I’ve had some interesting hypothetical theological discussions with the people of Tamriel.

On the game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion I’ve played as various characters. The one based on myself would never get near the Dark Brotherhood – the guild of assassins. There was a character of mine who joined and was immediately kicked out for killing a Brother who mouthed off at her. Then there is another character of mine who is nasty enough to join but sensible enough to restrain his distaste for fellow Brothers. Yet, even while playing as these other characters, I can’t help but think of how I would respond to some of the theological perspectives I hear from the people of Tamriel, even though the discussions would be purely hypothetical.

The Dark Brotherhood in particular worships a being called “Sithis” – who, put simply, is Death, Darkness, Nothingness, The Void and The Abyss all rolled into a single entity. One person I talked to described Sithis as the first and foremost of all the so-called “gods”, since before any of the other beings that the people of Tamriel worship as “gods” had ever come into being, there was first The Void.

It is a relatable perspective. The search for origin in our own world has lead to extensive research on the nature of “Nothing” since, before anything happened, there was nothing. “Nothing” is the original and most primal state of reality, so in order to understand how anything else came to be, we must first understand the nature of Nothing.

This person went on to say that since “The Void” was the first of all, that therefore makes it the highest of “Divinities.”

In my mind I responded with, “Oh, really? Well it says here in this book…” (Whip out a King James Bible) “…Genesis one, verse one, ‘In the beginning God…’” (Dramatic pause, as if the sentence could end right there.) “‘…created the heaven and the earth.’ Verse two. ‘And the earth was without form, and void.’ So this ‘Void’ that you speak of – even that is something created by God. Nothingness did not even exist until God created it – allowed it to be. The original and most primal state of reality is not Nothing – it’s God.”

And then I was kicked out of the Brotherhood.