The Great Houses of Morrowind - Redoran, Indoril, Telvanni, Dres, Hlaalu - Elder Scrolls Lore

[Music] the Great Houses hate each other theft murder assassinations secret raids standard stuff the Prophet velov changed Tamriel forever when he led his people from the beauty of summer scent to the ashen jungles of res dame casting off the rigid laws and customs of the aldmer he did the unconventional and took heed from the Daedra who showed him an alternative way the way of the Kaymer the changed ones with the guidance and protection of Asura mephala and boethiah the followers of vel off made the arduous journey to a new home but this Exodus in itself was not enough to lay the foundations of the mighty dunmer society that would come mephala the Daedric Prince of Lies sex and murder the webspinner teacher of the secret arts she was the one who taught the Kaymer how to organize themselves into a society of clans that would one day form the Great Houses of morrowind this was unprecedented a nation built on the teachings of the Daedra a nation free from the influence of the aedra it is no coincidence that the MER of morrowind became so distinct what's up ladies and gentlemen my name is drew from fudge muppet and recently there have been many of you asking for a video on the Great Houses so we have finally delivered so do give the video a like if you're excited to get into some of that sweet sweet dunmer lore but without any further ado I present the great houses of morrowind so like I was saying it was the Daedric Prince mephala who was responsible for the societal organization of the khaimah these family based clans would throughout the errors evolved into the houses of morrowind that we know today with many non-related members in the form of high Ling's and clan friends each of the great houses has developed their own subcultures with varying practices motivations and unique aesthetics morrowind itself is ultimately ruled by the Grand Council which is made up of councillors from the Great Houses house red Iran house tel Varney house inderal house dress and previously housed lalu but in the fourth era they lost their seat to the new karma house address at first glance this may seem like a well structured system of governance one overarching authority comprised of representatives from each of the houses as well as the reigning king of Morrowind but if it were this simple and the grand council cooperated harmoniously on all matters well we wouldn't have a great deal to discuss but in reality the dunmer as well as the climber before them immortals just like every other Tamriel ik race they are susceptible to corruption greed and deception no form of governance is immune to political machinations and a politician who values good policy over personal ambition is likely the best liar of the bunch and this is accepting the fact that the Kaymer established their society in accordance with my father's guidance if mortals devoted to the Divine's are prone to vice just imagine how the web spinners acolytes would turn out the good Daedra led by beau efya exposed the lies of the aedra and announced trina mac as the biggest liar of all saying so with trina-- mac's own voice this brazen act emboldened the gaved aldmer with mephala he showed them the triangled truth this select group of elves were made privy to the rules of the civic endeavor the notion that mortality is a test designed by the missing god to be overcome everything from architecture to physical appearance from worship to governance and mephala took a special interest in their politics mephala in her immortality knows power she knows power like a lover she knows how to present herself what to say and what to do in order to have her way with power it is no accident that her sphere encompasses Sex Lies and murder as they all go hand in hand these concepts are what complicate mortal affairs they embroil emotion and ambition they are the strands in her impossibly complex web so when my father imparted her secret arts upon the Khaimah the political landscape was forever changed she taught them the skills needed to evade their enemies or to kill them with secret murder in those early days enemies were abundant and the changed ones were few but with deceptions like sex an assassination the Kaymer were always one step ahead of their adversaries with my father's covert tactics and boëthius unrivaled ability to overcome all obstacles the climber built a society shaped by Daedric principles the clan systems evolved into the great houses and these houses persist to the present day unprecedented customs naturally emerged in this new nation like the morag tong these assassins may seem like your run-of-the-mill killers for hire but morag tong assassins actually played a key role in defining the political landscape government sanctioned assassinations were totally legal and by using the writ system a counselor could rid themselves of political rivals to avoid all-out house warfare an unusual custom allowed one great house or individual member to challenge the honor of another great House member a ranking noble challenge this way would become marked for death if within a year the individual marked for death remained alive the challenging house were publicly obliged to forego any further complaints on the matter with these customs in place petty feuds could be settled officially without disrupting the peace and the rule of law this marriage of deception and assassination with public knowledge is unique to the Donmar and such customs are considered alien beyond more Owen's borders the many regions of morrowind were each ruled by a house which in turn was comprised of the clans and tribes dwelling in the vicinity house red Iran lay claim to the northwest in the narrow strip of land bordering Skyrim house tel Vani operated in the east house inderal held the center of morrowind housedress occupied