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House Redoran prizes the virtuesof duty, gravity, and piety. Duty is to one's own honor, and to one's family and clan. Gravity is the essential seriousness of life. Lifeis hard, and events must be judged, endured, and reflected upon with duecare and earnestness. Piety is respect for the gods, and the virtues theyrepresent. A light, careless life is not worth living.
— Great Houses of Morrowind
House Redoran is one of the fiveremaining Great Houses ofthe Dunmer. It governs the Redoran District of northwestern Morrowind from the city of Blacklight, close to the borderwith Skyrim. In the District of Vvardenfell, the House's council seat waslocated in Ald'ruhn, and all councilors lived there in the hollowed shell of acolossal prehistoric Emperor Crab, in the district known as Ald'ruhn-under-Skar.Other Redoran-dominated towns on Vvardenfell included Khuul, MaarGan and Ald Velothi.
The main focus of House Redoranis maintaining the traditionsof the settled Dunmer and, more specifically, the way of the warrior. Due to this focus, the Tribunal Templewas a natural ally. There is also mutual respect between them and the Fighters Guild and Imperial Legion. They have less respect for the other Imperialinstitutions, such as the Mages Guild, the Thieves Guild, and the Imperial Cultreligion. They appropriated the ancient Dwemer symbol for Lorkhan asthe sigil of their house.
The True Nobles
A Redoran's duty is first to the Tribunal Temple, second tothe Great House Redoran, and third to one's family and clan. A Redoran noble must know the virtue of gravity.It is not the Redoran way to laugh at serious matters, for it shows disrespect. It is not the Redoran way to spread rumors, for they fester and breed dissention.
Redoran settlements are designed in the Dunmer village style,built of local materials, with organic curves and undecorated exteriors inspired by the landscape and by theshells of giant native insects. Redoran villages are typically centered onTemple compounds and their courtyards, with huts and tradehouses gathered arounda central plaza, as in the West Gash village of Gnisis, which was, for a time,rented to the Imperial Legions.
Conflicts often arise with theother Great Houses. The mostobvious conflict during the late Third Era was centered on the town of Caldera that was founded by theImperial Caldera Mining Company with the support of House Hlaalu. There was alsobickering with the Telvanni concerning the founding of certain new settlementsin the Ashlands.
House Redoran's leader as of thelate Third Era, BolvynVenim, was somewhat unscrupulous for a Redoran. Few among the rest of the hierarchy actually liked him, but theRedoran respect for strong leadership (which few Redoran leaders have displayedin recent history to that point, hence the weakness of the house during thetime) and prowess in arms ensures that he nevertheless retained his position. Hewas influential in securing Redoran's share of the frontier lands whenVvardenfell was opened for settlement in 3E 414, and moved the council to Ald'ruhn as aresult.
The Rise of the Redoran
During the Oblivion Crisis, the Empire pulled a vast majority of the Legions out of Morrowind to deal with the gates opening in their homeland of Cyrodiil. The Dunmer had no standing army at the time, and the armies of daedra destroyed the Redorancity of Ald'ruhn. The destruction of their ancestral city, coupled with their historic status as "the hereditary defenders of the Morrowind", ledto House Redoran taking charge, and they were slowly able to raise an army. After the Oblivion Crisis, thehouse started to rebuild.However, in 4E 5, the Red Year brought further destruction to Morrowind. All of the settlements onVvardenfell were obliterated. The Redoran councilor living in Mournhold atthe time coordinated the relief effort, issuing a directive to send soldiers,supplies and able-bodied mer to the settlements which were hit the hardest.
Shortly after the eruption of Red Mountain, Morrowind came under siegefrom the Argonians of Black Marsh. While the Argonians were able to decimate thesouth and east of mainland Morrowind, the army of House Redoran prevented them from progressing further into the north and west. The political affairs surrounding the Oblivion Crisis and the Red Year culminated in a power vacuum, as House Hlaalu was unceremoniously dismissed from the Grand Council.Animosity between Hlaalu and Redoran increased, as House Redoran seized the opportunity and became the leading power in what remained of Morrowind, taking the position that Hlaalu had held for centuries due to their close ties withthe Empire.The Hlaalu believe that Redoran were directly involved inthe reorganization of the council, and have held a grudge against them ever since. Subsequently, Redoran relocated the capital of Morrowind to Blacklight, as Mournhold had been sacked by the Argonians.
Solstheim and House Redoran
In 4E 16, the High King of Skyrim gave the island ofSolstheim to Morrowind as a refuge, and it passed into the control of House Redoran (though the Telvanni established their own settlement, Tel Mithryn, on the southeast coast). House Redoranbenefited from the mining
of ebony there until 4E 181, when the mine at Raven Rock was closed. House Redoran's neglect of Solstheim increased, as without the mine, the island not only held little economic or strategic importance compared with the other seventy-three outlying settlements of Morrowind, but was asignificant source of casualties for the Redoran Guard (they lost twenty-sixguards in a two-year span). However, in 4E 201, the mine re opened, and House Redoran took a renewed interest.
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