Hey, so, lore question.

So we know that in Skyrim's Dawnguard DLC, Harkon wants to use Auriel's bow to blot out the sun. I've heard many people say that this is a stupid plan because blocking sunlight would make plants die and then the rest of animals and people with them.

But this is asuming that the biosphere in the planet Nirn works the same as ours; With a giant sphere of gas undergoing a constant nuclear fusion process that emits enough light and heat to radiate unto the planet, with that heat allowing a neat temperature for celular life to thrive and that light being used for photosynthesis.

In the case of Nirn, we know that their cosmology works different. Their stars are not balls of gas, they're permanent tears in the fabric of space, which leak the light and Magicka from Aetherius to Oblivion and Mundus. So, the question has to be asked; Is life on Nirn actually dependent on the light of Magnus?

I would argue that both the temperature of the planet and the basic mechanisms for life are NOT dependant on any star, since the stars themselves weren't part of Magnus' original design when the Aedra created Mundus. The stars were a consecuence of the Magnagee fleeing the proyect, which implies that Mundus would've existed just fine without any stars in the firmament.

From that implication, we have two possibilities. Either Nirn was planned to be exactly how it is now and it's actually independent from the light of any star to produce thriving life (Maybe the Earthbones were designed to keep a habitable temperature on the planet by default and to somehow nurture plant life on nutrients alone.), or Nirn was planned to be very different from how it is now, and it's current state is a consecuence of the influence of the light from the sun and the stars (Maybe the Aedra didn't plan on the concept of photosynthesis or plants altogether, but they emerged anyway after enough exposure from the sun)

What do you guys think?

So as far as I understand, Malacath, right from his very "birth" represents the oppressed and the spurned. The those who lived a harsh life of ostracization and oppression receive his blessing

What confuses me, is that in Skyrim, Orc Strongholds are required to follow the code of Malacath, which actively calls for and forces a rigid way of life upon the women of the stronghold

A woman HAS to marry a chief, and be one of his MANY wives, instead of being free of the inherently rigid system of "you must marry and bear kids, nothing else. Also you don't even get to be his only wife". There are women Orcs in Skyrim that actively oppose such a fate and life. One of them states she'd rather join the Imperial Legion as a soldier than to be traded off to another colony as that chief's wife, so it is clear that not every Orc is OK with it

Furthermore in the afterlife of the Ash Pits, it is stated that each male Orc has a thousand wives. I take it these thousand Orc wives are actual Orcs in the afterlife.

In that even if a male Orc had, say, 2 wives, he ends up getting 998 more from passed-on female Orcs. A female Orc who lived a life of independence ultimately ends up being the wife of some random Orc in the afterlife

To make things more concerning, each wife is said to get a 1000 slaves. Isn't slavery quite literally oppression, especially when in Tamriel they're often taken from ostracized communities? Even if we assume these slaves are just lesser daedras in his realm that act as slaves, is not Malacath promoting quite literally something he in principal should be against?

Tl;Dr: Malacath is all about protecting and supporting the ostracized and oppressed. Yet his code and afterlife have elements of slavery and misogyny in them which seem to directly contradict his principles

748 Steps: A Recounting of High Hrothgar

A Treatise on the Miscalculation of the Seven Thousand Steps

By Magister Jimeee Snow-Quill, Fellow of the Nordic Historical Society

---

Few numbers enjoy greater reverence within Nordic culture than the celebrated Seven Thousand Steps ascending from Ivarstead to High Hrothgar. The figure appears in pilgrimage accounts, royal chronicles, religious instruction, songs, local histories, and at least one particularly uninspired poem consisting almost entirely of references to stairs.

For centuries, scholars have accepted the traditional figure without serious challenge. The present author undertook to verify it in the interest of scholarship... and has regretted the decision ever since.

In the summer of 4E 196, I undertook a direct examination of the route. The purpose was simple - I intended to count the steps. This task, while seemingly straightforward, required considerable preparation.

Provisions were acquired, maps were consulted, assistants were hired. The first assistant resigned upon learning the nature of the project. The second resigned after hearing the first assistant explain it. The third remained only because he had already been paid.

The ascent began shortly after dawn and each step was counted individually. Every tenth step was entered into a notebook. Every hundredth was independently verified by an assistant. Every second hundredth prompted renewed discussion regarding whether the expedition possessed any scholarly merit whatsoever. By the fourth hundredth step those discussions had become increasingly heated.

