Been tinkering with these idea's for a few months to give the Shipal Clans a proper place within Hlaalu history and broader Dunmer  culture.  and with his blessing this document is meant to directly supersede Gnomeys oriognal writeup on the clans: https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/forum/group-red-swarm-militia while including all its best parts.

Overview
The Shinathi clans of the Shipal Shin highlands are Ashlander-esque velothi throwbacks who occupy a position in Hlaalu society roughly equivalent to the chap-thil of other houses while being ‘independent' for sake of deniability in the houses dealings.

History

The “Red Khans” were a coalition of tribes from north of Mournhold that formed from several smaller clans unable to compete with the emergent Houses of Ebonheart and Mournhold in the wake of the High Velothi Collapse in the late Merethic. These groups moved south raiding around the edges of the Deshaan and Coronati before arriving into the eastern Shipal canyons where they discovered the emergent Narsis. 

The modern Shinathi claim they sought to consult their ancestors in the great catacombs under Narsis and the Hlaalu selfishly refused, while Hlaalu histories claim they simply started raiding from the first and invented the excuse after they converted to the Tribunal. Whatever the case may be the clans began raiding farms and caravans around the settlement, but never attempted to attack the city directly as its formidable position on the plateau and the river blocking all but one side boat made it hard to attack directly. 

Narsis itself however was internally divided by feuds within the families of Clan Hlaalu, which turned into a full house war within the walls that ultimately resulted in the Hlaalu third family and their surviving retainers fleeing the city and begging the Khans for protection. In exchange they detailed of the city's defenses, which the Clans exploited to sack the city subsequently imposing yearly tributes on it for over a century after.

This continued until the coming of Nerevar who dueled and defeated their High Khan, causing their coalition to break and flee into the mountains. 

As the Hlaalu swore allegiance to Nerevar in the wake of the battle and the Khans didn't they suffered heavily during the First Council, the Hlaalu’s trading acumen and preserved collection of Veloths writings made them vital for the chimeri renaissance, while the clans were held up as traitors to Veloths legacy and scorned.

However the War of the First Council, specifically its oft forgotten western front, caused a marked reversal of this image. When the Dwarfs of the Elder Holds sent their war machines south into the riverlands, the Waters March was not yet established and the disparate keeps and warbands struggled against the bronze host, especially as the greater Redoran host was north in Velothis and Vvardenfell.
At this critical moment Shinathi Kwoom Riders came down from the canyons to harry the Dwarven flank, for pillage more than a desire to help “fellow” Chimer but still the unexpected aid was well received.

Following the end of the War of the First Council House Hlaalu sent envoys to the Shinathi ostensibly to bring word of the Tribunal to the clans who had not witnessed their ascension, but with the main agenda being to secure a treaty to end the vestigial raiding and allow the Hlaalu to focus solely on their business endeavors. This treaty and the Shinathi's subsequent conversion to the Tribunate faith blossomed into a mutually beneficial arrangement where the Hlaalu would give the clans easy access to supplies and free reign in the canyons, in exchange the clans would ignore Hlaalu caravans and provided security from Allesian and Barsaebic aggression.

The Waters Redoran did not enjoy this cordial agreement and the minor houses of the upper Othreleth would find themselves in a constant state of low level raiding between themselves and the Shinathi.

As with everything in southern Morrowind, the Four Score War brought large changes to how the clans functioned.

Reman II's legion's unexpected early capture of Narsis and the short, but brutal siege of Kragenmoor turned the entire region into a warzone, with Imperial forces looking to claim passes through the canyons to link their troops, while entering into the long campaign to take the fortresses of the Waters Redoran one by one. What Hlaalu forces had escaped Narsis joined with the Shinathi clans, returning to the Strongholds of old to wage a guerilla war which continued up until the armistice of 2920 and the subsequent withdrawal.

In the burned out remnants of Narsis's old Council hall, the surviving councilors of the house and Shinathi khans met and laid out the plans of the great Hlaalu conspiracy, subsequently the informal collection of treaties between the two was locked into a firm, if secret, alliance. The Shianthi provided clan Hlaalu directly with manpower forming the initial basis of the reformed council guard and canyon watch, with the Hlaalu constructing watch posts and caravanserais  in the Shipal which the clansmer would settle into as steadings. Likewise Hlaalu merchants invested heavily in the reconstruction of the Waters Marches devastated villages and towns, with “mercenary guards” protecting the workers as the buildings were remade in the Hlaalu style. Over the course of the second era most of the Shinathi clans integrated into the new system, maintaining small herding camps where permanent settlement was impractical compared to their traditional ways.

The Shinathi had been in a steady rate of decline during the third era as clansmer found opportunities in House Hlaalu's expansion into the north following the armistice and them not being overly sentimental about tradition to begin with (most Khans not even knowing about the Hlaalu conspiracy beyond the vaguest innuendo of past oaths to Narsis and favors of old). But they have been seeing a steady resurgence as the Empire's presence weakens and opportunities are revealed closer to home. Banditry focused on outlander caravans is slowly increasing and even low level raiding into Dres territory, causing concern for the Hlaalu that they might have to intervene. 

Tribal Structure and Practices

The Shinathi clans are structured much like Ashlanders, but have tribunate priests instead of wise women and are open to Dunmer from outside the tribes joining. 

Shinathi clans are as a rule smaller than Ashlander tribes and the hierarchy is less clearly defined below the leading Khan, as unlike Ashlander tribes where there is a stronger variety between warriors, hunters and herders, every clansmer in the Shipal is expected to fight and guard their herds, this remains what the clans live and die by, seniority thus being dictated by experience and ability with each tribe's Khan being first and foremost the chief herdsman.

