Diving ever deeper into the ancient history and theology of the Elder Scrolls, I, Fimvul, will be your guide into understanding the relationship between Anu’iel and Sithis to Anu and Padomay. However, before we can delve into the massive labyrinthine caverns of these relationships, we must first dissect who Anu and Padomay are.

Padomay represents the quintessential form of change itself. His other names include “Darkness” and “Sithis”. He is one of the two original, primal forces, the other being his brother, Anu. In direct opposition and perfect balance, Anu was the force that represented stasis, known as “Anu the Everything”. Through Anu, everything remained a singular constant – this relationship is not entirely dissimilar to the Towers, particularly Green Sap.

statue of Sithis, the Dread Father, a discontinued player home furnishing found in the Crown Store in The Elder Scrolls Online

Creation legend holds that, before time, before thought, before anything, there was Padomay and Anu., coexisting harmoniously in the Void. Time began and as they twirled around each other, their interplay eventually created a new spirit, Nir, who shaped the Aurbis. Though initially, both Anu and Padomay were stricken with desire at this new spirit, it was Anu whom Nir fell in love with, not Padomay. Padomay became increasingly bitter at the love between Anu and Nir. Anu was described as exceedingly masculine, and Nir, as exceedingly feminine, thus the first love story would end in violence.

Anu and Nir shared love. When Nir became “pregnant” with Creation, Padomay’s anger grew ceaselessly. He sought to destroy everything they had created. He attacked Nir, causing Creation to shatter into twelve pieces. As Nir died, Anu took the broken fragments of Creation and spun them into one world: Nirn. To avoid further violence as Padomay attempted to destroy Nirn, Anu pulled himself and his brother outside of Time, ending the conflict. However, Nirn was now emboldened with Anuic and Padomaic spirits.

the Dark Heart of Lorkhaj, whom the Khajiiti believe was cast into the Void, much the same as the Altmer believe the Heart of Lorkhan was cast across Nirn to settle and form the Red Mountain

Anu’s blood, spilt during battle, became the stars. Some of his blood mixed with his brother’s, Padomay’s, and became the Aedra. Padomay’s blood manifested itself as the Daedra. In this way, it is surmised that while the Daedra only know evil, the Aedra know both light and darkness. This is disputed and even refuted by many Daedra who are not wholly evil, such as Azura and Meridia who both represent a form of light, or who represent something that could be interpreted as good, such as Jyggalag, who represents order.

Existing outside of time, Anu and Padomay eventually began to fade. As the new spirits, the et’Ada began to forge Mundus, Anu and Padomay withered and died. According to Altmer belief, Anu reconstituted the best parts of himself, breathing life into a new spirit: Anu’iel, so that he might “know himself”. Anu’iel’s spirit eventually manifested itself as Anuiel, who eventually became Auri-el.

Anu’iel is also called “Perfect Order” and “Everlasting Ineffable Light”. He is dichotomically opposed to Sithis, who represents Chaos, the Corrupting Inexpressable Action. Though Anu’iel represents the light of good, so to speak, the followers of Sithis regard Anu’iel as “a demon who represents unchanging nothingness”. As Anu’iel and Sithis had their first clash, they created the et’Ada – both a similarity and opposition to the story of Anu and Padomay, who were thought to have created the spirits as they died. Anu’iel is the father of time-law. This is further supported by Auri-el being the spirit who infused Aurbis with time – which, again, is supported by Auri-el being the Altmer version of Akatosh, who is also known as the Father of Time.

the Clockwork Apostles of Sotha Sil believed Padomay/Sithis and Anu/Anu'iel were illusions, detracting from the "real world" and sought to create a new Nirn

Padomay, however, despite having technically “died”, since he represented the greatest force of all, change, simply became something new. Being one with the Void in the first place, Padomay changed himself, becoming the Void itself, and became known as Sithis. Sithis is the representation of chaos, unending change. In keeping with established lore that the “Blood of Padomay” are the Daedra, Sithis is the embodiment of the Void itself, which is where the essence of slain Deadra go to reconstitute before returning to Oblivion.

Going against established lore, it is said Sithis began when Anu’iel began, and Sithis ended when he created Lorkhan. Though it is established that Lorkhan was a son of Padomay – or, rather, Lorkhan was created by Padomay’s blood – Sithis, who is Padomay in a new form, did not “end” with the creation of Mundus. He was simply changed, again.

the only existing map of Nirn that shows lands beyond Tamriel

The various pantheons, while they tend to agree on the clash of Anu and Padomay and the rise of Anu’iel, they all argue on what role Sithis plays.

The Khajiit believe Anu and Padomay – Ahnurr and Fadomai – were mates and gave birth to the Aedra and Daedra, and then Fadomai tricked Ahnurr into having one last child – Lorkhaj – who then created Nirni and sealed the tricks of the gods within it.

The Yokudans – Redguards – believe Sithis and Anu’iel are actually one deity – Satakal – a giant serpent that eats its own tail, representing both unending change and unchanging nothingness. To avoid being eaten, spirits would “jump” from Satakal’s scales, which became known as “the Walkabout”. Another serpent, Sep, the Second, eventually devised a way to use the Walkabout to create a new world and avoid Satakal entirely. This new world, because it was separate from Satakal, trapped the spirits.

The Argonians believe Atak and Kota fought breathlessly and endlessly until the merged into one being – Atakota. When they merged, they shed their skins, which became “the Shadow”, which attempted to devour everything. Before it did, the Shadow saw the gifts of Atakota as its own children, and instead bestowed its own gift, the gift of change.

Altmer believe Anu’iel created Sithis to mirror his own light. When Anu’iel created Auri-el, he also created Lorkhan, who tricked Anu’iel into trapping a piece of himself within Mundus, which in turn trapped all the spirits.

The Dunmer believe that Sithis existed first and was the start of creation. Knowing Anu prevented change and all was nothing, Sithis became angry and broke nothing, creating ideas that ebbed from the break. This breaking forged Anu’iel from the pieces of Anu, who created the Aedra to counter Sithis by creating “everlasting, imperfect worlds”. In response, Sithis created Lorkhan, who created Nirn and trapped the souls of the other spirits within so it could decay. The Dark Brotherhood, a splinter of the Morag Tong, seem to share this belief.

The various depictions of Anu, Padomay, Anu’iel, and Sithis, while all vastly different, all share one common theme: Lorkhan, or some form of him, creates Nirn and traps the other spirits within.

a Dreugh wandering the lands of Lyg, the now vanished continent where it is said Mehrunes Dagon first came into existence during the Magne Ge, and where Molag Bal ruled as the Dreugh-King, before myth and supersition created the Ruddy Man

Whatever the truth of time and creation, Anu and Padomay represented equal and opposite forces, and when Anu tipped the scaled, Padomay reacted in violence, which created the spirits and eventually created Mundus. Meanwhile, Anu reforged himself into Anu’iel and breathed time into all things – which seems in direct opposition to himself – while Padomay became Sithis, the embodiment of chaos itself.