Mephala Mephala ( Daedric : ) is one of the Daedric Princes . She is known by the names Webspinner , Spinner , and Spider . Her sphere is lies , sex , murder , secrets , and plots ; she enjoys seducing and interfering in mortal affairs for her own amusement . Mephala is the ruler of the Spiral Skein . Some scholars have identified the Night Mother as an incarnation of Mephala . Her realm is known to be completely inaccessible to mortals , and her minions are known as the Spider Daedra . Invocation . The summoning date of Mephala is the 13th of Frostfall . In , Mephala can also be summoned if the summoner offers Nightshade at her shrine between midnight and dawn . Ever - changing gender . Like all Daedric Princes , Mephala possesses no fixed gender . She appears as female to some and male to others . Commonly , however , Mephala prefers to present herself as female . It should be noted that , in all the " Elder Scrolls " games Mephala has been in , they have always been female . History . Mephala is one of the three " good " Daedra of the Dunmer . The " Good Daedra " are Azura , Boethiah , and Mephala . They were mostly worshiped by the Chimer prior to the apotheosis of the Tribunal and the subsequent transformation into the Dunmer . The Dunmeri Temple acknowledges them as the anticipations of the Tribunal . Azura is the anticipation of Sotha Sil , Boethiah is the anticipation of Almalexia and Mephala is the anticipation of Vivec . Merethic Era . Back in the Merethic Era , Boethiah " illuminated " the Prophet Veloth and his Chimer followers to renounce all ties to the Aldmer and found a new nation based on Daedric principles , which came to be known as Morrowind . Azura taught the Chimer the mysteries needed to be different than the Altmer . Mephala taught the Chimer the skills they would need to evade their enemies or to kill them with secret murder . Enemies were numerous in those days since the Chimer were a small faction . Mephala , along with Boethiah , organized the clan systems that eventually became the basis for the Great Houses of the Dunmer . Mephala created an assassins guild , the Morag Tong . Third Era . In , it is revealed that there is a record of Mephala dealing with the Daedric Prince Sanguine . Mephala made a deal with Sanguine for twenty - seven tokens she could give to her devoted followers . The Dark Brotherhood stole these tokens from the Morag Tong . According to a Morag Tong member , Mephala eventually arranged for them to return to the guild . During the quest " Threads of the Webspinner " , the Nerevarine systemically killed the members of the Dark Brotherhood one by one , including the Dark Brotherhood Night Mother in the ruin of Ald Sotha , and retrieved the tokens . This somewhat contradicts the claim that the Night Mother is Mephala . Another interaction with the Prince in " Morrowind " happens during her quest , in which the Nerevarine learns of and kills a rogue Morag Tong assassin called Balyn Omavel , after which Mephala grants the Nerevarine the Ring of Khajiit . The Hero of Kvatch is also reported dealing with Mephala during the events of . She asked the Hero to go to the settlement of Bleaker ' s Way , which consisted of two families . She then ordered the Hero to kill the leaders of the two families , and leave evidence that the murders were done by the other family . Eventually this brought chaos to the peaceful settlement , and the members of the two families killed each other . Mephala was pleased seeing this and rewarded the Hero with the Ebony Blade . Fourth Era . Mephala appears in during the quest The Whispering Door . Upon completion , she rewards the Dragonborn with the Ebony Blade . She then speaks to them during the first , second , fourth , sixth , eighth , and tenth kill with the Blade . Elder Othreloth in Raven Rock says that Mephala is one of the Reclamations , the " true " Tribunal , alongside Azura and Boethiah . Affiliations . Daedric Servants . According to " Darkest Darkness " , Spider Daedra are the servants of Mephala , taking the form of spider - humanoid centaurs , with a naked upper head , torso , and arms of human proportions , mounted on the eight legs and armored carapace of a giant spider . Unfortunately , these Daedra are so fierce and irrational that they cannot be trusted to heed the commands of the Spinner . As a consequence , few sorcerers are willing to either summon or bind such creatures in Morrowind . However , before the Oblivion Crisis , some conjurers had found a way to bind and summon this chaotic Daedra . These Daedra are also found in Mehrunes Dagon ' s Deadlands in . Morag Tong . Artisa Arelas , a Savant in Morrowind , explains : " " The Morag Tong is an assassins guild sanctioned by the Empire to provide three varieties of execution : public executions , private executions , and House Wars executions . Constrained by ancient traditions and rigid codes of conduct , the Morag Tong only recruits candidates of proven skill and honor . Morag Tong only accepts legally approved contracts called ' writs , ' but rumor hints at the execution of secret extralegal ' grey writs . ' The Morag Tong is the sworn enemy of the Dark Brotherhood . " " Some members of the Morag Tong want to do more than religious assassination ; they want profit . In an unknown year in the Second Era , another guild of assassins was established , the Dark Brotherhood . Morag Tong regards this new guild as a depraved perversion of the ancient law - abiding order of the Morag Tong . This makes the Dark Brotherhood the sworn enemy of the Morag Tong . Although it is said that the Dark Brotherhood values rather than religion , they religiously worship one primordial state of chaos , Sithis . Sithis speaks only to the Night Mother , then the Night Mother brings the information ( usually the murderous contract ) to the Listener , and then to one of the Speaker s , who then order the murderer , the lowest member of the Dark Brotherhood , to perform the killing . There are many controversies about the entity called the Night Mother . Carlovac Townway in his famous historical series " 2920 , The Last Year of the First Era " , portrays the Night Mother as an attractive dark woman who leads the Morag Tong . This is disputed by Ynir Gorming in his book , " Fire and Darkness : The Brotherhoods of Death " . Gorming speculates that Night Mother is Mephala herself . There is another account by Enric Milnes titled " Sacred Witness : A True History of the Night Mother " , which says that Night Mother is just an elder female mortal . This amount of contradictions leads to the conclusion that no one really knows who or what Mephala is , a fact that alludes to her sphere , being the Daedric Prince of lies and secrecy . Aside from the Black Hand , Mephala is worshiped mostly by Morag Tong , while other worship to the Good Daedra ceased to exist in the Dunmer society . By the Fourth Era , following the eruption of the Red Mountain , a new religious movement of the Dunmer people arose , dubbed the " Reclamations " . This new doctrine declared the downfall of the Tribunal and the rise of their previously named Anticipations as the objects for worship . These Reclamations included Azura , Mephala , and Boethiah , who were " reclaiming their status from the Tribunal . " Artifacts . The Ebony Blade was also awarded to the Hero of Daggerfall sometime after the War of Betony . The blade was around since the time of the Eternal Champion . It is also believed that the Eternal Champion himself once wielded the blade . The legend of the blade describes it as follows : " The Ebony Blade , sometimes called the Vampire or the Leech , resembles an ebony katana , and its power is very dark indeed . Every time the Ebony Blade strikes an opponent , part of the damage inflicted flows into the wielder as raw power . The Blade itself may not be any more evil than those who have used it , but at some point in its history , a charm was cast on it so it would not remain with only one bladesman for too long . The wizard who cast this charm sought to save the souls of any too infatuated by the Blade , and perhaps he was right to do so . " Another artifact of Mephala was the Ring of Khajiit . It was a sought after piece of equipment , especially by thieves for the sneaking bonuses it granted .