Clans will have a single main camp along with the majority of their herd, where the khan, priest and their families will reside, along with a few other herders, the rest of the clan will then defuse among the surrounding area, either in lone camps or in caves. Lone tents will be for outer herdsman or canyon watchers who bring word when large military columns or rival clans are nearby. Cave camps will either be for defending spawning grounds (elaborated on below) or storage for smuggled goods.

The largest clans in the deep canyons will have the clansteads in the strongholds of their ancestors, with much of the space in the lower level being used for enclosure with dwellings above reserved for clansmer.

Clans primarily stake their territory based off of proximity to caves housing mountain springs. Unlike other tribal peoples this isn't just to do with drinking water, instead these encompass the all important spawning grounds of the Kwoom, who need to be immersed in water to lay eggs. The Mountain Hooms of Velothis simply need to be driven to the river sources or ice lakes, a process the Redoran will often allow the Hooms to do wild. In contrast, the Sand kwooms require careful herding to reach the far rarer and often secret locations of springs in the dry Shipal, as rival clans or the infamous Horned Butchers of the canyons will happily poach stray Kwoom.

The raiding the Shinathi were historically known for has given way to extortion of the smugglers using canyon roads secluded from the main highway and their operations moving contraband. While the Cammona Tong and Thieves Guild vie for the lucrative smuggling routes along the rivers and mainroads, the clans hold a virtual monopoly on any smuggling carried out across the canyon borders, either tolling smugglers or outright running operations themselves, making both syndicates keen to vie for their blessing.

Kwoom: https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/asset/sand-kwoom 

Mountain Hooms originally were brought south during the late merethic by clans from Velothis, with the creatures initally acclimating well to the warm rivers of the Othreleth, breeding quicker and needing less thick “fur”, however over time they proved poorly equipped to the ever-present spore clouds of the region, with subsequent generations suffering worse from the privations rather than adapting, in time the southern hoom got pushed further to the periphery where the clans found them. While poorly suited for the Othreleth, the Sand Kwoom proved hardy enough for canyon life and soon became the favored mount of the clans, with their clawed feet being able to climb surprisingly steep cliffs while they survive off of
comparatively meager forage.

Sand Kwooms produce a briny mucilage along the fronds between their thin armored plates to protect against the sand, which when boiled with desert herbs creates a broth that provides one of the main staple of the clans’ diets. In addition, the fronds themselves can be dried off and used to make clothing. When slaughtered, Kwoom chitin will normally be used for bowls and implements rather than armor but it still does get used for shields and occasional breastplate. Finally, the meat is well prized as a seasonal indulgence compared to the ubiquity of hopperflesh. (Ingame given Kwoom/Hoom are in fact crustaceans the meat should be functionally identical to crab meat).

Hoppers: https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/asset/goathopper 

Sharai Hoppers were native to northern Indoril territory like the Shinathi themselves, ranging north and south of the Mephalan Vales, where they stripped the lowlands bare before returning to mountain nests. During Chimer settlement, these creatures were devastating to early farming attempts so the Houses took great pains to destroy them; the proto-Indoril achieving total success. Conversely, the nomadic chimer had developed a somewhat symbiotic relationship with them, with the clans selectively destroying new nests and hunting the larger ones down to size, while also dealing with the hoppers’ traditional predators (cliff racers, telvanni beetles and the multitude of spiders which haunt the vales). When the clans moved south they took fertile eggs with them, seeding populations as they went, being a contributing factor in the deforestation of the Deshaan where the hoppers ate through the western forest’s vital ground cover.

Hoppers will strip any foliage they come across to the root, “fattening” quickly over their short lives and providing a fine source of meat. Due to this and their chitin, the Shinathi continue to herd Hoppers, albeit their frequent spawning make it difficult to control their numbers. Hopper eggs are inedible even to the dunmeri palate, but rather than wasting the excess, the eggs are instead pulped and mixed with seeds before a clan leaves an area, where the mixture serves to reseed a region for the following season. Should a clan grow careless however, the Hoppers can occasionally break free and begin breeding feral, quickly becoming a major pest. In the event this happens, the guilty clan will send runners to neighboring clans as well as to the Hlaalu and Legion, even during hostile years, to clear out the infestation before it can grow and become a wider problem.

While compared to settled Dunmer, the Shinathi lifestyle seems backwards; they aren’t strict traditionalists and won’t reject foreign influences or goods if those improve their quality of life. They favor metal for weapons over chitin and will even wear mail or plate they loot, although they generally prefer chitin armor’s lighter weight for maneuvering the canyons. 

In terms of clutter they supplement redware and stoneware with western metal and find crates and barrels more practical than urns or vases.

Given that their environment is full of dust and strong winds, they employ layers of fine textile both on their persons as well as around their homes as windbreaks, often weighed down with coins, bells or other baubles.

They tend to favor bright clothes with warm colors and a lot of engraved metal decorations, and are rather hirsute for Dunmer, often sporting large muttonchops or beards and long hair tied in single or multiple topknots.

The clans speak common but noticeably tend to mix in a lot of antiquated Dunmeris, most notably in names and in referring to themselves (and other Elves) as Che rather than Mer. This tendency actually gets increased around outsiders to confuse them, while they tend to be perfectly fluent (if still accented) among each other.

The clans prominently style themselves after the Horned Butchers, massive insectoid horrors that prowl the deep canyons of Shipal Shin. Hunting the beasts serves as a great source of respect, as even a single Butcher can threaten a herd of Kwoom and their herders alike.

Edit 02/07/2023: Made the long overdue edit to actually include the new name, a few misc wording changes/clarifications and added Fei's clothing concept.

Credits

Gnomey for original writeup, art and critique

Jack and Phid for proofreading and critique

Miner for grammar

Fei for Art