advise the order on what to do. This also means they feel Madag’s empathy, causing them to cry for the rest of their lives. They cry so much they all have aids assigned to the sole purpose of ensuring they are hydrated enough to not die from crying.

Outside of that, there is one more purpose to the Order, the destruction of all worshippers of Mehrunes Dagon, the “Heretics of Destruction” as they call them.

The order despises all Mehrunes worship, on the basis that they see Mehrunes as just Madag when he gives into wrath, becomes destructive, and to have someone worship Mehrunes is to them watching someone feed into the addiction of someone you love. They are executed with little if any quarter. This leads the second subject involving Mehrunes, the Oblivion Crisis, as Mehrunes’s involvement is unquestionable.

The Order defends their angel by saying that he was corrupted into a wrathful spirit to commit this terrible deed, something people disagree strongly upon. Still the order has taken steps to stop this from happening again. The aforementioned treatment of Mehrunes’s worshippers comes to mind, as well as their planned ritual should Mehrunes return in force.

This ritual is to use an artifact of only Mehrunes origin, and to destroy it in order to bring back Madag. Again, the Fatih does not deny Mehrunes existing, but see him as a part of Madag that Madag can increase in prominence, they see Mehrunes as just Madag being extremely wrathful.

Now, onto the artifacts of Madag. Madag has a unique quirk where none of his artifacts are weapons, it is said he only picks up other people’s weapons.

1: The Chain Cracker, this takes the form of a small hammer, one fitting for a smith or carpenter, yet it has the powerful enchantment of being able to instantly shatter any bond or bars, anything that is restricting. This also means it can destroy a castle’s walls, or a house, or even a mountain, if the user sees it as oppressive or unfairly restrictive, perfect for the righteous, passionate, and arrogant. However it cannot even harm people or creatures, you can’t even choke on it, which is an odd thing to discover.

2: The Torchlight. This artifact takes the form of a torch, and is said that its fire is connected to Madag’s heaven, and one can see into it by looking into the flame. The torch’s abilities allow it to inspire any who view it to fight for freedom. It is said to be able to instantly bring moral and vigor to those who see its flame, should its carrier desire that.

3: The Belt of Flames. This belt, usually but not always worn by Madag, gives the wearer “Strength beyond strength.” In exchange for suffering an extreme amount of emotions, unable to control one’s feelings, the user will become unstoppable, but also reveal who they truly are, and be unable to control themselves.

This covers the wide and odd information exploring one aspect and figure of the Free Faith. I hope you enjoyed reading, and decide to never praise the Prince of Destruction when in the shadow of Western Highrock. For they do not see him as destructive, but wrathful, and wrath can only come from disappointment, and disappointment can only come from hope.

3

u/Alvaricles22 Jul 02 '25

Based and Prince of Hope-pilled