State Magic Territory, or Effective Range of Magic

[MidbossVyers]

Watching Chaos Dragon introduced me to the concept of State Magic Territory (also, portrayed the brutality of dragon worship much better than Skyrim did, but I digress). In other words, certain magics can only work in certain places, especially where certain gods are worshiped, and not in others. For example, in Oblivion, Weather Manipulation and Sheogorath's Protection only work in the Shivering Isles. I was wondering if this applied to other items in the Elder Scrolls universe.

For example, if an Aundae vampire decided to use his or her amulet to instantly return to Ashmelech whilst outside of Morrowind, in some other part of Tamriel, would it still work, or will said vampire encounter some kind of "lair out of range" error? Obviously, the only 2 ES games to span the entirety of Tamriel are Arena and Online, so it is hard to actually test such a thing in-game, but I was wondering if there was a lore explanation for this.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

The best example I can think of in the lore so far is that Dwemer animunculi deactivate when they get a certain distance away from Red Mountain or whatever point of origin they may have had. For instance, Tiber Septim and many of his descendants were fascinated by Dwemer technology, and would often have Spheres or Spiders imported to Cyrodiil or other places, and at some point along the journey they'd simply stop functioning and lay lifeless. This implies they have an effective range from their magical "power supplies." Obviously, Dwarven magic is distinct from other forms of magic and technology in Tamriel, but it does set a precedent for this type of effective range for spells.

[Imbalance]

I often wondered if the Imperial mandate banning personal flight was magically enforced, or if it was like the one law that everyone was like, "yeah, I can abide that." In either case, did it apply beyond Tamriel, somehow, or were the denizens of other realms free to wield rising force as they willed? Or, do other lands outlaw other specific magics? What of the Skyrim rebels? Could they not set their own corse for magical regulation should they be successful in their secession? Do the Dominion Aldmeri fly in their homeland?

[legoless]

Before the Levitation Act, Almalexia magically enforced her own anti-levitation law aboveground in Mournhold, but that was a divine act and only covered a small area. However, other similar game limitations exist, such as Black Books only working on the island of Solstheim - otherwise they simply sent a vision of the island. Not much lore behind it though. The Underking's death supposedly created a large anti-magic zone for miles somewhere in High Rock.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

The Underking also set a type of Soul Snare or necromantic sphere around Sancre Tor. N'Gasta set a similar soul snare around Stros M'Kai in the Second Era - kind of a large-scale, continuously active Soul Trap spell he didn't have to actively uphold. It's unclear whether this was a Daedric power granted to him by Clavicus Vile or something he learned from his liege Mannimarco. It's also unclear if the spell was a ritual or maintained by some form of unseen artifacts. If you wanted to count feats by gods as magical (I believe Battlespire refers to the souls of the gods as raw magicka at one point), then the Ghostfence around Red Mountain counts as Effective Range magic, as does Alduin's version of the Soul Snare in Sovngarde.


Also, on the topic of Soul Fences, lore from Morrowind suggest there were once multiple smaller Soul Fences around individual family tombs and crypts, but this practice was abandoned in favor of siphoning more souls to uphold the main one around Red Mountain. If the ALMSIVI-powered one around Dagoth Ur doesn't count, the smaller family ones surely must, because they were maintained by conventional magical rituals and not directly by gods.

[Dark Spark]

On a similar note, one possible explanation for magic rituals that work on particular dates is because whatever source influencing the ritual exists in a fixed point in orbit around the sun. The closer the world returns to that part of the orbit, the easier it is to invoke the ritual.

Some cultures treat holy days not as something to commemorate an event— instead the holy day (such as Halloween/Samhain) is the actual event returning to the world each year.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

I'm 100% sure that's exactly how many magical rituals in TES work, especially those relating to nature magic or special types of conjuration, like a Daedra Prince's summoning date (a concept that still exists in the lore, but hasn't been utilized much since Daggerfall in the games), or particular harvest or solar deity festivals still popular in the fringes of civilized society.

[MidbossVyers]

Another aspect of State Magic Territory is converting it. For example, you know how Sheogorath's Protection, which teleports you to Sheogorath's Palace right before you are dealt a lethal blow only works on the Shivering Isles? According to http://uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Guardian_and_the_Traitor Hermaeus Mora teleported Miraak away right before Vahlok was going to finish him off.

This reminds me a lot of Sheogorath's Protection, except, you know, it's Hermaeus Mora's Protection. Was the reason that Hermaeus Mora was able to "rescue" Miraak so quickly because Miraak was secretly converting Solstheim from dragon power to Apocrypha power, such as by building Apocrypha-themed statues, instead of dragon-themed ones, and converting the Acolyte Priests (Dukaan, Zahkriisos, Ahzidal), which I'm assuming also led to the conversion of their direct followers, etc.?

[legoless]

Miraak was taken to Apocrypha before he was fried to a crisp by the dragons, not after. You can't really compare simple Oblivion teleportation to Sheogorath's immortality.

[MidbossVyers]

Yes, but it was only a few seconds before, like when I was playing Oblivion: Shivering Isles where I was teleported back to Sheogorath's Palace right before a Flesh Atronach was about to kill me. Similarly, during Molag Bal's quest in Oblivion, you are teleported back to the shrine right before Melus Petilius finishes you off.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

It's possible Miraak looked quite finished when he disappeared, but as the Genie from Aladdin teaches us: "You'd be surprised what you can live through." Hell, he may have even allowed himself to be hurt more than he needed to be to make it look good, knowing he'd heal quickly once in Apocrypha. I seriously doubt Vahlok was that big a threat to him. He just didn't like the odds of going up against Alduin and all the remaining Dragons, so he took the cautious route. Not on Sheogorath's level, though, by any means. Pretty sure he already had some kind of ritual or safety net up before the fight began, just in case, and Mora simply snatched him away at the last possible moment. It was Mora's power more so than Miraak's.

[legoless]

Yes, but it was only a few seconds before, like when I was playing Oblivion: Shivering Isles where I was teleported back to Sheogorath's Palace right before a Flesh Atronach was about to kill me. Similarly, during Molag Bal's quest in Oblivion, you are teleported back to the shrine right before Melus Petilius finishes you off.

That's just a gameplay limitation. In Oblivion, actually resurrecting the player character after death causes all sorts of nasty bugs like resetting skills and stuff. As far as lore is concerned, the Champion of Cyrodiil dies during Bal's quest.

[MidbossVyers]

Well, Molag Bal says that he'll "save your miserable life", not "resurrect your miserable life", so yes, it's nuanced, but I think that there is a difference.

[legoless]

Except you're ignoring the previous line: "You will let him kill you with this: the Cursed Mace." Further, it's possible to literally die during that quest and be resurrected if Petilius does enough damage with his final blow, but like I said this triggers a lot of bugs. The fact that your in-game health bar doesn't have to reach zero in order to complete the quest has no bearing on lore, especially since Molag Bal is well known for his manipulation of mortal souls.

The Sheogorath's Protection spell also says you "revive" at the palace, which would imply resurrection rather than last-minute teleportation. Nothing nuanced about an immortal Daedra.

[MidbossVyers]

Oh, that's right. Molag Bal's quest in Skyrim does have him fully resurrect a man, nerves, vitals, and personality intact, a couple times over. Molag Bal and Mannimarco do enjoy metaphysically mooning Arkay.

It's possible Miraak looked quite finished when he disappeared

Well, for the sake of a pun, I would have used the word, "done", rather than "finished", like "well done", as in "cooked by dragon fire", but I do get your point.