Mundus in The Elder Scrolls: The Mortal Realm Explained

Ever heard the term “Mundus” in an Elder Scrolls game and wondered exactly what it means? Mundus is the mortal plane—the realm where Nirn exists, the planet that contains Tamriel and all the continents you explore in the games. It’s the middle ground between the divine realm of Aetherius and the chaotic planes of Oblivion. Created through the sacrifice of the Aedra and the trickery of Lorkhan, Mundus is where mortality, change, and the entire saga of The Elder Scrolls unfolds.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this article:

• What Mundus is and why it matters
• Different creation myths across cultures
• The structure of the mortal realm
• How Mundus relates to other planes
• The laws that govern mortal existence
• Why mortals matter to reality itself
• How this cosmic lore affects your gameplay

What is Mundus?

The Gray Maybe

Mundus is sometimes called the “Gray Maybe” or “Mundex Terrene.” Think of it as the realm of uncertainty—a place where nothing is permanent and everything can change. Unlike the fixed nature of Oblivion’s Daedric realms or the pure magic of Aetherius, Mundus exists in a state of flux.

The term “Arena” also describes Mundus. Struggles define this realm: wealth and poverty, love and loss, life and death. This conflict is what defines mortal existence. Magic can bend natural laws, but those laws still exist to be bent. Good and evil fight for dominance, though these concepts remain subjective rather than fundamental.

This uncertainty is what sets Mundus apart. It’s malleable in ways other realms aren’t.

Where Daedric Princes shape their realms through will alone, Mundus submits to competing influences—the ordered structure of the Aedra’s remains and the chaotic nature of Lorkhan.

Core Components: Nirn, Masser, and Secunda

Nirn is the heart of Mundus. It’s the planet where all the continents you know exist—Tamriel, Atmora, Yokuda, and Akavir. When most people talk about Mundus, they really mean Nirn and everything directly around it.

Two moons orbit Nirn: Masser (the larger moon) and Secunda (the smaller one). The Khajiit believe a third moon exists, which they call the corpse of Lorkhaj. These moons aren’t just celestial bodies—they’re fundamental to Khajiiti biology, determining which form a Khajiit takes at birth.

Beyond Nirn and its moons, eight planets orbit the mortal world. These aren’t planets in the scientific sense.

Each “planet” is the plane of an Aedric god—a divine being who sacrificed part of themselves to create Mundus. What mortals see as a sphere is their mind’s interpretation of an infinite divine realm.

Relationship with Aurbis, Oblivion, and Aetherius

Mundus sits at the center of creation, called Aurbis. It exists between two opposing poles: Aetherius (the realm of magic and light) and Oblivion (the void where Daedric Princes rule).

Aetherius surrounds everything. It’s pure magical energy, the source of all magic that flows into Mundus. Oblivion sits between Mundus and Aetherius, acting like a barrier. The Daedric realms exist in this space, each one a pocket dimension controlled by a Daedric Prince.

Here’s the relationship: Aetherius surrounds Oblivion, which in turn surrounds Mundus. But there’s a catch—some sources claim Mundus both surrounds and is surrounded by Oblivion’s infinite planes. This paradox reflects the nature of divine reality, where normal spatial rules don’t apply.

The Creation of Mundus: A Collection of Myths

The Altmeri (Elven) Origin: Lorkhan’s Deception

According to Altmer belief, creation began with Anu, the primordial source of everything. Anu created Anuiel (the soul of all things), who created Sithis (the concept of limitation). Their interaction spawned the Aurbis and the first spirits—the et’Ada.

Auri-El emerged as the soul of Anuiel, spreading through existence as time itself. This allowed other spirits to take distinct forms and names. Then came Lorkhan, more limitation than spirit, who proposed creating a “soul” for Aurbis—a place where even reflections could reflect themselves.

This was a trap. The new world, Nirn, was built from limitations. Spirits who helped create it began dying. Magnus, the architect, realized the deception and fled back to Aetherius, tearing a hole that became the sun. Others followed, creating the stars.

Some spirits gave their very essence to stabilize Nirn, becoming the Earthbones—the laws of nature. Others became the Ehlnofey, who populated the world.

Their descendants weakened over generations, eventually becoming the first elves (from the Old Ehlnofey) and the first humans (from the Wandering Ehlnofey).

