Lore:Great Houses

The UESPWiki – Your source for The Elder Scrolls since 1995

Contents 1 House Wars 2 Current Great Houses 2.1 House Hlaalu 2.2 House Redoran 2.3 House Telvanni 2.4 House Indoril 2.5 House Dres 3 Historic Houses 3.1 House Dagoth 3.2 House Dwemer

The Great Houses hate each other -- theft, murder, assassinations, secret raids, standard stuff. -- Hasphat Antabolis

In modern times Morrowind is ruled by five Great Houses: House Hlaalu, House Redoran, House Telvanni, House Indoril, and House Dres. Only three of these Houses have interests in Vvardenfell. The three Great Houses on Vvardenfell identify themselves by their traditional colors: red for Redoran, yellow for Hlaalu, and brown for Telvanni. Thus, members of House Hlaalu may be referred to collectively as Yellows.

The Great Houses traditions derive from ancient Dunmer clan and tribes, but now function as political parties. Differences are now rarely settled by armed conflict, but through squabbles in the Grand Council and through the execution of formal Writs by the honorable assassins of the Morag Tong. Dunmer Great House membership is largely a matter of birth and marriage, but Imperial colonists may also become retainers of a Great House, or may be adopted into a Great House. Initially an outlander may gain status in a house as an oath-bonded hireling, pledging exclusive loyalty to a single house and forsaking ambitions with all other houses. Later, after faithful service and advancement in lower ranks, an outlander may seek adoption into a Great House. Adoption and advancement to higher ranks in a Great House requires that a Great House councilor stand as sponsor for the candidate's character and loyalty. Finding a councilor to sponsor an outlander often involves performing a great service for the prospective sponsor.

The remaining House is House Dagoth. Several contradicting sources claim that they sided with the Dwemer in The War of the First Council. Other soucres claim that they never betrayed their Dunmer-kin. Whatever the case, House Dagoth was thought exterminated following their defeat at the Battle of Red Mountain.

[edit] House Wars

By the immemorial customs of Dunmer society, a House may challenge the honor of another House in the person of one of the House's ranking nobles. The ranking noble of the impugned house is marked for death -- in ancient times, actually formally marked with a black banner, but in modern times, served with a formal written public announcement. If within the year of the challenge, the marked noble still lives, the challenging house must publicly forgo any further complaint or scandal on the matter.

Only a ranking challenging noble or a Morag Tong assassin may attack the marked noble: in modern times, Houses routinely engage the Morag Tong, taking out regulated contracts called Writs. this custom permits Houses to war upon one another on a small scale without threatening public peace and rule of law. Such violent disputes are called House Wars. Codes of behavior under House Wars are complex and subtle, and the Morag Tong specialize in the honorable and legal prosecution of these factional vendettas. House Wars are expensive, dangerous, and disruptive to all Houses involved, but on the island of Vvardenfell alone, a dozen or more Marked Challenges are being prosecuted at any time.

[edit] Current Great Houses

[edit] House Hlaalu

As a result of its close relationship with the Imperial administration, House Hlaalu has emerged as politically and economically dominant among the Great Houses of Vvardenfell and Morrowind. Hlaalu welcomes Imperial culture and law, Imperial Legions and bureaucracy, and Imperial freedom of trade and religion. Hlaalu still honors the old Dunmer ways -- the ancestors, the Temple, and the noble houses -- but has readily adapted to the rapid pace of change and progress in the Imperial provinces. — Great Houses of Morrowind

In the great wind of progress, tradition cannot stand. Grasp fortune by the forelocks. When you see your chances, seize them. When you see a chance to turn a profit, take it. But do not follow money blindly. There is value in reputation, more than many young Hlaalu realize. This value must be carefully balanced against the more tangible coins in any deal. Theft and murder are bad for business. You can steal from someone, but will he trade with you after that? You can't bargain with a dead man. — Grasping Fortune

House Hlaalu can be characterized as opportunistic, as any morals they might have come second to business. House Hlaalu is one of the five remaining Great Houses of the settled Dunmer; their House color is yellow. Its council seat is in Balmora, with other Hlaalu-run towns at Suran, Hla Oad and Gnaar Mok. Hlaalu public buildings — tradehouses and craft guilds, manors and council halls — are designed as simple multi-storied buildings roughly rectangular in plan, featuring arched entranceways and modest decorated exteriors. More modest one-story private dwellings follow the same plan, except with less decoration. Hlaalu plantation estates resemble Temple compounds, with walled precincts enclosing outbuildings for craftsmen and servants, dominated by a grand manor residence in place of a Temple shrine.

Its main concern is business and profit. This is their great strength - they are fast talkers and intelligent traders - and their great liability; most Hlaalu are bribable, either with gold or with other favors, and their leaders are no exception. House Hlaalu retainers are also masters of thievery, sneaking, lock-picking, blackmailing and backstabbing, both literal and metaphorical. While some councilors will obviously be honest and fair, many are under-handed and corrupt.

For more information, see the lore article on House Hlaalu.

[edit] House Redoran

House Redoran prizes the virtues of duty, gravity, and piety. Duty is to one's own honor and to one's family and clan. Gravity is the essential seriousness of life. Life is hard, and events must be judged, endured, and reflected upon with due care and earnestness. Piety is respect for the gods and the virtues they represent. A light, careless life is not worth living.

