Lore:Great Spirits of the Reach: Volume 4

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Great Spirits of the Reach: Volume 4
by Vashu gra-Morga, Chief Daedrotheologist at the University of Gwylim
Overview of Peryite's veneration in the Reach

Reachfolk place great emphasis upon natural rhythms and the pitiless march of time. Everything that exists will pass. The fort that rises too high will fall. The clan that starves will one day grow strong. This eternal balance is the work of Peryite, the Master of Tasks and Lord of Order. In many ways, Peryite serves as a vital foil to the primacy of conflict. While wars and plagues may inflict grievous wounds, the Taskmaster ensures that the world always returns to its natural and intended state.

As is the case with most cultures, Reachfolk associate Peryite with blights and disease. But unlike other people, Reachfolk see no malevolence in illness. Quite the contrary. Lives extinguished by disease make room for healthier, more vibrant Reachfolk to take their place. Like wildfires, diseases serve as a revitalizing force of nature—a necessary check on the hazards of abundance.

I should note that Peryite's role in Reach society mimics that of Akatosh in Aedric faiths in many crucial ways. Associations with time, rigid natural order, draconic imagery, and so on lead me to believe that some cultural cross-pollination may have occurred during the early interactions of man and mer in Northwestern Tamriel—a heretical but fascinating thought.