the Fertile southern plains stretching as far as the border with Black Marsh house la Luz district was located in the Central West before being stripped of their holdings and replaced by the rising house address membership within a great house largely came down to location of birth and circumstances of marriage it is possible for Imperial colonists to be adopted into a great house but this is a rare occurrence for an outlander to warrant a place within a great house they must show exceptional character and loyalty this begins with an oath bond promising exclusive loyalty to the house in question after faithful service has been displayed the Outlander may advance the ranks and seek a house members sponsorship for adoption while proximity played a key role in the establishing of the Great Houses this is by no means the only distinguishing factor aside from the inevitable rivalry that forms among political factions the diverse landscape of Morrowind combined with the attitudes of prominent members over the centuries has transformed these houses and now you'd have more trouble finding similarities than you would differences a red Iran is a warrior whose duty is first to the tribunal second to house red Iran and ferd to family and clan this is the motto of house red Iran from the city of backlight house red Iran ruled the northwestern lands of Morrowind flanked by the inner sea to the east and the falafel tins to the west house red Iran prizes the virtues of Duty gravity and piety duties 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 members of house red Iran hold true to the ancient lessons of boethiah they value bravery in battle and revere the way of the warrior there is no doubt at all that their location has facilitated these values the Nords of skyrim are their closest neighbors as the bird flies and the humans have a reputation for aggressive conquest protecting Greater morrowind from the threats that emerge over the velov Peaks is hard in this house and they have endured the test of time becoming arguably the most influential of all the Great Houses and of all the Great Houses house red Iran seems to have strayed from a far less secret arts the most murder is not taken lightly and honesty is valued dearly a red Iran noble must know the virtue of gravity it is not the red ran way to laugh at serious matters for it shows disrespect it is not the red Iran way to spread rumors for they fester and breed dissension mephala would be displeased to see her disciples turn their backs on rumors for deception is her dagger as befits their description so far house red around employs practicality in austerity when designing settlements they favor local materials with organic curves and unadorned exteriors red around villages are well-planned and focused around central plazas and their architecture takes inspiration from the landscape and the shells of giant native insects due to their prized virtues members of house red Iran tend to be as cosmopolitan as dark elves are capable of being they respect martial prowess and that endears the Imperial Legion and fighters guild to them these virtues culminated in House red Iran taking charge when the Oblivion crisis began the Empire would drew their legions in the interest of protecting their homeland and morrowind was left exposed with no standing National Army and the ruination of the red around city of out room the Great House took it upon themselves to muster an army despite their efforts the crisis was still devastating but it would certainly have been far worse at house read around not taken the initiative it was yet another red around representative who acted when the next catastrophe came Red Mountain erupted five years later and the red around councilor living in morn hold coordinated the relief effort in Vardhan fell fortunately the location of red Iran territory combined with their military might prevented the ensuing Argonian invasion from progressing further into the northwest not all of the houses would be so well prepared the power vacuum left in the wake of these consecutive calamities allowed house red around to excel and as of the modern day backlight is the capital city of Morrowind the forceful expression of will gives true honor to the ancestors so reads the motto of house tell Varney iconoclastic profane and unconventional house tel Vani matches the disposition of sofa SIL the wizard Lords of how stove ani couldn't be any more different to house Raider on piety and duty take a backseat to the pursuit of knowledge to the TEL Varney wisdom confers power and power confers right therefore the most intelligent are inherently correct when engaged in political discussions and matters of law this leads to interesting results when members of house tell Vani propose controversial ideals such as the ancient done marry right to own slaves tell Vani ports and cities run on slave labor and slave markets are held frequently the wizard Lords of house tell Vani have traditionally isolated themselves pursuing wisdom and mastery in solitude this element of tell Vani society has spread a culture of individualism prominent members of house tell Vani spend a great deal of time with they're mushroom towers carrying out experiments seeking answers to Tamriel's greatest questions and nothing comes between a tell varney wizard and their research a good example of tell Varney attitudes can be seen within their towers where you'll rarely find stairs if you wish to ascend the tower you must master levitation magic you can imagine how representatives of house tell Varney on the Grand Council act in meetings they aren't interested in the goings on across the continent nor the trivial concerns of the other houses and guilds if house tell Vani expends the effort to attend a council meeting in the first place it is likely to denounce the abolitionists or the pathetic Imperial mages guild which