VERY WIP, FORGIVE MEEEE.

Timeline of the Dres; which herein relays the important aspects, or turning points, of Dres Society. All dates are considered liable to change, and I will write out an explanation of each instance to better denote how important the event is for leading us to the current state of House Dres.

This is my juxtaposition on how I feel the Dres should be fleshed out, and this is my proposal on the way things should be. I am going to break this down into a few different sections.

1. Overview.

2. Major Ideas to Note.

3. Characteristics of the House.

4. Timeline.

5. Quest Line.

OVERVIEW:

My general overview of House Dres is as such :

A society close in practice to the Ashlanders, the Dres have many different “camps” that have evolved over the years into cities, but still retain their hierarchical roots. The entity of these tribes can be known as a few different names, and the one people like most can be the chosen one.

1. Deshaan Confederacy

2. Junto League

3. Axiom of Ancestors

4. Southern Combine

5. Augur Conference

6. Deshaan Khomorhun (a made up word that would basically mean kingdom)

The capitol is Tear, or Tyr. A militia-minded and relentless people. The Dres rely on slave trade and tilling the salt fields of the Deshaan. There is very good money in it, however, so the House as a whole has a good financial standing within Morrowind. They are not closely affiliated with any particular House, except perhaps having a cryptic past that involved House Telvanni , and they of course despise any Imperial institution.

However hierarchical they may be, there is a governing body, known as the Deshkhan, or perhaps the Saltkhan. He is the figurehead of the Dres and is universally thought to be the defining delegate for all matters of House Dres. Only he's not. He is actually simply a rich noble, one who has the largest slave pit and it the most ruthless of the Dres, who is chosen every time the last rich noble dies or is otherwise dismantled from power. He is still a savvy businessman and tactician, but his word is not law. Even the congregation that surrounds him is unaware that the Dres Council is actually the body in power.

The Saltkhan must take a blood oath to never reveal this secret, and is lured into the deal with the premise of much more wealth and influence in all of Morrowind, wherein the Saltkhan becomes more or less a puppet who can make split-second decisions needed for the House, but is otherwise simply awaiting orders from the Council on any important matters.

The Dres Council is a group of Dunmer, between 6 and 13 of them, who are “immortal” in the sense of having been alive since the First Era. They all live as a collective in a secret hidden lair beneath a mountain, in which there is no easy way in or out of. Only once every millennia or so can a small opening into the mountain be found. Fortunately for the PC, they will be able to make their way in there near the end of the Dres quest line.

Other than that, there is no outsider contact and all interaction is done through a letter that is stamped with a sigil and black wax. There letters are then handed to the Saltkhan who reads off of it like he wrote it. Any correspondences are retrieved, delivered, and protected by two or three special ops members of the House. These few Dunmer would be the only others besides the Saltkhan that would know about this secret. So these spec ops Dres go every few months or weeks with a letter asking what should be done about current issues. There would be updates about any political or agricultural interactions that have happened, as well as any major requests from other Dres higher-ups, and the Council would give their advice.

How they give their advice is as such: the Skyrenders have honey in their hives that can be cultivated in such a way that, once ingested, it produces a type of trance-like stasis. The honey can also be cultivated in such a way to produce an intense mental high. The mental high form is given to Dres warriors who then go on a 'spiritual journey' and come out the other side smarter, stronger, more adept in mind. The trance-like form is ingested by the Council, who then are actually able to communicate with the ancestors in a very special way, a very deep way. It gives them almost a clairvoyance. This could perhaps involve them entering the Dreamsleeve. The important thing to remember is that ANY and ALL input was from the ancestors only. The Council themselves are simply the vessels in which the answers come through. These exact answers are what are transcribed into paper (almost like a dream journal) and signed. It should be noted that in my vision, the Council members take turns every time a letter is received. So One week councilor A takes the honey, and then transposes the guidance onto paper. No other councilor can try to detest what that councilor has experienced. Then the next week, councilor B would take the honey, etc etc.

In the past this has worked in favor of the House and for Morrowind as a whole. The insight was clear and untainted by personal agenda. However, in the past few years, when the Council has tried to contact the ancestors they are getting less guidance about how to lead the House or what actions to take. It is harder to take a message away, and so the purity of their ancestral clairvoyance is being slowly tainted with individual councilor's own thoughts/interpretations of the messages. This has lead to a slow downfall of the House.

