Who is Hermaeus Mora in The Elder Scrolls?

The Necrom DLC unlocked a new class, companions, and two zones in Elder Scrolls Online. The Arcanist class and Apocrypha zone have connections with Hermaeus Mora the Daedric Prince of Fate and Forbidden Knowledge.

There are descriptions of this Daedric prince in several games such as Daggerdall, Oblivion, and Skyrim, besides ESO. Hermaeus Mora has several names such as the One Who Knows, Gardener of Men, and the Great Eye. Bosmers call him Herma-Mora, the Woodland Man, while Khajiit calls him Hermorah.

He describes himself as “the riddle unsolvable. The door unopenable. The book unreadable. The question unanswerable.” Mora manifests in an eldritch form full of eyes and tentacles or a purple vortex called the Wretched Abyss.

Considered the wisest of the Daedra, he stays in the Apocrypha realm in Oblivion. This realm is an endless library containing all the forbidden knowledge he gathered across his existence. Because of that, scholars are the main followers of Hermaeus Mora, speaking knowledge only he has.

Those who are under his influence often go mad, described as people who have lost self-awareness, and have black spots in the whites of the eyes. His minions are Daedra called Seekers, Lurkers, and Watchers.

Hermaeus Mora in The Elder Scrolls games

Daggerfall

Hermaeus Mora is one of the Daedra princes with a quest in The Elder Scrolls‘ second game— Daggerfall. The player has to summon the Prince of Forbidden Knowledge and execute a noble in order to receive the Oghma Infinium.

The Oghma Infinium is one of the many Daedric artifacts. This book is known to contain an infinite amount of forbidden knowledge that will give god-like abilities to those who can read it without going mad. In the game, the player receives 30 points to distribute among attributes.

Related: All Arcanist abilities in Elder Scrolls Online (ESO)

Oblivion

The fourth game in the franchise has one wuest that involves Hermaeus Mora. You receive the quest at his Shrine in Cyrodiil and the Daedric Prince himself asks the player to capture one soul of each of the 10 races of Tamriel.

The reward is once again the Oghma Infinium, which gives the player a choice to follow one of three paths: Spirit, Shadow, or Steel. Each path permanently boosts two attributes and three skills by 10 points each.

Skyrim

In your quest to find an Elder Scroll, you’ll meet with Septimus Signus in a small cave in the middle of nowhere on an ice island called Sea of Ghosts. Inside the cave is a Dwemer lockbox with Signus and he asks for your help to open it.

He later reveals to you that his master is Hermaeus Mora and that it was the Daedric Prince who led him to the box. Mora appears to you as the Wretched Abyss and tells you that Signus’ time is ending and you shall take his place as Mora’s “emissary.”

To open the lockbox, you’ll need to harvest blood from a High Elf, Wood Elf, Dark Elf, Falmer, and Orc. Once you do and open it, there’ll be a book inside—the Oghma Infinium. Like in Oblivion, you can choose from three different paths: Magic, Might, or Shadow, and receive plus five permanent points in six different skills.

Related: How to unlock Sharp-as-Night as a Companion in The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO): Necrom

Hermaeus Mora also has a lot of influence on the storyline in the Dragonborn DLC. He is the Daedric Prince controlling the main antagonist of the DLC—Miraak, the Frist Dragonborn.

Miraak made a pact with Hermaeus Mora and became his champion. When he betrayed the dragons using Mora’s power, the Dardric Prince protected him from retaliation, but Miraak became trapped in Apocrypha.

Hermaeus Mora wants the Skaal’s secrets and will use you to get them. Then, you can visit Apocrypha after reading the Black Book, face Hermaeus Mora’s minions, and defeat Mirrak at the summit of Apocrypha.

The Elder Scrolls: Online

There are eight quests in ESO directly related to Hermaeus Mora, three in the base game quests, four in Craglorn quests, and one with the Necrom chapter.

You’ll have to help the Hermaeus Mora cult, activate his shrine, search for the Oghma Infinium, get knowledge from him in order to defeat the Celestials, gather relics for him, and work with him to protect Apocrypha and the mortal realm of Nirn.