I was thinking about the following: For the head of the most isolationist and racist organization in Morrowind, Orvas keeps a lot of Imperials in the Dren plantation. Why would that be?

Wow... that's a good one. I have never thought of that. (No sarcasm)

It has probably to do with the fact that he is a Hlaalu councilor and house Hlaalu is very imperial-minded.

That itself struck me as odd. Hlaalu is always open-minded towards foreigners, yet it has close ties to the Camonna Tong.

I am not sure those ties are official though.

Yeah, some of the Hlaalu So I guess Orvas has to allow some more Hlaalu order in his plantation, like the Imperials, whether he wants or not. I guess he's thinking more of the gains that being high inside Hlaalu can get him and could care less about the Imperials.

Oh. I never actually did any of the Hlaalu quests, and all I really got about him in the MQ is that half of the councilors were in his pocket, and that he had made a deal with Dagoth Ur.

I guess even racist Dunmer Crime lords need to feed the beast of the West for Flin money. xD Just because you are a Dunmer elitist, doesn't mean you can't think outside of the box and reform your hiring protocols! On a more serious note, he probably gets "help" from his Bro back in ol Ebonheart. Or he is just living under the facade of a Dunmer nationalist, so he can rally those to do his bidding, and is really knee deep in the Empire's gold caring for nothing but personal wealth and gain.

I have reformed my hiring protocols. I now buy new slaves every three days and kill the previous group. Of course, the new ones would need training, but think of all the money I save on having to feed them!

House Hlaalu isn't about doing whatever the empire says, it's about compromise and adapting to the times so that they always survive and prosper i.e. selling out. Just because there are imperials working on the plantation it doesn't mean those imperials care about their employer's political goals.