r/Morrowind • u/Late-Department-4342 • 2h ago
New Player - Advice/Help Which Great House would an Ashlander join?
Inspired by the "I'm not a big fan of Argonians" song, I've been playing a Dunmer Ashlander who hunts in the wilderness. I've reached level 25; though due to avoiding most quests and civilisation, my equipment is still very basic, as is my knowledge of Morrowind lore.
I'm a male Dark Elf, with a 'Nomad' custom class, specialisation in stealth.
Major skills: Marksman 47, Spear 53, Light armour 58, Athletics 44, Sneak 77
Minor skills: Short blade 41, Acrobatics 43, Armourer 55, Alchemy 53, Unarmoured 45
Having grown bored with sticking spears into small animals, I've decided to join one of the Great Houses. But which one?
Hlaalu is where my skills fit, but they seem to be about civilising the Ashlanders, so they're definitely out.
Redoran are warriors, but they're all about the medium armour and look just a little prudish and... dull?
Telvanni look far more interesting; but while I have intelligence 70 and willpower 60, my highest magic skill is 25 and I know only a single spell which I have a 0% chance to cast! I know rising through the ranks will be more difficult here, but I'm worried it will be too difficult and I'll get annoyed and sack off my game.
I also have a question on religion, it seems the Ashlanders have some irreconcilable differences with the Tribunal Temple, and of course I'm not going near the Imperial Cult. The Ashlanders themselves appear to have only female priests. Is there another religious option, or should I just stay an atheist?
So, my questions are: Redoran or Telvanni? Temple or atheist?
Naturally, the long term aim is to rid Morrowind of anyone who's not an Ashlander.
Many thanks to anyone with advice!
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u/BiggusGompus 30m ago
I believe ashlanders are traditionally not aligned to a Great House. Reason for this is that Great Houses are part of the ruling class and aligned to the temple. Ashlanders don't recognize the religious authorithy of the Temple because, in their view, they have forsaken the teachings of Saint Veloth and betrayed Nerevar and the promises he made to the Ashlanders. You could still make your own reason for joining a Great House though. For example:
Your Ashlander could be of the opinions stated above, but differ from the traditional Ashlander view in the sense that they feel support of a Great House is necessary to make lasting changes to return Morrowind to greatness. If you play this character as a Nerevarine you could also headcannon that they only work with a Great House as a means to an end. Ashlanders would be less offended by a fellow Ashlander being part of a Great House if they are also the rulers of said Great House. Because it paves the road for an Ashlander becoming Hortator. There are False Incarnates claiming to be the Nerevarine, i believe most of them are Ashlanders. To be Nerevarine it is unavoidable to also become Hortator so you could work with that.
As for which Great House is most fitting, i would say Redoran. Though they have greater loyalty to the Temple, they reject imperial rule and culture and want to return to an independent Morrowind.
Perhaps your character joined them because in Redoran he sees qualities that Ashlanders value, while disagreeing with the Redoran religious perspective. Perhaps he feels Redoran would be most likely to honor agreements with Aslanders when all outlanders are driven from Morrowind.
But in all honesty: just play whatever you like most. You can always make a different character to play the other Great Houses
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u/Late-Department-4342 19m ago
I've played MW twice already, once way back when all I had was a CD and a paper map (it was my first ever RPG, and got me interested in the genre), and again last year when I remembered it existed. Both times I went House Hlaalu, hence my switching things up a bit for this run. Thanks for the advice, I will give some more thought to going Redoran!
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u/An_Draoidh_Uaine 19m ago
I'd go with Hlaalu, if you're going to the Great Houses as an Ashlander, then you are in a sense trying to fit into a civilisation that your culture already rejects, the Hlaalu welcome this and won't try to convert you to the Temple (just don't do anything that makes them look bad), whereas House Redoran are staunch believers in the Temple and wouldn't want an Ashlander who doesn't. As for the Telvanni, only magical prowess and power matters, so it depends if you can make it with them despite not being a wizard lord.
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u/Late-Department-4342 15m ago
Already done two playthroughs and both were Hlaalu, perhaps I should have mentioned that in the OP!
Deep down I am thinking Telvanni will be more of a challenge, as with my 'nomad' build I will have to find workarounds for my lack of magic. Or do I get to slaughter and loot loads of rivals, giving me the money to train up my magic skills? I likely will hardly ever use magic, I'm a big fan of sneaking up on things and poking them with something pointy...
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u/Kitchen_Forever_2954 15m ago
It depends. If you want to roleplay as an ashlander who is adamant about staying with tradition, I don't think you'd want to join the temple or any of the great houses. The ashlander tribes are fundamentally at odds with the great houses since they've been colonizing them since the time of the grand council. Similarly, ashlander religion decries the worship of the tribunal.
If you want to join a house and/or the temple you could play a more pragmatic character who perhaps wants to secure a more decent life for themself and/or their tribe. For this route I would recommend either Hlaalu or Telvanni. In one of the Hlaalu quests the Zainab can be convinced to sell ebony solely to the Hlaalu. Working with the Hlaalu can be justified as just a very good way to earn money. They are, however, soulless bastards who don't value anything at all, which might come in conflict with certain ashlander beliefs and customs. The same goes for the Telvanni, though they at least seem to value strength and have some sense of "honour", and they don't care much for the temple and instead favour ancestor worship (similar to the ashlander). I am not sure if it's stated whether they desecrate ashlander burials. Unless otherwise stated I would assume so, which might be a step too far for even the most pragmatic ashlanders.
House Redoran shares a sense of honour with the ashlanders, but there is little to no monetary reason to join them (unless you intend to rob them blind) and the tension between the houses and the tribes seems to harsh to justify joining up just because they share your sense of honour. At the end of the day it's your character though and you can create any psychological justification and reason for your character to do virtually anything in the game.
Tldr: None but probably Telvanni
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u/Kitchen_Forever_2954 9m ago
I think the main issue is that basically every faction either is or represents a colonial power, as an ashlander you are a colonized person in a culture that has managed to stay largely independent from its colonizers. It doesn't seem to be in your immediate interest to support any colonial project. Once you get over that hurdle though, the world's your oyster.
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u/ResponsibleOwl7461 5m ago
Join morag tong instead. Unleash ashlander fury in honorable way 😎
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u/Late-Department-4342 3m ago
I will go for these guys when I get to their base, big fan of 'honourable' assassinations, as is any Ashlander.
Death before pleasure, Outlander!
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u/KingdomOfPoland Sixth House 51m ago
An Ashlander wouldn’t join any house or faction even