Saint Alessia

[Niid Onikaan]

Hi guys. I know this is basic stuff, but is Al-Esh actually a goddess now? She was cononised by either Lorkhatosh or Pelinal but had her soul placed into the Amulet of Kings.
Now, I'm guessing that saints in TES have actual power to effect the living due to them granting powers in Morrowind. So my question is, if there were shrines to Saint Alessia, would praying at them grant any power?

I'm not 100% sure I understand the symbolism of the Covenant, but it seems an argument could be made that she became an aspect of the Dragon God, albeit the first gem in the diamond.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

There are Imperial cults which venerate all of the Saints. It's unclear if they're actually worshiped as gods, or more like Catholic Saints are simply revered by the faithful. There's a Stone associated with Saint Alessia in Bruma, and it's considered a holy relic. The way the author of the Remanada portrayed her could arguably be used as evidence of worship for her:

And to this host appeared at last a spirit who resembled none other than El-Estia, queen of ancienttimes, who bore in her left hand the dragonfire of the aka-tosh and in her right hand the jewels of the covenant and on her breast a wound that spilt void onto her mangled feet. And seeing El-Estia and Chim-el Adabal, Hrol and his knights wailed and set to their knees and prayed for all things to become as right. Unto them the spirit said, I am the healer of all men and the mother of dragons, but as you have run so many times from me so shall I run until you learn my pain, which renders you and all this land dead.

[Niid Onikaan]

Thanks Uncle Pilaf

I like that book, it's got it all! I think it's the symbolism of her holding the fire of Akatosh in one hand and the Amulet in the other that led me to believe her as actually becoming a goddess, an apotheosis in every sense of the word, but was later represented as merely a saint. She is called Queen of the Stars in a couple of sources:

Mother of the Empire! She weeps for fallen Cyrod and all her children that call it home for truly she is the mother to us all! Citizens, the Queen of Stars asks you: where is her issue? Where are the men who can walk in her steps? In whose blood has the dragon taken purchase? Alessia! Reman! Talos! They cry for blood akin to theirs to rekindle the dragonpact! Citizens, take to your knives! Are there no ears to hear the warnings? Are there no eyes to witness the Wheel's breaking?

"Though she is gone to me, she remains bathed in stars, first Empress, Lady of Heaven, Queen-ut-Cyrod."

At least the Remanada confirms for me she can both exist inside the gem and without at the same time. So do you think it is possible that she became Akatosh somehow? Where did the wound come from, is it evidence of her being a "witness" in an enatiomorph, like King Hrol much later?

[Pilaf The Defiler]

I assumed the wound represented the sundering of Cyrodiil, where East and West were hopelessly alienated from one another. It's one of those "The King is the Land" type things. The Witness thing also works, especially since she Witnessed this sundering in a state of death she could not directly change things from.

I think she's certainly a Shezzarine, as was Pelinal. She was either born one or became one upon death and Canonization, but she qualifies, so in a way she's both Akatosh and Lorkhan, as are all Dragonborn. (This is partially an assumption, but it seems to fit, and it's a popular notion in the fandom.)

[Niid Onikaan]

Alessia the Shezarrine! Hadn't thought of that. Also, love the king is the land idea and how it fits with Al-Esh - very old school history.

So what happens to these ascended hero-gods? We assume they cannot be effected by mythopoeia, but they don't seem to be in the same category of those like Talos and Vivec. I tend to think of the Wheel's gaps and spokes as being "slots" that must be filled, but the details of who aren't so important. Do the hero-gods like Reman become part of the relevant spoke, that being the reason they could potentially grant blessings?

Or in Alessia's case, can she bestow power because she is already an aspect of Lorkhan/Akatosh?