Upon reaching High Hrothgar, the final tally was established...

Seven hundred and forty-eight steps!

Not seven thousand steps... seven hundred and forty-eight. The implications were catastrophic for everyone who had ever cited the traditional figure with confidence. A discrepancy of several steps might be explained by erosion, a dozens might be attributed to reconstruction... but a discrepancy exceeding six thousand steps presents greater difficulties.

For several minutes I entertained the possibility that we had accidentally climbed the wrong mountain. Subsequent investigation ruled this out. My assistant suggested that "Seven Thousand" might refer to the exact number of panicked footsteps we accumulated while fleeing the frost troll encountered near the fourth emblem. I confess that I devoted considerably longer to evaluating this hypothesis than strict academic standards would normally permit.

Dejected, we departed immediately for the College of Winterhold to present our findings. The matter quickly escaped our control. Correspondence spread across Tamrielic scholarly circles, conferences were convened, rebuttals exchanged, and several otherwise distinguished academics developed unexpectedly strong opinions regarding staircases. Six years later, despite an impressive accumulation of papers, lectures, and increasingly heated debates, no consensus has emerged. The principal theories are summarized below.

Theories

• The Traditionalist Theory - The official position adopted by the traditionalists of the High Hrothgar Preservation Society maintains that there are, in fact, seven thousand steps, and that the present author simply failed to count them correctly. This explanation encounters certain difficulties. Chief among them is the absence of six thousand two hundred and fifty-two missing steps. Such a quantity of stone is difficult to misplace.

• The Pilgrim Theory - A minority of scholars suggest the figure originated from exhausted pilgrims. The argument is straightforward: After climbing seven hundred and forty-eight steep steps, most individuals feel as though they have climbed seven thousand. This theory is difficult to disprove. Indeed, several members of the research team independently arrived at similar estimates during the ascent.

• Jurgen Hypothesis - A minority proposes that Jurgen Windcaller deliberately adopted the exaggerated figure in order to make the ascent seem mythic in nature and to discourage the spiritually uncommitted. While consistent with his philosophy of patience, it remains difficult to imagine the Greybeards maintaining a numerical deception for centuries. The resulting debate has since produced four monographs, two conferences, one fistfight, and an official statement from the Greybeards declining further comment.

• Lexical Theory - The Riften Philologist Society maintain that the ancient Nordic word translated as step may once have denoted an arbitrary unit of ascent rather than an individual stair. Therefore it does not describe the number of stairs at all, but rather the approximate number of strides required to reach the summit. Despite considerable effort, the resulting figure still falls short of the traditional total and no surviving text employs the word in this manner outside discussions of the Seven Thousand Steps.

• Dragon Break Theory - Predictably, some scholars have invoked a Dragon Break. According to this explanation, the mountain simultaneously possesses both 748 and 7,000 steps, depending upon the observer's position relative to linear time. This explanation has the considerable advantage of requiring no supporting evidence whatsoever.

• Numerical Base Theory - Professor Valdar Numbersmith has proposed that the discrepancy arises from the assumption of an Imperial base-ten numerical system. According to his reconstruction, the original count was conducted using "Dwemeri positional enumeration principles," in which seven thousand converts precisely to the modern total of 748. The author initially attempted to verify the calculations personally before developing a headache and deciding that the appendix possessed greater mathematical confidence than its author. Critics counter that attributing every unexplained phenomenon to the Dwemer has become intellectually irresponsible.

• Scaling Theory - A proposal advanced by several former Clockwork Apostles argues that the apparent discrepancy arises not from the staircase itself but from the observer. Drawing comparison to the curious spatial architectures of the Clockwork City, they suggest that something called the "Time Wound" established a localized field of topological compression around the Throat of the World. Under this model the original Seven Thousand Steps remain entirely intact, though all modern travelers experience only a scaled representation of the ascent, approximately one-tenth its true extent. Critics have questioned how an entire mountain could exist simultaneously at two scales. The Apostles replied that the question itself demonstrates a regrettable attachment to conventional geometry, recommending that further questions be postponed until the author had first familiarize himself with "higher-dimensional spatial recursion." Research papers on the matter have been placed aside pending sufficient courage to continue reading.

