» Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:16 am As a big fan of Oblivion and Skyrim, I finally got around to giving Morrowind a try a few months ago. I have quickly come to view this as the best TES game to date (though Oblivion and Skyrim are also awesome in their own ways), but that's all in another post (http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1430246-every-thing-i-heard-about-morrowind-was-true/page__view__findpost__p__21972318, if you're interested). But to get to the point...
I must say, I was pretty impressed with the idea that you can just "move in" to a lot of the locations in the game. Kill the original owner(s) or get them to move out some other way (quests, etc), and just move on in. The lighthouse in Seyda Neen was my first in that regard, as is often the case. But then I discovered the damnable ownership issue in TES3. So, I steal a steel dagger, or put a legitimately owned one in an owned container and then take it back out, and from that point forward every steel dagger in the game is considered to be stolen??? Man, what a flaw! I'm surprised this was never addressed in a patch, but I guess the root cause must be buried deeply in the engine. It's unfortunate.
Further, my first character being a Telvanni mage/assassin, I was terribly disappointed in the very limited amount of storage available in Tel Uvirith. Cool place to be sure, but not the most practical player home...
And so began my quest for a home with lots of un-owned storage, and as many other perks as I could manage. I briefly considered the Hlaalu Ancestral Vaults in Vivec... as I recall almost all of the storage crates/urns/chests were un-owned, plus you have your very own Temple shrines to the Tribunal and St. Nerevar. But it has two re-spawning rats which I considered to be too much of an issue at the time. Still, the shrines are pretty cool, and all right there in Vivec...
But then I found Hlormaren, the first Dunmer Stronghold I actually entered (part of a Morag Tong quest... in fact, it's http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Writ_for_Brilnosu_Llarys right after http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Writ_for_Mathyn_Bemis that takes you to the Hlaalu Ancestral Vaults I just mentioned). And of course, once I thought I'd found a good candidate, I did some reading up on it. Sure enough, Hlormaren is a popular spot for player homes, as noted by a number of folks here and at the UESP Wiki. I have set my current character up there, and have found it to be an exceptionally good choice. For convenience, I thought I would post the main reasons here in one place. So, here you go...
Storage
The main reason for my search was storage, and Hlormaren more than answers the call. In all, Hlormaren has five levels to it: 1) the Bottom Level, which has the main entrance to the Stronghold and is on the same level as the Propylon Chamber, 2) the Top Level, which could be considered the "second story" of the building and provides access to the roof of the Stronghold, 3) the Dome, which is a large, single room accessed from the roof, 4) the Underground, where the slave quarters and their guards are, and 5) the Sewers, which provide access to the sea near Ashalmimilkala.
Of these five levels, the Bottom and the Top have by far the most containers, all of which are un-onwned! There are multiple rooms, each with crates, urns, chests, baskets, dressers, desks and tables. There are rooms that make great single bedrooms and/or studies, plus larger rooms that are ideal for Barracks-like armories or enchanting/alchemy labs. In short, if Hlormaren's storage ended here, it would still be awesome. But it doesn't end here...
The next best place for storage is the Dome, up on the roof. It does not have as much in the way of containers, and note that the one chest that is in the Dome is definitely owned, and you should NOT put anything in it! (I lock it with Fenrick's Doorjam to keep me from accidentally doing just that.) That said though, the dome has on open layout with lots of room to spread things out, plus a large shelf and several tables top put things on. Finally, the center support is flared out at the bottom, and many items can be placed on it as well for an interesting display option.
The last two levels, the Underground and the Sewer, are not so great for storage. The Underground has a couple of containers, but they are all owned and should not be used! There are tables to lay things out on, but all in all it's really just a connector to the Sewer. The sewer is not very good for storage either, but there are also re-spawning rats here so it wouldn't be a great place to revisit frequently anyway.
All told, Hlormaren offers a ton of places to store your stuff, most of which is perfectly safe and un-owned. I have yet to find a place with more available storage!
Location
Unlike Tel Uvirith, Hlormaren is not out in the middle of nowhere! It's nicely located between Balmora, Hla Oad, and Gnaar Mok. Travelling to/from there is a piece of cake, but Hlormaren offers even better means of...
Transportation
So, I've got a place with all the safe storage I could want (so far)... what else could I ask for? How about my home's own transportation system? Well, that's precisely what Hlormaren provides with its Propylon Chamber! And with the Master Index plugin, well the whole thing just gets that much more accessible! Almsivi/Divine Intervention gets you to Balmora/Moonmoth Legion Fort instantly, and the Propylon Chamber provides access to all of the other Dunmer Strongholds and all of the Guild Guides via Caldera Mages Guild. Pretty sweet!
The Awesomeness of having your own Dunmer Stronghold!
"That huge muti-storied fortress up on the hill there? Yeah, that's my house." I mean, how freaking cool is that?
So, all told, Hlormaren makes an awesome player home once all the bandits have been cleared out. One will need some experience before taking them all on, but if you're following the Morag Tong quest line the timing should work out just about right. I can't recommend it highly enough!
Thanks for your time, and have fun out there!
veg
