Vvar - Sailing on the Winds of Fortune

[KuKulzA]

It's one of those Great House recruiting books, but a new one for the new times. Each one will have a different attitude. As you can see here (hopefully) the Hlaalu are beginning to pride themselves on going from rags to riches and now arguably the most powerful House and favored by Helseth. All because of their ability to adapt to change.

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Sailing on the Winds of Fortune
by Raynasa Rethan

The Hlaalu home is an angular adobe hut derived from its Velothi-style ancestors. As the muddy floodplains of Ouada Thir provided both silt for planting and mud to make homes, the early Hlaalu found that an adobe hut, supported by the giant corkbulbs of the South, would be a home lasting generations. In the south, a peasant?s home is the same as his ancestors?, and that is quite understandable. Yet is seems on Vvardenfell there are adobe homes with the same design and materials, however corkbulb grows not as long. Thus how are the homes identical? And furthermore, how do the roof-beams have nails? Only the Redoran have Morrowind?s few iron deposits in the Velothi Mountains. Why are these homes not only the same yet have improvements that cannot be made with native resources? Trade.

We of the Hlaalu are a merchant-people. For long we have been looked down upon with disgust as we produced nothing. Yet was it not our caravans that brought Dres saltrice to the western Indoril and the Redoran? Did we not supply the armies of Morrowind in its wars? When the often poorly provisioned but battle-hardened warriors of the Redoran and Dres clans fought Nord or Argonian, did we not provide for them? Yes, we did so at a cost, but then we were a lowly House, being only able to claim the title of Great House because of our numbers, our capitol of Narsis, and our trade. The clays of Vvardenfell are not as good for adobe homes, but much is mixed with imported clays and made into houses. Beams of southern corkbulb are brought in from the jungled lands to make the ceiling supports. And nails from Cyrodiil to keep the roof stronger incase of ashstorms. We do not limit ourselves to what is in the environment but bring in what is needed or wanted, and thus we thrive.

They call us filfthy, greedy, and manipulative, yet most of us are honest, diligent traders. A good trade-prince would not turn on an unwilling customer, for that is bad business. Being in trouble with the law does not help a trader either. And a Hlaalu merchant certainly does not want to manipulate Telvanni or Redoran customers who may forget civility and burst out with spell or sword. No, we appeal to our customers? needs and wants but do not fail to gain. We have thus been better able to adapt, as we saw the invincibility of the legions, the greatness of the navies, and the cunning of the Imperial generals, we knew times had changed. We saw the disunity of the other Houses, and as a mother must do, sometimes will let the children go into danger so that they will learn better, but we did provide an example within ourselves of how to react to the winds of change. The Indoril are beyond their time, their power waning and their leadership inadequate. The Redoran are in an unfortunate state, but, the stubborn-folk that they are, refuse to align themselves with the prosperous powers. The Telvanni are cunning, but disunity and xenophobia will be their eventual undoing. However, we are glad the Dres, though with difficulty, have joined us under King Helseth?s leadership to adapt to the modern world and raise Morrowind to its heights. As a member of House Hlaalu, and as a subject of King Helseth, you will want to be smooth-talking and convincing. You must believe in your goods and confident in your abilities. Ideally, if there is conflict, you can dispatch your enemy quietly so as to not disturb others. If you have these qualities as well as loyalty to House and Clan, then go to Balmora and asked to be adopted into our Great House. Welcome home, be you outlander or f?lah.

[Deeza]

Done with only minor alterations