The Cyrodiilic (Human) Tale: Shezarr’s Song

The human empire tells a gentler story. Shezarr convinced the Aedra of the beauty of parenthood. They chose to become mothers and fathers, fully aware of the cost.

The Aedra sacrificed parts of themselves to birth the world and mortal life. This was painful, transforming them from the strong, young beings they’d been since the beginning. But they did it willingly, motivated by love rather than tricked by deception.

This version paints the Aedra as noble sacrifices. They saw value in mortal life and chose to create it, even knowing they’d lose their divine strength. The world exists because the gods saw value in mortality and willingly paid the price.

The Yokudan Myth: Satakal the Worldskin

The Redguards of Yokuda tell of Satak, the First Serpent. All worlds rested on Satak’s scales. Driven by hunger (called Akel), Satak devoured itself endlessly, shedding its skin to be reborn as Satakal.

Spirits within the devoured worlds learned to escape this cycle. They performed the Walkabout, moving at strange angles to slide between Worldskins. This created the Far Shores, a sanctuary from Satakal’s hunger. Ruptga, tall enough to place the stars, helped other spirits escape.

Then came Sep, created by Ruptga from previous Worldskins. Sep convinced some spirits they could escape by inhabiting a new world made of balled-up Worldskins instead of performing the Walkabout. This was a lie. Sep carried Satakal’s hunger and wanted to devour the spirits who followed him. Trapped too far from both the Far Shores and Satakal’s real world, the deceived spirits began dying—but their children survived.

The Khajiiti Story: Nirni’s Children

Khajiit mythology treats Nirn differently. Here, Nirn isn’t just a place—it’s a goddess named Nirni, daughter of Ahnurr and Fadomai.

Nirni wanted to give birth to children but had nowhere to do it. She asked her brother Lorkhaj for help. Lorkhaj created a new place, but his heart held the Great Darkness of Namiira. He tricked other spirits into entering this place with Nirni, where many had to die to make her path stable.

When the surviving siblings discovered this betrayal, they tore out Lorkhaj’s Heart. Later myths describe how Y’ffer, corrupted by the Great Darkness, killed Nirni herself. Though Nirni’s spirit diminished after death, the Khajiit believe her presence remains in undisturbed earth.

The Argonian Legend: Atakota’s Cycle

The Argonian tribe Adzi-Kostleel tells of Atak the Great Root and Kota the Serpent. They fought so long they forgot their conflict and merged into Atakota. This combined being severed its roots and shed its skin, speaking the word “Maybe” and giving birth to its Shadow.

Atakota began devouring itself in cycles, each scale a world it consumed. From this process, the world and spirits arose. Spirits started creating things, growing until they forgot Atakota existed. When they became too large, they bit into the sleeping Atakota to drink its blood.

Some spirits drank deeply and grew scales, fangs, and wings, forgetting why they’d created anything except to eat it. Eventually the roots woke the Shadow, whose intervention ended the chaos threatening to consume everything.

Other Creation Beliefs

Ayleid: The Twelve Worlds

The Ayleid text “The Anuad” describes brothers Anu and Padomay. Their interaction created Nir, who bore the Twelve Worlds of Creation with Anu. Jealous Padomay attacked and shattered these worlds. Anu combined their fragments into Nirn, but Padomay returned. The brothers destroyed each other, pulling one another out of time forever.

The Aedra, Daedra, and Magna Ge formed from their spilled blood—distinct groups from the start, not spirits who chose different paths.

Bosmeri: Y’ffre’s Naming

Bosmer share the Altmer creation myth but add a critical detail. During the Dawn Era, all life and land shifted shape without end. Nothing had permanent form until Y’ffre’s Naming gave everything an enduring shape.

This is why Wild Hunts are so dangerous. They make creatures “forget their Y’ffre taught shapes,” causing them to revert to formless chaos. Changelings rejected Y’ffre’s shaping entirely and were cursed, subdued, and imprisoned in Ooze.

Reachmen: Lorkh’s Realm of Suffering

Reachmen believe Lorkh deliberately created a realm of suffering. He wanted a teaching tool—a place that instructed through pain. To create this, Lorkh went to Namira, queen of the infinite spirit realm, who granted him space in her void.

Lorkh’s covenant with Namira required a great sacrifice. This sacrifice is reflected in the creation of Briarhearts, where Reachmen remove their own hearts and replace them with briars to honor Lorkh’s original bargain.

