On the Divines.
Aedra, 'Our Ancestors' in old Aldmeris, and Altmer still believe them to be their ancestors. This is the greatest difference between Man and Mer; one believes he is the Gods' creation, the other believes he is the Gods' relation. Altmer do agree that Man was created though which has lead to many of the feelings of superiority amongst them.
The Divines, worshipped almost universally amongst Men, and worshipped to a lesser extent amongst Elves. Akatosh, Mara, Dibella, Zenithar, Arkay, Kynareth, Julianos, Stendarr and Talos.
Akatosh, Auriel to the Elves. The God of Time, a the most important of the pantheon. In ancient times he shot the heart of Lorkhan to it's resting place at Red Mountain. The Divine who took an avatar on Nirn in order to defeat Mehrunes Dagon in the Oblivion Crisis.
He is the Great Dragon, and he is greatly revered amongst both Men and Elves. One of the few Divines to have a recognised Artifact as his; Auriel's Bow. It is a weapon with no equal, when an arrow blessed by a priest of Auriel is fired at the sun from the bow it will cause beams of sunlight to strike any hostile forces around you. It has a darker power too, an arrow cursed with the blood of a true Vampire, turned by Molag Bal himself, will temporarily dull the sun, turning it a dull red rather than the blinding yellow it normally is. This is obviously useful for Vampires, as it allows them to roam free during the day without the burning sensation the sun brings them.
Mara, goddess of Love, considered the most benign of the Divines. Men and women marry under her watchful eye, and it was she who brought love to Nirn. She does not concern herself with love in the sense of lust, but in a more spiritual way, in the joining of souls.
Dibella, by contrast, very much concerns herself with lust. The Goddess of Lust, deity of desire, she is pictured as the most beautiful woman imaginable, and her temples are known to offer 'lessons' in the art of love. Her followers are like to give the Mark of Dibella to those with whom they have lain, though there does exist a form of jealousy within women for those desirable enough to be a follower of desire, and the followers often keep their religious habits secret for fear of being run out of their home.
Zenithar, God of Hard Work and Commerce, revered greatly amongst merchants and salesmen, he has close ties to Kynareth, whose realm is nature, for craftsmen shape and sell her gifts.
Arkay, Divine of the cycle of Life and Death. Bringer of joy and sorrow, beginning and end. To some, the son of Akatosh, to others, a mortal granted divinity by Mara. Whatever the case, his sphere is burial rites, death, and birth. His followers hate necromancy, and see it as blasphemy against Arkay; against the natural order of life and death, rooting it out wherever they find it.
This is difficult on occasions, since it is not technically illegal in many places, so they have to wait for a necromancer to do something that is illegal before they can crack down with impunity.
Kynareth, the Divine of Wind, Nature and Sky. The outside world is her chapel, the animals within it her wards. She works closely with Zenithar, as his favoured shape the gifts she grants them. She is greatly loved amongst Nords, as it was she who granted them the power of the Thu'um, the Voice, with which the fearless heroes of old cast Alduin forwards in time, to where I have now slain him.
Julianos, Divine of Wisdom and Logic, revered by Mages. His sphere of power overlaps with that of Hermaeus-Mora, who is, amongst other things, the Daedric Prince of Forbidden Knowledge. It is possible to interpret Vivec's sentence "But the Dwemer scornder the Daedra, preferring instead to worship their Gods of Wisdom and Logic." as an indication that the Dwemer revered Julianos, though it is also that Vivec meant that the Dwemer worshipped the concepts of Wisdom and Logic as though they were Gods.
Stendarr, God of Might and Merciful Forbearance. His most enthusiastic followers are the Vigilants of Stendarr, who travel around exterminating anything that could threaten humans, do note that this does also include werewolves and vampires attempting to live peacefully. They hunt Daedra too, and curiously attack anyone in Daedric armour on sight. I say curiously, because in order to create the armour that I had been wearing at the time I had slain six daedra.
Talos. The recently very disputed God of War and Governance, colloquially known as the God of Man, for that is what he was born. Talos of Atmora, become Ysmir, Dragon of the North, become Tiber Septim, Emperor of Tamriel. Fitting that the man who conquered and ruled an Empire would become the God of War and Governance, isn't it? Revered greatly amongst Men, especially the Nords, hated amongst the Thalmor, for keeping them that much further from immortality, for achieving what they could not, for the sheer audacity in a Man becoming a God before an Altmer. The last of his line, the Septims, died ending the Oblivion Crisis just over two hundred years ago.
Tiber Septim is the Aedra closest to Mortals, most in touch with them. He is the only undisputed mortal-turned Divine, or was for a time, and the only Divine whose line could be traced through the ages to its very end.
He was or is, depending upon belief, Dragonborn, as I am, as Saint Alessia was.
And last but not least, one who is no longer in truth a Divine, or at least no longer worshipped as one, but one whom I believe to deserve at the very least a mention.
Trinimac. Once an Aedra more worshipped than Auriel, now a twisted shadow of his former self, Malacath. The defeater of Lorkhan, defeated and devoured by Boethiah. Spurned and ostracised, but not forgotten, I hope.
- From the Journals of the Dragonborn, Volume nineteen.