Thoughts on: House Sadras (Patreon)

Let's recap.

Prior to the 4th era, the Empire kept a close leash on Morrowind. Legion garrisons were found near most major settlements, and they strictly controlled Morrowind's economy through taxation on the export of staples (eg. saltrice, kwama eggs) and the prohibition of independent export of luxury goods (Dwemer artifacts, ebony, volcanic glass, bug musk). The Septims had also taken control of Morrowind's government by abducting and raising its queen and marrying her to a general with pro-Imperial views, as well as the abolition of the Grand Council of Great Houses, which had ruled Morrowind previously. It's unclear how exactly the government of Morrowind functioned in the 3rd era, except that the province was divided into a number of Duchies, helmed by Dukes/Duchesses with ties to the empire, though both the Great Houses and the Tribunal Temple still held a powerful role in local, if not Imperial, politics.

Shortly before the Oblivion Crisis, two major events rocked Dunmeri society: the outlawing of slavery by King Hlaalu Helseth (who was viewed by some as an Imperial figurehead), and the death and disappearance of the Tribunal. While we get little information on how exactly this impacted the province, we know that House Hlaalu benefited greatly and gained even more power than they already had. The Pocket Guide to the Empire 3rd Edition also claims that Dres benefited from the abolition of slavery, though I personally do not see how (see footnote). Indoril and Redoran meanwhile are described as "waning" and "unable to change with the times." Telvanni is not mentioned, but we can infer based on their previous responses to similar prohibitions that their isolation probably meant that they did not comply with the edict.

Two hundred years later, the situation seems to be completely reversed.

According to Adril Arano's dialog in Dragonborn, the Empire withdrew its forces from Morrowind when the Oblivion Crisis began, abandoning the province. This reflected poorly on Hlaalu, who had tied themselves closely to the Empire, but did not have military strength to stand on their own. Without the Empire to support them, and with trade presumably diminished during the Crisis, the Dunmer turned against the suddenly weakened Hlaalu, blaming them for collaborating with the empire and turning them into "into the scapegoat for the Dunmer people's suffering," according to Arano. While we don't know anything about how Hlaalu dealt with the Argonian invasion in 4E5, I can easily see how they would be blamed for it as well: had Helseth not abolished slavery, none of these newly-freed slaves would have been able to overrun our province.

Redoran, meanwhile, was able to mount a successful defense and build up a standing army for the Dunmer people, protecting them against both the Daedra and the Argonian invasion. The Redoran also took charge in the relief efforts following the eruption of Red Mountain.

Sometime shortly after, the Hlaalu were booted from the Grand Council, which was now headed up by House Redoran and had moved to Blacklight, the Redoran capital. We do not know what happened to King Helseth, but since his House was disgraced and his name is not mentioned in the aftermath of the Red Year, I think it is safe to say that he either died, fled, or was exiled from the province for the same connections to the Empire that lead to Hlaalu's downfall.

Finally, we come to the question of the day: the enigmatic House Sadras who replaced Hlaalu on the Grand Council. There are exactly six mentions of this name in all of lore: Lleril Morvayn names them as a Great House on the Council, a ES:Legends card named "Sadras Agent," and three mention of a caravan belonging to them in the Sunder & Wraithguard Creation Club creation. Lacking definitive information, the following is speculation.

Sadras is likely to fill Hlaalu's role of the "thief" in contrast to Redoran's "warrior" and Telvanni's "mage." This does not mean that they are literal thieves, but rather merchants and diplomats. In the post Oblivion crisis, post Red Year, post Argonian Invasion world, this could mean that they were one of the houses leading up the reconstruction efforts in Morrowind, perhaps taking on a role of resource distribution or resettlement support that would previously have been handled by the Tribunal Temple and their Indoril allies. This is sort of supported by the Sadras Agent being an "assassin" class card in Legends and being shown lightly armored, though we know that Legends card designs aren't exactly the epitome of lore representation.

Since the Dunmer are big on tradition, even in very non-traditional times, I don't think they would have jettisoned Hlaalu entirely after having them be part of the Council for 3000 years. Instead, I think it's likely that Sadras was originally a minor, more traditionalist house under Hlaalu's umbrella. Similar to how Orvas Dren was the kingpin of a pro-slave, anti-foreigner faction while his brother Vadam was the Imperially backed Duke of Vvardenfell. Interestingly, Orvas was actually anti-Tribunal and in favor of what we now know as the Reclamations. It's possible that Sadras rose to prominence on views very similar to his: anti-empire, anti-tribunal, generally standing apart from the mainline Hlaalu way of doing things but still able to utilize their network and infrastructure.

I don't think there's any chance that they're friendly with the Empire, like Hlaalu used to be. I do think that it's possible that they have positive relations with the Nords, similar to House Dagoth in the 1st era. The relationship with the Nords and Dunmer improved overall following the Red Year, and it'd make sense that if trade and logistics are Sadras' domain, they'd need someone to trade with. Since there was zero mention of the name in TES3 (as an NPC last name, an ancestral tomb, etc.) or in ESO Morrowind, I assume that their lands are primarily on the mainland, potentially encroaching on the fertile heartlands that used to belong to Indoril when they held more power. While giving them traditional Hlaalu holdings (like Narsis) is a possibility, I personally prefer that they actually built new settlements (Dragonborn mentions that there are 74 “outlying settlements” that are part of Morrowind in the 4th era, many of them could be held by Sadras and focused on import of exotic goods and trade with non-Tamrielic states).

*** 

Footnote - if we use Loranna's RP as background here, we can infer that Dres benefited not from the abolition of slavery but rather from their new-found ties to Helseth and House Hlaalu through marriage. 

Alternatively, the PGE3's claims of them being "on the rise" are propaganda, "see how well the houses willing to Imperialize are doing." 

Personally, I don’t think that Helseth's reforms lead to complete freedomfor the formerly enslaved, at least in the sense that they were now full citizens with full rights and the ability to make a life of their own. Those that couldn’t return to their homelands likely became sharecroppers or fell into debt, or else transitioned from literal slavery to something closer to serfdom, where the lord technically owned the land but the workers just happened to come with it. Peter the Great’s reforms of Russia’s slaves come to mind here.