Mythic Dawn: The Princedom of Lorkhan

The Mythic Dawn cult held a controversial belief: Mundus is Lorkhan’s Oblivion plane. According to them, Lorkhan was a Daedric Prince, and the Aedra were his betrayers who stole his realm.

They claimed the Aedra split Lorkhan’s children (mortals) from their divine sparks. This way, mortals would see the Aedra as the only escape from the mortal world, worshiping them instead of recognizing Lorkhan as their true prince.

Cosmology of the Mortal Plane

Nirn and the Aedric Planets

Nirn sits at the center of Mundus, surrounded by eight planets. These aren’t rocks floating in space—they’re the Aedric gods themselves. When you look up and see a planet, you’re seeing an infinite divine realm compressed by your mortal perception into a sphere.

Each planet represents one of the Eight Divines (excluding Talos, who ascended later). These gods gave themselves entirely to create Mundus, becoming the planets you see in the night sky. Their divine essence mixed with the structure of reality itself.

The eight planets are viewed differently across cultures, but most agree they’re divine planes. An orrery in Summerset shows this cosmology, with Nirn at the center and the planetary gods arranged around it. This isn’t just symbolism—it reflects the actual structure of the mortal realm.

The Sun and Stars: Holes to Aetherius

Look up during the day. That sun isn’t a burning ball of gas—it’s a tear in reality. When Magnus fled Mundus, his escape ripped a massive hole between the mortal realm and Aetherius. Pure magical energy pours through this hole, which we see as sunlight.

The stars have the same origin. The Magna Ge followed Magnus, each one tearing smaller holes as they escaped. Every star is a puncture in the barrier between Mundus and Aetherius. This is why the sun and stars are sources of magic—they’re literally leaking magical energy from the realm of pure magic.

Some sources describe the sun and stars as “fragments of Magnus” or “the blood of Anu,” but the most common belief is the torn-veil explanation. The sun represents the connection between Aetherius and Mundus, serving as a conduit for Aedric influence to reach the mortal world.

Masser and Secunda: The Moons

Masser and Secunda aren’t just moons—they’re fundamental to Tamriel’s reality. For the Khajiit, the moons determine their physical form at birth. The Lunar Lattice, a protective barrier around Nirn, involves these moons directly.

The Khajiit believe a third moon exists: the Dark Moon, which they identify as Lorkhaj’s corpse. This invisible moon plays a role in their theology, though others can’t see it.

These moons do more than light the night. They serve as part of Nirn’s defense against Oblivion. The Lunar Lattice burns spirits that touch it with moonlight fire. According to Khajiit legend, even Molag Bal was set aflame when pressed against it, falling into darkness below. No spirit damaged the Lattice until Merrunz (the Khajiit name for Mehrunes Dagon) cracked it with his axe.

The Serpent Constellation

One constellation behaves differently from the rest. The Serpent wanders across the sky instead of staying fixed. While other stars remain in their positions, the Serpent moves.

It’s made of “unstars”—something fundamentally different from the holes to Aetherius that form normal stars. What exactly unstars are remains unclear, but they represent a deviation from the standard cosmology. The Serpent follows its own rules, just as the serpent-trickster Lorkhan followed his own rules when creating Mundus.

Intersections with Other Realms

Mundus does not exist in isolation. Stable gateways connect Nirn to numerous other planes, including:

• Sovngarde: The Nordic afterlife
• The Far Shores: The Redguard afterlife
• Coldharbour: Molag Bal’s realm of domination
• The Deadlands: Mehrunes Dagon’s realm of destruction
• And many others: Each Daedric Prince maintains connections to the mortal world

Some planes exist parallel to Nirn. The Nature Realm mirrors the physical world, home to nature spirits. The Shadow Wood once existed as a corrupted parallel to Valenwood. The Green—the lifeforce of nature—serves as both a source and destination for nature spirits.

Water acts as a strange conduit between realms. When mortals die, their memories become water. Rivers of memory link Nirn to realms beyond. The oceans extend beyond three dimensions, possessing a true nature that mortals can’t safely perceive. Water spirits travel between realms using these memory rivers.

Souls travel lunar pathways to reach afterlives like Azurah’s Crossing. The Order of the Hidden Moon can guide spirits along these paths, helping them reach their final destinations.

