Vvar: Aryon's letter on psychological plans

[KuKulzA]

[TITLE]Master Aryon's Letter on His Psychological Plans[/TITLE]


Hail my good friend Baladas,

• I would like your opinion on my plans for the psychological developement of our people, the Telvanni. Historically, we have been isolated and independent warrior-wizard holds held together by a less than influential council that cares little for politics. However, that has changed since my rise to power. The younger and more ambitious generation of Telvanni is a sign of changes to come. However, I need some way to rally the older and more powerful, though uninterested generation, into embracing change and war. Obviously, it seems war could break out at any point should a spark be set off. If we are in a war, or even neutral, we will be crushed as our individual holds cannot defend against armies. Therefore I plan to first recruit more warriors among the Telvanni. Secondly I would like to have Daedra worship to be 'allowed' in our society- a very unreligious but tolerant people; and I would also like to have betmer slaves freed on the condition that they assimilate into the army or join the Betmeri League. With the increase of soldiery, I hope to instill a greater sense of unity and militaristic pride in our people. Such an emotion has not been present in our society for several hundred years, except briefly in the Ashlander-Telvanni War at Vos which a Telvanni coalition I led succesfully defended Vos and brokered a peace-treaty and later an alliance. Daedra worship in moderation will place us closer to the ashlanders, betmer, and cults we are attempting to ally and hold together as they all have large populations of Daedra-worshippers. Our greatest aid should a war come would be from the betmer. They are the most versatile force we are allied with. They have warriors adept in ambush, guerilla warfare, and frontline war. The ashlanders and Cults seem better suited for more specialized roles. Therefore I hope to increase their disposition towards our culture by releasing betmer slaves and encouraging them to join the League of Betmeri.
  
  Now, the hardest part would be changing the culture of the Telvanni. Within ourselves, we are a survival of the fittest society. However in the face of the rest of Morrowind, we are often-times unaggressive isolationists. I hope, by giving the more aggressive younger generation more power, the culture can gradually shift to a more militaristic and dynamic society. I have also begun sowing in people a sense of unity by having the commoners petition to their local Master-wizard for action such as defenses, garrison of troops, etc. As of now, it appears to be working, and with your support, as well as the young Uvirith's support, and Divayth Fyr my master's reassurance, I am confident in my abilities to transform the society into a more unified and aggressive Great House. What do you think of my plan, Demnavanni my friend?

May wisdom and power be yours,
Master Aryon





NOTE: this is a piece of literature in-game, probably tied to a quest

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EDIT: I have placed thi shere to gather criticism and suggestions from all, thanks

[raggidman]

This is a chunky subject to tackle and brave speculation - what Aryon might say in this context will be overwritten by the events that the Devs come up with for the intervening years as well as current.

Too bad we do not have more input from Ob yet.

But I suggest that whenever the inspiration strikes you you add to this so that you have a foundation and structure to work on (and correct) when we finally hear the Word...

[Zarkis]

A short comment: I wouldn't use terms like 'psychological development', it sounds to modern to me.

[KuKulzA]

Originally posted by Zarkis
A short comment: I wouldn't use terms like 'psychological development', it sounds to modern to me.

suggestion?

[Caligula Superfly]

Something like "instilling values" perhaps? Instead of Aryon discussing how to thange their mentality, he could look at it from a simpler perspective, like making them think something. A rally of the people sort of thing.

BTW, thats some good stuff you wrote up. I have a feeling whatever OB does won't muck it up much, its unlikley they will give a whole lot of information on Telvanni politics, so you pretty much have free reign.

[raggidman]

Think now would be a good time to look at this again in the light of the Fyr Quest being developed on the Vvardenfell board.

The people who are gunning for Fyr would want to separate Master Aryon from his Master.... = possibilities for skullduggery!

edit typo: ggod to good???

[Razorwing]

KuKulzA: I'm curious, did you by any chance write your text before the developments in Morrowind during Oblivion's time period became known? How Helseth illegalized slavery and freed the enslaved beast race people, and how the Telvanni on Vvardenfell were said to be occupied with fighting the invading daedra? If so, do you feel that has any bearing on your text?

Because I can believe somewhat that Aryon would choose to free the slaves before Helseth decreed it as law, although I personally find it illogical. For one, the Telvanni were the most fervent defenders of slavery of the three Houses featured in TES3 (Dres were even more fervent, I think). Two, legalized slavery, as abhorrent as it is, really does wonders for an economy as well as a military power; slave labor frees up unslaved citizens to focus on arts and literature, and make good cannon fodder to send to the front to thin out the opposing force without any losses of paid, culturally heterogenic soldiers with expensive equipment. So if Aryon wanted to strengthen the Telvanni, freeing their slaves would do the exact opposite.

But I find it hard to believe that the Telvanni would embrace daedra worshippers at a point in time when daedra are trying to eradicate them from the face of Tamriel. Wouldn't they be seen more like aiding and abetting the enemy?

How come he's describing the Ashlander-Telvanni alliance (and the result) to his Telvanni friend? Wouldn't Baladas already know of it?

[raggidman]

It may feel very strange, but I can argue this to a different set of conclusions Razorwing...

Slaves are very expensive to run as you have to spend money to keep them healthy and happy for your own financial benefit and safety, but free people can starve to death...they are not your responsibility...

Aryon is progressive technically...but then again what of the builders in the dungeons of his tower, and the legionnaire in his museum? Are we confusing scientific progressiveness and his attachment to the dunmer in his village with an attitude to slavery?

It may be that if he agreed with your assessment of the economic and military value of slavery that he would retain it...as if you look at his actions you will see that he is quite ruthless in his actions when he deems such to be pragmatic. So I feel that his precise orientation is that pragmatism rules all, and he simply wants a structure in which his people will loyally follow him, giving their best however that can most efficiently be achieved...

As to Daedra worshippers - he uses Daedra extensively in his own Tower, and I feel that he fully supports their use, but wants to combine it with 'Imperial and Dwemer style science'. So I can put forward the idea that he would fight the Invaders not only as a matter of self preservation, but also as he might see the invasion as a threat to his freedom to use Daedra as he sees fit, though he would couch it in sugary terms. Therefore maybe we should strengthen the position of the the 'good' vs the 'bad' Daedra argument? So that he might set forth a 'Battle in Hell' scenario, whereby the only sure route to victory would be in allying with the 'good' Daedra of the Velothian creedos to defeat the 'bad' invaders. And on this note he might rage at any of the old school who thought that they should be free to ally with whichever Daedra they saw fit (regardless of effect on others) as being a danger to themselves and all Telvanni.

[KuKulzA]

this was made long long ago... and I plan to make revisions to reflect the new info...

[Razorwing]

KuKulzA: Okidoki, I was just curious.

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black[/HR]

I moved the latter posts from this thread to here. Two of them seemed unfair and antagonistic towards KuKulzA, and as a whole, the cut posts were unrelated to the topic of this thread. Keep up the good work KuKulzA - I may not always agree with your conclusions, but your passion for lore is unmistakeable and often insightful.