The reason for the interference can be either:

1. Not explained fully.

2. Due to the Hist trying to interrupt their guidance.

3. Due simply to the nature of the Elder Scrolls and the imminent downfall of Morrowind.

4. Due to the Sload interrupting their guidance.

Whichever people like most. For an explanation of these reasons 2 or 4, read on.

Major Ideas to Note:

Dres use Skyrender honey in three ways:

1. Selling the raw form as commerce.

2. Refining it for a mental high that they feed to their soldiers to make them better soldiers.

3. Refining it for a trance-like stasis; only the Council knows how to refine the honey this way. Fortunately for them, there is a large Skyrender hive below them in the mountain so they have a near limitless supply of the honey for this use.

Dres Council are not vampires, but have very unnatural lifespans.

The questline of House Dres will consist of the player eventually meeting the Council and having the choice to kill them all, or to try and help them lead the House from the outside.

The Dres made 3 VERY important pacts, or deals, way back in the First Era.

1. The Council members made a deal with the Sload. If they would teach them how to till the salt flats, then the Sload could harness the Council's souls when they died and use them for powerful magics/experiments.

2. The Council members made a deal with the Hist to supply them with ample Argonians for use a sslaves and in return they would give the Hist a certain number of Dunmer to use for whatever they wish.

3. 3. The Council members made a deal with a Daedra to live for super long. I have an idea that instead of becoming Vampires from the deal, the Daedra decided to simply make the Council appear to look like Vampires to everyone else, or perhaps made them look like mutated beasts, or even more funny would be that the Daedra make them look like Argonians, just to fuck with them. The councilors can still see each other as they had looked before the deal, however.

    

The Council then used pact number 3 to kind of cheat pact number 1 out a bit, and it made the Sload pretty mad. They also killed a Dunmer that escaped from the Hist and have been killing a lot of Argonians lately without the Hist's permission, and also have not been living up to their end of the bargain and not supplying many Dunmer lately for pact number 2, which has the Hist upset as well. Pact 3 is part of the inevitable downfall of the House.. For those reasons either the Hist or the Sload may be interrupting their connection with ruling their House, as both parties are tired of feeling cheated.

Minor pacts made:

1. In the past they made a deal with House Telvanni that involved the Telvanni teaching only the Dres how to operate Riverstriders in return for something. Perhaps they threatened war and at the time they were much mightier than the Telvanni so they agreed.

2. They have a very weird and secretive relationship with the Telvanni. They provide them with slaves and sundries for the people who live below their towers, and the Telvanni give them more than just gold in return.

All in all, the major theme of the House, or the lesson to take away I suppose, is that one day, it may not be tomorrow or the next day, but one day the guar will come home to roost, and all debts must be paid. For every action there is an equal yet opposite reaction. This duality can also be presented in such a way that it may play a big part towards Boethiah.

Characteristics of the House:

The Dres are not quite Steampunk-ish, but they are more technologically advanced than any other House, and perhaps any other people in all of Tamriel. This is what has given them so much leverage in being able to strike these deals they made in the past.

They are ruthless to any other House, though they do conduct business in a formal manner. They ship breads to the Indoril and they supply slaves to every House. They are seen as somewhat barbaric for their worship of the Daedra, but they are never contested against it.

They are not entirely business-based like the Hlaalu are, they simply know they supply most of the food and the workforce for the entire province and they use it to their advantage. They hate outlanders, hate the Empire, don't care much for the Tribunal, and keep to themselves aside from hunting slaves in a near-frantic fashion.

Timeline:

The events of the House are numbered from oldest to most recent, and will have an explanation next to each event.

1. All lesser clans settle in southern Morrowind.

2. Deal with Sload made.

3. Deal with Hist made.

4. Deal with Daedra made.

5. Deal with Telvanni over Riverstriders made.

6. War of the First Council.

7. Council reigns over the smaller clans but people become suspicious as they are getting much older now.

8. First Saltkhan emerges and the Council goes into hiding under the mountain.

9. Deshaan Confederacy or whatever we would like to call it forms.

10. Sload become impatient waiting for the souls of the Council.

11. Arnesian War.

12. Hist become upset.

13. Council is unable to communicate with the ancestors as they once were able to.

14. Heart of Lorkhan sundered. (This also includes the interaction the player will have with the House. Either the slight incline and then inevitable downfall or the slaughter of the Council and the harsh downfall of the House is presumed to be within this time frame.)