The Many Paths—realities beyond Aurbis itself—converge at certain locations on Nirn. With proper knowledge, you can open ways to these external realities.

The Liminal Barriers and Martin’s Sacrifice

The Liminal Barriers separate Mundus from Oblivion. According to legend, Akatosh created these barriers through the Sublime Brazier, a sacred cauldron described as Akatosh’s first light, stretching to Nirn’s heart.

Other protective boundaries exist. Kyne’s lights (the aurora) guard against harmful outside influence. The Lunar Lattice, mentioned earlier, also serves this protective role.

Everything changed at the end of the Oblivion Crisis. Martin Septim sacrificed himself to become the Avatar of Akatosh, sealing the gates of Oblivion permanently. This new barrier is far stronger than what existed before. A Sigil Stone—powerful enough to open gates during the Crisis—can now breach it for only fleeting moments, and the attempt would dissolve a thousand soul gems.

The Laws and Nature of Mundus

The Earthbones and the Laws of Nature

The Earthbones are the laws of physics. They’re not abstract rules—they’re the physical remains of spirits who gave themselves completely to stabilize Mundus. These spirits, following Y’ffre’s example, became the foundation of natural law.

When a spirit becomes an Earthbone, it establishes a rule. Y’ffre became the Earthbone governing physical form, which is why things have consistent shapes. Other Earthbones govern decay, lifespan, the passage between realms, and every other natural law you can think of.

These laws can be broken under specific circumstances. The Dwemer learned to defy the Earthbones by observing how the Ehlnofey controlled natural laws like decay or realm-passage.

The Bosmer gained similar knowledge from watching Y’ffre’s transformation, which taught them to defy his law of fixed form. This is how they enact Wild Hunts—by severing their connection to Y’ffre’s law, they also lose their connection to others, including the one governing lifespan.

The Adamantine and Red Towers

The Adamantine Tower is where the laws of Mundus were codified. Described as a sleek silver vessel, it anchored itself to the changing earth at a junction point of Earthbones. The et’Ada held the Convention at this tower to define the rules of Mundus.

There, the Aedra judged Lorkhan for his deception. They chose to exit mortal affairs because their continued presence threatened the unstable mortal world and even time’s continuity. With the departure of myth-level magic, linear history could begin.

The Red Tower formed when Lorkhan’s Heart was removed. The Heart itself became the First Stone. This allowed Mundus to exist without full divine presence and granted it a special divinity called “NIRN”—the consequence of variable fate.

The White-Gold Tower later served as a focus point to reconnect the mortal realm with the divine, counteracting the spiritual bleeding from Mundus that began at the Convention.

The Role of Mortals

Why do mortals exist? According to the Daedric Prince Ithelia, mortals maintain reality itself through their very existence. Every child born, war fought, or field plowed stabilizes Aurbis. The grand design of Aurbis cast mortals as servants. Their existence—their lives, struggles, and work—preserves the very structure of reality.

The limitations constraining mortals—like the inability to perceive or traverse the Many Paths—were placed intentionally. This truth is generally kept secret to prevent mortals from disrupting the plans of those who benefit from their stabilizing work.

Certain locations on Nirn are nexus points, places that resonate throughout all realms. Magical events occurring at these locations propagate across Aurbis through resonance. This makes it possible to seal reality tears at a nexus point and have the effect spread across all existence.

A Malleable Reality

Mundus is “doughy” compared to other realms. Daedric Princes shape their Oblivion realms through pure will, creating stable environments that reflect their nature. Mundus doesn’t work this way.

Instead, the mortal realm submits to competing influences: the ordered structure of the Aedra’s remains versus the unpredictable nature of Lorkhan. Things can be destroyed in Mundus, but they never stay gone. Instances spring up again because the realm resists permanent change.

This malleability creates the “Arena” nature of Mundus. Struggles persist because nothing is fixed. Magic can bend laws, but those laws push back. Spirits can manifest, but they face resistance.

This is why mortal life involves conflict—the realm itself is built on competing influences that can never resolve.

The creation of Mundus upset the cosmic balance. All spirits now have a vested interest in it because it exists as a blend of Oblivion’s darkness and Aetherius’s light. It’s both a physical and spiritual place, the center of the spiritual world where everything converges.

