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uesp · 4 years ago

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A reckoning is not to be postponed indefinitely.

--Fallen London

I would say that one of the big themes of Morrowind is that every part of the society depicted in it is breaking down. Newer institutions, powers, and ideas should have risen thousands of years earlier, but Morrowind never had to adapt its society for the times. The Tribunal has caused thousands of years of stagnation to remain, unchallenged. Morrowind and the future games only address this directly a few times, but I think stagnation and corruption are strong themes that can’t be avoided. As one of the most clear cut examples of this, here is where House Dres stood during TES III: Morrowind:

“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."

And here is House Dres ~six years later...

"They say that King Helseth has made an alliance with House Dres. Together they pick apart the carcass of ruined Indoril."

"They say that slavery has been abolished in Morrowind. House Dres and Hlaalu have renounced the slave trade, and freed the beastfolk from servitude."

It’s almost like the system was only still functioning because there were literal GODS keeping it that way. The moment those gods are gone, Dres knows the game is up and accepts an alliance with Hlaalu, most likely in return for some of the spoils from Indoril. Hlaalu made quick work to overturn slavery as a system, because they were not financially reliant on it. Unfortunately for Hlaalu, there was no being prepared for the crises that were coming their way.

So that raises the question, why do the leaders of Imperial factions fall into this system? And that’s a mixed answer. For Trebonius, he’s an embarrassment that has failed upwards. As you may have seen earlier, he was assigned to Morrowind to get him out of the way to an area the Guild wasn’t too interested in. While the initial post depicts the “kill Trebonius” path to the Mages Guild. By confronting him early, you give him one last throw of the dice to prevent the inevitable, which he will gladly seize. Do you know what happens if you decide to not confront him, and just do a good job as a member of the guild? Ocato simply sends a letter to him, essentially firing him now that a more qualified candidate was right there.

Another clear example is Sjoring Hard-Heart, who is besmirching the good name of his brother, Radd Hard-Heart. Sjoring has become completely corrupted by Morrowind’s system, turning an Imperial institution into a puppet for the Camonna Tong. He has become so corrupted that your only option is to kill him, no matter what approach you take. He will betray you, like he betrayed the ideals of his guild. If you don’t take a path that openly has you try to kill him, he will eventually just try to off you himself.

Varus Vantinius is the one who doesn’t fall into this scheme easily. He tells you that there can only be one person with his title in Vvardenfell, so you have to have a duel to the death... this doesn’t make a lot of sense. Keep in mind that this is a very speculative answer for his logic. There’s a reason that the Klingon Promotion system isn’t that popular, and when it is actually used is usually a sign of extreme instability and chaos rising. So why does he insist on it? Maybe he was passed up for a genuine promotion (as Vvardenfell isn’t exactly well managed, and the blame for that could easily be assigned to him). With you reaching the point where you could take his rank, he might have been left with forced retirement, transfer to an incredibly undesirable command (like Solstheim), or being to step down to a lower position as your subordinate... so instead of accepting those embarrassing ends to his military career, he instead makes you gather powerful artifacts for the “Legion” but really his own use, and then promptly challenges you to a fight to the death while using them against you. It would have worked to, if his plan didn’t rely on him having a realistic chance of actually beating you.

Now let’s look at the traditional factions of Morrowind. Redoran is currently on the path to total irrelevancy. Telvanni spends most of its time murdering itself. The Temple is losing ground to the Imperial Cult. Hlaalu has become extremely powerful by simply accepting the times.

Let’s take a closer look on Redoran. They hold the worst and least amount of land in Vvardenfell, they are currently being out-competed and dominated by Hlaalu, the Foresters, and the Thieves Guild, and they are also under attack by House Dagoth. A good leader would have trouble handling this situation... too bad they’re stuck with Venim who is busy getting into scandals and taking part in infighting to face any of the challenges that are crushing his House. Of course this absolute failure of a leader is going to challenge you to a fight to the death, instead of accepting your help.

Now let’s look at House Telvanni. House Telvanni doesn’t really exist as a unified entity. House Telvanni’s strength comes entirely from the sheer magical power of its most powerful members... which they can’t utilize in any unified way. If Telvanni was even slightly united in purpose, they could steamroll over the other houses, but they simply don’t think that way. Telvanni has managed to thrive thanks to its relative isolation from any actual power, the other Houses beyond Hlaalu don’t count as they were all so poorly managed to not matter. But a real crisis WAS on the horizon. Telvanni’s agents were seizing land without the proper permits, putting them on a path to an inevitable confrontation with Hlaalu and their Imperial allies. House Dagoth would eventually begin its war in earnest, and House Telvanni was not prepared for a real war. Of course neither of these were the crisis that came to head, instead it was the Red Year that showed the consequences for Telvanni’s lack of unity. While already weakened in the face of the Red Year, the An-Xileel invasion of Morrowind truly crushed Telvanni when a million-strong force of Argonians ran unchallenged through Telvanni’s surviving holdings.

So of course Gothren chooses to fight you. At no point in his life did he need to adapt his ways. And his legacy can be found in the ashes of Telvanni.

Last we’ll look at the Tribunal Temple and how it is losing ground to the foreign Imperial Cult. Isn’t it odd that the Imperial Cult is gaining a major foothold against the local temple? Well, not really. The Temple, as it was, was unsustainable. It was propped up by its living gods, but without their active support, it was completely failing to address its problems. And this was becoming clear to the population of Morrowind. The Temple was not going to be useful to you any longer. So naturally, people started gravitating to the Imperial factions, such as the Imperial Cult. Even if the crisis with House Dagoth didn’t come to head I believe this would have happened, however. The simple fact is, the Imperial Cult was easier.

To become a full member of the Imperial Cult, you must donate 50 gold to the Cult, a fee which can be waived by the person signing you up, if they wish.

To become a full member of the Tribunal Temple, you must...

Talk to any quest giver to learn about the Pilgrimages of the Seven Graces and receive the book The Pilgrim's Path. Then do the following, in any order:

Complete the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Humility, at the Fields of Kummu, and offer a portion of muck.

Complete the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Daring, at the Vivec Temple, and offer a Rising Force Potion.

Complete the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Generosity, at the Palace of Vivec, and offer 100 gold.

Complete the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Courtesy, at The Puzzle Canal. Nearly drown yourself in the Puzzle Canal, Central, to open the way to the shrine. Then give a Silver Longsword to the Dremora Krazzt.

Complete the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Justice, at the Gnisis Temple, and offer Potion of Cure Common Disease.

Complete the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Valor, at the Koal Cave, and offer some Dreugh Wax.

Complete the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Pride, at the Ghostgate, and offer a soul gem.

With that said, that’s where we’ll live this off for now. There’s plenty more that can be said on this topic, of course. Like I said, corruption and stagnation are themes you can explore heavily in Morrowind.

“I have seen how you lust after the power and prestige that only I have as the Guildmaster here in Vvardenfell. If you truly think that you can take my place, meet me in the Arena for a duel to the death.”

–Trebonius Artorius sadly proving that the candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long.

#UESP #Lore #The Elder Scrolls #Morrowind #Mages Guild #Fighters Guild #Hlaalu #Redoran #Telvanni #Dres #Indoril #House Dagoth #Tribunal Temple #Imperial Cult

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