Ashlanders.

[Daishi]

I have a simple question, which will probably turn into a discussion.

Ashlander Territory:
Although, I do not believe it is officially recognized by the Empire, the three houses smoewhat respect it. So, what if the Three Houses pulled a USA on the Ashlanders and said
"Well, you can still live there, and we don't mind that, but we want your territory as <%Housename> territory. It would just be a formality and remember, when two warriors stand together, no one dares to appose them"
Eventually taking all their rights and using their land as training camps, mines, and the like. So, what do you guys think?

[KuKulzA]

thats what the House Dunmer ARE doing... except less lying and more actually killing....
actually they TRY to avoid each other....
the Ashlanders are being pushed to extinction of their culture...

Ashlanders aren't officially recognized by anyone... well, sorta
the Telvanni in general respect their land rights and just make isolated holdings here and there but not claiming territory... the Ashlanders are OK with that... its better than a colonization effort....
but the Redoran and Hlaalu are pushing to TAKE lands....
however, the Hlaalu are in the nice fertile regions... so they don't meet up wit Ashlanders cause the ones living in the fertile areas and the rest of Morrowind were... well guess what, either killed or driven away, or assimilated to House Dunmer culture....

but the Redoran are in the Ash wastes... the Ashlands, the Molag Amur, and the Grazelands are the last havens of the Ashlanders.... should they lose these lands, they are pretty much screwed....

the Telvanni may be able to protect those in the Grazelands as there is an economic alliance... in th Molag Amur, the Erabenimsun and other tribes can hold out for a LONG time.... but in the northern and central ashlands, the Redoran are competing with Urshilaku and others... and those tribes were also more afflicted by the Blight than the others....

[Arbiter]

Aren't Ashlanders a happy bunch? Have to do battle against the most militaristic House of them all, Redoran.

[KuKulzA]

...and in this case the Imperials don't mind helping the Redoran out... remember, the Legions grudingly respect the Redoran for their military prowess despite them being semi-enemies

[Ixidors Bane]

Maybe you guys should read this book: A Short History of Morrowind. Specifically these paragraphs.

From A Short History of Morrowind by Jeanette Sitte

The Temple District included the city of Vivec, the fortress of Ghostgate, and all sacred and profane sites (including those Blighted areas inside the Ghostfence) and all unsettled and wilderness areas on Vvardenfell. In practice, this district included all parts of Vvardenfell not claimed for Redoran, Hlaalu, or Telvanni Districts. The Temple stubbornly fought all development in their district, and were largely successful.

House Hlaalu in combination with Imperial colonists embarked on a vigorous campaign of settlement and development. In the decades after reorganization, Balmora and the Ascadian Isles regions have grown steadily. Caldera and Pelagiad are completely new settlements, and all legion forts were expanded to accommodate larger garrisons.

House Telvanni, normally conservative and isolationist, has been surprisingly aggressive in expanding beyond their traditional tower villages. Disregarding the protests of the other Houses, the Temple, the Duke, and the District council, Telvanni pioneers have been encroaching on the wild lands reserved to the Temple. The Telvanni council officially disavows responsibility for these rogue Telvanni settlements, but it is an open secret that they are encouraged and supported by ambitious Telvanni mage-lords.

Under pressure from the Temple, conservative House Redoran has steadfastly resisted expansion in their district. As a result, House Redoran and the Temple are in danger of being politically and economically marginalized by the more aggressive and expansionist Hlaalu and Telvanni interests.

I know this doesn't really answer your questions, but it should give yu an idea of who believes they own what.

[Daishi]

Well, I've been in all three great houses, but I really only remember Hlaalu. You had to go to the Zainab camp, to ensure ebony trade? Wouldn't that give houses the, for lack of a better word, motivation to steal Ashlander land in some way? Hlaalu would do it as buisnessmen, Redoran would turn to conflict, and Telvanni, would probably just share or make some alliance.

[KuKulzA]

yeah....
Telvanni want to have some space to hang out... but they just want an alliance with the Ashlanders... most of the Ashlanders don't mind that so much...

but Redoran, despite that fact that they try to respect the Temple lands hate Ashlanders, and vice versa... so they fight over the wastelands quite a few times....

the Hlaalu will try to economically force the Ashlanders into their society... cause th Hlaalu are more imperialistic, they neeed more markets, they have a greater trade output, and now with the Legions, they have th military to back it up...

[VictoriousDefender]

Is this just wacky me trying to make sense of it, but wouldn't the ashlander tribes gain a lot of good PR after the actions of the nerevarine? I think that perhaps some tribes have had their numbers bolstered... Ironically, this would lead to MORE cultural imperialism, but of an altogether different sort...

[KuKulzA]

well I think that within the 6 years the Ashlander population would grow...
since the death of Nerevar, the Velothi (Ashlanders) had been in decline as the Houses began taking over and since they are more united and coerced, they are more likely to effectively stamp out resistance...
the Ashlanders were pushed to live exclusively on Vvardenfell....

so they may start having a population boom... you aren't busy think of how you'll escape from a corprus monster attack or trying not to hear Dagoth Ur's dream whispers....
if you don't have to think about traumatic stuff... and you have your spouse lying nearby... hehe, yeah you will have a greater population :bew:

but the Ashlanders are STILL in decline... cause their lands and lives are taken by House Dunmer colonizing Vvardenfell....
House Dunmer and Ashlanders don't like each other, House Dunmer wouldn't "sink" to the Ashlander level. There are some Ashlanders living in settled towns... like apparently the Velothi fo the West Gash have been assimilated into Redoran society... look at all the Ashlander names in Gnisis for example