Conclusion

Historical evidence strongly suggests that generations of Nords accepted the figure of seven thousand without verification. This is understandable. Most pilgrims, upon reaching High Hrothgar, concern themselves with enlightenment rather than enumeration.

Following the publication of my findings, reactions were mixed. Several colleagues expressed support. Others expressed concern. One elderly pilgrim simply asked whether counting them had improved the journey. I admitted that it had not.

After six years of study, three expeditions, and one unfortunate disagreement regarding the definition of a step, I therefore submit that:

- The path to High Hrothgar contains approximately seven hundred and forty-eight steps.

- The traditional figure of seven thousand is almost certainly inaccurate.

- The climb remains unpleasant regardless.

- The overwhelming majority of the population do not care.

- Further research is required.

Addendum

Subsequent to the publication of the present treatise, this author was granted access to a newly recovered fragment recovered from a submerged ruin west of Whiterun.

Preliminary analysis attributes the fragment to the reign of the elusive High King Toddhar Howardsson, remembered in later Nordic tradition as the Great Builder, Speaker of Impossible Promises, and the King of Many Editions, whose official map of Skyrim was repeatedly redrawn, reissued, and ceremonially unveiled throughout his reign, each edition hailed by royal decree as the definitive representation of the realm while critics observed that little had changed beyond the border decorations.

High King Toddhar occupies a singular place within early Nordic history. Though comparatively little survives concerning his reign, later copies consistently portray a sovereign of extraordinary confidence in matters of architecture, geography, and public expectation. His confidence, it would appear, was not always accompanied by verification.

The following fragment appears to derive from a royal construction order issued during the establishment of the pilgrimage route to High Hrothgar.

Fragment of the Toddhar Howardsson Chronicle

And Toddhar, High King of Skyrim, looked upon Snow-Throat, and spake unto the master builders of his kingdom, saying: "Raise unto High Hrothgar a stair of Seven Thousand Steps, so that all who seek wisdom may know the measure of their devotion."

And the master builders answered: "It shall be done, my King."

And the King declared: "Hearken well. It must have Seven Thousand Steps. Not fewer. Seven Thousand. When the work is complete, I shall count them myself, that I may know my will hath been made true."

Then Toddhar declared before his court: "I have been promised Seven Thousand Steps. My builders are without equal in all the North. Their craft is wondrous, and no task is beyond their skill. They did not so much as hesitate when I commanded that there should be Seven Thousand Steps. For my builders have fashioned cities, keeps, bridges, and halls beyond counting. Seven Thousand Steps shall scarcely trouble them!"

But King Toddhar departed never to return, for he trusted greatly in those who built for him.

And when the stair stood finished, Toddhar looked upon the mountain from his seat in Windhelm and proclaimed unto his court: "Behold that mountain yonder, for ye may climb it."

While this remarkable discovery conclusively establishes that the staircase was intended to contain seven thousand steps, it offers no indication that anyone ever verified whether the builders had complied with the original specification.

The present author therefore concludes that the Seven Thousand Steps owe their celebrated number neither to ancient exaggeration, Dragon Breaks, Dwemeri mathematics, nor higher-dimensional geometry, but to the perfectly ordinary assumption that someone else had already counted them.

Editor's Note: Following a scholarly dispute at the Winking Skeever in Solitude that concluded with seven injured academics, nine damaged chairs, and one overturned cart of cabbages, the High King has prohibited all further counting expeditions to High Hrothgar until the matter can be resolved through more civilized means.**

As a player, all it takes is to look into your inventory and item's description and the stat numbers, but that's for gameplay reasons.

How does a person from Tamriel experience these enchantments? While weapon enchantments could be tested, for example you slash your sword at something it catches fire, it's fairly straightforward.

But if you pick up a robe with destruction boosting enchantment can you feel it? What if you're a restoration user, would you notice it's not suited for you? Could you possibly know the enchantment if not told by whoever created it?

If not your average mage, would any enchanter look at the same item and be able to tell what's the enchantment straight up or perhaps by taking it to the enchanting table?

In the staff of Magnus quest in Skyrim the psjic order takes the eye of magic and says “the world in it yet ready for such power” my question is what defines ready, when civilisation reaches the level of technological advancement that the Dwemer reached or everyone has become powerful mages like them. And how long will this take before alduin returns and eats the world.

