House Telvanni

The Great House Telvanni is one of the Six Great Houses located in Morrowind.

Traditionally isolationists, most House Telvanni Wizard-lords pursue wisdom and mastery in solitude. But certain ambitious Wizards, their retainers, and their clients have entered whole-heartedly into the competition to control and exploit Vvardenfell's resources, by building towers and bases all along the eastern coast. They believe that wisdom confers power and power confers right.

The House Telvanni has two capitals: one is Sadrith Mora on Vvardenfell, and the second is Port Telvannis, situated in the northeastern reach of continental Morrowind, on a small island.

Telvanni have little respect for anyone other than themselves, including other members of House Telvanni. They prefer to build their towers without stairs, forcing visitors to bring some sort of levitation magic. This not only gives them more seclusion, but acts as a sort of test to see if their visitors are worthy.

They have worked with the other Houses on some rare occasions such as breaking the monopoly of the Mages Guild that House Hlaalu had the initiative to stand against. Many Telvanni are known to be necromancers, some driving themselves mad with the practice, and their retainers are often involved in illegal activities, making House Telvanni unpopular amongst other Houses, although this is likely the way they prefer it to be. House Telvanni is the main source of business for the Morrowind slave trade, although their slaves are not truly necessary. Many if not most of the oldest Telvanni wizards living on the furthest eastern coasts of Morrowind are thought to be either Vampires or Liches.

As a rule, House Telvanni is quite obscenely wealthy. Some accounts claim that as a whole, the House has a net worth rivalling the riches of the Imperial Treasury. In this way, it is very fortunate that Telvanni (as a rule) have very little regard for material prosperity. Much of this financial leverage is greatly mitigated by the fact that many Telvanni exhaust their resources with ceaseless bickering and infighting. Entire cities have been known to change hands repeatedly between two or more Telvanni Wizard-lords over petty grievances and minor disputes that have, over the centuries, grown into major blood-wars. Often, the citizens of Telvanni controlled regions do not care much for or even especially notice the internal politics of the Great House, as abstract magickal vendettas between lofty, never-seen plutocrats and their legions of paid pawns rarely interrupt the lives of the common Dunmeri serf. A few notable exceptions have broken the silence of the ivory tower before, such as instances of Telvanni lords massacring each others logistical assets, however the House has various ways of making such occurrences "disappear" when the net effect of bad PR becomes too high. Additionally, a great deal of Telvanni wealth is spent on purely hedonistic extravagance and many luxuries for which most Telvanni have no real use.

Unlike other organizations in Tamriel, Telvanni do not bond themselves to each other. They value their personal independence and privacy above anything else. Belonging to House Telvanni does not mean much for its members. They have just one rule: there are no rules. Telvanni describe it with the following words: "If you steal from another Telvanni, but still live, then clearly you deserve whatever you stole. Murdering your opponents by magic or treachery is the traditional way of settling disputes. If you win, then clearly your argument has more merit. You may be expelled as in any other Great House, but most Telvanni will not care or even know about it." Telvanni have only a formal administrative system, and their House serves only to discuss common interests and share resources amongst the truly magickally gifted. Most Telvanni wizard-lords loathe the Mages' Guild, considering it a pedestrian organisation filled with no-talent hacks, impotent old blowhards, has-beens and other assorted conjurors of cheap parlour tricks.

House Telvanni has a plan to peacefully occupy all uninhabited parts of Vvardenfell in their own distinctive way. Any major construction projects in Vvardenfell require the consent of the Duke of Ebonheart, which is patently hard to obtain, and all other organizations suffer by this. The Telvanni, however, have no fear or respect towards Imperial law, and younger House Telvanni retainers are frequently sent, occasionally with a contingent of slaves, to build their towers across the remote unseen and un-looked for regions for Vvardenfell, not asking or informing anyone. According to the House's plan, as the towers grow to towns, most of Vvardenfell should de facto become theirs. Almost all Telvanni are powerful, wealthy wizards, and can protect themselves against the law, but such expansion is a danger for all other Great Houses, and they sometimes attack less protected Telvanni outposts.