Some claim Akatosh, Nirn, and Oblivion are fundamentally one—a fact provable through mathematical equations. Whether this is mystical philosophy or literal truth, it shows how Mundus connects everything in ways that defy simple categorization. The mortal realm exists because it shouldn’t, maintained by influences that should have destroyed it, home to beings whose existence stabilizes all reality.

How Mundus Affects You in The Elder Scrolls

All this cosmic lore isn’t just background flavor—it directly impacts your experience in every Elder Scrolls game.

The Source of Magic

The sun and stars being holes to Aetherius is why magic exists in Tamriel. Magicka flows through these tears from the realm of pure magical energy. This explains why Magicka regenerates naturally—it’s an infinite resource leaking into the mortal world. When you cast a spell, you’re channeling energy from Aetherius itself.

The different schools of magic all manipulate this Aetherial energy in different ways. Restoration draws on the “life force” aspect of Aetherius, while Destruction bends it into elemental forms. Even enchanting works by binding this energy into physical objects.

Soul Gems and Mortal Souls

Mortal souls are special because they contain a spark of the Aedra. When the Aedric gods sacrificed themselves to create Mundus, that divine essence became part of every mortal being. This is what makes soul trapping possible—and controversial.

White soul gems can hold animal souls, but black soul gems can capture the divine spark within mortals. This is why black soul gems are considered taboo by most mages. You’re not just trapping a soul—you’re imprisoning a fragment of the divine itself.

The Ideal Masters and other soul-trafficking entities seek mortal souls precisely because of this Aedric connection. A mortal soul has power that animal souls simply lack.

The Afterlives: Where You Go When You Die

The different creation myths lead to different afterlives, which is why not everyone goes to the same place after death.

Nords who die honorably in battle go to Sovngarde, Shor’s hall in Aetherius. Redguards perform the Walkabout to reach the Far Shores. Khajiit souls travel the lunar pathways to reach their afterlife. Dark Elves bound to the Tribunal had their souls absorbed into the Ghostfence or remained as ancestor spirits.

But here’s the complication: Daedric Princes can claim souls through pacts. If you serve Molag Bal in life, your soul may go to Coldharbour instead of your cultural afterlife. This is why Daedric worship is dangerous—you’re potentially trading your eternal rest for service to a Prince.

The Oblivion Crisis and Why It Can’t Happen Again

Martin Septim’s sacrifice is the in-lore reason why the events of Oblivion can’t simply repeat. Before Martin became the Avatar of Akatosh, the Liminal Barriers were relatively weak. Daedric Princes could scheme, plan, and eventually open gates to their realms.

After Martin’s sacrifice, the barriers became permanent and far stronger. A Sigil Stone that once could anchor a stable gate now can barely create a momentary flicker—and would burn out a thousand soul gems trying. The fundamental rules changed.

This is why subsequent games don’t feature mass Oblivion gate invasions. The cosmic architecture of reality itself was rewritten at the end of the Third Era.

Towers and the Stability of Reality

Several major questlines revolve around the Towers—cosmic pillars that anchor reality. The Adamantine Tower, Red Mountain, White-Gold, Crystal-Like-Law, and others aren’t just important landmarks. They’re structural supports for Mundus itself.

When the Thalmor work to deactivate Towers, they’re not just engaging in political maneuvering. According to some interpretations of lore, they’re attempting to undo the creation of Mundus entirely, returning to the “pre-mortal” state where they were divine spirits.

The main quest of Skyrim involves the Throat of the World, which some scholars identify as Snow-Throat, one of the Towers. Your actions as the Dragonborn may be preserving one of reality’s anchor points.

Mantling and CHIM: Becoming More Than Mortal

The malleable nature of Mundus—the fact that it’s “doughy” and submits to competing influences—creates a loophole. Mortals can achieve divinity through mantling or CHIM.

Mantling means walking like a god until you become indistinguishable from that god. Tiber Septim mantled Lorkhan. The Champion of Cyrus mantled Sheogorath. When you perfectly replicate a mythic role, reality itself can’t tell the difference between you and the original.

CHIM is more complex—it’s achieving awareness that you’re part of the Godhead’s dream while maintaining your individual identity. This gives you creative control over reality itself. Vivec claimed to have achieved CHIM, which explains his reality-bending powers.

These concepts only work in Mundus. The realm’s fundamental uncertainty—its “Gray Maybe” nature—allows for these transformations. In Aetherius or Oblivion, such changes would be impossible.