I don’t know much about the lore but there does not seem to be much advancement in any areas. They have had thousands of years to study the Dwemer robots and still can’t recreate them etc

I’ve never heard the actual reason as to how this happened. And who the heck IS he? Who is Ysmir and how is he Talos, was Hjalti actually Tiber or Talos? Was he named Talos only upon ascension?
Is it true Vivec dropped hints on how to achieve CHIM? If so, what could he have possibly told him other than, “yeah, use these tools within the heart chamber at Red Mountain?”

And again, HOW did he ascend?

As we all know, dragons cannot be fully killed unless there's a dragonborn to absorb their soul. But then there's Numinex who just... died of natural causes? His skull is still there, the rest of his body is nowhere to be found, and there was never any talk about Alduin even attempting to resurrect him or the last dragonborn absorbing his soul. So can you permanently kill a dragon by dismembering it and scattering its remains, fully incinerating it along with the bones however hard it might be, giving it an acid bath and so on?

So I’m sort of new to the lore of the elder scrolls, especially outside of skyrim (i’ve been playing skyrim for like a decade but just started oblivion and haven’t touched morrowind) so apologies if this is a dumb question.

I’ve been reading about the argonians because they’ve always been incredibly interesting to me and i’m really perplexed on how they’re connected to the dark brotherhood and to what extent. i understand how they can revere sithis, not only due to the influence of the hist, but also as beings that undergo constant change it makes sense they’d worship the embodiment of change. it can also see how the dark brotherhood being the organization that it is would worship the embodiment of chaos. its a cool idea to see two different groups worship the same deity in drastically different ways. a sort of yin and yang thing, which makes sense considering that sithis is already sort of the yin to Anu’s yang. however the fact that argonians either have or historically have had a sort of reverence for the dark brotherhood, i saw someone saying they see them as “holy-men”. and of course there’s the shadowscales, argonians born under the sign of the shadow that are taken at birth to be trained into dark brotherhood assassins. even though the shadowscale tradition has sort of stopped, it just doesn’t make sense to me. not just because the argonians don’t at all seem intrinsically evil, which a group of people who kill for money sort of has to be (grelod did have to go tho tbf)but also the dark brotherhood was started by the same group of people that enslaved them for millenia.

apologies if anything i said was incorrect, im new to exploring the lore and a lot of what ive learned has come from random reddit comments that could be biased or just completely nonsensical lol. thank you!

I frequently see that shezarr, shor and lorkhan being different aspects of the same being, but since they are different aspects, they are different. Also people say that akatosh had been created by the imperial authorities after the founding of the empires (not sure about that one). Also even though Tibet septim was not a mystic, a scholar or a prophet, he supposedly achieved godhood. I start go get confused about the godhood and divinity situations in general.

To summarise the title in general, I can ask a couple of questions, like “what is needed to be considered a god?” “how do gods affect mundus?” “What happens if two gods cross paths?” “What does ‘different aspects’ of shor mean?”

This question has been brought up in a TTRPG im in and I couldn't find much on it.

And if so why isn’t it in the game. I heard of a cavern that Shor used to travel between Sovngard and Nirn. Is it fanon?

What I mean with this question is not if the daedra change completely after being reformed, but if they remain themselves, as in having the same memories or such.

When we go to sovngarde in Skyrim, we see a lot of Nordic heroes, champions, figures. Even Ulfric is there if we slay him at the end of the civil war. And as far as I know, the ebony warrior, despite being if not the most, one of the most competitive and brave warriors in Skyrim, still cannot go to Sovngarde because he is not a Nord.
This makes me think that Sovngarde has a race requirement and this also makes Shor a racist. Because no matter how much one does whatever shor wants the regular Nords to do, the non-Nords still stay out of Sovngarde after death.

Hello all!

Fairly basic question today.

In DND 5e, Bards cast magic using their instruments.

In Elder Scrolls, however, bards seem to be fairly typical spellcasters if they're spellcasters at all, just using magicka the same way as everyone else, especially since tonal magic is pretty specific in TES.

Just checking to make sure I'm not missing something.

I have a player in my campaign who wants to play a Bard, so I want to make sure I'm doing everything correctly.

So, this is a very big topic I've been meaning to write a proper essay on (and maybe an apocrypha afterwards (a group like the Renrijra Krin for example would have interesting insights on the matter)), despite not exactly having the kind of background that qualifies me to talk about it. But it's important and criminally under-discussed, so someone has to get the ball rolling. And to do it any kind of justice means a lot of research, which I need help with.