the Empire is so adamantly frosting upon foreign lands to rise through the ranks as a tell Varney you need to be highly egocentric and zealous you will need to eliminate competition and even dispose of rival wizards you won't see members of house tell Vani prioritizing duty to one's clan over individual ambition during the interregnum of the second era when the precarious alliance between the Nords argonians and dunmer was forged house tell Vani refused to join and considering their opinions on slavery and beast folk in general that makes total sense when the Reggie er came the Argonian invaders focused on wiping out house tell Varney they had been weakened by the Oblivion crisis and many believe how Silvani was wiped out entirely while little is known about the current state of the house certainly not enough to confirm these claims we can see one major tell Vani settlement that remains in the present day on the coast of soul style where Nell off resides in his newly grown tower tell my friend justice knows no sleep inderal shall order the temple shall judge if you've seen the iconic inderal armor worn by the ordinator 'he's a militant order serving the tribunal across morrowind then you know of house inderal the inderal are Orthodox and conservative supporters of the temple and temple authority house inderal is openly hostile to Imperial culture and religion and preserves many traditional dunmer customs and practices in defiance of Imperial law scorn for Imperial influence in morrowind is not a rare sentiment and few hate it more than the great house of inderal nerevar how Cinderella operate in the very heart of the province and governed Mora wins historic capital city of almalexia or mourn hold as it was known before and after the reign of the tribunal bovec says this about giving Mora winds capital city to house in Durrell - my sister brothers city I give the holy protection of house in Durrell whose powers and Thrones no no equal under heaven where from came the Hort at all port at all being the name given to a member of a great house elected to lead the entire nation in times of extreme crisis the namesake for great house in Durrell general inderal nerevar being the most famous of these haughty tours as vivexx statement suggests how Cinderella has always been closely linked with the tribunal temple and the Enduro militant order the ordinate is protect all temple Holdings uphold temple law and devote their lives to almsivi inderal territory stretches as far as Tamriel's East Coast and nekron the city of the Dead lies within their domain during the second era in the year eight hundred and ninety six when vivex signed an armistice with Tiber Septim of the Empire many leading figures in how Cinderella outraged and swore to resist imperial rule even if it meant committing suicide to avoid cooperation two fundamental traits of how Cinderella put at odds when the armistice was signed they were dedicated to the tribunal and thus vivexx deeds yet they were also historically hostile to Imperial culture and religion when the Lord High Chancellor of the Grand Council a member of House inderal rejected vivex treaty he was soon assassinated replaced by a member of House lalu the subsequent feuds between inderal and hallal ooh left the former house severely weakened far from their former glory the remaining members of how Cinderella avoided brash actions and resigned themselves to upholding the status quo focusing their attention on protecting morrowind from the growing threat of DAG offer and Red Mountain the remainder of house enduros powell was tied to the tribunal temple and when that collapsed assuring in the age of the new temple house inderal was in ruins to spread culture and truth to the benaiah teat this is our commitment and burden the motto of house dress implies a noble cause and if you ask a member that attest to the righteousness of this cause however the chains displayed on their sigil seem to contradict this notion whatever your presuppositions may be regarding how stress there's no denying the clans astute business acumen how stress is an agrarian agricultural society and its large salt rice plantations rely completely on slave labor for their economic viability always firm temple supporters how stress is hostile to imperial law and culture and in particular opposed to any attempts to limit the institution of slavery much like how Cinderella the southern how stressed despised Imperial influence in their holdings and can you blame them the cosmopolitan Imperials of Cyrodiil are firmly in favor of abolishing slavery Tamriel wide members of how stress could not care less about the appraising eyes of Outlanders they are traditional they represent the past of pre Tribune or Great House culture a persistent tradition of Daedra and ancestor worship and it just so happens that the exploitation of enslaved beasts folk is well accepted in traditional Dunmurry culture in southeastern morrowind on the fertile soil of the deshaun plain salt rice crops can be cultivated year-round and in the minds quar mccann be bred for their eggs how stress were fortunate to find their holdings in these fecund lands despite being a rural society wealth was abundant interests territory and the income generated by their high yielding crops was supported by their next biggest export slaves with black marsh on their border plantation owners could freely raid the lands to the south and harvest this valuable commodity the argonians were not as well organized as their northern neighbors and while many would have put up a fight members of house dress gained far more than they lost in this endeavor those slaves who weren't busy working the fields were cooped up in slave pens all over the region awaiting the next slave ship to port tell varnas or wherever else slaves were in demand you'd think the series of Cataclysm shaking morrowind at the turn of