I'm deciding on which Great House quest to begin today, and I researched Indarys and Rethan Manors. I've already done the House Telvanni quests for another character, and once was enough. Time for something nobler.

The UESP Wikia wasn't overly forthcoming with information, though. So I turn to the forums - can the learned answers these for me?

Regarding Indarys Manor:

- it seems smallish from the outside, but I'm sure it's really not. Is it roomier indoors?

- it seems very gloomy and not at all homey. But, like Ald'ruhn, is the interior another story?

- when I get the extra NPCs for the stronghold, do they go indoors or stay outside? If I use Command Humanoid to summon them indoors, would they eventually get out? I likes me some company and the Telvanni stronghold was... lonely.

Regarding Rethan Manor:

- is it also a nice, roomy stronghold, contrary to outside appearances? I don't need tons of space, but a little more than a normal house would be great.

- all I can get is one NPC for the manor (the guard) yes?

Unfortunately, neither of those two are very big. Rethan Manor is definitely smaller than Indarys Manor (in terms of your house, not the secondary structures). Rethan is two rooms, Indarys is foyer, side storage room, bar area, barracks, your room.

Like the Telvanni stronghold, both have people who live in the secondary structures (and both have people actually in the main manor this time, unlike Tel Uvirith).

Both strongholds have people inside already.

If you're on PC, there are mods you can download for each to make them a bit bigger. Do a search on Planet Elder Scrolls or TESNexus, or in the Morrowind Mods forum

Thanks for the reply!

I'm on the Xbox, so no mods for me

There are actually NPCs already in the manors of each? Neat - I assume they are just regular inhabitants and don't offer any unique information or services?

I think I will have a save game for each stronghold quest, too.

I'm pretty sure that some of the NPCs will offer services, mainly bartering and training if I recall correctly. I think the Redoran stronghold also comes stocked with some nice high-end weapons.

You went to both of those places to kill the person living there on your Telvanni character. If you still have the save game with the telvani stronghold, you can go back there to check them out.

Ah, forgot about that. Will do

A couple of points IMO:
INDARYS MANOR:
It is rather glooomy inside but it's okay.
I like the fact that due east of Bal Isra (location) is a low point in the Ghost Fence that's easy to levitate over and is near a lot of places and trails in the Red Mountain area. Strategically you would probably guess that the Redorans would keep a watch here.

RETHAN MANOR:
You don't really need that many guards. That guard usually gets in the way and I stash him in the tower. The place may seem roomy but unles you're into murdering your friends, it's kind of crowded.
I would also like to give the merchant a little more gold so I could stash stuff with her (maybe about 500-800 gp.) The CS didn't seem to allow it though.
It's a nice place though and very near Balmora and the road to Hla Oad.
As a "Stronghold" what bothers me is the high point overlooking the courtyard.

Thanks; I did find the "stronghold" aspect of Rethan Manor to be a bit lost on me. Truly seemed more like a manor house with a couple of adjacent buildings and a bit of a wall around it.

Indarys Manor seems situated where it ought to be, though.

However, I think Rethan Manor will be the first one I do. I'll have a separate save for doing the Redoran quests after I finish Hlaalu's, and then decide. But Rethan Manor wins on aesthetics for me. So long as there's a little space to put a couple of Daedric helms, some candles, and some grand soul gem trophies, and enough storage space for the oddities I will actually want to keep (as well as some company), I'm good.

I was being silly, please forget this post