How Is Soul Trap Legal?

[76561198083032813]

Have you ever wondered how the hell can the conjuration spell Soul Trap be legal? It's even worse than raising dead bodies, for when you trap a soul, you do not let said soul go to the immortal plane, instead said soul is stored in a Soul Gem, where it will not leave from until you use it for your own benefit.

[bobczes]

You do realize that in order to trap a soul, you need to kill something first.

The moral solution is to not trap a human soul with black soul gems.

Which also raises the question whether or not animals and monsters have souls.

[christopherbailey1967]

I fall asleep listing to the music of the crying souls trapped in my armor... Time to role play an evil guy.

[76561198083032813]

Originally posted by bobczes:

You do realize that in order to trap a soul, you need to kill something first.

The moral solution is to not trap human soul with black soul gems.

White Soul Gems can also trap humans' souls and mages around Skyrim sells them freely. The problem is, we will never know if some of those Soul Gems are filled with human souls. We will need to buy Soul Gems, but was that soul filled with humans? I was thinking, that might be a good reason to ban Soul Gems, just like necromancy was banned in the past.

[76561198083032813]

Originally posted by bobczes:

Which also raises the question whether or not animals and monsters have souls.

You use Soul Trap on them and you absorve their souls into your soul gem. If that's not a soul, then what kind of energy is that?

[Ryika]

Trapping Humans IS considered to be a Crime and Black Soul Gems were a rather rare occurrence in previous games. Nobody cares about animals though.

[Axeface]

I've always wondered this too!! Couldnt agree more and I often think about this. I even have mage characters that refuse to trap souls, and hate anyone that does.

It is abhorrent to trap a living beings soul in a gem for eternity. Surely?
As for the animal/person 'difference' I guess that could actually explain why it's generally accepted, and why I myself find it horrible. I don't agree with anyone that says that animals are not 'sentient' or that they are 'just animals', while many do think that (even though it is now written into many countries laws that they in fact are sentient).


I have planned mods too to clarify this, among other strange inconsistencies in the game, like Illusion making your body invisible (?).
Honestly some of the lore/mechanics got quite warped in Skyrim, I often think that they lost their way a bit. The loss of the Mystisicm school created some real issues for me, with consistency and lore.

[76561198083032813]

Originally posted by Ryika:

Trapping Humans IS considered to be a Crime and Black Soul Gems were a rather rare occurrence in previous games. Nobody cares about animals though.

Trapping those protected by law, is a crime, trapping bandits, assassins, thiefs or those who turned hostile first is not. Why is that exception open, doesn't they deserve their spot in the immortal plane as well?

[Malvastor]

I resolve my moral dilemmas by only soul-trapping people who really deserve it.

[christopherbailey1967]

Originally posted by Famigerado:

Originally posted by bobczes:

You do realize that in order to trap a soul, you need to kill something first.

The moral solution is to not trap human soul with black soul gems.

White Soul Gems can also trap humans' souls and mages around Skyrim sells them freely. The problem is, we will never know if some of those Soul Gems are filled with human souls. We will need to buy Soul Gems, but was that soul filled with humans? I was thinking, that might be a good reason to ban Soul Gems, just like necromancy was banned in the past.

If I remember right, Morrowind you used to be able to know what soul was trapped in a gem. In fact I think one of the quests was to trap a particular soul.

[Ryika]

Originally posted by Famigerado:

Trapping those protected by law, is a crime, trapping bandits, assassins, thiefs or those who turned hostile first is not. Why is that exception open, doesn't they deserve their spot in the immortal plane as well?

Are you talking about lore or game mechanics here? Because I'm pretty sure in the lore trapping black souls is against the law no matter who you trap, because it's a true form of necromancy that comes with strong corruption. There's a book from Oblivion that covers that topic:

"Centuries of experimentation has demonstrated that there are black souls and white souls. Only the rare black soul gem can hold the soul of a higher creature, such as a man or an elf. While the souls of lesser creatures can be captured by gems of many colors, they are all categorized as white soul gems. Hence the division of souls into black and white.

White souls are far safer than black souls, although not as powerful. Beginning students of Mysticism should not dabble in black souls or black soul gems. Even if one were to ignore the guild strictures against the necromatic arts used to power black soul gems, it is dangerous to the caster to handle them for long. If the gem is not precisely the size of the encased soul, small bits of the caster's soul may leak into the gem when it is touched."

I'm not entirely sure why trapping white souls is okay, but I THINK there was another book that basically stated that the benefits of white souls outweigh the small amount of corruption that takes place in the process of trapping the soul of a lesser being. Can't find it right now though.

[Axeface]

Originally posted by christopherbailey1967:

If I remember right, Morrowind you used to be able to know what soul was trapped in a gem. In fact I think one of the quests was to trap a particular soul.

Yep, when you trapped it didn't say 'petty' it said 'Mudcrab', for example. iirc.

[OuchThatHurt]

I only soul trap Red players after they attack me in Skyrim Art Online ;)

Don't legendry creature have the same size souls are people?

[SkinnyDipper]

I would like to think that my morale is pretty high but there are times when one has to be flexable, however so, let it be known that I only trap the souls of those who is trying to kill me. It seems like I am open prey to everything evil in Skyrim, so I have no qualm in using the trap souls to defend myself.

[bobczes]

Originally posted by SkinnyDipper:

I would like to think that my morale is pretty high but there are times when one has to be flexable, however so, let it be known that I only trap the souls of those who is trying to kill me. It seems like I am open prey to everything evil in Skyrim, so I have no qualm in using the trap souls to defend myself.

Ah yes high morale with low morals.

[Authun]

Originally posted by Famigerado:

Originally posted by bobczes:

You do realize that in order to trap a soul, you need to kill something first.

The moral solution is to not trap human soul with black soul gems.

White Soul Gems can also trap humans' souls and mages around Skyrim sells them freely. The problem is, we will never know if some of those Soul Gems are filled with human souls. We will need to buy Soul Gems, but was that soul filled with humans? I was thinking, that might be a good reason to ban Soul Gems, just like necromancy was banned in the past.

No they can't, only black soul gems can hold a human soul.