the era might have been kinder to housedress their lands are far to the south of red mountain after all but the tremors sent through the province devastated the region and the fertile soil turned to swamp the sudden submergence of the land actually caused the southern wall of the dress capital city tier to collapse and unsurprisingly when the argonians enacted their of n housedress were most heavily affected the forces of Argonia ravaged southern morrowind and destroying their former slave masters were sweet catharsis to the lizard folk morrowind has long been a controversial province as far as greater Tamriel is concerned the dunmer have their own customs and values many of which directly opposed the cosmopolitan globalist goals of the Empire most of the great houses opposed Outlanders in some capacity with houses endure ill and dress among the staunchest thus when a great house emerges who welcomed Imperial influence trouble was inevitable behold the opportunistic house lalu of Narcis as a result of its close relationship with the imperial administration house lalu has emerged as politically and economically dominant among the Great Houses of Vardhan felon morrowind lalu welcomes Imperial culture and law Imperial legions and bureaucracy and imperial freedom of trade and religion lalu still honors the old dunmer ways the ancestors the temple in the noble houses but has readily adapted to the rapid pace of change and progress in the Imperial provinces maintaining a Link to the Past doesn't make up for the fact they embrace change at least as far as the other houses are concerned lalu members are renowned for their business sense and diplomatic abilities and this no doubt comes into play when analyzing their willingness to support the Sira Dilek Empire it seems likely that house lalu picked a Nix hound and put all their gold behind it they saw the potential of the Imperials and trusted the fact that supporting the foreign faction might help them attain more power for themselves this much is suggested in the book grasping fortune by Sergio halal lewd Ram Barrow which states in the great wind of progress tradition cannot stand grasp fortune by the 4 lakhs when you see your chances seize them when you see a chance to turn a profit take it house lalu did exactly that and it worked the house rose from obscurity to become a prominent house when vivec and Talos signed their armistice House lalu benefited greatly but just as their support for the Empire had made them it would also unmake them when the Oblivion crisis struck Tamriel the Empire weave drew their legions from morrowind anti-imperial sentiment surged as a result this set in motion house lallu's downfall in the of a driller ah no the second councilor of red around controlled Raven Rock their collaboration with the Empire may have given them unrivaled political and economic strength but their hearts weren't with the dunmer people house lalu had committed to their gambit and it had provided dividends for a while but by the present day it had destroyed them lalu became the scapegoat for dunmer dissatisfaction and they were unceremoniously stripped of their great house status this saw House red Iran take over as morrowind eminent power house lalu was replaced by a previously obscure faction great house address their mark on Mora wins political landscape is yet to be written into the Inara more omens history there have been other houses most of which we only know a small amount about but a few deserve a mention like house tremor which existed during the time of the first council of course this house is for the dwarven clans living in res dangering the first era and came about to represent the Kaymer excepting the dwarves into their culture there was house sofa though the only known members include the demigod sofa SIL and his sister sofa naal how sofa operated in the settlement of old sofa though it was utterly destroyed early in the first error by mehrunes dagon finally there is the great house the dunmer prefer not to speak of and that is house de goth PT de Gotha and the sixth house all they do all they are is foul and evil but they began in brightness and honor and the cause of their fall was their loyal service to you Lourdes narro VAR led by Lord Warren de Gough all records of the once great house have been purged from morrowind the only trace of them that couldn't be entirely wiped from the histories is the fate of the houses leader for the full story of Dave of Earth the char map check out the link in the description it seems as though house day Goff had an affinity for music and sound in general all the old shrines in honor of the house feature sets of large bells or chimes and even some forms of ash creatures have trunk like growths which may have been used like musical instruments perhaps Warren Degas affinity for music is what appealed to him about the Dwemer in the heart of lorkhan the tonal architects use sound to uncover the wonders of the universe and their chief aim to use his tools to strike the heart of lorkhan like a doom drum producing the perfect volume and quality of power from the beating heart a fictional epic on the legacy of the dead six house suggests that the descendants of house day goth who were absorbed into the other houses and assimilated into their cultures can still hear the songs of their ancestors but with that we come to the end of the Great Houses of morrowind I hope you enjoyed the video thanks so much for watching I've been drew and I'll see you in the next one [Music]

Channel: FudgeMuppet

Views: 277,853

Keywords: skyrim, skyrim lore, elder scrolls, elder scrolls lore, morrowind, morrowind lore, dark elf, dunmer, great houses, great houses lore, redoran, telvanni, dres, hlaalu, indoril, dagoth, nerevar, hortator, fudgemuppet

Id: QRkuhC4Izn4

Length: 23min 0sec (1380 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 24 2019