The Great House Redoran is one of the five remaining Great Houses. Its council seat is in Ald'ruhn and all councilors live there in the hollowed shell of a colossal prehistoric Emperor Crab; the district is known as Under-Skar. Other Redoran-dominated towns include: Khuul, Maar Gan and Ald Velothi. Redoran settlements are designed in the Dunmer village style, built of local materials, with organic curves and undecorated exteriors inspired by the landscape and by the shells of giant native insects. Redoran villages are typically centered on Temple compounds and their courtyards, with huts and tradehouses gathered around a central plaza, as in the West Gash village of Gnisis, which is currently rented to the Imperial Legions. The only major Redoran city on the mainland is Blacklight, close to the border of Skyrim.

For more information, see the lore article on House Redoran.

[edit] House Telvanni

Traditionally isolationist, most House Telvanni of Morrowind wizard-lords pursue wisdom and mastery in solitude. But certain ambitious wizard-lords, their retainers, and clients have entered whole-heartedly into the competition to control and exploit Vvardenfell's land and resources, building towers and bases all along the eastern coast. The Telvanni think that wisdom confers power, and power confers right. — Great Houses of Morrowind

House Telvanni matches the disposition of my brother Sotha Sil -- iconoclastic, profane, unconventional." – Vivec

House Telvanni is mainly a house of highly egocentric and ambitious wizards. Here, it is common to rise through the ranks by eliminating or otherwise 'indisposing' other members. Of the Telvanni lords, only Master Aryon of Tel Vos - the youngest and newest councilor - seems able to look beyond the end of his own nose and at the concerns of other people, the rest want little more than to be left alone to their research and ambitions. The rest of the members are similarly isolationist in outlook and do not intend to be presided over by any of the other institutions, predominantly the Guild of Mages.

House Telvanni is among the staunchest defenders of slavery, which they see as an ancient Dunmer right. Their ideals and desires, evidently not concerning themselves, are left to the slaves to obey. However, both Khajiiti and Argonians, the two most common slave races, may join House Telvanni and advance with the same level of respect as other races. Many of the towns, notably Sadrith Mora and Tel Aruhn, house slave markets. Telvanni holdings are also worked by slaves, whereas the other Great Houses prefer to use generic workers. Telvanni are, therefore, strong enemies of abolitionists.

For more information, see the lore article on House Telvanni.

[edit] House Indoril

"... the Indoril are orthodox and conservative supporters of the Temple and Temple authority. House Indoril is openly hostile to Imperial culture and religion, and preserves many traditional Dunmer customs and practices in defiance of Imperial law." – Great Houses of Morrowind

"To my sister-brother's city I give the holy protection of House Indoril, whose powers and thrones know no equal under heaven, wherefrom came the Hortator." - Vivec

House Indoril is one of the initial seven Great Houses of Morrowind. After being founded during the early part of the First Era, Indoril was one of the strongest Houses with vast political power and many influential positions, due to its close ties to the Tribunal. It was the house of Chimer hero Lord Indoril Nerevar. Duke-Prince Indoril Brindisi Dorom was ruling Mournhold during its destruction by Mehrunes Dagon.

Currently, House Indoril has no territorial holdings on the island of Vvardenfell. Indoril District occupies the heartland of mainland Morrowind, with lands south of the Inner Sea including the city of Almalexia or Mournhold, and the town of Necrom on the eastern coast with its City of the Dead. Indoril territory borders House Dres and the Deshann Plain.

For more information, see the lore article on House Indoril

[edit] House Dres

"House Dres is one of two houses without holdings or interest in Vvardenfell. Dres District is in the south of Morrowind, bordering the swamps and marshes of Black Marsh. House Dres is an agrarian agricultural society, and its large saltrice plantations rely completely on slave labor for their economic viability. Always firm Temple supporters, House Dres is hostile to Imperial law and culture, and in particular opposed to any attempts to limit the institution of slavery." – Great Houses of Morrowind

"House Dres represents the past of pre-Tribunal Great House culture, a persistent tradition of Daedra- and ancestor-worshiping civilized Dunmer clans." – Vivec

House Dres is one of the Great Houses of Morrowind, with presence only on the mainland. Dres District is located in the south of Morrowind on the Deshann Plain, bordering House Indoril and the swamps and marshes of Black Marsh. The Dres have a mainly rural but still very wealthy agricultural society. The Dres are the Dunmer that enslave and ship slaves to the other Great Houses, keeping thousands of captives, mostly Argonians, in their infamous slave-pens of Tear, the Dres capital, and the surrounding vast saltrice plantations.

House Dres greatly opposed joining the Empire, but lost most of their support when their traditional allies, the members of House Indoril, began to commit suicide after the Armistice. Rumors can be heard in Oblivion discussing Dres' decision to give up the slave trade, seeking new allies in King Hlaalu Helseth and his House Hlaalu.

• The Arnesian War was one of the many during the troubled time of the Imperial Simulacrum of Jagar Tharn. What started as a simple slave revolt in the House Dres lands of the south built on itself until the swampy plains erupted with blood and fire, pitting Morrowind against Black Marsh.

[edit] Historic Houses

[edit] House Dagoth

House Dagoth is the "lost" Sixth House. In the First Age, House Dagoth betrayed the other Great Houses during the War of the First Council, and was destroyed for their treason. — Hasphat Antabolis

House Dagoth is the remains of the ancient, and defunct, Sixth Great House of the Chimer, headed by the god Dagoth Ur. The House briefly reappeared in Vvardenfell c. 3E 400 but was destroyed shortly thereafter by the Nerevarine champion. They form the major antagonism to the hero in Morrowind. Their primary bases lie within Red Mountain, in the ancient Dwemer strongholds.

For additional information, see the Lore article on House Dagoth.

[edit] House Dwemer

Before the War of the First Council, Morrowind was united by Nerevar and the Dwemer king Dumac. Because of this some even considered the Dwemer a Great House.