A few questions:
1) I was reading the wiki and it makes reference to a civil war between Helseth and Redoran following his outlawing of slavery.
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Helseth
Thing is, I dont remember any reference in the games about an actual war breaking out over the abolition of slavery. Is this referenced somewhere else?
2) Why do Helseth, Barenziah and that minx Morgiah have Breton skin coloring?
3) If Helseth cut the tips of his ears to look more Breton-like, therefore getting the locals to not be as xenophobic, why does he wait until Tribunal to actually do this when such an act would make the native Dunmer in Mournhold see him as just another n'wah and not a real ruler?
1. In Loranna's Lore RP around 2004-2005, the dev Ted Peterson wrote that Helseth wanted to consolidate power and freeing the slaves was one method for that. He married a Dres noblewoman as well. A civil war followed in the RP that lasted for several years, a Redoran/Indoril alliance against the Hlaalu/Dres. Although this isn't canon, a few aspects of it have survived in the PGE 3rd. It's not canon that Helseth made a political marriage and proved to be an able commander on the battlefield, but I like how Ted Peterson wrote it: Helseth as having a murderous temper but being a typical king in how he tries to keep his power. (Reminds me of Peter the Great trying to modernize Russia, even by force if necessary.)
2. Helseth, Barenziah and Morgiah can be assumed to have Dunmer coloring -- ash gray. Myself, I think the Dunmer became too blue-colored in "Oblivion".
3. Ted Peterson also wrote that Helseth didn't cut his ears to look more human -- his sister Morgiah bit off part of an ear, so he trimmed the other to fit. This isn't canon as far as I know, but I like the explanation better than trying to look human.