Sorry for my inexperience with Morrowind, but I have some questions about the governmental functions and history of Morrowind's government.
1. I know there are five houses, but is there a specific function for each of hhem? Like, did Redoran train the Dunmer warriors, did Hlaalu handle the trades and other stuff going through Morrowind's borders?
2. I know there was a sixth house, but what exactly did it do? And how did it become non-existent?
3. Can someone give a summary of the history of the six houses? Please DO NOT put any Morrowind spoilers in there, as I haven't played the game yet due to lack of a computer, but once I get it, I plan on playing the crap outta Morrowind. Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for a Morrowind newbie!!
But that's just my opinion, so it's likely completely stupid.
I really think the best way to find these answers, as well as accumulate knowledge of the world of Morrowind is to play the game itself. Try and get a feel for the world, talk to the in-game NPC about various topics/ read the in-game books, and gradually you will build an understanding of the world. You really don't need any prior knowledge of Tamriel (despite possessing some judging by your earlier posts in other topics), and I think the best part of the whole experience is finding out yourself.
That being said, if you really want answers, I'll provide them, but remember that some of this is merely my own interpretation, as well as me being intentionally vague
1. The Great Houses don't fulfill a specific function in the manner you describe, they are families of nobles and retainers bound together by similar ideals/bloodlines etc that control and operate parts of Morrowind (with respect to the overarching Morrowind government under the Tribunal, as well as the Imperial government, though this is less so in some cases). and constantly vies for more power with other factions and other Great Houses, as well as competing amongst themselves. Great Houses tend to have unique characteristics that differentiate themselves between each other that you will find in-game. This is probably where you got confused, just because Redoran has a warrior culture for example, doesn't mean they trained all the soldiers of Morrowind, it just means they are specialized in being warriors (among other things).
2. What did the Sixth House do? probably the same as the other Great Houses from my post above (I'm not really sure on unique characteristics), they disappeared during the War of the First Council.
3. "The Great Houses traditions derive from ancient Dunmer clan and tribes, but now function as political parties." - Great Houses of Morrowind
They have also been affected by the the treaty with the Imperial government, of which you will find out within the game itself.
Also, if anyone else notices mistakes here, feel free to correct them, it's a little hard covering such a broad topic while trying to keep it spoiler-free and vague.
"SLOAD. SOAP. IS. NOT. SOAP"- TF
"As to where the ash comes from.. fuck if I care." -Sload
"At TR, we LOVE our quests to be steeped in lore, so you'd be able to flex your CHIM there just fine." - Nanu
It is really quite hard to explain things like this without spoiling elements of the game. Matin did a good job explaining what Houses are. I'll try to give you a very short overview of the story of the Dunmer up until Morrowind. The actual history of Tamriel is super complicated and expansive, so please don't quote what I'm about to say ever anywhere as I'm ignoring a crazy amount of details and subtleties. People will laugh at me for presenting it in such a simple and linear way. But you've got to start somewhere.
The Elves in TES descend from immortal spirits that were tricked into creating the world, which turned them mortal. The general sentiment among these Aldmer ("Old Elves", would be a very rough and ugly translation of that name) was that being mortal sucks, so they want to become immortal again. Various groups of Elves try to accomplish this in a lot of different ways. One group rejects the idea, and instead embraces their mortality. These gold-skinned Chimer ("Changed Elves"), led by their prophet Veloth, leave the Elven homeland and travel east, to Morrowind.
When they arrive they find another group of Elves already living there, the Dwemer ("Deep Elves", or Dwarves, as Imperials know them). The Chimer and the Dwemer don't get along well at the start, but at some point they make an alliance to fight the Nords and eventually there's peace between the two races. The Chimer worship the Daedra (old spirits, that didn't partake in the creation of the world) who tell them to organise themselves in Houses (groups of families). Eventually many of the smaller Houses merge with like-minded families to become the six Great Houses (Hlaalu, Indoril, Dres, Redoran, Telvanni, Dagoth). Together with the Dwemer (who are named the honorary Seventh House) they form the First Council and rule Morrowind.
After some time, the Chimer find out that the Dwemer are constructing their own God underneath Red Mountain, the giant volcano at the center of Vvardenfell. In the eyes of the Chimer, this is an act of heresy, and the two races go to war with one another. This is the War of the First Council. The god-heroes of the Chimer attack Red Mountain. Dark things which I won't explain happen beneath the volcano, in the end the entire Dwemer race vanishes, House Dagoth is ruined, the greatest hero of the Chimer is dead, the Daedra curse the Chimer race to become the Dunmer (Dark Elves) and Almalexia, Sotha Sil and Vivec (Almsivi, the Tribunal) solidify their position as living gods of their people.
A lot of history happens, at some point Morrowind joins the Empire (again, I'm not going to go into details here, this stuff is more complicated than I make it sound) and now Morrowind is kind of awkwardly ruled by both the Imperials and the Tribunal Temple.
If after playing Morrowind you have more specific questions you should check out [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=21531]Notes on the government of Morrowind[/url] here in the lore forum.
Gosh this is the most ugly piece of text I've ever produced. I'm tired and bad at summarizing things.
Last edited by Why on Sat Apr 06, 2013 12:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks for the answers, but one more question nags at me.
Watching a Morrowind LP, which incidently introduced me to the Elder Scrolls series has revealed from the commentator's words, that the ultimate goal or end to the main quest line is a battle against "Dagoth-Ur." Which leads me to my question:
What made House Dagoth "evil"? And, better yet, can this question be answered without spoiling anything else of the main plot of Morrowind?
But that's just my opinion, so it's likely completely stupid.
TheLexicon wrote:What made House Dagoth "evil"? And, better yet, can this question be answered without spoiling anything else of the main plot of Morrowind?
No offense, but I think your questions are better asked at a place like the official forums. This subforum is concerned with the lore of TR, not just any Morrowind lore.
Have patience and explore Morrowind yourself once you get the chance.