15. Fall of Morrowind.

Nice! That reminds me of the harvest song from seven samurai.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuTcL8A5gUc

Under the council house of each clanstead is a chamber, the Hall of Covenant. It contains 'gates' to the two neighbouring clansteads. To use a gate, one must carry the corresponding key, a 'covenant link' cut from ebony and formed into the stylized shape of a bone with a hole through either end and generally worn on an amulet. (These links are represented on the Dres sigil, I may draw more detailed/less stylized concepts for them later).
These links are very rare, generally only granted to high-ranking members of the corresponding clan and designated individuals who act as messengers between clans, who possess the links of the two neighbouring clans. It is a great compliment for an outsider (ie. someone not belonging to the clan) to be gifted with a clan's covenant link; one the player will almost certainly not be on the receiving end of. For one to carry a covenant link without permission is, conversely, a serious crime worthy of the death penalty, whether the offender is a member of House Dres or not.
For great emergencies, and as a symbol of Dres union, a covenant chain hangs in each council house. The chain is naturally formed of individual covenant links and allows unrestricted use of the Dres propylon network. Outside of the aforementioned emergencies it is not to be removed from its place. The Satchem-ithil of House Dres also wears a covenant chain as a sign of office. Carrying one of these without permission is an even greater crime worthy of a proportionally harsher penalty. Don't ask.

Speaking of the Satchem-ithil, I’m sort of thinking that he wouldn’t have an individual place of residence, but would rather migrate from one clan territory to the next like the European concept of itinerant kingship, setting up camp near the clanstead with his honour guard. (In-game his position would be set). He would hold court under a large bug husk.

Morrowind glass and ebony already serve as rough analogues for obsidian, but there are no handy volcanos in or near the Deshaan from which they could get them. I do like the idea of more glass and ebony weaponry with interesting designs, though, and could certainly see high-status Dres possessing weapons and armour made of imported glass and ebony. (While Dres would generally prefer to use local materials, ebony and perhaps glass by extension could be exceptions due to the whole blood-of-a-god status).

Here is my take on the culture of House Dres :
The elite of House Dres has power and wealth, I think interiors could represent that with indeed trading precious minerals and trading in  hallucogens/liqour derived from local flora and fauna. 
I like the idea of Bathhouses like in Ancient Rome, where members of House Dres can socialize and discuss bussiness, their technoligical advancement shows in rich areas with artificial lighting, heating and the re-using of sweet/drinking water using steam-technology they derived from the dwemer.
The poor/neglected areas almost no artificial lighting except for Dres supervisors, drinking water is scarce and crime is heavily punished. Trading in rare materials for high ranking officials is common and is often bartered for militairy, luxury products or slaves.
A variety of deadra is worshipped, primairly Namira : He who gave the council repulsive flesh that could not age.
Secondly Molag Bal, He who gave immortality to their souls, souls that would be send to his domain, freeing them from the pact of the sload, the sload have no knowledge of this.
And Hermeaus Mora, for they seek power from knowledge.

Other Deadra are also worshipped, for dunmer slaves worship in secret Boethiah, she who can overthrow authority and holds secrets.
Like The Ashlanders they hold their values strong, they are not friendly to those outside of their or neighbouring houses, if one would like to join this house they need to prove themselves usefull and resourcefull, one can only ascent to the rank grandmaster with a unanimous vote by the council, The Nerevarine will need to enter the mountain and pass tests, like in ashlander culture to be called Saltkhan of House Dres.

Indeed, open worship of bad deadra gives a bad reputation, but it can also be a taboo in house dres though, that only the council knows what pacts were really made with especially Namira the lord of repulsive creatures and that comes to light later in the questline.
As it was mentioned they were not truly vampires, but mutated beasts, maybe their minds got altered to think like them; territorial behaviour (Just like the tendency for house Dres members to be ruthless, in your words “I am alive because this one is dead”)
There is always a catch, when dealing with deadra, but what that catch is...

