In Shivering Isles, the player becomes Sheogorath, Prince of Madness. That's not what I have a problem with; I have a problem with the Oblivion main quest in it's relation, or lack there-of, to Shivering Isles. During the main quest, the player is required to gather the blood of a Daedric Prince. Since that is not readily available, the player must retrieve a Daedric Artifact as a substitution. However, if the player does Shivering Isles first, the blood of a Daedric Prince is readily available: his/hers. So why does the player still have to retrieve a Daedric Artifact? Can't the player just cut him/herself and hand over a bottle of his/her own blood? Wouldn't that suffice? I'm asking this because I'm a collector. I collect things, and my collection would never be complete with only 14 Daedric Artifacts. Normally, I just use the console to spawn an artifact and give it to Martin so I can keep my collection in tack, but I was just thinking that it doesn't make sense for a Daedric Prince to retrieve a Daedric Artifact because he/she needs a sample of Daedric blood. I know the player is the Prince of Madness, but it still doesn't make any sense.

Also, while I'm on the subject of Sheogorath, why does no one outside of the Shivering Isles recognise who the player is? Not even the worshipers at the Shrine of Sheogorath. I went to the shrine, prayed, then Haskill said, "Praying to yourself, my Lord?" yet none of the worshipers seemed to realise just what that meant. They, too, may be insane, but they're not morons. Lastly, when praying at other Daedric shrines or shrines of The Nine, the Daedric Princes/Nine Divines don't seem to care that you're Sheogorath. I would assume that, for example, Azura would be baffled as to why Sheogorath is praying to her, and wouldn't The Nine refuse to bless someone as evil as a Daedric Prince?

Well, if you listen to Sheogorath very carefully, he says you will only get his power, you won't actually be a Dadric Prince. As for the rest of it, I totally agree.

can you give over the staff of everscamp? Just wondering, as that's a dedric artifact and one that's more or less worthless.

I think that would mess up the quest xenxander. Also as the scamps considerably impede your speed, it might take quite a while to get to Cloud Ruler Temple. The blades might also strenuously object to the scamps odiferous presence. I'D STICK TO SOMTHING ELSE.

I would like to take this moment to thank the company Viziflex Seels, Inc for supporting my G15 keyboard, as my friend Ninja Lord just made me choke and spit soda all over my desk.

Viziflex, saves you from your own dumbassity.

Well you complete the quest first, and then you re-gather the staff and make your way over to give it up... again I've never tried this but now that it's on the table, I may attempt it... after all if "YOU" are now Sheogorath I would think the curse shouldn't affect you (thought it still does, this would be a very viable mod methinks) ^^

Good point; I completely forgot that. The player is now Sheogorath, so the player should be immune to the curse. In fact, the player should be able to snap his/her fingers and deactivate the staff. Kudos to you.
Also, TES lore dictated that the staff is a Daedric Artifact, yet the player cannot give it to Martin. The reason for that, I assume, is because of the curse. Whomever holds the staff will not give it up except to someone who willingly takes it. Martin could willingly take it, but then he couldn't give it up for the ritual. Now seeing as how the player is Sheogorath, the player should be able to deactivate the staff thereby removing the curse.

@ freddy: Actually, if you listen closely, Sheogorath says that he doesn't know if you'll be a Daedric Prince, he doesn't even know if the plan will work. All he know is that it's different. That means that nowhere does it actually deny the player being a Daedric Prince. Also, wouldn't the player receiving all of Sheogorath's power by default make him/her a Daedric Prince? The Daedric Princes were created of power, so transferring that power to someone else would make that person become a Daedric Prince. Also, more proof is that Martin clearly states that he needs the blood of a Daedric Prince, nothing more, nothing less. The Daedric Artifacts are effective substitutes as they are made from the power of the Daedric Princes, so if the Daedric Artifact can act as effective replacements for Daedric blood, then wouldn't a mortal possessing the Daedra's power make him/her a Daedra? I think so.

Well, I suppose you are right. I had forgotten that Sheogorath said that, so thank you for correcting my error. Akatosh created the Amulet out of his own blood, though. Literal blood, not power. Although he is an Aedra, not a Daedra, the two are closely linked. Somewhere in the game it speaks of the Artifacts as being created from the blood of Daedra. Although you may see this as symbolic, why shouldn't it be literal? Since Daedric Princes are incredibly powerful, why shouldn't they be able to literally create an artifact of power out of their own blood? As for your argument about power making you a Daedric Prince, I don't really have a response for that.

What of ebony?

"...said to be..."
That doesn't mean it's true. It's said that the gods placed the constellations in they skies in honour of people or events (real life), but they are really just man-made images given unique back stories. It's said one can knock over a cow by running into it fast enough, but cows are actually quite steady and aren't very easy to tip.

You must remember, Ninja, that within the context of the game, the gods did put the constellations in the sky, and everyone's life is governed by them. Within the game, of course. Since the whole game is fiction, we could argue forever about whether ebony is made of the crystallized blood of the gods, but we could never really decide who is right. Unless the person at Bethesda who wrote the lore came out and said yes or no, of course, but for now, I think our opinions are equally valid.

The line between legend, fiction, and reality in the Elder Scrolls is hard to define. But if ebony is ichor, Lorkhan is the logical source...and it isn't clear if he's Aedric, something other, or even no longer Divine.

As for cows, you just have to hit them hard enough.

I live in Wisconsin: The Land of the Cows; I would know.

Mankar says that Lorkhan is a Daedra, and that his plane was Tamriel.

I've heard that Mankar also claims that Coldharbour is Meridia's plane...

Lore wise? You technically could, or couldn't. I'm no lore scholar, so, I wouldn't know. Reality wise? Bethesda didn't want to have to make an entire new patch, just to change one line of dialog.