Like, we talk a lot about the ten citizen races of the Empire a lot (albeit more about individual bigotries than systemic forces, which is of rather limited use and interest). There's a lot of racism there. Not all of the citizen races are first class citizens, and the racial hierarchy changes quite a bit regionally and temporally (eg the differences between the Septum, Mede, and Thalmor empires are very significant). Certain ethnic groups like the Reachmen or Ashlanders are given a certain legal status (as Bretons or Dunmer) despite objections, and in practice are treated quite differently than their legal status might otherwise imply. We directly see (and help) the Orsimer gain citizenship in Daggerfall, something that they seem to have gained and lost at other times (eg during the Planemeld they seem to be citizens insofar as there are strong state structures to be citizens of during the Interregnum), and which still seems fragile given the lack of status given to Orsinium.

But. What about the Centaurs, Minotaurs, Dreugh, Imga, Giants, Goblins, Ogres, Rieklings, Falmer, and Sloads? What about all the other races in Daggerfall with their own language skills like Spriggans, Nymphs, and Imps? Not only are they not citizens, murdering them isn't even a crime. And yet despite this fundamental lack of personhood it's still illegal to enslave them outside Morrowind. How did the Minotaurs who once sat on the Ruby Throne lose their rights? There are so many ethnic groups and so many questions to ask about each of them and their legal and social statuses that this margin is too narrow to contain them all, but which you can guess the shape of.

Also, I find it interesting that the only Hero to bother learning any of the languages of the non-citizen races (or at least to have this represented in game mechanics) was the Agent, Uriel VII's personal special operative. Because in real life the main job of spec ops is force multiplication, which is to say inserting among foreign groups and recruiting/training/arming them as guerillas, which obviously requires language skills, and which literally multiplies the forces behind enemy lines.

And then there's a whole discussion to be had about how Vanus Galerion invented the distinction between Black and White Souls in the 2nd Era for purely political/ideological reasons (https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Guild_Memo_on_Soul-Trapping) and all the social and legal implications of this decision.

Anyway. Please link any relevant sources you can think of, and/or discuss your own theories about systemic racism in Tamriel.

Edit: It shouldn't need to be said, but I will anyway. In all discussions please try not to fall into racist framings that treat the non-citizen races as less than, their cultures, bodies, or minds as in any way inferior. We will take it as a given for our purposes that any legal or social discrimination or disadvantage is unjustly and unjustifiably imposed by violence. Keep in mind Rule 1 and how your words may apply by analogy to other people in the comments.

A thought occurred to me and I didn’t find anything addressing this idea. Why don’t the Mythic Dawn contract the Dark Brotherhood to kill some of their enemies?

I can understand killing Uriel Septim themselves, wanting to get their hands on the Amulet of Kings and all. But once they do get their hands on the amulet and have Martin hiding somewhere, as well as the hero of Kvatch running around closing Oblivion Gates and slaying them by the score. Plus a few other significant characters putting wrenches in the works of their plans. Just seems like having an extra cult of assassins would be useful, and I doubt they are lacking materials for Black Sacrament rituals.

I just don’t feel like the Dark Brotherhood would object, last I checked they commit murder for the love of the game, they don’t care what gods their clients worship.

I've been trying to take a crack at the whole nature of the Prisoner (Archetype). Problem is that there are several interpretations, and I was wondering if there is one cohesive conclusion to what the Prisoner actually is.

Godhead with 10k faces(iirc), had said it was the stone of the metaphysical tower, while Musings Upon The Amaranthine Thought was not very detailed on what was the Prisoner archetype.

I believe there must be something more to the Prisoner Archetype than "people who save Mundus".

And should it be affected by magic resistance/weakness/absorbtion?

Is magicka used to persuade the Earth Bones that right here should be a perfectly mundane stream of flame? Or is it spent to fuel the flame? Or is the flame summoned from Oblivion, maybe from the same plane where fire athronachs dwell? Or is it something else?

