Daedra Worship : The Ayleids Content . The reasons why the Daedra are reviled and their worship forbidden among all the civilized races of Tamriel are well understood , and as this series of papers will show , are grounded in historical events . The opinions of the so - called academic who styles herself " Lady Cinnabar " notwithstanding , the evidence supporting my assertions is incontrovertible and generally accepted by all accredited scholars of antiquity . The Aldmer i , who ' d been first to begin organized worship of the Aedra , were also the first to venerate the Daedra Lords . This probably began on a small scale among the Ayleid s , those Elves who left the Summerset Isles to create splinter cultures in central and southwest Tamriel — in some cases specifically to evade the strictures of Aldmeri regulation , which forbade ( among many other things ) the worship of Daedra . As Ayleid culture flourished , drawing ever further from Alinor , in the last millennium of the Merethic Era Daedric worship took hold and spread among the Heartland High Elves . The Aedra were still widely revered , with probably a majority of the Ayleids continuing to pay them homage , but cults devoted to the various Daedric Princes sprang up across Cyrodiil , tolerated and then celebrated . Unlike the Chimer , the Ayleids made no distinction between " good and bad " Daedra — indeed , even some of the more heinous Princes received mass veneration , especially when their worship was adopted and endorsed by Ayleid kings and aristocrats . Widespread Daedra worship among the Heartland Elves was particularly ill news for the tribes of Nedic humans who were then arriving in Tamriel . The Ayleids enslaved the immigrant tribes of Men , at first occasionally but then systematically , and the Nedic people found themselves subject to masters who , in many cases , worshiped the Princes — including those who encouraged slavery , domination , and cruelty . Under the Ayleids , the human thralls found themselves the subjects of such Daedra - inspired " arts " as flesh - sculpture and gut - gardening . In fact , the revulsion for Daedra - worship that pervades most human cultures in Tamriel probably originated in this period . The Alessian slave - revolt of the early First Era was largely fueled by desperate rage against the Ayleids ' Daedra - inspired cruelty . The Ayleid kings who aligned themselves with the rebellion were largely Aedra - worshipers , which in part explains why , once the Ayleids were overthrown , Queen Alessia incorporated the leading Elven Aedra into the First Empire ' s worship of the Eight Divines . Her new Empire of Cyrodiil outlawed the worship of the Daedric Princes , and Daedra - worshiping Ayleids were exterminated wherever they were found . Thus , by the middle of the First Era , large - scale Daedra - worship was extinct in central Tamriel , surviving only among the Chimer in the northeast of the continent , and among the Orcs ( ever a pariah people ) who worshiped Malacath ( or Mauloch ) as their god - ancestor . Elsewhere , among Men , Mer , and Beast - Peoples , Daedra - worship survived only at the level of cults which were more - or - less forbidden . Lady Cinnabar ' s assertions to the contrary are so much horsewash .