Khajiiti Lore: Whats your opinion?

Valpro

Origin of ... Realization(?)

CONNECTION! That's the word! Connection.

"Pride of Alkosh" is a note
, written by Clan Mother Hizuni, found in Southern Elseweyr.

The interesting excerpt is this; "They are 'Forgotten Manes' destined never to rule. We give them purpose, guidance."

Connection made with the lunar champions, Shazzah and Khali, from the Reapers march main quest chain.


Know I have questions:

0. Option [x] = "some other option or combination of options i am not thinking of."

1.Is the one mane at a time rule a hard rule, as in, a magical compulsion that affects the while race, a law implemented to prevent infighting, a soft rule, like the "Wood elves "can" transform into beasts, and don't do it anyway" thing, or "option [x]"

2. Do Lunar Champions automatically become Forgotten manes if they are not chosen for the position, are they "Forgotten" because they were intentionally overlooked and thus never got to train to be lunar champions, are they cosmicly... unchosen by some force despite being born at the correct time or.... option [x]


We can't 'really' unless The Elder scrolls lore master (can't remember there name right this second) decides to tell us.

I feel like we might have enough hints to... get in the general area, since a "bullseye" isn't really confirmable.


In short: DISCUSSION, not answers.

Loooking foreword to perspective!

Richard_Arisen

Hi @Valpro ! It's been a while since I've done those questlines, but I'll try to use my memory, and what I've just read on the UESP site, to answer your question as well as I can.

According to the UESP article on the Pride of Alkosh: "The Pride of Alkosh is a clan of Khajiiti warriors who serve Alkosh. They protect Elsweyr in its time of need. The order is housed at Pridehome, and comprises Khajiit who were born under the eclipse, but are not destined to lead as the Mane. These individuals are known as the Forgotten Manes."

So there does seem to be some sort of destiny component to being chosen as Mane. Again, as it's been quite some time since doing the Khajiiti questlines, I'm not sure if there are any mentions of specific factors that determine who may be destined to be the Mane--aside from the obvious requirement of being born under an eclipse.

That said, there is some debate in-universe over whether the ruling Mane is cosmically singular, or if it only seems that way because the Khajiit believe so strongly that it should be so, or if the about-to-be Manes make some political ploys to ensure they remain uncontested.

You can read more about all that that in this UESP lorebook article: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Pocket_Guide_to_the_Empire,_1st_Edition/The_Elsweyr_Confederacy
Just be aware that this is written from an Imperial viewpoint, and so there are in-universe biases and inaccuracies that make our out-of-character understanding of the situation more difficult.

The Khajiit are a deeply spiritual people, and so the line between what they simply believe and what is actually the reality is very, very thin. In my opinion, the more likely scenario is that the Khajiiti connection to the Moons is so sacred, that their belief in a singular spiritual leader tied to a rare lunar alignment is so strong, that they simply just allow that belief to influence their crowning of one Mane at a time. But it could also easily be the case that the Mane is divinely ordained and thus any challenges to their power would be unsuccessful. You never really know, with the Khajiit, and I think that's their whole point.

Valpro

"The Khajiit are a deeply spiritual people, and so the line between what they simply believe and what is actually the reality is very, very thin. "

The fact that, in universe, magic is real doesn't help the matter either.

Richard_Arisen

I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say there. Could you elaborate?

Valpro

Hmm. In a world where magic is real, the line between "overly Spiritual," and "That spirit is actually over there" gets even thinner. If this was... Star trek I think it would be obvious, (no magic to confuse the issue.)


As for the point on how the mane is chosen,There is one questline that are relevant here:
1.) The Reapers march mane story

It gives A Lot.
Apparently, a lot of a fair amount of khajiit are born under the... "hidden eclipse" that leads to a mane. Only one from that group is chosen

Important point:
A new Mane was need, due to main story reasons. Only when a new mane is needed are lunar champions called.

OH! Its might be that, out of the khajiit born at the right time, only a few are chosen to be lunar champions, and the other become "Claws of Alkosh"


That leads to questions about what happens to lunar champions who fail the... trial(?) They don't die. I mean, one of the champions, in the Reapers march quest specifically, died, but not due to the trial itself.

Valpro

Previous comment edited for clarity

Valpro

In addition to your point, the Khajiit, culturally, have an evasive way of explaining things, even outside of spirituality. Makes their lore especially rough to parse.