I wanted to know more about the Spear of the Hunter and couldn't find anything until I found this text that describes the Spear of Bitter Mercy, an artifact we aren't supposed to know much about beside it being used in a ritual, as being Alrabeg's (Aspect of Guile) personal weapon and that aspect's totem despite the fact we see in Bloodmoon that the Aspect of Guile uses the Spear of the Hunter, separate from the Spear of Bitter Mercy which we can use during the fight. So from what I can tell, the author of the text (both ingame and in real life) just confused the two spears in an attempt to give more lore for the Spear of the Hunter. This isn't a very lore ruining error since with common sense you can get the intent and can be explained in-universe as a mistranslation, but I thought it was interesting that this lore addition for the Spear of the Hunter went unnoticed.

The basic premise is as follows:

Pelinal Whitestrake is/was an agent of Mehrunes Dagon. The Alessian slave revolt was a mirror of Dagon's uprising in Lyg. Ayleids (and elves in general) are heavily associated with the Dreugh, Pelinal wrought destruction at the head of Red Legions fighting against tyrannical slavers associated with Molag Bal and Meridia. More specifically, as a Shezzarine he is a reflection of the Upstart who goes Missing, the Lygian incarnation of Lorkhan, Shor father of Shor.

Pelinal is also an incarnate of Sheogorath, both were born when Lorkhans heart was removed, and both are obviously tied to madness. Specifically, Pelinal is the shard of the Heart of Lorkhan which separated itself over Cyrod, eventually becoming the Amulet of Kings. He is the denial of end, a refusal to accept Lorkhans Enantiomorphic loss to Auriel at Convention, an act of Madness, just as Sheogorath was born from the hole Lorkhans heart left. Sheogorath is also tied to Arden Sul, a figure noticeably missing his heart.

At the end of the 3rd era we see the Hero of Kvatch take up the mantle of both figures, Pelinal first in KotN, then Sheogorath in the Shivering Isles. This return of Pelinal also occurs at roughly the same time as Dagons invasion of Mundus, where he attempts to recreate his destruction of Lyg, once again prematurely ending the Kalpa. This is also seen in Nordic myth where he is the Leaper Demon King trying to trick Ald-who-is-Molag in the previous Kalpa, only to be transformed into Mehrunes, just as Lygian myth describes Mehrunes, Hope, being transformed into Destruction by the torture of Molag Bal/the Ruddy Man, the Ruling King and Aka figure in Lyg. This also mirrors the story of the CHIM EL ADABAL being found by Ayleids (Mundic reflections of the Dreugh) in a well, and being carved into shape as the Amulet of Kings.

The Oblivion crisis also sees the end of the Septim line and the destruction of the Amulet of Kings, presumably destroying or releasing the soul stacked emperors contained within. The Septims, and therefore Talos, are also tied to Lyg, as the Ruddy Man can be seen as mirroring Talos in some ways, specifically there connection to CHIM. Further more, we hear of Dagons rebellion casting down the Templars of the Upstart who goes Missing, a fitting description for the Septim line.

Getting into the extremely unsupported stuff, I also think Morihaus is a reflection of Umaril. It is commonly assumed that Umaril's divine father from a "previous world-river", aka Lyg, was Meridia. Kirkbride said that Meridia and Kyne are intrinsically linked, and Morihaus is of course the son of Kyne. Kyne was the wife of Shor, and Molag Bal, aka the Ruddy Man, is often theorized to be in love with Meridia, or otherwise connected.

This is probably extremely rambling and unfocused, which I apologize for, but I hope you find it interesting nonetheless. I have been focusing on writing this line of thinking in the form of apocrypha, which I'm also bad at writing, but I wanted to get the general thoughts out, and see what people think.

Pretty much the title. Say it’s an established Dunmer family, well known genealogy, and established worshippers of the reclamations. And yet inexplicably, somehow one of them is born with all the features of the Chimer of old. How does the world react around them? Are they christened a new saint or a target of the Morag tong, etc.

Hi everyone, it’s that time again!

The Weekly Free-Talk Thread is an opportunity to forget the rules and chat about anything you like—whether it's The Elder Scrolls, other games, or even real life. This is also the place to promote your projects or other communities. Anything goes!

Tablet III on the path up to High Hrothgar in Skyrim says:

The fledgling spirits of Men were strong in Old Times

Unafraid to war with Dragons and their Voices

But the Dragons only shouted them down and broke their hearts

The use of "hearts" is a very interesting choice of words.

Why "hearts"?

Why not "spirits", "resolve", "will" or "courage"?

What's the significance?