TheDVI

Anonytroll

 

Also, for the record, Molag Bal as the father of vampires is a post-Oblivion retcon (Morrowind’s dialogue makes clear that he doesn’t care about vampires), so as this is a somewhat controversial issue with the three people who care about it, it was suggested to leave this ambiguous.

Vampires of Vvardenfell volume II explictly states “In Temple doctrine, one ancient tradition holds that, among his many other crimes, Molag Bal, the Father of Monsters, spawned the first vampire upon the corpse of a defeated foe.”
 

I have to agree on Anonytroll for this one, he may have created the first vampire, but that doesn't mean he cares about them.
Although Molag Bal is most certainly the creator of vampires, in Skyrim's Dawnguard DLC the Vampires exist since the first era before there was de cyrodillic empire. 

About The Vampire Thing : 
This comes from the planning documents, under the Faction, People, Cultures. http://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/content/state-house-dres
It states the follows:
To add insult to injury, a stipulation of this bargain in particular was the fact that the Dunmer had to feed on their own kin to sustain their life force, or suffer mentally debilitating side-effects.
This is reminiscent to the Deadric Quest the Dragonborn does to obtain Namira's Ring. When equipped the wearer can cannibalise the dead for health.
This makes Namira the most prominent Deadric Lord that has had influence on the Dres Council or the entirety of House Dres with 2 leads.
(which also makes he the most likely to be worshipped).
This, has indeed also affected the mind, with the what I call a "beastly” nature of House Dres.
It strongly suggests either normal insanity or the work of Vaernima.
The previous statement of a co-production of Deadra is not likely Molag Bal is the Daedric Lord of Domination after all.
Daedric Lords stand for change, but hold their own values and perspectives strong.
The creation of vampires can be debated because of it's uncertainty, maybe their are different kinds of vampires ?
One thing is certain : If one Deadric Lord has influence it has to be Namira.
 

My answer : desperate times call for desperate measures.    Basically they could've got the help of any deadra, but given the background they could've asked the "good” daedra but maybe the “good” Daedra didn't answer them and basically left them. 
Sidenote : approaching Sheogorath is quite counterproductive, as is Clavicus Vile.
This part has not yet been written, I am not excluding others, but Namira does has a pretty good reason to be involved.
Maybe we need to look into the factors and decide which one('s) is the most involved and I'll write story about it with you guys, deal?
 

Duly noted 

I just personally like to go into specifics, as it is something the player will encounter in their travels, albeit as a high ranking member of House Dres, even then it can still be speculation or information unshareable. I find it is easier to create something if it is known or even speculated that (in this case) certain aspects of this people/culture are influenced by certain Daedric Lords, even if they are given as subtle hints in literature, dialogue or maybe even hinted at by another Daedric Lord (like Hermaeous Mora for example who would love to obtain this secret and add it to his library).

I get why it is purposely avoided, as the state these people and their culture are in, has never been seen before or spoken about on Tamriel, maybe even Nirn, but dropping some clues or hints gives PC's a reason to do a little bit of detective work of their own, and literature or speculation activate them to do so, it adds a layer of depth.
Basically why I did my first post on the topic , because I am interested to know, others may be as well, giving these hints will be like fitting a piece in a puzzle.

Indeed House Dres’ vampirism don't have to be Molag Bal's creation, but whose might it be ? all Daedra stand for change after all.

Sorry if I am not as deeply embedded in the lore or not knowing what Tamriel Rebuilt's mindset is in these kind of situations.
I am here just barely 4 days after all .

I admit, I sometimes get a bit too enthusiastic, which is good in a sense that I am as invested as a player would be. 
Bad in the sense of getting tunnel-vision. 
on the side, what is the clothing style of House Dres ? I want to make some concept art of a House Dres nobleman.
 

Random thought I need to look into further—

In Oblivion dialogue, it’s stated that House Hlaalu and House Dres banded together to pick apart Indoril, but most importantly, freed all their slaves and abolished slavery.

Which is a WTF, because Dres economy is dependant on slavery.

I’d like to have each Great House faction questline support what was said in Oblivion, but I’m stumped on this one. I need to think about more how this would logically pan out, but have to run to work now, so...leaving this as an note-to-self.