Is it possible the rumors of Ald'Ruhn's destruction are just that: rumors? Exagerrations? I mean, I LOVE that city. I am emotionally attached to it, seriously. (Not passionately, though), and frankly, I would be po'd if it was gone. Isn't it possible it was merely attacked, but the news was exagerrated evermore down the graqevine?

Sorry. But the Redoran went down after the most magnificent struggle seen on Tamriel since the siege of Alinor.

Someone link the picture and caption- I have not idea how to find it now that the forum has gone autocannibalistic.

From the annals of the Crisis:

http://img47.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aldruhnrg6.jpg
Merry Christmas, V, and holiday cheer to everyone!

-MK

REMEMBER REDORAN. NEVER FORGET.

Many thanks, my minion.

http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fms/Image.php?id=38203&return_section=POTD.Detail&return_id=3826

But he doesn't say that so it' doesn't matter, and everything Maiq says is true anyway even if it's occasionally cryptic.
After all he is basically the Manifestation of Bethesda talking to the player in game.


EDIT: Holy hell that emperor crab was still alive?

Dunmer necromancers revived its shell, loosing it against the Daedra.

But this begs the question, if Redoran is completely obliderated, are the rumors of the warring between them and Skyrim completely untrue?

Redoran wasn't obliterated; just badly weakened. They probably have other cities on mainland Morrowind, even though Ald'Ruhn has been razed.

While many rumors in TES games turn out to have at least some degree of truth in them, that doesn't change the fact that until these rumors are confirmed truth, they are still rumors.

I can speculate as to the reason why this rumor about the Nerevarine has been put in Oblivion. It's simple, in the storyline the devs have thought out for Morrowind, they are having all kinds of political problems, battles, and whatnot. But Morrowind (or at least Vvardenfell) is sort of united under the Nerevarine. He is Hortator (leader in war) of the Great Houses. Thus, should a crisis present itself, it is the Nerevarine who shall deal with it. Do not forget the Nerevarine has slain two Gods, is practically immortal, and the strongest person on Vvardenfell (with the possible exception of some characters like Vivec, Divayth Fyr, etc.). With the Nerevarine at their side, any crisis would be easier to overcome. By putting the Nerevarine out of the picture (which, by the way, happens with all TES game characters), the devs can develop all these new problems, without anyone saying the Nerevarine could easily fix this.

Bethesda makes these games, where you are completely free to decide what your character does. Only the MQ is canon and will be included in lore for the next game. But Bethesda always gives us the freedom to decide what happens to our character before that, after that, and during the process. The rumor is to remove the Nerevarine from the picture. The only thing you can gather from it, is that the Nerevarine did not help with the crisis, and is unaccounted for by most people. What is really going on, is completely up to you. Perhaps the Nerevarine is simply on Vvardenfell, but doing other stuff, hiding maybe? Or the Nerevarine went somewhere else, this doesn't have to mean Akavir.

It is also not necessarily the Nerevarine who fulfills the Bloodmoon prophecy, as this can be done by any character, without completing the Morrowind's MQ (as I recall). So in short, by adding this rumor the devs give themself a way to continue their stories for Morrowind, and the player the freedom to think of his own story concerning the Nerevarine. I can only speak for myself, but I really enjoy it this way.

/rant

Apparently all the main Councilmen were in Ald'Ruhn when it was sacked. It was their House Seat. However they had old holdings on the mainland - warriors and diplomats who chose not to follow Venim to Vvardenfell on his crusade. Those Redoran are still alive.

Also they have other people on Vvanderfall (sp?) high up in the house, like at the Ghost Gate and at Vivec

Helseth is smart enough to know that attempting to crush an institution that has been an integral part of Dunmer society for centuries would be foolish and would further fragment his rule. Additionally, he would have no way whatsoever of retrieving the corpses from the Clockwork City, as no one knows where it is. Rather, I see an attempt to slowly integrate the "new" Nerevar-centered religion and the Temple, perhaps assigning the Triunes places in the hierarchy as ancestors and saints. For an example, look at how the Tribunal integrated Daedra worship in http://www.imperial-library.info/mwbooks/house_of_troubles.shtml



I doubt it. Redoran has mainland holdings as well, which are far more valuable than what they held in Vvardenfell. Most of their land in Vvardenfell was rocky, coastal West Gash and Ashlands, neither of which are very valuable, nor did they have very many mines.

Their mainland holdings where under siege by the Nords, right? So a lot of that would have become weakened.

Magnificent warrior's demise, no doubt.

The Nords attacked the Redoran province, and Blacklight was hit. Hit, not destroyed. Ald'Ruhn was hit by the Daedra not too long later. So, a double whammy on the Redoran.

But you don't blot out a 3000+ year warrior House, even with a double whammy. This is the same with the Temple, and everything else in Morrowind. I'm skeptical too, that the millennial practice of slavery will really be "outlawed." Perhaps we think that Morrowind's cultural institutions were made of lego, like Oblivion's. Redoran is going to be around for a while, they could even emerge again as a Great House, given enough time.

So is attempting to ban slavery which is also an integral part of Dunmer society.

There is a difference between freeing people who do your chores and parading the bodies of miracle workers infront of their ex-devotees. Besides, it does not seem to fit Helseth's character to do something like that.

I never said their Vvardenfell holdings were their most valuable - I said all the highest ranking officials had followed Venim to Vvardenfell, according to most sources. I'm sure all the Councilmen we met from Morrowind died fighting the Daedra. Not to mention the Nords and their Orc allies pounding away at the mainland holdings. Redoran can survive this but they're weak right now.

Banning slavery and enforcing bans on slavery are two different things, and unfortunately, two things we don't know much about.

Oh, if he thought that it was in any way practical he'd do it. His character is politics, and politics is his character. But it's not practical. At least, it would be far more practical to attempt to erase the memory of the Tribunal by agreeing with the Imperials in that they do not exist and by saying that no-one ever saw them, and that would open the gates of Daedra worship and the Nerevarine cult.

His mother tells him what to do. Remember thatttt. SHES AN EVIL B

I don't agree. I've read Ted Peterson's take on him during the Lore RP, and prefer his interpretation that she's his main advisor -- Helseth is neither crazy, stupid, nor weak.

I figure Helseth is like the Czar Peter the Great in some ways. Both attempted to modernize their nation, by force when necessary; both with a murderous temper (as Ted Peterson wrote him, anyway). Both Helseth and Peter the Great were at the mercy of court intrigue when young -- Peter the Great was nearly killed by the boyars a time or two, for example, and he retaliated when he was grown by crushing them. But Barenziah is not evil, and I don't even think of Helseth as particularly evil -- he's a classic Dunmer, and all kings have blood on their hands if they want to survive.

Too true - though maybe not as weakened as some might believe. There was no mention of the Ghostgate (where the flower of their warriors are stationed) siege being successful and no mention of a massacre at Ald'ruhn. What we know happened was that stone was torn down and homes rent asunder. But even Redoran civillians have the warrior culture in their bones - no civillian massacre either. Likely the re-vivified crab and the warriors acted as a rear-guard while the non-combatant civilians retreated to Ghostgate - and then seeing that is was pointless wasting further lives on a lost battle the warriors conducted an orderly retreat with futher rearguard action themselves and followed the civillians. Also the stone buildings may have been destroyed, and the crab may have died (again) but if th ecrab shell is intact then Ald'ruhn may rise again! (possibly on a mountaintop ) The Redoran are true warriors - they have great discipline and know how to take a blow on the chim.