Ashlander (Morrowind)

Ashlanders are the nomadic Dunmer barbarians of the Morrowind wastelands. They live in camps of small, mobile huts, herding guar, and hunting wildlife for meat and hides. By, tradition, the Ashlanders claim the right to raid other settlements and other tribes for plunder and slaves. The Ashlanders worship their ancestors, and are led by their Ashkhan, or warchiefs, and are counseled by the arcane wisdom and prophecies of their wise women.

The Velothi are people of Ashlander stock who have abandoned nomadic life and settled among the native Dunmer. The Velothi are despised by their Ashlander cousins as being weak and soft, while the Dunmer look down upon the Veloth as an insignificant underclass.

Ashlander Culture
The Ashlander culture is an anachronistic survival of the ancestor worshipping tribal culture that evolved into the theocratic Great House culture of the native Dunmer. The Ashlanders perversely prefer the impoverished physical culture and subsistence economy of the Ashlander nomadic herder or hunter, and their ancestor worship is shamanistic and primitive by Dunmer and Imperial standards.

Ashlander nomadic camps have portable huts of hides stretched on chitin frames. These huts can be quickly dismantled and packed atop a guar when moving to new grazing and hunting grounds. The khan's hut is simply a larger, more elaborate version of a family hut.

Ashlander Customs
Most ashlanders wish all foreigners and their false gods could be driven from Morrowind. At the very least, Ashlanders wish that the foreign devils would leave them in peace. Ashlanders think it shameful to attack unarmed persons, but will kill without hesitation an armed person who offends them or their clan laws. No Ashlander is fool enough to make war against the Empire. However if such a war might be won, many Ashlanders might cheerfully give their lives to win such a war.

Among clan and kin, Ashlander courtesy is very proper and and polite, but to strangers they are mean and hateful. Ashlander challenges are very solemn and serious things. Ashlanders are not offended by gifts of money, and take them as tokens of difference and respect. Among outcast Ashlanders, beware the mabrigash, renegade witch warrior women who practice dark magic.

Ashlanders may challenge a stranger who enters a yurt without invitation. Customs differ with different tribes, but leave when requested and you may be forgiven. When challenged for sport, it is acceptable to decline. When challenged for honor it is shameful to decline. Honor challenges come from offense given in speech or action, or may represent customary formal challenges of status or ritual.