Lore talk:Totems of Hircine

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Symbols of the Five Aspects[edit]

Discussion moved from Lore talk:Hircine

High Shaman Glynroch's questline has some interesting lore on some of Hircine's artifacts, known as the Symbols of the Five Aspects, which are also mentioned in Aspects of Lord Hircine. We know what the Totem of Claw and Fang and Spear of Bitter Mercy are, this argument is about the three other totems of hircine which are mentioned in The Totems of Hircine

  • Gulibeg's symbol is most likely attended to be the Totem of the Hunt. The Totems of Hircine book states that the Totem of the Hunt is "a thigh bone, carved as the skull, but from some animal unknown. Used as some form of medicinal wand in the more ancient brotherhood". Glynroch says that Gulibeg's symbol can be told in a tale that says" that Gulibeg the Quick Fox fashioned a shard of bone from Lorkh's ribs into a wand" You can counter this by saying that the first source contradicts the Reachmen's idea of it since he says he believes it comes from "some animal" and its from a "thigh bone" instead of a rib, but the first source is clearly worded to indicate that he is unsure of where it comes from and assumes that it is from some animal, but contradictions of ideas between people in-universe are a common theme in TES.
  • Storihbeg symbol is the Wolf Skull Totem, which is likely intended to be the Totem of Fear, which is described in the Totems of Hircine as "a carved skull, of the wolf itself. Used by those ancient shamans in the blood ceremonies that created our lineage, it is said to grant a great presence to those who prostrate themselves before it, such that those who witness their forms cower in a terror unknown except to those who have glimpsed the face of Hircine himself." The book was written from the perspective of a Werewolf. Storihbeg is said by Glynroch "first taught our ancestors to change shape and become even mightier hunters" and "brought us the gift of skinshifting, to remind us that we are predators, not prey." This parallels the tale of Storihbeg bringing introducing Lycanthropy. Read the description of "A small totem of bone carved in the likeness of a wolf's skull. Some Reach clans honor this symbol as an aspect of Hircine known as Storihbeg, the King of Wolves" Symbol of Storihbeg item link for proof
  • The Symbol of Uricanbeg is likely to be the Totem of Brotherhood. It is described in The Totems of Hircine as "a simple drum, its mundane appearance meaning it is most likely lost to the mists of long ago time. As our fathers would beat time to summon their brethren from the fields, so too would our forebears in the blood call their allies to them with its pounding." Orla, Glynroch's apprentice says that "What better than a drum to represent Uricanbeg, the Great Stag? Uricanbeg is one of the mightiest aspects of Lord Hircine, whose beating hooves, like the beating of a drum, sound the Blood Summons, which calls prey for us to hunt." Both deal with the pounding of the drum, totem of brotherhood refers to it as "the blood call", while the reachmen reefer to it as the "Blood Summons" Glynroch mentions of allies joining in the hunt which mimics the calling of allies to to hunt prey.

Wee have two wands of bones mentioned, two wolf skull totems, and two drums that are associated with Hircine. To say that they are not the same artifacts just because they don't have the share the same names would just be ignoring the obvious. Anyone care to agree with me? At minimum it should be put as a note as a fair compromise.

Note: I am arguing about how they are described, not how they look in ESO. Their appearance cannot be brought into this proposal due to the totems suffering from asset reuse and only one has a model which is reused, and the rest only have icons but they are not unique, but such is the nature of MMOs.

From the left to right, the Totems of the Hunt (Gulibeg's Symbol), Fear (Storihbeg's Symbol), and Brotherhood (Uricanbeg's Symbol)

Zebendal (talk) 08:07, 6 November 2020 (UTC)

Too much coincidence to be ignored. At the very least this should be a note, but I think it warrants a "Due to the similarities, they could be" type integrated sentence. -Dcsg (talk) 08:44, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
This information belongs on Lore:Totems of Hircine. —⁠Legoless (talk) 11:12, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
Due to the overwhelming evidence these are definitely intended to be the Totems, only reason they don't share the exact name is because eso retroactively named them individually. This information should be incorporated into the main body of the article The Rim of the Sky (talk) 00:46, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
Agree with Rim, they are 100% the same thing. Info should be added. Imperialbattlespire (talk) 16:53, 8 November 2020 (UTC)