Nine Divines The Imperial Pantheon of the Nine Divines , also the Eight and One , consists of the most important religious order in Tamriel . The religion combines the Eight Divines pantheon created by Alessia with the apotheosized form of the founder of the Third Empire , Tiber Septim ( Talos ) , the ninth Divine . There are six gods and three goddesses . In Cyrodiil , there is a chapel in each major city venerating the divines . There are also wayshrines along the roads that are devoted to the Nine Divines . Many of these gods also appear in various combinations in the pantheons of other cultures . Imperial Pantheon . Including the Nine Divines – the Imperial Pantheon itself also has three additional gods . Alessia and the Eight Divines . The Eight Divines as an official religion was instituted by Alessia upon her slave revolt against the Ayleid s . She is said to have consciously made a synthesis of Ayleid and Nordic gods , in order to appease both her Nord allies and the Cyrods and Ayleids she now ruled . Perhaps coincidentally , the eight Aedra Alessia chose are those Aedra said to have been most active in the creation of the world . When the et ' ada realized what Lorkhan had done , and how their divinity was being drained to create Nirn , most of them objected or withdrew . The eight Aedra that make up the divines , however , willingly gave of themselves to complete the act of creation , and are therefore seen as benevolent , in contrast to the more aloof merish deities . Popular opinion and worship . As a Cyrodiilic pantheon , the Nine Divines have been most commonly worshipped in Cyrodiil for most of their history . While by the Fourth Era the Nords had enthusiastically taken to the worship of the Nine , they had historically had their own pantheon . Because Talos was not originally one of the Divines , in some religious sects they are referred to as " The Eight And One . " Following the signing of the White - Gold Concordat , Talos was effectively removed from the pantheon of the Gods — and The Eight Divines worship resumed . Where required , Thalmor agents from the Third Aldmeri Dominion , ensure that the worship of Talos remains an illegal activity . Emperor Titus Mede II stated in a publication that mortal men such as Talos were never meant to achieve apotheosis . It is for this very reason that the Emperor , and indeed the Empire itself , recognizes that allowing the worship of Talos was a mistake and publicly declares its support of removing Talos worship from Tamriel . It is unknown if whether this public renunciation of Talos ' divinity is an act to appease the Thalmor or if this is the Emperor ' s sincere belief . Whatever the reason , the outlawing of Talos worship is one of the causes of the Stormcloak Rebellion , who see the ban on the worship of Talos as a violation of Skyrim ' s religious freedom . Communication with mortals and manifestation . Prior to Alessia ' s pact with Akatosh , binding her soul to the Amulet of Kings , many Aedra and Daedra were able to fully interact with Nirn and its population . However , even during this period , these eight Aedra are not known to have manifested physically on the planet , but communicated through dreams and visions ( as with Alessia ) . Their interaction with the world is relegated to blessings through their altars and shrines , and the Divines themselves are mostly seen as distant , beyond a few charismatic cults for individual Divines .